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[weightlessau]

Illegal Dreams [ateez; ot8]

after a very very long time i’m finally back (hopefully for good) please enjoy this story!

this was my entry for the ateez writing competition. i used all the prompts that were published by ateez.

4.7k words

no ships nor ateez x reader this time sorry :(

Member One

Big hands reach towards a black fedora and secure it on a man’s head. His face is covered with an equally as black mask, leaving only his sharp eyes on display. A long, dark coat swishes after him when he makes his way to the door, necklaces clinking against each other, making clear sounds echo through the empty, abandoned building. He lifts his hands up again and gestures towards the door. These gestures seem a bit foreign to him, fingers hesitating, arms getting tired quickly.

The effort pays off as a bright, golden light shines where the door was before, as if it was painted over. Suppressing the delight that he is feeling, the man quickly makes his way towards the dazzling light, stepping through, because he knows he does not have much time left before his amateur portal closes.

An unusual feeling spreads through his body. It is not uncomfortable, just very foreign. Before he even has the time to get his eyes used to the brightness, it subsides and the masked man can make out the faint outline of a man lying on a couch. He knows this man; he has been searching for this man for quite a long time. Not specifically him, but someone who could bring hope to the hopeless. And this man sleeping on the couch had the potential.

Hongjoong may seem like an ordinary man, but behind that facade hides a determined man, ready to take on the whole world at once just to fulfill the dreams that he is not allowed to have.

Dreams may be expensive in this world, but that never stopped Hongjoong. Even as a little boy, growing up less fortunate than his peers, he allowed himself a few sneak peeks into the world of the others. The others were not his peers; no, they treasured their expensive dreams too much; the others were the multiple versions of himself. The small boy did not know how he was able to breach the wall that the higher ups put up around dreams, but he never stopped climbing that wall over and over again, never telling anyone of his discovery.

They always say a child’s mind is the most creative; untainted and innocent. Hongjoong was one of the very few in this universe that was able to keep this child alive and turn into a creative adult. He kept this spirit alive, even though it came with many consequences.

Pens and several ripped pieces of paper are strewn on the coffee table in front of the sleeping man; cursed to never see the light of day, locked in the four walls of Hongjoong’s small apartment. If the government ever found out that he was being creative and conjuring up an illusion without buying any dreams, they would have his head. It is illegal and forbidden.

Just like the visit by the tall man cloaked in his dark suit. Forbidden in all the worlds. Slipping into a dimension you have no permission to visit. Mendling with time and space is dangerous and could lead to devastating situations. But the shadowed figure did not care. He has endured this hopeless torture for too long and he wants, no, he needs Hongjoong to bring light to the world again. To stop this exploitation of the desperate. To stop the selling of dreams, something that should be free to all in every universe.

His world has already progressed past the possibility of any hope. Hongjoong’s world, set in a time behind his own, still has a tiny glimmer of hope; or rather, eight glimmers of hope.

Picking up his hands again, he tries to remember what he has to do now. He learned everything he could before coming on to this important mission.

Drawing shapes and mumbling incantations, a light erupts again from the tips and the man seems to become almost transparent. There is no change of surroundings this time. The only thing that changes is the now stirring man on the couch, Hongjoong. The darkly dressed figure has done it, he has entered Hongjoong’s illegal dream.

Hongjoong does not notice the strange man looming over him, nor does he notice that he is still in his dream as he swipes his vibrant blue hair away from his eyes sleepily. Sitting up, he stretches his arms as far and as wide as he can.

“Kim Hongjoong,” the deep voice startles him, makes him draw in a shocked breath to repress the scream crawling up his throat, arms drawn in front of him. He cannot get caught directly after a dream, if the neighbours decide to call the police to investigate.

Before Hongjoong can come to his senses and question him, the man continues, “I don’t have much time, so you have to listen carefully.” The voice suits the tall man, dark and deep.

“There are countless dimensions in the world. You are just one of many. Hope remains for you that is why i need your help. Seven men, all from different backgrounds, are forlorn, waiting for your call. Help them see the illusion and you can change the world together, forever.”

Hongjoong has no time to ask, to even observe the man as the near transparency fades more and more.

“Remember, it’s not the reality that makes you lose your dream. It is your decision,” his voice is getting more muffled with every word he utters, “So I advise you to make the right one.” And he is gone.

Hongjoong startles awake, suddenly realizing that he had been asleep the whole time the masked man talked to him. Before he can doubt the words that were relied to him, he sees it. Next to him he sees an hourglass for the first time, and the sand begins to flow from the bottom up.

His mission has begun.

Tender hands carefully picks up the glowing hourglass. Gingerly Hongjoong tilts the hourglass from side to side, slightly, curiously watching as the sand keeps flowing up, up, up. Corn by corn the sand floats against gravitation, breaking the laws of physics.

Tilting the hourglass more steeply, Hongjoong suddenly realizes that the sandcorns all point towards one direction, no matter how he turns the figure in his hands. A compass, Hongjoong deducts.

To the next member.

Member Two

When he was younger his parents told him to stop. Stop dreaming, stop talking about his friend, stop trying to dress like him, stop trying to get into the large black fedora of his grandfather, stop dragging the long dark coat onto his small young shoulders.

Eventually he did stop. He stopped dreaming and even suppressed the visits of his friend, turned away from accidental daydreams and lost sleep at night, violently waking himself up whenever he saw the dark silhouette of his older lookalike.

Now Jongho has grown up from a boy to a man; from a happy, hopeful boy to a forlorn young man.

He made new friends, real friends that do not look like an older replica of himself. Friends that can show their hair and their faces.

Year after year Jongho tries to forget his friend; and with him the happiness he felt back then. If he does not know that feeling he would not miss it, right? With no luck.

Every day he asks himself the same two questions.

“Where am I now?”

“Where should I go?”

Without any hope Jongho just wanders through life, trying to distract himself by playing basketball with his friends on the weekends.

“Jongho! Do you want to walk back home together?” one of his friends asks him after a basketball game, ready to go back home.

“No, man, you can go ahead without me, I want to chill some more,” Jongho smiles up at him from his seat on the side bench.

After all his friends are gone, the basketball court turns quiet and empty, people passing by occasionally. The sun starts setting, but Jongho cannot bring himself to look up, his arms resting on his thighs and his head bowed down.

Hopelessness is starting to spread once again.

Jongho’s murmur breaks the silence, “Where am I now?” A heavy sigh follows. He does not know. Physically he is at the court, but where is he really? At what point of his life is he? What has he achieved and what does he want to achieve? It is not like he has the luxury to buy himself some dreams from the shop and he is forbidden from ever accessing the part of himself that can dream naturally. Showing signs of an illusion can be dangerous in this world, if it is not registered and controlled by the government.

Not being able to imagine where he is in his mind, Jongho is also unable to allow himself to imagine where he wants to go next.

Exhaustion engulfs Jongho, mentally and physically, making him close his eyes for a second. Or more. He drifts off for a short while, bodyweight slightly slumping more onto his thighs.

The only thing Jongho can hear is his own breathing and even is in his focus less in less. His breathing slows down and he allows himself to calm his heartbeat even more after just running around for the past hour or two.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

“Kim Hongjoong.”

Jongho instinctively jumps up, immediately standing pin straight after hearing that whisper echo dangerously close to his ear.

“Find Kim Hongjoong and end your sorrow,” the whisper sounds again.

Frantically Jongho looks around the court, trying to find a figure that could have said these words, but he sees no one, not even outside the gate.

“It is not reality that makes you lose your dream, Jongho.” His heart is beating in his throat and his hands are sweating profusely. He still cannot see anyone, but the voice is ringing a bell in his mind.

“It is not reality, but your decision, Jongho.”

It can not be. There is no way. He is awake, and not dreaming.

“Find Kim Hongjoong. Make the right decision.”

