#all of the teezers will be here too dw

[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme 7 -> mingi x fem!reader -> nice for what

wc: 12k ( i'm sorry ?! ) warnings: 18+, sexual content and alcohol consumption in every part, infidelity themes... if i missed anything please let me know! posted: 2/27/25 8:16 pm est.

masterlist ~ <- previous part - next part ->

Hongjoong circled around the coffee table in the middle of the couches, a wine glass dangling between his fingers adorned with silver rings. Sinking onto a cushion beside Seonghwa, he curled his legs beneath him, the Gucci socks getting lost beneath the silk hanging off of his lower half. Inches of space kept between the two did nothing to deter the sexual magnetism radiating off of them.

Stretching an arm along the back of the sofa, behind Hongjoongs back, careful not to actually touch him- none of you have seen them do so- Seonghwa kicked his legs out in front of him, bare olive skin in little loose fitted shorts, crossing his ankles. 

Gentle music pulsed through the room, a soft R&B playlist off of Mingi’s phone, one that heated your cheeks, your toes longing to curl as each song changed into one that brought back a plethora of memories. Catching his half smirk across the room with each new beat, hanging around opposite sides of the house for the evening, he knew what he was doing to you.

He sat on the couch to the left of Seonghwa and Hongjoong, Jongho also in the mix sitting beside your boyfriend. Beer cans in hand, they spoke covertly with their leaders, hushed voices like gentle lullabies sneaking over to where you stood with the girls around the kitchen island, the girls and Yeosang. He bounced back and forth, a few minutes with the boys, a few minutes with you girls, which meant a few minutes with his girl. 

You’re certain you’ll all be receiving save the dates in the mail sometime next year.

Yeosang had no other reason to hang around the guys aside from spending genuine time with them. Nasara is his past, Keni is his future. Balancing the two now, watching him wander from couch to counter, from leaning over a sofa to wrapping an arm around her waist, checking in on her without a word, without interrupting her aside from the tiniest kiss to her cheek, it’s like his life went unchanged.

Like graduating hadn’t affected him in the slightest. He’s ready to move on, he wants what comes next, he’s leaving all of you, this life, behind. 

Much like Ryujin and Jeongyeon, not one of them questioned what came next for the sorority, the fraternity. The three of them, they didn’t need to know. Sure, if it came up in conversation they cared, they listened, they watched with gleaming eyes as the rest of you talked plans, talked details. But, they didn’t contribute. Nor did they have any opinions. They had nothing to say.

Even now, as the song changed into one more upbeat now that the night progressed later and Mingi shifted the vibes, Yuna ran her mouth a mile a minute, eyes wide, hands flying as she expressed her ideas for fundraisers and for recruiting new girls, letting the underclassmen shadow their seniors with the specific positions they’d want in the future… Ryujin blinked. Her gaze traveled out toward the living room. She rested her elbows on the counter and laid her head on Jeongyeons shoulder, and they whispered to each other.

She didn’t pay attention.

She’d rather talk to her girlfriend. She’d rather move up to Iloa, rent an apartment with her, call you guys occasionally, slum it through these weeks with all of you, then go back to her separate life with Jeongyeon like the last four years of her life never happened.

Personally, I don’t wanna stay stuck in a place that made me miserable.

That’s what she told you that night in Cheers. That this chapter has closed, that if she wants to feel better, if she wants to get better, she has to move on.

It must be the same for Yeosang.

I’m willing to make sacrifices for the people I love.

Your eyes found Mingi. Leaning over his knees covered in baggy denim, his black button down exposed his golden chest, a few silver chains dangling around his neck, contrasting against his skin. He wore his black, square, chunky glasses tonight, they sat on the edge of his nose. You don’t know how many times you have to tell him that if he doesn’t wear them right he’ll have a headache within the hour, but he’ll defend himself, Tori, if I push them back they don’t look right, they have to look right.

Not paying attention to you, he listened to Seonghwa who hadn’t moved from Hongjoongs side. The president, with his head softly bobbing around, spoke like Yuna, a mile a minute, just much quieter. It gave you insight to how the house was run behind closed doors. You’ve shared with Mingi what the sorority was like, and he’s told you just as much about ATZ, but to see it happening in real time, right in front of you, so compelling.

Hongjoong had minute things to add, his eyes on Seonghwa, a gaze that’d drop to his lips occasionally. After a small sip from his glass, swirling the wine around before another, he’d speak, and after a few times, it happened.

Seonghwa’s hand gripped the back of his neck, thumb and fingers on either side, squeezing him. Turning his head, his glare blazing like Hongjoong had said something wrong, neither of them faltered. Where Seonghwa’s eyes were hot, almost angry, Hongjoongs were alight with mischief. Both Mingi and Jongho glanced away the second Seonghwa pulled Hongjoong closer by his neck. His lips found his ear, a whisper shared, one no one needed to know.

Seonghwa released him and Hongjoong fell back into place with a smile on his face.

Wandering over to the fridge, leaving Yuna and Keni to discuss Iloa with Ryujin and Jeongyeon, you pulled a seltzer off the shelf and cracked it open, swinging the door shut with a slam. Facing the living room, downing half your drink in a few gulps, you watched the front door open a crack, Yunho slipping inside on alert, scanning the room before closing the door behind him. 

Spotting you, he lifted his hand with the smallest wave, then tried to make his six foot self smaller, planting himself on the couch opposite Mingi, next to Yeosang. The boys acknowledged his appearance, but didn’t let it deter them from discussion. Yunho fell right in without missing a beat.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Ryujin said, spawning beside you, grabbing herself a new drink. 

Giving her a shrug, glancing down at her, you pursed your glossed lips. “Lots to think about.”

“You still having trouble adjusting?” she asked, eyeing the scene beneath her shaggy bangs parted in the center. Looking up at you, she read your gaze and laughed. “Damn, Tor. Maybe you need to talk to someone.”

The words stung. “I don’t need to talk to anyone,” you snapped. “I need people to stop being assholes.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Who’s being an asshole?” There wasn’t a single infliction in her tone. She remained utterly calm, her inner lion always asleep until it was necessary for it to wake up. “As far as I know, everyone’s chill.”

“Everyone is not chill.”

“Like who?” she asked, bobbing her chin. “Aurora? You guys haven’t spoken in, like, two days, Tor.”

“‘Cause she’s wrapped up in her life, Rio,” you sneered, both of your gazes heating up. “Everybody thinks they’re so adorable, they’re so cute, but no one is looking at it.”

Ryujin tightened her jaw. “When was the last time you went out of your way to ask her about it? About him? Have you even talked to her about it, and listened?”

“When’s the last time she’s asked me about me?” 

Your voices were raised, the only indicator being Mingi’s attention turned to you from the living room.

Ryujin’s entire demeanor changed, like she took an entire mental step backward. “She’s tried. You won’t talk to her. She’s been asking us all to look out for you, to make sure you’re okay, that you have a good time while we’re here.”

Your heart sank into your stomach. “You told her what we talked about? She told you stuff, too?”

“She hasn’t said shit, Tor,” she shook her head, “And I didn’t tell her a thing. She knows you, you think she can’t tell that something’s off? That something between the two of you is wrong?”

You couldn’t even hide it. Distorting your face into something of a frown, you scoffed, then groaned. “I tried to talk to her after we got into it, but she ignored me.” Ryujin tilted her head. “I haven’t tried again since.”

“Okay, she may have told me something,” she said after a couple blinks. Your cheeks warmed. “We’ve been out the last two nights, right?” You nodded. Everyone’s been spending time at Cheers together, drinking, dancing, but just the main group of you all, the people in the house right now. “She told me she’s staying out of your way.” You parted your lips, but she continued on. “And that she wanted me to help keep you away from her. For your sake. Not hers.”

Feet thundered down the stairs behind you, San whooping, leaping over the back of the couch Mingi and Jongho sat on, wedging himself in the middle of the two. Taking Mingi’s chin in his hand after nearly knocking the two boys out with his knees, he tugged your boyfriend closer and smacked a thick, wet kiss to his cheek before he tried to do the same to Jongho, but the boy held up a hand and San retreated with a smirk.

The room grew louder. Especially once San caught a glimpse of Yunho sitting across from him.

“She told me that she thinks she bothers you,” Ryujin said, taking your attention back. “And, she doesn’t know why. She doesn’t know what she’s done, she doesn’t know how to fix it, and she feels bad for putting you through a hard time without realizing it.”

The tiniest laugh sparked at your lips. Shaking your head, letting her words sink in, mess with your heart, mess with your head, you sent her a glare. “Of course,” you lowered your voice, hearing footsteps on the stairsteps. “Of course she’d think that. That it’s because of her. No one fucking gets it.” 

Pressing your can to your lips you spun away from her and started around the counters, heading for Mingi. Ryujin threw her arms out and shook her hair around.

“We’re trying to!” she shouted.

Aurora and Wooyoung had come downstairs. Wrapped up in one another, Aurora pressed to his chest, her arms slung around his back like they usually were, they stood behind San, Wooyoung toying with the short black hair tousled atop his head. Cracking jokes, all the boys laughing with one another aside from Mingi and Yunho, no one seemed to notice the way Aurora stared across the room. No one except the boy she stared at.

He fought to look elsewhere, fidgeting in his seat, only uncomfortable because she held onto Wooyoung at the same time, Yunho didn’t know what to do. Yeosang slid a hand over his knee, calming him. Yunho gave him a look, but he didn’t return it, his focus laid upon his girlfriend who joined the group in the living room, as did Yuna. 

Sinking onto Mingi’s lap without sparing Aurora a look, not that she’d dare look away from her soulmate to acknowledge you, you wrapped an arm around his shoulder and kissed his cheek, the one San didn’t. Sliding his phone into his pocket in a hurry when you appeared in front of him, he smiled up at you and sat backward, inviting you in. One of his hands rested around your waist and the high waisted denim skirt hugging your hips. The other reached up to tuck some of your hair behind your ear, his fingertips dancing along the golden earrings hanging from your lobes. 

“Hi pretty girl.” Voice low, gravely, just for you, he coerced you closer for a real kiss, one gentle and slow. “You okay?” he asked through a breath. A shake of your head was enough for him. Anyone could feel the tension in the air, sprouting from a thousand places other than just your own heart. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, blinking his big brown eyes up at you behind his frames.

“It’s okay,” you whispered back, dragging your fingers through his hair. “I’ll just stay right here all night, and everything will be fine.”

Mingi squeezed your curves and smized. “Fine by me.”

“Hey, Tori?” Yunho’s voice sounded beside you. He left his spot on the couch to crouch next to the one the two of you sat on. Turning your head, ghosting Mingi’s kiss, you questioned him with a brow. “Can I talk to you for a second?” 

“Sure,” you said quietly, turning to Mingi who nodded at you and helped you off of his lap. Yunho lead you into the kitchen, out of earshot of everyone else. Towering above you, an inch taller than your boyfriend, he flickered his eyes in and out of the living room. “What’s up, Yo?”

He paced a bit, slowly, yet obvious his nervous system had been overloaded. He was going to talk about Aurora. And you were going to have to endure it.

“I don’t know what to do,” he sucked in a breath, shaking his head in tiny, a trillion times. “Up until the other night, no, until that party, no.” He paused, turning toward you. “The other night, the night at Wave, what the fuck.” 

“Words, Yunho,” you said gently, resting a hand on a counter.

He drug his hands through his hair and tried to take another deep breath, but it was as if his lungs had forgotten how to work. “I was fine. I could do this.”

“Do what?”

He grit his teeth, dropping his hands at his side. “Watch them. Be around them. Encounter them in the wild and not have it affect me so awfully terribly. But, now that she knows something, now that I know a lot of something, I can’t.” He gulped. He spun around once to catch a glimpse of the couple now sitting on the back of the sofa behind San, then faced you. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to-”

“Then, go home,” you said. Shock slapped him across the face. “You can’t handle it, then leave. What else do you want me to say?”

Dropping his eyes, taking all of you in, as if to double check who he was speaking to, he said within a breath, “What?”

You shrugged. “You heard me.”

“Tor, I thought-”

“She’s not speaking to me anymore,” you said, and his face went blank. “Somehow, right now, I might be okay with that. If you want Aurora, you go get Aurora. I don’t want to help anymore.”

Leaving him in the kitchen, you backed away a few steps and started yourself toward Mingi. He followed you.

“Can you at least tell me why Mingi was so quick to defend Hwa that night?” he asked.

Facing him one last time, you sipped your drink and looked him in the eye. “You distanced yourself. From everyone. Is it so criminal they’ve grown closer? You’re no longer in the middle of them, they have a friendship of their own now.” He glanced over your head at the boys laughing together. “You want to know why, you ask him.”

You stepped away, but he took one step closer. 

“But, I thought we-”

“No,” you said, whipping your head toward him one last time. “Whatever you’re thinking, no. I don’t wanna be involved. You wanna play your games with her? Go ahead. You wanna pull my boyfriend through months of hell again, make him not speak to you? Go ahead. You did this. It’s your fault, Yunho.”

Turning from him, you didn’t let anything stop you this time, not Mingi’s attention, not Yunho’s shout of your name, nothing. Crinkling the can in your hand, you threw it to the hardwood and hurried for the front door, yanking it open, slamming it shut behind you without a care for the houses wellbeing or the people inside of it. Wandering over the porch to the front stairs, you took a couple down toward the sand in the yard and paused. 

Closing your eyes in the night air, taking a deep breath, planting your hand on one of the railings, you let the breeze ease the heat beneath your skin. Let it partially clear your head from all thoughts of the people in the living room, though the buzz of them could still be heard where you stood.

Everything you once wanted, everything that brought you down, the weighted thoughts, the heavy words, the awful feelings… It all came from them.

Everyone in the house.

A family you so desperately yearned to keep together.

Immovable forces, every single one of them. Beings full of freewill. In no way can you force them back where you wanted them. In no way can you make them feel how you want them to feel.

There was no putting them back together, they moved against you. Opposed to you.

Pulling your phone from the back pocket of your skirt, you tapped on your messages and sent one off to your father.

[you]: what if i dropped out of ITZ

The thought nauseated you, but it was the first thing to pop into your head as you stood out here without them. 

There were two unread messages from ITZ. One sent earlier, and the other sent about a minute ago.

[ITZ]: hi sexy. whats this night gonna be like :) 

[ITZ]: are you okay??

Sighing heavily, you sat down on the step you stood on and rolled your head backward. Tilting it side to side, looking either way into the shadows that bounced off of other houses, your eye caught a five foot something shaped shadow wandering closer to your porch.

“Tori?” he asked, and you groaned internally.

Jongseob appeared in the light pouring from the windows of your house, mere feet from where you sat on the step. His hands were in his dark denim pockets, his matching dark tee hanging over his waist. Dirty blonde hair fluffed on his head, he wore a pout and concern in his eyes.

“What do you want?” you grumbled.

He glanced back toward his house, where distant noise and commotion came from. “We’re smoking, I heard the door slam and saw you come out here. Just didn’t sound good.”

“So, you’re here to check on me?” you sneered, and he nodded, unaffected by your venom. “Thanks, but I’m fine.”

He took a step closer to the stairs. “Are you?”

“Yes,” you snapped. “Now leave me alone.”

A smirk found his lips, a flash of his teeth peeking between them. Tilting his chin back, he laughed. “This the thanks I get for exterminating your house?”

Narrowing your eyes, you shook your head. “What are you talking about?”

He glanced toward his porch, then lifted a brow. “I took care of your little Soul problem, didn’t I?”

Your stomach flipped. “That was you?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “It was obvious he bothered you. We’ve got a lot out of him since he’s been back, you’re friends with some freaks.”

Groaning aloud this time, you squeezed your eyes shut. “I know, I know!” 

“Surprised no party has ever turned into something more,” he said, lifting a foot to place it on the bottom stair. “Or does something like that happen tonight, when we aren’t invited.”

Shooting him a glare, you said, “Does it look like we’re in the middle of an orgy!?”

His eyes drew up and down your body. “Could be, I dunno. You’re unpredictable, Tori.”

A breath corrupted your lungs, and it shouldn’t have. His words, his stare, his intent. “You’ll say anything, won’t you?”

“I mean it,” he whispered, meeting your eyes with such ferocity. “There’s a lot I don’t know about you, a lot so many of us don’t know about you. You keep it hidden. But, I see it.” His eyes flashed to the door behind you. “I could look at every girl in there and know exactly who they are, know exactly how they work. Yuna, she needs someone to take care of her. Keni, she needs someone to control. Aurora, a slut.”

“Watch your mouth.”

He stepped up onto the stair, looking down at you now. “It’s the truth is it not? You know it, everyone knows it, no one speaks of it. How come?” 

Leaning down over you, his face inches from your own, his smile sparked something within you, it fueled your frustration for everyone in that living room, it gave you an excitement you hadn’t felt in months.

“I’m exactly like that son of a bitch in there, the one wearing Aurora. I see everything, I pick up on it all, I can figure out why these people work the way that they work, and I know how to take what they give me unknowingly, twist it up, and spit it back out at them.” 

You watched him in awe. 

“Wooyoung is quick, but I am quicker. They think Soul’s been rogue since he left with me from that last party?” 

You nodded. 

“He’s been drinking on my couch and passing a girl back and forth with Intak for days before he passes out in my bed for hours just to wake up and do it all over again. He’s twenty. What the fuck do they think he’s gonna do?”

“They say you guys take advantage of him,” you said quietly, and he scoffed.

“Advantage of what? What can Soul do?” He laughed. “He barely knows his right from his left, do they think he’s walking around telling people off, getting in fistfights, causing problems?” You shrugged. “He’s not,” he said with a wink. “That’s Wooyoung.”

“I dunno, they just-”

“Talk?” His smirk made you feel something you shouldn’t, but after a few drinks you couldn’t help yourself. “That’s all they ever do, isn’t it? Take it from me, as someone on the outside of it, Tor. Who are all of those people without this drama? All of your friends in there, what are they without something to talk about? Someone to do dirty? A plot to scheme up and pursue?”

Brainless, his pink lips knocked every thought from your head.

“Exactly,” he said softly, releasing a breath, one grazing your skin. “It’s all a game to them.” He reached out a hand and moved a strand of hair from your cheek. Your breath caught in your lungs. “And you’re another pawn, aren’t you?” He crouched down in front of you, his head between your legs if you were to part them. “Want some help?” he asked in a whisper, flashing you caramel doe eyes. “Mind if we come play?”

Their peace had been disturbed.

Giving Jongseob ten minutes to collect his friends, his groupies, you scurried back inside the house, bolting for the fridge for another drink to enjoy while the boys walked themselves in the house and everybody lounging around on the couches watched it happen. Mingi, with his eyes on you, gave you a smile, one small, loving, just enough to warm the edges of your heart hanging cold in your chest.

Standing behind the island counter, drink in hand, sipping in delicately, you returned it to him, but he didn’t believe you. Rising from the couch, giving Aurora and Wooyoung more space to spread out beside San, he joined you in the kitchen, a hand sliding around your shoulder.

The only acknowledgement of you returning inside, Yuna’s glance from where she sat on top of Jongho. Her always wide eyes met yours, full of worry, and they asked you questions, ones you couldn’t answer at the moment.

“What happened, Tor?” Mingi asked from your side, stepping closer to press his chest to your shoulder. His other hand squeezed you, fingers digging into muscle. “With Ryujin? With Yunho?”

Looking up at him, tipping your chin backward almost all the way, you planted a smile on your lips. “I’m over it.”

“Over what?” His brows furrowed.

“All of this.”

The front door swung open, the handle hitting the wall it slammed into as Jongseob stepped over the threshold with Soul wobbling under his arm, a big smile on both their faces. Behind them, Jiung, Intak, and a few other boys who’ve shown up to parties, are a part of ATZ, and have definitely heard plenty about you with how they grinned over Jongseob’s shoulder.

“Tori.” Mingi’s tone fell flat. Smiling, you glanced at him and stood to your tiptoes to plant a kiss to his cheek. He stared at the boys wandering in, one of them closing the door. “What the fuck?”

Taking sips of your drink, you stationed yourself here for the time being, watching it all play out before your eyes.

Confused, every single one of them, no one knew what to do, things for the most part fell silent aside from the boys' remarks about not being invited and what a way to welcome Soul home. Aurora didn’t look at him. Focused on Wooyoung who, what it seemed, tried to kill Intak with a glare, she pressed herself closer to him and toyed with the chain around his neck. 

Seonghwa was the only one to stand up, extending a hand toward the underclassmen, welcoming them in after Hongjoong finally whispered something to him and shoved him off the sofa. Pointing them around in the direction of things they’d need, drinks, bathroom, back patio, Jongseob took the president by the shoulder with a grin and thanked him. 

“All my shit still upstairs?” Soul asked him, his hand holding the back of Jongseob’s tee with a nasty grip. Seob did say they’d been smoking, you wouldn’t be surprised if any of them were doing both, furthering your interest in the rest of this night. 

Seonghwa clenched his jaw. “Yeah, your shit’s still upstairs. We didn’t touch anything.” 

Soul shot a look toward Aurora paying no mind to him and shouted, “That’s a shock!“

Both Intak and Jiung laughed, making their way past the couch the couples sat on, Intak sure to get his own death glare toward Wooyoung in before shaking Seonghwa’s hand.

Jiung pouted and nudged Soul's shoulder in a way that would’ve sent him to the floor if he wasn’t clinging to Jongseob. “Mommy didn’t touch your stuff?”

“Mommy hasn’t touched his stuff in a while,” Jongseob smized, and Wooyoung nearly leapt off of the couch. 

“This is not good,” Mingi mumbled beside you. He turned to you and your soft smile, scoffing at you in disbelief. “Are you enjoying this?”

You spared him a glance. “No, I, uh…”

“Come on,” Jongseob sang out, his head tipping backward as the boys laughed at something you missed. Aurora whispered to Wooyoung, you figured it was another comment about them. “Can we party, we came here to party!” Seob looked around for you, then pointed a finger in your direction. “You,” he winked. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Mingi asked behind his teeth just for you to hear. The boys whirled away as the music grew in volume, Mingi facing you completely. “Tori. What is he thanking you for?”

Pursing your lips, you took another sip of your drink. “Inviting them into my house.”

Within the hour the lights had dimmed, the amount of people doubled, and so did your consumption of drinks. Wedged between Jongseob and Jiung in the game room, the two of them shooting pool and blowing weed smoke in your face, you listened to them blab on and on about underground rappers they loved and what they were going to do when you and your friends left Haos. Intoxicated enough to not care that they were smoking inside, in a house you were renting that would most likely charge you for smoking inside, you bounced from one of their shoulders to the other sipping your umpteenth drink.

Bodies moved around you, other people the boys played with, faces unrecognizable, but fuck it, if Seob knew them then they were okay in your book tonight. 

“What are you on, baby girl?” Jongseob asked after his turn, balls clacking against one another, Jiung and the other players witnessing Seob’s almost victory, but he was too engrossed in you to realize. He touched the bottom of your can and you shrugged. Blinking through dazed eyes, he laughed at you. “Oh, you’re fucked up.”

Taking a hand to his shoulder, you squeezed him and laughed with him. “Nooo, no, no, M’not.”

Jongseob raised a brow and brought his hand to yours where it rested on him. “Baby, you can���t even speak full words.” 

Stepping closer to him, Jongseob ignored the joint between Jiung’s fingers hanging over his shoulder and let you move into him. “I can speak full words, Jongseob… Seob… Seobie.” Giggling, you leaned into him, but he didn’t move.

“Seobie, huh?” he questioned, smiling at you. “What about Mingi?” 

Your eyes widened and he winked. “Mingi,” you parroted. He bobbed his head.

“The boyfriend,” he said. “Where is he?”

“I dunno, I been with you this whole time.”

Jongseobs smile went crooked. “Yeah, you have. How come?”

Both of your hands found his chest. “Because…”

“Seob, you're up!” Jiung shouted from the opposite corner of the table. Jongseob shot him a glare and waved him off.

“…Are you the one who’s texting me?” you asked, and his head tilted, and his eyes widened a bit. Dirty blonde hair framed his face, his round cheeks, his charismatic aura.

“Am I texting you?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you said, leaning into him so much now that your chests were brushing. “I have this unknown number texting me, since we got here, I can’t figure out who it is… At first I thought it was you, but then I thought it was Yunho… But, it can’t be Yunho ‘cause he loves Ror, so, it’s gotta be you.”

Jongseob glanced over your shoulder, his lips parted in surprise. Meeting eyes with someone, he laughed aloud. 

“What’s this person saying to you?” It was Intak behind you. Short, black hair moved in your peripheral, but you focused on Jongseob. The edges of your vision were blurry.

“Sex stuff,” you said, and they both gasped, laughing together. “They’re saying I should tell Mingi, and we can have a threesome.”

“Sounds like you,” Intak said to Jongseob who gleamed with pride. “Is it?”

“I wish,” he spat. “That’s fuckin’ smart. Leading you on for this long, knowing you…”

“Knowing me?” you asked, shaking your head. The boys shared a look. 

“You aren’t gonna leave him alone,” Jongseob said, lowering his hands on your back. “You’re gonna keep pushing ‘till you figure out who it is.”

A pout formed on your lips. Your hands fisted his t-shirt into clumps. “Oh, c’mon, it’s not you?”

“Nah,” he shook his head, then his hands slipped even lower, feeling you up, searching for your phone. Ignoring how your breath stifled when his fingers grazed over your ass to pull it from your back pocket, you barely had time to react to anything at all. “Lemme see what y’all are talking about.”

“Seob, wait,” you breathed, moving to snatch it from him, but he was a little more sober than you were at the moment. Using your face ID to get into it, holding it up in front of you, you still weren’t quick enough to catch it. “Hang on!”

Intak watched over his shoulder, both boys snickering at the messages as they scrolled. Whining, shaking Seob’s arm around, not really doing much, you had to wait until they handed it back over.

“You faked an orgasm?” Jongseob shot you a look so disgusted you wanted to smack it off of his face. Lunging for the phone, he moved swiftly. “Oh, baby, come on. I think that would ruin my life,” he said to Intak, and his friend agreed, “If a girl faked it ‘cause of me, and told people about it, goodbye world.” 

“Nah, same, bro,” Intak groaned. “And I’ve got a rep now?! If a girl ever… Christ, man.” He looked you over and shrugged. “He’s lucky you’ve been together for ages, imagine if that was one hook up? Bro would be cooked.”

Bro. 

His name is Mingi.

“His name is Mingi,” you attempted to scoff, and they both snickered. Jongseob typed away at your phone before locking it and slapping it into your hand. 

“Don’t get defensive now, babe, it won’t do much, I can smell it from here.”

Pushing by you, gripping the back of your neck, Jongseob, followed by Intak and Jiung, moved you out of the game room and into the dark living room lit up by phone screens and the dim kitchen light. 

“Where are we going?” you asked, watching how he and his friends seemed to scour the place for familiar faces. 

“To find your friends,” he mumbled over the music. 

A boy passed by, the one from the other party, taking note of how Jongseob held onto you. “It’s your night Seob,” he cheered, tapping him on the shoulder with a fist. 

You raised a brow. “Your night?”

Jongseob touched a finger under your chin, giving you a smile. “Don’t worry about it.” His eye caught something on the second floor, from the balcony edge just after the staircase where the bar lived. “Find Soul,” he muttered to Intak and Jiung, “Let’s go.”

Yunho and Mingi sat at the bar. Facing their backs to the marble, leaning against it, their legs were hooked onto the rungs of the cushioned stools they were perched upon. Sipping from cocktail glasses, elbows nudging together every now and again, they spoke quietly to one another, eyes scoping the scene of their friends before them. 

Wooyoung in a lounge chair, Aurora on his lap. Jongho on the slender leather sofa pushed to the wall, Yuna smushed into his side, his arm around her. Yeosang and Keni relaxed into the other end of the couch, hands intertwined. San wandered about the circle, talking to someone new every five minutes. Ryujin and Jeongyeon sat on the floor in front of the couch. Seonghwa sat on the other lounge chair, Hongjoong either hovering behind him or sitting on the floor between his legs in front of the glass table that lived in the center on top of the blue patterned rug draped along the floor.

Other people teetered by occasionally, simply wandering from floor to floor, stopping by the group to say hi, to try to get on the inside, to earn their points as members of ATZ and ITZ. Neither Seonghwa nor Aurora paid much attention aside from a hi, this vacation wasn’t meant to turn into a Greek Life event.

They sat up here for comfort, to stay away from the younger crowd, to keep to themselves like the night was meant to be spent, just the core group. Not the incels down the street.

The ones you waddled up the stairs with.

The ones met with almost eleven complete death glares as you stepped up onto the second floor and expressed your excitement for finding everyone.

“You knew they were up here,” you said to Jongseob, hitting him with an elbow before teetering toward Mingi and Yunho. Both boys raised a brow, their eyes shifting between you and Jongseob. “Mingi,” you sighed with a smile, reaching for his arm. You were intoxicated enough to not notice him move away from you, leaning into Yunho.

“Where’ve you been?” he asked. 

You tried to reach for him again. Tilting your head, you laughed. “Whadda you mean? I’ve been here, downstairs, we were playing pool.”

“You don’t know how to play pool, Tor,” he said. Yunho pressed his lips together to hide his smile and turned away. “We moved up here and you said you’d come with us.”

Glancing around the space, the underclassmen now integrated with your friends, every exchange dripping with some sort of intended malice, you shook your shoulders in a little shimmy and gave him another smile. “I’m here now,” you said. “And they aren’t so bad.” Gesturing toward the younger boys standing over their elders, talking down to them, both Mingi and Yunho let out a quiet snicker. Mingi’s ended with a groan.

“You’re pushing all of us away,” Mingi said, just to you. “None of this is you, Torilynn. I thought we were moving past things, I thought we were getting through these things together, but I can’t…” he paused, shaking his head, “I don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing. And that hurts me, because I used to know why you did every little thing, why every single detail of every single thing mattered.” 

You blinked at him. Unfortunately you processed every other word. 

“Doing this? Bringing them here when you know they cause problems? Bringing them here to, I dunno, maybe cause problems? ‘Cause you know how we all feel about them, you know what they do to Rora, you know how they look at me. You know it, Tori. And you did it anyway.”

Soul hurried around the bar with the biggest smile on his face, his black eyes alight with excitement. Watching him push around bottles of liquor and tiny glasses while the other boys shouted at him, you dropped your jaw, searching your mind for something to say to Mingi, but you couldn’t find a word. 

He was right.

Clenching his jaw, staring at you, waiting for you to speak, he shook his head and sipped his drink realizing he wasn’t going to get anything out of you. 

“Come on,” Soul said to you, bumping into your shoulder, inches taller than you were. He nodded toward the group forming a circle around the glass table. The younger boys coerced everyone closer, the circle tightening with sighs and groans and rolls of eyes. Holding up a bottle of vodka, Soul laughed. “Let’s play.”

Meeting Jongseob’s gaze from across the room, his smirk drilled beneath your skin, warming you, yet filling you with some kind of unease you couldn’t quite place. Jongho waved Mingi over before you had the chance to grab onto him, your titan of a boyfriend strolling toward the couple on the couch, perching himself on the arm of the leather next to his friend. Yunho joined the group as well, keeping himself still on the outskirts of it all, sitting down on the floor beside Seonghwa and Hongjoong, Mingi on the couch on the other side of him.

With every reluctant step toward them the tension seemed to ease. Everyone focused on Soul handing out shot glasses, wanting them full, some of your friends knocking them back before any game actually began. Stepping over legs, brushing past faces you didn’t dare look at, you ended up between Ryujin and Jeongyeon on the floor, stretching your legs out under the glass, letting them fix your hair and fawn over you for a few seconds.

“You okay?” Ryujin asked, but the look you gave her made her frown. “It’s okay,” she mumbled, acknowledging the moment you shared earlier. Acknowledging everything actually it seemed. Squeezing your shoulder, she smiled. “Stay right here,” she handed you a shot, “Drink, play games, just chill, okay?” You nodded, taking the shot, adding more fuel to the fire. “This night’ll be over before you know it. Tomorrow I’ll help you fix whatever you gotta fix.”

“Thanks,” you whispered, leaning into her, feeling Jeongyeon’s gentle eyes watching over the two of you. 

