#stray kids office au

[karmicpunishment]

atsushi starts taking some college classes and meets some friends and one turns out to be one of kunikidas former students

[hoes4lino]

• Lino Zone Fanfic Recommendation •

WARNING ⊂✦⊃ These fanfics contain nsfw content, for more detailed warnings check out the stories! This are some of my favorite fanfics so I hope y’all enjoy them as well <3

Office AU

Inexperienced by @matryosika

After Party by @xoliino

Horizontal Hierarchy by @cb97percent

Brothers Best Friend

Glowing (can’t tag this user)

Kiss me more by @angelwonie

Roommates

Housemate by @locallixie

What you like Pt1. Pt2 (can’t tag this user)

When he sees me by @candlewaxandp0lar0ids

Enemies to Lovers

Cupid’s Christmas by @ballelino

Stuck with you by @corruption-skz

Detention & Desire by @xoliino

Enemies to Lovers project by @softukiyos

She’s like the wind by @nczennie

Fantasy AU

Call of the Siren by @tasteleeknow

Tight ride by @lettersfromaphrodite

Sleeping Beauty by @j-0ne25

Consort by @fizzydrink698

[writingforstraykids]

Pretty Boy- War of Hearts preview

Pairing: Chanlix (mention of Minchan | Minsung | Y/N)

Word Count: 4532

Summary: Watching his best friend and former lover Minho getting married breaks Chan's heart. Leaving the wedding early he gets pulled over for speeding by a surprisingly handsome officer...

Warnings/Tags: angst, fluff, friends to lovers to friends, minsung is getting married, chan gets a little drunk, bodyguard!chan, officer!felix, mafia boss!minho, smut, sub!felix, dom!chan, strangers to lovers, anxious!min

A/N: Soo I didn't plan on posting anything of the mafia series I've been working on yet but I thought I could use this chapter since it's very Chanlix centered🤭 I hope you guys like the first glimpse at the series (yn at the beginning only here). Hope you like it miu @miuracha 💕💕

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

You sit down with them, taking Felix’s previous place, and look at Chan curiously. “Now I really wanna know how the two of you met. Felix isn’t usually like this.”

“I wasn’t either,” Chan giggles softly and rubs his face. “Fine, but I won’t tell you all the details,” he giggles, thinking back to the night he met Felix.

Four years ago

Chan watches the newly wedded couple in front of him, keeping up the fake smile he has been wearing for hours. Minho smiles brightly, kissing Jisung for the hundredth time tonight, and pulls him in close as they sway across the dance floor. The golden ring on his hand shines brightly beneath the lights, and so do those beautiful brown eyes he fell in love with all these years ago.

Minho's happiness is his top priority, especially after those last couple of years. Chan stopped counting the nights Minho clung to him in feverish nightmares, searching for him to hold him when he felt like falling apart. Now he's happy with someone else. It shouldn't matter. It should be enough to see him smile again, to be so purely in love and finally feel at peace. It should be, but it isn't.

Chan's heart breaks with every kiss he watches. It shatters with every loving gaze Minho gifts to Jisung and not him. Hearing them exchanging vows and tying the knot was by far the worst moment of his life since he lost his parents. He takes another sip of his drink and presses his lips together tightly, getting a little emotional. He needs to get out of here. Chan pushes himself off his chair and grabs the keys to his motorcycle.

"Channie, hyung," Minho's soft voice stops him, and turning around, he can see them coming toward him. "You're leaving already?"

"I'm not feeling so well, I'm sorry, Min," he lies smoothly.

"Oh no, what's wrong?" he asks worriedly, eyes scanning his body for possible signs of discomfort.

"Nothing, I'll be fine," he waves him off.

"Chan," Minho frowns at him.

"Min, sweetie," Jisung chimes in gently. "Let him go if he needs to rest, you have enough other bodyguards around."

"Yeah, but this is my best friend," Minho argues softly, not knowing how hurtful those two little words are for Chan. Jisung gives him a meaningful glance before excusing himself to go and talk to a friend of his. Minho gives him a quick kiss, and Chan is gone when he turns back around.

Chan races down the stairs of the wedding venue Minho rented and blindly fumbles for his keys as tears burn in his eyes. He reaches his bike and grabs his helmet, hands shaking as he unclasps it.

"Chan!" Minho calls out for him, rushing down the stairs and coming to a halt in front of him. He frowns seeing the tears in his eyes. "Oh, Channie, that bad?" he asks worriedly.

"I'm just feeling really sick right now, that's all," he says quietly, lowering his gaze to the floor.

"Let me drive you home then," he suggests.

"Min, this is your wedding," he argues. "You can't just vanish."

"I can do whatever I want," he snorts.

"Wouldn't be fair to him, would it?" he asks, and Minho's smile falters.

"He'd get it. You're my best friend, and if you feel like shit, it's my responsibility to take care of you."

"No, Minnie, it's my responsibility to take care of you. You're supposed to be in there with your husband-" he chokes on the word and swallows hard.

Minho gently grabs his hand, his ring burning against Chan's skin. "Channie, dear," he says softly. "I just…be careful, okay?"

"Of course," he nods quickly.

"Promise me," Minho asks gently.

"Min," Chan sighs, finally wanting to get away from this.

"Promise me you'll be careful. I couldn't handle it if something happened to you," he says, the grip around his hand growing stronger.

"I promise I'll be fine," he says, carefully easing his hand out of Minho's. He looks up and smiles at him bravely. "Go and have fun, alright?" he asks, and Minho nods hesitantly, searching his eyes.

He watches him climbing onto his bike and grabbing the helmet. He can tell something is very wrong, and he doubts it's what Chan says it is. Chan wouldn't leave his side because of that, he never does. "I love you, you know that right?" he asks timidly, and Chan freezes in his movements for a short moment.

"I love you," Chan answers just as timidly, and his gaze softens a little, meeting Minho's wide, confused eyes. "You look beautiful," he tells him gently, and Minho blushes almost instantly. "Thank you," he whispers.

"Come here," Chan sighs, and Minho steps closer. He hugs him tight and smiles as Minho holds onto him firmly. "You're doing great. I'm proud of you, Minnie," he says softly.

Minho's hold on him tightens. "Please don't go?"

Chan pulls back, cupping his cheek out of reflex. "You'll be fine."

"I feel safer when you're here," he confesses anxiously.

Chan shakes his head firmly, leaning in and planting a short, light kiss on his forehead. "You'll be fine," he whispers, and pulling back, there are tears burning in his eyes all over again.

Minho watches him, stunned, as he puts on the helmet and grabs his keys. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," he promises, putting on his gloves.

"It's you and me against the world, right?" he asks timidly.

Chan feels like laughing at that. Minho just got married to Jisung but still thinks it's them against the rest. "Always, kitten," he says softly before starting the engine.

Minho stands still for a moment as Chan races off and nervously fidgets with his suit. He wonders if Chan would be alright and get home safely. Minho flinches softly as someone wraps their arms around him, hand resting on his chest.

"Hey there," Jisung says gently, kissing his cheek. "You're alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he nods and squeezes his hand, leaning back into him.

"He'll be okay," he tells him soothingly.

"I'm not sure this time," Minho shakes his head, deep in thought.

"He always is, he has to. He'd never leave you here if he didn't think you'd be safe," he points out, and Minho hums agreeingly. "Come on now, we have a party to celebrate," he says, gently pulling him with him.

-

Chan blinks away his tears, racing down the streets rather aimlessly. He doesn't want to go back home yet, he'll feel even lonelier in that big house without Min there. He has no other place to go, though. His parents are gone, there aren't any siblings, and Minho is all he had his whole life. The only constant variable in his life got ripped away for good. The safe house is over an hour away and full of memories. He can't escape it.

Chan speeds up a little, the wind pulling at his jacket, but he doesn't care. He'll just keep on driving all night and stay away from home for a bit. He notices the red light too late and curses to himself softly, that could've gone very wrong.

A loud siren behind him startles him a little, and glancing back through his mirror, he notices a police car getting closer. "Oh, for fucks sake," he curses and stops at the side of the road.

Felix parks behind him and hops out of the car. "That fucker really got some nerves," he whispers to himself, making his way over. "Excuse me, Sir, you-" he starts and loses track of his thoughts as the guy takes off his helmet. He meets a pair of soft and incredibly sad chocolate orbs he feels like he could drown in if he maintains eye contact for too long. Dark curls frame his face effortlessly, and god, those full lips. A quick glance down his body makes him suspect he's quite fit, and Felix scolds himself for getting all dreamy about a member of the mafia. It must be him.

"Yes, officer?" he asks patiently, resting the helmet on his thigh.

"You, uhm, you were speeding. And you ignored a red light," he tells him, frowning softly at his amused expression.

"I'm aware of that, thank you," he nods.

"That's not a kind reminder," Felix protests softly. "I just pulled you over because -."

"I don't get pulled over," Chan says calmly, and judging by Felix's stunned expression, he has no clue who he's talking to. "Ever heard of Minho Lee?"

Felix's eyes widen and he nods quickly. "Yeah, I did."

"Well, guess what, I'm pretty important to him. So remember this," he says, vaguely waving at himself and the motorcycle. "And don't pull me over again."

"I don't think I can-" he stammers.

Chan sighs heavily and reaches out for him, pushing aside his jacket gently to check the name tag. "Great, another fucking Lee who's ruining my day."

"You ruined that by yourself, Sir. I just reminded you of the law," Felix frowns, almost a little offended.

"The law's debatable," Chan shrugs and squints his eyes at him. He takes in the sight of him in his uniform and has to bite back a smirk, meeting his very confused brown eyes. Dark hair falls around his face, highlighting the freckles on it. He looks cute. " You're new here, aren't you?"

"Actually, I've been living here for my whole-."

"At the police force, darling," Chan huffs, and Felix's eyes widen, a soft blush creeping up his neck. Oh.

"I'm-Yes, I'm new," he nods quickly.

"I can tell," he says and smiles at him fondly. "Still so eager to do things right."

"We should," Felix nods quickly, subconsciously straightening his uniform.

"But they don't. And you won't if you want to survive this job," he nods thoughtfully. "You'll notice soon enough. Try staying away from Han's men, they're horrible to cops."

"Okay," he nods, wondering why the hell he is listening to this crap. "Sir, are you drunk?" he asks after a moment of silence.

Chan laughs out loud, and it's the first time today. "I'm not joking, stay away from the Han family. They're dangerous. It'd be a shame if they'd mess up that pretty face of yours," he says, and Felix's blush deepens. "But to answer your question, yes, I had a little too much."

"Then that's another reason you shouldn't be driving," Felix points out kindly.

"I have to get home somehow," he shrugs, staring up at the sky, slowly changing colors as the sun begins to set.

"You have no one to pick you up?" he asks, feeling pity for him.

"My best friend got married to another guy today. I have no one else," he tells him, not really sure why the fuck he'd be telling that to some random police officer.

"That's why you're drunk and driving so reckless," he hums understandingly. "You're heartbroken, aren't you?"

"What if I was?" he asks and watches him observantly. His brown hair shines beneath the setting sun, eyes sparkle beautifully. Chan can't help but think again about how effortlessly beautiful Officer Lee is.

"Then I'd feel sorry for pulling you over…but on second thought, not really. There's no use putting yourself at risk because someone hasn't found you fitting for themselves," he says very gently, observing Chan's eyes. "Maybe you're not the right person for him, but I'm sure you'll find your missing piece one day."

"Well, thanks for the advice, Officer Lee," he snorts and once more checks him out. Oh, fuck it. "When does your shift end tonight?"

Felix glances at his watch. "In five minutes," he tells him.

"May I take you out for dinner after? Make up for the trouble I caused you?" he asks smoothly, and Felix's eyes widen before he gathers himself quickly again.

"Purely that?" he asks, and Chan raises his eyebrow at him.

"You're bolder than you look," he smirks. "Not really, no."

"Well, then skip the politeness and take what you so clearly want," Felix announces, not without blushing heavily.

Chan sees right through him and nods to himself. "If you let me," he nods reluctantly.

"Please," Felix nods, growing a bit shy. He crosses his arms behind his chest to hide his hands shaking.

Chan looks at him, amused. "I don't know if you're naive or touch starved to get into bed with some stranger, but I'll take it."

"I know very well who you are, Mr. Bahng," he says, and surprise flashes in Chan's eyes. "You're the head bodyguard of Mr. Lee, and that best friend you've been talking about is the very same person. You're in love with your boss."

"Huh," Chan laughs stunned. "And that doesn't stop you from climbing into bed with me?"

"That's what makes it exciting," he corrects him, and Chan smirks.

"I believe your five minutes are over, dear," he says calmly, and Felix hums softly. "Keep up, alright?" he asks, putting his helmet back on.

"You bet," he grins.

-

Felix gets onto the motorcycle behind him, wrapping his arms around him to steady himself. They decided to park the car back at the police station to avoid raising suspicions, and Chan kept his helmet on as Felix did.

"Hold on tight," Chan tells him, and Felix hums, agreeing. He starts the engine and drives off with him. He knows Minho would be pissed knowing he brought a police officer back home, but he couldn't care less. He just wanted to forget and feel good for a night.

Chan soon parks in front of the mansion and hops off his bike, taking off his helmet. Felix does as well and smiles at him shyly. "Come on in," Chan chuckles and leads the way.

Felix follows him through the front door, looking around curiously. Chan takes the helmet from him and puts it aside, reaching into a small closet drawer next to the door. He pulls out a piece of soft silk and gives him an apologetic smile. "He'd kill me if I'd led you through the house with your eyes open."

"Oh, okay," Felix nods gently, swallowing nervously as Chan steps closer. Their eyes meet, and sparks ignite between them. "Can I kiss you?" he asks politely.

Chan chuckles softly and cups his face, pulling him into a gentle kiss. A soft sound escapes Felix's lips, and he grips Chan's suit jacket, pulling him close. Chan's arm snakes around his waist, and he lets him enjoy that feeling. It has been years since he kissed someone and he only realizes now how much he had missed it.

Felix takes a few steps back, pulling him with him until his back hits the wall. Chan braces himself on the wall, caging him in, and the moment Felix parts his lips to catch his breath, Chan's tongue slides into his mouth. A low groan escapes him as their tongues slide against each other sensually. He reaches up, burying his hand in those thick curls and arches into him. Chan's playing with his hair, pulling at it as he deepens the kiss.

Neither of them notice the front door opening until someone clears their throat. "Channie?"

Chan flinches heavily and pulls back panting, turning to look at him. Minho stands there, still in his wedding suit, and watches him with wide eyes. "Min, you're back already?"

Felix connects the dots and realizes the man in front of them is Minho Lee, one of the most important people in town.

"I-uh, I came to check on you, but you seem to feel fine again," he says, nodding slowly. He looks a little hurt, realizing Chan hasn't felt sick. "So you're…you're not feeling sick?"

"Not anymore," Chan answers, and he isn't even lying. He hasn't been feeling exactly well the whole day, watching the love of his life marrying another man.

"Mhm, okay," Minho nods quietly before his eyes fall onto Felix. "And that is?"

Felix bows gently before him, dark messed-up hair falling into his face. "I'm Officer Felix Lee, Sir," he introduces himself. "It's an honor to meet you."

Minho frowns at him softly. "Not really, there's nothing special about me other than my mother's legacy," he says and looks back at Chan. "Why are you bringing a police officer back home without my permission?"

"Since when am I asking for permission?" Chan gives back and glances at Felix. "Felix and I just met, we've decided to have some fun tonight."

Felix smiles at the way his name rolls off his tongue. "You can cover my eyes now, by the way," he chimes in gently. "I've probably seen too much already."

Chan smiles softly and nods, pulling the silk from his pocket. He steps behind him and soothingly squeezes his shoulder. "Close your eyes, pretty," he says and locks eyes with Minho as he covers Felix's eyes. "Don't you have a husband to get back to?" he asks, more coldly than he intended to.

"I-I guess I do," he nods, not fully understanding why his heart hurts and his stomach cramps with jealousy as he watches Felix. He just got married; for fucks sake, why is he so focused on Chan? "We'll talk about this later, Chan."

"Nothing to talk about, you won't do much different tonight," he shrugs and wraps his arm around Felix's waist, pulling him in. Felix leans back into him, breath hitching as Chan places a kiss just below his ear.

"Why?" Minho asks, barely audibly pointing at Felix. "You're usually not like that."

"You broke my heart, that's why," he says, and Minho's face falls. "It's nothing new, and I won't stand in your way if you're happy with him. But let me deal with my side of emotions the way I prefer."

"I-I'm sorry," he whispers, tears brimming his eyes.

"No, you're not," Chan says quietly. "Because you don't have to." He steps in front of Felix and lifts him up after a gentle warning.

Felix wraps his legs around his waist, arms around his neck, and nudges his nose against Chan's clumsily. He leans to his ear as he plays with the base of his hair. "Need you so bad, Channie hyung," he whispers, not seeing the beautiful smile breaking across Chan's face.

"Don't worry, sunshine, I got you," he gives back lowly and exchanges a last glance with Minho before carrying Felix up the stairs.

"But I am sorry," Minho whispers to himself, anxiously fidgeting with the sleeves of his suit. His chest tightens a little, and he sucks in a sharp breath. He never wanted to hurt Chan like that. Never. Had he been faking to be happy for him for years now?

-

Chan gently sets Felix down as they reach the corridor to his room, taking the fabric from his eyes. Felix's soft eyes flutter open and meet his. "No wonder you fell for him, he's incredibly handsome up close," Felix states, making Chan chuckle, surprised.

"Stop talking about Min, alright?" he asks gently and cups his face. "He's not important tonight."

Felix nods kindly and fondles down his sides almost hesitantly. "Where's your room?"

"Just over there." Chan gently caresses his cheeks and pulls him into a kiss. Felix's hands rest on his hips as he kisses back fiercely. They get lost in the feeling for another bit before Chan takes the lead and walks them to his room, never breaking apart. Chan kicks the door closed behind them and turns the key, trapping Felix between the door and his body.

"Can I?" Felix asks, reaching for Chan's suit jacket. Chan hums gently, and Felix brushes the jacket off his shoulders, locking eyes with him as he starts opening the buttons of his shirt. Felix hesitantly lets his hands roam his skin once he's done and bites his lower lip hard at the thought of the rest of him. "Fuck," he breathes out, a little stunned, as Chan grabs his neck and pulls him in again.

Chan pushes his thigh between his legs, smirking as Felix's jaw drops. "Feels good, pretty boy?"

"Uhuh," Felix nods dumbly, pressing down against him needily.

"Go on," he encourages him and reaches for the first button of his uniform. "I'll start taking that off for you while you do."

Felix doesn't need a second invitation, grinding down against his thigh with a low groan. He watches as Chan unbuttons his uniform and shivers with need as Chan's fingers brush against his bare skin in the process.

Chan notices and glances at him curiously. "You haven't been touched in a while, have you?"

"Not really," he confesses, blushing heavily. "It's a bit of a weakness of mine," he adds, glancing at him through his lashes.

"How much time do you have?" Chan asks, and Felix swallows audibly.

"For you, all night," he breathes out.

Chan hums softly and picks him up, carrying him to his bed. He lowers Felix into the pillows and climbs onto the bed, hovering over him. "May I make up for the time you missed then?"

"Please do," Felix nods shyly. He watches with interest as Chan gets comfortable between his legs, bracing himself next to his head. His lips plant tiny kisses down his jaw before they land on his neck. Felix melts into the sheets beneath him as Chan starts kissing his neck, leaving small bites all over it, slowly moving down to his collarbone. Sinking his hand into his curls, he whines softly as Chan's lips travel further, tongue lapping at his nipples.

Chan has no idea how long he stays like that, exploring Felix's body with his tongue, teeth, lips, and hands. The man beneath him writhes in the sheets, soft, helpless sounds tumbling from his lips. Chan's face is buried between his thighs by now, having worked up his way both of his legs. Felix's body is littered with reddish marks by now and covered in sweat, worked up from Chan's pleasurable touches. Looking up, he smiles at the sight of him. His dark hair sticks to his face, brown eyes blown with lust, lips swollen and parted. "Enjoying yourself, pretty?"

Felix hums, agreeing, and bites his lip hard as Chan gently eases off his boxers. His head falls back as Chan teasingly licks up his shaft and massages his balls with his hand. "Ch-Chan," he chokes out.

"Get on your hands and knees for me, will you?" he asks, and Felix nods, eager to please him and finally get what he wants. Felix turns around, knees buckling a little. Chan reaches for his bedside table, grabbing a bottle of lube and some condoms for later. He spreads Felix's cheeks with his fingers and licks up between them. A guttural moan falls from Felix's lips at that, pushing back the moment Chan's tongue pushes against his hole. Chan switches between tongue and fingers, working him open slowly. Felix's arms collapse as he locates his prostate, and Chan bites back a moan at the weak sound leaving his lips.

"Channie - stop," he pleads quietly, face buried in the pillow. "Fuck, please," he whimpers.

"What's wrong?" he asks, fingertips brushing against his prostate once again.

"I'm gonna-" Felix squeezes his eyes shut, body shaking as Chan massages his prostate so perfectly. It's too much. Too much after all those teasing and loving touches before, too much after being touched so right after all this time. Felix's body tenses up, and he releases into the sheets beneath him with a weak sound. His face flushes red with embarrassment, and he hides in the pillow. "Fuck, sorry."

Chan leans down, kissing his spine, and shakes his head. "Nothing to be sorry for."

Felix frowns softly and peaks at him timidly. "But I came without asking for permission."

Chan blinks at him, heart melting at the sincere apologetic look on Felix's face. "I told you I'd make up for that time you missed. I wanted you to feel that good."

Felix's blush deepens. "So you're not mad?"

"No," he tells him with a kind smile, and Felix's heart melts. That's a new one.

"I think I'm ready for you now," he tells him with a sheepish smile. "Can I take care of you now?"

"Okay," Chan nods gently and lets Felix guide him onto his back. He watches him curiously as Felix straddles his lap, eyes fluttering as Felix wraps his hand around his so far untouched dick. Felix flicks his thumb over the tip and strokes him a few times before handing him the condom. Once Chan is ready, he pours some lube into his hand, stroking Chan once again and getting into position. Chan's face contorts in pleasure as Felix slowly sinks down on him.

Felix braces himself on his chest, moaning softly as he tries to adjust to his size. He experimentally moves his hips and allows himself to relax and sink down deeper. "Feel so fucking full already," he groans deliciously.

Chan moans, relieved once he's buried fully inside of him, and rests his hands on his hips. "You're okay?" he asks, watching Felix observantly.

"Yeah," he nods, panting a little. "Just need a moment."

"Take your time," he says gently, rubbing his hips soothingly.

"Okay," Felix says to himself, lifting his hips and sinking back down on him after a moment. They both moan at the movement, and Felix repeats it, Chan's hips meeting his this time. He braces himself on his chest and works out a rhythm that feels good for them both. Felix moves eagerly on top of him, moans falling freely from his mouth by now.

Chan beneath him has his head thrown back into the pillow, jaw growing slack at the tightness of Felix around him. After all, it's been a while for him too. "Fuck, Felix," he groans softly.

Felix tries to angle his hips a little differently to hit his prostate but doesn't fully succeed. After a few tries, a frustrated whimper leaves his mouth, and Chan glances up at him.

His breath hitches, seeing tears brimming Felix's eyes, and he has to bite back a groan. Wow, he didn't know he had a thing for that. "You're okay, pretty boy?" he asks gently, and Felix shakes his head, whining softly.

"Need more," he admits, and Chan understands, gently patting his hips.

"Let me help," he says reassuringly, and Felix does, letting him angle his hips a little differently. Chan thrusts up into him, and Felix rewards him with a deep, relieved moan, nails digging into his torso. Chan's eyes roll back at the way Felix clenches around him, moaning obscenely loud and shaking on top of him. "Fucks sake," he breathes out, pounding up into him desperately. Felix slams his hips down against him, their moans growing louder. They chase their high together, pushing each other over the edge soon after. Felix collapses against him, and Chan lazily thrusts up into him still, rubbing his back soothingly.

MASTERLISTS | PROMPT LIST | GUIDELINES

After a moment of silence, Felix glances at him with a shy smile. "Again?" Chan kisses him fiercely as an answer, flipping them over in the process. Again.

Taglist: (Please let me know if you want to be added to/removed from the taglist!)

@kai-lee08 @atinyniki @mal-lunar-28 @lilmisssona @aaasia111 @galaxycatdrawz @kthstrawberryshortcake @channieaddict @soullostinspaceandtime @malfoygalaxies @rebecca-johnson-28 @sundownimup-1 @aalexyuuuhm

[cherryeol04]

Ghostly Love

➻ Pairings: Jeongin x Reader

➻ Genre: slice of life, office romance, humor

➻ Additional: first meetings, blossoming friendships polyamorous relationships

➻ Word Count: 3.6K

➻ Warnings: N/A

➻ Author’s notes: This story is cross posted on multiple sites under the same username!

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for you to hear voices while at work. Not the everyday murmurs of your coworkers as they pass by, but disembodied voices. Sounds that continue to make you question your sanity. It started about a year into your job, back when the office only consisted of Lucy and Chan and yourself, plus the big boss man. The three of you had worked in even tighter cubicles than you do currently, so you never thought much of it when you thought someone called your name, but when you would turn to them, either one wouldn’t be at their desk or both would be silently working.

You always shook it off as just hearing incorrectly. Perhaps it had been the lyrics of the song playing on your computer. But you were sure you could decipher songs coming from speakers and the sound of a voice that was coming from behind you. Regardless, the incidences would be few and far between, until they weren’t. The frequency increased, especially when the company made the move to a new office. It was like suddenly the voice was more vocal and said more things than just your name. But still softly enough that you thought it was a coworker.

But that all changed today.

The office was still relatively quiet - most of the morning shift hadn’t arrived yet. As the opening staff that day, you were both happy and sad. Happy because you didn’t have to deal with Karen the moment you got in, but sad because you had to leave Changbin’s warm bed. It was hard to plan time to visit him, what with your other two demanding boyfriends that wanted to constantly smother you with kisses, but you made it work, spending the nights that Changbin had off over at his place. Last night had been one of those nights and you absolutely didn’t want to leave, and he was making a great case on why you should just call out and stay with him. But alas, you had a meeting today that you couldn’t miss and after ten minutes of making out, you finally managed to get ready for work and left the pouting man alone.

Sipping your coffee, you just rounded the wall into your cubicle when a voice called out, “Anyone out there?” You looked around quickly, eyes darting back and forth, looking for the person, but you saw no one. The area was eerily quiet. Cautiously, you approached your chair and slowly took a seat, eyes scanning over every inch of area around you, waiting to see if someone would just randomly pop up to try and scare you. But nothing happened. Taking another sip of of your coffee, you sat the cup down and faced your computer, taking a breath to calm yourself. It wasn’t strange for you to hear things - most of the time it was nothing. But this time was different. You had never heard such a clear phrase before. Normally it was just your name, or a whisper of ‘hey’. Anything and everything that most people just assumed you had mistakenly misheard. No one had called your name or said anything, you were just hearing things. But this had been unmistakeable. Someone had asked a question and you couldn’t find that person.

You hated that your mind immediately jumped to ghosts, but it did. You blamed Jisung partially for that, but you were just as bad when it came to supernatural horror movies. The thought of a ghost being in the office wasn’t as scary as it probably should have been. You were thinking more along the lines of Casper rather than The Conjuring. But at the same time, maybe you had just been hearing things? Maybe it had just been a noise and in an attempt to rationalize and understand what you just heard, you created the phrase because that’s what it sounded like it. In the end, that’s what had to have happened. Shaking your head, you focused on the work in front of you. Getting lost in the tasks set out before you, you hadn’t realized how much time had passed until you heard the inhuman screeching voice that was Karen, and her target for this lovely morning, Jisung, from the sounds of it.

Your thoughts and prayers are with him.

“Y/n.”

You spun in your chair, looking around, but both cubicles next to you were empty. Your head whipped around and looked at the cubicle wall that divided your desk and Jisung’s, but no one was there either. Were you hearing things again? Maybe. Karen was in the building now, so it was highly possible that she had been ranting about you again, for whatever reason. You would have thought by now that she would quit after she had been so humiliated in front of Chan. People were well aware of the game she played and wanted nothing to do with her. God, how stupid could one person be? With a groan you plopped back down in your chair, ready to start working again when you heard your name being called again.

This time you jumped up and spun around, walking through each cubicle to verify that there was no one there trying to play a prank on you. And after making your rounds through Lucy’s, Chan’s and Jisung’s cubicle, you came up empty handed. “I must be fucking crazy then.” You muttered to yourself, rubbing your temples.

“Y/n!”

You screamed, turning quick circles and still seeing no one. But that voice had been right in your ear. There was no mistaking it this time and the fact that there was still no one around you was terrifying. Maybe it really was a ghost. You waited - for the voice again or someone to come running because of your scream, but when nothing happened, you let out a wary breath, eyes darting around. “I-Is someone there?” Your voice was barely a whisper, but it felt so loud in the empty office.

“Psst.” You whipped around, facing Lucy’s desk where the voice had come from. You weren’t sure why, but your eyes were drawn to something on the floor in the corner, behind a few stacked boxes. Cautiously, you approached the area, shoving Lucy’s chair to the side and moving the boxes to the side. Laying the corner, long forgotten, was a necklace that just seemed to shine, even as your shadow blocked out the light. Reaching down, you ran your fingers over the heart pendant and felt a spark run through them, cool and electrifying. It didn’t hurt and in fact it enticed you to actually pick it up. The chain and pendant were both a brilliant gold, small and delicate. It appeared real but even if it wasn’t, you would still keep it.