It is his own voice. Jongho recognizes his own whisper echoing to him on the court.

“Dream again,” his own voice whispers to him and then silence returns to the court and Jongho wakes up with a startle.

So he was asleep without even realizing it. Jongho dreamt again after a long time.

He heard from his friend, his dear friend that he so desperately tries to forget. But there is no doubt that it was him, even after more than a decade of avoiding him, Jongho is sure that it was his lookalike from another universe. A universe a little more advanced in time than Jongho’s is, the other told him when they were younger.

Tales of multiple universes each a little bit different than the other, each unique in their own way but yet so similar. These tales always fascinated the little Jongho when he was growing up. What he did not realize back then was that not everyone could see what he could. No other friend of his could see his older friend from another universe, nor could they dream like him without taking the expensive potion from the shop. Jongho became an outcast, doing illegal things at the young age of five, maybe even younger he cannot remember. Thankfully no one ever told on him. His innocent, hopeful mind filling the empty hearts of many discouraged adults, who just wanted to give a little boy a piece of happiness.

“Kim Hongjoong,” Jongho repeats the name he learned out loud, “who are you, Kim Hongjoong?”

Taking fast steps Jongho makes his way home the second he shakes himself out of his shock. He does not doubt that what he experienced was not real. A dream can be more than just an illusion and he has to find the reason why his friend came back over a decade later, just to tell him these few words and vanish immediately after. The internet can help him on his search. The name is an unusual one so he should be able to find an answer.

Jongho’s fingers fly over the keyboard as he types.

“Kim Hongjoong, Kim Hongjoong, Kim Hongjoong,” he repeatedly mumbles under his breath as he skims the first page of Google. Nothing. His hands glide the cursor to the second page and he clicks through that one.

“No, no, not that one either.” The silence in the room is filled with the clicking of the mouse and Jongho’s grumbling.

“Who are you, Kim Hong-” He stops dead in his tracks. There it is.

“Kim Hongjoong,” Jongho starts reading out loud, feeling like he has already uttered that man’s name for the nth time, “looking for another individual, who saw a dark concealed man in a black fedora and black mask, wearing a long black coat.”

His contact number is posted under his post and without giving himself a second to reconsider, Jongho has already picked up the phone and pressed the numbers in.

He has made his decision.

Member Three

At one point in life you have to make a decision that can change your entire world. Wooyoung realized that after the man with the black fedora visited him in an unexpected dream.

As someone who has never before experienced a thing such as a dream, Wooyoung has to say it was a little bit disappointing. It was nothing like his richer classmates had told him it would be. No crazy things he could never imagine, no, instead he got the same place where he fell asleep, on his desk at school, just with the not so mind blowing addition of a man in black. It felt like a joke to him. Wooyoung had not even realized that he was in a dream until after he woke up.

But even if it was underwhelming, two things significantly stood out to Wooyoung, leaving him with questions.

What did the man with the exact same voice as him mean with “making a decision”? How is he supposed to lose a dream if he never even bought one?

He thinks back to the decision a good friend of his made a long time ago.

San, Choi San. His lost friend, who vanished from one day to the other with no warning whatsoever. He had made his decision.

But could Wooyoung make one?

He gave up on the easy way out to find his friend. He searched and searched all he could, but after months of waiting for San to come back to school Wooyoung gave up. Evidently he did not want to be found.

But maybe he is wrong. Maybe he should not have given up and taken the easy way out of his problem. Maybe that is what the masked man meant.

“Look for your friend and do not stop until you have found him.”

Maybe then they can find a way together to finally dream their first dream.

Wooyoung is not going to give up this time. He stands up, determined, and rushes out of the classroom, away from the startled teacher.

He is only going to think about one thing now.

Member Four

Living without dreaming is a normal thing for a guy like Mingi. Dreams are too lavish for the poor. Mingi’s innocence was lost at a young age as he had to start working early due to extreme poverty. There was no time, much less money, for Mingi to stop and dream. In a world where dreams, a way to escape reality, are highly valuable, legalized drugs, Mingi has to work hard to get by. There is no time for him to be hopeful, to think about a world where he has everything he could ever want. Even if everything he wants is just a permanent home, not an old furnished warehouse where the social worker, Hongjoong, would drop by every once in awhile to check on him.

Speaking of the devil, Hongjoong barges into his temporary home very uncharacteristically. In his delicate hands he holds an hourglass. There is something off about it, but Mingi cannot pinpoint what it is.

“The sand kept flowing faster the closer I got,” Hongjoong pants the second he enters through the doorway, “and it pointed towards your direction and, Mingi,” he takes another deep breath, “I think you may be the next one to the puzzle,” he points his shaky finger at Mingi, who just stands there, perplex, “ and I can’t believe it’s actually someone I know! I can’t comprehend it! This thing is just so strange, one day I’m dreaming illegally and now I’m supposed to bring together seven more people and spread hope?” Hongjoong gestures around wildly, talking with his hands, now that he has regulated his breathing.

Before he can get even more animated, Mingi grabs Hongjoong’s shoulders and looks him deep in the eyes, “Hongjoong, calm down.” He shakes him lightly, just enough to make it clear that he is present. “Now tell me what you are talking about, I have no idea what you’re even saying.”

“I need to find more people for my team! The man with the black fedora told me,” Hongjoong says while looking up into the confused eyes of his friend, Mingi.

“What man with a fedora?”

“He visited me in my dream and gave me this compass, I’m supposed to help you dream.”

“Hongjoong,” Mingi’s shoulders are slumped forward, head hanging low, “you know that I can’t dream. Why would you try?”

“Why would I try?” Hongjoong’s loud outburst echoes through the empty warehouse. “The government steals our hope! Don’t you see it, Mingi? We’ve been given the opportunity to change that! Just imagine it!” This time Hongjoong is the one gripping Mingi’s shoulders tightly. “Just imagine a world full of dreams! And hope!” Excitedly, Hongjoong shakes Mingi, while Mingi just looks down at the other and endures it, indulges in this ridiculous idea of free dreams for a few seconds before reality will come crashing down on Hongjoong.

“It’s not possible, Hongjoong. At least not for many people. You may be an exception, but you don’t even know anyone else that is like you. Stop getting your head up to the clouds and return to reality.” Mingi is starting to get a little angry the more he thinks about it. As if he does not suffer enough from hopelessness. Hongjoong does not have to rub it in that he can dream naturally.

“That’s the thing!” Hongjoong paces back and forth and raises his voice again. “It’s not reality that makes you lose your dream, it’s your decision! Your decision of listening like a good little marionette or actually do something against the stolen desires!” He stops in his tracks and abruptly turns towards Mingi again. One finger pointing at his tall figure and the other hand on his hips, he continues his rant, “and I did find someone else that can dream freely. His name is Choi Jongho, he contacted me just an hour ago and has agreed to meet up with us in two hours at the city center, so get ready, because you’re coming with me.”

Member Five

Moving, moving, moving and, once again, moving. San is sick of his life. The life of a nomad.

He had wished that they would stay in this town a little bit longer. He had found friends here and was happier than he had ever been. But of course his happiness was crushed when he was told that they had to move again. Over night, he had to pack his bags and leave the city abruptly, as if he is a criminal on the run from the police. Which he technically was, dabbling in the very illegal art of recreating the dream potion.

He throws his two bags onto the moving car. After years upon years of moving he only has two bags full of valuables left now. One for his clothes, the other one for his little amateur chemist lab.

San is so sick of his life. Every day he wishes he could just escape. Just leave and never come back.

“Why can’t I?” he mumbles to himself, swinging his legs on the side of the moving truck, “what is holding me back from leaving?”

The car stops at a light, San grabs his bags and jumps out of the car.

Nothing is holding him back from leaving.

