#the faults in park chanyeol

[eomayas]

new thing (pt. 6) • pcy

pairing: chanyeol x f!reader, age gap, established relationship

synopsis: your break with chanyeol lasts longer than expected and you try to make something work.

genre: heavy angst, smut 18+ MINORS DNI!!! bit of fluff

warnings: SMUT 18+ MINORS DNI!!! lots of angst and unspoken feelings, swearing, pwp (kinda) p in v, mentions of alcohol and drinking and being drunk

a/n: bruh yall inspired me to writeeee so here you go! i love reading all of your messages omg they’re so funny and sweet! i hope you like this 🩷 thanks for all of the support

a ‘little while’ turns into 2 weeks. the school year begins within those 14 days, and you throw yourself into your courses, occupying your time with 1 credit classes so you don’t have time to think about anything other than graduating and your education. when you do have a moment to yourself and to think, you force yourself to think of everything but chanyeol. it’s hard, since nearly everything reminds you of him. you’ve thought about texting him but resisted, chickening out at the last second.

it’s a friday night and you have no set plans. seulgi is going out with her boyfriend, so you have the house to yourself and a movie queued up on your laptop. ideally, you’d have someone to spend this quiet friday night in with, but alas. you’ve been single before; you’ll survive a movie night alone.

looking through your cabinets, you sigh at the lack of snack options, and things you want to eat. it’s been awhile since you’ve been shopping, having gotten used to being around somebody who constantly cooked for you, or took you out to eat. it’s the little things about not being with chanyeol that you feel like you took for granted. in this case, it’s grocery shopping.

grabbing your keys and purse, you throw on a sweatshirt before heading out of your apartment and down to your car. you hop in and make the short drive down to the corner store.

a quick glance around the parking lot would’ve told you to stay in your car, but it slips your mind as you’re here for a snack run, not expecting to be here long.

you beeline for the chip aisle, grabbing a bag of chips for yourself and another bag for seulgi. you stay there for a second, scanning a few other options before feeling satisfied and going to the coolers. there, you grab an iced tea and a water before getting ready to close the door, but a voice makes you freeze and stiffen, the door stuck mid-swing in your palm.

“bro, stop fucking around,” you know that voice better than you know your own. you’ve dreamt about it constantly, wishing for it to call on you, to say sweet things to you, like it used to. but now, it’s not yours to even want in that way.

slamming the cooler door, you quickly spin on your heel, racing down the aisle, not paying attention to where you’re going, but knowing that you need to get out. but you slam into a hard body, nearly knocking you backwards. “holy shit!” the man says, quickly turning around and reaching out an arm to steady you. “are you okay?” he asks.

footsteps round the corner, curses flowing from the mouth that belongs to the one you want more than anything, more than these snacks in your arms. “what the fuck did you do now? sorry for my cousin, he’s an id-“ his voice cuts off when he gets closer, stopping a few feet behind jongin. you raise your head, your eyes zeroing in on chanyeol.

“it was my fault,” you mean to say it to jongin, to apologize for not paying attention, but you can’t rip your eyes away from chanyeol. but now you’re apologizing to, technically the wrong person, but they both deserve two different types of apologies. “i wasn’t thinking.” you say, wondering if he can read between the lines and take it as an apology for the end of your relationship.

“he’s an idiot,” chanyeol says, making jongin scoff. there’s that glimmer in his eyes, the one that doesn’t fail to make you smile every time, but now you hold it back. you almost forget jongins there, until he mutters that he’s going to leave you and chanyeol alone.

there’s an awkward silence before chanyeol takes a single step closer to you. “hey,” he says, offering you a small smile. your heart hammers wildly in your chest, feeling like it’s going to crack through your bones and beat right out of your chest. “how’ve you been?” he asks, his voice softer than usual.

“fine. and you?” it’s like making small talk with somebody in an elevator; it’s terrible. you want to scream and run out of here, but you’re rooted to the floor and don’t trust your legs. you wonder if he can see your trembling hands, or if the snacks in them are doing enough to obscure their shaking.

“i’m good!” he says, and he sounds like he means it. it breaks your heart again, because there’s been countless nights where you’ve lain awake with thoughts of him running through your mind. you’re not even to being ‘good’, barely surpassing being ‘fine’.

you mumble a ‘that’s good’, and he says he’s going to go find jongin. “it was nice seeing you, y/n,” and you could call to your knees in tears, because it’s the first time he’s said your name in 14 days and you miss how it sounds coming from him.

“you too,” you squeak. he glances down at your arms full of snacks and gives you a small smile. you’re about to return it until you glance down at his hands, and feel your blood run cold.

chanyeol follows your line of sight to his hands and tries to indiscreetly hide the box of condoms, but you’ve already seen them. he can feel his neck heating up and feels the need to explain himself, that no, he has no intentions of using them soon, but the words don’t find him. your throat burns and your eyes sting, but you manage to not any tears fall, or let your voice give way to what’s happening inside of you when you say, “i’m gonna go,” and speed walk away on shaky legs.

luckily for you, there’s nobody in line at the check. you throw your stuff down on the counter and glance over your shoulder to make sure you don’t see either chanyeol or jongin. you pay as quickly as you got in line, thank the cashier and grab your bag of stuff.

chanyeol and jongin are walking towards the checkout as you’re taking your stuff, and you practically sprint out with how fast you walk and the strides you take.

outside, your eyes come in direct contact with his black corvette and you scream internally, wondering how you missed it when it’s right there, practically in front of the doors and not too far from you own car.

you feel like some sick joke is being played on you, and you throw your stuff into the backseat before speeding out of the parking lot and down the road. you drive half a mile before your eyes start to well up with tears, and drive another 500 kilometers before turning on a random street and pulling over to bawl into your hands.

you allow yourself to let go, to let nasty, ugly sobs from feo within your chest escape. you shake against the steering wheel, wishing you never went out for food you have no appetite for anymore, so that you could avoid seeing him. by the looks of it, he’s truly no longer yours because the two of you rarely, if ever, used condoms. there’s somebody else who’s going to get to experience him in ways that you long for.

when you get back to your apartment, you forego your movie plans and instead text some friends and ask if they’re busy. they tell you they are, that they’re going out (like most people you know), and ask if you want to come. you don’t hesitate to say ‘yes’, and start getting ready. chanyeol isn’t going to ruin your night, and you’re not going to sit here and mope and be single.

nearly two hours later, you’re ready and your friends wait for you downstairs. you wear the littlest black dress you own, one that barely covers your ass and is backless. it’s cowl neck is low, showing a good amount of cleavage, and your heels are high. you don’t intend to go home with somebody, but you plan to get attention in whatever way it comes.

shortly after you get to the club, drinks are practically thrown your way. decent enough men buy you drinks, and in return get a bit of your conversation before you always dismiss yourself to your friends. every time a man comes up to you, you make a mental list of every way he is not chanyeol, comparing everything down to their finger nails. of course, no man is going to compare to him, at least for now, so you drink until you start to forget what he looks like with your eyes closed.

you do cut yourself off, though, not wanting to vomit all over everything and everybody in this club. you take a seat in your section and go on your phone, checking your instagram to see all the photos and videos you’ve been tagged in tonight. you repost all of them to you stories, smiling as you type out silly captions for all of them.

one of your friends comes over to you, drunk and slurring as she tells you to come dance. you abandon your phone and get into the circle with your friends, dancing sensually with whatever the DJ decides to play.

by the time you call it quits for the night, you’ve sobered up enough to make it safely into your apartment. you stumble down the hallway to your bedroom as quietly as you can walking in heels on wood floors, and fall onto your bed. you lie there for a moment before you remember to wake yourself up and at least take your shoes off so you can go to bed.

plugging your phone into the charger, you look at your screen and see you have an instagram dm from chanyeol. your stomach flips as you unlock your phone and click on the notification, biting your bottom lip.

he’s replied to a video on your story, one of you dancing. but you’re not dancing alone, you’re dancing on a man, his hands holding onto your hips and lower back as you throw your ass on him. you don’t remember doing this, and the man doesn’t look familiar but it definitely happened.

real_pcy: so this is what we’re doing now?

11:53pm

you: we’re not together.

1:31am

real_pcy: lmao alright.

1:35am

you wake up hours later with a raging headache, a terrible taste in your mouth, and the feeling that you did something bad. you pat the bed next to you to make sure there’s nobody there, and sigh in relief when it’s empty and just pillows.

you can barely remember anything that happened after you got in the uber to the club and before you got into your bed. you remember bits and pieces, but they’re muddled and incomplete.

a frown takes over your features as you try to remember, but nothing solid comes to mind. you glance over at your digital clock that reads 12:12pm, and sigh, sitting up and groaning when your head feels like somebody is stomping on it.

grabbing your phone, you gasp and let it slip out of your grasp. it’s a bad idea to scramble out of bed to get it, but you do anyway and pick it up from the floor. you frantically open it and go to your messages, expecting to see chanyeols name at the top, but you don’t. you frown again as you try to remember where you messaged him, or if you made it up.

an instagram notification pings on your phone like a lightbulb going off in your brain, and you bite the inside of your cheek as you check your dms. again, his account isn’t at the top, and your frown turns into a scowl. “what the fuck?” you mutter. you go to the search tab and type in his username. it pops up, but when you click on it, it says ‘follow’, rather than ‘following’ like it should.

your brain rolls around in your skull as you realize what’s happened, what he’s done. even during your little break, you guys remained mutuals on social media. of course, you never messaged each other, but no blocking transpired. clearly, he made the first move and removed you from his account entirely, making you an outsider.

you decide to do one better, and block him completely. you block him everywhere else, but hesitaste on his number. that’s different, feels more personal. you still want him to have access to you and vice versa, assuming he didn’t block you first.

backing out of his contact, you leave his number untouched and sigh. if you thought it was over before, it truly is now.

fourteen days turns into twenty-six, but you’re not counting. it’s been school, school, school, for you, and if you’re not on campus then you’re most likely asleep, unless it’s the weekend. you find things to occupy your two days off, like doing things with seulgi when she’s not with her boyfriend, or taking yourself out. you’ve been getting your hair done lately, wanting to change something in your control.

you drain the last of your coffee and rinse out the mug in the sink. an unfolded bag of laundry waits to be put away, on the couch, and you saunter over to it and pick it up and take it to your room.

you dump the bag onto your bed and start separating your clothes into piles. you get into a zone until you pick up a tshirt that is far too big and not yours, and purse your lips. you toss it into its own pile and search for the rest of the clothes in the pile that belong to him, which is a lot more than you care to admit.

folding everything neatly, you snap a picture and open your messages with him. your stomach roils at the thought of texting him, your last messages being nearly a month ago, from the night you ruined everything.

you chew on your bottom lip for a while before saying ‘fuck it’ and sending him the picture of his folded clothes and a message.

yn: hey these are yours. can i drop them off later?

chanyeol: yep. i can give you your things too. does 4 work?

yn: yes

chanyeol: see you later

you blow out a breath. you didn’t think he would respond so quickly and be so complying. had it been the other way around, you would’ve hoped he’d ship you your stuff in the mail so you didn’t have to deal with him. but now you have 6 hours to stress about seeing him since that fateful day at the drug store.

and those six hours roll around quickly, so quickly that you’ve changed your outfit twice, unsure of what you should look like when you see him. you decide on jeans and black cropped tshirt, and some sneakers. you figure it’s a regular enough outfit, and stuff his clothes into a tote bag before leaving your room.

“i’ll be back,” you say to seulgi, who sits on the couch, painting her nails. she looks up and waves, her eyes traveling to the full bag in your hands. “dropping off some stuff to chanyeol.” you clarify.

she raises an eyebrow. “you’re dropping off stuff?” she questions. you nod and her eyebrow manages to go up higher. “you sure that’s all?” she says, almost like she can see right through you, and the fact that you put on a matching set underneath your clothes—just in case.

“and i’m picking up my stuff,” you manage, swallowing the lump in your throat.

“do you plan to go inside?” she asks, and you hate this interrogation, but she’s seen you mope for nearly a month over him. you shrug and she sighs, going back to her nails. “just be… careful. i’ll call if i get worried, you know.”

you smile a small smile at her words. “i know. bye,” you leave after that and head down to you car. you take a deep breath before you put the key in the ignition, feeling many things at once. your stomach flips wildly and your hands are clammy at the mere thought of going to his house to see him.

you drive too fast for somebody who is supposedly just going to drop off items to their ex. you really shouldn’t be this… energized at seeing him, since you two didn’t exactly end on good terms. you told him to get out the first time and the second time you solidified that you’re both single. sometimes you wish you could bite your tongue more.

his neighborhood comes into view quickly, and when you hook the left onto his street your heart leaps into your throat. you drive slow down to his house and parallel park you car on the curb in front of his mailbox. this is one of the few times you’ve been here alone to see him, your toyota looking out of place in a neighborhood where the average car owned is a mercedes.

getting out, you grabs the bag of clothes and hold it tightly in your hands, taking ginger steps up his driveway to his door. you suck in a breath when you knock three times, and clutch the bag to your midsection.

the door swings open and you feel your knees buckle when you see chanyeol. mild shock passes on his face like he forgot you were coming over, and then he checks his watch. “hey, sorry i lost track of time,” he says, awkwardly standing in the door way. he looks at you, eyes quickly giving you a once over before they land on the bag in your hands. “shit, let me grab your stuff. do you want to come in?” he asks, already moving out of the way before you have the chance to respond.

your feet take you into his house before your brain can process what’s really happening. “i’ll be right back,” he says, jogging up his stairs while you stay in place in the corridor. you peek your head out to look in the living room to note any major changes and see one. you feel like there may be something different about his kitchen, but he’s already bounding back down the stairs when you think about looking. “here you go.” he says, extending the clothes to you.

you pull open the tote bag and try to grab his clothes, but the bag isn’t wide enough so they fall back in, most of them unfolding. chanyeol takes the bag from you and holds it open so you can grab them easily. it’s not even been 5 minutes, and you’re already embarrassing yourself.

