#unfortunately the smut is lost forever | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

goldyeokki · 1 year

Text

𝟏𝟎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ¹⁸⁺

꒰ ♡ ꒱ 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓: lee donghyuck, huang renjun, mark lee, osaki shotaro, jung sungchan, uchinaga eri (giselle), ning yi zhuo (ningning)

꒰ ♡ ꒱ 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄𝐒: pure crack, a pinch of angst, fluff, smut ꒰ ♡ ꒱ 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒: you and lee donghyuck both get along like oil and water. if it were up to you, you would be going about your days without even breathing in his direction. unfortunately you're in the same friend group and you have to tolerate each other. as handsome or attractive as people claim him to be, you hate his guts. there's so many reasons why you hate him, so why do you get butterflies in your stomach when he's near?

꒰ ♡ ꒱ 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 35.5k (i'm so sorry) ꒰ ♡ ꒱ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: [NOT 100% PROOFREAD] social media elements; uni au; enemies to lovers; lots of plot before the porn; semi-slow burn; lots of flashbacks in first half; reader is in denial half the damn time; hyuck is a self-sacrificial idiot; love triangle (?); renhyuck crumbs; sungtaro forever neos; mc is emotionally constipated; mc wears a skirt and makeup; mc is canon attracted to both men and women; bad ex!song mingi; consumption of alcohol; mentions of weed and vapes / unprotected sex; big dick!hyuck; brief mean dom!hyuck; praise; possessiveness; choking; edging; overstimulation; clit spanking; multiple orgasms; mating press; if i missed out any i apologise

꒰ 💬 ꒱ 𝐇𝐔𝐀'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: the first installation of before the last flower blooms is finally out! happy belated birthday to our fullsun hyuck, and i hope everyone enjoys this fic as much as i did when i wrote it (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) a lot of blood, sweat and tears were put into this i think i lost a bit of my sanity ngl

have you ever taken a look at someone and been filled with a compelling urge to shove their smug face into a hot, steaming pile of crap?

that’s how you feel whenever lee donghyuck breathes in your direction.

you would think that being in a big friend group would discourage any feelings of animosity between one another. unfortunately, that is not the case for you and someone whom you want to call your mortal enemy. but it would be a stretch to say that. you have a rather complex relationship with donghyuck.

for the longest time, you’ve both hated each other’s guts yet due to your shared friend group, you’ve learned to tolerate each other and be civil when the time calls for it. sometimes you’re both as thick as thieves, being the culprits for harmless little pranks that your friends often become the unwilling victims of. he is a notorious flirt who can and will flirt with anything that breathes. your friend group (especially renjun and mark) are victims too but when it comes to you, he knows exactly what to say to make your heart skip a beat or render you speechless. you’re convinced that he’s doing it to toy around with you because you’ve never seen him in a relationship, be it casual or serious, for as long as you’ve known him.

but when it’s just the both of you, there are moments when he’ll strip away that obnoxious—dare you say, façade—and you can simply exist. he won’t pick on you like he usually would. sometimes even in the presence of other people, he’ll still actively look out for you. if you could describe his behaviour around you in one word, it’ll be confusing. he edges you and drags you around with a ribbon you don’t recall him ever tying on you and it gets so frustrating when he gets the last laugh.

he’s a massive pain in the ass for sure but there is one thing that you can admit: he doesn’t strike you to be the kind of person who would be malicious to others without reason. you just hate personalities like him.

he’s always strutting around like a proud peacock, acting like he knows something nobody else in the room does. he always finds a way to get under your skin—be it sidling up to you and telling you stupid things with your friend group around or teasing you when it’s just the both of you—but you’d rather be buried six feet under than admit your life would be less entertaining without him around.

you don’t know why lee donghyuck hates you, but of all the reasons that you hate him, you have a hot ten list that he routinely reminds you of every waking second of your life.

#10: EVEN WHEN HE’S QUIET, HE’S STILL THE LOUDEST PERSON IN THE ROOM

there was a party at his fraternity just a couple of months ago. you were the first to arrive along with giselle since class ended early and you weren’t exactly in the mood to study. mark was the one who bribed you both with the promise of bubble tea so of course you didn’t want to disappoint. you came to the conclusion that he didn’t want the first few strings of people to come in and see a party full of testosterone. he had always been thoughtful like that and you’ve admired him for it. it’s no surprise that he’s so well-liked everywhere he goes.

when you arrived, donghyuck was nowhere to be found. it was only mark, renjun, and some others you don’t fully recognise lugging the beer kegs around. both you and giselle offered to help and they gave you towers of plastic cups to plant at every corner of the fraternity possible.

“it feels weirdly quiet without him. i don’t like it.” giselle mumbled just loud enough for you to hear. she was stacking a few more cups on the foldable table that leaned up against the stairs with fruit punch and rows of canned drinks for anyone who didn’t want to drink alcohol. of all the frat houses that you’ve been to, the one that cared most about their partygoers was the alpha neo frat.

you didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. even when there’s music playing through the speakers at a volume loud enough for you to feel the bass in your bones, it’s eerily quiet without his presence. it felt like you were in a horror movie waiting for the killer to surprise you.

“don’t summon the devil, babe.” you chuckled through your nose. you heard her giggle quietly from where she stood and then there was silence.

an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of your stomach, like the calm before the storm.

from where you were in the kitchen, you had the perfect view of the entrance to the door. you nursed your bubble tea and chewed on the paper straw. it was beginning to get soggy and you were starting to get annoyed. how the hell were you going to chew on the tapioca balls now?

something told you that he was going to appear in a couple of seconds. you kept your eyes on the door, biding your time as you patiently waited for the man of the hour to arrive. at least he had never been tardy.

the front door suddenly threw open. the corners of your lips crack a soft smile. right when you had predicted.

“I’M HERE, PARTY PEO– ah? it’s just you guys . . .”

lee donghyuck came barrelling in with sungchan and shotaro in tow, all carrying more cheap beer. he first spotted giselle and immediately grinned before he made his way over to greet her with bear hugs. “giselle, our pretty girl!” he practically yelled for the whole house to hear. you’re almost sure that the walls were trembling from his voice.

“hi, y/n!” shotaro and sungchan were the first to spot you as you emerged from the kitchen to help them with the beer cans. you waved back at the duo. when you reached for the pack in sungchan’s hands, he raised them above both your heads and you raised an eyebrow. “this one isn’t for the party, it’s for us to start the party.”

“yeah, we figured the frat already got more than enough for half the campus and then some,” shotaro mused. well, they’re not wrong. with an amused laugh, you gestured to the kitchen.

“alright, let’s keep them cool in the fridge first while we wait for the rest of the gang to come in.”

shortly after the remainder of your friend group had arrived, everyone gathered in a circle in the living room with a beer can in hand. some force in the universe had placed you in between donghyuck and renjun—two best friends with absolutely opposite personalities. damn, your luck was shit.

everyone took their time (see: a quick five seconds) to get ready to shotgun their beer before the party started. you weren’t exactly the best at it but you weren’t going to ask the loser on your right to help out. when you struggled to punch a hole, donghyuck quietly took your can and passed you his freshly punched one with a sigh of faux annoyance.

“c’mon, y/n. we shotgun beers every time we party!” he complained out loud which naturally gathered a few pairs of eyes to land on you both. you wanted to be embarrassed but you’re too occupied processing the fact that he had performed a selfless act . . . of sorts. you rolled your eyes and glared at him when he attempted to give you a tutorial on how to punch a hole in a beer can. “this is how you do it, babe. if you can’t do it, you can always ask for the handsome and charming hyuckie to help you out!” ooh, you really want to sock his stupidly handsome face that very moment.

wait. handsome? no. he’s not handsome. he’s attractive, yeah, but not to you.

fuck. keep it together, dude.

“shut up, it’s not like i do this every other day unlike you, dumbass!” your brows creased and you were tempted to smack the back of his head but you held yourself back. instead, you simply scoffed and attempted to look away.

“just take my can, since i’m your greatest friend in the whole wide world and you looooove me.” donghyuck made it a point to quite literally push his face close to yours. in the dim multi-coloured lighting of the common space you’ve all gathered at, the glint of his lip ring caught your eye. ever since he had gotten that lip ring a few months ago, you’ve been guilty of staring at it every once in a while. but it’s not like you wanted to! it’s right there. it was right in your face, how could you not stare?!

you sharply turned your head and shoved him away to put some distance between your bodies. he’s such a sneaky brat.

“no you’re not, suck my dick.” you rolled your shoulders back and looked at giselle who stood across you in the circle. she only gave you a pointed look and winked flirtatiously, which very quickly made an amused smile appear on your face.

“okay, okay, are we gonna start or are you two going to keep bickering?” renjun voiced out what everyone else was most likely thinking. you assumed that donghyuck was batting his eyelashes at him or probably doing something weird with his face. “don’t give me that look, donghyuck.”

“it’s my lucky handsome look on my lucky handsome face.” he countered. his best friend sighed quietly through his nose.

“anyway.” you pressed, side-eyeing the smug bastard and forcing the shotgun session to begin.

“this is our final year, kinda started a while back but, whatever.” you began, then looked at sungchan, mark, and ningning who were conveniently lined up next to each other. you smiled softly at the trio. “except for you three. mark started grad school already and our babies ning and channie are still in junior year.”

the fond nicknames rolled off your tongue easily for the two younger members of the friend group. hushed giggles and chuckles lingered in the air, almost with a bittersweet note. everyone knew what it meant for you and the rest of the group. as much as it pained for you to say it, you really don’t want this little ragtag team of weirdos to disband when the bulk of you graduate. renjun is still pursuing grad school afterwards so at least he and mark will still have each other but it’s so up in the air for everyone else. despite it all, you know that your love and bond with one another are strong enough to lead you all back to each other.

“we’ll catch up. just wait for us.” sungchan raised his beer can to you. before you can continue, you were interrupted by none other than—

“(nickname) this is too sad, i’m taking over.” donghyuck cleared his throat obnoxiously and bumped his hip against yours as if telling you to move aside. you exhaled through your nose, hearing renjun quietly snicker to your left as you shifted your position accordingly. “first party of the alpha neo frat, let’s have tons of fun and get shitfaced drunk!”

when everyone was about to cheer in agreement, shotaro cleared his throat so obnoxiously that you feared he was going to cough up his larynx. donghyuck blinked and looked at the male.

“. . . within reason because we have classes tomorrow?” he attempted once again, unsure and obviously not a big fan of the responsible idea. shotaro nodded with a bright, satisfied smile, eyes forming half-crescents as he did. donghyuck whined out loud and began his little complaining rant. “taro, you’re no fun. the uni experience is to walk into 9ams with a hangover and–”

“can’t hear you, we’re shotgunning!” ningning announced and raised her can to her lips. laughter echoed throughout, filling up the space of the common room and also your heart. mark followed suit, cheering before he did, and some of the golden liquid dripped past his lips as he downed his drink.

everyone was putting their beer cans up to follow and you felt compelled to face your side. you looked to your right to meet donghyuck’s gaze. had he been waiting for you? almost always you end up right next to each other during pre-party shotguns and almost always he would offer to shotgun together. you don’t understand why but you couldn’t care enough to want to figure out why.

he raised his can slightly. he didn’t say a single word but you could hear him asking if you wanted to shotgun your beers together. the corners of his lips curled upwards into a hopeful yet cheeky grin, but not before swathing his tongue across his bottom lip. your eye caught the saliva-stained gleam on his lip ring once again and you had to force yourself to drag your gaze back up to his eyes. you really needed to give renjun an earful for dragging him along to the piercing studio.

you nodded and gave him back a sincere smile. the both of you raised your beer cans, bodies facing each other. his eyes were fixed on you and you could feel some form of disturbance in your stomach. why did you feel a little nervous? you met his gaze and lifted your can to your lips, him mirroring your actions. in shared silence, while everyone cheered and celebrated in the background, you shotgunned your drinks together as your eyes were locked on each other.

you’re brought back to the present thanks to a rather violent sneeze that came from your left. you turn to look at giselle who’s wrapped up in a thick blanket. her cheeks and nose are a bright scarlet, eyes watery as she glares at her laptop while furiously typing away.

it’s a busy period for the entire student body. just like everyone, you’re swamped with deadlines and projects. you have a milestone check with your professors for three of your classes in the upcoming week, an exam in two, and a group project to consolidate before its submission that same week.

what you’re looking forward to is the four-week semester break that comes right after. you’re not too big on parties but some cheap beer, messy making out with a hot stranger with alcohol and music buzzing through your veins sounds like the perfect celebration after the stressful weeks that came before.

as a journalism student, you doubt giselle is able to catch that much of a break. you remember her complaining to you about her workload a couple of nights ago. her head was on your lap as you stroked her hair while listening to her. apparently, on top of writing an article, she has a group assignment worth 70% of her grade that requires the entire group to produce a video news story. although she was assigned to a team with no freeloaders, everyone’s ideas keep clashing which is causing a lot of stress and pressure on her as the designated team leader.

“gigi, are you sure you want to continue studying?” shotaro quietly whispers, very clearly concerned. he’s only wearing a t-shirt since he had already given her his hoodie, but anyone can tell he’s ready to run back to his dorm to grab another layer for her if she needs it.

“yeah gi, you look really sick.” you echo his sentiments, tucking locks of your hair behind your ears to get a better look at her. there’s a seat between you two, occupied by your bags and unused books. you lean closer to her over the seat and press the back of your index and middle finger against her neck. she doesn’t feel hot, but she does feel a bit warm. unsatisfied with the results you’d gotten, you press the same fingers against her temple. only then do you feel her temperature rise. “giselle babe, you should rest. you’re burning up a little.”

“don’t worry about me, guys,” she manages a weak smile. she sounds so nasally and you resist the urge to sigh but shotaro doesn’t. “i promise i’m okay. it’s just a bit of a sinus.”

“are you sure?” you cock an eyebrow upward, withdrawing yourself back from her.

“i am, i promise.”

everyone leaves it at that. you’re back to dedicating your attention to your laptop to focus on studying but you very quickly find that you’re unable to.

you feel a prickling sensation—like somebody is staring intently at you, watching your every move like a hawk—and it sends goosebumps rippling all over your arms and the back of your neck. you peel your attention from your screen and let your eyes glaze over the table.

sungchan is buried nose-deep in his arsenal of open textbooks surrounding his laptop, preparing for his mock bar exam that’s coming up in a couple of weeks. the poor law student has the toughest professors and you really feel bad for him. shotaro sits next to him, calmly reading through a biology textbook as he highlights and annotates the text. you’ve always noticed how colourful his learning materials are, flagged with multicoloured tabs at the sides. mark has his eyes glued to his laptop as he types away, headphones blocking out any noise that could tamper with his concentration. ningning is sifting through sheets of notes that look like they came straight from those aesthetic study youtubers you’ve come across online, most likely questioning why on earth she decided to major in psychology.

your gaze finally lands on lee donghyuck.

he has his laptop in front of him, and a notebook on his right. he has notes scribbled down and taking up half the page but his pen is nowhere to be found. you drag your eyes to his face where he’s already looking back at you with that stupid grin of his. the shine of his lip ring underneath the library’s fluorescent lights almost winks at you at the same time he does.

frankly, you don’t understand it at all. you cannot wrap your head around how even in a place where quietude is sacred, he’s the loudest man in the room without even opening that damn mouth of his.

he picks up his phone and begins to type furiously into it. your phone vibrates violently on the desk. should you be curious about what he just sent you? you grab your phone and eye him suspiciously.

of course. of course he would send that.

#9: THE WORST OF HIS INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS DIRECTED AT YOU

you would do anything to figure out why you’re his victim. he does throw inappropriate comments at others, especially the males in your friend group, but he seems to refuse to err on the side of caution with you. does he forget that you’re both at each other’s throats? you’re sure he doesn’t since you constantly threaten him (albeit, emptily most of the time) in response to his behaviour.

whenever you walk in medium-to-large-sized groups, you find yourself—no—you find donghyuck always gravitating towards wherever you are. you’re often found in the back to make sure nobody gets left behind and sometimes it works out when he ends up on the tail with you. since he has a megaphone for a throat, you’re able to utilise him if there are any issues if he hasn’t already alerted the group.

the problem lies wherein he tends to forget where he is when immersed in a conversation.

countless times there had to be someone to grab him and yank him back into the group because he was straying a little too far or he was somehow caught in a conversation with the person across the street.

“aww, my pancake is so thoughtful!” that is his go-to line when it’s renjun who fishes him back in, followed by a harassment of kisses all over the poor boy’s neck and face, and back hugs.

“is this the part where i call you hyung?” due to mark having a more westernised outlook when it comes to formalities, nobody in the group really calls for him with honorifics. donghyuck likes to abuse that and seize the opportunity in moments like that to make the poor grad student flustered.

“taro, i love you! i know you love me too, what you did is evidence of your undying love for me!” his victim shotaro tends to get tackled, thankfully not to the ground, and you remember having to be the one to pull them both in because a car was coming from the rear.

but you? oh, you’re getting it way worse than any of those combined.

there was once when he was walking backwards while talking your ear off about one of his professors who keeps ignoring his contributions while he’s in class. sungchan and giselle were walking ahead on the walking path, discussing schoolwork since she had some questions to ask him. dear donghyuck on the other hand was on the road, taking advantage of the fact that it was nighttime and there were no vehicles nearby. you tried really hard not to pay attention to him but his voice was too loud to drain out. you really wonder how renjun does it.

a motorcycle sped past. and then another. both of the vehicles maintained a safe distance from him but you weren’t sure about the one further back. the car was coming in close at an almost dangerous speed.

“hyuck.” you warned him sternly, reaching out for him but he’s moving his arms around too wildly and too absorbed in his conversation to notice.

“–and then he just ignored me! like, hello? i have–“

“hyuck.” the car’s getting closer. you’d really hate for this one to get into a car crash. as much as it would most likely be reimbursed since you’re nearby campus grounds, your friend group kinda needs him.

“–i’m a good student! i don’t know why he does it! is it out of spite? does he hate me? does he–“

“god fucking damn it, donghyuck!” pissed off and scared beyond your wits, you quickly grabbed him and violently yanked him onto the walking path. everything happened a little too quickly for your own liking. you don’t know how his reaction time struck faster with you than the damn car.

when he almost tripped over the slight elevation from the road onto the walking path, his weight sent you both crashing down. he wrapped his arms around your waist and quickly flipped your position to cushion your fall and you ended up on top of him instead of the other way round.

the car zoomed past and you heard the echoes of giselle and sungchan running back to catch up to you both. they sounded so distant, though.

you’re hovering above donghyuck, shellshocked as your brain tried to process what the fuck just happened but you’re more focused on the equally stunned expression on his face. his deep onyx eyes searched yours for any semblance of hurt.

you felt his hands gently massage your waist in an attempt to calm you down and you were thankful because it was working but you’re not going to admit that to him. you swear your heart stopped at that moment. it felt impossible to tear your gaze away from him—soft brown hair dishevelled, fear and panic in his eyes, tongue nervously swathing over his bottom lip to coat his lip ring in a thin coat of saliva—he looked . . . vulnerable. unlike how you’d always see him, all cocky and strutting around like he owned the place.

“y/n?” your name came from his mouth in the ghost of a whisper, almost melodic, but you barely registered it until you felt another pair of hands on your arm to pull you up.

“oh my god, y/n, are you okay?!” giselle helped you onto your feet while sungchan helped him out. her soft fingers cupped your face and your gaze was redirected to her. “that driver is so stupid, do they want to die?! ah, seriously . . .”

“yeah, i’m okay. just . . . just a bit shocked.” you nodded, not wanting to worry her at all. her brows creased in concern and you had to give her the best smile you could muster. your fingers wrapped around her wrists and squeezed them gently. “i’ll be okay, i promise. we should check in on hyuck, though.”

you both turn to look at sungchan who was being dramatically hugged by donghyuck. the taller of the two looked at you, silently asking if you were okay and you confirmed it with a nod. you didn’t think it was a situation that was too life-endangering but it was enough to leave you terrified for a while.

when you’ve all finally calmed down, you continue your journey back to the dorms on campus. donghyuck fell into stride with you but he made sure to walk on the path this time, protecting you from the road. he gently bumped his hip against yours to get your attention. giselle and sungchan were back to talking about defamation and lawsuits a few steps ahead of you so you just tuned them out. you’d probably fall asleep if you heard any more.

“you okay?” he mumbled just loud enough for you to hear.

“mhm. you?” you wanted to say that he’s uncharacteristically quiet but you couldn’t exactly blame him.

“i am.” he left it at that for a heartbeat before he draped his arm over your shoulder. and so it began. he sidled up close to you with that annoying grin on his face you wished you could wipe off. “y/n, i didn’t think you were so passionate about me!” his free hand raised to ruffle your hair and god, you really wanted to push him down face-first onto the pavement.

“shut up, dumbass.” you groan when he quite literally pressed your cheeks together, squeezing your shoulders in an exaggerated form of affection.

“ah, y/n, i know i’m super handsome and my charm is sooo irresistible but you can’t fall in love with me! it’s not your brand, y’know.” he continued his onslaught of . . . whatever the fuck he was doing. giselle and sungchan turned to look over their shoulders to make sure that you were both okay. you met their eyes and they chuckled in amusement before they resumed their conversation.

“i think you shouldn’t worry about them too much.” sungchan teased but donghyuck simply pretended that he didn’t hear him.

“you wanna die, is that it?” you scoffed through your nose in disbelief. how the hell was he so quick with such comments? you shoved his arm off of your shoulders and took the opportunity to elbow him in the side. you didn’t even hit him that hard but the dramatic actor in him keeled over while crying to the heavens how you’re being so brash and brutal to him. “you got a death wish, you bastard? why the hell would i want to be with someone as annoying as you?”

“i have my redeeming qualities! i’m the best cook out of all of us! mark can’t even fry eggs!”

“don’t bring mark into this! i swear, i will push you into a river right now.” you’re not mad. why would you be mad? you were just a little ticked off. why would he insinuate that you were going to have feelings for him? he’s such a fucking rascal. you have standards, for fuck’s sake.

donghyuck was back to walking properly and he crossed his arms across his chest, licking his lips and cocking an eyebrow upward as if challenging you.

“oh yeah? if you want to see me all wet, y/n, i can definitely arrange a private show for you.”

an image of him soaked from head to toe, grinning childishly at you as he stood in the rain flashed in your brain. his cotton shirt stuck to his body like a second skin, hair was flat as he walked up to you with that stupid look on his face. you’d never really noticed how sharp his jawline was until you watched the raindrops easily slide down to his chin and onto the ground. nor had you ever really noticed that even though he wasn’t as built as that guy jeno in your class, he still had a decent physique with his toned biceps, chest, and stomach.

your cheeks burned when you realised you had been staring at him all along when that memory made itself present in your mind. defeated and very obviously at a loss for words, you flipped him off.

sometimes you wonder if he just says these kinds of things just to watch you get ticked off. ever since you first met, it has been non-stop terrorising. it doesn’t even matter if you’re alone or in the presence of other people.

you quickly type your response and send it but before you can put your phone down, he’s replying with more to piss you off. you silently scoff through your nose and lift your gaze to him only to find him—yet again—staring back at you.

your heart stopped for a brief second when your brain finally processed his text. he’s always throwing such things your way without warning and you don’t even get a second to answer before he’s moving on.

you would do anything to be able to chuck your phone at his head right now. but given the circumstances, you would all get banned from the library for causing a huge ruckus.

this isn’t the first nor will it be the last time he’s going to say shit like this to you.

immediately you’re yet again reminded of a similar incident that happened a few days earlier.

it’s not like you were dressed up more than usual. you were just trying a different style than usual and it involved more revealing clothing. said clothing was just a strapped black lace bustier top. everything else that you wore matched the top and was relatively normal.

giselle and ningning were obviously supportive of you trying something new, even going the extra mile to go to thrift stores with you after class and hunting shopping spaces online for the right piece. naturally, you modelled for them through facetime before you headed for class and their encouragement gave you more than enough confidence to leave your dorm.

you held your head a little higher than usual, and your steps more confident as you went about your day. your classes ended around noon, and usually, you would meet up with sungchan and giselle to have lunch before studying a bit. you weren’t waiting for compliments from anyone nor did you need any but of course, lee donghyuck had to put himself out there and get underneath your skin.

he was most likely on his way to his frat house. sometimes you’d bump into him if you were unlucky. he knew better than anyone not to sneak up on you from behind (especially after halloween in freshman year) but you’d rather have him do that than yell your name for the entire campus to hear. he’s like a malevolent spirit in the guise of an attractive man-child who thinks fart jokes are funny.

“y/n, are you ignoring me?” he whined out loud and it gained the attention of some passersby who looked towards your direction in brief curiosity or annoyance. he called your name again as he caught up with you before he threw his arm over your shoulders. you have never known if it’s a habit or if he had been doing it on purpose to get under your skin.

“what do you want, hyuck?” you deadpanned, turning your head slightly to look at him while walking. he easily fell into stride with you—as if it’s an action as natural as breathing—and surveys you from head to toe. his silence speaks a thousand words at maximum volume and now you’re suddenly self-conscious.

he walked a couple of steps ahead of you while facing you. his hand gently grabbed onto your forearm, as if he was guiding you somewhere. your brows creased in visible confusion.

“y/n.” he called out your name so sweetly that it almost threw you off-guard. you nodded at him to tell him to continue. for a moment, he didn’t. his dark eyes glazed all over your figure from head to toe, tongue swiping over his lips. the sun’s rays got caught on his silver lip ring and it shone brightly enough to capture your attention for a split second.

he was wearing a maroon button-up shirt with the buttons undone halfway down to reveal the silver cross necklace that always hung loosely around his chest. you would be lying if you said he didn’t look good. he’s attractive and he knows how to highlight his best features.

his eyes finally met yours and truthfully, nothing could have prepared you for what he said next.

“you look really fucking good.” the corners of his lips tugged upwards into a playful, cocky smirk. he winked at you and blew an air kiss before turning his back onto you and walking off. you were frozen in place as he continued his journey to wherever the fuck he was supposed to be. he raised his arm to wave at you but not once did he look back. “see ya for movie night tonight, babe!”

remembering that particular incident had your cheeks burning against your will. forcing yourself back to the present, you rake a hand through your hair and look down at your phone to find new texts from him.

you don’t know if you want to crawl onto the table and choke him or just leave him on read. although the first option sounds great, you know that he would probably pin you down faster than you’d like.

as much as you would hate to admit that he is right, you’ve all been holed up in the library for quite some time. giselle isn’t getting any healthier nor are any of you going to get any more productive. you lick your lips and sigh through your nose. there’s no way around it—everyone needs to stop studying.

#8: LEE DONGHYUCK GETS HIS WAY MORE OFTEN THAN YOU CARE TO ADMIT

you’re not going to lose this fight. there has been one too many times where he gets his way. half the time, he’s whining and using what he calls his ‘undying charm’ against the entire group to get them to bend to his will. that ‘undying charm’ is him using aegyo of all things.

renjun would do anything to get him to stop doing it and it often means giving in against his wishes. sungchan simply enjoys watching donghyuck humiliate himself. shotaro is often torn between liking it and hating it but you don’t blame the guy one bit. mark loves it because he finds it cute for some reason. giselle doesn’t really care for it. ningning films it all for blackmail, but given how he pretty much enjoys doing it, she now vows to convert the footage into meme packs for the group’s perusal.

you’re on the same boat as renjun except you’re not willing to bend and break so the hellspawn can reign supreme.

donghyuck is staring at you yet again, batting his eyelashes and pouting as he shimmies his shoulders slightly. you stare back in mild disgust. he points his chin to the rest of the group, pouting yet again at you and you can hear him whine and beg for you to be the one to suggest stopping.

then, you hear some faint thudding of sneakers against the carpeted library floors. is he stomping his feet?!

when you pretend to drop a pen so that you can see his feet, he’s unabashedly stomping them like a child being refused a new toy. picking up your pen, you rise back into your proper seated position. you’re convinced he’s a man on a mission to get you to break. so far, out of everyone else, you’re the one with the highest success rate of not letting him get his way.

renjun isn’t part of your study session for the day since he had to work with his team members so you’re the only person standing against lee donghyuck’s constant need to be pampered.

you’re not that easily bribed but you’re not sure if you want to count this as a win, either.

donghyuck looks at you with his face aghast as though he just saw a ghost walk right behind you. you simply shrug lamely. if he wants to eat and stop the group study since it’s barely productive for anyone anymore, then he’s the one who says it. you have a feeling that he doesn’t want to be the one to put a halt to the session since sungchan was the one who suggested it. as soft and gentle-looking as the towering man is, he’s dead serious when it comes to studying.

you hear a creak of the wooden study chair before a pen clattering onto a thick book, followed by a soft groan of defeat. your gaze quickly flits over to ningning who is leaning back and balancing her chair on its two hind legs.

“i don’t wanna study anymooooore!” she complains loud enough for the table to hear.

“ning!” shotaro hushes her with a whisper but there’s a wave of relief that washes over him when he realised he’s not the only one done with studying. he gently taps mark’s shoulder and you half-expected the grad student to not notice. mark immediately removes his headphones and blinks, looking at the table like a deer caught in the headlights. “you okay to stop? we’re all kinda brain dead and giselle’s about halfway to becoming one of the zombies from train to busan.”

“am not.” giselle gruffly protests before blowing her nose as quietly as she possibly can.

“yeah, i’ve been vibing to my music since an hour ago.” mark bashfully admits as he hooks his headphones around his neck.

“traitor.” donghyuck huffs.

“let’s pack up and send gigi back to her dorm.” you suggest, already closing your textbooks and laptop. some of the gang (namely giselle, ningning and sungchan) still need to return the library books they used so you took your time. “her dorm room is the biggest out of all of ours so we can just order food and stay with her til she gets knocked out from the cough syrup.”

“that sounds like an amazing idea, y/n.” you gingerly look over at the man who was begging for you to speak first minutes ago. he’s grinning widely at you and wiggling his eyebrows. of course, he got saved by ningning. or was it you who got saved by her?

you pick up your phone and quickly text him.

when you pocket your phone, you don’t even attempt to be subtle as you flipped him off openly. in a childlike fashion, he reciprocates the action.

you help giselle with the books she borrowed and make sure she didn’t get any of her gunk on the poor pages. she looks like a kicked puppy as she cleans up her side of the study desk, tying up the plastic bag that ningning gave her to throw all of her used tissues. you can always count on the psychology student to be ready with the weirdest shit. if you need a hairdryer at that very moment, you’re 70% sure she can provide you with one immediately.

after the large study desk has been cleaned and sanitised, you make your way to leave the library in complete silence. sungchan and shotaro are up ahead while ningning walks closely behind with giselle. that leaves you in the back with mark and your oh-so-beloved donghyuck.

your eyes take some time to adjust to seeing the night sky. you entered the library around two in the blazing afternoon and it’s now seven in the evening with the sun nowhere in sight. everyone is finally out of the suffocating building and you’re able to get a breath of fresh air.

“i want fried chicken!” donghyuck suddenly screams into the night. since you’re right next to him, the sudden announcement startled you to the point you nearly tripped over your own two feet. his voice echoes in the distance for the rest of the universe to hear. maybe aliens will hear his call and abduct him.

“jesus christ, dude.” mark punches his shoulder at the same time ningning whips around to kick him for scaring her.

“you idiot, don’t go around yelling without warning them!” she starts to smack him for a good minute while he whines about the ‘pain’, knowing full well she has the combined strength of two doughnuts.

“i just wanted fried chicken!”

“eat my fists instead, jackass!”

so the both of them continue for a little while longer until ningning finally gets exhausted from exerting the last of her energy. instead of doing anything to stop her, everyone just watches with smiles on their faces. sungchan cheers her on, and shotaro has his phone out filming the whole thing.

you catch his eye and raise an eyebrow.

“for the memories,” he smiles sweetly, eyes forming half-crescents. you want to believe him but you know damn well he can be as big of a troublemaker as donghyuck.

“okay, yeah, now i’m down for some fried chicken.” ningning casually announces after her attempt at beating donghyuck up into a pulp. he stands up straight, stroking his ‘sore’ arm after spending the last couple of minutes bent over. “no fried chicken for gi, though. only warm soup.”

“ugh, you suck.” giselle groans and creates a bigger distance between the both of them by walking sideways but ningning drags her back. the younger girl wraps her arm around giselle’s and sidles up to her lovingly. “i still hate you, ning.”

“you love me.” she dreamily sighs.

everyone falls back in step to make your shared journey to giselle’s dorm before getting dinner.

you’re not sure what had come over donghyuck but he mirrored ningning’s affection with both you and mark, sandwiching himself between both your bodies.

“dude if you scream again without warning–“ mark begins but he immediately gets interrupted.

“i won’t, i promise!” he childishly tries to win the other’s favour. you know that it's a battle that was lost before it even started because the grad student is weirdly weak to donghyuck’s aegyo. “i’ll be a good boy, markie.”

you turn to look at him with an expression of very obvious disgust. when he takes notice, he turns to you and gently bumps his hip against yours.

“is y/n feeling a little neglected? does widdle (nickname) want some lovin’?” he tries to lean in to snuggle into your neck.

“stop it, you’re so gross!” you try your best to push him away but the hold he has on you is firm. you don’t even notice that he had unlinked his arm from mark’s and he’s tickling you to try and get a reaction. you’re not that ticklish but you’re sure that you’re laughing out loud at the absurdity of the situation.

“oh my god, it’s been years since i’ve heard y/n laugh like this.” you hear sungchan exaggerate in the distance. giselle sneezes out loud (enough for her to jump in her spot) and you assume it’s her way of agreeing.

when donghyuck is finally satisfied with his aggression, he breaks away from you with a wide grin. you take a second to catch your breath, huffing as you glare at him.

he’s bathed in the moonlight and fluorescent lights from the street lamps as he walks smugly. you want to be mad at him but you can’t. or maybe you’re not. it feels good to be able to release pent-up energy within you but you’re not exactly happy that it’s him of all people that’s making you laugh. his eyes glint mischievously and so does the silver ring that perches near the corner of his plump lips.

“you’re still gross.” you deadpan.

“say what you waaant,” he drags the last syllable in a sing-song voice. god, you really hate it when he says it like that. you want to choke him for it but you’re sure he’s going to enjoy it. “still made you laugh.” he shrugs, the smug grin not once leaving his face.

you shove him away and stick close to mark instead, who welcomes you with a hearty laugh and a head pat.

all of you arrive safely at her dorm ten minutes later and place your belongings by her study desk. she makes a beeline for her bed before flopping into it, sliding out of her furry indoor slides and burrowing herself underneath the covers. ningning makes herself at home and lies down next to giselle whose incoherent grumbling barely reaches the other girl’s ears. nobody is a stranger to her spacious dorm—it’s the go-to place for hangouts when you’re all too lazy or tired to spend time outdoors.

while everyone settles down in the open space between her bed and study desk, you make your way to the small kitchen to make her some warm honey lemon tea. you don’t remember where you got it from but you’ve always drank honey lemon tea whenever you fell sick. at times when you take care of your sick friends, you always make the drink, even for the worst of them all. there’s a buzz from your phone in your back pocket.

“since when did we order the food already?” you say out loud, free hand grabbing a mug from the dish rack.

“mark texted him while we were walking.” sungchan pops in to grab a canned drink from the fridge. he notices you and the mug you’ve taken and immediately picks up on what’s happening. he grabs something from inside and passes you a half-lemon protected by a beeswax wrap before leaving without another word.

you think nothing of it, sliding your phone into your back pocket so you can continue making the drink. you grab the jar of honey that she keeps in the wall cabinet and upon placing it down on the counter in front of you, you stare at it. one of the reasons why you hate it when any of them are sick is the honey. you will almost always have trouble opening up the jar and closing it properly because half the time, you’re making the tea after a shift at work or some heavy studying.

doesn’t hurt to try, though.

you brace as much strength as possible from your exhausted body and do your best to unscrew the airtight lid. you’re too lazy to boil some water and let the jar sit for like, ten minutes, so using sheer brute force is all that you have left in you.

“tsk, c’mere.” someone’s voice rumbles gently in their chest from behind you. they grab the jar from you and you turn to find donghyuck. within the blink of an eye, the lid pops open and you barely miss the way his biceps bulge under his loose-fitting shirt and the veins that run along his forearms making an appearance. “you could’ve asked someone for help.”

“yeah, yeah.” you wave him off dismissively. he’s the second person to reach into the fridge to grab a drink before he disappears back into the living room, where the main party and one sick person is.

by the time you’re done preparing giselle’s tea, renjun had also arrived with everyone’s dinner. you bring both her tea and samgyetang to her so she can eat with the rest of the group. ningning has since moved to the floor to join everyone so you decide to accompany the ill.

“thanks for the food, ren-jeon!” donghyuck calls out while the chicken gets distributed. shotaro had disappeared into the kitchen to grab the paper plates so chaos reigned for a short while underneath giselle’s roof.

“just for that, you owe me ten dollars for service and delivery fees.” the duo-toned male flips him off.

“what?!” he cries incredulously.

“i take both cash and bank transfers,” renjun states flatly as he makes himself comfortable in the circle. shotaro returns with a stack of paper plates and paper cups to a scene of donghyuck throwing yet another tantrum.

“i wonder when hyuck will ever beat the bratty bottom allegations.” sungchan quietly (not really) comments and it’s more than enough to send the entire dorm into flames.

everyone is shouting and donghyuck is, well, whining, which doesn’t really do anything to help him. not positively, at least. you sit down next to giselle and find sungchan smiling to himself amid the noise.

“guys!” shotaro is torn between laughing and taming everyone down. mark is taking everything in with a huge smile on his face while smacking a very unbothered but smug renjun. “oh my god. sungchan, what have you done?” he mumbles in pure terror.

“everyone shut up before her RA comes in to complain! you know her RA is the worst.” you feel a little bad but you’re laughing too, so you help shotaro with the damage control. your words are more than enough to get the rowdy bunch to quiet down and you puff your chest slightly in pride.

whenever you hang out at giselle’s dorm as a huge group like this, it tends to be risky but since more than half of you are in your graduating year, you don’t really care.

“y/n my saviour!” donghyuck springs from his spot and prances over to you, pulling you into a crushing hug and burying his face into your neck. your heart immediately starts racing a mile a minute. your ears suddenly burn and your throat runs a tad bit too dry at the sudden action. this stupidly natural reaction to skin contact with him always has you barely feeling dizzy at the end of it. you don’t know why, but you hate it. it doesn’t happen with anyone else.

“okay, stop, you know i’m allergic to you.” you gently form some distance between both of your bodies. he huffs in protest but releases you regardless.

you find yourself a seat next to mark with your back against the leg of giselle’s study desk. shotaro and renjun are sitting close to the foot of her bed, while donghyuck sits in front of her bedside table. sungchan sits on the other side of mark, which leaves ningning space between giselle’s thighs since she’s sitting upright on the edge of her mattress.

the last thing you expect is having complaints about exams and assignments as the conversation topic.

almost everyone is studying in different disciplines. ningning studies psychology, giselle studies journalism, sungchan is a law student, renjun and shotaro both study biomedical science, mark studies music, and donghyuck is a computer science student. the boys are all in the same fraternity—alpha neo—and you met the girls through freshman orientation. ningning and giselle came from the same high school so they had already been friends when you first met.

you’re lost in the bubbles of conversation that break away from the main topic, indulging whenever someone asks you something (“y/n, you have prof. moon, right?”) or needs your confirmation (“that ta jaehyun is hot. am i right or am i right?”) on something.

“sungchan, after your mock bar exam, let’s host the biggest party ever.” donghyuck suddenly announces for the whole room to hear. there are some hums and nods of agreement but you’re frowning slightly, mulling it over. he seems to have noticed and quickly adds: “channie’s mock bar is the final exam and nobody else has anything due after the date, right?”

you think long and hard for an answer when it’s already in front of you—no.

“i don’t see why not.” renjun is the first to pipe up and agree. “it’s the end of exam season, we’re letting the summer pass, and then we’re graduating. a pre-celebration of celebrations, if you wanna look at it like that.”

“you’re not wrong,” you twist your lips to the side, nodding. it’s not like you’re going to have to worry about a lot of things after sungchan’s mock bar exam. your summer internship has been contracted so you wouldn’t be entirely jobless the whole time. there’s a couple of weeks’ worth of a window between the day after his mock bar exam and the day your internship begins.

“how big are we talking? if you’re talking cheap beer, you gotta up your game.” ningning takes a sip of her coke.

“we’ll get soju! vodka! we have a running tradition in the alpha neo frat where seniors every year will put money in a safe spot for the incoming seniors to use.” you aren’t at all too impressed or reassured with the explanation that donghyuck had just given you. you cock an unimpressed eyebrow upward at him to make sure he knows it. he catches your eyes and purses his lips in a thin line, glaring at you. “i know we have a lot because i’ve lifted the box before and it’s heavy. no sound of coins, either.”

“oh yeah, i make sure to put in a portion every time i get my paycheque from work.” mark chimes in as a matter of factly. “i don’t think i’ve contributed the most, but i’ve definitely contributed.”

the whole room erupts into a cacophony of “aww!”s and “that’s so sweet!”s, praising the grad student for his selfless deed. it’s obvious that he’s not used to all of the attention so he’s just shyly grinning and hiding his face behind his hands. even you can’t help but coo at how adorable he is when he becomes bashful like this.

“we’re gonna be able to have the best party ever thanks to mark!” shotaro claps his hands in joy.

“i mean, it’s not because of me—” mark begins, only to be interrupted by a very excited donghyuck.

“let’s make sure it’s the biggest party we’ve ever thrown!”

a loud, violent sneeze rips through the room and everyone turns to look at giselle. ningning slowly and gingerly moves towards sungchan and renjun instead.

“how about we make sure that gigi doesn’t die first?”

⠀⠀ ⠀⌒⠀ִ ✧ ﾟ 𓆩 ♡ 𓆪

a few days after that, you find yourself in the campus library yet again. this time, you’re alone in a small cubicle to focus on studying. the last time you studied there, it was pure chaos and of course, it’s all thanks to donghyuck.

a thick book full of material related to your course of study is open right next to your laptop. translucent sticky notes are all over its pages, highlighting important keywords and scribbled-down annotations that would help you recall concepts better. your shoulders are straining after subconsciously curving your spine and turning yourself into a shrimp for the entire forty-five minutes that you were studying. you’ve decided to take a quick fifteen-minute break since you’ve been studying for about three hours in total already.

you roll your shoulders back and get up from your seat to do some quick stretches and relax your body. you’re thankful that you are lucky enough to be able to get this secluded corner in your campus’ busy library. while you’re cornered in and hidden by rows of clean, white bookshelves, you have the perfect view of everyone and anyone who’s on the level beneath you. unfortunately, that also means you’re able to see people doing anything other than studying.

like the girl that’s trying to trap a helpless jeno against a bookshelf. it feels rude to look but sometimes you do enjoy just watching humans be in their natural element. you spot someone else coming in and interrupting the girl from whatever she’s trying to do. curious, you stop stretching and lean in to get a better look.

jeno instinctively reaches out to this person and immediately pulls them flush to his side, even going the extra mile to press a kiss to the person’s temple. a few words are being exchanged, the girl appears to be apologetic and then she walks away. jeno and this mysterious person hug it out but there’s no mistaking the hearts in his eyes as they talk in hushed whispers. when they’re leaving, you notice that they’re practically attached to the hip that it’s a little difficult to see if they’re holding hands or not.

you smile quietly to yourself. jeno’s in the same frat as donghyuck so you know that donghyuck would most likely be up-to-date with all of the happenings with all the frat members. you don’t have a say in it but there are times when he will suddenly blow up your phone with the latest gossip that he’s heard of. you hate it when he does it because not only does it distract you from whatever you’re doing but you end up wanting to hear more because your friend group is too wholesome and full of healthy relationships for any drama.

#7: HE LOVES GOSSIP WAY TOO MUCH

you’re about to return to your station and study when there’s a violent series of buzzes in your back pocket. there’s only one person on this godforsaken planet who wouldn’t be afraid of spam-texting you and it’s none other than lee donghyuck.

you watch your message go from ‘delivered’ to ‘read’, but there’s not a single sign of life from him. did he suddenly fall off the face of earth and die? did aliens appear out of thin air and abduct him? you frown at your text messages with him, scrolling up to your past texts then scrolling back down, half-expecting to see the three dots pop up but there’s none. whatever, he’s probably crossing the road or something.

you return to your seat in your little study corner, ready to continue your productive streak when your phone starts buzzing again. the screen lights up and you see donghyuck’s caller id appear on your screen. you know better than to reject his call so you slide the answer button across and bring your phone to your ear. as soon as your line connects, he’s whisper-yelling your name into your ear.

“you’re not in the library with me, you don’t have to say my name like that, jackass.” you balance your phone between your shoulder and your ear as you reorganise your notes aimlessly, hands itching for something to do as you talk to him.

“how else do you want me to say your name?” he scoffs in disbelief that you had chosen to start the conversation with that. “would you rather i say your name like this?” it’s followed by him lowering his voice as he calls your name, rasp evident and a quiet, teasing chuckle punctuating it. shivers rush down your spine in a quick, teasing flash and your stomach flutters nervously as you blink at your laptop screen, the words swimming aimlessly in your vision.

“don’t do that ever again.” you do your best to deadpan him but your breath hitched just before you had spoken. your voice had definitely betrayed you back there and you’re just glad he didn’t relish in that opportunity to openly embarrass you.

“or what? you’re gonna fall for me?” you can hear him smirk through the line with the light huff at the end. ticked off from his provocation you glare at your laptop screen as if it’s him. you grab your phone and change its position to your other ear as your free hand digs through your bed for your airpods.

“not even for a million dollars.” the words taste bitter on your tongue. why do they? you finally find it at the bottom of the bag and fish it out, quickly plugging your ears. they ding at the successful connection and his voice quickly comes through.

“i didn’t think i’d be worth at least a million to you, babe.” he purrs which unleashes another set of flutters in your stomach and uneasy throbs of your heart. he better be glad you’re not within arm’s length because you’d be throwing hands immediately.

“god, just shut up already. you said you had the juiciest news or something?” you grumble, urging him to change the subject. you prop your phone up against your half-empty water bottle just in case he chooses to switch to video out of nowhere. there are one too many times of that happening while you’re in the middle of a call with him.

“oh, fuck. yes, right! okay, so, remember that really hot TA, jung jaehyun?” he begins with a tremble of excitement lacing his words. you mumble a quiet, “uhuh,” in return as you take a look at your notes to see where you’d last left off. “he made out with a freshman and apparently they got pretty deep into third base.”

“if making out is first base, isn’t third base pretty much fucking?” your question slips from your lips before you can even help yourself and you can hear him scoff incredulously at you on the other side of the line.

“no, my dear y/n. the first base is light kissing. the second base is when you start making out. third base is making out with over-the-clothes action, maybe a little bit of dry-humping . . .” he starts explaining as if you’re someone who’s just entering the world of physical intimacy with another person. “do you need me to teach you or something? i’m free right now if you catch my drift.” you don’t need to see him to know that he’s obnoxiously winking and licking his lips at you.

“suck my dick, hyuck.” you sigh, rolling your eyes. where did you stop again? you swear you noted something down somewhere in the book. regardless, you urge him to continue. “the story? what’s wrong with him making out with a freshman? it’s practically a rite of passage, i made out with this guy who went by ten and another senior then. i can’t remember their name, though.”

“wait, ten? he’s the guy that’s an apprentice at the piercing and tattoo store renjun always goes to!” he gasps. “hold on.” you hear donghyuck struggling on the phone, hands probably busy as he focuses on whatever obstacle he’s facing. your eyes return to your since-abandoned study session. you’ve studied for a little over four hours and you deserve at least a couple hours’ break before you continue. right? yeah. yeah, that sounds good. “i’m home! renjunnie, are we gonna order food?” he most likely has his airpods in too because boy, is he fucking loud. you had to lower your volume so your eardrums wouldn’t rupture.

“do you have fucking trumpets for lungs?” you hiss in slight pain while you start packing up. he giggles out an apology that you know he doesn’t mean at all.

“okay, get ready for the shock factor. ready?” his footsteps are heavy as he races up the carpeted stairs to get to the room that he shares with renjun in the frat house. you made a non-committal noise that tells him to continue while you peel off the translucent sticky notes you’ve used on the pages of the library book. you’d be damned if the library staff found your notes and countless question marks and ‘what the fuck’s written next to paragraphs. you absent-mindedly reach for your bottle, pocketing your phone and taking a sip of water. “the freshman is the prof’s niece.”

why did your brain choose to make you do that at that very moment?

his words take you by complete surprise and you’re choking on the water as it runs down the wrong pipe. your eyes search your laptop and the library books you’ve used for the day and you heave a sigh of relief when nothing is damaged. you want to berate him for not warning you. who the hell says ‘shock factor’ anymore and why did you take a sip of your water?

“oh my god, are you okay?!” you can tell he’s torn between laughing and being concerned for you but he ends up choosing to do the former. your fingers close into a fist and you repeatedly thump it firmly against your chest, coughing and clearing your throat until it doesn’t feel like you just got waterboarded. “y/n, you good?” it’s his turn to cough too but from laughing too hard.

you really ought to get him for this one but it was kind of your fault that you decided to drink water right then and there. whatever—you can blame him still. he doesn’t have to know.

“lee donghyuck, what the fuck?” you want to be mad at him, you genuinely do, but you can’t.

every time he drags you in to gossip about something he’s heard of because a friend of a friend of a friend told them some juicy rumour, you end up getting immersed because of his weirdly captivating storytelling skills. you hate to admit it but even he can spin paint drying into something thrilling and interesting. sometimes he reminds you of the aunties and grandmothers in your family coming together to talk in hushed whispers about things that are happening with their children. you’re confident he’ll fit right in with them.

you’ll always get distracted from whatever you’re doing. you’d be lying straight through your teeth if you said he didn’t have a nice voice. he has a lovely one and you know he’s got some good lungs when you have karaoke nights. you remember everyone being surprised when donghyuck and renjun first sang properly for everyone.

wait, why are you thinking about his voice?

“i’m serious! it’s the niece! i even stalked that professor’s facebook!” you stare at the glass wall in front of you, deadpan at his confession. he sounds so proud of it, too.

“why on earth would you do that?”

“in my digital literacy class, i learned to always fact-check before disseminating information because fake news easily goes rampant–”

“my god, just shut up. forget i asked.”

“now, why on earth would i do that?” he’s smirking to himself—this one you’re sure of—and he’s probably puffing his chest out, too. suddenly you hear a voice in the background that sounds distinctly like renjun’s. “huh? i’m talking to y/n. wait, you have a shift today? can you bring back the chocolate croissant for me pleaaaaase? please, junie, pleaaase?”

“you’re so annoying, help the business out and buy it instead of taking the leftovers!” renjun scolds him but you know that he will be bringing back that croissant for donghyuck if there’s any.

“tell renjun to have a good shift at work,” you quickly pipe up with a quiet grunt as you lug the heavy book to return it where you found it.

“don’t tell me what to do!” he retorts childishly. in a sweeter voice, he goes, “have a good shift at work renjunnie!” you roll your eyes in annoyance.

“thanks, y/n. hope your study session was productive.” renjun’s voice is right in your ears and you hum positively in reply. you find the nearest book return cart first before the right bookshelf so you carefully put it in there.

in the background, you hear some back-and-forth bickering and you hear jeno’s name perk up in the conversation. you don’t really know him that well since he tends to keep to himself and he has his own friend group.

finally, the phone is back in its owner’s possession.

“okay, hi, i’m back. did you miss me?” he coos into your ears and you have to physically resist the urge to punch something as a substitute for his stupid face.

“i didn’t even notice that you’d left.” you close your laptop and slide it into its sleeve before packing it into your bag.

“ugh,” he groans. “i have an exam tomorrow and i lost my calculator.” as you leave the library, you frown slightly at his statement. this is going to build up to something. he’s going to ask to borrow your calculator, you’re sure of it. you have one lying around because your field of study doesn’t exactly require frequent usage of it and your upcoming exams and assignments don’t need it.

“then get a new one,” you lamely suggest. if the word ‘borrow’ even leaves your lips, he’s going to ask you for the calculator. you already know he’s going to ask anyway but you’re just trying to minimise the chances of him doing so. if possible.

“for an exam? it’s not cost-effective!” donghyuck whines in your ears and you roll your eyes. the automatic doors slide open and you walk past jeno and the same person who had saved him earlier.

“neither is losing your calculator a day before your exam.” you retort with a scoff through your nose. although they were ahead of you until you took over, you managed to catch a glimpse of their fingers brushing against each other, itching to hold the other’s hand. right before you sped up, they intertwined their fingers and you can’t help but smile to yourself. that’s cute.

“c’mon, just lend me yours! i know you have one!”

#6: HE BORROWS THINGS AND NEVER RETURNS THEM

you’re not the only victim of never getting your things returned to you. he’s borrowed a lot of things from a lot of people and you doubt he’s returned over half of the items.

back in freshman year when some of you hung out in your dorm, he asked what made your room smell so good. you wanted to say that you were acquaintances back then but given how comfortable he was with riling you up, you figured you were past that already.

your dorm wasn’t the biggest nor was it the smallest but it was enough to host renjun, mark, donghyuck, giselle, and yourself for the time being. you don’t even remember why the hell this particular combination of people was in your dorm.

what you do remember was mark ripping the nastiest fart by accident since he had been skipping meals and finally had proper food earlier that day after everyone had literally dragged him to the nearest kfc to eat something with everyone else.

you had to open the windows and your door to let the air circulate. honestly, you half-hoped that someone would walk past the dorm and smell the toxins that had been unleashed. mark was, of course, extremely embarrassed to the point where he was laughing his ass off while donghyuck and renjun made fun of him. you grabbed a dainty glass bottle that can be easily mistaken for perfume and quickly spritzed every single corner of your dorm until it smelled like apricots, tangerine and vanilla.

“whoa, that smells so good!” donghyuck was the first to make a comment on the scent of your air freshener. “may i?” gone are the days when he used to ask politely for things. now, he just whines, begs, and acts cute until he gets his way. you handed him the bottle and he read the labels and everything in curiosity, surveying it like it was the finest item that had ever graced his hands.

you had let him be and checked in on mark to make sure that his soul wasn’t going to ascend into the heavens out of embarrassment. within minutes, donghyuck was asking if he could borrow it to test for his own room. out of the goodness of your own heart, of course, you said yes. it’s safe to say that you had to buy a new bottle a couple of weeks after that because the one you let him borrow never saw the light of the next day.

in hindsight, you probably should have taken that as a precautionary tale or even a lesson. even though he isn’t the best at returning the things he borrows, at least he pays back what he owes when it comes to money. maybe that’s why you lent him that vintage corduroy jacket that you thrifted and made the excuse that he looked good in it and that it was too big for you.

“so can i?” donghyuck’s voice pulls you back to the present. you don’t have any upcoming exams or assessments that require you to use the calculator so it’s practically just collecting dust. if it were someone else asking you, you’d give in with no hesitation. since it’s the one person on this godforsaken earth who likes to mess with your head, you need to seize the opportunity and ask for something in return. “pretty pleaaasseee? my bestest friend in the whole wide world?”

“ouch, imagine if renjun heard that.”

“he’ll live.” you hear a soft thump from his end and you assume that he had fallen back on his pillow dramatically. “c’mon, y/n, please? i’ll do anything!” then he begins to start chanting ‘please’ quickly enough to make you cringe.

every time you think that he cannot possibly get even more annoying, he proves you wrong when you least expect it. at times like this is when his brain truly astounds you.

you start to tune out his incessant mantra that turns into white noise. since it’s two in the afternoon, you’re headed to the canteen to have a slightly late lunch before you head back to your dorm. the entire campus seems oddly empty but you know you can attribute it to a majority of the students mugging in the library or off-campus for their field projects.

“y/n! are you listening to me?” you snap your attention back to him and blink distractedly like it’ll help you focus on him.

“what? i stopped when you started being extra annoying.” the kiosk for purchasing your meal ticket appears and you make your way over with a light spring in your step.

“i said i’ll buy you a meal in exchange after your exam tomorrow . . .” your brows furrow slightly when he sounds pouty. this is where the tricky part comes in—there are some very special cases when he’ll tug at your heartstrings and get you to break when he sounds desperate and pathetic enough. as your finger hovers over the purchase button, you start to find difficulty in moving on.

“i want that curry katsu rice from hongdae.” the corners of your lips upturn in a proud smile as you finally buy your meal ticket and grab the small slip of paper.

“what?! i don’t have a car, we can’t drive there!”

“there’s a car rental service and it costs like, eight bucks per hour. hongdae’s a half-hour drive with good traffic. you can rent a car for two hours, three hours maximum and make it back in time. my exam ends at 11 am and yours at 10:45 am so i don’t see the problem. you’re still paying less by buying me food than buying a brand new calculator.”

silence falls on his side of the line and you know you’ve hit the jackpot. you grab a tray and start picking out the side dishes that you want with your rice as you wait for his response. you quickly thank the canteen staff and find a seat amongst the sea of empty tables. it’s so eerily empty that you feel like you’re in a ghost town illuminated by fluorescent lights.

“fine, you win. i’ll let you know if i can rent a car.” he grumbles.

even as you eat lunch, you’re both talking about anything that you possibly can as if you’re a pair of friends who haven’t spoken to each other in five years. you wonder if it’s the stress of exams and assignments wearing you down because you find yourself letting yourself go around him. you’re able to laugh freely, throw insults at him, and forget about how taxing university can be for the graduating cohorts.

after you’re done eating and returning your tray to its designated area, you’re still talking to donghyuck. you don’t want to admit it out loud to him but he does have a nice voice. soothing, even. you prefer to listen to him when he’s not whining or making annoying sounds with his mouth. he is most definitely a guy with great humour, and he’s thoughtful and polite when he wants to be.

he accompanies you through the phone as you make your way back to your dorm, talking about how renjun keeps getting distracted by some guitarist in a store while he works. the few times he visited his best friend at work, apparently he kept staring out the floor-to-ceiling glass walls as if waiting for someone to appear. then he’s complaining about how jeno refuses to admit to this person that he’s known since freshman year that he’s in love with them. so that’s who the mystery person is. you don’t personally know them nor have you met them but you’re sure that he has good taste.

finally, you’re back in the sweet confines of your dorm and it’s the same second that your airpods begin to breathe its last few breaths. thanks to donghyuck, you’ve been given some time to shut your brain off before you spend the rest of your day mugging and doing last-minute revisions for tomorrow’s exam. if you’re going to look at the brighter side of things, it’s your final exam and everything else is just submissions in the following week.

“okay, i gotta go. my airpods are dying and i need to continue studying.” you announce, sliding out of your shoes and into the furry dorm slippers that giselle had gotten for you.

“boo, you nerd.” although he says that, you know that he doesn’t want to end the two-hour call just yet. the weird thing is, neither do you. “study well. you’ll crush your exam tomorrow.”

you frown at the sudden affirmation.

“thanks,” you mumble. “you too.”

“at least say it like you mean it!” he complains loudly and you resist the urge to strangle him through the phone.

“what do you mean by that? i didn’t half-ass it! would you rather i go—“ you put on your best customer service smile and voice from when you used to work in retail—“‘oh, hyuckie, thank you so much! you’re the greatest, i’m sure you’ll do well tomorrow too!’?”

“yeah, i do! i like it a lot better when you call me hyuckie!” you open your mouth to hit him back with a smartass retort when you realise that you can’t. what he had just blurted out finally registered in your brain after an entire three seconds of silence.

“. . . huh?” that was all that you managed to say.