Glancing toward Mingi, he talked with Seonghwa and Hongjoong. Glancing toward Aurora, she held Wooyoung tight around the neck, her eyes pointed toward Soul on his knees opposite you at the table, filling up the glasses as Jiung and Intak on either side cheered him on. Wooyoung smoothed a hand over her thigh, his arm wrapped around her back. Yunho watched that hand and took his shot, slamming it down on the table for more. Soul obliged, his own eyes shifting from Yunho to Aurora.

Sliding one of the glasses to the end of the table, Soul said, “Aurora.” She faced Wooyoung immediately, the two gazing at one another, Wooyoung whispering something to her. Soul’s brow furrowed slightly, his eyes flickering to the glass. Fingers splayed out on the table, he drummed them once, licked his lips, finally blinked, then took the glass and poured the liquor down his own throat. 

“What are we playing?” Yeosang called out, twirling the glass in his hand, his other arm wrapped around Keni. 

San, on the arm rest beside him, emphasized his question with a, “Yeah! Let me show you boys how it’s done, I’ll outdrink every single one of you.”

Jongseob, who stood on his feet, positioned himself between Seonghwa on the chair and Jiung on the floor. “Not that kinda game,” he grinned, lifting his full glass with a cheers before knocking it back.

Yuna, leaning forward onto her knees, gave him a curious look. “What is it?”

Jongseob beamed. “Truth or Dare.”

A chorus of groans erupted amongst crackles of laughter, both intrigued and degrading. 

“I need everyone to take three more shots,” Jongseob demanded, eyebrows raised to his hairline. 

With giggles they listened, even you, taking the glass from Ryujin after it’d been filled again. The only two to not move, Wooyoung and Aurora. As your friends, your boyfriend, and the other boys chattered happily amongst themselves, the tension finally easing with every shot taken, you eyed Jongseob and the way he studied your best friend and her boyfriend. He waltzed over to them, behind the lounge chair they sat upon, and shoved his head in between theirs. 

“Three more,” he smiled, making sure to look in both their eyes, noses centimeters apart. “Or you’re not playing.”

Aurora curled her lip. “Then we’re not playing.”

Jongseob narrowed his eyes. “Then, I need you to leave the room.”  

“Who the fuck do you-”

Jongseob cut Wooyoung off before he had the chance to say more.

“Last I checked, you have no authority to talk shit,” he spat. “You think you belong here, but do you?” Wooyoung tightened his jaw. Jongseob turned to Aurora, looked her up and down, drew his tongue over his lips, then shot his glare back toward Wooyoung. “She’s the only one who cares by the way. They don’t give a fuck. No one else would miss you if you weren’t here.”

“Hey,” San spoke up from the couch to the right of Aurora, tuning into the exchange too late. “The fuck did you just say?”

Jongseob stood up straight, his chin lifted a smidge. Giving San a smile and the subtlest wink, he said, “Don’t worry ‘bout it, pretty boy.” 

Wooyoung leaned forward, taking Aurora with him. Snatching two glasses from the table he took them both, placed them back down for Soul to refill them, then lifted them to Aurora’s lips for her to drink.

Jongseob smacked a hand to his head and ruffled his black waves. “Good,” he snickered. “Everyone have three?” A chorus of yes’s showered over him, even yours. Making his way back to the other side of Jiung, his eyes locked on you, he grinned. “Perfect.” Picking up the bottle of vodka off the table by the handle, he held it in the air before he dropped it into Seonghwa’s lap. The president jumped, legs squeezing together, capturing both Hongjoong and the bottle between them. 

“It goes in a circle. You have the bottle, you can ask one person, truth or dare, but you can only ask once.” Jongseob’s gaze traveled around the circle, everyone's attention glued to him. “Nothing is off limits. Every truth must be answered, every dare must be completed.”

Ryujin scoffed. “What if it’s completely inappropriate, I don’t think that’s fair at all. You’re in a room full of couples.”

Jongseob’s eyes sparkled. He glanced toward Aurora and Wooyoung, then Soul, then Yunho, then you. “Don’t take it too seriously,” he said softly. “It’s just a game.”

All eyes pointed to Seonghwa, the air growing thicker as silence ensued.

“Uh,” he sang, bouncing the bottle in his hands. Searching the room for a face, he chose to stare down at the bottle as a tiny smile found his lips. “Hey, H.”

Hongjoong froze on the floor in front of him. A giggle came out of Yuna, and though the rest of you kept quiet, more than half of you wore a smile. This game, so childish, yet so invigorating.

Seonghwa cleared his throat. “Truth or dare?”

Hongjoong sighed. It took him a few seconds to answer him. They weren’t even looking at each other. The vice president lived between his knees on the floor, fondling a shot glass between his ring wearing fingers. 

“Truth,” he said, rushed.

Seonghwa held in a laugh, something you all witnessed but Hongjoong missed. His voice came out quiet, with a hint of humor, but completely serious. “You really like that thing I do with my tongue?”

Giggles poured from more of you than just Yuna this time. Jongho squeezed his eyes shut with a smile, Mingi’s melody filled the air, and Yeosang and Keni both loosed quiet laughs in the form of breath. San’s jaw dropped, the sophomores nibbled at their nails furiously, grins behind their hands, and Aurora and Wooyoung, they didn’t move.

Whirling around, jumping onto his knees on the floor, Hongjoong slapped one of Seonghwa’s thighs, making the president laugh. “Bastard!”

“Answer it,” Jongseob said, one of the only ones with a steady face.

Dropping his chin, Seonghwa raised a brow. Hongjoong took a deep breath.

“Sorry,” Seonghwa whispered, his smile never leaving his lips.

Hongjoong shook his head. “I do,” he forced out of him, and the room erupted with cheers. Ryujin slapped her hands to the table, San took another shot and threw his arms out with a shout of when’s it my turn, and the sophomores shared glances with one another. 

Seonghwa, after winking at Hongjoong, looked to Jongseob and held up the bottle. 

“Pass it,” he gestured to Hongjoong, and the vice president took the bottle into his hands, situating himself back on the floor between Seonghwa’s knees.

Cheeks pink, unable to look at anyone, he rolled his eyes and groaned at once. “San,” he grumbled, and the boy on the end of the couch perked up. You could feel his excitement.

“Hongjoong,” he said with all of his chest.

“Truth or da-”

“Dare.”

You giggled with the girls around you, all of you leaning forward to catch a glimpse of him riding the edge of the arm rest, buzzing with adrenaline. Heart pounding in your own chest, knowing that many of your friends felt the same, you waited with baited breath. San would do anything. Twice. Even Aurora finally broke into a smile, gazing over at him.

Hongjoong’s eyes traveled from San to Wooyoung. The corners of his lips tipped up, his wicked smile cracking onto his cheeks pairing with his sharp eyes, the devil personified. “I dare you…” San gulped, eyes growing wider as Hongjoong paused. Like a dog being taunted with ribeye. “To swap places with Wooyoung.” 

Snapping his head to the side, they looked at each other, the three of them. Sighing, Aurora gave a look to Wooyoung and reluctantly slid off of his lap. San hadn’t even accepted and she was already moving. Intak and Jiung both snickered under their breath. 

“Done,” San said, and everyone egged them on. Meaningless words and sounds they didn’t even pay attention to. Wooyoung moved around him, the two sharing a look and a quick slip of their hands over each other before assuming their new positions.  Flopping down in the lounge chair, soft smile on his face, he glanced up at Aurora and tapped his lap a few times. “Don’t be shy.”

Intak muttered, “When is she ever,” and Jiung and Seob nearly choked on their laughter. Soul’s face rendered unreadable.

Wooyoung’s glare across the room held zero power anymore. The sophomores teased him with pouty faces. 

Hongjoong passed the bottle to Yunho. Barely able to look up at the group, paralyzed where he sat on the floor, he studied the glass and shrugged. 

“Uh, Tori,” he mumbled, and your stomach flipped. “Truth or dare?”

“Why her?” Jiung whispered to his friends. 

Intak gave him a look. “Are we surprised? He don’t talk to these people no more.”

Taking a breath, you sat forward and focused on him. “Truth,” you sighed, giving a quick look to Mingi who found interest in the chandelier hanging above your heads.

Yunho pursed his lips and looked at you. “Make any new friends since you’ve been here?” 

The attention was on you now, everyones curious gazes pointed toward you, wondering why he would ask such a question.

“Uh,” you drug out, half racking your brain for an answer, also wondering why he’d ask such a question. All thoughts of why were wiped away when Intak opened his mouth.

“Oh, I get why,” he said entirely too loud to Jiung, catching the room's attention. Mingi stared at him for many seconds before his eyes ripped toward you. Seob smized. Your body filled with heat, and not the good kind.

“No, I haven’t,” you said to Yunho. “But, thanks for asking.”

His glare burned into yours. Thrusting the bottle toward Mingi, after your boyfriend took it he tucked his knees into his chest, wrapping his arms around them, averting his glare to the floor. 

“Yeosang,” Mingi called out with a shrug. 

His arm not wrapped around Keni shot in the air. “Me!”

Mingi smiled and nudged his glasses up his nose. “Truth or dare?”

Consulting with his girlfriend, Yeosang tipped his chin back with a grin. “Truth, why not.”

“Oh god, I don’t know what to ask,” Mingi laughed, and half the room laughed with him with hearty encouragement thrown toward him, mumbles of it doesn’t have to be insane comforting to his ears, and Yeosang’s too. Jongseob rolled his eyes. “Uh, how… How are you guys?” Your boyfriend gestured to Keni with a nod of his head, and the couple smiled together.

The sophomores across the table groaned, giving him looks of disbelief that your friends kept to themselves. Half the room disappointed with the innocent question, the other half admiring him for it. You think you stood right in the middle. Where you wanted the taboo, the questions that should be saved for privacy, for the couple only, this question was entirely Mingi and everything he stood for. 

“We’re fantastic,” Yeosang said with his chest, pulling Keni closer to him. “Thank you for asking, Mingi.” 

Your boyfriend shot him a lopsided smile and a shrug, brushing off his thanks. “Sure,” he said, handing the bottle to Jongho.

“Truth or dare,” he said to Yuna quickly.

Taken aback, she faced him and laughed. “Dare,” she whispered, and you and Ryujin glimmering on the floor with oo’s and giggles.

Jongho smirked. “Dare you to show them how you kissed me last night.”

Now the room erupted in oo’s and giggles. Soul refilled shot glasses as everyone shifted, laughing as Yuna gave everyone a look of dismay, calling out for her to do it, do it, do it!

Reaching for a shot glass, everyone shouting louder and louder, Yuna knocked the liquor back and flung herself onto Jongho’s lap, engulfing his lips with her own, but she didn’t stop there. Her tongue slipped out from her lips, meeting Jongho’s in the middle of it all, the two pressing together before she welcomed it into her mouth, wrapping her lips around it. His hands slipped around her ass and Ryujin grabbed onto you, the two of you screeching aloud as the others cheered for them. 

Glancing over to Aurora, you found her watching Yuna with a proud smile, and it pulled at your heart. She should be here on the floor with you and Ryujin. San cheered behind her, his crude comments showering over the couple grinding on the couch like dirty rainfall, but she didn’t say much. She simply smiled. 

Yuna pulled back from Jongho with a smack of their lips and the room audibly expressed their disappointment. Laughing, she tried to slide off of his lap, but he held her in place.

“You have to stay right here,” he mumbled, trying to keep it quiet, but you all caught it. 

Yeosang deepened his voice and called out, “Jjong’s got a boner!”

San leaned forward, holding onto Aurora as he moved, and said to Yeosang, “Are we surprised?”

Jongho shot him a glare. San simply smiled back at him.

Yuna, staying on top of her boyfriend, twisted herself around and faced the group, taking the bottle of vodka in her hands. “Sheesh,” she sighed, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Looking at Aurora she uttered a quiet, “I think I get it,” and took a deep breath. Jongho smirked behind her, side eyeing Wooyoung. You turned to catch his reaction, but found him looking down at his shoes where he sat on the arm rest.

Twisting the lid off the bottle, Yuna took a swig, some of the boys exclaiming in surprise, clapping their hands together. The sophomores, except Jongseob, leaned over the table, their wide eyes glued to Yuna. Gulping some of the alcohol down, with furrowed brows she fumbled to put the lid back on. Jongho took it from her and fixed it as she shot a hand toward Soul.

“You,” she said. Intak and Jiung whipped their heads toward him, lips parted in shock. “Truth or…” she hiccuped and giggled, “Truth or dare?”

Soul, blinking up at her, muttered, “Truth.”

She hesitated, looking at him with such intrigue that the room fell quiet. When she spoke, she gagged you all.

“How many times did you hook up with Aurora and Wooyoung?”

Intak, Jiung, and Jongseob lost their absolute shit. Hands flying to their faces, smacking each other, laughter ringing and echoing into the high ceiling and likely over the first floor. Ryujin, jaw agape, eyes wide, glanced around because this was the first her and Jeongyeon had heard of this. Jongho, keeping a laugh inside, jokingly placed a hand over his girlfriend's mouth making Seonghwa and Hongjoong snicker.

“What?” Ryujin shouted amidst the noise, looking up at Aurora who wore nothing on her face. San rubbed a hand into her shoulder as he and Wooyoung looked at one another. 

Yunho didn’t move, but his eyes studied everyone.

Soul, unable to acknowledge anyone, even his friends, he flattened out his brows and said, “Together or separate?” 

Everyone lost their shit.

Except you. Except Aurora and Wooyoung. Except Yunho.

Yuna, distracted by the shouts, the shoves towards her, she blinked about the room and said, “Both.”

Souls lips perked into a small smile as he glanced away from her. “Mm,” he hummed, “Six times together? A lot of times separate…”

San lurched forward, both of his arms snatching Aurora by the waist, holding him against her as he shouted at Soul, “Six?!” Wooyoung gave him a glare.

“How many times separate?” Yuna asked.

Ryujin, reading the room much faster than anyone else, smacked Yuna on the thigh. “Shut up.” She looked over to Jongseob laughing with Jiung. “Thought we could only ask once?”

He assumed his game master role and cleared his throat, his smile dying down, the occasional snicker sneaking out. “Right, right, you can’t ask multiple questions, my bad,” he said, half assed. 

Reluctantly, you turned toward Mingi. You could feel someone’s eyes on you, and lo and behold, it was your boyfriend. His heavy stare spoke to you. If you hadn’t opened your mouth, if you hadn’t said anything, she would’ve never asked Soul that question. You knew that. His glare didn’t help, it made you feel worse. Whirling away from him, you looked toward Aurora and swallowed hard. Stone faced, she sat on San’s lap looking out at the rowdy bunch before her on the floor with a distaste pulling at her lips. 

As if she were better than all of them. All of you.

Your guilt disappeared in seconds.

The game moved along, the bottle passed from Ryujin to you after another innocent question for Keni about Yeosang. With the glass in hand, you spun it around and debated gulping some of it down like Yuna did, but your head already spun and your vision blurred more than it was when you were downstairs. The glass in your hands, utter power. You could ask anyone anything, you could make anyone do anything you wanted, and they had to do it. 

Meeting Jongseob’s eyes, his expression shifted into one that shot through you down to between your legs. He wanted you to ask anyone anything, he wanted you to make someone do something… Anything and something that would create waves and cause problems. 

“Yunho,” you said, and like when he chose you, some of your friends wore confusion on their faces. He didn’t move his eyes from the floor. With a single raise of a brow he bobbed his head, wanting to be anywhere but here. “Truth or dare?”

He lifted his hardened gaze. “Dare,” he spat, and a few exclaims of interest sounded around you.

“I dare you to kiss the prettiest person in the room,” you said without taking a breath, and watched as he clenched his jaw and tightened his fists around his knees. This could be it. This could be the moment shit went down. You wanted it to be.

“Really?” he sneered. “You got that from that Perks movie, care to be a little more original?”

You smiled. “Do it.”

“Fine,” he sighed and leapt onto his feet. Aurora reacted behind you, sinking further into San’s hold, back into his chest. Staring at you until he took a few steps over toward your boyfriend and grabbed his face, he squeezed his eyes shut and planted his lips on Mingi’s, shouts and screams breaking out over the plot twist tainting your master plan.  “There,” he said, letting your boyfriend go. Tapping his cheek with his slender fingers, Yunho nodded once and sat back down on the floor.

Mingi, dumbfounded, drug his fingers over his lips and glanced around the room, Jongho laughing at him, swatting at his arm. 

Rolling your eyes, you ignored Yunho’s smug little grin and handed the bottle over to Keni.

From Keni, to Yeosang, to Wooyoung, to Aurora, the four of them kept it less exciting than the first half of the circle, a whole bunch of truth’s all of you already knew of happening at once. The moment Aurora passed the vodka to San, everyone perked up.

With a charming smile, he shouted, “Yuna!”

Jongho groaned as his girlfriend sprung up straight.

“Truth or dare, sweetie,” San cooed.

She smiled and bit down on her lip. “Dare!” The energy in the room woke back up, the sophomores leaning over the table toward her again, their eager eyes darting from San to Yuna in anticipation. 

Wiggling his finger, signaling for her to spin around on Jongho’s lap, he said softly, “Dare you to show us that lil kiss again, please.” 

“Fuck yes,” Jiung muttered.

It didn’t take much more convincing. Yunal, clearly plastered, scrambled to straddle her boyfriend and deep throat his tongue.

“Oh my god,” Ryujin groaned with a smile, shaking her head toward the boys. “You guys are gross.”

“It’s hot,” Intak said, jaw slack, eyes on Yuna. 

“Moving on!” Ryujin shouted, waving her hand at San to pass the bottle along. Yuna fell backward, her and Jongho giggling together. “No one can ask them to do that again!”

Intak shot her a look. “Then I’ll ask you two to do what I really wanna watch,” he said, making sure Jeongyeon was looking at him. You kicked your foot into his thigh under the table. “Ah!” he cringed.

“Don’t be a perv,” you snapped.

Intak leaned over the glass. “Would you prefer I ask you and Aurora?” 

Jongseob appeared behind him and dug his fingers into his friend's hair, yanking his head backward. “Enough,” he eyed the bottle of vodka and cocked his chin. “Keep going.”

The bottle passed through Soul, over to Intak who didn’t ask what you thought he would ask, both boys keeping it light, asking one of their seniors about their first time, targeting both Seonghwa and Yeosang, like they planned to ask them both. When Jiung held the vodka, he pursed his lips and glanced around, everyone seeming like an excellent target, until he landed on you.

“Tori,” he smiled. You rolled your eyes. “Truth or dare?”

Sighing, you settled against Ryujin and shrugged. “Dare, I guess.”

Jiung blinked and his eyes went dark. “I dare you to kiss Jongseob.”

All of the air had been sucked out of the room. Blood running cold, your throat tightened and panic set in fast. Ryujin gripped onto your knee. No one moved. For the first time, no one had anything to say aside from Yeosang who let out a disapproving hum, shaking his head toward Jiung.

Jongseob raised his hand, taking the attention off of you, off of his friend. Wearing compassion on his cheeks, he gestured toward Mingi, then you. “I just… No.”

Jiung whipped his head around. “You said nothing was off limits.”

“I know,” Seob chuckled, placing his hand to his chest. “But, that feels really wrong. I can’t do that. We can’t have her do that.”

“Do it,” Mingi said without an ounce of aggression in his tone.

Every being in the room stared at him, eyes wide, surprise between their teeth, even yours. Aurora, brows flipped to oblivion, sat forward off of San’s lap, eyes bouncing from you, to Mingi, to Jongseob, to Jiung, and back. 

Your boyfriend shrugged. “What? It’s a game, right?” He aimed his question at Jongseob who feigned his own shock. 

“Course,” the boy nodded. “It’s a game, but… I’ll let her pass this once.”

You exchanged a glance with Mingi, one you absolutely could not read. Whatever went through his head, you couldn’t figure it out. You couldn’t see it, you couldn’t place it.

“Do it,” he shrugged again, gesturing to Jongseob.

“Tori,” Aurora said from San’s lap, the sound of her voice and your name jarring. With a snap of your neck you shot her a bewildered look, and her don’t do this expression aided you in your decision.

Without acknowledging Mingi one last time, using Aurora and her plea to get you off your ass, onto your feet, and over to Jongseob, you grabbed him by the neck, ignored the gasps behind you and his fake ass shock he wore on his face, you yanked him into you and kissed him.

You kissed Jongseob.

In front of the entire room. In front of your boyfriend.

Alcohol driving this bus, you dug your fingers into his neck and parted your lips to deepen the kiss, giving Jiung exactly what he wanted, exactly what Jongseob wanted. His lips, warm and full, they knew how to work, and they knew how to work with you, even for your first kiss, he already knew how to work you. Tasting of alcohol and adultery, your heart ignited in your chest, flames engulfing your inhibitions, moving your hands up into his hair, tugging at the dirty blonde shag that drove you insane.

It didn’t have to be this way. You’d been dared to kiss him, not swallow him whole.

But, this could be your only chance. To kiss him. To touch him. 

The moment your hips wanted to grind into him you pushed him away, and the stifled laughter and gasps that had continued around you bled back into your ears. Jongseob, cheeks pink and lips wet, he cleared his throat and looked away from you. Narrowing your eyes at the pretender, you took a deep breath, mustered up the courage to turn around and wedge yourself back between your friends, and did just that. 

You didn’t dare look at Mingi.

Your adrenaline, your excitement, your arousal, it outweighed your guilt.

The game moved on.

Seonghwa, bottle in hand, looked over at Yunho, and the giant curled up into a ball sighed heavily and shook his head. “Truth or dare?”

Yunho blinked blankly. “Truth.”

“When was the last time you spoke to Mina?” Seonghwa asked, tone dripping in utter sincerity, genuine curiosity. The name sent a chill through the room. Peeking at Aurora, her eyes were sharp, staring at him.

Reaching into his pocket, Yunho pulled out his phone and scrolled, and scrolled. “Uh, when school ended. Little over a month ago.” He spoke quietly. He was afraid to say it. 

And the game moved on.

The bottle rounded the circle, the bottle made everyone laugh, made everyone answer ridiculous questions, say absurd things, and then Aurora got it in her hands, her eyes having barely left Yunho since he answered Seonghwa’s question.

“Truth or dare?” she asked, and Yunho gulped.

“Me?”

Aurora nodded.

“Uh,” he stammered, sparing Wooyoung a glance. “T- D- Truth.” 

She didn’t miss a beat. Sitting forward on San, she clutched the bottle with a glare and perfect posture. “Why’d you text her?” 

Yunho’s eyes bugged out of his head. “I- I- I didn’t,” he said, folding his legs beneath him and his hands onto his middle. You peeked at his fingers. He was trembling. “She texted me.” Everyone watched them like ping pong.

“Why?” Aurora asked, and just as Yunho parted his lips to speak, Jongseob cut them off.

“Gotta wait your turn again,” he policed, and a majority of the room groaned to themselves, as if he’d just shut off the television in the middle of a crucial episode. 

Sitting back against San, settling back into his touch, she lobbed the bottle behind her and he took it. Disappointment washed over her as her eyes dropped to the floor, and you couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you. Accidental, you think, but it made her lips pull into a frown, her eyes glossing over. She held back tears. Soul watched her with broken hearts flowing out of him toward her. 

And the game moved on.

The bottle rounded the circle, and it ended up in Jiung’s hands once more.

“Tori,” he said, and the room groaned. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” you said, sitting up straight.

Jiung tilted his head, toying with his ginger curls for a moment. “Why did you think Seob was the ITZ texter? The number you don’t know?”

Now immediate panic set it. Confused looks faced you, mumbled questions of what the fuck is he talking about. Mouth gone dry, you shook your head.

“What ITZ number?” Ryujin asked from beside you, trying to catch your eye, but you could only focus on Jiung. Not an ounce of malice lived within the question. He asked you genuinely.

Looking at Ryujin, he blinked, then turned to you. “The one texting you about sex stuff?”

Yunho sat forward. “You thought it was him?” He threw a hand toward Seob where he stood.

Mingi shot a look toward his best friend. “You knew?”

“What ITZ number are we talking about?” Yuna asked, glimpsing in a million directions at once, unable to keep up with the commotion.

“Wait,” Aurora said, strength in her tone, raising her voice. The room quieted some. “The ITZ phone number?” Glaring at her, she glared right back. 

Yes, the ITZ phone number, the texts you read at the bar when you did drugs and couldn’t stand up on your own.

“It’s been texting her since you all got here. Juicy messages, too.” Jiung turned to Yunho. “She thought it was you, but she just asked Seob if it was him downstairs.”

Aurora let a singular laugh tumble from her chest. “You thought Yunho was sending you sex stuff?”

Holding up a hand, you started, “I realized it wasn’t him before-”

“This number, ITZ, I’ve been thinking is some secret group chat with all of you in it,” she pointed at each of your friends, “You thought it was Yunho?” 

Ryujin and Yuna, they shook their heads, they didn’t speak, they waited.

The chill of being found out had flushed through you, now your blood ran red hot. “Why do you care if it was, Aurora? You only care about one thing now!” You tossed a hand over Jeongyeon toward Wooyoung who gave you his infamous grimace. 

Aurora slapped her hand to her chest. “You kept it from me.”

Because Aurora needs to know everything.

Groaning aloud, wanting to tear your hands through your hair, wanting to throw the shot glasses off of the table and flip it as well, you sat up to your knees. “Why do you care! Because you still love him? Because you miss him? Because if that test gave you a plus instead you’d be pushing out his kid right now?” Ryujin latched a hand onto your arm, and Yuna gasped, both of her hands squishing her cheeks together. 

Nobody moved. On the edge of their seats, every single one of them.

“Tori, shut up,” Ryujin demanded.

You flung her arm off of you. “No!”

Yunho stood to his feet, his cheeks flushed of all color. If you didn’t notice him trembling before, it stood out now. “What?”

Aurora released a shaky breath. “Yunho, I-”

He never raised his voice. Sure, a passionate man, a loud man, his volume often grew out of control, but never through anger. Never through pure frustration. He never scared you, but in this moment, he did.

“You couldn’t have broken your stupid ass rule to at least tell me that?!”

His voice echoed, ringing against the glass in the room, the bottles, the table, the shot glasses. His voice struck not only you, but everyone in the room. Aurora. 

He fled the scene, his long legs removing him from any and all narratives in seconds. Aurora stumbled off of San’s lap, a sob escaping her as she chased him down the stairs. Wooyoung sprung to his feet, his grimace upon you once more.

“That’s your girl for you, Wooyoung,” you sneered, and he scoffed.

“You think she didn’t tell me?” His words pointed a gun to your heart and pulled the trigger. “News flash to you Tor, and anyone, since you’re all invested when it’s none of your business- Ro and I weren’t anything until we went home for winter break. Before any of it, we were friends.”

Curling your lip, you spat, “You’re her therapist.”

Wooyoung settled his jaw. “We communicate, Tori. Not shocked you don’t know what that looks like.”

Silence followed as he took himself out of the room and down the stairs. 

Intak, with a rich smile pulling at his lips, he took the bottle of vodka from Jiung and filled up the shot glasses. Each sophomore took one, even Soul. Hongjoong reached for two and handed one back to Seonghwa who avoided eye contact with anybody. San took a glass as well, holding it up toward his president before gulping it down.

Jongseob, licking his lips, eyed you where you sat as he wandered behind Intak, taking the bottle from his hands. Just like you, everyone on the couch behind you, the girls beside you, you sighed, silent plea’s for this to be over.

He looked at Mingi and gestured toward him with the bottle.

“Truth or dare.”

Glancing toward your boyfriend, he gave you a side eye, then answered, “Dare.”

Jongseob smirked. “I dare you to read the last text you received out loud.”

Taking his time, Mingi wiggled out his phone. Popping open his messages, he took a deep breath and released it with a ragged sigh. Blinking fervently, he read it aloud, and you wanted to be sick.

“Forgive me,” he started, and Jongseob smiled. “I’ll do anything you want me to do, I’ll be your good girl,” he paused to gulp, not letting sounds from anyone deter him from finishing reading, “I know who I wanna play with. Let’s play, I’ll be so good for you.” He slapped his phone to his thigh.

“Goddamn,” Jongho laughed, nudging him with his elbow, nearly pushing him off the edge of the arm rest. 

A lump lodged into your throat. Bile rose within you, you wanted to scream, but could only manage to whisper, “Who the fuck sent that?” 

“Oh my god,” Yuna mumbled, covering her mouth, and everyone seemed to react just the same.

Everyone had thought that message came from you. They assumed it came from you.

Mingi narrowed his eyes, they drew all over you, then met your glare. “Tori…”

“Mingi,” you said louder, standing up, hands balling into fists. “Who the fuck sent that message?”

Your boyfriend stood to his feet, sliding his phone back into his pocket. Confusion warped through him, and it lingered. “You did.”

“No the fuck I didn’t?!” you shouted, scrambling to get a hold of your phone.

Tilting his head, he froze, looking you over. Then, he looked at Jongseob and his shit eating grin.

“Tori, check your fucking phone,” he grumbled, every muscle in his body tensing, his ears turning red, the color bleeding into his cheeks.

Swiping through apps, you landed on messages and tapped through them. It didn’t live in his thread, the last messages you sent to one another were from yesterday and what snacks he wanted you to bring to the beach.

“Mingi, I didn’t send that fucking message, I-”

Breath caught in your throat.

Tapping onto the thread with ITZ, that message resided there. Sent over an hour ago, just after the are you okay message from ITZ themself.

Looking up at him, you found him walking toward Jongseob, his fists tight at his side.

It was Mingi.

It’d been Mingi this whole time.

ITZ, the unknown number, belonged to your very own boyfriend.

Frozen in shock, in subtle betrayal, in amazement that he’d been able to pull this off, you couldn’t stop him from grabbing Jongseob by the collar of his shirt, one of his fists hauling backward before he launched it into his jaw. Every other person in the room leapt to their feet, the boys rushing in to pull the two apart, shouts echoing through the air, but never penetrating your ears.

Jongseob sent the text.

And Mingi received it.

Mingi, who through anonymous text message, told you he wanted to set up… a threesome. 

And Jongseob read that.

Jongseob who curated that message, had known Mingi would read it, played innocent throughout this game of truth or dare so that when the opportunity arose for one of his friends to dare you to kiss him, Mingi would allow it. 

Because he was under the impression you’d chosen Jongseob.

Wooyoung is quick, but I am quicker.

Mind if we come play?

Checkmate. 

Unsure about some things they've talked about? home;run might answer some quetions <3 Pop into my inbox and I can pinpoint where you need to go! <3

read it on ao3 | talk to me | my masterlist

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme 2 -> mingi x fem!reader -> nice for what

wc: 6.7k warnings: 18+, sexual content and alcohol consumption in every part, infidelity themes... if i missed anything please let me know! posted: 1/12/25 8;54 pm est.

masterlist ~ <- previous part - next part ->

Standing three stories tall and taking up more space on the property than the ATZ house, your residence for the next month gagged everyone but yourself when you arrived, when you stepped inside. Noses pointed in the air as they all got out of the cars, gawking up at the house sprinkled in tiny hints of daylight as the sun rose from the beach behind it, you reveled in the compliments, in the praises of what a good job you had done picking it out, making sure everyone would be happy for the next thirty days.

It was a house your parents dreamed of their entire lives but had never been able to make happen, all of their beach house money going to your sister and the dreams she was chasing across the country, auditioning for movie after movie, show after show. At least they handed you enough to make this month happen, and then some. Your father was a sucker. As much as their attention was on your sister and her dreams, your father made up for it in cash, depositing wild amounts of it into your accounts monthly. This vacation had been mentioned once and within minutes of clinking martini glasses with him, a large deposit hit your savings and you booked this house that everyone fell in love with upon one glance. 

An open floor plan on the first floor, a generous kitchen, a cozy living room adjacent to a gaming space, full of old arcade games, a ping pong table, air hockey and more. Everything lightly colored screamed you’re at the beach! and it brought pure joy. The almost white wood of the floor, the pastel blue of the furniture, the pale finishes of the furniture, the make up was stunning, chic, and fed your soul more than you thought it would.

Just stepping inside filled you with ease. A calmness washing over you, almost like the atmosphere had reached into your head and turned everything off.

Two bedrooms on the second floor, one for Seonghwa and the other for Soul, were positioned on either end of the house with a bar space between them, low hanging dim lit chandeliers living over the bar and the lounge chairs strategically placed throughout it. Three bedrooms were on the third floor, the space primarily for them alone, tightly spaced together. Wooyoung and Aurora took the one on the far end of the hall while you and Mingi took the one closest to the stairs and farthest from their room. The one in between stayed empty, and for good reason.