“sorry,” you cringe when you hand him his unfolded clothes before you put your own in the bag.

chanyeol gives you a small, reassuring smile that makes your pulse skyrocket and you avert your eyes. “it’s fine,” he says but it only makes you flush more. “how are you? how’s school?” he asks.

“uh, fine and fine. i’m taking bullshit classes for the credit, so,” you say, shrugging. “you?”

chanyeol shrugs too, a small smile still on his face. “same old stuff; i’m helping kai produce some songs, getting sehun in the studio more now,” he says. you nod awkwardly look around, not really knowing what to say. chanyeol leans against the wall and slots his clothes underneath his armpit and presses it to his side so they don’t fall. “you seeing anybody?” he asks suddenly, making your eyes snap up to him, narrowing immediately.

“is that really any of your business?” you question, defense all in your voice. chanyeol shrugs, as it to say ‘i’m just asking’. “we’re not together.”

“obviously not,” he laughs, but he doesn’t find it funny. it actually makes him mildly sick to be reminded of it, for it to be said out loud by you of all people, because he had every intention of coming back to you until you seemingly called it quits for good. “but i saw that video.” chanyeol adds, his tone more serious.

“and i saw you buying condoms,” you counter, crossing your arms over your chest.

“okay, but you’ve never danced with me like that,” he says, a hint of jealousy in his voice that you are definitely not imagining. you scoff at his words and shake your head.

“we’ve never gone out together, and the one time we happened to be out at the same time, we’d just met and then fucked in your car.”

chanyeol gives you a look that makes your face fall, one that makes you want to ball your hands into fists. he rubs underneath his lip and glances down at his feet. “what?” you ask, daring him to say what’s on his mind.

“nothing,” he says, brushing you off. you stare at him for a moment, waiting for him to look at you but he doesn’t.

“i’m not like that,” you say, frowning.

“i know,” he lifts his eyes to you and your draw your bottom lip in. it’s gets silent again, and you wonder if this is a good moment for you to make your escape, but you don’t really want to.

“are you seeing anybody?”

“no,” his response sounds honest, but you don’t completely believe it because of what you saw.

“i saw you buying condoms, chanyeol,” you say, pressing your lips together. he rolls his eyes and runs a hand through his hair.

“yeah, because i plan to practice safe sex in the future, y/n—whether that’s with you, or with somebody else,” your cheeks flush at his words and a knot forms in your stomach. you don’t know whether to be semi flattered, or gutted knowing that there will be others after you, like there were before you.

“well, we’re not having sex,” you declare, and chanyeol shrugs.

“that’s fine.”

it’s fine, but somehow you end up face-down-ass-up on his bed, his palm pressing on your tailbone to give you a deeper arch as he pounds into you. with every thrust into you, a desperate mewl leaves your mouth.

chanyeol has a right grip on your hips to keep you in place every time you try to run away from him. he yanks you back and tells you to stay with him, to take it because he knows you can, and you’re not used to me anymore? you only cry out his name in response, tears prickling in your eyes.

“fuck,” he spits when his shirt keeps getting in the way of seeing where you to connect, whenever he pushes into to you. his momentum barely falters as he puts the hem in between his teeth to keep the material out of the way. both of you aren’t even fully undressed, that’s how rushed it was; you’re still in your top and thong, the tiny material being pushed aside so he can enter you, and him his tshirt. it’s the first time—other than the night you met—that neither of you are fully bare, and you can’t tell if that’s a sign that he doesn’t deem you worthy of getting undressed, or if it’s a sign that you’re about to start over.

it’s also one of the few times he’s started with doggy first. chanyeol alwyas liked to look at you; always liked you on top of him or under him, but he liked to see your face the most. you don’t know if it’s a slight that he has you turned away from him, or if he just wanted to watch your ass move.

“ch-chanyeol—fuck!” tears stream down your cheeks and you grip the sheets tightly, trying to pull your body away from him but he yanks you back in place. you cry out his name and hate how desperate you sound, like you’ve never been fucked a day in your life. you bury your face into a pillow, but he rips that away from you too.

“wan’ hear you,” he mumbles, continuing to slam into you. you can only curse and clench around him in response, the knot in your stomach getting tighter and tighter as he goes on with his mission to touch your spleen (at least that’s what it feels like).

“g-gonna c-cum,” you hiccup, whining out his name when he snakes an arm around your front and starts flicking on your clit. the stimulation makes you clench your eyes shut and tense around him, gasping before crying out his name as you gush all over him.

you expect him to stop, but he fucks you through it, never stopping his ministrations on your clit. “please, yeol!” you beg, feeling your legs start to shake as another wave of deep pleasure comes over you.

“you can do it, baby,” he grunts, running a hand up your back before gently pressing down on your spine. the pet name makes you whine dramatically and release once again, white liquid running down your thighs.

he finally pulls out when you beg him again, feeling too hot and overstimulated. you crumple onto the bed and roll onto your back, trying to regain your breath. you hear chanyeol shift next to you and then he taps you on the knee. “you alright?” he asks.

“give me a minute,” you croak, licking your dry lips. your body feels like you’re running a fever, and you sit up to pull off your top before flopping back down.

chanyeol gives you a literal minute before tapping you again. “are you gonna be okay?”

“yes, i’m just so fucking hot right now,” you say, blowing air into your face.

“you wanna take a break?” he asks and you crack an eye open to look at him. his shirt is off and his dick is still hard in the condom. you take his comment as a challenge, being that he’s never asked if you’ve needed a break before. maybe he thinks you can’t handle it and have gone soft on him, but you’ll show him otherwise.

“no. come here,” you say with authority. he obliged and crawls on top of you. you pull him down to your mouth and make out with him, hooking a leg over his back. chanyeol kisses down your jaw and to your neck before kissing down through the valley of your breasts. he pulls back and looks down at you, pulling at your bra strap and letting it snap back against you.

“you’re matching,” he comments, glancing down at your underwear. busted.

“so?” you say, reaching for him.

“you said we weren’t having sex,” chanyeol points out, making you let out an exasperated sigh paired with an eye roll. “you wore a thong.”

“i always wear thongs.”

“and we always fuck.”

you roll your eyes again and sit up to take your bra off, tossing it close to his head on purpose. “just shut up and fuck me,” you say, pushing down your underwear. chanyeol pulls it down the rest of the way for you and wastes no more time positioning himself in between your legs.

“y/n,” he groans when he pushes in, tossing his head back. you mouth falls open and you let out s few breathless pants. “shit.” he grunts, looking down at you with furrowed eyebrows. you can only stare up at him with wide eyes, clenching right around him like he didn’t just fuck you so hard you felt like you needed an ice bath to recover.

chanyeol pulls in and out of you slowly, trying to hold back from coming too soon. you can see it in his face, the concentration, and it clicks for you. he can’t handle looking at you while he fucks you because he’ll finish too fast. your sex in the past was never quick, but the effort of restraint he’s putting in is something you haven’t seen.

“y-yeol,” you moan, putting a hand on the back of his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. but he just presses against your lips, his breath fanning your mouth. “faster.” you mumble, tangling a hand in his hair.

he whimpers and pushes himself up on his arms and speeds up just enough to keep himself under control, but you still want more. “more,” you urge, wanting to watch him fall apart because of you, even if you don’t get off before or with him.

“baby,” he groans, squeezing his eyes shut as he gives you what you ask for. your cry out his name and part your legs wider for him. you lift one onto his shoulder and hook it around the nape of his neck to pull him closer to you, a grunt leaving his lips. “y-y/n, im c-close,” he whimpers, holding onto your thigh that rests near his head.

“yeolie, you feel so good,” you manage, grabbing a handful of the sheets. his hips stutter and he lets out a groan before he cums, his muscles flexing.

you almost smile as he falls apart on top of you, especially knowing that it took looking at you to get there faster.

chanyeol pulls out of you and drops down onto the bed next to you. his chest heaves up and down rapidly and you push hair back from his forehead. “you didn’t come,” he mumbles, reaching out and putting a hand on your stomach.

“no,” you admit. ever the gentleman, he gets up and discards the condom before settling his face in between your legs to return the favor.

after what feels like an eternity, you two decide to give it a rest. “shower?” he asks you, sitting up on the bed. you nod, your inner thighs sticky from all of your shenanigans.

you follow chanyeol to the bathroom on shaky legs and latch yourself onto him once you’re under the water. your arms wrap around his middle and you rest your head against his chest, sighing into him. chanyeol places a kiss on your forehead and you nearly whimper, missing the domesticity of it all.

you two wash up and then he gives you some of his clothes to wear. you smile to yourself at him knowing that you weren’t going to leave so soon. he tells you he’s going to order takeout, since he doesn’t feel like cooking, and passes you his phone to choose what you want to eat.

it’s easy to fall into that old rhythm like no time has passed, and like you didn’t let this whole thing crumble right before you.

while you wait for the food, you ride him on the couch, and then after you eat he fucks you lazily on the counter. your body feels beat up and tired in the best way, and the familiar limp you start to walk with feels good again.

you wake up to the smell of food, your limbs sore as you stretch. the bed is empty next to you, and it takes you a moment to realize that this isn’t your bed or your house. the realization makes you bite your lip, and you slip out of his bed and make your way downstairs.

“good morning,” he greets when you walk into the kitchen, a smile on his face. you return it and he pulls you into him, placing a kiss on your lips that leaves you feeling dizzy and slightly confused, but you don’t say anything. instead, you accept the plate of food he hands you and go sit down at the table.

chanyeol sits down beside you and pulls your legs across his lap, and your fork stills in midair. it’s all overwhelmingly familiar, and you still have yet to discuss where your relationship stands after last night. it wasn’t just sex for you—it never is with chanyeol—and you don’t know if he feels the same way.

you let him talk through breakfast, your mind swimming with thoughts that wonder what this all means. you don’t know if he was just testing you out again, but you don’t think he’d allow you to sleep over, and then cook you breakfast in the morning. you feel lightheaded, like you just got flipped upside down one too many times.

“you alright? what’s on your mind?” his voice takes you out of your head where you feel yourself drowning. he raises his eyebrows at you and you wave your hands in the air vaguely.

“just… thinking,” you try.

“about?”

you let out a breath and scratch the back of your head, pulling your gaze away from him. “um, us,” you say. chanyeol sits back in his seat and clears his throat. “i dont… what does this mean for us? what are we?” you ask helplessy, finally looking at him. chanyeol opens his mouth but closes it almost as quickly.

“i dont know,” he answers. you slump in your chair because you have no idea either.

“well, what do you want?”

you can see the gears turning in his brain and him weighing each response. the tension builds in the room as you stare at him, waiting for his answer to see if it’ll align with yours. “well… i dont really know if i want a relationship right now,” your stomach drops and you blink once, twice. “i like what we did last night, though.” and without actually saying it, he wants you two to be friends with benefits. he wants you, but not all of the extra baggage.

“okay,” you say, discreetly wiping your face and swiping away the tears pooling in your eyes.

“yeah?” he asks, and you nod even though it’s far from what you want. you just want him, and you’ll take what you can get.

you hold back tears as he fucks you on his bed again, but not because it feels so good and like too much at the same time, but because he’s stomping on your heart and doesn’t even realize it. your heart can’t handle a FWBs situation with him since you’re already way into deep with him.

it becomes too much as you think about it, your mind not in the present moment of him thrusting into you. the tears start to fall, one by one, until you’re full on sobbing and covering your face. “w-what’s wrong? am i hurting you?”

“yes!” you cry, and he immediately gets off of you. you roll away from him and curl yourself into a ball, feeling disgusted with yourself that you were willing to let him use you in such a way, dangling your heart on a string in front of you.

“y/n, talk to me,” chanyeol says, putting a hand on your shoulder. you shrug him off like you did during your initial break up, and he feels like he’s getting deja vu again. “please, y/n. talk to me, tell me what’s wrong.” his voice is full of concern because he knows there’s something else that’s really upsetting you.

“i cant do it,” you know you’ll probably lose him for good, but you’re willing to take that risk if you can’t have him the way that you want. you want him next to you in the mornings and calling you in the middle of his day. you don’t want to be a late night though, a booty call, to him. “i just can’t do it.”

chanyeol knows that you’re talking about your little agreement. he knew you’d end up backing out at some point, because he himself can’t even take it that seriously. he knows he’ll just wind up with feelings for you again since they never left.

“that’s okay,” he says, and he means it. your heart is heavy as you sit up and look over at him. chanyeols heart breaks to pieces when he looks into your eyes, feeling guilty for what he’s done. if only he could just confess and be honest about his feelings this time.

your goodbye is quiet and awful, and you feel like digging a hole and putting yourself in it the entire time. you leave feeling empty and hollow, and like you just got ran over by an eighteen wheeler. but hey, at least it wasn’t your fault this time.