Member Six

Adults always tell Yeosang “look up at the stars in the night sky. That should be enough dreaming for you. Buying dreams is useless.”

But whenever Yeosang looks up at the sky, he sees darkness. Not a light shines through the thick blanket of hopelessness, no rip, no gleam of change.

The stars are not enough of a replacement for dreams. They are not meant for that. And Yeosang realizes that, which is why he walks around, not with his head in the clouds but with his eyes on the ground.

Just like he is doing it now, head down he walks around in the crisp night. His bleached hair falls into his eyes, but Yeosang does not bother pushing the strands back. There is no use. Like everything in life.

He is ripped out of his thoughts when he suddenly feels a sharp pain in his shoulder and falls on his back.

“I’m so sorry,” a voice gasps. As Yeosang looks up he can see a young boy reaching out to him on the floor, unsure if he can touch him and help him up or not. Yeosang makes the decision easy for him and takes the offered hand, heaving himself up.

“It’s alright,” Yeosang mumbles in a monotone voice. He does not have the energy to actually reassure the other guy right now.

“No, no! It’s not! I can tell that you’re in pain,” the other points at the sagging left shoulder that Yeosang is still rubbing, “I’m meeting up with someone in half an hour, but I can buy you ice cream as an apology if you want!”

Yeosang looks around. He must have walked all the way to the city center while he was lost in his thoughts.

“Alright,” he accepts. What is the harm? He does not have anything to do anyways.

With that they now walk side by side, looking for the next ice cream shop.

“I really am sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, you’re buying me ice cream already.”

“Alright, alright. My name is Jongho,” he introduces himself, as if he is trying to make a new friend.

“I’m Yeosang.” And they are back to silence.

“You know,” Jongho carefully starts, “I saw that you were a bit dejected and I just want to tell you to not give up.” A kind smile stretches his full lips, but Yeosang can only scoff as he takes the ice cream that Jongho is holding out to him.

“Dreams are useless,” is all Yeosang says to Jongho before he walks away.

Jongho does not relent and comes back, jogging to the position next to Yeosang again.

“It’s not the reality that makes you lose your dream, it’s your decision.”

“But what decision can I make that makes me dream?”

“You can come with me and I can show you.”

Member Seven

Running. Running until his legs cannot carry him anymore. Cars beep at him, cursing him out as he rushes past red lights and green light alike.

His whole life he has been dreaming with Seonghwa. Showing up in each other’s dreams, playing around, having fun, but now he is just gone. Seonghwa disappeared and never came back to Yunho’s dreams again.

Night after night he takes his dream potion and waits for Seonghwa’s return, but no luck. Even less luck now, because Yunho ran out of potions and he only realized when he wanted to go to bed.

Now he is sprinting towards the dream shop before it closes for the night. He has to get at least one potion. What if tonight is the night Seonghwa comes back and Yunho is not there to greet him?

But luck has left him. The shop is closed. He is too late.

A group of four men are standing in front of the shop too, so he asks them for help.

Maybe he is addicted, but he cannot think straight, he has to find his friend and if that is only by dreaming every single night, then so be it.

“Do you guys maybe have a potion that I could buy off of you?” Yunho pants, “I really need one just for tonight, I’m willing to pay extra, my friend, I need to find my friend.”

The four men just look at him in confusion before the smallest of the group speaks up, “I'm sorry, but we don’t have any potions.”

He says this loud enough for another man, standing a few steps away to hear.

“You’re looking for potions? I have some, if you want?” his whole face is sharp and the smile pulling at his lips, make Yunho question the man's intentions, but he does not care for now.

There is no need to be extra cautious as the man immediately clears why he is so suspicious, “I made them myself and tested them. They work just as well as the one’s sold by the government.”

This seems to make the quartett perk up as well.

“How much are you selling them for?” the tallest one, as tall as Yunho, asks.

And with that the six of them come to an agreement to form a little group. Hopeless achievers that just want to reach an illusion.

“I may know someone else that would agree to do this with us,” San, the an with the sharp face, says and pulls out his phone. Yunho catches a glance of him unblocking a number belonging to a “Woo”.

Member Eight

Everyone left, but only her scent remains. No name or address to be known. As if Seonghwa was dreaming within his own dream, it all faded away.

She only left behind the ocean waves that used to crash against her walls. Her woody smell does not leave Seonghwa’s mind. And Yunho, too. He, too, never came back. No friend to accompany him on his adventure within a dream.

Seonghwa cannot fathom what happened. It is as if he is having a nightmare within his dream.

Where is everyone?

That is what the newly formed group of seven wonder as well. What happened to Seonghwa and where is the hourglass pointing towards?

With no clue as to where to go next, they go to sleep in the warehouse.

“Open your eyes.”

It is the masked man again, except there are eight of him.

Hongjoong rubs his eyes and notices that, no, that is not the same man eight time, but rather a group of men.

“Open your eyes,” Hongjoong’s voice echoes through the warehouse again, but his own mouth is closed.

“Find Seonghwa and fulfill dreams. Find him and you will find your treasure. Follow the hourglass.”

And with that the seven jump awake all at once. Looking around San tries to find the eight men that just visited their dreams.

“Those were,” Yeosang starts, eyes wide, “those were us?”

“Yes, us from another dimension,” Jongho answers him.

“And the eighth was Seonghwa!” Yunho excitedly tells them.

Quickly they pack up their things and follow any direction the sand corns point at. The sand flowing faster and faster the closer they get to Seonghwa. Until they find him at the seashore, sitting on the sand, head in his hands.

From another universe, the masked people watch as the last corn floats up, leaving the bottom empty.

But not for long. Now that they are together, the mission has just begun.

Eight Makes One Team

And just like that eight men came together as one team.

As adventurers, pirates, criminals, delinquents or whatever you want to call them.

They call themselves

ATEEZ

And they have a mission.

Spread hope and happiness and make people dream again freely. No matter at what cost.

Will you join them?

[weightlessau]

my writers block has been such a pain in the last few weeks but i’m currently trying to get back into the game by writing my story for the official ateez story event and after that’s done i’m going to start posting regularly on here again! thank you so much for your patience!!!! (if you want to know what exactly i’ve been up to my twt is @ royalatz and i’m really active on there)

[weightlessau]

i hope your exams go well!! cheering for you!! 🥰

thank you so so so so much!! i only have one exam left and then i’m gone forever from high school (hopefully lmao) ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[weightlessau]

AW THAT WAS ADORABLE

thank you so much 🥺🥰 (ngl i smiled broadly when i wrote reader waking mingi up with kisses on his face and i was the one writing it lmao)

[weightlessau]

Hello everyone! You may have noticed (or not idk) that I haven’t really been posting as much as before. The reason for that is school. I have very important exams the next few weeks that I’ve been studying for and my writer spirit has left me as a consequence. I’d like to apologize and just tell you that I’ll be back soon and maybe I can churn out something short once in a while. No worries to the anon that sent a request! I saw it and I’m working on it slowly but surely. It’s quite frustrating to have so many ideas floating around and sitting in my drafts, but being too tired to actually write anything lol Requests are still open, but will probably take a while to post :) Thank you!!! If you wanna keep up with me and how ateez has taken over my life follow me on twitter under hopefulkhj (quick promo there lmao) Hopefully my exams will go well and I’ll come back to y’all soon!!

[weightlessau]

[8 am]

an alarm rips you out of your sleep and you shoot up in bed. the arm that was on your waist before falls down next to you, limply. mingi doesn't even flinch with the loud alarm whereas you have always been a light sleeper. you sigh, turning off the alarm on his phone, as you try to calm down your painfully beating heart.

"mingi," you whisper and brush his hair out of his face. his head looking towards your side with his body laying on his side. arms that were previously wrapped around you now lay next to him.