It was beautiful.

“Babe?”

For the second time that day, you screamed, turning to stare up at Jisung with wide eyes, heart racing. “Jesus Christ, Jisung! Don’t do that!” You scolded, glaring at him. Jisung couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he knelt down next to you.

“Sorry baby, just wanted to know what you were doing.” He said, looking down at the necklace in your hand. “What’s that?” He asked.

“A necklace.” Lifting your hand, you showed of your prize happily. “I found it.”

“It’s beautiful.” Jisung whispered as he reached out and lifted the pendant, looking it over. “Huh, well, finders keepers right?” He asked with a grin and you nodded eagerly.

“Yup!” Putting the necklace in your pocket, You stood, taking Jisung’s hand and helping him up as well. “I see you escaped Karen’s grasp.” You smirked teasingly, nudging Jisung’s side as you started back towards your desk.

“Oh yeah, dumped her on one of the drivers. Poor sap.” Jisung sighed, shaking his head. Moving behind you, he slipped his arms around your waist and pressed a kiss to your neck. “How was your night?” You hummed and looked at him, grinning.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Oh very much so, please share all the details.”

You laughed and shook your head. “And you think it’s wise to pop a boner here?” You teased. Jisung paused, mulling over your words before sighing.

“Damn Karen, always ruining everything.” He pouted. Giggling, you turned in his arms, wrapping them around his neck, your fingers playing with the hairs on the back of his head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all you want to know tonight.” You whispered, leaning in slowly. “Just you, me and Minho, hmm?” Your lips brushed lightly over Jisung’s in a ghost of a kiss.

“Sounds like a plan, beautiful.” Jisung leaned in for another kiss.

“Oh disgusting. This is a place of work, not some place for you to fornicate in.” You jerked away from Jisung, eyes already rolling as Lucy’s voice pierced the once pleasantly quiet area.

“You’re just jealous.” Jisung grinned, his arms tightening around your waist. He rocked you both side to side while looking at Lucy. “Maybe if you weren’t such a b-“ You quickly covered Jisung’s mouth before he could start a war that no one wanted to be apart of him.

“Y/n!” Lucy squawked, cheeks red. “Are you just going to let him talk to me like that?!”

Ever the peace keeper - for the most part - you pulled away from Jisung and gave a tentative smile. “You know how Jisung is.” You started. “And half the things he says he doesn’t mean. Let’s just calm down and go back to work.” You offered. Thankfully, it seemed to be enough for Lucy as she turned up her nose and walked to her desk. At least you didn’t have to actually apologize to her because that would just be humiliating. Technically neither of you did anything wrong but you sure as hell didn’t want to have to get into a confrontation with her.

Jisung scoffed behind you and you looked back at him with a raised brow. “Jisung.”

“Yeah yeah yeah. I’m going.” He scowled and stuck his tongue out at you before heading out and around to his desk. You watched him go, shaking your head before going back to your desk. The air was awkward and full of tension and you weren’t sure what to say or do to resolve it. You hated the feelings it brought, but you certainly weren’t going to start a conversation with Karen. And you were sure Jisung wasn’t mad at you - probably just more annoyed than anything and you didn’t want to test his patience, so you decided you should just leave him alone. That left you sitting at your desk, trying very hard to focus on your work in hopes of making time pass by quicker and everyone would calm down and the situation would be forgotten.

~*~

You were more than thankful to finally be back in your apartment. Ever since the confrontation with Lucy there had been a weird tension in the air and Jisung had been way on edge. So much so that he hardly interacted with you. You weren’t sure if Minho was able to get him out of his funky mood or not and you had planned to ask many times but your boss kept dropping load after load of assignments on you, you barely had a chance to breathe. You felt bad - like a horrible girlfriend because it was really your fault. You were trying to diffuse a situation and it felt like you had taken Lucy’s side, unintentionally of course because you hated that bitch. But you didn’t think Jisung saw it that way.

Grabbing your phone, you sent him a quick message as you made your way to your bedroom, already stripping off your clothes.

“Y/n”

You screamed, the unexpected call of your name filling the quiet room. You turned quickly, expecting to see someone standing in your hallway because that voice had been so loud and clear. Yet, there was no one there. The hallway was empty, the only sound was the hum of the A/C. “Fuck me, dude.” You sighed. At this point, you really did think you were crazy. Turning back around, you froze, eyes locking on the very real person standing in front of your bed.

“Y/n”

You screamed, long and loud.

“Was that necessary?”

“Y-yes!” You stuttered out. “Who are you and how did you get in my house?!” You hadn’t meant to ask the question, but you were understandably upset - heart hammering in your chest as you stared at the intruder. Very handsome, but an intruder none the less.

“I’m Jeongin and you let me in.” He said slowly, eyeing you with the suspicion you had for him. The audacity for him to even suggest you let him in, because you knew you hadn’t. You would remember vividly if you brought home a handsome man and you certainly wouldn’t have left them unattended to for so long.

“No I didn’t.” You argued.

“Yes you did.” He countered and you glared, crossing your arms over your chest, inadvertently covering your lingerie clad breasts.

“I would remember if I let a stranger into my home.”

He blinked, rolling his eyes slowly afterwards. “Doubt it. You couldn’t even find me when I called your name all those times.”

“Called my-“ you frowned, head cocking to the side. “You never called my name until just now.”

“Yes I did.”

“No you didn’t.” The argument started again, leaving you frustrated, scared and confused. Clearly there was something weird going on here.

“Yes I did. Every day you were in the office, I would call for you. Sometimes I got your attention and other times I didn’t.” he explained, a small frown gracing his lips. “You’re the only one that seemed to hear me. My name is Jeongin, by the way.”

The reminder of the days at office when you thought someone was calling your name, never finding the source of it. You thought you were going crazy, hearing voices that no one else could. And yet here is this person, standing before you, telling you they had been the one calling your name. It made so much sense and yet no sense at the same time.

“I’m confused. I’ve never seen you at work before. Are you a new hire or something?”

“Or something.” Jeongin agreed.

Cryptic.

“Okay, what department are you in? Where did you come from?”

There was hesitation on his face, visible only for a passing moment. Slowly, he reached out and pointed, your eyes looking towards your dresser. It took a moment for realization dawned on you, because it seemed foolish that the guy came from your dresser of all places. But that wasn’t what he was pointing at. It was the necklace laying on top of it - the necklace you had found at work today.

“The necklace?” You asked and looked back at him. “You came from the necklace?” Jeongin nodded and you weren’t sure which was more outlandish. This man came out of a necklace or or you entertaining the thought of disembodied voices calling out your name at work for the past year of your life. “Yeah okay.” You scoffed.

“I did! I can prove it to you!”

“Ho-“ Before you could even ask your question, Jeongin just disappeared and that left you feeling some sort of way. It wasn’t a slow dissipation. He didn’t do a barrel roll or anything. He just straight up disappeared. It almost felt like what you assumed a jump cut would look like in real life. “What the fuck?!”

“Y/n.”

Your heard your name, only this time you knew it was Jeongin’s voice - could hear the clear intonation. And yet as you looked around, he was no where to be seen.

“Y/n.”

You were drawn to the necklace as he called out again. Walking over, you stood before the dresser and stared the piece of jewelry down. There was just something about it that you couldn’t quit describe but you knew it was off. Maybe Jeongin was telling the truth?

“Believe me now?” You screamed again, whipping around and came face to face with a grinning Jeongin. “How-?! Where-?!” You were at a loss for words for what was going on because it just seemed so implausible. The term for what you were seeing hung heavily in the air, but you didn’t want to think it because that would mean it was true - or you really were crazy. But there honestly wasn’t any other explanation other than…

“You’re a ghost?”

“Ding ding ding!”

The fact that Jeongin so readily agreed to it, even seemed thrilled that you spoke the correct answer was a bit terrifying. He didn’t seem like the type of ghost that didn’t know he was dead. Quite the opposite and certainly a stark contrast to all the ghost horror films you’ve watched. He wasn’t trying to murder you either. You wondered how long he had been dead and why he seemed to be tied to the necklace you had found. There were a lot of questions circulating in your head, but you just couldn't seem to bring yourself to voice them; lost and confused.

"Y/n?" He cocked his head and you had to admit, it was kind of cute. The more you stared at Jeongin, the more you were slowly realizing that he didn't seem like a ghost. He wasn't transparent or pale. There weren't any noticeable signs of trauma to his body that would indicate how he died. When had he died? He looked so young and his clothes were pretty modern so it couldn't have been all that long ago. Your heart clenched at the thought of Jeongin being torn from the world at such a young age. He looked younger than you, or maybe it was just his adorably boyish smile that was doing it. "Are you okay?"

The question was laughable. Of course you weren't okay. There was a ghost in your room, talking to you as if you had been friends for years and well, maybe you had been? Okay, not years, but it had been a while since you started hearing the voice calling your name, a least a year at the office and Jeongin had mentioned that it seemed like you were the only one who heard him. The loneliness he must have felt, calling out for you day after day and you never responding. Well you did, but not physically too him. You doubted looking around confused counted as a response.

"I'm fine," You told him, brows slowly furrowing. "I think? I don't know." Sighing softly, you rubbed the back of your neck lightly. "This is kind of a lot to deal with."

"You think this is a lot, you should try finding out you're dead." Jeongin laughed, and you knew he meant it as a light hearted joke, but you couldn't bring yourself to laugh because that thought was just so depressing.

"Jeongin-"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." he apologized quickly. "Your feelings are definitely valid and I didn't mean to make it seem like they weren't just because I'm dead." You stared at him, blinking blankly a few times before a small smile spread across your lips. He was sweet, and kind and definitely had better manners than most people you had met before. And his mentality screamed that he was part of the current generation, which means your initial assumptions had been correct. He must have died recently.

"It's okay." You assured. "Um, so would it be okay if I get changed and then we can continue this conversation?" It was only as the words were leaving your lips did you remember that you were standing there shirtless and growing self-conscious by the second. Jeongin at least had the decency to blush, or what you thought was a blush. It looked real enough, but maybe it was a ghostly trick? He quickly covered his eyes and turned away from you.

"Sorry!"

"It's fine." Chuckling, you slipped around him and finished stripping, changing into your pajamas as quickly as you possibly could. "Alright, done. Now, I supposed I have....questions." you said carefully and he nodded.

"Ask away! I'm an open book!"

----

The next morning left you still confused, but not as much as previously. Jeongin had already jumped scared when your alarm went off thirty minutes ago, cementing the fact that you had indeed found a ghost. Last night, the two of you had spent a few hours talking, and you learned a lot about Jeongin. When he died and how and how the necklace was a gift from his mother and one of his most prized possession. Why he was attached to the necklace was still a mystery. All he knew was that when the light showed up to collect him, he was unable to move towards and since then he had been searching for someone, anyone who was able to hear him.

Apparently you where the great ghost whisperer.

Not that you minded. Jeongin was a sweet heart, if not popping up when you least expected it. Like in the shower. That had been a scare as well, on both ends and the ghost had disappeared instantly. You had tried to call out to him, let him know it was okay, but you didn't get an answer back and you just assumed that Jeongin was hiding within the necklace, still embarrassed. It was cute. He was cute.

Was it kosher to call a ghost cute? For some reason you felt like you would be canceled for it. So maybe you wouldn't say anything out loud, not like people would believe you if you told them. Jeongin's presence was definitely going to take some getting used to, but you actually sort of looked forward to it. At least on the days you weren't with your boyfriends, you wouldn't feel so alone.

Tags: @sauceracha @jisungsjheekies @luminouskalopsia @hanjisungismybaby @imbonibi @jiwlys @leafsmindpalace @army-of-carats @peachmilkcloud @letterstoskz @lauraneuuh @babyskz @stay-here-dont-stray @meen1ez @slinekyu @feedthefandoms995 @schokoshaker @rejemi @ahhhhhhhhhghh @thsrndkd @halotopicecream @skzmonster @jumunnaa @serendipityryn @yayaistime @bxddiebang @sachifukyo @eastleighsblog @hydrawaterdragon @cyberpunksunwoo @3rachasninja @haileybugulug @luvyev

( If you want to join the list, you can find the info here! Also I’m sorry for those listed in the tags but not getting tagged. For some reason tumblr can’t find your blog to tag. I’m hoping it figures it out soon like it did for others.)

[tennessoui]

For The propmts, "I can't trust you"

hi hello!!!

this is set in my "there was only one desk" au, where obi-wan and anakin, well. share a desk in the office and hate each other.

"""""hate each other"""""

(1.5k) (angst here and now but actually the stupidest thing ever)

The person sitting at Obi-Wan’s desk is not, in fact, Obi-Wan Kenobi. For one thing, it’s a woman with a severe red bobcut and better fashion sense than Kenobi’s ever had. For another thing, Anakin can’t actually remember a time when he’s made the trek up to the twelfth floor just to annoy Kenobi only for the man to not give him attention. So this woman, who doesn’t even raise her eyes to look at him when he’s standing next to her desk, can’t be Kenobi.

“Uh,” Anakin says. He’s holding a singular cupcake on a plate in both hands, red velvet because Obi-Wan hates red velvet and with a candle in the icing because Obi-Wan is extremely paranoid about the sensitivity of the sprinkler system. “Who are you?”

The woman’s fingers pause on the keyboard and she looks up at him sharply. With a raised eyebrow, she tilts her head to the nameplate on Obi-Wan’s desk.

Bo-Katan Kryze it reads.

Anakin blinks. “Do you—share this desk with Obi-Wan?”

“I don’t know who that is. I sit here every day,” Kryze says. “Is there something I can help you with?” She makes it clear that she believes there is absolutely nothing she wants to help him with.

“Um.” Anakin stares at her uninterested face, the nameplate, the desk itself.

He realizes rather suddenly that the plants are gone. All of Obi-Wan’s plants are gone, and in their places are picture frames filled with pictures of strangers, a standing calendar, and a souvenir mug.

“No,” he says slowly. “Sorry.”

“No worries,” the woman says, turning back to her computer. “Have a nice day.”

Anakin turns around and goes back to the elevators around the corner. He feels a bit stupid, holding a plate wth a cupcake on it, so he tosses it into a small trashcan next to a desk as he passes by, plate and all.

He still feels a bit stupid, and the feeling lingers all the way from the twelfth floor to the tenth, where his desk is. If Obi-Wan was playing a prank on him, he just fell for it like an idiot. 

But if he hadn’t—

“Obi-Wan wasn’t at his desk,” Anakin says to Vos as he sits down in front of his own computer. “There was this woman there instead, and she’d moved all of his stuff. Even the nametag.”

Vos doesn’t look up from his screen. He’s been sort of distant since Anakin came back, like he forgot how to talk or some shit during the month and a half he was away.

His silence would make sense if Obi-Wan asked him to help with the prank. And Vos probably would hop on the opportunity to fuck with Anakin. He tries to say he doesn’t play favorites of course, but he very clearly does. 

And his favorite very clearly is Kenobi, not Anakin. 

Anakin remembers the chair incident, after all.

So if Obi-Wan told him about trying to pull a fast one on Anakin his first day back at the office, hire a woman to sit at his desk and change all of its decorations just to confuse him, Vos would probably help out by pretending everything is normal.

Anakin narrows his eyes and looks at his desk. Nothing’s been moved or changed since he last saw it. No new cameras to video his reaction.

“Where’s Obi-Wan?” he asks, looking over at Vos. “I mean, it’s a lot of work, isn’t it? Points for creativity, I guess though.”

Vos’ fingers still on his keys and he finally looks up, going as far as to take his hands off the keyboard completely. “What?”

“Like where did he put his plants? And the zen garden with all the sand, you know? He moved that zen garden somewhere else just to fuck with me for a bit? And the name too, her name— Bo-Katan? Kryze? He could have tried a little harder to make up something believable.”

Vos looks at him, eyebrows furrowing. “Sorry,” he says slowly. “But–sorry, but what do you think is happening here, exactly?”

Anakin frowns. Usually Vos would be laughing by now. “Joke’s on him though, I brought him a cupcake to celebrate my first day back, and me and Bo-Katan split it instead. No cupcake for Obi-Wan. It’s what he deserves for such a lame prank.”

“Skywalker,” Vos’ voice sounds even slower. “Skywalker, there is no prank.”

There’s a very weird feeling in his gut. He forces a laugh. “Uh, right, of course not,” he says. “But seriously, where is Obi-Wan? I’ve been taking pictures I want to show him for months. He’s going to love them.”

He better love them, at least, if he knows what’s good for him. But Luke and Leia are adorable, especially now that they’ve stopped teething on everything in range. Even someone as heartless and deplorable as Kenobi will be swayed by their big eyes and general all-encompassing cuteness.

The look Vos gives him is uncharacteristically cold. “Two things, Skywalker. First, there’s no prank. Obi-Wan quit. Sounds like you brought cupcakes to his replacement, like some. One man office welcome brigade. Second, if you really think Obi-Wan Kenobi wants to see your fucking baby pictures, you’re more stupid than I thought.”

Anakin blinks and then stares as the feeling in his stomach spreads to his chest. “What? No. No way.” He blinks again, eyebrows furrowing. “Is this the prank?”

Vos pushes his chair away from his keyboard, rolling it to the edge of his desk. “Skywalker. Anakin. There is no prank. I’m telling you the truth. Obi-Wan has separated from the company. He is not here today, and he won’t be here tomorrow. He left.”

“But—” Anakin’s mouth is open, but no words are coming out. “But. He didn’t tell me.” 

There’s a knot in his stomach, one that may be bigger than his stomach altogether. No, it has to be some sort of—of prank. Of practical joke at his expense. When Obi-Wan pops out in an hour or so, Anakin is going to hit him so hard in, like. The shoulder. For the crime of being really, really not funny.

“Why would he tell you, Skywalker?” Vos asks, carefully putting his hands on his knees as he looks at him with an unreadable expression on his face. “You don’t like each other.”

“I—I mean. We do!” Anakin splutters. “We spent quarantine together! And last summer when we did the office expedition and got lost, we camped together! For two whole days!”

“Those aren’t bonding activities,” Quinlan says. “You know that, right? No one else would consider those things as foundations for a friendship or even workplace relationship.”

Like he always seems to do when Kenobi and “workplace relatitonships” are brought up in the same sentence, Anakin flushes. He can feel the tips of his go red.

“Look, I get that you’re—friends or whatever,” he mutters, pitching his voice down low so that no one else can eavesdrop. Not that anyone else is really paying attention, but just in case. “But we’ve—you know, you saw us. During the. The quarantine. We. Spent the night together.”

“Yeah, you fucked,” Vos rolls his eyes. “You fucked.” “So if he were going to leave the company, he’d tell me, alright?” Anakin puts his hand down flat on the desk. “Yeah? He’d tell me.”

“Only if sleeping with you meant something to him,” Vos points out, pushing his chair back fully behind his desk. “So I guess it didn’t.”

The words—sting.

A lot.

The words fucking hurt like Vos has just thrown a fucking cactus into his dick. Because—alright, they’d never talked about it afterwards or anything, but—kissing Kenobi, his annoying and annoyingly attractive deskmate, sleeping with him, touching him and being touched in return…it’d changed things for Anakin. Things he didn’t want to name then, and things he definitely doesn’t want to name now, if—if Obi-Wan really…really just.

Left.

Anakin shakes his head, wordless. “It meant something,” he says, practicing the words, even if it’s only Vos around to hear him.

“Yeah?” and Vos’ voice is cold. “Then why’d you just take almost two months of paternity leave, huh? If sleeping with my friend meant something.”

Anakin shakes his head again, staring fixedly at his keyboard. “Did he really—Vos, you’re not lying, are you? Did he actually quit?”

Vos is silent for several long moments. “Yeah,” he says, sounding strange. “Yeah, he did. This is—you’re upset about this, aren’t you?”

It could still be a joke though, because sometimes Vos goes too far and sometimes he doesn’t know when to quit, even though Anakin thinks he’s pretty obviously begging him to stop right about now.

He stands. “I—I don’t believe you. I can’t— I can’t trust you.”

Vos watches him swing his jacket on with raised eyebrows. “I suppose you don’t need his address then,” he says, expression guarded. “If you’re going to fact-check this yourself.”

Of course Anakin is going to fact-check this for his fucking self.

And either way, Obi-Wan Kenobi is going to have a lot of explaining to do.

[lazystar]

Jeongin office fake dating crumbs while you all wait for me to finish writing it! Big shoutout to @yourfavbinerdgf for being my working editor and beta reader as I get through the behemoth of a plot in my noggin. For now I present to you all my FIRST ever moodboard for this tale. This is a reader insert so use the outfits and makeup photos for references to Y/N’s style and aesthetic. Y/N in this one is chaotic but elegant, Jeongin is so BF in suits. I spent so mf long trying to find a cubicle aesthetic for Y/N, Jeongin would maybe have like a coffee maker and his spreadsheets out tbh i don’t think he would decorate his cubicle. Maybe as he and Y/N grew closer he would have pics from their bestie dates.

Also we will have sm himbo Changbin core in this baby gworl is beefy and dumb in this.

office man Jeongin is so <loud train noises and construction equipment noises>.

[moonhoures]

warning: every post will include smut! minors do not interact! (18+)

these will be posted at midnight (CST) from Oct. 1st to Oct. 31st. the links will be added accordingly after each one is posted!

* titles are subject to change up until posting date!

go to the bottom of this post to join the taglist! ↓

1. Video Games | Enhypen Jay

— angry sex + makeup sex

2. One Night Stand | Seventeen Hoshi

— anonymous sex + roleplay

3. Relax | Ateez Yeosang

— bath sex

4. Insatiable | Enhypen Sunghoon

— biting kink + blood play [vampire!au]

5. Merciless | Stray Kids Hyunjin

— bondage

6. Countdown | TXT Taehyun

— brat taming

7. All Of Me | Monsta X Jooheon

— breeding kink / creampie

8. Stargazing | Monsta X Changkyun

— choking

9. Sunday Morning | P1Harmony Jiung

— cockwarming

10. Cowgirl | Ateez Wooyoung

— costumes

11. Pretty When You Cry | NCT Jeno

— dacryphilia

12. “It Just . . . Slipped” | Stray Kids Chan

— daddy kink

13. Play Thing | Twice Mina

— degradation

14. Open Wide | BTS Taehyung

— dom!idol

15. Score | Stray Kids Minho

— dry humping / thigh riding

16. Wicked Games | NCT Haechan

— edging / orgasm denial

17. Watch Yourself | Seventeen Jeonghan

— mirror sex

18. That’s My Girl | Twice Jihyo

— mommy kink

19. Thin Walls | ZB1 Matthew

— masturbation

20. I Can See You | The Boyz Sangyeon

— office sex [coworkers!au]

21. Sit | Blackpink Rosé

— oral

22. Good To Me | Seventeen Wonwoo

— overstimulation

23. Kiss Me Thru The Phone | Stray Kids Felix

— phone sex

24. Beautiful | NCT Jaehyun

— praise kink

25. Focus | Ateez San

— sex tape / filming

26. Knew Better | Seventeen S.Coups

— spanking

27. First Time For Everything | (G)-Idle Soyeon

— squirting

28. Bad Day | Wonho

— stripping

29. Hotel Room Service | TXT Huening Kai

— sub!idol

30. Three’s Company | P1Harmony Keeho & Theo

— threesome

31. Weapon | ITZY Chaeryoung

— toys

🕸️ Taglist 🕷️

to join the taglist for this event only, please comment on this post! asks or comments on any other posts will not be valid.

edit: if your age isn’t visible on your blog you will not be added! you must be 18+ to be eligible for this taglist. thank you!

if you’d like to join my other taglists, you can do so here.

if you have any questions, i suggest sending those through my inbox!

[dcxdpdabbles]

For your adoptive son au all I can think about is the media storm that’s about to destroy these two 😭

Like when the news comes out everyone’s gonna bash Danny, saying things like “always knew he was shady” or “figures, rich people are all bad” and then praising Dick for going undercover and revealing the monster

And then BAM the accusations are false! All the kids that were on his file of “trafficked” kids all came to testify in Danny’s defense!

Then because the media needs someone to hate all eyes turn to Dick. Because “these are serious accusations he’s practically ruined Danny’s career!”

Tbh when all the court stuff is done I totally imagine Danny severing any and all ties to Wayne company, not because he’s petty but because it genuinely hurts to be connected to a company that belongs to his exes family

Like this is gonna destroy Danny and Dick but the media is gonna make it so much worse for them

The batfam is gonna kick themselves for honestly not digging a little deeper and interviewing a few of the kids on file before straight up turning him in, they probably think they ruined Danny’s life with these accusations

Danny probably doesn’t care that much about the company at this point, he’s just sad that the man he thought he was having a genuine relationship with turned out to be a fake and probably never loved him at all 💔

Despite the pain, Dick keeps an eye on the news, waiting for the announcement of Crowne's arrest to be announced. He went back to bed after taking some photos of the journals. He laid next to the man one that was profiting off of children.

He stared at the ceiling, feeling a sick sort of numb. Unwillingly he thought back to all the times he had had the stray thought that Crowne wasn't evil.

That the bats had it wrong. How could a man as kind and dear as he does something so horrid? Dick had allowed himself to be relived with each failed month of searching for evdidnce.

He can admit it now. He had prayed that Crowne was innocent and had conducted his investigation not nearly as through as he should have.

He had.

Crowne even keeps a record of who and where the children were sold to. The man he fallen in love with was bookkeeping his crimes as easily as he did for his company.

The following day, Crowne- he had been Danny only a few hours ago.- had made him breakfast. The same way his mother used to make for Dick, admitting with a blush that he contacted Harley Cirius to ask for the recipe.

He made his heart swell and then break in the same bite. Dick played his role through the breakfast. His face felt like plastic, the smile he sent Crowne slimly, and he all but ran out of that house.

The house that, in another life, they would have likely raise a family in.

Don't think about it. Dick hissed at himself, tears filling his eyes as he drove away. Bruce had edited out the evidence and would break in while Crowne was working to capture the record books. They would meet in Commissioner Gordon's office, where Dick would turn in his lover. Not my lover. It was never real.

If he tells himself that, maybe he will believe it.

The commissioner had been grim faced as Dick broke down in his office, speaking through wrenched sobs and broken words of the journals he had found. He didn't even need to pretend to be a sobbing mess.

Dick doesn't think he's felt this terrible in a long time. It felt worse than when he and Bruce had their fights. At least then he could also feel anger. Now, he only feels pain, grief, betyal and shattered hope. Bruce- playing the part of a worried father- rubbed his back and anchored him through the moment.

The story they went with was that a few weeks ago, Dick started to suspect that Crowne was cheating on him. After learning about his work schedule, he noticed his boyfriend was always busy with non-work business.

He brought it up with Crowne, but the other man would often dance around the subject. After a while of this, Dick had been unable to help snoop around, where he stumbled across the journals.

At first, he assumed the books were for the many children-based charities that Crowne ran and didn't think they were too important. He continues to date Crowne after not finding any cheating evidence. But Dick could not help about those strange journals or Crowne's cagey behavior about his wearabouts.

Dick had searched the children's names, only to find them all matching missing children notices. He realized what Crowne was doing and had gone straight to Bruce, freaking out.

Bruce had taken them to Gordon since the man was such a close family friend, and they were worried what Crowne would do to Dick if he learned what Dick had discovered.

Gordon had assured them that they would remain anonymous until the trial,getting the warrants and taking the necessary steps to arrest Crowne. Feeling numb, Dick had been taken back to the Wayne Manor.

Bruce fretted around him, unsure what to do with his son, who had obviously fallen for a monster. Jason and Damian tried in their own way too help too, but Dick could not feel up to any of it.

He climbs into his room, muffling his sobs into his pillow, feeling sick and wrong to his stomach. He tossed and turneduntil Crowne's voice whispered I think I love you, Dick and he as if his world was ending.

A few seconds later, he's racing into the bathroom, hurling the breakfast Crowne had made him. It swirled around in the toilet as Dick gagged and gasped, mourning what he had lost for this mission.

The sweet kind man he fell in love with was dead to him.

"The worst part," Dick thinks he confessed to Bruce between tears and throwing up. His father had come racing when Jason reported the noises coming from Dick's bathroom. "Is that I was the one who killed him."

It's been three days.

He had texted Crowne lying about going on a trip and barely responded to the messages he received in return. He hadn't gone out on patrol in days and had barely ventured out of his room.

Sleep evaded because all he dreamed about was Crowne's sweet smiles, gentle hugs, and laughing eyes. His nightmares were filled with Crowne's smug smirk, surrounded by screaming children in cages. The worst nights were when Crowne would kiss him, pushing him against the cages as children cling to Dick's legs screaming and crying in haunting tones. why? why? why? Why do you love him? Look what he's done to us! Why!? Save us!

Dick woke with his own scream trapped in his throat and his arms reaching for a man who he shouldn't want anymore.

Now he, in the present, he sat before his tv watching the News. The lights were all off, the curtains drawn tightly closed. His family worried about him, but they all agree to watch the moment by himself, if only to spare his diginty.

Gordon had sent the message that the warrents were approve and proof had been dropped off by Batman after bringing it to the hero's attention.

They would be arresting Crowne.

Dick would watch it live. See with his own eyes, and his own ears what his lies had exposed.