[jongbross]

just one more minute - park chanyeol x reader

pairing: park chanyeol x reader genre: fluffy word count: 398 warnings: maybe some curse words? a/n: based on my last post because i was really pissed lol

"babe?", chanyeol called you again, looking up from his phone. you raised a finger at him, still running your mouth with your own phone pressed against your ear. he sighed, defeated.

there wasn't much he could do, was it?

"i know, i know...", you said. "yeah, but like- no, it wasn't me. it was all okay, but then she texted me that info. what now?"

you pressed your lips into a line as you heard your work colleague answering you, nodding even though she couldn't see it.

"i think it's best if we don't wait. let's do that tomorrow morning, what do you think?"

chanyeol looked at you again, eyes wide and hands in the air as a way to say 'what the fuck?'. you sighed, pouting at him.

"yeah, okay. please be there at 10am. okay, sure... thanks for helping, by the way. of course, let's make this work. thank you, have a good night you too! see you tomorrow!"

"what do you mean 'tomorrow morning'?", chanyeol asked as soon as you dropped your phone.

you groaned, relaxing against the couch. "there was this last minute problem at work, i'll have to stop by the office tomorrow morning to solve it with my friend".

"tomorrow's saturday, babe", he almost whined. "come on, you've worked the entire week..."

"i know, but it's really important. it can't wait till monday, or it will probably be an even bigger problem by then."

chanyeol puffed, pouting at you. knowing really well it was your fault, cause you two have planned that weekend to be just yours, you rested your head against his shoulder. the way your hands embraced his bicep and caressed his skin always did the trick to make him feel better.

"i'm really sorry", you whispered. "it's just in the morning though, i'll be done by lunch!"

"are you sure?"

"absolutely. we just need to run some tests, so it won't be a surprise on monday", you explained.

chanyeol hummed in thought, slowly turning his head to you.

"i hate how responsible you are", he said like it was a bad thing, but his smile betrayed him.

"i hate how comprehensive you are".

he laughed, pulling his arm away from your hands only to wrap it around your shoulders, making you lay down on his chest.

"i'll drive you there tomorrow, don't worry", chanyeol whispered, before kissing your forehead.

[aqupistau]

— ☕️ⸯⸯ : unexpected help﹙pcy﹚

warnings: profanity

genre & trope: fluff and strangers!AU

pairing: park chanyeol x f!reader

word count: 0.78k

synopsis. chanyeol races against time as he attempts to tie his necktie for the millionth time for a job interview that would start in a few minutes. he’s trying his best not to break down in the middle of the busy street, then comes you, a stranger, offering a hand to tie his neck tie. 

Twenty-three minutes left.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Chanyeol mutters to himself as he repeatedly knots his necktie and cursing with another failing attempt.

Everything was going well last night, you know. He practiced possible questions for the interview, ironed the newly bought suit, drank tea that was good for his throat, lighted up his favorite incense, and conditioned himself well for a good night's sleep—which was too good to the point that he slept through his alarm. 

It was his fault, really. He acknowledges that he treated himself so well yesterday that it's not going well today.

"I don't think I'm going to make this. Please let this knot be right." Chanyeol pleaded to himself. The growing tension worsens with the endless repeats of please, his voice cracking as he almost broke into tears. 

"Uhm, excuse me?" someone taps on his right shoulder, interrupting him from his internal struggle of making his tie right and the anxious reminder of the interview starting in a few minutes. Chanyeol turns toward the stranger, eyes glossed from the unshed tears.

"May I help you?" Chanyeol managed to ask. A question more likely directed at himself.

"If it's okay, I can tie your necktie for you. Are you here for the interview at the company down the street?" 

Chanyeol nodded, like a lost child being asked if they were lost, not even being able to say thank you for this kind gesture, focusing entirely on not breaking down in the middle of the street. "Yes."

"That's a very good company you chose," You praised to help him lighten up, but Chanyeol answers with a rather defeated thank you, still stuck in a slump.

"Could you please lower yourself a little? You're quite tall." he obliges, lowering his legs to adjust to your height, and you go about to his tie, relying on your muscle memory to the ups and downs steps of tying a perfect necktie.

"Is this your first job interview?" You try to strike up a conversation, and he nods in an almost robotic way, the topic about the possibilities of his job interview failing clouding his mind. It didn't even matter if there was a stranger offering to tie his tie. May this stranger be a pickpocket or whatnot, just please tie the necktie perfectly.

On the first try, you fail, and you can feel how Chanyeol's heart drops from his eyes with the unsuccessful attempt, whispering an oh no. Then you try for the second time, and this time, you finally succeed.

"Oh my god—Thank goodness," Chanyeol gasps in relief, almost dramatically dropping to his knees, and you catch him on time, worried about how his next problem would be the dirty stain on his slacks if he kneels on the concrete.

"Thank you very much. You've saved my life." 

"Literally—oh my god, thank you, really," he pulls you into a hug, sobbing and being grateful for his unexpected savior. You pat his back awkwardly, trying to comfort a pitiful man you just met who was failing to tie his necktie in public, uncertain how to receive such effusive praise.

"No problem?" you responded.

"It's already 8:19! I must go now," he declared, breaking the hug and bowing a ninety-degree bow, and you're startled by the overwhelming gratitude. 

"Please, there's no need for formalities," You muttered. 

Chanyeol looks up at you and breaks out into a smile, revealing the hidden dimples on his cheeks, and you're caught off guard, shocked by the unexpected smile that was concealed all along. Who knew he could smile like that?

With the remaining time left, Chanyeol dashes to the opposite street from yours before you can process the image of his dimples, smiling directly at you.

As his broad back and towering figure gets smaller from your vision, he stops, looking back at you, and waves his hand enthusiastically, mouthing the words "thank you." You smile back at him with a wave and go about your day as you walk to your street. 

You look back at him once, relishing the good feeling of helping a stranger to upstart your day—in resolute to walking to your office with your head held high because you can help people tie their neckties for company interviews in the future. 

"What a crazy superhero I would make," you chuckled and hummed your way back to your office building, the lingering thought of the stranger you helped smiling so radiantly, his prominent dimples that seemed to greet you a good morning. The sky never looked so blue today, and were the leaves of each branch of trees so pleasant to look at ever since?

Without you knowing, Chanyeol steals one—then two more glances at your departing figure, remembering how the most basic etiquette, which was asking for your name, was forgotten. For Chanyeol, it's comical how this morning feels so much like a drama. A stranger stuck in his petty little problem in the middle of the street then comes someone who does it so easily—I mean, doing it with just two attempts.

Despite not knowing your name, he marks you in his mind with the lingering scent of your perfume, still clinging to the right side of his neck from the hug earlier.

He wonders, "Does she work nearby here? She probably does." and he's now resolved to accomplish this interview, determined with the prospect of asking your name this time, hopefully meeting you in this same street again.

© aqupistau. all rights reserved. ↬ masterlist

[mybiasisexo]

Entangled - Part 5

Pairing: Chanyeol x f.Reader

Chapter Warning: Language | Alcohol Consumption

Word Count: 5.3k

Author’s Note: Just a heads up... shits hitting the fan yall and its going e v e r y w h e r e 🔥! i feel like the story is going so fast haha. The wildest part is we are still only on day 2 in the story!!! so much happening in 2 days, could you imagine irl🥵? oh girl needs a long rest after this vacation is2g 😴!

Autumn is slowly approaching and I am so glad! I got my pumpkin candles LIT and my sweaters OUT lol 🍁. And who is excited for Minseok's solo??!??? lets goooo 🏃‍♀️!!!! ill enjoy whatever he does, but i am begging! Kim Minseok!! Give us cunt! Give us whips and chains! body rolls!!! I want to be devoured 😩

Enough with the babbling, I am sooo excited and nervous for this chapter. Its one of my favorites, so I hope you enjoy it! As always, reblogs and replies are always appreciated! I LOVE feedback and your thoughts and theories on the plot! Also lmk if youd like to be tagged!! Cheers to seeing our soldier boy soon 🥂! Much love! Have fuuUUUUuUuuuuun~~!

Twenty minutes later, you rush into your suite with three bags full of soju of various flavors.

Yerim sits at the island, head in her hands. You catch her shoulders bouncing slightly, but can only hear the occasional sniff. Seulgi sits beside her, rubbing her back consolingly. Her head turns towards you once she hears you enter, relief evident in her whole body.

Without saying a word, you tear open a bottle and lay out three shot glasses, filling them up to the brim. The sound of the tiny cups hitting the counter catches Yerim’s attention, and she reaches over for a glass with a slightly shaky hand. She gulps the contents down and you pour her another one, which she empties as soon as it’s full again. You take this one with her, but Seulgi only takes a sip of hers before placing it gently back on the table, her focus solely on her sister.

You’re throwing back another shot when Yerim finally speaks.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying like this.” Her voice is nasally, eyes bloodshot, face blotchy. “He had been practically ignoring me since we touched down and it’s not like we were official or anything. I just… I just really liked him.” 

Chanyeol did have that effect on people, you knew all too well.

Yerim sounds so broken, you can’t help but sympathize with her. You find yourself tearing up as well.

“What did he say exactly?” Seulgi asks slowly, as if she’s afraid she’ll trigger her.

Yerim sighs and cradles a bottle to her chest, letting the coldness calm her. “He told me that being here was putting a lot of things into perspective for him, and that he wasn’t ready to be in a relationship with me. I told him that it was okay, that we could go slow, pick this up again once we were back in Seoul, but he told me no. He said…. He said he didn’t want to continue this at all. That he didn’t want to be with me at all and that–that bringing me here with him was a mistake!”

She starts sobbing, and her wails make your shoulders drop. You feel helpless, standing there watching your friend’s heart break. That helplessness makes you restless, makes you overthink. You want to do something, want to protect her. You want to storm right over to the guy who did this and make him suffer for hurting her. But, being that the man at fault is Park Chanyeol–-the same man you can’t seem to be alone with for two minutes without wanting to suck his face off, disrespectfully–you remain still, contemplating your options.

He did mention that he was taking her out to ‘make things right’. Now that you’re thinking about it, you should have seen this coming. He practically told you what he was planning on doing. You can’t help but to think that yeah, Yerim is suffering right now, but it is for the best. Could Chanyeol have gone about it in a better way? Absolutely. But Chanyeol has never really been one with great hindsight. He goes with how he feels, worries about the consequences later. Clearly. 

There is one thing though, that you believe he still has failed to tell Yerim. The true reasoning behind his rash decision. 

You.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you mutter. It’s time Yerim knew the truth. You take another shot of soju for courage, knowing there are a few ways Yerim will take the news, and some of the options are not pleasant. You sit the glass down with slightly more force than intended, startling the sisters, and cutting of Yerim’s cries.

“Yerim.” Your voice is the most serious it has ever been. You lock eyes and hold it, making sure you have her full attention. She holds your stare, albeit with confusion. “I have something to tell you, something I should’ve told you sooner.”

“What is it?” She asks hesitantly. 

“It’s about Loey,” you reveal. “The truth is, well, him and I–”

“Knew each other in college.” Seulgi loudly interrupts.

Her outburst startles you and you blink at her in surprise. She shrugs, curling her palms up and widening her eyes, helplessly. You know her well enough to gather what she’s trying to say. Now is, in fact, not the time.

“You…did?” Yerim asks, pulling your focus back to her.

“Yeah,” you let out in a huff. All the urgency leaves your body and you slump over the counter in defeat. “All of us did. He’s Baekhhyun’s best friend.”

“Why would he lie about that?” She asks, voice small.

“Because he’s an asshole,” Seulgi says. You nod in agreement.

“So, you were all friends in college?”

“Yes.” You supply. “That’s why he’s a groomsman with the rest of them. Chanyeol was pretty close to all of us but… was closer to some more than others.”

Both you and Seulgi squint your eyes and lean closer to the clueless girl, watching to see if she catches your drift.

“Oh.” She simply says. You both lean back with large sighs.

Her eyelids flutter rapidly before she’s going back for more soju. Once she’s got her fill, she’s gazing up at you. “His name is Chanyeol?”

You nod carefully, still trying to gauge her reaction.

She does her iconic deadly scoff and it’s enough reassurance for you. Your Yerim is coming back. “He didn’t even respect me enough to tell me his real name. He didn’t respect me at all. Was anything he told me even true? Is he even a producer?”

“No, he actually does do that,” Seulgi admits with a wince.

“I need another shot,” Yerim says. You don’t hesitate to fulfill her request.  

“The boys should be back soon,” you say, laying your slightly spinning head against the back of the couch. Sehun texted you about fifteen minutes ago, letting you know that they were heading back. The plan is for the boys to come to your suite and drink a bit more before heading to their respective rooms to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow. Luckily, the wedding is going to be around 2pm so that you all can get some rest.

You asked Yerim if she was okay with the boys hanging out at your suite, and she said that as long as Loey–’oh yeah, that’s right, it’s Chanyeol’–wasn’t going to be here, she had no qualms. Plus she likes Sehun.

You don’t think she’s going to make it. She polished off three bottles of soju and is absolutely wrecked at the moment, making you from last night seem sober in comparison.

She’s sprawled out on the couch, head resting on Seulgi’s lap. Seulgi runs her fingers through her hair dotingly. Yerim’s eyes are already closed, breath evening out. You’re about to suggest hauling her off to bed when you hear a bunch of voices outside your room.