"mingi," you say a little louder as you grab his shoulder and shake him hard. this seems to have done the trick as a grunt sounds trough the dimly lit room. "mingi, wake up. your alarm rang just now."

after many times of spending the night with mingi, you know what comes next. another grunt and him turning to his other side, away from you. you don't get annoyed though, you know you won't be able to go back to sleep anyways so you get up and ask him, "i'll go into the kitchen and get make you something to eat, okay? when i come back i want you out of bed. did you hear me?" another shake from you and you only get a "mhm-mhm" back, which means yes, you have learned.

but when you get back, mingi is still on the bed. this time sprawled out even on your side.

you hand returns to his tussled hair and you comb through it. a kiss lands on his right eye. another kiss lands on his left eye. you can see the smile tugging at his lips and you sense him trying to keep his eyes closed a little longer to see what you would do next. you indulge in his poor attempt, dropping the next kiss directly on his plush lips.

"get up, baby, or you'll be late."

[weightlessau]

work out my heart [ateez; san]

summary: love can find you in all kinds of places

sporty!reader x san

warning: two quick mentions of food at the end

1k words

After busy day upon busy day you can finally go back to the gym and workout again.

You are lucky enough to snatch an empty treadmill among the full gym. Next to you there is a man also warming up for his jog in a speed walk. He has an unusual haircut with a mullet and a streak of his bangs bleached and dyed green. You start slowly and built up to a similar pace to the man next to you. He also glances over and smiles when he sees you swinging your arms back and forth. You notice his glance and look into his eyes questioningly.

"I have a question," he starts and doesn't even sound a bit exhausted while keeping up his pace.

You are a little shocked that he is talking to you as it is an unspoken rule at the gym that you don't really talk to anyone else. You still wait for him to ask his question.

"Can I maybe ask you to jog with me?" he asks, after seeing your confused gaze, he quickly adds, "It's just that I work out better when I have a companion and my friends didn't have time to come with me today. Or the next few times. I'm the only one of us that goes to this gym. I swear I won't bother you in any way! I just am a little better when I have a 'competition' kind of. You can just stop whenev-," he rambles on and on while still speed walking, which admittedly looks pretty funny.

"It's alright," you laugh, "I like having someone to push me, too."

"Thank you," he pauses to give you the signal to introduce yourself.

"[y/n]," you fill in the gap.

"Thank you, [y/n]. I'm San."

"Nice to meet you, San. Let's speed up a bit."

More and more time passes and you realize that San and you have similar stamina and unfortunately the same stubborness and will to win. You're both panting and trying to push forward until you share a glance and simultaneously turn down the speed.

"You're good," San gasps for air as he puts his hands on his hips and walks at a slower pace to cool down. You take on the same posture and walk beside him.

"You too. Thanks for the push."

As it was only Cardio Day for you, you turn off the treadmill, clean it up and make your way to the stretching area.

To your surprise, San follows you there. You just smile at him and resume your routine.

You are just about to make your way to the changing room when San stops you.

"Can I maybe get your number?" he asks before he realizes what that implies, "I mean to contact you as a sports partner not- I'm not flirting with you! Not that you're ugly, no! I don't mean that!" He's flailing around his arms to get his point across to the laughing you. He sees your smile and just flashes his dimpled smile back, "I'm just going to stop talking now."

"Type in your number, San. I'd love to repeat what we did today." You hand over your phone that you usually only use to listen to music or podcasts to in the gym.

After that San becomes a part of your routine. Every few days you meet at the gym and work out. Sometimes it's just cardio other times you help him count his lifts and correct your form or he does the same for you.

You have to admit that the two of you have grown closer and closer over those weeks of working out. You found out that the reason his friends don't go to the same gym as him is because they have a gym at the company he's under. That's another thing you find out. That San is an idol and on a break for the time being. Apparently he wanted to meet new people other than his members and others that work for the same industry as him. He achieved that by befriending you.

You also have to admit that you may have developed some feelings for San that are more than friendly. Unfortunately for you, San is a busy idol who probably doesn't have time to date and much less you, you think. For now you try to hide your feelings and the happiness you feel whenever the two of you meet up.

That's what you have to do right now. You try not to stare at San's muscles moving when he lifts his dumbbell. Quickly you also check if there is any drool on your lips. Watching him work out is dangerous.

"How many do I have, [y/n]?" San grunts, ripping you out of your daydream.

You quickly search for an answer because you weren't exactly counting, "26," you guess, "four more to go! Come on! You can do it!"

That's basically how the time at the gym goes until it's time for you to part ways.

Before you can go another direction than San, he stops you by grabbing your wrist and turning you towards him.

"Do you maybe," he starts while looking down at the floor while still holding your wrist, "I don't know. You can say no if you want to," he beats around the bush, "Do you maybe want to-" he stops again.

"Oh, come on, San. Spit it out! Don't leave me hanging like this," you laugh and try to make him more comfortable, while curiously looking at his reddening face.

"Do you want to eat something with me? Now?" he rattles down his question, leaving you stunned for a few seconds trying to figure out what he said.

This pause is too much for the nervous wreck San is, "You know what? Forget it! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it awkward. I'll see you in two days, [y/n]."

This time it's you who grabs on to his wrist.

"I'd love to go eat something with you, San."

[weightlessau]

home is where the heart is [ateez; yunho]

warnings: mentions of guns (not a warning but) woman!reader

671 words

summary: being in the mafia and a father at the same time can be hard. yunho would know.

requested (wuhu!!): mafia!yunho and dad!yunho.

Often times you wondered if marrying Yunho was a good decision. Not only is he working with your brother San, but he's also involved with a very dangerous circle. At the beginning of your relationship you were split between listening to your heart or your head.

But with your older brother in the same group as him you already had a foot in the dangerous mafia world. You decided that you may as well get the love of your life while you all are constantly in danger. It's not worth it wasting any moment in a life that could end in a second. That was until your daughter came into the picture. After you two got her, Yunho decided to lay low for a little while until she is old enough to understand what is really going on with your family's extraordinary life.

Unfortunately that doesn't last that long as San bursts into your living room, shouting for your husband.

You try to hush him, "Shh! Your niece is sleeping."

Yunho rushes into the room after that, gun in hand, ready to shoot at an intruder at any moment.

"Pack your stuff, Yunho, we need you on a mission," San hurriedly tells him and pushes him to your bedroom. 

"Why? Hongjoong said I don't have to be back for the next few missions," Yunho protests while he looks at San stuffing random clothes from your wardrobe into a backpack he found.

"We don't have time to explain." San continues stuffing. Yunho and you can only look at him, trying to figure out what is going on.

You are interrupted when you hear light footsteps stopping at the closed door of your bedroom. Being a parent has taught you to constantly be aware of where your daughter is and you can tell that those footsteps are her eavesdropping on your conversation.

Yunho hides his gun under a pillow and you open the door just to confirm that she was indeed pressing an ear to the door. Before she can lose her balance, you put a hand on her shoulder and crouch down.

"Baby, why are you still up?" you ask. 

She doesn't answer you, only tightens her grip on the stuffed dragon that her other uncle Seonghwa gave her for her birth. 

You are just about to open your mouth to send her back to bed again when she goes around you in small but fast steps and runs over to her father. You watch as she hugs his legs tightly, leaving the stuffed animal on the floor. Yunho crouches down to her  eyelevel and hugs her back.

"Why aren't you sleeping, sweetheart?" you hear him ask.

"Where are you going?" A light tremble is present in her innocent voice.

Yunho searches for an explanation fit for a child but close enough to the truth. Yunho always hated lying to you or your daughter. He thinks that the people he loves should know everything about him, even the bad things.

"I'm going on an adventure with uncle Sannie, sweetie," he says and then drops his voice to a whisper, "we're going to defeat the bad guys."

This doesn't make her smile as Yunho intended, instead your daughter rubs at her eyes and throws herself back into a hug, nearly making the crouching Yunho lose his balance.