“everyone calls me hyuckie but not you.” his voice is barely above a whisper, a confession that’s so shy leaving his lips. “it’d be nice if you called me hyuckie every once in a while, you know.” is this his way of saving himself after that? are you reading too much into it? when did you even call him hyuckie?

when you backtrack and realise that you had indeed called him hyuckie by complete accident, your face burns in embarrassment. it’s not like you don’t want to call him that. you do but every time you even want to formulate it in your brain, you fear that it sounds more affectionate than you want it to be.

what the hell do you say now that it’s slipped?

you’re struggling for the right words to say, searching every corner and crevice of your brain for something—anything—but it feels like the seasons have passed and the flowers have bloomed until the final petal is hanging desperately onto the bud for an answer.

“i’ll call you hyuckie whenever i want to.” your voice comes out in a shallow whisper. it doesn’t sound like a proper answer but more like a promise.

“or alternatively, you could always call me yo–”

“can’t hear you, i’m hanging up, bye!” as soon as you anticipate what he is going to say, you talk over him in panic and abuse the red button on your screen until the call ends. with a loud groan of defeat, you drop yourself onto your bed and toss your phone onto the pillows. you cradle your head in your hands and release another groan, this time out of frustration.

it doesn’t make sense why your heart is fluttering and your stomach is twisting from what he said before you interrupted him. you both get along like fire and ice. he flirts with every single thing that breathes. you insult him every chance you get. you hate his guts half the time. he picks on you and gets on your nerves every waking moment of your life.

so why do you feel this compelling urge to kiss him to shut his stupidly handsome face up every time he’s near?

maybe it’s because you’re stressed.

yeah, that sounds right. you’re not thinking straight. the mental exhaustion and fog that comes with mugging for exams and tying loose ends for several projects are finally taking a toll on you. it’s so bad that it’s beginning to cloud your judgement and influence you into thinking otherwise.

yeah.

you’re just stressed. you’re definitely not developing feelings for someone in your friend group. university has been taxing on both your mind and body. this feeling—whatever this is—will eventually pass.

suddenly, your phone buzzes on your pillow. you lean over and grab it to open up a text from none other than the man himself.

another loud groan rips through your throat as you toss it back onto the pillow.

“i hate you, lee donghyuck.”

⠀⠀ ⠀⌒⠀ִ ✧ ﾟ 𓆩 ♡ 𓆪

before you know it, your exams are over and all of your assignments are turned in.

no longer are you staring at a laptop screen amongst an ocean of open books and colourful page tags or holding a pen praying it won’t run out of ink halfway through the exam. for the first time in weeks, you managed to feel relaxed and well-rested after sleeping for ten hours straight. forget having to hole yourself in some secret corner in the library or your room with days-old stains on sweatshirts.

you’re free from the treacherous throes of exams and so are your friends, which is why you’re at the alpha neo fraternity with virtually every single student on campus with a cup of fruit punch in your hand.

like what donghyuck had promised, it’s the biggest party of the frat that you’ve ever attended yet. led lights line the perimeter of every ceiling to set the mood. speakers are found at almost every corner making sure the music fills the space. the entire place reeks of alcohol and sweaty bodies dancing, playing games, making out, and doing anything they can to relieve the stress of university.

speaking of donghyuck, you haven’t seen him in person for quite a while. you’ve texted, sure, but you’ve also been texting the others in your friend group. everyone had arrived at different timings so you couldn’t do your shotgun tradition which is perfectly fine. maybe you even felt a bit of relief if that meant not seeing him for a while longer.

the one who greeted you at the door was a face that you completely did not recognise. you doubt she’s someone from the frat but she did a great job at welcoming you in. she pulled you into a hug before she let you in and she strongly smelled of soju and beer so you figured she was drunk or at least close to that.

now you’re sticking close to the walls, hoping to catch even a glimpse of any one of your friends. texting them is futile especially when you’re sure half of them are drunk already. even if you feel a tad lonely in a frat house full of people, you’re sure your friends are more or less fine. probably.

“y/n!” you hear your name amongst the loud crowd and heavy bass that resonates through every fibre in your bones. you turn to see giselle with one hand already out to grab you. a soft laugh escapes your lips as you make your way over to her and meet her in the middle. “we were looking everywhere for you! everyone’s in the attic.”

“the attic?” for all the time you’ve spent in this house, not once have you ever guessed that there would be an attic. or a basement. “is it a creepy attic like the ones in scary american movies? rundown and all that?”

she cackles out loud and that’s when you know she’s on the verge of being drunk. she begins to lead you to wherever this place may be, snaking through a sea of sticky, sweat-slicked bodies.

“it’s well-kept, don’t worry. it’s not just us, there are others in their own groups too. it’s like . . . like . . . oh! a small party away from the main party.” she reassures you with a slight sway in her steps. if she’s on her way to being drunk, that means sungchan, ningning, and donghyuck are most likely already there. of everyone, renjun and shotaro have the highest alcohol tolerance out of everyone else, but you’re sure they want to take as many shots to get them loopy.

after navigating through the crowd, there’s a flight of stairs at the end of the third-level hallway, hidden behind a foldable shoji screen. that’s kind of a smart way to hide the attic from the lot of them.

the attic is unlike anything you’ve imagined.

fairy lights are strung along the walls, with singular light bulbs and potted plants hanging from the ceiling. there’s a moderately big speaker at the far end, connected to presumably mark’s laptop, playing music that you actually like. it’s not loud enough to be heard by people outside but it’s loud enough to drown the music at the main party.

like what giselle had said, there are people mingling around in their own little groups but sometimes they’ll break away to talk to others. there’s a table for snacks and for some reason, a large plate of roasted chicken. from the way it looks when you survey it, apparently, people are eating it too. there are three plates of baked cookies with one labelled ‘infused with devil’s lettuce’.

above your head, there’s a huge skylight that’s open to reveal the constellation of stars that decorate the dark night sky. moonlight floods generously through the attic and illuminates everything that it delicately touches. at the end, there’s a balcony separated by sliding glass doors that would lead people to the swimming pool below.

you spot what’s left of your group in the distance. donghyuck is the first to notice you and call out your name eagerly. you spot ningning, shotaro, and mark sitting with him in a circle.

“y/n!” one by one they turn their heads and cheer your name enthusiastically. your heart swells at the affection the group has for you and a big beam spreads across your face.

“i’m here too? hello to you too, damn.” giselle sulks and pouts, burying her face in your neck. you laugh and pull her close to your side, squeezing her waist gently before letting go so you can both sit down.

“so how drunk is everyone?” you place your cup down on the wood floor, looking at the group and the various states of drunkenness.

“on my way there,” ningning cutely slurs her words with a cheeky thumbs-up. sungchan is nowhere to be seen and you have to guess that he’s getting drunker than a skunk.

“we just wanted to get our eyes on you first before going to the main party. hyuck’s already four shots in within a little over an hour.” mark points at a somewhat drunk donghyuck, eyelids halfway down and shoulders drooping while he sports a loopy smile of contentment. if you didn’t know any better, he probably had a little bit of the edibles with his drinks. “renjun and sungchan are downstairs playing beer pong with others, we’re looking to join.”

“ning and i found two other girls who are really, really cute and we’re also hoping they’re a little—“ giselle flicks her wrist downwards gently “—so we can get some action. but maybe it’ll just be me if we don’t sober up soon.” she takes another swig of her drink with a toothy grin.

“i’ll go with beer pong. with this one drunk,” you gesture at donghyuck, “i’m sure we can get him to do some weird shit. good luck to you girls, though.” you’re already laughing to yourself thinking about the possibilities that could happen. when he’s sober, he’s already quite competitive and stubborn. these two traits of his seem to shine brighter when he’s drunk.

“sounds like a plan.” shotaro gives the gathered group a thumbs up.

everyone gets up and collects their valued belongings as you prepare to move to the main party. within minutes you’re back to loud, pop music that everyone knows the lyrics to with ridiculously strong bass shaking both the skeleton of the house and yours.

you’re bumping into swaying bodies left and right, either high as a kite or drunk as a skunk until you finally find the corner where renjun and sungchan are playing beer pong. there are a lot of faces that you don’t recognise but you immediately pick out jeno, the hot TA jaehyun, and the hot girl you hooked up with some months ago from them. at least they’re familiar.

it appears that the beer pong is no longer just beer, but a mix with soju and some coke. some drinks contain all of those. that’s surely one way to party.

when a ping pong ball bounces off the table and onto the floor, you realise that sungchan is no longer trying.

actually, he’s no longer sober.

renjun has practically wiped all of his cups while he only has half of renjun’s. the poor law student can barely even stand straight, he’s aiming all the way to his opponent’s general left area. you’re not even sure if he’s able to stand after the game.

“i can do it better,” you hear donghyuck mumble out loud enough for it to reach the ears of alpha neo’s king of beer pong.

“are you sure about that?” renjun scoffs through his nose and the ping-pong ball hits his chest. however, it bounces and lands in one of his cups. he was about to congratulate sungchan but there’s a gentle thud and the next thing you know, the poor boy is on the floor and knocked out cold. “oh my god. okay, someone else please play. i’m taking him to his room.”

“markie! i wanna play with you!” donghyuck has chosen his opponent and you have chosen to help renjun get sungchan up to his room while shotaro babysits the lightweights.

honestly, you didn’t think that taking sungchan back would require maths, physics, the forces of nature, and some divine magic. he’s a very tall person—the tallest in your friend group, too—and that means his limbs can end up in awkward, gangly situations. his arms are flopping over your shoulders as you help him up the stairs but it’s more of you and renjun making a joint effort to drag him up.

when you get into his room, you tuck him into bed while renjun prepares a bottle of water, some pills for the morning, and a plastic bag on the side just in case he needs to hurl. you’re both in and out quickly and then it’s just the both of you alone as you make your way back to the beer pong table.

“so when are you going to act on it?” renjun asks out of the blue. you turn and look at him in visible confusion, gesturing at him to elaborate. “your feelings for donghyuck.”

“huh?!” you almost choked on your spit at his ridiculous assumption based on nothing at all. “i do not have a crush on him.” do you? your tongue is all twisted as you think of a compelling argument to dispel his claims. “have you seen him? he’s . . . him!”

“dude, i’ve seen the way you look at him and the way he looks at you.” he laughs. what the hell does he mean by that?

“i look at him in contempt and disgust. my feelings for him are pure hatred. i tolerate his existence.”

renjun doesn’t seem at all too convinced by that. underneath the dim, coloured lighting, you’re glad he won’t be able to see most of your facial expressions when you turn away from him.

“whatever you say, y/n.” he smiles sweetly at you but you know it’s not sincere. it’s thinly-veiled sarcasm and he always gives that smile when he knows something that you don’t.

you open your mouth to retort when somebody grabs your arm unexpectedly. ready to fight whoever had grabbed you without your consent, your free hand balls into a fist as you turn but you’re quickly met with shotaro and his soft smile. you immediately relax.

“sorry, did i scare you?” he bashfully apologises while dragging you and renjun into the small circle that’s formed around the two beer pong players.

“all good, taro,” you pat his bicep gently.

mark has cleared some of his cups while donghyuck has only cleared a couple. it’s obvious who’s the winner and it’s even more obvious who’s tipping over the edge already.

“how’s the winner feeling?” you muse teasingly, arms folded across your chest as you look at mark.

“it’s not much of a challenge.” he shrugs as his opponent misses yet another cup. “he’s too drunk to even aim properly. i’m tipsy and i still can get some shots in.”

“talk later when i smoke your ass, lee minhyung!” he slurs, wagging his finger at the other. you’ve seen the man in varied states of drunkenness before but this is probably the first time he’s properly let go.

“oh no, the government name.” mark giggles while he grabs a ping pong ball so he can prepare his round. “i’m so scared, hyuckie.” he bounces the ball against the table and it aptly lands in one of donghyuck’s cups. half of the circle cheers while the other half chants for the sore loser to chug.

even in his drunken state, he can find the cup with the ball bobbing sadly. he takes it and carefully places the soiled ball into a bowl of clean water. you’re curious about what he will be drinking this time—will it be coke, beer, soju, or all of it mixed?

the second you see a slight frown on his face as he tastes the drink, you know it’s something he doesn’t want. he got beer.

“markie, winner gets to pick what the loser does!” he announces before downing the carbonated drink. god, you really should’ve seen this coming.

#5: HE WILL DO ANYTHING TO PROVE A POINT

the first time you had witnessed donghyuck go to lengths to prove a point was in freshman year. the boys were playing basketball while you, giselle, and ningning sat with shotaro at the side to listen to music and just vibe. you didn’t know what had started the commotion but there was a lot of shouting that had immediately stolen your attention.

“you’re not tall enough, jackass!” you heard renjun yell, fingers pressed to his temples as if he’s beyond stressed out.

“you should talk, jun.” donghyuck grinned. that man looked death in the eye and winked.

renjun did not hesitate to grab the orange ball from mark’s hands and started to chase him around with it.

“you wanna fucking die, you rat bastard?!” you couldn’t help but laugh at the scene unfolding. giselle practically fell into your lap laughing when the ball bounced off the ground and attacked donghyuck in the ass.

“all i said was i can definitely dunk!” he cried out in agony as he dramatically fell on the court and rolled over on his back in a spread-eagle position. sungchan grabbed the rogue ball and towered over him with a sadistic grin, raised over to his chest and ready to throw it directly where the sun doesn’t shine. “no! no, no, no! channie have mercy please, i’ll buy you ice pops! i’ll buy you anything!”

you were half-expecting sungchan to smash donghyuck’s precious testicles right then and there but he’s not as sadistic as you are . . . probably. he pretended to drop the basketball and the victim screamed bloody murder, immediately curling up and begging for mercy.

“you definitely cannot dunk!” you shouted loud enough for the boys to hear.

“yeah, hyuckie! you’re too tiny!” ningning continued the jeering and everyone was laughing out loud at the blatant affectionate bullying.

“i’m not too tiny?!” not wanting to take any more slander, he jumped onto his feet and immediately bumped into the tree that is sungchan and another round of giggling filled the air. “everyone, wait here. i’m gonna be back and exact my revenge! just wait!”

“we have all day, hyuck.” you raised your eyebrows and he flipped you off in response. and so he walked off with his phone to who knew where.

“should we follow him?” mark asked, hands on his hips as he watched his figure become tinier in the distance.”

“he’ll be fine.” renjun waved dismissively and walked over to where the non-basketball players lounged with the music and food.

“welcome to the oasis,” shotaro welcomed them with a smile, passing their water bottles over to them while they made space for themselves.

minutes later, donghyuck comes back with a ladder and you already had a rough idea of what he wanted to do. everyone fell silent as he walked across the court and planted the ladder directly underneath the hoop. he went back to your little picnic spread to retrieve the ball and by then, ningning had her phone out to film him.

all eyes were on him, basketball tucked under his armpit, strutting back to the metal ladder with a purpose. he climbed the steps and as soon as he was within reach of the hoop, renjun heaved a loud sigh.

everybody knew what he was doing by then. he held the basketball high over his head and dramatically shoved it down the hoop.

“i told you i could dunk!” that was simply the beginning of his countless misadventures just to prove a point.

there are over dozens of memories you would love to reminisce about but the beer pong game appears a tad more interesting.

mark had already gotten more than half of donghyuck’s cups, leaving him with three left to win. his sore loser of an opponent has about ten cups to clear and the winner is standing with one hand on his hip while he leans against shotaro.

“hyuckie, mark kinda won by a landslide.” renjun throws one of his arms over his shoulders to support him but he’s whining nonsense and pouting at his best friend.

“he still has cups! i can still win!” he declares aloud only for his words to get swallowed by the deafening music.

watching him, you have no idea if he’s an idiot or just plain drunk and competitive. but you honestly respect the fact that he’s still so eager to lose.

“okay, and what– guh– what does the loser have to do?” mark is obviously starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. as much as you would like to be a good friend and get him water, you’d hate to miss the shitshow when hyuck loses.

“wear a trash bag and throw himself in the pool.”

out of all the bets that the boys have been involved in, this is considered very tame.

mark’s eyes light up and it looks like he’s sobered up slightly as if he’s gotten a new sense of purpose.

you want to say that the game has gotten tense but everyone’s waiting for the grad student to win so they can play too. a song that you recognise begins playing and it’s that viral tiktok song, cupid. naturally, everyone else knows it too and starts aggressively yelling the lyrics.

weirdly enough, they’re playing the english version instead of the korean version which makes you laugh a little. most of the students at the party are native korean speakers so it was pretty amazing to see them excitedly singing along flawlessly. you spot some randomly mouthing things (see: donghyuck) until they get to a part they recognise.

from the corner of your eye, donghyuck was dancing along and even yanked mark to rope him into joining. the sheer sight of them drunkenly yet passionately dancing makes your heart swell with so much affection for your friends. renjun already has his phone filming it because you know that mark will deny ever doing it.

“i’d give a second chance to cupid!” everyone, including yourself, screams into the air, and bursts of laughter resonate afterwards.

“by the way,” mark turns to donghyuck, gaze heavy and serious. the younger male reciprocates the energy and you suddenly wonder what’s up. “you could never wear a trash bag. you’re too good-looking for that, bro.”

you sigh heavily. you definitely need more drinks for this. you turn to renjun who’s already way ahead of you, returning with three cups of soju mixed with coke.

“what? i could definitely rock a trash bag!” donghyuck protests with his words slurring together a little. you take your cup and take a huge gulp, needing the buzz under your skin.

“nobody’s wearing any trash bags!” shotaro exclaims in exasperation, not wanting to deal with either one of them accidentally flashing the entire campus. it’s not like it’s the first time, but he still wants to save some of their dignity.

“shh, let them be.” you wave dismissively at the two men standing on either side of you. “you two go and get drunk.”

“and let you have all the fun in watching these two dolts?” renjun scoffs but takes a swig of his drink. the last time you had all gotten drunk like this, renjun was the one who had taken care of everyone. you know he needs this release more than anyone since he’s going through some personal things on top of stressful exams.

“go on, jun. we know our y/n will take care of us.” shotaro cheerily swings his arm over your shoulders and takes a generous gulp of his drink. oh, he’s going for it alright. a wide grin spreads across your face as the three of you bump your plastic cups together.

renjun mulls over it for a moment before he quietly sighs. that’s when you know he’s given in. your eyes widen when shotaro stops him from chugging his drink.

“junie, let’s do that thing where we lock arms and drink!” you’re not sure if it’s the sugar in his system (he mentioned eating too much chocolate beforehand in the group chat) or if he had a bit of those weed cookies but shotaro is oddly giggly and loud. you’re not complaining, though.

you take a couple of steps back to give them space as they lock their arms. the two bring their cups to their lips and start to chug together. a laugh is caught at the back of your throat as you shake your head, taking another swig from your own cup.

“time to party!” shotaro and renjun disappear into the crowd, leaving you alone with mark and donghy–

wait.

you whip your head around, squinting to find the drunken sore loser. good god. you don’t know where he could have possibly gone. mark is generally not a problem when he’s drunk—all he does is giggle at everything and shower the nearest object with compliments. right now, the victim of his affection is jeno.

you look at the two and make eye contact with jeno. he probably managed to sense that you’re worried for him so he flashes you a sweet, reassuring smile and throws a thumbs up too. you exhale and smile back in relief, nodding slightly at him. you’re definitely going to have to thank him one of these days.

now, to the matter at hand: where the hell is lee donghyuck?

if it’s up to you, you’d flip the entire frat house upside down, pick him up like a mii character and drag him away from the crowd. since you have various limitations, you’ve resorted to using a high iq method: you have to think like a drunk donghyuck.

the best and the worst thing about him is that he’s unpredictable. but even when he’s unpredictable, he is predictable. so, taking a gulp of your drink, you try to think of the most probable theory that you can based on what had transpired less than fifteen minutes ago.

when the realisation hits you, you sigh and finish the rest of your drink. if you’re going to take care of him, you’ll do it with a slight buzz in your system before you can let go of all your inhibitions. you quickly find the nearest bin to dispose of your cup before setting off on your quest to stop your drunk friend from doing something stupid.

the first location that you went to is the kitchen. it is weirdly empty but you’re glad you didn’t walk in on anyone fucking. you notice the cabinet door underneath the sink is open slightly ajar. you open it up fully to see what’s inside and you’ve revealed your first piece of evidence: the pack of black trash bags being messily thrown aside with bits sticking out of its packaging.

so he already is in possession of the trash bag. he can’t be too far. you reckon he is definitely nearby. you just need to find bits and pieces of trash bags as you wade through heavy, sweaty bodies that you refuse to make any contact with.

donghyuck’s voice finds you faster than you trying to find him. you follow the direction where his laughter and drunken announcements are coming from until you find yourself in the backyard where the pool is, with the man himself dressed in a trash bag that barely covers his ass. wait. he’s not wearing underwear!?

“lee donghyuck!” you try your best to throw your voice over the music and it seems to have worked because he’s slowly turning around as you rush over.

the only problem is that his arms are still up and you can see the head of his dick peeking from the hem of his trash bag dress. you quickly avert your gaze out of respect and disgust (it was mostly the latter) and grab his arms to pull them down so he doesn’t flash himself to anyone else.

“what the hell are you doing?” you grab the cup that he’s holding and shove it into the hands of a passerby. he follows the direction of the cup but you divert his attention back by grabbing his jaw and forcing him to look at you instead. “lee donghyuck, focus up.”

“y/n, you’re so hot when you’re angry at me,” he wistfully lilts, his body swaying towards you and you steady him with your other hand. you simply let his comments be, knowing that he’s just intoxicated with enough drinks to keep him that way throughout the night. he calls out your name again in a sing-song way, arms circling around your waist and pulling you into a tight hug. “it feels so hot and you’re so warm but i’ve always loved your hugs . . .”

“yeah, whatever, let’s get you in bed. you’ve had enough.” you reach into your back pocket for your phone to take a look at the time and he hisses at the bright light from your screen. you mumble a half-assed apology that you probably don’t mean. it’s not even one in the morning. how quickly did he drink? you arrived at the party about two hours ago and the doors opened at nine.

donghyuck starts whining your name and leans in to rest his forehead against the crook of your neck, snuggling into you more when you begin to move.

#4: HE’S THE WORST DRUNK IN THE GROUP

you don’t mind your friends when they get shitfaced drunk. most of them are tolerable. mark starts to be overly affectionate with the nearest object. renjun gets moody and a little bit of a killjoy but get him more drinks and he’ll turn extremely giggly. giselle is weirdly confident and will begin to confess her undying love for her best friends. sungchan turns into a curious five-year-old and will eventually pass out. shotaro is loud, giggly, and will act like a person who’s high as a kite. the opposite is also true when he’s consuming the devil’s lettuce. ningning is also another one who unlocks a hidden volume button and becomes a loudspeaker when she gets drunk, and can and will make out with the nearest girl. donghyuck, on the other hand . . .

“hyuck, c’mon.” you pat his back but he squeezes you tighter and nuzzles his nose where your skin is exposed, needing the contact. another weak whine drawls from his throat. “you’re drunk and you’re gonna regret it in the morning. let’s get you in bed.”

“you’re not my parent.”

“no, i’m not but i have your mom’s number.” you don’t but you know it’s enough to scare a drunk donghyuck into behaving.

just as you predicted, he pulls away from you and his eyes widen in a mix of fear and panic. your faces are impossibly close. your cheeks and neck burn from the sudden proximity. from being mere inches away, you can see the beauty marks on his face, the gentle slopes and the sharp angles that make up his facial features accentuated by the strong shadows of the dim, coloured lighting. he looks good in neutrals and natural lighting but as ruby red filters into view, it’s like you’re looking at an ethereal creature made by the hands of aphrodite herself.

“you wouldn’t.” he dramatically whispers. his breath reeks with a putrid mix of john walker, soju, and coke, which easily brings you out of whatever stupor you were in before he started speaking.

“try me.” you challenge him with an eyebrow cocked upwards. you grab your phone and unlock it, immediately pretending to search for his mom’s number in your contacts. you tap on mark’s number and pretend to start a call.

“no! nonononono, don’t, don’t! i’ll behave, y/n, please!” donghyuck immediately grabs onto your wrist and gives you the best drunken puppy eyes he can possibly muster. you almost feel bad for wanting to laugh but you quickly hide it with a scoff through your nose. it’s not like he’s going to hear it, anyway. “promise me you won’t call my mom!”

“fine, fine,” you shake your head and keep your phone in your back pocket. “are you ready to go to bed?”

“i’m not tired!” he whines and starts to stumble off, in pursuit of what you’re guessing may be another red cup for a drink. you follow him from behind and make sure he doesn’t bump into anybody and get into a fight with one of the weirdly muscled dudes from another frat. lee donghyuck is a lot of things but a winner in physical fights isn’t one of those.

“no, but you’re extremely drunk and you’re gonna get a hangover so bad you’re going to throw up.” when he picks up a cup, he diligently yet clumsily scoops it into the bowl of spiked fruit punch. sure, why not? that works.

“can a drunk person do this?” he turns to you and looks at you like he had just cartwheeled across the room. you give him a non-committal noise and he takes it as a win, triumphantly downing a generous amount of the punch. an excited squeal escapes him and you had almost mistaken him for an idol’s fan. “this tastes so good! it feels like i have the teletubbies dancing in my tele-tummy.” oh god, you barely forgot how much worse his jokes can get when he’s smashed.

he can barely stand still, body swaying as he struggles to keep his feet on the ground. as you stand there and survey him from head to toe, clad in nothing but a black trash bag, the first question that pops into your mind is: where the hell is the rest of his clothes? the deep, saturated red of the coloured lights emphasises some of his best features.

you notice the curves of the toned muscles of his biceps, the dark shadows that cast making them appear more defined. your eyes trail further down and his thick, sturdy thighs come into view. he had once told the group that he went for a lot of dance lessons, spanning from jazz to ballet to tap, and has a natural affinity for it. even though he no longer dances, he’s part of the university ice hockey team with mark, jeno, and sungchan. maybe that’s where he gets those thighs from.

before your mind can start to wander, somebody bumps into you from behind and you’re shoved into his chest. his arms come around to instinctively hug you but he has his cup in hand still. you feel cold water run down your back and you involuntarily shiver.

“lee donghyuck!” your voice comes out a lot more whiny than you intend it to.

“i’m sorryyy!” even his apology is coming in a slight slur. “tissue—hic!—tissues . . .” he mumbles, searching around for something to clean you up with. you sigh as you make some distance between the both of you. you can’t really be mad at him when he’s under the influence of alcohol.

“that’s okay, hyuckie. let’s get you into your room, yeah?” the nickname falls from your lips all too naturally before you can even register it in your brain. you take him by the arm and remove his crushed plastic cup from his hand, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“m’kay . . .” he grumbles. luckily, he’s too drunk to even realise that you’d called him by his favourite nickname. when you look at him, he looks like a kicked puppy with his shoulders sagging and feet dragging along the floor as he walks with you. cute, you think to yourself.

donghyuck looks down where your fingers wrap around his forearm. he doesn’t say a word but instead chooses to remove your hand by the wrist, then place it where his hand is out waiting for you. he intertwines your fingers together, warmth spreading through your body and your heart is skipping beats every other half-second. you look up at him in surprise but all he does is give you that big, cheeky grin of his.

you clench your jaw and take a deep breath. why are you suddenly feeling nervous underneath his gaze? he’s drunk. he’s intoxicated. he’s anything but sober. he can’t form any coherent thoughts so you can’t start feeling these . . . weird things in your stomach when he does shit like this. all you need to do is get him to your room and change his clothes. you might borrow one of his shirts since your top is ruined, but it’s not your first time doing it.

“c’mon, let’s go.” you chastise him gently and tug him forward so you can continue walking.

it feels like the crowd keeps forcing you two together. wading through the sweaty, dancing bodies, your back is pressed up against donghyuck’s chest. you don’t know if he’s slowly sobering up since his free hand is on your waist, squeezing every now and then as you desperately search for a way out from this suffocating sea of people. everyone is stumbling all around you, barely bumping into each other, slurring apologies or half-assed empty threats that disappear in the thick fog of music in the air.

after what seems like forever, you finally found the flight of stairs that lead to his room in the frat house. by then, donghyuck is practically leaning against you for support and mumbling incoherencies that you can barely make any sense of. you lug him down the hallway and as you get further from the party and music, you find yourself paying attention to the shit he has to say.

“sometimes i wonder why you act as if you hate me so much but then i realise maybe you like me like i like you too but then i think again and it feels like . . . mm . . . it feels like your body is so warm and soft, i can fall asleep on you . . . junie told me to make a move but i don’t know . . . should i make a move?”

what the hell is he talking about? you spot his door and zero in on it, bumping into one of his very sober frat brothers—johnny, was it?—who flashes you an apologetic smile as he makes his way out to rejoin the party. you thought that his eyes were looking a little red-rimmed but you let it go since all that’s on your mind is to get this drunk man out of his trash bag and into a set of pyjamas, tuck him in, then call it a night.

“y/n,” he drags out the last syllable of your name and rubs his face into your shoulder. “feels hot, wanna take m’clothes off.”

“hang in there hyuckie, we’re almost in your room.” you release your intertwined hands and he whines from the loss of contact. you sigh, rolling your eyes as you open the door. it’s not your first time in his room—he has always kept it clean and organised. you flip the light switch and his room is illuminated with a bright white light. he’s one of the fancier ones who has a remote controller to change if he wants warm light, white light, or somewhere in between.

as soon as you sit him down on his bed, the first thing you do is peel your top off. he’s drunk and he definitely won’t remember a single thing, which is why you’re so comfortable with it. you start digging through his drawers for one of his shirts to wear and grab the first one you see, pulling it over your head and immediately being showered by his scent.

his usual cologne consists of smoky, woody scents balanced out with the sweet tones of vanilla. he always smells so familiar to you and it fills you with a certain kind of warmth that spreads throughout all over your body. sometimes you hope his scent embeds itself into you, sinking through your skin and deep into your soul.

when you realise that he’s been awfully quiet, you wonder if he’s fallen asleep, but the rustling of the trash bag tells you otherwise. you whip around to look at him struggling to get himself out of the plastic with his dick out for the whole world to see.

“lee donghyuck, what do you think you’re doing?” you sigh in exasperation, deliberately looking anywhere but waist-down.

“it’s hot, y/n!” he complains out loud and lets his body fall back onto the mattress dramatically. even when he’s drunk he doesn’t resist being a little bitch, huh.

“i know that, chill. let me get you some damn clothes so you don’t have your dick out.”

you turn your back on him and start to dig through his drawers once again. you pull out a pair of basketball shorts and dark navy calvin kleins for him to change into. before you can pass them to him, donghyuck is out of the trash bag and he’s hugging you from behind. his arms are secured around your waist as he rests his forehead on your shoulder while groaning in pain.

“can you make the world stop spinning? m’head hurts . . .”

“lee donghyuck, are you naked?”

“i asked you first.”

you sigh.

“i can’t make the world stop spinning but can you put on some clothes?” with the fistful of his minimal clothing, your peel one of his hands from your waist and place it there.

“i dunno, can i?” ah, he really is cute for trying.

“just put on the clothes.”

he mumbles something to himself, most likely complaining about how ‘mean’ you are but it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, especially when he’s like this.

you hear him stumble and struggle until you hear the elastic band of his boxers snap against his waist. you don’t hear any movement from him and you’re overcome with a strong urge to turn around.

“hyuck?” you softly call out his name.

“can i just wear my boxers to sleep? ‘s too hot . . . m’body feels like ‘s on fire . . .”

for someone who’s drunk, he sure is moving around a lot faster than you would like to admit. before you can even do anything else, he has his arms wrapped around your waist and his forehead is yet again on your shoulder. you’re being engulfed in his scent from standing in his room, wearing his shirt that’s a tad big on you, and him hugging you from the back. maybe engulfed isn’t even the right word— you’re overwhelmed, practically even drowning in it and your mind is reeling from how good he smells and feels, much against your liking.

“i’ll turn the air conditioning on for you, how’s that sound?” he’s an absolute handful to deal with when he’s drunk. it’s like taking care of a sugar-high kid, especially when he crashes and burns and turns into a big baby.

donghyuck makes a small sound of approval and you take that as a yes. you turn around whilst still being trapped within his arms. your hands perch tenderly on his firm shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze but he pulls you in tighter and you sigh.

“hyuckie, i can’t tuck you in and turn on the AC if you’re going to keep hugging me.”

“but y’feel nice an’ soft,” he mumbles into your shoulder, nuzzling his nose until he makes contact with your skin and sighing happily. “wanna cuddle you.” the sudden confession had your stomach twisting nervously in knots.

he’s drunk, you remind yourself. he hasn’t a single clue what he’s talking about. it’ll pass when he’s tucked in and fast asleep. suddenly you yearn for the loud music and sweating bodies downstairs.

you wordlessly reach behind you to unwrap his arms from your waist. with your fingers wrapped around his wrist, you lead him to his bed and sit him down after you have pushed aside his blanket. you make sure that he’s properly lying down before turning on his air conditioner and setting the timer for an hour.

donghyuck whines your name into his pillow when you tuck him in, refusing to let you go.

“hyuckie,” you gently warn him to behave without an ounce of real anger.

“‘s too bright. wanna cuddle.”

you fall silent at his request. he’s drunk and exhausted and you can tell from the way he’s getting whinier and his fights are becoming weaker. you need to throw his trash bag dress away and toss all of his dirty clothes into his hamper.

“give me five minutes, can you do that for me?” you whisper. you’re going to have to turn the lights off as soon as you’re done with what you have to do. you’ll just let him cuddle you and as soon as he falls asleep, you can return to the party and check in on your other friends.

“fine,” he grumbles after pondering it over. you’re suddenly overcome with the urge to pat his head and give him a kiss on the temple like you would to literally anyone else when you’re taking care of them when they’re drunk off their asses. you hold yourself back and quickly get down to business.

within minutes, you flick the light off once all of your chores have been completed. it only means that you have to return to entertaining the man-baby who had been quietly watching you while you worked.

donghyuck calls out for you again and you sigh loud enough to let him know that you’re still there. if you’re going to get in bed with him, you might as well get comfortable even if it’s for ten minutes.

you quickly shimmy off your jeans before crawling underneath his duvet on the other side of his bed. you hear some shuffling so you guess that it’s him rolling over and your assumption is correct when you feel his arms circle around your waist to pull you flush to his chest. it probably doesn’t matter to him that your back is to him, but god, it’s the only thing that matters to you.

heat rushes from your core straight to your cheeks and chest, goosebumps rippling across your arms as he nuzzles his nose into the crook of your neck. you’re fighting tooth and nail so you wouldn’t feel anything but there’s a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttering in your stomach from the contact.

“y/n?” he calls out, his voice merely the ghost of a whisper. you feel his plush lips move softly against your skin through the cotton of his shirt that you’re wearing and for a brief second, you had wondered what it’s like to feel it directly on your exposed skin. “you won’t leave me, right?”

you’d be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t know what he’s secretly talking about. just before he met you, he had broken up from a relationship of close to four years. you remember how he was in his healing stage when you were first properly introduced to each other. it appeared like he was a mere shell of the man he used to be.

to him, everything reminded him of her. you maintained a safe distance from him because you knew it wouldn’t be pretty if something happened and the last thing you needed was to cause infighting. your group was still fresh and looking at everything through rose-tinted glasses. you were all new to each other and there were boundaries yet to be set.

you remembered renjun sharing with you that she was her first real relationship—you still remember her name: kwang haein—and they quite literally went through thick and thin together. renjun lamented to you, saying that they didn’t exactly have the healthiest relationship and it didn’t help when they started it in high school at the ripe age of 15. it was a miracle they made it all the way to graduation.

she was someone who would manipulate him into spending time with her and gaslit him every time they got into a fight. she was emotionally unavailable and hyuck had so much love to give. every time she spared mere crumbs, he would number them and keep them to satisfy himself, considering the affection that he deserved. the worst part of it all was the fact that haein broke up with him through text of all things. she called him a narcissist for wanting to spend time with renjun and mark, rekindle what was once lost and rebuild their friendship after he realised the damage he had done to her.

you don’t know what exactly happened, but you know that haein gave this poor man abandonment issues.

tears prick from the corner of your eyes without even realising it when you recall the hurt and the pain he must have experienced during and after his relationship with her.

get a grip, you tell yourself, exhaling quietly through your lips. you quickly wipe away your tears before they fall and turn around so you can look at him. he shifts back when he realises you’re moving around. half-lidded eyes heavy with the beckoning of sleep, he looks at you in confusion.

“i’m not gonna leave you, hyuck,” you promise. before you can even catch yourself, your hand moves up to push locks of his dark brown hair away from his face. you recall his grape hair from a couple of months back. the colour looked really good on him but at the cost of his hair getting damaged since he decided to diy it himself to prove renjun wrong. he did a pretty good job, though. “you’re not getting rid of me that easily. we’re good friends, aren’t we? even if we fight a lot and say that we hate each other and insult each other more than half the time.”

“yeah.” he lets his eyes fall close and you smile. “we’re friends.” your smile quickly turns into a frown. why did he sound so disappointed? you refuse to let your brain wander. there’s no use thinking about it. he’s drunk, you remind yourself. why do you have to keep telling yourself that? why does being so close to him make your heart race a mile a minute?

you choose to spend your energy waiting for him to fall asleep, watching as his chest rises and falls until it moves into a steady, slow rhythm. you quietly call out his name to check if he’s awake. he doesn’t respond. good, he’s asleep.

one good thing about him being drunk is that when he falls asleep, he can easily be mistaken for a dead body. the whole world could be collapsing all around him and he is still sound asleep.as you close his bedroom door behind him, you heard him mutter something in his slumber but you didn’t go back to check on him. you do feel bad for leaving him after you told him that you wouldn’t, but you can’t afford to skip out on the alcohol. you’re not going to leave him in general. after what had just transpired from the time you found him in his trash bag to when he asked you such a vulnerable question, you’re in desperate need to get wasted and maybe get a number to add to your body count.

⠀⠀ ⠀⌒⠀ִ ✧ ﾟ 𓆩 ♡ 𓆪

the first thing you did when you woke up the morning after was rethinking your life choices to drink and party until three in the morning. you’re good with alcohol so you didn’t get as shitfaced as you wanted to but it did enough damage to leave you slightly disoriented when the sun woke you up. after you had cleaned yourself up, you headed back to the frat house in donghyuck’s shirt and a pair of drawstring sweat shorts.

so there you are, standing in the kitchen with a renjun who’s wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants and an apron with a very tan bodybuilder’s body on it, making pancakes and hangover cures for the gang. honestly, the main reason why you wanted to spend some time with renjun is to ask him for his thoughts on what had happened between you and donghyuck the night before.

“renjun,” you attempt to call his name and it comes out more nervous than it should’ve. “hyuck kind of uh, said some stuff to me . . . last night. when i um, when i was tucking him into bed.” you grab one of the pancake mix boxes and start to make more pancake batter. your eyes sit on his side profile, waiting for an answer from him but all that you get is a hum to signal for you to continue speaking.

you really hope that you won’t regret spilling your guts to him. it’s noon and it’s way too early for you to be awake, especially after partying and babysitting grown men last night. nobody should be awake other than shotaro but he’s up in his room showering after he helped to clean the house up before you arrived.

you spare renjun no detail, even going back to clip bits and pieces from your past interactions together as proof points as to why his behaviour shouldn’t be so strange yet it only serves to circle back to why his behaviour was strange. he listens patiently to every word, nodding and humming to let you know that he’s still there and his mind isn’t wandering off into some faraway land.

“so, uh, yeah.” you conclude lamely, passing him the bowl of pancake batter that you made while pouring your heart out.

renjun makes eye contact with you and there’s an unrecognisable expression on his face when he takes the ceramic bowl from you. is it disappointment? is it confusion? you can’t tell and frankly, you’re too scared to ask.

“dude, we’ve been over this.” oh god, not this again. “i’ve told you so many times that he’s literally in love with you. and if i didn’t know any differently, you–”

“who’s in love with who?”

speak of the goddamn devil.

“nobody.” you quickly snap and turn around to look at donghyuck. “nobody is in love with anyone.” you steal that opportunity to take a good look at him.

his dark hair is a mess with a cowlick sticking out on the side of his head, and luckily for everyone in the room, he’s wearing a pair of grey sweats instead of waltzing into the kitchen in his boxers. unluckily for you, however, he’s not wearing a shirt. you can clearly see the dips and curves of his chest and the structured v-line that disappears past the elastic of his sweatpants along with the stupid happy trail.

“eyes up here, babe,” he winks at you before walking past, exaggerating the swing of his hips before he gives renjun a back hug. you should seriously punch him right then and there but seeing how he’s most likely dealing with a hangover (and hiding it very well), you decide to be merciful. “my pancake is making us pancakes? how sweet of you!” he presses their cheeks together and you can tell that the victim of his affection is stuck between hitting him in the face with the spatula in his hand or letting him be.

there’s no way this casanova over here is in love with you.

he would probably trade you for a $5 steam gift card. he picks on you and gets under your skin every chance he gets. he’s a damn nuisance and a pain in the ass. he’s loud, he’s throwing you inappropriate jokes every time the opportunity presents itself, and he’s such a gossip. he gives you so many reasons not to even look at him romantically so why the fuck did you get butterflies in your stomach last night?

it’s safe to say that it bothers you to the point where you’ve made it your personal mission to distance yourself from him. you’re doing this as a favour for both of you. you won’t have to deal with these confusing emotions that are stirring within you and he doesn’t have to be so fixated on you. honestly, you don’t even know what he sees in you.

donghyuck, on the other hand, sees this news that someone in your shared friend group is in love with you, as an opportunity to fix you two up together. you can be so uptight sometimes that a good fuck should help you loosen up. that’s what he thinks, anyway.

after he has breakfast and cleans himself up, he sits in his room and pulls out one of his notebooks. he flips to a random page and begins to plot out his game plan to get you a partner. if everything goes well, there’s a confession by the end of the week and if he’s lucky, you might even get a good lay. he’s doing this for your own good, and maybe a little bit of his own, because if you’re not going to look at him like he does, he should at least help the other person.

the first clue that he has is ‘he’. that’s the only clue that he has, really, but it narrows down the list of suspects pretty well. renjun and mark are obviously off the hook since they both have their own respective crushes to deal with. or maybe he can’t really say ‘crush’ for mark since he’s going to attempt to ask them out soon.

he stares at the two names that he had scribbled down: osaki shotaro and jung sungchan.

he sets the scene with you and shotaro sitting next to each other on the couch, laughing and giggling with each other. the transfer student has his arm thrown over your shoulder. he leans in for a kiss and you reciprocate. no. he then pictures you and sungchan next, doing the same things. there’s a pierce in his heart as he thinks of the possibility of you ending up with either one of them because the selfish part of him doesn’t want you to.

he wants you to end up with him. lee donghyuck, the one and only person who’s constantly getting under your skin because he likes seeing the frown on your face and the way you scrunch up your nose in annoyance. the only person who’s willing to spend the extra bucks on renting out a nice, clean car to drive you out to hongdae to eat at that japanese restaurant you love so much because he knows you’ve been stressed off your ass. the only person who showed up at your dorm with your favourite food when you got stood up by a supposed ‘ex’ in freshman year because he knows how it feels to be tossed aside for something better.

lee donghyuck wants to be the one and only person that you hold and kiss and love because he finally got a taste of it last night when he pretended to be too drunk so you could take care of him, and he doesn’t want anyone else to take it away from him.

renjun has told him before that his feelings for you will be reciprocated. he doesn’t understand it, though. if he means that you’re going to reciprocate his attempts at spending time with you, sure. that, you definitely do. he knows that you take extra care of him especially when he’s vulnerable but he’s always surmised that it’s your way of showing affection after calling him silly things like ‘shitty’ or ‘stupid’. he knows that you don’t mean a single word that you say, which is why he loves it so much when you’re both caught in this little game of cat and mouse.

if he means that you’re going to return his romantic feelings for you, he’s not going to believe it at all.

swallowing the ugly feelings that threaten to surface, he shoves them deep down and buries them away, never to be opened by anyone ever. even if he can’t be the one who makes you happy, he sure hopes this mysterious suitor can make you half as happy as you make him feel.

the first person donghyuck has to text is none other than his second beloved anime boy, shotaro. the first place, of course, belongs to none other than his frat brother nakamoto yuta. he quickly searches for his contact and begins a conversation.

his heart stops.

you and him?

partners?

he stares at his texts in shock, watching his message go from ‘delivered’ to ‘read’ and a thumbs up appear on its outer corner.

is that what you’ve both looked like to others?

immediately he pictures you on his lap, his chin resting on your shoulder as he wraps one secure arm around your waist. his free hand is yours to fiddle around with, enjoying the sensation of your skin on each other. he immediately recalls the warmth of your body when your back was pressed up against his front last night.

heat spreads from his chest to the rest of his body at the mere thought of being able to have that with you again. if there’s anything he needed last night after weeks of exams and deadline submissions, it’s you. but you arrived late to the party, dressed so simply yet so you manage to look so goddamn attractive in your oversized shirt and jeans.

pause. you were wearing his oversized shirt this morning.

he reels through his mind and scavenges through what he had witnessed in the kitchen when he came down. the first thing he saw was you, standing with your back facing him in his navy blue ncit varsity shirt and his name and number on the back.

donghyuck definitely didn’t feel jealous when you weren’t alone in the kitchen. there was a bitter taste in his mouth when he had eavesdropped enough to know that someone has a crush on you, and it pinched his heart painfully when both you and renjun looked so domestic in the little nook. but it was partly soothed when he saw renjun wearing the abs apron.

right. renjun. he needs to tell him.

it might be the shirt you had stolen from him last night when he had accidentally spilt his drink on you. does his shirt feel that comfortable? does it smell strongly like him?

his heart soars when he realises that you’re walking around campus with his name on you. you’re not his at all—you don’t belong to anybody, in fact—but this little detail has him giggling to himself alone in his room, euphoric bliss filling him up.

now, it’s time for him to figure out who the hell has a crush on you, but he doesn’t know if he wants to sabotage the crush or keep you for himself. he’ll probably decide later on. for now, he just wants to know who.

⠀⠀ ⠀⌒⠀ִ ✧ ﾟ 𓆩 ♡ 𓆪

you don’t know how or why, but you’ve come to this one conclusion: you have strong feelings for lee donghyuck. are they positive? sexual? negative? you have no idea. but every time he pops up into your mind unprompted, you feel a very strong urge to hope you spontaneously combust in the middle of whatever it is that you’re doing.

you’ve made it a point to avoid him for as long as you possibly can and in turn, avoid confronting your feelings, too.

every time he texts you to gossip or just yell in general, you do your best not to get pulled in by his theatrics and bizarre storytelling methods. you don’t want him to think you’re ignoring him even though you are, but you’re not exactly the best actor.

still in the festive spirit of being free from the shackles of painful and mind-numbing exams, a sorority is hosting a party. this time, it’s giselle and ningning’s: alpha chi ræd. even today, you still find it a little weird that giselle managed to hook up with her ex-girlfriend who is also her sorority sister.

red, purple, and black. sounds like the standard ræd party. you know that giselle and ningning are going to dress the best that they can and be sirens for the night. it’s a couple of hours away and you’re chilling in your dorm with some show playing on your monitor that you’re not really paying attention to. your ears are cushioned by your wireless headphones, walking around your room aimlessly.

should you start picking out your outfit now? it’s not like you have anything to do, anyway. your eyes flit to the time on your digital clock. you haven’t had dinner and you know better than anyone to drink on an empty stomach. chewing on your bottom lip, you grab your phone and start texting your favourite dinner buddy. his charming smile always gets you extra free food.

after sealing the promise of dinner, you turn on the lights so your room wouldn’t be drowning in complete darkness. you take off your headphones and turn off the forgotten show playing in the background serving as background noise. there’s a strong urge inside of you to text hyuck and ask him if he wants to join you and sungchan for dinner because you know he’s coming over in a heartbeat with the promise of free food.

but you don’t.

you’re not supposed to like him. you can’t. it’s going to ruin the dynamics of the friend group . . . right? you look at your phone, the screen lighting up to display a group photo you had taken together on a trip to jeju and nami islands to pretend to be tourists.

your eyes immediately find where you and donghyuck are sitting on the ground together. his arm is wrapped around your waist, pulling you close to him with your thigh crossing over his. your hand throws up a peace sign while you laugh, eyes forming half crescents with your hair blocking some of your facial features. his other hand is on your cheeks, thumb and index fingers pressing them together to make you look silly. you can hear his laughter in your ears, beaming ear to ear with a grin rivalling the sun.

behind you both, everyone’s also trying to get someone else to fuck up the photo. renjun was trying to tackle mark onto the ground but he ended up getting piggybacked. ningning has sungchan in a headlock while giselle and shotaro are trying to out-tickle each other, resulting in shotaro almost falling over and tripping on hyuck.

warmth fills you from your core, spreading all over your body as your eyes wander back to you and him.

you can’t fall in love with him. you can’t risk falling for someone like him. not again.

your story isn’t half as sad as donghyuck’s—or at least, you hope it isn’t. you met someone back in freshman year. he’s on the same campus, just a year older but studying at the same level as you are.

it was during your freshman orientation. thinking about it makes you want to barf, really. he’s similar to donghyuck personality-wise and you got along with him extremely well. you could flirt and insult each other within mere seconds and it’ll all be in good heart. over a very fast period of time, he had asked you out on a date.

of course, you said yes. he’s charming, funny, and good-looking—what more could you need or want?

you were too infatuated to realise your so-called relationship was toxic and he was merely using you for a fuck buddy. he didn’t have the emotional availability, the maturity, the seriousness, or everything you needed for a secure and healthy relationship.

luckily you were able to cut ties with him and break everything off before it got any worse. you thought it was your first real relationship while in university but he decided to pull you around and toy with you.

you snap into your senses when your phone buzzes in your hand. your screen lights up with a message from donghyuck.

your fingers move to type an answer out, that there’s no way sungchan of all people would have a crush on you, but there’s a knock on the door with the man himself carrying your food.

#3: HE’S THE WORST AT KEEPING SECRETS

you take a mental note to reply to him later and in that, you’re reminded of the fact that nobody should ever tell him secrets. ever.

there are way too many times when he accidentally spoiled a surprise or ruined something because he gets way too excited. everyone knows how honest he is and sometimes he may slip up in his promise to be honest to everyone around him.

you open the door to reveal sungchan carrying a bag of food in his left hand and another bag that you assume are his party clothes. he’s clad in black slacks and matching dress sneakers, with a fishnet top underneath his oversized white tee. now, you’re kind of excited to see his final look.

“hi y/n, i have secured the munchies!” he greets you with a gentle smile and you invite him in.

“you look excited for the party.” you comment as he sets the food on the low table in the middle of your dorm room. he grins back at you as he begins unpacking while you transfer him however much you owe.

“extremely,” he sighs almost wistfully. “i’ve never been to a ræd party before and i’ve always heard good things. apparently, there’s going to be beer towers and those little shot ferris wheels and an open bar in the backyard.”

you sit down across from him and pull your kimchi fried rice towards you. a soft laugh escapes your lips from his enthusiasm. you don’t blame him. the alpha chi ræd are well-known for their impeccable music, booze, and theatrics. the alpha neos are better known for their vibes and safety.

“well, joohyun’s pretty loaded and so is wendy. it wouldn’t be out of the box for them to throw such fancy parties, especially since joohyun’s graduating top of the class for her master's degree.” you carefully peel open the lid and start to mix your food together as sungchan does the same to his bibimbap.

“speaking of parties, i was thinking that we should throw mark a canada-themed party for his birthday.” he suddenly pipes up, and you cock an eyebrow upward in question at the sudden subject shift. “i mean, obviously we won’t tell hyuck. we nearly fumbled with renjun’s birthday because he got too excited about the project.”

a bright laugh bubbles from the back of your throat at the fond memory. since renjun is an avid movie lover, everyone decided to bring him to a diy drive-in movie. well, less of a drive-in, more of a cinema in the middle of a rugby field.

giselle gave this brilliant idea to surprise him with a short film of their best or favourite moments with him. it’ll of course be concluded with a gift-giving session. in order for it all to be executed flawlessly with no holes, you had to find a way to shut donghyuck up. that meant he couldn’t be left alone with renjun at any given time.

“i still find it hilarious that he almost fucked up the film surprise because he asked renjun to airdrop him videos of the both of them.” you snicker at the memory, remembering how all of you nearly got found out thanks to his slip-up.

“it’s literally so stupid!” sungchan is laughing with you and you can’t forget when mark literally had to throw himself in and save him. “but it’s cute how their dynamic goes. hyuck is the one who lives in the moment and jun is the one who captures the moment. and hyuck is also the one asking jun for said moments when he starts to miss whatever had happened.”

no truer words have been spoken.

“i remember when he thought that mark had a crush on me. he texted it to me while i was hanging out with mark and giselle. we had literally managed to just get more comfortable with each other. god, that was lowkey traumatising.” you shake your head and start to eat your meal before it gets cold. sungchan looks at you with glimmering eyes, obviously intrigued by the idea of you and mark becoming an item (which is never). “why are you looking at me like that?”

“so i wasn’t the only one who thought that way?” he teasingly nudges your knee with his. you groan and roll your eyes at him as he laughs at your reaction. “no, seriously though! i did think that he had a crush on you!”

“for like, the millionth time,” you sigh. “mark made it very clear he was nervous around me because i scared him. i have an aura that’s ‘intimidating’ sometimes, i guess? his words. i don’t know.” you make a non-committal noise and shrug.

sungchan doesn’t say anything, only stuffing his mouth with a spoonful of his food while maintaining eye contact with you. great. another one who looks like he knows something you don’t.

“out with it.” you tiredly beckon with your free hand, eating more of your fried rice.

“speaking of crushes . . .” there he goes again. “. . . what’s up with you and hyuck? he told me that you’ve been kind of avoiding him.”

‘kind of’ is an understatement. you are absolutely, without a doubt, a hundred per cent avoiding him. you just didn’t think that you were that obvious. you didn’t really know what to say so you quietly play with your food, swallowing whatever is in your mouth before speaking.

“i . . . guess i kinda am?” you look at him, obviously unsure. “i don’t know . . . i mean . . . well . . .” you’re racking your brain for some sort of answer but you know that sungchan already knows your answer from the way you’re stammering.

he happily continues eating his food without a care in the world, satisfied with your answer.

“did he do something to piss you off?” he asks but you shake your head. he does a lot of things to try and piss you off but he hasn’t really gone too far just yet. “then what is it? did something happen at our party?” you give him the stink eye when he gets it spot-on.

sungchan straightens his back and leans in closer to you. of course he’s excited when he gets exclusive content. sometimes you can’t help but wonder if hyuck’s love for gossip managed to bleed into the systems of the others. sungchan, mark, giselle and yourself have never been one for gossip but every time hyuck says he knows something and starts sharing, you’d be very much upset if you got cockblocked while he did.

“the only person who knows what happened that night is renjun.” you begin and you do your best to put on a serious tone but with the younger male’s excitement and eager smile, you can’t help but break a small smile, chuckling through your nose. “you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“lips are sealed, cross my heart and hope to die.” you can tell that sungchan is biting his tongue—he has more to say—but he keeps his silence and your peace, urging you to continue. you eye him suspiciously but continue regardless.

so you tell him. you know you can trust him to keep his mouth shut about it but with donghyuck’s persuasive magic that works on everyone, you try to hold yourself back from going down into the details.

the whole time you’re recounting the events of the night for the second time, you’re feeling butterflies in your stomach yet again when you recall his scent overwhelming you in the best way possible. you recall his slightly calloused hands on yours, fingers intertwined; body pressed up against yours so intimately.

sungchan took it upon himself to take your hand and scoop your rice, bringing it to your mouth wordlessly to get you to eat since you tend to forget about multitasking. you nod at him in thanks when he pulls his hand away to let you take a couple of bites and take a quick break from storytelling.

“so yeah.” you finish it off lamely, angrily taking a bite of your rice and finishing it up. “that’s the whole story.”

“you’re in love with him.”

his comment almost made you choke on your food. you manage to save yourself from dying while sungchan laughs at your misery and misfortune, glaring at him while you do until you’re able to calm down. he pushes his bottle of grape juice to you and you snatch it from him, downing the drink until you’re fine.

“what the hell do you mean ‘you’re in love with him’?” you sputter incredulously. your heart is shaking, drumming wildly against your rib cage as you rake your fingers through your hair. you? in love with him?

“why are you like, the last one to know?” he grins knowingly, leaning back on his hands.

“what the hell do you mean i’m the last one to know?!” this time, your voice increases in an octave as you almost shriek your words out. when you realise how ridiculous you sound, you clear your throat and straighten your posture. you’re suddenly reminded of donghyuck’s texts to you. this man sitting across from you does not have a crush on you.

“everyone can see you’re both like, pining after each other in your weird way.” sungchan’s grin grows wider when he’s connected the dots together.

“there’s no way.”

“oh my god, renjun was so right. you do look super constipated whenever you fight it!” your face burns up down to your neck and up to your ears. you have half the mind to throw your dirty takeout bowl at his head. “we need to get you looking absolutely smoking tonight. like an absolute hottie.”

“i’m not dressing like a stripper.” you deadpan him.

like a scene in a coming-of-age young adult movie, he’s dragging you to your closet and giving you the biggest transformation to step into the party looking ‘absolutely smoking’.

the first thing that he pulls out is the very black bustier top that hyuck had said you look really good in. sungchan continues digging through your closet until he finds a maroon leather mini skirt with a split hem that you haven’t worn in ages and throws it to you.

you look at the two articles of clothing, unsure. you turn to look at him.

“trust the process!” that is his favourite thing to say. maybe you will. for the sake of not getting blacklisted to a ræd party.

after you brush your teeth and get dressed up, he nods in agreement when you let him back into your dorm.

“you look so good, hyuck is gonna be all over you tonight!” your face burns up again, your heart fluttering in your chest and you glare at him.

“that’s not the point of the outfit.” you deadpan.

“yes, it is.” sungchan insists, pointing at what should be a dresser but is more of a station for you to get ready and take photos of your outfit. you shoot him a dirty look but make your way over anyway. “you’re going to look hot and irresistible and all eyes are going to be on you.”

“i’m not in the beauty inside.” you roll your eyes and pick up the tools to properly enhance your facial features. he shrugs and moves over to your monitor to play some music for you both to get ready for the party.

you can hear him giggling and typing away on his phone while yours tries to throw itself off your bed from vibrating too hard. so the group is active. you take a quick glance at the clock and it’s ticking down to the golden hour. outside, the sky has already darkened, coating the entire city in an ocean of navy and black with speckles of twinkling stars.

you don’t do too much with your makeup, merely going as natural as you can but you grunge up your look with dark lipstick and highlights where it’ll enhance your best features. it’s a night full of partying, drinking, dancing, and making out with hot strangers. people will most likely be too drunk to think twice about what someone else looks like.

“‘kay, i’m done.” you announce out loud, packing up all of the things you used and storing them away. sungchan helps you onto your feet before stepping back to look at you from head to toe. you watch him cautiously, slouching a little but immediately snap to attention when he sighs and stares at you, silently telling you to stand properly. honestly, it feels like your mom is making you show off the outfit she got you.

he makes a circle in the air with his index finger, wanting you to spin for him. you exhale a heavy sigh but you do it begrudgingly and give him the best model turn you can.

“okay, okay, i see you!” he cheers you on and it gives you a much-needed confidence booth. “alright, let’s head to the biggest party hosted by ræd and get bitches on our dicks!”

“god, you are so weird.” you laugh as you grab a small shoulder bag that’ll keep your necessities safe.

when you’re walking to the party, you’re able to spot the sorority from a mile away. there are bright lights and projections into the sky, music thundering and filling up the empty night air, and bass shaking the ground with more vigour with every step that you take.

you know how big ræd parties are but for some reason, you feel a little nervous. you shouldn’t, but you are.

as you walk up to the door, there’s already a lot going on. people are making out on the front lawn on the verge of having sex in front of everyone, you spot a freshman dressed up to impress talking to a very disinterested person that you recognise to be sunwoo from one of your classes. the corner of your lips quirked upward into a smile. you’re definitely going to find him to tease him about it.