“Looks like they’re here!” You cheer, excited to be reunited with your favorite people.

There’s a loud bang and a bunch of people exclaiming. You share a confused look with Seulgi before you’re rushing to the door to further investigate. Seulgi lags behind, having to slip from underneath a snoring Yerim.

What greets you is the furthest thing you expect.

Jongdae and Baekhyun are a door down, struggling to carry a deadweight Chanyeol. His arms slung over their shoulders, feet barely touch the ground as he stumbles towards his room. He’s very obviously drunk, if his loud deep voice echoing through the halls is any indicator.

Jongin and Sehun lean against the wall across from you, quietly watching the shit show in amusement. 

Curious, you venture out into the hall, leaving Seulgi to hold the door. She takes in the scene wearily.

“What’s going on?” You ask in a hushed tone as you greet Sehun. He looks agitated, but as soon as he sees you, he’s standing up straight, fear in his bright eyes.

He hisses your name. “Get back in your room. Hurry before he sees you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t question, just go. Go!” He starts pushing you back to your room, but you’re too confused and defiant to oblige to his request. Instead, you fight back, making it difficult for him to shove you away.

Unfortunately, this draws the attention of the others, and as soon as Chanyeol notices you, you realize what Sehun was trying to prevent.

He wails your name, louder than he had been a second ago.

“Fuck,” Sehun mutters.

“Too late.” Jongin whistles lowley. 

“Mel!” Chanyeol cries. Baekhyun and Jongdae struggle under his shifting weight, scrambling to keep him above them. “I fucked everything up. I should’ve never brought her. Now you hate me for good.”

Now is a good time to take Sehun’s advice and run for the hills, but you can’t feel your legs to make an escape. Your breath hitches at his words and your heart starts beating so hard you can hear it in your ears, nearly drowning out his next words.

“It’s my fault,” he continues. His legs buckle beneath him, giving out and dropping him to his knees. Your heart shatters at how broken he sounds, how defeated he appears with his head bowed in shame. “I didn’t fight for you. I thought that’s what you wanted, so I didn’t. I’m sorry, Mel. You have to believe me, I’m so sorry.”

Each word that leaves his mouth chips at your heart, creating cracks on the wall you have built to hold in the dam of your emotions. Slowly they leak through, causing you to shake, your throat to itch, your eyes to burn–all a telltale sign of tears. You have to clench your teeth together to keep the sob in your throat from spilling out.

“I wish you didn’t hate me,” he continues in a broken whisper. “I wish you never left. That’s why I brought her. Because you left, and I couldn’t…. I couldn’t do it, Mel.”

He looks so small, like a lost child. It makes you want to walk over and drape yourself over him. Makes you want to pull him into you, feel the soothing softness of his hair between your fingers, his hot breath at your neck, and tell him that it’s okay. You can forgive him. You will forgive him.

Taking a shaky breath, you go to do just that. You shift your weight so that you can take that step–

“Who’s yelling?” You stiffen at the voice and catch in your peripheral Yerim squinting beside Seulgi, yawning as she scratches her head, very obviously just waking up. “Who’s Mel?”

That’s enough to shatter the illusion, bring you back to your senses. Fear quickly takes over as you realize the situation you’re now in. You want to tell her to go back inside like Sehun did to you earlier. You want to tell her to not worry, to ignore everything and go back to sleep, but before you can say anything, Chanyeol gets a bout of energy and tears away from the guys holding him.

It’s almost in slow motion, the way Chanyeol comes barreling towards you, hands outstretched for you. You can hear the others’ rejection, but their voices sound muffled, as though you’re underwater. Jongdae and Baekhyun rush to try to catch up to him, but his legs are too long for the shorter men.

Chanyeol’s massive hands cradle your head, tilting it back enough to give him the leverage he needs to press his lips harshly against yours.

He’s kissing you.

The shared contact speeds up time, making everything happen so quickly, you can hardly process anything going on. All you are aware of is a blur of warmth and nostalgia and hurt and regret and pain and love–so much fucking love.

You don’t even have time to close your eyes or succumb to the kiss you’ve been secretly craving all this time. No time to react before Chanyeol is being torn away from you with a loud wet pop.

Jongin has jumped in this time to drag Chanyeol back to his room. He’s fighting the whole way, trying to slip out of their grip, begging them to let him go because he wants to be with you. When he realizes his pleas are falling on deaf ears, he turns his attention back to you, reaching out as he gives you the saddest puppy eyes you think you’ve ever seen.

“Come with me,” he pleads urgently. “I want you to stay with me. Mel, please. Please! Give me another chance. You have to give me another chance!”

You can only watch as Baekhyun opens his door, throwing you an apologetic glance as they all tumble inside.

The silence that follows has your ears ringing, but the sound–or lack thereof–has you remembering yourself. Quickly, you spin around to your door, immediately locking eyes with Yerim. She doesn’t look an ounce as drunk or tired as she had before.

“Why did he just kiss you?” She asks, voice dangerously calm.

“Yerim,” you start, but find you’re at a complete loss for words. Your brain is still trying to possess the last few minutes.

“Why did he just fucking kiss you?!” She finally explodes, face red and shaking from the power of her vocals.

You all wince at her volume and guilt swallows you whole, smarting your eyes. You’re just so overwhelmed, everything’s happening so fast and you have no idea what is going on.

“I–I don’t know–”

“You don’t know?” She asks mockingly. “You don’t know why the man I brought here as my date, who just fucking dumped me, ran up and kissed you as if he wanted to be with you the whole time?”

Her words seem to connect some dots, you can practically see the light bulb spark to life over her head as she straightens up, eyes far away as realization dawns on her.

“Holy shit,” she mutters to herself. “It’s you.”

Her wide knowing eyes take you in. It’s almost cruel, the disgust now coating her face as she acknowledges you. “You’re the one he was talking about. The ex-fiancee. Aren’t you?”

“Yerim, please, just let me explain,” you plead.

That’s enough confirmation for her. She takes a step back, away from you. “So, all of you have been lying to me, not just him? You’ve all been in on it. How hilarious it must have been, watching me fall for a man you all knew loved someone else. You probably got together after dinner last night and shared a laugh over how much of an idiot I am.”

Her voice thickens as she speaks, lips quivering and eyes sparkling in the most devastating way. “I know I’m just Seulgi’s little sister to you all but this…. Isn’t this a bit too far?”

“It’s not like that at all.” Seulgi finally speaks. Yerim turns to her and she flinches at the anger aimed her way.

“And you,” Yerim vilely spits. “You are my sister! You’re supposed to protect me! Why didn’t you say anything?”

Seulgi attempts to answer her question, but is also left speechless, unable to conjure an answer that would appease her sister.

Yerim scans all of you. Jongin and Baekhyun have returned, leaving Jongdae to babysit Chanyeol, and silently watch the fight, trying to catch up on what has transpired so far in their absence. “What is wrong with you people?”

“We didn’t say anything because Chanyeol and I are over,” you reveal in a rush, pushing through the tears coating your esophagus. “Yerim, please, he’s just drunk. The wedding is messing with his head, making him nostalgic. I doubt he’ll even remember any of this. We were wrong to not tell you about our connection sooner, and I’m sorry about that. It just took us all by surprise and we didn’t know how to bring it up.”

She glares at you, but it doesn’t hold as much fire as it had prior, so you continue.

“And your sister wanted to tell you. She was pressuring me the whole time to do it, but it never felt like the right time. God, Yerim, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for this trip to become such a mess.”

Your body is shaking again, and your voice wobbles as you push through that damned lump. God you hate this. Hate that Chanyeol had to go around and kiss you, hate that your connection to him is causing someone you care deeply for to hurt. Hate that despite everything, a part of you is wanting to answer his call and run to his room, to apologize for everything and wrap yourself into his familiar embrace. 

As if one of your friends could tell you need comfort, hands are pulling at you, spinning you around to crush you against a firm chest. The action calms you, allows you to focus on your breathing.

“You should have told me,” Yerim continues coldly. “You’re the reason why he kicked me out of our room, the reason he broke off whatever this was we had. If you had told me I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t have….”

She finally breaks. A sob leaves her body involuntarily, and she covers her mouth in an attempt to hold them in. Seulgi takes a step towards her to comfort her, but she holds up a hand, warding her back as she tries to calm down. 

The urge to cry has passed and you think you can stand on your own. Lifting your head, you see Baekhyun gazing down at you sympathetically, one of his hands rubbing your back soothingly. You give him a small smile as thanks, and he matches it in reply.

“I want to go home.”

The statement makes everyone’s head turn to the little girl breaking down in the doorway.

“What?” Seulgi is the one to ask.

“I said I want to go home. Now.”

“But the wedding….” Sehun starts.

“Who gives a fuck about the wedding!” Yerim shouts. “These are your friends, not mine! You’ve made that perfectly clear! I don’t want to be here anymore! I don’t want to see any of you again!”

“Let’s go inside,” Seulgi offers, voice gentle and calming. “Let’s just sit down and think through everything, okay?”

“Fine,” Yerim huffs before stomping back into the suite, having everyone share a glance before tiptoeing in after her, piling around the living area.

Yerim slouches on the couch, arms crossed defiantly, eyes on the floor, refusing to acknowledge any of you.

Understandable. Hell, you can’t seem to meet anyone’s eyes either as you slide onto the floor, leaning against one of the large windows, far away from the girl, guilt gnawing at you.

“Seulgi,” Yerim starts, everything about her exhausted. “Will you please search flights for tonight?”

“It’s too late,” Seulgi argues. “And you brought such a beautiful dress for the ceremony. How about I find something for later? You can leave after the wedding, before the reception.”

Yerim lets out a long resigned sigh. “Whatever.”

Taking a deep breath, you draw up your legs, resting your chin on your knees. The silence is overwhelming, and you need to fill it. 

“Chanyeol and I met in our first year of college.” Everyone’s head whips over to you, but you don’t notice, eyeing your knees as though you just discovered them. This is not what you thought you were going to say, but now you have to continue. “We met through Baekhyun. That’s how I met pretty much all of them, actually. How I met Seulgi. Sehun was the only one I knew before. Anyways, I’ve dated before but Chanyeol was different. He always was. I knew. From the moment we were introduced, I knew that he was the one. We both did, I think. It didn’t take long for us to start dating, and it was easy to be with him.”

You take a deep breath and try not to get lost in the past. “We were together all four years of college, and it was at the end of our senior year that Chanyeol proposed, right before our graduation.

“That’s when everything started falling apart,” you reveal in a small voice. “There was just so much we were juggling. Finals, graduation, careers, and now planning a wedding. We were fighting a lot, and I started to doubt the strength of our relationship. I also started to doubt myself. A part of me always felt like I was never good enough to be with Chanyeol. That he would grow tired of me, or find someone more beautiful, someone who understood his interests more, who didn’t call him stupid whenever he made a joke. And because of that fear, I just became Chanyeol’s Girlfriend. For four years, I was constantly by his side, trying to be perfect for him, and I lost myself along the way. Once I realized I was planning on doing that forever, I started panicking. The ring around my finger started feeling like a trap, like it was constricting me. I needed to discover myself, find out the things I, as an adult, as a woman,as me, enjoyed. I needed freedom. So… I called off the engagement.”

You hear numerous gasps throughout the room and remember everyone else. Well, it’s about time the others knew anyway. Neither you nor Chanyeol ever revealed the true reason behind your separation. You did it out of selfishness, afraid you’d be labeled a villain and lose everyone over your decision. When it comes to Chanyeol’s silence, well, you don’t know for sure. But, knowing him, he probably did it for the same reason you did. He was always protecting you.

“That was three years ago,” you press on, lifting your gaze to Yerim so that she knows you’re now addressing her. “Yesterday was the first time we’ve spoken or seen each other since. I’ve had zero contact with him. I had no idea he was bringing a date, let alone that it was you, and I doubt he even knew your connection to us. This wasn’t some elaborate plan to hurt you, Yerim. None of us would ever do that to you, especially Chanyeol.”

“He may be an asshole,” Baekhyun speaks for the first time tonight. “But he’s not cruel. If he ended things with you, it was because he didn’t want to lead you on. Knowing him, it was probably an attempt to protect you from himself.”

It’s eerie how Baekhyun’s statement mirrors your thoughts, but it’s truly just a testament of Chanyeol’s character.

He’s not a bad guy. Just a big idiot.

Now that your story has been told, all eyes are on Yerim as she absorbs all this new information. 

“Okay,” she says so quietly you nearly miss it. “Okay. Thank you for telling me.”

You can only nod.

She goes to stand. “I’m going to bed.” She points at you. “I don’t want you here.”

Your shoulders slump for the nth time today, but you understand. Just because you finally confessed your past affair with her ex whatever-he-is doesn’t mean you automatically gain her forgiveness.

“She can stay with me,” Sehun says.

“And you.” She turns her attention to her sister. “You can stay in her room.”

Seulgi deeply frowns, but nods nonetheless, aware of the role she played in all of this.

“Night. See you all at the wedding, I guess.” Yerim shuffles out of sight, softly closing the door behind her.

“We should get going also,” you say. “Big day tomorrow.”

You head over to your room, changing into some pajamas and grabbing your purse and phone charger, the essentials. 

When you’re back in the living area, the boys are all hovering by the door, waiting for you, while Seulgi slumps on the couch. Her legs spread wide, arms limp at her side, and head tilted over the back of the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling.