The boys brought in your luggage for you, carrying it up the stairs while you and Aurora wandered around the home in awe. What was beautiful and perfectly on brand for you was completely new to her, a detail you never let go untouched, unnoticed. She got to experience these things with you, with her sisters in ITZ. Her family didn’t take vacations every summer, they didn’t visit places like Haos or stay in homes like this one. She was lucky to even be able to go to Nasara. It’s why you didn’t mind letting her stay here without chipping in, though you knew she’d be throwing down her credit card as much as she possibly could when you’d go out.

Before she ventured to bed she hugged you, one long and tight, with a billion whispered thank you’s before the two of you never spoke of it again. It wasn’t something she dwelled on, it was something that made her clam up, so you allowed her to mention it once, and didn’t beg her for more.

Joining Mingi upstairs, following him up with the last of your bags after wandering around a while longer with everyone, buzzing about what a month you were going to have, you watched Aurora follow Soul into his room, Wooyoung not thinking twice about it. He simply followed you and Mingi up to the third floor, bidding you goodnight before disappearing behind his door. Seonghwa didn’t even spare an extra glance toward the scene, making you wonder if he noticed, or if he hadn’t any clue at all. He hadn’t been around for the moment at the party, where you let everyone know that the three of them were sleeping together. 

You’d discuss tomorrow.

Or, you wouldn’t… And would let the situation go on without tampering with it again.

Shutting the door to your room, pressing your back up against it, you watched Mingi push the luggage into a corner and get himself ready for bed, flopping onto the king sized mattress with a groan, rolling onto his back, extending an arm out at his side for you to fall into.

Raising a brow, you stayed where you were at the door. “What did Wooyoung want to talk to you about?”

Mingi tilted his head and sighed. “Yunho.”

Eyes bugging out of your head you hurried for the bed and leapt onto it, falling into his open arm. He smiled, holding you close. “What about Yunho? Aurora? You?”

“Everything in general,” he said. “He was just checking in. He really is a good friend.”

That was something you should be doing with your own boyfriend. That was something you should be doing with everybody actually, but you couldn’t stomach it.

“Right,” you whispered, eyes falling to the white bedspread beneath you and Mingi’s outstretched legs nearly reaching the edge of the mattress. “He is, I guess.”

“You guess?” 

Giving him a look and a shrug, you said, “I haven’t really talked to him, he’s preoccupied.”

Lowering his brows, he gave you a smile. “Right,” he breathed through a laugh. “He definitely doesn’t have time for anything else outside of his relationship, ‘cause he’s the type of guy to do that.” Scoffing, you pushed yourself off of him and rolled off the bed onto your feet. “Tor, come back,” he groaned.

“No,” you said, starting for the bathroom on the other side of the bedroom. “I need to get ready for bed. Go to sleep.”

Pulling off his glasses, laying his phone on the bed beside him, Mingi watched you until the door was shut. Inside, you flicked on the light and rested your elbows on the edge of the porcelain of the sink. Rubbing your fingers over your eyes, colors appearing as you vigorously brushed over your lashes, you dropped your hands, staring at yourself in the mirror. Sleepy hooded eyes stared back.

You moved to the bags Mingi had laid over the shelves on the wall, just below a long bay window who’s curtains were drawn for the time being. Tomorrow morning you’d pull them open and let the sunshine in, but for now they stayed closed. The neighbors didn’t need a show.

Pulling out a bottle of micellar water, cotton pads, various face washes, everything you needed to brush your teeth, and face masks, you moved through your routine swiftly, letting the muscle memory take over and your active brain take a rest. It was something you were typically good at, not letting the little shit get to you, linger with you. In moments like this one, moments just for you, when you were alone, it came easy. No show or act to uphold, no one to perform for, no need to be on.

Somehow it made everything much heavier.

Every little thing grew tenfold- has been growing tenfold. All the tiny moments of saying the wrong thing, letting your feelings get the best of you, not thinking before you spoke on something. It all haunted you, stood over your shoulder, clung to your back, gum on the bottom of your shoe you couldn’t get rid of.

You made it to your moisturizer before you realized you were crying, tears welling up and blurring your vision until you couldn’t see yourself in the mirror any longer. 

Aurora was here, in the house, you could go find her, talk to her.

Mingi laid right outside in bed, you could go to him, talk to him.

But, none of it made sense.

If you couldn’t even put into words what you were feeling, how was anyone else supposed to help? Or even understand?

Wiping beneath your eyes, steadying your breath before you let out a cry that Mingi could hear, you calmed yourself. The last thing you needed was him questioning you.

From the counter beside the sink your phone vibrated. Grabbing it with a sniffle and an internal groan, you unlocked it with a few taps and craned your neck to take a peek. Knowing who was awake at this hour, you weren’t looking forward to this.

[Unknown Number]: u in haos

Scrunching your nose, your entire face scrunching with it, you picked up your phone and typed back.

[you]: who the hell is this

They answered back instantly.

[Unknown Number]: dont worry abt it

[Unknown Number]: little birdie told me u were here. so am i

[you]: how’d you get my number. who are you.

[Unknown Number]: u will find out soon enough tori

[Unknown Number]: see u soon ;)

[you]: tell me who u are or i’m blocking this number, fucking creep

[Unknown Number]: hm no i dont think u would do that

[Unknown Number]: ur curiosity overwhelms u

[Unknown Number]: i always see it in ur eyes

[Unknown Number]: the what if

[you]: maximum fucking creep, ur blocked, bye

[Unknown Number]: but then how will i talk to u around the boyfriend

What the fuck?! You typed back, then deleted it. You typed again, then deleted it. You couldn’t do anything but stare at the screen, and you did, for many minutes, rereading the conversation.

Leaving the bathroom, locking your phone, you found Mingi absolutely knocked out, tucked onto his side of the bed. The lights were out, leaving you to shuffle through the darkness, changing into something you didn’t wear to the airport. Rolling onto the bed beside him, ample space between the two of you, you watched him sleep for a second. The rise and fall of his chest, the way his body laid completely still, a bit tense beneath the covers, the white sheets. He wasn’t asleep. When he slept he sprawled himself out over the mattress, his large frame taking up most of the space. He’d breathe heavily, and he’d be completely relaxed.

Tempted to reach over and turn him over, have him hold you while you moved beneath the covers, you decided to leave him be. You did snap at him before you left him here. In fact, you’d been snapping at him all day, aside from the half hour spent at his house. 

He was over it. At least for today. And you didn’t blame him.

Settling yourself over the pillows, laying backward, stretching out your legs under the softest sheets you’ve ever slept in, you took a deep breath and let your eyes close.

Tomorrow would be better.

The house was alive, because of course the fuck it was. Rolling over to an empty bed, tossed back sheets, you reached for your phone and tapped the screen.

2:55 pm.

Strange of Mingi to not wake you up when he did. Usually there’d be a kiss, or a head scratch, or he’d lay you out and take you half asleep knowing that you’d take him later whenever it pleased you. He left without any of it, not that it surprised you after how the two of you fell asleep last night. Countless times you woke up, tossing and turning without one of his arms wrapped around you to soothe you back to sleep. Even opening your eyes to you half wrapped around him had you retreating back to your side of the bed.

It took you back to the weeks you spent with him and his family over winter break, when Aurora was wrapped around two of them, you barely had your one on you.

You’d turned into one of those couples who seemed to tolerate one another, the honeymoon phase coming to a plummeting end faster than you’d expected it to.

Music thumped from the first floor. Voices carried up the stairwells and in through the cracks on the door, shouts from the boys and laughter from Aurora, someone’s deep voice trying to sing along to the words dancing between the steady beat. Seonghwa, without a doubt.

Kicking the sheets off you roll over the edge of the bed and catch yourself on your feet. Stepping about the room reluctantly, stripping yourself of the clothes you wore to bed, you rifled through a suitcase and pulled out a black bikini, one Mingi approved of last summer. He approved so hard you couldn’t wear it around him if you were with other people, and not because he didn’t want others to see you in it.

He should be up here to help you into it, maybe fall back into the sheets with you to pull it off of you, then help you back into it if he didn’t make a mess in it first. Like he made a mess in you yesterday. One you couldn’t reciprocate.

Biting down on your bottom lip to keep tears from slipping down your cheeks, you hurried to the bathroom, fixed your chestnut layers into a ponytail and washed your face. Glass hits the floor downstairs as you wash away bubbles and twist off the water.

“If everyone is drunk, I swear to God,” you muttered with a groan. Dabbing your face dry, you inspect your appearance, decide on no make up, twist your earrings around in your ears, and take yourself downstairs.

Bare foot, trying not to race down the stairs, the music called to you, pulled you in, like it would in the frat house. The music went on, drinks were handed out, and problems were forgotten. As much as it sucked to be the last one up, the last one to the party, a drink or three wouldn’t hurt. If anything, it would help.

Isla would slap you across the face if she were here.

Passing by closed bedroom doors and the untouched bar on the second floor, you contemplated taking a shot from a liquor bottle on a shelf, but kept moving. Sunshine leaked through the windows, you needed to be on a beach. The song changed to another you’ve heard before, one of the guys had on their party playlist. You didn’t have the sets memorized, the songs came out shuffled, but each one brought back such vivid memories it nearly cured everything you’d been feeling.

That was until you descended down the last flight of stairs and found the kitchen a mess, Seonghwa cooking something on the stove, opened empty cans littering every surface, Mingi leaning across a counter with a dopey smile on his face, Aurora straddling Wooyoung’s lap at the kitchen table, and Soul bouncing around with a broken bottle in his hand throwing away glass. Every boy was shirtless, except for Soul, and like you, everyone was ready for the beach.

“There she is,” Mingi cheered, the first to catch a glimpse of you. Turning around completely, flashing you his bare, sculpted chest, he met you halfway, throwing an arm around your shoulder as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. 

“You didn’t wake me up,” you said, looking up at him.

Giving you a lazy smile he said, “You were out, and tired. We’re on vacation, why would I want to wake you up?”

“So we could spend time together,” you almost whispered, and his smile faltered. 

Pulling you into his chest, skin on skin, so he could kiss you for real, he took his hands to your cheeks and brushed his thumbs along your bottom lashes. “Okay,” he breathed. “From now on I’ll wake you up. No matter what.” His lips met the center of your forehead, and just before he let go of you, Aurora shouted for you.

“My turn,” she teased, leaning backward onto the kitchen table, her elbows on the edge. She almost matched you, except her bathing suit was a deep purple and almost hooked over her hips where yours lived as low as possible, something Mingi took note of before you walked away from him. One of his fingers hooked into the strap, snapping it against your tan skin with a smirk as you shot him a look over your shoulder. “Hi, Tor!”

“Hi Ror,” you said, sparing a glance at Wooyoung clearly several drinks deep with how he ogled Aurora and had his own fingers twisted around the ties on her hips. “I need to catch up,” you sighed, looking around for a bottle, or a shot glass, or anything. 

“Shots, let’s do ‘em,” Aurora said, attempting to slide off of Wooyoung’s lap. His arms wrapped around her waist faster than she could move, his devilish smile peeking out as the chair pushed further beneath the table forcing their bodies together.

“No, no, no,” he mumbled to her, drinking up her giggles. Grabbing onto her, hands pressed to her any which way he could have them, he laid sloppy kisses on her cheek and down her jaw, mumbling things to her amidst her giggles that you couldn’t make out.

Turning from them with an eye roll you bump into Soul, bright eyed and half smiling where he stood offering you a bottle of Soju and a little crystal shot glass. Adorable, really. Tousled, frizzy blonde hair that desperately needed to be cut, dark, shining eyes, pouty pink lips. Any moment caught face to face with him put everything into perspective, you got it. You understood why. Without even trying he most likely could have you on your knees, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why Aurora was doing what she was doing. 

He didn’t say a word, he wasn’t much of a chatter, only when provoked, or drunk, or if he was on Aurora’s hip like a toddler, or a shadow behind Wooyoung. Taking the shot glass from him, his soft fingers brushing over your own, his smile deepened as he looked down to the glass and filled it to the brim. Watching him, this kid who got wrapped up in the shitstorm that was your junior year, this boy who brought her pain and now resided in her sheets, though he was cute, you couldn’t help but wonder how Aurora allowed herself to get so deep in it with him.

Even Seonghwa. Standing at the stove, bouncing between counters, sleek black hair sweeping his shoulders and framing his cheekbones, slender, toned golden frame on display. He played his own game with her, for his own gain, his own reputation.

As did the man currently beneath her.

And she forgave them all. Treated them as normally as she did you and Mingi.

Soul waited patiently, stepping back some to give you space to knock back the glass, which you did, and fast, holding it out for another pour. With a snicker he obliged, filling the crystal with juice.

“Thanks,” you whispered.

Soul smiled at you, his cheeks rounding beneath his black eyes. “Course,” he said quietly, just over the music for you to hear. His gaze lingered a moment longer, then he was off, listening to Seonghwa’s orders for him to help him cook, or clean, or whatever the eldest wanted him to do.

The rim of the glass hit your lips as your eyes slid over to Mingi, tall, broad, bare chested Mingi, lingering nearby Seonghwa, chatting with him, though his eyes were on you. All over you. His overgrown blonde hair and melty dark roots taunted you. His glassesless face, structure on display, it called out for you. Wider than Seonghwa, he had more muscle on his bones, more definition in his chest, his torso, down to his fucking ankles. Skin soft, so smooth you could feel it running over your fingertips just by looking at him, you knocked back the shot and contemplated pulling him upstairs.

In one look he could see into your head, he knew your thoughts as if they were his own, and he smirked, one so small not even Seonghwa could see it. But you could.

He shook his head, then he winked. Pushing off the counter with his backside he purposefully slid his hands over his middle and dipped the tips of his fingers beneath the band of his suit. Chin tipping back, he looked down at you, leaving nothing but a centimeter of space between you after he swaggered your way. Without looking at it he took the shot glass from your hand and slid it onto the table behind you. In one fluid motion he placed a finger beneath your chin and lifted you by the jaw, his own head tilting ever so slightly, dipping down the same, his warm breath dancing over your skin, his scent alone enchanting you, creating a space just for you.

Rising to your tiptoes to catch his lips with your own, he retreated backward with a click of his tongue. “Mm,” he hummed, voice low, deep in his chest. “You’ve got to wait.”

Lips pouting, you whispered a harsh, “Why?”

Mingi went unmoved. “Because I said so.”

He took his hand back and walked away, taking his eyes from you faster than you’d have liked.

Your stomach took a tumble.

This was not the time for him to play this game.

The baiting game, the ignore, deflect, have control game.

“Beach?” Aurora asked, throwing an arm as best as she could around your shoulders. Inches shorter than you, she stood on her tiptoes and held onto you with a smile.

Glancing over the other she wasn’t clinging to, you found Wooyoung beside Soul, the two whispering. Well, rather, Wooyoung whispered to Soul while the boy wrinkled his brow and tried to keep up with what he was saying.

“Beach,” you answered her with a nod, looking over at her and her happy face.

“Let’s go before the guys,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Get some peace before they come and get loud, and play their music, and wanna play games…”

Some peace.

“Sure,” you shrugged, letting your eyes wander around the kitchen. Seonghwa and Wooyoung were picking at the plates of food, Soul bustled around like Wooyoung had sent him on a mission to straighten the place up, and Mingi stared at you. His hardened gaze flickered between you and Aurora, actually, and he was thinking.

He was thinking things you couldn’t figure out.

A piece of you hoped he didn’t feel out of place here. Without Yunho.

The tilt of your head and softening of your eyes alerted him that you put it together, his thoughts surrounding the fact that you were here with Aurora, you were here with Mingi, but Yunho wasn’t here with Aurora. With Mingi. Breaking his gaze, he focused elsewhere, not keen on wanting to talk about it, or think about it for much longer.

If last October had gone to plan, the way you and Mingi hoped, the way Mingi dished about to you, this trip may have looked a bit different, would’ve had different people residing in these walls. Less people. 

“Let’s go, Ror,” you mumbled, and she smiled.

“Let’s go.”

“Oh my god, he’s nuts,” Mingi muttered from behind you on the same towel you lounged on.

Everyone had eyes on Seonghwa in the clear blue water, diving into waves, jumping over them, hanging around a couple of guys who seemed to be around your age. He was good at that, making fast friends, charming strangers, beguiling them all. It came natural to him, and it seemed to amplify the moment Hongjoong stepped down from his presidency at ATZ and appointed Seonghwa to fill the position. 

It took him a week to accept, way longer than it took Aurora to snatch hers up and write your name down on the sheet beside Vice President. Seonghwa moved like his normal self. Calculated. He thought over every possible outcome, every possible situation that could arise, the shit show that Hongjoong was leaving behind for him to take over, for him to handle. That’s ultimately why he kept him close by. On the shortest of leashes. He made Hongjoong his Vice President, and he kept him in his pocket. He gave him all the freedom in the world however, on one condition.

“He’s finally not worried about shit,” Wooyoung said from your right, laying on his own towel, tanned legs stretched out in front of him, elbows propping him up where he laid. Sunglasses were perched on the edge of his nose, a pair of Cartier shades he bought himself recently. You can remember that phone call with Aurora, she was all teary eyed because she couldn’t afford to buy him anything he’d actually want to wear. 

Mingi laughed to agree with him. “Right,” he huffed. “A month of nothing, he’s gonna either lose his mind, or lose track of time.”

“I hope it’s time,” Wooyoung muttered, looking behind him up the stretch of sand toward the dunes where bars and lounges lived, luring tourists and beach goers in. “I want him to not think about anything that has to do with Nasara.”

You squinted at him, sitting up from where you laid. Tucking your legs in, crossing them beneath you, you asked, “Have you thought about his offer anymore?”

Wooyoung whipped his head toward you and scoffed, Cartier glasses sliding further down his curved nose. “To come back? Fuck that.”

“How come?” you asked. Mingi leaned forward and wrapped his arms around you from behind, sliding closer so he could press his chest to your back.

“The whole thing is screwed up,” Wooyoung shook his head, looking backward at the bar once more. “I don’t wanna be a part of something capable of that.”

“Capable of what?” you asked, egging him on. 

He looked at you with only his eyes. “Ruining lives.”

Mingi tried to nestle his head into your neck, the warmth of his body pairing with the warmth of the sun, all of it becoming too much. Shrugging, making him move, you smiled back at him and asked, “Get me a drink?” 

The corners of his lips perked up as he retreated off of you. “Sure,” he said gently, and took himself toward the bar Wooyoung kept watching.

Gaze following Mingi, you watched him step up onto the wooden ledge beneath the palm leafed covered awning and place a hand to Souls shoulder, giving him a little shake. The boy whirled around, sitting beside Aurora, the two rubbing elbows where they chatted, where they whispered. Your boyfriend smiled at him, said something to the both of them, and ordered you a drink.

“You don’t wanna be with them?” you asked Wooyoung. He didn’t give you any more of his attention, instead he focused on Seonghwa trekking up the sand, hair pushed back from his face. His suit clung to his thighs, outlining every muscle.

“Who?” Wooyoung asked, reaching over for a towel to hand to the eldest. “How was it?” he asked Seonghwa, giving him just as big a smile as he appeared with. 

Shaking the towel open he dried his hair first, pushing it backward before throwing the towel around his shoulders. “So good, you guys gotta get in there. It’s so warm, you don’t even have to wait to jump in.”

Wooyoung sat up completely and moved backward to give him a place to sit. “I will, Ro wants to go with me, I’ll wait for her.” 

Seonghwa sat and folded his legs, using the towel around his shoulders to dry his face and the rest of his arms. “Good shit,” he muttered without meeting his eyes. “Where’s she at?”

“At the bar,” you said quickly, and Seonghwa looked up at you. “With Soul.” Wooyoung looked at you. You looked at him. “You don’t want to go up there?” He raised a brow and tore off his sunglasses, tossing them in the space between him and Seonghwa.

“No,” he said, and you screwed your brows in confusion. “I’m not drinking again until later.”

“But they’re up there,” you said, throwing a hand in that direction. “Without you.”

Seonghwa glanced between the two of you, towel out of hand, completely dumbfounded.

Wooyoung maintained face, barely moving as he said, “And that matters, why?”

“One drink for Torilynn,” Mingi half sang as he rejoined you where you sat. You all looked up at him, two of you frustrated and one of you terribly confused. Your boyfriend took you all in and handed your drink over slowly. “What’d I miss?”

Ignoring him, you took the drink with the little umbrella poking out the top and whipped your head to glare at Wooyoung. “She went to his room last night.” Seonghwa pulled his lips in a line and averted his focus to the ocean, probably wishing he’d taken a bit longer to come back.

Wooyoung’s eyes narrowed in a way that sent a chill down your spine. “And then she came to ours ten minutes later.”

Sipping your drink, you shook your head. “Damn twenty year olds.”

His eyes widened. “You think they-”

“What do you mean by that?” Seonghwa asked. Wooyoung turned to him with a sigh, sending a glare your way shortly after.

“I mean-”

Mingi placed a hand on your shoulder. “Tori.” Sharing a look with him, one that nauseated you, you sipped your drink and took a breath. Blinking a few times you turned to Seonghwa.

“Who’d you hang with at the party?” you asked him, but it did nothing to cure the burning need to know in his dark eyes.

He glanced at Wooyoung, now leaning back on an elbow swiping through his phone, then back at you. “Yeosang,” he shrugged. “Him and H. Mostly H, actually, now that I think about it. He wasn’t sure what he was going to get into there, he was nervous. I hung with him to make sure he’d be okay.”

Mingi smiled. “You’re so good, Hwa.” His president returned the smile. Groaning internally, your eyes rolled outwardly. Mingi leaned in to kiss your cheek, lingering close by, watching you suck the liquor up through the straw. “Listen,” he said quietly, just for you. “You keep your mouth shut and I’ll let you do anything you want to do to me later.” The drink paused in your straw, and he snickered. “I know you can do it, baby, you can be such a good girl for me.” You looked at him, pulling the straw from your mouth. “Can you?”

“Get me in the water!” Aurora shouted, both her and Soul hurrying from the bar, kicking sand about. Rounding the group, she fell into Wooyoung’s lap, taking him by surprise in a fit of giggles, happy giggles. Throwing her arms around his shoulders she straddled his lap and laid him out on the towel, half of him in the sand. Soul, with a smile, waited patiently beside Seonghwa, the two laughing at the couple, then sharing something amongst themselves.

Lost in disgusting kisses, like they weren’t surrounded by their friends, on a crowded beach, you curled your lip and looked around to see if anyone else was as disturbed by the scene.

They weren’t.

“I’m gonna throw you in there,” Wooyoung said, muffled by her lips. 

Aurora giggled again. “No you will not.”

“I am so sandy,” he said, hooking his hands under her thighs. “You are getting thrown in,” he laughed, jumping up to his feet. Aurora clung to him tighter with a shriek, throwing her head backward with a wicked smile for help, for assistance. Her eyes met yours twice.

“Help,” she breathed. All you could do was watch.

“No one’s helping, Ro, you did this to yourself,” Wooyoung laughed along with her, Seonghwa and Soul too, all three of them gleaming. He flew down the sand, the other two following right behind. Without even knowing if they hit the waves, if he threw her in or not, you turned back to Mingi who hadn’t moved an inch. You were the only thing he paid attention to, even amongst the chaos.

Taking a hand to your cheek he danced the back of his fingers over your skin, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out two phones, handing one over to you. “Here,” he said softly, eyes never leaving yours, “That’s blowing up.”

Tearing your gaze off of him you took to your phone, tapping the screen, swiping it open. Three messages stowed away in your inbox. One from your father, the other two from that phone number that sent you all of those messages last night. You’d get back to your dad later, when you had a free minute. The unknown number totally wasn't the excuse you were using to not talk to him.

You held your drink out for Mingi to take, and he did, standing up to move over to the towel beside you. He picked up Wooyoung's Cartier glasses and pushed them back on his head.

[Unknown Number]: hope the beach is fun

[Unknown Number]: u look hot

[you]: stop texting me. you creep ass motherfucker

“Who’s that?” Mingi asked, sipping from your drink. Giving him a look, his brows were furrowed. “You look mad at the world.”

“My sister,” slipped through your teeth with all the ease in the world, so much so it scared you, but once he heard the words his face softened.

“Makes sense,” he nodded, “Tell her I said hi. You guys haven’t spoken in a while, this is weird.”

Staring at the screen, waiting for another message to come through, you cursed this stranger for not having their read receipts on. Your message lived on Delivered. “Yeah, I guess this is weird,” you mumbled, locking the screen. 

“Are you feeling any better?” he asked quietly, dropping his chin. Glancing at the sand, at the water and your friends splashing about, Aurora on Wooyoung’s shoulders, Soul on Seonghwa’s, you shrugged.

“Totally,” you said, and a sarcastic laugh fell out of him. “What?” you whined, giving him a look.

Mingi shook his head and sipped from your glass. It took him a second to speak, to form any words, all he could do was stare at you in disbelief that you were still lying to him. And then he said it. 

“I can’t believe you’re still lying to me.”

“Mingi,” you sighed with a slouch of your shoulders.

He shot you a half smile and handed back your drink, one now half empty. “I opened a tab.” With a slight squint to his eyes, he said, “I’m gonna go hang out with them, okay?”

Sighing louder, you grabbed onto your phone, you gripped the glass, and you leapt to your feet, tossing your ponytail over your shoulder. “Enjoy, I’m gonna go do a shot.” His demeanor fell, his eyes going extremely soft. “Just don’t,” you said just above a whisper. “Go have fun.”

“Do you want me to come with?” he asked from the sand, glued to you as you started toward the bar.

You looked back over your shoulder to him and his traveling eyes. “Not if you have to ask,” you said with a smile, leaving him where he sat.

Bodies filled the bar, leaning over the tropical styled counter, lounging in cushioned swings hanging from the ceiling, surrounding tables, everyone in bathing suits and sandals, or completely barefoot. Party music poured out of the speakers, a beat unknown to you but recognized by a few who chose to dance between tables, or down on the sand. People of all ages minded their own, kept to themselves or the people they came with. Not a soul paid attention to you as you approached the edge, sliding onto a stool with your now empty glass.

“What can I get you?” the girl in the bikini behind the bar asked as she basically danced up to you. Long caramel hair swept over her shoulders down to the middle of her back. The hot pink of her suit complimented her mocha toned skin, leaving you to wonder if it was natural or if she spent ample time in the sun.

“Whatever this was,” you said with a small smile, pushing the glass toward her. With one look at it she knew, snatching the glass away to fetch you a fresh drink.

Spinning on the stool, twisting to face the water, letting the ocean breeze brush over your skin, chilling the burn you’d been starting to feel from the sun, you took a deep breath and released it with a slow close of your eyes. All that was to be heard, the bar music, the people within it, and the crashing of the waves. No friends shouting, no boyfriend in your ear, no worries.

Peace.

Until your phone vibrated in your lap.

With a groan you opened it up.

[Unknown Number]: such a way with words miss tori

[Unknown Number]: lets be nice to each other

[you]: not like this, no. i’m going to block you.

[Unknown Number]: u would have done it yesterday if u were serious abt it

[Unknown Number]: tell me

[Unknown Number]: what keeps u from pressing that button

Damn. 

[you]: who are you.

[Unknown Number]: see i knew it

[Unknown Number]: ur curiosity overwhelms u

[you]: you tell me who you are, and then i block you.

[Unknown Number]: u’ll figure it out soon enough

[Unknown Number]: i promise ;)

Opening the contact, you clicked around on the settings and turned off the notifications. You also turned off your own read receipts. You also double checked that your location wasn’t shared with every single contact in your phone.

Even though apparently this person was already in Haos, they said so themselves last night.

They were right, whoever it was, you weren’t going to block them. Who in their right mind would block somebody like this without knowing who it was? Without knowing their motive? You’d dig deeper. You’d figure out who they were, and if it ended in disappointment, that was that, but if it happened to uncover something deeper, that was worth it. What if it had to do with Aurora? Her dad? What if it involved Mingi, or one of your other friends? It could be associated with Isla, if she was in trouble and you did nothing to help her, you’d never forgive yourself.

Swiping back into the messages, there was one unread.

[Unknown Number]: u know who i am tori.

Gulping, you spun back to face the bar, your fresh drink sitting in front of you all pretty on display, fresh fruit in the glass, tiny umbrella poked into the pineapple. Grabbing onto it, you guzzled it down quickly, barely giving yourself a chance to breathe. You locked your phone completely, deciding to message again later. Or tomorrow. Or if they texted again.

Resting an elbow on the bar, placing your chin within it, you took another long, much needed deep breath. You should tell Aurora about this person, or Mingi. Somebody other than you should know, just in case. Scanning around the bar, taking everything in, the beach paradise you’d be spending a month in, some sort of excitement shot through you. A type of electricity you hadn’t felt in weeks. Maybe even months. That number, that person, was your secret. You didn’t have to tell anyone.

People bustled by, people shouted while they danced, the world moved around you, and it suddenly didn’t seem so awful. No one would know. No one will know.

A smile crept onto your face, one you couldn’t swallow down. Grabbing your glass, you spun on the stool and jumped off of it, starting for the sand.

“Tori!” 

You froze on the ledge. A boy called out your name.

Turning toward the bar, your stomach dropped to your knees, and your cheeks surely flushed of all color. 

Across the bar, the entire thing a giant square, three familiar heads of hair greeted you. Two with smiles, and one with a look that sickened you.

Or fueled the excitement within you.

You weren’t sure.

Intak, Jiung, and Jongseob. 

His dirty blonde hair and bare shoulders should not have your heart pounding between your lungs, he should bring nothing but disgust, and shame, and regret, and more disgust. His friends waved, but he stared. He stared at more than he should before that shit eating smirk showed off his dimples.

little birdie told me u were here. so am i

hope the beach is fun

u know who i am tori.

Well, this should be fun.

read it on ao3 | talk to me | my masterlist

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme -> mingi x fem!reader -> nice for what

Friends have graduated, board positions have changed, relationships are brand new and ever changing, but you and Mingi… You don’t change. Which to some should be a comfort, peace of mind knowing your partner is right by your side, always there for you especially in your times of need… You can’t figure out why you don’t feel the same.

wc: 8.4k warnings: 18+, sexual content and alcohol consumption in every part, infidelity themes... if i missed anything please let me know! posted: 12/8/24 3;50 pm est.

masterlist ~ next part ->

june.

Disgusted.

Betrayed.

No, disrespected.

No. God, what was it?

Arms folding over your denim strapless crop top, you abruptly faced the round table covered in an embroidered dark blue cloth. K.Y. was stitched along the edges lined with a lighter blue silk. Other tablecloths had Dr. Kang in their silk, or Nasara University Graduate. Outside, beneath a massive white tent fit for a royal wedding, the warm summer air blew through the crowd of people on the dance floor in the center of it all, and over the heads stuck in white wooden chairs at their tables, like you, too… something… to dance.

Too annoyed.

No, that was a weak argument.

Too… frustrated to get up and frolic around your friends smiling and laughing, the group having the best time celebrating their graduate, Yeosang.

Everyone was in attendance. Aurora and Wooyoung, Seonghwa, Soul, your boyfriend Mingi, Yuna, Ryujin, and all other faces from ATZ and ITZ alike. Ones Yeosang approved of. Hongjoong was here, hiding behind Jongho somewhere no doubt, if the upcoming Nasara Junior wasn’t clinging onto Yuna. San spun around the floor in circles making his rounds beneath the tent ensuring at least three people were contenders to take home, and somewhere along the back of the crowds, sticking close to some of the newer ATZ boys, was Yunho.

The boy tried to hide, tried to stay low on the radar, but Aurora sniffed him out. She had tabs on him at all times, every minute, every hour, she knew where he was. That boundary she set in place with him back in October, it still stood true, and he hadn’t broken it. He would speak to her only when she spoke to him, but even then each moment was few and far between. It didn’t stop his lovesick eyes from latching to her while Wooyoung twirled her in his arms, attempting to leech any of the feeling dripping off of the couple that still wasn’t officially a couple.

Disgusted.

Now it felt appropriate to use. 

Their bond, one clearly meant to be whether they were a couple or not, had started to fill you with frustration at some point, a type of anger you couldn’t place as anger until winter break rolled around. Vacationing with Mingi and his family for two weeks you kept up with Aurora and her life, staying as close to her as you possibly could while on the other side of the country on an island off the coast of Paix. As her best friend, and her yours, she sent you daily updates of her life and her lovelife. She and Wooyoung weren’t dating, but they were hooking up, they were going on dates, they did all things couples do. Clearly in the honeymoon phase, the way she’d smile through the phone while she spoke about him sparked your many questions as to why they won’t just pull the trigger and make it official.