“y/n! sungchannie!” ningning’s voice manages to dominate the blaring music and catch your attention. you turn and see her with a drink in hand and her cheeks absolutely flushed. is that the blush or the alcohol’s work?

she’s wearing a royal purple silk bandana top wrapped around her chest and black low-rise ripped shorts. her indigo heeled boots click against the hardwood floor as she rushes over, dyed hair bouncing in its high pony.

“ning, hey!” you and sungchan both speed up to meet her halfway, passing the threshold and immediately melting into a crowd of chatterboxes, drunks, people making out, and dancers. they’re playing some song you don’t recognise but it’s along the genres of r&b and indie pop so naturally, everyone is eating up what the trendsetters are feeding them.

“you made it and you both look like absolute sluts!” she squeals excitedly, pulling you into a hug and you all laugh together, squeezing her a little before you let go. “the alpha neos are here already, you’re both always the latest!” she chastises but she pouts when she gives you both another once-over. “but you look so good! fashionably late, and fuck, you both look so sexy, i’d make out with you right now.”

“kinda swaying towards the other team right now, ning. if i’m swaying back to how my parents wanted me, i’ll let you know.” sungchan plays along with her faux flirting, throwing a wink her way and she laughs brightly.

“okay okay, go mingle, find a hottie to make out with, i don’t care—have fun! sooyoung put me in charge of welcoming people til like, ten, so i have to stay sober til then. i’ll catch up with you guys later. drinks are in the backyard!” after speeding through her brief, she disappears to greet more people. sungchan and you exchange looks before chuckling.

“alright, i’m gonna go get myself my fix.” you tell him. so there really is an open bar in the backyard like what he said earlier. such a weird detail, but it sure as hell makes the party a lot more interesting.

“sounds good. i’m going to look around and decide what i want to do. i never know how to act at parties.” he complains to himself. a short sigh later and he looks where the sea of people beckons him. “i’ll catch you whenever. have fun and stay safe, y/n.” he gives you one final hug before you both part ways.

after snaking through crowds of dancing people and slinking through dimly-lit hallways with people pressed up against walls to make out or smoke, you finally find the backyard behind sliding glass doors. there’s literally an open bar with a bartender out of a food truck and a pool right next to it. your eyes search for any indication that you’ll have to pay for your drinks as you approach the vehicle and when there’s none, you lean up against the counter and flash your best smile to her.

she notices you almost immediately and smiles back as she makes her way to you. her name tag shines with moonbyul embedded into the silver metal. that’s such a pretty name.

“hi there,” she greets you warmly while setting down the glass that she was cleaning. “how can i be of service?”

“can i have two sour plum shots, please?” you request politely. she nods and starts your order.

moonbyul turns around to grab a bottle and starts mixing the drink for you. you watch as if caught in a trance, her movements fluid like a dance. from the corner of your eye, you thought you had seen donghyuck. a quick second take later and it was indeed him. suddenly you’re praying to all of the gods that you know so he won’t try and approach you. he catches your eye and you quickly turn back to the bartender, hoping she’ll hurry up with your drinks.

in a four-storey sorority house full of partygoers and people hungry for a quick lay, there’s not going to be a chance of you bumping into him. right? even if there is, it’s going to be a low percentage. you take another peek in his direction and someone you don’t recognise is chatting him up and you exhale through your lips in relief.

she returns with two shot glasses full of honey-coloured poison and a smile that could literally charm your skirt off in an instant. for a second, you had almost forgotten about him. what kind of sorcery does this woman possess?

“how much is it? i hope you take bank transfers.” you awkwardly laugh but she immediately shakes her head.

“don’t worry about it. it’s four bucks since you’re cute.” heat rushes to your cheeks and you smile shyly, mumbling a quiet word of thanks as you make your payment. you down the two shots back to back and disappear back into the house. there’s barely any time for your body to process the alcohol and you hope that it’ll kick in as soon as you hit the living room where people are dancing.

you catch a whiff of the cannabis and peach-stained air when you walk through the dimly lit hallway again, letting it fill your body as you begin to feel the slight buzz of your liquor. the first person that catches your eye on the dance floor is giselle. there are way too many people in the living room dancing—there’s no way he’ll find you here.

“y/n!” she slurs the final syllable of your name with a lazy grin on her face. her cheeks are flushed with alcohol as she stumbles to you, pushing through the crowd to pull you in. you gladly allow yourself to be welcomed by her, laughing as she gives you a tight hug. “come dance with me!”

she immediately turns around to press her back against your chest and you put your hands on her waist, laughing with your head thrown back. you can’t tell if it’s the alcohol or the people you’re surrounded by but you’re immediately getting drawn into this coven of sirens on the dance floor.

the music fills you from your fingertips, bass reverberating in your bones as you let your body follow the groove. giselle grinds into you, surprising you, but you quickly recover and let her do whatever she wants. you quickly recognise the song to be madison beer’s baby, and you’re devoured with a lust to be a little slutty.

someone taps your shoulder and you turn around to find a very attractive woman that you don’t recognise. she offers to dance with you and you quickly agree as her hands find your waist. your hands loop around her neck and you’re pulling each other impossibly closer.

you mouth the lyrics with a charming smile and heavy-lidded eyes, swaying your hips seductively. her dark oculars watch your every move with the corner of her lips curled upwards in a lazy smirk and god, that looks really hot.

in a quest to make her melt, you take advantage of the loosened tie that hangs around her neck. with one hand you pull her towards you until your faces are mere inches away, teasing a kiss before you let her go and turn around instead.

alcohol, power, and confidence surge through your veins with the heavy bass acting as a guide for the intoxication.

“such a tease,” she hums lowly in your ear. a bright laugh escapes your lips, shivering involuntarily as her nose gently glides along your collarbone before pressing a kiss to your shoulder blade. “you smell so good, too.”

before you can reply, your eyes spot donghyuck from across the dance floor. he visibly lights up when you catch his gaze but you’re stiffening up and immediately searching for an exit. you hate it when he gets like this.

#2: HE CAN GET TOO PERSISTENT

you free yourself from giselle and your hot mysterious stranger, eyes scanning the bodies you’re surrounded by until you find an opening where you can flee. he’s about to make his way to you and that’s when you duck your head and snake your way out.

your heart is beating out of your rib cage as you spot a room with no light on with the door left slightly ajar. without a moment of hesitation, your feet are taking you there and closing the door shut behind you. luckily the room isn’t occupied so you can stay in there for a while.

you stagger slightly in your steps, feeling the gentle buzz of the alcohol underneath your fingertips. a soft sigh escapes you.

there is no way that you can avoid him all night while having fun but there’s no harm in trying. he’s an immovable object but you’re an unstoppable force. you can outwit his unrelenting nature. probably.

what are you even going to do if he finally catches up to you, anyway? the break before summer break has been serving you perfectly when it comes to avoiding donghyuck after that party. however, even as you keep running away from him, he comes haunting you in your dreams and you mean it literally.

you had a dream of him with his tongue down your throat and his large hand shoved into your underwear. when you woke up, you were feeling things. you aren’t supposed to feel anything for him!

needing a quick break, you pull out your phone to check your notifications. unfortunately, even there he’s made an appearance and by the looks of it, he’s not going to go away any time soon. you delete all of your notifications from him in fear you may accidentally press on one of them and then you’ll have to read whatever was sent. and then he’ll start hounding you on why you left him on read.

after exactly three minutes have passed, you take a deep breath and dive back into the party. there’s no reason for you to be nervous. he should be far away from you now, in some corner of the sorority searching for you. you’d be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t feel guilty.

you decide to sneak back to the bar to get yourself another shot or two. the alcohol is good to get you feeling the buzz, but not strong enough to get you drunk. maybe you should have taken four at once earlier.

moonbyul chuckles to herself when she sees you approaching the bar again within the span of an hour. at the very least, you’re glad to see her too. she’s handsomely leaning against the countertop and greets you with a smile.

“welcome back, gorgeous.” she waves before straightening herself and placing her hands on her hips. “i see the sour plum shots barely did anything to you.”

“and if i said i only came back for you?” you flirt brazenly with a grin on your face, watching her features morph as she laughs lightly. it might be the booze but she looks so stunning you’re almost at a loss for words.

“then i’ll get you a free drink on the house because you’re rather eye-catching.” she winks and your plans to be a casanova immediately burn up into flames as your face heats up. “cute.” she mumbles to herself before turning around to make a drink specially for you.

you fiddle with the details on your bag, pinching the fabric as if you’re waiting for donghyuck to literally just show up and you’ll have to face him. you don’t want to. not under any circumstance. you’re not ready for the conversation that comes after, the feelings that may surface after you bottle them up.

your phone starts buzzing in your hand and you see it’s him texting you again. there’s a pinch in your heart and you shove your phone into your bag. you came here to let go; to let loose. you didn’t come here to talk to him about what could possibly be between both of you.

when moonbyul presents you with a pretty glass of a pink drink that is literally glittering, you blow her an air kiss and she winks back at you. you don’t know what’s in it but you hope it’s the right dosage of poison.

you head back into the house and slowly drink it, savouring the taste of the various liquor mixed with fruit juice. it burns smoothly down your throat with a delectable concoction that runs straight to your brain. oh yeah, this is the one.

in the back of your mind, you can hear shotaro and renjun scolding you, telling you to slow down before you fuck yourself over. part of you wants to ignore them but you’d feel too guilty. you love them too much not to listen to them. renjun can get scary when he’s upset, too. a quiet sigh passes your liquor-tinted lips and you ascend to the second level in another feeble attempt to throw donghyuck off your trail.

there’s no direction you’re heading to—you’re just searching for a distraction. you swirl your drink in your hand, letting the music and the alcohol mingle in your veins as your eyes scan the area lazily. one arm extends across your waist, stopping you from pursuing any further and spinning you around to find renjun.

“you’re avoiding hyuck.” that is the first thing that comes out of his lips. his eyes narrow when he sees your pretty glass of poison.

“no i’m not.” you insist with a slight frown. you’re lying straight through your teeth and you both know it.

renjun takes your glass from you and takes a whiff of it and groans at the strong stench of alcohol. is it really that strong? you barely felt anything.

“how much have you had to drink?”

“not enough.” you grumble in annoyance like a kid getting caught stealing cookies from the jar.

“i’m cutting you off.” your eyes widen and you look at him incredulously, ready to protest but his stern gaze makes it clear that it’s not up for debate. your shoulders sink in defeat. he swaps your drink for his and so does his tone for a gentle, kind one. “here, have some water. i heard from ning that you arrived with sungchan almost an hour ago. slow down, please?”

you swallow thickly, bringing the cup to your lips and sipping on the water. you don’t like it but it’s not like you have a choice in the matter.

“fine . . .” you mumble into the cup before taking a generous gulp.

“why are you avoiding him? is this because of what happened at the party?” you’re almost unnerved at how easily he’s able to read you. “you do realise that you are both kind of, i don’t know, you’re both good for each other? in your weird way? nobody understands it but everybody knows it. it’s clear as day, you need to stop fighting it. whatever happened between you and that guy isn’t what’s going to happen between you and hyuck. you know that, right?”

he speaks the truth aloud and it knocks just enough sense into you for you to sober up against your will. you eye him watchfully and he cocks an eyebrow upward.

“god, i hate you so much.” tears threaten to prick the corner of your eyes and renjun chuckles when he realises you’re on the verge of crying. he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small pack of tissues. you let him dab your tears away carefully.

“yeah, yeah,” he chuckles through his nose. “as big of a house this is, it’s still enclosed by four walls. and you look really good tonight. someone as attractive as you shouldn't be crying at a place like this.”

you glare at him as more tears break the dam.

“oi, why the hell are you crying harder?!” he laughs but you know it’s his way of trying to cheer you up. you break a short laugh in between tears. he’s the only one who knows what happened between that guy and yourself. you didn’t really allow yourself to talk to anyone about it.

when you finally manage to calm down, he gives you a tight hug and you take a deep breath. you’re still going to avoid hyuck, though. you’re not ready to face your feelings just yet. even when he’s not here, he’s still so persistent when it comes to you. you wouldn’t be surprised if he manifested this shit.

renjun lets you go with a pat on the head after you finish the cup of water.

you disappear further into the second floor, in search of something to do, perhaps someone to talk to and keep you occupied as you think of your next move. how long are you going to keep avoiding him? that’s a good question. maybe for as long as you possibly can. it’s a tough game to play especially when your opponent is the ever-so-determined lee donghyuck, but you hope for your own victory.

there’s not much on the second floor besides a communal area where people are in a circle smoking joints and a balcony right behind it where you can have a view of the entire campus town. bummed out by the lack of festivities, you head back downstairs to find someone to bother. you haven’t seen mark, giselle, and shotaro. maybe you should try your luck with one of them.

you find yourself lurking along the walls, hoping that you’ll find someone you recognise so you can say hello to them. the dance floor seems a lot less busy than before so you decide to tag in. maybe that mysterious stranger will come back to find you again.

“y/n?” that’s a voice you never want to hear for the rest of your life. you quickly spin around to see the man who led you on and broke your heart with a charming smile on his face.

there he is, standing before you with the same smile like what happened a couple of years back wasn’t a big deal. you’re not the best when it comes to processing your feelings and just shoved them deep down in hopes you’ll forget, but you never did. how could you forget some of the fondest memories you’ve made in your second year of university?

“song mingi.” you exhale through your lips, eyes wide as you take in his appearance. his hair is dark now, compared to the dyed blond he sported then. he’s wearing a shimmery purple button-up with his sleeves rolled to his elbows and the buttons undone halfway, showing off his physique. you swallow thickly. what do you even say to him?

“you look . . . you look really fucking amazing.” he chuckles through his nose. he gestures to the dancing bodies around you but you can’t find it in yourself to move, to tear your gaze away, to breathe. you’re caught in a spell cast by him years ago, reactivated by his mere presence. “can we dance?”

“i . . . mingi–“ you start to protest, but the words are stuck in the back of your throat as you look back at him all doe-eyed and naïve like you did back then.

“just one dance, please? i want to–“

in the blink of an eye, donghyuck’s scent overwhelms your senses. no longer do you see mingi but it’s donghyuck’s broad shoulders blocking most of your view. you don’t know how he managed to wedge himself so quickly between your bodies but he did, and you finally remember to let go of the breath you didn’t even realise you were holding.

“y/n doesn’t want anything to do with you.” his voice is stern and steady, half an octave deeper than how he usually speaks.

“hyuck . . .” your call for him falls on deaf ears.

“who are you–“

“it doesn’t matter. you’ve dealt your damage.” donghyuck takes the opportunity to grab your wrist gently yet firmly to drag you off of the dance floor. your heart starts to beat rapidly against your chest. “y/n, what were you thinking?” he chastises you as he continues leading you far away from the noise.

he’s speaking to you, probably scolding you for freezing up like that, but not a single one of his words registers in your brain. you’re staring—no, admiring—his appearance, the beauty marks on his face, his dishevelled hair, until you both stop at the end of the hallway on the second floor. at least you know you’ll have some privacy.

“y/n.” he sternly calls out your name and you dazedly snap to attention. “y/n, why have you been ignoring me? was it something i did? something i said?”

“no,” you frown, avoiding eye contact entirely. you start to feel antsy, fingers itching to toy with the hem of your leather skirt.

“then what is it? i don’t . . . i don’t want to stop being around you.” he sounds so dejected with his voice dying out, merely whispering the last part but you catch them as soon as the words leave his plump lips.

“it’s not . . . no.” you’re choking up, obviously at a loss for words. where do you even begin? “i . . . hyuck, you’re always on my goddamn mind.” you blurt out angrily, not even meaning to sound pissed off. but at that moment, you are. you’re burning from the neck up and your hands form fists at your sides. but you’re not angry at him—you’re angry at yourself.

“what?” he dumbly asks as he gapes at you.

#1: HE BROKE DOWN YOUR WALLS WITHOUT YOU EVEN REALISING IT

you hate him so fucking much.

you clench your jaw, grounding yourself before you continue. if you’re going to do this whole emotions thing, you’re going to do it your way. all of your feelings are climbing their way to the top, freeing themselves from the once-unbreakable confines as they race to the back of your throat. you look at him with pleading eyes to apologise quietly before you turn away.

“you . . . fuck, lee donghyuck. do you have any idea what you do to me? you . . . you’re so fucking annoying. you get under my skin. you make me wanna chuck a metal ball at your head half the time.” you start pacing back and forth, sometimes pausing to make eye contact with him before you’re back on your rant. “you’re so insufferable with your stupid comments—you always have something to say. always so fucking loud, always so– ugh!” you throw your hands up in the air in frustration.

“i-i’m sorry, i didn’t realise i was–“

“shut the fuck up.” you snap immediately, turning sharply to him with a pointed finger. there’s a pause and you realise just how livid you sound. you apologise to him softly and drop your hands to your sides. one quick glance at him and it literally breaks your heart. you were supposed to harbour your feelings so it wouldn’t put you both in a bad spot.

you sigh and run your fingers through your hair. so now you’ve done it. you’ve told him how irritating he can be, but you still haven’t told him the most crucial part yet. he’s been looking at you this whole time, waiting for you to continue and clinging on to every word you’ve said as if he’ll crash and fall if he doesn’t. you take a deep breath.

“despite all of that shit you somehow make me . . . fuck, you make me feel happy.” your voice cracks as you turn to look at him. your heart is trembling and so are your hands. “you . . . you make me laugh. you fucking– ugh, i feel safe around you. i can’t even be properly fucking mad at you. i don’t– do you know how fucking annoying that is? i hate you so goddamn much because you managed to tear through these walls i built without even me knowing it. you made your own space with me in my sanctuary and holy fucking shit, i hate you so much because i think i’m fucking in love with you.”

you said it.

“y/n.” he chuckles dryly and reaches his hand out to get your attention. you gnaw on your bottom lips, already stressing out over the word vomit. you desperately turn away and refuse to make eye contact with him. “y/n baby, look at me, please?”

every time he says your name, it’s like he’s holding the weight of a god’s name with it. he says it so softly and sweetly you want to break down and cry because nobody has ever said your name like that before. and the pet name? god, you’re melting but you don’t want to let go. you’re holding on to the last bits of control that you have.

donghyuck steps closer to you slowly like you’re a wild animal cornered by something foreign. he’s calm and calculated with his movements, calloused hand reaching to cup your cheek and you melt at the warmth of his touch, eyes fluttering as you let him guide your gaze to meet his.

“y/n, my angel,” he softly whispers. “i didn’t realise you already feel the same. if i’d known earlier, i wouldn’t have waited so long.” your brows furrow slightly, obviously confused.

“what?”

“i wasn’t sure you’d even look my way, i thought you were just indulging me like everyone else does. when renjun told me what happened between you and mingi, i swore to myself to never let any harm come to you, ever.” he takes a deep breath before continuing. “and fuck, i’m so happy that i make you happy like that. i just– fuck, y/n, you deserve to be happy. you deserve to be spoiled, you deserve to be loved, i can’t believe you closed yourself off because of one asshole. so please, please, i fucking beg—let me make you happy for as long as i can. let me love you for as long as i can. let me be your safe haven for as long as i can because i know i’ll fucking regret it if i don’t.”

“hyuck?” you whisper.

“yeah, baby?” god, you want to hear that every second of every single day for the rest of your life if you could. he notices your obvious reaction to it and he laughs quietly. “you like it when i call you baby?”

“fuck yeah, i do,” you nod. “kiss me.”

“thought you’d never ask.” he grins widely, dark eyes glimmering in pure ecstasy.

donghyuck’s left hand snakes down to your hip and pins you down to the nearest wall as soon as your lips meet. his are just as soft as you’d imagine them to be, the cool metal of his lip ring a stark contrast that sends an involuntary shiver up your spine. he’s gentle as he kisses you, savouring the liquor on your lips as you do his, eyes fluttering close as you wrap your hands around his neck to pull him closer to you.

a soft groan leaves his lips when you suckle on his bottom lip and his reaction causes heat to stir in your core. motivated by a hunger to get closer to him, one of your hands reaches down to loop and finger through his belt loop to pull his hips closer to yours. he instantly picks up what you’re putting down, pushing yours closer to his as he decides to crane your cheek to the side.

his lips leave yours and you whine quietly, already missing the mix of hot and cold, but it quickly turns into a sigh of pleasure when he starts searching for your weak spots along the canvas of your neck. within a heartbeat, he finds one of them and he nibbles and suckles on the spot the second he hears you sighing in pleasure again.

“hyuck . . .” you whimper his name and he growls into your hot skin. immediately you feel something poke against your thigh, which sets off fireworks in your rapidly beating heart and a rush of heat straight to your core.

“don’t say my name like that,” donghyuck warns, voice dropping an octave lower. “i won’t be able to control myself if you do, baby.” with the way he’s licking fat stripes and sinking his teeth into your skin to draw out the lewdest sounds from your mouth, you don’t want him to be tame.

you want him to lay his claim on you until the heavens bear both your sins.

your fingers run into his dark tresses, guiding him to the exact spot that’ll make your knees weak. he hums in approval when you roll your hips against his but he grunts when you moan out his name again. the grip he has on your hip tightens as if warning you even more as he continues to discover where to touch, tease, kiss, and bite until you’re putty in his hands.

“hyuck, please,” you whisper in his ear. you’re ready to tease him and push his buttons into getting what you want but he shuts you with a searing kiss, pushing you flat against the wall behind. the mixture of his hot lips and cold piercing sends your head into a tailspin as you moan into his mouth.

“you know exactly what you’re doing when you say my name like that, don’t you?” he brushes his thumb against your cheekbones fondly yet his sweet words betray the tint of condescension that laces his voice. you brazenly grin up at him. of course you know exactly what you’re doing.

donghyuck leads his thumb to your lips this time, tilting your chin up towards his face. he doesn’t hide the fact that his eyes are zeroed in on that feature of yours when you take his thumb past and into your mouth.

his gaze darkens as you generously suck on the digit, tongue swirling around it and pulling it in with every suck. the corners of your lips curl upward into a smirk knowing that he’s doing nothing to hide the boner straining in his pants. you don’t want to wait anymore; not when you can feel heat looking in your underwear until you have to press your thighs together to relieve the ache.

even when he’s entranced by you, he doesn’t let anything slide. the second he notices your plush thighs rubbing against each other, he pushes his knee between and bumps it against your core. you look up at him and he’s smirking lazily at you.

“does my baby need something from me?” you ought to melt right there caged within his arms from the way he purrs the pet name so lovingly into your ear.

“i want you.” to emphasise your statement, you grind yourself down against his knee and a timid moan falls from your lips. “i need you, hyuckie.”

“fuck, y/n,” he groans, dropping his head to your shoulder. both of his hands find purchase on your hips, guiding you as you grind against it, relishing in the friction against his pants. it feels good but it’s not enough—you need all of him. you want him to devour you until he’s coming back for more even after he’s had his fill.

“hyuck, i’m begging you,” you plead in desperation. “fuck me before i find mingi to do it.”

in an instant, you know you’ve pushed the right buttons to get him to act on his desires and throw caution into the wind. he grabs your wrist and immediately finds the nearest open bedroom. you follow dumbfoundedly with your lips parted, entranced with how he switched from being teasing to taking command. it’s kinda hot.

“you’re gonna regret ever saying that, baby.” he warns when he finds an unlocked door, flicking on the light switch. you don’t recognise the room but you’re not given the option to observe when he pulls you in and locks the door as he pins you against the wood, lips finding yours and uniting you both with a hot kiss.

you mewl into his mouth when he takes both your wrists and pins them above your head with one hand, the other pawing at you through your clothes. you had chosen to not wear a bra that night since the top gives enough support and you do not regret your decision at all when he finds your perked nipples to pinch them gently. the contact makes your jaw hang loose with a moan caught in the back of your throat as he slides his tongue in to taste the alcohol that you previously intoxicated yourself with.

your hips find a mind of their own, rolling into his to quietly beg for some friction where your pussy is throbbing for attention.

donghyuck lets go of your wrists so he can make quick work of your clothes, stripping you down until you’re left in nothing but your underwear while he remains fully dressed. his mouth detaches from you and before you can dare to complain, he wraps his lips around a pert bud so he can hear you moan for him. he smiles around your nipple, enjoying the symphony of sweet cries coming from you as he swirls his tongue while one hand takes the other between his thumb and index finger to tug and tease.

“hyuckie . . .” you sigh softly just as your fingers run through his dark tresses to gently pull at them, every little ministration doing nothing to help the ache between your legs. as if he knows that your cunt is feeling neglected, he dives his other hand into your underwear and hums in satisfaction at what he finds. he releases your breast with a wet pop, rising back up to find your lips for a sweet kiss.

“who are you so wet for, hm?” his fingers reach between your lips and you can hear how wet you are, blood rushing to your cheeks at the lewd sound. “is it mingi?” he cocks an eyebrow upward, practically spitting out your ex’s name with venom when he finds your throbbing clit and gently pinches it.

“n-no! fuck, no, never!” you squeal at the jolt of pain and pleasure sending a shockwave straight to your brain. you shake your head to let him know that it’s not mingi, wanting to let him know that it’ll only be him who makes you this wet, but your throat runs dry as soon as he sinks his middle finger in.

“no?” he echoes, slowly sliding his finger in and out of your cunt to watch you scrunch your face up in pleasure. “then who’s it for?”

your eyes flash open when he completely halts his movements. his eyes widen too but in faux surprise to mock you and god, you really want to choke him for that. you’re about to taste heaven but he’s purposely dragging it away from you.

“who’s it for, baby?”

“it’s for you, asshole.” you bite back and this time, he’s truly in shock with his eyebrows raising at your sudden outburst. when it finally registers in your brain what you had just called him, you gasp quietly, ready to apologise but the air gets knocked out of your lungs before you can.

donghyuck’s finger slips from your underwear, hands firm on your hips, and he spins you around to pin you down to the bed. from beneath him, you watch in a mix of trepidation and arousal as he rips the fabric apart with his bare hands. you had expected him to throw it over his shoulders but he pockets it in his pants instead.

“h-hyuck, i-i’m sorry, didn’t mean to–”

a gentle, wet smack against your clit shuts you up instantly. it’s another jolt of pleasure that makes heat rush to your core even more, the sensitive bundle of nerves begging for attention with a soft throb.

“since i’m an asshole,” he begins, licking his lips. your focus immediately zones in on his silver lip ring shining as he gets onto his knees. your gaze flits back to his and his eyes are fully blown with greed and a feral hunger reserved for you. knowing that you have him so worked up like this sends another kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttering in your stomach and they burn into little flames of lust that melt into your body. “you’re not cumming until i say that you can.”

he grabs the back of your thighs and dives into your cunt, thumbs pulling your pussy lips apart as he starts to lap at your juices like a man starved. trickles of electricity run up your spine as your fingers fall to his hair, grabbing onto whatever you can as you throw your head back in pure pleasure.

the heavy, wet muscle sharpens at the tip to flick at your clit while two fingers dip into your heat. your body burns, hips lifting off the bed only to be forcefully restrained again by his arms. he curls his fingers as he sets a steady pace to relish in the way your walls wrap around them, wondering just how good his cock will feel when he finally fucks your brains out. you’re not holding yourself back either, tugging at his hair and moaning his name with bits of apologies caught in between stammers but he pays no attention to you.

“fuck, hyuck, right there!” you gasp, clamping down around him when he hooks his digits and his fingertips brush against the spot that calls for your orgasm. he wraps his lips around your clit, suckling gently, and you can feel him smile when a high-pitched moan of his name falls from you. “shit, oh my god–”

he starts to thrust his fingers in and out of you at a rougher pace, making scissoring motions to stretch you out only for your walls to stubbornly tighten around him. a knot starts to form in your belly without warning and you’re now fearing what he’ll do when you’re going to cum. yet that fear turns you on even more, a high-pitched cry bouncing off the walls when he sucks on your clit stronger.

as much as you try to roll your hips into his face to feel him deeper, he pins you in place, not allowing you any movement and you tug at his hair in annoyance. your eyes fall down to look at him and you could instantly come undone from the view.

donghyuck already has his gaze fixed on you, watching your every expression and you melt underneath his hold with a meek mewl. he cocks an eyebrow upward at the same time he harshly suckles on your bud, drawing out a louder moan of pleasure from you. his lips let go of it, choosing to roll his tongue languidly while his fingers relentlessly tease your g-spot.

“h-hyuck, please, i’m sorry, i’m sorry!” you manage to cry out, the knot tightening and threatening to break free. “i’m gonna cum, please, i need to cum so bad, i’ll be good, i’m sorry!” tears prick the corners of your eyes and he rests the side of his face against the inside of your thigh, pouting in mock pity as he starts fucking his fingers deeper and faster into your cunt.

“aww, you’re gonna cum?” he coos, laughing when you nod desperately and clear drops tumble down your cheeks. he’s such an asshole. you want to take the reins and make him pay for it but all you can think of is how hot he is when he’s mocking you like this. it doesn’t stop your stomach from twisting, your walls from clenching around his digits, and your body aching for sweet release. “i dunno y/n, do you deserve it?”

“yes, fuck, i do, i promise!” your back arches when his fingertips rub directly against your g-spot, fingers slipping from his hair to grab at the sheets beneath you. “please, i’ll be so– i’ll be so good for you, hyuck, i only want you. nobody else, please!”

you’re doing your best to keep your orgasm at bay but he’s pushing you further to your edge to test just how far you can go with a mischievous grin on his face. you hear fabric getting pushed around but you can barely think of anything else when his fingers are toying with your cunt and clit. your orgasm creeps closer and closer, threatening to come apart on his fingers alone but you want to cum around his cock. you gnaw on your bottom lip in an ardent effort to control yourself but donghyuck had other plans for you.

he pulls his fingers from you and immediately shoves his cock into your awaiting cunt.

the stretch burns perfectly as you struggle to accommodate his size, cockhead hot and heavy as it generously kisses your g-spot. that was it. as soon as he sinks himself fully, you’re cumming around his cock with a piercing cry of his name, back arching into the air as your entire body trembles. it hits you like a rippling wave, goosebumps set alight along your arms as you form white rings around him.

“oh fuck, shit, oh my fucking– fuck, y/n, baby you’re so fucking tight.” a slew of profanities tumbles from his lips as he stays completely still, not wanting to hurt you but his thumb taps gently at your clit as he helps you through your orgasm. he waits for you to come down from your high, taking that moment to pull his tie-dye shirt over his head and toss it in a corner to be forgotten.

you pant heavily underneath him, eyes half-lidded as he leans down to pepper soft kisses all over your face. it’s a strange feeling to feel his hot lips against your own burning skin but the coolness of his lip ring manages to give you a small slice of relief. with his clean hand, he pushes away the locks of your hair that block his view of your face, chuckling to himself when you look up at him with pleading doe eyes. you finally have a taste of him and all it does is leave you wanting more.

“did my fingers feel that good, baby?” he hums against your forehead before kissing you. you nod dazedly in reply. your throat feels far too dry to be able to say anything so you do your best by swallowing your saliva. “don’t pass out just yet, pretty. we’ve barely started.”

you whine, throwing your head back from the teasing at the same time your walls clench around his cock from his words. you feel so full with him sheathed fully inside of you, tip kissing the bundle of nerves deep inside of you effortlessly that even the slightest movement can make you squirm beneath him.

“hyuck,” you sigh quietly. your hands reach up to cup his strikingly handsome face, watching closely as he leans into you to kiss you again. god, you’re never going to get tired of his lips on you. you gaze deep into his eyes when he pulls away for air, “make me yours. i want all of you.”

“i’m gonna make sure everyone knows you’re mine, baby.” it’s a promise that you know he intends to keep when his lips meet yours once more, hips slowly rolling up against yours. you moan into his mouth, eyelids fluttering shut and you wrap your legs around his torso to pull him closer. he starts to slowly withdraw his cock from your cunt and begin at a slow and steady pace, being mindful of the fact that you had just come down from your first high of the night. “god, i didn’t think you’d feel this fucking tight. you’re so much better than what i’d imagined.”

“you touched yourself to me?” what leaves your throat is a mix of a gasp and a moan, walls stubbornly clenching around him when he pushes himself back into you.

“how could i not?” donghyuck scoffs through his nose. one of his hands snakes between both your bodies as he languidly thrusts in and out, rolling your clit underneath his thumb so your slick will lubricate his cock as if you’re not already soaking wet for him. “you’re the person of my fucking dreams. remember that shirt of mine you stole recently, baby? yeah? i came so hard when i fucked my fist wishing it was your tight little pussy.”

you whine at his words, images of him touching himself in his room to the thought of you appearing in your mind so clearly that your walls clamp around him. he starts to speed up while he searches for the right angle that’ll make you scream your lungs out for him.

“yeah? y’like that, baby? love the way that i touch myself to you like a damn pervert?” he punctuates the last word with a particularly harsh thrust upwards into your pussy and you gasp for air, eyes rolling back and toes curling in. “right there?”

“fuck, yes!”

he throws one of your knees over his shoulders and steadies himself at a comfortable position. he withdraws his cock from you until his cockhead is barely wrapped by your twitching hole before he starts to fuck into you. his name is ripped from your throat as he sets a brutal pace, hips pistoning in and out mercilessly, tufts of trimmed hair rubbing against your clit. you’re still sensitive from your previous orgasm and you know it’s not going to take too much for you to cum again.

beads of sweat drip down from his hairline, sliding down to his chiselled cheekbone to fall onto the sheets beneath you. you feel every thrust deep in your stomach, getting absolutely drunk on the feeling of his cock filling you up and stretching your walls beyond comprehension. every harsh thrust and drag of his cock in and out of your cunt sends you closer and closer to the edge as tears spring from the corners of your eyes.

“does my cock feel that good, baby?” donghyuck croons sweetly.

“yeah, s’fucking good,” you slur dazedly and hope that it makes even an iota of sense to him.

“mingi won’t ever be able to fuck you like this.” he growls and suddenly his thrusts are getting rougher. you guess that it’s motivating him further to plough into you, bed creaking with every light bounce of your body underneath him. “nah. he’s never gonna make you scream like i do. he’s never gonna treat you half as well as i do, isn’t that right, pretty baby?”

tears flow down your hot cheeks, blurring your vision but you can see how his teeth toy with his lip ring, equally agitated and pissed that you’d been treated badly. you mewl his name weakly to try and snap him out of it but he doesn’t hear it at all. instead, he readjusts your position.

donghyuck presses both your knees to your chest with his hands, mounting the bed and achieving a higher angle. you look up at him, anticipating his next move. all he does is give you a sweet kiss on the forehead and a playful smirk before he’s snapping his hips against yours again. the new position allows him to reach deeper than he previously did as he looms over you with a satisfied grin on his face, watching you writhe underneath him from the pleasure that overwhelms you.

“nobody’s gonna fuck you like i do.” he wraps his fingers around your throat and presses down at the right spots to restrict your airflow. your head falls back as it only emphasises how every touch lights your body on fire, every rough thrust rendering you speechless and all you can do is gasp and moan and whine for him. “yeah? am i fucking my pretty baby so good they can’t even speak?”

you try to say his name but all that comes out is a croak that barely resembles it. when he releases your throat, you almost whine out at the loss but you’re not given the chance. his hand snakes between your connected bodies to roll your clit under his thumb, eager to encourage your orgasm.

“you look so pretty when you’re all fucked out, baby,” he coos sweetly. the combination of his cock drilling into you mercilessly and fingers working to toy with your sensitive bud sends your head into a tailspin. a familiar knot forms in your lower belly once more and you can tell he’s chasing his own orgasm. all that fills your mind is how good his cock feels deep inside of you and how you want him to fill you up til you’re leaking. “so, so damn pretty. an absolute angel looking like this underneath me, i could fuck you all day and all night now that i have you. i’ll make sure everyone knows you’re mine and i’m yours, i’ll make sure any person who even thinks inappropriate things about you, i’ll fuck you right in front of them to make it clear that you’re not up for grabs.”

his words sink into your skin and you melt but your walls flutter around him which makes him laugh dryly.

“fuck, you’re so naughty. you clenched around me when i said i’d fuck you in front of others.” you whine, head tipping back as your orgasm creeps closer. “you’d like that, wouldn’t you? should’ve known you’re a nasty whore but that’s okay—i know you’re only a whore for my cock, angel.”

“‘m gonna cum, hyuckie!” you gasp, back arching as the knot tightens further.

“yeah? i’m close, too.” he pants hotly from above. “go on and cum around my cock, baby. make a mess for me, yeah? prove to me that i’m all yours.” the pet name is all that you need to come undone.

this orgasm hits you harder than the last, hot white spreading all over your body as your shoulders stiffen up. his thrusts are getting sloppier as he chases after his own high, cussing and whispering your name between grunts and groans.

“shit, i’m gonna cum–”

“inside!” you quickly capture his attention. his lips part but you continue before he can speak. “cum inside, i want to feel all of you, hyuckie.” with the gentle rasp in your voice and the pleading look on your face, he curses and a high-pitched moan is caught in the back of his throat as he spills his hot seed inside of you. his hips stammer and come to a still, groaning your name with his lids squeezed shut.

“fuck . . .” he gasps and wraps your legs around his waist so he can lean forward. your trembling hands reach up to cup his face, smiling fondly as you bring him in for a sweet, chaste kiss. “why’d it take us this long?”

“i wanna blame my emotional constipation,” you joke lightly and he laughs through his nose.

“it’s one of my favourite qualities about you.” donghyuck nuzzles his nose against yours, stealing yet another kiss from you. “do you know whose room we just fucked in?”

you blink blearily and look around as you tug him down so you can both cuddle for a bit. he follows your lead and slowly pulls out but quickly panics when his cum starts leaking out.

“oh fuck, i shouldn’t have ripped your undies for souvenir–” your realisation dawns upon you like a bucket of cold water when you finally recognise whose room this is. you start to smack his arm repeatedly while you hurriedly try to get onto your wobbly feet. “baby, what’s the rush?” he quickly catches you when you almost fall, failing to see what’s causing your state of alarm.

“we’re in ning’s room!”

“oh, shit.”

thank you for reading the first installation of the series BEFORE THE LAST FLOWER BLOOMS. if you enjoyed it, i would love to hear your thoughts in reblogs, comments, and / or chat about it in my ask box! check out my other works or the bonus piece while you wait for the next installation, I KINDA WANNA BE YOURS.

#lee donghyuck smut #haechan smut #nct dream smut #nct smut #hua writes #h.dream #h.donghyuck #h.smut #h.fluff #╭ ❝ series ❞ / before the last flower blooms

1K notes · View notes

futterurl · 7 months

Text

Owe It To You

Josh Futturman x fem!reader

WARNINGS: smut (mdni!), oral(f!recieving), fingering, clit play, female anatomy on reader

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

you were tired, to say the least.

going back in time, checking on the future to the same, demented outcome, really took a toll on you guys. it always seemed as if every effort and alternative path taken for the future didn’t matter.

you were lost in thought as tiger and wolf fought with each other, it was the same empty argument: wolf didn’t listen, tiger wanted control. it was draining to hear.

you all were in Joosh’s super house, taking a peek at how fucked up you all made this future. you left the living room in frustration, heading up to Joosh’s room.

you crashed onto the bed, covering your face with a pillow, letting out a low groan. you were tired of all the fighting, all the time travel, everything. you needed a break.

you heard a knock on the door, followed by a calming voice asking, “hey, you okay?”

you lifted the pillow from your face, seeing josh, peaking the door open, worry etched on his eyebrows. he knew how much of a toll this was starting to take on you, you guys were best friends, after all.

“yeah, just…tired, is all.” you half mumbled into the pillow, just loud enough so he could barely hear.

he leaned off the door and sat on the bed that you lay on. he scratched your head.

“something’s telling me there’s more to it than that.” he inquired.

“i don’t know…i guess i’m just tired of all this shit.” you began. “we try so hard to perfect the future, but are met with the same outcome. i’ve been trying to think left and right of new ideas…nothing’s working.”

he understood that this was only the tip of the iceberg, regarding your feelings for all this. when you got roped up into this mess, you left more behind than him. you left behind an internship you had busted your ass off for, and two other jobs, which you probably got fired from, due to your absence.

you had two different jobs just to meet ends meet, in your shitty apartment. sure, they were crappy, dead-end jobs, but they helped you get ends meet. you were somehow able to balance those along with your internship which you fought so hard to get.

all down the drain.

in a way, it was relieving, not having to juggle all of this, living every day as a drained, sleep deprived zombie.

unfortunately, this scenario was just like everything else in your life: there was no way out.

“i know, i know…i really am sorry you got dragged into this. it’s all my fault.” josh sighed.

it had just been a fun night of you guys playing video games, finally beating this one you guys had been playing for…forever. once you guys were just hanging out and talking about it, in a flash of light, wolf and tiger had appeared, needing the people who beat the game’s help. immediately. you both were there, so they needed the both of you.

“it’s not your fault, josh…we did it together, we gotta get through this together.” it really wasn’t his fault. you didn’t want him to think that.

“no, it is. i’m constantly getting you roped into all the shit that happens in my life, and you’ve been working your ass off to fix this timeline. you deserve better.” josh stroked your hair.

you sat up. “it’s okay, josh. there’s nobody i’d rather fix the timeline with.”

“still, it’s not fair. all of this isn’t fair. let me…let me make it up to you.” he seemed a bit nervous and started hesitating on his words.

you started to feel a little hot. “how would you go about ‘making it up to me’, josh?”

you did not expect what he did next.

josh was this awkward gamer nerd who had never felt the touch of a woman before. he’d always been so out of place and nervous talking to anyone, which made it so weird to hear what he said next.

“let…let me make you feel good.” his hand laying on the bed crept closer to your thigh, covered by your pants.

you started to get a little nervous yet excited. you had never seen him be this bold before.

“you’ve been so stressed by everything in life, and i mean everything. a-and you never have anyone help you out with anything. i want to help you…feel good, like stress relief.” his pinkie played with the fabric of your pants.

you couldn’t believe this was real right now. josh, the one you had known for years, barely having the balls to talk to girls besides you, doing this. your mine was racing.

he noticed how quiet you were being. “o-of course you don’t have to let me do it if you don’t want to! it was just an idea, it was stupid, i don’t wanna make you uncomfortable or anythi-”

he was cut off by you kissing him, hand holding his jawline. he melted into the kiss.

as you pulled away, you smiled. “i…i think i do want this. please, josh. make me feel good.”

“okay…okay..” he started to trail off with his words as his thumb ran back and forth on your cheek. “before i do this, i just wanna let you know that if you’re uncomfortable, please tell me, and we’ll be done. won’t have to speak of it ever again. promise.”

he was very sweet. sure, he was awkward, but he put your comfort and pleasure first. it made you feel happy and safe.

he went back to softly kissing you as his hand went slightly under your shirt and rubbed your waist, just above your pants. soft, delicate touches.

as he unbuttoned your pants, he tapped your hips twice, signaling for you to lift them up. as you did, he tugged your pants down at an agonizingly slow pace. he was such a fucking tease.

his eyes became infatuated with your lace underwear you were wearing. the way it clung to your hips was driving him mad. he hoped you couldn’t tell how crazy you were making him. he toyed with the fabric as you smiled.

“as much as i love these,” he snapped them on your hips. “i’m gonna have to take them off. is that okay with you?”

you felt so safe, knowing how tender he was being. he didn’t want to fuck this up. you lifted your hips. “that’s more than okay with me, josh.” you played with a handful of his hair.

he dragged your panties down your legs, exposing your glistening cunt to him. he audibly gasped, he couldn’t believe he was doing this to you. sure, he always thought you were sweet, and even fantasized about doing things like this to you, but he didn’t think it’d ever happen.

he was lost in thought, staring at your cunt. you started to get insecure, closing your legs. “josh, stop staring.” you pleaded.

he shook his head. “sorry, you’re just…so beautiful. i can’t believe it.” he thumbed little circles on your inner thigh.

“can i…feel you? down there, i mean?” he asked. god, he was so awkward it was funny.

you nodded your head. “yeah. please.”

his fingers started inching closer and closer to where you needed them most. suddenly, he ran one through your slit, barely touching your clit. you shuddered. that felt good.

“fuck…you’re so wet. you’re so hot.” he ran his finger slowly around your clit, seeing if he’d get any reactions from you. you silently gasped.

“that..that felt really good. please keep doing that.” you felt so good right now. no guy had ever focused on making you feel good before. this was new. you liked it.

“god, please moan for me. love the little noises y’make.” josh was rubbing your clit a bit faster, making you let out a quiet moan.

“f..fuck. feels good. really good.” feeling that little area constantly stimulated was the ticket. you hadn’t felt this good in a long time.

“can i…can i put a finger in?” he asked, slowing down his aggression on your clit.

you furiously nodded your head, your pussy clamping down on nothing. wanting to be filled. by him.

“please, please josh.” you said, getting lost in the pleasure. you let out a grunt as he slowly inserted a finger inside you.

“fuck, it’s only one finger but you’re so tight, fuck.” he started to ramble as he moved his finger in your wetness. you squirmed a bit. it felt so good, his thick finger getting lost in you.

“m’ gonna put another one im, ‘kay?” he asked, prodding another finger to your tight hole. you nodded, to which he slowly put it in. you groaned at the tight stretch.

“you good?” he asked. he wanted this to be good for you. the last thing he wanted to do was hurt you.

“yeah, was just..new, was all. please keep going. feels good.” you went on.

he did just that. he curled his fingers inside you, pumping them at a quick pace. that, with stimulation he was putting from his thumb to your clit, was making you moan left and right. you felt something stirring inside you.

“god, you’re so cute like this…should’ve done this sooner.” he gushed, turning you on even more.

“fuck, m’close.” you panted.

as soon as the feeling met you, it left as he pulled his fingers out of you.

you looked up at him, confused. “why’d you do that?” you asked.

he started to sink down. “as much as i was getting into that, i wanna see you cum on my tongue.” he kissed your thighs.

you felt the wetness pool inside you even more once he said that. god, you couldn’t get that image out of your head now.

“please, fuck, josh. make me cum on your tongue.” you pleaded as he slowly trailed to your inner thighs, giving them a lot of attention. you had taken him for the thigh guy, but not to this extent.

“since you asked so nicely…” he lowered his head, taking a long lick to your cunt, you releasing a pornographic moan.

“fuck…feels s’good josh…oh my god.” you had never felt this type of pleasure anywhere, and here he was, giving it to you like his life depended on it.

he gave a light kiss to your clit before lightly tracing his tongue over it, testing the waters. once he heard you becoming a moaning mess, he licked it with more vigor, wanting to pull these moans out of you.

the stimulation felt like no other, him focusing on making out with your clit and entrance. he pulled your thighs closer to his face as he licked at more of your slick.

you pulled at his hair, letting out breathy moans. he groaned at this. hard. right into your cunt, which felt so fucking good. you could feel your back arch off the bed as he lapped into your juices, him tonguing your clit. your nails scratched at his scalp as that familiar pit in your stomach came back.

“josh…so close…holy shit.” you moaned as his tongue swirled around you.

“please, come on my face. please.” he pleaded. the vibrations his voice sent to your core sending you even closer. “wanna make you feel better than you ever have. come on my tongue.”

one final stroke of his tongue lead you to your peak, your thighs tightening around his face. you let out incoherent babbles as you came on him. he continued to lick you as you rode out your high.

once you calmed down, you looked down at him, catching your breath. he had slick all over his face and wore a dopey smile. “are you okay?” he asked.

“never better.” you replied. “that felt so fucking good josh. thank you. so much.” you caressed his cheek.

“i hope it’s not too weird to tell you i enjoyed that.” he had a slight tint of red on his cheeks.

“oh! not at all. it was amazing. i can’t thank you enough.” you smiled, laying onto the pillow.

“no, i can’t thank you enough. you always stay by my side and always fix my messes. this is the least that i could do.” he said as he handed you a glass of water that was sitting on the nightstand, which you took.

“i’ll always be here for you, if you ever wanna do shit like this again, or even something soothing like a massage.” he added.

you put the glass of water down, hugging him. “you’re so sweet, josh. i appreciate it so much. you’re such a good person, i really hope you know that.”

“anything else you need?” he asked.

“take a nap with me for awhile?” you asked. you had gotten very sleepy.

“of course.” he get under the covers, cuddling you and stroking your hair. “i’ll do anything for you, i hope you know that.”

you nuzzled into his chest, getting comfortable. “you too, joshy.” you mumbled as you started to fall into a deep sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

a/n: hi guys first(ish) post. hope u enjoyed :p pls send requests as well! i’m so bad at ideas

#josh futturman smut #josh futturman #josh futturman x reader #future man #future man smut

534 notes · View notes

chronically-ghosted · 8 months

Text

you call and I come running

rating: E for Explicit! 18+

pairing: javier peña x f!reader

word count: 8K

summary: a drunken confession leaves you and Javi on unsure ground. When an on the run narco douses you in an unknown, off-market drug, Javier has to save you by doing the one thing that may truly well and good fuck him over.

warnings: sex pollen, dub con due to sex pollen, minimal plot scaffolding to hold up a gratuitous amount of porn, minimally edited, feral!javi is best javi, the barest hint of breeding kink, not really butt stuff more like butt touching, light angst, no use of y/n, spanking

a/n: comes from @perotovar 's ask for my 100 follower milestone event: hi there! congrats on your milestone!! i saw your prompt list and saw "I’m so sick of this ‘will we, won’t we’ shit." and "A whispered, “Fuck, can we do that again?” against the other’s lips." and thought it would be a really good combination for either javi p or max p? which ever one you feel fits better! 😊 (as for smut, only include it if you think it works!)

🤍Masterlist 🤍AO3 Link

Bogota was begging for rain. At the end of summer, the city and its people had been suffering months of stifling, thick, humid air without a drop of relief. Sweat clung to exposed skin, dampening shirts and tightening waistbands. Heat weighed like a physical presence in the air while open windows and doors sought to tempt in some non-existent breeze, hoping to coax some pity out of the militant heatwave. But the heat and the moisture-thick air stayed, hovering like a cloud of mosquitoes, just as merciless and just as blood-thirsty.

Night offered no consolation either. Stagnant and cloistered, the sun-bleached air greeted its visitors with a great, warm lick – like the wide tongue of a particularly aggressive bloodhound. The ongoing joke among the locals blamed the blackouts on all the fans, spinning throughout all hours of the day and night, instead of el gobierno barato. Only then came the sigh of ease, in front of whirling blades with ice water behind them. Flapping shirts and mopped brows. Only then, was there relief to the tension.

Unfortunately, a running car would tip off any narcos in the area, so even that small miracle is denied to the two agents sitting in the darkness of la calle. A crack in the glass window releases a tendril of smoke, not enough to expect a breeze, not enough to wipe away the smear of sweat from across forearms and under knees.

A drunken confession lingers even thicker in the air.

You thought you could do this. You really thought nothing would change – it was an accident after all. He didn’t mean it – he couldn’t – he was just teasing you, when he leaned over the sticky fourtop in the back of the bar at three in the morning, his breath tangy with the ghost of four glasses of whiskey, his body heat immense and overwhelming as he pressed into you and said –

Whatever he said, you told him no.

Actually, you laughed and then said no. No, because he didn’t mean it, he couldn’t, he was just teasing you and he would never, ever, ever, ever know how much you actually wanted it and even if – even if you both wanted it, it could never, ever, ever, ever happen.

It couldn’t. It was so absurd for him to even consider it, you laughed.

And then he never looked at you the same way.

You had done something irreversible. He had said the words, but you had done something irreversible to him.

Something in the air had changed, maybe forever. And that, that you might have lost your partner, your friend, potential potential potential disappearing in a cloud of Marlboro smoke over bottles of cerveza, that was the worst part.

He doesn’t look at you the same way.

Or at all.

He smokes and he watches and he acts like you’re not in the seat next to him. Like his confession hasn’t cleaved him apart.

Nothing’s moved in hours. Neither the target or the shadows in the car. The tension presses up against the windows, hot and stifling. There is no relief.

“I didn’t want it like this, you know,” you say to the sun visor, arms crossed, low in your seat. “I . . . tried to see if Murphy would switch, but I didn’t think the tip would pan out so fast, and I didn’t . . . I didn’t want . . .”

The shadow next to you emerges with his face as he brings the glowing orange light of the cigarette to his mouth. Full lips, short thick hair below his nose, a jawline sharper than any hit of cocaine.

“What did you expect?” he asks, his voice thick and heavy like oil. It clings to you.

You scowl into the darkness beyond your window. “For Murphy to me a fucking solid, for once. Covered his ass more than once after they adopted Olivia. I just wanted one goddamn –,”

He forcefully flicks the stub of his cigarette out the window as a precursor to punctuate his next sentence. “No. What did you want, if you didn’t want it like this?”

The acidity in his tone stings you and you unintentionally flinch as if he had pressed the cigarette nub into your skin.

“Javier, c’mon, that’s not fair.”

He arches one eyebrow, his teeth clenched in his jaw, hollowing out a pocket of skin below his temple. The overhanging orange streetlights sap the color from his skin.

“So you get to make all the rules now. Got it.” He crunches up the empty box of cigarettes and chucks it in the back seat. You watch him with narrowed eyes as he settles back against the seat with his arms crossed.

“Why do you have to make this difficult?” You snap. “You know this isn’t easy for me either.”

“But it is easier than the alternative, right?” After two hours of ice cold silence, he finally looks at you and you can feel the spike of frost in your chest. The twitch in his jaw is the rage in his eyes taking physical form. “Easier than . . . trying. Right?”

He looks away, already having confessed too much with whisky on his breath, and he can’t afford another slip-up. He knows this. You know this. You want to reach out and touch him but you worry he might physically slap you away if you do. You’ve hurt him in places Javier Peña doesn’t like to admit he has.

“It’s not that simple,” you say to his thigh. “And you know it.”

His jaw twitches again. “I’m not asking for your goddamn hand in marriage. I’m just — sick of this ‘will we, won’t we’ shit. I want –,”

“No.” You say and you can feel the word imprint under your sternum. “There’s too much at risk. We’ve been in this fight for too long to get benched and if Noonan even gets a whiff of anything out of whack with her agents, she’ll . . . I want to, Javi, can’t you see that? I really want to – in case I didn’t make that crystal fucking clear. I want to, but there’s no trying for people like us. In a place like this.” The firm weight in your voice pushes on something that makes him look at you again. That rage has dissipated, melted, leaving only a corporeal ache. His brown eyes were endless in their confusion, their disappointment, their hurt. Please, he begs without words. You swallow, your thumbnail digging into your palm to keep yourself from launching yourself across the bench seat of his truck and into his lap. “I want to, Javi. I want . . . you.”

He drops your gaze as if it burned him. He shifts back, hand coming up to cover his mouth, the side of his knuckle rubbing his upper lip as if coaxing whatever was sitting just behind his teeth back down his throat.

Javier stares out into the oppressive Bogota night, his clavicle dewy with sweat and he shakes his head.

“Save it.”

You actually flinch. God, you knew it was going to hurt but you never thought it would hurt this much. Hurts so much it claws up your chest with cut-metal knives until you can’t breathe. Until you can’t see as tears flood your eyes.

“Javi, please.” Your voice is calm, despite the small implosion in your chest. “Don’t–,”

“No, I mean – look.” He points out across the dashboard.

The door that has been shut tight for the past three hours has opened. El Corto, a man who lives up to his name, pokes his round face around the edge of the door, glancing up and down the street with the paranoia of someone who trafficks drugs for a living. You turn your head into your shoulder to act like you are adjusting the firearm on your hip to wipe your eyes. Beside you, Javier turns the safety of his handgun and slips it into the back of his jeans.

“You good?” He sounds like Javier, your friend, and that swell of confidence gives you the strength to kick down a door into a whole nest of narcos. You meet his eyes and nod.

The air is no cooler out in the open when you slip out of Javier’s truck into the dark night of Bogota. Javier strides across the black street, eyes just as fast as El Corto, paranoia just as high. There’s never any telling if the narcos are alone and that’s why you hang back just a bit, eyes on Javier and a dozen other places.

“El Corto,” Javier snaps, sharp and demanding. The voice of authority. The narco freezes, narrow shoulders going taught. You keep eyes on his hands, your own hovering over your weapon in case he chooses to go for his. “Ven aquí. Tenemos algunas–,”

Without warning, El Corto takes off running, darting off down an alleyway.

“Fuck,” Javier hisses and pulls his shirt out of his pants, experience the cruelest teacher. But you’ve already passed him – running your favorite way to unwind, train, and way to avoid your problems, tearing down the alleyway after the shadow sprinting into the night.

There is something singular about running that is more addicting than any drug the narcos peddled. A chosen target. A finite end. The only thing you had to count on, the only thing to worry about, is how hard you had to pump your arms, the length of your stride, the control of your breathing. Hunting down narcos was a breeding ground for chaos. But not this. This made sense.

El Corto, despite having about half your stride, makes up for his short stature with speed. You catch only a glimpse of his jacket, then his shoe. A mile through an empty street and he finally comes into view. You’re gaining on him. The unrestrained creature in your chest roars and blocks out the searing pain in your calves, under your ribs. God, you swear you can almost smell him.

Maybe all animals, big or small, can sense the moment before the trap ensnares around them because without warning, El Corto darts left, leaping over a wrought iron fence into the lower levels of an apartment building. He’s gone before you can blink.

Snarling, you squeeze the fence railing as you tuck your legs over it, the momentum of your run clearing you from the tips.

A voice in your head and possibly behind you is yelling at you to wait, don’t go inside without backup, but you can’t stop. You can’t help it. If you can’t have who you want, this is what you want. This is what you need.

And you need a fucking win.

You burst through the screen door to an empty concrete room – torn carpet, wall paint chipped away, maybe an old living room – a flash of jeans around the hallway at the end giving a fraction of an indication of your target. So you take off after him, rounding the corner. You watch as he nearly runs through a faded yellow door, the wood cracking and splintering from the force as it slams open into the wall. The door ricochets off the wall, nearly slamming close again, just as you reach it, but the brunt of your shoulder knocks it back again.

And something cracks you across the chest.

Powder. Blue. Lots of it.

You stumble, your eyes and nostrils burning, as it seizes in your lungs. You cough and hack, trying desperately to unseal it from your lungs, but it barely budges, barely slides loose. Blind and gasping from the heat of your run and through the powder, you veer off course, stumbling into what feels like boxes. Your knees tremble, suddenly unsteady on your feet.

Through your watery eyes, you watch as El Corto drops the plastic bag that used to contain the powder, a malicious glint in his eyes.

“Puta,” he spits, the slur hardly original for a female DEA agent. He steps back and sheds the gloves you didn’t realize he had been wearing, still watching you with twisted interest.

You’re no longer coughing, but the air still hasn’t settled in your body. You feel the heat in your lungs rise, expand, then fall, against your skin, as if it is in sync with your heartbeat. With every breath, a sour, sticky warmth presses against every joint in your body, every bone. There’s a knot building at the base of your spine, tightening your hips, and you stumble until you’re seated on one of the boxes, which you now see as packing crates.

You swallow but your mouth is dry. Head heavy. Distant. Your eyes feel swollen in your skull.

“What the fuck did you do to me?” you whisper.

He’s not scowling at you, you realize, he’s leering. Eager. Excited. He takes a step towards you.

A floor above, you hear the sound of the door being breached and Javier calling out your name. El Corto scowls, as though his favorite toy had been taken away, before he tears himself away to the narrow window on the other side of the room. More shipping crates have been stacked against the wall and El Corto scurries up it, unlatching the window. He pauses, glancing back over his shoulder at you.

“Diviértete para mí, putita,” he waves with three fingers as Javier crashes into the room, his gun raised. He spots El Corto just as he slips up through the narrow window – the space no bigger than the width of a child – his foot kicking down the tower of boxes. Javier nearly nabs his ankle, leaping up the concrete wall, as the narco disappears into the night.