You call her name and she turns her head down to gaze blankly at you. “I’m sorry. I know, I should’ve done this yesterday.”

She waves off your apology. “You were going to tell her earlier and I stopped you. It’s my fault just as much as yours. See you tomorrow.”

You all give your farewells and exit the stuffy room. You take the few steps to Sehun’s, he opens the door and you’re slightly surprised when the other boys trail in after you.

You crowd around Sehun’s island.

“So….” Baekhyun purses his lips as he fixes you with a knowing look. “The mystery is finally solved.”

“Do you hate me now?” You ask quietly. You trace random patterns into the cool marble face of the counter. 

“Why would we hate you?” 

“For not telling you. For being the one to break Chanyeol’s heart. He was your friend before I was, I understand if you want to be on his side now.”

“Hey now,” Jongin starts gently, rubbing your arm. “We have always respected your relationship. It’s none of our business why you ended, which is why none of us asked. I mean, of course we were all devastated, and have told both of you as much, but at the end of the day, we aren’t the ones dating. I’m just glad cheating wasn’t involved. That’s what I have always thought happened.”

“Yeah, and about tonight.” Baekhyun shakes his head. “That’s all Chanyeol. We told him to stop drinking the whole time we were out, even going so far as to hide the bottles from him, but he kept finding them! Tonight isn’t your fault, this trip isn’t your fault, so don’t beat yourself up over it, alright?”

“Why was he so drunk anyways?” You ask, leaning more heavily onto the counter.

The boys all share a look.

“He ‘broke up’ with Yerim,” Sehun explains. “And everything started hitting him. That Myeon is getting married and that, well, he didn’t.”

“I think a lot of things he had been shoving down just came out all at once and he didn’t really know how to handle it.” Baekhyun shrugs.

That doesn’t make you feel any better. Another ball of sorrow grows in your throat and you clear it, not wanting to cry, especially for other people. Licking your lips, you swear you can still taste him there, the bittersweetness of nostalgia and your own neglected feelings. 

“Are you going to be okay tomorrow?” Jongin asks, knowing you’re also going through the same thing as Chanyeol.

You nod. “Of course. I’m happy for Junmyeon, I’d never miss this.” Speaking of Junmyeon…. “Is…is Myeon okay?”

They all nod in affirmation. “He understood. Kept telling us to just let Chanyeol drink. He had a fun time, besides all that.” 

“Good. I’m glad. If Chanyeol had ruined his bachelor’s party, I’d have no choice but to kick his ass.”

“We’d have to jump him, for sure,” Sehun agrees.

You chat for a little bit longer. There’s a soft knock and Jongdae slips in with a rather large bottle of soju. You all drain it as you catch him up on all that he’s missed. The shock on his face from your revelation is enough to bring out a chuckle from you, which only grows when he holds a hand out to Baekhyun, demanding him to pay up. Apparently, Junmyeon will be getting some winning money as well. Assholes. 

Once the bottle of soju is empty and the boys are satisfied with the smile on your face, they take their leave.

The couch is large and comfortable enough to use as a bed, and after some back and forth with Sehun about your sleeping arrangements, you climb into your makeshift bed with the intention to finally give into the urge and cry yourself to sleep.

Sehun has other plans.

He crawls in after you, slipping soundlessly under the blanket he had room service bring up, and faces you wordlessly.

“Sehun,” you whine with a yawn. “What are you doing?”

“Making sure you don’t beat yourself up over what just happened.”

“What would make you think that?”

He rolls his eyes. “You can fool the others, but you can never fool me.”

“True,” you relent. “You know you were the only one that knew the truth, right? Not even Seulgi knew I was the one who called off the engagement.”

“Of course, I was. You can’t hide anything from me. I’ll admit, I did get a kick watching the others scramble and try to solve the mystery. Though, I’m shocked Chanyeol never told Baekhyun, even after all this time. It makes sense though. He’ll always put you first, even if that means ending things with his wedding date the day before said wedding.”

You bury your head into your pillow. Drunk Chanyeol consumed your mind. His desperate need for your forgiveness, the way his voice broke and his eyes searching for you as though your presence alone was enough for him, and that kiss…. 

“I can’t believe he kissed me.”

You wish he hadn’t. Not just because it exposed your shared secret to Yerim, but because of the implications of it. With that kiss you are forced to admit that Seulgi was right, that Chanyeol still has deep feelings for you, and that you—

“It was bound to happen.” Sehun breaks your train of thought. “He was fucked up. Like, he would not shut up about you. As soon as he got a little tipsy, it was you this, you that. How much he missed you, how proud he was of you. ‘How is it possible that she’s gotten even more beautiful since college? Baekhyun, didn’t you tell me she got fat?’ Junmyeon was like ‘she’d still be just as beautiful if she had gained weight’ and this fool goes, ‘god, I know’ and takes two shots back to back. It would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so damn pathetic.”

You let out a breathless laugh at Sehun’s terrible impersonation of Chanyeol, but peek up at the man. “He really said that?”

“Yeah.” Sehun says your name. “I know we had this conversation earlier, but you have to talk to him. All the things that were holding you back then don’t apply now. You both have grown a lot and are in better places. It’s never too late to start again. Chanyeol wants it, and I know you do too. You’re just latching onto a grudge you created against him to keep you away. It’s baseless, you know? And it’s a lie. You’re very obviously still in love with him. Soulmates work that way.”

“Soulmates,” you repeat skeptically, before sighing. “You’re right though, as you always are—”

“Finally, some gotdamn recognition around here,” he interrupts.

“Anyways, I should have talked to Chanyeol earlier. Really talked to him, not this back and forth dance we’ve been doing. But, there was no way I was going to talk about us when he had a girlfriend, who just so happened to be my friend. The best option was to just ignore him.”

“That was smart of you, but he doesn’t have a date anymore. We’re going to be here for three more days, the two of you still have plenty of time to talk. Get your closure and figure out what you want with him. If there is one thing the past couple days have shown, it’s that both of you have a lot to get off your chests.”

“You’re right.”

He smirks. “I know~”

“Ugh.” You finally settle into the blankets and close your eyes, expecting Sehun to head back to his bed, but he makes no point to move. “Are you going to stay here all night?”

“Are you going to cry soon?” He counter asks.

You check. To be honest, you feel a lot better after talking to Sehun. Your mind is a lot clearer. “No.”

“Either way, I’ll just stay here until you sleep. That way I know for sure.”

You groan. “How the hell am I supposed to sleep with you watching me?”

“Easily.”

And he is right. Once you’re comfortable, you’re out like a light.

series m.list | main m.list

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taglist @byunparklimchoi, @defloey, @trashlord-007

[demure2]

Blood is Thicker Than Wine _ TWO

> BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WINE [MASTERLIST]

— 1930s au

— yandere neighbor!chanyeol x reader || ft. best friend!sehun

— genre: angst, suggestive

— warnings: language, alcohol use, cigarette/substance use, mental illness, forced kiss, anxiety, blood, older fella neighborhood freak chanyeol

— word count: 3.0k

— note: another warning on this part for a forceful kiss at the end of this chapter. i think like another 1 or 2 parts with this and then im out. i hope anyone who reads this enjoys :3

The guilt accumulating in your gut eats away at your stomach like a corrosive, a caustic, acidic agent. You wanted to apologize for all that had happened last night, since you knew Sehun wouldn’t. Bad terms tasted bitter to you - and what could go wrong? This would be the only time you would ever substantiate it. Just once. Break the rules once. A breath of fresh air.

Mr. Park would have felt so good to know you were thinking about him this much. He almost feels filthy thinking about you, desire palpable in his hands. He needs to see you again, desperately.

Undeniably handsome. Broad and toned, sculpted shoulders with carefully allocated muscle. Tall, with large ears and moon craters for dimples. Though his eyes appear melancholic these days, his timid smile compliments them well. His black hair is well kept, sometimes slicked back and sometimes left down in the front. Recently he’s been staying up later to look out for the newspaper boy and the girl accompanying him, which has contoured his eyebags considerably. He’s so touch-deprived. Not many girls are in his line-of-work. 

But he hates that newspaper boy, Sehun. He left cowardly like a rabbit, with unfinished business behind. 

His breath hitches, knowing that he could take care of you better than Sehun ever could. Annoyance pulls at his eyebrows, furrowing them tightly. It makes him frustrated, feeling like a teenager again, blood rushing at the thought at how many times Sehun might have touched you the wrong way. 

In war-injury fashion, a traumatic incident had caused his right arm to lose partial functionality, in a position stuck at his torso. His fingers still retain some ambit of movement, but his stiff arm has taken away many other enjoyable things from his life, like sleeping on his side. 

That’s how you find him this Thursday night. He’s struggling to position himself in a way that doesn’t put pressure on his arm, shifting mundanely on his elbows deep in the grass of his front lawn. No one likes dandelion weeds, not in this town. Mr. Park was no anomaly.

Your lips part to greet him, but you just watch in silence instead. His eyes are distant and deep in thought, customarily maintaining his lawn. 

Yellow and blooming, they serve a symbol of constant ubiquity. And no matter how much weed-killer he drowns them in, they always come back for him. He ends up preferring to emerge at night, when the nightshade colors the ochre dandelions a cold gray, and the chartreuse grass an austerish blue. You shift your attention to the wilted flowers on the trellis instead. They look like daffodils, though they’ve lost their hue. They don’t look up at the sun anymore, only toward the shadows, diverging further toward the ground.

And so he can’t help but scoff when he reaches to the other side of his front gate to grasp a cigar butt not his, nestled neatly in an enclosed bed of yellow. Unharmed, it hasn’t been there for long. He crushes it briskly between his fingers, figuring it must have belonged to Sehun from last night. Pretty things are temporary, but ugly things are immutable.

You swear you’ll leave him alone with his garden, just tonight. There are no bonds thicker than good blood in this town, not even the horrible, horrible guilt that lulls you under. 

“Hey lady!”

“Hi Sehun,” you breathe barely, still exhausted from the night two days earlier. He doesn’t even catch you off guard. “Didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

He beams, “not my fault we live on the same street. What are you doing tonight? Been busy at the car shop all day. How’s the knee?” Sehun smiles apologetically.

“Fine,” you exhale. “You’re always talking about that car shop, but you’ve never shown me.”

“Never thought you’d be interested.” Actually, Sehun knows that you are interested, but he has to be cautious. ‘Goobers’ he’d call them, not just the car parts but also the group of boys he runs home to. Fools living in the basement of the local car shop. They’re raunchy boys; backs slick with car oil and grease, but toned in their own way. 

However grimey their unit may be, they get credit because they’ve been friends with him longer than you have. They’ve watched him grow up too, but into one of their own - into another to latch onto. Comparatively useless, but they always find a way to make it work. That’s how things are in this town.

“You gon’ answer me?” Sehun breaks your dejection, walking closer to you.

“I did,” you reply, snarkily.

“My other question. Whatcha doin’ tonight, so late? And what’s with the attitude, little miss mademoiselle mighty?”

“I’m on a walk. I’m not answering your second question.”

“Well, want an escort home?”

“Not yet,” you sigh. You almost want to say his phrase, that stupid ‘don’t bleed anything against me, ‘kay detective?’ but you’re interrupted. “Well, you know why I’m not gonna show you?”

“What, the car shop? Why, ‘cause you hate me?”

Sehun laughs, and turns to fully face you. “How ‘bout ‘cause you’re naturally flirty? Remember junior year at Heartland Senior High?” Your train of thought halts, “how do you even remember that, Sehun?”

He backs off, offended. His eyes squint at you in disbelief, at the edge of astonished laughter. “You got both of my two closest friends to fall in love with you at the same time. All that they would talk about for weeks, [Y/N] this, [Y/N] that. And you wouldn’t believe it,” Sehun puts both of his hands up in submission, like he has nothing left to hide. “I work with them at the shop now, so no chance,” he surrenders. He still has a lot to hide.

You smirk. “Say hi to them for me, then. Why don’t you give Junmyeonie and Yixing-ah a kiss on the cheek for me, too, while you’re at it.”

Sehun chokes out a derisive cough. “You know, I don’t think you’re naturally flirty like you say. I think it’s on purpose. If you met all of them, you’d be trying to look minxy for a group of guys that aren’t worth it, doll. That’s wasteful.” He’s laughing, but silence hangs in the air otherwise. 

 Returning his gaze, you sink your knees, hugging them. There’s ants on the pavement, backs shining under the orange street lamp. “I don’t try to be minxy or flirty or whatever. That’s weird. All of your friends are weird. They all got their own molls.”

Sehun dryly laughs, “I don’t have a moll. Neither do Baekhyun or Jongin … I guess Yixing’s been talking to a waitress recently. You say ‘molls’ like we’re gangsters or something, but we just run a couple of old flivvers and buckets.”

You should have fallen for him. Maybe you have, maybe you’ve been staring at his face for too long now. In that moment, Sehun shakes his head like he could hear you. But if he could hear you, nothing could have stopped him from shaking his head anyway. The cityline is like his mind, smothered in smog and jumbled regret.

“It’s late, I’ve got to get going. You can introduce me to your boys at a different time.”

Sehun reaches down to grasp your hands. His fingertips are rough and cracked, in desperate need of petroleum. He swallows thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing defined by the harsh lighting. “O.K. Let’s go,” he spits, difficult to read. “Sorry Sehun, I wanna walk home alone tonight. Need some time to myself. I promise I’ll be nicer tomorrow.” He lets go immediately, feigning hurt features. At the very least, his features soften. He understands.