She had the same response each time. A smack of her lips against her teeth, a measly shrug, and a mumble of, “I dunno.”

To make matters worse, it seemed Wooyoung had the same reaction as well. Half a shrug and a funny face, it’d been Mingi confirmed, the boy you slept next to for two weeks straight in a bed fit for four, sometimes with him all the way on the other end snoring away at some point in the night while you laid awake and listened to Aurora’s whispers of her newfound, exceptional, most amazing, beautifully soul tied, passionate, hot and heavy romance she and Wooyoung had discovered.

She never described it that way, that’s just how it sounded to you in your head.

Most nights during that vacation you’d hung up the phone and glanced to your right at the stretch of a boy snoozing away half naked beneath the sheets. Blonde tipped hair with melty chocolate roots, he was always gorgeous, but it sparked a different feeling within you those two weeks and the months to follow. 

All the way to today.

Tonight.

Dressed similarly to you, by your request, a denim style button down and black pants strapped to his rail thin waist with a belt, Mingi sat backward in a chair beside you. His ring adorned hands rested on his thighs, tapping to the beat of the song that flooded the air beneath the tent. His head bobbed along too, the blonde brushing his forehead where he had it parted to the side, pushed back onto his head. Gazing out at the dance floor, at his friends chanting along to the song that’d play within the walls of the fraternity, he unconsciously released a sigh, one you couldn’t hear, but feel.

“Just go dance if you want to,” you spat without giving him a look. Leaning forward you rested your elbows on the soft cotton of the tablecloth and reached for your glass of champagne. You weren’t sure how many you’ve had so far.

Mingi turned his chin toward you, an eyebrow raised in pure question, his eyes reading the same. “Hm?” he hummed, leaning toward you. Watching you knock back the rest of your flute, he held out a hand to take it, but you slammed it to the table instead. “Do you wa-”

“Oh my god,” you groaned, tipping your chin backward, eyes squeezing shut. “I said go dance if you want to!”

The bass of the music tickled your skin as the sound in the speakers shifted into that of a rapper that the crowd approved of. It was slower, the rhythm sultry and smooth, a familiar sound your body had been conditioned to know. You didn’t even want to look at him, you knew what face he’d be wearing. He’s had you on your back many times to this song.

“Tori,” Mingi said with no strong voice inflictions detected. Looking at him, a grimace on your face, the softest smile on his, you felt your heart twinge. “I was only asking if you wanted another drink.”

“Oh,” you breathed. Flickering your eyes around, at him, at the table, at your empty glass, you said, “Yeah, sure, I guess.”

He took your glass and hurried off with nothing more than the small smile he wore.

Behind his large frame that blocked half of the dance floor from your sight, removing his presence meant unveiling another frustration. Or, rather just one, the same one, Aurora and her lovelife, but it’d been doubled and shoved back into your face.

Dancing, eyes half closed, heavy as she twirled and spun and let the music move her about, she no longer stood within Wooyoung’s arms, but instead anothers. Wooyoung remained by her side, singing, dancing, but he didn’t hold her. He watched her. Shaggy blonde hair, baggy black clothes, pale creamy skin, big black eyes. He wore a smile, Soul did, while his arms hung around her waist, his hands toying with the swishy black fabric of the sundress every so often when her moves would allow it. 

Over the course of that vacation you took with Mingi, when Aurora would spend time with Wooyoung, there was one day for every two spent with him that Soul would tag along. That Soul would be involved. That Soul was coming with. That Soul would nudge against her cheek with his own, pushing her out of the Facetime frame, shirtless with messy hair and a dopey smile. Within seconds of him taking over a call you’d be forced to stare at Wooyoung’s ceiling as the phone dropped to his bed and the three of them bickered over nothing, laughed, then bickered some more until Aurora would pick the phone up and bid you goodnight.

It wasn’t something they shared with everyone else, but you knew. It took her some time to tell you, to admit it, but she said the words at ATZ’s New Years Eve party. Drunk, lounging on the leather couches while the boys played through the annual pong championship they created themselves, she whispered the words when Soul swung by to refill her cup for her.

“Have you ever had a threesome before?”

With a shake of your head she set off and spewed every little detail of her winter break adventures, most of which you already knew of. They weren’t dating, her and Wooyoung, but there was an unspoken thing between them that meant they belonged to one another. Kind of like how you and Mingi started out. Aurora and Wooyoung weren’t together, for whatever reason the two of them only know, but you supposed it left some wiggle room, some grey area open for them to be able to pull Soul into the bedroom with them.

So much time between the three of them was spent at Wooyoungs in Delo. Weekends, sneaky nights after group dinners, after ATZ parties for the remainder of the year. The three of them were hooked. They were experts at keeping it on the downlow most times in public, but they were insufferable.

Disgusted.

At first you couldn’t pinpoint why. That anger, that frustration that soon settled into rage as the months flew by to graduation where you all came together to support Yeosang and Ryujin as they crossed the stage in Iloa at the Lions Stadium in the gorgeous May sunshine. Isla and Vernon came to the ceremony and dinner afterwards, reconnecting with faces they hadn’t seen in a while. Neither of them were able to come to the party to everyone's dismay, the team was traveling south this week for games, the Lions princess getting some much needed tropical time, or so she’s mentioned a trillion times with a thousand devil emoji’s. 

After a media blow up of Isla, her name and her life, she’d been finally able to wriggle free of some imaginary restraints put over her, and she was living her life for her. The way she’d always intended. Sober for two and a half months now, she kept the group chat updated with each passing week, she’d begun paving her own path in the sports world, trying to build and create her own empire of women like herself that have struggled with addiction, self-discipline, empowering them to take control of their lives and their futures. 

Her follower count has breached a million, growing every single day. Without the help of her brother. Without the help of Vernon, her boyfriend, the two finally together after years of pretending there wasn’t anything between them. Isla was happy, finally, and she deserved it. 

But, you missed her. 

Now with Aurora mixed up between two boys who were the greatest sex of her life-

“Even Yunho?”

“Y-yes, even him. Shut up.”

Aurora had two boys. Yuna had Jongho, the two in a talking-hook up phase that’d slowly been turning into a let’s dress up and go out to dinner phase as of late. Ryujin, freshly graduated, met a girl at her internship at the end of the semester, in May. It hasn’t even been a month and the two were already looking at apartments in Iloa together. 

Everyone had brand new exciting things happening for them, happening to them, and it filled you with a cold dread that, now that it was June, had turned into resentment for every single one of them. Even the sweet boy who brought you a sparkling champagne glass filled to the brim with bubbles. With a smile he popped it into your outstretched hand and manicured fingers. His eyes, deep brown, filled with a pureness he’s had since day one, since the moment you two exchanged names on the front lawn of ATZ, heads tipping back in identical shrieks gathering attention all because you shared a last name. 

He was your one and only, the love of your life. He matched you, mirrored you in every single way, shape and form. He’s seen every side of you, Mingi has, and he’s never judged you for any of them. Hungover and grumpy, he’s been there to take care of you. Silly, a bout of the zoomies, he’s there to laugh with you and catch you when you crash. Overwhelmed, feeling as though you can’t work anything out, figure anything out, especially since taking the Vice President position your best friend offered you, Mingi’s been there to talk things out with, to create plans, and sort through work. 

He’s that cheesy shit authors publish… Your sun, your moon and all your stars. You didn’t believe it until you met him, until he caught you every single time you fell and aided you back to your feet. His friends will joke that he’s down bad, and a simp, but he didn’t give two shits. He loved you, and you loved him.

You loved him undeniably so that it gutted you to even admit to yourself that you wanted more.

You craved more.

You yearned for something fresh, something new, something to give you that rush, the feeling of the chase. Going on year three with Mingi, you knew everything. You’ve learned everything. The two of you have pretty much tried everything too. 

For three years you’ve been able to tell him every thought that flowed through your head, from how pretty the moon looked to how fucked up it was that your parents missed parents weekend again for the second year in a row because of your younger sister. How the hell were you supposed to articulate to him, the biggest softie in ATZ, that nothing about your relationship excited you anymore? 

“What’s the matter, Tor?” he asked you, sitting on the edge of his seat facing you. Watching your glossy lips sip the bubbles and look out toward the dance floor, he sighed, but this time you could hear it. “You’ve been on edge since yesterday, and it’s two weeks too early, so… Is there anything I can do for you?” 

“No,” you said, swishing your glass before downing another gulp. Lifting the glass toward him you flashed him a sarcastic smile. “But thanks for the reminder I’ll get my period on vacation.” 

“Is it that?” He shoved his hands between his thighs, his eyebrows furrowed above his sappy eyes. This is what Mingi liked to do. Analyze you. Pick you apart. Solve the problem. In the past, without this nagging living beneath your skin, you’d appreciated it and looked forward to it, knowing he was there to lean on, to give all your problems to. Now, it made you want to smash your champagne flute onto the ground. “All of us going to Haos? We’ve been packed, we’re good. I have our plane tickets, we know what’s going down, we’re going to be okay.”

Haos. Your fabulous beach vacation you were taking for a month with a select few beneath this tent. A select few you have ample problems with. One sided problems. At the beginning of May it was decided you’d vacation in Haos with your friends, stay there for thirty days, all of you in one house just big enough for six of you. The beach town lured Nasara students in, so the rest of your friend group would be headed down there to stay close by but thankfully not in the same house. You were set up to be surrounded by more of the same.

The same fun people, the same drunken memories made, hanging onto the same safe, secure Mingi like you have been for years. 

“Of course we’re gonna be okay,” you mumbled, sipping your drink.

He smiled, all teeth. “We will be, I promise you.” 

Assuming he solved it, he cracked the code, Mingi redirected his attention to the dance floor and his friends, Aurora now back in Wooyoung's arms, hanging onto his front and his black t-shirt. The three of them matched, Ror, Wooyoung, and Soul.

Gross.

You took a peek at Mingi and his threads.

Damn it.

Hands latched onto your back, acrylic fingernails grabbing onto your shoulders, pink glossy lips coming close to your ear. “Um, Jongho bought me something.”

Glancing over your shoulder at Yuna’s wide, bright eyes, you tried to smile. “What’d he get you?”

She shrugged, flipping her chocolate hair over her shoulder as she took the seat beside you. “No idea,” she laughed, scooting her chair closer to you. “He said he’ll give it to me when we’re in Haos.” Her eyes scanned over the table and the empty glasses over it. “Lost my drink,” she muttered.

“Here comes Jongho,” you breathed, eyeing the massive boy as he left the dance floor, his black hair fluffed and pushed over his forehead and sharp eyes. “I’m sure he’ll get you another one.” Mingi held out a hand for his brother to slap, then looked over at you, the two of you sharing a few seconds before you twisted to face Yuna who melted into her boy's arms when he wrapped them around her shoulders.

“You guys are leaving tonight, right?” Yuna asked, a big ass smile on her face. Jongho looked between you and Mingi before he pressed a few kisses to her cheesy cheeks.

Swallowing your cringe, wanting to reach out and rip them apart, you nodded and pushed your hair behind your back to show off more skin and the M around your neck on a gold chain. Your boyfriend sipped his drink and smiled at his friends. He didn’t look at you like you wanted him to.

“We’ll be on a plane in a few hours,” he said. 

Yuna glanced to the dance floor, then to you. “Those three are going with you, right?” With a roll of your eyes, knowing which three she was talking about, you nodded again. “What goes on? Aren’t Wooyoung and Ror together? What’s the deal with Soul?”

One measly glance toward the trio grinding on one another like they weren’t surrounded by all of Yeosang’s friends and family, you turned to Yuna and said, “They fuck.”

Mingi sprung forward in his seat, his hands slapping to the table as his eyes shot open. “What!?” Both Yuna and Jongho’s jaws flew open, the pair clutching one another like you shot their mother. 

Sipping your champagne, you averted your gaze and laughed to yourself. “Oops.” You wouldn’t have said it if you weren’t tipsy or annoyed beyond belief. They were making it too obvious anyway, anyone with eyes who looked at them right now would be able to tell they knew each other too well. Looking their way, your stomach churned. They were headed toward their table, your table. “Well, shit.”

Wooyoung, with Aurora behind him, the two hand in hand with Soul on their heels, snuck around chairs and people alike, still rocking along to the music. Circling around the table, Aurora singing along to the song with the blonde boy behind her, Wooyoung eyed each and every one of you, his once happy eyes now struck with curiosity. Aurora flopped down into a chair across from you, not sparing you a glance as she leaned toward Soul who sat beside her sideways to face her, his elbow finding its way onto the table. Like they had a secret to share, endless whispers to exchange, the two spoke a mile a minute, Aurora’s hands flying like they did when she was drinking.

“Everybody okay?” Wooyoung spoke slowly at first, still standing beside his not-girlfriend who reached out to toy with Souls necklace hanging over his shirt. Yuna watched her sister, Jongho stared at Soul, Mingi didn’t know where to look. Wooyoung took them all in, then focused on you, hoping you’d give him an answer as to why everyone seemed like they were trying to work out who would go where in their heads. 

Jongho stood up straight, let go of his girlfriend, and stepped over to Wooyoung’s side holding out a hand for him to take. Hesitating at first, brows plummeting under his waves, he placed his hand in Jongho's and let him shake it. 

“Jongho!” Yuna exclaimed, bouncing in her seat, acquiring Aurora and Souls attention. 

Jongho took his hand back and shrugged toward her. “Can’t help it,” he said, then floated by her side to kiss her cheek. “Going to get you another drink.”

“What happened?” Aurora asked.

Wooyoung glanced at her and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, sitting down in his chair. “What happened?” Yuna, looking between the three of them, lips parted while her mind worked, she couldn’t give them an answer. 

“They’re mad we’re leaving tonight and they have to wait a few days,” you said, getting a look from Mingi. You didn’t like how it felt, so you gave one back to him. He nearly snapped his neck focusing back on the table in front of him.

“Ohhh-kay,” Aurora sang, observing how Mingi moved, asking you a question with her eyes when they met yours. Ignoring her, you focused on the rest of your champagne.

Soul pushed his chair back abruptly, jumping to his feet. “Who needs a drink?”

“Not you,” Wooyoung said, voice stern as he looked up at the boy.

Yuna, now leaning onto the table, still studying the trio, was quick to ask, “Why not?”

Both Wooyoung and Soul shot her a look, the timing impeccable it almost made you laugh.

“Because,” Wooyoung said matter-of-factly, “He’s had his tongue down San’s throat twice, if he has anymore to drink he’s gonna end up going home with him.” Turning to speak to Aurora, Yuna’s question pulled him back quicker than the previous one.

“Jealous?”

“What?” His eyes narrowed. Yuna started to laugh, Wooyoung did not know what to do. “What did you just say to me?”

Aurora threw an arm over one of his, pushing him backward in his chair. “Leave it,” she muttered as if she were talking to a dog. Squinting across the table, watching the way he calmed down in an instant, the way he looked at her, listened to her, seemed to adore her, you couldn’t help the way your lip curled. “God damn, I wanna be on a beach!” 

Soul, who had flopped back down beside her, let out a laugh, his being leaning toward hers. “A beach!” he mimicked, laughing with her. Wooyoung’s expression went unchanged, even as he watched the two fall into one another, their giggles sounding over the music playing throughout the tent.

“What the fuck,” Yuna said under her breath with a slight widening of her eyes, looking at you.

Pressing your lips together, you popped your brows and sighed. “Tell me about it.” 

“Do you wanna tell me now?”

Mingi unlocked his front door, pushing the finished white wood open for you to step inside first. Heels clicking on the tile of the foyer, you make yourself at home, dropping your little purse on one of the end tables by the couches a few steps into the house, into the living room. Leaning over one of the leather backed sofas you pulled off your heels and dropped them into his outstretched hands, Mingi having locked the door behind him, following behind you with an attentiveness that irked your very soul.

“I said I’m fine,” you breathed, keeping your voice low. Just down one of the halls that wrapped around the back of the house, behind the kitchen, behind the living room, was his parents bedroom. 

Up the stairs that you both teetered towards was his space, two bedrooms and a living room that mirrored the one on the first floor, but it’d been flipped by Mingi and his older brother when they were growing up. Full of things for school, exercise equipment, gaming systems, couches and bean bag chairs, Mingi and his brother made it theirs, their parents allowing them to have a space to call their own.

“And I’m saying, I don’t believe you,” Mingi whispered, placing a hand on your back to guide you up the stairs you wavered back and forth on. You tried to look over your shoulder but he placed his hand there instead, turning you back around. “Go, into my room,” he said, voice growing stern.

“Don’t get like that,” you grumbled, reaching the top of the stairs and the open floor waiting for you. To your left was the door to this brother's bedroom that had been vacant for a few years now that he was moved out and half married. “I’m tired, I’m drunk, I’m-”

“You’re not drunk, Tor,” Mingi said, wrapping his arm around your waist, tugging you along the floor to his door at the other end of the second floor. A breath tumbled from your lips as your feet stumbled over each other. “You’re just tipsy enough to say too much.” He pushed open his door, not caring how it swung into the wall behind it.

“To say too much?” Your brows screwed together. Starting for his bed you tugged at the zipper on your pants, the silky black hugging your hips perfectly.

Mingi dropped your shoes on the floor by his door that he shut with a slam and smirked. “Yeah, too much. You think if Rora and Wooyoung wanted everyone to know they were hooking up with Soul that they’d say it themselves?” Shimmying out of your pants, tossing them aside, you pout your lips. “That’s their business,” he said, tossing his shirt over his hamper next to a tall chestnut dresser. “And that’s your best friend.”

Reaching up your back to attempt to take off your strapless top, you couldn’t reach the zipper. Mingi, after undoing his belt and zipper, his jeans hanging off his hips, he loosed a sigh and turned you around by your shoulders. Dragging his fingers over your skin gently, chills ran down your spine. With the zipper in one hand and your shoulder in the other, he tugged it down and let your top fall to the floor, wasting no time, smoothing his hand down your bare back.

“You looked so good tonight,” he whispered, his hands traveling back up, a smile dancing on his lips as he watched the little bumps over your skin rise at his touch. Taking your hair in his hands, his long fingers dancing through the strands, making sure none was left on your cheeks, he laid it over one shoulder and pressed his chest against your skin, the heat making you shiver. “My pretty girl,” his warm breath fanned over your neck, his lips inches from the skin, brushing over your ear first before they pressed to the valley beneath your jaw.

“We have to get on a plane,” you sighed, eyes fluttering shut as his hands smoothed down your front, over your chest, greedy as ever. He didn’t listen, lost in his own actions, lips pulling at your skin, sucking further and further down your neck, your collar bone, his hands groping, fingers pinching to make you yelp. “Mingi.” His name came out of you in a whisper, something soft, like a plea for more instead of a demand to stop.

His tongue slipped from his lips, a heavy fat stripe pressing into your skin from your collar bone to behind your ear where his teeth latched onto your lobe, nipping at it, his lips wrapping around the three different sized diamonds he had bought for you.

“We have twenty minutes,” he mumbled. Wrapping his hands around your arms he lifted a knee and tapped it against the back of one of yours, knocking your balance out from under you. Laughing to himself while you gasped and fell forward onto his mattress, he pressed a hand between your shoulder blades to keep you down while he lifted your knees one by one onto his bed. Bending over you, his lips came close to your ear and he whispered, “Do you want it?”

“Yes,” came out of you all too fast. If he didn’t put you into such a compromised position, if he wasn’t pinning you down to his bed, if he hadn’t hooked a finger under the lace of the thong you wore and pulled it to the side after snapping it against your skin once, you might’ve told him no simply because you were still ticked off from the party.

But then his jeans hit the floor, the sound of his belt smacking the wood echoing off his dark walls, and a warmth erupted within you. The sound, his hands, his voice, you were down in seconds, ready for him in seconds. Back arching as he dropped to his knees and slid his tongue between your legs, the muscle tweaking your clit, teasing you, a laugh falling from him as he felt you writhe beneath him. Clamping your mouth shut, jaw clenched, every sound, every moan, every whine, you withheld them from him, keeping them within your chest.

Smoothing a hand over the curve of your ass as he stood, letting his fingers trail up your back to your neck, he threaded his fingers through your hair and turned your head, forcing you to look back at him. “You’re such a liar, Tori,” he said, pushing his hips into yours, his length slipping along your center, another shiver running through you. “Something is up,” he whispered, taking a hand between your bodies, lifting one knee onto his bed beside one of yours, “And if you think I can’t tell…” his voice trailed off as he slipped inside of you, your hips pushing backward like clockwork, muscle memory, your body knowing what it wanted. “Fuck,” he grumbled, taking his time to fill you entirely.

Arching further into the bed, chest to his mattress, ass pressing into his hips, against his hips, you blinked fluttering lashes up at him and smiled. He was big, yes. The way his muscles rippled as he pulled out to push back into you was hot, yes. Mingi had the ability to lock you in, render you submissive with a single look, yes. He could make you feel so good, so fast, unlike anyone ever has. He knew your tricks, he knew your triggers, he knew your body like it was his own. Countless nights were spent here in his bed, or back at ATZ in his room, learning you. He could make you cum on his fingers in minutes, and on his dick even quicker.

His body curled around you, caging you in, trapping you beneath him. Normally you’d both hate to be in one spot too long, you both craved more, you always did, but in a moment like this, one spot and his filthy mouth was enough.

For a moment, amongst the lust, the heat coming off of both of you, the fuzziness beginning to cloud your brain as he held you down and used you like a toy, you start to think that maybe you’re okay. Maybe this thing with Mingi will subside and leave you alone. If this month in Haos would be spent like this, the two of you on each other like sex crazed animals, maybe things would get better.

You and Mingi were the It couple when it came to your group of friends. It had always been you and Mingi, everyone adored the two of you, everyone knew you came as a pair, everyone could see the way you were with one another, comfortable, full of love, unafraid of how people would adore the sexiness that clouded your aura’s whenever you were together. Sometimes it felt like the bedroom door was always open, but you didn’t care, and neither did Mingi.

That’s how this month in Haos was supposed to go. You wanted the teasing, you wanted the noise complaints, you wanted to get caught locking lips and riding thighs late at night in a hot tub or the pool, plenty of spring breaks had been full of moments like those, but now, the attention would be elsewhere.

And you had yourself to blame.

Because you were tipsy enough to talk too much.

Mingi slipped a hand between your legs, his fingers swirling that sweet spot in circles, a whine involuntarily escaping you. He slid in and out of you so deliciously your toes were curling, but that feeling wasn’t building within you. That feeling he could so easily conjure, it couldn’t find you, and it spooked you. 

This hasn’t ever happened before.

You could speak up, you could say something. You could melt into him, ask him to flip over, tell him to do something else, but you couldn’t, you almost didn’t want to, and that killed you.

One thought of the vacation and your vibe was ruined.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum,” he groaned, teeth biting into your shoulder. After a sigh he growled, “How the fuck are you not close, Torilynn.”

He almost had you, something sparked within you for a few seconds, but you couldn’t hold onto it for very long, so you decided to do something you’ve never once had to do with Mingi ever.

“I am, baby, I am,” you whispered, pushing a moan out of you that you knew would have him on the edge, “Don’ stop, Mingi, ‘hmygod.” Each thrust of his hips got sloppier and sloppier, his tongue pushed out of his mouth, lips latching to your neck as he pushed deeper and deeper inside of you. He was seconds away from pumping you full of his cum and you couldn’t be any further away.

So, you tightened every muscle, you squeezed him tight, threw your head backward, and you mimicked how you’d sound when you’d actually orgasm. You’ve never prayed a day in your life, but within these few seconds, amidst his husky grunts and groans, his whispers of how good you fucking felt, you prayed he was too pussydrunk to realize that you faked it. Pushing you further into the mattress, his body weight resting on top of you, he filled you like he does, the shortest strokes aiding in emptying him entirely, and then, after a minute of shared heavy breaths and long kisses, he pulled out and laid beside you.

“God, c’mere,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around you, pulling you into his side with ease like he would when your body was normally spent. “Kiss me, please.” And you did, letting him lead the way, every kiss soft and gentle. “I love you, Tori,” he whispered against your lips, “So much.”

Taking a hand to his cheek, toying with the ends of his blonde hair, you smiled into the kiss, willing away the guilt that greeted you in your gut. “Love you, too,” you whispered, curling a leg over his waist. “So much.”

Wooyoung had Aurora in his arms. Standing in line at security, you and Mingi a few steps ahead of them with Seonghwa in front of you, the couple that wasn’t a couple tried to occupy the same space as one another. Sharing whispers when her face wasn’t buried in his chest, Wooyoung would have his lips pressed to her forehead more than they spoke words. They were both in hoodies, his hoodies, and sweatpants. Her makeup was gone, they’d definitely showered, and Soul stood behind them with his nose in his phone. 

You’ve heard stories of how you and Mingi were with one another when the two of you started hooking up, when your relationship started. Only hearing the words, so caught up in the whirlwind of your own romance to realize how you were acting, you wondered if it looked anything like this. They couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, whether they were hooked around arms, waists, necks, or beneath the hem of a sweatshirt doing god knows what, the hands were almost worse than the kisses. On her forehead, on her cheek, pressed to his jaw, to his neck, to his lips if he looked down far enough for her to catch them. 

You should be happy for her. Her heart had been broken several times at the start of your junior year, and here she was, with everything she wanted, everything she deserved, and then some. It wasn’t a secret, even if their label confused everyone but themselves, he wasn’t afraid to love her outside of his bedroom walls. That’s what she deserved. Someone she could trust, someone who would put up with every rigid part of her, understand her flightiness and keep her on her feet. 

That might’ve been where Soul came in.

The bits and pieces you’ve heard from her, how it all worked, made it seem like Soul was something for them to play with, and vice versa. The boy going into his sophomore year fit right into your group of friends, you’ve all spent plenty of time getting to know him, he wasn’t one for relationships, for commitments. He wanted the fun, and who could blame him, he was twenty and about to start his second year of college, in no way was he planning on locking someone down, especially when he was trying to land a board position at ATZ his junior year.

He was in it for the fun, to get off without having to hunt and work for it, Aurora and Wooyoung handed it to him.

Moving forward in line, the six of you almost to the front, you met eyes with Seonghwa who glanced behind him checking in to make sure everyone was still there. He gave you a smile, his eyes crinkling under the strands of black hair that caressed his cheekbones. You wanted to know what went on in his head, all these months of watching Aurora and Wooyoung’s relationship blossom into what it is now, you longed to know how he felt about it.

Sure, the two of them put their shit to rest, Aurora and Seonghwa, having done so in front of nearly all of you. They were friends, strictly, that had been established in front of all of you.

Pulling your lips into a frown you wanted to physically shake the feeling off of you. Aurora had the eyes on her, since the start of your junior year. It wasn’t until all the shit blew over that you realized how it made you feel. Even after the fact, weeks, months later. You were there for her, you helped her through the transition of taking the president position, you even accepted when she asked you to be her vice president, and then, it was as if nothing had happened at all. Like no one remembered what any of you had gone through.

Yeji, expelled. Mina, pulled out of school by her own parents. Isla, kicked out of the sorority, gifted a lifelong struggle courtesy of Yeji herself. Yunho, shattering Aurora’s heart, ripping apart the tight knit group of four you adored being a part of. 

Parties were thrown, bans were lifted, life got easier.

Everyone moved on.

“Tor,” Mingi’s soft voice pulled you from your thoughts, his hand extended for you to take. Seonghwa was headed through the line, a group of men and women calling him forward to send him through security, checking thoroughly through everything. “We’re next.”

Slipping your hand into his, folding your fingers together, your grip fitting in his like it was made to be there, you took to his side and pressed yourself against him. ”Should I tell them I said something?”

Mingi glanced down at you, then back to the three waiting a few steps behind you. He gave someone a smile, whoever caught him checking on them, and said, “That you outed their little threesome?”

Clicking your tongue you shook his hand around. “Come on. It was so damn obvious.”

Pressing his lips together he softened his eyes. “Tor, I know I’m not smart, but… it wasn’t.”

“Ugh, whatever,” you groaned, slouching. “Least you have something new to tell Yunho to show him what he fumbled.” Mingi clenched his jaw, his eyes shooting upward and around the airport. “What?” you asked, giving his hand a squeeze.

He shook his head. “Haven’t spoken to him since classes ended.”

Right. 

Of course he fucking hasn’t.

He’s said that to you.

All you could do was sigh, but that wasn’t answer enough. “I’m sorry,” you whispered.

“For what?” he asked, looking down at you at his shoulder, a brow raised.

Shrugging, you used your other hand to gesture toward yourself, toward the day. “Everything,” you muttered, and smiled. 

Letting go of your hand he wrapped his arm around your waist and held you closer to him, smiling. “You’re tired, it’s okay,” he breathed, planting a kiss on your temple. “Sleep on the plane. When you wake up you’ll be on a beach.”

Taking a deep breath, you laid your head against him. “Thank fucking god.”

Sleep couldn’t find you. It wandered around you, teased you, reeled you in hook line and sinker, just to let you go with every tiny sound you’d probably be able to sleep through if your brain wasn’t full of bullshit you longed to be able to get rid of. Even with Mingi beside you, his eyes fluttering shut, eyelashes fanning his cheekbones the second his headphones were over his head, you couldn’t make it happen. He’d taken your hand at some point, his thumb dragging over the back letting you know he wasn’t completely asleep.

His blonde hair, shorter now that he’s gotten it cut, charmed you, as it normally would. His finger dragging over your skin, a little rough but all the more smooth, soothed you, as it normally would. His presence, his over-attentiveness, his need to keep you safe, taken care of, it overwhelmed you, when it normally wouldn’t.

Nauseated with yourself, with what you had just done to him, something you would never have to do, you were sick. You told each other everything, honesty was the glue that held the two of you together, he always said it himself, that the second that goes away is the moment your relationship is over. His own past haunted him just as yours did. His heart had been broken one too many times, the sweet faced gentle giant. Mingi craved loyalty, someone to look after, and someone to look after him, and he deserved it, more than anyone you knew. It’s been something you’ve been able to give him unconditionally all these years, and he’s been able to give the same back to you.

He’s never changed. He’s consistent. He’s too good.

“Hey,” a whisper pulled you from your circulating thoughts, the ones that haunted you when you were left alone for too long. Turning to your left, just over Mingi, Wooyoung was crouched over in the aisle. “Sorry.” He smiled and it tickled your skin. The boy oozed otherworldly beauty. “Ro’s asking for you.”

“Right now?” you asked, keeping your voice as low as his. People around you were either sleeping or trying to rest at this hour. Wooyoung nodded, his lips resting into something that triggered your fight or flight. “What does she want?”

“Won’t tell me,” he whispered. “Says she needs her sister.” His eyes narrowed but his face softened all at once. “Make sure she’s okay for me? Please?” His vulnerability with you is rare. With anyone other than Aurora his vulnerability was rare actually. One of the smartest in the group, an intelligent being with a knack for picking up on energies without even needing to meet the human being in person, he had the ability to hide his own, the ability to only show it when necessary, and it was powerful. His eyes pulled you from your seat, his words coercing you up without even realizing. The pied piper. A mastermind.

“I will,” you said as you passed by him, watching him slip over Mingi’s lap to take your seat. Your boyfriend opened his eyes when your hand slipped out of his. Sitting forward, he popped off his headphones and blinked up at you. “Going to talk to Aurora for a few,” you whispered, leaning over to kiss his forehead. “Go back to sleep.”

“No, actually, I need to talk to you, too,” Wooyoung said, a hand tapping Mingi’s shoulder to both you and your boyfriend's surprise. 

“Sure,” Mingi said, his deep gravelly voice full of sleep.

Stomach sinking past your knees, through the bottom of the plane, plummeting into whatever state, city, county, jurisdiction you flew over, you gulped and turned away to start down the aisle.

She knew.

They knew.

They found out you said something. 

There isn’t anything else this could be about, Aurora needed to talk to you, Wooyoung needed to talk to Mingi, they knew you opened your mouth and outed them.

With each step you willed your breath to remain steady. Like Wooyoung, you were somewhat of an expert at keeping your secrets at bay, not showing any truth unless you wanted to share it with the class. That’s why Mingi hadn’t been able to see anything, you wouldn’t let him. Approaching Aurora now, peeking over her row, her in the middle seat, Soul sitting by the window with his head on her shoulder, you swallowed every groan, every eye roll at the sight, and sat down beside her.