"Breaking news," The anchor suddenly says, staring intently into the camera. Besides her, a small window shows the familiar front entrance of Crowne's company offices. Dick clenches his fist into the blankets he has wrapped around himself. "Danny Crowne, Owner, CEO and head developer for his family company, Crowne Co. has just been arrested on accusations of human trafficking. We go live to Crowne Co Admin bulding"

The window expands to the entire screen, and Dick feels his stomach turn into horrific mini-whirl pools as various camera crew scramble for a clear view. There is a crowd of unhappy citizens being held back by the police.

Someone had leaked what crimes Crowne had done. The news had spread fast enough that he was deeply hated by the people who had once cheered onhis name.

Crowne is led out in handcuffs by two scowling police officers. His suit is rumpled, and three large bruises are forming on his face- probably due to Officer Black, whose sister was sold to human traffickers when he was a kid-but it means nothing to his expression of devastation.

He looks to be in shock, staring down at his bound hands with dead seat eyes as if he was unsure of what he was seeing. The crowd starts screaming the moment they catch sight of him. Loud curses and swears are all aimed at the man who stumbles his way into the police car.

The doors of Crowne headquarters burst open by a screaming child. Timothy Drake is held back by officers as he desperately screams for his older brother. He starts fighting with all his tiny might as a woman from CPS drags him away.

The reporting journalist for the News outlet doesn't stop speaking as Crowne is led away, looking to be sobbing into his hands as the Police drive away. Drake is thrown into another car, banging on the windows and screaming so much his voice is raw.

The two would likely never see each other again.

Dick's vision blurs with more tears.

He wishes this would have made him angry. He's good with anger. He knows his rage. This grief is consumingly painful.

She outlines the accusations against Crowne, explaining that Gotham's finest had gotten a tip from an unknown source about the possible missing children. Dick slumps into his bed ice racing down his arms and legs, leaving each limb in pins and needles.

He can't stop picturing Crowne's form hunched over in tears, glowing in those red and blue lights.

"There is a gag order on the investigation, " the woman says, mic close to her face and looking grim. "We will keep the people updated with any new information released as we wait for Crowne's trail. Back to you Susan."

The screen flashes back to the old news member, who makes one single comment of disgust for Crowne before moving on to a string of cyber attackes by a unknown hacker.

Dick stops listening due to the rining that build up in his ears. It's done. Crowne was arrested. He will be go through his trail, be found guilty and locked up for the rest of his life.

Batman, Robin, and Sparrow would be hunting down the people involved in the ring, rescuing the missing children. The story was over. The villian defeated and the heros had won.

Yet, Dick felt that he could never live to see a happily ever after. He doesn't think he'll ever be able to feel happy.

______________________________________________________

Days blend into each other. Dick isn't sure how much time passes with him lying in his room, too exhausted to get upand go about his day. His family crowds around him, speaking in low, worried tones.

Jason tries to read to him. In bursts of awareness, he discusses the plot but most days, Dick can only find the energy to only stare at him.

Damian, still trying to find his footing in the manor, brings his cat- Alfred- to cuddle against Dick's chest. He doesn't speak much but the purring of his pe helps some sensations return.

Bruce spent most of his time petting Dick's hair and whispering apologies. For the fighting. For the war, he brought him into. For making him due something that had broken Dick's heart. Dick tells him between sobs that he forgives him and that he's sorry too.

Alfred just provids support, tea and stories of his own lost broken heart.

Dick can feel himself rot around in his room but can't bring himself to care. Not even when Bruce finally panics enough to invite the Teen Titians to speak to him. His friends arrive between waves of consciousness, forcing food down his throat and pushing him into the shower.

He isn't aware of how Crowne's trial is going. Walley doesn't think it is a good idea to keep up with it, blocking it from all his outlets. He's the only one he would be allowed to do that.

It leaves Dick in the dark, and suddenly the world looks so much colder. It is hard to remember the world is still spinning outside of the Manor.

Dick closes his eyes, sinking into his mattress, drifting away among the worried chattered of his friends. Thankfully, the nightmares have stopped. The memoriess too.

All that greets him is the blissful nothing of darkness.

____________________________________________________________

"You did this." A voice hisses, snapping Dick from his blank stare at the wall. Raven and Kori had just stepped out after magically him clean and had gone to go get him food.

How many days has it been since he left his room? Dick can't remember. It's been a while; his body feels weak. His friends' and family's eyes have grown increasingly frantic in worry.

He twists his head to find a small figure in his doorway. It's not any of his younger brothers but someone dressed in all black. The bottom half of their face is covered by a black cloth, leaving their burning blue eyes alight with hatred in plain sight.

A intruder.

Dick should be worried about that, shouldn't he? He can't find the energy to be.

"He trusted you. He loved you. And you did this to him," The figure spats, striding forward, hatred dripping from his words. "They're investigating my parents too. The police think they helped Danny and took me away from them. My life is ruined because of you."

He stands over his figure now, holding a needle. Dick wonders if he's going to kill him. He can't find it in himself to care. Is that not an alarming thought?

But he doesn't feel fear. In fact, Dick can't feel anything at all. He makes no sound as the needle breaks the skin of his neck, nor when the figure leans in to whisper. "It's only fair I ruin yours in turn, right?"

Dick slowly gives into the blissful darkness as more figures enter the room, surrounding his body and lifting it off the bed. The last thing he sees is the thrown picture frame, one of the intruders throwing onto the sheets.

It holds the smiling faces of Dick and Crowne on their last date.

[willow-scorp]

Timkon clone baby au with the grandparents fighting is my favorite thing

Because imagine that Lex Luthor, after finding out he had a grandson, that he didn't know about. And then finding out that the other father is Tim drake. Bruce's son. He now has to fight Bruce for his grandchilds love. And not just Bruce but his test tube baby daddy Clark.

And once Bruce's catches on that Lex knows? He DOUBLES DOWN. he's spoiling that kid so bad Tim has to physically beg him to stop becusse it's making a mess of their house. Lex of course does that same but he also throws in the added bonus of giving that kid the power of Lex Luthor a grand child. You want a new toy? Sure x-ray goggles? Of course. High-tech transportation technology hooked up to your kids jeep car? Anything for you kiddo 🥰. Kon has to physically show up to Lex corp to tell return it because they don't want their child to be travelling across the universe and of course Lex is like "Konner it has a parental control system of course. It'll only transport the kid as far as your back yard"

"they why the hell did it end up in your office yesterday?!?"

"it may have the exception of my office but it can't go anywhere else!"

"THATS STILL NOT OKAY??"

"Well what am I supposed to do Konner! You never bring them to visit! I have feelings too!"

Now Clark may not be able to compete money wise, but experiences? He's got you. He teaches the kid so much about the farm and the animals with Damian of course because uncle Damian is very protective. The kid loves the homemade pies from Martha and the fun they have with uncle Jon! It's not surprise going to the Kent's is one of the kids favorite things!!

Th war continues with the three fighting over best Grandparent only to find out that the kid has already chosen a secret 4th option in the form of one Selina Kyle. Also, imagine timkon kid choosing not to be a bat or a super as to not make their family fight and instead chooses to be a stray with Grandma Selina!

[sweetkpopmusings]

stray kids soulmate aus | y. jeongin <3

a/n: oh gosh, don't even get me started on how much i love jeongin :,-((( he has such a special place in my heart, so i hope my fellow innie girls appreciate this au as much as i do <333 pics not mine~

content: fluff, soulmate au | wc: 2k  | warnings: none really! | pairing: soulmate!jeongin x gn!reader | requests: open

♡ chan | minho | changbin | hyunjin | jisung | felix | seungmin | jeongin ♡

a soulmate mark appears on your body the first time you and your soulmate touch.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

jeongin wasn’t one to dwell much on when he’d meet his soulmate. he was happy with his life exactly as it was, and, unlike a lot of people, he lacked anything that hinted to when, where, or how he would meet his person. jeongin decided, that rather than falling into an existential crisis, he’d keep his thoughts glued to the present moment. everything would fall into place eventually. jeongin trusted that.

you, on the other hand, weren’t always so secure in the ambiguity of it all. lately, it seemed as though all of your friends were meeting their soulmates. you were happy for them, but the question of when is it my turn? nagged the back of your mind more often than you’d like to admit. you confided in your best friend one night about all of this, and, despite their lovestruck state after just meeting their person, they understood your feelings perfectly. everyone who knew you knew that you had a lot to offer, and they all wanted you to find someone who would tend to your heart like you deserved.

“i know there’s no way to force this kind of thing, but maybe…” your best friend trailed off, clearly considering their suggestion again before vocalizing it.

“at this point, i don’t think any idea is a bad idea,” you sighed.”

“what if you tried going on blind dates?”

“okay, i think we managed to find the one bad idea.”

your best friend laughed at your scowl, “i know, i know. no one wants to go on a blind date when we’re itching to be with our soulmate. but, if you didn’t want to feel like you’re twiddling your thumbs, maybe meeting new people could increase your chances of meeting your person sooner?”

you had to give it to them. their logic checked out. logic did not equal appeal though, so you gave them a “maybe” and a promise to let them set up the first blind date if it came to that. understanding the shift in tone, your friend changed the subject to your current content obsession. you let out a deep breath, happy to focus on something other than your incessant, endless longing to know who you were destined to be with.

a few days passed before you gave proper thought to the whole blind date suggestion. during your break, you sat in a plaza outside your office building, mind wandering with the background buzz of businesspeople. 

going on a string of blind dates seemed like a cinematic nightmare, with no guarantee that you’d meet your soulmate that way. then, there was the chance that this could expedite the process. you had to admit that, if going on some bad blind dates ultimately led to discovering who your soulmate was, then the risk could outweigh the benefits. were you really that desperate though? it didn’t feel great to be one of the few people you knew without your soulmate, but wouldn’t it feel worse to be the only one dating?

“excuse me, do you have a pen i could borrow?”

you frowned slightly at a stranger’s voice breaking your train of thought. that frown melted away, however, when you saw arguably the most attractive person standing in front of you. their golden hair fell in soft waves, accentuating the sharp features of their face. when you were caught in the gaze of their bubbly, brown eyes, you couldn’t fight the butterflies in your stomach.

“oh…i think i have one in my bag,” you answered, turning your face away from the beautiful stranger.

“it’s okay if you don’t!”

their voice was like wind chimes on a perfect spring day, so you prayed that you had a pen. that was a surefire way to hear them speak again.

“ah, here it is!” you smiled and held the pen out.

they grinned, “thank you! i–AH!”

the pen bounced between both of their hands several times before landing on the ground between you two. you laughed at both the comical scene and the frustrated scream they let out.

you leaned forward to grab the pen, jumping slightly when their hand brushed against yours. inhaling, you willed the bolts of lightning in your veins to fade quickly. you couldn’t handle embarrassing yourself in front of someone this cute.

with a sheepish chuckle, they picked up the pen, “i’ll bring this right back to you.”

you shook your head, still trying to regulate your heartbeat, “no, it’s okay! you can keep it.”

their eyes went wide, and you swore you saw them sparkle in the sunlight, “oh! thank you!”

you giggled at their response and again when they offered an awkward goodbye wave at the same time you did. once they turned their back, you bit your lip in a failed attempt to hide the huge smile on your face. that smile faded once you realized you had given away your favorite pen.

by the time your break was over, you made peace with the fact you’d never see that pen again. it was almost out of ink anyway, so maybe this was a sign you should finally buy a new one. you entered your office, sighing for a multitude of reasons.

the rest of the workday passed, and you grew excited at the prospect of returning home. perhaps you would stop at a stationery store on your way back to replace the pen you lost. while you mentally ran through the list of store options, your coworker leaned over your desk.

“hey, y/n! since when do you have a soulmate mark?”

you blinked a few times in confusion, “a what?”

your coworker pointed to the side of your hand, “that, right there! it’s a soulmate mark, isn’t it?”

you lifted your hand to your face, unsure of what to expect. somehow, you had failed to notice the bluish-purple blotch on the side of your hand. 

“i don’t know. maybe it’s just a bruise?”

you glanced up at your coworker, hoping they could provide some insight into the discovery they made. they shook their head vehemently.

“my cousin got one of those on her shoulder last year. it turns out the woman who bumped into her on the train was her soulmate. i swear, yours looks almost exactly like hers. just smaller,” they focused their eyes on your hand again, making you feel a little self-conscious, “yeah, that’s definitely a soulmate mark. how exciting!”

you ran your fingers over the discolored area, “huh, yeah, i guess so…”

not wanting to continue the conversation, you offered them a polite smile. when they asked you to keep them updated, you promised to, even though you had no idea when that mark appeared on your hand, much less who had touched you to cause it. 

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“wait…so why did you end up running three blocks to get a pen?” jisung furrowed his brow.

jeongin huffed after taking a big bite of food. it always amazed him how many times he’d have to explain stories like this.

“hyunjin’s pen broke,” jeongin pointed to hyunjin with his spoon, “he was having a breakdown because he was feeling so inspired at the café and was going to ‘lose the vision’ if he couldn’t finish his sketches. i wanted to have my drink in peace, so i offered to find a pen. it turns out, in this day and age, someone having a pen on them is rarer than a conversation without changbin flirting.”

hyunjin wrapped his arms around jeongin, “innie, you’re my hero!”

jeongin pushed him away, but hyunjin kept at it, “you saved the drawing. i don’t know how you did it, but you found the perfect pen.”

“that’s our innie! perfect as always!” jisung added in a baby voice.

jeongin groaned, swatting hyunjin away while reaching for more food. when seungmin started talking about a new game, he thought he was finally free from the attention. that dream was shattered when felix spoke.

“jeongin? what happened to your hand?”

jeongin lifted both hands to his face, unable to see anything at first. then, he saw a blue and purple mark on the side of his right hand. 

“i guessed i bruised it,” he shrugged.

“no way!” chan squealed, “that’s a soulmate mark! our innie met his soulmate!”

everyone cheered about how he grew up so fast! and jeongin reassured them that it wasn’t possible. the only people who touched him today were his members, who, thankfully, were not his romantic soulmates.

hunger took over, so everyone returned to their food. in the quiet, something clicked inside jeongin’s head.

“ah! i know who it is!”

his seven members whipped their heads in his direction, perfectly synchronized. 

“it was the pen person!”

hyunjin gasped, “oh my god! this is amazing! were they pretty?”

“why is that your first question?”

minho laughed, “they must be gorgeous. look at how red jeongin’s ears are.”

jeongin waved his hand in the air to dispel the subject. deep down, he appreciated their excitement–they never ceased to amuse him–but their energy didn’t exactly help him figure out how he was going to find you again.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

the fresh air that hit you the second you stepped out of the office building instantly refreshed you. you stretched your arms, gazing around the area to find the perfect spot to enjoy your break. you stopped dead in your tracks when you saw the gorgeous pen person sitting exactly where you sat yesterday.

it had to be a dream, right? what’re the chances that you’d see them again? 

you only realized what the chances were when you caught yourself unconsciously rubbing the bruise-like mark on the side of your hand.

the way you saw it, you had two options. one, you could avoid that spot because you didn’t feel prepared to interact with a person who is downright statuesque during your break today. or, two, you could be brave and meet your soulmate, for real this time.

you took a deep breath and walked forward. the risk of being awkward in the presence of a beautiful person now was way lower than the risk of awkward blind dates, and you had almost convinced yourself to do the latter.

jeongin, twirling the fateful pen and staring off into space, almost missed you walking by. at the last second, he looked up, thrilled to see you again. he felt his heart pound as he spoke. 

“hi! excuse me?” jeongin offered you a smile and a small wave, “i don’t know if you remember, but you gave me your pen yesterday. i think we might be soulmates, so i wanted to see you again to confirm it. if we’re not soulmates, i wanted to compliment your taste in pens.”

how you stayed standing at that moment was beyond you. everything from his gaze, his smile, to his voice had you out of breath and knees weak. his confidence was astounding. while this was a bold move, you respected that he wasn’t going to waste any time waiting and wondering.

“hi! yes, i remember you,” you returned his smile, feeling butterflies when you noticed him blush, “i’m glad you like the pen. i’m y/n.”

unsure of how the soulmate mark thing worked, you offered your hand, which he naturally took into his for a handshake.

“i’m jeongin.” 

you two looked down at your hands. like magic, the bruises faded away into flowers. on your hand was the outline of a violet. you understood the meaning once you saw that jeongin’s hand held an etching of your birth flower.

“well,” jeongin chuckled, “i guess that confirms things then.”

“yeah, i guess so,” you agreed, still holding onto his hand.

before the silence turned awkward, jeongin adjusted your hands from their handshake position so they were comfortably intertwined, “are you on a break right now? i’d love to buy you a replacement pen if you have the time.”

you nodded, not fighting the way your smile beamed when you looked at jeongin, “for a new pen, i have all the time in the world.”

with a charmed laugh, jeongin led you to his preferred stationery store around the corner, tracing the flower on your skin with his pinky finger. it used to feel like you were waiting an eternity to meet your soulmate, but now, with jeongin by your side, you understood forever better than you ever had before.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

[hwangism143]

battleground

synopsis: you hated your co-president, kim seungmin. but, it's your last year of high school and prom planning is up to the two of you. you just expect getting work done and leaving school. what you don't expect however, is kim seungmin looking after you (considering you never do) and you coaxing him into being your prom date.

pairing: non-idol!seungmin x fem!reader

genre: academic rival to lovers, crack, fluff, high school au, angst if you squint

warnings: swearing, mentions of eating, mentions of fatigue and fainting, sickness and overworking, slight themes of stalking, panic attack but not mentioned as such, mentions of alcohol, overconsumption of alcohol, a shit ton of pop culture references (i'm sorry)

word count: 21k words (?!)

requested by: @starlostseungmin (hi kaisey ily)

playlist: gorgeous - taylor swift, true love - p!nk, CHILL - stray kids, make you mine - madison beer, teenage dream - katy perry

a/n: real life men are better of as just enemies. my fictional rendition of seungmin, however, is not. (also i hope it isn't obvious that i have never been to prom.)

"you ruined my life, by not being mine"

"Was that an attempt of trying to flirt with me? Cause, wow, you need to step your game up," Seungmin told you with a smirk.

Sunlight streamed through the library windows, illuminating the dust that covered the bookshelves. They were proof of the lack of visits to the old haven of knowledge. Settled in an armchair was Kim Seungmin, book in one hand, glasses slightly crooked and one legged propped upon the other.

You let out a puff of breath in an attempt to calm yourself down because, who did he even think he was? "No, Kim, it wasn't. I am literally a teenage girl and yet, you are the most delusional person I have ever meet," you spit out, "The principal's calling us. Let's go."

"Alright, fine," Seungmin responded lazily. He stretched his long limbs and got up from the armchair he was cozily tucked up in.

He joined you on your walk towards the principal's office while you told off whatever force was above that caused you to be walking to impeding doom with Kim Seungmin on a Friday morning.

You both had a bitter rivalry that began your first year in high school. Coinciding with the fact that the said high school was also a boarding school, there was no escaping Seungmin. You couldn't even pinpoint when your feelings towards him changed from indifference to animosity; but having been pitted against each other for all your academic life at Park Academy, it certainly did make sense.

It wasn't that you didn't respect Seungmin. He was good at everything he did and a worthy opponent in all your endeavors. But he just made it so difficult for you to like him.

Your already dysfunctional relationship with him only took a turn for the worse this high school senior year. Both of you had decided to run for student council president. Despite all the campaigning and emotional blackmailing, you both had tied for the position.

Your incredible school, instead of holding a tie-breaker, deciding to make you both student council presidents. The idea of writing 'student council co-president' on your college applications physically made you wince.

But the worst part? Seungmin and you actually worked really well together. Deciding to keep your rivalry out of anything student council related on your first session (the banter continued though, nothing could take that away), you both had built up one of the best councils the school had seen under your shared leadership.

You didn't know just how well you both would get along when it came to matters as such, but that didn't lead to either of you warming up to each other. Conversation between you both strictly consisted of official matters and jabs at each other.

In fact, you hated each other's presence so much that you both almost instantly decided on splitting responsibilities to avoid running into each other. Oddly enough, you both seemed to agree on a lot of things. You always just brushed it off with a, great minds think alike.

Not that you would ever confess to Seungmin that you considered him to be someone with a 'great mind'.

The both of you walked towards the principal's office in silence. When you eventually got there, the receptionist quickly ushered you both inside. You smoothed down your skirt and sat down with your hands in you lap. Beside you, you noticed Seungmin drape his blazer over the back of his chair and take a seat.

Your principal was on a call and winked at the both of you, pointing towards the phone and turning her finger around in a circle near her temple. Seungmin flashed her a strained smile while you hoped that the expression of judgment on your face wasn't obvious.

For some reason, Principal Kim thought that she was your friend. When she finally put the phone down, she snorted, "Superintendents, am I right?"

Seungmin and you laughed weakly in response. Principals, am I right? was the phrase you were currently trying very hard to bite back.

Coming closer, Principal Kim laced her fingers together and leaned onto the table. "As you both know," she began, "We have around five months till prom."

A buzzing grew in your stomach, excitement engulfing your senses. Prom. Your sole respite, the event that you had looked forward to your entire high school life. From watching Disney movies romanticizing prom at a young age, to subsequently moving onto books that did the same, you felt like prom would be the pinnacle of your time in school.

"Now," continued Principal Kim, "While I do know that you both have a tendency to work separately, I would like you both to chair the prom committee together this year. We are thinking of making this year's prom one of Park Academy's finest. Take your time and compile the best Prom committee you can and get started on everything."

She clapped her hand and leaned back, beaming at her best students. "That is all," she smiled softly, nudging a tray of toffees towards you both.

Seungmin looked mortified at the thought of eating something from the principal's office like he was six. In any other circumstance you would have too, but the giddiness of both prom planning and not having had anything for over twenty four hours compelled you to take one.

"Aren't you excited?" you asked Seungmin as you both walked out of the door.

You were opening the toffee wrapper when he responded with a curt, "No. I personally believe that prom is a waste of time. I'll help in the committee planning and be present if I need to, but you can rightfully assume that I will not be enjoying any of it."

You were slightly shocked at his response but responded with a scathing, "I didn't know that the Kim Seungmin was too high and haughty for prom."

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to make eye contact with you. "Prom is like a playground for bullies and confused teenagers. It's a battleground for snarky comments and raging hormones and, might I add, brings out the worst in people."

He quickly turned on his heel and walked away before you could utter a word. You slowly let out a deep breath to control you anger and headed in the same direction as him, towards the cafeteria. You can hear the chatter of students and the sudden influx of sound momentarily causes your world to spin.

You're leaning against one of the lockers trying to steady yourself when feel an arm around your waist hoisting you up.

Hyunjin clicked beside you in disappointment. "Don't make me start feeding you now."

You just sighed in response and leaned your head against his shoulders. He was right, of course. You had the horrible habit of putting your health second (to last) with regards to anything that had to do with university and getting in. One of those things was skipping meals in favor of studying.

"I don't understand how people who sleep eight hours a day get shit done," you whined against Hyunjin.

"Well, has it ever occurred to you that people usually don't have as much shit to do as you do?" your best friend responded wisely. You lightly tapped the side of your sneaker against his.

Hwang Hyunjin was practically your brother in every aspect possible. He was lovable, caring, annoying and wanted to make you rip your hair out. All of this was what you assumed having a sibling was like, being an only child yourself. Ironically, he was one too.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You first met Hyunjin during an art class that you had to take for your first week of school. You struggled with drawing a straight line, while embarrassingly using a ruler. He was sitting beside you and calmly sketched one of the most incredible monochromatic landscapes you had ever seen.

When fourteen-year old Hyunjin gave your drawing a practically dangerous side eye and when you looked at him with eyes pleading to help you, the foundation of your friendship was laid. Later, when you handed him half a Snickers bar as a means of saying 'thank you', your friendship was cemented in chocolate and pencil shavings.

You both were joined at the hip ever since.

Your other best friend, Jeongin, had a habit of seemingly materializing out of nowhere and startling you in the process.

"Hi," he said, his face spawning in front of yours.

His wild hair and crazed smile caused you to yelp in surprise and hit your arm against the water fountain. Hyunjin laughed at your misfortune while Jeongin apologized with an extremely unapologetic smile. You resorted to glaring at both of them.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

The story of how Jeongin turned your duo into your trio was a tale in itself. Jeongin was a year younger than you and Hyunjin, currently a junior. You had first spotted him on his first day of school, him waddling around like a lost duckling and you unwittingly (and unwillingly) taking on the role of a mother hen.

Hyunjin had seen young Jeongin standing in the crowd, desperately trying to act cool. Jeongin's shoes were a painful pattern of key lime and hot pink that most definitely did not match together. He wore an oversized jacket and sent a small nod towards everyone who looked his way, hands jammed in his jeans pocket.

"That one," Hyunjin declared while dragging you along with him, "We're adopting that one."

And so two became three.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Presently, you scoffed at Jeongin. "How did you even become student council vice president?"

Jeongin beamed at you, counting off his fingers as he listed of his campaigning winning qualities. "I'm hot, rich, smart and funny."

Hyunjin snorted in response, him on one side of you and Jeongin on the other. "Innie, you are several things but smart is not one of them."

You were compelled to nod in response as Jeongin responded with a gasp, "You too? How could you betray me as well."

You would have issued a sarcastic reply to what he said, but you were too distracted by Hyunjin being distracted. He had suddenly stood still at the entryway of cafeteria, staring at something in the distance.

When you followed his line of sight, you suppressed the urge to burst out into laughter. Jeongin, however, did not.

"Gosh Hyunjin," he wheezed between laughs, "Just ask Riya out. Watching you suffer in this down bad, unspoken friend zoned phase is pitiful."

Hyunjin had been in love with Riya Rai for well over two years. You could obviously tell why; she was gorgeous, smart and a part of Hyunjin's dance class. You were truly rooting for them to start dating, Riya being one of your roommates.

You still remembered the way Hyunjin gushed over her classical dance audition. ('I couldn't understand the words but it was like she was flying!') Jeongin too, was subject to Hyunjin's hopeless love for her. Being the kind of person Hyunjin was, he fell for her hard and deep.

You were happy for Hyunjin, you truly were. But a part of you longed to feel a love like that for somebody. Not even a relationship, just feel love dripping into your heart until it rushed in like a torrent.

You were always so busy with proving yourself to others, that you never really took the time to introspect your own desires.

"Hyunjin," you asked impatiently once you remembered what exactly you wanted to talk about.

"Hm?" he responded as you both grabbed your food and sat at a table with your regular friend group.

Riya slid in beside Hyunjin and you could feel him visibly tense. You couldn't understand why he was so nervous to profess his feelings for her. Any girl (apart from you, because ew) would be willing to date Hyunjin.

Riya brightly made her pleasantries after which you asked solemnly, "Guys. Would you do me the honor of being part of the prom planning committee?"

Riya and Hyunjin were the few people who shared the enthusiasm for prom which you did. Riya mouth slowly hung open while Hyunjin sharply took in a breath.

"Really?" he whispered in awe.

You nodded happily as Hyunjin hugged you from one side and Riya clambered over to where you were sitting to wrap her arms around you. "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou," she repeated like a chant while Hyunjin excitedly began plotting décor ideas.

Maybe you wouldn't need romantic love while you had them.

You were busy people watching and tuning out Riya and Hyunjin's enthusiastic chatter when you caught site of Seungmin. He was sitting with his best friend, Lee Felix. You found their friendship quite odd. How could the embodiment of happiness be so close with the devils spawn?

I guess opposites attract platonically too.

You lamented at the thought of co-heading a prom committee with a partner who hated prom until an idea struck you. If Kim Seungmin hated prom, you could teach him how to love it. That lunch break, you made an executive decision that, unbeknown to you, would inevitably change you life.

You decided to open Kim Seungmin's eyes to the brilliance of prom.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - five months.

Seungmin stood next to you as you both waited for the rest of the student council members to make their way for your impromptu Saturday meeting. The two of you stared up at one of the most monstrous things you had ever seen in your lives.

A large banner with a blue background and the words "T-5 MONTHS TILL PROM!!!" in an ugly orange text stared back at you.

You gaped at the banner, seething with anger. "Let me find the person whose amazing idea this was and rearrange their body proportions for them."

Seungmin just responded calmly, "Maybe this is a sign from the universe to get our act together, delegate responsibilities to the committee and actually get started on prom."

"Not all of us are as optimistic as you, Kim," you told him dryly.

"Not all of us have an insatiable bloodlust, candy cane," he retorted monotonously.

Your mouth pressed into a thin line as you turned to see Seungmin's eyebrow cocked in a persumed sense of superiority.

You despised the nickname, a knowing jab at your short stature. Seungmin first called you candy cane when he noted how your height was nearly equivalent to the candy canes lining your school halls in your junior year.

It had stuck when you both were privately conversing with each other ever since.

His indifference slightly bristled you, but then again you were known for having a slightly short temper.

Chatter flowed in through the library's door, accompanied by the sound of sneakers squeaking against the floor. People who you and Seungmin had individually contacted, along with most student council members, began entering the room.

You noticed Hyunjin making his way to sit next to Riya, who was busy in conversation with Felix. The three of them were known for being close due to dance club. You shot Hyunjin an encouraging smile and he gave you a slightly crooked one.

Jeongin bounded up to the front to assume his rightful place as vice president. You ruffled his hair and he pinched your arm in retaliation. Your little squeal and his irritated grunt earning an annoyed look from Seungmin.