As soon as you leave Sehun’s line of sight, you twist your heel 180, back to the manor. You have to do this.

At first, the rush is strong and the wind aids you in your endeavor. Then it’s the wind that weighs you down, anchoring you to hesitancy. You pass street after street, searching for his.

You’d heard stories. When delinquents would wander close enough to catch a glimpse, he was usually unchanging and unassuming with solicitors. He was somnolent, tired, and always ready to flicker his eyes elsewhere, nonchalantly. His very own theatre masks. You’d even heard a rumor that Mr. Park was a 128 year old vampire - just 100 something years off, and the wrong kind of monster.

It’s 10 past 9 o’clock on the analog when you reach the two trees in front of the manor, concealing you from his aspect. They say you can’t break routines, but you’re not naive - you understand that seeing him there on his porch, off guard and vulnerable, was an opportunity for a new one. 

Hopefully that doesn’t happen. 

You can see through the leaves that a lengthy but shallow slash occupies his face, across his nose. He remains unbothered, glancing down at the book in his lap. Iniquity suddenly becomes thick in the air, and your gut tightens again. Your palms are sweaty and glisten with moisture underneath the moonlight. The scene clears as you hear a bark, weak and feeble, coming from his feet - a midnight poodle, and a sleeping maltipoo in his lap. It’s your ticket to leave, now or never. 

With ashamed hands, you reach the iron gates.

“Mr. Park.”

His head immediately snaps up from the print, his black wavy locs bouncing at the gesture. He’s as handsome as ever, dressed nicely in comfortable, satin apparel. His gaze hardens and he tilts his head like you’re familiar to him, but you know you haven’t made conversation yet. They’re menacing, and they push you to search him, but you can’t find anything. You reread his posture indefinitely, but you pull away again with empty fists. You almost turn your heel toward the opposite wind again, but he’s so jarring you can’t help but stay. 

You’ve broken a rule. It falls to your feet without any clanging or noise, just like that. You had spoken to the town weirdo, Mr. Park. 

He finally responds, tangible in the moment. “Sehun told you that my name was Chanyeol. You should call me that. I’m not that much older than you.”

You can’t help but retort, “how do you know his name?”

“Aren’t you dating him? And he hasn’t told you?” Chanyeol scoffs triumphantly, leaning back in his porch chair. He feels a wave of coolness wash over him, and he relaxes his posture - satisfied and complacent.

Does Sehun know this douche? “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Me and Sehun have never dated,” you lash, walking toward him now. You make sure to keep your posture upright, so he knows that you’re sophisticated and not afraid of anything he was able to pull.

You weren’t ready for Chanyeol to smile a shit-eating grin. 

The air is humid and dewy, and it becomes suffocating to breathe. It’s becoming easier to drown than to inhale now, and the petrichor on the grass doesn’t make it easier. Is this town always rainy?

“So, why are you here again?” Chanyeol nonchalantly quirks an eyebrow, uncrossing his legs on the chair. He phrases it quickly, like a proposal, ready to give you anything. He speaks your tongue and you speak his, yet whenever he opens his mouth, it’s so difficult to understand. It’s not disjointed or broken or slurred, but it’s never comprehensible to you. 

You’re so much more gorgeous in front of him.

“To say sorry.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol hums. The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them. “You wanna, or you need to?”

“I need to,” you pant, being honest.

Chanyeol swallows, eyes not leaving your figure.

“I need to apologize for the other night,” you speak reluctantly, cautious and unsure of what you were even saying. “Sehun was being cruel. I didn’t intend for us to be on bad terms, we are neighbors, after all,” you say carefully. The concrete is abrasive on your heeled-kilt suedes and feels like burning tire underneath his gaze. Then, you don’t care: “but don’t try anything with us. I’ll rat you out the second you do.”

He smiles a smug smile. “Bunny’s so mighty in her heels, feels like you’re on top of the world with those extra four inches, doesn’t it? I just think it’s so cute when you say ‘us,’ like you’re defending your sweetheart even when he’s not here.” His voice makes your stomach twist, guttural, low, and full. “Don’t do that for him anymore, baby. He doesn’t know how to take care of you.”

Your eyes open wide. “What are you talking about? He’s NOT my sweetheart, and he’s NOT supposed to take care of me - drop it. Lastly, don’t call me that. Go to the head doctor and get out of my hair. I knew I shouldn’t have come here, you hound-”

He sharply hisses, fragmenting your spiel. “I'm the one in your hair? Hound? You gonna apologize for that too?” You take a few steps back, suddenly threatened. But before you can recoil too far, he leans forward and extends a cold hand to slither around your wrist. You’re in peril. No longer in control, if you were ever. 

He flashes another crude smile, jester and jekyll. You try to stay silently in place, but it’s difficult to resist his force pulling you towards him. Relief washes over you when gentle hands juxtapose his strength, sneaking around your waist to holster you onto the porch. He works to handle you with care. 

With a huff, Chanyeol reaches for a cigarette from his pant pocket with his functioning arm. It dangles between his fingers like a delicate trinket before aligning to the entrance of his lips. He lights it swiftly, before closing his eyes to breathe it in. You notice that he absorbs it the same way Sehun does, slowly with full focus. Do all smokers drown like that?

He chuckles before he opens his eyes, feeling your gaze. “Look away baby, I can’t have you taking in my bad influence. Your mommy already thinks we’re doin’ this and doin’ that. If your mommy finds out I'm smoking in front of you, she won’t let us spend time together anymore!” Your jaw clenches - was he mocking Sehun right now? 

He wryly grimaces, and a shiver runs down your spine, like a finger tracing where the bone pokes out of your skin. Momentarily, he resembles a cheshire cat, his teeth sharp and pearly. It leaves a bitter taste in your own mouth. He throws the cigarette on the ground, pulling you closer. “Aren’t you in your last years of college? I would like us to be friends, [Y/N]. How about a real man, everything that your boytoy isn’t,” Chanyeol muses. “I can be treat you real nice, how you deserve. We could really help each other out,” he says, simply.

You push off of him. “Tell me this, Chanyeol: I be your ‘friend’, and you get to toy with a woman, which you haven’t touched in years." Feeling red at his snarkyness, you tug on his shoulder. "But what’s in it for me? Listen to me when I say that I’m not interested in fucking you for cocaine. I'm not a prostitute-"

“Relax, strong stuff,” Chanyeol's eyes glint momentarily. “Didn't I say I would treat you right, the way you deserve? I forget everything that you and your boytoy said the other day, I keep my glock away from his mouth, and my name out of your mother’s. You help me clean for a little,” he thinks a little longer. “Keep me real nice company. And I’ll tell you all about what Sehun’s hiding. Sounds fair for a bargain?”

“Then I’ll do it,” you nod, skeptical. But you wouldn’t let it on. Sehun, hiding something?

“Do you have to be home tonight?” You look surreal standing before Chanyeol, tracing your curves mentally with his mind. You make him feel so filthy. 

“Not tonight. My parents think I’m at Sehun’s place.”

Chanyeol’s face twists into violent disgust. “Then I want you to stay at mine tonight. This is me forgiving you.”

“Sure.”

Chanyeol clears his throat, opening his front door. The cold air against your skin does the opposite of what you wished, awaking you from your hazy stupor. 

⇒

It’s a quarter past three o’clock on the analog. Your eyes are half-lidded, heavy with lethargy. You’d snuck downstairs, meaning to explore his house, like it would give you more insight into who he was. Feeling quite somnolent yourself, your pupils dart wearily between the twisted pillars of stained wood before picking one to follow the contour of. The balusters are carved beautifully, casting shadows just as pretty on the tile. When you find your gaze drifting downward still following the pillar, your vision lands on Chanyeol.

Uneven and choppy, his chest rises and falls. He’s sleeping on the velvet sofa.

Tonight’s moonlight works tirelessly with stained glass, streaming through the tall, arch windows while prisms reflect his every blink and breath into shades of blue. You approach him carefully, planning to glance at his sleeping portrait. 

He’s without a duvet, chin tilted toward his heart. his ears noticeably red and perky, and his hair is disheveled and messy. For the first time, Chanyeol did not look like the weird, rich neighbor down the street. He looked like a human, a real human, capable of empathy. Yesterday, it was a mistake. Today, it was untamable.

His eyes snap open, and you lunge backwards in surprise. Your heart stops momentarily. 

“Are you trying to leave me already?” Chanyeol seethes while sitting up calmly, scanning the dark room for your silhouette.

“No,” you start, exasperated. “I was blindly finding the bathroom when I saw you down here. I just thought you would sleep in your quarters," lying through your teeth.

Chanyeol hefts his weight off of the couch, standing up to find your small frame. It happens instantaneously:

Chanyeol leans down, and his plump lips crash into yours. Mangled between barriers of skin, you taste fresh between his teeth.

At first, he struggles to find harmony between his dryness and your candy lip balm, but his lips search deeper. He cups your face with both hands gently, fluttering his eyes closed. You thrust your hands toward his chest to shove him away, but his hands position at your jaw, pulling you closer. 

He pulls apart when you’re both winded, finally pushing himself away from you, looking away, even in the dark.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sickenly in love with you, [Y/N.]”

[nervoustheoristarcade]

Missed. PCY

Fem! Reader x Park Chanyeol.

L&O: SVU AU! established couple, married, Dectective AU!

Plot: You lost you baby after being attacked by someone.

WARNINGS: Mentions of abuse and pregnancy lost, revenge, and violence.

You and Chanyeol have been through a lot during your marriage, good things, bad things, you are already married and the desire you shared together was to have a child, despite how heavy his work was but Chanyeol seeing that everyone was already with children or grandchildren, he also wanted a baby ... and more if it was with you, the person he loved and protected.

One day both agreed to do it, already having the resources both physically and mentally to have a baby, one day the symptoms showed after a few days of Valentine's Day. "Honey, I don't feel well" you said softly and the one at her desk looked at her worried and approached you, the dizziness was increasing and nausea the same, Amanda saw you and knew instantly. Says the voice of experience (she has two daughters). Your office phone rang and you answered "Dectective YLN." You said as you got up to attend to the case and fell to the floor. "YLN" said the whole squadron and approached you, everyone was scared and more Chanyeol called 911 and they took you to the hospital.

The doctors checked you and sure enough, you were pregnant, your shocked face was unique" pregnant?" You said softly. Chanyeol was outside and worried. The doctor called him and looked at you in the chair with a slight and soft smile "Mr. Park...Your wife is pregnant, congratulations" he said with a smile and Chanyeol came up to you and hugged you, he was feeling very happy. Tears in his eyes he was very happy"I'm gonna be the best father that baby has ever known" he said smiling broadly.

How could that change out of nowhere? I was at the station 7 months pregnant, Chanyeol was out on an operation with the team, I hated the desk job you went through the cells. Then you went downstairs and saw no one, you walked for an Iced Tea at the store near the precinct and several people accosted you. "Ow, it's too bad the detective can't defend herself, call the police" they said you only heard laughter and jeers as they beat you up, they took your gun and your badge "my baby" was all you could think about. A lady and her son passed by and called for help, Chanyeol arrived and didn't see you "and YLN?" Said Olivia, Captain of the unit.

One of the phones rang, Tutuola answered "Detective YLN is in the hospital, she was attacked" it was not a good idea to have put that on speaker Chanyeol was in shock, he looked for his things "We will take you" said Olivia and they rushed to the hospital, Chanyeol ran as soon as he saw the doctor "YN, how is she? How are they?" He said desperately looking for some answer in the Doctor's expressions "Mr. Park, your wife lost her baby, I'm so sorry. We are checking her" he said with a withdrew face, Chanyeol fell to the floor the team came closer scared" we lost it...the baby" his look was empty" The doctor will tell YN what happened...don't feel that weight on you Chanyeol" Fin said and Chanyeol looked at him and got up " I want to see her, where is she? YN" he said low and Olivia nodded and spoke to the doctor, by the time you reacted, the doctor was with you, he explained that the amount of blows and the force of them, you lost the baby and the proper extraction was performed.

Tears came out of your eyes and Chanyeol came in and saw you, he could not bear to see you like this, hurt and empty. "YN" said the soft one "forgive me" you said "it was not your fault..." said the soft one " I'm by your side" said the soft one and his voice broke and tears stayed like that for a while.

Those were sad days for both of you, you didn't want to eat and not everything was the same, each one took the mourning in a different way, Chanyeol didn't sleep at night, he had an inner rage that didn't let him, he put an investigation against the attackers, Chanyeol investigated on his own and found them, he called Fin and gave him details of what he found. They would do something, something outside the law, they found each one and slowly paid back everything they did to you and your son. "Oh...now you want to apologize to me?" Chanyeol said hitting him with the bat.

He was doing it with so much hatred " Chanyeol stop it" he said and Chanyeol didn't stop, he was so exalted, Chanyeol was going to give one more hit and this one stopped him" no...it was enough" said Fin and Chanyeol saw him "You think it was enough for them...to hit my wife and kill my son, huh?" He said looking him in the eyes his gaze was cold" come on...if Olivia finds out about this they will end up demoting me and expelling you" he said and Chanyeol took the bat away. He came home clean, he looked at you resting on the sofa" kitten" he whispered "they already got what they deserved... "he said and he put himself next to you and you woke up.