His open palm striking against the humid wall is a wet slap. “Fuck,” he snarls, this time pounding with the heel of his fist, “we almost fucking had him. What the fuck ha–,”

He turns and meets your gaze for the first time. His mouth drops in horror.

Sweat blooming across your forehead, you lean over on a crate, limbs trembling, breathing uneven. Every scrap of fabric over your skin burns, your thighs burn, your blood burns, you are burning. The sweat peaks in droplets that run down the back of your neck, under your armpits. Whatever he hit you with makes you want to take off every inch of your clothes –maybe then you could fucking breathe – but even then, it wouldn’t be enough.

He’s got you by the shoulders, forcing you to look at him, before you realize what’s happened.

“Talk to me.” Javier snaps, that authoritative force sharp and demanding, and it sends an aching bolt between your legs. You whimper in pain, your eyes fluttering. He shakes you. “Stay awake and tell me what happened. I need you to focus. ”

Your lips feel puffy, overripe and ready to split, your jaw tight and throbbing. “H-h-hit m-me with blu-ue – don’t–don’t know what i-it is.”

Javier steps closer and the scent of his cologne hits you like a train. Groaning, a strange, unwelcome instinct yanks your head down into the curve of his neck, the source of the smell. The touch of his skin beneath your lips is a balm – cool egg yolk over a fresh burn – and you bury your face in deep.

“Oh, fucking Christ, Javi.” Your voice trembles, wavering down into a low moan. That same alien instinct latches your hands over his shoulder, nails digging into the cotton. But it’s not alien, you realize through the muggy, humid fog in your mind – you know this feeling. You are intimately aware of the coiling knot between your legs, your soaked underwear, the tightness of your nipples. But this can’t be happening. It shouldn’t. It shouldn’t hurt like this.

You gasp, in real pain, a throb that starts clenching your cunt before rippling up your spine and locking your shoulders. You hunch against him, waiting for the contraction to pass.

“What is it?” Javi holds you, panic evident in his voice. You swear you can hear his heartbeat in his neck. “What’s wrong? Talk to me, goddamn it.” He demands with no bite in his command.

He peels you off him, you hiss, ripped out of the soothing embrace of his arms, and he makes you look at him. His eyes are wide, mouth twitching. The entirety of his chest is blue, most of powder from your skin covering his shirt.

He cups your cheeks, trying to see if the powder has left an acid burn, as another wave hits and you lock your body, now a battleground against the strangling desire to turn your face into his wide palm and inhale. There’s liquid making the crotch of your pants sticky and it’s embarrassing. It’s mortifying and silly and the ounce of sanity still left in your head keeps an iron grip on every muscle in your body – sanity telling you to not fucking do this. Don’t do this to him. Not when it would mean so much to him.

To you.

But fuck, you want it. You need it. You might actually die without it.

Tears spring into your eyes, making a gooey muck as they slide down your cheeks and mix with the powder. Whatever this is, you have to fight it.

His eyes dart to your tears, the little bit of powder still on your face, and without thinking, he brushes your tears away with his thumbs.

Sanity cracks the whip – if it gets on him, then –

With the last ounce of strength, you shove him back, as far away from you as you possibly can. The second his warmth is gone from your skin, you tremble and your knees give out. Fresh tears, spurred on by the pain, by the fear, by the shame, spill from your eyes and you curl up against the wall.

“D-don’t, Javi, don’t. I th-think it’s t-t-transderm-mal–,”

“What do you–,”

You watch helplessly as his pupils contract and then expand wildly, black swallowing that aching brown. He shakes his head like a bewildered animal, sweat already bleeding across his skin, and he stumbles back onto a springy metal cot on the opposite wall. He blinks, hand tightening around his knee. It makes his forearm flex and you have to physically close your eyes, the sight forcing your cunt to clench down on nothing.

“What . . . what the fuck is this shit?”

You bite your lip, your chin tucked to your shoulder as your body cramps, punishing you for denying it the only source of relief. You squint at him and see he’s half-hard in his jeans. You whimper.

“I-I don’t know . . . new– new party drug?” You grunt, your head thrown back against the wall. God, your skin is going to melt right off your bones.

“This is way fucking worse than ecstacy,” Javier murmurs, his jaw tight. “Fuck, got a bit on me, but you . . .”

He blinks at you, eyes glassy, with sudden and total understanding, with perfect clarity why you shoved him away, and what exactly you need.

He murmurs your name and you gasp, another cramp yanking new tears down your cheeks.

“J-Javier,” you swallow thickly, “I know what I s-said before, a-and in the car, but if you ever cared about me, p-please . . . please, just –,”

You can’t encompass all that you need into words, but you hope he understands, is feeling kind despite all that you had done to him. Your bones ache, skin too tight.

He shakes his head, but weakly, his eyes caught on your throat, the wetness clinging to your lips. “You’re just saying that because of the drugs. We have to call Murphy. Get us to a hospital or something.”

“Javi,” you whine and maybe it is the drugs, or maybe he has an inkling of how much it hurts, but he’s across the room in an instant. He grabs you by the shoulders and hauls you to your feet. He drops his head and inhales like he can draw the heat from your blood. The tip of his nose dragged across your jaw is a cube of ice against the furnace of your skin. You shudder, hands clasping around his shoulders, dragging him against you, his hands cupping your hips as if to steady him.

“I-I’ll give you this.” Javier Peña doesn’t stutter. Your eyelids weigh a thousand pounds as you draw your gaze up to him. “I’ll help, cariño, and then we call Murphy. Okay?”

You nod, dizzy and overheated and sick with wanting. You nod and tilt your hips forward into his fingers as they pop open the button of your jeans. The sound of the slide of the zipper drives a shiver through you and you feel his cock, fully hard, against your thigh.

His lips brush your cheek, his voice slurred, dripping slow in molasses, sweet and dark. “I’ll help. I’ll give you what you need.”

The first press of his fingers against your pussy rubs slippery and wet. With a sigh of relief, you drop your head against the wall, hips shoving into his hand, begging for more.

“Fuck,” he wheezes. “You’re already soaking.”

“More, Javier, more.”

He grinds his cock against your thigh to soothe his own ache. He nods slowly as if dazed, his eyes locked onto to where his hand disappears inside your jeans. “Y-yeah, okay.”

If any hesitation remains, it’s gone when he sinks two fingers inside of you and taps up. You moan and he shoves his knee between your legs.

“You like that, pretty girl? Does that help?”

“Yes,” you gasp into his neck, his fingers rocking into you. “Yes, Javier, yes!”

His touch douses the ache, the fire, across your skin, in your spine. With every snap of his wrist, he draws away the heat from your exposed, too-sensitive nerves, easing the lighting storm in your low stomach. The noises you’re making, the noises your cunt makes against his fingers – it should embarrass you, should draw red up into your cheeks and ears, but it’s just more release. You yowl like an animal in heat and Javier’s groin jerks against you. You gain enough sentience to realize he’s fucking you with his jeans on up the wall, his hand never slowing or easing. You can feel yourself gush between his knuckles.

“You’re almost there, muñeca, I can feel it. Just give it to me. Come for me,” he pants into your clavicle, the spread of bone across your chest. You tighten at the thought of his breath against your nipples, his teeth on the soft weight of your breast –

And you do. You come with the easy brush of his thumb against your clit. White lightning soothes the rage beneath your skin and you shudder in his arms, forehead collapsing against his shoulder. The snap of his hips against your thigh is a bruising rhythm, harsh, feral, an understanding that only something rough and wild can actually save your life.

“Is that better, querida?” His wide palm pushes the hair back from your damp neck, cradling your heated cheek. His thumb brushes just under your bottom lip. You can feel his own fever, radiating from his skin. “Can we get you somewhere safe?”

But you’re still too high, too taut, to answer him. Another one builds, stacks up on itself every time his rock-hard cock digs into your hip. He scissors his fingers and you bear down onto his thigh.

“Fuck,” he mutters, but without exhaustion or anger. He sounds almost gleeful. When he looks at you, his pupils are blown wide, sweat making his skin glow. The skin around his mouth is damp. “Alright, I’m not gonna stop. You can have one more. One more, querida.”

His shoulders tense, the muscles in his back shifting, as he changes the angle of his fingers, renews the pressure of his thumb on your clit. He brushes against something deep inside of you, wet and spongy and never before reached and you arch your back in response, air sucked from your lungs. His thigh nearly lifts you off the floor.

“Oh, that’s it, isn’t it?” He taps the spot again and tears flood your eyes and spill down your cheeks.

“Oh my god, Javi,” you murmur and he seems to like that. You clamp down around him and his hips stutter, his moan deep and coming from an ache in his chest. He inserts another finger and your cunt sucks him in, greedy for more.

He eases back into his rhythm, raggedly humping your hip, the rough material of his jeans burning between your thighs.

“You’re so close, aren’t you?” he breathes. “Fuck, I knew it would fucking feel this good. You’re clenching down on me so hard, baby.”

On the tip of your next orgasm, the haze clears for just a second and you catch him in the eye. This isn’t just the drugs, you know, this isn’t just an excuse for both of you. This is hating to see the other one in pain. This is sharing a worry for a bit of yourself that lives in another body. What passes along the length of your gaze is the exact thing you feared losing.

Selfishly, you’d rather not have him like this, than not having him at all.

But this is what it could be, he tells you through an open, gasping mouth, through eyes that pin you to the wall, this is what we could have every day, every night. If you just let me in.

If you just –

“Come for me.”

You answer with his name, on a cry high and sharp, and you’re coming – harsh, fast, exploding as you drench him, his fingers pressing roughly into that one sweet spot.

Javi slumps forward, the weight of him nearly stifling, as he gasps, his hips stilling, stuttering, stopping. His skin flushes cold for a second, sweat cooling his fever, his face buried in your neck.

You feel it. Against your thigh. You swallow in surprise, the fog parting briefly again.

“Javi, did you . . .”

He wrenches his hand out of you, releasing his grip on your hip as he lowers you down.

“I’m not fucking calling Murphy,” he grits out.

*~*~*

Javier is a man of singular focus. Almost dogged and single-minded in his hunt, it’s rare he is even capable of listening to the voice of reason. It’s a different voice than his own that tells him when he’s doing something monumentally stupid. There’s a part of him that knows exactly why that voice sounds a lot like you, unconsciously knowing that you’re the only thing that could give him pause. And yet, there are times when he can shut the voice out, can shut out everything inside of him screaming at him not to do the thing he’s going to do. But this, this decision, genuinely has him torn. There is no right way to do this.

Well, there is a right way. One where he takes you to dinner, buys you flowers, walks you home, tucks your hair behind your ear, kisses you softly at first, then rough, until you beg him to come up the stairs. Despite what some may think, he is capable of being romantic. He can be sweet. He can ask nicely.

But that is something he is not capable of right now.

In his post-nut clarity – because, yes, he did come in his pants like a twelve year old with his first porn mag after having his fingers up your cunt for what was all too short – he realized the room you both were in was some sort of safehouse.

A cot against the wall. A portable stove with something in the pan black and sticky. The crates are empty of any valuables – by the shape and length, most likely guns – but the few that are still full have a few bags of that elicit blue powder. He makes a mental note, somewhere on the very distant laundry list in his brain, to take a bag – with gloves on and wrapped up in several other baggies – to have it tested at the lab. Because whatever this stuff is, it might actually be more dangerous than cocaine.

Especially to idiots like him, he thinks roughly as he yanks the thread-bare mattress off its wiry frame onto the floor. He snatches up the cotton sleeping bag at the foot of the frame and unzips it, the inside facing down. This is such a monumentally stupid idea, he knows it is, but he can already feel that cramp building up his thighs, his cock throbbing awake, arousal clamping down on the base of his spine. And he just got a whiff of it. He can’t imagine what you’re feeling already. Behind him he hears you moan softly, never one to complain or whine when things get tough or hard, so he goes faster. He tucks up the other end of the sleeping bag in what he hopes is some semblance of comfort, but he wonders if that will even matter to either of you when it hits again which, judging by how hard his cock is growing, is eminent. The wet spot on his thigh, beneath his jeans, is sticky, uncomfortable. He needs no further reason to unbutton them.

You moan, this time louder, higher, again and he turns to face you, his shirt already undone to his stomach.

You’re pale again, skin glossy and sickly wet. When your eyes flutter open, they’re glassy, gaze distant and unfocused. You twitch when that first cramp settles in deep. He thinks, his mind not entirely his own, about how deep the clutch of your cunt sucked in just his fingers and he shivers. He simultaneously wanted to get this over with and drag it out for days. Have you beneath him for days.

Your legs tucked up beneath you from where he laid you down, Javi approaches quietly, kneeling as he takes off his shirt and goes to untie your boots. He touches your ankle as gently as he can and you shudder, cracking an eye open.

“Javier, it’s coming back. It’s coming back and it hurts.”

In addition to the many, many agency violations, this is monumentally stupid because he’s obsessed with you. Has been for a while. Not just in a way that makes him want to fuck you for hours flat on your back, but in a way that your smile is the last thing he sees before he goes to sleep and the first thing on his mind when he wakes up. An obsession with your wellbeing, your safety, your happiness. A persistent coiling thought about your laugh, and strength, and the way you can make grown men twice your size tremble in fear. You’re a hunter, just like him, and with your beauty – your staggering, haunting beauty – how was he not supposed to immediately attach himself to you? It came on slowly, his pathological need to be near you, and once he realized what it was, there was no going back. No turning it off.

He didn’t mean to tell you when he was drunk, but after bagging another narco, it was like he could see the light at the end of the tunnel. A brief glimpse into a world where you both were safe, and happy, and – god willing – together and in this world, he told you and he was brave about it and you said it back and he felt warm all over. But that was not this world, not his reality. In this one, he has to save you by doing the one thing that may truly well and good fuck him over.

“Sit up, baby, that’s it.” He eases you into his arms and it’s like his touch drags you back into consciousness. Your fingers dig into his bare arms as you take in his exposed chest.

“Javi, fuck, I don’t wanna beg, but before when you – you – I felt better. It cleared. I don’t know why or how, but with your fingers inside m-me, it . . . helped.”

“I know, cariño, and I want to help more.” His thumbs press up under your jaw, tilting your head up to look him directly in the eyes. There’s fear there, pain, and it’s agonizing to him. “But I don’t know if that’s what you want.”

“What I want? Javi, I–,” your eyes widen in understanding of what he’s offering, of what he’s scared to do. What he’s scared to take without your permission.

You swallow, a pink flush crawling up your throat. “I . . . I don’t . . . I didn’t want our first time together to be anything like this, but . . .” You shake your head, shuffling closer to him, your breathing thinning as the drugs start to strike matches against your nerves. “I just don’t want you to think it doesn’t mean anything.”

“It’s gonna mean everything to me, no matter how I get it.” He presses a soft kiss to the corner of your chin, just in front of his thumb. You nod, eyes squeezing shut, as you fight this arousal that claws into your skin like meat hooks. He pulls you to your feet, holding you steady as your knees try to lock up. He unbuttons your shirt with shaking hands.

You touch his chest like you’ve never seen a man naked before. The hesitant, awed touch of you sends all the blood still remaining in his head straight into his cock.

“I’m gonna fuck you now,” he murmurs to your cheek, your shirt off your body, his hands tugging your jeans down your hips. You nod again, speechless in your relief, and follow your jeans to the ground. Twisting on the nest he made for you, you slide your bra off, your nipples already tight and perk and waiting for his mouth. You huff, a sound so unlike you it makes him genuinely concerned, as the front of your panties darken again.

“It’s okay, Javi, this is what I want. I want this.” You hate being vulnerable, he knows this, your attitude a front that leaves no room for sexist comments in the bullpen. And yet, here you are, deflowered and begging for him. You spread your legs for him, eyelids heavy, and he can smell the arousal on you.

He drops to his knees, unsure where to start first, but the blue powder coursing through his veins demanding he puts his hands on your hips, which he finally acquiesce to.

“I don’t think I can be gentle,” he admits quietly. He wants to nip, suck, slurp every inch of you, wants to see that perfect body bend to his will, to his turning. He wants to fuck you open and stuff himself up inside you so deep it leaves a mark. In his haze, the instinct to fuck supplies him with an image of you pregnant, bred and full of him, and his cock twitches so hard he drops onto all fours over you.

You slip your underwear over your toes and your knees take him by the ribs.

“Please, Javi, please.”

He knows it must hurt, must be so blindingly painful for you to beg like this. You never asked anyone for anything and that independence turned him on and frustrated him to no end.

“Please, be rough,” you ask him from under your lashes, your body writhing beneath him. His hips, on a separate system than the rest of him, thrust the rough teeth of his zipper against your cunt and you keen, the sound imprinting into every crevice and curve of his brain. “Make it hurt.”

Oh fuck, this might actually be the thing that kills him.

He hushes you, stills your flushed whimpering with a kiss that ends in teeth against the high curve of your cheek. He noses to your mouth, then down to your ear, where he bites on your earlobe. He’s balancing on one hand as his other tugs his jeans down and off his hips.

He wants to fuck your tits. Come all over them, have his spend flush up your throat, your chin. He wants to come so hard he blinds you with it. And then he wants to flip you over and fuck your ass with his come-lubed dick.

You wriggle and whine, legs wrapping around his hips, tugging him down onto you when, half-a-mind away, he realizes he just said all of that outloud.

“Yes, Javi, you can have whatever you want. Fuck me however you want.” His blood is boiling now, the white-hot bomb settling itself in the base of his spine, his balls already tight. Why he’s dragging this out is beyond him and possibly a medical detriment to you.

“Javi, just fucking put your cock ins–,”

He watches as every conscious thought wiped from your mind, brow heavy, mouth seared open as he plugs you full of him in one rough thrust. You shudder and his elbows buckle, his body locked up tight because if he moves, if he dares to rub his cock through your velvet, hot clutch, he’ll come right there. Your eyes roll back in your head as his cock makes space for itself inside you.

“Javi–,” he claps a wide palm over your mouth, his teeth straining in his jaw, his temple twitching.

“Baby, I know it hurts – I know it fucking does – but I need you to stay still.” It feels too good. You’re too hot, too slippery, and soft. He can feel the hum of words behind his fingers and he shakes his head. “Do not fucking move – I just need to – I have to –,”

He inches in just a bit more and you both gasp to the ceiling when he bottoms out. Your rough curls against his pelvis sears him, hot and sweet like cinnamon. He drools when he thinks about eating his own come out of you.

You only get one word out, one word that sets his whole world on fire: “Please.”

He rears back, yanks you up his thighs, hands cupping the backs of your knees and he plows into you. Your tiny fingers that have pulled countless triggers and clapped irons on criminals twitch, tightening into the smelly cotton fabric, your mouth contorted open. His pace, his thrusting, is relentless, unforgiving but the look on your face is pleased, an almost maniacal grin across your lips.

“Oh, right there, Javi, just like that. Just like that.”

He’s faster than he is precise. Precise comes later when the bestial fog clears from his brain, when the lust bleeds out of his system, when he doesn’t want to hump you like an animal with his teeth bared and cock so deep inside of you it kisses your womb.

Before his mind entirely succumbs to the mounting arousal, he’s grateful he had the foresight to take the mattress down. If he hadn’t, there’s a good chance he would have fuck you, the bed, and himself right through the paper-thin walls.

And then he lets go. Lets this thing in his chest and hot behind his groin take over, lets himself indulge in whatever carnal, depraved thing sparks in his mind.

He’s fucking you so hard you’ll both have bruises by morning.

He watches, transfixed, at the place where his soaked cock disappears through your puffy, wet lips into the mind-numbing heat of your pussy. He can’t stop watching. He barely feels your nails digging into his thighs.

The walls of your pussy squeeze him and it makes him falter, hitch speed. His gaze is torn away and instantly, it focuses on the bounce and sway of your tits. Sweat droplets roll from your neck into the valley of your breasts and without hesitation he bends to catch them with his mouth, tugging you further down his cock. You cry out, hands digging into his hair, as his tongue drags a wet trail over the top of your breast, the tip flicking your rock hard nipple, then beneath the swell where he meets it with his teeth.

You jerk, pleasure overwhelming. “Uh – oh – oh – fuck – Javi.” The words leave your mouth truncated, cut short by his rhythmic bouncing. He nuzzles your tit, streaking you with his own sweat, not able to stop fucking up into you to really get a good grip on your breast, but wanting to put the whole thing in his mouth.

“I’m gonna do it right next time,” he swears fidelity to your skin. He grinds his teeth against your sternum. “Next time I fuck you I’m going to pull you apart bit by bit. Starting with these fucking tits and ending with my tongue up your cunt. Maybe your ass.”

Against his cheek, he feels your skin break out in ridges, your whole body shivering at his words. He leans up, grinning wildly and grinds particularly deep inside of you. You still haven’t fully opened your eyes.

“Oh, you liked that, didn’t you? You want my tongue up your ass. What about my cock, huh? Want my fat fucking cock inside there?”

You whine, clawing at his chest, as you nod frantically. He could ask anything of you right now and you’d give it to him. And god, he wants so much.

“It’d hurt, baby, you know it would.”

You nod, words tumbling out of your mouth in a mindless babble. “I don’t care. I want it there. I want you inside me. I want it to hurt. I want you to fuck me raw, Javi.”

He groans, more like a growl, rapidly picking up his pace. He lifts your knees higher and fucks up, the change in angle making you moan so loudly it fills up his ears with blood.

“Tell me where you want it. Say it, querida.”

“I want it in my fucking ass, Javi.”

His jaw twitching, that primal, unrestrained urge in him wrapping itself around his spine, he shoves you off him. Wetness dribbles down his lap but he doesn’t let himself smell or see it for long, as he flips you onto your hands and knees, sliding in and pummeling your pussy from behind.

You whine, singing for his cock, and collapse onto your elbows, presenting your ass for him. The pair of you really are just fucking animals.

He presses his thumb to your tight hole, the wet slap of his balls against your ass suddenly the least obscene thing in the room. There’s barely enough room for his thumb there and he tips his head back at the thought that no one had ever taken you there before. His. All his and no one fucking else’s.

“Javi,” you sob, that preening need gone from your voice as though you are begging him not to go further, but desire kept you from voicing what you actually wanted.

His bottom lip twitches and he leans down and gently bites your shoulder, grounding you and clearing out all fear. Drugs or not, he’d never do anything you didn’t explicitly ask for, but the second this is all over, he’s going to get on his hands and knees and beg you to let him work your ass open.

“Not tonight, cariño.” He slides his thumb out of you, his wrist twisting as he palms the meat of your ass. “But I’m not leaving this completely untouched.”

He smacks the jiggling flesh until he sees a pink hand print, earning him a yelp from you every time his palm lands. He feels fresh, sticky wetness soak his cock with each slap, enough for it to dribble down his thigh. He’s not going to shower for a week.

The higher he climbs, the faster that animalistic heat leaves his blood. You’re not as pale as before, the skin of your back growing a nice healthy flush. As his grip around your hips tightens, he feels your cunt clench around him. If he won’t take your ass tonight, he still wants you puffy and sore. He leans back just to watch his cock pound your pink, abused hole.

“I’m close, Javi,” you admit breathlessly. He nods, leaning forward again, that image of your pussy split open for him deliciously sealed in his mind, and he drags his nose down your spine. Sweat from his chest drops and splatters against your skin.

“I know you are, I can feel it. Can I see your face? Watch you? Can I put you on top?”

You nod and he slips out of you for what he hopes will be the last time in his fucking life. He’s no longer drug-crazed, but he is drunk. Pussy drunk. Drunk on you. Imbibed by the juices trailing down his thighs. He shifts and you swing a leg over his hips, immediately swallow him deep inside you.

Unlike the courtesy he gave you, you give him no time to adjust, grip his chest, and ride him within an inch of his life.

Your tits swinging in his face, he presses his fingers so tight into your thighs, he’ll be able to count the distinct bruises, and plants his feet. He meets you, thrust for thrust, and he watches your competitive nature battle your overwhelming chase for release.

“Just come, cariño,” he pants. “You’ve done so good tonight. Just fucking come all over my lap. Let go.”

His words melt something inside of you and you whimper, curling down over him, which he takes to wrap his arms around your back, and roll you under him. He kisses your chin, your temple, the corner of your mouth. His big palm cradling your head, he grinds low and deep, seeking out that place he touched with his fingers.

“It’s alright. I’ve got you. You can come.” He prods that spot once and it’s all over. You clamp down on his cock, milking him for all he’s worth because as you arch, mouth open, tears down your face, he comes too. He comes and he comes and he comes until he drips out of you and that breaks another orgasm across you, this one bumpy and leaves you shaking.

He feels dizzy, unsure up from down, the loudest sound he hears is his own blood rushing in his ears. He’s never been more exhausted.

He can hear the vibration of you saying something against his throat, but nothing is quite working like it’s supposed to, so he slumps off you, his hand never leaving your skin, as he tugs you against him.

He’ll be dried and sticky in only a few hours – you both will – but that doesn’t matter right now. The only thing that does is the feeling of your heartbeat over his.

*~*~*

Morning, along with the scent of rain, glides in through the open window and your fingers twitch as sunlight hits you. Your eyes fluttering open, you lift your head from the sleeping bag to see wet puddles on the floor under the window, the concrete streaked and stained with water. It must have rained sometime last night and, shockingly, you didn’t hear a thing.

The heatwave had finally broken.

It’s not until you’re full awake do you realize his hand rests in the cup of your neck, thumb rubbing smooth, soft circles into the hard knot near your shoulder blade. You smile, groaning softly, becoming more relaxed by how good it feels.

You roll over and greet his eyes. They’re brown again, the hungry blackness gone, but leaving an edge of uncertainty in its wake.

He wants to know how you feel about last night.

“You fucked up,” you tell him and that worried crease appears between his eyebrows. You inch closer, your hand curling up against his jaw. “All that time last night, all the time you had me under you, and you didn’t kiss me once.”

You close your eyes, drop your head, and press a fervent, determined kiss against his pink lips. You can feel it as he swallows it in, his body shifting forward, hand coming up to your hip. But just as quickly as it starts, he pulls away.

Javier shakes his head. “I can’t,” he says almost mournfully, eyes downcast. “I don’t want to know – what you taste like, if . . . I can’t kiss you if this is the last time.”

He’s still respecting your boundary, your wishes, while coated in his release and yours. He knows he can’t be selfish with you again.

You wet your lip, hand still on his cheek.

“Javier, you saved my life last night. That was some kind of fucked up drug, but if you hadn’t been here and did what you did, I think I would have had a heart attack.” He shakes his head, ashamed and desperate to prove you wrong. You understand his hesitation. It felt too good for it to be anything other than a transgression. “And if anything, it showed me something I think I already knew but couldn’t find in myself to admit. I need you, Javi. I need you because I can’t live without you. Because I love you.”

His eyes light up when you return the words he uttered in the bar. None of this is how it should have been – in an abandoned narcos hideout, but god, there’s not a single thing you’d change.

“Yeah, baby? You mean that?” You nod as hot, natural desire flashes in his eyes as he pulls your body under him and captures your mouth in his. His warm palm cups your hip, your ribs, up under your arm, and pushes your elbow to your head. There’s more to say, more to worry about, but that fucking heatwave over Bogota has finally broken and Javier Peña’s cum is dried and flaky between your thighs.

“We should call Murphy,” you giggle, withdrawing your tongue from his mouth. He shakes his head, the blunt edge of his teeth against your cheek. “There’s a deadly new drug on the streets. Lives are at stake.”

“My dick is at stake,” he murmurs, lips hovering over your skin, drawing your knee up to his ribs as he slots himself between your thighs. The smile slides off your face as he thumbs your raw clit in rough, desperate circles.

“I thought you said you were going to take it slow next time,” you huff, hips rolling against his stiff cock.

“I will. Gonna take you to dinner. Cup your ass over a distractingly short dress. Buy you flowers and fucking gold jewelry . . . then I’m going to take you home and open you up with my fingers, then my tongue.”

“So what’s this?” You gasp against his neck as he sinks his cock into you.

He groans, grunts, as if he hadn’t spent the better part of the night making your cunt his personal possession.

“This is me, fucking you, before breakfast. Then we call Murphy. Any objections?”

You squeeze your knees around him, ankles hooked across his low back, sucking a mark into his neck.

“Not at all.”

When you do go public, not shying away from holding hands in the office, or openly walking in at the same time from the same car, Noonan is irate, but can’t bring herself to cut her two best agents loose. It seems catching Pablo Escobar matters more than some silly, little government-issued guidelines. She’d get her day in court, but not today. Not for a while.

Noonan is annoyed.

Murphy is not.

“Came across some new party drugs and not a single thing happened, right?”

“You could have found it, taken it home for you and Connie to enjoy,” you say as you slide your arm across Javier’s back, his hand on your hip. He rarely ever takes his hands off you now. “But, no, you bailed on me instead.”

“Sounds like you should be thanking me, instead of busting my balls.”

“He’s right, baby,” Javier nuzzles your neck. “Could have been him stuck in that basement with me, horny as a cat in fucking heat.”

You shrug as Murphy makes a face. “I blame the heatwave.”

He leans into your ear. “And I blame your fucking ass in that skirt. I’m gonna take you home, make good on my promise. Any objections?”

“Not at all.”

#javier peña x reader #javier peña #javier pena fic #javier pena narcos #javier pena fanfiction #javier pena x reader #javier pena x you #javier pena smut #javier peña x y/n #javier pena x y/n #javier pena one shot #javier pena x ofc #javier peña smut #javier peña x you #narcos #narcos netflix #this is my first time writing sex pollen did i do okay?

605 notes · View notes

badasbebi · 1 month

Text

home is where the heart is

navigation

✦ pairing: bada lee x fem!reader

✦ summary: new to seoul in search of revitalizing opportunities, you're excited to see what the city has in store for you. however, after numerous awkward encounters with your (hot) neighbor and other unfortunate circumstances, you start to doubt whether this move was right for you.

✦ genre/au: fluff, smut MDNI!!, neighbor!au, accidentally turned into a coffeeshop!au as well. maybe some slight angst?

✦ word count: 14k

✦ warnings: probably has grammatical/spelling errors. switch!bada and switch!reader?? sort of?? y/n has a toy collection that could probably contribute to the production of toy story 5.

✦ a/n: initially really liked this story. then, i sat on it for three days, and now I'm not really a fan of this? i also feel like i forgot to how to write? hope yall still enjoy though! i have a few ideas I'm rlly excited abt anyway <3

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

The elevator lobby echoes with the shuffling of your feet and the thud of the cardboard box shifting within your grasp. Your new apartment complex seems to grow larger with each step, the space stretching endlessly as you aim for one of the metal doors. The box, marked “fragile,” presses into your arms, and beads of sweat drip down your forehead as you internally curse at yourself for your excessive overpacking and stubbornness.

You don’t know who or what made you believe you were capable of doing this move entirely by yourself, but you are now facing the consequences for past you's groundless self-confidence. As you take a step forward, your arms wobble under the strain, and the box slips precariously, threatening to escape your grasp. You tighten your grip, determined not to let the flimsy box defeat you. You were not going to let a box labeled fragile, of all things, be the reason for your demise. No way.

While attempting to steady yourself, you vaguely hear a loud ping reverberate throughout the lobby. Like the easily hyperfixated person you are, you pay no mind to it, focusing only on the task at hand. The last thing you need is to drop the box and have its contents shatter against the floor. You would never forgive yourself.

Just as you pause to readjust the box, the elevator door opens, and footsteps follow it. A tall, dark-haired woman with bangs stumbles into the opening, her phone in her hands. She stops in her tracks, clearly distracted, and you foolishly walk straight into her.

The box falls from your grasp, and as it plummets to the ground, you have an out-of-body experience. This was it. The box is going to hit the ground, and you will have lost this uphill battle. In slow motion, you watch the box tilt backward and forwards, suspended in midair for what seems like forever until, suddenly, you feel your hand wrap around it. As you blink away the stars clouding your vision, you register that you've saved the box from certain doom, just barely. A sigh of relief escapes your lips.

A triumphant smile graces your lips as you clutch the box tightly. It’s a bit more crumpled than before, but it is still very much in one piece (ignoring the fact that the fragile item inside the box was most definitely broken). Gravity was no match for your superior reflexes.

As you look up, your smile falters. Your eyes widen, and you feel heat rise to your cheeks. You just ran into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen, and she is staring at you. Her eyes, framed by thick-rimmed glasses, gaze at you, wide and unblinking. She looks at you as if you were the most embarrassing thing she has ever seen, and it takes all your willpower not to turn around and run back down the hall.

Her long, dyed black hair hangs in a braid down her shoulder. Her outfit consists of a plain, oversized black t-shirt, baggy pants, and a pair of worn nikes. The only pops of color are the bright yellow socks poking out from underneath the white shoes, and the streaks of blonde in her hair.

"Oh, my god, I am so sorry!" you finally manage, stumbling over your words. "I should've been paying attention to where I was going."

The woman seems to snap out of her daze with a vigorous shake of her head. "No, no, it's fine. Don't worry about it," she responds with a small laugh. Her voice is light and melodic, and the sound makes your heart skip a beat. She glances down at her phone, and a slight frown creases her forehead. "I wasn't watching where I was going either."

You give a small, awkward chuckle in response, but you feel your nerves ease a little. She didn't seem weirded out, thank the stars.

She glances down at the box, and her eyes widen as if she is just noticing its existence.

"Here, let me help you," she says as she effortlessly picks up and takes the box from your hands before you can even think to say no, a shiver running up your spine at the contact.

"You really don't have to," you protest weakly, making much of an effort to actually stop her.

"It's the least I can do after making you almost drop the box." She gives you a warm smile, and the butterflies in your stomach start dancing wildly.

"Thank you." You return the smile, feeling the corners of your mouth twitch.

She turns on her heel and gestures to the elevator doors. "Where are you headed?" she asks, pressing the up button with her elbow.

"Uh, floor 8," you answer. She nods, and when the elevator doors open, the two of you step inside.

The combination of the woman's vanilla-scented perfume and elevator music does little to soothe your anxiety. You stand side-by-side in awkward silence. You shift uncomfortably, feeling your cheeks burn. What do you even say to a person this gorgeous? You clear your throat and will the courage to speak. You are an adult. You can talk to people. You got this! Just be casual. Easy peasy. Just say words! Just. say. them.

"So, uh, is this your first time using the elevator?" You wince.

Maybe not those words.

"No, I usually use the stairs." She says with a giggle, seemingly unfazed by your pathetic attempt at conversation. "But, um, is this your first time here?"

You nod. "I just moved here today." You pause. "How did you know?"

"I just—haven't seen you here before," she says simply, looking you up and down with an expression you can't quite decipher. "I'm Bada, by the way."

"Bada," you repeat, testing out the name on your tongue. It sounds nice. You smile, and the tips of your ears grow hot. "I'm Y/N."

"Y/N." She returns your smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Your fingers fidget with the hem of your shirt. Your eyes wander over to the numbers lit up on the panel, and your face pales when you see that the two of you are already on the eighth floor. The elevator slowly comes to a stop, and you swallow thickly. "Well, I guess this is my stop," you say as you step into the hallway.

"Did you want me to walk you to your apartment? This is actually the floor that I-" Bada starts, but a faint chime rings out before she can finish. She pulls her phone out, holding the box with one arm, and frowns at the screen.

"Ah, damn, I gotta go," she says. She looks back up at you and gives you a smile, although a little less bright. "I'm going to be late for a meeting. Do you think you can manage?"

You stare, momentarily perplexed by the kindness this random stranger is displaying towards you, but then you catch yourself, and smile.

You shake your head, waving a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, I've got it. I'm a big girl," you reassure her. "Thank you for helping me, though."

She hands the box over, and your fingers brush again, sending a jolt of electricity up your arm.

"Of course," she replies, smiling. "Anytime. It was nice meeting you."

"Yup."

You give each other a brief wave, and you watch the elevator doors slide shut.

As you stare at the spot she was once at, you feel a pang of disappointment in your chest. You wish you could have gotten to know her better, but there was always another day. You lived in the same building, after all. Maybe you'd run into her again.

You struggle with the box a bit more, and then you finally enter your apartment, the door clicking shut behind you.

The first thing you do is drop the box in the entryway and walk over to the nearest wall. You lean your back against it, sliding down until your butt hits the ground. You sit there for a moment, gazing out of the floor-to-ceiling window across the room, trying to process everything that just happened. And, well, everything else that's been happening in your life.

As the sun dips below the skyline, casting long shadows across the city, you find yourself finally having to wrestle with contrasting feelings of excitement over this fresh start, mingled with a weariness that's settled into your bones after a day of moving boxes and thinking of the uncertainty surrounding the days ahead of you.

Just a month ago, you made the spontaneous decision to move to chase your dreams in Seoul, a country an entire ocean away from where you're from. Now you are in a new city, a new apartment, a potential new job, and you have mixed feelings. You're excited about the possibilities but also scared of the loneliness you know is inevitable. It is a loneliness that is necessary, though. You’ve spent too long stuck, moping about your unfortunate circumstances in the same mundane city you grew up in. You were aching for something new. As terrified as you are, you know that it’ll eventually feel worth it. It has to.

In the meantime, your living space echoes with emptiness and awaits your touch. Exhausted but determined, you eventually drag yourself off the ground, the weight of the day catching up to you, but not stopping you.

You scan the space in front of you, surrounded by the remnants of your previous life, now neatly packed into cardboard containers. The living room, cluttered with boxes marked "pictures," "books," and "memories," feels too overwhelming, so you decide to tackle the kitchen first. Igniting your last reserves of energy, you unpack your pots and pans as your thoughts drifts to old routines. As the clock ticks away and you find new sacred spots for your favorite items, your exhaustion begins to fade as you infuse the space with pieces of yourself, fueled by the realization that this is your sanctuary that you could call your own.

By the time you empty your last box for the day, the apartment glows with your presence. It’s nowhere near finished, but you already feel as if your choices have been validated. You collapse onto your makeshift bed, and as you close your eyes, a smile plays on your lips.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

"I asked for three and three-quarter pumps of brown sugar. Is this really the best you can do?"

You stare at the cup sitting before you. Three and three-quarters, your ass. Who the hell was going to measure that? You glance up at the man before you. His face is contorted into a snarl as he glares at you, as if he expects an apology. It takes everything in you not to throw the steaming hot cup of coffee in his face.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I believe that this is indeed three and one half—i mean—three quarter pumps," you lie, attempting to brush past your stumble in the calmest voice possible. You try to muster a professional smile, but it's a difficult feat.

"Bullshit. You clearly can't read a scale properly or hear. Just do it over, and make it right. Three and three QUARTERS," He huffs, shoving the cup in your direction.

Your fists clench behind the counter. "Yes, sir," you mutter through gritted teeth, your politeness hanging by a thread.

You dump his original drink in the trash and grab a fresh cup. The man watches as you add the pumps, one by one, ensuring that each one is added correctly. It is, and instead of being grateful that you did not put three and three-quarters of spit in his cup, he rolls his eyes, mumbling to himself about younger generations being too lazy to do their jobs right the first time. He takes the cup from you, without saying thank you, and struts off.

You sigh, shaking your head. You needed to get your blood pressure checked.

"You okay?" a voice asks.

You turn around, coming face to face with your coworker, Mijoo. She stands before you, leaning against the counter, a sympathetic smile on her face.

You groan, running a hand over your face. "I don't know how much longer I can take this. How have you worked here for this long?" you reply, your voice muffled by your hands.

Mijoo shrugs. "Honestly, you get used to it after a while. And on the rare occasion that you run into a genuinely nice customer, I promise they make up for the hundreds of shitty interactions."

Without moving your hands from your face, you state, “That doesn't make me feel any better."

Mijoo laughs, bright and bubbly, and pats your shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll get easier, I promise. You'll be desensitized in no time! Seriously, I feel nothing when people call me stupid, or an imbecile, or a bitch-"

You frown, dropping your hands. "Mijoo, that's awful."

Mijoo sighs and walks around the counter to wrap her arm around your shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Just don't stress about it, okay? You'll be fine. Plus, we've got each other!"

You return the gesture, wrapping an arm around her waist. "You're right."

Mijoo has been your rock throughout this whole process. She was the one who interviewed you for this crappy job, and she was the one who showed you the ropes inside and outside of the cafe you work at. In addition to showing you her go-to spot in the cafe for mental breakdowns, she's shown you her favorite spots in Seoul. If it weren't for her, you're sure you'd be a complete and utter wreck.

"What would I do without you?" you ask.

Mijoo chuckles, squeezing you tighter. "Probably have a lot more panic attacks," she replies, causing the two of you to erupt in laughter.

The alarm on your phone blares, signaling that it's time for you to go home. You and Mijoo share a dejected glance. You hated leaving her alone at the shop, but she always insisted that you go home before the rush. You had no choice but to agree.

"See you tomorrow," you tell her as you shrug on your jacket.

"Bright and early," she responds, throwing you a wave.

"Are you at least going home soon?"

She shakes her head. "Nah, I've got a few things I need to finish up, so I'll probably be here for a few more hours. I'll lock up."

You sigh. "Alright, but please text me when you get home."

She smiles, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Will do. Now, go. Go home and get some sleep, you deserve it."

You make your way to the entrance, giving Mijoo one last glance. She waves to you, a big grin on her face. When you open the door and step out, the bell above you chimes.

As the crisp air hits your face, you can feel the tension drain from your body. A content smile graces your lips, and you can feel your mood instantly improving. Even though your job was stressful, there was nothing quite like coming home after a long shift.

The sun has already begun to set, and the streets are bustling. People pass by you, not paying attention as they make their way home. Some have earphones in, while others are on their phones. You watch as couples and groups of friends chat and laugh as they make their way to whatever destination they have in mind. You feel a small pang of loneliness in your chest.

Your apartment isn't too far from your work, so you reach your destination quickly despite the heaviness in your heart. You're exhausted, and all you want to do is go home, cook dinner, and crawl into bed.

You ride the elevator to your floor, and you're reminded of the time you ran into Bada months ago. Her name echoed through your head every time you heard this elevator music, which was every day. You haven't seen her since that day, which wasn't really a surprise. It was a big building.

When the doors open, you make a beeline to your door, fishing your keys out of your pocket. As soon as you unlock your door, you practically skip inside. You immediately slip off your shoes and toss your jacket and keys onto the counter. You let out a satisfied sigh as you plop down on the couch, closing your eyes. You stay like that for a few moments, listening to the quiet hum of the air conditioner. After a few minutes, you hear your phone ping. Yelping, you sit up and pull it out of your pocket, hoping it's the text you've been anticipating from a landlord. Disappointment settles in the pit of your stomach when you see it's just a spam email. Groaning, you drop the phone onto the couch next to you.

You sit there, wallowing in your misery and loneliness. The quiet hum of the AC does little to soothe your worries.

You miss your friends, but the distance has made it hard for them to keep up with you, and vice versa. They all had lives, and jobs, and families. But you didn't. All you had was an empty apartment. And you had Mijoo, but you felt terrible relying on her for everything.

As you’re ruminating on the pathetic reality of your social life, a loud bang comes from the wall behind you. You jump in shock and quickly turn to look at the source. You can barely make out a muffled, feminine voice, saying something that sounds like a curse. Seconds later, music starts playing through the walls. Loud, bass-heavy music. You sit up, your hand hovering over the plaster, feeling perplexed. You haven't heard anyone in the apartment next to you since you moved in. You just assumed you were neighborless. Maybe someone new moved in? You haven't seen anyone with boxes or anything all week, though, and there's no way someone just managed to move in within the last 8 hours.

A beat passes. You can feel the vibrations from the loud music rattling the walls. You frown, and walk over to the wall. You raise a hand and knock loudly, but it's useless. You sigh. There was no way you could relax with this noise.

You turn away from the wall, and pick your phone up in case you need to dial 119 during this confrontation. You make your way out into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind you and ignoring how your heart pounds in your ears. You walk to the door next to yours and, after a moment of hesitation, knock loudly. The music stops, and your heartbeat slows. The door remains closed, so you knock again, even harder this time.

After what feels like an eternity, the door finally swings open, revealing a woman you thought you'd never see again.

"Bada?" you question, bewildered.

"Hey," she replies, sounding equally surprised. She's wearing sweatpants and a black tank top, and her hair is in a messy ponytail. You can smell a faint hint of sweat. She's still gorgeous, though.

"What are you doing here?" you ask, trying to hide your shock.

She looks behind her, as if to verify that she's in the correct place, then turns back around. "This is my apartment," she states, slowly, as if she's speaking to a child requiring stabilization.

"Since when?"

She laughs at this, and your heart flutters. "Since I've lived here. Which is a long time, considering this is the second year."

"No, I mean," you pause, searching for the right words. "I haven't seen you around? I mean, you're right next door. There's no way I could've missed you."

Her lips form an 'o' shape, and she nods. "Ah, well, I travel a lot for work so I haven't been home much. I was out of the country for a while."

You nod, "Oh. That makes sense. Well, see ya!"

You turn on your heel and make your way back towards your apartment, embarrassment beginning to flood through your body, when Bada's voice stops you.

"Hey, wait."

You turn around, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

She looks amused. "Are you going to tell me why you came knocking? Or did you just want to see me?"

Your eyes widen and your cheeks burn. "What? No, I'm sorry, I-"

She interrupts you with a laugh. "Relax, I'm joking."

You nod, feeling relieved. You weren't sure why this woman made you feel so incompetent. "Well, it’s the music. It's really loud, and-"

"Oh, shit," she cuts in, her eyes widening. "I'm sorry, I forgot. I'm not used to having neighbors. It's been a while since someone lived next door."

"It's totally fine, it's just...a bit much."

"Gotcha," she replies.

You stare at each other for a few seconds, and you can feel yourself begin to sweat. You clear your throat. "Well, I should probably go now."

She nods, a slight frown on her face. "Okay. See you around."

"See ya," you reply, awkwardly, before walking away.

When you reach your door, you let out a deep breath As annoyed and embarrassed as you were, seeing her again was a bit of a pleasant surprise. She seemed even more beautiful now than she did in the elevator. Your mind wanders back to the sleeveless shirt she had on. The hair bun that gave you a clear view of her neck, her jawline, her collarbones.

You shake the thought from your head and walk into your apartment. You needed to put yourself out there, soon. It’s been too long since you’ve felt a woman’s touch, and now you can barely look at an attractive woman without spiraling into a frenzy.

You decide to go take a shower and call it an early night, hoping that a session with Rosalia 3000 will ease your mind.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

You stand behind the counter, boredly wiping down the surfaces. It's a slow day, and Mijoo is off, finally using her vacation days. The cafe is mostly empty, save for a few students studying in the corner. You've already cleaned the entire place twice today, and the clock hasn't even struck 4 o'clock yet. It was days like these that you hated most. As much as you disliked angry customers, having to stand behind the counter doing nothing all day was enough to make you want to claw your eyes out.

You sigh, and lean back against the counter. You check your phone, just in case you missed any messages you’ve been waiting for. When the screen loads, the familiar white background greets you, with no new notifications.

You lock the screen, and stuff the device into the pocket of your apron. You look around the cafe, hoping to find something to occupy your mind. Your eyes land on the display cases of cakes on the far end of the counter, and an idea pops into your head.

You grab a bag of flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and baking powder from the storage room. You mix the ingredients together, and add a few teaspoons of vanilla extract. After about ten minutes, the batter is ready, and you scoop some into a pastry bag. You start to pipe the dough into shapes, filling the space. The familiar motion relaxes you, and you can feel the stress slowly leaving your body. There were only a select few people in the cafe who were permitted to contribute to the array of treats your cafe housed. Unfortunately, you weren’t one of those people, leaving you little time to partake in your passion in between busy shifts and tiring days. You needed this.

Working quickly, you fill up the space within 30 minutes. After placing the cookies in the backoven, you start cleaning up the counter, throwing away any leftover bits of dough and tossing the used bowls and utensils into the sink. When you finish cleaning the area as best as you can, you turn back around, and your eyes widen as you realize you aren't alone.

Standing before you, his arms crossed, is the man with the ridiculous coffee order from a couple days ago. Yikes.

"Um," you begin, trying to keep your voice from wavering."Can I help you?"

"I’ve been standing here for two minutes,” he begins, and you can hear the aggravation in his voice. "Do you not know how to do your job?"

"I-"

"So you’re not just a terrible barista, you’re a terrible worker too,” he spits out.“There are barely any people in this cafe and you can’t keep up?”

You clench your jaw, trying to keep the anger bubbling up inside of you at bay. "Sir, I apologize for not noticing you sooner, but I’ll be happy to assist you now."

"Yeah, I’m sure. Where’s your manager?”

Your eye twitches. “He isn’t here right now. I can assure you I’ll be able to help you with anything you need."

"Well do you have a way to contact him? A phone number? Zoom?”

You shake your head. "Sorry, sir. Our manager prefers that we only contact him when he is away if there’s an emergency.”

He releases a maniacal laugh, then immediately straightens his face. “Is this not an emergency? How is this not an emergency when the service in this shop is so fucked that you don’t see a customer standing in plain sight for ten minutes?”

You blink. “I thought—never mind. Sir, again, I’m terribly sorry. If you’d like, I can give you this drink on the house and—"

He cuts you off. "I don't want a refund. I want better quality of service…”

He drones on, and at this point you tune him out. There was nothing you could do or say to satisfy him. Really, the irony of the situation just made you want to laugh. He was complaining about you wasting his time, and by doing so was wasting even more time. Did this man actually have a job other than being a menace to innocent baristas? Probably not. As you mindlessly watch the man flail his arms in exasperation, you hear the bell above the entrance ring. You’re about to glance over, when the man in front of you slams his palm on the counter, demanding your attention.

"I'm not done yet! I've spent the last fifty six minutes telling you everything you're doing wrong, and you've barely apologized. In fact—"

"I'm sorry, sir, but if you don’t calm down I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” You cut him off, your voice surprisingly steady.

"What?" His mouth hangs open.

You cross your arms. "You are disrupting the environment and harassing me.”

"Harassing?" He repeats, incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding me? Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? You don’t have the authority to kick me out.”

You roll your eyes. "I'm not kicking you out. You are free to stay and order anything you'd like. If, however, you choose to continue to cause a scene, I'll have no choice but to have you escorted off the premises."

His eyes narrow, and this time he crosses his arms. "Yeah? And who’s gonna escort me?”

Customer service thrown out the window, you open your mouth to call him a prickly little bitch, but are interrupted by the sudden appearance of a hooded figure walking up beside him.

"Leave her alone," a familiar voice states. You look over, and realize the individual you’re looking at is Bada, who towers over the man beside her.

The man scoffs, and looks her up and down. "Excuse me? Mind your own.”

"This is her cafe, and she has a right to kick you out if you're being disruptive."

"I'm not bothering anyone," the man retorts.

"Well, you’re bothering me. I’ve had to stand here and watch you squeal for the past few minutes and quite frankly it's starting to piss me off. If you don’t leave, I'll escort you out myself."

The man opens his mouth, presumably to spit some more venom, but the sight of Bada's clenched fists and murderous glare causes him to snap his mouth shut. He glares at the two of you for a moment, before turning on his heel and stalking off.

Both of you watch him leave. As the door closes behind him, you witness the door swing shut with surprising speed, smacking into Mr. Grumpington's rear end just as he reaches the threshold. Stumbling forward with a startled yelp, his briefcase flies out of his grasp, scattering papers across the sidewalk.

Your hand flings up, over your mouth as you observe him stand slowly, his knees wobbling. A woman and her child pass by him with bewildered expressions, and you repress your laughter. Once he gathers himself, he shoots a withering glare in the direction of the café, and storms off.

Old man finally gone, Bada turns back to you, her expression soft. "Sorry. I know I probably overstepped, but I saw the whole thing and I was worried he was going to hurt you.”

You sober up and shake your head, smiling slightly. "No, it's okay. He was being an asshole and I didn't know what to do with him. I'm glad you were here."

Bada returns your smile, and you're once again taken aback by her. “Anytime."

"I have cookies, if you'd like some," you offer, suddenly remembering the sweets baking in the oven. "On the house, for the trouble."

Bada's eyes light up. "I'd love some! And an iced latte, please.”

You nod. "Sure. Have a seat and I'll bring it out."

Bada takes a seat in a booth in the corner, and pulls out a laptop. As the coffee brews, you glance at her as she types and reads something on the screen, her expression concentrated. She purses her lips as as she focuses on whatever she’s looking at, and you find yourself staring.

She looks up, catching your eye. You blush, and spin around to face the display case, pretending to wipe it down. You grab the iced latte and a plate of cookies, and walk over to Bada.

"Thanks!" she says, smiling, and grabs a cookie. She takes a bite and hums in satisfaction.

"Good, right?" you question, a smile tugging at your lips.

"So good!" she affirms, her cheeks full of the pastry.

You break into a wide grin that you’re not sure is because of the woman’s cuteness, or the pride blooming in your chest. "Thanks. I made them."

She raises her eyebrows. "Wait, really? Woah. I'm impressed."

Playing nonchalant, you shrug. "It's whatever."

She laughs. "It's not whatever! These would sell out in seconds if you displayed them in here," she remarks, grabbing another one.

You're reminded of the call you're still waiting on, and try to dispel the anxiousness growing inside you. That’s the plan, just not here. You decide not to bring that up, though. You dont wanting to put a damper her spirits with your oversharing.

But you're not tired of hearing her praises. "You think?"

"Definitely,” she confirms. "I'll come by every day to buy a dozen.”

"I'll hold you to it."

"Please do," she responds, and you swear you detect a hint of flirtation in her voice. Before you can retort, a notification pops up on her computer, and her eyes dart down. She sighs.

"Everything alright?" you ask.

She nods, but her brows are furrowed. "Yeah. I'm just stressed. My job has been keeping me super busy lately."

You nod, and hesitate before asking, "If you don't mind me asking, what do you do?"

"Oh," she answers, her face clearing up. "I'm a dancer. And I choreograph for kpop groups."

Your eyes widen. "Whoa. That's cool."

"Thanks," she responds. She pauses for a moment, and she looks like she wants to say more. "It is, but...I don't know, sometimes these companies get on my nerves." She says with a tired laugh.

You're a bit surprised by her confession, and the dejected look on her face makes your heart hurt. "What do you mean?"

She shrugs. "They're never quite satisfied with what we do and it sucks, you know? The only time I have fun is when I'm working with a company that doesn't treat their artists like shit."

You frown. "Yeah, I can't even begin to imagine how frustrating that is. I'm sorry."

She smiles, looking sheepish. "No, I'm sorry for venting. It's been a long week."

You shake your head. "Don't apologize. You're saving me from having to clean the counter for the nth time today."

She smirks. "I thought the jerk from earlier was already doing that?"

"Oh god, please don't bring him up again." You groan, and she giggles in a way that makes your chest warm.

"Don't worry. He won't bother you anymore. I scared him away," she says, wiggling her eyebrows.

You laugh, and a comfortable silence falls between the two of you. You're about to ask her another question when you hear the bell on the door chime. You look over, and see a group of college students walking in. Your stomach drops.

"Guess it's time for me to actually do my job,” you mutter.

She nods. "What time do you get off? Maybe we could talk more after you're done? Walk home together?"

Walk home together? You should’ve put on a better perfume today. "Sure, but I'm gonna be here for another couple hours."

She slaps her hands together. “That’s actually perfect. I have a bunch of videos to review anyway. I'll be here." She gives you a small wave, and returns to her laptop. You walk away, unable to contain your grin.

And she is there. As the night drags on, as the rush comes in and finally calms, as the clock strikes 8, and as you close the doors.

You turn the keys, locking the door. You turn around, and she's there, waiting for you, laptop in hand. She kicks a rock and it skitters away, hitting a lamppost. When she notices you watching, she offers a shy smile.

"Ready to go?" she asks.

"Sure am," You respond, and the two of you start heading down the street.

The air is warm and the night sky is clear, the stars twinkling brightly. You glance over at her, and admire the way the streep lamps lights up her face. Her eyes are focused ahead, and you stare at her profile. She notices you staring, and turns her head, smiling softly.

"What's up?" she questions.

You shake your head and face forward, wanting to crawl in a hole at your slip-up. "Nothing." You feel the heat rise to your cheeks. This is silly. You've seen this woman plenty of times recently. Hell, you were just in the cafe together not even fifteen ago. But now, walking side-by-side with her, the air between you heavy, you can't help but feel a need to impress her. The idea that you could possibly have a friendship (or more?) with her makes your heart soar. It's silly, and maybe a bit childish, but you're not one to let a good feeling pass by. So, you take a chance, wanting to make this work.

"So, I don't know much about you, but I'd love to," you begin, and her gaze darts towards you. "Tell me about yourself. You said you were a dancer, right?"

"Oh, yeah." She nods. "I started dancing when I was a kid. It was fun, but I didn't start taking it seriously until I was older. I started out doing covers, and eventually landed an audition with a company. That's how I got my foot in the door, and then I kept climbing and now I'm here."

"That's amazing," you tell her. "I'm guessing it's a lot of hard work?"

She nods. "Definitely. It's rewarding, though."

You want to know more, so you ask her more questions, and you follow into comfortable chatter as she tells you all about her life. She asks you a few questions too, some of which you avoid, like why you moved here, or why you're working at the cafe that you obviously dislike. But, overall, the conversation flows easily, and before you know it, the two of you are standing in front of your apartment building.

As the two of you approach the lobby, Bada speaks. "We should do this more often."

"Which part? Walking home together, or me talking your ear off about the ending of Twenty-Five Twenty-One?"

"Mostly the first part. Although I didn't mind hearing you talk about that kdrama. The lead actress is really hot."

You snort, and she follows suit. "You know, I'm glad you came into the cafe today," you confess.

"Me too." She responds, and the two of you stop in front of your door. You're unsure of what to say next, but Bada steps forward, and you tense. Was this really happening?

But then she's inching away, her hands tucked into her pockets. You relax, and ignore the slight disappointment built up in your chest. Duh, you think, shaking your head. What were you expecting?

"Well, have a good night." You say, offering her a small smile.

"You too," she says. "I'll see you soon."

She waves, and you watch her go, before unlocking the door and walking into the apartment. You close your door behind you, and lean against it, releasing a breath.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Over the next week, you see Bada in passing in the hallway multiple times. Each time she sees you, she stops and says hi, and you talk for a bit. She stops by the cafe a few times too, although she hasn't been able to walk home with you again yet, having a late-night schedule nearly everyday.

But each encounter makes your heart race, and by the end of the week, you feel like your chest might explode. You're not sure the attraction is reciprocated, but even if it is, would she actually be interested in someone like you? Someone who had to deal with a shitty customer service job, was running increasingly low on money, had a terrible sleep schedule, and was depending on one call to determine whether or not this move was a mistake? Probably not. The videos you've been watching for the past hour have made that evident.

Curiosity got the best of you, and you finally looked up Bada about an hour ago. It didn't take long for her to pop up. A ton of information about her was available, from her birthday, to her favorite food, to her shoe size. You mostly ignored that stuff, opting to watch her choreography videos instead. A horrible mistake. She was undeniably talented and captivating, and watching her perform made you feel a million things all at once, the most powerful being desire, much to your dismay. Why was that woman always humping the floor?

After watching the last video, which was a choreography of a popular girl group's song, you shut your computer and lean back on the couch. You stare at the wall separating your apartment from hers, wondering what she's doing right now. Is she getting ready for bed? Did she have a busy day? Is she thinking of you, like how you're thinking of her? Doubtful, but the thought makes your stomach flip.

A notification from your phone interrupts your pity party. You assume it's a notification about a delivery you have coming, but you're surprised to see a text from one of your hometown friends.

Jasmine: heyyy how is everything going over there!

Jasmine: opened up your dream bakery yet?

Not this. You really, really do not want to get into this right now, especially with your friends and family from home, who had high expectations for you. But they were your friends, and you didn't want to keep them in the dark. You take a deep breath, and respond.

y/n: almost. just working at a cafe while I'm getting everything settled.