"Please come home for me and mommy."

You could swear you heard three hearts break when your daughter uttered those words. Your husband's, your brother's and your own heart.

"I promise, I'll come back." Moments like these require a little bit of a lie as Yunho concludes. He just has to make sure he comes back and turns it into the truth.

"We have to go," San mumbles ruefully. 

A tight hug for your daughter and a deep kiss for you later, Yunho says his "I love you" and closes the door behind himself.

Now you can only wait for him to come back home. Where his heart is waiting for him in you and your daughter.

bonus

he survived.

[weightlessau]

I quit. [ateez; seonghwa]

725 words || fluff

summary: he quit for you.

Seonghwa put a cigarette between his lips and moved his lighter to ignite the fire. As he does that, you move away from under his arm and get up from couch.

"I’m going to some snacks, guys," you tell the group of boys sitting around the television, "do you want any?" Your question goes unanswered as you exit the cold living room with the open windows and make your way to the kitchen.

You're pouring yourself a glass of water slowly to have some more time away from the living room when Seonghwa enters the kitchen and closes the door behind himself.

"You have been avoiding me lately." He goes straight to the point.

"No," you start, "it's not you I'm avoiding, don't worry." You still don't make your way to hug him as you normally would have.

"Then what is it? Did one of the boys do something to you?"

Seonghwa's group of friends is infamous for always getting into some kind of trouble. They're the bad boys of the area who don’t care about much. Even though they are like brothers to him, it wouldn't be a surprise to Seonghwa if you said yes to his question.

"It's not them," you deny, "forget it. I’m going to get over it soon, I guess."

Seonghwa moves to wrap his arms around you and leans in for a kiss, but you narrowly avoid his lips on instinct.

"What was that for?" he asks you, shocked.

You let out a sigh. You guess it's time to tell him. All along, you knew that you wouldn't be able to get over your problem and if you can't get over it, Seonghwa has to know.

"I just don't want to kiss you after you smoked a cigarette. You know i hate the smell and taste."

"Oh." He takes a step back.

Seonghwa had already been smoking when you two started your relationship and you fell in love with him either way; always making up excuses why you didn't want to kiss him right after he had a smoke break.

"Yeah." You look down at your feet. "It should be alright after you eat and drink some things, though, so don't worry."

And with that you grab the snacks and drink you prepared and make your way to the living room, pushing seonghwa with you to show him, you're not really mad at him.

The rest of the afternoon he's quiet and only answers when he's directly asked a question. You decide to only bring it up when he continues to act this way the next few days.

Which he doesn't. Or at least it doesn't seem that way on the phone. The next few days both of you are busy and aren't able to meet up in person. Your next date is a week after your talk about the cigarettes.

Seonghwa shows up in his car to pick you up. He even goes as far as to open the door for you and kissing the back of your hand.

Once you're in the car you immediately notice a change.

"The car smells really nice," you smile at your boyfriend, not used to the pleasant absence of the cigarette smell.

"Thank you," he smiles back, "I cleaned it recently."

That's not the only change you notice. You see Seonghwa tapping his fingers on the steering wheel all throughout the ride to the café you decided to go to.

"What are you so nervous for?" you half jokingly ask him when he doesn't even stop the restlessness once you're seated with your orders.

"Sorry," he quickly apologizes and takes your hand across the table instead.

You catch up on everything that has happened in the past week that you haven't seen each other. When you are once again seated in the car, you notice another thing.

"No smoke break today?" Seonghwa always has a cigarette after drinking coffee, if he can’t do it directly at the table then outside between the walk from the door to the car.

He starts driving and nonchalantly says, “i quit.”

"You quit what?" You're confused.

"I quit smoking."

"You quit what?" This time you ask more shocked.

"Smoking," he states matter of factly.

"Yeah, no. I got that," you shake your head and look at his side profile in shock. "Why?"

"Because you don't like it when i smoke."

i just haven’t had any motivation the last few days so i hope you like this one :)

[weightlessau]

i just read the second part and it was SO GOOD!! it was so adorable and fluffy at the end like jongho can have all of my uwus. it was enjoyable to read and i really hope you write more action sequences in the future, you’re so good at it!! i hope you have a wonderful day and congratulations on 100 followers! (you deserve more just sayin)

thank you!!!!! 🥰❤️

i honestly am not sure about the action scene but it really means a lot that you liked it!! i’d love to explore more in that genre! and i’m a sucker for fluff so jongho taking care of reader 👌🏼

i never expected 100 people to like my stories enough to follow me ngl 😳

my day has been wonderful so far, just lying in bed and procrastinating on doing my homework. i also wish you (and everyone else who is reading this) a wonderful day!!

[weightlessau]

adorable and soft [ateez; jongho]

Warnings: mentions of guns and a few curse words

part two of cute and squishy

summary: the weekly meet up didn’t go quite as you expected (well, maybe you did expect it a little bit)

requested (yay!!), it’s maybe a little more actioney than they wanted but i swear it’s fluffy!

Unfortunately that date Jongho mentioned never panned out. Just after lunch Sunhi and you only had a few minutes to exchange numbers before the whole group made their way home again, because of a 'sudden emergency'. Days after them you went home as well.

Sunhi and you are practically best friends at this point, even if she does keep quite a few secrets from you. Like why there's always one of the other men shadowing behind her when you meet up or where all her money comes from, but you never press on for more information. You're smart enough to guess that whatever her and her group is involved in, you probably don't want to be a part of that.

Today is one of those meet ups Sunhi and you have at least once a week.

'What should we do today?' Sunhi texts you in the morning to which you already have an answer to.

'There's this bar that I've wanted to check out. Do you want to go tonight?'

'Sure! I'll come pick you up at 8'

'Who are you coming with today?' you ask her. You secretly hope that it's Jongho, even though you're still embarrassed that you called him 'squishy', you have to admit that he is quite cute. After some contemplation you have also decided that a date with him may not be a bad idea, but you don't want to be the one to contact him. You're still unsure of his motives, if he really asked you out on a date or if he just said that to fluster you. He didn't have the chance to ask you again. Apparently he's 'out of the city for work'. You didn't want to know what kind of 'work' considering the answer you got after you called Jongho cute. A thinly veiled death threat.

A couple minutes later, Sunhi gives you an answer to your previous question and you think that maybe luck is on your side, 'Joong said that Jongho is free today ;)'

'Stop with the winking,' you whine over text. Of course everyone noticed the conversation Jongho and you had at the lunch table and Sunhi teases you constantly because of that. You're not alone in your suffering, though; you heard that Jongho is only referred to as 'squishy' by the other men.

';)))))' she sends you back and ends the conversation.

At exactly eight o'clock that night a black car pulls up in front of your home. Although you can't see who is sitting inside the car due to the darkened windows, you can be sure that Sunhi and Jongho are waiting for you.

Before you reach the car, Jongho has already hopped out and swung open the backdoor for you.

"My lady," he greets you.

"Thank you, Jongho." He closes the door when you're seated inside and gets into the driver's seat.

"You're still calling me Jongho?" he asks cheekily from the front while Sunhi just laughs at your flustered face.

"That's your name, isn't it?" you say with a smile and a roll of your eyes. He's still flirting with you, maybe you'll have a date by the end of the night, you hope.

Before Jongho can continue your little banter, Sunhi cuts in and you two start a conversation, completely ignoring Jongho at the the front.

When the three of you get into the bar Sunhi and you immediately sit down at a table and order some drinks for you and of course food. Jongho sits down a few tables down, body turned towards your table to see when you're potentially in danger.

Minutes of laughter turn into hours and soon Sunhi and you just slur the whole talk and lean on the table between you heavily while Jongho laughs at you behind his third meal (he has to pass the time sober somehow and what better way than trying the whole menu one by one?). The laugh is wiped off of his face when he sees a man approaching your table and striking up a conversation. He doesn't intervene in any way, before Sunhi or you show any signs of discomfort. But that thought is thrown out when three more men join that Jongho knows closely.