He cleared his throat loudly, instantly commanding the attention of the entire room. Faces turned to look at him when his voice called out, "I hope you all know why we have gathered here today."

He turned to look at you, your cue to begin talking. "As you may be aware, you all have been selected as this year's Park Academy Prom Committee!"

The room burst into applause as Seungmin continued, a routine familiar to you both. You didn't know how the two of you did it. Without even prior conversation, you two fell into sync when it came to addressing the crowd in front of you for your co-lead student council meetings.

Once again you chalked it up to, great minds think alike. There was no way you and Seungmin had anything else in common, apart from the occasional train of thought.

Right?

When your long sermon was finally finished, the room was buzzing with excitement. Teenage hormones and the onset of prom brewed a recipe for eager anticipation. This is it, you thought, this is the last piece of my childhood I have left.

On the advice of Principal Kim, you and Seungmin split the overall committee into three groups: one for decorations, one for publicity and one to arrange entertainment.

Jeongin had proclaimed himself the 'god of social media' and sauntered off to the group in charge of publicity. Hyunjin, Riya and Felix automatically were presumed to be part of décor, with Hyunjin elected head of their group. ('I will not let my team down. Over my dead fucking body,' he told you in complete seriousness later that day.)

Finally, you and Seungmin were left handling booking and anything else payment and transaction related. Principal Kim's vehement repetition of how she only trusted the two of you with cash was seared into your brain.

As you both took rounds of the large library hall, something kept nagging at you, itching the back of your brain. It disheartened you to see how warmly everyone interacted with Seungmin in comparison with you.

What bothered you even more, however, was how warmly Seungmin, interacted with others when compared to you.

Being likable was one of, if not the biggest goal in your life. Knowing that a single person disliked you sent you into a frenzy. Call it your upbringing or society, either way you felt like everybody you knew had to find you to be a good person, or else you weren't.

Other people's opinions were like medicine to you. Gaining external validation became such a large part of your life that sometimes, you forgot that what you thought, what you wanted, mattered as well.

And in this draining people-pleasing process, you weren't quite 'friends' with everyone. You were friendly and appreciated among your students, yes. But you didn't have a large friend group full of people who cherished your very existence, like Seungmin.

That was probably why you called Hyunjin and Jeongin were your best friends. It took away from the fact that they were your only friends. Seeing them with their own, other friends hurt, but it was too late now.

There was no point making more friends when you would be gone anyways. And despite how much you wanted to, you knew that creating deeper connections only to break them away would prove pointless.

You and Seungmin settled into the small bean bag pods which were propped up against the empty library walls. He scrolled through his phone with utmost concentration as you did the same, tapping away at your laptop keys.

"We'll have to sit with Lily for planning the budget," Seungmin broke the silence while referring to the committee treasurer, "But she has texted me the overall amount we have in the trust."

Seungmin opened the message and angled his phone towards you, eliciting a gasp from your mouth.

"That is an insane amount. Do you know what this means? We truly can make this Park Academy's best prom yet!" you excitedly began listing off the non-existent limits to which the money could spent.

"You forgot something," Seungmin added, stunning you to silence. What could have you forgotten about prom which Seungmin could have remembered?

The stoic expression on his face, however, told you it was nothing good.

"We need to show extreme constraint while using the money and be strict on the group," Seungmin huffed.

You blew in anger, "The entire point of having an extensive budget is to let loose! God, you're like the Grinch of prom or something."

"Please sweetheart," he snorted, "I'm far better looking than him. Even you can't deny that."

And as infuriating Seungmin seemed to you, he was correct. Seungmin was drop dead gorgeous. Even in a plain school uniform, he had the power to turn several heads. In fact, you would be lying if you said that you didn't find him a teensy bit attractive.

Not that he would ever obtain that information.

Seungmin went back to work, looking for banquet halls and hotels open to being the venue for prom. You observed him carefully, trying to figure the psychology behind why he hated prom. Then, you realized that to to succeed in your mission, you didn't have too.

The Grinch fell in love with Christmas too...

"I have made an executive decision," you announced to no one but Seungmin in particular.

He looked up, an expression of boredom and confusion coating his features.

"How exactly, darling, did you take an executive decision without consulting half of the executive. I thought you were smart enough to know how decision making takes place," a smug smile adorned him.

You rolled your eyes at him, "I will make you like prom."

Seungmin scoffed, "As if. You know what, Y/N? I bet you can't."

You sighed in fake defeat, cheering inside. One thing about having an academic rival was predicting their moves to the point where you knew how to trap them. It was like a game of chess, where Seungmin thought he had the upper hand, but you were one move away from checkmate.

You understood what made Seungmin tick, what ignited passion in him and what triggered him. You knew how to get a rise out of him and get him to calm down. More terrifyingly so, you knew that he knew the same.

You likened it to years of shared dislike, denying the fact that you both maybe were alike.

"I mean, considering our role in the entire organization of prom, we'll be stuck together all night anyways," you lamented in disappointment, "Truthfully speaking, I honestly did expect you to decline my invitation to formally attend prom with me as my de facto date."

"Although I wasn't planning on calling you that," you included for good measure.

You decided to deviate from telling him the real reason why you wanted to take him to prom. Out of everyone in this school, Seungmin was the last person left whose good books you didn't have so much as a footnote in.

You knew that this little social experiment of yours to leave school with everyone singing praises about you was highly selfish, but you needed this to feel worthy of graduating. You needed this to feel worthy of being a part of a social communities.

You could practically see the anger teeming from Seungmin at proving you right. "Fine," he spit out, "I'll be your date."

Checkmate.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - four months and 16 days.

With final assessments right around the corner, physical committee meetings came to a halt. All conversations took place through group chats and the occasional locker meetups. In all the frenzy of studying, you were once again indulging in sleepless nights and nutrition-less days.

Seungmin had gone into hibernation mode and as had you. All your phones were on do not disturb and casual fun was out of the question. Today, you had taken release in the library, headphones on and coffee in hand.

You were (pathetically, to some, advantageously, to you) on a first name basis with the resident librarian. Because of you often staying late nights (correction: all night) in the library, you even had your own spare key to lock up when you were done. It was a little secret you both shared.

Today, however, you felt uneasy. A transfer student by the name of Benji had been unceasingly making romantic advances towards you the past week. Although you reject him multiple times, his feats of grandeur only grew.

He was currently sitting a few tables away from you, the only other person in the library apart from librarian Kang. Even though he attempted to look busy and engrossed in the book in his hand, he kept stealing glances from you.

It was late, very much so. Everybody would be asleep and you didn't want to disturb anyone. You calmed your nerves but reached your breaking point when Kang asked Benji if he planned to leave anytime soon and he refused.

In a state of both fear and fatigue, you dialed the number of the only person who you knew would be awake at this time and waited for the call to ring out.

"Hello?" came Seungmin's bewildered voice. You rarely called him and even then, never at this hour.

"Seungmin, hi. I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?" you asked him, hoping to suppress the  anxiety in your voice.

He must have noticed though, because his voice was alert. "Sure, what's up?"

"You know how Benji has been treating me, right?"

He hummed in acknowledgement. Of course he knew. Benji boasted so much that everyone knew.

"Well, I'm in the library and so is he. He's the only one here and it's kinda freaking me out. If it's ok with you, can you please just stay on call with me just in case? You can put me on hold or something, just please be active. I'm really sorry but you're the only other person who I knew would be awake right now."

You heard rustling in the background and his voice finally came back, "Wait. My dorm is loud anyways so I'll meet you there."

"Oh, okay, okay."

To your extreme relief, Seungmin did not hang up the call. Instead, you could hear his footsteps. All the mundane sounds of him locking his dorm, shoes slapping against the concrete and heavy breathing (due to running, but that didn't make sense) oddly calmed you down.

That was, however, until Benji walked over to where you were sitting. He gave you a venomous smile and leaned over to books right above your head. Pulling out a book from the shelf above your head and walked away, something sharp glinting in his hand.

You breathing quickened. "Seungmin, he has a sharp object. I have assessed all possible escape routes. I would suggest that you leave as I will probably as well if the situation escalates."

"Are you fucking out of your mind?" he questioned, almost sounding angry that you had even thought of saying something like that.

"I'm not leaving you alone with him or giving him an opportunity to fuck with the students of this school. He may be here for only two weeks, but I'll make sure he doesn't hurt a single person."

The steel in his voice made you shudder. You did not want to be on Kim Seungmin's death list. The library doors swung open as librarian Kang let out an exasperated sigh.

"Another wannabe Einstein," she muttered under her breath as Seungmin made his way towards you.

He looked like a sight for sore eyes in his plain sweater and gray sweatpants. Seungmin gave you a subtle not and took a seat right beside you, pulling out his books and tablet. Soon you both started studying and, before you knew it you both were engaged in a heated competition to see who could solve as many trigonometry problems as possible correctly, in the least time.

Throughout this duration, you didn't find out much personally about him, but saw a more carefree side of him. In fact, you liked this carefree side of him.

He winced when you pointed out the simple mistake he made that caused him to lose in the end. "I can't believe I've forgotten what the division symbol looks like."

You giggled and poked his arm, legs underneath your feet. "Is this what letters in math is doing to you?"

Seungmin shrugged sheepishly with a tiny smile. "Go ahead, shortcake, gloat."

Instead, you posed him with a question, "Why do you always insult my height? Like, that seems to be your favorite."

Maybe, just maybe, you were imagining it, but you saw a light blush scatter over Seungmin's cheeks. He cleared his throat and, in what must have been a moment of vulnerability said, "You are good at literally everything else. Your height is the only thing I can ask you about."

You stared at him slightly open mouthed at his sudden respect. In an instant, the room felt to hot and Seungmin's face felt to close to yours. The moment was broken, however, by the simultaneous and not at all harmonious chorus of a chair scratching against the floor and you're stomach rumbling.

Benji was gone and but your appetite was back. Seungmin must have heard it too because his right eyebrow was ticked up.

"When, exactly, did you last eat?"

"Today," you admitted sheepishly, "Morning. At 6."

"And what was it?"

Another gulp. "A banana."

Seungmin shook his head in disappointment and rifled through his bag. He pulled out a mushed granola bar and handed it to you.

"Eat," he commanded.

"Okay," you said meekly. "Wait, this is my favorite brand!"

"Yeah, I think you mentioned that before," Seungmin said nonchalantly, but you noted the slight quiver in his voice.

You took a bite and it felt like your body was screaming at you. It felt so good to eat after just having six in the morning bananas for the past few days, that you little out an embarrassing little squeal in content.

"I'm surprised you remembered," you referenced Seungmin earlier statement and folded the wrapper in a neat rectangle. Putting it in your pocket to throw away later, you waited for Seungmin's response.

It never came. His head was bent and he was hard at work, evidently ignoring. Seeing this as an indication that the conversation was over, you got back to your own work. That wasn't, however, without a feeling of something new that wasn't hate - adjacent.

You felt a little blossom of affection in your stomach for the boy flipping through the pages of his notebook beside you.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - it's finals!

You slammed your Astrophysics textbook against your desk, yet again unable to get stuff to fit in your brain. It was your last final and while you crammed for your other subjects, Seungmin had told Hyunjin that you were back to your old habits. Hyunjin and Riya had then joined hands and blackmailed you into (yuck) taking care of yourself.

"Seriously," you grumbled, "How do people who get eight hours of sleep get their shit done?"

Finally coming to the conclusion that you were helpless, you reached for your phone to text all your questions to Seeun, the assistant teacher. Seeun was a university student interning at your school, and an alumni as well. Citing how she was very much close in age with the students of your grade (if six years is considered 'close'), she insisted that you all call her Seeun and not Miss Choi.

You were in such a rush that you didn't even check for typos, tackling another chapter while waiting for Seeun's response. You still had one more day to study, considering that your exam was the day after tomorrow, you were going to use all twenty four hours and more to your advantage, not wasting a single bit.

Finding it odd that Seeun still hadn't responded considering how bored she always said she was and her frighteningly quick response times, you decided to check your phone. To your horror, however, you found out that in your rush, instead of sending your questions to Seeun, you had sent them to Seungmin.

His responses were almost instantaneous.

[8:18 AM]

You: [sent attachment]

You: Hi Seeun, I had a few questions regarding these topics. I was wondering if we could meet up tmrw to discuss them? Thx!

[8:20 AM]

kim stuck-up seungmin (sigh): i'm not seeun, but i could help

kim stuck-up seungmin (sigh): i tutored a few seniors taking this class last year

kim stuck-up seungmin (sigh): if you want, how does the coffee shop down the street at eight sound to you?

You were practically smiling at your phone. It obviously had to do about the fact that it was someone offering you help, not that it was Seungmin specifically. (Duh?) After waging a long, internal war, you finally opted to sacrifice what little dignity you had in front of Seungmin's eyes and take him up on his offer.

[2:47 PM]

You: really? omg thx!

You: see you then

[2:48 PM]

kim stuck-up seungmin (sigh): k, ig i'll see you there

Huh. Weird. Seungmin was notorious for being known to reply to people after a minimum of at least two hours, if they were lucky enough not to be left on read.

Not reading to much into it, you went back to work. Work wasn't just work though. It was an influx of nervous butterflies accompanying it. Not that it had anything to do with Seungmin, of course.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

When you got to the coffee shop that morning, it was technically 7:55. But, as you had always been taught, five minutes early is on time. Seungmin must have abided by that philosophy too, because soon he stumbled through the door.

You hadn't even picked a table to sit at when he tapped you shoulder and said, "Hey."

You turned to find Seungmin with the same green, battered back pack he took everywhere slung over one shoulder. His hair was tousled in an endearing way that made you want to squish him. His eyes were surprisingly warm and his lips were turned up.

"Like what you see sweetheart?" he teased.

You rolled your eyes at him, "No, of course not. It's like looking at something so hideous that you can't peel your eyes off of it."

He gave you a good natured laugh and walked alongside you to the coffee table.

After much deliberation, which mainly consisted of you and Seungmin arguing over the pros and cons of a window seat, you finally settled on a seat close enough to the large glass window for Seungmin's satisfaction and far enough to not prove distracting to you.

When your sugar packet tower fell down in the process of building it, he grinned at you again. It felt nice, having Seungmin's smile directed towards you.

Whoa, slow down there. Are you ok?

Without even realizing what you were saying, you asked Seungmin, "Why do you always cover your face when you laugh?"

Seungmin's smile slightly faded. "When I was in middle school, I used to wear braces. The kids... they found it weird, which meant they found me weird."

You were shocked. How could anyone dislike his smile? Seungmin's smile was one of the prettiest smile's you had ever seen. And mind you, you used to hate Kim Seungmin.

Used to. Now, it was more like you were tolerating him, sometimes even appreciating him. Wow, something really is wrong with you.

You snorted. "If I could travel back in time," you declared, "I would deck those dumbasses in the phase."

Seungmin choked on the coffee that the waitress had dropped off a few minutes ago. He surprisingly remembered your order, despite you only mentioning it to him during his student council coffee runs only once or twice before.

"Y/N, I'm pretty sure that's a crime," Seungmin snickered.

You raised your eyebrows in response. "And if you don't help me with this, I'm about to commit a crime, and you won't be in a position to testify."

With that, the lessons began.

Seungmin was an extremely good teacher. He was well known among the student body for being the kind of tutor that took F grades and turned them into a B+ or A-. Even you wanted to start tutoring, but your patience often wore thin faster than it did for others.

Seungmin though, didn't break a sweat. He revised concepts over and over again until you understood, making sure that at the end, you didn't have a single semblance of a doubt in your mind when it came to the related topic.

Two hours later, you were finally done.

"Now," Seungmin announced, "We will have some fun and let loose."

You were putting your books inside when you clicked a pen in your hand restlessly. "You, prim and proper Kim Seungmin, want to 'let loose' and 'have some fun'?"

Seungmin clicked his tongue in exasperation. "Look tiny, I'm disciplined, but I know my limits. You have already studied everything to the T. Plus, your exam is tomorrow. Get some fresh air and take a break now, then revise once more in the evening."

You wondered how he could be so careless when he probably had an exam tomorrow too. "What about you? Don't you have to study as well?"

Seungmin sent you a devious grin and you felt your knees go weak a little (No. What?)

"I had my last exam yesterday, honey," he happily shared, patting your head in mock pity in the process.

Honey, that was new. You were so used to the reoccurrences of 'darling', 'sweetheart' and terms related to your height that the new nickname caught you slightly off guard.

You hoped the expression on your face clearly conveyed that you found his actions traitorous. "How dare you prey on a vulnerable young woman just to quench your loneliness?"

"Come on," Seungmin coaxed, "We can hit the boardwalk, get lunch and go back to the dorms. You and I both know that we aren't invited to Saturday gatherings due to unfortunately being classified as 'nerds'."

In the end, you relented. After all, who can say no to someone whose beaming smile rivalled the shine of a rainbow and whose honeyed voice washed over you like a soothing balm?

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Boardwalk was the name that the students had given to the all year amusement park reminiscent set up that was just a few minutes away from the dorms. You had come here several times, but rarely with someone else and mostly to clear your head. (And watch toddlers shrieking on the carousel).

The moment you got your pink wristbands, Seungmin dragged you to the stalls where you played to win a plushie. He was so intent on winning something that you found it almost adorable.

"You do know that these are all scams, right? There's no way you'll win," you stated confidently, disregarding the mammoth scowl on the game operators face."

Seungmin lazily picked up a dart and aimed for the balloons hung on the wall. He cocked his head towards you and gave you a wink, "This one's for you, sweetheart."

To your utmost surprise, the dart hit the balloon perfectly. Even Seungmin looked stunned. The operator offered him another dart and you a self-assured smirk. He once again hit the dart again, with a satisfying pop!.

"All right folks," the operator droned, "Pick a stuffed toy."

Seungmin nudged you slightly, "Which one?"

You glanced at him, "You won, so it's only fair that you choose."

Seungmin smirked at you, "Nope. I recall mentioning that that one was for you."

Heat pooled in your stomach, which shouldn't have. Especially when the cause were Kim Seungmin.

"Okay," you jutted out your head to make eye contact with him and turned back to choose the lucky stuffed toy.

You pointed at a medium sized elephant plushie and grabbed it eagerly. Holding it tight to your chest you said, "What should we name our child Seungmin?"

He presented you with no reply and a face contorted with judgement.

Pouting, you mockingly told the elephant, "Look, your father doesn't love you."

Feigning an offended gasp, Seungmin promptly snatched the elephant from you, "Don't listen to your mother, Ello."

"Ello?" You laughed.

"Shh," Seungmin chastised, "Let my inner European be free."

The mild spring breeze whipped your hair around and you took of your jacket, wrapping it around your waist. You spotted a fallen rose and quickly went to pick it up. It was still in pristine condition and in a random bout of girlhood, you tried to tuck it behind your ear.

Silently, Seungmin motioned towards you taking Ello and you handing him the rose. Seungmin somehow managed to break of the thorns without cutting himself.

Delicately lifting up the hair behind your hair, he began to adjust the rose in place. Since he was considerably taller than you, Seungmin leaned in front. You could see every valley and crevice in his face and for some reason, you wanted to hold it in your arms.

A rush thumped through your chest. As silly as it seemed, nobody had ever quite touched you like that. Seungmin's breath smelled like chocolates and cinnamon.

A rebellious part if you wondered if that was what he would taste like.

Lightly clearing his throat, he continued walking and you followed wordlessly. A few random rides later, you both finally found yourself in front of the Disco Pang Pang. A smile tugged at your lips. You were so going on this ride today.

Cheeks flushed from the fun you were having, you said breathlessly, "Let's go."

Seungmin visibly gulped, "I don't know."

"Aw come on, don't tell me you're scared." Seeing the petrified expression on his face however, you quickly retracted your statement. "It's fine, we don't have to,"

"No, it's okay," Seungmin managed weakly, "Just, hold me please."

Handing Ello to one of the fair volunteers, you both clambered up the metal stairs and took a seat on the foam benches. Seungmin was right next to you, his arm around the railing of where you sat.

Your initial excitement of experiencing this wore off, however, when the machine suddenly lurched forward. It threw Seungmin on you and his arms instinctively curved around your waist.

The warmth from his body radiated into you and for a moment stayed frozen, eyes glued on each other. You felt electric shocks where he touched you and trembled slightly.

Catching his breath, Seungmin began to apologize profusely. "I'm sorry I didn't mean too-"

The machine lurched again and again. Seungmin had figured out how to maintain his balance and stayed the distance of an arm's length away from you. When it was finally over, you both stumbled onto solid ground, clutching your stomachs.

"That. Was. Awesome!" You decided, delight etching your face.

"I'm convinced you're a six year old boy stuck in an eighteen year old girl's body," Seungmin groaned.

Agreeing upon this being enough fun for one day you both walked back to the dorms and went your separate ways. Astoundingly, Seungmin's advice of taking a break in between studying did help and you noticed that you were retaining information better.

You wanted to thank him and grabbed your phone.

[7:26 PM]

You: ty maybe.

You: I *kinda* had fun today

[7:30 PM]

Ello's dad: just admit it darling

Ello's dad: im fun

[7:31 PM]

You: in ur dreams Kim, in ur dreams

[7:32 PM]

Ello's dad: well then, ig I'll be dreaming of you tonight

You smiled despite yourself and went to bed.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - three months and twenty-five days.

Your relationship with Seungmin was somehow significantly improving. Yes, you still did indulge in your regular banter, but you both now had the ability to have full conversations without actually insulting the other person.

Your exams were finally over and, as presumed, both you and Seungmin had equal grades. What you didn't expect however, was even sharing the title of valedictorian with Seungmin.

The you before your impromptu study session would have been spitting fireballs. The you currently was looking forward to embarrassing Seungmin a little bit (in all good fun), during your moment in the spotlight.

In the fast paced environment of writing finals, wrapping up college applications and facing parents at parent - teacher meetings, the prom committee had forgotten one, extremely crucial component of prom planning: Picking a theme.

It was so stupid, really. None of you even realized until the décor committee was busy trying to decide on decorations and Felix meekly articulated, "Uh, guys. I don't think we ever decided on a set theme."

Seungmin eyes grew wide and you took in a sharp breath. How could you forget something so important? Frantic chatter arose and in a futile-ish attempt, you yelled out to the students, "Guys! Let's just come up with ideas, but in an orderly fashion."

In an instant, the room began quieting down and hands were raised, full of ideas. Seungmin gave you an impressed look and everyone slowly began suggesting various prom themes.

"What if," Noelle screamed from the back of the room, "We had a Paris inspired theme? I know, Paris nights!"

The entire room let out a collective groan. If Korea had koreaboos, then Noelle was some fucked up version of a French-boo. She boasted to whoever would listen that she had French blood, if being named Noelle and visiting Canada for two weeks constituted French heritage.

Riya ears perked up however, and she asked, "How about Aphrodite's Garden?"

You and Seungmin exchanged a look. "Elaborate," asked Seungmin.

Hyunjin gave Riya an encouraging shove and she stood up, "How about a spring theme, but instead of the classic flowers and leaves, it's more sensual and inspired by Greek mythology?"

The room broke into excited conversation, seemingly approving of Riya's idea. Hyunjin stood up next to her, "Riya and I could prepare a mood board and send it to the group chat."

"All in favor," Seungmin asked. A clear majority.

"Perfect," you smiled, "Then it's settled. The theme will be Aphrodite's Garden."

The room went back to it's raucous state as you stepped aside for a moment, head pounding from a headache. You had a cold and staying up all night studying for scholarship tests did not help. You knew you had to pass them though. You weren't willing to give your parents another reason to demean you for being a burden.

You were massaging your temples when Seungmin came up from behind you. "Are you okay?" he asked, voice laced with concern.

"Yep," you tried to muster a positive tone, "Just a headache. I'm peachy."

"Peachy?" Seungmin inquired, his eyebrow cocked upwards and tone full of mischief.

"Don't assume that I don't use the word peachy unironically," you huffed.

Still, Seungmin's apprehensive expression and the exponentially increasing pounding in your head made you feel your gut that something bad was brewing.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You, Jeongin and Hyunjin waited patiently in the computer lab the next day. Hyunjin and Riya had made the mood board for Aphrodite's Garden, but wanted the input of you, Seungmin and Jeongin.

All three of you stood near the window, peering out of the glass and observing the ant-like players on the soccer field below. You wondered what was so appealing about kicking a ball on a Saturday morning.

Hyunjin looked troubled, "I want to ask Riya to prom. But I don't know how."

You let out a sneeze in response and Hyunjin wordlessly handed you a tissue, the despair never leaving his face.

You slightly understood the reasoning behind Hyunjin's thinking. It was promposal season, people planning elaborate and innovative ways to ask each other to prom. Considering the high school you were at, this more often than not involved Rube Goldberg machines and periodic table confessions.

Jeongin let out an audibly exasperated huff of breath. "If you like Riya, just ask her out. The worst she could say is no."

Before you could add onto Jeongin's admonishment, a voice cut through the room.

"What?"

Your eyes widened as you clapped your hand to your mouth. Hyunjin felt himself stumble backwards and Jeongin muttered a low "Fuck" under his breath.

Judging by the tone of the voice and familiar sweetness, you knew it could only belong to one person. Time felt like a concept out of grasp as you, Hyunjin and Jeongin turned to face Riya, standing in the doorway with shock painted on her face.

"I- I can't," she tripped over the doorstep, "Look, I'll just send them to you, I-"

Riya steadied herself, holding on the the doorframe, and then fled the room. Hyunjin glanced at you, his eyes full of pleading.

"Go, quickly," you commanded, and he rushed out of the room in Riya's stead.

"See, this is why you're my favorite," Hyunjin told you while ruffling you, scowling at Jeongin. You sniffed in response as Jeongin's jaw clenched.

Just then, Seungmin entered the room, giving both Hyunjin and Riya and irritated glare. "Weren't they supposed to show us something?"

"They'll just send it to one of us," you told Seungmin, your voice coming out weaker than expected.

"You know what," Jeongin threw his hands up in the air in rage, "Fuck this. If they are out, I am out."

Seungmin stared at you quizzically, as if trying to unravel the pieces of the puzzle that made you, well, you. His eyes must have taken in your sickness - stricken state because the curiosity on his face morphed into concern.

"Are you okay?" Seungmin asked, stepping closer to you.

"Fine," you choked out, but you knew you weren't.

Your head felt like a thousand drills were screwing into it. You felt hot and cold at the same time, throat parched and dry. Your body felt like lead, being weighed down at ever movement. You knew these were the textbook symptoms of a fever and then some more.

You tried to walk forward, but couldn't hold your balance. Dazed, you felt your consciousness slowly slip away due to the lack of sleep you were forcing yourself to put up with it. Exhaustion didn't come to you in raindrops, it came to you in a torrential shower.

The last thing you felt was Seungmin's arms holding you up as your entire world shrouded in darkness.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

When you came to, you were still in the classroom, water droplets running down your face. Seungmin looked guilty and the bottle of water in his hand told you everything you needed to know.

"Sorry," Seungmin said sheepishly, "I didn't know what else to do."

You waved him off, still trying to fully gain control of your senses. You blinked slowly and languidly, adjusting slowly to the light. The sudden shift from complete darkness to windows that let in natural light was slightly painful.

You placed your palms flat against the floor, where Seungmin had most likely placed you. The cool sting of the marble tiles was a welcoming sensation, the bite of it rebooting your brain. You straightened your skirt but your head was still fucking hurting.

"What exactly happened?" you asked weakly.

You knew that women were often taken advantage of in such situations. You knew you could trust Seungmin with your life though. He would never hurt you in any sense, and the past few weeks only solidified that fact for you. Still, asking was like second nature for you.

"Oh, uhm, you fell and I caught you and somehow managed to lean you against the wall," Seungmin stuttered.

He let out a weary sigh and rubbed his eyes vigorously. It was almost as if he was the one who had just fainted and was sitting on a cold marble floor. The thought made you laugh, but the way your chest constricted in pain when the laugh travelled up your bones made you push it down.

"Let's-" you managed until you let out a sneeze, "Let's get back to work. Hyunjin or Riya must have sent the designs by now."

Seungmin looked at you, appalled. "No. Are you insane? You probably are. I'm taking you back to your dorms and making you something warm to eat, no questions asked."

"Seungmin, you don't have to," you let out, your voice hoarse. But despite your mental and vocal protests, your body couldn't fight it anymore. It was begging, screaming for help and you had ignored it wrong enough."

Seungmin set you a look that could kill and held out his palm. You grabbed onto it, and with his help stood up. You legs were so weak, however, that you fell forward again. The world was spinning and you were falling and falling until you weren't.

The entire time, only one thought rang over and over again in your head, like a sickly song.

Was success, was making the people around you proud, was your hard work really worth this form of self inflicted torture you were putting yourself through?

Seungmin's arms steadied your waist as you arms flew up to his shoulders. You were in close proximity now, close enough that you could see your reflection in his eyes. God, you looked like shit.

The concern in his eyes and the pain you were both mentally and physically going through finally made you snap.

Without warning, tears filled your eyes and cascaded down your cheeks. You were so, so tired. Seungmin didn't say anything, but he understood. Of course he understood. You couldn't deny it any longer. Being compared and set against each other didn't make you two poles on other sides of your respective worlds; in fact, it did the very opposite.

You were so accustomed to the thought of each other, that you had become a reflection of each other. There was no Y/N L/N without Kim Seungmin and no Kim Seungmin without Y/N L/N.

Your lives had become so intricately intertwined that the thought of a world without Seungmin, without the jabs and maddening nicknames, without the warm smiles that were solely reserved for you when somebody made an out of pocket comment at one of your student council meetings, felt impossible.