You wait a few minutes, but she doesn't respond. You sigh. Another thing you miss from home—texting your friends in real time. It would have been nice to be able to vent.

You're about to stand up when you get a response.

Jasmine: oh okay! just be careful not to fall into the same trap you were in here. I don't want you working yourself to death :(

y/n: i won't.

Jasmine: good.

Jasmine: anyway, met anybody cute out there yet?

You stare at the screen, and you can't help but smile.

y/n: yes.

Jasmine: OMG!!!

Jasmine: details plz!

You laugh.

y/n: it's none of your business, lol.

Jasmine: come ooooon y/n!

y/n: nope! I don't want to jinx anything

Jasmine: fine. just keep me updated.

You're about to respond, but a knock at your front door startles you. You set your phone down, and walk over to the door, looking through the peephole, and speak of the devil: It's Bada.

You quickly comb a hand through your hair and rub the sleep out of your eyes. Taking a deep breath, you open the door, trying not to look flustered.

"Hey!" you greet.

"Hi." She responds, and you immediately recognize that something is decidedly off. She looks tense. Her brows are furrowed, and she’s avoiding eye contact, shifting her weight from side to side awkwardly. You see her clutching something behind her back, but cannot make out what it is.

"Um, are you okay?" you ask hesitantly, half-ready to grab the (tall and grown) woman to pull her inside your apartment to protect her from potential imminent dangers.

"Yeah. I just-um. I think your package was delivered to the wrong address?" She pulls her arm from behind her back, and hands you a large box with it flipped to the bottom. "Sorry."

"Oh!" you take the package, are immediately met with the recipient name printed in bold font that is, of course, addressed to you. "Thank you. Sorry about that."

"No worries." She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "I'll, uh, see you around."

"Yeah, definitely."

She walks away, and you're left standing in the doorway, a bit confused. That was...weird. You step back inside, shutting the door. You set the package down on the coffee table, and just as you are about to rip it open, you make eye contact with the imagery on the front of the package.

Your eyes widen. Oh no. How could you have forgotten?

There, plastered across the front of the box, was a clear picture of a very suggestive toy. You read the words below the image.

"Battery-Operated Love: Your Guide To The Best Vibrators, Toys, and Dildos!"

You stare. You blink. You look around, as if someone is playing a prank on you. You stare some more.

Then, you hurriedly reach for the throw pillow sitting next to you on the couch, and scream into it.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

You sigh, tapping your foot against the floor to the rhythm of humming washers. It's early morning, the sun barely peeking out, and you're currently in the laundry room in your building, waiting for your clothes to dry.

It's been a few days since your package fiasco, and Bada hasn't made another appearance. You'd say she's trying to avoid you, but in reality, you’re the one going out of your way to steer clear of her potential judgments. You've even taken to staying in late, leaving the apartment only to go to work, where you've adjusted your schedule to further avoid the woman in case she tried to stop by. You acknowledge the fact that you're probably overreacting. It wasn't that big of a deal. You're a grown woman with needs! And you weren't going to let those needs fester when you had such an accessible way of gratifying them. You couldn't let the hard work that ancient physicians put into developing such helpful products go to waste. You love to support small businesses!

Although, you weren’t a big fan of the one you ordered from this time. So much for "discreet packaging.”

You stand up, deciding to grab a drink from the vending machine outside to cool your nerves. You reach the lobby, and walk towards the corner, where the row of machines are lined up in front of windows that belong to the gym. You insert your coins, press a few buttons, and wait for your drink. The vending machine is old, and the whirring and clanging of the dispensing mechanism are loud, so it takes longer than usual.

You glance around as you wait, and your eyes finally settle on the windows. You squint, noticing a familiar silhouette performing a series of exercises.

Bada is inside, doing pull-ups. Her back is to you, and her hair is pulled into a ponytail. She's wearing a loose t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and shorts. Sweat drips from her forehead and down her back, and the muscles in her arms flex and move with each lift.

You feel your throat dry up. The machine spits out the can, and you grab it. You hesitate for a moment, and then step forward, pushing open the glass door leading into the gym as if you were moving on autopilot. You don't know what you're doing.

"Hey!" you greet.

She turns around, eyes wide, and lowers herself onto the ground. "Hi."

"How are you?" you ask.

"Good! Just finishing up my workout," she answers, reaching for the towel draped on a bench beside her.

"Cool," you answer, trying not to focus on the way her chest heaves as she catches her breath.

"What about you? Haven't seen you around lately," she says, wiping the sweat from her neck.

"I've been busy," you lie, weakly holding up your can. "Just got something from the vending machine while I'm waiting for my laundry. Probably gonna head out and run some errands after this.”

"Ah, okay." She nods, and reaches for a water bottle. You watch her tilt her head back, gulping down the liquid, her Adam's apple bobbing as she swallows. Your eyes travel to her neck, and her collarbone, which is exposed, and the droplets of sweat that rest on her skin. You watch her throat move, and suddenly, your mind is filled with images of her lips trailing down your neck, nipping at your throat, and you're overcome with desire.

You swallow, then continue rambling, trying to rid yourself of your debauched thinking. "Yup, heading over to Itaewon with a friend tonight. Probably won't be back home until tomorrow morning!" you say with the projection of a teenage boy who had his first drink yesterday. You weren't lying this time, though. After the incident, you were humbled into a state of reflection. You wanted to try putting yourself out there, and potentially find gratification beyond something that was battery-powered. Mijoo was ecstatic to hear this, and immediately sent you a list of clubs she and her friends frequented.

"Sounds fun." She takes another sip, and sets the bottle down. "Hope you have a good time. Actually, do you have time to do me a favor before you get back to your laundry?"

"What kind of favor?" you ask, a bit suspicious.

"Can you spot me?" she asks, and you're confused for a moment. She gestures towards a padded spot on the floor. "I was gonna do some more reps, and I’d really appreciate it if you could help me—um—make sure my form was right. f you don't have time, that's fine, I can ask someone else."

"No!" you answer. She jerks her head back in confusion, and you flush at your stumble. "No, I have time. I can spot you."

"Awesome! Thanks so much," she says with her signature heartwarming grin. "I'll just do a couple of sets. It shouldn't take too long.”

”I should warn you that I don’t know anything about weightlifting. Or strength exercises. Or cardio—”

"Not a problem. I’ll just do sit-ups." She reassures as she sits on the floor, and lies down.

“Oh. Okay,” you felt like you were in grade school. "Are we counting or not counting?"

"Um, counting would be helpful," she says.

You nod, and kneel beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. You feel her tense for a second, but are quickly distracted trying not to focus on the way the damp fabric of her shirt sticks to her skin. "Okay. Ready when you are."

You count, and with each sit-up, the muscles in her arms flex, her jaw tightens, and her breathing becomes labored. You're in such close proximity to her, her arm brushes against yours every time she goes down. The heat radiating from her body is palpable, and you feel yourself begin to sweat, the air becoming hot.

When she's finished, she falls back onto the mat, and you release the breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding. She gets up, and wipes the sweat from her forehead.

"Well, that was fun," she says, standing up to grab her stuff.

"Yeah, it sure was," you murmer, trying to hide the fact that you're completely out of breath despite doing nothing but count. You stand up, and follow her out the door. "See you later, Bada."

Bada waves, looking you over once more in a manner that makes your insides twist, before turning around a speed-walking toward the elevators.

You take a minute to breathe and head back into the laundry room, where your clothes are ready. Instead of grabbing them, you collapse into one of the cheap folding chairs in the corner of the room. Your clothes are probably tinier at this point, but you can't bring yourself to move. Why did you even walk in there in the first place? You knew well that you weren’t capable of acting normal in front of that woman.

You remind yourself of your plans with Mijoo tonight. A club. In the city. With pretty people. Where alcohol was served.

You take a deep breath, and stand up, taking your clothes and throwing them in your basket.

You'd be fine.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

An ear-splitting wail from the girl next to you almost makes you drop your drink.

"I CAN'T DO THIS SHIT ANYMORE!" the woman screeches, and Mijoo, who is currently attempting to console her, rolls her eyes.

"Honey, please, don't make a scene."

"But it's true! I'm a loser, and I'm going to die alone! I might as well stop trying!”

"No, you're not, just stop drinking," Mijoo responds, her voice a few octaves higher in annoyance. She glances at you, and rolls her eyes.

The two of you are at the gay bar in Itaewon, and after an hour and a half, it seems that the night is coming to an end. Mijoo's friend, Naeun, had a mental breakdown after spotting her ex-girlfriend making out with the woman she told her not to worry about. After that, the mood was completely killed. Naeun feigned nonchalance at first.That relationship was seven months ago, she said. I’ve moved on, she said. I’ve had better, she said. it was almost convincing, until you saw her gulp down three shots at a pace you did not know was humanly possible.

And now…

"It's like, you don't listen to anything I say," Naeun sniffles, and you genuinely feel bad for her. You give her a gentle pat on the back, and she turns to hug you.

"I know, I'm a horrible friend or whatever. Let's just go home and eat ice cream or something," Mijoo sighs, and the two of you help Naeun stand.

"Yes. Thank you. You guys are the best," she whimpers. "I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do," Mijoo assures.

"Yeah, it's all good," you chime in. "Let's just get you home. I think you've had enough alcohol for the next week. Or year."

You and Mijoo drag her out of the bar and into the streets of Itaewon. It's dark, and the neon lights illuminate the sidewalks, where drunk patrons stumble through. You're a little buzzed, and Naeun's deadweight is difficult to carry. Somehow, you manage to get her onto the subway, and inside your building, which is closest. When you reach your front door, you can't help but glance over at Bada's apartment, and are surprised to see a light peeking through the crack between the door and the frame.

"You live here?" Naeun slurs, and you nod, opening the door and dragging her in.

"We'll put her on the couch. Do you mind if we stay over?" Mijoo suggests.

"Not at all," you agree, and the two of you set her down. She groans, and closes her eyes, stretching across your couch in a starfish position. Her dress has risen all the way up to her stomach, but she doesn’t seem to care, You grimace at the sight. "Poor thing."

"She'll be fine," Mijoo says, waving her off. "Come on, I’m starving,"

You follow her into your kitchen and lean against the counter as she reaches into your fridge to pours herself a drink. So much for ice cream.

"Sorry our plans fell through," she apologizes, and you shrug.

"It's not a big deal. Shit happens. Besides, I had fun even though we were only out for, like, five seconds," you answer.

She takes a sip of the liquid in her cup. “We can try again next week? I'll make sure that Naeun is mentally stable next time."

"I don’t know. That doesn’t sound as fun,” you joke, and she grins.

"You’re so right,” she pauses as she opens your fridge back up, and gasps. "Ooh, y/n, can I have one of these?"

"One of what?" you ask, peering over her shoulder, only to find her holding cupcake that you'd made earlier. "Oh, yeah, sure. Go ahead."

She rips off the wrapper, and takes a bite, moaning. "Wow, this is—"

A loud thump sounds from the other side of the wall, and the two of you turn your heads, eyes wide.

"Is that your neighbor?" Mijoo whispers, and the two of you stand still, listening intently. There are a few more thumps, and then a sharp gasp.

"I think she's fucking someone," Mijoo whispers, and then a moan sounds from the other side, followed by a string of curse words, and the bed frame slams against the wall, a rhythmic knocking echoing throughout the apartment.

Naeun sits up from where she's sitting on the couch, and mechanically states, "I need to call her."

"Don't you dare," Mijoo growls, aggressively pointing a finger at the pitiful girl. Naeun whines, and collapses back onto the couch, and you continue to stare at the wall with wide eyes. This couldn't be happening.

You're quiet, listening to the creeks of the bed, the groans, the panting, the curses, and, despite the situation, you can’t help but feel…curious. You’d usually be irked by this situation, reminded of the particularly horrific nights you’d have when you lived with a roommate in your younger years. As made evident by the fluttering in your stomach (and in other parts of your body) you, this was not that. Not even close.

Mijoo laughs. "Oh my god, does this usually happen?"

You snap out of your stupor. "Uh, no, actually. She's usually pretty quiet."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And besides, she's sweet, so it's kind of weird hearing this, but, uh, it's whatever," you reply, attempting to ignore a squeal that vaguely resembles Bada's name.

The bed's movements pick up speed, and the sounds become louder.

"Oh my god," Mijoo murmurs, covering her ears. Naeun starts crying again.

"She's gonna fuck her to death," Naeun sobs, and then the two of you can’t help but burst into laughter. You walk over to the living room, and pat her on the back.

"Come on, let's get you to sleep," you say, helping her up. "You can have the bed. Mijoo and I will take the couch."

"Thank you, I love you both so much," she blubbers, and you drag her into the bedroom, tucking her into the bed.

"We're gonna stay in the living room, so holler if you need us, okay?" you tell her, and she nods.

"I love you guys," she slurs, and then passes out, mouth wide open.

"She’s so dramatic," Mijoo cackles as you close the door.

You and Mijoo get ready to go to sleep, and soon enough the obscene noises from next door are gone. But, as you fall asleep on the couch, they still ring in your head.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

"I'm so sorry for the way I acted last night." Naeun apologizes, a pout on her face. You wave her off. “Don't worry, you're good. At least you gave us some entertainment while you were at it. Are you okay, though?"

She shrugs, adjusting the duffle bag on her shoulder. "Yeah. I mean, it was a pretty big blow, but I'll get over it. She's not worth the tears."

"Atta girl," Mijoo cooes, patting Naeun's head. She turns to you, and smiles. "Thanks for letting us stay over, y/n."

You open your front door, and wave. "Yeah, of course. I'll see you guys later."

Just as the two girls step out, the door to the apartment next to yours opens. You all look to the side, and notice a disheveled woman with blonde hair and bright red lipstick exiting into the hallway. You and Mijoo exchange glances as the woman's eyes meet yours. She gives a small, awkward smile when she notices the three of you, and then bows before hurrying down the hallway.

"Was that your neighbor?" Mijoo asks, and you shake your head.

The actual neighbor in question steps into the hallway, and the three of you watch her with wide eyes. She's wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, long hair cascading down her back.

Bewildered by your stares, she looks at the three of you with confusion.

"Hello," she greets, bowing, and the three of you bow back. "How are you?"

Naeun's eyes become the size of saucers. "Y-you're Bad—"

"Good!" Mijoo interrupts, and gives a wide, forced smile. "We're all doing well."

"That's good," Bada replies, giving a polite nod. She looks at you, and the corners of her lips quirk upwards. "Hi, y/n. Nice seeing you."

After last night’s noises, her politeness makes you want to laugh. or scream. or cry. You return the smile, gripping your doorknob until your knuckles turn white. "Yeah, nice seeing you, too."

She turns her attention back to the other two, waves, then walks off.

Mijoo and Naeun immediately whip around to face you.

"Your neighbor is Bada Lee?!" Naeun screeches.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mijoo yells, and you step back.

"Bye guys!" you say, closing the door on the two of them.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Shortly before closing, the bell rings.

"Hello!" you chirp. "Welcome to—oh, hello!"

"Hey, y/n." Bada waves.

"Hey," you say, even though the two of you already said hello. "How are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"Great, thanks," she responds, staying put in front of the door. "Uh, I actually came here to, um, ask if you wanted to walk home together? I was just passing by, and I thought maybe we could just, like, walk back. At the same time. Since we both have to, um, go there. To our respective homes. I know it's been a while, but I thought it'd be fun. I-if you want some company, I mean. Sorry, I'll leave if you want me to, I'm just—"

"Bada," you interrupt, and she looks up, her eyes meeting yours. "I'd love to."

She blinks. "You would?"

The look of surprise on her face almost startles you back into hesitation. Why wouldn’t you want to spend time with the woman? Even with all the moments you’ve wanted to bury yourself in a hole because of your embarrassment, you couldn’t find it in yourself to ever say no.

Untying your apron from around your waist, you nod. "Yeah! Just give me a second to grab my stuff."

"Okay." She grins. "Thanks."

You pick up your belongings, clock out, and the two of you stepping outside. You lock the doors, and begin to walk towards your building.

"So, how was your night yesterday?" Bada asks, and you almost trip at the reminder of yesterday’s events.

"Uh, it was fine," you reply, clearing your throat. "What about yours?"

"Oh, it was, um, good." She nods.

I’m sure it was, you think. You look at the ground, biting the inside of your cheek. "That's good."

The two of you walk in silence, and now you feel awkward. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. The only sounds surrounding you are of the rustling of the trees, and the occasional passing car.

"Was that your girlfriend?" she suddenly blurts out, and you whip your head around to look at her.

"Huh?"

"Last night, when I ran into the three of you in the hallway. Were one of those girls your girlfriend? Or…”

"No, neither of them," you reply, shaking your head. "One of them is Mijoo, the coworker I told you about, and her friend, Naeun. They came over after we went to a bar."

"Ah." She nods, looking at the sidewalk, and your eyes narrow. You swear you see a small smile on her face.

"What about your girl?" you ask, and her head shoots up.

"My girl?"

"Yeah. Was the girl that was over last night your girlfriend?"

"Oh, no, no, she wasn't," she quickly answers.

"Hm," you hum. And then, your next words spill from your mouth before you can even process them. "I would've thought so with all of the…screaming that was going on."

"W-what?" she stammers, freezing in her tracks.

"Uh," you say, stopping as well. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Did you hear...us?" she asks, her voice quiet, and you can't bear to look at her. Why did you speak up? You didn’t want her to feel embarrassed. Or worse, think of you as a creep for listening in.

"Yes," you murmur, and she lets out a groan, her face turning a shade of pink.

"I am so, so sorry. I thought you were gone. Oh my god, that is so embarrassing." She buries her face in her hands, and despite your previous regrets, you bite your lip to suppress a giggle. Her reaction was too cute.

"It's okay, really," you assure, and she drops her hands, still refusing to look at you. You smile, and continue walking. "Don't worry about it."

"But that's so embarrassing," she whines, and you laugh again.

"You were clearly having a good time."

"Yeah, but I didn't want you to hear," she sighs, and you pat her back.

"Well, at least we're even now."

"What do you mean?" she asks, puzzled.

Uh oh. She probably already forgot about the delivery situation, and you just brought it up for no reason. What the fuck was up with you right now? You were just saying anything.

"Oh, nevermind. Forget about it," you respond, waving her off.

"What was it, though? I haven't heard you…uh…do anything before," she protests, and you shrug, trying to brush her off.

"Nope! Forget about it! I confused you with someone else," you rush out, picking up your pace as you make eye contact with your building.

"You have another neighbor that could’ve potentially heard you having sex?" she replies, clearly confused, as she jogs slightly to catch up.

"No idea!" you sing, and open the door, stepping into the lobby.

"This makes no sense. Now I’m not gonna stop asking," she tells you, and you can't help but laugh.

"And I'm not going to stop avoiding the question."

"Y/n!"

You enter the elevator, and press the button to the 8th floor, watching her enter. You give a polite smile, and she sighs, giving up.

"Fine," she finishes with a pout.

The elevator goes up, and the two of you stand in comfortable silence. You don't know if it's because of the woman's earlier embarrassment, but something about tonight definitely has you feeling a little bold and ready to tease.

"Hey," you pipe up, and she looks over at you. "You guys were pretty loud."

"Shut up," she grumbles, and you can't help but smirk, watching her glare at the floor.

"My friends almost called the police. It sounded like you were committing murder."

"What?" she exclaims, and then groans. "Oh my god, don't."

"And I almost let them. I was like, woah. I knew this woman couldn't be entirely perfect and had to be keeping some sort of deep, dark, secret. But a serial killer? I would've never thought. Turns out you just had a serial moaner in there, I guess."

"Please stop."

"I mean, what were you doing to that poor girl. I—"

"At this point, it just seems like you're trying to get details out of me," she interjects.

"W-what?" you squeak, and she smiles, turning to look at you, suddenly cool and collected.

She shrugs. "You keep bringing it up."

You scoff. How dare she accuse you of such a thing! All of the thirst comments under her posts must have gotten to her head.

"You're ridiculous," you retort.

"Am I wrong, though?" she counters, and you stare at her with wide eyes.

"No," you reply quickly, and then you mentally facepalm, realizing what you said. "I mean yes. You're wrong."

"Right," she chuckles, and the elevator dings, the doors opening. "I have a question for you."

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" you ask, stepping out into the hallway.

She bites her lip, clearly trying to stifle a laugh. "Have you had the chance to use your Satisfyer Pro yet?"

Your jaw drops, aghast. "Wh-what? What the fu—"

"Goodnight, y/n," she grins, snickering as she runs inside her apartment like a little goblin, leaving you to watch her with a mixture of disbelief and irritation.

You can't help but let out a huff of laughter as you enter your own apartment.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

You're sitting in bed with a slice of cake on your lap, blanket tossed to the side due to the hot weather, binge-watching a new series. You contemplate checking your email for a message from that landlord, but decide against it, not wanting to put a damper on your decent mood. Instead, you tune in to another episode of a k-drama, in which the protagonist dies for a second time. Supposedly, it's for real this time.

You're about to finish the slice when there's a knock at the door. You frown, pausing the episode. You stand up, place the plate on the dresser, then walk towards the front door, peering through the peephole. Your heart begins to beat faster when you see a certain woman standing outside your apartment.

"What's up?" you greet, swinging the door open.

"Hey," she says, a soft smile on her face. She's wearing a pair of loose shorts and a white t-shirt, hair in a bun. Sweat glistens on her forehead, and her cheeks are flushed. You can't help but note how good she looks, despite looking rumpled.

"Hi," you respond, returning the smile. "What's going on?" you ask, leaning against the doorframe.

"So, uh, my air conditioning broke," she begins. "And I was wondering if I could hang out in your apartment for a bit? The maintenance people said they aren't going to be able to get here until tomorrow. Apparently they don't work on Sundays."

You've suddenly become aware of the fact that Bada has never been inside your apartment. The idea of her being inside the same room as you, sitting on your furniture, breathing in the scent of your home, sends a wave of heat down your spine. Maybe it was best to reject her offer and suggest another solution.

"Come on in!" you say, and open the door.

"Thank you," she breathes out, walking in, and your eyes rake over her figure as she passes by you.

She looks around, taking in the sight of your apartment. You notice her eyes linger on some of your old pictures from your hometown.

"Your apartment is really nice," she tells you, and you feel a rush of pride.

"Thank you! Feel free to take a seat wherever," you reply, gesturing towards the couch, and she sits, throwing her head back as she lets out a sigh of relief.

"You're a lifesaver," she declares, and you plop down next to her.

"What happened?" you ask, and she shakes her head.

”I wish I knew. I went to turn on my AC and it just, didn’t come on. Completely out of the blue.”

"That sucks," you respond, and she nods, a grim expression on her face.

"So," she begins, turning her head towards you. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," you answer, and then remember the slice of cake on the dresser. You point to it. "Would you like some?"

"Yes, please," she says, nodding fervently. "Water would be great, too, if you don't mind."

Grateful to put some distance between the two of you, you practically bounce out of your seat. "Coming right up!"

You return with two glasses of water and your cake. She thanks you, and you hand her a fork, taking one for yourself.

"This is really good, y/n. Did you make this too?" she praises, and you nod.

"I did. Thanks," you reply, taking a bite.

"You really need to give me the recipe for these things. Or start selling them! I'd buy them all," she compliments, and you blush, waving her off.

You stare at the ground for a moment, before laughing bitterly. "That was supposed to be the goal, I guess.”

She furrows her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

You inhale slowly, prepping yourself. You hated this. But maybe you needed this. "I used to have my own bakery. In my hometown That's actually where I moved from. But then my landlord jacked the rent up and I couldn't afford it, and I was forced to close," you explain.

"Oh." She frowns. "That's awful. What a jerk."

"Tell me about it," you mumble, carelessly dropping your fork on the table.

"Are you looking for another place here?" she asks, and you nod.

"Yeah. There's a lot of great spots in Seoul, but there's one building in particular that I've had my eye on. It's not far from the Han River, and the rent is relatively cheap, and it's got everything I could possibly need. I'm just waiting to hear back from the that landlord. We were negotiating and things were going pretty well. But now its been months. I haven't heard from him since I moved here."

You blink back tears, and clear your throat, picking up the fork again. Whenever you think of everything that's happened to you recently, you cannot help but feel like an utter failure. You worked hard, finally achieved success, only for things to all fall apart. It seemed as if all of your efforts were for nothing.

"Hey," she whispers, and her voice is soft, calming. "It's gonna be okay."

She gently squeezes your arm, and her touch is warm. You look at her, and the tenderness in her eyes is enough to make you want to cry more.

"I know. It's just hard, sometimes," you confess, and her hand remains on your arm.

"I get that, but I can promise you that what you're going through is temporary. I can't tell you how many times I thought I was done for good when I first started out, but now, I've come this far. If you keep your head up, and just keep working hard, you'll make it. You’ve done it before.”

Her words resonate with you, and her unwavering support fills you with hope. "Thanks, Bada," you respond, smiling.

"Of course," she responds, her eyes never leaving yours. "I'm here for you."

"I'm here for you too," you whisper.

A moment of silence passes, and your eyes travel to her hand. Her skin is smooth, and her fingers are long and slender. You wonder what they'd feel like intertwined with yours.

"Um, I’ve been meaning to ask," she says, interrupting your thoughts, and your eyes meet hers again. "Any new dramas you wanted to tell me about? Or, what about the one with that married couple you talked about?”

You almost laugh at her obvious attempt to distract you from your depressing thoughts.

"Pretty good," you reply, and she gives you a pointed look.

"And by pretty good, you mean..."

"Amazing, wonderful, mind-blowing, spectacular," you continue, and she nods, satisfied. "I was actually watching it before you knocked on the door."

"Ooh, really?" she responds, eyes widening.

"Yeah. Would you like to watch it together?" you suggest, and she grins.

"Yes, please."

"Okay," you giggle, and grab the remote, pressing play.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Halfway through the episode, you decide to move to your bedroom (because the AC works better in there, of course!). Somehow, while lying on the bed, your legs become intertwined. She's sprawled out, and her head is resting in the crook of your neck, her soft hair tickling your face.

You can feel her steady breathing, and the heat radiating off her body, and all of your senses are filled with her. You're so focused on her that you can't even focus on the episode.

"Y/n?" she murmurs, and her voice is low, quiet.

"Yeah?" you reply, voice equally as soft.

"Would it be weird if I said that I'm glad my air conditioner broke?"

You snort, and her body shakes with silent laughter. "Not at all."

You pause the show, and sit up. She does the same, and her eyes are shining.

"Do you want anything to eat? I've got chips, and some ice cream," you offer, and she bites her lip.

"Not really. Thanks, though," she responds, and your eyes travel to her lips. They're plump and pink, and you're tempted to reach out and kiss her.

"Okay, no problem," you say, and her gaze is intense, burning.

"Thanks for letting me come over. I appreciate it."

"Of course," you murmur, and then clear your throat. "Anytime."

"Really?"

"Yeah! You can even stay the night, if you want. I don't mind," you respond, and her eyebrows raise, lips curling upwards.

"Okay," she answers, and leans forward, cupping your face in her hands.

The action surprises you, and you let out a gasp. She pauses, eyes searching yours, and you nod, giving her permission.

She leans forward, and you close your eyes, waiting for her to press her lips against yours. Instead, you feel a pair of lips softly kissing your forehead, and your cheeks, and your jaw, and your nose, and then they finally, finally press against yours.

The kiss is gentle and sweet, and when she pulls away, her eyes are filled with affection.

"I've wanted to do that for so long," she admits, and you chuckle.

"Me too," you whisper, and her smile grows wider.

She moves closer to you, and you wrap your arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Her body is soft, and her skin is smooth, and you can feel her warmth seeping into your skin.

"I really like you, y/n," she whispers, and you tighten your hold on her.

"I really like you too, Bada," you respond, and she nuzzles her face into the crook of your neck. You're in heaven.

"Thank god. I was afraid I was making a fool out of myself," she confesses, and you giggle.

"What? Oh my god. Not at all," you assure her, and she pulls away, a smirk on her face.

"So, I was right about you wanting details?"

"Oh fuck you," you mutter, pulling her back into a significantly more aggressive kiss. A surprised noise escapes her lips, but she eventually melts into it, moving against you with equal fervor. Her hands run up and down your sides, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind, and you're so caught up in the sensation that you don't even realize when she starts straddling you until she presses her body against yours in a way that has you gasping.

Your hands travel underneath her shirt, feeling the smoothness of her warm skin, the lines of her stomach, the swell of her breasts, and the curves of her waist. She groans into the kiss before slipping her tongue into your mouth, causing heat to pool in the pit of your stomach.

When you pull away, she's panting, and her lips are swollen. Her hair is slightly mussed, and her pupils are dilated, her eyes filled with desire. Without words, you both begin removing each other's clothes, tossing them to the side. She's left in only a black bra and boxers, and you have to remind yourself to move.

She chuckles, and you stare at her chest. You can see the outline of her nipples, and you reach out, brushing a thumb against them, and she bites her lip, closing her eyes. You can feel her heart beating rapidly, and you trace circles around her nipples, and she lets out a shaky breath.

"Please," she begs, and you smile, pulling her into another kiss.

Your hands move lower, caressing the skin of her thighs, and then you're cupping her center, and she gasps, pulling away.

"Y/n," she pants, and the sound of her moaning your name sends another rush of heat down your spine.

"Bada," you breathe out, and press kisses against her jawline, and down her neck, and collarbone, and chest. Your hand is still between her thighs, and she bucks her hips, trying to find friction.

"Y/n, please," she repeats, and the desperation in her voice is so fucking hot.

You slip a finger inside her, and you feel her walls immediately clench, followed by a whimper you're not sure belongs to you or her. You curl your finger inside her, and her head falls back into the crook of your neck as she rolls her hips, grinding against your palm.

"More," she practically demands, and you add another finger.

She's soaking wet, and the lewd sounds coming from your fingers sliding in and out of her has you squeezing your thighs together, desperate for some sort of relief.

You use your thumb to rub circles on her clit, and her movements become more erratic, her moans becoming louder.

"I'm gonna-ugh," she pants, and her nails dig into your skin as she orgasms.

You can feel her walls clenching and unclenching, and her body trembles, her eyes squeezed shut. She breathes heavily, and the sight of her is enough to drive you wild.

You continue stroking her until she opens her eyes, and you can't help but grin.

"Holy shit," she manages, and you remove your fingers, and she lets out a moan.

"Good?"

"Yes," she replies, and leans forward, capturing your lips in a heated kiss.

"Now," she begins, breaking away. "Let me take care of you."

You can only nod as she reaches for your breasts, fondling them, and her eyes never leave yours. She's smirking, and the intensity in her gaze is enough to make your heart skip a beat.

You close your eyes, enjoying the sensation, and you nearly jump when you feel her body shift, her lips pressing against the sensitive skin of your neck.

She moves down, taking a nipple into her mouth, and you groan, arching your back. Her lips travel to your stomach, and then your thighs, and then you're lifting your hips, and she's sliding your underwear off.

"Spread your legs, y/n," she requests, and her voice is low, seductive.

You obey immediately, and then her tongue is inside you, and her fingers are on your clit, and your entire body is on fire. She sucks on your clit, and then makes headway further down, sliding her tongue inside you. You can't stop the moans that escape from your mouth, and you're certain the whole complex can hear, but you don't care.

Suddenly, she stops, and looks up at you. Your eyes snap open, annoyed by the interruption until you observe the way he's smiling, her chin slick with your wetness.s

"I wanna try something," she begins, and she sits up, scanning the room. "Where's that thing you got the other day?"

You bite back a moan. "Nightstand drawer."

She opens it, and takes out a small, pink object. Your face flushes as she turns it on, the vibrations audible in the otherwise quiet room.

"Is this okay?" she asks, and you nod, eager.

"Yes," you answer, and her mouth returns to your center.

She teases your entrance with the object, and the combination of her tongue and the vibrator has you squirming, your hands finding their way to her head, holding her in place.

"Oh god," you whimper, and the pleasure is indescribable.

Her tongue picks up speed, and then the vibrator enters you, and you nearly scream.

She pushes the toy in and out, and as it vibrates against your clit, and begin to feel like you can't take anymore. Your back arches, and a wave of euphoria washes over you as your orgasm hits, and the only thing you can see is the light from the lamp and the white of the ceiling.

When you regain control of your senses, you can feel her body lying on top of yours, her head on your chest. You lay in silence, trying to catch your breath, and it isn't until you hear her voice that you speak.

"How are you doing?"

"Sleepy," you mumble, and she smiles, pecking you on the lips.

"Then let's go to sleep."

You can only nod as your eyes slowly close and your mind becomes hazy. Before you drift off completely, you think to yourself that this might've been the best night you've had since moving here.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Two weeks later, you and Bada are going up the elevator to your respective apartments after a walk from your job. You'd just spent the past hour gossiping in between taking customer's orders. Apparently, Mijoo and Naeun are going out. Figures. You hoped it worked out for them, but nobody was beating the blissful few weeks you've.

The two of you are holding hands, and your free one is holding a box containing a dozen chocolate chip cookies, made especially for Bada.

"I'm thinking of moving out," she suddenly states, and the statement catches you off guard.

"What? Why?" you ask, and she shrugs.

"It's about time. I can afford a better place, and I'm ready to move on from the apartment life. I need a house."

"I can understand that," you reply, nodding.

"You should move in with me," she continues, and the statement makes you laugh.

"What? Are you crazy? We just got together."

"Who cares? I want to live with you. Don't you want to live with me?" she responds, pouting, and she gives you puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, but...," you pause, and you can tell from the expression on her face that she's serious.

"But what? What's the problem?"

"Nothing. Let's do it."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," you confirm, and she beams, leaning in to kiss you.

You can't believe what you just agreed to. But, in a way, you're relieved. Maybe this will finally bring a sense of finality to everything that's happened.

"Damn, guess I'm gonna have to tell Jennifer about us. She's coming out here soon," you mutter, opening your email app. You go to type in your friend's email, but your eyes land on an unread email in your inbox, sent two weeks ago. It's from an unknown sender, and the subject is 'Regarding Your Application.'

Your eyes widen, and Bada nosily peers over your shoulder, reading the words.

"What's that?" she asks, and you gulp.

"I don't know."

"Open it!" she exclaims, and you do.

Y/N,

This is Kim Sung Soo, the owner of the property you inquired about. I was out of town for business and unable to contact you regarding your application. I've looked through the papers, and everything seems to be in order. I'd like to meet up with you so we can further discuss the terms of the lease before we finalize anything. When are you available?

"Oh my god," Bada gasps, and she stares at you, wide-eyed.

"What the hell?" you whisper, and Bada squeals.

"Oh, y/n! This is so exciting! Congratulations! I knew it would work out. Now, you can start your bakery, and we can move in together, and oh, my god, I'm so happy!"

"I'm confused," you mutter barely believing your luck, and the elevator dings, indicating that the two of you have arrived.

"Don't worry about it, okay? Come on, let's go have some cookies," she says, tugging on your arm.

You nod, following her down the hall without a hint of resistance. As you watch the woman drag you with a giant smile on her face, you cannot help but giggle. Who knew you'd find home and happiness in such an unlikely place?

#bada lee #bada lee fanfic #bada lee imagine #bada lee fluff #bada lee x reader #bada lee x y/n #street woman fighter 2 #swf2

218 notes · View notes

littlestardude · 1 year

Text

⏤͟͟͞͞☆Dating Kyle HCs || Kyle Broflovski x Reader

✰ - SFW & NSFW - ✰

Summary: Kyle Bf HCs!

Note: I'm so in love with Kyle it's unreal, he's so pookie, college kiddos :)) also sorry for being SO slow with reqs :(( I unfortunately lose motivation very quickly, so by the time I start it by then end I'm just.,. Trudging thru 😔 I HAVE SOME KENJORINE I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET OUT! BUT ARGHHHH, also some Stan bf headcanons

TW: Smut at the end

Gender: AFAB Gen!Neutral

✰ - SFW - ✰

I feel like sumtimes he'd be unintentionally possessive of you 😔

He can't help it, he feels like you're too perfect for him so he tries to keep you to himself

If you ever bring it up to him he'd feel rlly bad about it, and then tell you that

He's insecure, hold him :((

And when you do, tell him how pretty he is bcs

OMG HE'S SO PRETTY

He's literally the prettiest boy ever I'm gonna fucking sob

His curls are so vibrant, and coily and long, I could get lost playing in his hair forever

We already know he hid it before

But you were talking to your friends and he was somewhere in the vicinity and you were just like,

"HIS HAIR IS SO PRETTY I COULD CRY, AND HE HIDES IT :,(( I just wanna play with it all the time but I don't wanna like... Accidentally make him self-conscious or something :((("

He stopped wearing his hat as much after that.

You noticed it too and you weren't sure if he heard you but you were happy his hair was free

Also his eyes are so pretty

He could be so pissed and ranting and u could just be. Staring into his eyes and he'd be like,

"What are you looking at. "

"Your eyes are so pretty, Ky :)) "

He calmed down pretty quickly after that.

ALSO NICKNAMES.

The first time you used that nickname on him he. He melted. He turned so red like,

"W-what did you just call me"

He looked cute as hell tho :3

You started easing him into the nicknames and he got used to it, he even started using some nicknames for you too!!

He's so cute when he does to, because you can tell he's trying!

Sometimes when his temper gets really bad you just hold him to your chest and lay down and play with his hair, he calls down pretty quickly

And if you're in public you just bring him somewhere private and just hug him, and then you guys can walk around while you hold hands

He's not the biggest fan of PDA but likes holding your hand :))

But when he's in private he's all over you, just hugging and kissing you

He's not the best with words, at least words he says out loud bcs

He does poetry! Actual good poetry!

But he loves just hugging you, he likes you on top of him because the pressure feels nice

He's got autism! And he's got that unintentional autistic rizz, if yknow what I mean

Sometimes he'll just say something, you'll just stare at him and blush like crazy and he's just like,

"What'd I say"

You just stare bcs theres no words left...

Very unintentionally blunt as well

You two enjoy silent company a lot! esp Kyle

Sometimes his friends and family and school just get too overwhelming, so he'll just ask you to come over while he does his homework and sometimes you'll do yours and you guys just get to be close 🥰

There's been some times when... Yknow what I'll save it for the NSFW part :3

He's definitely a cat person and you guys would look forward to getting a cat together! Maybe 2 :)))

He really is a well intentioned person, he's just so sweet :((

I feel like this poor boy got SO nervous to meet your parents

Like, y'all went to a restaurant together and he dressed all fancy and was just. So awkward

He worries so much about what to say that he ends up speaking like a robot, and then would randomly follow it with awkward laughter 💀

He was so embarrassed 😭 but you cuddled him and told him it was fine

And you later got a text from your parents saying he was a good guy! Bcs he is!

He's so cat boy too like... When he just needs to recharge he just hobbles over to you and just. Flops.

Doesnt matter what you're doing, because now you're cuddling Kyle.

It's cute tho, because he's definitely learned how to recognize when he needs a break from college work

Bonus points if you play with his hair and kiss him all over 🥰

You guys used to, keyword, used to. Play games together, he would try so hard not to get competitive about it ,but let's just say you both said some things about each other's mothers, and it's just been awhile since you've played.

He likes sharing his music with you! And let's just say you were surprised to find out he was a The Cure fan, you just wouldn't expect it from his dorky self!

But they're one of the few artists he can freely stim to

You guys will listen to loud music together just to scream the lyrics bcs, MAN sometimes u just wanna scream, yknow?

He only likes to sing stuff he can scream, if it's something that requires vocal control he's outta there

But you heard him sing normally one time and he was so cute ☹️❤❤ he was cleaning around his dorm and had his headphones on and you arrive without him noticing and you just heard him singing his lil tune in his soft voice... Dead on the spot, there were no survivors.

Eventually learns that when partners complain about things he just has to listen, he's too logical and learnt the hard way that you just want to vent rather than actually solve the problem

✰ - NSFW - ✰

So, "studying"?

The "both" of you were focusing on homework, just Kyle really. He was at his desk and he seemed to be focusing, he looked so intense. You found yourself staring at him for awhile, you just couldn't help it. You check the time on your phone.

"He has time." , you thought to yourself.

You closed the book you had stopped paying attention to 20 minutes ago and faced his turned back. You carefully tiptoed over and gave his back a tap, he turned around, still looking at his book and papers.

"Yeah, what's up? ", he said, not really paying attention.

You carefully grabbed his chin and turned his face toward you, giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

"Kyleeee, I'm bored, can't we do something else? " you whined.

"I'm sorry, y/n but I really have to finish these assignments..."

You pulled out your phone and showed him the time and date.

"But Kyleee, you still have a few days before you need to finish them, I know you like to finish them before they're due but can't you take a little break? For some fun at least? ", you speaking the last words in a suggestive tone made him turn red, he seemed to be contemplating it but he had already made up his mind.

"Alright then, come here, " he sat you down on his lap and began kissing you. The both of your lips meshing together, slowly becoming more filled with passion.

"Do you wanna stay here or move to your bed? "

"Anything beats sitting in this chair... ", he picked you up and set you on the bed, not before stretching his back and cracking it, " that felt so good... I hate that fucking chair, man, "

He laid back down on the bed and continued kissing you, you slowly positioned yourself on top of him. He was so distracted, he didn't even notice.

You were about to take off your shirt, but we're stopped.

"What's wrong, Ky? "

"C-Can you keep the shirt on? I like seeing you in my clothes... "

The shirt in question was an oversized shirt he let you borrow after sleeping over the night prior.

You kissed him and smiled softly, "Okay, Kyle... I'll keep it on, but if I can't take off anything else I'll go crazy... " you laughed a bit and he laughed with you.

"Don't worry, I won't stop you anymore... "

"Good, " even before you finished speaking you shifted both of your legs to the side of him to easily take off the boxers he'd also lent you. You moved back and began kissing him again, this time with more heat than before.

As the two of your lips clashed together you began to gently palm at his hardening member, and as you did he let out a shakey breath.

You positioned yourself right above and began grinding into him, the two of you softly moaning into each other's kisses. He slowly traced his hand over your thigh and gave it a squeeze, a squeeze that would get increasingly tighter the more you played with him.

You could tell he was getting antsy with the way he squeezed your thigh so you figured it was finally time to set him free. You moved you hand to the waistband of his sweats and pulled them down, his hard cock springing free. The cold air down there made him grimace, but was soon changed as you slowly parted yourself on it.

You both fell out of the kiss as you two moaned as you slid down, your already dripping pussy making it easy to. It took a few moments until you were down at his base; his size was always something you had to adjust to.

Just as you were about to start moving his eagerness got the better of him and grabbed now the both of your thighs and moved you up and down. You moaned loudly at the sudden friction and bounced along with his help.

The two of you were moaning messes, which only increased the faster you moved. You once again found his lips in a hungry kiss, the room becoming much quieter when you did as you muffled each other's moans.

"Y-Y/N, I'm.. Ngh... Close, " he moaned out, you were barely able to form words and just breathlessly told him you were too.

The speed increased and you were seeing stars, which you saw more of as he placed his thumb on your clit and started to rub it.

The two of you quickly finished after that.

Kyle's confidence during sex has improved MASSIVELY

The first time y'all did it, he had NO clue what to do

He was so scared about where to put his hands, or if he grabbed you in the wrong place, especially if he grabbed too tightly

It also took you guys awhile to eventually lead up to it, the second Kyle felt it getting too heated he'd gently pull you off

You actually started to worry that he didn't like you anymore the more he did it

You asked him why he always did it and he, as red as his hair, told you he was a virgin and was too scared, and that he wouldn't know what to do

You softened on him and told him that you didn't care he was a virgin and that you would lead him the whole way

You two did it soon after. :p

Once he eventually gets the hang of everything he's good. So fucking good.

Definitely a switch but leans more towards sub

You find his hands so fucking attractive because they're so perfect,,, and pale,, and long

You love him fingering you because he reaches SO far and you're just on the highway to heaven 😍

Also as shown before, he's VERY vocal and he's so cute when he moans and whimpers...

It's something he DEF tried to hide but you were not letting him get away with it

Has a bit of a mommy kink tbh

Sometime dabbles into a bit of a breeding kink... 😗

Kyle 🤝 Kenny

Having beautiful, milky thighs

The first time you sucked him off you were just mesmerized with his thighs... Can u tell I like men's thighs 😔

Pull his hair please!

You've probably pegged him once or twice ngl... :3

#kyle broflovski x reader #kyle x reader #kyle broflovski x reader smut #kyle x reader smut #south park fanfiction #sp kyle #south park hcs #south park smut #south park #✰Star's headcanons

963 notes · View notes

leejihoonownsmyheart · 2 years

Text

New Rules

Title: New Rules

Genre: basketballplayer!mingyu, collegestudent!reader, fakedating!au, fluff, angst, s2l, smut

Tags/Warnings: Cheating, heartbreak, gender neutral reader, slow burn, smut, creampie, unprotected :/, general arguments between the reader and some characters, alcohol drinking, hurt and comfort, 26k words

This is a part of a sports collaboration being hosted by @gyukult . Thank you so much for the opportunity to write this I seriously never would have come up with this idea and written this had it not been for this collab!

Summary:

Kim Mingyu is the star basketball player of your schools' team, and one of the most popular boys in your entire University. You’re just a college student with the best boyfriend in the world.

You stared at the lake in front of you, your eyebrows furrowing in concentration. You felt the breeze blow through the trees, and you shivered a little despite the warm fall sun beating down on you.

You weren’t cold for long, after only a moment warm arms wrapped around your body, tugging you close. You smiled, a giggle leaving your lips.

“Come on, I’m trying to enjoy the view while it lasts.”

“I’m not distracting you.”

A fleeting kiss was pressed to your cheek, which you tried to laugh off. You wiggled against him, trying to get out of his grasp but ended up being unsuccessful. You struggled a little more in his arms only to be spun towards him, pulled into a deep kiss.

You smiled against his lips.

“You’re stupid,” you mumbled.

“Shhh I’m trying to kiss you.”

You wished that days like this never ended. You wanted to stay like this until the end of time. You wanted to feel the sun on your skin and hold onto the love of your life. But you knew that you two couldn’t stay like this forever. You pulled away from him and looked at your boyfriend of five years.

“I never want this day to end.”

Donghyun looked at you like you were everything he had ever wanted in life.

“Me neither.”

You two stared at one another for a few moments before Donghyun finally sighed, pulling you close against his chest.

“But, unfortunately, we have to finish this hike and get home before it gets too dark out.”

A pout crossed your lips, but you knew he was right. You pulled away again and reached up to mess with his hair. He had dyed it blonde recently, at first you hadn’t thought it would look very good on him, but upon having it dyed for a while you had grown to like it. His hair was kind of long too, falling past his ears.

You reached over and tucked a few strands behind his ear. When you finally thought that his appearance was appeasing again you slid your hand into his and began to drag him forward.

“Are you ready to get back to school?” He asked. “I bet you miss Jaeyun and Rei.”

You smiled at the mention of your friends, but you decided to play it off coyly.

“Hm, I bet they miss me more,” you mumbled. A laughed erupted from Donghyun’s chest and you two’s hands swung between each other. “It’ll be nice to be back on a schedule. I miss going to classes and working.”

Again a laugh came from Donghyun.

“That’s what I love about you,” he said in awe. “You actually miss working. I would rather be here on vacation forever.”

He swung you around in front of him causing you to giggle and leaned in close to you, pressing a kiss to your lips.

“As long as you were here with me that is.”

You rolled your eyes.

Donghyun was a romantic. He had been for as long as you had known him, even if he wouldn’t admit it. While you tended to get lost in your studies and hardly messaged him, he was always planning extravagant evenings and telling you just how much he loved and needed you in his life.

Five years ago, relationships hadn’t been your thing. Now, you were happier than you had ever imagined you could be.

“You’re dumb Donghyun.”

He hummed, nodding in agreement.

“Maybe,” he mumbled. “I’m going to a party the day after we get back.”

“Quite the way to start the semester,” you teased. He rolled his eyes.

“You’re just jealous that’s all.”

“I’d rather be studying then stuffed between a bunch of stuffy college students who smell like weed and alcohol,” you said. Donghyun laughed again.

“You and your books,” he said affectionately. He took another look at the lake in front of you two and shook his head.

“I guess everything has to end at some point.”

“There you are,” Jaeyun said, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest. “Gone for a weekend and you still think you’re too good for us huh?”

“Not a single message or picture,” Rei agreed joining him by his side. A teasing pout crossed your lips.

“Aw did you guys miss me?” You whined teasingly. “How domestic.”

You laughed as they both rushed up to you, lightly hitting you with their fists.

“Okay! I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you apologized. “I missed you guys too, but you know how I am.”

Both Rei and Jaeyun pulled away from you, their fake expressions of anger gone from their faces.

“I don’t suppose you are going to come to the party tonight as a formal apology?” Rei asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively. You rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, that’s plausible.”

Jaeyun groaned.

“You are no fun, Donghyun is going, and I bet he would love to have you there.”

You highly doubted that was true. Whenever you had been dragged to parties by Rei and Jaeyun they had all abandoned you, and Donghyun had just near pretended that you weren’t there. It was fine, he liked his time with his friends, and you didn’t blame him for that. You liked to have time away from him too and that was something that he respected you for.

“You guys will be fine without me,” you said with a roll of your eyes.

“Hm.”

Rei didn’t look to happy about that response, but Jaeyun was already done with the topic.

Jaeyun and Rei were your two best friends in the entire world. While Jaeyun was a tall boy who was constantly dying his hair different colors, Rei was a level-headed skater girl with shoulder length hair that was currently the same shade of purple as Jaeyun’s.

The two had tried to convince you to dye your hair too but in no universe were you willing to dye your hair purple.

Your schedule was pretty much the same every day. You went to classes, studied between, ate lunch with your friends and then went to work for the day. Your schedule was strict, but it made you feel like you had more control in your life. You didn’t like it when things happened that were out of your control.

Luckily for you, pretty much everyone in your life knew that and they were careful to make sure you stayed comfortable in your own skin.

When you got home from work and your phone went off you weren’t very amused. You had told your friends a million times that you didn’t want any part of their party, but when you saw the message from Jaeyun it was a little different then you were expecting.

Your boyfriend is wasted, you should come pick him up

You sighed; you didn’t often have to pick up Donghyun from parties. He was a pretty responsible drinker. So, you didn’t mind having to every once in a while.

You threw on some normal clothes and grabbed your keys, heading straight to the party.

There were too many people at the party for you to be able to find Rei or Jaeyun, much less Donghyun. You weaved through people for about ten minutes before finally you just started asking people if they had seen him.

“Donghyun? Is that him over there with Jennie?”

You could almost swear that time stopped when you turned around.

You had never had your heart broken before. You had the perfect life. The perfect grades, the perfect friends, the perfect boyfriend.

You had never really imagined what it would be like if Donghyun betrayed your trust because no part of you had imagined he was capable of it. He loved you. That was something that you believed undoubtedly. He gave you his time, his energy, he remembered the things about you that no one else remembered.

He hadn’t been bad to you. He never raised his voice or got angry with you. Everyone you had met had always been so jealous and Donghyun’s eyes had never even strayed from yours.

“How long do you think we are going to be together?” You whispered, burying your face in Donghyun’s chest. You couldn’t see his face, but you could feel his heart beating, and feel as he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer.

“Forever.”

You didn’t even realize that you were still looking at him until someone bumped into you. Then it was like the sight of what was before you finally set in. Donghyun had his arms wrapped around Jennie, his face hidden beneath hers.

The guy beside you laughed and nudged you in the side roughly.

“Yo, just wait until the person dating Donghyun sees this!”

He looked over at you, his smile faltering.

“Wait, aren’t you...?”

That was what snapped Donghyun into the present. You watched as he pulled away from Jennie, pulling her tighter against his body as their hips swayed together. He laughed victoriously to his friends, as if he had done something spectacular and no one around could really believe it.

And then his eyes met yours.

You stood in front of the mirror, frowning as you ran your hand down your shirt.

“Do you like this?” You asked. “I don’t kn-”

You interrupted yourself with a sigh. Who were you kidding? You hated how you looked in this outfit. It hardly flattered your figure and you felt like it made you look bigger than you really were-

“You look beautiful,” Donghyun said, coming up behind you and spinning you away from the mirror. He whistled and shook his head as he got a better look at you. “How on Earth did I get someone as beautiful as you?”

Your face flushed red, and you dropped your eyes from Donghyun’s.

“Shu-”

Before you could finish what you said, Donghyun had his fingers gripping your chin, turning your gaze back to his.

“Seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as beautiful as you.”

“Shit.”

You didn’t think you had ever seen Donghyun move faster. He scrambled to get himself unraveled from Jennie, his hands flying to his hair as if that would change the fact that her hands had been in it moments before.

“Shit babe, it’s not what it looks like.”

You didn’t move, you couldn’t think. You felt something salty seep between your lips. You sniffled and raised your hands to your face, wiping the tears over your cheeks.

You turned from Donghyun- You couldn’t look at him anymore. You felt yourself beginning to move through the crowd of people, moving faster as you heard him growing closer.

“Come on, don’t-” He bumped into someone. “Stop- Let me just explain-”

You didn’t respond, you just started running faster. You pushed past people, tears running down your cheeks so rapidly you couldn’t see. You had to be close to the door now, then all you had to do was get out of here and go home and-

You slammed into someone’s hard chest. You would have fallen but the person caught your wrist steadying you with a hearty laugh.

“Woah there, careful where you’re-”

You looked up and he stopped talking. It was a little hard to figure out who was standing there in front of you with all the tears in your eyes. All you could see was that he was tall, and his hair was dark, and his grip on you was tight.

“Are you...?”

Before he could finish Donghyun let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank god, look it’s not what it looked like-” You felt his hand touch your shoulder and it forced a sob from out of your lips. You pressed your lips together firmly and pushed yourself further into the guy that had caught you as you choked out the first words that you could muster:

“Leave me alone.”

Donghyun didn’t try to touch you again but you could hear his breathing nonetheless. He was close to you. He was too close to you.

“Come on, please let me just talk to you,” Donghyun pleaded. “I can explain everything.”

You didn’t respond. You didn’t trust your own voice. Honestly, you didn’t even trust your own mind. Had your eyes really seen Donghyun kissing Jennie? Surely not. They were just friends, and he had never given you any reason to suspect that he thought of her as anything else. You had trusted him. But maybe that was the problem right there. You trusted him. Why weren’t you trusting him right now? Maybe he could explain it.

You sniffled and peeked from out of the strangers chest, risking a look at Donghyun. His eyes were red. He looked desperate for you to give him a chance. You could visibly see him breath in relief at having seen you.

“You were kissing Jennie,” you whispered, your voice broken. He nodded and held his hand out to you.

“Let me explain, let me explain,” he mumbled. “I love you more than anyone, you know that?”

Of course, you knew that Donghyun loved you. He had been with you the longest of anyone. He was your biggest supporter, always by your side. You loved him too. Without him you were nothing. You sniffled and nodded.

“You can explain?” You asked.

“I can explain,” he repeated. You started to pull yourself away from the person that you had run into but before you could make it very far, the grip on your forearm tightened.

“I know I should stay out of it but I don’t think that’s a very good idea.” You looked up at the person. He looked so familiar, but your vision was still blurry.

“What the fuck dude, back off.”

That was odd. You looked over at Donghyun your eyes wide. You had never heard him address someone so angrily before. His eyes flitted towards you and it was like he could hear your thoughts. His expression softened.

“Babe, who are you going to listen to? Him?” He gestured towards the person that was holding you still. “Or me?”

He spread his arms out in such an inviting way. All you wanted right now was to hug him. Maybe if you did you would be able to pretend like this hadn’t happened. You could close your eyes and go back to the you that hadn’t seen him kissing Jennie.

“Hey.” You looked up at the boy who was holding you. He leaned in close to you so that you could feel his breath on your ear. “Cheaters never change.”

Your eyes flickered to Donghyun who was watching you two with large eyes.

“You can let him manipulate you into going back to him, and you can get your heartbroken or-” His other hand rose slowly to your waist. He was careful touching you, and to be completely honest it felt weird to have someone’s hand there with Donghyun standing so close to you. “You can kiss me, and let Donghyun get a little taste of his own medicine.”

You looked up at the man in front of you. God you really couldn’t shake how come he looked so familiar. You pursed your lips in concentration, trying to search his eyes for any indication of how you knew him. Instead, you found something else there.

You got to the tips of your toes and nodded.

“Okay.”

And before you could think about it you pressed your lips to his.

His lips tasted like beer, and he didn’t kiss anything like how Donghyun did. Having kissed Donghyun for so many years his lips were the only ones you knew so you weren’t really sure what you were doing with this guy. You felt like you were sloppy, and your eyebrows were scrunched in concentration.

Before you could think about it too much the person pulled away from you. He let you turn and look over at Donghyun who to your surprise didn’t look hurt. He looked angry.

“Cute,” he spat. His eyes looked to you. “Let’s go before you do something else stupid.”

You had never seen Donghyun look at you like that. You pressed your lips together uncertainly, and began to pull away from the boy you had just kissed. You cleared your throat, but before you could pull away you felt the guy beneath you tug you lightly. You looked back up at him.

“Date me.”

Your eyes widened.

“What?” You said at the same time as Donghyun said it. The confusion must have been extremely clear as the boy spun you so that his back was to Donghyun’s. He winked. Trust me, he mouthed.

You had never been able to imagine a life without Donghyun. Not since he had entered into yours. You two had planned each other’s futures together. Trusting Donghyun had gotten you here. Crying at a party because he had been kissing another girl. Trusting the person that made sense had gotten your heart broken.

It was time to do something dumb for a change.

“Donghyun,” you said, tearing your eyes away from the person in front of you. “We’re over.”

A laugh erupted from the stranger who... You supposed you needed to get to know now as he turned to Donghyun.

“Now I have an excuse to do this...” He tilted his head from side to side and stretched out his arms, cracking his hands. He shuffled you behind him, and as he took a step towards Donghyun a large number of boys around him rushed forward.

“Mingyu-”

“Bro-

“It’s not worth it-”

Their protests didn’t matter. He pulled his fist back and it collided with Donghyun’s face.

“Aren’t you worried that I’ll hurt you?”

The question caught you a little off guard. You rolled over in the bed to look at Donghyun. Despite the odd question you couldn’t see anything suspicious in his eyes.

“No,” you replied pointedly. He laughed his eyebrows scrunching slightly in thought.

“Why do you trust me that much?”

“Because you’re Donghyun, and you love me,” you replied confidently. Donghyun hummed in agreement.

“It’s true. You know me so well.”

After the party you didn’t see much of your new “boyfriend”. Everyone rushed to the two boys’ sides. Most of the people ran up to the person who had punched Donghyun. You didn’t stay around to see how it played out.

You didn’t really know how to feel. From Donghyun kissing Jennie, to a guy punching Donghyun for cheating on you... It had been too much.

You went home and you cried yourself to sleep.

The next day when you woke up you had almost forgotten about everything. You woke up and you got ready and you smiled at yourself and you looked to your phone to message Donghyun and...

You didn’t even want to leave.

But regardless you knew you had to.

You dragged yourself out of bed and to school.

“Hey!”

Rei and Jaeyun rushed over to you as soon as they saw you, concerned riddled across their faces.

“What are you doing at school? You should have stayed home today,” Jaeyun said. Rei nodded in agreement, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

“Seriously, your grades would be fine if you missed one day.”

You shrugged.

“I have a quiz today,” you mumbled. “Besides, it’s not like it’s a big deal or anything.”

That was a lie, it was a huge deal. You and Donghyun had spent five years of your life together. He was your first and only boyfriend. You had spent the better part of your life dedicated to him and him only.

How were you supposed to heal after having lost the one thing in your life that had stayed the same over five years.