Gazing out the window at the night sky, slouched a bit where she sat, one leg pulled up on the seat, leaning into the boy who snoozed on her, his tangled earbuds in his ears, she looked at you with the smallest smile, placing a hand over yours when it grabbed onto the armrest. 

“Hi,” she spoke within a whisper.

“Hi,” you answered, both of you keeping your voices low.

Her smile deepened. “I could feel your doom and gloom from back here.”

An eye roll snuck out of you. “You could, or Wooyoung could.”

Her smile vanished. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nevermind,” you breathed, “I’m just tired, I think once we’re there I’m going to sleep for forever.”

“Tori,” she studied you, “What did you mean by that?”

Remnants of this past school year. You might’ve been the only one still stuck, but that didn’t mean everyone else wasn’t affected by what had happened. She’d been doing this since the day she was appointed her position, asking for reassurance, double checking that everyone was good, that everyone was telling her the truth. You couldn’t blame her, if anything you were doing the same thing, just not outwardly. Aurora told you everything, though last fall she wasn’t, you understood she did it with good reason. She took how it made you feel and actively applied it to your friendship, and all the other relationships she valued in her life. 

Now you know too much, but nevertheless, at the end of the day, you are grateful she trusted you with such delicate details.

Delicate details that now half the friend group knew about.

“He knows people,” you said, taking her hand in yours. “That’s all.” Her eyes flickered between yours, analyzing, like her brain scanned you for any signs of dishonesty. “You don’t have to do this with me, you know that.”

Focusing her attention forward, eyes dropping to her lap, she shook her head. “Sorry,” she whispered, then turned back to you. “I just wanted to check on you, I feel like you’ve been off. Like we haven’t talked about stuff in a while.”

Because you’re spending so much time with Wooyoung and Soul?

Because you’ve been frolicking around like nothing occurred these last two semesters?

Because you act as though life is fine, like it’s nothing to take seriously?

“Summer gets busy,” you said to her, squeezing her hand, “We know this. We go back to living at home, we have bigger responsibilities now, we’re both in relationships, it happens, Ror.” Funny, she was supposed to be the one comforting you right now. “We’ll have so much time to catch up on the beach.” She started to smile. “We can leave the boys behind, or we can RorTor them to death like we used to, whatever you want to do.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, then placed a hand over Soul’s bleach blonde hair, dragging her fingers through the strands. “As long as he’s good. Seonghwa said he’ll keep him on a short leash, but… I worry about him.”

Your internal eyes narrowed. Your internal lips pulled into a scowl. The face you wanted to make lived deep inside of you, every feature screwing up into a What the fuck? You didn’t get it. He was a twenty year old going into his sophomore year of college, if he couldn’t take care of himself at this point, if he couldn’t get a grip on himself at this point… You didn’t think Aurora needed the responsibility of looking after him.

Your side-dick will be fine, is what you wanted to say to her. The pet you and Wooyoung play with can take care of himself.

You didn’t get it. Wooyoung confidently left them behind, Soul draped over her like they were the ones dating. It placed something in your gut, in your chest, something you’ve only felt when your parents showered your sister and her achievements in glitter and gold, when they seemed to care about her more.

That couldn’t be it.

That wasn’t what this feeling was, sitting here watching Aurora stroke the boy’s hair with her something of a boyfriend sitting a few rows ahead of them. You weren’t envious of this. You were not jealous, you did not wish to have this in your life. You didn’t yearn for change, for something new, for something fresh, for something taboo. 

“I can see it, Tor,” she said, a smile sneaking onto her lips. “There’s something wrong.”

“Aurora,” you whispered, the steadiness in your voice scaring yourself, “I’m fine.”

She gulped, let her stare bleed into yours for a few seconds, then pointed her eyes down to Soul. “Okay.” It was all she said, all she had left to say.

If Mingi couldn’t see shit, there was no way in hell you’d allow Aurora to see shit.

You wished it wouldn’t happen, but you could visualize the walls already built around you growing thicker.

It was like you said, you were fine.

You would be fine.

A month with them, just them, everyone, would sort everything out, as if you were back at school with them, back in close proximity to one another. It wouldn’t cause problems, it would solve them.

You hoped.

read it on ao3 | talk to me | my masterlist

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme 3 -> mingi x fem!reader -> nice for what

wc: 8.4k warnings: 18+, sexual content and alcohol consumption in every part, infidelity themes... if i missed anything please let me know! posted: 1/19/25 12:22 pm est.

masterlist ~ <- previous part - next part ->

“I’m deadass, look at this,” Yuna said from the end of the blue sofa, extending her wrist over Aurora’s lap. Mouth popping open, no words to be spoken, Aurora takes her hand and lifts it higher, bringing the diamonds closer to her face.

“How much was it?” Aurora mumbled, glancing at Yuna and her natural chocolate waves flowing down her back. “Did he tell you? I guess he didn’t, right? That’s not a thing.” Shouts flooded out of the doorway of the gameroom, all of the boys but one holed up in there, crinkling cans and busting each other's asses over the simplest of losses.

Yuna shook her head blinking her round eyes toward both of you, though you weren’t paying attention. “He didn’t, but Ryujin and I tried to look it up, ‘cause it’s an Olivietta, and it must be custom or something, because we can’t find it anywhere, but all of Olivietta’s shit like this is like five thousand dollars.” 

Aurora’s jaw dropped further than before, her entire being in shock. “You’re lying,” she whispered, her voice still audible over the music playing. Yuna, proud as ever, smiled and shook her head. Your best friend whirled herself around to look at you, Yuna’s hand still in hers, but you were focused on your phone, typing away, a mile a minute. “Are you seeing this, Tor? Jongho bought her this.” You hummed in response, not lifting your eyes from your screen. “For an end of year gift.”

“It’s so pretty,” you muttered, hitting send on a message, missing the way your friends' faces fell before they turned back to speak to one another.

“What have you guys been doing, you’ve got three days on us now, how’s the beach?” Yuna’s smile met her eyes, her and Aurora sitting backward on the couch, falling into a conversation that seemed to exclude you. 

It didn’t matter, you were busy.

For three days this number hasn’t left you alone. The messages came in at random, at random times, there wasn’t a strategy to the way this person moved making it increasingly impossible to figure out who they could be, where they could be, and what their motive was. For three days you’ve ignored Jongseob, whether it be at the beach while him and his friends hung out with yours, sat close by, drank with them- You ignored him.

He did very little to get your attention much to your surprise, he didn’t act like he did if he were within the walls of ATZ. You did have more freedom around the frat, around your own sorority, without Mingi, that is. Oftentimes Jongseob nagged you when he wasn’t around, and ultimately while lying on a beach beside him, he didn’t have the means to get under your skin. At least not while your boyfriend lounged next you, knowing that little leech would swoop in if he left you alone.

But, that could be why he’s texting you like this. Secretively. So he could talk to you around the boyfriend, like one of his messages had said.

If it was him. The person wouldn’t give it up.

[you]: but you still won’t give me a name.

You’ve gotten sneaky. The day after the notification settings were changed, you added a name to the contact, one that would go unnoticed by Mingi if he were to glance over while you were texting. It would protect you from anyone questioning actually, you felt like a proper genius.

[ITZ]: its more fun this way

[ITZ]: wyd right now

[you]: sitting around with my girls. 

[ITZ]: oooooh. which girls

[ITZ]: told them abt me yet?

[you]: why the fuck would i tell anyone about you???

“Hwa!” 

Both Yuna and Aurora cheered aloud, their voices echoing up into the stretch of a ceiling pulling you away from your screen. He was tipping sideways, Seonghwa was, with a bottle in his hand. Baggy jeans hung low on his hips and the cropped t-shirt he wore exposed a strip of golden skin above the Calvin Klein strap around his waist. Drunk, eyes glazed over, a silly smile on his perfectly full lips, your friends gushed over him to make him blush, and he did.

Cheeks going pink, he squatted down in front of the table in the center of the couches, wobbling as he did, and he poured liquor into stray shot glasses littering the wooden table top. His hair laid naturally over his head, messy, wavy, longer than ever. Dragging his slender, knobby fingers through it, as if to flash you all a delicious look of his face, he gave you all a lazy smile. 

“How are the games?” Yuna asked, animating her voice to make him laugh. She leaned forward over her lap, and Seonghwa beamed.

Slapping his hands to the table, he said, “So much fun.”

She tossed her hair around as she spoke. “Enjoy them,” she grinned.

“Thank you,” Seonghwa’s cheeks grew squishy as his smile deepened.

“No, Hwa,” Aurora cooed, holding up one of the shot glasses, “Thank you.”

The three of them took their shots together, Seonghwa and Aurora watching one another as they did. He stood after smacking the glass onto the table and left her with a wink, Yuna gasping the moment he was out of earshot. 

She jumped in her place, grabbing onto Aurora any way she could. “You know what I constantly think about?”

You leaned forward and grabbed the glass Seonghwa poured for you.

Aurora groaned with a grin, tipping her head backward, letting Yuna shake her around. “Please, don’t.”

“Actually, it’s what I think about whenever I see you two interact,” she said, lowering her voice, bringing her nose close to Aurora’s cheek. Your best friend gave her a look. “You guys lowkey have chemistry, Ror.”

You pressed the glass to your lips and took your shot.

“It’ll never happen again,” Aurora widened her eyes, “We’ve said it. We’re friends. Besides, I'm with Wooyoung.” 

Sliding the empty glass onto the table, you reached for another that Seonghwa had filled. All the glasses on the table got filled actually, the boy was entirely too drunk he couldn’t put together who was sitting around here and who wasn’t. 

“With Wooyoung,” you mumbled with a smirk, knocking the shot back. That was awfully rich. Words such as those hadn’t been spoken… ever. Placing the glass down you glanced to your right and found them both looking at you, their eyes unreadable. 

Yuna slid her hand over Aurora’s, taking her attention back. “Where’s Soul?” she asked with a tilt of her head, nonchalant, calm, collected. Like she didn’t know.

“Ah,” Aurora sighed, “He’s upstairs, in his room. He needed a minute, he’ll be back down though, he was excited you guys were coming.”

Soul went up to his bedroom when you all came back from the beach. He and Aurora spent a lot of time sitting on the sand, many feet away from the group, whispering to one another. They weren’t whispering, they were talking, but it felt like whispering, like they were keeping something a secret. Wooyoung didn’t care, just like he didn’t care that first beach day, letting the two of them spend that kind of time together.

The twenty year old went up to his room, and he didn’t come back.

“Is he okay?” Yuna flipped her brows over.

“Totally, sometimes he just-”

“Then let’s go get him,” you said, pushing yourself off of the couch. Aurora let go of Yuna and turned toward you, both of her hands planting to the cushions beneath her as she looked up at you with worry in her eyes.

“No, he’ll come back when-”

“If you go get him certainly he’ll come down, right?” you questioned, throwing a hand toward Aurora. Shifting your eyes over to Yuna, she reacted as every other being had when you shoved them in the middle of this situation. Unmoving. She watched you with a discomfort bleeding onto her perfect complexion. 

“I mean, yeah,” Aurora breathed. “But, he’ll come down when he’s ready, Tor, leave him alone.”

You propped a hand on your hip. “I don’t understand.”

Her brows screwed up above her eyes, squishing into the center of her forehead. “Tori, he literally said he wanted to sleep. It’s been four days of us going, going, going- let him rest. What don’t you understand?”

Amidst her words you tipped your head backward and groaned. “The babying, the way you treat him,” you shook your hands about to emphasize what she’d just said to you, “I mean, we all see it.”

She froze. For a few seconds, her face wiped of all feeling, her body straightened out, and she didn’t move an inch. Then, she looked at Yuna, only turning her head to find her staring down at her lap, her nimble fingers twisting the bracelet around on her wrist. When she looked back up at you her eyes felt like daggers.

She grit her teeth. “I can’t believe you right now.”

Leaping from the couch, barely catching herself on her feet as she fumbled over Yuna without a care if she bumped into her or not, she stormed off, straight into the gameroom where the guys were still shouting, laughing, and having fun. In minutes you knew she’d be shouting, laughing, and having fun, too. 

Flopping back down on the cushions, you exchanged a look with Yuna and rolled your eyes. She scooted closer to you.

“I’m not supposed to know anything, am I?” she asked.

Letting your eyes shift down to the gorgeous bracelet she wore around her dainty wrist, you took a breath. “No,” you grumbled.

She studied you. Her lashes fluttered as she took you in, and grabbed onto your hand. “Come on,” she said, tugging you off the couch. Pulling you out of the living room and into the kitchen. Passing by the doorway to the game room, the noise amplifying, you caught a glimpse of Aurora beneath Wooyoung’s arm, her head on his shoulder.

Yuna posted you up at the island counter and slid shot glasses toward you, four of them.

“What are we doing?” you asked, watching her search for a bottle she was happy with.

“What we’d do at ATZ to forget about shit,” she smiled as she spun around, vodka in hand.

“More shots,” you said, and she gleamed, screwing the top off the liquor. Moving back to your side, wanting to crawl under your arm in true Yuna fashion, the stage five clinger, she filled all of the glasses.

“Duh,” she said in response to you, then lifted a glass for you to take. “Here.”

It burned, but it went down easily. Just as the second one did.

“Hell yeah!” Yuna cheered, filling the glasses up again. “You know, I was thinking about Isla.”

Sliding your phone out of your pocket, you shot her a look. “What? Why? I was thinking about her the other day, too.”

Taking a shot, Yuna shrugged, popping her brows. “Just how things happen for a reason, I guess.”

Laying your phone on the counter you swiped open to your messages and found one waiting for you. You took a shot and opened the thread. “You mean her not being here, don’t you.” Picking up the second glass at the same time she did, you looked at one another, paused a second, then clinked them together. 

“It wouldn’t be good,” Yuna muttered, taking the shot as fast as she could, making a face as it burned through her. 

The thought of her not coming, not being here with everyone else almost hurt as much as thinking about Mingi being here without Yunho. Though Isla not being here was a good thing, and much better for her, it was another major difference, another point on the list telling you what’s changed, and what is not the same.

“She belongs where she is,” Yuna said, refilling the glasses again. Waiting for you to pick one up, to clink them together again, she whispered, “Everything happens for a reason.” Flashing you a smile, her words echoed in your ears. Even as she turned away from you to take her last shot, it took you a couple seconds to follow suit, to let the liquor push you further into a state you weren’t sure you should be in at the moment.

Blurry, wobbly, lighter, like you could start laughing and never stop.

Before you know it, whether it’d been ten minutes or an hour, you weren’t sure, you and Yuna ventured into the gameroom with the rest of the party. Just as gone as you, you and Yuna attempted the pool sticks, missing every single hit that Mingi or Jongho tried to school you on. Laughter rang in the room, hanging in the air above everyone, even Wooyoung and Aurora who’d taken up space together on a leather chair in one of the corners lost in one another. The only time they’d come up for air or give attention to anyone else is if their name was thrown out with a sarcastic insult, or a comment made by someone else just as drunk.

Jongho let his hands live on Yuna’s waist all night, the two still within those months of ooey gooey goodness, testing waters, figuring each other out. They seemed to be going about it the right way, unlike the pair in the corner, a traditionalness about them. No one expected anything less from Jongho, that’s why his bracelet didn’t come as much of a surprise to you. The boy was classy, he went about relationships with a purpose, playing the long game that wasn’t much of a game at all.

Soul came back at some point, you didn’t even realize his blonde head was in the room until you brushed by him to get to Mingi’s side. The boy stood by Seonghwa, following his lead, shadowing him, asking him questions, letting him tell him what to do when it came to the game. He gave you a sideways smile as you passed him, one you tried your hardest to return. 

“Hi,” Mingi said to you as you bumped into his shoulder. Looking down at you through his glasses, a thin rimmed pair you adored, he settled his smile and watched you wrap yourself around his arm. “Thought you forgot I was here. Having fun with Yuna?”

“You thought I forgot you were here?” you asked, raising a brow. Stepping back from him, one hand holding onto his bicep, you looked him up and down and scoffed. His shirt quite literally stuck to him, everything beneath it entirely visible. Tucked into his jeans that laid low on his hips, his form was on display, for you, for everyone else. The slight arch in his back as he stood, the broad stretch of his wide shoulders, how could you not want to drink up every bit of him?

Mingi tipped his chin backward. “Tori,” he said with every care in the world, with caution. 

“Mingi,” you sang back, closing the space between your bodies, letting one of your hands sweep over his torso. Shaking his head his smirk grew as you whined. “Why? It’s been three days.” He was content watching you. You pulled at his shirt, you tried to kiss his jaw but had to settle for his collarbone, you threw yourself against him. “Please?” He blinked, and you groaned. “Please, please, please.”

“I dunno,” he said. “Have you kept your promise?”

“I did,” you said, hushed and rushed, keeping your eyes locked on his that grew darker by the second. “I really did.”

“You’re so drunk,” he mumbled.

You tapped a hand to his chest, your brows furrowing. “So are you.”

He cracked a laugh. “I am.”

“Then let’s go,” you whined, bouncing on your knees. “Please, I miss you, I need you.”

Something washed over him. It looked like shock, yet excitement, but ultimately looked like complete shock.

“You do?” he asked, and you rolled your eyes.

“Of course I do, Mingi, I haven’t had you in three days, I miss you,” you whispered.

The magic words apparently. In no time, with his hands on you, he ushered you out of the room, bid his friends goodnight, hurried you up two flights of stairs and nudged you into your bedroom so he could close the door behind you. His hands slid around your neck in an instant, his large frame pushing you backward towards the bed, stopping just before you could fall onto it. Rising to your tiptoes you brushed your lips over his before parting them for a kiss, one so deep you could feel it in your chest.

He seemed to take his time, reveling in this moment, one you haven’t shared in a period of time too long for either of you. He’d withheld it, kept it from you, it’s not like you didn’t try, how could you not when you crawled into bed beside him every night? Lips working against your own, his tongue slipping between them gently, ever so slightly, like he’d scare you away, he took his hands down your body, over your hips, letting a soft groan spill into your mouth. 

“You’re so hot,” he whispered, undressing you faster than he let himself kiss you. Designer pants to the floor, he unhooked the half corset top you struggled to get into and threw it behind him, taking his hands to your shoulders to push you backward onto the mattress.

Falling over top of you his lips took to your neck, one of his hands hooking beneath your jaw to keep it lifted for him to mark your skin as he pleased. With a whine you pulled your knees back, wrapping your legs around his waist, somehow wiggling your hands between your bodies to work at his jeans, pushing them off of him with your feet. Teeth pressing into your neck, he reached a hand backward to grab onto his form fitting shirt, but you were quick to snatch his wrist away. Pulling back to look down at you and smirk, eyes glassy and hooded, you smirked up at him.

“Shirt and glasses,” you said breathlessly, “Stay on.”

“Mm,” he hummed, brushing his lips over your skin, taking his teeth to your earlobe, giving it a harsh tug to make you squirm. “You like them, huh?”

“Yes,” you sighed, sliding your arms around his back, fingers gripping onto the fabric of his shirt, pulling it tighter around his chest. “So sexy.”

“You want me when you’re drinking,” he whispered, trailing kisses down your jaw to your chin. Slipping a hand down your body, his fingers dancing over your belly, making you giggle, he slipped only his middle finger between your legs, teasing your clit before he pushed it into you. He smiled while you gasped. “So sensitive, baby, you need me that bad?” He pulled out his finger and watched as disappointment clouded over you. “You little slut. What, you can’t wait this long?” He pushed two of his fingers into you and relished in how you sang for him, how tight you squeezed him.

“Move,” you managed to choke out, eyes squeezed shut, head thrown backward into the sheets. Wiggling your hips for any friction, Mingi let out a single laugh and lowered his body weight over top of you.

“Sit fucking still, Torilynn,” he spat. Shifting over top of you, his other hand moving back to your neck, fingers gripping the sides, he pushed down and smiled as you whined. “Listen for once, and do as you’re fucking told.”

Heat coursed through you, rushed through your veins. You were trapped beneath him, and for the first time in a long time, you couldn’t think about anything else. You couldn’t move, couldn’t even try to move, and it brought you right to the edge. Mingi hadn’t even moved his fingers, hadn’t teased you anymore, and you clenched around him like he’s had you up here for hours.

Panting, chest heaving, you looked up at him and his glare through his frames, one mixed with frustration, pleasure, and all the more satisfied. Jaw clenched, he studied you, brows pointed, angry eyes focused. Scissoring his fingers within you, feeling you tremble, watching your face screw up and your moans grow louder, he pumped into you twice, brushed his thumb over your clit at the same time, and just as he felt the muscles in your stomach tighten, he stopped.

He stopped.

He pushed himself off of the bed and staggered backward a few times, dragging a hand through his hair, pushing it off of his dewey forehead. Sitting up to your elbows in disbelief, eyes wide, you took him in and shook your head, catching your breath. He was hard, he wanted you, he needed you, but he stopped.

“Wh- What?” you stammered. There weren’t any words you could throw together to make any sense. “Mingi,” you whispered, “I was gonna…”

Eyes dragging down your body, your spread legs, he palmed himself and tilted his head. Looking up at you, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “You sure you were about to?”

Your body stripped itself of its heat, your blood running ice cold. He could read it all over your face no matter if you tried to hide it from him or not. He knew what you did.

He knew you faked it.

That’s why it’s taken him three days to accept you.

“Mingi,” you breathed, sitting up. He snickered to himself and stepped toward you. “Babe, I just-”

His hands took to your shoulders again. Cutting you off with no time to explain yourself, he spread your knees with his own and held you like he did before, one hand beneath your jaw, the other between your legs. 

“Shut up, Tori,” he growled, and pushed into you without warning, the stretch equally delicious as it was uncomfortable. He gave you little time to adjust, but your body knew him, even as he pistoled into you, having to hold you down because he pushed you away with every thrust. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with you,” he seethed behind his teeth, pressing his nose to your cheek. Clinging to him, useless beneath him, all you could do was thank god there was still music playing downstairs. “Don’t you ever fucking lie to me again.”

It happened twice.

And you both knew it happened twice because he pulled out every trick, every stunt to ensure you weren’t lying, or pretending. 

He kept you on your back, his eyes locked in on yours, not stopping until you were shaking, legs trembling, body tensing, nearly screaming for him. After the first, seeing stars, you weren’t quite sure he’d be able to pull out another, but oh, sweet Jesus, did he surprise you.

You couldn’t shower on your own, couldn’t stand without his help, that’s just how much he wrecked you. Even now, laying over the white blankets neatly made like they weren’t thrown to the floor last night, you were sore, you could still feel him folding you in half. 

He wandered the bedroom, back and forth from suitcases to drawers to the bathroom. The smell of his cologne hung in the air, a comfort to you and your subconscious, though unanswered questions sat between the two of you, taunting you, nagging you. With his hair styled backward off of his face, he opted for contacts tonight instead of his glasses, all of his sharp, striking features on display. Dark denim baggy jeans and a loose fitted button down hung off of his frame and little golden accessories accented his wrists, his lobes, his neck.

Stunning, you wanted to tell him, but he hadn’t spoken a word to you since he helped you shower last night.

Everyone would be meeting at a bar tonight, the rest of your friends arriving shortly, more people to deal with. To slip up around. Cheers was supposed to be fun, it had a pretty good reputation, and they were the only ones on that street that didn’t kick anybody out, no matter what went down.

“You should get dressed,” Mingi muttered, breaking the silence. Sitting up to your elbows you gave him a look and he met it for only a second. “What are you thinking about?” 

“You.” A sigh fell out of you without meaning to. 

Straightening up his mess, pushing drawers shut, folding clothes he tried on but decided not to wear, his face was stone cold. “What, did I fix you last night?”

Sitting up completely, your hips roaring with soreness, you pouted after he shot you a glare. “Mingi,” you whispered, face softening.

“Did I do something right finally?” he asked, slipping into a pair of custom sneakers Vernon gifted to him when he got his first brand deal. “You’ve got, like, brand new buttons to push or something, Tori?”

Moving on the bed, closer to the edge toward him, you shook your head. “Mingi, listen, I-”

“Nah,” he said definitively, looking at you. Adjusting the sleeves of his shirt, he pulled his lips together. “You don’t have to explain yourself, Tor. Don’t need you to try to prove other things you’ve been faking with me.”

“Mingi,” you said for the third time, moving onto your knees, barely matching his height, but he didn’t wait around to hear what you had to say. If you had anything to say. He had known since you’d done it, and he didn’t say anything about it. Worse, you didn’t say anything about it. And now, you didn’t even have the chance to.

Falling backward, landing on the duvet with a humph, you reached for your phone and swiped it open. Retreating to your messages, you took a breath, hesitating your thumb over the green app, then decided to bite the bullet and just do it.

[you]: you’re a guy right?

[ITZ]: texting me first now what a surprise

[you]: answer the question.

[ITZ]: yes i’m a guy

[you]: can i ask you something guy related

[ITZ]: sure

[you]: before i do… will you tell me who you are

[ITZ]: still can’t figure it out?

[you]: ugh whatever.

[ITZ]: whts going on? trouble in paradise?

[you]: i guess so.

[ITZ]: ask me.

[you]: have you ever had a girl fake it before?

[ITZ]: fake it? as in like an orgasm?

[you]: yeah…

[ITZ]: that would make me feel like utter dog shit, tori.

[you]: of course it would

[ITZ]: tori, are you faking it with the boyfriend?

[you]: you don’t need to know that.

[ITZ]: tell me :)

[you]: once. recently.

[ITZ]: did he suck or what

[ITZ]: what was it

[you]: no, he didn’t. he’s always good i just…

[you]: it was me. i didn’t feel right

[ITZ]: you didn’t want to have sex with him that night? did you feel pressured to do so?

[you]: omg no, never, it’s not like that

[ITZ]: okay good.

[ITZ]: wdym u didnt feel right

[you]: i don’t know but i wanna figure it out

[ITZ]: what else bothers you?

[you]: everything.

[ITZ]: yeah i can sense that.

Sighing, sucking in a deep breath, letting it out within another sigh, you waited patiently for him to say anything else. Gulping, you started typing, and you couldn’t stop.

[you]: i just wish she could be here with yunho. i know she’s happy now, and i know yunho sucks, but we had it so good for so long. everything has changed and everybody was able to move on, but i can’t. i don’t want to. ryujin and yeosang have left, isla’s gone, i have a big ass job to do, half of these motherfuckers destroyed aurora, but also destroyed me. i was on the outside of it all, and does anyone care that i was blindsided too????!

Minutes pass. Long, ticking minutes.

And then, a reply. One that sends a glimmer through your chest.

[ITZ]: i care, tori. that’s not fair to you.

[ITZ]: you can tell me more, to get it off your chest.

There was nothing left to say. At least for now.

Locking your phone you tossed it aside and sat up, eyeing your suitcases. Feeling oddly lighter, like spewing out those words got rid of them within your brain, you leapt to your feet and got yourself ready to party at Cheers.

“Isla landed!” Ryujin shouted over the music and people chatter, crashing in between you and Yuna where you sat at the bar. Showing off her phone screen and the messages from her best friend, a selfie was sent from across the country, both Isla and Vernon in hoodies and sunglasses throwing up a middle finger for the camera. “She’s good, no one worry.”

Laughing with Yuna, watching Ryujin tap away at her screen to send a message back, she opened the camera and threw an arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer. Yuna laid her head over her shoulder, all three of your heads fitting in the frame. Pouting your lips, Ryujin winked, and Yuna smiled.

“You were the only one worried, Ryujin,” Yuna said, watching her send the picture. The eldest of you all shot her a glare, one that didn’t pack much of a punch.

“You need another drink,” she sneered sarcastically, stepping up onto the ledge beneath the bar to lean over it. Waving the bartender down, she ordered three drinks and jumped onto her feet. “When that comes, find me.” And her and her shaggy hair was gone in a flash, disappearing into the crowd packing the dance floor. 

Air hot and sweaty, the energy in the place riled everyone up the moment the door was pulled open. Walking here, the six of you, Jongho and Yuna were already waiting inside, the crowds growing tenfold after your first round of drinks, and it only seemed to grow as the night wore on. Ryujin and her girlfriend, Jeongyeon, showed face after an hour, the two of them staying in a hotel nearby. Showing up half drunk, Ryujin squeezed you all like she hadn’t seen you a few days ago, Jeongyeon, sober, watching over her from behind where she wobbled off to.

“Is she okay?” Yuna asked you, turning back to the bar after she vanished.

With a frown, you shook your head. “She misses Isla. Her last semester was hell for her.”

“Seems like it was hell for a lot of us,” Yuna said. Gaping at her and her side eye, you fell into a groan and rolled your head backward. “Tori, you already know what I’m going to say, ‘cause I know Ror has already tried.” The bartender slid drinks in front of you. Grabbing onto it you sucked it down, half listening to Yuna. “She tells me you’re worrying her.”

“Who?” you snapped, eyebrows plummeting above your fresh lashes.

Yuna rolled her eyes. “Aurora,” she breathed.

“I’m worrying her,” you laughed, “Hysterical. She can come say that to my face, why is she talking to you about me?”

“Because you aren’t talking to her about you.” The way she looked at you made you feel funny. “She doesn’t know what to do.”

Tilting your head after a gulp of your drink, you twirled on the stool toward the dance floor and propped an elbow up on the bar. “Seems no one does.”

Yuna scoffed. “See, and then you say shit like that, like you don’t have anyone looking out for you.”

“Who is?” you said, glaring at her. 

Her glossed lips popped open. “We’re all trying, Tori.”

Laughing, you sipped from your glass. “Funny, doesn’t feel like it.”

The song on the speakers swiftly changed into one that’s been blared within the walls of the fraternity, and possibly many others, half of the dance floor threw their hands in the air with a shout. People of all ages filled the space, but your generation reigned majority.

Yuna stared you down, giving you time and the chance to backtrack on what you’ve said, because even you know it isn’t true. They’ve all tried, it’s you.

“I’m gonna go dance and give this to Rio,” she said with all of the patience in the world. Jumping from the stool, adjusting her mini skirt, she tried to smile at you, reaching for the glass on the bar behind you. “We’ll listen to you. You know we will. No matter what it is. She will listen to you. After what they put her through, put us through… Don’t do this.”

She walked off, her and her beautiful waves and stretch of toned legs accented by her chunky platform sandals. 

Damn, where’d she get those.

You’d ask her later when she wasn’t pissed at you, maybe after she’s forgotten what she just said to you.

Sipping your fruity drink you let your gaze fall on the crowd, kids like you dancing too close to one another, drinking the night away, singing along to the music. That should be you. It could be you. Everyone had a dance partner though, and you knew yours was in a corner with his friends somewhere. Last time you saw him he was wedged between Seonghwa and Wooyoung, the three of them waiting for Yeosang to step in the building.

Your phone buzzed in the baby purse slung over your shoulder, enough room in there for the block, a tube of lipgloss, and your credit card. Digging it out reluctantly, the song changed and another roar rolled throughout the room making you smile. Just as you tapped on your screen, your eyes locked with another’s, he and his friends shoved into a booth on the other side of the room, the three of them with a few others who were new to ATZ last year.

He simply watched you, eyes not prying.

You opened the message.

[ITZ]: having fun?

Looking up at Jongseob, only after meeting his eyes for the second time did his smile grow. You spun around to face the bar.

[you]: so it’s you then. you’re here. you know i’m here. it’s you.

[ITZ]: figured it out?

[ITZ]: come get me then

That electricity shot through you. The excited one, the one that felt like it shouldn’t do this, but ultimately needed to do this. Slipping your phone back into your bag, you swapped it for the gloss and laid it on thick. Zipping your purse shut, you stepped off the stool and started across the floor, pushing through people, throwing your perfectly flipped hair over your shoulder. His gaze followed you the entire time, soft eyes locked on yours, dropping lower to admire the curve of your hips and how the dress you wore hugged you in all the right places.

You wore it to entice your boyfriend, but, this would do.

Warm blonde hair and smooth honey colored skin smiled up at you, moving over on the bench to make some room for you to sit. Heart pounding in your chest, you could smell him, the right amount of musk mixed with anxiety. Normally you’d be putting him in his place, telling him off, yelling at him to leave you alone. In the halls of ATZ, in dark corners of that house, you’d done it many times, as had Mingi, and eventually Jongseob did leave you alone.

But it was evident he still didn’t give a fuck.