You felt your arms effortlessly slip down Seungmin's shoulder and around his waist. Your head automatically found a spot on his chest. You knew that your tears were staining his shirt, you knew that you were helpless and vulnerable, but you didn't care.

Seungmin kept you anchored as your mind swam through every dark tunnel that dug itself throughout your life. This time, you weren't frolicking in them. This time, you weren't finding solace in them because of your self proclaimed incompetence.

This time, you were sealing them shut for good and the only reason you could was because you knew Seungmin was there. He was there, he was there, he was there.

When Seungmin lightly placed his chin over your head, you didn't mind being short. His hands soothingly smoothed your hair over and over again as you noiselessly let out all the pent up emotions and feelings that grew into this black hole that was sucking the life out of you.

You stepped back. "I'm sorry," you sobbed.

"It's fine, you're good," he whispered softly.

Holding you forearm gently, he walked you out of the room you both were in and in the direction of your dorm. You furiously rubbed at your cheeks, attempting to lose any indication of you previously pathetic state, but you stopped when a shot of something you hadn't felt in a long time rushed back to you: indifference.

In this moment, you didn't care that the regality with which you held yourself in front of Seungmin  and the world was soiled under your feet.

All you cared about was that you finally had a person who would hold you while you break and pick up the pieces with you when you were ready, mending you and healing and hell, loving you back to a state of somewhat living.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Your hands were shaking so much and your vision was so blurry when you tried to unlock your dorm room door that Seungmin had to ease the key out of your finger. He slid it in and with a click, the door swung upon.

You pulled out strength from the nooks and crannies of your being to actually change into something comfortable. Seungmin surprisingly also had a change of clothes in his bag, until you later remembered that he had baseball matches every Saturday morning at dawn.

You came out of your room wearing cat faced pajamas that were a little big for you but cozy nonetheless. Seungmin looked you up and down with a smirk on his face.

"Shall I call you kitty cat now?" his tone heavy with fake torment and real intention.

There was no way you were getting out of this one.

"Shut up, puppy," you referenced the small puppy face on his t-shirt as you padded towards the bar stools that stood along your kitchen counter.

"Okay, kitty cat," he grinned while you groaned.

In the fifteen minutes Seungmin had spent inside your dorm room, he had located the medicine cabinet and slid a bottle of Tylenol and a spoon. You withered under his expectant stare and duly obliged.

"Fair warning," Seungmin said casually as he took out some instant ramen and a saucepan, "I'm a horrible cook."

You probably would have flipped him off for his easy-going tone while saying that he could food poison you if he wasn't the reason you were in the comfort of your home right now.

"Just don't give me acidity. I would probably die and if I do, best believe I'll come back to haunt your ass," you muttered.

"Relax," Seungmin's tone was slightly offended, "Have faith in me. I can make at least instant ramen."

"If you insist," you sighed.

Seungmin passed the bowl of steaming hot ramen towards you, vapor still rising from it. You blew on it and took a bite, the heat instantly making you feel better. Seungmin sat beside you and began eating as well. You both lunched in silence, only the sounds of your spoons hitting your bowls and the occasional slurp filling the room.

You let out a yawn and Seungmin was quick to tell you that the instructions on the instructions stated that you had to wait an hour before sleeping if you had eaten anything after administering it.

To kill time, you suggested watching something on television. Seungmin joined you on the couch. You wrapped a warm blanket around you while Seungmin shifted through your Netflix catalogue, evidently pleased with your taste in media.

You started speaking, "You know, I was thinking of watching -"

At the same time Seungmin began, "I was actually planning on starting -"

"Three Body Problem," you both finished at the same time.

Reflections, reflections.

Seungmin played the first episode and you both watched in transfixed awe and silence. Seungmin kept checking on you in between though. It was never something major, but small things, like handing you the only pillow on the couch and passing a bottle of water at regular intervals.

"Wow," you said breathlessly as if you yourself were in that setting, "Any theories?"

Seungmin gritted his teeth, "Multiple, actually, but I have read the books and that would be fair, would it kitty cat?"

You pouted at him and he laughed his devious laugh.

"You can go, if you need to," you told Seungmin, "I'll get some rest. Riya will probably be home soon for a few hours."

"No, I'll stay out of the goodness of my heart," Seungmin smirked.

You snorted, "Out of the goodness of your heart, or out of the goodness of wanting to steal something?"

"Maybe I'll take your bunny slippers. They're the only thing worth committing a crime in this dorm for," Seungmin mocked, the slippers you were currently wearing coming I'm intentionally violent contact with his leg.

"Seriously though, thank you for helping me. I wouldn't have expected it from someone who hates me," you said, not thinking much of it.

"I don't hate you," said Seungmin, and your worlds collided to come to a standstill.

Every perception you had for yourself was destroyed with the utterance of four words. I don't hate you. The walls you had built of rivalry and animosity, of surpassing him and opposing him came crashing down and burying you in rubble underneath.

If all you had worked towards was to dismantle the justification of Seungmin's fabricated hatred, and yet he never hated you in the first place, then what was the point? Does that mean that you were never truly doing any of this for yourself, and only because of him?

If he didn't exist, what would you be?

You realized that you were probably reading too much into it and let out a hollow, "I thought you did."

Seungmin shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry that I made you feel that way. I just considered you a worthy opponent that would help me improve myself. If anything, I respect you. In fact, these last few days have led me to see you as a friend."

You realized that it was time you apologized as well. "I'm really sorry too. I shouldn't have treated you so crossly."

Understanding and amusement flooded Seungmin's features. "No, please don't change. Bickering with you is one of the highlights of my day."

A smile tugged at your lips. "Okay, puppy boy. I'll go get some rest. What will you be doing?"

Seungmin winked at you. "Looking for things useful to steal, of course."

You lightly shoved his shoulder and he shook his head, shaking with laughter. Seungmin's hair bounced up and down as he laughed, pitifully, at his own joke.

You went to bed with a reducing migraine, a lighter heart and a new perception of you relationship with Kim Seungmin.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

As soon as your head hit the pillow, you were completely knocked out. When you woke, you felt weirdly feverish. You sighed bitterly, knowing that it would take you time to recover.

You walked out to the living room the check up on Seungmin. The sight which you found before you made you mentally melt into a puddle.

In front of you was a sleeping Kim Seungmin, legs brought to his chest and cheeks puffed out. His chest heaved rhythmically and small puffs of breath escaped his mouth. His hair covered his eyes and he was in the most compact position you had seen. You suppressed a snort.

You knew the kindest thing you could for him was to let him sleep. You knew the kindest thing you could do for yourself was to take pictures for blackmail material. Slipping your phone out of your back pocket, you quickly snapped a picture.

Foolishly, you forgot to turn off the flash and Seungmin stirred in his sleep. He got up with a start and blinked slowly. His eyes found yours and he blinked once more.

Then, with a slow smile, he said, "Hi."

If you thought you were a puddle before, you were now a stream rushing towards the ocean. "Hello."

Seungmin sprang up, "Feeling better?"

"Hm," you responded.

You watched as Seungmin made his way to the kitchen, shuffling with the cups you had inside your mildly messy cupboards. "I'll make coffee. Two sugars right?" he asked matter of factly.

"Yep," you replied in slight surprise, "It's crazy how you still remember. It's been... what, six weeks since your last student council coffee run?"

Seungmin's back was to you, mixing away the milk and coffee granules. "I remember everything about you."

You heart shouldn't have stuttered the way it did, and for once, you didn't try to stop it.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - three months.

"Han Jisung," you yelled into your phone, "I will kill you!"

Static emerged from the other side, but you could still make out Jisung's muffled giggle. "Y/N, bestie, bad bitch, my ride or die, just get cookies."

You hung up the phone call in irritation as Seungmin leaned against the window of the bus stop, observing you with a smile. You shot him a grimace which was poorly disguised as a smile, and he burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Cookies it is I guess," he snickered at your misfortune.

"We're splitting the bill," you announced haughtily, and you both walked side by side to the local grocery store.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

The cold air of the grocery store nipped at you, making its under your shirt and through your jeans. You rage towards a particular Han Jisung, however, propelled you towards the baked goods and sweets section. Seungmin tailed behind you, his hand holding on to your jacket sleeve.

The conquest in question was to get one of the people in your grade, Jisung, to help provide entertainment for the school prom. Him and two other seniors who had already passed out, Chan and Changbin, were part of a trio named 3racha. The entire school knew of their laurels; they had been signed to a famous company before even graduating high school.

Jisung told you to meet at their studio after school to discuss prom, assuring you that they would provide music and maybe even dj on the side. Right before you and Seungmin were going to leave however, he had the absolute audacity to tell you that his hyungs needed a lot of convincing.

You scanned all the decorative tin boxes, trying to pick out something cheap that would also suffice for the treacherous endeavor you were about to undertake. Sometime during this process, the familiar tug of Seungmin's hand on your sleeve vanished.

You surveyed the room to find where he was, like a mother looking for her son. When you finally spotted his familiar tuft of hair and tall frame, you let out a slightly fond and extremely exasperated sigh.

While you were actually working, Seungmin was busy waving two cones of ice cream towards you. You grabbed the box of cookies you were eyeing and walked towards him.

"Really, Seungmin?" you dryly questioned.

"I have an unnatural craving for butterscotch. If you don't let me have it, I'll go Edward Cullen on you," he retorted.

You seriously regretted persuading Seungmin into watching Twilight with you. Ever since the little sick spell you had which prompted Seungmin to spend time at your dorm, you both began a mini tradition of watching a movie together once every week.

You would play the movie on your respective laptops and call each other, listening on mute bar the occasional theoretical conversations and joint rants about the main character's absolute stupidity.

It all started when he began pestering you about table colors for the prom banquet ("but I don't see the difference between ivory and off-white!"), but you interrupted by saying that it movie night and that you were rewatching Interstellar. Both your movie preferences and haywire sleep schedules being very similar led to Seungmin asking you if he could watch as well.

The rest, as they say, was history.

You finally relented and you and Seungmin stepped out of the store with a split bill, a box of cookies under your arm and ice creams currently being devoured. You opted for Belgian Chocolate while Seungmin wolfed down butterscotch. You finished your ice creams and tossed your wrappers in the bin outside.

You noticed a spot of ice cream near Seungmin's lip. Without thinking anything of it, you pulled your sleeve and swiped at it, cleaning it in one go. Seungmin glanced at you with a mixture of awe, shock, and something you assumed was adoration.

"It's just ice cream," you mumbled, but the atmosphere of comfort and domesticity hit you just as much as it healed him.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

The two of you got on the bus and found two empty seats beside each other. After you vehemently listed the cons of sitting in an aisle seat, Seungmin finally conceded into letting you sit near the window. He didn't do so without insulting your height (again), claiming that since he was tall he would need to stretch his legs, but you wouldn't be having such issues at all.

The bus ride to the 3racha studio would take a good forty five minutes. Not because it was far, per se, but because traffic was a little shit.

You both were on your phones, and you scrolled aimlessly through social media. You let out a groan of annoyance.

"What is it?" asked Seungmin.

"Just Riya and Hyunjin being disgustingly adorable. Go ahead, take pleasure in my despair," you offered, full of snark.

"I mean, if you insist," Seungmin grinned.

Ever since Riya and Hyunjin's dramatic love confession and Victorian romance-esque scenario, you had been third wheeling to the point where you were third wheeling without even being near them. Hyunjin and Riya being in a relationship did make you crave one of your own, but you were kind of to not let an innocent victim (see also: Yang Jeongin) fall captive to the perils of being a third wheel.

You were drifting in and out of reality, immersed in a science fiction eBook loaded onto you phone. Or at least, you were, until animated video game noises came from Seungmin's phone. You peered over his shoulder to see what he was doing, and burst into a fit of stifled laughter.

"How can you be so bad at Fruit Ninja of all games," you giggled.

Seungmin glared at you, "As if you're any better."

"I am, in fact," you snorted, your tone full of invitation and open to challenge.

It took just those four words and the smug expression on your face for Seungmin to quickly switch to multiplayer mode. The two of you vigorously tapped at your screens, slicing watermelons and mangos. Seungmin swiping was so arbitrary that he couldn't even cut through a fruit half the time.

You shoulder was pressed against Seungmin's and your chin hovered over it. You thought you both were being soft enough so as to not disturb anyone, but an old woman sitting in front of you coughed in what you assumed was contempt.

Blood rushed to your cheeks in embarrassment as you and Seungmin both bowed apologetically. You were expecting a lengthy sermon on public discipline, but the old woman broke into a smile instead.

"Always cherish your childhood friendships and childhood loves," she winked at the two of you, "Especially when it seems to be a love as free as the one you both share."

You and Seungmin exchanged confused looks.

"We're not-"

"About that-"

You were tripping over your words, stumbling and falling until Seungmin finally mustered, "We're not dating, or in love or anything."

The woman just laughed in response. She got up from her chair and left with an "If you say so!", leaving both you and Seungmin stunned in her wake. 

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You and Seungmin sat cramped in the 3racha studio couch. You couldn't quite call this room a studio. It was more of a musically inclined man cave.

Jisung, Changbin and Chan sat across from you, their legs ridiculously crossed over the other at the exact same angles. Jisung nibbled on the cookies that you brought. He smiled at another one of your death glares.

Chan clapped his hands together, "You know what? We would love to play at your prom. Changbin and I are alumni and Jisung is bitchless anyways."

Jisung swatted at Chan's arm with his cookie while Changbin swooped in to claim a cookie of his own. Amidst the chaos, you and Seungmin let out a sigh of relief.

"You can send us the transaction details at our email," said Changbin, scribbling it on a notepad. His booming voice made you jump in surprise.

"Cool, we'll do that soon. Before we go, can I use the restroom?" Seungmin inquired.

Chan rattled off the directions to the restroom and Seungmin left with a pat on your head and a "Don't miss me too much, darling."

"We'll get back to work now, Y/N," Chan said kindly.

You shot him a smile which remained on your face until Changbin snickered, "Yeah, Jisung can keep you company."

The two of them went inside their studio booth, erupting with giggles that turned into fake coughs which once again morphed into real coughs. You shot Jisung a quizzical look. "Oh, that's because I used to like you," Jisung said through a mouthful of cookie.

You weren't taken aback, unfazed by his sudden admission. Jisung has had a crush on almost the entire student body, regardless of gender. You would be kidding if you said that you didn't have a soft spot for Jisung though. He was your seatmate in chemistry class (a horrible one at that), but also the reason why you ran for student council president in the first place.

"You would be good at it," he encouraged you, even though you knew his ulterior motives.

You were presently reaching for a cookie when Jisung stated casually, "I didn't know you were dating Seungmin."

You choked on your cookie. "What? We aren't. Why would you think that?"

There was no way in hell you and Seungmin could ever be mixed up for a couple. Yes, your feelings of hatred towards him had considerably dampened, but that didn't mean that you liked liked him. Everything you felt towards him was strictly professional and only had to do with prom planning, as you would regularly reassure yourself.

Jisung shrugged. "The nicknames, the looks you were giving each other. I mean, you both are alike. It wouldn't be that out of the blue of you were."

You responded with a huff of indignation, assuming that this was Jisung's way of asking you if you were single.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

"We are not watching Twilight," you told Seungmin sternly. He pouted at you but you wouldn't budge, not even an inch.

Seungmin and you were back on the bus, the sky painted in beautiful shades of blue. The bus was quiet, you and Seungmin being the only passengers on there. Deciding to kill time because evening traffic would cause the bus to take even longer, Seungmin suggested watching something on his tablet.

"Let's watch the Vampire Diaries instead!" Seungmin said in excitement.

You stared at him, mouth agape. "What is it with you and vampires?"

"It's either that or Mean Girls," Seungmin offered.

You instantly knew what you would watch. Suffering through Seungmin watching Mean Girls and adopting Regina George's personality would be pure agony. There were many things you could tolerate in life, but Seungmin taking up the persona of his favorite characters after watching something knew was not one of them. Knowing Seungmin, you didn't have a shred of doubt that his favorite would be Regina.

"Vampire Diaries it is," you agreed, "But Damone is mine."

Seungmin offered no objection and handed you one side of his wired earphones. You had to sit in extremely close proximity to Seungmin, close enough that you could feel his breath on your cheek. Your head subconsciously dropped on his shoulder, his cheek pressed against your hair.

Seungmin smelled like cinnamon and rain. You wondered what perfume he used, but then realized that it would be pointless since any and all perfume would have worn out by then. After that you began to ponder about what Disney movie he had stepped out of to smell so good and look so good despite spending hours either outside or in a cramped studio.

Finally, your train of thought took a sharp, final turn.

You were comfortable, pressed up against Seungmin and making sarcastic comments every so often. It felt normal, natural even. It struck you that your head fit under Seungmin's chin like a missing puzzle piece.

The pieces of your brain and the pieces of his heart joined together to form a beautiful mosaic of shared chaos and resilience that was unique only to the odd relationship you both shared.

Maybe it wasn't so absurd that two people had assumed that you both were in a relationship. Maybe you didn't want it to be so absurd. Maybe you wanted it to be something that wouldn't cause you and Seungmin to dismiss with hurried explanations and laughs full of ridicule.

That was enough thinking for today.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

[10:17 PM]

puppy boy: i have come here to tell you that i am willing to risk our friendship

[10:18 PM]

You: /what/ friendship?

[10:18 PM]

puppy boy: fine, i'm willing to risk out not friendship for claiming damone salvatore

puppy boy: talk to hand if you have any arguments

puppy boy: ✋🏻

[10:19 PM]

You: lmao not you acting like damone would choose *you* over *me*

[10:19 PM]

puppy boy: ...

puppy boy: ok well i can't rly argue with that

puppy boy: if i was damone, i would choose you in a heartbeat

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - two months and twenty six days.

The most fascinating thing that you had studied about in your astronomy class were binary stars. They were the most common multi star system, found regularly in pockets of the universe. They were immensely important, aiding in the calculation of things like mass of celestial bodies.

But one could not exist without the other.

A binary star was useless without it's counterpart, just another ball of glowing gas drifting about in the universe. You reckoned that humans also had their version of binary stars, people whose lives were so intertwined with each other that having one without the other stripped both entities of their meaning.

In astronomy, they were called binary stars. On earth, they were called soulmates.

That was what you and Seungmin were, stars that shone brightly in your shared skies but instead of dimming the other, only amplified it. You both were natural satellites, celestial bodies gravitating into each other's pull like a two magnets.

Seungmin drew you in like nobody else did, and you were tired of repelling it. If the earth had reversed it's poles so many times in the past, then in the grand scheme of things, you reversing your perception of Seungmin should have been nothing that would warrant a big deal.

But to you, this was your entire perception of a black and white reality being ripped away and slowly rebuilt in color.

Considering that the person behind all of it was Seungmin, these colors were more often than not so vivid and vibrant that it left you craving more of what life could be like if he would be there mending every crack in your universe.

It left you craving more of what life could be like if the term my universe in your dictionary changed to our universe.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You and Seungmin were sitting together in the library. Well, less sitting together and more having a habit of happening to be there at the same time (which was almost all the time). This caused you both to strike up a habit of unknowingly taking a seat beside the other person.

Seungmin was leafing through a book while you silently observed him. "What is it?" he piped up, his eyes never leaving his book, "What do you want to ask me?"

You placed a finger between the pages of the book you were reading and shrugged. "Nothing much, really. How did you know I was wondering about something anyways?"

He looked up, his eyes meeting yours. "I just know. Now, what is it?"

His impatient gaze and curious eyes tempted you into telling him what was making rounds in your head. You found yourself thinking for the umpteenth time how his hair fell into his face so perfectly, making him a vision that seemed like a painting encased in a Parisian museum.

"Your eyes," you whispered, your tone so imperceptible that a another human being would have barely heard you.

Seungmin always heard your voice, though.

"What about them?" he chuckled.

You titled your head to the side, wondering if you yourself were imagining all of this. "Did you know your eyes change color when you look at me?"

It was true, at least to you. You noticed that whenever Seungmin's gaze caught onto yours, his eyes darkened. Not in the terrifying way often associated with bloodlust, but in the puzzled way that made you feel like he was trying to figure you out, just as you were trying to figure yourself out.

"It's just a telling sign for my animosity towards you," taunted Seungmin, attempting to ignite a fiery response out of you.

It somewhat mildly worked.

"Oh yeah," you gasped, "Ello will be troubled to know that her parents are fighting.

"Hm," contemplated Seungmin, "Who's gonna be the one to tell her that she's a child of divorce?"

Seungmin's comment caught you off guard. Child of divorce? It was so out of pocket that even the tantalizing curve of your lips that had been making you feel unnatural things as of late couldn't distract you.

"We aren't even married, Seungmin," you pointed out.

In response, Seungmin put his book down on the table in front of him. He placed his elbow on the aforementioned table and smoothly removed one of the two rings that he was always wearing: the smaller moon ring to his larger sun ring, you noticed.

He motioned for your hand and in one gesture, slid the moon ring onto your ring finger. "There," he declared proudly, "Now we're married."

He seemed so casual, so unfazed about it, that it enraged you.

Did he not just feel like an entire carton box of fireworks had gone off in an empty parking lot that was his stomach? Did he not get his breath taken away from a gesture that was so simple that a passerby wouldn't even have batted an eye at it? Did he not feel perplexed, terrified and astonished that such a feeling was even possible?

Because you did.

You felt like your world was tilting on it's axis and you couldn't keep letting the lava simmer under the surface anymore.

It felt like the entire universe was in your grasp, like electricity crackled at your fingertips. You felt euphoric, your brain buzzing and mind spinning.

You felt like someone shattered the vase of feelings that contained all you had ever experienced and glued it back together with gold in its cracks. You felt like someone placed rose-tinted sunglasses on your eyes and that you never wanted to go back to normal vision after gaining a taste of what this felt like.

You knew that what you felt was, according to the countless books and movies you had watched, a horrible illness that constituted a crush. But you didn't know that it felt so good? Even more frighteningly so, you didn't know when you stopped seeing Seungmin as a rival and as a friend.

You frighteningly didn't know when you started seeing Seungmin as someone you were capable of loving until you did and it scared you to death concretely only knowing that your brain provided not a single fucking objection to this flurry of feelings.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - two months.

In the time that you had come to the realization that you had feelings for Seungmin, and all the moments post that day, you were in a tumultuous state of mind.

You hadn't told anyone about your feelings, because you weren't sure if they were genuine or if they were a product of you romanticizing the entire atmosphere surrounding you.

You would be so cruel to Seungmin before a few months ago, so neglectful of his feelings that you thought it was foolish to think that he would ever like. It baffled you that he even saw you as a friend; hoping that he would see you as a lover would be akin to grasping for non-existent straws.

You should have told Hyunjin, who viewed love so beautifully that you envied him for it. You should have talked to Jeongin, who didn't see love as poetically as Hyunjin, but had so much of it to spare and never seemed to run out. But you didn't.

Instead, you chose to exist in torturous turmoil, over thinking each and every shared moment you had with Seungmin. If this was what experiencing supposedly unrequited like was going to be for the rest of your life, you sincerely hoped you never went through the pain of it again.

If this was what experiencing supposedly unrequited like was going to be for the rest of your life, you sincerely hoped it didn't become unrequited love.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

"And we'll have to meet Felix for his cousin, you know, Lee Minho, who said he'll be open to catering for prom," you finished with an air of finality.

Seungmin bobbed his head in agreement and walked with you towards you locker. He stepped normally, slowing down to keep pace with you. You felt like your legs were lead.

Being near Seungmin made you simultaneously want to combust and make you want to fly.

You reached for you locker and twisted the knob according to your combination, as you did almost everyday. This was like second nature to you, so when you opened you locker, put your books inside and turned around with the intention of facing Seungmin, you certainly weren't expecting what you were met with instead.

Renjun, one of the students of your grade, stood facing you with a bouquet. You had spoken with Renjun a few times at most, striking up conversation very rarely. You had no idea what warranted him looking at you earnestly, hoping that he was waiting for someone else.

Of course you were wrong.

"Hey Y/N, um... I have liked you for a very long time and I wanted to ask if you would go to prom with me," Renjun stuttered.

To say you were in shock was an understatement. Dating was the furthest thing from your mind, regardless of whether or not you had feelings for anyone, Seungmin included. While you did feel a surge of ego at being asked out for prom, you weren't in any way, shape, or form, expecting it.

This also meant that you weren't prepared for what you were going to do if you wanted to accept a promposal, which in turn meant you had even less of an idea of what to do if your intention was to reject a promposal.

You instantly felt pity on him and remorseful for what you were about to do.

"Oh Renjun, I'm really sorry but I barely know you. On top of that, I'll be really busy with student council and just be the reason your night to be ruined," you told him softly.

Renjun looked at you crestfallen. "Oh yeah, no, you're right. I'm sorry for bothering you. Can we grab coffee sometime though?"

Before you could respond, Seungmin interjected. "Yes, yes, that's all nice but we have to go. People to see, places to be. Just text her when and where."

With that, Seungmin dragged you away. You wanted to protest but were internally cartwheeling instead.

It was probably your imagination, probably caffeinated emotions, but you thought you saw a flash of jealousy in Seungmin's charming eyes.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

"What was that about?" you snorted.

"That was me having to be inconvenienced because my partner doesn't know how to respond when a guy asks her out," Seungmin snapped.

Not friend. No colleague or co-president. Not even your name. But partner.

You weren't sure how to feel about that.

"Why do you hate prom so much Seungmin?" you sighed, changing the topic.

Seungmin shrugged in response but you pressed on. "It's okay puppy. No matter how embarrassing, I won't judge."

You crossed your fingers over your heart, but Seungmin just looked at you with melancholy in his eyes. Your teasing smile fell.

"It's a long story," Seungmin said. His hands were in his pocket and he was kicking at a rock on the pavement.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me," you told him, your voice full of guilt for asking.

"No, I will," he responded, "You deserve that much."

Seungmin finally began, "You know how I have an older sister, right? She's in college right now, but back when she was in high school, she was really smart. Smarter then me smart. I know right. Crazy? Anyways, she was very much type casted as a nerd and even though she was well liked, nobody wanted to date her. That was, until, prom came around. A guy asked her out and she was over the moon."

You felt a sinking feeling in your stomach, knowing where this was about to go.

"She wasn't even romantically interested in him, but was so excited that someone had for once, shown some interest towards her that she instantly said yes. I still remember how she wouldn't stop talking about it. She got ready, buying her own dress and everything, using money from her part time job that she was saving for university. She looked ethereal that night. I still remember all of it, even if it was five years ago. But she was stood up. Turns out the entire was a dare, a sick joke. Her final straw was when she saw the guy who asked her out walk into the prom venue with another girl on his arm."

Your heart broke for Seungmin's sister. You couldn't even imagine how it must have felt. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, however, Seungmin opened his mouth once again.

He continues bitterly, "She was so heartbroken that she went to one of those afterparties, that's basically a rave. She drank so much alcohol that it got to the point where she was passed out on someone's hospital. We had to rush her to the hospital and get all of it pumped out. It felt so painful, being thirteen and watching my sister just suffer in pure agony."

Seungmin's voice broke, "She almost died last night, physically. But mentally, she was wrecked. It was on her hospital records, this incident. None of the Ivies, or any university even remotely good accepted her. She finally got into Stanford, but that was after writing several scholarship tests and paying a hefty fee. She's never really been the same since."

When Seungmin's sermon came to an end, you felt his hurt ten times over. Tears glistened in his eyes and without warning, you pulled him in for a hug. You felt Seungmin let out a shaky breath and held him close.

"Your hair smells like strawberries. It's highly concerning. Fruit based shampoos are dumb," he mumbled into your hair.

"Shut up and stop ruining the moment or else I'll let go," you warned.

In response, Seungmin just held you tighter. When he let go, he swiped at his eyes and gave you a grateful smile. "Sorry. And thank you," he told you with a tight smile.

You just nodded in response. "Hey, I understand why you hate prom. I can take over for you on the actual night," you offered with a squeeze of his hand."

Seungmin shook his head in response, "No, I'll be there. It wouldn't be fair to all of you if I wasn't. But you should go with Renjun. Being tethered to someone who has an outlook like me would just make the night boring as hell for you."

The possibility of going to prom with Renjun when Seungmin was right there was something you found utterly ridiculous. It made no sense, no sense at all to go with someone you had no feelings for. Going to prom with Renjun would hurt both him and you.

Seungmin's glazed expression sent an arrow straight into your heart, piercing and deafening. You refused to let him drown in sorrow. "Absolutely not, Kim Seungmin. If I said you're coming to prom with me, you're coming to prom with me."

You didn't allow any room for further argument, shutting Seungmin up with a defiant stare. You wanted Seungmin to enjoy prom, you truly did. But you knew that this wasn't the complete truth. You had a much more selfish, concealed motive.

You were going to make Kim Seungmin fall in love with prom, while falling in love with you as well.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - one month and three days.

[9:06 PM]

You: oi seungmin

You: we still meeting up at the library to wrap up all the finally details?

[9:07 PM]

seungmine (hopefully someday): Yep.

You could somehow tell that something was bothering Seungmin, just by reading that last text. You caught your lip between your teeth as you got ready to go to the library, his dry tone throwing you off. Seungmin was pretty much a dry texter, but always followed it up with something absurd. Today however, he didn't. Hell, he even used proper punctuation.