A pang of hurt ran through your chest and you cleared your throat, feeling warm tears pricking at your eyes.

“Better now anyways. More time to study.”

“Stop pretending it’s not a big deal,” Jaeyun insisted. “It’s okay to be upset.”

“I’m not upset,” you said. “It’s better this way.”

Both Rei and Jaeyun stared at you snd you hated that look in their eyes. It was just pity. You loathed pity. Yeah you were a mess, yes you wanted no more than to curl up in a ball and cry and miss Donghyun but that didn’t mean you needed someone’s pity.

You were fully intent on telling them just that when suddenly, you were all interrupted.

“There they are; my beautiful partner.”

Your eyes widened as you were enveloped in the arms of a large man. He kissed your cheek cheerily and then placed his head over yours.

You were a little too surprise to react at first, and such a reaction must have been transparent as he leaned in close to your ear.

“You’re not really selling this fake relationship.”

You swallowed. You couldn’t believe that this was actually real. The party felt like it had been years ago at this point. You couldn’t believe that everything there had actually happened.

A flash of the night shot through your brain, but for once it wasn’t the memory of Donghyun kissing Jennie, it was of you kissing a stranger.

“I haven’t seen you since the party.”

You thought you sounded a little robotic but your friends eyes widened.

“Oh my god, you’re dating Mingyu?”

Your heart stopped.

“I’m dating...?”

You whipped around and your mouth literally dropped open.

The man standing behind you was none other than Kim Mingyu. You weren’t sure what to do or say, you just stared at him dumbly. He didn’t seem to be too bothered by your reaction, in fact he looked a little amused by it.

Kim Mingyu was one of the most popular boys at your University. He was a star player on the basketball team. Even people across the country knew his name. People from your high school would have paid thousands of dollars to be simply in the same room with him. Girls in other countries dreamed of being able to even brush shoulders with him.

You had only ever seen him before at a distance. That must have been why he seemed so familiar the night before. How had you not recognized Kim Mingyu?

A gasp left your mouth and you smacked your hand over it.

Oh my god, had you kissed Kim Mingyu?

You swallowed hard and tried to gain composure of yourself, hoping that your extremely obvious rapid change of emotions wasn’t too obvious.

“Yeah, Mingyu and I are dating,” you agreed. You figured that after that, frankly, embarrassing display you had to be really convincing to really sell it at this point. You turned back towards Mingyu and after hesitating for a good second you leaned up and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Part of you expected Mingyu to get mad at you at that. Maybe to make fun of you and say that you were an idiot for thinking that he would ever fake date you. But he didn’t say that. As you pulled away he leaned forward, his lips ghosting your ear.

“You’re not really selling it.”

You swallowed hard and turned to your friends.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow, yeah?”

Rei and Jaeyun stared at you like they were seeing a completely different side of you.

“You’ve moved on already?” Rei blurted. You stared back at Rei and Jaeyun not really sure what to say to sell this. They knew you the best of anyone in the world. They knew better than anyone that there was no way you were over Donghyun and they knew that you would never date someone again so fast.

But they also knew that you didn’t lie and they probably thought that pretending to be in a relationship had no benefits to you.

And you had to use that to your advantage.

“It’s hard… To not be with Donghyun but Mingyu is really nice,” you glanced at him. He was looking at you with a curious look on his face. “I think that he’ll take care of me and be there for me while I heal.”

It was utter bullshit, but judging by the way that Rei and Jaeyun’s shoulders relaxed in relief you figured your lie was good enough.

“Well then Mingyu,” Jaeyun said, standing up to shake his hand. “If you break our friend’s heart… We’ll get some other basketball player to punch you in the face.”

Mingyu laughed, his whole body shaking with it.

“How about this: I’ll punch myself if that happens.”

“Okay, okay.”

You placed a hand against the door that you had just closed, breathing like you had just run a marathon.

“Oh my god.”

You looked up at him.

“You’re Kim Mingyu,” you said, your eyes wide. “You are the Kim Mingyu.”

He didn’t even look embarrassed. He just smiled, crossing his arms.

“Yeah.”

A squeak left your mouth.

“You kissed me,” you blurted. A near scream left your lips. “You punched Donghyun.”

“Is that his name?” He wrinkled his nose. “If I could I would have punched him again.”

Your eyes widened.

“Mingyu.”

He rolled his eyes.

“You sound like my friends...” He trailed off. “And my coach.”

You scoffed and looked at him.

“Why do you want me to fake date you?” You asked suddenly. That actually caught him off guard.

“Do I have to have a reason?” He asked. Everything he did made no sense to you. When a random person runs into you at a party you don’t get involved in their business. You don’t worry about their relationship drama or offer to kiss them for revenge or punch their ex.

He did need to have a reason. Everything you did had reasons. Everything that Donghyun had ever done had a reason.

Your heart stopped as you saw him again. At that party, Jennie’s brown hair brushing against his shoulder, their lips pressed together. Your eyes dropped to the ground.

“I guess not,” you mumbled.

MIngyu seemed to sense the sudden mood drop and he cleared his throat.

“I mean... It’ll be good for my image,” he said. “I’m sort of known as a wild child. Party all night, kiss random people, punch dudes at parties.”

You snorted.

“Sounds exactly like you.”

Mingyu grunted.

“That’s the point. I’m more likely to get scouted by the pros if I clean up my reputation,” he said. “And you seem...”

His eyebrows scrunched as he looked at you.

“You seem good.”

You pressed your lips together firmly.

“I still don’t even know if this is a good idea for me,” you said. “I don’t want to make Donghyun jealous.”

Mingyu snorted.

“It’s really none of my business but he kissed some girl at a party, he’s an asshole,” Mingyu snapped. “And you seem nice, and you almost went back to him. After he cheated on you? This is for your own good.”

You looked at him.

“If you are fake dating me you can’t go back to him. If he tries to talk to you, you bring in me, you need time to heal, and you can’t go back to that relationship.”

You knew Mingyu was right, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting.

You had been in love with Donghyun... You still loved Donghyun. He meant everything to you. You didn’t really know who you were without him. You wanted to go to him so badly. Hear him out, listen to his excuses. You wanted him back.

“Hey.”

You looked up at Mingyu.

“You deserve better.”

You looked away from him.

“We need rules,” you said. A sound of surprise left his mouth.

“Rules?”

“Yeah, like...” You trailed off. “I don’t like pda.”

A snort left Mingyu’s mouth, but when you looked at him, he sobered up.

“You’re serious?”

“It’s no ones’ business who I’m kissing,” you mumbled. “I never used to kiss Donghyun in front of people.”

“I kiss people left and right,” Mingyu said. “We need some common ground because no one will believe we are dating if we don’t kiss each other.”

Your nose scrunched.

“I’ve only ever kissed Donghyun,” you mumbled looking at Mingyu, a mischievous smile crossed his lips.

“Oh it does not show.”

Color spread to your cheeks, and you looked away from Mingyu.

“Okay, one kiss a day.”

Mingyu grunted.

“Four kisses a day.”

“What? No.”

“Fine, three kisses a day.”

“Mingyu.”

“Two kisses, one at anytime, one good bye every single time we see each other, even if it’s multiple times a day.”

You chewed on your bottom lip nervously in thought.

“Fine, but not where too many people can see.”

“You have to kiss me at my first game.”

You didn’t think that Mingyu was very good at this negotiating thing.

“But there will be-”

“No one will believe we are dating! We kiss one game a month, and it trumps how many kisses we have that week. One kiss at a game equals no kisses that week other than the game kiss.” You scrunched your nose.

“Okay, fine.”

“What about other signs of PDA? Hand holding, hugging?” Mingyu asked. You thought about it for a second.

“If we keep the kissing down I guess it’s fine in front of people,” you decided. “But don’t go crazy with it. I don’t really like being touched.”

Mingyu hummed and nodded.

“And how often do I get to see you?” He asked.

“We can schedule dates that need to be public. I don’t really see any need to hang out outside of that,” you said. Mingyu’s eyebrows furrowed.

“You have to come to my games.”

Your eyebrows furrowed.

“Why?”

“You’re fake dating a basketball player,” Mingyu said like it was obvious. “What kind of significant other doesn’t come to their boyfriends basketball games?”

You supposed he had a point but you didn’t like it. You were starting to think that the relationship you had with Donghyun was to be treasured more than you realized. You hadn’t had to do things with Donghyun. You didn’t need to see him on certain days or kiss him in public. He wasn’t really touchy unless you two were... Say on vacation.

You sighed. It felt like years ago that you had been on vacation with Donghyun. Taking long hikes and waiting for him to write his poetry every time he saw something beautiful. Finding out that most of the time that poetry was about you.

You wished you could go back in time.

“Where are we going to go on vacation next?” Donghyun asked you as you two sat in the hot tub, your shoulders brushing against one another. You hummed.

“I don’t know, the Netherlands?”

“I think we should go to Paris. The most romantic city in the world,” he said dreamily. You rolled your eyes.

“Paris is actually not that beautiful. There’s supposedly trash everywhere and french people are mean to-”

Before you could finish what you were saying Donghyun interrupted you with a deep kiss. When he pulled away your brows furrowed.

“You’re so pragmatic,” he stated. “I love you.”

“Okay I’ll go to your games, but I know nothing about basketball.”

Mingyu shrugged.

“When I get a ball in the basket you cheer. It’s not too hard,” he said. “Any other rules?”

“No surprises,” you said immediately. “I hate surprises.”

Donghyun lifted his hand to Jennie’s hair as he deepened the kiss, holding her close like he used to hold you.

“Done,” Mingyu agreed. “PDA only when necessary and you come to my games but I never surprise you.”

You nodded.

“Yeah, okay that’s okay.”

Mingyu seemed happy with your agreements.

“Phone number?”

You watched as Mingyu put his phone number into your phone, making a cute face as he took a picture of himself for a contact picture. He stared at your phone for a few seconds.

“You have to change your screensaver,” he said after a moment. Your eyebrows furrowed.

“Why?”

He turned your phone to you as a response and your heart sank.

How had you forgotten that your screensaver was a picture of you and Donghyun?

“Right.”

“We should take one. Come here.”

He gestured for you to join him, and you didn’t feel like arguing.

“I’m just going to touch you for a second, okay?”

You nodded and he wrapped his arms around you. You both smiled at the camera as he took a picture. He started talking again as he let go of you and started to mess with your phone some more. You weren’t listening at all. Despite Mingyu’s explanation this still didn’t make sense to you.

This was Kim Mingyu after all. He was handsome and popular, he could date literally any boy or girl in the school that he wanted to. So why you? You were nothing spectacular. Sure you were attractive, but not attractive enough for someone like Kim Mingyu. You cared more about grades then parties. You barely spent your free time with people. It just didn’t make any sense.

“Are you sure about this?”

You must have interrupted him because Mingyu looked surprised by the sudden outburst. His nose scrunched ever so slightly.

“Sure about what?”

“Me,” you replied. “I’m just some random person, I’m nothing spectacular. Why me?”

Mingyu stared at you for a few seconds, his mind clearly racing. He sighed and walked over to you, handing you his phone.

“How long did you date Donghyun?” He asked you. Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, but you decided to humor Mingyu.

“Five years.”

Mingyu nodded.

“Let’s get coffee tomorrow,” Mingyu said, instead of explaining his thought process or answering your question. “If we are going to be fake dating, we have to know a little bit about each other.”

You nodded numbly. He smiled.

“I’ll text you.”

And then he was gone.

“There you are.”

You looked up from your book furrowing your eyebrows when you saw Donghyun was standing in front of you with two cups of coffee.

“Hey babe,” you greeted. Your eyebrows furrowed. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I would surprise you with some coffee!” He replied.

“I don’t like surprises,” was all you said. Donghyun laughed.

“I know I’m sorry. I won’t do it again okay?”

He set the cup of coffee down in front of you.

“I just missed you.”

“What kind of coffee do you like?”

You looked up at Mingyu and shrugged.

“Anything really,” you said. “Iced lattes.”

Mingyu nodded and wandered away to order two drinks for you two. You noticed that as he walked up a number of people in the coffee shop started whispering to each other, watching him with wide excited eyes.

You thought it was weird that so many people knew him from basketball. Even if you were into sports, you didn’t think you would ever be able to keep straight the players in the game and that being said you hardly believed you would recognize them when they were out.

You only knew who Mingyu was at all because Rei was obsessed with sports and as weird as you thought it was Kim Mingyu was a household name.

When Mingyu wandered back he handed you your drink and tilted his cup towards you. He smiled.

“I got the same thing,” he said, sounding like a child trying to impress their parent. You pressed your lips into a smile and took your drink taking a sip. He sat down across from you and leaned forward.

“So… Tell me about yourself.”

There wasn’t really much to know about you, but you told him everything you thought was important. You started off by telling him about Rei and Jaeyun. You told him about your relationship with Donghyun. You told him about your family and what you did for work.

The whole time Mingyu just watched you, nodding accordingly, his attention never straying. You could hardly believe he was taking this so seriously.

“And what else?”

You shrugged, toying with your straw.

“I don’t there is much else to talk about.”

“What about your favorite color?” Mingyu prodded. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“What? Why do you need to know that?” You asked. Mingyu scoffed.

“You’re telling me you didn’t know Dong-douches favorite color?”

You rolled your eyes.

“Why would I need to know Donghyun’s favorite color?”

“It’s important! That way I can figure out what color notebook to buy you next year when you send me shopping for a notebook for one of your lectures.”

“Mingyu this is a fake relationship.”

Mingyu exhaled in frustration.

“You know what I mean.”

You didn’t really know what he meant, but considering he was so passionate about it you decided to just give in and tell him your favorite color.

“What is your favorite color?” You asked him. He hummed.

“Red,” he said without missing a beat. “What’s your favorite food?”

“This is stupid,” you insisted. “I didn’t know that about Donghyun.”

Mingyu didn’t really seem to care what you thought.

“I’m going to be a better fake boyfriend then Donghyun ever was a real one,” he said insistently.

“Donghyun wasn’t that-”

“Babe?” Your head shot up and you looked at Donghyun who had just walked into the room. He was staring at you with such wide eyes. It felt like you hadn’t seen him in such a long time.

“Donghyun,” you exclaimed. You looked at Mingyu and then Donghyun and scrambled to your feet. “It’s not-” “You’re actually dating this guy?” Donghyun blurted. He stepped closer to you two and looked at Mingyu. “Seriously, he punched me. He would rather make someone feel small then have a conversation with them. Hardly your type.”

As Donghyun spoke he gestured towards his eye, which was admittedly different shades of blue and purple and horribly swollen. He turned to Mingyu.

“You’re lucky I don’t sue you for punching me.”

Mingyu just rolled his eyes.

“Stop playing these games,” Donghyun said, turning his attention back to you. “Haven’t we been fighting long enough? I love you. I made a mistake. I just want you back.”

You stared at Donghyun, feeling tears welling in your eyes.

“Donghyun, I-” love you too. I miss you so much, I don’t want to fight either I just want you back too.

Your mind raced with all of the things that you wanted to say to Donghyun. You felt tears running down your cheeks and you took a step towards Donghyun. That was when Mingyu got involved. He stood up, placing himself between you and Donghyun.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” he said. “I think you’ve forgotten that your ex is dating me now and I’m not going to break their heart.”

Mingyu looked back at you. He looked so angry, and you could tell that he was holding himself back. You didn’t really know what he was so mad for. It wasn’t really any of his business what happened between you and Donghyun. You still couldn’t understand why he had gotten involved with you in the first place.

Mingyu very carefully reached forward, his hands rubbing the tears from your cheeks.

“Let’s go.”

His tone was stiff. You nodded.

“Yeah.”

He grabbed you by your wrist and began to practically drag you out of the coffee shop. You couldn’t keep your eyes away from Donghyun.

“What was that?” Mingyu blurted once the two of you were alone. You winced a little.

“Your grip is too tight,” you muttered. Mingyu immediately withdrew his hand from your wrist.

“Sorry I just...” He grunted in frustration. “He cheated on you.”

“It was just one kiss,” you insisted. “Besides he said he could explain-”

“It wasn’t just one kiss,” Mingyu blurted. Your heart skipped a beat and your eyebrows furrowed.

“Wh-what?” “Every time he goes to a party he goes alone in a room with Jennie,” Mingyu explained. “I-I didn’t know he was dating anyone... Before you ask, I don’t think your friends knew.”

You stumbled and your nose scrunched.

“Really?”

“You need rules,” Mingyu said, instead of responding. “Whenever you see Donghyun you’re like two words away from marrying him. You can’t go back to that dick.”

You didn’t respond. You felt numb.

Every party? Had Donghyun really cheated on you that much? Surely it wasn’t true.

“Delete his phone number and his texts, and block him,” Mingyu started. “Block him on everything you don’t need any reminder of him to make you want him back.”

You nodded and searched for your phone, beginning to do what he had asked.

“You can’t be his friend anymore. You can’t even talk to him,” Mingyu continued. “You’ll just want him back more.”

You hated that. You wanted nothing more than to have Donghyun stay in your life. You missed spending time with him. You missed confiding in him. You missed him.

“I know it hurts,” Mingyu said, his voice going soft for the first time since he had gotten you away from Donghyun. “Get rid of things that remind you of him. Gifts he may have given you, anything.”

“But-”

“No buts! If you go back to him he will hurt you again, that’s a fact,” Mingyu said. You fell silent. “Don’t give him that power.”

“What would you do if we ever broke up?”

You rolled your eyes at the question. Donghyun was always asking you such dumb speculative questions.

“I highly doubt that will happen,” you said. “Why are you even asking me that?” Donghyun shrugged.

“Just wondering if you would ever leave me.”

You turned to face him, a smile tugging at the corner of your lips.

“I would never leave you Lee Donghyun.”

You felt sick to your stomach, but you still nodded slowly.

“That’s... That’s fair.”

You felt tears running down your cheeks again.

“Mingyu have you ever loved anyone before?”

Mingyu was quiet for a few seconds, so you finally looked up at him. He shook his head slowly.

“Not like you loved Donghyun.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone again,” you mumbled.

You had never actually been to one of your University’s basketball games. Mostly because they were so confusing to you. It was hard to get tickets and you knew that the games were all just loud and crowded and honestly a waste of time. But even so, there wasn’t much that you could do if you wanted to help Mingyu out with his end of the fake relationship pact.

You still weren’t really sure why he felt the need to get into it with you. He was probably so much better asking one of the many other people in the school to be his significant other for this façade, but he had chosen you. And you knew he was right. Being in this fake situation with him would certainly make Donghyun back off of trying to win you back.

Mingyu was... Much stronger than Donghyun, and even though he had threatened to sue you knew he wouldn’t. He was scared of Mingyu. That was good for you.

Mingyu was right, and you knew that your friends would agree with him if they knew that you would take back Donghyun in a heartbeat. You shouldn’t go back to a cheater. If they cheated once they would cheat again. People don’t change.

But you trusted in Donghyun. You had trusted in him for five years. It was hard to just turn your back on him.

So that’s why you needed to do these things.

These things that Donghyun would never make you do.

And Rei was ecstatic.

“I have been dreaming of the day that you would come to a basketball game with us,” she gushed. “This is going to be so fun.”

It didn’t feel as exciting to you as it did her, but to be fair that made sense, she actually liked basketball. She knew the in’s and out’s. She led you to the student section and made sure that you all got there early enough that Mingyu would be able to see where you were sitting and she even showed you where the bathrooms were.

Mingyu’s game plan was simple. At the end of the game when they won (he was confident that they would win) he would run up into the student section, pick you up and kiss you in excitement.

It was all a bit extravagant to you but Mingyu had insisted that would be the most realistic way for him to react if he was actually dating someone and you figured that one huge kiss being made a spectacle wouldn’t exactly kill you.

And yet still you were feeling nervous. There was a reason you didn’t bother at parties, and mostly kept to yourself. Crowds made you anxious. As the basketball game started you were stuck between hundreds of sweaty college students, painted in your school colors, and screaming at the top of their lungs. You could hardly think or move or even hear as Rei tried to point out who was who on the court.

Mingyu was pretty easy to keep track of. He was tallest of everyone on his team and his coach Seungcheol was always on his feet, running up and down the court as the team did so he was easy to pick out too. Then there was Jihoon also easy to pick out due to his height. Everyone else may as well have been the same person because you couldn’t figure out for the life of you who was Jun and who was Soonyoung when they were both running side by side down the court and were so far away that you could barely make out their faces.

So amongst trying to remember the names that Rei told you as the team members switched on and off the bench and start running up and down the court you had to try to pair those names with faces.

For goodness sakes you knew nothing about basketball and none of this was helping you figure it out.

As the first half of the game came to an end you were left feeling like you were being crushed by the room around you, and like you knew less about basketball than you had known going in and that was making it harder to breath in itself.

“Donghyun? Hey Donghyun.”

You tugged at Donghyun’s sleeve and he glanced back at you over his shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“I want to go,” you murmured, your eyes flitting to the ground. “I’m...”

You didn’t want Donghyun to know that you were stressed. Even after five years of dating you never wanted him to know how stressed you were.

“If you want to go we can go,” Donghyun agreed. His brows furrowed slightly in confusion at your behavior, but he turned to say good bye to his friends anyways.

You were knocked out of your racing thoughts by Rei elbowing you lightly. You looked over at her and she gestured down to the court. You were confused as to why at first and then you noticed that Mingyu was standing at the bottom of the student section. There was a half-heartedly placed barrier there that Mingyu was leaning on as he talked to a handful of girls down in the crowd.

Your first thought was that he must have decided he didn’t need your fake relationship anymore and was going to do something with someone else but then his eyes flickered up to you. When you two made eye contact he tilted his head to the side.

“I think he wants you to go down there, he’s been staring at you,” Rei explained. You nodded numbly and began to push your way through the crowd.

When you got down to him your heart was beating so loudly in your chest that you could have sworn everyone in the room could hear it. When you got down to Mingyu he waved away the people he was talking to and wandered over to you.

“Hey,” he greeted. “You look stressed.”

Your heart skipped a beat in your chest and for just a second you really did forget how to breath. How did he know that? Were you really that transparent? Could Rei and Jaeyun tell too?

“We don’t have to do this,” Mingyu continued before you could respond. Your eyes widened slightly at the suggestion.

“What do you mean? If we don’t do this no one will know that we are dating and there would be no point in us fake dating at all.”

Mingyu shrugged it off.

“You’re stressed, this seems like it is really far out of your comfort zone. I don’t want to stress you out,” Mingyu explained. “We can talk about it later. We don’t need to do this today.”

You couldn’t believe he was saying this, but mostly because you were probably one of the most stubborn people that you knew. You hated that people could change their minds so easily, because it meant you never knew what someone wanted from you.

You had thought you understood what Mingyu wanted from you but now he was going back on what he said before and you were as confused as ever.

“No, we still have to-” You didn’t get the opportunity to finish what you were saying as Seungcheol walked over to Mingyu. He glanced at you, barely paying any attention to you at all. He probably thought you were just a random fan of Mingyu’s. He said something to Mingyu too quiet for you to hear, and Mingyu glanced at you and began to walk away.

“Wait, Mingyu fuck-” He wasn’t listening to you at all as he followed Seungcheol back over to the bench. You knew that you had to do something to stop him from not announcing your relationship at this game. You were here after all, he was doing you a huge favor and you wanted to do him a favor too. All you had to do was convince him to kiss you but you knew that it wasn’t going to work unless-

You hopped over the barrier, alerting that of the staff around you. Luckily when they said something to you, rather loudly, Mingyu turned around. You didn’t waste a second. You rushed over to him, wrapping your arms around his neck.

You felt like the whole world was looking at you.

But before you could stress too much about it you slammed your eyes shut and pressed your lips to Mingyu’s.

Kissing him was nothing like it was like kissing Donghyun. You still weren’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. You felt like you didn’t know what to do, like at any second you would be harassed for doing something wrong or being a subpar kisser.

Instead of that, you were interrupted from your rampaging thoughts by Mingyu laughing against your lips. You pulled away, your face dark in color.

“Okay, I get it now,” he mumbled. “Once you’ve made your mind up on something you’ve made your mind up on it.”

That didn’t help to cull your embarrassment. You took a deep breath and looked away from him.

“What am I supposed to do now? Donghyun and I never did things like this,” you murmured. He laughed.

“Tell me not to lose.”

“Kim Mingyu.”

You felt like you were going to pull your hair out of your head if you heard Mingyu’s full name being said to you again in astonishment. You glanced back at your coworker with a mostly unamused look and he shrugged innocently.

“I just can’t believe it,” Sehun replied. “You went from dating Donghyun-”

Sehun looked disgusted for a few moments.

“To dating the basketball star handsome model prodigy himself.”

Sehun sighed dreamily.

“A man could only dream.”

“He’s just another guy,” you said. “I mean...” You kept forgetting that you were supposed to be pretending that you liked Mingyu. “He’s great, I just am tired of people making a huge deal about it.”

“It is a big deal,” Sehun exclaimed. “I thought that when you broke up with Donghyun you would be broken hearted forever but instead you went on to date a fucking 100.”

You shot Sehun another glare and he sighed.

“Okay fine,” he stated. “I’ll shut up, but you have to tell me about Mingyu at least a little!”

You knew that Sehun wouldn’t leave you alone until you had told him some things, so you decided to rack your brain for something to tell him about.

“There’s not much to say. He’s nice,” you said softly. “Pays attention to me. His favorite color is red.”

You thought the last statement would be enough to make Sehun call you out on the fact that you were the worst person at pretending you were in a relationship, but he did nothing of the sort. Instead, a smile crossed his lips.

“Oooh you know his favorite color?” He teased. “Someone has been having late night pillow talk conversations.”

You had no clue what Sehun was trying to insinuate with that, and you did not want to know. You laughed nervously and looked at your computer.

“Focus on your work Sehun.”

Sehun rolled his eyes and scooted his chair closer to you.

“You’re no fun,” he insisted. “You just going to keep all that juicy information about Mingyu to yourself? How’d you wrangle him up?”

You thought maybe if you ignored Sehun he would let the conversation topic drop, but instead he popped his blonde head around you to shut your laptop.

“You went from Donghyun to Mingyu in a heartbeat...” He trailed off. “Did you know Mingyu before you broke up with Donghyun?”

The exclamation was absolutely ridiculous, but regardless you decided to play into his hands.

“We were friends. Never knew he liked me until he asked me out at that party.”

Sehun laughed in disbelief.

“I didn’t know you had it in you,” he insisted. “How many other famous basketball players are you hiding from me?”

Considering you didn’t even know who the other basketball players were you didn’t think that this conversation was going well for you.

“Sehun how are things with your boyfriend?” You asked, trying to redirect the conversation. Sehun groaned.

“Annoying,” Sehun admitted. “We’re fighting right now because he missed our date night.”

He shrugged.

“But that’s just how relationships are right?”

You nodded. You had fought with Donghyun a fair number of times. All things that looked pale in comparison now that you two were broken up. He had always figured out some way to sweet talk you into forgiving him. Now you were wondering if you should’ve stayed angrier at him for the ways that he messed up.

Or maybe forgiving him was just another reason why you two had worked for so long. What was love without squabbles and resolutions?

You wanted to tell Sehun that you missed Donghyun but you knew that you couldn’t tell him that. You couldn’t tell anyone that. If everyone was going to believe that you were actually in this fake relationship you couldn’t be missing Donghyun.

And you didn’t think there was much sympathy for someone who missed a cheater, even if Sehun didn’t know that part.

“Mina did you hear about our coworker's newest flame?” Sehun baited. Mina stopped walking, pressing her clipboard against her chest. To your dismay she wasn’t the only one standing there. Next to her were Sowon, Eunbi, and Wendy. They all stopped to give Sehun their attention.

“You’re not dating Donghyun anymore? He seemed nice,” Mina said, her eyes widening.

“Nope, our innocent little child here is dating Kim Mingyu.”

All of the girls gasped.

“Are you serious?” Eunbi whispered. Color rose to your cheeks, and you dropped your eyes to the ground.

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

And you only wished that were true.

“So how are things going with Mingyu?”

You wanted to shove your face into a wall.

“Why’s everyone always asking me about Mingyu? Hardly anyone asked me about Donghyun,” you mumbled in annoyance. If Rei and Jaeyun noticed your frustration, they didn’t comment on it.

“It’s because Donghyun was mid,” Jaeyun replied. “And Mingyu is Mingyu.”

Rei elbowed Jaeyun in the side.

“And you sort of just hopped into a relationship after getting out of a long one. How are you feeling?” You felt empty.

Donghyun had been a piece of you. You had always thought that he was the person that you hadn’t known you needed in life. The person you hadn’t even thought you wanted at first. How were you supposed to go on everyday without him?

“You know I thought I would be sad,” You admitted. “Donghyun and I were together for so long. But being with Mingyu is a dream. I can’t imagine being with anyone else right now.”

A smile slowly spread across Rei’s face. For once neither of them were teasing you or freaking out about the fact that you were dating Kim Mingyu. They seemed scarily serious.

“I’m happy for you,” Rei said softly.

Jaeyun nodded.

“Me too,” he said. “He seems really attentive of you.”

You shrugged off the statement and it seemed like Jaeyun and Rei were finally satisfied with changing the topic. A new movie was coming out this weekend that they wanted to see so they started talking about it. Just as you had finally relaxed and stopped thinking about Mingyu, your phone vibrated.

Mingyu: Hey we haven’t made any appearances together since the game, my friends are starting to think we made this thing up

A frown riddled across your face.

We did make it up

Mingyu: I want you to meet my friends, is that okay?

You bit down on your lip nervously.

When?

Mingyu: This Friday. Is that okay?

I guess

There was a few moments were you didn’t receive any message from him, and then your phone vibrated again.

Hey are you okay?

You decided not to respond to him.

When you left your last class of the day you immediately knew that something was wrong, and that was because when you left the room half of the class was huddled into a circle together. Normally you didn’t bother with seeing what was going on when things like that happened but this time... You couldn’t just keep to yourself.

You wandered over to the group of people and couldn’t help but roll your eyes when you saw that it was Mingyu that they were all talking to. You were thinking about just walking away and pretending like you hadn’t seen him at all, but before you could do that he spotted you.

“Babe!”

A pang of hurt ran through you at being called that, but you did your best not to let it show. You smiled at Mingyu as he rushed to you.

“Hey,” you greeted softly. He smiled.

“Now I know you don’t like surprises, but I thought that I could walk you home.”

The group of people around you all awed and an irritated expression crossed over Mingyu’s face. He took you by your hand and quickly began to lead you away from all of the people. Once you were alone an apologetic expression crossed over his face.

“Practice got out early and I just thought it would be fun to hang out with you outside of being public for my games and stuff.”

He let go of your hand and raised his hand to the back of his neck.

“I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”

You still didn’t quite get Mingyu but you figured there was no point in being mad at him. After all, he was acting very genuine to you and so far he had been very respectful of your boundaries.

“It’s okay,” you replied. Silence fell between you two and you wondered again why Mingyu was here. He seemed to read your thoughts.

“Look it’s just... Jun pointed out something to me,” he said. “You were cheated on by your boyfriend of five years and then immediately got pushed into a fake relationship you don’t really seem like you want any part of. Are you okay?”

The question surprised you.

“Of course, I’m okay,” you lied. “It’s just different.”

“You don’t have to lie to me,” Mingyu said with a sigh. “Look I know we don’t know each other but even Rei and Jaeyun don’t know this is fake-”

“You remember Rei and Jaeyun?”

“Of course, they are your best friends,” he said dismissively. “You have to have someone to support you but you don’t have anyone. Have you even really given yourself a chance to feel sad?”

You had nothing to say, so Mingyu sighed.

“What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?” Mingyu asked you. Your eyebrows furrowed thinking this was another one of his stupid ice breaker questions.

“What’s it matter?”

“We’re going to buy you some ice cream and we are going to go to go over to my apartment or yours and we are going to watch movies and you are going to cry and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Mingyu explained. You just stared at him.

“Why would we do that?” You asked. He shrugged.

“So you can give yourself some time to actually feel your emotions,” Mingyu explained. He stopped walking and turned to you, giving you a serious look.

“Someone who was sobbing when they found out their boyfriend if five years was cheating and then almost went back to him needs to heal,” Mingyu said, his voice soft but firm. “It’s okay to be upset. You’re allowed to miss him, to want him back. You’ll never stop missing him if you don’t get the opportunity to feel sad that he’s gone.”

You thought that what he was saying was stupid, and you felt like that was obvious from the look on your face, but to your dismay you felt something salty meet your lips.

“Shit,” you mumbled turning your face away from Mingyu. You weren’t going to cry, you didn’t want to cry, you just-

And before you could try fighting it anymore you felt Mingyu’s hand touch your shoulder.

“My favorite’s mint chocolate chip,” he said softly. You turned your face into Mingyu’s chest trying to muffle your sobs. At first he seemed surprised but he wrapped his arms around you, holding you tight.

“I thought you didn’t like to be touched,” he said with a soft laugh. You wrapped your arms around him tighter.

“Everyone likes to be held every once in a while.”

Another laugh vibrated through Mingyu’s body.

“I’ll remember you said that.”

You felt a bit calmer from the feeling of Mingyu laughing against you. You pulled away from him, your eyes falling to the ground.

“So… Ice cream?”

You couldn’t begin to grapple with what motivated Mingyu to do the things he did. When he dragged you to the store he didn’t just get two huge pints of ice cream- you decided to try his favorite ice cream instead of getting your own- he bought a bunch of sweet and salty snacks for you two to munch on as well.

“Mingyu I’m going to gain like ten pounds if I eat all of this.”

“It’s a part of the healing process.”

You decided to let Mingyu come to your apartment. Mostly because you thought you would be happier on your own coach then someone else’s.

Mingyu didn’t really care either way. He was happy to fall you into your apartment, kicking off his shoes and asking you to make sure that you grabbed a lot of pillows and blankets for the night.

When you came back in the room he already had a movie queued up. You groaned.

“That movie is supposed to be sad Mingyu,” you mumbled. He nodded.

“That’s exactly the point. If you start crying about something else maybe you’ll finally let yourself cry about Donghyun.”

And he was right. You started sobbing about the movie (albeit Mingyu did too) but even as the credits started rolling you realized that you couldn’t stop crying.

One of the things you hated most was crying in front of people. Mostly because you hated how weak and emotional it made you look. You tried your hardest not to ever let anyone see you crying, or emotional or weak and for some reason Mingyu brought out the worst in you.

“... Do you want to talk about it?” Mingyu murmured. You stared down at the slowly melting ice cream in your hands.

“Not really.”

“You should really try talking about your feelings,” Mingyu suggested. You turned and glared at him.

“I feel like you are really fucking annoying,” you said bluntly. Mingyu didn’t even crack a smile, he just nodded seriously.

You sighed.

“I don’t know, I just miss him,” you said softly. “What more can I say? I feel like a piece of me is missing without him. He was a part of my life for five years.”

“He went through the biggest transition of your life with you.”

You nodded, tears running down your cheeks even faster at the reminder.

“We planned together where we would go to college. We applied to the same places...”

You groaned and buried your face in your hands.

“I would never do that for someone but I thought-” A sob wracked through your body. “Mingyu I was going to marry him.”

You were enveloped in Mingyu’s warmth again and you didn’t even bother to complain about it. When you hugged people you generally cut it off pretty quick. Unless you and Donghyun were cuddling you didn’t really hug for that long.

You weren’t sure what it was about Mingyu holding you but despite the fact that you hardly knew him you felt so safe there in his arms.

You honestly wanted Mingyu to hold you forever.

“I know it’s hard right now, but you’ll wake up one day and you won’t miss him,” Mingyu whispered into your hair. You wrapped your arms tighter around him.

“Shut up.”

You hoped he was right.

A few hours later you two had turned on a movie that was less sad. A silence had fallen between the two of you. You took a scoop of your ice cream, looking down at the counter that was only a quarter full. You sighed.

“I hate that this ice cream is actually good,” you murmured. Mingyu’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Isn’t it the best?” He asked. You threw a hand in the air.

“Not the best,” you denied. “But still pretty good.”

Mingyu seemed to take that as a personal victory. He sat up and began to rummage through his bag.

“Now, let’s see, what do you do for fun?” He asked. You shrugged, taking another large scoop of ice cream.

“I don’t know, watch movies, play games, what everyone does,” you replied. Mingyu scooted closer to you, brandishing a switch with a large smile on his face.

“Mario Kart?”

There was something to be said about hanging out with Mingyu. He sure knew how to bring a smile to your face. He was stupid, and he thought it was funny when he knocked you off the course on Rainbow Road but you couldn’t help but find yourself laughing when you lapped him regardless.

When you first met Mingyu you hadn’t really imagined that you two would get along all that well. After all he was a sports guy, and you... Well, you didn’t know the first thing about sports. But despite it all when you woke up the next day, tangled between blankets with two empty cartoons of ice cream on the floor you couldn’t help but smile.

You reached out to try and hit Mingyu but when you only met your couch cushions, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You sat up and looked around your living room but he wasn’t there. You heard a clatter in your kitchen and your confusion only grew. You got to your feet, fixing your shirt that was definitely not supposed to be worn to sleep and peeked into your kitchen.

Mingyu was standing at your stove, your milk and flour on the counter and all of your cabinet doors opened. He was humming softly to himself, bobbing his head as he cooked.

“Hey,” you said, still feeling surprised by your find. He looked back at you over his shoulder.

“Good morning sleepy head,” Mingyu greeted giving you a toothy smile. “I made pancakes!”

You laughed at his bright attitude.

“Why?” You asked. He shrugged.

“Long night thought you would like some sustenance,” he replied. He turned his back to you and took some of his pancakes, putting them on a plate and handing them to you. “Luckily you had all the ingredients.”

You took the plate of pancakes from him and hopped up on your counter.

“Give me syrup,” you said, making grabby hands towards your syrup. Mingyu rolled his eyes with a smile on his face and handed you the syrup.

“So, tell me Kim Mingyu,” you started. “You are scary in touch with people’s emotions, kind, always looking out for others, can cook-”

“What are you getting at?” Mingyu interrupted, looking fairly amused by your words.

“Why do you need a fake relationship?” You asked. “You hardly seem like you aren’t ready to settle down, and it’s not like you don’t have options.”

Mingyu fell silent for a few moments, the only sound between the two of you the sound of the pancake batter sizzling on the pan. You were about to call off the question completely, you were starting to feel bad after all. He had been nothing but nice to you and he had been pretty respectful of your boundaries. Maybe you had gone too far.

“I want to find the right person,” Mingyu finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Yeah I could date anyone but I feel like everyone just wants me because I’m Kim Mingyu the basketball star.”

Minyu sighed and turned back around, running his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t really have any friends, did ya know that?” He asked. “All of my friends are from the team.”

He shrugged.

“It’s hard to get close to people when everyone thinks I am this god among men,” he admitted.

You weren’t really sure what to say to him about that, and it didn’t seem like he was looking for an answer.

“But you’re different.”

“Yeah?” You murmured. He nodded.

“Yeah.”

As you stood in front of Mingyu’s apartment door you ran through Mingyu’s friends again, desperate to remember all of their names.

Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Soonyoung, Wonwoo, Jihoon, Minghao, Seokmin, Seungkwan, Hansol, Chan.

You tried to picture their faces with their names but after staring at the pictures for so long you weren’t really sure if you had been able to get them all straight or if you had confused them all more. Before coming you had also run through some news article things that you had found about Mingyu, trying to find out the stupid little things that he thought were so important.

Sure you knew a few things that he had told you but certainly not enough. You had to pretend you were a good significant other. He liked to clean, he played the bass in high school, he preferred pig feet to pork belly, he really wanted to visit Latin America, his favorite number-

The front door to Mingyu’s apartment swung open, startling you out of your thoughts. Standing before you... Your brain went blank for a scary second as you scrambled to put a name to the face.

“... Joshua?”

The boy before you smiled, his head falling to the side ever so slightly.

“You know my name?” He asked. A huge sigh of relief left your lips.

“Of course,” you replied. “Mingyu tells me so much about you guys how could I not put a name to the face?”

Mingyu popped up behing him at that. He beamed when he saw you.

“Hey, babe!” He exclaimed. He pushed past Joshua and grabbed your hand, pulling you into the room. You forced a smile onto your face as Mingyu dragged you through the group of people, trying to introduce you to all of them. Luckily for you, your studying had paid off. You were able to beat Mingyu at everyone’s name, and the further that you got into the group the more confident you were on who was who.

When you had finally gotten through everyone, Mingyu and you had stopped to talk to Jihoon. The conversation quickly turned to basketball and... You really wanted a moment to yourself.

“Hey... Babe?” You felt like you said it a little weird, but neither of them showed that on their faces. “I’m going to get something to drink okay?”

Mingyu smiled and patted you on the head.

“Yeah, don’t worry about sticking by me all night. You can do what you want,” he said. You nodded and got onto your tiptoes, pressing your lips to his in a brief kiss. You gave Jihoon a smile in farewell and then wandered to the kitchen.

You got to feel the joy of being away from Mingyu for exactly... Two seconds. You were just grabbing a cup from the cabinet when someone cleared their throat behind you. When you turned around... Jun was standing there.

“Hi,” you said. “Sorry, were you trying to-”

“Are you in love with Mingyu?” Jun interrupted. Your eyes widened. You and Mingyu hadn’t talked about this, you had no clue what to say. Were you supposed to be in love with Mingyu?

“I mean, it’s too early to say for sure,” you said with a nervous laugh.

“Right,” Jun said. His eyes narrowed towards you. “Look, you may have everyone else convinced but you don’t have me convinced.”

Jun wandered closer to you, leaning close to your ear.

“You aren’t really dating Mingyu.”

A laugh was ripped from your chest, and you backed away from Jun.

“Why would I not actually be dating Mingyu?” You blurted. You were worried for a second that you had been too loud, but to your relief nobody around you seemed to have heard. “Seriously what kind of accusation is that?”

“It’s not an accusation, it’s a fact,” Jun said bluntly. “You’re just using him as a rebound.”

Now that accusation was interesting. You stared at Jun blankly.

“What?”

“I heard all about your thing with Donghyun,” Jun said. “Now, this can go one of two ways. Either you tell Mingyu that you don’t actually like him or I do.”

You weren’t even sure what to say to him and apparently silence was the wrong way to go about it.

“Ming-”

You leaped forward, throwing yourself on Jun. You both tumbled to the floor and Jun looked up at you with a surprised look on his face.

“What-”

“You can’t say anything it’s a fake relationship,” you hissed. Jun’s face lit up.

“I knew-”

“We are both faking it. Mingyu knows because it was his idea.”

This time Jun fell silent. He stared at you motionlessly for a few moments and then he nodded slowly.

“I sense that I have made a mistake,” he said slowly. You nodded. “You can get off of me now.”

“Oh, sorry.”

You scrambled away from him but you didn’t stand back up. Jun’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He sat up on his elbows.

“It was his idea?”

You nodded.

Jun stared at you a little longer.

“Why?”

So you told him everything.

You told him about Donghyun, and about Jennie. You told him about running into Mingyu and him coming up with this rouse to help you stay out of a relationship with Donghyun. The whole time Jun nodded slowly, finally coming to sit right beside you on the floor in the kitchen.

You decided to leave out the ice cream night. You didn’t think he needed to know about that.

“I can’t believe that he just forced you into a relationship like that,” Jun mumbled. “You got away from a cheater just to be stuck with Mingyu.”

You laughed.

“No, it was good that this happened,” you said. “Mingyu is right, I would have gone right back to Donghyun.”

“And he was right about his reputation,” Jun mumbled. “Even the others are taking him more seriously now that he has you.”

He stared at you.

“So how long are you two going to keep the charade going. Aren’t you going to want to try and fall in love again?”

A pang echoed through your heart at the question.

Could you ever fall in love again? You had been feeling a little better about the breakup since you had talked to Mingyu the other night, but even so the fact that you had been in love with Donghyun still remained. You missed him less. You had more fun with Mingyu then you had ever had with Donghyun in one night then with him in five years but regardless... There was still that part of you that wondered if you should still be with him.

“However long Mingyu wants to.”

Jun glanced at you.

“You’re going to be good to my friend, aren’t you?” He asked. You looked across the room at Mingyu who was currently making Jihoon look like he hated his life.

“Yeah, I’ll be good to him.”

You and Rei slowly began to stand up as Mingyu took the ball from the opposing team. Your eyes widened and you straightened up, throwing your hands in the air.

“Yes, yes, yes-”

The ball was stolen from Mingyu and the entire team started to run the other way. Minghao knocked the ball out of one of the players hands, and tossed it to Jihoon, who dribbled it a few feet and tossed it to Mingyu. Mingyu took off down the court again, growing closer to the net.

There were only a few seconds left in the game. You felt your mouth hanging open in anticipation. One of the other players came up right behind Mingyu, about to knock the ball out of his hand.

He jumped and tossed the ball and it went-

A scream ripped itself from your throat as you rushed down the bleachers to the edge of the fence. The timer went off through the court.

They had won.

You hopped over the fence, and this time security didn’t even bother to stop you. You rushed up to the team that was cheering among themselves in a circle. Soonyoung nudged you in the side, a huge smile spread across his face and you ignored him so that you could press yourself up against Mingyu, giving him a long dramatic kiss.

When you pulled away, Mingyu had the biggest, dumb smile on his face.

“Did I do good?” He asked teasingly. You rolled your eyes.

“You did the best.”

“So... Since I did the best, does that mean you are going to buy me as many scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream as I want?” Mingyu said teasingly as you two walked down the street. You rolled your eyes.

“You are really pushing your luck with that Mingyu.”

After you two had said goodbye to Mingyu’s team you had decided to go out for ice cream. For some reason Mingyu was obsessed with mint chocolate chip and practically begged you for any reason to get ice cream.

“Please it was a really hard game I deserve it!”

“Seungcheol wouldn’t be very happy.”

“Seungcheol doesn’t have to know.”

Secretly you liked that he was always making you get Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. The more you got it with him the more that you started to like it and honestly you were happy to get him the ice cream. Usually Mingyu was on a diet, and he actually tried to stick with it pretty carefully.

So any excuse to make him break the stupid diet was a pro in your book.

“Have you heard from any recruiters yet?”

“Not yet,” Mingyu replied between licks of his ice cream cone. “But Seungcheol said the media is looking at me completely differently now so it’s looking pretty good.”

“Good,” you said warmly. “That’s really good.”

Your favorite thing about hanging out with Mingyu was that he loved to talk. Donghyun was more introverted then he was. He tended to keep to himself and you two settled for just spending quality time together in silence. You had always thought that you liked it best that way, but you loved how Mingyu talked about his friends.

You loved listening to him gush about the latest song that Jihoon had written, and the painting that Minghao had done. He always apologized for talking about meaningless stuff, but you didn’t mind at all. You loved that he talked about meaningless things. You were starting to understand why he was so insistent on knowing your favorite color and your favorite food.

A part of his love language was the little things.

And you were so happy to be his friend.

“And then he-”

Jaeyun interrupted you with a laugh, a smile spread across his face.

“What did Mingyu do next?”

A pout crossed your face.

“Why are you making fun of me?”

Rei laughed too.

“Probably because we have been hanging out for two hours and you have brought up Mingyu practically every minute since we started.”

You rolled your eyes.

“That’s so-”

“And then Jihoon stole his video game and he came crying to me-”

“And he made pancakes again he is so good at making pancakes-”

“And he picked me up after class and we got his favorite ice cream-”

“Mint chocolate chip,” they both cooed together.

Your face flooded with warmth.

“Okay, okay, I guess I have been talking about him a little bit more than normal,” you admitted.

“Honestly, it’s cute,” Jaeyun said with a shrug. “It’s nice to see you so excited about someone. You were never like this with Donghyun.”

“What do you-”

“We only ever knew that you were hanging out with Donghyun when we ran into you two hanging out ourselves,” Rei explained.

Jaeyun nodded.

“It was like we only knew that you two were dating because, everyone knew that you two were dating.”

“I talked about Donghyun,” you argued. Rei shrugged.

“It’s not a bad thing. Mingyu and Donghyun are really different people,” Rei said. You leaned back.

“Who would you chose?” You asked. “I mean if Donghyun had never cheated on me, who do you think is better?”

“No question, Mingyu,” Rei replied. “Donghyun cared about you and he treated you well but... Mingyu treats you like you are the most important person in his life.”

“Donghyun treated me like-”

“Like you were important but not essential,” Jaeyun disagreed. “You need someone who would do anything just to make you smile, and Mingyu is that person.”

It wasn’t often that you asked Mingyu to do something for you. So he was pretty excited when you invited him to go to a party with you. Personally you didn’t think it would be fun and you didn’t want to go but when you were complaining about having been invited to it, Rei brought up a good point.

“Look if the problem is that Donghyun is going to be there just invite Mingyu,” she stated. You frowned.

“Why would I do that?” You asked. “It’s not like I want to make him jealous.”

“No but you should still live your life, it’s Taeyeon’s birthday and she wants you to be there. If Mingyu is there Donghyun won’t bother you, and who knows maybe you’ll have fun.”

So Mingyu had been ecstatic and you had been nervous. You didn’t tell Mingyu that Donghyun was going to be there. You didn’t want to cause a scene, but you also didn’t want to just not go because Donghyun was going to be there.

You were trying to be more social with Mingyu.

While you still had a lot of social anxiety, having Mingyu there culled your stress level a lot, with him at your side you thought that tonight had the chance to be bearable.

“Who’s birthday is it again?” Mingyu asked, his nose scrunching in thought. You rolled your eyes.

“It’s Taeyeon’s birthday.”

He nodded slowly.

“... Family friend... Loves to party, nice but you only see her every once in a while,” he mumbled. You nodded in agreement.

“I don’t know why you are always trying to one up me,” you murmured. “My memory for people sucks.”

“You remember all thirteen of my friends,” Mingyu argued. You rolled your eyes.

“Yeah just their names, you remember how I met my friends, all of their favorite foods and the last time the girls had their periods.”

Mingyu laughed.

“Shut up,” he said lightly. “We’re here.”

Mingyu led you into a crowded room, people dancing on every side of you. The music in the room was loud, too loud for you to really think. You found yourself reaching for Mingyu’s hand as you two moved through the crowd. You let Mingyu take the lead. You figured he knew parties a bit better then you, and along with that, you figured he was probably taking you to Taeyon, and even if he wasn’t... You would find her at some point.

Mingyu was popular. You supposed you had forgotten just how popular. You two had to stop at pretty much every person you ran by. Most of them greeted Mingyu very familiarly, probably from other parties. Others just got excited to be in the same place as the Kim Mingyu.

Mingyu avoided introducing you to people. He mostly just made an off-handed comment that he was there with you, and then proceeded to make no move to let them meet you. You weren’t sure if that was because he was being respectful of your social anxiety or something else.

You didn’t question it. You were happy to not meet new people.

“Taeyon!” Mingyu said triumphantly. Taeyon turned around from the person she had been talking to, a puzzled expression spread over her face.

“Kim Mingyu?” She addressed with wide eyes. Mingyu was tuned to her confusion. He pulled you around him with a smile on his face and you waved.

“Taeyon,” you greeted. “Happy birthday!”

She grinned and brushed her long hair out of her face.

“Pink for the birthday girl,” she said brightly. “I almost thought those rumors about you dating Kim Mingyu were fake but...”

She gestured towards the two of you.

“Here you are.”

You suddenly became a little self-conscious about the fact that you were still holding Mingyu’s hand. You pulled your hand away from him, your face bright red.

“Yeah, I know it’s not really what people expect,” you said with a nervous laugh. Mingyu seemed to sense that despite the fact you had pulled your hand away you were still uncomfortable as he grew closer to you, draping his arm over your shoulders.

“Happy birthday Taeyon,” he said softly. “Thank you for inviting us.”

From there Taeyon directed all of her attention to Mingyu, giving you the opportunity to let your mind run blank again.

After all the last time you were at a party you had seen...

Fuck.

You slammed your eyes shut thinking that maybe you had been imagining everything. You opened your eyes again and sure enough there he was.

Donghyun. Your Donghyun, wrapped around Jennie all over again.

Your face was red, tears begin to stream down your cheeks. As if sensing you, he looked up, the smile that was on his lips completely disappearing when he saw you. He pushed Jennie away and gestured for you to come over and you wanted to so badly. You were ready to tell Mingyu that you were going to try and find snacks, and drag Donghyun in a room and finally hear him out. You wanted so badly to hear him out.

But you remembered Mingyu’s rules.

You sniffled and looked away from Donghyun.

“Hey,” you mumbled. “I want to go now.”

You looked at Taeyon.

“Thank you for the invite, I hope you had a great day.”

Taeyon looked disappointed that you were leaving, but understanding crossed through her eyes.

“Yeah, ‘course. Thanks for making an appearance.”

You looked to Mingyu, who looked confused by your sudden drastic change of mood. He reached forward and tenderly wiped your face free of tears.

“We’ll go then.”

He looked up as he said that, clearly searching for the reason that you had started to cry. Your eyes widened.

“Okay lets-”

And then his shoulders squared and you knew he had seen.

“Give me a second,” he mumbled. He started to pull away from you. You grabbed at his wrist, tugging him like you had the strength to physically stop him.

“No Mingyu you’ve already done enough let’s just go.”

“But-”

“Mingyu.”

Mingyu didn’t look happy about that but he nodded and let you drag him out of the party.

You may not have been physically strong enough to pull him but apparently you were convincing enough. You two walked in silence for a little. Tears still running down your face, Mingyu looking over now and then to wipe your tears from your face.

“You knew that Donghyun was going to be there, didn’t you?”

You nodded slowly, letting your shoulder run into Mingyu’s side.

“You didn’t kill him, that was nice,” you murmured back. Mingyu sighed.

“Yeah, well, when you tell me that I can’t kill someone I have to listen,” he grumbled. “I’m a good fake boyfriend.”

You nodded solemnly.

“You are a great fake boyfriend,” you agreed. Silence fell between the two of you, a silence that allowed you to... Unfortunately think.

Donghyun had moved on so fast. You knew that he had been cheating on you, so maybe he had moved on a long time before you had caught him cheating Jennie at that party but still. To see him with her... After he had tried to win you back it-

“It hurts huh?” Mingyu mumbled. You looked up at him, color rising to your cheeks.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” you denied. Mingyu shrugged.

“Y’know you don’t have to be like that with me,” Mingyu said softly. “Donghyun is a dirty cheater. Fuck him.”

A smile flickered across your face.

“Why’re you so supportive all of the time?” You asked him. “Our relationship is purely beneficial. We don’t have to be friends.”

“You don’t want to be friends?” Mingyu asked, a flicker of hurt crossing his face. You laughed.

“Well, maybe not before, but now I do,” you admitted. “I just don’t understand why you would want to be friends.”

For once your words seemed to have an affect on Mingyu. He looked away from you, swallowing hard.

“Why not be friends?” He asked after a few moments.

“Now you know that’s not a good enough answer for me,” you replied. Mingyu huffed.

“You’re cool, you know that,” he mumbled. “Who wouldn’t want you as a friend?”

You thought that was a weird answer. You didn’t really think that most people thought that about you but you decided not to dwell on it.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight, Mingyu.”

He turned to look at you, a serious expression on his face.

“Anything for you.”

You thought you were really lucky to have Mingyu.

You couldn’t believe it when Mingyu invited you to go to a party with him, and you especially couldn’t believe it when you agreed to it. He had made you a few promises. He knew the person that was throwing the party and they had promised not to let Donghyun in, and that all of Mingyu’s friends would be there.

You thought it would be nice to see the boys again, and you figured that if you got bored and wanted some time away from Mingyu then you could try talking to Jun again. He had been fairly nice at the first party.

Mingyu was pretty excited that you had agreed to go to the party with him, and when he started drinking he had gotten a little carried away. While you sat next to Jun and watched Mingyu bounce around the party you couldn’t help but laugh. You had never actually seen him drunk before.

If you had thought he was clingy before, you were in for a whole new world seeing him right now.

“Babbbbbbeeeeeeee,” he called out, rushing over to you. You waved him away, trying to persuade him not to come over but it did nothing. He scooped you up, laughing as he drew you close and made a show of kissing you.

“Ew stop,” you said, still laughing. He pulled away and pouted at you so you rolled your eyes and gave him another kiss.

As you kissed him, your heart leaped, and your mind wasn’t on the people watching, but Mingyu himself.

“Can we make some soup dumplings?” Jaeyun asked, rolling over on your couch to look at you. You shrugged and looked over at Rei who was fiddling with her switch.

“I’m okay with that, are you?”

Rei shrugged.

“I could eat.”

You nodded and got up to start making the food when there was a knock at your door. A puzzled expression crossed your face as you walked up to the door, surprised to find that Mingyu was standing there.

“Hey, now I know you don’t like surprises but I thought maybe we could hangout? I brought my switch.”

You laughed at the puppy dog look on Mingyu’s face and leaned on the frame of your door.

“Mingyu, my friends are over,” you said. You gestured behind you to Rei and Jaeyun who were peering at you two from the living room. Mingyu’s face fell.

“Oh,” he said.

“And that’s why you should message me before you come over,” you said softly. “I would love to hang out, but not right now. You could come over later if you want?”

And just like that, Mingyu’s face lit up again.

“It’s a date!”

He started to turn away, but before he could completely he grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him around so that you could press a kiss to his lips.

Butterflies sprouted in your belly.

“Okay, see ya.”

You closed the door before Mingyu could say anything, honestly feeling warm at just having gotten to see him today. When you looked across the hall at your friends they were looking at you with the biggest shit eating grins on their faces. You rolled your eyes.

“Okay let me hear it.”

“No, no, nothing,” Rei said with a laugh. She tried to give you a serious expression but a smile kept breaking through. “It’s just interesting to see the person who hates pda, and surprises be so happy with it.”

“I’m not...” You trailed off. When had you become so okay with all of these things. With Donghyun you had never entertained surprises or pda, but with Mingyu you actually looked forward to it. You loved his friendship with you, you loved it when he showed up places you didn’t expect him because you just loved to see him.

And when he kissed you...

“Oh my god I’m in love with him.”

You slammed your hand over your mouth, your eyes widening.

“Wait I-”

Rei and Jaeyun practically tripped over themselves to scramble over to you. Rei grabbed your wrist.

“Oh my god,” she said. “Have you said that to him yet?”

To them it was a big deal in a completely different way than it was for you. It had taken you a full year to tell Donghyun that you loved him, and then you had only said it because he was ready, and you just wanted to humor him when he was ready. It was two years in before you were ready to say it to him, and that wasn’t because you hadn’t loved him, you just hadn’t been ready yet.

But you realized now that you were so in love with Kim Mingyu. You loved his smile, you loved how he teased you when the two of you were alone but defended the hell out of you to everyone else. You loved it when he held you when you cried, and when he let you hold his hand at parties and now every time that you had initiated a kiss made sense.

“Hey,” you looked up at your boss, who was giving you a skeptical look. You felt panic shoot through your body. Had you forgotten to do some paper work? Had you missed a deadline?

“I’m almost done with the report that’s due next week,” you said quickly. “I-”

“No, that’s not it,” your boss said with a sigh. “You have a visitor... Just wanted to make sure you actually knew him.”

Your eyebrows furrowed.

“A visitor...?”

Your boss gestured down the hall behind him, and you peeked around him. Mingyu was standing there, his fingers toying with a cup of pens on the welcome desk. He accidentally knocked it over, and his eyes widened as he scrambled to gather all of them. Once they were all back in the cup he looked around to see if anyone had seen and he made eye contact with you. His eyes widened, and he raised his hand in an excited wave.

A smile crossed your lips as butterflies sprouted in your stomach.

“That’s my boyfriend,” you explained, turning your attention back to his boss. “He won’t bother me too much, I can take my lunch break right now.”

Your boss sighed.

“I guess that’s okay.”

You thanked him and walked down the hall, opening the door to your center of offices. You smiled at Mingyu.