“Well,” you said, breathlessly, “Here I am.”

Sitting backward, head resting on the cushion behind him, his smile grew. “Here you are,” he repeated, his voice deep, gravelly, so unique, one that took you by surprise each time you heard it. “Didn’t think I’d ever get to sit next to you again, Tori.” The way his gaze traveled about your face, it warmed your cheeks, you were lucky it was too dim for him to notice. “What brings you over here?”

Glancing at Jiung and Intak, both boys looking out at the dance floor but so obviously listening in, you smiled at Jongseob. You were playing the secret game.

“How long have you been here?” you asked.

“As long as you,” he nodded once, keeping his chin tipped up in the same way Mingi would. Cocky. An attempt to seem bigger than he was, older. “Having a good time?”

“Totes,” you said, narrowing your eyes. “Where are you guys staying?”

“A few houses down from you, actually,” he said, his lips settling into a smirk.

“Interesting,” you said just above a whisper. Jongseob bobbed his head, his eyes dropping lower for a few seconds. You’re reminded of the M necklace you’ve been wearing. “We’ll have to have you guys come by one of these nights, how long are you staying?”

“As long as we want, my parents own the house,” he said, popping his tongue out his lips to wet them. He didn’t miss how you watched. “We’d love to party. Our boy has VIP access, we’re very curious.”

Soul.

“Mm, he does, doesn’t he,” you said, tone going flat as you glanced down to the table and the boys across from you still acting as if they weren’t paying attention. Jongseob reached a hand underneath the table, his fingers grazing your knee for a moment, forcing your focus back over to him.

“That bothers you,” he said, brows lowering over his golden brown eyes. You kept your faces to yourself. “If you want, we’ll take him back,” he shrugged. “He’s spent summers at this house with us before, it’s not like it’s a big deal. If he’s bothering you, just tell him. He’ll disappear before you know he’s gone.”

It was that easy. Just literally say the words, and the weird, annoying thing between your best friend and Soul, gone.

“Won’t that upset him?” you asked, voice going quiet. “If I say that to him, that seems kind of mean.”

Jongseob twisted his brows, then he laughed. “It’s not that deep, Tori, he’s infiltrating your vacation.”

You looked at your lap, at Jongseobs hand on the cushion of the booth, inches from your thigh. “I dunno, Aurora gets worried about him.” Intak’s head turned at the mention of her name. “She like… watches over him, or something, I don’t know, I don’t get it.”

He shared a look with his friends, his smile growing into one that stirred your stomach. “How adorable,” he sighed, facing you, “Funny how Soul was the one to get in there, right? After what he did? It’s like she’s got Stockholm Syndrome or something.”

That was a funny way to think about it.

For all of them.

Even more funny how she could drop Yunho in a second, someone who didn’t have the in, but someone who tried to look out for her. Sure, he hurt her in other ways, but he didn’t want to ruin her life. Wooyoung, Soul, hell, even Seonghwa… She held the three of them as close as she could, in the obvious, most Aurora way possible.

Was she even happy about that?

Was she doing this on purpose?

Or, was he fucking with you.

“What do you want with me, Jongseob?” you asked. Jiung broke his neck to look at you, him and Intak in utmost shock.

The twenty year old lowered his brows, but his smile refused to fade away. “Heavy question, Tori.”

“Answer it,” you said through grit teeth. He deflected like the messages earlier in the day.

“Honestly, or in a way that your boyfriend wouldn’t want to kill me if he overheard?”

Clenching your jaw, you twisted to face him, and said, “Honestly.”

“I want you everywhere,” he said without hesitation. Looking you up and down, he huffed. “Naked, preferably. I’d make a mess out of you, and I want that lip gloss leftover on my dick when I’m finished with you.” He never broke eye contact, but he didn’t miss the way you pressed your legs together. “You think I haven’t ever thought about how you’d look bent over every surface in every room I’ve seen you in?” The way his eyes narrowed, the way he stifled his laughter, it spurred you on. He leaned into you, inches between your bodies. “You think I’ve never heard what you sound like when he’s fucking you? I live in that house with him, Tori.”

Gulping, you took a breath to ease your racing heart, but nothing would calm it.

“I like this game,” he said, smug as ever. “We’ve never played this before. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” you whispered. “I think I need another drink.” 

Sliding from the booth, he gave you a wink before you ventured back over to the bar, posting up beside a being that appeared to stretch taller than your boyfriend. Bumping into his shoulder on accident, you adjusted your purse and shot him a smile, just as he gave one to you. Focusing back on the bar, both of you, at once you snapped your necks to gawk at one another.

“Tori.”

“Yunho.” Scrambling for something to say after ordering another drink from the woman behind the bar, you shook your head and asked, “What are you doing here?”

He looked everywhere but directly at you. “Uh, I’m with Yeosang and Keni, we, uh, just got here. Like, ten minutes ago.”

“Right,” you said, glancing around for the other two, Yeosang and his girlfriend, but they must’ve been in the corner with everyone else. Somewhere Yunho was most definitely not welcome. Just standing next to him felt wrong, even if it happened by accident. “Uh, how have you been?” you asked, unsure of how to continue on talking to him. This bartender was taking her sweet, sweet time.

“I’ve been alright,” he said with a shrug of his broad shoulders, but his tone told you he has not been alright. “You?” he asked, hitting with the subtlest of side eyes.

You answered him reluctantly. “I’ve… been alright.”

He laughed, you couldn’t hear it, but you could see it in his shoulders. “You too, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Looking up at him, he looked back, his dusty colored hair overgrown over his eyes, his ears. Grabbing the beer from in front of him, the bartender having slid his and yours down at the same time, he sipped it and shrugged.

“Doesn’t feel good, does it?”

You sipped your drink, feeling your stomach lurch.

Yunho sighed, sitting down on a stool, shrinking down to your height. “Makes you feel like… utter dog shit,” he mumbled, giving you a glance before he drank from his beer.

Utter dog shit.

that would make me feel like utter dog shit, tori.

Looking over your shoulder to Jongseob and his friends, not one of them paid any attention to you, they talked amongst themselves, shoved over the table like a bunch of high schoolers keeping a secret. Without thinking, you sat down next to him. In the tipsy blurriness it was easy to forget things for the time being, like you could rewind the months, go back to when he was still one of your best friends and he hadn’t broken your sister's heart. 

There never was a proper goodbye with Yunho, proper closure. A part of you didn’t need it, your loyalty was to Aurora, to Mingi, and Yunho had hurt them both. As one of your friends, he hurt you too. After that night though, when Aurora spilled it all to him, and Mina dished shit back, the respect you held for this adorable human being had been sucked out of you.

“I never got to say anything to you,” you said gently, making him look at you, his eyes on alert. “You were a real jackass, you know that?”

He sighed. “Yes, I know that. I have to live with that.”

“She loved you.”

He shook his head, letting it hang. “I loved her.”

“No, you didn’t,” you snapped.

He whipped his head toward you. “Yes, I did. Don’t tell me how I felt. I know what I did was fucked, but that didn’t mean I didn’t love her.”

Sipping your drink, you rolled your shoulders backward to try to sit taller than him. “How’s Mina?”

The laugh he cracked told you plenty. “There’s no Mina.”

“No?”

“No,” he sneered, cringing. “Do you know how bad I regret letting it get that far? There never should’ve been a Mina, I should’ve been honest with Rory from the start, but I know you know how hard that is to do.”

“How hard what is, Yo?” you asked, voice hushed.

“Please, Tor, you’re dating my best friend,” he said. “You and I were friends for a long time, too. You learn about people. You and I, we’re the same, we don’t speak, and then things go to shit.”

“Like, if you say something, they won’t get it. Or, they’ll take it and run with it, turning it into something it never was.”

Yunho shrugged. “Not really, but also… yes.” He tapped his glass with a single finger. “Rory, she was getting over Wooyoung, if I said anything back then, I’d be the jackass, and she wouldn’t be about it. I’d ruin whatever we had before it even started.”

“Weren’t you involved with Mina then?”

He pursed his lips and shook his head. “No, Rory had me first.”

“Damn,” you breathed, and he gave you a look.

“Damn,” he repeated, smiling with you. He looked down at his beer, took a breath, then blinked over at you. “How’s Mingi?”

Those words falling from his lips drove a knife straight into your heart. 

Starting with a hesitance, you barely got two words out before something flashed in his eyes. “He’s, uh… He’s good. We’re good.”

He tilted his head. “Is he,” he muttered, looking at you like he knew something. “That’s good,” he tried to smile, grabbing onto his beer, taking a swig.

You could tell him how Mingi and Wooyoung have grown closer, how the four of you were turning into a proper foursome- if you’d ever allow it. You could tell him that Mingi says Wooyoung is a good friend, that the two talk more than they ever have, that they share things with one another, things that Mingi and Yunho would share with each other. You could rub it in, that his spot was being filled, that he was being replaced with each passing second, but you couldn’t.

Because you knew at the end of the day, no matter who’s shit went where, that Mingi would choose Yunho.

He could come back to him after months, years, asking him to hide a fucking body, and Mingi would, without question. 

“I know things have gone wrong,” Yunho said, nodding. “I know I’ve done things that are so messed up.” He turned to face you, his knees nearly bumping into your own. “But, I still care, Tori.” Your blood ran cold, like it had the night before. “What we all had, it’s not just something I can forget, or pretend like it didn’t happen.”

Sucking in a deep breath, you turned to face the bar and resisted the urge to ask him if he was the one you were texting, which sounded absolutely ridiculous when you said it to yourself. You had his goddamn number, why would it be him?

“How long have you been here?” you asked, sipping your now empty drink. “In Haos?”

“We came down right after you guys,” he said, and you froze. “Me, Yeosang and Keni. San and Hongjoong are staying with us, but they won’t be here till tomorrow. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised you didn’t know that?” You shook your head. “Right, who would wanna keep tabs on me anymore,” he muttered with a laugh.

“Tori?”

The voice from behind you sent a chill down your spine, and you know it happened to the boy beside you as well. Spinning around in time with him, both wide eyed and nervous, you faced Aurora who couldn’t bring herself to even look at Yunho. She stood before you in strappy sandals and a dress that almost matched the one you wore.

“Ror,” you forced from your lips, giving Yunho one last glance before you abandoned him at the bar. The look on his face as he stared at her pained you. Taking your hands to her shoulders you walked her backwards onto the dance floor, hoping to get lost in the midst of the crowd to explain yourself before she caught Wooyoung’s ear.

“Why were you talking to him?” she asked you, pulling her hands over her middle.

Digging your fingers into her shoulders, you shook your head fast. “I found him by total accident, Aurora, I didn’t mean to end up there.”

“You could’ve walked away,” she said. She was the face of patience, no emotion other than calm coming out of her.

“I know,” you breathed, taking your hands down her arms. “I just… had to get my Yunho closure.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why do you need Yunho closure? No one else has Yunho closure.”

“I guess… I dunno,” you said, fumbling over your words, “Maybe it wasn’t closure, I just… I could’ve walked away.” 

“That was weird,” she said.

Dropping your hands, taking all but a step backward, you questioned, “But, was it?”

“What does that mean?” she asked, confusion washing over her. The way she looked at you, the same way Yuna looked at you earlier, like they didn’t know you. 

Pressing your hands to your cheeks, you clenched your jaw and shook your head. “I don’t know… Aurora, I don’t… I don’t know.” 

She moved around as tipsy dancers bumped into her back. Holding out a hand, she gripped one of your wrists. “That’s okay,” she said. “Should we go talk to Mingi?”

Mingi.

“No,” you answered fast, making her brows raise. “I mean, not yet,” you corrected, “I’ll talk to him later, can we just dance, Tor and Ror, come on.” Tugging at her hands, trying to spin her around, you got nothing but half a smile from her.

“I don’t… No,” she said, shaking her head, pulling her hands away from you. “I need a minute after… After that,” she mumbled, gesturing toward the bar, toward Yunho, where you were just sitting with him. “I’ll tell Ryujin you wanna dance, she’ll come out here, so will Seonghwa.”

She left you in the middle of the dance floor, weaving herself through the crowd to get back to your friends, probably doing shots in the corner, talking about who knows what. In your purse, your phone went off.

Pressing your lips together, ignoring the lump in your throat, you opened up the message and felt a tear slide down your cheek.

[ITZ]: do what feels right, pretty girl

read it on ao3 | talk to me | my masterlist

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme 4 -> mingi x fem!reader -> nice for what

wc: 9.9k warnings: 18+, sexual content and alcohol consumption in every part, infidelity themes... if i missed anything please let me know! posted: 2/2/25 12:30 pm est.

masterlist ~ <- previous part - next part ->

Standing in the middle of the dance floor, sweaty, drunk bodies bumping into you, you peer up from your phone and attempt to accept the fact that Aurora walked away from you. That she left you alone. That what you had done, or been caught doing, had upset her, had hurt her.

A conversation shared between you and Yunho, nothing more, not even a singular touch, a mere brush to a shoulder. You spoke words, you heard some you weren’t expecting to hear, he shared things with you that you should take directly to your boyfriend because it meant that maybe somehow, someway, their relationship was fixable.

He was over in the corner, where Aurora escaped to. They were all over there. You couldn’t see them over the crowd, the people dancing, but they were there. And you wished nothing more than to be able to walk out of here without any of them spotting you. Not one ounce of your being longed to push through the sea of bodies to join the group, but you knew you had to.

Mingi was over there, and you really should be the first one to tell him you spoke with Yunho. After what’s happened within the last few days you weren’t sure your relationship could withstand another hit before one wasn’t even fully patched up. You’d fix it. You would take the time to fix it, you had to talk to him, had to work it out, let him know that everything was good, that you two were okay, that everything would be alright, that you would make it through this, that it was you and him, Tori and Mingi.

Tears brimmed your eyes, but you blinked them away, tipping your chin up so they wouldn’t roll down your cheeks like one already had.

You took a peek at your phone screen and the message on it. Turning around, searching for Jongseob, he was still at the table with his friends. Continuing in a circle, twirling perfectly under the dim lights, you spotted the back of Yunho’s head still sitting at the bar. Locking your phone, you shoved it back into your purse and sighed. 

Whoever this was, you were going to catch them, for no reason other than to get rid of the feeling within you. The need to know. Whoever it was, they knew you, because your curiosity overwhelmed you.

Lurking back toward the corner, stepping around people too wrapped up in their own drama to pay attention to you, your arm grazed over Mingi’s where he stood at the end of the bar, his large frame leaning against it. The boys stood around him, Wooyoung, Yeosang, who gave you a wave, Seonghwa, Soul, Jongho, they all had a drink in their hands, even the twenty year old. Across from them, tucked away in the booth mere inches from where the boys stood, the girls squished together, and your stomach sunk. 

On the end, facing Jongho with her attention turned to Keni and Jeongyeon, Yuna sat with her legs crossed, her fingers tracing lines in the glass she acquired from the bar earlier, still half full. You’ve finished a whole other one by now. She smiled with Keni, nudging her arm as they spoke, doing her absolute best to make sure that the two newest within the group felt welcomed, felt like they belonged. Keni’s been around since the start of junior year, but her and Yeosang’s relationship was fresh, much like Yuna and Jongho’s, and Jongyeon and Ryujin, who had an Aurora under her arm at the other end of the rounded booth.

Appearing in the dim light, some of it flashing over you, Ryujin glanced your way, her brows in a straight line, her hand grasping Aurora’s arm tight. From beside you, Mingi watched, looking down at you, you could feel his eyes. He wanted you to look back at him, but there were more serious matters at hand. 

You needed to talk to Aurora before she told any of them.

You also had to come up with a better argument as to why you sat down next to him and talked to him.

Closure didn’t cut it, at least not with Aurora.

Truthfully, you didn’t even want the closure. You wanted things to go back to the way they were, Yunho should be over here, not at the bar by himself wallowing in miserableness while the rest of you laughed the night away without him.

“Here!” Jeongyeon shouted over the music, flinging her arm in front of Ryujin and Aurora, a phone in her hand. Both girls glanced at it. “It’s Isla,” she said, and they gasped at once.

Pulling her arm off of Aurora, Ryujin snatched her cell phone and opened the messages, typing back to her best friend. Yours smiled at the phone for a second, then fled to the safety of her apparent boyfriend's arms, using Seonghwa’s chest for leverage as she almost veered sideways on her way to Wooyoung’s outstretched hand that beckoned her closer.

The spot beside Ryujin was free, calling your name.

Peeking to your left, Mingi smiled at you, perking a questioning brow as the softness slowly bled into a sly smirk. Taking a breath, you gave him the smallest smile, then hurried into Ryujin’s side, bumping into her, making her bump into her girlfriend. 

Leaning towards her, trying to catch a glimpse at the screen, the messages they were sending that had everything to do with Vernon, or how she was doing, or what their travel was like, you bit down on your lip, and asked, “How’d you do it?”

Ryujin sent a message. “Do what?”

“Adjust,” you gestured to her phone.

She shot you a look, her round face incredibly confused beneath her piecey bangs. “To Vernon?”

“No,” you breathed through a laugh, then thought about it. “Maybe.” There’d been more to it than boyfriends, girlfriends, anything of that sort. “To all of it,” you said, meeting her gaze, “Her leaving, the way she left…”

“You think she’s adjusted?” Jeongyeon leaned toward you over her girlfriend's lap. Ryujin tipped her chin back, shook her head and laughed.

You wanted to smile, but it wouldn’t manifest. “So, it never ends?”

Ryujin scoffed, looking over at you. “It’s not that it never ends, it gets easier, you just gotta… Focus on what you do have.”

“And that happened with Isla?” you asked with a raise of your brows. “You focused on what you do have and you magically got over everything that happened to us?” Jeongyeon focused on her girlfriend, sliding an arm around her back to hold her while Ryujin studied you.

“What goes on Tor? Asking for a friend?” She attempted to read you, but you knew with Ryujin that it was hard for her to do that with any of you that weren’t Isla.

Rolling your eyes, you muttered, “Totally.”

She shook her head once. “I didn’t get over it, it sucks. I miss her every damn day, but she’s happy. She’s safe. Am I supposed to make her feel bad for doing what’s best for her just because I get sad that she’s not here?”

Her words struck you across the face. Keeping the feeling within you, not letting it leak outward, you frowned. “No, I just… I don’t know.”

“She’s sick,” Ryujin said in a way to back up what she said, not to insinuate that you didn’t know. Everyone knew. “I have to put that first. And, I can still talk to her whenever I want. I know she’s okay, she’s with Vernon, she’s with DK. Our time at Nasara with Isla is over, my time at Nasara is over, it’s time to move on.”

Your lips parted, and she waited patiently for you to speak. It took you a few seconds, but you managed to whisper, “What if I don’t wanna move on?”

She answered fast, like she somehow knew what you were going to say, her head jerking around with a sureness to it. “Personally, I don’t wanna stay stuck in a place that made me miserable. It’s cliche, but that chapter is closed. I have Jeongyeon, I have a job, I have you, I have them,” she gestured to the group in front of her, the girls beside her, “I gotta hold onto you guys, I can’t make it to the next step without you. So, yeah, I miss Isla, I miss last year, and the year before that, but if I want to feel better, I have to keep going. Gotta protect what I do have in front of me.” She held your heavy gaze, both of your eyes wide, full of genuinity. “If I stay stuck I risk losing it all. I’m willing to make sacrifices for the people I love.”

Gulping, attempting to swallow away your tears that threatened to spill over once again, you tore your eyes from her and glanced over to Mingi. Smiley Mingi resting against the bar, laughing with his friends, teasing one another, sipping their beers. He caught onto your gaze mid laugh, his grin faltering as he drank in your energy. Eyebrows nestling over his shining eyes, two fingers lifted off of the bottle he held and waved you over to him, your body listening without a second thought.

Melting into him, wrapping your arms around his waist, you laid your head on his chest. His heartbeat in your ear, something steady, something absolute, something real. Taking a step away from the boys with you in tow, he rested his cheek over your hair, his hands slow dancing over your back, smoothing over your arms, tickling then soothing your skin. 

But, I still care, Tori.

His words had made your head dizzy. The longer they stayed there, the worse they felt. You could easily get rid of them by looking up at your boyfriend and telling him, but you couldn’t explain yourself. Not yet. Pressed to his chest you looked over to your friends and sighed. Aurora watched you, her own head pressed to Wooyoung's shoulder, one of his fingers twirling around in her hair while he talked to Jongho. It didn’t kill you, her stare, but you couldn’t figure it out.

I still care.

[ITZ]: did u figure me out 

[you]: no, asshole.

[ITZ]: oh

[you]: how the fuck would i be able to figure you out

[ITZ]: thought it was obvious

[ITZ]: guess i have to try harder now

You slapped your phone down onto your bare thigh startling Yuna who lounged beside you, her legs tangled with your own. Head laid back on the stitched pillows, she groaned and tapped you with a pedicured foot, running her hand over her forehead.

Yeosang and Ryujin may or may not have forced you all into a rally last night soon after you rejoined the group.

Everyone’s here now! Go, go, go! You have to do it, we just graduated, we’re not coming back! Do it!

Yuna’s been a mess since the first round of shots.

“Cheers is a good time, we’ll go back,” Seonghwa’s voice carried into the living room from the kitchen, three of them puttering around in there, eating no doubt. Peering over the back of the sofa you spotted Soul rocking back and forth on his feet behind Seonghwa who faced Hongjoong, the former president in clothes you’d rarely see him in, a plain black t-shirt and shorts. 

Hongjoong had his body turned to Seonghwa, the two with a foot of space between them, their hands going in and out of the bag they snacked from at the same time. “There’s one on the beach called Wave,” he popped his brows, gaze locked on the boy that appeared a foot taller in front of him, “Have you gone there yet?”

Soul gasped, his hands slapping onto the counter. Both boys turned to him, smiles appearing on their faces. “I’ve been there! They won’t card you.”

Hongjoong tilted his head and gave Seonghwa a look. “Course they won’t,” he breathed, the two sharing a laugh. 

Soul beamed. “Me, Seob, Intak, Jiung.” Your nervous system jolted as you looked at him. “We’ve been there so many times, it’s a blacklight bar, it’s so dark, but it gets so hot, it’s kinda small, but so cool.”

Seonghwa gave him a soft smile. “So cool,” he repeated, and Soul nodded.

Then, he looked at you.

“Let’s go tonight,” you said as soon as he met your eyes. 

Yuna groaned from the pillows. “I can’t do another night out, Tor, not in a row.”

You painted your face bored, glaring down at her, one she didn’t see with her eyes screwed shut. “Come on, we should be going out! We’re here, let’s do it.”

Seonghwa hummed, his shoulders shrugging. “We have like two weeks left.”

You shifted your glare over to him and he seemed to match it. “I wanna go,” you said, peeking at Soul who now leaned over the counter on his elbows, watching you. “Soul wants to go.”

“Soul wants to go where?” Aurora asked, bouncing off of the last step of the stairs, sleep all over her face. Wooyoung, her shadow with the hood of his sweatshirt over his tousled waves, didn’t deter from the path written for him by her. 

But he did look at you. 

And it hurt.

“Wave, a bar on the beach,” Seonghwa spoke for the boy, following the couple with his eyes as they wandered through the kitchen, gave mediocre hello’s to Hongjoong and met Souls side.

Yuna tapped you with her foot, pulling your attention from the kitchen. She’d seen Wooyoung’s face. “What was that for?” she asked, brows pulled over her wide eyes. Appeasing her with a subtle shake of your head for now, you turned back to the kitchen. Aurora, at Souls side, nearly pressing herself against him, listened to him with a smile.

“Not just a bar…” He went on and on, and the world moved around him. Seonghwa and Hongjoong ate their snacks, Wooyoung slid an open water bottle in front of Aurora, Yuna watched Soul half impressed. It was the most half of you have probably heard him speak, ever. He spilled stories, moments in time that appeared to make him happy, stories of Jongseob and their friends, the four of them sneaking out of his parents beach house to get plastered under the neon lights half clothed because the air grew so warm. “Tori wants to go tonight,” he ended with a smile flashed in Wooyoung and Aurora’s direction, the two of them posted up on either side of him.

She looked at you, nothing on her face yet.

“San and Hongjoong did just get here, we could give them a night out,” she offered.

Yuna groaned, obnoxious and long. “I can’t do it again!” Her body jolted as she shook herself around, jostling yours with her. “Somebody agree with me, please!” 

You laughed, putting your hands over her ankles to calm her. “It’ll be fun, come on.”

“Maybe one night here won’t kill us,” Aurora said definitively, and all of the energy seemed to be sucked from the room. “We can do Wave another night.” Paralyzed in place, you whipped your head in her direction, instant steam pouring from your ears. As if she could see it, she mirrored your piercing glare. Wooyoung leaned into her, a whisper falling from his lips for only her to hear.

“Amen,” Yuna sighed, going still, relaxing back onto the sofa, her arms going limp off the edge of the cushions.

“Sure, okay,” you scoffed, and no one reacted. They all went about what they were doing before, snacking, sipping water, mumbling to each other, sharing small smiles. “Fuck me, let’s all just do what Aurora says.”

Yuna lifted her head, her lips parting, but no words came out. In the kitchen, Seonghwa paused, his eyes on you. In fact, everyone's eyes were on you, even Hongjoong, the tiniest smirk pulling at his lips.

Her eyes burned. If looks could kill you’d be a goner.

Regret filled your gut, your insides actively spinning in a circle, tangling together, squeezing and pulling.

She opened her mouth, her words like a knife cutting through the air that had grown thick in the worst way. “You can do whatever you want, Tori. You wanna go to Wave? Go to Wave. Free will, clearly you have plenty of it.”

Wooyoung moved behind her, an arm sliding around her front. “Okay,” he whispered, “No, no.” No one else moved, they either stared at you or Aurora, waiting for more. Without another word from her, she let Wooyoung walk her away, she let him hold her metaphorical earrings, ones he put back in by ushering her out of the room.

“What happened?” Yuna asked you within a whisper, sitting up on her elbows. You spared her half a glance before focusing on Soul.

“Oh, you guys have fun,” Hongjoong snickered with a shake of his head.

Souls gaze danced about the room before he said, “So, no Wave?” Seonghwa hit him across the shoulder and the boy cracked a laugh. “Right,” he breathed, then made it a point to look at you and shrug his gangly shoulders. 

The front door swung open and the room fell back to normal in an instant, Yuna sprawled on the couch, the boys in the kitchen chattering away. Leaving the door open behind them, their arms full of cardboard cases and trembling glass bottles, Mingi and Jongho strut through the living room and straight back into the kitchen, Jongho stopping by the couch first to greet his girlfriend, leaning over her to press a kiss to her forehead where she laid, boxes in hand and all. Mingi went to the kitchen.

“We found all they had,” he said to Seonghwa, cocking his head to the side. “They said they’ll have more next week.” Jongho met him at the counter, sliding his box next to Mingi’s.

“That’s fine,” Seonghwa shrugged, taking in what liquor they’ve bought, the beers that still rattled. “They take my card?” Mingi smiled, slid his hand into the front pocket of his jeans, and slapped the black card onto the marble. “Thanks,” Seonghwa nodded, placing it between his fingers.

While Mingi turned around to find you, Jongho unloaded the bottles one by one, the three in the kitchen falling into a discussion about what they found and where. Listening to him, Seonghwa handed the credit card to Hongjoong who reached for it, but as his tiny fingers grazed the edge of it, the eldest pulled it away and smirked, not even giving his former president a glance. Nodding along with Jongho, Seonghwa placed the card between his teeth and laughed as Hongjoong huffed and snatched it away, pulling out a thin wallet from his pocket to slide the card into.

Mingi, happy as clam, peered out into the living room and smiled at you. Hitting you with a wink, one that would normally make you giggle, he hurried over to your side and squatted down behind the couch, half of him still towering over it. Taking a second to read your face, the tension in your brows, he pouted.

“Something happen?”

“Yeah,” you sighed.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked softly, tilting his head ever so slightly. Narrowing your eyes at the question, at his need to question, he backtracked. “I mean, let’s talk about it.”

“Go help Jongho,” you whispered, gesturing to the boy unloading the bottles with your chin.

“Right,” Mingi mumbled, blinking fervently, “Okay, I’ll be back.”

Yuna screwed up her face and wiggled her feet. “How long have you guys been having problems?” Turning to her quickly, peeling your eyes from Mingi’s toned middle, you laughed to yourself. “I didn’t feel it till now. Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine,” you said, looking back into the kitchen at Soul now organizing beers in the fridge. He turned with focused brows to grab more, but looked at you first. He hesitated, smiled, then went on his way, grabbing onto bottles that Mingi set out for him. “You know his other friends are staying down the street? Jongseob has a house.”

Yuna blinked. “That sleazy blonde one?”

“He’s not… Okay, yeah.” Thoughts of last night haunted your brain. Sleazy wasn’t too far off.

“Did not know that,” Yuna muttered, dragging a finger over her eyebrows to soothe the ache you know was pounding them. “How do you know that?”

You eyed Seonghwa and Hongjoong, how they drew closer and closer together while the other three moved around the kitchen. “He was in Cheers last night, I talked to him.”

“The lowerclassmen are hilarious,” Yuna said. “Some of our girls are down here too. I don't wanna know what happens in that house.”

You shot her a smirk. “You know what’s happening in that house, we were them. Ror isn’t the only one who’s slept with more than one of them.” Laughing aloud, catching Jongho’s attention, the boy spinning around with a smile on his face, Yuna kicked you and the mention of her and San’s freshman year once upon a time.

“You should’ve seen Jongho’s face the last time that got brought up,” she sighed, both hands sliding over her face. “He gets so jealous, it’s so hot.”

Your eyes fell over Mingi. He’s never gotten jealous, only protective. Confronting Jongseob he would put him in his place, then leave it all be. He wouldn’t attach himself to you, get more clingy, or whine about you talking to him. Confident in himself, as he should be, Mingi never felt the need to prove himself if another guy came onto you, or flirted with you. He’d assert his dominance to the guy, then move on almost as if it had never happened, never acknowledging it again until there were repeat offences.

It’s not that you wanted Mingi to be jealous, you didn’t want that type of toxicity in your relationship regardless of how harmless it’d be, but something about your man doting on you a little extra to show how much he loved you wouldn’t hurt. 

Wooyoung and Aurora made their way back into the room, Aurora dragging him along by the hand behind her. The dynamic fascinated you as much as it frustrated you, how Wooyoung could go along with everything she wanted, everything she said, at the snap of her fingers. He listened to her, he knew what she needed before she knew she needed it. Always one step ahead though it appeared like she ran the show. He simply let her think that. He didn’t have to prove he knew something before her, he didn’t gloat when he tended to her, he didn’t show off for her sake.

That was what you and Mingi had, you think, at some point. You remember it, but instead of one step ahead the two of you walked in time, side by side. 

Now it felt as though every other day one of you was tiptoeing while the other ran marathons, sometimes not even in the same direction.

Taking a deep breath, standing to retreat to your bedroom, you unlocked your phone and opened your messages. No bars were happening tonight, you knew that much, no matter how much you’d fight it. Trailing up the stairs slowly, you typed out a message and hit send. Little to no remorse settling within you.

[you]: come over tonight.

Wobbling into a sophomores shoulder in the platform sandals Yuna wore to the bar last night, you ignored the kid's mumble of frustration and then his apology when he realized who he was speaking to. Or, trying to speak to. Glued to your phone, your nose nearly pressed to the screen, you grunted with frustration, mimicking the sophomore you bumped into.

No answer.

The phone number didn’t answer you. The person didn’t answer. The guy left you on delivered. He was smart too, he didn’t have his read receipts on. He didn’t have his location on. He was simply a number on a screen. For all you know you could be texting one of your professors, or worse, Seonghwa’s uncle.

Venturing into the kitchen, yanking open the fridge that had been ravaged for the last hour since the party started up, you reach for a can of fruity bubbles and crack it open, closing the fridge with your foot. Turning, you looked out into the living room over several heads to find more heads. Voices filled the space, some familiar and some unknown, the brothers and sisters of the fraternity and sorority bringing extra’s along since they could actually get into this party. 

Everyone in bathing suits or summer clothes, they radiated sunshine energy, a much different feeling than whatever got conjured up in the houses at Nasara. Dancing to the music, singing along, gossiping with friends, flirting with someone across the room, stealing spots on sofas to make out, it comforted you. This felt normal. It would be normal. It should be normal.

Your eyes wanted to find him. You wanted to lock gazes with him across the room and know.