The entirety of the mini 'meeting' that you had consisted of only you talking and Seungmin responding with one or two words. If you were lucky, he would look your way, but your luck mostly fell short.

You snapped your binder shut and asked, "Everything good?"

Seungmin just blinked in response, the boredom and sense of being done evident in his eyes. He didn't reply and instead proceeded to swing his bag around his shoulder and stand up.

You tried once again. "I was going to go shopping for prom dresses. Do you want to match colors? Let me know what you plan on wearing."

Seungmin spared you a half glance. "Yeah sure, wear whatever. I don't really care."

You felt tears prick in his eyes. How could he just not care? You were willing to give up fun and sacrifice romance so that Seungmin could have someone to spend time with. You were doing all this and for what? Being told that he didn't care?

You felt so heavy that you spit out, "You know what? Fine. I wanted to go to prom with you so that you would have someone to be with. I knew, I knew that we would have to be stuck together all night, socializing and making sure nobody burns the school down or spikes the punch bowl. But that doesn't mean that I don't want prom to feel authentic, to go as a normal teenager."

You continued, "I'm not even asking you for the grand promposal that I have been dreaming about since I was nine. I'm just asking you to do the bare minimum, if not as my prom date, which you agreed to might I add, but at least as the person who I share the title of co-president with. You cannot keep disregarding my feelings Seungmin. I'm sick and tired of it. I understand that you hate prom but it's you who keeps insisting on coming, it's you who keeps saying that it won't be fair if you aren't there which is ironic, because you most definitely aren't being fair right now."

Seungmin stared at you, jaw slightly hung open, but the fire inside you kept raging.

"I know you don't see me as a date and that's fine but at least show me some modicum of respect. You didn't even let me complete my question; it wasn't me asking about matching prom attire. It was Principal Kim who suggested asking you about it. And you know that a suggestion from her is nothing short of law."

The tears in your eyes were threatening to spill out now as you mentally cursed yourself for ever even thinking that you could have feelings for someone like him.

"So, Kim Seungmin, if you don't want to go prom, or if you want to be a whiny little bitch about it, it's fine with me. Text me if you're going. If you won't, I'll just assume you aren't. You can do whatever the fuck you want because I'm sick for pitying you when you clearly aren't deserving of it. Go ahead and fucking ruin prom for yourself, but don't you dare tarnish the experience for me."

Before Seungmin could even anything, you grabbed your backpack and walked away, blinking back tears as you thought about how cold and lonely prom would be without anybody by your side to spend the night with. Hyunjin had Riya. Jeongin had a roster of senior girls willing to go out with him.

But you? At the end of the day, every single day, you were all alone. You let your intrusive thoughts in, swirling in your head and nearly paralyzing your capacity to think.

What if the reason why you were alone was all your fault? What if you were too pushy, too rude for your own good? None of that mattered, though, because thinking about the situation never changed the situation.

You would be alone, no matter how hard you tried otherwise, and that was the bitter truth you had to learn to live with.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

[5:28 PM]

Kim Seungmin: i am so sorry y/n

Kim Seungmin: please answer my calls

[6:36 PM]

You: I have sent the details regarding the electronic equipment.

You: Make sure to contact them.

[6:36 PM]

Kim Seungmin: please let me make it up to you.

Kim Seungmin: please.

[7:05 PM]

You: Let me know once you contact them.

You: Don't bother texting me otherwise.

You: My phone will be on dnd since I'm going out.

You: Call me only if it's urgent. I think you should be more than capable of handling the situation now, but just in case. Don't expect me to respond to you about anything else.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You were avoiding Seungmin as if he carried a deadly virus. You dodged him in hallways and expertly deflected any and all of his attempts to talk to you. The one place you couldn't avoid where you knew he would be, however, was the library.

You needed to return one of your library books. Today was the last day and not doing so would led to you paying a fine. You couldn't afford a payable fees right now, since most of the savings from your part time job and the money your parents would regularly send you would be going towards buying your prom gown.

Okay, fine. Maybe you wanted to give Seungmin a chance to properly apologize. But that's absurd and not important right now.

Your headphones were jammed in your ears, music pounding through them while you walked in its direction. People thought that you had an affinity for listening to classical music since you came under the categorization of an 'over-achieving nerd.'

You knew that society also known as your school, would break out into scandal if they ever found out that Kendrick Lamar was your top artist on Spotify.

That thought brought you back to Seungmin, as you giggled at the memory of his confusion while you were explaining the entire Drake and Kendrick beef to him. His nose was scrunched up and his eyes were squinted, listening to you as if you were preaching about the secrets of life and the universe, not ranting about rap music.

Oh wait. You were supposed to hate Seungmin. Not giggle at the memories of the time you spent together like a middle aged woman recounting her college days.

When you got to the library, you placed your bag on Mrs. Kang's table and took out the book you were supposed to return.

You handed it to her with a strained smile. "Hey, I am on time though, aren't I Mrs. Kang? Plus, this is just a first time offence. I'm sure you can let it slide."

Mrs. Kang raised her eyebrow. "Fine, just this once," she slid the book underneath the scanner and mentioned, "Oh, you should go check out the Romantic Literature section; we finally got sent The Vicar of Wakefield."

You looked at her, puzzled. You were never really interested in works that emerged during the age of early eighteenth century Romanticism. She must have mixed you up with somebody else, but you began to walk towards the shelves anyways. If anything would help lighten your spirits, it would be re-reading Pride and Prejudice.

When you got there however, the most unexpected sight awaited you.

Your eyes drank in the sight of Seungmin, standing wearing a varsity jacket, white t-shirt and jeans. Dried rose petals littered the length of the aisle. Seungmin was holding up an open book with it's pages folded to form the word 'Prom?'

As much as you hated to admit it, the sight took your breath away.

Seungmin cocked his head to the side. "I had to bribe her with my limited edition copy of Frankenstein."

"What- what is this?" you asked, your brain still numb from shock.

Seungmin bit his lip and looked at you. "This is me apologizing. You were right. I completely sidelined you when I shouldn't have. I truly respect and admire you and feel horrible that I made you feel like this. And I figured, that I should ask you to prom the way you deserve: with all the grandeur in the world."

His apology was one that you could have never imagined being the recipient of. Even fiction didn't predict something as thoughtful as this. Seungmin preparing an entire promposal for you, over just a hissy fit, was enough to thaw your temporarily frozen heart.

You looked at him open-mouthed. "But I thought you didn't even like me that way."

Despite how hard he tried to contain it, tones of mischief slipped through Seungmin's voice. "Would it be so bad if I did?"

What? This couldn't be real. This was most definitely not happening. You pinched yourself to make sure you weren't dreaming, because never in your wildest dreams would such a scene have ever taken place.

Seungmin must have somehow read your mind because he quickly stuttered, "Not that I do. I mean I like you. But not in that way. Like, I asked you since we have to spend the entire night together anyways. I'm sorry for making this weird."

You let out an exhale, chiding yourself for being so gullible. It was just Seungmin being Seungmin. You spared a glance at his eyes, full of anticipation. You wanted to say no. If you didn't, you knew you would be in too deep.

You took a step forward to refuse his request when your eyes fell on his hand. The sight awaiting you knocked the wind out of your body.

You already noticed Seungmin's baggy eyes, attributing it to lack of sleep because he was busy doing whatever guys do. But his hands told the other half of the story.

They were adorned with paper cuts. Small scars like moons were imprinted on him in various stages of healing. One even had a bit of blood on it.

"Uh, yeah," said Seungmin, noticing your eyes drift down, "I spent all night making it. Let's just say that I'm really bad with paper and folding in any context and leave it at that."

"Seungmin," you whispered, your eyes tearing up. He offered you a tight smile.

"I should go. This was weird. I'm sorry."

"Wait!" you said in a tone that startled him, "I'll go. I'll go to prom with you. Officially."

Seungmin's eyes reflected a question of whether you were doing this genuinely. You hoped that your eyes reflected that you were. Seungmin may not ever come to like you romantically, in any sense. But you were happy with what you were being offered.

You were happy that Seungmin was the first person you thought yourself to have the potential to love.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - shit, it's prom!

You couldn't sleep all night.

The frenzied prolepsis that clouded your mind refused to escape. 'What if's?' and 'Should have's?' regarding the event clouded your head. You thought that you would feel more nervous about your experience at prom, but it was all the planning that got to your head.

If you were a wreck, however, then Seungmin was a fucking natural disaster.

He texted you without pause, your phone blowing up so much that even Riya had to ask you if everything was okay. His chats varied, from long rants about how Die Hard is not a Christmas movie, despite Felix's apparent protests, and immense worry about how prom would turn out.

You didn't blame him. You were just as anxious as him, even if you weren't as vocal about it. This mammoth event was like yours's and Seungmin's baby. You were so concentrated on making sure that everything went according to plan, that the idea of you going to prom with Seungmin was pushed to the dark and dusty corner of your brain.

"You have been texting Seungmin a lot lately," teased Riya as she curled her hair.

"Shut up," you told her smoothly, already armed with blackmail material, "Or else I will smack you and tell Hyunjin about your Shah Rukh Khan shrine."

She effortlessly shut up.

You ran from one room to the other, your dorm house common room and back, pacing and placing calls and confirming and reminding people of what had to be done. You were in such a rush that you hadn't even started to get ready.

In your panicked chaos, you slammed into an already ready Felix. His white suit was immaculate, small roses embroidered on the sides. His blond hair was tousled and his easy smile gave you a bit of reassurance amidst the hectic situations you were constantly throwing yourself in.

"Felix! What are you doing here? You look amazing, by the way." You pulled him in for a quick hug, distracted by a call you had to make.

"I'm here to pick up my date, Jeongin," Felix smirked.

You let out a cough. "What?"

Felix laughed. "I didn't have a date and thought that he deserves to come since he has helped so much. So, I offered him my plus one ticket."

Ah, that made sense. You wondered why Jeongin didn't go with one of the senior girls on his roster of ladies in waiting. Then you remembered that he thought of himself as some sort of a chivalrous gentleman.

"Why haven't you gotten ready yet?" Felix questioned.

"Oh, I was just-," you began, before Felix sternly interrupted you.

"Don't you dare say you were wrapping things up. You and I both know that your definition of wrapping things up is frantically quadruple checking everything," Felix scolded, "You will stop worrying and get ready."

You just sighed in response, "I wish I could but-"

"No buts," he said, his eyes softening. "This night is yours as much as everybody else's. If anything, it's mostly yours."

Before you could sweetly respond to Felix with a resounding refusal, Jisung, per usual, appeared out of thin hair. His suit coat looked a little small and you vaguely remembered yearbook pictures of Chan during his prom, wearing almost the exact same suit coat, minus the little hand stitched lightening bolt on the side pocket.

"This," Jisung motioned towards you with a flourish of his right hand, "Is unacceptable."

Felix promptly agreed. You flashed him a withering glare and he slightly wavered, but it was of no use. You had lost the battle before it had even begun.

Twenty minutes later, you, Jisung and Felix were in your dorm room. No matter your protests, they insisted on helping you get ready for prom night. The two of them did your hair and makeup while you pondered on how you couldn't do it yourself half as good as they did.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

When they were done, you gasped in surprise. They made you look a beautiful you thought you weren't capable of outwardly being.

Your dress in itself was majestic, at least in your eyes. It didn't exactly fit the theme, but the moment you saw it, you knew you needed to have it. It marveled you to no end about how someone could leave something that looked so incredible in a small thrift store next to the coffee shop you frequented.

The dress was silver, shimmering in a shade of what you only knew to be 'almost white' when light struck it. The bodice was in the shape of fairy wings, the sides laced crisscrossed and showing the smallest bit of skin. The back was covered, and the dress flowed down to reach your feet like a cascading waterfall. It was sleeveless, and so you wore long, winding silver bracelets on each hand.

Your make was done almost professionally by Felix. He used a colour pallet of silvery white, not exaggerating your make up. He brushed your hair calmly and tied two strands of it in a braid, pull them back to make a sort of halo. Felix clipped butterflies into your hair and made you feel like a mythical creature stepping out from a fantasy novel. Narnia, maybe.

Jisung on the other hand, provided food, gossip and entertainment. You would never reveal this to him, but you found that very vital to the process of getting ready as well.

"You are so good at this," you gushed at Felix.

He looked at you calmly. "I have two sisters, and I'm the middle kid. As a consequence, I was often my older sister's model for all things fashion and my younger sister's personal stylist."

Jisung munched on a piece of cake which you had no idea was even there in your kitchen. He sat on a barstool and clapped when you came out and gave him a spin. His feet rocked back and forth while he cheered you on.

"See," he said to Felix pointedly. "I am a better wingman than you."

Felix looked immeasurably hurt. "Not as good as me though. You didn't even help me!"

"I did, didn't I?" Jisung looked at you with those boba eyes that you found extremely hard to resist.

In response, you ushered them both out of the house in order to not get pulled into conflict and be the cause of an unsatisfactory prom night. Plus, you wanted to get there early and check on the venue.

Well, that and also to (mostly), see Seungmin.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You spotted him before he could see you.

Seungmin looked ethereal in his silver suit, his hair swept to the side and hands in his pockets as he engaged in easy conversation with one of the teachers.

He looked like a song you could listen to for the rest of your life until you were maddened by it but never turn it off. He looked like a painting that you could stare at as it dried, like a work of art you spend countless hours and dollars just to catch a glimpse.

And, he matched with you.

When you mentioned to him in passing that your prom dress was silver in colour, you hadn't actually expected him to wear something of a similar, much less the same colour. And yet he did, and you went down a spiral of feelings once again.

Seungmin's eyes must have found you because he sauntered over to you like a man with a purpose.

"You look beautiful," he whispered in awe, "But then again, you do everyday."

You blushed, hoping that the shitty lighting would hide it. "You look incredible yourself Seungmin," you said lightly, "And you somehow look good everyday, despite only running off of caffeine and spite.

Seungmin threw his head back an infectious laughter that had caused you to laugh as well. Someone called his name from the background in the middle of your laughter. Another louder, more insistent call of his name floated towards your general direction. Seungmin dipped his head in apology and walked away.

He had told you that you look beautiful. Not your dress, not your make up, not your hair. Not the meaningless, material attire that clung onto you like tinsel on a Christmas. But he said that you, you, look beautiful.

Seungmin wasn't looking you up and down when he said so, like men in the movies did. He didn't look like he was trying to memorize your body, memorize the dips and curves where he could place his hand and mold his being into yours.

No, he looked you in the eye when he said at, as if he didn't believe that it was the clothes that made you look beautiful. He looked you in the eye as if everything that made you, well, you was what made you so beautiful in his sight.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You stood in a moment of peace, finally standing still since reaching the venue.

The moment you took a deep breath and closed your eyes, however, a guttural screech and the sound of howling teenage boys flooded your ears. Sighing in irritation, you opened one eye to asses the situation. Deciding that it warranted you opening the other eye as well, you walked over to the culprits and sternly told them off.

You probably jinxed any peace that would possibly be coming your way by stealing away those five minutes for yourself.

Bad karma, bad decisions.

Seungmin was watching the entire altercation with a faint smirk. He walked over to you and tapped you on the shoulder. You didn't know it was him, and were about to tell him off as well until his familiar scent reached you.

You glared at the gaggle of seniors who has no right to be called seniors and turned to Seungmin.

"May I please have this dance?" he asked with a smirk.

You raised an eyebrow at him and placed your hand in his. "The theme is Aphrodite's Garden, not 18th century Regency era Bridgerton," you quipped.

Seungmin was subject to torture at your hands, also known as, watching Bridgerton with you. He would never admit it, but you knew he liked it. In fact, he may have even enjoyed it more than you. Either that, or you were hallucinating him being on his Simone Ashley Twitter fan account.

Your arms went around his neck as Seungmin guided you to the dancefloor. "I can't really dance," you murmured, the close contact between you both making your head go haywire.

"Neither do I," he winked.

Seungmin's eyes bored into yours and you licked your lips self-consciously. Considering you incredible luck, the song was slow and sensual. Considering your incredible luck, less than twenty seconds into the song playing, a loud crashing sound was heard in the background.

You prayed to God to help salvage prom, and no, that god was not Taylor Swift.

"I'll handle it," Seungmin reassured you.

"I'm a big girl," you bristled, "I can handle it as well."

"I know you are," Seungmin mused, "But I also know you well enough to know that those heels are absolutely killing you right now."

You pressed your lips in a thin line. No matter your feelings for Kim Seungmin, you still hated when he was right. You flashed him the tiniest smile in a way of saying 'thank you', since you were too proud to actually do it. He took it in stride and went away to handle whatever it was that needed handling at the moment.

He left you alone with your thoughts if such situations weren't confined so momentarily and were instead something you could enjoy for eternity.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You decided to step out of the venue for a bit, to finally clear you head. The atmosphere of prom buzzed with electricity and it wasn't the good, energetic kind; it was more of the kind that made your hair frizz.

You were standing, staring at the stars when you felt the air shift beside you. You knew who it was even without sparing a glance at them.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," you whispered to him.

"They are, but I have seen sights today that even rival them," Seungmin said. His voice was missing his trademark sass.

Your heart thumped incessantly as you asked, "Trying out cheesy pick up lines on me now, are we?"

Seungmin laughed, "Now would that be so bad?"

You both stood in silence. You bent down, opened your heels and set them to the side. You felt Seungmin looking at you, but you kept looking at the sky.

The sky, which was ever changing, yet reflected the same shades everyday. The sky, that served as a medium of rain and thunder, sunlight and rainbows. The sky, that was always there in you life, unwavering and never faltering.

Sky, which was coincidentally Seungmin's English name. It suited him.

"I really like the constellation of Orion," you told him with a sideways glance.

"I know. I remember."

"How? I mean, how do you remember all this?"

"I remember everything you tell me," Seungmin repeated, like he did all those months ago.

"Why?" you asked. You asked because you wanted to know, needed to know and repent your mistake of not asking earlier.

Seungmin turned to face you. His eyes held no glint of mischief, no edge accompanied by teasing. Instead, you felt locked in his gaze. It was the kind of intense stare that made you think that he was about to spill all his sins at your feet, right here, right now.

"I remember everything because it's you who says it. I used to remember because I wanted to beat you, be better than you. Then I started to remember as a habit, noticing the smallest quirks about you. Now I remember because I want to be there for you, to help you."

This wasn't happening. This wasn't real. But how much longer would you say that to yourself until you were imbibed with it?

"There is an ugly mix of feelings inside me regarding you, Y/N. They went initially from animosity, to something akin to friendship, to now, the desire for something with you that's more than just platonic."

He gulped. You swallowed. Silence.

"I am drawn to you, Y/N L/N. From the moment I have met you, it has felt like my life is irreversibly tangled with yours. I am propelled towards like it's pre-destined, and I always have. There are times where I feel like I cannot exist if you do not exist. And I'm tired of brushing these feelings aside, acting like they're non-existent."

"I like you, and not telling you has quite nearly driven me to the brink of insanity. It's alright, if you don't feel the same, but please don't walk away without an answer for me."

His gaze averted yours when he finally finished. You looked at him in awe, unable to express how you felt his brilliance radiate off him when he perfectly articulated all the feelings that restlessly capsized land in the empty spaces of your mind.

"For someone really smart, Kim," you breathed, "You are extremely stupid."

"You mean..." Seungmin's voice trailed off. Now it was his turn to look at you in awe.

"I have the feeling that you're trying not to kiss me, and I give you permission to just do it," you announced.

Seungmin gave you a wild smile before his lips swooped in to meet yours. They tasted like fruit punch and chocolate cake, like promises and forever.

You might have been imagining it, but for one cosmic moment, it felt like the stars were shining brighter than the usually did. Two binary stars had finally found each other, finally made their way into each other's orbits, never to stray again.

His lips left yours with a small gasp. "That was my first kiss," you mumbled sheepishly.

Seungmin fiddled with the flaps of his suit coat nervously. He started babbling, "Really? This was, I think, my third. Once at camp and once last year but that was just spin the bottle-"

You cut him off with a smirk. "Let's make it a fourth time, shall we?" and you promptly shut him up by placing your lips on his.

You weren't jealous of the other people Seungmin had kissed. God knows how awful this entire experience would have been if you both were going into it as novices. If anything, you were glad you were the third person he was kissing, because in that celestial moment, you made a vow.

You may not be the first person Seungmin had kissed, but you would make damn well sure to be the last.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

t - girl, it's the epilogue!

Seungmin yawned and wrapped his arm around your waist, practically caging you to the bed. He let out whine when you tried to get out of his grasp and just pulled you closer. You poked him in the side until he yelped.

"Kim Seungmin, you are not skipping work today. I know this display of affections is just so that I concede and let you stay home for cuddles," you told him sternly.

"But it worked last time. And the time before that. And the time before-"

"Well, it won't work this time," you announced with an air of finality.

If anything, being in a relationship with Seungmin only increased the penchant for banter you both had. You both rarely disagreed on things, but went back and forth for fun anyways. You knew your boundaries and never crossed them, but argued like cats and dogs nonetheless.

Well, you called it arguing. Seungmin called it flirting.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

You both finally pulled up at Seungmin's workplace and you snorted when you saw the building gates. Seungmin drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and looked at you with a smile that you gave back. It was his first day on the job as Principal.

It had been ten years since you stepped foot on the campus of Park Academy.

"The legacy of Principal Kims continues," you giggled, proud of yourself for making that joke.

"That's because Kims are superior," Seungmin declared.

"That is literally so offensive," you flicked him arm lightly.

Seungmin's eyes met yours and a familiar look in it made you outwardly dread and inwardly prepare to rebut whatever he was going to tell you.

"You shouldn't say that," he snickered, "Considering that you'll be an honorary Kim yourself soon."

Oh. Oh.

It would be a week until students started coming to campus, there classes yet to start. When Seungmin mentioned this to you, you asked if you could come along to see the campus once. The campus where you fell in love with him.

"You might be a hot shot CEO," Seungmin relentlessly teased, "But it's good to go back to your roots sometimes."

It was ironic how you called his mother more than he did.

Your feet subconsciously guided you to the library. You loved this library. It was the place where you spent some of the best moments of your life. This was where you slowly fell in love with Seungmin, uncovering him layer by layer until you could call him yours.

You felt a laugh bubble up your throat when you made your way to the Romantic Literature section. Seungmin gave you a poor attempt at a smile as he observed you. In fact, he looked extremely nervous, a sharp juxtaposition to the flirty demeanor of his just a few minutes ago.

You could count on one hand the amount of times you had seen Seungmin being nervous.

It must have been anxiety surrounding the promotion. You reached over to squeeze his hand and give him a reassuring pat. Once you were sure that he would be fine, you turned back to prodding at the books shelved on the wall as if they were part of some lab experiment.

Once you were satisfied, you turned to give Seungmin the signal to go, when you stumbled backwards at what was in front of you.

Seungmin stood down on one knee, a box in his hand, with the most beautiful ring you had ever seen inside it.

"What?" you asked, your voice shaky. Tears instantly began to spring up in your eyes.

This wasn't real. This wasn't happening. But it was. The man you had loved for a decade was here, in front of you, wordlessly asking to turn those ten years into the rest of a shared forever.

"I had a really dramatic speech planned," he rambled, "But I forgot since I'm kind of terrified and you do always tell me to speak from my heart so here goes nothing."

"I have probably mentioned this thousands of times, but I have felt a magnetic pull towards you since the moment I first interacted with you. I didn't know what it would turn into then, but I knew it was going to be something, and I have been eternally grateful that it was love."

"To put it simply: every single infinitesimal particle that makes me in hopelessly in love with every infinitesimal particle that makes you. I love you, so, so much. I have been yearning for a forever with you before I even knew it so; will you marry me?"

He stopped with a sniff and swiped the sleeve of his sweater across his eyes. "Shit, I wasn't supposed to cry."

It all came full circle, didn't it? Ten years ago, he asked you to prom. Ten years later, he offered you eternity.

You let out a laugh and threw yourself at him, peppering him with kisses. "And you said you didn't want to come to work today," you laughed in between your cuddle attack.

"So, this means yes?"

You face palmed. "This means yes, Seungmin. Yes, I will marry you. In every universe, I know that I will spend the rest of my life with you."

Seungmin gathered you in his arms and kissed you like he was burning and you were oxygen. Binary stars, burning and burning, bleeding into each other in every reality because, there could never be you without him, one without the other.

Ten years ago, you swore that you would be the last person Seungmin would ever kiss.

Ten years later, nobody could say that you weren't a woman of your word.

please reblog and comment if you liked this fic! it means everything to me and I love reading your thoughts <3

: ̗̀➛ current permanent taglist (reply to be added):

@linoalwaysknows @moon0fthenight @hyulino @palindrome969

@squishybinnieee @lastgreatamericandynasty1 @stayinlimbo @farfromsugafanfic

@hongshuaknow @cookiesandcreammy @kayleefriedchicken @toomanybiasz

@seooj444 @soaplickerrr

: ̗̀➛ battleground taglist:

@starseungs @starlostseungmin @moon0fthenight @brainrotahahaha

@booksndpoetry @yoontaethings @vnamps @renjuneoo @queen-in-the-shadows

@reignessance @lilifiedeans @vegetablesarefuntables

[sakasakiii]

not really a modern au but more like a weird future timeline thing where beach hermit maglor Hibernates™ all through the 2nd and 3rd ages & misses the last boats to Valinor.... thus resulting in him skulking about history until he ends up living among modern day humans haha?? the kicker is that he one day finds an abandoned baby thats all-too-suspiciously like a certain dead brother and becomes a single dad-younger brother-adopted guardian person...

i wrote a few pages of this back in 2022 but never really thought abt it further after i started posting less frequently hahaha.... heres just some feel good domestic sketches of this AU bc i miss drawing modern clothes 🤭 i have sooo many thoughts about it that i couldnt fit into these doodles !! its quite a lot of yapping so feel free to skip past the cut haha

assorted au thoughts:

i planned for maglor to eventually find all 6 of his brothers one by one through the power of Accidental Child Acquisition ✨ example: he'd spot a kid lurking around some woods near his home and eventually realise said wild child living amongst stray dogs is a bit too similar to celegorm

i just couldnt fit in the time to draw that this round... maybe next time!

though he's raising reincarnated-Maedhros, i think it makes more sense for him to give him a modern name and not explicitly call him Nelyo/Maitimo/Russandol just bc he'd not want to get his own hopes up or shove said identity onto the kid

(the occasional 'hey Nelyo' does slip out by accident from time to time however)

i think as Mae-the-kid grows up he will in time start to remember bits and pieces of his original identity? with the nicer familial things (like valinor, his brothers, feanor and nerdanel) first, and then the darker things (kinslayings, angband, war) once he's grown up that Maglor will struggle explaining or even helping him through

i promise this is a wholesome au 😭

side characters include a high-strung but good guy policeman named Officer Borden who's very suspicious of Maglor bc of all the random kids he keeps adopting.... and his younger brother Farren, who happens to be Maglor's scholarly coworker

as well as Maglor's next door neighbour Morgan, a witch-woman married to some guy named Hugh... she's got 3 kids who visit from time to time but from what Maglor's heard, the oldest son is followed by misfortune and has supposedly never met his youngest sister...?

credit to Ted Nasmith and Cartoon Network for some assets used in the doodles :D

[cherryeol04]

Hidden Love

➻ Pairings: Minho x Jisung, Jisung x Reader, Minho x Reader, Minho x Reader x Jisung

➻ Genre: Angst, romance, slice of life, office au

➻ Additional: non-major character death

➻ Word Count: 5.7K

➻ Warnings: Mentions of the passing of a beloved pet. If that triggers you, please skip this story!

➻ Author’s notes: This story is cross posted on multiple sites under the same username!

You’ve never felt love prior to this very moment and it was devastating. Most of your life you’ve wondered what love was and if you would ever get to experience it, never realizing that there were different types of love and some can wiggle their way into your heart without knowing. Which explains why you were currently sitting in your car in front of your job, bawling your eyes out. You had told yourself that you wouldn’t cry today, but the moment you left home, the tears started flowing and you couldn’t make them stop. It’s not the first time you’ve experienced loss, but it’s never really hit you as hard as it was this time.

Of course it probably didn’t help that you were listening to relatively somber and sad songs that aided in your emotions. And as the song changed, you found yourself sobbing harder. You were so caught up in the memories you didn’t even notice that the passenger side of your door opened. 

“Y/n?”

You startled, quickly wiping at your eyes as you turned to stare at Jisung, the man peering in with one arm resting on the roof of your car. “Oh, hey.” Your voice cracked and you cleared your throat in hopes of covering it up. You really hoped that Jisung hadn’t seen anything but it was hard to deny what a mess you looked like. He would have to be blind not to see. 

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Sniffling, you looked away, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm yourself but they only seemed to upset you even more as fresh tears started to well in your eyes. You tried to keep them at bay, whining softly in the back of your throat as you did so. You had to be strong! You had to get yourself collected so you could go to work.

The car shifted as Jisung climbed in, closing the door behind him. He stared at you and you shyly met his gaze. The tense silence spanned a few short seconds before Jisung was leaning over and pulling you into his arms and against his chest. It was awkward with the center console digging into your side, but you went willingly anyway and the moment your head hit his chest, you were sobbing once more. 

You hated crying in front of other people, but with Jisung you felt less embarrassed and weak and just more comfortable and vulnerable. Jisung was someone who made you feel safe and not judged. He was probably the only person you would so easily show this vulnerable side to. Shifting to the side, you wrapped your arms around Jisung’s waist as best as you could, clinging to the material of his uniform. He whispered soft and encouraging words, even though it felt like it was all a lie. It didn’t feel like things were going to be alright, but what could you really do when everything was already said and done?