“Look who it is,” you said softly. Mingyu eagerly closed the distance between you two, giving you a kiss to the corner of your lips. Your face reddened in embarrassment.

“I missed you,” he whined. “Why did Jaeyun and Rei stay for so long last night?”

“I’m sorry,” you said with a laugh. “We just lost track of time and then it was so late that it was better that they stayed the night.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue with you. Instead, he reached forward, holding his hand out for you to take.

You felt your heart leap at the gesture. You usually didn’t mind showing those little signs of affection, but now... You felt your body burning.

You decided to pretend that you didn’t know what he wanted. You turned around and gestured for him to follow you.

“I just need one more second,” you said. “You can...”

You reached for a spare chair and pulled it up to the corner of your desk. You led Mingyu to the chair, pushing him down in it and patted his shoulders.

“Stay there.”

You returned to your work, Mingyu sitting silently beside you. You started typing, the sound of your fingers dancing across the keyboard filling the air. The silence only lasted for a second. You heard Sehun clear his throat and you sighed.

“Yes Sehun.”

You looked up to find him, Sowon, Mina, Eunbi, and Wendy all staring at you with wide eyes.

“Are you going to introduce us?” Sehun said, gesturing towards Mingyu. You looked at Mingyu who had a smile spread across his face. You rolled your eyes.

“No.”

A laugh erupted from Mingyu, and he stood up.

“I’m Kim Mingyu, the boyfriend,” he introduced. As if to prove it he leaned down, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. Your eyes widened at the kiss. You felt your fingers falter and your eyes flickered up to him in surprise. “Sorry, I think someone’s jealous that I’m giving you attention.”

His hand landed on your head, and he beamed at your coworkers.

“I’m not jealous,” you mumbled, but even as you said it your chest tightened. A weird feeling in itself. You never got jealous of people. In fact, when you had been dating Donghyun he had been the one who got jealous.

You didn’t see a reason in feeling jealous when someone interacted with someone.

Maybe... Maybe it was because this wasn’t real.

You looked up at Mingyu, who was looking back down at you.

“Mingyu and I are just going to get lunch,” you said, ripping your eyes from Mingyu. “But babe, I actually... I have a lot more work than I thought I did. I don’t think I have time to go out.”

A disappointed look flickered across Mingyu’s face.

“What? But-”

“That’s why you shouldn’t surprise me,” you said pointedly. “I’ll be at your game next week; we can hang out after the game, right?”

The disappointment was still evident on Mingyu’s face, but he seemed reserved to the fact that you had made your decision.

“Okay,” he said with a sigh. He leaned forward to give you a kiss, but you didn’t think your heart could handle it, you turned away as if you hadn’t noticed.

“I’ll see you!”

You glanced back at Mingyu, noticing that he had a weird look on his face. His eyebrows were pinched, and he was looking at you like you were a completely different person.

“Yeah, I’ll see you.”

You felt nervous all of a sudden. A buzzing in your brain that was different than what you were used to when you were socially interacting with people. Whenever you were near Mingyu, you felt like your body was screaming at you.

Make it real.

It took everything in you to keep your hands off of Mingyu. Even though you wanted it so badly you avoided touching him, and kissing him, and honestly being around him too much. It took everything in you not to run and hug him every time you saw him because you had just missed him so much.

You were so frustrated by these feelings. Even when you had first been with Donghyun it hadn’t been this bad.

The butterflies in your stomach, the way you couldn’t even hold his eye contact. And it didn’t help that he was literally the perfect fake boyfriend. For goodness sake you were two were making up this whole relationship. Did he know he didn’t actually need to be amazing?

He was always atune to your feelings and ducked you two out of social situations when you were too stressed. He made excuses to see you... Even though you kept reminding him you hated surprises he surprised you left and right... And you didn’t really hate it. It had gotten to the point where you hoped he would show up for your lunch break.

But you never asked him.

You gritted your teeth.

It was fake. It was fake. It was-

“And this is my better half,” Mingyu introduced, shuffling you forward ever-so-slightly. Your face reddened and you rolled your eyes.

“Hello,” you greeted. “He’s a little dramatic.”

“Oh I am not dramatic. I’m lost without you.”

Your heart leaped, but you tried to keep your composure. You were starting to wonder if he had forgotten it was fake.

“You’re acting weird.”

You glanced over at Jun who was sitting next to you on the counter of Seungcheol’s kitchen island. He was staring at you, his eyebrows furrowed.

“I’m not acting weird,” you denied. Jun looked away from you.

“You and Mingyu haven’t kissed today,” he replied. You shrugged.

“So? It’s a fake relationship. Our kisses are meticulously planned out-”

Jun barked out a laugh.

“We don’t need to kiss in front of you guys anymore,” you finished.

Jun hummed.

“Maybe.”

He didn’t sound very convinced. He let silence fall between you two. Only for a few minutes.

“You’re staring at him a lot.”

“He’s drinking a lot,” you said back. “This would be a toxic fake relationship if I didn’t watch out for him.”

“He comes to you when he’s too drunk because you have to make him feel better for your arrangement,” Jun stated. “You don’t have to watch him so closely to make sure he’s okay.”

You decided the best way to avoid Jun was to ignore him. That turned out to be the wrong decision.

Jun suddenly leaned in close to you. He looked at you with a mischievous smile on his face.

“You like him.”

You sighed.

“Don’t be stupid.”

Jun laughed at that. Leaning back on his hands.

“You never used to blush so much around him,” Jun said. “It’s very telling. You don’t want your relationship to be fake anymore.”

It was true, and hearing it out loud made it even worse.

“You’re annoying Jun.”

Jun sighed, and rolled his head back.

“You’re just mad because I’m right. You like me better than everyone else here.”

“That’s true,” you agreed with a laugh. You and Jun watched in silence for a moment as Mingyu and Soonyoung both shot gunned a bear together.

“You know, I think you two would be good for each other.”

You looked at Jun.

“We are good for each other. Remember? Fake relationship.”

Jun rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, don’t you think it’s a little too perfect. Lies are clunky and awkward. But you two have made it work so well and so easy, it’s almost like it hasn’t even been fake from the beginning.”

You were starting to think Jun was missing the point.

“But it was fake.”

Jun sighed.

“If it’s fake, Mingyu won’t get jealous.”

You frowned.

“Jealous of wh-”

Before you could even finish speaking Jun had leaned forward again. He placed his hand flat on the counter between your legs, his chest brushing against your arm. His lips grew closer to yours, his hot breath mingling with yours. You weren’t impressed. You weren’t even flustered.

“Trying to be a homewrecker Jun?”

But before he could answer, you two were being forcibly separated. Arms wrapped tightly around your body, and dragged you close to what you knew had to be Mingyu’s chest.

“What are you two doing?” Mingyu whined. He looked down at you, his eyes wide. “Did you forget that you were dating me?”

“There was something on your shirt,” Jun said, directing the comment to you. He looked up at Mingyu. “I was just trying to get it off.”

He acted innocent, but you could tell but the slight twitch of his lips. This is exactly what he had wanted.

“Mingyu you know you are the only one that I want,” you said softly. Mingyu looked frustrated so you sighed.

You leaned up, and very tenderly gave him a kiss.

“Remember? We’re in this together.”

That seemed to make Mingyu happy. He dipped down again, giving you another deeper kiss. It was a little sloppy, probably because of how drunk he was, but you didn’t care at all. You couldn’t help but smile as you batted him away.

“You taste like alcohol.”

Which reminded Mingyu of his prior activity. He gave you a pat on the head and rushed back over to Soonyoung. You joined Jun back on the counter, trying to ignore the huge grin on his face.

“So if it’s so fake, why did he-”

“Just shut up Jun.”

The craziest thing to come from your relationship with Mingyu was the fact that you had started to actually enjoy his basketball games. A few months ago you wouldn’t have been able to say how many points a person got from shooting the ball in the hoop.

Now you were calling out penalties, and screaming as one of Mingyu’s teammates got the ball as they were running down the court. You felt your heart beating in your chest as the teams ran up and down the court, and you couldn’t help the smile on your face when Mingyu’s team won yet again.

Now you thought it was expected for you to leap over the barrier to go greet Mingyu after a game. You two were actually infamous for it. Even that one girl on tiktok who duetted cute couples had duetted a video of you two, angrily slamming her pillow into her bed.

It was weird to think that most people looked forward to the hug and kiss you gave Mingyu after a winning game.

Some people thought you were his lucky charm. They were unbeatable this season.

“I’m going to go change and I’ll be right back okay?” Mingyu said. You nodded, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah, I’ll be right here.”

After every game you and Mingyu went out to get ice cream. His team always tagged along, and Mingyu always made a huge point of complaining about how he just wanted to spend time with you, but you two had loved it anyways. It had helped make your relationship seem more real to have Mingyu isolate you at a table pretending like he didn’t know the twelve other boys in the ice cream parlor.

You watched as him and the other boys disappeared into the locker room, Jun sticking his tongue out at you as he passed. You rolled your eyes, and surfed the crowd for Rei and Jaeyun. You saw them, giving you a wave good bye as they walked out with the crowd. You smiled.

You sort of regretted not coming out with them to games before. God it was fun.

“Hey. We need to talk.”

You turned around, your smile disappearing from your lips as you came face to face with the last person that you wanted to see.

“I don’t have anything to say to you Donghyun.”

Your mind raced to remember all of Mingyu’s rules. You couldn’t be talking to Donghyun, you had to-

“Stop avoiding me,” Donghyun snapped. “You haven’t let me explain myself, you blocked my number, you blocked me on social media-”

“You’re dating Jennie now, isn’t that enough?” You demanded. Donghyun pressed his lips together tightly.

“I’m just dating Jennie to make you jealous,” Donghyun exclaimed in frustration. “I don’t want Jennie, I want you, and I know that you want me too-”

You stopped listening to him, you just tried to brace yourself from the feelings that were sure to surge up. The longing in your heart to take Donghyun back, the wish to just be in his arms again, but... It never came.

“So? Are you finally going to listen to me? Stop frolicking around with some basketball player with no brains-”

“Don’t talk about Mingyu like that,” you interrupted. “Say whatever dumb excuse you want to give me for cheating on me but don’t talk bad about Mingyu.”

Donghyun scoffed.

“Are you serious? Are you pretending that you actually care about him? I know you are just trying to make me jealous.”

“Jealous?!” You blurted. You couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not trying to make you jealous, Donghyun I don’t even care about you anymore.”

A thick silence fell between the two of you. Donghyun looked more surprised than you had ever seen him in his life, and you understood why. He had always been a master of your feelings. He always won arguments because he played to whatever made you happiest, unless he thought that he could win.

“That’s not true,” Donghyun mumbled. “You’re nothing without me. You have no friends. You have no social life. You have nothing.”

A frown crossed your face.

“I don’t ever want to see you again,” you mumbled. “I can’t believe-”

“What’s going on?” You had never felt your heart sink faster. You looked across the room, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that you were standing inches away from Donghyun and... When had Donghyun’s hand gotten on your wrist?

You ripped yourself away from Donghyun.

“Mingyu, it’s nothing,” you insisted. He completely ignored you. He stormed towards you, stretching out his arms like he was about to punch Donghyun.

“How many times do I have to tell you to get lost?” Mingyu demanded. You rushed up to him, throwing your hands on his chest. Considering Mingyu’s strength you thought that would do absolutely nothing. But Mingyu stopped moving as soon as your hands touched him. “I swear to god I’m going to-”

“Legally, he’s lying,” you said. You slapped your hand across Mingyu’s chest. “We’re leaving.”

“But-”

“We’re leaving,” you repeated. Mingyu turned around as you directed, letting you drag him all the way back to his locker room. You shut the door behind him, and took a deep breath. “Look before you freak out-”

“What was that?” Mingyu demanded. You hated that he was yelling at you, but you understood why he was upset. He thought that you were going back to a cheater, after building such a strong relationship with him it felt like you were falling backwards.

But you weren’t falling backwards.

“It was nothing,” you insisted. “He just wanted to talk-”

“Your rules-”

“I tried to follow them I just-”

“You know he’s just going to break your heart again,” Mingyu said. You looked away from him. You hated to fight. You could feel the tears beginning to run down your cheeks.

“He’s not going to break my heart,” you denied.

“He did it once, he’ll do it again,” Mingyu replied. He looked a little sad. He reached forward, gingerly rubbing a tear from your cheek. “People don’t change.”

You didn’t reply, which didn’t seem to make Mingyu forget what he had walked in on. You could see the frustration furrowed into his brow. He groaned and pulled away from you.

“I just don’t get why you would even want that asshole back, ” Mingyu blurted.

“I don’t want him back Mingyu.”

“Right, of course you don’t.”

“I’m serious.”

“Then why were you making googly eyes at him?”

“For fucks sake Mingyu I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Mingyu looked at you like his whole world had just come to an end and it made your heart break just a little. You looked away from him.

“And look I know you don’t feel the same way-“

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t want to ruin our friendship,” you explained. “But you’ve got to understand-“

“Shut up,” Mingyu repeated.

“I don’t even miss Donghyun anymore. I used to think that I needed him, but now I know I don’t and I want you-“

“Do you listen at all?” Mingyu demanded. You decided to keep ignoring him.

“I understand if you want to end the fake relationship,” you whispered. “I just want-“

“I said shut up.”

Before you could speak again Mingyu had surged forward, one of his hands slipped around your waist to hold the small of your back and his other hand tangled itself in your hair as he pushed his lips to yours. You hadn’t realized exactly how desperate you had been for Mingyu until his lips were on yours, and then it was like you could only breath when he was kissing you.

There was no denying the electricity sparking between the two of you as you panted against one another’s mouths. A whine ripped from your mouth as Mingyu wrapped his arm around your back, pulling you closer to him.

“Does this mean-”

Mingyu interrupted you by deepening the kiss. He backed you two slowly up against the wall, his hands traveling your body. After a few long moments, he pulled back.

“I love you too,” he mumbled. “I do I have I hated everything being fake.”

You still couldn’t breathe, and it wasn’t because the kiss had completely knocked the breath from your lungs.

“You mean you want-”

“You,” Mingyu interrupted. “I want to be a cliché, strangers to friends to lovers.”

You couldn’t help the laugh the erupted from your chest causing Mingyu to pull away, a smile spread over his lips.

“Are you making fun of me?”

You were still laughing but you pressed a kiss to Mingyu’s lips.

“It’s not that,” you said. “I just- you sound so cheesy.”

“Are you surprised?” Mingyu asked mirroring your smile. You shook your head.

“No.”

A comfortable silence fell over the two of you as you stared at each other. You weren’t really sure what to do, you were just so excited to be there with him, to be officially official.

“We should go,” you said softly. “The others will get suspicious if we aren’t there for ice cream.”

Mingyu nodded.

“Right.”

He didn’t move, instead he just stared at you, that same goofy smile on his face.

“You know, you’re...” You cleared your throat. “You are really close.”

Mingyu snickered.

“We’ve kissed how many times? But now we’re too close?” He asked teasingly. You gave him a small glare.

“You’re annoying.”

“You love me,” he said happily. “Besides do you really want me to pull away?”

He made no move to pull away from you, and you made no move to move yourself. Your eyes flickered to the ground.

“Stupid,” you mumbled. “I guess you can stay there if you want.”

Mingyu laughed, and leaned forward, burying his face in your neck. You smiled warmly, wrapping your arms around his body.

“You really sure you want to date me?” You asked him, your voice soft. “It’s not too late to back out you know.”

Mingyu shook his head, his lips pressing briefly to your neck. You shivered slightly, but... You rested your head on Mingyu’s.

“I’m happy with us,” he said. “I think we’ve already proved that we work.”

“That was fake,” you replied. You felt Mingyu’s lips move, you could only imagine it was to smile.

“Was it fake?” He asked. He pulled away from you and looked up at you. “We kissed a lot for a fake relationship.”

“We did kiss a lot,” you said with a laugh. “And I told you I didn’t like pda.”

“You initiated most of them!” Mingyu denied. You raised an eyebrow at him.

“When you were drunk-”

“You knew what you were getting into fake dating me,” Mingyu insisted. “I punched your ex-boyfriend when I was drunk once.”

You couldn’t help but smile.

“You sure know how to win my heart.”

Real dating Mingyu wasn’t that different then fake dating him.

Maybe that’s how you knew that you had been really bad at faking your relationship. You had gone into your situation-ship with him with such real feelings, and he had been so supportive and perfect. It’s was no wonder to you that you had fallen in love with him.

And yet, it almost sucked that you two had been fake dating in the first place because it meant that you didn’t really have anyone to tell that you two were official to. Well, no one except...

“Jun.”

Jun kept walking his earbuds in his ears. You sighed, trying very hard not to look like an over excited fan.

“Jun.”

You finally caught up to him, tapping his shoulder. He glanced at you; his eyes widening slightly when he realized it was you.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I asked Mingyu for your schedule,” you replied. You didn’t offer him much more of an explanation and you two walked for a minute in silence. “Mingyu and I are dating now.”

“I knew it,” Jun exclaimed excitedly. You rolled your eyes, pretending to be annoyed but in reality... You were so happy with his response. You wanted this so badly. To be able to tell people that you were dating Mingyu and for them to be excited for you. You had really taken advantage of it before.

“What did I tell you?” Jun continued. “You and Mingyu like each other and what did you say-”

“Yeah, yeah,” you said with a roll of your eyes. “I get it, you were right.”

A troubled look spread over Jun’s face.

“I should have made a bet with you,” he mumbled. “I could have gotten something out of this.”

You laughed and he started to walk forward, you fell in step beside him, not really having anything to do other than hang out with Jun at the moment.

“So, now that you two aren’t fake...” A mischievous expression crossed Jun’s face. “When are you going to... You know.”

You stared at him blankly.

“I don’t know.”

Jun rolled his eyes.

“Well before you Mingyu was a very.... sexually active-”

Your eyes widened.

“Shut up-”

“I’m just saying, Mingyu is a very attractive man.”

Color flooded your face.

“We like just started dating,” you stammered. He laughed.

“But technically you’ve been fake dating for a long time now,” Jun said. “You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.”

You wished you could tell Jun you hadn’t thought about it. When you were fake dating, it was all pondered for curiosity. Just a seed of thought in your brain that was pretty easy to ignore, but now.

The color on your face was all the evidence that Jun needed.

“Just saying, Mingyu is rough in bed,” he said with a whistle. “I hope that you can handle it.”

Ever since your stupid conversation with stupid Jun, things had become more awkward then ever around Mingyu.

There was of course the puppy dog phase between the two of you, excited to be officially dating, but there was also an underlying narrative that just kept running through your head. Whenever his fingers brushed against your body or his lips were on yours... You wanted more.

“Babe,” you looked up from the card game between you and Jun, giving Mingyu a smile.

“What’s up Gyu?” You asked him, setting your cards on the table.

“Jihoon won’t play mario kart with me,” he whined. He came up behind you, burying his face in your neck. He pressed a kiss there, his teeth grazing your neck. Heat crept up your face.

“That sucks,” you said, trying to keep your voice even. Jun’s eyebrows raised as he looked at you a smile spreading over his lips. “But Mingyu, I can’t make him play with you.”

Mingyu whined against your neck, causing your eyes to widen even more. You raised your hand to pat against his head, hoping it would get him to move because if he kept whining into your neck, you would have a serious problem.

Lucky for you, he pulled away from you.

“It’s not fair,” he mumbled. You nodded, pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips.

“We can play later, okay?”

That satisfied him and he bounded back over to the other side of the room, beginning to loudly brag about how you always play games with him. You turned your attention back to Jun, your face still red.

“Don’t say anything,” you murmured. Jun shrugged innocently.

“There’s an empty room down the hall if you need to-”

You threw the deck of cards at Jun’s face.

“Hey Mingyu,” you murmured, glancing at Mingyu from across the room. He had come over to hang out, but you had been busy studying all day, you finally had a chance to breath, and you wanted to see what he was up to. He glanced up at you, and then back down at his switch.

“Just playing Fall Guys,” he said. “You want to watch?”

You nodded eagerly and wandered over to the couch. You craned your neck to look over at Mingyu’s screen, but he only let you sit there next to him.

“Come closer,” he mumbled. He wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled up onto his lap. He trapped you between his arms and peeked his head around yours so that he could look at the game. You couldn’t even bare to focus on what was before. You tried your best to look at the pastel-colored game, but you couldn’t focus on it.

All you could focus on was Mingyu’s hot breath on your neck and... You willed yourself not to think about what you knew you had to be sitting on. You were so close to him; you could practically hear your heart pounding in your chest.

You tried your best to focus.

“You’re not doing very good,” you observed as his character fell off one of the wheels. Mingyu huffed.

“I’m better then you are.”

You supposed that was true. After all, he wasn’t hard, and you... You were progressively getting wetter and wetter.

“Babe,” Mingyu called, running towards you from across the hall, you blinked in surprise at the sight of him. He didn’t explain anything, instead he grabbed a fistful of your shirt and dragged you close to him. Without any explanation he pressed his lips to yours. He had been gone for the last few days, at a game hours away from where you were.

You were surprised to see him back so soon.

You practically melted under his touch, wishing that his hands were touching you more then they already were. You wrapped your arms around him and as you did Mingyu pulled away from you, resting his forehead against yours.

“I missed you so much, you’re coming with me next time,” Mingyu said. You rolled your eyes.

“I have class Mingyu, I don’t get exceptions like you.”

Your body was burning. You missed him too, you were so glad he was back.

“I hate being away from you,” Mingyu mumbled.

You couldn’t understand how you had gotten so lucky.

When you and Donghyun broke up in that moment your entire world had ended. For just a moment you didn’t think that you would ever be happy again. But Mingyu had saved you. Despite not knowing you at all he had caught you when you fell, he had been there for you when you needed him the most, and he was probably one of the best people that you had ever met in your life.

“I should never have let you cook,” Mingyu said, laughing as you patted out the fire on your oven. You shot him a glare over your shoulder.

“I’m not usually this much of a disaster,” you murmured. “It was just one time.”

“And I have never set something on fire in the kitchen,” Mingyu replied. “So, who should have cooked again?”

You grabbed some flour from a bowl and threw it at Mingyu’s face. He laughed in surprise.

“Hey,” he complained. “Now my shirt is all dirty.”

“Why don’t you just take it off,” you mocked back. “It’s just a shirt.”

Mingyu’s eyebrows raised slightly.

“You would like that wouldn’t you?” He teased lightly. “You’ve just been begging me to take my shirt off.”

You rolled your eyes.

“You sound like Jun,” you said without thinking about it.

“You and Jun talk about me being shirtless?” Mingyu asked you. Your eyes widened when you realized what you had implied.

“I plead the fifth.”

Mingyu laughed and shrugged.

“Well, I actually am going to take my shirt off,” he said. “Because you did ruin it and frankly I don’t want to wear it anymore.”

The reasonable part of you knew that you should argue with him and tell him to keep it on, but the part of you that wanted to see him shirtless didn’t care. You tried to pretend you weren’t interested by looking away from him, but it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t looking at you in the first place.

“Well, what are we going to eat for dinner then?” You asked. Mingyu laughed.

“We’ll just order a pizza. I can call them right now.”

You nodded and walked into your front room, sitting down on your couch.

“Get pepperoni.”

It only took Mingyu a few minutes to finish ordering the pizza, and then he came and joined you on the couch. You took one look at him and rolled your eyes.

“Mingyu put your shirt back on,” you said. He shook his head.

“Uh, no. You got my shirt dirty; you have to deal with me not wearing a shirt.”

“But it’s so annoying,” you whined. “You’re distracting me.”

Mingyu laughed.

“What am I too attractive?”

You scoffed.

“More like you are too ugly.”

Mingyu didn’t respond for a moment and then he took you by your shoulders pushing you down onto the couch. You looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Are you sure that I am still too ugly?” He asked teasingly.

You felt your heart thumping in your chest as you looked up at Mingyu, he was staring at you with an unreadable expression, his lips so close to you that all you would have to do would be to tilt your head and your lips would touch.

“You should stay the night,” you murmured, your face blazing hot. Mingyu’s lips twitched upwards.

“Yeah, and what are we going to do then?”

Mingyu pulled back slightly, his hand traveled down to your waist and his fingers dipped under your shirt. You shivered under his touch.

“Well...” You trailed off; you were so embarrassed. “You know.”

“Watch a movie?” Mingyu asked, his tone low and teasing. “Read books? Eat ice cream? Get some sleep.”

He knew what he was doing, and you knew he could feel how embarrassed you were by the heat of your skin, but he was not doing you any favors.

“I want you to touch me,” you whispered. His eyebrows rose in amusement.

“Oh?”

His fingers dipped deeper within your shirt, his hands splaying over your chest.

“You want me to touch you? Where?” He asked teasingly. A whine left your lips and you arched your back into his touch.

“Just... Touch me,” you murmured. He smiled and began to run his fingers lightly up and down your sides, making your body tingle under his touch.

“You know how badly I’ve been wanting to feel your body?” Mingyu asked you softly. You looked up at him, your face still burning. “You know how absolutely beautiful you are?”

You raised your hands to your face, covering it so Mingyu couldn’t see you. He let out a noise of disappointment at that and his fingers retracted from your body. Your hands shot out so that you could grab his wrists.

“Don’t stop,” you blurted. A sound of amusement left his lips.

“Then don’t cover your face.”

You nodded and let go of Mingyu’s hands, hiding your hands behind your back. He smiled and his hands returned to your body, his fingers slid up to the edge of your bra and he lowered his hands to your back and unclasped it.

A squeak left your lips, but Mingyu paid it no mind.

“Sit up,” he instructed softly. You did as he said, and he slowly pulled your shirt off. You felt cool air on your hot skin and you shivered, reaching forward to hold onto Mingyu’s shoulders. He smiled and leaned forward, his lips attaching to your neck again. He peppered kiss after kiss across your collarbone, every once in a while, stopping to bite down lightly on your neck, always soothing over it with his tongue.

With each kiss, every touch, you felt yourself shiver and tighten your grip on Mingyu as if that would do anything for you. He wasn’t paying much attention to your desperation as his lips trailed down your body. You heard a small sound of desperation leave your lips as Mingyu’s lips trailed over your breasts, his tongue darting out to flick over your tits.

Mingyu laughed at the sound, peaking his head up to look at you.

“There something you want?” He asked you teasingly. You shot him a glare.

“Why are you-”

Before you could finish talking, he dipped his head again, lips latching onto your breast. His tongue darted from his mouth, dancing over your nipple. Your fingers buried into Mingyu’s hair, whining as he began to suck your nipples, his teeth nipping at you briefly.

“Fuck Mingyu,” you mumbled softly. He laughed against you.

“That’s not a very good word babe. Somebody should do something about that mouth of yours.”

Mingyu trailed back up your body, his lips pressing firmly against yours. You whined into his mouth, tightening your grip in his hair so that you could press him closer to you. He pulled away sooner then you liked.

“But I can kiss you anywhere anytime huh? Let’s do something more fun.”

Finally, Mingyu’s mouth began to trail lower down your body. He hummed when he got to your waist.

“You have too much on,” he murmured.

“Mingyu I’m shirtless,” you blurted. He shrugged.

“But what I want to do with you doesn’t end with your shirt being off.”

You didn’t really need to be told twice. You got up, shuffling out of your clothes. Mingyu did too, but he was much faster. By the time that you were naked he was sitting on the couch again. You looked over at him, embarrassed by the way he was looking at you.

“What?” You murmured, your face burning. A smile slowly crossed his lips.

“You’re just beautiful.”

Your eyes widened and you looked away from him.

“Shut-”

Mingyu wrapped his arms around you, suddenly pulling you flush against his body. His nose brushed against yours and he gave you a chaste kiss.

“I’m so lucky to have you,” he mumbled. He dragged you closer to him, turning you so that you were laying on the couch again. He lowered his lips to your neck again and his fingers prodded between your legs. At first his fingers just slowly slid up and down your folds, barely pushing in to feel the wetness between your thighs. You let out a soft whine as he dipped a finger into your pussy. Your hips wiggled making Mingyu press a hand on your pelvis to hold you still.

“You seem a little desperate babe,” he mumbled. You bit down hard on your lip to prevent yourself from telling him to stop teasing you so much. You thought that if you did, he would stop touching you and... You really didn’t want him to stop touching you.

Mingyu didn’t seem to mind this, instead he focused on pressing another finger into you. His fingers bent up inside of you, making you want to try and arch your back again. Unluckily for you, Mingyu was a bit too strong.

“Mingyu I want to-”

You were interrupted by your own strangled moan when Mingyu pushed his fingers deep inside of you again, scissoring his fingers in and out of you. The stretch sent a burn of pleasure soaring through your body. You wiggled underneath him more.

“I want to move,” you whined when you finally found your voice again. Mingyu snorted.

“I think you’re fine,” he said. “Unless you want to tell me that you want me to stop, I think you’re fine being held in place while I finger you.”

You whined again, but you didn’t want him to stop.

“I-I can bear with it,” you agreed breathlessly. He laughed. He leaned down, his tongue darting out to flick over your clit, causing you to cry out. “Fuck maybe I can’t.”

Mingyu laughed again and looked up at you as he slid a third finger into you.

“I’ve got to keep you still so that I can open you up for me,” he said teasingly. You groaned, thrusting your head back against the cushions.

“Fuck you,” you mumbled.

“No babe, I’m fucking you.”

He dipped his head again, his lips attaching to your clit. You moaned loudly, your fingers balling.

“Please, fuck, I need you to do more than just fucking tease me,” you blurted. Mingyu hummed against your clit which did not change your level of urgency. “Please just fuck me already.”

Mingyu peaked up at you.

“What did you want exactly?”

His fingers spread deep inside of you.

“I want your dick inside me please Mingyu, please, please, please,” you begged. As cruel as Mingyu seemed he still pulled his fingers from you, lightly tapping your pussy with his hand.

“Well since you insist, I suppose I could do something for you.”

Mingyu pulled away from him, positioning himself between your legs. He took a deep breath and looked at you.

“You sure?” He asked softly. “I should be safe and find a condom-”

“No,” you interrupted your face blazing red. “I don’t need- You can just- You know-”

Mingyu smiled at you and nodded.

“Okay,” he said softly. “You ready?”

You nodded.

“Ready.”

Mingyu slowly slid into you, making your back arch in a mix of pleasure and pain. You pressed your hands against Mingyu’s chest as he came fully seated in you.

“J-Just- One sec-second,” you murmured. “I just-”

“Take your time,” Mingyu replied softly. He dipped his head, placing a few soft kisses to your neck. You whined at the touch, feeling yourself begin to feel a little more comfortable on him. You wiggled your hips a little, forcing the stretch a bit more.

“You’re just... Bigger than I’m used to,” you mumbled. Mingyu chuckled.

“Let me guess, Donghyun couldn’t compare?” He asked. You could tell that was just an ego boost for him, so you decided to just completely ignore the question. Even if it was true. You only needed a few more minutes, you wiggled your hips and the burn was only pleasurable. You wrapped your arms around Mingyu’s body.

“O-Okay,” you murmured. Mingyu began to slowly slide himself out of you, the burn sending shoots of pleasure through your body, and low moans left your lips as he slowly began to push himself back in. His pace was slow, probably to make sure that you didn’t get hurt. You appreciated it but...

“I uhm...” You bit down on your lip and looked away from Mingyu. “I heard you like it rough. You can... You can be a little rougher.”

A chuckle left Mingyu’s lips.

“Are you sure you can handle it?” He asked you. You shot him a glare.

“I’m not made of glass Mingyu.”

“You’re not,” he agreed. “But I’d hate for you to go from little vanilla Donghyun to-”

“Just fuck me Mingyu.”

“Only if you say please-”

Mingyu came at a full stop inside of you, his cock pressed deep within you. You squirmed underneath him.

“Mingyu just-”

“I won’t move until you ask nicely,” Mingyu replied. “Unless you want me to just go ahead and pull out- There are other things-”

“Okay, okay,” you interrupted. You looked up at Mingyu. “Please fuck me.”

A grin spread over Mingyu’s face.

“Well since you begged so prettily-”

He cut himself off by pulling his dick almost entirely out and then slamming it back inside of you. You cried out in surprise, throwing your hand over your mouth. Mingyu looked down at you, a dark look in his eyes.

“I want to hear you baby,” he murmured. “And you know to just say something if it becomes too much.”

You nodded and moved your hand from your mouth, but you didn’t get much time to recover from the surprise of his first thrust. Mingyu wasted no time, beginning to set a cruel fast pace, his hips pressing his cock deep inside of you fast. Noises you didn’t even know you could make were leaving your mouth, each thrust making tears of pleasure sprout at the corners of your eyes.

“Baby,” Mingyu mumbled, leaning down to catch your lips with his. “You feel so good, you know that?”

Mingyu’s voice was rough, and lower than you were used to hearing it, and it only made the pleasure coil even more in your stomach.

“M-Ming-gyu,” you stammered, slamming your eyes shut. “It feels so good, please I want- Harder- More-”

You sounded like an idiot, barely able to form a coherent sentence, but you didn’t even care, as you spoke Mingyu pushed down on your pelvis, pushing one of your legs further out with his hand. It just proved to push him deeper inside of you. You whined, your fingers digging into Mingyu’s back.

“You’re so good for me baby, taking so much,” he murmured. “You’re so wet too, absolutely dripping, how badly have you been wanting this?”

“S-So badly Mingyu,” you admitted. “I’ve been wanting you so badly.”

A low growl left his lips as he surged forward, his lips pressing against yours again. Usually when Mingyu kissed you he was fairly gentle, even when you two were making out it was more passion then desperation, but right now. You felt like you could barely breath, each thrust made you pant against his lips, and he didn’t even seem to care as his tongue prodded yours.

“M-Mingyu, I can’t- I’m going to-”

“Good,” Mingyu interupted you. His hips stuttered a little. “Want to feel you cum around my cock okay?”

You nodded wordlessly, and it only took Mingyu a few more thrusts before you were coming around him, your walls spasming out of your control. You buried your face in Mingyu’s neck to avoid screaming too loudly. He fucked you through your orgasm until your toes curled from the sensation of still having him seated deeply inside of you. You whined out in pleasure and oversensitivity.

“Pl-Please, c-cum to, you’ve gotta c-cum too-”

Before you could even finish your nonsensical begging Mingyu pulled his cock out of you, he gave himself a few pumps and buried his fingers in your hair. He gave you a small tug.

“On your knees, mouth open, don’t break eye contact.”

You scrambled to get into position, your body still shaking a little and your mouth panting as you tried to catch your breath. Mingyu only gave himself a few more pumps before his cum began to spray on your face. A few ropes falling on your tongue and a few landing on your cheeks. You waited until Mingyu’s hand in your hair relaxed and he knelt down in front of you, pressing a kiss to your lips, tasting himself on your tongue.

You buried your own hands in his hair as you deepened the kiss, your pussy suddenly feeling empty without his cock buried inside of it.

“Mingyu,” you mumbled, against his lips. He pulled back, not answering you. Instead, he pressed a kiss to your cheek, cleaning his semen off of you. HIs fingers travelled down your body, his fingers slowly sliding over your folds.

“You okay?”

You nodded against him.

“Sensitive.”

He dipped his fingers briefly inside of you and then raised them to his lips, sucking his fingers into his mouth. Your nose wrinkled and he laughed.

“What? You taste good.”

His fingers dipped briefly into your pussy again and he held his soaked fingers up to your face.

“Taste,” he said. You opened your mouth to protest but that only resulted in him pushing his fingers into your mouth. You sucked them clean, your face burning at the embarrassment of licking your own juices off of his fingers.

Mingyu didn’t ask you how it tasted. Instead his eyes flickered to your lips and he leaned forward, dragging you into another deep kiss. As he pressed closer to you his knee pressed between your legs, brushing up against your folds. You whined against his lips and involuntarily rolled your hips against his leg. He laughed and pulled back.

“Still horny huh?”

You buried your face into his neck.

“Shut-“

You were cut off by yourself gasping lightly as a result of Mingyu pressing you back into the couch and sliding his cock back inside of you.

Your lips pressed against Mingyu’s skin as you tried to muffle the desperate moans that were falling from your lips. His first thrust was slow, but he didn’t bother with being careful as soon as he had pressed all the way in.

He did one hard thrust, and then a second one faster. Loud moans at every thrust tumbled from your mouth as you tightened your grip on Mingyu yet again to keep from falling onto the couch cushions.

“You’re so good for me,” Mingyu mumbled. “So good.”

You nodded against Mingyu’s skin, bouncing back and forth as he thrust in and out of you.

He was fucking you a lot rougher this time then the first time but his words were all the same.

“So good.”

“You sound so pretty.”

“You feel so good, baby.”

You moaned at his words.

“Please,” you murmured. “H-Harder.”

Mingyu’s hand snacked between your bodies, his finger coming to play with your clit sloppily.

“You sound so dirty baby,” he said, amusement dancing in his voice. “You really want it harder? I’m already fucking you so hard.”

You mewled against Mingyu’s skin.

“You’re annoying,” you mumbled.

“And yet you're begging me to fuck you harder,” he replied. “That means you’re going to be good for me and cum, aren’t you?”

You didn’t care that he was teasing you. You nodded frantically against his neck feeling coils of pleasure curl in your stomach. It was like he could read your mind, you had no clue how he had known you were close.

“I’ll be good,” you agreed breathlessly. “I can be- I'll be so good.”

Mingyu’s own voice was starting to cut off to, his own moans tumbling from his lips as he grew closer too. You tugged Mingyu closer to you.

“Mingyu, please cum, please cum,” you began to beg. “C-cum inside me please.”

You could tell that Mingyu was shocked by your words by the way that his free hand rose to your hair and tightened in your strands.

“I can’t do that,” he mumbled. You nodded and peeked up at him.

“You can, please, it’ll be okay, I want it, I want to feel you inside of me.”

Mingyu searched your eyes, his own dark with pleasure. He sighed.

“Fine,” he murmured. “Since you want to beg for it like a slut-”

A small cry ripped through your body as you started to cum at the word. Mingyu’s grip in your hair tightened and he tilted your head back so that he could drag you into another airless kiss and it only took a few seconds before Mingyu’s thrusts were getting sloppily and you felt his cum start to coat your insides.

You were practically crying in pleasure against Mingyu’s mouth, feeling his hips stutter against you until finally coming to a stop deep inside of you. You felt your toes curl as you broke the kiss, panting heavily against Mingyu. He let you down on the couch, pressing soft kisses to your face.

“You, okay?” He asked softly, his own breath coming heavy and somewhat strained. You nodded.

“Tired,” you mumbled. He nodded with a laugh.

“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” he agreed. “You’re deceptively kinky, aren’t you?”

You groaned.

“Are you done teasing me?”

“Did you really cum when I called you a slut?”

“It was a coincidence!” You protested. He laughed.

“Alright sure, we’ll just test it next time.”

Mingyu laid down next to you, slowly pulling his cock out of you. You whined when he slipped out of you, your feelings balling against his back. You turned and buried your face in his neck.

“Feels weird,” you mumbled. “To have your cum inside of me.”

Mingyu bounced against your chest with laughter.

“You begged for it.”

“I liked it,” you agreed. “Still weird.”

Mingyu hummed and slid down your body, his lips pressing against your pussy lips. His tongue darted out against your sensitive pussy as he slowly began to clean out your pussy, licking the semen out of it. You whined.

“M-Mingyu,” you murmured. He ignored you and instead stayed licking out your pussy for a little bit. Not stopping until semen had stopped dripping out from inside of you.

“You want to take a shower?” He asked. You shook your head.

“Come back up here,” you said instead. Mingyu hummed and crawled back up, wrapping his arms around your body. You pressed your face into his chest. He seemed fairly amused.

“You going to go to sleep naked on your couch?” He asked. You nodded.

“And you’re not going to leave, okay?”

Mingyu nodded.

“I’m not going to even try.”

Suddenly, there was a soft knock at the door, and you groaned, burying your face further into Mingyu’s chest.

“Who is that?” He asked. You shrugged.

“The pizza? Maybe they’ll go away.”

They knocked again.

Mingyu laughed and began to pull away from you, you whined in protest but he just placed a hand on your head.

“I’ll be right back.”

He pulled his pants back on but didn’t bother with a shirt. He walked up to you door and you heard him unlock and open it.

“Hey stupid you left your pizza out- Mingyu?”

There was a moment of silence between Jun talking and Mingyu standing at your door without a shirt on. He laughed.

“I knew it.”

Your face burned red as you shot up, pulling a shirt over your head and pulling pants on. You rushed to the door.

“Shut up Jun, what are you even doing here?”

Jun held out your earbuds, a cocky smirk on his face.

“You left these with me the other day and I was around so…”

He trailed off as you snatched the ear buds from him.

“You know you look like a wreck-“

You pulled Mingyu by his wrist and slammed the door in Jun’s face. Mingyu laughed at you, pulling you close to his body.

“Jun knew what now?” He asked his voice full of mirth.

“Shut up,” you mumbled.

The best thing about dating Mingyu was dates.

Mingyu was a huge romantic and he loved taking you out on dates whenever he got the chance. As much as he enjoyed sitting around and gaming with you he much preferred to take you out to dinners, or take you on elaborate nights out.

Tonight was nothing elaborate. Ice cream with the guys to celebrate a win out of town. But still you were pretty excited about it.

You were so excited in fact that you weren’t really paying attention to where you were going.

You felt yourself bump into someone and as you were about to say sorry for doing so, you stopped.

“Donghyun-” Your eyes widened as you backed up a little. You glanced down at your phone. You were running late. “Look I don’t really have the time, I’m-”

“Meeting Mingyu for a date?” Donghyun asked, his voice low. “Right. You know he’s just using you right?”

You rolled your eyes. You thought it was a little desperate of him to try this now. Maybe when you two had first started this crazy fake relationship you would have thought about this, but Mingyu had been nothing but respectful of your space and general wishes. No part of you thought that he was capable of using you.

“Donghyun I don’t care what you think about him,” you said. “You’re just jealous for whatever dumb reason you justify with yourself to go to sleep at night.”

“Mingyu is a known fuck boy,” Donghyun said. “Let me guess. You’re fucking him, right?”

Color flooded your face.

“H-Hey, shut u-”

“You’re a slut,” Donghyun said with a shrug. “And he’s using you.”

“I’m so fucking tired of your bullshit Donghyun,” you mumbled. “You can’t just come in here and ask me about my business and my life when you long forfeited the rights to know what I’m doing.”

Hurt flashed through Donghyun’s eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you mumbled. “Seriously, you cheated on me, why are you acting like I suddenly left you for no reason?”

“You never even let me explain!” Donghyun protested.

“Okay then, explain,” you blurted. “Tell me your amazing excuse for why I caught you kissing someone else.”

“Because I was bored,” Donghyun yelled right back. Your anger dissipated, and you frowned.

“What?”

“You’re so boring, do you even know how boring it is to be in a relationship with you?” Donghyun asked. “For five years we dated, and you would barely do anything.”

“I am not boring,” you argued back.

“All you ever do is study! You never went to parties with me, and you hated kissing in public. You got upset if I tried to show you off-”

The more that Donghyun argued with you the more you began to realize something very important. All of the things that Donghyun argued about were things that you did with Mingyu. You didn’t care when Mingyu showed you off or kissing him in public, you went to parties with him every week...

You laughed once in disbelief and then again. Donghyun stopped in the middle of his sentence.

“What is so funny?” He asked. You shrugged.

“I just... I do all of those things with Mingyu,” you replied softly. “And I love him.”

That hurt look crossed Donghyun’s face again.

“Don’t say that,” he murmured. “It took you a year to say that you love me. Don’t tell me that you are already in love with him.”

You shrugged.

“Then fine, I won’t.”

You almost weren’t surprised when you turned around and saw that Mingyu was standing in the doorway. He didn’t look angry, simply amused.

“Is he really still bothering you?” He asked. You shrugged.

“Can’t leave me alone,” you replied. You bounced over to Mingyu, wrapping your arms around his body. The hurt of being called boring echoed through your mind and Mingyu placed his hand over your head protectively.

“Can I punch him?” He asked you. Tears pricked at your eyes and you shook your head in his chest.

“No,” you mumbled.

“But-”

“Seungcheol will kill you and it’s not good for your reputation,” you continued firmly. “Let’s just go.”

“The guys are expecting you for ice cream,” Mingyu agreed. “But... Won’t you just leave me for a moment?”

“Not alone,” you argued. Mingyu looked down at you, his hand prodding at your chin. You looked up at him, baby tears smeared on your cheeks.

“Seriously, just going to talk to him,” he promised. “Don’t you trust me?”

Unfortunately, you did.

“I won’t talk to you for a week if you punch him.”

“Just meet me for ice cream, okay?” He asked you.

You nodded and peeled off of him.

“But if you aren’t there ten minutes after I get in-”

Mingyu waved you off.

“I’ll see you in a moment.”

When you got to the others Jun seemed to sense that you had something on your mind.

“Are you actually thinking about the kind of ice cream you want?” He asked. “Don’t you always just get Mingyu’s favorite?”

“I can’t believe I actually like mint chocolate chip now,” you said with a disappointed sigh. “But no... I left Mingyu with Donghyun.”

Jun shrugged and licked his ice cream cone, so you thought maybe he hadn’t heard you.

“Mingyu is with Donghyun,” you repeated.

“So?” Jun asked. “Did you ask him not to do anything?”

“Well, yeah,” you replied.

“Then it’ll be fine. He listens to you.”

As if on cue Mingyu walked into the ice cream parlor. You looked at him and raised an eyebrow towards him. He just smiled at you.

“What? We just talked that’s all,” Mingyu assured. “He’s not going to bother you anymore.”

You eyed Mingyu suspiciously.

“And how’d you convince him of that?”

“How else? With my charming personality and award-winning smile.”

You rolled your eyes, but even as you did, you couldn’t escape Mingyu pulling you into his arms and giving you a large, long kiss.

“What was that for?” You asked, slapping at his chest as if you hadn’t liked it. He laughed.

“Just appreciating what I have,” Mingyu said softly. Disgust spread over your fast.

“You are disgustingly sappy sometimes,” you mumbled.

“Yeah, but you love it,” Mingyu said.

You smiled.

You really did.

6K notes · View notes

lexsssu · 7 months

Text

Possess (Xiao)

TAGS: Xiao/Dragoness!reader, jealousy, dirty talk, smut, drabble Ao3 ver. | Ko-fi | Commissions (OPEN)

“Your persistence is as admirable as it is aggravating. Don’t you have any other unfortunate soul to target?”

The yaksha’s low, irritated voice didn’t perturb you a single bit. Rather, it only seemed to spur you on even more as you leisurely circled him, molten gold orbs glinting with mirth and a hint of possessiveness.

Arriving at a whole new world was daunting to say the least, especially since this world was filled with both powers and dangers alike. You were simply fortunate enough to be transported here within your game avatar's body, including ALL her powers and items. However, waking up in an unfamiliar place by your lonesome can make even the most level-headed person feel so lost.

You were simply lucky that a passing antisocial adepti spotted you and offered his assistance, albeit acting surly and taciturn the whole time he begrudgingly accompanied you to the nearest safe haven, Wangshu Inn to be precise.

“But Xiao...you know you’re my favorite person in all of Teyvat”

There is no shame to be found in your eyes nor your movements as you slip your arms around his slim waist from behind. If you weren’t wearing a glamour right now, your reptilian tail would have been wagging right now as you unabashedly press your body against the male’s. So close that you could smell the scent of earth and nature that eternally clung to him, even that small hint of copper underneath wasn’t unknown to you.

Xiao stiffened instinctively, almost summoning his lance but managing to stay his hand when he both heard and felt rumbling from you. You were...purring?

“Only you deserve ALL my attention”

The yaksha decidedly chose not to pay attention to the warmth of his body as you press the full softness of your own body against his own battle-worn one, the stiff peaks that decorated your plush bosom making themselves known through the irritatingly thin clothes you wore that almost seemed like a second skin. (You yourself always had a higher temperature unlike normal humans so of course he felt hot and not because you affected him in any sort of way of course!).

You’ll be the death of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why is it that the moment I turn my eyes away, you’re already entertaining that Fatui mongrel?” Writhing shadows enveloped the adepti’s form as a malevolent green glow bathed his body. “Are you so starved for attention that as soon as any willing male appears before you, you’re practically ready to spread your legs for them?”

Laid against the green grass with only the remnants of your tattered clothes to cushion you, you were savagely taken by the jade-haired warrior beneath the light of the moon and stars. Despite the tranquility of your surroundings, there is only desperation and a primal urge to possess you in every snap of Xiao’s hips as he ground his cock into your warm, wet, and welcoming cunt. The tip knocked at the very entrance to your womb with how fiercely he plowed into you, a small bulge slightly poking from your stomach each time he shoved the full length of his dick into your pussy.

“If I truly allowed myself to release ALL my inhibitions...I’d have tied you down already for all eternity. I’d breed your womb again and again until my seed takes and you’d bear all my young”

Maybe it was the light of the moon above, but Xiao’s own gold hues were brightened by an unearthly light as they bore into your own. His perpetually frowning face was replaced by a feral snarl, possessiveness leaking out of the yaksha in waves as he fucked you into the ground like an animal. The mating press he had you in ensured that you were as close to one another as possible, allowing you barely half a second of respite before he plunges his heavy girth up to the hilt.

“Regardless if it was merely a ploy to gather my attention...I hope that you know there is no more escape from me. Our fates will now forever be intertwined until time itself ceases to exist.”

#lexsssu writes #genshin impact #genshin impact xiao #genshin impact x reader #xiao x reader #genshin impact xiao x reader #xiao x you #xiao x y/n #genshin xiao #genshin xiao x reader #genshin impact smut #crossposted on ao3

248 notes · View notes

lustfulslxt · 7 months

Text

Help - Chris Sturniolo

summary : oc catches chris trying to get himself off to her, and gives him a helping hand

warnings : smut obvi

a/n : this is another one of my ao3 fics xx

—

chrissy ❤️‍🩹 come over

evie 🫶🏼 im at work rn

chrissy ❤️‍🩹 so come over after

evie 🫶🏼 ok but i'll have to stop home and shower first

chrissy ❤️‍🩹 just come straight over

chrissy ❤️‍🩹 you can shower here and we can have a sleepover

evie 🫶🏼 ok do you need anything before i come over

chrissy ❤️‍🩹 nope, just you

evie 🫶🏼 see you soon

after maybe half an hour, evie was pulling up to her best friend's house. as she was walking up, nick and matt were walking out.

"oh, hey evie." the two boys smiled.

"hi guys." she smiled back at them. "you guys leaving?"

"yeah, going to madi's for the night." nick says.

evie nods, "okay, see you tomorrow."

with that, evie walks in the house. nobody other than chris was home now, so she made her way up to his room. upon walking in, she seen him turning his pc off and removing his headset.

"hey babe." she greets her best friend.

"you're here!" chris exclaims, walking over to pull her into a hug.

"sorry, i probably stink. i did just get off work."

chris shakes his head, "you're fine. but you can shower right now if you want and you can just borrow some of my clothes. i figured we could just hangout and watch movies."

evie nods, "okay, that works. i'll be out shortly."

chris relaxes on his bed while evie goes to his connected bathroom. while waiting for her, chris gets lost in thought.

he asked evie to come over because he needed her. he was having a bad day, but he didn't know why. he was tense and stressed and he was completely clueless as to why. evie was always his solution. no matter the problem, he always found his answer in her. she was like his platonic soulmate. that he found attractive and sometimes fantasized about having sex with. but that's besides the point, it would never happen.

the bathroom door opens, snapping chris out of his thoughts. evie emerges wrapped in nothing but a towel. there's water droplets all over her body and steam fogging around her from the heat of the bathroom.

"sorry, i didn't exactly bring any clothes in there." she says to him.

he clears his throat, "oh, you're good. you can pick whatever."

she goes to his dresser, looking through a couple of drawers. chris couldn't take his eyes off of her. she looked so incredible and he just wanted to do dirty things to her. absentmindedly, she bends over to sift through the bottom drawer, not realizing that her best friend was watching her every move.

chris' mouth parts, his eyes widening at the sight before him. he seen her pussy pop out just beneath the towel, looking so pretty, pink, and incredibly fuckable. his throat ran dry as his dick immediately stiffens under his shorts.

"um, i'm gonna use the bathroom." he mumbles to her, quickly shutting himself in there.

evie furrowed her eyebrows but got dressed nonetheless. she sprawled out in his bed and scrolled through her phone as she waited for him.

after what felt like forever, evie decided to get up and check on him. she didn't know if she was just super bored or if he was actually taking forever. but once she got closer to the door, she heard him on the other side.

it was muffled but she could still hear it clear as day. chris was moaning, more than that, he was moaning her name. without actually using her head, she quietly opens the door to see what was going on. her suspicions were confirmed once she laid eyes on chris.

there he was, leaning against the sink. his boxers were down to his ankles and his hand was gripping his dick. he had his head tilted back with his eyes squeezed shut as he inhaled sharply.

"f-fuck evie." he moans out, his hand squeezing around his throbbing tip.

evie's hand went over her mouth, completely flabbergasted that her best friend was getting himself off to the thought of her. unfortunately, she wasn't exactly silent with that.

chris' eyes shot open and his head snapped towards her. he immediately tries to cover up, his mouth falling agape as he failed to form words. evie quickly shuts the door and runs back to his bed.

both of the two's stomachs were in knots, but for different reasons. chris felt guilty and embarrassed, and terrified that he just ruined their friendship. he wanted the earth to swallow him right then and there. evie, on the other hand, couldn't get what she saw out of her mind. how hot chris looked with his face contorted in absolute pleasure, and all to the thought of her. she couldn't help but wish that she was the one actually pleasing him, rather than just the thought of her.

after a few minutes, the door opens and chris slowly walks out. he barely even looks at her, his eyes trained to the floor. evie couldn't look away though.

"i'm so sorry." he whispers, unable to meet her eyes. "i shouldn't have been doing that with you here, let alone thinking about you while doing it."

he was extremely embarrassed and he hated how awkward he felt. since he couldn't even look at her, he didn't see that she wasn't bothered one bit.

"you don't have to apologize." she responds. "everyone does it. masturbate i mean, everyone masturbates. to whatever, not like to me."

she felt stupid because she sounded like an idiot, spewing those couple sentences out. however, chris finally looked up at her.

he frowned, "i'm seriously sorry. i wanted you to come over because i've just been having a weird day and i've been stressed and i don't even know. then i seen you bend over in that towel and i just.. i'm sorry, i get if i made you uncomfortable. if you want to leave, i understand."

"chris, honestly, it's okay." she says, biting her cheek. "it was actually pretty hot."

she definitely didn't mean to spill that last statement, but she didn't regret it. chris' head snapped up at her, his eyes wide.

"r-really?"

"mhm." she finds herself grinning, "i was actually a little disappointed you didn't just ask me to help you."

"you would do that?"

she only nods.

chris sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, "um.. is it-uh.. is it too late to ask?"

she didn't say a word, she just got up and slowly walked towards him. he was really nervous and super tense, she could see it all over him. her hands slowly trailed up his bare chest, finding their way to the nape of his neck and played with his hair. she looked him in the eyes, just admiring the way he looked in front of her. his cheeks were washed over with a pink tone, his eyes flickering all over her face as he tried to read her expression. his fingers toyed with one another as anxiety built in the pit of his stomach. and yet, he was still stiff downstairs.

without another thought, her hand made its way to his shaft and gently grabbed him through his boxers. a barely audible gasp left his lips, not expecting this in the slightest.

"do you want me to make you feel good?" she whispered, palming his rock hard dick.

he frantically nods, wanting nothing more than exactly that. evie bends down just a little bit, and trails her tongue from his v line and up his chest, moving onto his neck.

"use your words, baby. do. you. want. me. to. make. you. feel. good?" she repeats, leaving wet kisses along his neck between every word.

at this point, chris was harder than he's ever been in his life, it was almost painful. evie could feel him throbbing in her hand and it made her super wet.

"god," chris lets out a moan as she continues to palm him and kiss all over his neck. "p-please. i want you s-so bad. i want you to m-make me feel good."

after those words fell from his lips, evie grabbed his face with both hands and smashed her lips against his. him being sexually vulnerable and submissive with her and overall looking so good right now, she was extremely turned on. on top of that, she could feel his hard dick pressing right below her stomach. chris kissed her back with so much heat and lust, already feeling the stress from today dissipate. their tongues battled for dominance, swapping spit in sexual hunger.

evie pulled him with her, towards the bed, not removing their lips once. she sucked his tongue and pulled away, slightly dragging his bottom lip between her teeth. a whimper escaped chris' lips and he tightened his grip on her waist. as her hands travel to his boxers, she pauses and looks up at him.

"if we do this, it won't jeopardize our friendship right? because i don't want to lose my best friend.

chris immediately shakes his head, "i don't want to lose you either. it won't be weird or awkward, we'll be fine."

she looks into his eyes, and although his pupils are dilated and irises are 10 times darker than usual, she can see he's being sincere. with that, she loops her fingers into his boxers and pulls them down to his ankles. his fully hard dick springs out, slapping against his stomach. he was big, really big.

evie drops to her knees, holding eye contact with him. she placed one hand on his thigh while the other grabbed his dick. it was already dripping precum so she licked the tip soft and slow to taste him. chris immediately let out a moan and his hands found their way into her soft hair. she grinned at his reaction and continued to lick up and down his shaft before taking all of him into her mouth, until he was hitting the back of her throat.

"oh fuck." chris moans out, his hips bucking into her.

she continues bobbing her head up and down, hollowing her cheeks and sucking hard to give him the most pleasure. she sucked even harder around the tip, knowing he was sensitive. every time she pulled away to slightly catch her breath, she would use her hand to jerk him off while licking the slit. chris' grip in her hair was tight and he was fighting the urge to hold her head and fuck her throat.

however, evie then started deep throating his entire dick, fast and hard, gagging every so often. chris couldn't contain his moans or the involuntary thrusts his hips made. he was so close to cumming and evie knew that, so she pulled away.

"no." chris whined, "i was so close."

"i know, baby. that's the point." she smirked at him, returning to her feet.

he looked so flustered. his hair was slightly damp and his forehead a sheer layer of sweat. his cheeks were bright red and he was panting, trying to catch his breath. it was definitely a sight to see. if evie was being honest, she wanted to have him like this every day.

she softly pushed him onto the bed, his back meeting the sheets as he stared at up her. his eyes were wide and he looked at her in anticipation.

"do you want to fuck me?" she boldly asks.

chris' eyes widened more, if that were possible. he didn't expect anything to happen between them, let alone sex. and the fact that she abruptly asked him, threw him off, but he was not complaining.

again, he only nods, frantically.

"your words, baby." she teased.

"i-i do. i want to fuck you so bad. i want to feel your warm pussy around my dick. i-i want you moaning my name. i want to make you cum all over me."

his response surprised both of them, neither expecting those words to fall out. in all honesty, it turned evie on even more than she already was. she then removed the shirt of chris' that she was wearing, along with the boxers she put on. chris couldn't help but stare at her naked body, he wanted his hands all over it.

evie proceeded to crawl on top of him, her heat placed directly on top of his hard on. he could feel her arousal dripping onto him and it made his dick twitch, wanting to pound into her wet warmth. she leaned forward and connected their lips again, in a rushed and longing kiss. she loved the way he kissed her, it was just so hot.

chris hands were roaming her body, settling on her boobs for a moment. he broke their kiss and took one into his mouth, sucking and biting on her nipple. it caused a couple of soft moans to fall from her lips, encouraging him even more. he continued to switch back and forth from both boobs, before his hands went lower. they went around to her ass, squeezing and parting her cheeks as he bucked his hips, his dick brushing against her holes.

she was so wet, it was the perfect lubrication for him to do whatever he wanted. but he was waiting for her cue. he was oddly submissive to her. not so much but he was definitely letting her take the lead.

after waiting long enough, evie slightly lifted off of him and grabbed his dick to line it up with her entrance. she looked him into his eyes, unsure of what she was looking for, but everything she seen, finally made her slowly sink down onto him. both of them let out low moans, him filling her up perfectly. it was a tight fit, but it felt so good to both of them. he was hard, she was soft, both of them emitting heat, and her lubricating them. it was the perfect mix, and chris would be lying if he said he didn't just almost cum at the feeling of her, especially after she edged him.

evie started off slow, only grinding into him. yet, it still caused them both immense pleasure. she, soon, picked up the pace, bouncing up and down on his dick while he had his hands on her waist, guiding her. the two were letting out pleasurable sounds, and she was loving the fact that he wasn't ashamed to be audible. it was such a turn on, especially because he sounded sexy. and the fact that it was her causing him pleasure, made her love it even more.

at times evie would slow down to find the strength to pick back up, chris couldn't help but continue thrusting, fucking her from below. neither minded it, both just enjoying the sensation one another gave each other.