You typed out a message after a gulp of your drink and sent it, whipping your head back up to scan the open space flooded with bodies.

[you]: are you here?

You waited. Meeting eyes with ample people you barely recognized, ones that recognized you, you didn’t stop scouring. If Jongseob was here, he’d be easy to spot, you’d just have to look for two boys sucking up to him and he’d be in between them. If Yunho was here, he’d also be easy to spot, you’d just have to look for a boy as tall as your boyfriend most likely standing alone.

Behind you, San and Wooyoung stepped into the kitchen, the two leaping off the stairs to the second floor bar where more hoards of people lingered. Peeking over your shoulder, you met San’s eyes, his pure, lust fueled, dark chocolate eyes. Wooyoung had an arm slung over his shoulder, his entire side pressing against the wider, stockier boy, speaking to him in whispers with his gaze fixed on San’s face. He didn’t care that he wasn’t looking at him, as long as he was grasping whatever Wooyoung said to him. 

A smirk grew on his lips, his perfect pink lips that sat perched on his smooth, cream colored skin. Snaking a hand up to hold beneath Wooyoung’s jaw, he turned to him and mumbled, “Find me in ten.” Wooyoung hurried off without sparing you a single glance, but he knew you were there. As soon as San released him he was off, disappearing into the crowd. 

Searching through the fridge, San emerged with a can in his hand, one he cracked open as he swaggered up to you, dressed exactly how you’d envision him to dress for tonight. Short, black trunks cut off halfway at his thigh and a matching button down hanging open, exposing his broad, toned chest and torso, one you guarantee has been felt up already by curious hands.

“Hi, pretty girl,” he said to you with a wink, throwing an arm around you, pulling you in for the tightest hug. Your arms wrapped around him, the boy a solid mass of muscle. Pulling away from you he took one hand to your cheek and squeezed it. “How are you?” he asked with a soft smile, dipping his chin down.

“I’m alright,” you said, and he hummed immediately in disapproval. 

“Mm, no you’re not,” he said. San and Wooyoung were parallels in the way they could read energy, both of them incredibly emotionally intelligent, both of them using it in their own way, San mostly for his own advantage. Lifting his eyes above your shoulder, to someone a few inches taller than himself, his smile grew. “What’s wrong with her, Mingi?”

Your boyfriend draped a hand over one of your shoulders, his fingers squeezing you ever so slightly. Giving him a quick look, his obvious unease forcing you to look back at San who watched you, Mingi said, “She wanted to go out tonight, but the party’s here.”

San’s eyes sparkled, his smirk one you’ve seen before, but never been on the receiving end of. “She needs an orgasm.”

“San!” you shouted, laughter erupting out of you as you stretched out your arms to give him a gentle push.

Smile growing, dimpling his cheeks, he said, “Go make her cum Mingi,” then he winked at you, “Or go rub one out for me and come back.”

“Bro,” Mingi spat.

“San!” you shouted again, bouncing your knees, reaching back to place your hand over Mingi’s. Trying to tangle your fingers with his, he pulled away, tucking his hand in his pocket.

“I’m kidding,” he said, looking between you and your boyfriend, “I’m busy anyway, I won’t be able to fit you in tonight.” Tapping you on the nose with his finger, he circled around you and threw a hand behind Mingi’s head, pulling him down easily, planting a sloppy kiss to his cheek just beside his lips. Pushing him away, jumping backward as much as he could’ve, but not with much persistence, Mingi wiped at his cheek and missed how San snickered as he walked off, head held high, chest puffed.

Spinning to face Mingi, you smiled up at him and said, “He was kidding by the way.”

“Did you tell him or something?”

Your stomach dropped. “No! I didn’t… I didn’t tell anyone.”

Mingi, a frown pulling at his lips, bobbed his head. “Right.”

Reaching out to grab onto his bicep, he glanced down at it. “Don’t let it bother you.”

“That doesn’t bother me,” he spat, flashing a glare your way, “That happens sometimes. I would understand, I would’ve done something else. You lied to me.”

Pressing your lips together tight, you took a breath and shook your head. “I’m sorry.”

He stared at you in disbelief, as if reliving the night. “You think I have sex with you just to get off?”

“No,” you said, rushed, “You don’t, we don’t-”

“You know what it means to me,” he said. “How important it is to me, I don’t care how pussy I sound right now, Tori, that’s me giving myself to you. That’s me loving you. That’s time when I can really show you just how much you mean to me, where I can tell you and show you how much I love you. I never did hook up culture, you know that… I can imagine it feels alot like that night, right?” 

Everything that came out of him, the absolute truth. Mingi didn’t spend his high school years like most, he found himself in relationships, long term, much like the one you shared with him now. He didn’t kiss and tell, he didn’t flaunt around about how many girls he’s slept with, that number wasn’t even high, when he shared it with you in the start of your time together you were shocked. He knew you were something special, something to hold onto, because from the beginning you’d both be diving head first into bed. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t feel anything, he wouldn’t have, like he said, given himself to you if he didn’t see you sticking around in his life long term.

“I love you, Mingi, I’m sorry,” you whispered.

Rolling his eyes, he pushed by you with a huff. “Yeah, I love you, too.”

A shorter than Mingi, scrawnier than Mingi looking sophomore or junior pushed him back toward you, but paid no mind to him, like your tower of a boyfriend didn’t exist. Edging the counter, posting himself directly in front of you, he wore a smile, one showing off his pristine, shining white teeth. They were fake. They weren’t his. They couldn’t have been.

“Hey, you’re Tori, aren’t you?” he laughed, keeping something to himself. Raising your brow at him, you shared a look with Mingi, but he didn’t reciprocate, he was focused on this boy. “Vice President of ITZ?”

“Yes,” you said, tone flatter than it’d be if you were talking to Jongseob in front of Mingi. “Can I help you?”

The boy checked you out, his eyes glazing over your body, your bikini peeking out of the lacey cover up you had slipped on over top of it. Mingi watched him do so, and you wanted ever so badly for him to grab you, to hold you, to get jealous.

“Seob told me all about you,” the boy said, blinking his crystal blue eyes toward you. “Guess he wasn’t lying.”

Cheeks flushing before they turned pink, you sighed heavily and tossed your hair over your shoulder. “He- He, what?”

“Get out of here,” Mingi grumbled. The boy jumped, your boyfriend's deep voice startling him.

Looking up at him, he tried to laugh. “Who are you?”

Mingi looked at you. You looked at Mingi. Rage brimmed his expression, the sheer mention of Jongseob’s name threatening to send him reeling. That and the fact that this kid didn’t know who he was speaking to. A very important member of ATZ. His eyes bore into yours, for too long, before you realized he wanted you to answer his question.

“M-my boyfriend,” you said, stuttering as you did. Mingi rolled his eyes. A wave of shame flooded your senses. You wanted to run. “His name is Mingi,” you tried to recover, “On the board of ATZ, you a member?” The boy eyed him, then shook his head toward you. “Then why are you here?”

He winked at you. “Jongseob brought me.”

He was here.

“Well, you can leave me alone now,” you said to him, glancing up at Mingi who stood around to hear the end. “And don’t tell him where I am.”

You were the first to turn around, the first to walk away. Leaving Mingi behind who walked away the second you left, you hurried through the crowd, drink in hand, gulping it down as you elbowed past groups and teetered over people on the floor. Jongseob had been running his mouth, to people you didn’t even know. Either that or his friends were telling their friends, which meant that other people besides you, Jongseob, Jiung and Intak knew what happened last night at Cheers. Other people knew what he said to you.

Other people knew what you didn’t choose to stop.

Your cheeks burned, your stomach lurched, the urge to vomit so strong out of pure panic, embarrassment, you couldn’t place it. Every wrong feeling one could feel, you held it in your chest, your shaking hands, your tipsy feet. Hands landing on the back door, you scrambled for the handle and tugged it open, the panels of glass becoming one to allow you outside onto the deck where people and couples lined the railings or sat on the cushions, joints or cigarettes passed around as you flew by, your platform sandals thumping on the stairs that led down to the sand.

A mile further and you’d be on the beach, but down here, on the sand behind the dunes, there lived a fire pit, one lit and burning just as hot as you were internally. Few people sat around it in beach chairs low in the sand, a couple lost in their own whispers, cuddled into one another, a pair of friends sharing a vape, and a loner with a beer in his hands.

Circling the bonfire, he looked up at you and you froze.

“Tori?”

“Yunho,” you breathed.

Something of a laugh tumbled out of him. “We can’t keep meeting like this,” he muttered sarcastically. He trained his gaze on the fire in front of him, sipping his beer occasionally. “You look upset. Again.”

“Again?” you asked within a scoff.

He hit you with a side eye. “You weren’t supposed to talk to me last night, were you?”

“It’s not like that,” you said.

Yunho faced the fire, sitting backward in his chair, his long, bare legs extending in front of him. “Sure it isn’t. I’ve seen her make that face before, it was like she caught her boyfriend with Yeji all over again.” 

His words made you shiver. “Don’t talk about that.”

He smiled, but he didn’t look at you. “Noted,” he said quietly, gesturing to the chair beside him with his beer. “Take a seat, you look like you need to unload.”

“Not with you,” you spat involuntarily. That got him to look up at you, the surprise on his face worsening the feeling within you. “Yunho,” you sighed, pressing the hand that wasn’t gripping your can to your face.

“Nah, I get it,” he nodded. “Your allegiance lies elsewhere, you can’t be seen with me. You’ve already been caught once, the council will behead you if they catch you again.” 

As horrific as it sounded, he made you laugh, the sarcasm dripping in his knowing tone forcing it out of you against your will. He was good for that, talking himself out of things, covering everything up with humor, self-deprecating so you’d forget about your own bullshit even if just for a second. His thing with Aurora truly came as no surprise to you.

“She won’t let me talk to her about it,” you said, taking your hand from your face, revealing to him your fading smile. He swallowed his own and nodded, listening. “I tried, but…”

“She wouldn’t have it,” he finished for you. 

Releasing a breath, you whispered, “Yeah.”

“What did you tell her?” he asked.

“That I… That I needed Yunho closure,” you said, voice smaller than ever.

He blinked, looked up at you and asked, “And what did she say to that?”

“What do you need Yunho closure for, none of us have Yunho closure.”

Quiet, processing what you’ve said, the corners of his lips began to perk up. Turning to the fire, he sipped his beer and tilted his head seemingly happily. 

“What?” you questioned, taking a step toward him.

Yunho shook his head. “Nothing.”

“No, tell me. What did that just make you think of?”

He glanced toward you with a smile, then faced forward. “That everything is open ended right now.”

Twisting your brow, you took another step toward him. “Explain.”

“Everything is open ended,” he shrugged, turning completely in his chair to look up at you, his eyes appearing wider than usual, more bright, glistening against the flames to his right and the moon above him. “Closure, she didn’t like how it sounded. When you told her that’s what you were getting, it upset her. The Aurora I know would’ve yelled at you when she caught you, especially if she’d been drinking. Did she yell at you? No. I didn’t even hear her yell after you walked away either.”

“Yunho, Wooyoung’s been really good with her,” you said just above a whisper. He snapped his jaw shut. “You know him. He’s rubbed off on her. The Aurora we know, or used to know, she’s different. After last year, the bullshit? It changed her.”

He thought to himself, his genius brain making marks you couldn’t see, solving equations only he’d put together. “But, still, if she-”

“She was angry, Yunho,” you said, and he met your gaze. “Just a different kind of angry.”

Nibbling his bottom lip, a breeze blew his dusty colored hair over his forehead. “I know her, Torilynn,” he whispered. “And it’s open ended.”

Groaning, your phone vibrated at the same time making you jump. Fumbling to open it, you mumbled, “Yunho, she’s… Damn.” You hurried for a notification from Instagram. A few drinks deep and you’ve forgotten that you silenced his incoming messages. You swiped into the thread with still no reply to your last message.

“What happened?” Yunho asked, pulling you from your screen. His eyes flickered between the cell phone in your hand and your eyes.

“I”m being ignored,” you said. 

“By who, everyone’s here,” he smiled, narrowing his eyes.

Through a sigh, you whispered, “I don’t…” but stopped yourself, shooting him a look.

Raising a brow, Yunho sipped his beer. His smile settled into a smirk. “You don’t know?” Your blood ran cold, as it seemed to do now in his presence. “Is that what you were gonna say?”

“...No.”

His eyes ate you alive, curious, yet knowing all at the same time. “Okay,” he said after a beat of silence, slowly turning back in his chair before your question pulled him back in.

It came out of you in a whisper. “Are you the one texting me?”

He sat forward, elbows on his bare knees, delighted as he looked up at you. “What are you talking about?”

“The messages,” you still spoke no louder than a whisper. “The unknown number, they’ve been here in Haos the whole time, they know about me, they know who I am, is it you?” He laughed. “And don’t bullshit me, because you repeated something they said verbatim, Yo.”

His eyes bugged out of his head, his laughter growing louder. “I did? How!”

Throwing your hands out to the side, some of your drink spilled from the can. “I dunno, you tell me! How are you texting me from an unknown number when I have your number!”

“I’m not texting you, Tori!” He slapped both his hands to his chest, beer bottle in grip. “I wouldn’t know how to do that, I… I wouldn’t wanna do that, no offense.” A weight felt like it’d been lifted from your shoulders. “It’s not me, I swear to you.”

Taking a deep breath, you turned yourself around and soaked in the sights. The sand stretching on forever, the stars and the moon in the sky, the house pulsing with life, the fire warming your exposed skin. Sipping your drink that was half warm, you cringed and shrugged your shoulders.

“Well, good to know,” you said, and he laughed.

“How long has this been happening?” he asked.

“Since we got here,” you muttered. “Our first night here, we literally just walked in the house and he told me he knew I was here.”

Yunho raised a brow. “He? You know this person is a guy?”

You looked at him for two seconds, then stared at the fire. “Yeah…”

“Don’t tell me you’ve been talking to this person… To him.”

“Maybe I have,” you whispered, sipping your drink.

Yunho fell back in his seat and laughed. “Tori! Does anybody know about this?”

Thinking to yourself, already knowing the answer, you hit him with a glare before mumbling, “No.”

Dragging a hand through his hair, his veiny, slender, pretty fingers dancing through the overgrown strands, he sighed, blinking up at you. The roundness of his eyes, the curve of his nose, things you haven’t taken the time to notice before, they were endearing. Tongue poking between your lips, you pressed your can to them and sipped your drink, the two of you maintaining eye contact that made your stomach twist.

“Tori,” he said, clearing his throat. Ripping his gaze from you, he focused down on the sand. “Don’t keep this from them. Rory, and Mingi. They’re your best friends, go tell them. They can help you figure it out.”

Clenching your jaw, you nearly crushed the can in your hand as your grip tightened around it. Yunho’s eyes flickered to it before they were on yours again. “But, if I do, then they’ll see what I said to him.”

“What did you say to him?” Yunho asked in a way that made it seem as though you should be incriminated. 

Shrugging, you finished off your drink. “Just, stuff.” 

“Jesus, Tor,” he mumbled, shaking his head. “You have any ideas on who you think it could be?”

“Possibly,” you said, crinkling the can, tossing it into the fire. Yunho watched it, the metal shriveling up within the flames. 

“And will it end well if it’s who you think it is?” he asked, eyes lit up by flames.

Folding your arms over your chest, you smiled to yourself. “No. No it won’t.”

Commotion stirred on the deck above you, voices got louder, some people shouted. Tipping your chins up, both you and Yunho, you're greeted by a head peering over the edge to look at you at the same time. Warm blonde hair, honey skin and a sleazy smile.

“There she is,” Jongseob sang. Intak appeared beside him, a laugh falling from him when he spotted you. Jongseob elbowed him away as his eyes shifted over to Yunho. “Hangin’ with him again?” Sipping his beer, Yunho nearly choked on it.

“Keep my name out of your mouth,” he spat, pointing up at the twenty year old. 

“Why, ‘cause it’s too busy in everyone else’s?” Jongseob snickered, and Yunho looked away with a groan. “Come take shots with me, Tori,” he said with a slight pout on his lips. “These losers won’t leave me alone. Save me.” Various ‘hey’s’, and ‘asshole’, sounded off from the boys around him, people he called friends. Jongseob swatted a hand backward toward them, disappearing from the ledge.

Meeting Yunho’s glance, you gulped as he whispered, “I sure hope to god it isn’t him.”

All around the living room table people collected, Seonghwa and Hongjoong sliding out shot glasses to anyone who approached and sat down with them, the two turning it into a game when newcomers joined them on the floor. How many shots can you endure before you’re spinning? Stepping around the sofa, Jongseob on your heels, his friends behind him, you fan out, you take in the scene. Intak and Jiung cheer the next round on, Hongjoong peering up at them behind his chunky black frames perched on the end of his nose.

This was how you knew him, how most knew him. Dressed to impress, ironed clothes, accessories impeccable, chestnut hair slicked back off his forehead, glowy skin, the former president was nothing short of stunning. 

Groans, echoes of boo’s rung out into the air after a shot was thrown back and two sophomores tapped out, leaving the table. At the end farthest from you, three participants beamed amongst themselves, only two seeming to participate in the game. San and Aurora, your best friend sitting on one of his thighs, they slid their glasses toward Seonghwa after they pressed their cheeks together and giggled, Wooyoung on the other side of Aurora watching her with a smile. Her other hand that wasn’t latched onto San or the shot glass held onto Wooyoung’s.

Stepping forward, you bent over to whisper to Seonghwa, “Have you seen Mingi?”

Pouring out shots, sliding them back down over the wood, he peered over at you, his own eyes glazed over. “Last I saw him he was upstairs with Yeosang.” His drunken gaze traveled backward over you toward Jongseob and his friends. “Did they come with you?” You bobbed your head. “Why’d you bring them back in here, I just kicked them out.” 

Hongjoong smacked his hand on the table multiple times, his wicked smile growing wider as Aurora and San swallowed their liquor, gasping as they slapped the glasses back onto the wood. Laughing aloud, tongues slipping out of their open mouths to prove they finished it, they leaned into one another, tongues pressing together for all of three seconds before they sent the glasses back to Hongjoong.

“Kicked them out, why?” you asked, brows twisting over your eyes that flashed from your best friend to Seonghwa. 

Hands grabbed onto your shoulders for leverage. Leaning over you towards the table, Jongseob and his friends laughed behind you, even more so as Intak said, “Not the only thing she likes on them pretty lips, right Aurora?”

She was oblivious, slow blinking, limp moving, her hands holding onto San. Both boys nearly broke their necks with how fast they reacted to him, faces wiped of all feeling. Wooyoung leapt to his feet. The boys behind you all took a step back. 

“Who the fuck brought you back in here?” he spat. Aurora turned at the sound of his voice, his tone loud, angry, an Wooyoung you all knew well just about three years ago. The look on her face, one you hated. San pulled her into his chest.

“The president’s right hand,” Intak said, smug as ever. Stepping closer, the air in the room depleting with every inch of space he stole, Wooyoung settled his face into the grimace he’d shot you that morning, giving it to you again.

“They didn’t tell me they were kicked out,” you breathed, holding your hands up.

Wooyoung clenched his jaw. “He’s been harassing her since he got here, he’s shitfaced.”

“So is your girl,” Intak bellowed, wobbling on his feet, tossing up a hand to prove his point. It’s a shame his smirk and the way his eyes crinkled was sexy. “You gonna let San take her for a ride?”

“You motherfucker.”

Lunging for him, you and the boys darting apart for the two to fall through, Wooyoung grabbed him by the shoulders and they vanished in the midst of people. Shouts sounded, from Wooyoung, Intak, shouts from others either cheering them on or too drunk to process what the actual fuck was happening. He hadn’t put his hands on anyone in ages, the look on his face one you haven’t seen since he was younger than the boy he tackled, grit teeth, wild eyes, red in the face…

Seonghwa leapt to his feet soon after Wooyoung grabbed onto him, a massive, “Hey!” sounding from his chest, triggering your own fight or flight, your body jolting.

Jongeob and Jiung disappeared the same as their president, in a hurry, the commotion condensing around them, more people rushing over to watch, to catch a glimpse of what the hell was happening.

“Oh shit,” San muttered, grabbing onto Aurora as he stood up. Her arms flailed before they found his shoulders. Eyebrows low, he rounded the table and placed her in front of you, taking your arms to wrap them around her back. “I’ll be right back,” he said to you, then he vanished with the rest.

Aurora sunk into you, her arms snaking around your back, her hands grabbing onto her elbows. Keeping your arms where they lived over her back, you searched the crowd but couldn’t see anything over the cluster of heads, the mess of people yelling, jumping. Hongjoong had to scramble to his feet to keep others in line, ones that couldn’t even get into the center of it all, trying to start their own shit outside the circle. It amazed you to watch him work in real time, the way people obeyed him in seconds, his own fraternity members still recognizing him as someone with the most power though now he was one step below. Neither wanted to have to do their jobs this month, Seonghwa and Hongjoong, nor did you or Aurora, yet here they were.

Over someone who hasn’t been a member in almost a year.

On your chest, Aurora stirred. She caught her own balance, tipping her chin upward to look at you. Blinking, you looked down at her. Smelling like a bottle of vodka, her hooded eyes and weak smile made you sigh. Intak was right, she was shitfaced. To the point where you knew she wouldn’t remember this tomorrow. Squeezing you, her lips formed a pout.

“I miss you,” she whispered, her eyes attempting to read you, but there wasn’t a single coherent thought in her head. 

Swallowing away the lump that lodged in your throat, you frowned and nodded. “I miss you.” 

A couple of shouts sounded off from the crowd and her eyes shot open wide. Taking her hands to your shoulders to push away from you, you held her closer, putting a hand behind her head, pulling her back down against your chest.

“Where did…”

You shook your head. “No, don’t worry about it.”

She huffed, her hands scooping beneath your arms to hold behind your back. Her grip was weak. “He’s fighting him, isn’t he.” Blinking, eyes following the crowd that condensed again, Soul and Jongho now in the mix, you couldn’t put any words together. “Sometimes I wish… he could be like Mingi.”

“What?” you gasped, glancing down at her. “Why!?”

“Mingi… fights clean,” she mumbled. “You know what you get with him, he is who he is.” 

She wasn’t wrong. “Yeah, I guess so, but Wooyoung-”

“It’s never…” she paused, and you checked to see if she’d knocked out, but she watched the backs of the people in the circle. “It’s never one thing with him. It’s always gotta be something else, more feelings, talk about this, you feel this way because…” 

Opening your mouth, words didn’t come out. It took a minute for you to be able to say anything. Here you were for so long thinking their dynamic, their relationship, their bond was all sunshine and daisies and rainbows. “He cares about your relationship.”

Aurora whined, turning to bury her face on your shoulder. “I know,” she muttered. “My dad said the same fuckin’ thing, that he’s a good guy, that he cares.”

Rubbing a hand between her shoulder blades to soothe her somehow, you shrugged. “Listen to him, Ror. You’ve got it good.”

“So do you,” she said quietly. “You’re like, with your soulmate.” She lifted her head, glassy eyes blinking up at you. “I wish mine didn’t suck.”

Your stomach flipped. You shook her accidentally as your hands flew to grab onto her cheeks, cupping her face, her entire body weight resting on top of you. “What do you mean by that?” 

A smile played on her lips, the corners of her eyes tipping upward. “Did he say anything about me?” she asked within a whisper. “Yunho… Did he-” 

She didn’t get to finish her sentence when you really fucking needed her to. San hurried back to you, people dispersing the scene reluctantly. His arm grabbed onto her waist and pulled her off of you, scooping her into his arms. With a laugh she moved pliantly, arms thrown around his wide shoulders as she wrapped herself around his front, legs slinging around his waist. Behind you Wooyoung passed by, hands wiping at his face, brushing his arms, adjusting his clothes. He paid no mind to a single soul, not even you. His eyes were forward, narrowed and dark.

“Where are you going?” you called after her and her drunken smile bouncing over San’s shoulder. 

She grinned wider, a giggly mess as San pressed his lips to her neck, following Wooyoung to the stairs. Looking at you, behind you, all at once her smile faded and she pointed at you like she suddenly remembered something, shouting, “Don’t let him leave!” They were gone in seconds.

Laying a hand over your chest, your heart pounding between your lungs, the other found your hip, resting there. Spinning on your heels, wandering back toward the table that Seonghwa and Hongjoong have found themselves at again, you stood beside where they sat, their sudden calm energy while they whispered doing wonders to calm yours. People wandered off, some clearly wired, others muttering how disappointed they were it ended so fast. Looking down at Seonghwa, he met your eyes and smiled as if to tell you that everything would be okay, his attention turning back to Hongjoong in a flash, like he was worried he was going to miss something.

A hand grabbed you and spun you around, the sight sending a gasp through you. Intak, his pretty face, messed up. One hand held onto his jaw, the other clasped onto his forehead, he was leaning against Jiung who had a few scuffs himself. Soul stood behind him, his hands on his back to hold him steady, his focus on Jiung, the two whispering over their friends head.

Jongseob had been the one to grab you, to put his hands on you. “Your dudes are fucking nuts,” he snapped. 

You didn’t know where to look, searching Jongseob for any sign of him having been touched by one of your friends, you muttered, “I’m sorry.” 

I’m sorry?

“We’re out of here,” he said, his voice growing tiny. “If you really want me like you let on, you come find me.” He glanced behind you and smirked. “Bye Tori.”

What the fuck?

“The fuck did he mean by that?” Yunho’s voice came from behind the sofa. Chills shooting down your spine, you spun around and slumped your shoulders. He took a second to look down at Seonghwa and Hongjoong sitting around the table. They were watching. Following his stare, you met eyes with them both and groaned. With one look at Yunho you spoke to him through it, and he followed you.

Darting through the maze that has become the house, he stayed but three steps behind you. Leading him around corners, groups of people, through a doorway into another smaller sitting room on the first floor, one with bookshelves kissing the ceiling, you crossed your arms over your chest and glared at him with a huff.

“I hate you and your smart brain,” you said.

Yunho tilted his head. “Huh?”

“Open ended?” you scoffed. “You don’t speak a word to her in months yet you still know how she feels?”

His lips parted, his body frozen. “What?”

“Oh, now you know nothing?”

He stepped toward you in the small space, only the two of you occupying the carpet. “She still has feelings for me? How the fuck did you learn this in a half hour?”

“Because, I may talk a lot of shit, but when she’s drunk-”

“She tells you everything,” you both said at once. Yunho tipped his chin backward, his own arms crossing over his t-shirt. 

“Don’t go trying to break them up, Wooyoung almost just murdered Intak in the living room.”

A smirk graced his lips for all of a few seconds. “I wouldn’t do that. Besides,” he sighed, looking over at you, “You said he’s good for her. He’s good with her.”

Hesitating, knowing all you knew now, that Aurora had her own relationship issues, you whispered, “He is.”

“I want her happy,” he said, his genuine smile growing as he shrugged. The air falls quiet around the two of you, the commotion of the party still very much alive outside the library. He took a deep breath. “I’m gonna go.” Starting for the doorway, you watched him step out and turn a corner, but then your heart skipped a beat.

“Wait!” you shouted after him, hurrying out of the room, platform sandals clunking against the hardwood floor. “Yunho!”

He turned, confusion laced with worry in his brow. “What?”

Reaching his side, you grabbed onto his arm, hands wrapping around his bicep, the two of you wobbling together. “She said, don’t let him leave.”

“Me? Him as in me?” he asked, eyes going wide.

You sighed, a sarcastic laugh paired with it. “Who else, Yo?”

He took a breath and glanced about the party, his face not knowing what to do, what to feel. Shaking his head, his lips parted as if to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, he froze. “Tori,” he whispered, and you shook his arm.

“What?”

Squishing his lips together, he gave you the tiniest shake of his head, his eyes locked elsewhere. Whipping yourself around, frantically searching through the sea of people, you found him. He wasn’t that hard to miss, especially from where he stood halfway down the stairs. He stared at you, he stared at Yunho, the way he held onto him, and you guarantee just by the look on his face that he saw the way you spoke to one another. Like you’ve done this already before this moment.

Gulping, voice tiny, you dropped your hands and whispered, “Mingi.”

read it on ao3 | talk to me | my masterlist

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme 6 -> mingi x fem!reader -> nice for what

wc: 6.2k warnings: 18+, sexual content and alcohol consumption in every part, infidelity themes... if i missed anything please let me know! posted: 2/13/25 8:48 pm est.

masterlist ~ <- previous part - next part ->

“And what the fuck am I supposed to do with her?”

“Put her down, she can stand on her own.”

“Tori, she just got sick on the side of the street, and you want me to just put her down?”

Groaning, driving a hand through your hair, you trudged over the sand toward him and helped him lower Aurora onto her feet. She moved as if her body was made of liquid. Lifeless blinking eyes looked over at you. Yunho kept one arm around her back, your best friend clinging onto him for stability. 

Sanity, you thought, and wanted to giggle.

She couldn’t stand on her feet for long, Yunho was scooping her back up in seconds.

“Who knew you were so strong,” you said to him, following him over the sand, further from the dunes and buzz of nightlife, closer to the water and the rush of the waves. Giving you a smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes, he sighed when Aurora adjusted herself on his front, her whole face nuzzling into his neck. “Or, you don’t wanna put her down,” you added quietly, and he huffed, focusing forward. 

Reaching the edge of a hill on the beach, Yunho paused and looked out over the ocean. Waves crashed, water rushed up the coast, but it didn’t reach your feet, it only blew salty mist your way, the breeze grazing your skin, cooling it. 

He could’ve let her go. He could’ve sat her down, laid her down, or something, anything other than what he chose to do, sitting down on the sand with her in his lap. Pulling your phone from your pocket, you sat down beside him, about a foot of space between you. Folding your legs, you opened your messages and internally rolled your eyes.

[ITZ]: don’t u wanna know who i am tori

He sent the message a half hour ago.

[you]: yes.

He started typing immediately. Then, the bubbles went away. Aurora stirred on Yunho’s lap. He started typing again.

[ITZ]: maybe if u tell him abt me, i’ll tell u who i am :)

[you]: and how the fuck does that make any sense?

[ITZ]: because…

[ITZ]: maybe i’ll get invited in ;)

[you]: what

[ITZ]: u aren’t with it tonite, what’s wrong with u

[you]: my best friend saw my messages, idiot. 

[ITZ]: aurora?

[you]: yes. and i named you something that made her mad at me. so stop texting me.

[ITZ]: you texted me back first

[you]: whatever

[ITZ]: u were so interested the other night… telling me to come over… inviting me to that party… couldn’t even figure out who i was.

[you]: w h a t e v e r .

[ITZ]: that game aurora plays with her man

[ITZ]: it doesn’t intrigue u at all tori

[you]: what are you talking about

[ITZ]: the way they invite ppl into bed with them

[you]: and what the fuck do you know about that?

Aurora sat up, taking Yunho by the shoulders, glancing around like she’d just woken up.

[ITZ]: plenty.  ;)

[ITZ]: u tell boyfriend abt me maybe we can make a playdate

His texts sent a shiver down your spine, and not a good one. Leaving your phone in your lap, locked, his notifications silenced, you sat backward and rested your hands in the sand, letting the breeze blow your hair off your shoulders. 

“Hey, Ror,” you said, giving her a smile. 

Yunho had his knees propped up where he sat, she was cradled perfectly between his thighs and his torso, her legs straddling his waist. He sat like you, hands backward in the sand, watching her. She lifted her hands, limbs shaking, raking her fingers through her hair. From side to side she looked, at you, at the sand, at the ocean, then at Yunho.

They did the thing again.

Yunho, tilting his head ever so slightly, Aurora, eventually wearing a pout on her lips. They stared. They spoke through blinks and lash flutters, until she actually spoke.

“You suck,” she muttered, and he laughed, glancing away for all of two seconds shaking his head.

“I know,” he said with all the care in the world.

“You really, really suck,” she said again, louder.

He bobbed his head, the softest smile on his lips as he looked at her. “I know,” he whispered, and somehow it worsened her pout. 

Thrusting a hand at him, she tried to shove his shoulder, but barely got a valid hit in. Taking the miniscule blow, Yunho sucked in a breath. She threw another hand, and he took it, blinking up at her, letting her do this. Each push grew somewhat stronger, accompanied by a sound, or a you suck or a fuck you, and eventually the words turned to tears. Her hands took on speed until he snatched them, holding onto them, sitting forward to look at her, and then she sobbed. She fell into his chest, wrapped her arms around him, and sobbed.