"Aren't you Hongjoong's little bitch?" Jongho hears as he quickly sends a message to his leader and makes his way to your table.

'Rival gang at bar'

'At least four of them'

'Need backup'

Jongho just presses send on his messages and doesn't wait for an answer. He has to get you two out of here before the situation escalades and innocent people get injured.

Turns out that won't be as easy as planned.

"Well if that isn't Choi Jongho." The man nudges a friend standing next to him.

Jongho swallows the insults that are crawling up to his mouth and instead says, "I don't want any stress here, so just leave it." Quietly he adds a quick, "you bastards" as he tries to usher a drunk you and an equally drunk Sunhi out of the bar. Thankfully the bill was already paid when you ordered.

"What did you just say?" A gun is whipped out and the customers of the bar start screaming the second they notice what is happening.

"Shit," he mutters under his breath.

Now the other men have also drawn their guns, pointing them all towards your group. No one says a word now, the whole bar has fallen quiet out of fear. Even you can feel yourself sobering up.

The doors to the bar slam open and Hongjoong marches in, with his gun drawn, closely followed by Wooyoung and San.

"Drop your fucking guns or you'll be in big trouble," Hongjoong threatens, "you're in our territory right now. You don't want me to contact your leader, do you?" He keeps his voice controlled and low, almost like he's having the most boring conversation, making him seem even more threatening.

Your blurry eyes see one of the rival gang's men raise his gun slightly, but before he can go any further a gun shot echoes through the bar before the customers scream out. The man drops down to his knees and clutches his left thigh where blood is oozing out.

"Wooyoung!" Jongho shouts out to the shooter.

"What?" Wooyoung shrugs, "he was about to do something."

The rival's grab the armpits of the injured member and drag him to the exit, where Hongjoong, San and Wooyoung are standing.

"This isn't over," the injured one spits at Hongjoong as they pass him and flee.

Hongjoong lets out a sigh while he looks around at the terrified faces meeting him, including yours. He walks over to his wife and throws his arm over her shoulder, hugging her intoxicated form to him.

"We'll go home now," he announces to the boys. "Jongho, you take [y/n] home." You see the small smirk decorating his face.

"Okay," Jongho agrees and ushers you towards the exit.

As you pass, you could swear that you heard San snicker and say, "good night, squishy."

Outside you are greeted by the biting cold, washing away your drunkenness, when you hurry towards the car.

The car ride is quiet with you trying to process what just happened. But you weren't all that surprised. After all, you expected them to be a part of shady business and that just got confirmed.

"Can you stop when you see a convenience store?" You break the tense silence.

"What would you need at this time?" Jongho asks, confused as he glances over to you shortly.

"I want to drink some more. I can't deal with this shit semi-sober right now. Either I'm completely sober or completely smashed, or I'll go crazy tonight," you explain your sudden plan to him and coincidentally a 24/7 open store appears on the side of the road, making Jongho pull over and park the car.

A few cups of beer and soju later, you're slurring again, leaning against Jongho's broad frame. Your drunken state lets you let loose a little bit. Or more than a little. You even go as far as hugging him, pressing your cheek onto his chest and squeezing him tightly.

"You're so squishy." There's nothing in you that thinks talking to Jongho is a bad thing right now. You drowned all those thoughts with alcohol.

"So soft," you slur and snuggle closer, closing your eyes in bliss.

"Alright, [y/n], I think it's time for you to go home," Jongho laughs and tries to peel you off carefully, but you only tighten your grip and pout up at him, with your chin propped onto his chest.

"No," you look into his eyes firmly to refuse and then press your cheek onto his chest again, closing your eyes.

You feel the rumble of Jongho's laugh vibrating his chest and then feel strong arms embracing you.

"Step on my feet," Jongho tells you and you follow his order, stepping your right foot onto his left and your left onto his right, still clinging onto him but this time with him securing you onto his body as he walks you two to the car. He helps you into your seat and your head immediately lulls to the side, half asleep, as Jongho reaches over you and puts on your belt for you. Before he can duck out of the car to get into the drivers seat, you grab his arm and look up at him with your eyes as pleading as possible.

"I want a good dream," you mumble.

"And why are you telling me that?"

"I want you to-," you pause, "I don't know. I forgot." You cross your arms over your chest and pout again as you look straight ahead, facing away from the still hunched Jongho as if it's his fault that you forgot.

Jongho doesn't try to make you remember and just closes the door and gets in on the other side.

A few minutes of driving pass when suddenly you scream out, "squishy!" making Jongho swerve the wheel.

"That's what I forgot!"

"What the hell, [y/n]!" he slightly raises his voice out of panic. "What does that even have to do with a good dream?"

You shrug, happy that you now know what you forgot, "I don't know."

Jongho has to resist rubbing his face in frustration, a defeated smile taking over his lips. "How about we're quiet the rest of the ride, [y/n]?" Jongho phrases it like a question, but doesn't want an answer from you, which he doesn't get.

You just stare at his side profile for the rest of the ride, admiring his features and his cute little smile. A dreamy smile graces your face as you prop your elbow onto the armrest and your chin onto your hand.

"You're really pretty," you whisper, not even realizing that you're talking. Jongho doesn't show any more reaction than his smile broadening slightly, the action pushing his cheeks up and making them appear more full.

"So soft." As if in a trance, you reach out towards his hypnotizing cheek and quickly grab it between your fingers before Jongho can even react in any way.

"Ow! [y/n]!" he warns you, "let go of my cheek!"

You laugh loudly, "no."

A sigh leaves him and he gives up, trying to rip his face away from your grasp while driving.

Thankfully you arrive just a few minutes later. Jongho helps you walk into your home. Already having a routine for when you come home drunk, you lead him to your kitchen and sit down on the counter.

"I'm thirsty," you slur out, looking at Jongho with half opened eyes.

When he hands you your glass of water after opening every possible drawer and cupboard, you sulk, "and hungry."

A slice of bread and two more glasses of water later, you get ready for bed and Jongho tucks you in for the night. He can't get off the bed though, because you have his arm cuddled against your chest.

"Stay," you hum and pull his arm further to you, making him stumble onto the bed completely, landing beside you. You let go of his arm then and open your arms, "come here, squishy," you pet your chest, "let me cuddle you."

Having given up resisting the drunk you, he lays his head onto your chest and lets you squeeze him, "why do you only call me squishy when you're drunk?" he teases you. There is no point in him feeling embarrassed when he's actually feeling very comfortable in this position, pulling you to him as well.

"Do you not want to be my squishy?"

"Only if you go on a date with me."

"Ask me in the morning."

And with that Jongho can feel you tight grip on him softening. He stays lying next to you until the next morning when he asks you the question properly this time.

"Do you want to go out on a date with me?"

bonus

You accept.

Even though you're together, you still only call him 'squishy' when you're drunk, but he gets reminded of the nickname often enough by his friends.

p.s. thank you so much for 100 followers 🥰

[weightlessau]

jongho is BABIE🥺 the thought of him being this tough macho man who’s apart of the mafia is silly because he really is just sQUISHY😡😤 but i really enjoyed reading it and i hope u do write a second part !

he’s a squishy baby and no one can change my mind 😤 (and just imagine pinching his cheeks and him trying to swat your hand away but then just letting you baby him 🤧) thank you for reading and taking the time to write this 🥰❤️ i’ll be working on a part two!