You sat in the car for another three songs, and you were sure by now you were both late. But never did Jisung try to push you away. Never did he remind you that it was time to go in. He simply held you, rubbing your back in slow circles, even as your sobs slowly subsided. Eventually you pulled away, sniffling a few times, even though your nose was clogged and angry at you. 

“Feeling better?” He asked softly and you nodded slowly, wiping at your red and sore eyes. Jisung smiled and reached out, stroking your hair gently and placing a few strands back in their rightful places. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not really.” You croaked out, grabbing your cup from the holder and taking a sip. You were parched and the few sips you took helped to ease the dry throat and make you feel a little bit better. It was probably a mental thing honestly. 

“Okay, well if you want to talk about it, I’m here for you.” It was those sweet words that had you crumbling. The extended hand of kindness just really hit your heart and once again you felt the tears freely falling, a frustrated groan leaving you as you slumped in your seat. Soft fingers caressed your cheeks, wiping away the tears as they fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry again.” 

“It’s okay.” You sniffled, followed by a whine as you swallowed another sob. “My cat…died last night.” You barely managed to get the words out before you sobbing into your hands, Jisung’s own all over you once more - doing his best to offer some sort of comfort.

“I’m so sorry, Y/n.” He whispered. “Which one?”

“Abby, the disabled one.” It felt like you had shouted the words through the sob and you hoped it hadn’t been as loud as you thought. It wasn’t like you were shouting at Jisung for not knowing. It was just a bodily reaction you couldn’t control through your tears. The soft “oh no” was all that you needed to hear. It was comforting to know that Jisung at least understood. You didn’t always talk about your cats, especially Abby, but when you did it was usually to Minho, the other resident cat lover at the office. Jisung was usually around because they were joined at the hip, so it only made sense that he knew about her too. 

So he knew just how special Abby was to you. You had found her as a kitten on your front porch, head wobbling as she kicked herself in a circle on her side. The vet had told you it was a neurological condition and that she most likely would never be able to use her front paws. But she had been such an eager little kitten, always hoping around when you held her up. She had been so adorable, yet despite her fighting spirit, it seemed that she was just destined to not be able to move. As she got older, despite your best efforts, her mobility continued to decline until she was confined to a cat bed all day and night with you doing regular feedings, cleanings, baths, rotations and play time. For three years you nurtured her but that didn’t seem to be enough. She was still taken from you and your heart was utterly broken - life completely turned upside down. Her life expectancy hadn’t been a long one to begin with but you still thought you had more time. It just felt too early. You couldn’t stop your mind from running with the “what ifs”. What if you had just tried harder, would she still be alive? That type of thinking contributed to your tears, body shaking with every wail. 

Jisung wrapped you back up in his arms, but the awkward position just wasn’t cutting it this time. You struggled a bit, pulling away long enough to unbuckle your seatbelt and toss it over your shoulder before climbing out of the driver’s seat and over into his lap - a feat that you didn’t think was possible, but you had completed nonetheless. It took a bit of shifting on both your parts, but eventually you found a comfortable position - arms wound tightly around Jisung’s neck as you pressed your face into his shoulder. Your cries were softer this time, the changing of seats having distracted you briefly. Jisung’s hands rubbed up and down your back slowly, his chin hooked over your shoulder as he held and rocked you slowly. Bless his soul, he was such a kind and caring person and you were so thankful to be able to call him your friend. 

Another 5 songs played, at least you thought it was 5. You weren’t sure and honestly you couldn’t care less. By now you were very late for work and you were contemplating just calling out and going home. Being sociable wasn’t a very appealing thought, but you didn’t want to be at home and left to ruminate in memories of Abby and how lonely and empty your home felt now. Nothing good would come from that. Jisung’s phone suddenly went off, startling the both of you. As the loud music blared, he fumbled to pull it out of his pocket, answering it without so much as looking at the caller ID, his cheeks a pretty shade of red now.

“Hello?” There was a pause and you could vaguely make out a voice but you couldn’t hear it clearly enough to know who was on the other line. “Oh hey. Yeah, I’m outside in Y/n’s car.” He shifted, his free hand coming up to stroke your head gently and felt all the muscles in your body relax, eyes fluttering closed.  “No, she’s having a hard time. Um…” he trailed off and you could feel his eyes on you. You had no idea what he was going to say, but you felt as if he was asking permission for something, so you simply nodded. “Abby passed away.” He whispered, taking his own shuddering breath. It surprised you to hear how much saying those words affected him as well. Jisung had never met Abby before, but through all the stories and pictures you’ve shared with him, it probably felt like he did. He was just involved in her life as you were. “Yeah, the usual spot. Okay, bye.” 

You lifted your head and looked up at Jisung curiously, but he shook his head, hand pressing lightly on the back of your head to guide it back down. You didn’t put up a fight, resting your head back down and snuggling against his neck this time. You were comfortable and for the first time in hours you felt at peace enough where you didn’t want to cry. Which your body was very grateful for. Your eyes felt like you had rubbed them raw with sandpaper, cheeks flaming hot and nose so clogged that you didn’t think you would ever be able smell out of it again. And yet all those pains faded away the longer you focused on Jisung and the feelings you felt. The way you just seemed to fit so perfectly in his arms and his lap and how at ease he was at giving you comfort. It was like you were meant to be there with him and if you didn’t know any better, you could have sworn there was something more between the two of you. 

But you knew better. 

More time passed and at this point you knew you needed to either go home or turn the car off before you ran out of gas from sitting idle for so long. And just as you gathered the motivation to pull yourself away from the warm embrace, the driver’s side door opened. Panic struck you and you quickly turned your head, only to relax as you saw Minho sitting there, staring at you. That must have been who Jisung was talking to. It made sense now. Minho looked you over for a moment before his eyes moved to Jisung. Their eyes locked and they seemed to have some sort of silent conversation before Minho was buckling up and putting your car in reverse. 

“Where are we going?” You asked tiredly, confused. Minho didn’t bother to give an answer and Jisung simply shushed you. And while you were curious, and possibly a little scared, you trusted them. Making yourself comfortable, you pressed your face into Jisung’s neck and allowed yourself to start to drift off for the duration of the car ride. You had only meant to cat nap - sleep for a few minutes and then wake up, but that didn’t happen. You were 100% sure that didn’t happen because when you finally woke up, you were in your own bed, dressed in your favorite pajamas - a cute little black and leopard print set that Jisung had gotten you two years ago as your secret Santa. 

Frowning, you rolled over onto your side, looking over the edge of the bed and staring at the empty spot that once was occupied by Abby’s cat bed. A wave of sadness washed over you, but thankfully this time it was not accompanied by tears. Maybe you were finally all cried out. You laid there for a few more moments, debating if you wanted to get up or just continue to lay there, eyes never leaving that spot. Your mind wandered to whatever happy memories you could recall of Abby until you finally forced yourself out of the bed. Leaving your room, you made your way down the hall, searching the two other rooms in your small apartment before finally walking out into the living room. You noticed two things and one more shocking than the other. It was pitch black outside and Jisung and Minho were curled up fast asleep on your couch, cuddling. It was actually very adorable and you wished you had your phone on you so you could take pictures. A quick glance to the cable box told you it was 8 and you were actually shocked that you slept the entire day away. And how had you been allowed to sleep the day away? You missed work and you hadn’t even called to let them know you weren’t coming in. You could only imagine how many calls and texts you probably had from your manager about it. You hoped you still had a job tomorrow. 

Your eye moved back to the two bodies on your couch and you smiled softly. Regardless if you were fired or not for not calling in, you were glad you hadn’t gone in and had been given the time to sleep away the sadness. It was much needed and very thoughtful of them. You were so glad to be able to call them your friends. They looked so peaceful, so you decided to leave them be and headed into your kitchen, intent on making some form of sustenance for the three of you. It was the only thing you could think of doing to repay their kindness. 

You worked in silence and it was actually peaceful. Cooking was keeping your mind occupied, so even though there wasn’t any sensory object to distract you with, you were still able to keep your sadness at bay. And you knew it wouldn’t always be like this. The first few days were going to be the hardest, coping with your loss. But as time goes on, it would get easier and the pain and sadness would eventually ease - if not disappear all together. The memories of Abby would always stay because things would just never feel the same after three years of a strict routine, but it would be bearable. As you stirred the pot filled with ramen - because that was the easiest and quickest thing you knew how to make - you failed to notice the presence behind you until it was too late and two strong arms wrapped around your waist, scaring you so much that you actually screamed. 

Minho’s soft laugh filled the kitchen and you pouted, leaning away from him as you craned your neck to look back at him. “That wasn’t funny.” 

“Yes it was.” He grinned and you sighed, not really feeling up to arguing with him. Had it been any other day, you would have launched into a tirade about how scaring a person while they were cooking was dangerous for both parties, though you were sure Minho probably wouldn’t have listened at all. “How are you feeling, sleepyhead?” 

You smiled softly, shaking your head. “I should ask you that.” Turning back to the stove, you turned off the burner and moved the pot off of it. “That position you were in didn’t look very comfortable.” You commented.

“It’s hard to be comfortable on a couch, but it was fine.” Minho resumed his previous position, tugging you back against him. “Now answer my question.”

“I’m fine.” You whispered, eyes closing. Minho hummed, but didn’t say anything else and you were happy about that. Fingers moved, skimming lightly against your stomach and you couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be a soothing gesture or if he was trying to tickle you. There was also a third option, but you honestly didn’t want to acknowledge that because there was no way Minho, out of all people, would be interested in you. Just like Jisung would never be interested in you. And if you were honest with yourself, you were pretty sure Minho and Jisung were already dating. 

“I’m sorry.”

You stiffened at the whisper, a soft whimper leaving you. Those two words triggered an immediate emotional response and you fought hard to keep from crying for what was probably the millionth time in 24 hours. “Minho.”

“I know how much she meant to you and I’m sorry you lost her. I wish I could take that pain away.” You whined, pulling away from grasp and turning. You smacked him against his chest, a little harder than intended, but you didn’t feel bad about it since he made you cry. You swallowed thickly, breathing deeply to try and stop the onslaught of tears, but just looking at Minho was enough to keep them going. The sincerity in his gaze was just another piercing stab to your already broken heart. How was he even real?! Not even your parents would show this much empathy and sympathy towards you when a pet died. 

“I hate you.” You choked out, face scrunching up as you took a step forward and pressed your face against his chest, fingers clutching at his shirt. He didn’t stop you, but he didn’t whisper sweet words like Jisung had. The contrast between Minho and Jisung could be startling but that’s what made them both so unique. While Jisung was about physically making someone feel better through words and touch, Minho was more like an emotional support animal. Just his presence there was really enough and you got the same level of comfort from him as you did Jisung. Minho rested a hand on your head, stroking it gently as he let you just cry it out in the middle of your kitchen. 

You were able to calm down relatively quickly this time around, pulling away once your sobs subsided. You used the hem of your shirt to carefully wipe away your tears, eyes screaming in sensitivity. Dropping your shirt, you let out a deep sigh and looked up at Minho, who was just staring at you. You fell into a staring contest, lasting only a few seconds before Minho was blinking rapidly a few times - almost as if he was coming to his senses. A cute behavior you loved to see and never got enough of. “Go wake up Jisung, I’ll fix our bowls.”

“Kay.” Walking around him, you headed back into the living room, smiling as you spotted Jisung’s fluffy bed head over the back of the couch. At least he was already awake.  As you walked around the couch, your mentally corrected your previous thought as you stared at Jisung’s sleeping face - cheeks puffy and cute, lips slightly parted. He looked so peaceful that you didn’t really want to wake him up, but you knew he would be upset if he missed food and you certainly didn’t want to deal with a pouty Jisung. 

Taking a seat next to him, you gently shook his shoulder until his eyes fluttered open. It took a moment for him to gather his bearings, a loud and obnoxious yawn leaving him, which triggered your own yawn response. It went back and forth a few times and eventually the two of you erupted into giggles after one more shared yawn. “You’re horrible.” You giggled. 

“Sorry?” Jisung asked and shrugged, grinning. “How are you feeling?” By now the question shouldn’t bother you and it really didn’t. But it did feel like they were being broken records, asking how you were. You couldn’t blame them though, considering the pain you had been going through. 

“I’m fine.” And you really were. There was still a thin veil of sadness looming over you and that most likely wouldn’t go away any time soon, but you no longer felt the need to just break down and cry and that was a good thing. It meant you could at least function like a normal human being during the grieving process. “Really.” You tacted on for emphasis and it was reassurance that Jisung needed. Nodding, he reached up and stroked your cheeks slowly, eyes raking over your face before pausing momentarily on your lips. There was a feeling that overcame you - one of hope that you swatted away almost immediately because there was no need for hope. Jisung was just being a good friend, making sure you weren’t lying to him. That was all. That look and his touches didn’t mean anything more. You had to keep reminding yourself of that. “Minho is fixing us bowls of ramen.” Pulling away from Jisung, you missed the way his face fell as you busied yourself with shifting decor and magazines on your coffee table.

On cue, Minho walked in with a tray of three bowls and three glasses of something. There was no telling what Minho had decided to give you for drinks, though you were hoping for wine because boy did you need a drink. Scooting to the side, you made room for Minho to sit between you and Jisung, but the older male seemed to have other plans as he shooed you towards the middle of the couch before taking a seat. Now between very attractive and very caring men, you did your hardest to not malfunction because at the end of the day, they were still your friends and they were there to take care of you.

“Should we watch something?” Jisung asked as grabbed the remote control, situating himself into a comfortable position. 

“Sure, but not Howl’s Moving Castle.” Minho agreed around a mouthful of noodles.

“Ugh!” Jisung whined and pouted. “Why not?!”

“Jisung, we watch it every time!” You whined. “Let’s watch something else. Something not emotional please. I want to forget that I even have emotions.” You grunted when Minho nudged you and stuck your tongue out at him. “I just…need a distraction.”

“I know, baby.” Jisung mumbled and your heart stuttered as your stomach did a few flips at the pet name. Not uncommon because everyone was Jisung’s ‘baby’ at work. But for some reason it just felt different - like he said with a different meaning behind it. “Alright, let’s watch one of the Hellraiser movies then.” He offered, laughing as Minho audibly groaned, head falling back against the couch cushion. 

“Okay!” You quickly agreed, giggling happily. 

“You’re both trying to kill me.” Minho muttered, eyes looking anywhere but at the TV as Jisung queued up the fifth movie. While the first four movies were canonically in the same universe, you found that you really liked the movies that followed after, even though most of those were the ones critics and other horror lovers hated - or so you heard through the many review channels that you watched that loved to pick apart your favorite movies. And they weren’t wrong. The movies were honestly terrible, but it was that terribleness that just made you love them all the more, specifically Hellraiser: Hellworld. It was a not so secret love of yours. 

As the opening intro started to play, you found yourself getting lost in your food and the flashing pictures. The distraction was a success and you made it through the majority of the movie without thinking of Abby, but at some point the thought of feeding her crossed your mind, only to be reminded very quickly that you didn’t have to do that. And suddenly, the movie wasn’t interesting and lost your appetite. You placed your bowl down on the table, half-eaten and cold. Leaning back on the couch, you sat there, eyes downcast as your mind wandered to what your life was going to be like now without her. How your body and mind were so trained to follow specific routines and now you didn’t have to do them. How the hell were you going to be able to function properly? It seemed so surreal. 

Your sudden mood change didn’t go unnoticed, and Jisung slid his arm around your shoulders, pulling against your side. Sighing softly, you rested your head on his shoulder, basking just briefly in the comfort, before it was just washed away with sadness. Moments later, a comforting hand was placed on your thigh and turned to stare at it before looking back at Minho. He was still facing the TV, engaged in the movie, but it was clear he too had noticed the shift. His thumb gently caressed your thigh before he gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. You smiled at that, turning your attention back to the movie as you nuzzled against Jisung’s shoulder gently. Jisung leaned down, muscles flexing under you as you pressed a few gentle kisses to your head. “You okay?”

A broken record.

“I’m-“

“Be honest.” 

You closed your mouth, taking a moment to really think it through before you answered. “No.” You whispered. “But I’ll be okay.” You lifted your head, your eyes catching his.

“Anything I can do to help?” He asked, breaking eye contact to stare at your lips. Your own eyes found their way to his lips - slightly plump and pink from all the slurping of the noodles he had done. It was only then that you realized just how close you were and it would be so easy to just lean in and close that gap. You weren’t sure which of you moved first, but like magnets you were pulled together, lips pressing together in a chaste kiss that lasted all of a second before you were pulling back quickly.

“I’m so sorry.” You apologized quickly. Jisung frowned and cocked his head.

“Why?”

“I shouldn’t-“

“Oh my god please don’t do this.” Minho called from his spot on the couch, startling you. You had honestly forgotten about his presence for a moment. Turning, you were greeted with a very unamused look. “We’re not in some romance novel. You’re not sorry, it happened because you both liked each other, can we move on? It’s so painful watching you two dance around each other.”

Shock couldn’t begin to accurately describe the emotion you were feeling. Minho hadn’t needed to go in that hard, but you could get where he was coming from. If his words were true - and you had no reason to not believe them - then you and Jisung must have been very frustrating to watch.

“You’re one to talk.” Jisung scoffed. “You’re just as bad with her.”

“Huh?” You questioned.

“No, I’m just more subtle.” Minho corrected with a roll of his eyes.

“Yeah, well, I got to kiss her first, so there.” Jisung taunted like a little child. The two continued to go back and forth in their little argument while you struggled to wrap your head around what you were hearing. Both Jisung and Minho had a thing for you? When in the fresh hell had that happened? And why? You honestly had trouble believing you had garnered the attention of one of them, yet alone two. You must have been having a fever dream because there was just no way!

“I think we broke her.” 

Lifting your head, you looked from Jisung to Minho and back again. “I’m just not understanding.”

“Well you see, people can love more than one person at a time and-“

“I know what a poly relationship is!” You snapped, eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand how you,” you pointed to Minho and then Jisung. “Want me.” You finished as you pointed to yourself. You watched as their faces dropped, different emotions flashing across them, but you weren’t able to decipher them quick enough. “Why?”

“Why?” Minho echoed before scoffing, looking away. “Why not?”

“That’s not an answer.” You protested.

“Well, do you have about five hours, because we could list all the reasons as to why it’s you.” Jisung said softly, chewing on his bottom lip. “But I don’t think it’ll give you the answer you’re really looking for.”

You cocked your head, trying hard to comprehend what Jisung meant. Your question had been pretty straight forward, ‘why you’? There wasn’t any underlying meaning or question that you really wanted answered, right? Looking away, you closed your eyes as you tried to focus and think, but nothing was coming to mind. You were pulled out of your thoughts as fingers slid across your jaw and tilted your head back up. Your eyes fluttered open and you stared into Minho’s eyes as he loomed over you.

“How you wiggled your way into our hearts isn’t a mystery. But sugar coated words hold little weight when actions speak in volumes.” He whispered, looking over your face. “So tell me, Y/n, how loud have our actions spoken to you?” You had to admit, Minho always had a way with words and that’s probably why he was usually the one to handle the major projects at work. Being asked to reflect on their actions wasn’t something you had expected, but as you sat there and thought back on it, every action that you told yourself to not overthink about came flooding to the forefront of your brain. Every smile, every touch, every sweet little gesture that you waved off as just ‘friendly’ now had a whole new meaning and you couldn’t believe you didn’t realize before. But hope was such a fickle thing that could break a heart and you didn’t want to have to constantly go through that.

“I guess-“ You paused, searching for the right words. “-they’ve been screaming at me. I just haven’t noticed.”

Minho chuckled and shook his head slightly. “And now that you’ve noticed?” He asked curiously. “Do your own actions hold any truth?” You were shocked at the question. You hadn’t thought you were that transparent with your feelings. Sure you had many crushes while working in the office, from Seungmin to Chan and Jisung and Minho, but you thought you did well at keeping those feelings a secret. Apparently, you hadn’t.

“Yes.” 

“Then why ask pointless questions when you know the answers?” Minho asked, leaning closer to you. You took a shuddering breath because he was right. You knew the answer to your question, despite how much your brain wanted to tell you that you just weren’t that special of a person. It was clear to you, laid out so prettily in front of you. They wanted you, cared about you and most probably even loved you. “Close your eyes.” 

Your eyes closed automatically, heart racing as you waited for what Minho would do next - for what you hoped he would do next. You weren’t disappointed as soft lips ghosted against yours in a teasing kiss that left you longing for more. But you didn’t have to wait for long as those same lips pressed against yours once more - hard and insistent. You definitely couldn’t say it was all you ever dreamed of because you hadn’t really dreamt about kissing Minho or Jisung - at least not that you could remember.  But the kiss definitely exceeded your expectations in the moment, especially as Minho tilted his head ever so slightly and deepened the kiss - your lips slotting together in such a way that you got a better feel for how soft his lips were. A soft moan escaped you as Minho’s small fingers cupped your cheek with such tenderness that your slightly mended heart was melting. 

The kiss didn’t last very long, but you were more than content when he pulled away. “Now, can we go back to the movie?” He asked and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Leave it to Minho to just glaze over a whole ass confession and kiss just so he could finish watching the movie. But that was one thing you liked about him - his no nonsense and straight to the point personality. 

“Wait, I want a kiss too.” Jisung pouted and Minho laughed.

“You already did. Should have tried harder, I know I taught you how to kiss better than that.” Minho shrugged and it was then that a thought struck you.

“So, does that mean you two have fooled around before or…?” You trailed off as you eyed them.

“Fooled around?” Jisung asked and laughed. “Y/n, we’re dating.” Your eyes widened the size of saucers as the information was brought to light. “I thought you knew that.”

“I-I mean -“ You stuttered. “I had a feeling but I was never sure and now…this isn’t a joke is it?” You frowned, brows knitted together.

“Oh god no!” Minho was quick to reassure you, hand once more on your thigh and giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s not a joke, our feelings about you.”

“Then…”

“Sometimes there are just things you can’t explain, but you know they just are.” Jisung explained. “We just know that for a while now, we’ve wanted you. While today was not the day we wanted to do any sort of confession, it just happened.” He said and sighed softly. “I hope it could give you a little bit of happiness to all the pain you’ve been in though.”

Smiling sadly, you crawled into Jisung’s lap and wrapped your arms around him in a tight hug before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. “It has.” You whispered, resting your head on his shoulder lightly. “Thank you for being here for me.”

“Thank you for accepting us.” Minho countered with a smile as he scooted closer and kissed your cheek and then Jisung’s before settling next to the two of you. The three of you sat there in a comfortable silence, just taking in the moment and the previous moments that have happened. While you lost a pet that meant the world to you, you gained two supportive boyfriends. It was more than you could have ever expected in life and you were thankful for it.

“Can’t wait to rub this in Lucy’s face in the morning.” Jisung snickered and you giggled. Tomorrow was certainly going to be interesting.

Tags: @sauceracha @jisungsjheekies @luminouskalopsia @hanjisungismybaby @imbonibi @jiwlys @leafsmindpalace @army-of-carats @peachmilkcloud @letterstoskz @lauraneuuh @babyskz @stay-here-dont-stray @meen1ez @slinekyu @feedthefandoms995 @schokoshaker @rejemi @ahhhhhhhhhghh @thsrndkd @halotopicecream @skzmonster @jumunnaa @serendipityryn @yayaistime @bxddiebang @sachifukyo @eastleighsblog @hydrawaterdragon

( If you want to join the list, you can find the info here! Also I’m sorry for those listed in the tags but not getting tagged. For some reason tumblr can’t find your blog to tag. I’m hoping it figures it out soon like it did for others.)

[lazystar]

The Office JYP photos used for inspo and song recs for reading!

Songs:

Back to December - Taylor’s Version

Collision- Stray Kids

Mr. Loverman - Ricky Montgomery

Falling for you - Peachy!

Jennie - Studio Killers

The Best Part - Daniel Ceaser

Line Without a Hook - Ricky Montgomery

I Guess I’m in Love - Clinton Kane

Feel free to recommend more songs if you feel like they fit the theme of accidentally falling in love with your best friend!!

[leviackermanscleaningbuddy]

SKZ DRABBLE-Minho

Part III of Mafia!Minho, bitches. Saddle up. A/N: I know this isn't SKZ!Pack, but it's been in the works for a looooong time and I wanted you to have it. <3

Tags: SKZ, Stray Kids, Mafia!Minho, Lee Minho, Lee Know, Minho, Y/N, FemReader, SKZ x you, SKZ x reader, Minho x you, Minho x reader, Mafia AU, Part III, Skz imagines, Skz reactions, SKZ scenarios, Fluff, Angst

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Light Smut

Warnings: Mafia Shit-guns, death, illegal dealings, daddy issues and misogyny, allusions to sexual assault and rape, loss of viriginity, blood. Mentions of previous pregnancy loss, miscarriage, current pregnancy. Breeding Kink, kinda? You'll see. Minho's just REALLY in to pregnant reader. 😂

"He's dead."

His blunt, cold words ricochet around the inside of your head, like a round fired too hastily from a gun, sloppy and dangerous, wounding everything they touch.

There's no way. There's no fucking way.

You say as much.

"That can't be true-"

His face contorts in anger, and he leans down to pinch your chin in a vicious grip that makes you wince, yanking your head back to meet his gaze, hot and pinning.

"It is true. Would you like to see the pictures, girl? The reports from Lim? His blood splattered across the wall?"

You sink to the floor.

Not JinYoung. Not your brother. Fuck, it can't be-

He straightens, releasing his iron grip on you and straightening his suit, glaring down at you with little more than cold disdain in his dark, narrowed eyes.

"He's dead, and you're worthless." He growls out, stuffing his hands into his pockets and considering you with something akin to disgust twisting his features.

Hot tears fill your eyes, and your fists clench in your lap, twisting the fabric of your dress.

You bite your bottom lip hard enough to taste blood, and will yourself not to let a tear fall for him to see.

He scoffs, reaching down once more to take your chin in pinching fingers, making you whimper.

His eyes darken at the sound, as if he's a predator that has sensed weakness in his prey.

"You're worthless to me until you're wed." He hisses out, teeth clenched, muscle in his cheek bulging. "Remember that. You are nothing without a man in this world, girl, nothing."

He releases you without another word or look in your direction, whirling on his heel and stalking down the hallway, slamming the door to his office, probably already on the phone yelling at some poor inferior for killing his son.

You let your chin drop to your chest, and squeeze your eyes shut as you take several harsh, shuddering breaths, clenching and unclenching your fists.

It was his fault JinYoung was dead. His fault you were now all alone.

There was nothing you could do about it, not realistically, but you hated him for it all the same.

********************************************************************************

"You're thinking too much again."

You jump slightly at the sound of Minho's voice, still husky with sleep, his fingers finding the warmth of your bare skin beneath the blankets.

You sigh, wanting to be irritated at his perception when it comes to you, but can't quite manage, not when his fingers are tickling your sides.

"How did you know?"

"Mm." Minho hums beneath his breath, pushing himself up behind where you lie propped on your elbow in the big bed, staring out the window at the slowly rising sun.

His fingers trace up the curling lines of the snake that wraps your spine.

"I know everything about you, princess." He replies in a murmur, fingers still slowly ticking their way up your spine. You hear a slight smile enter his voice. "Well, that, and your thoughts are so loud currently that I feel like you're speaking audibly."

You give another sigh, this one conceding, and feel Minho brush a light kiss across the family crest that marks your shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, princess. I promise you."

You feel panic well into your throat at the surety behind his words.

"It wasn't okay before." You blurt out without really considering, hand tracing down beneath the blankets without thought to rest on the small swell of your belly.

It's normal not to feel any movement yet, you know that, and yet-

Minho's soothing, firm voice sounds in your ear, his warm breath brushing across your cheek, grounding you.

"That was before. This is now."

The surety is still there beneath his words-strong and constant-and yet, the acidic taste of panic is still slowly filling your mouth, making it hard to breathe.

"Princess." Minho says in a low tone, taking not of the rapid rise and fall of your chest. "Look at me."

His hand snakes around the front of your throat, and he gently squeezes with his fingers, angling your head back until you're staring up at him, his gaze serious and dark.

You drink him in like you're parched and he's the only water source-the soft curve of his lips, the upper fuller than the lower, the tan sheen of his skin, the sharp angles of his face, the dark wave to his tousled hair, the black ink trailing across his upper chest and arms, teasing at his throat, the pink, fading scars littered across his otherwise flawless flesh.

Minho is the only thing in this moment that's keeping you sane, and you hold onto that thread with a desperate fervency that frightens even yourself.

The corner of his mouth curves slightly as he stares at you, one hand around your throat to keep you in place, the other slipping beneath the blankets to cover your own where it rests on your bare belly.

You glance down, and the sight of his inked fingers covering your own calm the hammering of your heart.

"It's going to be okay." Minho repeats softly, firmly. "Whatever happens, princess, we're going to be okay."

You stare up at him and force a shuddering breath from your lungs, your fingers intertwining with his own.

"Okay." You whisper back with finality, because whatever happens, with Minho here, you're going to be okay.

********************************************************************************

You pause, hand splayed on the cool, carved wood of the door, and glance behind you to where Minho stands, several feet back, lingering in the mouth of the darkened hallway.

"You're not coming in?" You question softly, hesitantly, sudden butterflies swarming in your stomach.