You never knew what happened, Chanyeol would tell you at some point, but not now.

[bplm3]

Wait- did the author delete tfibbh????

[mlm-chanyeol-archive]

Ya boi finished reading the entirety of TFIBBH a n d TFIPCY in one day. fuck me up

[baekwin]

favorite hair color on chanyeol? for @xiuhunsoo     ⤷ platinum undercut

[dokyungsu]

i literally always think about tfibbh/tfipcy almost everyday the imPACt iT hAS oN mE iS unREaL this fic is a masterpiece i just cant

[chanshine]

Chanvember Countdown Day 12; ➥ Chanyeol's different hobbies

[koko-kpopfics]

The Faults In Byun Baekhyun

Author- blehmeh

Status- Complete

Rating- Explicit

Ships- ChanBaek/Baekyeol, ChanSoo, side KrisHo and KaiSoo

Word Count- 392k

Genre- Rivalry fic, Enemies to lovers, College au, University au

Warnings- Explicit sexual content, alcohol, Homophobia, Rape/non con (There’s one chapter with this that you can skip), Violence

Synopsis

Baekhyun and Chanyeol hate each other’s guts.

It’s the start of a new college year, with hormones flying and emotions sinking, with idiots roaming and jerks slinkering. Chanyeol prays that he will survive the year, hopes that he can get closer with a certain guy he’s had a crush on since forever.

But what he wishes above anything else is that he doesn’t get roomed with Baekhyun.

However, scenarios can appear deceiving and things never go as planned.

What happens when Chanyeol finds a certain Byun Baekhyun stumbling on his door, horny and drunk and smelling of sex?

Why, nothing, of course.

Personal Thoughts- My all time favourite fanfic, hands down. I honestly love it so much that i started reading it again (before it was taken down due to reposts) and i have given it my highest praise. I cried, laughed and hurt with this fic because the characters feel so real and i can’t get enough of it. (Lowkey cried that blehmeh uploaded it again so i can continue reading this masterpiece. Also she’s super nice and added me as a friend???). If you want a fic to destroy you and leave a lasting impression on you, i highly recommend this fic, it’s a blessing to the Exo fandom. 

Link- https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/833300/the-faults-in-byun-baekhyun-angst-romcom-baekhyun-chanyeol-baekyeol-chanbaek-sliceeoflife

[mauloveskpop]

Favourite Looks of 2017 ↳ Chanyeol (EXO) | Ko Ko Bop

[chanbaeksmiles]

I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT IT AND NOW I FEEL TRIGGERED

[jxstadaydreamer]

above & beyond [one]

Pairing: Park Chanyeol x F.Reader (oc) Genres: Angst, Smut, Best Friends to Friends with Benefits AU, College AU (sorta?) Word count: 3019

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, explicit sex (with a condom - wrap it up!). (Please let me know if you find any you think should be added)

[series masterlist] [playlist]

[next]

Chanyeol is your best friend. He has been since the first day of middle school, when you saw this awkward, lanky, string bean of a guy trip over his own feet and you helped him pick up his books. The two of you had been through a lot together, a lot of good and some bad. You’ve had your fair share of petty arguments, none lasting more than a few days at the most because you two were just used to having each other and being without, felt wrong, like you were missing a part of yourself. When puberty hit and Chanyeol somehow grew even taller and broader, the girls flocked to him and being a teenage boy, he gave into the hormones and dated a few. None of them lasted though, due to no fault of his own and you were always there to pick up the broken pieces of him. When the boys started showing you attention and trying to court you, Chanyeol shooed them all away, telling you that none of them were good enough for you. You did date here and there but none of them stuck, always saying something about how close you were with your best friend and how they felt inadequate in your life compared to him. They weren’t wrong though because, even if he didn’t know it or want it, he’d always be the one that held your heart. Anyone else would just be a temporary distraction. You knew Chanyeol had never seen you as anything more than his best friend so you kept your feelings to yourself. Hiding your feelings had become second nature.

-

It was nearing the end of your first year at college and you had 2 months left to finish your final assignments causing you to become unbelievably stressed out. You thought you were organised and set yourself appropriate timeframes for each part of the assignment that you had to complete but the stress and worry about not being able to finish and then not doing well was eating you up alive.

Chanyeol decided to hang out at your place while you were studying and you paid him no attention, all your focus on your stacks of paper and laptop on the dining table. He was watching you the entire time though and decided it was enough when he saw you plant your face in your hands and groan for the nth time that night.

“You need a break. Come on, let’s get some food.”

“No, Yeol. I need to finish this part by the end of the week or I’m screwed.” you straightened your back and turned back to the screen, glancing over at your notes.

Chanyeol slowly shut your laptop and you stared up at him in shock.

“Oh relax. I know your work is safe because you lectured me about using Google Docs and how it automatically saves your work as you go, yada yada. And I know you’ll be fine because you’re nothing but organised. You’re just getting into your own head.”

You blink slowly at him in disbelief.

“Now, you need to eat something. And maybe while we’re at it, something to drink. Loosen up.”

He nudged you to stand before dragging you over to the living area. There on the coffee table, you noticed the takeout chicken from your favourite place and a 6 pack of beer.

When did that get there? You were sure Chanyeol had come over empty handed and you’d have noticed if he left...right?

You turned to look at him as you sat yourself down on the floor.

“Yeah. You were that busy you didn’t even notice when I went to answer the door for the food delivery. Or the delicious smell of fried chicken wafting through the place.”

Okay, maybe you did need a break.

Chanyeol turned on the tv, finding some old rom-com the two of you used to watch over and over back in high school. You both got comfortable, watching the movie and eating chicken while making jokes about the characters on screen, repeating lines, cringing at the sappy moments. The two of you had gotten through the beer sooner than expected and decided to open some bottles of soju too. Your assignment now long forgotten.

6 cans of beer and 2 bottles of soju later, you were well tipsy. You and Chanyeol had moved from sitting on opposite ends of the coffee table to sitting side by side opposite the tv, leaning against the sofa. Chanyeol’s arm was slung on the sofa behind you and across your shoulders, hand dangling and his fingers were mindlessly drawing shapes on your upper arm. Skinship with Chanyeol wasn’t foreign to you. He was naturally quite touchy but the feelings you harboured and your current slightly intoxicated state just intensified the burning touch of his skin on yours. As Chanyeol was focussed on the movie, your eyes darted down to where his fingers were, trying to memorise the sight and feel.

He let out a deep sigh and you looked up at him.

“I really need to get laid.”

Well, you weren’t expecting that. But you can’t say it didn’t make you feel something.

“Me too.” you said in a small voice.

Chanyeol’s body tensed and looked down at you. You stared back at him, eyelids beginning to feel a little heavy. Something flickered in his eyes, narrowing as if he was deep in thought and considering something.

“I can help you with that. I think we can help each other, actually.”

Before you could think about what he was saying, you felt his lips to yours. You froze, a little shocked and not expecting the action but before you knew it, you started kissing him back. You felt him smile before swiping his tongue across your bottom lip, asking for access. You opened your mouth for him and his tongue dived straight in, hand coming to hold the nape of your neck and tilt your head to the side to deepen the kiss. His hand that was on your arm slid down to hold your waist and pull you flush against his body. You sighed at the contact and Chanyeol lifted you into his lap, straddling him.

Coming up for air, you rested your foreheads against each other. Chests heaving up and down.

“Do you want this?” Chanyeol asked, voice lowered a few octaves.

You looked into eachothers eyes. Chanyeol searching for a hint of hesitation and you searching for a reason not to.

“Yeah,” you breathed out, “I do.”

He smiled.

“Me too.”

You kissed him. Hard. Passionately. His hands slipping under your t-shirt and running up and down your sides. Your skin igniting at the touch.

You pull back from the kiss again for some air.

“Yeol, bedroom. Now.”

Chanyeol stands up, pulling you up with him and holding onto your hand as he leads you to your bedroom. All of a sudden he bends down and picks you up, an arm around your back and the other under your knees as he carries you bridal style. You giggle as you wrap your arms around his neck for support and he practically runs to the bedroom, stumbling a few times and almost dropping you. He kicks open the door and then closes it with his foot, dropping you onto the bed and then falling on top of you.

He immediately goes to kiss your neck, licking and sucking into your sensitive skin and you turn your head to the side, granting him more access. You wrap your legs around his waist and you can feel his hardening length pressing into your core. Chanyeol groans and grinds himself into you and you couldn’t help but whimper at how good it felt. Your fingers feel for the hem of his shirt as you drag it upwards and he sits back on his knees to pull it off, watching your eyes as he sees them darken with lust when he reveals his body to you. You lift yourself up to remove your own t-shirt and reach behind yourself to unhook your bra. You held it against your chest, locking eyes with him before letting it slip off your chest, unveiling your breasts. Chanyeol practically whimpers at the sight and leans forward, swirling his tongue around your nipples a couple times before he latches on and sucks. Your fingers dig into his hair as you hold him close and lay back down.

Your hand slips into the waistband of his pants, fingers running featherlight grazes up and down his rock hard shaft. His cock twitches and you wrap your hand around it, lazily pumping him. Chanyeol returns the favour by dipping his hand into your panties, thick fingers stroking your soaked folds, dipping ever so slightly into your hole and feeling just how tight and wet you were. Not being able to resist, he pushes two fingers into you, thrusting them in and out at a leisurely pace. He skillfully reaches his thumb towards your clit, pressing it down and swiping it just right. As the pleasure builds, your grip on his cock tightens and pumping pace picks up. Chanyeol moans and suddenly pulls your hand off of him.

“I’d rather the first time I cum not be in your hand.” he chuckles at your confused expression.

He slides off the bed and hooks his fingers into your pants before dragging them down along with your panties. He unceremoniously throws them across the room before dropping down to his knees, spreading your legs and admiring the sight before him. He moves closer and fans his hot breath over you and kisses your thighs. His eyes glance over at your face, only to see you watching him intently, anticipating his next move. Holding your gaze, he points his tongue and begins leaving kitten-like llicks on your clit, enjoying the way you gasp and try to buck your hips up, chasing his mouth. He raises his brow, smug smile on his face before flattening his tongue and licking slow, long stripes up your folds. His hands hold your thighs open as he resumes his attack on your clit, kissing and sucking, feeling how they were beginning to spasm and close around his head. Chanyeol glances up to see that your hands had begun fondling your breasts and playing with your nipples.

“I’m gonna cum,” you cry out, barely.

“Cum baby, cum for me. Let me taste you.”

Chanyeol flattens his tongue and shakes his head side to side feverishly, sending you into the spasm of an intense orgasm.

When he feels your body relax, he stands up to pull his pants and boxers off.

“Condom?”

“Bedside table, back of the top drawer.”

You close your eyes, catching your breath and thinking about how your best friend had just given you the best orgasm of your life. You can hear the drawer close and a foil package being opened. Chanyeol climbs back on top of you and you pull his face towards yours, shamelessly kissing him and tasting yourself all over his mouth. You can feel his blunt tip poking at your entrance and you can’t wait any longer to feel him, your hand grips onto his cock and you drag it through your folds, lining him up where you need him most.

He slowly pushes himself in and you wince, not expecting to still be so tight, or maybe he was just bigger than you had anticipated. Chanyeol groans and kisses you before burying his face into your neck, breathing deeply as he tries to push himself in further.

“You need to relax baby, you’re too tight, I can’t move.”

Chanyeol begins kissing and sucking at your neck in an attempt to distract you so you would loosen up for him. Your hands hold onto his strong biceps as you try to focus on that and it works, but you can still feel as he goes in deeper and deeper, eventually bottoming out. He stays still, giving you time to move on from the slight pain his size caused and onto the ecstasy like feeling the stretch brought on.

You tap on his arm, “You can move now.”

He lifts his head to kiss you, pulling out slightly and thrusting back in ever so slowly. Your walls already starting to clench around his length. Chanyeol sits back and pulls himself out, almost all the way before he plunges back into you and begins a steady pace. He shifts his hips, experimentally trying out different angles before a particular thrust makes you release a loud, high pitched moan and he smirks.

“Found it.”

Chanyeol begins pistoning his hips, making sure to keep at the exact angle that he could see was physically driving you wild. Thrashing beneath him, moans and whimpers, breathlessly telling him how good he was making you feel and he felt like he was on top of the world.

He pulled your legs up and rested your ankles on his shoulders as he leaned down to kiss you. This new angle provided more stimulation, Chanyeol was hitting you deeper than before and his pelvic bone was hitting your clit every time he thrusted in. The knot in your stomach was tightening, fast.

“G-gonna cum.”

“I know, I can feel you, let go baby. Cum.”

A few more thrusts and your second orgasm crashed over you, walls spasming frantically causing Chanyeol to push himself in all the way, holding still and emptying himself into the condom, hips twitching as he groaned into your ear.

He crashes next to you and pulls your body close, arm wrapped around your waist and the other below your head. You open your eyes and all you can see are the monkey and guitar tattoos on his forearm. As your breathing slowed, you feel your eyelids drooping and the last thing you feel is a gentle kiss on your temple before he pulls the blanket to cover your naked bodies.

-

The next morning, you both woke up and decided that this was a one time thing, purely due to the fact you were both extremely stressed and horny and just needed a release. Ensuring that things between the two of you would not be awkward with each other just because you had slept together and that things would just go back to normal.