[weightlessau]

Ahhh my heart!!! Your jongho writing was just fantastic and I absolutely loved it! Not going to lie... I wouldn’t be too opposed to seeing a part 2 of their date... but nonetheless, I adored this! I’ve always been so impressed with your previous jongho writings and I love to see you writing more of him! Take care and stay safe❤️❤️❤️

i did a little happy dance bc of this thank you sooo soo much ❤️🥰 i love writing for jongho and i’m really glad you enjoy reading it!! i’m really self conscious about my writing sometimes so it really helps when people tell you that they enjoy it 🥰❤️ i wouldn’t be opposed to writing a part 2 as well... if you want to see something specific you can hit me up! if not i can maybe think of something 🤔

again thank you so much! i’ll be hoping around my room for the rest of the day 🥰

you take care as well and stay safe ❤️🍀

[weightlessau]

cute and squishy [ateez; jongho]

1.5k words

summary: "oh you're so cute and squishy!" "i could kill you" (lowkey mafia!ateez)

Okay, you admit that going on vacation alone is kind of sad. But what else are you supposed to do when all your friends have to work while you're lucky enough to be on vacation? You didn't let that stop you when you booked your trip including a hotel with a pool which you are sitting at. 

And you certainly aren't regretting your decision while sipping your cocktail in the sun. One hand holding your cocktail, the other a book. That's the vacation you want to have, just following your own interests, not having to consider anyone else.

"Excuse me," a voice from your right interrupts your thoughts, "is this chaise lounge free?"

"Oh-uh yes," you nod, stunned by the sudden interaction.

The woman lying next to you doesn't seem to mind and starts a conversation after she made herself comfortable next to you. "Can you please put sunscreen on my back?"

"Sure."

While you rub the sunscreen onto her back, she starts talking, "my husband didn't want to come down to the pool today or I would have asked him, sorry if it makes you uncomfortable," she smiles apologetically up at you, squinting against the blazing sun.

"It's no problem, it's not like I have anything else to do," you laugh to reassure her.

"Did the others you're here with also not want to come down?" 

"Oh no, I'm here alone," you answer and lie down on your back again, ditching your book in favor of continuing the conversation.

"That's cool." She puts on her sunglasses to look into your direction better without being blinded by the sun. "If you want any company just come to me then. My husband never wants to go anywhere with me. We came here to relax together with some friends, but he just jumped right back into work and dragged the others with him."

"What room do you stay in?" you ask, hurriedly adding, "for future reference, if we want to go to the bar later maybe?"

"Sure, I'd love to!" she smiles brightly with her teeth on display. She must've been really bored. "I stay in the suit in the highest level. Just press the highest number in the elevator and you'll be dropped off directly in front of our suite."

Ignoring that she may be very rich and letting that intimidate you, you two continue with your conversation, becoming new friends immediately. You learn that her name is Sunhi and she's even lives just half an hour or so away from your home.

Later that same day, you lie in bed, freshly showered after you came back from dinner, not yet tired enough to sleep. You decide that this is the perfect time to meet up with your new friend for a trip down to the bar and get ready to go out. Slipping on your slippers you grab your room keys and get into the elevator. Pressing the highest number you get dropped off exactly where she described it.

You nervously knock, hoping she's free to grab a drink with you and actually meant her offer.

A few seconds pass, you lift your fist again to knock, but before you can do that the door flies open suddenly, revealing a tall, intimidating man dressed in a perfectly fittet suit.

"What's your business here?" he roughly asks.

Not even processing anything, you just stutter out, "I'm looking- I'm looking for Sunhi?"

Leaving you no chance to escape, the man grabs your arm, still hanging in the air, and drags you into the large suite. You can't even admire the extravagant interior, stunned by seven more man sitting around a large table, all staring at you.

"What do you want from my wife?" the blooding man in the center of the others ask.

"Uh," you look at the large man towering behind you and back at the waiting figures in front of you, "I wanted to ask if she wants to go to the bar with me?"

Luckily you're spared any more scary questions when you see your new friend make her way into the living room.

"[y/n]! Hi! What are you doing here?" Relieved that she's here, you hug her back and repeat your request.

"Sure, just let me get ready for a second." With that she leaves you with eight men staring directly at you while you try to avoid eye contact at all costs.

The silence is broken when Sunhi's husband speaks up. "Anything happens to her and you're dead."

You force down a dry gulp. "Okay," you squeak out.

As if on cue, Sunhi comes back again, grabs your arm lightly and you make your way down to the hotel bar.

Both of you skip any light stuff and immediately go for the harder liquor. You to forget whatever the hell just happened to you and Sunhi because she liked your idea. Drink after drink keeps coming from the bartender, your tap already heavy, until the reception has to call someone to come and pick you up. They would have called someone for you, too, if it wasn't for the fact that you are on vacation alone and too drunk to properly answer any questions.

After a few minutes of Sunhi and you giggling over the dumbest stuff, the door open for Sunhi's husband, Hongjoong, and another man.

Hongjoong makes his way to pick up yours and Sunhi's tab while the other man comes to you.

"Jongho!" Sunhi shouts once she realized who is standing right next to her. "My baby! When did you come here?"

"Just now."

"Here," you thrust your glass, still slightly full with some alcohol, towards him, "do you want a drink?" you slur.

"Alright," Hongjoong comes to your table, "I'll take Sunhi to our room and Jongho you take the friend to theirs."

"Okay, boss," Jongho agrees and helps you get up.

"I have a name, you know," you pout at Jongho when you get into the elevator next to the one Hongjoong helped your friend into.

"Okay." He doesn't even look into your direction, just glaring at the closing doors.

"It's [y/n]," you giggle as if it's the funniest thing ever.

"I didn't ask." He's still glaring at the doors, but you can see that he's suppressing a smile.

"You're so scary," you drunkenly say, "why are you so scary?"

"I don't know," finally he looks at you and your pout, "you tell me."

"You just need to smile." You smile widely at him, heavily leaning onto him, unable to stand on your own. You reach out with pointed fingers, pocking at his cheeks, trying to drunkenly guide his lips up into a smile.

"Smile," you demand and beam at him.

With a defeated sigh he does it reluctantly, showing his cute gummy smile, while thinking when the elevator will arrive at your level.

Before that can happen, you grab his cheeks and pinch them hard.

"Oh, you're so cute and squishy!"

"I could kill you." The frown from before returns to his face and the doors finally open. Jongho throws a strong arm over your shoulder and carefully tries to guide you towards your room. But you don't make it easy for him. You're still trying to grab onto his soft cheeks.

"Nah," you drawl out in response to him, "you're too cute for that, squishy! You'd never hurt a fly!"

"I'm not joking. I could just kill you right now."

"Could, but you won't because you're my squishy now!"

The next day you not only wake up with a massive headache, but with a blanket of regret weighing you down. 

Just a little after lunch a knock on the door, leaves your head pounding again. With a heavy goan, you heave yourself up to the door. 

"Morning," Sunhi whispers, "do you want to come to lunch with me?"

"Yeah, why not?" You haven't eaten anything all day in fear of throwing it up.

Only when you're already down near the restaurant does she tell you that it's with her husband and their friends. Which means Jongho, your 'squishy', is going to be there.

Not even looking into their direction, you immediately go to fill up your plate. Unfortunately, you can't avoid Jongho forever, though. To make it even worse, there's only two seats left around the large table. One next to Hongjoong and one next to Jongho. You're tempted to sit down next to Hongjoong for a second, but decide it's better to avoid the wrath of him. Jongho's eyes follow you when you sit down next to him, even scooting away a little from him, which only puts a grin on his face.

"Are you feeling any better?" Jongho smiles at you teasingly. You only spare him a quick nod before bowing over your plate again.

"No comments to my smile?" Again you only shake your head no.

"Come on, you weren't this shy yesterday," he teases you even more.

"Because I was drunk, Jongho," you deadpan.

"I thought I'm your squishy, why are you calling me Jongho now?"

You groan. "As I said: I was drunk."