"mm, you feel s-so good." chris moaned out, his head tossing back onto the pillows as he continued thrusting up into her.

"fuuck." she whimpered.

the feeling in evie's stomach tightened and she knew it was only a matter of time before she reached her climax. and from the way chris was almost shaking underneath her, she knew he was close too. she picked up and sank back down hard, causing him to jerk up and let out a loud moan. it was obvious he loved that, so she continued doing it. after only a few times doing that, chris' grip on her waist tightened and his legs were trembling.

"holy fuck." he groaned out with a heavy breath, "i'm about t-to cum."

"mmm, me too. cum in me, baby." she moaned in return.

not wasting another second, the both of them let out loud cries, releasing at the same time. his nut shot into her pussy as she came all over his dick. both of them in a state of euphoria, but evie didn't want to stop. he was making her feel so good and he was still hard, so she just kept going. both of them were obviously a lot more sensitive than before, so she knew it wouldn't take long for them to cum again.

once chris realized she didn't plan on stopping, he pulled her face down to his and captured her lips with his own. he kissed her so deeply, basically swallowing all the moans that escaped from her. he parted from her and gripped her torso, pulling her body into his before fucking up into her. she was a moaning mess on top of him, practically screaming, and he was living for it.

without a word, both of them came again. evie let out an extremely loud moan, her face scrunched up in pleasure. chris couldn't help but stare at her, in awe of her beauty and the way she looked when she orgasmed. it was intense for both of them, as they struggled to catch their breath. chris was damn near whimpering underneath her, still slowly fucking into her as they rode out their highs.

chris starts, "that was-"

"amazing." she finished for him, "hands down the best orgasm i've ever had."

he stares up at her, nodding in agreement. he licks his lips and swallows deeply, trying to find the courage to speak his mind. sure, they just had great sex, but he wasn't sure what it was for her.

"um.. is this just a one time thing?" he finally asks.

she pulls off of him, collapsing right next to him, before asking, "did you want it to be?"

"honestly?" he asks her, them locking eyes. "no. i want to be able to fuck you whenever, wherever."

a wide grin pulls to her lips, and she just leans forward and places them on his. it was a short and sweet kiss.

"chris, baby. after that, you can have me anywhere, anyway."

the two burst into giggles, chris pulling her into a hug as he peppered kisses all over her face.

"come on, let's get cleaned up."

a/n : next is chris requesttt, just couldn't keep my bestie waiting 🫶🏼 here’s #3 for you @flowerxbunnie

310 notes · View notes

maxislvt · 2 years

Note

Alpha!Wanda in her rut wanting to breed omega!reader who is in her heat, Wanda who glances possessively at reader who is among other alphas so she embraces reader and bites gently at their mating mark deciding that she's gonna mark her property for good

warnings: smut, omegaverse, breeding, marking, jealousy

Wanda liked to pretend she didn't care about you. If anyone asked, you were just her teammate and maybe a close friend. She liked to think that she didn't care about all the other alphas that followed you around like a lost puppy and attempted to court you on a near weekly basis. She wanted to, but she just couldn't. Truth was, Wanda was fiercely protective because you were all she had left. Wanda was dangerously possessive at times. The claim that forever scarred your neck was proof of that. It only got worse once your cycles had begun to sync up.

You had always been stubborn about your heat. Before Wanda, you'd work yourself until the alphas around you couldn't focus or collapsed from heat exhaustion. It made Wanda's job a lot harder. The mere smell of your slick drove her wild. Unfortunately, Wanda wasn't the only alpha that could smell it.

It seemed like every alpha at Tony's stupid party had approached you in the spand of fifteen minutes and you were far too kind to second guess their intentions. Though she was just as stubborn herself, she hated yours. You could barely get a word out when you woke up this morning but somehow got well enough to attend the event. It didn't matter how many pills you took, nothing could hide the smell of an omega waiting to be bred. Every word you said seemed to bring them closer to you and she couldn't stand it. Your scent was practically flooding the room and Wanda had reached the end of her patience.

"Ah, it's a lot harder to get accommodations, but being part of this team is important to me. Nothing is worth more than saving the world," You answered charismatically. Never had so many alphas been concerned with your treatment as an Avenger, but you were happy to talk about it. If talking about your issues meant other omegas got the help they needed, you'd talk all night. Your ramblings were cut short by a familiar pair of arms wrapping around your waist. "Oh, Wanda! I'm almost done, I promise I'll be over in a minute."

"You said that ten minutes ago," Wanda whispered as she buried her nose against the nape of your neck. It was an inefficient means of scenting herself, but it got the point across. She couldn't hold back her smirk. "Come on, you need to rest up and I'm getting bored. Let's just go up stairs." Her sweet words didn't magically manifest any more patience and she dragged you away.

You gasped at Wanda's sudden roughness, but let her drag you along regardless. It wasn't a long ride to the elevator, but it was long enough for Wanda to start undressing you. "Wanda, I understand you need help, but I already took pills today. Nothing is going to work until tomorrow." Despite your warning, Wanda continued to grind against your backside. The friction alone made your cunt throb. "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to wait."

Wanda chuckled at your stupidity. "Oh, does my little omega really believe that?" She moved your underwear to the side just enough for her fingers to collect the slick that was practically leaking from your core. "It's a shame you can't smell how good you are, but there's no way you don't feel this." She spread her fingers apart slowly and your slick formed a thick line between them. "You see that? That hole is just begging to be filled with my pups."

You were much too weak to fight back and part you didn't even want to. The instincts deep within begged you to just let go. Being Wanda's cum dump was more enjoyable than swallowing pills and pushing yourself to the limit. "Fuck, you're not being fair." Wanda used all her strength to guide to her bed and lay you over it. You wiggled away in an attempt to put space between you and your lover. "It's not going to work, it's just a waste of time right now."

Wanda shook her head, but smiled. "Oh, you can't just get worked up and just run off. Your alpha needs help too," She said as she groped the bulge in her pants. "I need a hole, baby." Her strong hands pulled you back towards her. She made sure to rub her crotch against the heat radiating between your legs. "Even if it doesn't work, I can just keep breeding you until it does." All the usual care she would've had was long. The nice outfit you had on was ripped to shreds in seconds.

The more Wanda touched you, the harder it was to ignore the need that grew deep within you. More! Breed me! Take me! The words filled your head as Wanda began groping you. Even at the peak of your neediness, Wanda just had to tease. "Alpha, please. I need you so bad." It was impossible to move your hips with the bruising strength Wanda had over you. "It hurts a lot, I can't help it."

Wanda hummed as she casually flipped you over. Her right hand forced your face against the mattress. You'd never properly presented yourself to her before, but she couldn't help herself. "I'm gonna turn you into a stay at home omega." Her voice had gotten so dark, it almost felt like a threat. Wanda pushed her cock inside of your hole slowly, reveling in your warmth. "Ah fuck, you can kiss this avenging job goodbye after this."

"Mhm, only wanna have your pups!" The pace Wanda had set for you was near impossible to keep up with you. Your slick had stained your lover's sheets, but none of that mattered. All you could think about was the absolutely disgusting way she was talking to you. She was always sweet and careful to work you up before toppling you over. Now, she was just using you.

Wanda growled in your ear. "You're mine, you got that?" All her energy was put into fucking you. "That's it, cum in your alpha's dick. None of those other ones could make you feel as good as I do." Wanda pulled your head to the side and firmly clamped down on your neck.

The sensation was more than enough to send you flying over the edge into an orgasm. Your walls clenched and spasmed over Wanda's dick. Her orgasm followed soon after yours. "Fuck, Wanda, please." You had no idea what you were begging for, but you wanted it more than anything.

A shiver ran up Wanda's spine as her knot began to form. "Fuck, I don't care if this one fits, I'm fucking you until I can't cum anymore!"

#panther speaks #pvntherz #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff smut #wanda maximoff imagine #panthers drabbles #alpha!wanda

996 notes · View notes

tawus · 1 year

Note

I also wanted to give a shout-out to many good Gojo x Y/N fanfics so I’ll be giving you a list of them that are 10/10 *Gorden Ramsey chef’s kiss* In my opinion, I hope that my recommendation will satisfy your needs for new Gojo x Y/N fanfics to read. [I WILL PUT AN 18+, IF IT HAS SMUT OR EVEN MENTIONS TAG OF SMUT, EVEN IF IT’S ONLY ONE SINGLE SEX SCENE!]

ALSO! Please be aware that most of the fan-fics that I am recommending to you will have smut and (some mature adult theme) they all will at least have tags so you will at least be aware of what kind of content you’ll be getting yourself into. (Yes I am aware of your adult age, yes I am aware that you are responsible for the stuff that you see on your own accord and that you can take care of yourself, I just want to play things safe as I do not wish to accidentally trigger you in any way, just in case.)

akatsukinorequiem on Ao3

Six feet Under (18+)

(By the time that I am writing this the series is almost complete.)

------------------------

fanficbrainrots on Ao3 & Tumblr

A Siren’s Sound

Through A Mother’s Eyes (TAME) (18+)

Cursed Love (18+)

-------------------------

iloveboobs123 on Ao3

The Etterach and The Relived (series)

Cursed Contracts (18+)

(Status is completed; Pairings are Gojo/Y/N, Shoko/Y/N, and Geto/Y/N)

Skirts (18+)

A side story for Cursed Contracts

5 Conserts And 1 Death (18+)

(Almost done, nearly complete; And has more than 1 pairing other than Gojo; Toji/Y/N, Sukuna/Y/N, Geto/Y/N etc, etc,)

-------------------------

Kirita (jeralee) on Ao3

Entropy (18+)

--------------

nezuscribe on Ao3 & Tumblr

His Kiss, The Riot (18+)

(one-shot)

-----------------

quirklessidiot on Ao3 & Tumblr

Minazuki (18+)

(Series has been fully completed on Tumblr, Author has an Ao3, unfortunately the author is no longer on Tumblr as they’ve lost motivation to write.) 🙁

------------------------

Petrichorium on Ao3 & Tumblr

The King is But a Man (series)

The King is But a Man Drabbles

Flower Crowns

Empty Beds

Shortcake Crumbs

--------------------------

saintobio on Ao3 & Tumblr

Sincerely Not (18+)

(Series has been fully completed, on Tumblr, Author also has an Ao3, Has a Season 2 called Sincerely Yours, but was unfortunately taken down due to the too much toxic community that Saint had. 🙁)

----------------

septembersummer on Ao3 & Tumblr

Moonlight (18+)

(The series is still on-going)

--------------------

ToonyTwilight on Ao3

Love, Death, and Circuits

(chefs kiss~<3*)

What A Wonderful World

--------------------

tomodachi on Ao3 + Quotev

Ukiyo-Ikigai-Mamoritai: The Gojos' Marriage Series

Ukiyo (18+)

(Series has been completed)

Ikigai

(Series is still on-going)

Assumptions

(one-shot)

You and Me (18+)

(I know you’ve read this one but I still wanna recommend it. 😀)

Being Kept

Good god, just LOOK at this wealth of fics!! 🤯 I'll be reading them all, thank youuu!

Also a shoutout to my personal babes within this list:

Kirita (jeralee) - she was very glad to be recommended in your list 💗 Her tumblr is @imjeralee

And my forever babes September and Saint, whose tumblrs you've already mentioned 🥰

Incredible works all around ❤️❤️❤️

#jjk #gojo satoru #gojo satoru x reader #fic recs #ask tawus

506 notes · View notes

lilmashae · 6 months

Text

NO PROMISES - S.JY

a/n: okay, so first chapter ! unfortunately, no smut today... however, depending on how well this does i plan to continue it with future smut chapters 😋 feedback is much needed, as i do believe this is kinda shitty but i couldn't stall anymore.

original thought!

You’ve always held Autumn close to your heart. It had slipped away from you after leaving for college, but being home reminded you why you’d loved it so much to begin with. Though you haven’t been home in years — despite whatever promises you made before leaving; you didn’t want to come back (home).

Parking in your best friend’s childhood driveway, you could hear her squealing as you stepped out. “Y/N! I haven’t seen you in forever!” She throws her arms around you — she’s always been dramatic.

“You saw me last month, Jiyeon.” The girl scoffs as she stands up straight in front of you. “It’s been too long! You’re so far away now.” Her playful whining makes you laugh, “I missed you too.” Jiyeon’s been your friend for as long as you can remember. “Come inside. There’s a party later. When you’re ready, we should go.” You nod in agreement, dragging your luggage behind you. “Hey, can I use your bathroom first?” Jiyeon deadpans, “You know you don’t have to ask. Here, leave your bags — I’ll take them up.”

“Thanks.” You begin walking up the stairs, leaving her behind.

Arriving in the bathroom, you only looked in the mirror before washing your hands.

You were lost in thought with citrus invading your senses — washing your hands, watching the soap’s thin layer of white bubbles rinse off your skin under the sink’s hot water. Finally, you were home. “Jiyeon,” A soft knock interrupted your thoughts — you shot your attention towards the bathroom door. Instead of replying, you looked yourself in the mirror one last time, bringing your hand to the doorknob to twist it open. Opening the door, a tall young man stood before you, his hands shoved into his pockets — he’s handsome with dark, messy hair. The boy before you wears glasses and pearls, a domestic sweater drapes his broad shoulders. “Oh, I’m sorry,” you step out of the bathroom, closing the door behind you, and looking up at the handsome stranger. “I’m —” And just as you’re about to introduce yourself, he does it for you. “Y/n.” He simply looks down at you, arms crossed and amused. Your mouth is agape as you’re in awe — shocked by his knowledge. “You don’t remember me?” The O-shape of your mouth shuts, and you shake your head. “I’m not sure I do.” Jiyeon had (ironically) perfect timing — she yelled from downstairs, “Jaeyun! Do you know what time it is? Go feed the dog, and don’t forget, you promised to walk her after!”

Jaeyun? Little Jaeyun — Jake, who used to beg to let him watch scary movies with you and Jiyeon. “Go away, Jaeyun. You aren’t old enough.” Jake’d turn and look at you with big eyes and pouting lips. “Y/n said I could!” You couldn’t help laughing — he was an adorable little boy. “Yeah?” Jiyeon was getting ready to crush his dreams, “Well, Jake, Y/n lied! She doesn’t want you here. No babies allowed!” You watched as she stuck her tongue out at him. “That’s not true!” Jake ran into your arms, hugging you tightly. “Tell her, Y/N. You do want me here…” He was so cute you wanted to hold him forever, even if he wasn’t exactly a baby — even if he was only three years younger than you. “Maybe next time. Alright, Jake? But no promises.” Little Jaeyun, who was only fifteen when you left for college, he promised he wouldn’t cry. “You’ll come home, right? T-to see me?” You hugged him tightly. You could feel the hot, salty tears running down his cheeks and onto your neck. “Of course, Jaeyun. I’ll come and see you all of the time. I Promise.”

You hated yourself for lying to him. If you were being honest, you had no intentions of coming back. It didn’t help that after you graduated, you went straight to work, buying an apartment in the city — not coming home for holidays and other events. When you did, you were unable to face him. “Jake..?”

“Hey, Y/N,” a small smile painted his lips. He wasn’t at all how you remembered. He wasn’t at all “little,” now taller than you. “It’s really, really good to see you, Jake.” Your voice was barely above a whisper. “Yeah,” he stood leaning against a wall, “You look good, Y/N.” He nodded, abruptly standing straight and heading down the stairs. “I’ve got to feed Layla. See you around.”

“See… you…” You must’ve been (standing) there for a while, wide-eyed, chewing on your lip. “Hey, Y/N. Y/N, Wake up! Are you alright?” It was Jiyeon — waving one of her hands in front of your face while the other sat comfortably on her hip. “What..? Sorry, I’m fine,” You paused, looking around — you weren’t fine. Your heart ached with guilt. “ ‘You ready to go?” The girl in front of you nods, and you walk downstairs and out the door.

Jiyeon had left you behind to dance with some guy. You sat on the couch, drink in hand — once in a while, someone would sit beside you, making small talk. Eventually, you couldn’t take it anymore. “So, I told her that—”

“Sorry, ‘cups empty. I’m going to get another, okay?”

“Oh, but—”

“Great.” You got up and began to walk to the kitchen. Drinks. Everywhere. Clear, dark, hard seltzers, beers, whatever — you name it. Jiyeon had poured your first drink of the night, and you had no idea what she’d mixed. So, you stood there, eyes going between the little bit of liquid in your cup and whatever lay on the kitchen island before you. “Do you… need some help?” You let out a laugh, turning around. “Yeah, actually. I was…” And there he is again. The aching guilt you’d planned to drink away suddenly resurfaced. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Oh, yeah!” Jake was quick to respond. “Didn’t expect to see me? I know it’s past my bedtime.” You would have laughed at the joke if your heart weren’t pounding in your chest, and you weren’t so nervous. “Hah,” a sigh escaped your lips. “Uhm, yeah. I guess you could say that.” “Here,” He took the cup from your hand before returning it. You stared up at him blankly. “What? Go ahead, drink it.” At first, you were hesitant, peering into the cup and sloshing the liquid around. Jake nodded, encouraging you to indulge — your lips wrapped around the cup as you took a swig. “Good?”

“Good. Thanks.” Admittedly, you still felt awkward. The aching nervousness of being around Jake made your stomach twist. You couldn’t help feeling shitty — worried he’d say something and bring up the past. Just as you were about to walk off, he spoke, “Hey,” you froze, internally cursing. Please shut up, please shut up, please shut up. “Jake.” Interrupting him was your only way out — you might as well give in, apologize, or make up some stupid lie. “I’m sorry, I know I should’ve—”

“What?” He chuckles, “Are you drunk already?” He looks down at you, holding his cup and giggling. “Here, come with me.” Jake grabs your hand, pulling you through the crowd of people. “Hey! Jaeyun, wait!” Somehow (the) oceans of people shrunk as you two ended up outside — running down the block and onto some field. “What’re you doing? Jiyeon’s at the party, I told her I wouldn’t leave.” Jake shrugged. “She’ll be fine. I wanted to show you something.” A tree. He wanted to show you a tree.

“It’s a tree…”

“Yeah, I know — a special tree.”

You rolled your eyes and clicked your tongue, “Oh, yeah? What makes it so special?”

Another sly smile danced along his lips. “I used to come here…” Your heart sunk — you’re an asshole. Not only couldn’t you remember your best friend's brother, you couldn’t remember the ‘oh, so special’ tree you’d spend your afternoons under. Every day after school you’d sit, doing homework, or just get lost in thought. It’s the same tree where you stole Jake’s first kiss — holding his hands and softly laughing, staring up into its branches. “We,” you start, “we used to come here.” It’s barely above a whisper, and you feel so ashamed — that aching nervousness is following you, just as you remember how soft Jaeyun’s hands really were.

“Y/N! Hey, Y/N!”

“Jake!” You waved from under the tree with a book layed on your lap. He had ridden up on his bike — if you had to guess, he’d just gotten out of school. After all, he was still adorned in his uniform with his hair (somewhat) neatly thrown on his head.

“What’s up?” You patted the ground next to you, “Nothing… I just wanted to come to see you. You haven’t been over in days — are you and Jiyeon still fighting?” A small giggle left your throat as you nudged his side. You two were fighting, but you were sure she’d long gotten over it. “No, Jake… I’ve been busy. You know I leave soon — for college?” And with that, his smile quickly faded. Anyone would notice the frown plastered on his face. “Hey, don’t be like that…” If you were being honest, you had no idea how to comfort him. Seeing him pout and whine made your stomach twist and tie itself into a tight knot.

“Please don’t go.” His tone was serious, almost cold — far from playful, cute Jaeyun. “Jaeyun, I have to.” You could see tears welling up in his eyes, “Jake, you know—”

He knew you knew that he liked you — loved you. Even if you didn’t, the speed at which his smile dropped entailed something was wrong. “Just do this for me. Stay, Y/N.” Salty tears began streaming down his cheeks. “Stop it, it’s fine… You know I’ll be back.” You hate watching people cry, it’s the worst. “Hey,” grabbing his hands, you looked into his eyes. “I’ll never really leave, so don’t cry. Seriously, quit it, or else I’ll—” You’re interrupted by Jake’s lips colliding into your own — they’re pillowy but slightly chapped from his constant nipping (at his lips). It’s a bad habit — a nervous one that only got worse as you got closer to leaving.

After the initial shock, you close your eyes — leaning into his soft lips. Slightly smiling, placing your free hand against his cheek you wiped his tears. “Jake…” He squeezed your hands tighter than ever, “Please stay.”

It broke your heart to watch him cry.

Either the alcohol was getting to you, or the warm, fuzzing feeling spreading all over your body was an aching desire.

#lil-ma-shae #shae's sit down!☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★⋆˙⟡♡#enhypen smut #sim jake smut #sim jake #jake #jake angst #jake fluff #enhypen angst #enhypen x reader

112 notes · View notes

eddiemunsons80sbaby · 3 months

Text

Never Say Never

Chapter 15

Pairing: SingleDad!StevexReader

Summary: You are a 32 year old single mother, raising your seven year old son on your own. After being widowed at 30 and going out on awful dates with disgusting men for the past month, you have decided that you're giving up. You already had your great love. One person can't possibly get lucky enough to have two in their lifetime. But then your son starts playing baseball and the coach might just change your mind about that.

No posting schedule.

18+ only for eventual smut

Word Count: 8.5K

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Far later than she’d expected, you pulled into the driveway of your home. Dinner and coffee had turned into a stroll down the street to the local bar, The Stumble Inn, where the owner, Dan, loved a good play on words. A couple drinks, a lot of conversation, and quite a bit of laughter later, you'd all finally said your good nights, all of you heading off to your own vehicles for home.

The boys were probably already asleep considering it was pushing eleven. That was alright. The four of you were planning on a bike ride tomorrow afternoon so if Steve wanted, he could always just leave Jeremiah there. No point in waking the kid to drag him home simply to bring him back again.

Opening the front door, you stepped inside to find Steve on the couch, a rerun of Who’s the Boss playing on the tv. He turned to look over at you, his arms propped behind his head, giving you one of those glaringly bright smiles that made you feel like you needed to shield yourself, to bring a hand to your eyes to protect them.

“Hey.”

Dropping your purse on the table by the door, you made your way into the living room, smiling down at him. “Hey. Sorry I’m so late. We completely lost track of time.”

“That’s alright. I was expecting it. I told you that you were going to be later than you thought. Robin and Nancy love to talk. And with you being all shiny and new, they had endless things to ask you, I’m sure.”

Steve pushed himself up to sitting with his legs still out in front of him, opening his arms to you. You happily accepted his invite, your body liquefying into him when his arms came around you, pulling you into the warmth of his chest. Sighing contentedly, you wound your arms around his waist curling your legs underneath you, relieved that the awkwardness of earlier appeared to be forgotten.

“They should get jobs as interrogators. They definitely threw the book at me. I don’t know if there’s anything they don’t know about me at this point,” you joked, “including the unfortunately mortifying third grade talent show story.”

“Ohh, do tell. I’m intrigued now.”

“No. That one is better left unshared. Trust me. I don’t know why I even told them. I think your friends have some kind of superpower. I was running off at the mouth, story after story. I couldn’t seem to make myself stop. To be fair, they were shooting questions at me so fast I barely had time to stop and think. I’m stuck being friends with them forever now, you know. They have far too much dirt on me. Way too much they could blackmail me for. I fear I’ve made a grave mistake.”

Steve’s laugh rumbled beneath you, his fingers slipping into your hair, thumb pressing into your skin as it slid over the back of your neck. Your eyes slipped closed, your body practically humming under his touch. His other hand moved under your chin, lifting your face to his and a soft moan escaped you when his lips found yours, gently, tenderly.

You would never tire of his mouth, his touch, the way it set you aflame every single time. You wanted him in a way that was borderline dangerous. The way you wanted him was all consuming, like a fire raging through a forest, turning everything to ash in its wake. If it weren’t for the boys, you were certain you would lose your job because you would do nothing but spend hours in bed with this man.

But there were the boys to consider. It was hard to concentrate on that fact when Steve’s tongue was exploring your throat, his hand slipping under your shirt. Fingertips made rough from working with his hands teased your skin, his palms covering your breasts completely, kneading and squeezing until you were grinding helplessly against his thigh, gasping. But that little voice in the back of your head reminded you, brought you back to reality, the reality where you did not want either of your sons to walk in on this very blatant display in the middle of the living room.

“Steve…” you rasped, struggling through the haze of desire when his lips latched onto your throat, open mouthed kisses creating a path of destruction, obliterating everything that wasn’t him.

“Hmm?” he mumbled against your skin, rolling your nipples with his thumb and forefinger, the jolt of pleasure shooting straight to your core.

“We can’t.” It was a whimper, a whine because you didn’t want this to stop. You didn’t want to be the responsible mom right now. You wanted to take this man straight up to your bed, caution be damned. But you couldn’t. You knew you couldn’t. You couldn’t have him staying over, couldn’t have Eli knowing the two of you had shared a bed, not until you were certain this was something that was going to last. You couldn’t put your son through that kind of heartbreak, not after everything he’d already lost.

“Why not?” Now his hands were creeping up your skirt, each one gripping an ample amount of your ass, pressing your center right against the delicious friction of his firm thigh.

“The boys…we can’t…the boys…”

Fuck. It was so hard to form a thought, to fight through the pleasure coursing through your very veins. His mouth teasing your earlobe, the delicious pulsing in your pussy with every press of his leg against you. You felt like a teenager. What the hell was happening to you? Were you seriously about to come just from dry humping a guy’s leg?

“But we can,” he growled, hands gripping your hips, flipping you over so your back was pressed against his chest. “Did I forget to mention they’re not here?”

“Wha…huh?” His hands slid along the insides of your thighs, pressing them open as they went. “Where are they?”

“Well, Jonathan showed up a few hours ago,” he explained, fingers slipping along the edge of your panties. “He said that Nancy had instructed him to come and get them. Repayment for me being so kind to watch them so you could go out with the girls.” One finger slid under the material, slipping through your already damp folds to toy with your clit. “They’re keeping them for the whole night so we can have some time alone. Isn’t that nice?”

“I…oh…uh-huh…”

Your head rolled back against his shoulder, that rubber band that was already stretched so thin within you stretching even more, threatening to snap at any moment as he circled, pinched, and slid over the very center of your pleasure. A rumble fell from Steve’s lips, his nose slipping over your jaw and down your neck. You were not going to last long. Not like this, not when you were already on the brink of destruction.

“Come on beautiful,” he urged, his thumb taking over the work on your clit as he slipped one large finger inside of you. “Say my name for me. You know how much I love it when you say my name for me.”

“Steve…” The word came out choked, one simple syllable that threatened to strangle you as your muscles tensed under his touch, your body ready to shatter completely.

“That’s my girl…wanna hear you screaming it, baby. No need to be quiet tonight.”

Oh shit. Those words…his girl, words you didn’t even know you wanted but you did. You wanted to make him say it again. You wanted to be his girl more than you'd ever wanted anything else at this moment. Everything in your world completely disappeared, shadowed by this man and the way he made you feel.

He got what he wanted. Because as he slid a second finger inside of you, his thumb playing you like the most beautiful song ever written, his name fell from your lips over and over. A crescendo of sound that began as a gasp and rose to a scream when that band finally snapped, your body taut, shaking, before collapsing back into him in a puddle of satisfaction.

“Jesus Christ, Steve…” you mumbled. “How are you so goddamn good…no, scratch that. I don’t want to know.”

He chuckled, arms wrapping around you, face nuzzling your hair, “Don’t worry, gorgeous, because nobody that came before you matters. They were all just practice leading up to the main attraction.” He nipped at your earlobe. “I’ve never wanted to make a girl come over and over again like I do you. The sounds you make, how beautiful you look, the way you say my name, it’s like a goddamn drug, honey. I’m completely hooked on you.”

Turning your body, you straddled him, feeling just how much he was hooked on you pressing into you. The thin fabric of his sweats and the lace of your panties was not creating much of a barrier and you fought back the urge to yank them off him and ride him right here on the couch. But not yet. There was something else you'd been wanting to do first, something that had been on your mind ever since your first encounter in her kitchen.

“Well, if I’m a drug then so are you, Steve Harrington, because I am completely addicted to you.”

“Oh yeah?” His hands settled on your hips, a smirk on his lips. “Is this the part where you fulfill my fantasy? You’re already in the perfect position.” He bucked his hips up and you gasped, hands dropping to his chest.

“Oh, I have every intention of fulfilling that fantasy but not just yet." Leaning forward, you caught his mouth with your own, your tongue gliding over his bottom lip teasingly. Your hands slid under the cotton fabric of his shirt, nails scratching gently down his chest, over his stomach. That little knot wound up within you again at the feel of that coarse hair against your fingers, tapering to a line leading you right where she wanted. Gripping the hem of his shirt, you tugged it over his head, tossing it across the room where it landed on a chair.

Steve’s lower lip jutted out playfully, “This doesn’t seem fair. You still have a top on.” Acquiescing to his request, you pulled your top off, sending it the same way as his. His hands slid up your back, fingers popping open your bra expertly, slingshotting it. “Much better.” One hand gripping you between the shoulder blades, he sat up, his mouth descending on your breasts.

“Yes…” you sighed, cradling his head against you, your hips rocking against his length once again.

“You’re so damn beautiful…”

You smiled, pushing him back down on the couch, wiggling your body down. It was your turn to drive him crazy. Your lips moved over his jaw, down his neck, your tongue tracing a trail over the artery there before your teeth nipped at his shoulder. He grunted, hips bucking when you kept going on your journey south, mouth exploring his chest, teeth raking over his nipples. Hot, wet kisses over his stomach while your hands gathered the material of his sweats and boxers, dragging them over his thighs until his cock was free, bouncing back against his stomach.

Your tongue ran over your lips as you settled onto your stomach between his legs. Steve’s eyes went wide, watching when you took his cock in your hand, dragging the tip of it across your lips. As your tongue darted across the already weeping slit, he hissed, head dropping back to the arm of the sofa.

“Jesus Christ, honey.”

Bolstered by his reaction, you used your hand to raise him up, your tongue running along the vein underneath, from the base to the tip before taking him into your mouth, swirling your tongue teasingly. With a heavy grunt, his hips rose from the couch in an attempt to get more of himself in your mouth.

Grinning around him, you continued your slow torture, only keeping the tip of him in the warmth of your mouth as one hand moved down to cradle his heavy sack, rolling his balls in your palm.

“Fuck…oh my god…honey, please…need more…”

His hands fisted at his sides and deciding you'd tormented him enough, you took the rest of him, as much as you could, working the base of him with your hand as you slowly worked the rest of him with your mouth. The sounds he was making, the animalist grunts and groans, the curses falling from his lips, were goddamn intoxicating. You'd never felt so powerful in your life as you did knowing you could reduce this beautiful man to a mewling mess with just your mouth and hands.

Steve’s fingers slid in your hair, his palms cupping the back of your head as he lifted his hips to match the rhythm of your mouth. You relaxed your throat, gagging slightly as he thrust even further into your throat. He paused, as if uncertain if what he’d done was okay, but when you dug your nails into the flesh of his thigh, lowering your mouth over him again, he took the hint, thrusting once again until your nose was nuzzling the coarse hair at the base of him.

“Shit…honey, I’m…fuck, I’m so close…fuck, stop…I…don’t wanna…not in your mouth…”

Releasing him with an audible pop, you rose to your feet, offering him your hand. He tilted his head in confusion, the look so adorable your heart tugged. How could one man be both the sexiest thing you'd ever seen and the most adorable thing you'd ever laid eyes on at the same time?

“If I’m going to ride you, let’s do it properly…in my bed.”

“Oh…yeah, okay…”

He scrambled, pulling his pants back up as he took your hand, following your lead up the stairs. You'd barely made it into the room when you slammed your hands into his chest firmly, sending him onto his back on the bed. Wasting no time, you slipped your underwear and skirt off before dragging his sweats and boxers down off his legs and onto your floor.

The smile he gave you was so soft, so heart melting, his hands gently cupping your face when you crawled up his body, straddling his hips. He opened his mouth and your heart stuttered in your chest, terrified but also thrilled at what might come out. But just that fast he closed it again, pressing his eyes shut tight.

Brushing away that hope that had flared and dwindled so quickly, you gripped him in your hand, slowly lowering herself down over him. Your warmth wrapped around him like a glove, welcoming him as if he belonged there. You sucked in air, your fingers slipping through the hair on his chest, your teeth biting down on your lower lip.

“Fuck, you feel so good,” Steve growled as you rocked against him, his fingertips digging into the flesh of your hips as he met each movement.

“Steve…Steve…Jesus Christ, Steve…”

“You look just as beautiful as I knew you would. Come on, honey. Take what you need. You can have whatever you want. Give you whatever you want, honey.”

“Touch me,” you gasped, whimpering when his thumb found your clit, teasing as you pressed your hands into the mattress, arching your back, your muscles clenching as you came down on his cock again and again. “Yes. Right there. Oh god…so good…”

Your hips rolled into a circle and he grunted, “Yes, baby. Keep doing that. Shit.” His other hand came to your breast, squeezing, pinching, teasing, touching you just like you wanted and you moaned his name again. “Gonna come for me, beautiful?”

“Yes…so close…don’t stop…”

“Oh, I won’t, honey. Don’t worry. Look at me, beautiful. Wanna see you.”

You struggled, working to keep pace as you pulled yourself straight, your hands gripping his shoulders for purchase. Opening your eyes, you looked down, that band in you stretching farther than should be possible as the heat in his gaze consumed you. His name ripped from your throat, so loudly you were sure the people in the next town could hear.

Your body turned to goo, wax from a hot candle sliding down the edges of you to pool on the mattress around you. You had nothing left, your legs shaking and Steve knew, taking over for you. His hands grabbed onto your hips as he plunged himself up and into you before holding her down against him, a roar emitted through gritted teeth, painting your insides with his own release before bringing you with him as you both collapsed.

Your cheek pressed against his sweat-slicked chest, the hair there tickling your skin softly. His fingers trailed over your back, your bodies heaving as you both struggled to catch your breath.

“Holy shit…” he muttered. “So much better than I imagined.”

“Yeah…I…Steve?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t think I can walk.”

His rumbling laugh shook your bodies as his arms held you, rolling you so you were side by side, your body still cradled against his. His lips pressed against your forehead.

“Good thing you don’t have to. Honey, you’re so damn amazing. I…this…” He paused, his throat moving with a hard swallow, as if he were forcing down words he didn’t want to say to leave his mouth, banishing them to the darkness where they couldn’t see the light of day.

“Yeah?” you pressed hopefully, tilting your head back to look at him, wishing for him to say it. To say the words that had been torturing you for the last few hours, the words you were terrified to say until he did.

“I’m just so damn happy. I have never been this happy with anyone. I…” He stopped, eyes squeezing shut. “I like you a lot.”

Your heart squeezed tightly. No, of course he wasn’t going to say those words. Hadn’t you just thought how crazy it would be to say them so soon? Of course he wasn’t feeling any of that already.

“I like you a lot too.” You forced a smile, not wanting him to see the disappointment on your face as you nuzzled down into him, the top of your head tucked under his chin.

___________________________________________________________

Steve blinked against the harsh sunlight coming in through the window, one hand covering his eyes to ward off the glare. Last night came back to him in a burst of images that raced over the backs of his eyelids. The warmth of your mouth, the sight of you above him, your hair falling down your back, the gentle smile that curved your lips up on each side as you fell asleep nestled against his chest, your fingers toying with the coarse hair there as you hummed contentedly.

Rolling his head, he looked down to find you still there but at some point in the night you'd both moved. Now your back was nestled against him, your ass pressed deliciously against him, explaining why he’d woken up with an erection. Winding his arms around you tightly, his lips explored the curve of your shoulder, the hollow of your throat, delighted when you moaned softly, wiggling in his grasp.

“Good morning.” Your voice was husky, deep and raspy, choked with sleep first thing in the morning, just one more thing that Steve couldn’t help but enjoy about you. He would never tire of discovering new things about you. Each new thing only made him…

Love…that word was beginning to be a thorn in his side. The amount of times he’d had to bite his lip last night to keep from saying it was going to leave a bruise. The more time he spent with you, the more time he spent inside you, was making it harder and harder not to scream it out, consequences be damned.

“Good morning.” His nose nuzzled into your neck, lips tracing a line, following it over your shoulder. “I swear, this is the best damn thing to wake up to. You are the best damn thing to wake up to. So much better than a slobbery dog demanding breakfast.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” His fingers skimmed over your soft belly to the curve of your hip, squeezing the ample flesh there. “I could really get used to this, honey. You in my bed…”

“Well, technically this is my bed,” you teased, sighing when his hand dipped into the apex between your thighs.

“My bed, your bed…I really don’t care as long as I get to have you in a bed,” he growled, his lips wrapping around the skin at the hollow of your throat, sucking hard until you moaned deeply. “Jesus, I love the sounds you make. Wanna make you make them all the time.”

“Steve,” you protested, no real challenge in your voice. “Don’t we have to go get the boys?”

“We could push it just a bit.” Using his arm to push himself up, he pressed you onto your back into the mattress. Wiggling his eyebrows, he grinned. “I think Nance and Jonathan would understand if we waited just a couple more hours.”

“A couple hours, huh? You have big plans?”

“Oh honey, a couple hours is not nearly enough time for the plans I have for you.”

How about forever? It was on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn’t say it. He couldn’t risk it, not now, not when he was in so deep that he was drowning in you.

___________________________________________________________

An hour later, clad in only his boxer shorts, Steve was in the kitchen cooking eggs and toast while you took a shower. Unfortunately, human weakness reared its head and other biological needs needed to be met. They had made it known when your stomach had started loudly rumbling while he was buried deep inside you while he pinned your wrists down with his hands.

As much as he hadn’t wanted to pull himself away, he’d begrudgingly done so. The girl needed to eat. While he wanted nothing more than to lock the two of you in that room for the rest of the day, you were going to need your energy for the bike ride he had planned for everybody this afternoon. He couldn’t have you passing out on your bike from low blood sugar.

He slid the spatula under the perfectly cooked over-easy eggs, sliding them onto a plate. Grabbing the two pieces of toast that had just popped up, he added them and set the plate on the table. He added the butter, salt, and pepper and was just going to pour your coffee when there was a knock at the front door.

“Well shit,” muttered Steve, glancing down at his very bare chest. Grabbing his shirt from the chair in the living room where it had been tossed last night, he hastily pulled it over his head, figuring it would have to do if he wasn’t going to leave whoever was on the other side wondering if anyone was home.

Opening the door, he found a woman on the other side. Her blue eyes went wide as she took in the sight of him in the doorway, her hand running over her sleek gray bob. The flowy black pants and floral buttoned top she was wearing seemed like a strange choice for a Saturday, leaving him with the impression that she was a professional of some kind. But you hadn’t mentioned anyone dropping by.

“Hello,” he smiled pleasantly. “Can I help you?”

“I highly doubt it.” Her words were sharper than seemed necessary considering Steve had never seen this woman before in his life. “Is my daughter-in-law around?”

Shit. So that’s who this was. Justin’s mom and Steve had just answered the door wearing nothing but boxers and a t-shirt on a Saturday morning. That didn’t leave much doubt to what kind of situation this was and he wasn’t sure if this woman even knew about him. Had you told her about him? Or was she being blindsided, having the new guy that had replaced her dead son shoved in her face?

“You must be Mrs. Randall. I…uh…I’m Steve Harrington. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He stammered the words. He would have offered her his hand but his palms were suddenly very sweaty. How did one handle a situation like this?

“Oh, I know exactly who you are. Although why you’re standing in my son’s house in your underwear is quite a mystery to me.”

A nervous laugh rose up in him at her words, her eyes narrowing, head tilted as she studied him. He felt like a specimen under a microscope and judging from the way she was looking at him, he was not measuring up.

“Well, you see…I…well, Y/N and I…I’m guessing she hasn’t told you about me.”

“No. She didn’t but my grandson did. Imagine my surprise when I had to hear from a child that his mother has a new boyfriend.” She gave him a tight smile, the kind people usually displayed when they were trying to hide how they really felt, but this woman did not seem to be trying to hide anything. Disdain was rolling off her in waves so strongly it threatened to knock him off his feet. “You really think it’s appropriate for you to be spending the night this soon? Have you even bothered to consider Eli’s feelings in the matter? How it might make him feel that some man is sleeping in the bed that his mother and father used to share? That doesn’t seem a bit tacky to you?”

Steve opened his mouth, having no idea how he was going to respond but feeling like he needed to. The pressure of a thousand stares, like being on stage waiting to see if you’d nail it or fall flat on your face, was heavy on his chest. But he was saved when you came bouncing down the stairs.

“Something smells good. Did you cook break…” You came to an abrupt stop, hands gripping the towel you'd been drying your hair with when you saw the scene in front of you. Steve in his boxers, looking like a mouse staring down a cat. Judith, the cat, glaring at you both, with her hands on her hips, claws and teeth ready to slash and shred. “Judith…what are you doing here?”

“Well, after Eli dropped that particular very unpleasant and shocking bomb on me yesterday and you refused to talk to me, I decided we needed to have a conversation about this current situation.”

“You could have just called…” you began but Judith quickly cut you off.

“And what? Have you ignore my calls like you so often do? I don’t think so.” Judith stepped around Steve with a wave as if he were nothing but an annoying gnat she was wishing to swat. “No. I think not. I demand an explanation. I believe I am owed that. Precisely why did my grandson tell me that this man, who I don’t even know, who he barely even knows, is going to be his father soon?”

“Shit…” muttered Steve, earning a harsh glare from the woman that reminded him way too much of Mrs. Click from high school. He melted back against the wall, trying to make himself small and invisible to her unapproving gaze.

So this was why she came. She felt her son’s very memory was threatened by the presence of Steve. She thought that you and him were moving too fast. Of course she did if Eli was already talking about Steve being his dad. But it was just that, talk. The kid had been hoping for it before they’d even started dating.

“Mrs. Randall, I think this has just been a really big misunderstanding.”

“Well, I was rather hoping so until I showed up to find you here in your underwear, clearly having spent the night. I mean, really.” She sighed, tossing her arms in the air. “You find this kind of behavior appropriate with a child in the house?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Eli isn’t in the house,” you snapped.

“And where exactly is he?”

“He’s with my ex-wife and her husband,” Steve answered, folding his arms, his confidence returning now that he saw you weren't going to quaver under the glare of this lady.

“Strangers!” shrieked Judith. “You left my grandson with complete strangers?”

“They’re not strangers. I told you, Eli is best friends with Steve’s son, Jeremiah. I know Jeremiah’s mom and her husband. In fact, I was just out with her and some other women last night.”

“Oh! And where was my grandson while you were out living it up and having fun like some teenager with no responsibilities?”

“He was with me. I took care of the boys so she could actually enjoy a night off.” Steve’s sympathy for this woman was quickly waning each time she opened her mouth. “I made them dinner and we played some games and watched a movie. Then Jonathan showed up and offered to take the boys overnight so she and I could have some time alone. I have never slept over when he’s been here.”

“Really? Because according to Eli, you and his mother had a sleepover just last week.”

Your teeth clenched together. “The boys were having a sleepover. We were watching a movie and fell asleep on the couch. Nothing happened.” Your eyes caught Steve’s, the two of you clearly remembering what did happen, what almost happened before you were interrupted, but it was none of this woman’s business. “And whatever happened or didn’t happen isn’t really any of your concern. Eli is my son.”

“He’s my grandson! None of my concern? It’s none of my concern that you’re acting like some rampant whore around him? That you’re just choosing to leave him with strange people so you can run around with your friends and have a good time like you don’t even have a child?”

“Whoa! Hey!” Steve stepped into her, finger pointing at her face. “You have no right to come in here calling her names like that. She is a damn good mom. She’s done all of this herself for a long time and if occasionally she needs a night to herself, she’s more than earned it.”

If someone could actually explode, he was pretty certain this woman would be doing just that right now. Her nostrils flared, eyes blazing, mouth contorted into an ugly sneer as she stared him down.

“Just who in the hell do you think you are?”

“I think I’m her boyfriend. I think I’m her person. The person she’s chosen to have in her life right now. And I think I’m the person who’s not going to stand here and let you talk to her like this. I understand that it has to be hard for you to see her with someone else, to think about another guy being in your grandson’s life. But that’s not a choice you get to make. It’s hers. So unless you’re willing to have a civil conversation and listen then there’s the goddamn door.”

“I tried to help you. I offered to let you and Eli move in with me and you refused and now look at this mess you’ve created.”

“This isn’t a mess. This is my life.”

“And some life it is. I knew when Justin brought you home that he was making a mistake. You whispered all those lies about how much you loved him. I knew you never did.”

Your mouth dropped, a small gasp of pain escaping your lips, making Steve want to smack a woman for the first time in his life. Tears filled your eyes but you straightened your spine, refusing to allow Judith to make you fall apart.

“That was never a lie, Judith. I did love Justin. I still do.”

“You loved him so much that you’re so ready to just replace him and move on. To allow some other man in his house, in his bed, in his role as Eli’s father.”

“There has not been any talk of Steve being Eli’s father,” you argued. “We are dating. There’s not even been talk of moving in together. All of that is coming from Eli. He adores Steve and he’s a kid and he just wants what other kids have. Can’t you see that?”

“He already has a father,” Judith whimpered, quickly losing steam as her grief began to take the wheel from her anger.

“He does and I will never let him forget Justin. We talk about him every night before he goes to bed. I show him pictures and videos. I tell him stories. We order pizza every Friday because it’s what we used to do when Justin was home.” Those tears that had been lingering on your lash line now broke free, spilling down your cheeks as you held your hands out in front of you, begging Judith to understand. “We go to the apple orchard and the pumpkin farm every fall because it was a tradition we started with him. I show him his favorite movies and we listen to his favorite music. Eli knows all the words to The Most Beautiful Girl in the World by Prince and he knows how Justin used to sing it to me every time he’d return from deployment and we’d dance around the living room. Judith, Eli will never forget Justin because I can’t ever forget Justin. You think I don’t grieve for him still? Sometimes it hits me and the pain is so bad that I double over with it. But am I really sentenced to spend the rest of my life alone at thirty-two because the universe was cruel enough to take my happy ending away from me?”

Judith actually looked stunned. In the ten minutes Steve had known her, even he was shocked to find her speechless. This did not seem like a woman who ran out of words.

Then the two women were hugging and crying. He stood to the side, unsure of what to do. He had the equivalent of emotional whiplash. He’d been so angry, ready to storm the castle and defend you to the death if need be, and now it didn’t seem necessary. You clung to each other, sobs shaking your bodies.

“I’m sorry,” Judith sniffed, shaking her head, hands wrapped around your shoulders. “I’m sorry. I just…it’s so unfair that he got taken from us and then to know you’re with…” She jerked her head toward Steve. Well, alright. She might be apologizing but apparently she still wasn’t fond of him. “To know Eli may see someone else as his…I just couldn’t bear it. I fear I will be the only one to remember my son.”

“You won’t.” Your hands found Judith’s forearms, hanging on. “I could never forget him and I will never let Eli forget him. I promise you that. We…we don’t even know what this is yet.” Steve would be lying if he said that didn’t sting just a bit. “It’s so new. Who knows where it’s going but if it moves in that direction, Eli will still know who his dad is. And no matter what happens, you will always be his grandmother and you will always have a place in his life.”

Judith nodded slowly, her fist coming to her mouth. The woman appeared to at least be trying to accept it. Steve wasn’t sure what the history was here. He didn’t know what kind of relationship she and you had in the past but he hoped, if for nothing else than the sake of Eli, that she could.

“Can I…would it be okay if I came into town for his first game?”

“Of course. Eli would love it if you were there.”

Steve wasn’t sure he would. He wasn’t sure he wanted to spend any more time with this woman ever. But this wasn’t his decision. He knew when he started this thing that you came with some baggage. And if the heaviest load was some uptight ex mother-in-law, well, he’d just have to learn to heft it if he planned on sticking around.

“Okay. Well, then…I guess I’ll just go. It’s a long drive back. But maybe I could go pick him up and…”

You cut her off, “Steve and I are picking up the boys and taking them on a bike ride. They’ve been looking forward to it all week. So today isn’t a good day. If you would have called first I could have told you that. I could have told you all of this and saved you the drive.”

“Right. Next time I’ll call as long as you plan on answering.”

“I will answer as long as I’m not busy.”

Judith’s mouth pinched up again, the crying camaraderie apparently forgotten now. Wiping away any sign of weakness or vulnerability with her fingers under her eyes, she straightened her spine and turned for the door. It was disorienting how quickly she looked like she hadn’t just been falling apart, completely reserved once again.

“I will see you in a couple weeks then.”

“See you in a couple weeks.”

And then she was gone. You exhaled, your shoulders and head dropping forward, as if all the strength you'd held in to handle Judith had rushed from you in one breath. Your arms wrapped around your middle, reminding him of Eli after school just yesterday.

Steve stood still, unsure of what to do. Did you want him to comfort you? Did you want him to leave you alone? Should he offer to just head and get the boys and come back for you later so you could have some time to process everything that had just happened?

“I’m sorry.” The words were spoken so softly he almost didn’t catch them. “She loves to sneak up on me at the worst times. I should have seen this coming. She’s been itching to have it out with me ever since Eli told her you were my boyfriend.”

“It’s okay,” he mumbled, shrugging. It wasn’t, not really. He wasn’t sure how he felt after that whole exchange. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” you stated firmly. “I really don’t. Not right now anyway. Can we just eat?” Lifting your head, you pasted on a smile. “That coffee smells amazing and I could really use some right now.”

“Oh…uh…yeah…”

You breezed past him into the kitchen, leaving him standing there wondering what in the hell had just happened and what it meant that you didn’t know what this was between you.

____________________________________________________________

The boys were down on the sand, building a fortress from rocks and driftwood that they collected for their superheroes. It was still far too cold to even consider stepping foot in the water. The day was warm, the sun beating pleasantly down on their skin, but it would take months for the lake to absorb that heat, usually not pleasant enough for a swim until late June or even early July.

You sat on the blanket you'd brought with you to sit on while you enjoyed the picnic lunch that Steve had packed. Sandwich crusts, chip crumbs, and stray blueberries laid forgotten on plates as the boys declared themselves full in favor of running off to play. You took a sip of her iced tea, glancing over at Steve.

After Judith’s impromptu interruption, ruining what otherwise had been an absolutely perfect night and morning, he’d been rather quiet and awkward. He didn’t appear mad but disoriented, like a child who’d fallen off their bike after removing the training wheels and feared getting back on because they didn’t trust themselves. It was like he’d lost his footing and couldn’t find it again. And you knew it was your fault.

Judith just had such a negative impact on you and you were so exhausted from constantly trying to convince the woman that you w were doing a good job of raising Eli. Was it easy? No. Did you screw up a lot? Yes. But at the end of the day your son was happy, healthy, and loved. Wasn’t that what mattered? Why could that never be enough? Why did every decision you ever made have to come into question by a woman whose son joined the military just to get away from her?

“Steve…”

“Hmm?” His head turned toward you and you could see how hard he was working to keep an impassive look on his face, to not show how he was truly feeling. What was he feeling? Was he angry? He had every right to be after the way Judith had treated him, after you yourself had dismissed him, telling him you didn’t want to talk.

“About earlier…”

He cut you off, lifting his hand in front of him, “It’s fine. Really. You said you didn’t want to talk about it so you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s not fine.”

“It is. It’s obviously a tough situation for you that I don’t know anything about so…”

“But you should,” you stated firmly. Rising to your knees, you shifted until you were in front of him, taking both of his hands in your own. “You should. If we’re doing this…being an us, then you should know. Judith is difficult but she is a part of my life and she isn’t going anywhere. She’s Eli’s grandmother and that means that you’re going to have to deal with her sometimes so you should know our history. You should know exactly what you’re walking into.”

“But we don’t even know what this is, right? Isn’t that what you said? We’re not that serious so why do I need to know anything important about you?”

Ouch. His words hit their mark, exactly as he’d meant them to based on the tone he’d used. A missile he’d launched, his own hurt weaponized and aimed directly for you, successfully obliterating its target. You dropped down onto your heels as he pulled his hands back from you. His hand came to the back of his neck, rubbing, as if he could wipe away the tension that had appeared between them.

“Shit. Honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“Yes you did.”

“No. I didn’t.” His cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk with a frustrated exhale. “I want to know everything about you. I do. I want to know it all, the good, the bad, and everything in between. I just…when you said that…”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Is that how you feel? That you don’t know what we are? I mean, I guess I just need to know what this is. I thought we were on the same page but maybe we’re not. What do you want here, honey? Is this all just fun for you? Is this a casual thing? Are you serious about us or should I be preparing to have my heart stomped all over?”

Those beautiful eyes were begging you for an answer, for the answer he wanted. And he had it. He had all of you. He had every piece of you that you had to offer. But you didn’t know how much to say. He had no idea how completely gone for him you already were, how you dreamed of the future with him, what it would look like, the four of you together.

Your eyes drifted over to the boys, yelling and giggling as Lex Luthor and his henchmen tried to attack the Fortress of Solitude they’d built from whatever they could find on the beach. You could picture this, days, months, years of this…the two of you sitting back and enjoying your boys together. Watching them grow up, birthday parties and Christmases, Steve helping them with their ties for school dances, teaching them how to drive. Nights together watching movies and playing games. You could see it so clearly in your mind but you were terrified that if you shared all that with him he would leave a blazing path through this forest as he ran as far and as fast as he could.

“Honey?” he prompted when you'd been silent for so long.

“What do you want?” you asked, turning the tables on him, placing the ball in his court.

“What?”

“What do you want from this? Do you see this as something that has a future? Do you see us together six months from now? A year from now? Ten years from now? Or in three months will I be just another in a long line of heartbroken exes?”

Steve reared back as if you'd just slapped him across the face. And maybe it had been an insensitive question but you felt it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Steve had been in numerous relationships throughout his life. Robin had shared that he latched on and fell fast because he was so desperate to be loved. Was that what this was?

You felt like he really liked you, like he truly cared about you. But was it just his past traumas causing him to act like that? Causing him to feel things that weren’t really there yet?

“Do you seriously not know?” he demanded. When you just looked at him, he groaned. “How do you not know how I feel about you? This isn’t even in the ballpark of casual for me. I told you I’ve never felt for anyone the way I feel for you.”

“But how can you be sure? Robin said…”

“Robin said what? That I love too quickly because of my messed up childhood bullshit? Because my parents didn’t love me enough, I’m always looking for it elsewhere?”

“I mean, she may have said something like that.”

“And she’s not wrong. I have in the past. I stayed with Nancy because I was desperate for a family, a real family. I was desperate to make it work, to be successful where my parents weren’t. But I’m not twenty anymore. I’m thirty-two and I am well aware of my faults. I didn’t even see what I was doing then but I do now. I know every relationship I’ve ever had wasn’t really love. It was…I don’t know. Me just settling, searching for something, anything that would make me feel whole. But I’ve never found it. I’ve never felt it until you. I think you’re what I’ve been searching for. I’ve spent my whole life waiting for someone like you.”

This was the second time he’d said that to you and it didn’t fail to rock you to your very core once again. It shook your very foundation to know that this beautiful, perfect man seemed to think that you were the thing he’d been missing in his life, that you were the missing piece to the puzzle that he’d been hopelessly searching for.

Your eyes roamed over his face, the flecks of gold in his eyes brought out by the sun, the freckles like angel kisses lovingly placed on his skin, those plump lips that girls would pay thousands of dollars to have. That word, that damn word, so simple, four letters, one syllable, was driving its way up your throat, desperate to be spoken.

Your hands slid over his jaw, softly, gently, as if you were holding delicate treasure that must be protected, because you were. His Adam’s apple bobbed, the muscles in his neck tensing, as he waited for you to reply to the truths he’d just laid before you.

“This isn’t casual for me either. I…I know my situation is different. I wasn’t searching all my life. I found…but he’s gone and when I lost Justin, I resigned myself to the fact that he was it. He had been my one shot at happiness and love and all that comes with it. But then here you came and you barreled through all of that doubt like a wrecking ball.” Your eyes slipped closed as you willed yourself to have the courage to jump off the edge, to soar through the air with nothing but hope that he would catch you instead of leaving you to hit the ground. “You snuck up on me and there is nothing just fun or casual about this because I…I love you.”

His eyebrows crept toward his forehead, every color in the spectrum dancing through his eyes that were now as wide as the moon and just as spectacular. You held your breath, your teeth worrying over your bottom lip. But then, as if in slow motion, his lips parted, curving into a slow smile that consumed his entire face, those little crinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes. His fingers slid into your hair, pulling you to him, his forehead pressing against yours as he whispered, “You do?”

“I do. I know it’s really soon. I wasn’t even sure I should say it. I realized it yesterday and it terrified me but it also…I don’t know. It just felt right, like something just shifting into the place it belonged all along. I told myself I wasn’t going to say it, that I was going to wait.” Your eyes squeezed shut nervously. “I was going to wait until you said it and I hope it doesn’t scare you. You don’t have to say it back. I don’t want you to say it because you think you have to. I just…I need you to know that I am all in. I am not going anywhere. I have already dove in way too deep. There’s no going back now.”

“I love you, too.”

“Don’t…please don’t say it just because I…”

“I’m not.” His fingers trailed down over your arms, linking his fingers with yours and bringing your interlocked hands to his chest. “I’m not. I’ve been trying not to say it too. I didn’t want to push you. I know this is hard for you. I know this is the first time you’ve been with anybody since your husband passed. I wanted to take things at your pace, follow your lead. I was waiting for you to say it first. But I do. I love you. I think I’ve loved you ever since that night I brought pizza over. And yeah, that’s crazy and it makes no sense because we barely knew each other but it’s true. I love everything I already know about you and I want to spend my life getting to know everything I don’t.”

“You…your life…?”

“Shit. Was that too much? I’m not about to pull out a ring or anything. I’m not asking you to promise the rest of your life to me. I just…I just meant…”

“Steve,” you laughed, pressing your lips against his to silence him. “No. It wasn’t too much. I know what you meant. I mean, we can’t really say we’re all in if we’re not expecting this to last forever, right?”

“Right.” He grinned, releasing your hands to wrap his arms around you and pull you in close. You sat between his legs, your back nestled into his chest, settling into place right where you belonged as the two of you watched your boys run down the sand.

Chapter 16

Taglist: @katethetank@roxiehorrorshow@sapphire4082@bakugouswh0r3@frostandflamesfanfic @mix-matchsocks @mushy-mushroom04 @palmtreesx3 @littlebookworm86 @eddies-trailer-babe @cheesewritings @emilyj444 @daisyhollyxox @angelbabyivy @the-fairy-anon @loritate7311 @k-k0129

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my little story! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist. If you want to be added please make sure your age is stated on your page somewhere. 😊 And replies and reblogs are always appreciated if you enjoy it. ❤️❤️❤️

77 notes · View notes