And in theory, that would work. And it probably did, for Chanyeol. But sex to you had never been spontaneous or with someone random, you had to feel some sort of connection with someone to sleep with them. You couldn’t be intimate with just anyone. And Chanyeol definitely wasn’t just anyone to you. He was the guy that you had feelings for, for as long as you could remember. Feelings you were so sure would never be returned. But you were good at burying your feelings for him, after all you had been living that way throughout pretty much the entirety of your friendship.

But with deadlines fast approaching, you were stressed out of your mind and Chanyeol offered his help again. And again. And again. And before you knew it, it had been a whole year of this secret relationship the two of you had, one beyond your friendship and one that only existed behind closed doors.

In this time, you hadn’t sought out any other relationships. Why would you, when you had the only man you’d ever want, whenever you needed him? Although the two of you attended different universities and weren’t always together, you were pretty sure Chanyeol hadn’t and wasn’t seeing anyone else either. Sure, he playfully flirted with some girls here and there but nothing ever came from it, he was just a naturally playful kind of guy. Even before anything had happened between the two of you.

Because of this, neither of you had ever really talked about what was happening or what it meant. Exclusivity was never defined and your behaviour towards each other in front of others hadn’t changed so your combined group of friends had never suspected a thing.

-

Right now, you’re sitting in the corner of your favourite coffee shop, feeling a little deflated and definitely a lot confused.

After a particularly bad break up your senior year of high school, Chanyeol had sworn off girls. He claimed to be done and that you were the only girl he needed in his life, his best friend. Just his best friend though. Chanyeol had gotten a brand new Mercedes G Wagon as a senior year encouragement present from his parents. A few girls had approached him, asking if they could get a ride home, twirling their hair and batting their lashes at him. Although he had sworn off dating, he had always been that nice guy so of course he said yes. However, when they tried to push past you and reach for the passenger door, he stopped them and told them the only girl that could ride shotgun in his car was you. He turned to smile at you and while he wasn’t looking, they shot you some dirty looks, scowling. And he’d kept that promise ever since. In all the years since, no other female had sat in his passenger seat while he drove.

That was the reason for your current state. You were walking to the coffee shop, feeling a little sluggish and needing a pick me up when you saw Chanyeol’s car pass by. You smiled, til you noticed a figure sitting in the passenger seat. It was a girl you hadn’t seen before. They were stopped at the traffic light, Chanyeol turned to her and said something that they both laughed at. Without thinking, you pulled out your phone and opened up his contact, pressing the call button and holding the phone to your ear as you watched him.

Ring ring.

You saw him glance down at the dash briefly before he looked back up.

Beep.

He.. He cancelled the call? No way.

The light turned green and he drove away, ironically into the sunset.

[next]

[gamerwoo]

Seventeen: The Xperiments (Part Twenty-Two)

Characters: Seventeen x female reader

Genre/warnings: superhuman/experiment au, fluff!!!!, a few attempts at humor, i don’t think there’s really any warnings for this part??? [please read the warnings in the intro]

Word count: 2,225

a/n: things in bold are in english

Previous | Next | The Xperiments Masterlist

You flicked on the bathroom light, letting out a big yawn as you stepped into the small room. You went straight for the tub, wanting to get the shower going so it would be hot by the time you were ready to get in. However, pushing the curtain aside, you let out a scream and jumped back.

Water splashed onto the floor as Junhui flailed, startled by your shriek.

“Jun!” you cried, clutching the sides of the counter. “What the hell are you doing?!”

He blinked up at you from the bathtub, his fin partially out of the water. He was squinting against the light, like he’d just woken up, “Huh?”

You frowned. You hadn’t put your earpiece in yet, nor had you brought the other with you.

“What are you doing?” you asked him.

You weren’t 100% sure what he said, but you caught the word ‘sleep’. Why was he sleeping in the bathtub? You didn’t have the vocabulary to ask. So you just sighed and muttered, “Lock the door next time,” before exiting the bathroom, deciding you could shower later.

You went back to your bedroom to get your earpiece, putting the other in your pocket. Then you went downstairs to see what was going on for breakfast.

It had been a few days since what happened with the black masks. Things between you and Wooshik were still...weird. You didn’t know if you were mad at him or not. On one hand, you understood he was trying to keep you safe. On the other, you treasured Dr. Eric. And on some weird third hand, you were trying to cope with the fact that Dr. Eric wasn’t the great person you thought he was. Everything was conflicting and it was easier to just try not to think about it. 

Wooshik, on the other hand, wanted to give you space. He also tried to shoulder most of the blame because he was the leader, and he wanted you to at least trust the others. He wanted you to have something to hang onto. So he tried to make it seem like it was mostly his fault even though it was a group decision.

You found some people sitting at the table, eating breakfast. Some were standing at the counter, preparing food or just talking. Some were in the kitchen, enjoying morning video games that they’d gotten hooked on ever since Chanyeol showed them the wonderful world of virtual games. A few of them looked up when you entered the kitchen, but went back to what they were doing.

“Hey, _____,” Matthew smiled warmly at you.

“You look like a mess,” Soonyoung stated.

Hansol snorted, “That’s how you speak to your future wife?”

You frowned, mumbling, “I’m not his wife.”

Soonyoung, however, ignored you and continued, “Well I should be fully honest with her, right? Relationships are built on trust and honesty.”

“There is a thing as being too honest,” Chanyeol nodded.

“_____,” Matthew recaptured your attention. He was aware of how you’d been feeling lately, and anybody could feel the awkward tension between you and Wooshik. He wanted to do anything he could to help fix things, or at least get your mind off of things for a few hours, “wanna go to the park? Seungkwan, Soonyoung, Junhui, and Seungcheol are coming to keep me company while I chaperone Jeonghan.”

Oh yeah, Jeonghan had that date today. It was a little odd to you that the black masks were allowing him to get so close to this girl, but you knew you’d have to assimilate into society sooner or later. 

You shrugged, “Okay.”

It was then that Jun breezed by you to get to the fridge. Matthew called to him, “Jun, _____’s coming with us.”

Junhui leaned back to look around the fridge door, smirking at you, “You liked what you saw, huh?”

Everyone’s brows furrowed while you felt your cheeks heat up.

“Um…what did you see…?” Hansol asked slowly.

“Probably Jun sleeping in the bathtub again,” Soonyoung sighed. “I’ve walked in on him so many times.”

“See!” you gestured to Soonyoung.

Soonyoung grinned with a wink, “I got you, baby.”

You gave him a confused look as Matthew sighed, “Chanyeol, stop teaching them this kind of stuff.”

“I wanted to help Jeonghan with his date!” the red-haired boy frowned.

“At this point, he’ll just scare her away,” Matthew chuckled. He looked to you, nodding his head toward the stairs. “Go get dressed, we’ll leave in a little bit to grab some food for the picnic.”

-

Grocery shopping was uneventful overall. Jeonghan picked out snacks he liked for his picnic – as well as things he remembered his date said she liked – and Matthew let the rest of you pick out food for your own picnic you’d be having. Nobody said much other than excited chatters over food items. Junhui kept asking questions about what dates were and things revolving around relationships, and Matthew did his best to answer. Then he was talking about next steps once they were sure you weren’t being tracked or followed, such as moving to separate places in twos or threes to be roommates together – and with a black mask of course. You’d learn about rent and bills and money and responsibility. You’d learn how to live mostly on your own until the black masks felt they were ready to move out and let you live on your own. He said they’d check in here and there but they wouldn’t be there to be like your parents anymore.

By the time he was finishing his explanation of their plans, the van stopped at a small park. It was just a bunch of green grass surrounding a small pond, with ducks and benches and a few people walking around or sitting and feeding the ducks.

“Chaerin said she’d meet you here,” Matthew recalled as everyone got out of the van. “We can walk around a little and see if we spot her if you guys want. Or we can– Junhui, no water!”

Jun stopped dead in his tracks. He was jogging toward the pond. He turned to look at Matthew with a pout, “They’ll just think I’m a fish.”

“No they won’t,” he stated, “trust me.”

While Matthew helped Jeonghan set up the picnic, the rest of you were essentially useless. Seungcheol was looking around in wonder and decided to explore a little bit with Soonyoung and Hoshi – the trio still knew to stay close by, though. Junhui was following around a duck and quacking, maybe trying to communicate or something. And then there was you and Seungkwan: sitting in the grass together and looking at the people.

Ever since you, Wonwoo, and Minghao had gone back to the lab to retrieve the remote, Seungkwan thanked you every chance he could get. He still was never made aware of the things he did when under the white coats’ control, but he knew that he was given more freedom now that nobody was worried he’d go berserk in public.

You felt a light tap on your wrist. You looked at Seungkwan to see him pointing to his ear, so you fished in your pocket for the other earpiece and handed it to him. He stuck it in his ear before turning it on and going back to people-watching.

“Do you think Jeonghan and Chaerin will get married?” he wondered.

Your eyebrows furrowed, “Why is that what you’re thinking about?”

He shrugged, “Wooshik and everyone has taught us a lot about the world, and it seems like our end goal is to end up with someone and be happy. Have a family and stuff. Jeonghan’s the closest to it.”

“I wish Soonyoung would stop trying to force that idea on me,” you muttered with a frown.

Seungkwan laughed and looked at you, nudging your side, “You don’t wanna marry him?”

You made a face, “No offense, but I don’t think I want to marry any of you.”

“Not even Hansol? You two seem close.”

“Wouldn’t it be weird? We’re supposed to be family.”

“But isn’t your partner supposed to be someone you’re the most comfortable with?” Seungkwan pointed out. “Besides, most of the black masks think you’ll end up with one of us.”

Your head whipped around to look at him, “Who?!”

“Namjoon, Chanyeol, Mingi…” he listed off with a chuckle. “The only ones who haven’t mentioned anything are Matthew, Wooshik, and Jiwoo.”

“What did they say?”

“You’re too wary of anyone else to get to know them,” he shrugged. “You’re most likely to end up with one of us. That’s what Namjoon said. You don’t open up easily, or something.”

You rolled your eyes and looked away, but you felt your face getting warm.

“By the way,” Seungkwan spoke up after a beat of silence, “...are you always going to hate Wooshik?”

You thought about it for a moment. You weren’t even sure if you could say you hated him to begin with. Honestly, you weren’t completely sure how you felt about him at the moment, and you weren’t sure what to call any of your emotions toward him or the situation. Everything was confusing.

“I don’t know,” was all you said.

-

You let out a soft shriek and a laugh as you tried to dodge Jun’s hand that swiped for you, pushing yourself to run even faster away from him.

“Over here, bighead!” Soonyoung called, sticking his tongue out.

Junhui was able to easily catch him, but his hand ended up going straight through the clone as he disappeared into thin air. It was all just a distraction to help you get away.

“Hey, no fair!” Jun frowned. “That’s cheating!”

“Soonyoung, what did I tell you?” Matthew groaned from where he watched your small group play tag while also keeping an eye on Jeonghan and Chaerin a few yards away while they enjoyed their date. “Look, I think that’s enough tag for now. Why don’t you guys take a break and go feed the ducks?”

Despite all the chaos of your small group playing various children's games that Matthew had shown you, Jeonghan and Chaerin paid absolutely no attention, giggling at something one of them had said. Even while Junhui, Soonyoung, and Seungkwan booked it for the pond and scared a good portion of the ducks away in their excitement to feed them, they were too lost in each other. 

You observed them as you sat down on the blanket Matthew had laid out for your group to monitor Jeonghan’s date. You opened a bottle of water and took a few long drinks. As you watched them and tried to catch your breath from playing, you thought about what Seungkwan had said. Would Jeonghan actually get married to this girl? Who would you end up with? Did you even want to end up with anyone? Did you know how to even be in love?

“_____?”

You turned your head to see Seungcheol hadn’t gone off with his friends. Instead, he was already sitting beside you on the blanket, putting the earpiece in as he offered you a small smile.

“Hi,” he chuckled warmly. It was so weird to look at him and see that comforting smile that you’d known, but realize you never knew him at all. “Um, we never got to finish our conversation from the other night when we were playing card games.”

“R-right,” you nodded, only vaguely remembering that. “What’s up?”

“Well, before…I just wanted to ask…” he seemed to hesitate to ask, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he looked down at the space between the two of you. Then he chuckled at himself and looked over at the three boys following one of the ducks in a line, waddling around and quacking to each other. He seemed to completely forget his first question since he asked, “They’re goofy, aren’t they?”

You grinned and let out a soft laugh as you watched them, “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

“Have they been nice to you?” he wondered, brown eyes looking back at you now.

But you continued to watch the boys as they waddled around with arms bent like wings, “Yeah. They called me ‘family’ from the beginning, even when I was unsure of them. They’ve even saved my life on multiple occasions. And you were–”

You stopped yourself, remembering that Seungcheol was never actually there. You slowly turned to look at him to babble some awkward apology, but he was looking at you like he wanted to hear what you had to say.

“No, I want to know,” he reassured you. “Did…we get along? You and the other me, I mean? Did you…like him?”

You nodded slowly, “He made me feel like I was one of you guys. He looked out for me. When I thought he – you – died, I… I felt guilty for being upset, but they told me it was okay. It meant I cared about you. And I did – I mean, I do. I just… I guess I don’t actually know you, huh?”

You let out an awkward laugh that was soft and unsure of how to continue.

But Seungcheol grinned at you brightly, “I’m glad. I hope you can be like that with the real me.”

You felt a warm feeling in your heart as you nodded, “Me too.”