Minho arches a brow, leaning against the wall, his expression unreadable.

"Do you want me to go with you?" He queries back, voice low and neutral.

You hear the quiet chatter of men's voices from beyond the door, the clink of glasses, and a shudder of fear goes down your spine at the thought of facing them alone.

"I don't know-" You stutter out, staring at him, trying to get a read through your suddenly mounting panic. "I just thought I need-"

You.

You don't finish the sentence, the words dying in your throat, and Minho's expression shifts slightly, his eyes darkening, his lips pulling into a serious line.

"Princess." He steps toward you, reaching out, and his fingers creep beneath your chin, tilting your head back to meet his gaze.

His features soften slightly, and he takes in a slow breath.

"I will always stand beside you, I will always be here whenever you want me, but let me make one thing very clear-you do not need me."

You stare up at him, words thick on your tongue, and the corner of his mouth quirks into the hint of an amused curve.

He lets a finger stroke along your chin, his voice dropping slightly even as his eyes grow fiery.

"You do not need me-or any other man-to make you powerful. You are powerful entirely on your own, and it is a beautiful sight to behold."

You take in a shuddering, sharp inhale, his fervent words settling into your bones, and let your fingers slide beneath the cuffs of the expensive suit he wears, tracing the ink you know is hidden there.

Minho smiles. "Who do you think runs the criminal world, darling? It's not the men. We're the face, yes, but behind every great man is an even greater woman."

He tilts your chin once more, and you let your head fall against the door behind you, staring up at him openly now.

He reaches out, and brushes a stray hair from your forehead with gentle fingers.

His skin is warm, and you lean into his touch, as he presses his lips to the flesh just below your ear, brushing a kiss there as he utters beneath his breath, for only you to hear, "Women mask lethality behind femininity, and it is their greatest weapon. You are not powerless, princess, no, far from it. You do not need anyone, because you are the queen."

He presses another kiss against your throat, right above your fluttering pulse, and pulls back.

You stare at him for another moment, and then straighten the gown you wear.

"You're right. I have the power here."

A smirk flickers across Minho's lips, his eyes heating with admiration as he watches you.

He jerks his chin toward the door and the voices beyond.

"Yeah, you fucking do. Remind them who's the queen. Give them hell, princess."

********************************************************************************

"Yeong-ah." Changbin whines, stamping his foot impatiently where he stands beside the island, a dramatic pout on his face. "You're taking too long!"

Yeong-Ja giggles at his antics, glancing up from pulling on her second shoe. "I'm almost done, Uncle Binnie!"

You hide your smile behind a sip of coffee, as Chan appears, tossing the car keys to Changbin-who catches them easily- before crouching down to finish helping Yeong-Ja with her shoe.

"Thanks, Uncle Channie!" Yeong-Ja beams, bouncing to her feet beside him, as Chan grins and straightens, patting her head.

"You're welcome, Yeong-ah." He straightens the bow in her hair, before he glances to Changbin, already standing in the door way, keys in his hand. "Now, let's get going huh? Your mom and dad have a very important appointment today, and we have puppies to see."

"Okay, Uncle Channie!" Your daughter's face lights up at Chan's words, as she slips her hand into his, her tiny fingers curling around his own, dark with black ink, reminiscent to Minho's.

It never ceases to amaze you how gentle and loving all these big mafia men are with your daughter.

"Oh, fuck me." Minho grumbles beneath his breath at Chan's statement, brow furrowed in a sour expression, as he leans against the counter beside you and takes a long gulp of his own coffee.

You hide another grin behind the rim of your cup.

Chan glances up at Minho's muttered curse, ever sharp, ever alert, and gives your husband a crooked grin, brow arched.

"What do you say, boss? What color of puppy do you want? Brown or Black?"

Minho levels the other man with a glare, as Yeong-Ja bounces excitedly beside him.

"I could not care less, Christopher."

Changbin grins broadly from the doorway, enjoying the little goading match from afar.

"Ah, c'mon. Don't you want a matching set?" He motions with a jerk of his head toward Suwon, currently sleeping under the large kitchen table. The black Doberman barely raises his head at the commotion.

Minho takes another drink from his coffee.

"The only matching set I want is you and Chan's heads on sticks."

"Sorry, boss!" Changbin calls, ignoring Minho's dark threat entirely, a grin slipping across his lips as he twirls the jangling keys around his finger, turning toward the door. "Can't hear you. Gotta go."

"Okay, on that note-" Chan clears his throat, coughing over a chuckle, as he herds your daughter toward the door. "-let's get going."

"Bye mommy, bye daddy!" Yeong-Ja calls over her shoulder with a little wave, before she disappears, dwarfed between the two large men.

Changbin throws one last amused, knowing look over his shoulder in Minho's direction, giving a cheeky little wave, before they all leave from sight.

"Fuck." Minho swears vehemently beneath his breath and promptly moves around the counter to dump the rest of his coffee down the sink.

********************************************************************************

"He's going to ask to see her again, you know."

Minho glances up from his phone to meet your gaze from across the backseat of the car, his expression darkening slightly at your words, and the open worry etched across your face.

He tucks his phone back into the pocket of his suit coat, and slides across the seat to sit beside you, hand coming down to rest on your own.

"And my answer will be the same as it always is." He replies back in a hushed, but dangerously serious, tone, his fingers squeezing your own. "When he comes to see her as his granddaughter, and not just as an heir to a massive criminal empire, then he can meet her."

You take in a shaky breath and glance out the window.

The roads are becoming familiar, you're close to your father's estate.

"Princess."

Minho's cool fingers tilt your chin back to him, making you meet his gaze. The corner of his lip curls into the hint of a smile.

"You do not reside on your knees for him any longer. He has no power left to lord over you."

You take in another breath, and will the butterflies to soothe in your belly.

You give Minho a small, shaky smile, and squeeze his hand. The metal of his rings are cold, grounding, against your palm.

"I know."

"If anything-" Minho glances past you as you pull into the long drive, your father's opulent mansion rising quickly in the distance.

He gives you a smirk and an arch of his brow as you turn into the gate.

"-now that you have myself and all my resources at your disposal, he should be absolutely terrified of you."

The car comes to a stop, and Minho slides out, straightening his jacket and offering you his hand.

You take in another steadying breath, holding onto his arm as you walk toward the entrance of your childhood home.

The door swings open as you approach, and your father appears, stepping onto the top step of the staircase, watching the two of you with a penetrating gaze.

You resist the urge to shudder under that look you know so well.

Minho pulls you up the stairs with him, his steps confident, and you try to borrow some of his courage, stiffening your back and shoulders as your father steps to meet you both, a fake, overly large smile sliding into place across his pale, thin lips.

Of course he would greet you personally, no butler was good enough for Lee Minho, not when you were trying to keep up appearances.

"Ah, there he is, my son-in-law, man of the hour." Your father extends a hand, and Minho shakes it, though you can see by the slight tic of the muscle in his jaw that he doesn't enjoy the contact.

To his credit, your husband does a hell of a good job putting on a front, his slight smile in your father's direction much more believable than the man's who raised you.

"Boss Park. A pleasure, as always."

Your father doesn't even glance in your direction, motioning for Minho to follow him into the cooled, dimly lit air of the front entrance hall.

You can hear a record playing from somewhere farther within the mansion, probably your father's office.

"Now." Your father waves away an approaching maid, and she scurries to grab an empty tray, headed for the kitchen. He turns, that same sickly smile on his face, and rubs his hands together gleefully. "Shall we get straight to business then?"

"You know I don't enjoy small talk." Minho inclines his head to your father, who takes that as a yes to his previous question.

"Of course." He motions for Minho to move down the hallway, his arm extended. "I'll have Maria bring us refreshments in the parlor. Shall we?"

Minho's hand moves to the small of your back, warm through the thin material of the dress you wear, coaxing you forward with him as he moves to step past your father.

You're thankful for the support, you worry the trembling of your legs will give you away.

"Ah, ah, ah." Your father holds out his arm, stopping your forward motion, and for the first time since you arrived, his eyes flit to you, the corners of his lips curling up into something akin to a disgusted sneer. "You know the rules of my household, daughter. Women are not allowed in business meetings. You can wait here. Catch up with that little maid and the old household cook you were so fond of growing up."

You swallow, your mouth suddenly dry, and something triumphant flashes across your father's dark gaze.

He knows that the cook you were 'so fond of growing up' was executed-shot in the garden while you were made to watch-on his order.

Can't have your daughter getting too close to the help now, can you? Not when secrets could be spilled, reputations dirtied.

Minho is talking, his voice fuzzy through your panicked memories, and you blink, focusing in on what he's saying, staring your father down with a serious, almost deadly, expression.

"I'm sorry, Boss Park, but when your daughter married me, she became my wife, and where I go, my wife goes. Those are my household rules. You understand."

Your father's lips part as his gaze flicks to you once more, as if he's thinking about disagreeing with Minho, but the flash of threat in Minho's dark eyes must convince him otherwise, because he plasters a strained smile onto his face and laughs, throwing his hands out.

"Of course. My apologies. Right this way then."

Minho glances at you, giving you a small reassuring smile, before he squeezes your hand, and you fall into step behind your father.

********************************************************************************

"Try to relax, (Y/N)."

Your doctor gives you a kind smile, the ultrasound wand posed and ready above your bare belly, the screen tilted toward the bed.

You swallow hard and nod, trying to focus on relaxing the tense muscles of your entire body one by one.

Minho squeezes your fingers where he crouches beside the bed, keeping up the pressure until you glance at him, your bottom lip sucked between your teeth as you worry it incessantly.

He reaches out to free the raw skin from your hold.

"Breathe, baby." He admonishes quietly, inked fingers stroking your knuckles in a reassuring pattern.

"Ready?" Your doctor asks, glancing between the two of you, lowering the wand slowly as she waits for your go ahead.

You stare at the blank, dark screen behind her, and try not to vomit.

"I'm scared." You admit to Minho in a whisper, hand tightening around his own, your breath coming slightly erratically now.

Minho pushes himself to his feet without a word, releasing his hold on your hand, and you almost reach out to grab for him again, before you realize he's sliding behind you on the bed, tugging you back against the warmth of his chest, his arms going around your shoulders protectively as he tucks your head beneath his chin.

"What did I tell you before, princess?"

You swallow again, gaze darting to your waiting doctor, and the screen beyond her shoulder.

"That it's going to be okay."

"Mm. Good girl." Minho hums a sound of approval in his throat, and you feel his lips brush across your forehead. "And it's going to be."

You take in a shuddering breath, and then give a little, jerky nod.

Minho's fingers find your own once more, and you feel him lift his chin from your head, glancing at the doctor.

She must see what she needs to in his gaze, because with a nod of her own, she finally touches the ultrasound wand to your belly.

Your body tenses at the contact as she begins to move the wand around slowly, her gaze laser focused on the screen.

Minho reaches his hand around to the front of your throat, his fingers finding purchase beneath your chin, and you don't resist him as he tips your head back, guiding you to meet his gaze.

"Just look at me, baby. Deep breath."

You force your chest in and out-once, twice-and Minho gives a nod of approval, leaning down to kiss your forehead once more.

"Good girl."

There is quiet, you don't know how long it's been since the doctor started her exam, and you feel your stomach twist, bile burning your throat, the longer the oppressive silence drags on.

Fuck, shouldn't you have heard something by now?

What if-

"Ah, there we go." The doctor murmurs, almost to herself, and suddenly, the sound of a heartbeat-fast and fluttering, like a hummingbirds wings, echoing the frantic pace of your own-fills the room.

Minho grins down at you, and you see the relief flash across his eyes as the heartbeat continues, strong and steady. "See? Nothing to worry about."

Your body sags with relief, and you glance at the screen beyond the doctor's shoulder-no longer dark-a shimmering, spiking line flickering constantly across the monitor in perfect time with the rapid heartbeat.

"Baby sounds perfect." Your doctor continues, smiling up at the two of you, as she moves the wand around and the heartbeat heightens a little. "Right on track."

"Oh my god." You breathe out, putting a trembling hand up to your mouth, sudden hot tears filling your eyes. "Fuck."

Minho laughs a little, leaning over to press a lingering kiss to the crown of your head, his arms squeezing you protectively.

His next exhale comes out more than a little shaky.

"Fuck indeed, baby. Fuck indeed."

************************************************************************

There is blood.

Blood smearing the inside of your legs, blood pounding hard in your ears, blooding staining the disgusting cock of the man looming over you, leering.

You glance to the door where your father had disappeared, giving his men free reign over you, some sort of lesson, and you know, deep down, that there is blood on his hands too.

But unlike the crimson marking you and the man creeping in, it's not the visible kind.

There is blood.

Dripping down between your fingers, coating your palms in slick red, so thick and so ingrained that even the running water is not enough to wash it away, not completely.

You scrub frantically at your hands, but the crimson only seems to multiply, filling the cracks and seeping into the edges of your vision.

You are hyperventilating, your chest heaving, tears streaming down your cheeks, and without your bidding, your gaze slides back to the man on the floor.

Dead.

Lying in a quickly congealing pool of blood and slaughter, your bucket and rag left hastily beside his blown out head.

The rag is already wet and sopping with blood, even after only one quick stroke across the cement.

You lean over the sink and vomit.

There is blood.

You can feel it, pooling beneath your hips, but you're too scared to look beneath the covers, too sure of what you'll find, your heart already shattering in your chest.

You feel sick to your stomach, and the cramping is worsening.

Rolling to your side, you curl your body into the safety of the fetal position, and try to drown out the low murmur of the doctor's voice from the other side of the room.

Screwing your eyes shut, you keep it all inside, and scream with rage where no one will hear.

There is blood.

Flecked across the tawny skin of his cheekbones, spattering the front of his white dress shirt, his prized shoes, congealing and blending with the dark ink that flows across his knuckles until they are almost one.

He steps toward you, and you run to him without a second thought, terrified enough that the breath in your lungs refuses to leave, not until you've got your hands on him and made sure he's all right.

Your bodies collide, and Minho holds you up as a sob tears from between your lips.

You reach up and put your palms on either side of his face, the crimson splatters, sprinkled across his nose like morbid freckles, accentuating the gold flecks that flash in the dark recesses of his eyes.

Minho's lips twist into the hint of a smile.

"It's not mine, princess. Don't worry."

You feel your lungs collapse, your chest caving, and you throw your arms around him violently, never willing to let him leave your grasp again, at least for tonight.

************************************************************************

There is blood.

You step around the puddle on the floor with nothing more than a disinterested glance, your sneakers squeaking on the concrete.

Behind you, Felix makes a muffled sound of disgust in the back of his throat.

"God, they really need to clean up down here."

You glance over your shoulder at him, as he steps around the bloody puddle on the floor with an open look of horror on his face, a grin breaking free from your lips.

You wait for him to catch up to you, and link your arm in his as you continue down the long hallway.

"C'mon, Lixie. I think it's charming."

He gives you an arch of his brow, and you laugh a little.

The interoggation rooms built beneath the mansion serve a purprose-regardless of how dark-and honestly, you're grateful Minho had thought of them.

It's a way to keep the men you hold dear close enough that you know they're not in danger while they do their jobs.

Plus, hearing the screams when you come down here can be therapeutic in a way.

"Besides-" You reach the end of the hall and stop in front of the door there, glancing over at the man beside you as you reach for the knob. "I guarantee, when they come down here, cleaning is the last thing on Changbin and Chan's minds."

Felix rolls his eyes. "Savages."

You grin once more, and roll the door knob in your hand, pushing the door inward easily.

"It's why we love them."

You step into the room, Felix close on your heels, and as the door shuts behind you, your eyes flicker around the small chamber, taking everything in.

Chan is standing against the far wall beside Changbin, muttering something to him rapidly in a low voice.

There's a wall of instruments on the north side, anything from clamps to syringes, all used to get enemies talking.

And in the center of the room, a hunched form of a struggling man, bound to a chair, face covered with a sack.

You can just make out the muffled swears coming from beneath the rough fabric.

You take a step into the light that beams down on the man, encircling him in the gloom, and Chan and Changbin push up from the wall as one, their chatter ceasing immediately.

Changbin grins at you dangerously, as Chan rolls his head from side to side, waiting for your instructions.

Felix, silent as a ghost, leans against the door behind you, watching.

You tilt your head toward the man.

"Show me his face."

"Gladly." Changbin's teeth gleam sharply, as he leans forward and rips the cover roughly off the man's head.

The man looks around, disoriented, his long, gray hair wild, eyes wide and white with fear, the gag held between his teeth stained with spittle.

You feel a spark of fear light in your stomach at the sight of his face-older now, lined, but still recognizable-but force it back down with a long breath, stepping closer calmly, until the man's frantically roving eyes land on you.

"Take off his gag."

Chan steps up silently now, untying the gag at the back of the man's head, and as soon as it's loose enough, the man spits it out, licking his dry, chapped lips, as he glances between you and the men surrounding him with fury in his eyes.

"What the fuck is this? Who do you think you are? I could have you thrown to the bottom of a lake so no one would find your bodies, you know-"

You tsk your tongue in disapproval, and the man halts his tirade, his eyes narrowing, his weaselly features sharp.

"Empty threats." You sigh, stepping toward him, cocking your head as you study him.

He's shrunk after all these years, his skin almost paper thin, his hair greasy.

The eyes are the same though.

Hungry, predatory, evil.

His lips lift into the start of a snarl, revealing yellowing teeth.

"I don't know who you think you are, you bitch, but I assure you-"

Changbin's hand tangles into the man's stringy hair, yanking his head back roughly, shutting him up.

"Shut the fuck up, old man. Watch your tongue." He growls, glaring down at the man, his eyes blurring with tears as Changbin tugs once more on his hair painfully hard. "Or else I'll make sure that what she does to you will feel like mercy when I'm done with you."

He shoves the man's head forward, and he sputters, trying to catch his breath, his chest heaving, spittle flying from his lips.

Chan steps around the chair and holds out a knife toward you, his brow arched.

You take it without hesitation, and play with the razor sharp tip for a moment, ticking it off your fingertips as you study the man, lost in thought.

He glares up at you, his eyes full of hatred.

You almost laugh.

Oh trust me, not as much hatred as I hold toward you, Wu Chen.

You sigh, a long suffering sound, and address the man sitting, still now, before you.

"Do you recognize me, Mr. Wu?"

His dark eyes flash with something full of anger, but no recognition crosses his murderous gaze.

"Why should I?"

You cluck your tongue in annoyance, glancing up from the gleaming knife held in your hands.

"You took something from me once."

A brief flash of confusion swirls with the fury, and then his jaw clenches, his features going hard.

He gives a humorless laugh.

"I've taken things from a lot of people." His eyes glint with the predator, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he lets his gaze fall down the length of your body. "Quite a few of them delicious, mouthy little cunts such as yourself."

He's trying to unnerve you.

It's not working.

You've given him enough fear for one lifetime already.

No more.

You step forward, and lean over him, your hand going on the back of the chair, the knife held alert between the two of you, dangerously close to his jugular.

His eyes flick down to the steel, and you don't miss the way his throat bobs with a swallow.

"You took something. Long ago. Took something from someone who couldn't fight back. Something that was never yours to begin with. Do you remember what that was, Mr. Wu?"

Your voice is quiet, steady, but venomous and deadly as a viper waiting to strike.

His eyes meet yours, and when it's clear he's not going to respond, you sigh, sliding the knife up the column of his throat slowly, watching as the crimson appears in the shallow cut you leave behind.

He flinches, but remains quiet.

"A girl." You continue, voice dropping to nothing more than a deadly murmur.

Something like recognition flashes in the dark of his eyes, and suddenly, the man sitting bound before you looks a hell of a lot more nervous than he did before.

You let a small smirk flick the corner of your lips, as you lean back, taking the knife away from his throat.

"She wasn't strong enough to fight you back then. But she is now."

You lift your chin at Chan, and he steps around in front of your prisoner, leaning over to rip open the closure of his suit pants.

"What, what are you doing?" He splutters, immediately writhing in the chair once more, as Chan proceeds to easily tear his pants open, baring thin, scarred legs to the cold air of the room.

Changbin steps up as Chan finishes and goes around the chair, back to his side, holding the man still with firm hands on his shoulders as you approach once more.

You lean over, and easily shred the boxers he wears with one quick flick of your wrist that holds the knife.

The man before you screams and struggles, as his shrunken, shriveled cock springs free for all to see.

"Mm." You hum in your throat thoughtfully, staring at the man and his member with consideration. "It's a lot smaller than I remembered."

Changbin leans over the man's shoulder to get a look and grins, his eyes glinting.

You glance back to your prisoner, and a smirk curves your lips as he cries out in terror, fighting against his bonds and the hold of Changbin's hands.

You step closer and hold up the knife for him to see, the metal glinting in the overhead light.

"No, no, please-" He flails, begging pathetically, but you ignore him, angling the knife expertly as you close in.

The smirk doesn't leave your lips, as you arch a brow and stare down at the writhing, pathetic excuse of a man before you.

Your voice is steady when you speak, rising above the sound of his pleas.

"You took something precious from me, Mr. Wu. Now it's time for me to take something from you."

************************************************************************

You hear Minho before you see him.

The door to the bedroom sounds, and the room is immediately filled with curses and general angry lamentations as he struggles to get through the crack he's made in the door without letting the dogs on the other side in with him.

You can hear him yelling all the way from the ensuite bathroom.

"Get back, you hairy fuckers!-Jesus-Suwon, don't do that, you damned beast!-fuck-and you! Fucking bane of my existence!-ow-Give me back my fucking shoe and go find a ball, you damned fucking demon hound!"

The door finally slams, and you hear rapid paws head down the hall on the other side, Suwon and the new puppy, probably in search of Yeong-Ja.

Minho appears then in the doorway of the bathroom, looking frazzled, a lone dress shoe held in his hand, his lips smashed into a thin line of rage.

You try to hide your smile, glancing at him over your shoulder, as you continue to ready to get in the already running shower.

"Have a bit of a struggle, Boss Lee?" You query innocently, eyes wide as you regard him, like you haven't just heard everything that occurred.

He swears under his breath and tosses the chewed shoe into the trash, reaching up to swipe a hand through his disheveled hair with an agitated rake of his fingers.

"Fucking dogs. That fucking puppy is even worse than Suwon was."

You grin now, turning toward him, and his eyes trail down your naked body, catching on the prevalent bump that now takes up your midsection.

"Baby, Bohoja will learn, just like Suwon did. You won't be stuck with ruined shoes forever."

"Mmm." Minho hums something like distracted agreement under his breath, his eyes still on you, as if he's lost his train of thought and is no longer thinking about the hellhounds that roam the halls. "He had better. Or I'll have Chan's head on a stick." He takes a step toward you. "But that's not what I came to talk about."

You arch a brow, playing innocent for awhile longer.

"Oh? What did you come to talk about then, husband?"

His eyes darken predatorially at the lilting tease to your voice, a challenge, and he growls, closing the space between you, his hand going up to grip your chin.

Your bare chest brushes his through the material of the dress shirt he wears, and you can already feel his arousal, long and rock hard against your leg.

It makes you want to shiver, even though the steamy bathroom is more than a little warm.

His eyes trace up your body once more, and then flick to your face, catching on your cheekbone, before he reaches up with his free hand to brush something on your skin.

You lean into his touch, brushing your lips over the inked skin of his knuckles.

"You have blood on your face, princess."

You arch a brow. "Does that turn you on?"

Minho's eyes flash dark, dangerous, and his lip curls up to reveal a flash of his teeth, his voice a husky growl in the back of his throat.

"Incredibly."

You smirk, and he stares at you for another moment, hunger clear in his eyes, and you think maybe he'll give in and take you right here, against the bathroom counter, but instead, he sighs, and lets his free hand tangle into your hair, tilting your head back so your gaze meets his.

"You found him then."

It's a statement, not a question.

You nod. "Yes."

Minho's brow arches, and the corner of his mouth lifts into the start of a smirk.

"And?"

You sigh, pulling from his grasp as you step away, turning back when you reach the waiting shower.

Minho hasn't moved, watching your every move.

Eyes locked on his, you step backward into the flowing water, and it immediately coats your skin in hot rivulets, making everything slick.

You arch a brow, watching the predatory look come back into Minho's eyes as the water wets your skin, pooling in streams down between your breasts, your thighs.

You cock your head, as if considering, and then say without preamble, "And I cut off his pathetic excuse for a dick. I gave it to cook. She's going to make a fancy pate out of it and feed it to the dogs."

Minho breathes out, you see it in the way his chest rises and falls and then he's striding to the open air shower, ripping his tie off as he comes, stepping into the stream of water in the rest of his clothing without a second thought.

He takes your chin in a bruising grip with one hand, and snakes his other hand down between your thighs.

Your breath hitches as he touches the wetness there, just for him.

"God, you're so fucking beautiful, princess." He grits out, tilting your head back so that he can look into your eyes while he finger fucks you.

"So you tell me." You try to give him a teasing smile, but the expression is lost as your mouth parts and a gasp escapes your lips when he curls his fingers.

"No, I mean-" He backs you against the wall with his body, the water drenching the shirt he wears, you can see his tan skin and the ink across his chest through the wet material, and lets his gaze travel appreciatively down your length once more. "-you're always fucking beautiful, but god-"

He groans gutturally , leaning into you, mouth open against your own, as he hits a spot that has you gripping onto him, keening audibly.

"-there's something so incredibly fucking sexy about you when you're pregnant."

His words send a thrill of heat straight to your core.

"Take this off." You practically beg, pawing uselessly at his shirt, and he pulls his hand away from you to undo the buttons, tugging it open impatiently, as you reach down to free him of his pants.

You're eager for him to take you, to claim you, but instead of immediately finding purchase inside you, Minho drops to his knees in front of you, and runs his hands reverently over your swollen belly, glancing up at you through the streams of water.

His hair is dark, dripping, and you bury your fingers into it.

"I put this here. You, carrying my kid, princess-" He takes in a deep breath, his fingers still caressing your skin. "Fuck, now everyone knows who you belong to. Everyone knows you're mine."

You stare down at him, this man on his knees for you, this man who has given you everything-and you smile.

"I don't think there was ever any doubt about who I belonged to, Lee Minho. It's always been you."

Minho surges to his feet and covers your mouth with his own, your tongues tangling instantly, your body melting into his, his fingers finding you once again right where he left off, making you jolt against him and gasp in pleasure.

"What do you want?" He asks, voice husky, gravely, against your lips.

"You." You breathe back, hand already trailing down between your two bodies to find him. Your fingers close around him, and Minho shudders. "All of you. Always."

"You have all of me, princess. Always." He repeats in a hoarse voice, before he sheathes himself fully inside of you without warning, making you both cry out.

And you know he means it.

************************************************************************

"Ow." You huff beneath your breath, shifting on the chaise, as Yeong-Ja looks up from playing with the puppy on the floor in front of the fire.

"What's wrong, mommy?"

You give her a smile that's more like a grimace as the baby kicks you strongly again, foot sinking up under your ribs.

"Baby brother is just kicking me, that's all, baby. I'm okay."

Yeong-Ja immediately turns back to Bohoja, teasing him with a rope toy.

"'Baby brother'?" Minho queries, leaving his desk and sliding in beside you on the sofa, his arm going around you as he pulls you close.

You smile, glancing up at him. "Just a feeling."

Another kick, another curse under your breath.

"Fuck. Minho. Tell your son to behave please."

Minho chuckles, burying his nose in your hair and breathing you in, his hand sliding down to rest on the apex of your stomach.

"Sorry, princess. You know how we Lee men are."

The baby kicks again against his palm, and Minho curves his fingers along the curvature of your belly, as if holding the unborn baby close from the outside.

You sigh, and snuggle back into him.

He presses a kiss to your forehead.

"Well-" You acquiesce, stifling a yawn as you lean your head on his shoulder, and watch Yeong-Ja playing happily with the puppy, Suwon dozing near by. "-I'd better get used to it then, because I wouldn't have them any other way."

You feel the warmth of Minho's breath as he buries his face once more in your hair, holding you close.

"I love you, princess. And the murderous little creature currently growing in your womb."

You grin and kiss his chest through the thin material of his dress shirt.

"I love you too, Boss Lee."

Love.

There is so much love.

[captain-joongz]

fanfiction recommendations/my favourite reads in 2023

jeong yunho

♤ the drill by @byuntrash101

big dick!yunho, kinda fluffy and sweet

kang yeosang

◇ let's play a game by @anyamaris

yeosang x reader x soobin (txt), friends to lovers, primal play

choi san

♧ howling to your moon by @essenteez

established relationship, smut

☆ oh he's good by @yoongiseesawmp3

part of church boy series, bad boy (?) san kinda

♤ pornstar!san by @orgverse

camboy/camgirl au, live stream sex, hinted ateez x reader

◇ incubus: coming of age by @byuntrash101

incubus!san, kinda slowburn

♧ moll by @last-words-ofashootingstar

1920s mafia, corrupt police officer!san, dark, yandere, manipulation

song mingi

☆ roommate by @essenteez

roommates to lovers, horny mingi

♤ a taste of desire by @solfiera

college au, brother's best friend!mingi

jeong wooyoung

◇ not on my watch by @remedyx

christmas time, getting together thanks to mistletoe, fluffy

♧ 5 weeks by @setsugekka

idol!wooyoung x stylist!reader, coworkers to lovers, woo is an annoying little shit (affectionate)

ATEEZ rec list pt. 1 BTS, TxT, Stray Kids, Seventeen, NCT rec list