"Aww, man. What a shame. I thought we had something going on for a second," Jongho pouts at you with his head tilted into your field of vision.

"Something going on?" you curiously tilt your head to him, too.

"Yeah. You know, pet names and all that," he smirks, "even though I would've liked to take you out on a date before we did that."

part two: adorable and soft

[weightlessau]

[7:46 pm]

"why did i agree to do this?" seonghwa grunts over the soft voice of the yoga instructor coming from your phone.

"you asked for this," you laugh at your miserable boyfriend.

a quick glance to the mat beside you makes you nearly topple over with laughter. seonghwa's face is dark red, straining himself to stretch himself as far as he can.

"don't laugh at me," seonghwa grunts out again, with a heavy breath leaving him.

"who thinks yoga is easy now, huh?" you really love teasing him about that. just half an hour ago seonghwa walked into you doing some light yoga in the living room, teasing you, saying yoga was the easiest thing ever. little did he know that he was in for a ride.

"i swear my muscles are going to snap any second now."

you try to hold back your laughter, back facing your boyfriend in warrior two, shoulders shaking slightly.

deep breaths in and out, [y/n], you remind yourself, just like the instructor says.

but you lose it when seonghwa shouts out over the soothing voice, "you know what? i'm done with this! i'm out! i swear i pulled a muscle!"

"don't underestimate me next time, hwa."

"yeah, yeah, i won't," he pouts and limps over to the kitchen to get a drink. that drama queen. you know that he didn't pull a muscle or else he would demand an ambulance immediately.

[weightlessau]

i can’t believe this happened... i’m going to cry 😭🤧

thank you @hwanami for telling me about it 🥰😭

stars fading but I linger on, dear [ateez; san]

Summary: Don’t give up hope.

(gender neutral reader)

1.3k words

Dandelions, fallen lashes, lost pennies, stars, birthday candles, wells, fountains.

All reasons to wish for something that may or may not come true.

You never really believed in things like that, but always hoped there was some kind of truth in those stories. Hope was needed all the time in your life. Whenever you came across an opportunity to make a wish, you took it and wished for the same things over and over and over again. That day was no different. When you went out that morning, a dandelion greeted you on your way to the station. As usual, you picked it up, closed your eyes tightly and blew with all your might. Next was a lash that fell onto your desk while you were working. Like a routine, you picked it up, closed your eyes tightly and blew with all your might. On your way home, tired and sluggish your dragging foot caught a penny laying on the sidewalk. Grabbing the chance, you picked it up, closed your eyes tightly and made that wish with all your might.

At night, you felt a little different. Coming home to an empty appartement with no one to greet you or just hug you, never failed to make you feel your loneliness immensely. How long had it been since the last time you hugged someone? Not those half-assed, one-armed hugs; a real hug that lingers on for more than a second, that makes you feel warm inside, makes you feel like you belong somewhere even after a soul sucking day, like you had had that day. The only things you were feeling were sadness and longing; longing for warmth, belonging, just a hug (maybe even a good cuddle, if you were allowed to be greedy for a second).

You were just about to close your curtains, ready to end the monotonous day, without any joy or genuine laughter, ready to end your thoughts, if only for a few hours of sleep, when a bright star caught your eye. Now, normally, you would have looked at the star, closed your eyes tightly and wished with all your might, maybe even clutching your hands together, but suddenly you had had enough of your routine. The star was possibly the brightest star you had ever seen, even brighter that Sirius. It was like the star was calling for you, giving you this indescripable urge. Maybe the suddenness wasn’t as sudden as you believed. Many times you had come home to this feeling of loneliness and that day was the last day you would allow yourself to be monotonous. That was the last straw.

And for the first time in a long time you didn’t wish for a better job, a chance to get more successful in your workplace, or anything mundane like that, you wished for a hug from someone who wouldn’t want to let go, who would be there you wrap you into their arms after a long day and drag their fingers through your hair or over back, massaging as they go, loosening tight muscles. You wished for someone to love you and for you to love them back just as much.

That wish was the night before you met San.

It wasn’t love at first sight. No, not at all. Those never really last anyway. No, San was one of many. One of those who come in and out of your office. Your cube neighbour had left the job, worked hard enough for a better one and now your office was in need of a new person, who could do the job.

That’s where San comes in. Young, wild and unemployed. He was always more of a free spirit, who went with the flow, but after Seonghwa had scolded him for the hundreth time for not taking his life more seriously, with no real direction to go into, San decided that maybe his elder was a little bit right and applied for an office job. He already liked waking up early and then also being able to leave early? Sign him up. He didn’t want to loose any of the freedom he had had before, so a job that allows him to have a hobby after work was perfect to him.

Just as luck would have it, he was accepted right that morning. And the two of you became friends. Some would even say best friends at work. Every morning, when you arrive, San is already sitting at his own cubicle, but has a cup of your favourite warm beverage waiting. In return, you always get him his mid-day coffee. After a while it became a routine and you were always seen together in the office. This relationship spread to after-work hours, without you even realizing it. Suddenly you were grabbing dinner after long hours of tiring work, then you were ordering in at either his or your appartement and then you spent the night over.

San is a very affectionate person, who loves cuddling, holding hands or anything similar, so it’s to no surprise that your relationship developed to one with lots of friendly loving.

Just as usual you are lying on the couch with him, arms wrapped around his waist, head on his chest and his hand caressing your hair. Slowly you’re feeling sleepy and you don’t pay attention to the movie playing in the background.

Before you can completely fall asleep though, San mumbles something under his breath. You start up from your semi-sleep.

“What?” you ask disoriented and sit up with lots of difficulty.

“Nothing,” San waves you off quickly, a blush spreading on his cheeks. His hands are now frozen and glued to his side.

“No, no, sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep like that. If you want to talk, we can totally talk.” You rub your eyes and fully sit next to him, your body angled towards him, “I’m awake now, anyway.”

San takes a deep, stuttering breath, “You just remind me of a star that I saw the night before I met you. Eventhough I never saw the star again, I got you.” The blush not only intensifies on his face, but also yours.

You don’t know what to say so a dumb “what?” leaves you. Is this the same star, you had wished upon months again? Now that you think about it, you did see the star the night before meeting San, someone who never hesitates to wrap his arms around you and never lets you have lonely thoughts.

“I really like you, (Y/N). Have been for quite a while.”

The only thing you can do is stare at him. Because San, the hottest, nicest, cutest, friendliest person you have met, likes you, (Y/N). San? Likes you?

Your silence makes San panic. Tears appear in his eyes. “Shit. Sorry, let’s forget that. I- I shouldn’t have- shouldn’t have said that.” A pout takes over his lips. Seeing him on the verge of tears makes you finally snap out of your stupor.

“NO!” A deep breath in and out. “No, San. I like you, too. I was just shocked that you like me back.”

“Oh,” San breathes out. You can visibly see the relief wash over him. A smile breaks out onto his face, accenting his dimples, then a laugh leaves him. “That’s good. Great! Amazing!”

You don’t know how long you sit there together, just smiling at each other before San pulls you into him, into a tight hug, just like you wanted.

“You know,” you start, “I saw that star, too, the night before I met you.” Tilting your head up, you meet his soft eyes already looking at you. “I even wished for something.” This makes one eyebrow shoot up.

“Really? What did you wish for?” he asks with curiousity showing in his sharp eyes.

“Someone to make me feel less lonely.”

“I hope your wish has been fullfilled.” He gazes at you lovingly.

“Well, I met you, didn’t I?”

Bonus:

The next time you see the star, it is the night before you meet your child for the first time.

to celebrate the pretty date today (20.02.2020 (or for the others 02/20/2020))

feedback and requests are as always welcome!

[weightlessau]

Your Dad Yunho was so good! I'm a sucker for kpop idols as dads!

thank uuuuu 🥰 same! i always squeal so hard when i read those kind of aus