He held her. Hands sliding over her back he took a long, deep breath and released it, staring out into the ocean, allowing Aurora’s cries to drown out within the crashing of the waves on the shore. 

You wanted to move. You felt like you should move, like this was their moment and you were in the middle of it, but she wasn’t sober. And her and Yunho, they weren’t okay. As much as you wished that this could be it, that this would fix it all, it wouldn’t.

Your phone lit up on your lap, the little buzz against your skin pulling your attention away from the two of them, thank god.

[loverboy]: where are u?

[you]: we left wave, i’m on the beach with aurora and yunho… she got fucked up, we couldn’t stay there.

[loverboy]: i just showed up with wooyoung san and seonghwa…

[you]: at wave??????

[loverboy]: yeah. wooyoung is looking for rora

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh fuck,” you muttered, scrambling to your feet. Yunho, startled though he barely moved, looked up at you in a panic. “They’re at Wave.”

His brows settled over his eyes in a straight line. “Who?”

“Exactly who you think,” you sighed, and he laughed out of pure dread. Glancing around, both hands on Aurora, he lifted one and pointed at her, looking at you, mouthing, “What do I do?”

“Um,” you drug out the word and let it will thoughts into your brain. This was your thing, this was your expertise, quick thinking, problem solving, it was the position you were voted into at ITZ last year, legit the problem solver. “I mean, if no one’s in the house we can get her in there and you can get out, like nothing happened. It’ll be like I brought her home.” 

“No, no,” Aurora mumbled from his chest before she lifted her head. “No,” she pouted. Taking her hands to Yunho’s cheeks, his eyes shot open wide, her thumbs dragging over his cheekbones. 

“Aurora,” you said with some oomph, and she whined.

“No.”

“Yes,” you snapped back. “Let him go.”

He didn’t want her to let go, but he still said, “You’re mad at me.”

Aurora shook her head, her body still resting over his chest. “No, ‘m not”

The way his body reacted was lost on her. “Yes, you are. You’re very mad at me. I’m not allowed to talk to you unless you talk to me first, that’s how mad you are.” 

She sat up. She sat backward, her back against his thighs, and she watched him.

And he watched her.

And somehow, it still felt better than seeing her cozied up next to Wooyoung, or under his arm.

She took in a breath, but you saved her from saying anything incriminating. 

Dropping down at her side, you rested a hand on her shoulder and said, “Let’s go home. We can have a sleepover. The spare room between ours, we’ll stay there, we can talk all night, ‘cause I know you have a lot to say right now.” 

Her head turned slowly. “And sleep next to a liar?” Yunho pressed his lips together and looked elsewhere.

“Ror-”

“I’d rather go to his house,” she pressed a finger into Yunho’s chest. “You know what I could do with him?” 

Half a laugh came out of him, one that made him gasp.

Rolling your eyes, you took her hand off of him and returned it to her own lap. “Aurora, I am not a liar, and you are not going home with Yunho, we need to go home, now.”

She leaned toward you and squinted her eyes. “Why?”

“Because, you were already sick, it’s time for bed.”

“Why?”

Sighing, you forced a smile onto your lips. “Good god, this was not the time I was hoping Aurora would come back to us.” Yunho laughed to himself. “The boys are at the bar looking for us. Wooyoung and San are there. So, that means it’s time for us to go home.”

Her eyes drifted toward the sand. “Wooyoung and San,” she mumbled. 

Yunho blinked toward you. “Oh, yeah, what happened by the way? I meant to ask you, or Mingi, but…”

Shifting your brows, tilting your head, you gave him a look, one that made his lips part.

“Oh,” he said, looking off somewhere behind you before he took a look at Aurora and glanced the other way. Quiet surrounded you all for a moment before he asked, “Why was it… weird earlier?”

Taking in Aurora, how she watched the sand, blinking through nothing, you shrugged. “She…” Yunho looked at you. “I can’t talk to you about this. It’s hers to tell.”

The tiniest laugh came out of her, both of you sparing her a glance. She lifted her chin and smiled at you, then smiled at Yunho.

“Bye,” she said, hoisting herself off of his lap, slipping out of his grip more gracefully than she could when she was sober. Trekking up the sand, teetering to the right, she sauntered away.

“What the fuck?” Yunho was quick to jump to his feet, you following him soon after.

Sharing a look, you offered for him to take the lead. “Shall we?”

Peering between Aurora wandering further up the sand and you, Yunho started to follow her, mumbling, “I guess so.”

Down the wooden planked walkway designed to get you from the promenade to the beach and back easily, you and Yunho walked in silence, eyes on Aurora stumbling every fourth step. He flinched each time he thought she’d fall, his chin jerking, or his hands tightening at his side.

“I’m sorry,” you said suddenly, taking him by surprise. Pausing halfway down the planks, he turned to you. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.”

Smoothing his hands over his shorts, he shrugged the matter off. “It’s okay, you wouldn’t have been able to get her up here. Or home, for that matter. She was deadweight.” Looking her way, both of you, she’d reached the end of the path and waltzed over the concrete of the promenade now, following lines in the pavement with her head down. 

“You’re pushing this,” he said, focusing back on you. “Why?”

Pursing your lips, you met his gaze and shook your shoulders a bit. “I want you together.”

He scoffed. “After what I did to her?”

“It’s Aurora,” you groaned. “She slept with Seonghwa, did she not?”

Yunho cringed and walked a small circle around himself. “She did, but they weren’t like…” he paused, softening his brow, “I was worse. I did worse. You said he’s good with her, leave them be.” Voices sounded at the end of the pathway, Aurora’s laughter ringing aloud amongst the commotion. Yunho broke first, peering down the planks, his softened expression hardening quickly. “Example,” he muttered.

His arms were around her waist, holding her close to him. Rocking her back and forth, in a way that seemed she wanted, Wooyoung shot glares your way over her shoulder. Slipping her hands into his hair she pressed kisses to his jaw, and he started to smile. San lingered behind, speaking to her, speaking to them both. In blue jeans and a white tank with a leather belt strapped to his waist, he wore a smirk that grew as he slid his hands into his back pockets. 

 Mingi ignored them, walked around them with Seonghwa in tow, headed your way.

Holding out his hand for Yunho to slap, he turned to you as they bumped shoulders. “I couldn’t stop him,” he said, half a frown dancing on his lips, “He was gonna find her either way.”

“Did we not want him to find her?” Seonghwa asked, greeting Yunho similarly to how Mingi did. Yunho didn’t take it nearly as inviting as he did when Mingi did it. “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” you breathed, taking hold of Mingi’s hand, curling your fingers around his. He gave your palm a squeeze, dipping his chin to brush his lips over your cheek. “She got really drunk, got sick, I kinda just wanted to take her home and not bother anyone.”

Seonghwa quirked a brow. “You ended up here,” he said, nodding toward the beach. Facing Yunho, he added, “With him.” 

“What’s the word on Soul?” you asked, switching subjects.

The curiosity in his dark eyes went unchanged. “Can’t find him. Untrackable.”

“Damn.” You leaned into Mingi, wrapping your other hand around his bicep. “Hope he turns up soon.”

Seonghwa was a rock. “Could you ask Jongseob?”

A sinkhole opened up beneath you on the sand, taking you under. Mingi could feel it, he held onto your hand a little tighter.

“W-What?” you stammered, tilting your head.

Seonghwa blinked. He glanced at Mingi, then his eyes burned through yours. “He’s been following you around this whole time, no?” 

What the fuck was he doing?

Mingi focused down on you. Nighttime air blew by you, an ocean breeze, one salty and cool that did nothing to lessen the heat that built into your cheeks, that coursed through you.

“I try to not talk to him, Hwa, no matter what it looks like,” you said after a breath. “It may seem like he’s hanging around me, but he’s not. He’ll try to get under my skin, but I won’t let him.” He waited a few seconds, took another look at your boyfriend, then nodded. “I mean,” you started, giving Mingi a glance yourself, “If it’s okay, I will ask him, for Soul’s sake?”

Mingi shrugged. “You don’t need permission,” he mumbled. 

“Okay,” you said, sharing a small smile with him. Setting your eyes over Seonghwa and his lengthy dark hair, you flattened your brow to tell him not to say anything else. “I’ll shoot him a message, or something. I’ll let you know what he says.”

“You have his number?” Seonghwa asked, humour in his tone. Mingi tensed beside you, not even a reassuring squeeze of his arm could relax him.

“Instagram is a thing,” you said smoothly, laying your head against your boyfriend.

“Not to be that guy,” Yunho spoke up, directing everyone's attention to Aurora walking away in Wooyoung’s arms, the two accompanied by San, “But, where are they going?” 

Seonghwa tried to keep his laugh to himself but ended up with Yunho’s elbow in his chest anyway. His eyes found you, his knowing eyes, and they now asked you for help, like you’ve both formed some sort of secret Aurora Alliance within the hours of this night. Behind the need for assistance, the need for this to be squashed and over with lingered. It had to be set aside. It couldn’t and shouldn’t be touched again, for a while, until something needed to happen. He asked you to do that for him. For her.

Wooyoung locked eyes with you. Aurora talked to him, between kisses slapped onto his cheek, she spoke to him, and his stare traveled to Yunho unintentionally shielding himself behind Seonghwa. Then, he looked back at you, and that nasty grimace returned. Behind them, San kept his eyes to himself, but the smirk on his baby pink lips told you plenty.

“Great,” you sighed. Mingi held onto you a little tighter. “I’m a liar,” you shared a look with Yunho, “You’re in deeper shit, and we’re all gonna get written off.”

Seonghwa tossed his hands up with a smile. “I’m excluded from the narrative.”

Yunho side eyed him. “What do you know about the narrative?”

Mingi’s hold loosened around you as he took a step toward his best friend. “Don’t listen to him, it’s-”

Yunho’s eyes popped open wide with a tilt of his jaw, cutting him clean off. “Finish that sentence.”

“No,” you said, stepping around your boyfriend, inserting yourself in the middle of the suffocating testosterone circle. Placing a hand on Mingi’s chest, you looked up at the other two, pointing at them directly. “The narrative does not exist,” you said to Yunho, turning to Seonghwa, “And even if one did exist, you would not be excluded.” You shut the two of them up, both of them looking down at you like a pair of brothers who’ve been grounded by their big sister.

It took a few seconds within the silence to realize, but Mingi had let go of you completely. He stood behind you with his hands in his pockets, his eyes soft, and his chin tipped low. 

“Why are you a liar?” he asked quietly, the deepness of his voice almost drowned out by the crashing of distant waves. Turning to him, trying to hold onto him somehow, he wouldn’t let you. 

“Mingi, can I-”

He took a small step backward, out of your reach. “Why are you a liar, Tori?”

Jaw agape, a singular laugh came out of you. “I’m not…”

Don’t go there, he heard you call yourself a liar.

Extending a hand toward the promenade where the others stood, you said, “She called me a liar. I am not a liar, but Ror called me one.”

“Why?” he asked, unmoving. The boys behind you were silent.

You can’t tell him about the texts. It’d be nice if you could, but look how far they’ve gone.

Would it be better to admit it? To flat out tell him they were happening, that you’ve entertained it for over a week? For what? Because you were bored? Because you were envious? You were not envious. You knew Mingi, you knew what it would do to him. To make him feel like he wasn’t enough, like he wasn’t giving you enough, doing enough for you, that you were unhappy in your relationship, that you were unsatisfied, you couldn’t do that to him. None of it was even true.

Why were you doing it?

“The ITZ thing,” you said, and you swore you heard Yunho sucked in a breath. Mingi crinkled a brow. “Last year. We all know her trust is fucked up. She got messed up tonight, we were talking about stuff, my words got taken the wrong way, she called me a liar.” His cheeks softened, yet your stomach twisted. 

He believed you.

“She’ll be okay tomorrow,” you said. With the smallest shake of your head you stepped toward him, and he let you. Your arms wrapped around his waist, his found your shoulders. Rising to your tiptoes you gave him a kiss. “It’ll all be okay.”

All was not okay.

Aurora remembered everything.

“I just don’t understand why you would do something like that to me,” she spat, pacing the length of the painted deck on the back of the house, the one right outside the kitchen. Both of you in swimsuits, the sunshine beat down on your bare skin, aiding in the boiling of your blood. 

You smacked your hands together and bounced in your seat, one of your legs propped up against the arm of the wicker chair. “Do something like that to you, Ror, I didn’t do a thing to you!”

It’d been twenty minutes of this. The back and forth. The volley of you did this, and, well you did that. Seconds after she’d come down the stairs ready for the day, freshly showered like you, you took one look at her face and knew you’d have to talk it out before anything else happened.

“Yunho,” she hissed like the word tasted awful, whirling herself around, nearly bending in half. She kept her voice quiet. “Why’d you do any of that?”

The first sober conversation about him. Yesterday it’d been shut down. Telling her about him, about what she’d said about him while she showered, it nearly made her sick all over again.

Shrugging, you shook your head. “I’m not gonna sugar coat shit. I want you and him together.” 

She balled her hands into fists. “You know he-”

“Yeah, I fuckin’ know, Aurora,” you snapped, and she sharpened her glare. “I was there. Did you forget that? Seems-”

“What,” she said within a breath, her eyes narrowing. “Tori, why would I forget that?” Folding your arms over your chest, you sat back in your chair and rolled your eyes. Aurora took a step toward you. “No, finish that sentence.”

“You’ve just been so busy,” you kept your tone calm, tightening your jaw. “Wooyoung, keeping up with him, listening to him, Soul, taking care of him…”

She loosened her fists, her shoulders drooping as she let out a laugh. “You can’t be serious,” she said, some sort of smile growing on her lips.

“I’m very serious,” you said, and she laughed.

With another step toward you, she said, “Tor, I tried to get it through to you. About any of this. Soul needs help, and he-”

“Then let him get help from someone else!” you shouted, slamming a hand onto the glass of the table you sat in front of. If the boys were in the house, in the kitchen mere feet away, they surely heard you both. “It is not your responsibility, and it sure as hell isn’t good for you to be around him if he does crazy shit, look at what you did last night, that’s not you.”

Her aura calmed tenfold. Pressing her hands to her thighs, she took a deep breath, then nodded her head. “If I’m with Yunho then I’m closer, right?”

Taking a hand to your forehead, you sighed. “What?”

“To you,” she almost whispered, and your stomach flipped. “If I'm with Yunho, I’m closer to you, I’m closer to Mingi, it goes back to us four, always.”

Your arms made their way back over your chest, your skin warm from the sun. Giving her a look, one you didn’t want to hurt her with, but wish you could, you said, “That’s not it.”

She laughed again, throwing her arms out to the side. “Then what is it, Tori? I’ve tried, I’ve been trying. Before we even got here I tried to talk to you, I wanted to get rid of whatever animosity there was.”

You raised a brow. “Animosity?”

She nodded once. “Yeah, animosity. Ryujin taught me that word.” Silence, for three seconds. “Did I… Did I use it right?”

Tilting your head side to side, you curled your lip. “Kinda, but I wouldn’t say that’s what’s going on. That’s how I feel about Wooyoung.”

The words left you before you could stop them.

Aurora pointed at you, her eyes shooting open wide. “I knew it. What’d he do to you?” You answered with a shrug, but it wasn’t enough for her. “Tori.”

Springing forward, you held up a hand and counted on your fingers. “He gets pissy with me whenever you tell him things about us, he’s rude to any human being you aren’t cool with, he got into a physical fight with Intak, he’s silencing you, and he’s making you do things that you don’t want to do.”

Aurora’s turn to cross her arms. Sitting in her hip, she thought to herself before she spoke. “You tell Mingi things about us.”

“Mingi’s my boyfriend.”

She cringed and glanced away. “Whatever,” she muttered.

The ocean, blue and visible from the deck, rolled in the distance. Beings were scattered all over the sand, umbrellas in view, towels littered here and there. The air was fresh, the breeze calming, the sounds of the seagulls squawking and the waves crashing and the wind blowing, all of it, serene. None of it matched this scene. None of it matched how the two of you felt.

“Intak disrespected me,” she said, looking back over at you, her face a lot calmer than it had been. “He was drunk, they both were, he did what he knew. That doesn’t mean I condone that, though. When he told me, I cried, Tori. Laying in bed with San, they both told me what happened, and I cried.” You parted your lips to speak, but she continued. “And as for that, Wooyoung and San, leave it alone. They didn’t make me feel that way, I made myself feel that way.”

“Aurora, you-”

“No,” she smiled. “I don’t want to talk about it. I know what I’m doing.” 

Screwing your face up, you let her know without words that you wanted her to talk about it. But, then somehow, she managed to twist up everything you wanted to say, fry it in your brewing, boiling anger sprinkled with frustration, and forced it to erupt.

“I’ll talk to Wooyoung,” she breathed. “I’ll tell him to cool it with you, with everyone, and he will.”

You couldn’t swallow your grin. “Of course he will,” you grit your teeth, “Because whatever you say, goes.” Her gaze shifted. “Aurora’s fucking world.”

You hated that you didn’t regret it once you finished.

Her hands fell to her sides, arms dangling in shock, the very feeling apparent on her face. Lips parted, eyebrows flipped over, she stared at you. She waited for you to say anything else. To change what had come out of your mouth. To take it back.

Snapping her jaw shut, she bobbed her head and pursed her lips. “Animosity,” she whispered, and turned on her toes.

“Go tell him everything,” you called after her, jumping out of your seat. Following behind her as she thundered down the stairs to the sand, you stopped at the top. “Does he know you wanted to go home with Yunho last night?” She whipped herself around mid-staircase, her hands grabbing onto the bannister. “Oh, yeah,” you laughed, “You wanted to do that. You gonna tell him that part, too?”

“Don’t you dare,” she grilled you, then hurried on her way.

“I’m ready for him to hate me more now! I’ve caught on!”

Hot July air suffocated you. Laying on the beach over a blanket stitched with patterns of pastel blues and hot pinks, the teal bathing suit you wore contrasted against it perfectly. Hair thrown up on top of your head, dainty gold sunglasses perched on your nose, you had your arms and legs stretched out above you, below you, your heels digging into the warm sand. 

Eyes closed, you paid no mind to the chatter around you. Taking deep breaths, focusing them down within you, you kept calm. You were on vacation. You were here to relax, to unwind, not to stir up new drama that honestly should be left in the past. This month was meant to bring you all together, not rip you apart.

You would talk to Aurora.

As much as it pained you, you would apologize to her.

She kept so much from you last year, thinking that she couldn’t tell you things, that she couldn’t let you in on her life. You didn’t want to move backwards. Aurora, she’s family, more of a sister than the very one that grew up with you in the neighboring bedroom of your house in Tamoe. Sitara, your movie star of a sister, one who couldn’t give two shits if you were having a bad day, and if you were she’d judge you for it, something Aurora wouldn’t think twice about doing. 

She said the words herself, she tried to get through to you. She tried to talk things out with you, she even tried on the plane here. That’s something sisters do. They understand if you’re having a bad day, they stick by your side when things don’t feel right, even if they don’t understand it themselves. They try. 

Aurora knew your secrets, and you knew all of hers. Nights you’ve spent dishing familial trauma to one another, understanding one another even if it wasn’t a life you came from. You grew up with a sister, one distant, raised by a completely different set of parents than you were handed, and Aurora, she grew up alone. She didn’t have sisters, she didn’t grow up around kind women in her life. You needed each other.

Sitting up to your elbows, letting your glasses slide to the tip of your nose, you blinked in the blinding sunlight and scanned the sand. Mingi sat up to your left, shirtless, half dried salty blonde hair a mess on his head. He talked with Seonghwa, the ATZ President on another blanket with his legs crossed and Hongjoong laying down flat on his stomach beside him with his nose in a book. They spoke gently to one another, something about organizing the week long back to school rager in a way so it held more purpose, created more of a statement. 

Slightly in front of you, in chairs who’s bottoms touched the sand, Yuna and Jongho sat, facing one another. Cold cans dripping with condensation lived in their hands, the droplets of cool water dabbling their bare skin when they brought the drinks to their lips. On a blanket in front of them, almost out of view behind Jongho’s broad, bronzed muscled shoulders, Aurora sat with Wooyoung, the two on a towel. She laid between his legs, half of her draped over his front, leaning back on one of his knees propped up to support her. 

Down by the water, Ryujin leapt through waves, Jeongyeon watching from the shore, her ankles kissed by the ocean with every crashing wave. Yeosang swam around with Keni, the two hanging around Yunho, suspiciously accompanied by San.

Sitting all the way up, pulling your legs beneath you, Mingi placed a hand over your thigh and drew circles over your skin, not letting his attention falter from Seonghwa. The president looked at you, sharing a mere glance that meant nothing aside from acknowledging your presence. Grabbing onto Mingi’s hand, Seonghwa’s eyes flickered down to them, his lips never missing a beat, keeping up with your boyfriend in discussion. 

Leaning forward ever so slightly, Aurora in view, you hoped to get her attention, like her subconscious would know you were looking for her, looking at her, but she didn’t move. She smiled with Yuna, the boys around them simply happy to be there. Her smile weighed heavy on your chest.

“Hey, Ror,” you called out, turning Jongho’s head, and Mingi’s. Yuna looked your way too, but it didn’t last long. Wooyoung spared you a glance behind his Ray Bans, but let it linger on Seonghwa before he turned to the water.

She didn’t move. Smiling at Yuna, it was as if she didn’t hear you. Their conversation continued on like you hadn’t spoken a word.

Mingi’s hand tightened on your thigh. You didn’t tell him what happened, not yet, but you knew he’d question it after this. Her words hung in the air, the fact that you tell Mingi everything. Rightfully so, though, right? He was your boyfriend, you shared everything with him, you shared life with him, there wasn’t anything you’d want to keep from him…

Blinking, you swallowed hard, averting your eyes to the sand.

The text messages. The mystery man. One who suggested you tell Mingi about him so that the three of you could orchestrate a playdate. Thinking about him, where all the signs pointed to, you wondered if it could be anyone you sat around at the moment, or if it was someone brand new. Jongseob had a house full of people down the street, it could be any one of his minions, like that boy from the party who knew about you because Jongseob talked about you.

It could also just be Jongseob.

But, then again, it could also be-

“Shota!” Seonghwa leapt from the sand, hauling ass to a group of boys walking along the water many, many feet away. How he even made him out amidst the group of ten or so boys was lost on you.

Aurora lurched forward, scrambling out of Wooyoung’s lap who flew to his feet soon after he had the room to do so. She didn’t run, she walked, with purpose, with Wooyoung right behind her. Seonghwa had made it to the group first, towering over the underclassmen, speaking to them with his jaw clenched and his teeth grit, but as Aurora approached them, the attention turning to her, she pushed them each out of the way like they weighed nothing. They parted for her. And there was Soul, with an arm thrown over Jongseob’s shoulder.

He smirked toward Aurora, her lips sealed as she took hold of Soul’s wrist and yanked him off of him, and then, he scanned the beach. His eyes drew over your friends, toward where the group of you sat, your friends stumbling out of the water, and then he found you.

And he smiled.

Mingi slid his hand further over your thigh, nearly between your legs.

Jongseob, shameless, didn’t look away.

Seonghwa and Wooyoung stood behind Aurora, ignoring the other boys remarks, their confidence having grown somehow, without a care for how they spoke to their seniors, some of them legitimately in a binding contract with one another. Intak sized up Wooyoung, rocking back and forth beside him, his chin tipped backward, a small smile on his lips, as if to ask for round two. 

Aurora talked to Soul, both of her hands on his shoulders, holding him so close their chests pressed together. Her lips moved a mile a minute, and he watched them. She wrapped a hand around the back of his head and pulled him down, their foreheads touching. 

Giving Jongseob the nastiest look, you squeezed Mingi’s hand and scooted closer to lean into him. With a tilt of his head, Jongseob’s grin deepened, then he reached out for Soul, grabbing him by a fistful of t-shirt, and pulled him backward, Aurora nearly falling forward as the boy was ripped from her grasp, both Seonghwa and Wooyoung reaching for her somehow.

Starting to wander off, the boys cackling, leaving your friends behind with rude remarks, sarcastic smiles and utter disrespect, Jongseob made sure to leave you with another look. Some sort of glare. One that said plenty. One that made Mingi tense up, and your heart rate skyrocketed.

They didn’t go after him, the three down by the water, instead they watched him walk away. Wooyoung laced his fingers with Aurora’s, Seonghwa stood tall beside them, and none of them said a word. Soul didn’t even turn around, Jongseob had him pulled into his side tight.

Turning to Mingi, nestling yourself further into his side, he returned your look and pressed his lips together.

“That was nothing,” you started, “Don’t let that-”

“Did that not upset you?” he asked, his voice quiet. When you didn’t move, he scoffed, turning away to watch your friends wander back up the sand.

“It’s not my fight,” you said, keeping your own voice down.

He shot you a look. “You know what this means. If I’ve heard about it, I know you have, too.” He studied your face, you felt your cheeks warm. “You’ve been ignoring each other all day.”

“She’s been ignoring me,” you mumbled.

“Why?”

“I may have said something not too nice to her.”

Mingi sighed, looking up at the group that returned to the circle of blankets and towels, the four from the water returning with them. “I thought you guys were good, Tor, why does this keep happening?”

Because, like Sitara, Aurora gets what she wants.

Like Sitara, Aurora gathers attention without even trying.

Like Sitara, Aurora does as she pleases without a thought of the consequence, of the aftermath.

Like Sitara, Aurora moves carelessly when she needs to care.

Nausea filled you. It rolled through you in waves but didn’t crash as beautifully as the ones down on the shore. 

She sat on the blanket with Wooyoung, wedging herself between his legs like she once had been sitting. Gulping, taking in her teary eyes she tried so desperately to blink away, you wanted to feel bad. You yearned to feel bad, to reach over to her, to give her a hug like Wooyoung did now. She started to cry, in front of everyone, a rare sight. Tears were for you to share. Something Yunho has seen before, even Wooyoung. But, never anyone else.

She didn’t get what she wanted.

She was hurt. In such a way that the vulnerable pieces of her came out where they never would.

And beneath the nausea, the lump in your throat because her tears triggered your own, the rushing course of blood in your veins- it felt good.

read it on ao3 | talk to me | my masterlist

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme 5 -> mingi x fem!reader -> nice for what

wc: 9.9k warnings: 18+, sexual content and alcohol consumption in every part, infidelity themes... if i missed anything please let me know! posted: 2/10/25 7:03 pm est.

masterlist ~ <- previous part - next part ->

“Talk to me.”

Sitting up beside Mingi, hair thrown astray, blankets and sheets tossed around from the night, you’ve watched him toss and turn for ten minutes, ignoring you. After catching you with Yunho he’d disappeared, shimmying beneath the sheets only a few minutes after you’d put yourself to bed. Not a word shared.

“Aurora told me things about him, I had to find out for myself,” you said, keeping your voice quiet, trying to be as nice as you possibly could. Mingi released a breath, a sigh, and rolled out of bed. 

“Why?” he asked, his tone sharp. Taking his hands to his hair he shook the strands about and stepped into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind him. “If it’s between Rora and Yunho, let it stay between them.” 

Mulling over your thoughts, flashbacks of the night so prominent, so vivid, you hung your head. “She, like, asked me for help, Mingi.” After the flush of the toilet and the running of the sink water he appeared, dragging his wet fingers through his strands once more, pushing and keeping it back off his forehead. Muscles flexing while he moved, his bare torso and boxers hanging low on his hips made your heart skip a beat.

“Did she?” he asked, eyes narrowing. He moved to the nightstand, putting his glasses on, the thin frames. “She did that?” You nodded and he laughed. “Tori, go talk to your boyfriend's best friend he hasn’t spoken to in weeks? Go talk to my ex who was fucking a whole other bitch our entire relationship?” Stomach going sour, you loosed a breath and squeezed your eyes shut. “Did she say that?”

“No, but she…” Opening your eyes, you gazed up at him and watched his face soften in real time as much as he fought for it not to. “She said she misses me, Mingi.”

Dancing his eyes about the bedroom, he planted his hands behind his neck. “Fantastic,” he grumbled. “Did Yunho tell you he misses me?” He moved to clothe himself, sweatpants and a t-shirt slung over a dresser.

“He asked about you,” you said just as he reached for the doorknob. He paused, hand hovering over the golden handle. “And, he said he still cares.” Looking over his shoulder at your small smile, he watched you pat the bed in front of you. “Sit, don’t leave me when you’re mad, please.” Straightening out, he lowered his eyes and obeyed, dragging his feet over the floor, letting his mass of self lay down before you. “I’m sick of you being mad at me.”

His eyes went wild. “Days ago you were sick of my presence!”

You sighed, eyes closing, head lolling back. 

Protect what you do have.

“It sounds empty,” you whispered, looking down at him and his big brown eyes. “But, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not empty,” he said, finally turning his volume down. “You wouldn’t say it just to say it.”

Pulling your bottom lip between your teeth, you felt that lump in your throat. Blinking up at you, innocent eyed and having done nothing wrong to deserve any hostility, the urge to cry grew.

“I’m having a hard time, Mingi.”

He let out a breath, one he’d been holding since before you got on an airplane. On his stomach, he dropped his head into the duvet, his arms plastered beside it, making you laugh. A quiet one, but it worked. Scrambling to sit up, he crossed his long legs underneath him and put his massive hands on your knees. 

“Tell me,” he whispered, chin low, brows flipped over. “Everything, Tor.”

Laying your hands over his, your fingers slipping within his grasp, you held onto him tight, and took a deep breath. Whether he understood anything or not, this was what he wanted. This would be good for you, for both of you. This was something you should’ve done over a week ago.

“It’s all so different now,” you said, and he nodded along, drinking up every word that spilled from your lips. “Everyone is changing, people are leaving, Yeosang and Ryujin, some have already left.” An endearing slight tilt of his head. “Life was so good, for so long, and then it happened, and it fucked it all up.” Scrunching your nose, being flung back in time whenever you spoke of it in detail, you sniffled though no tears were apparent.

Mingi tightened his fingers to let you know he was there.

“Yeji didn’t just take an opportunity from Ror. She didn’t just break our trust, she… She’s still ruining us and she’s not even here!” Looking up at him and his glistening eyes, you felt your lip crinkle, and finally, a tear. 

Mingi scooted closer to you, taking a hand to your cheek, his thumb brushing the stray tear away. “I’m sorry it still bothers you like this.”

Nuzzling into his touch, you continued, “If she didn’t do what she did, Isla would still be here.” Mingi nodded. “Ryujin wouldn’t have to pretend like she’s okay. Yunho,” Mingi took a breath, and so did you, “Yunho would be here. Him and Ror… You and Yunho…”

“Yeah, maybe,” he mumbled, eyeing his thumb where it brushed over your cheek.

“Mina is a stupid bitch,” you grumbled, and he smirked.

“Torilynn!”

You cracked a laugh, shrugging. “She’s the reason he’s not around.”

Sighing, Mingi pursed his lips, then whispered, “Stupid bitch.” Laughing with him, you veered forward and pressed your head into his chest, breathing him in. Tipping his chin, he pressed a kiss to your unruly hair. Sitting here half clothed, freshly woken up, tangled in one another, oh, so needed. “He said he still cares?” he asked you after a moment of quiet, breathing in tandem.

“He did.” Sitting up, you moved yourself closer, nearly climbing onto his lap. “He was hurt about it.”

Toying with your hair, smoothing it out, Mingi asked, “That’s what you guys talked about last night?”

“I…” you took a breath, “At Cheers.” He paused. “I spoke with him.”

Mingi pulled his hand back and slouched. “Tori,” he whispered. 

Grabbing onto his wrists, this time you do climb into his lap, both of your legs wrapping around his waist. “I know, I wanted to tell you but Ror saw and she got mad and it’s why she was pissed at me yesterday. You and me, we keep going around, and around, and around about the same stuff, and no matter what I do I can’t make that better, when in reality, I couldn’t fuckin’ cum ‘cause I had all this shit in my head!”

Straight faced for no longer than a beat, Mingi burst out in laughter, laying his head over your shoulder. In awe, a smile creeping onto your lips, you shook your head. “I love you,” he mumbled through his giggles and sighs, his body shaking the bed as he laughed.

“You mean that?” you asked, raising your brows. Wrapping your arms around his back, you latched them together by your wrists. He lifted his head with a lazy smile on his lips.

“More than you know.”

“I love you, too.”

“Why shut me out?” he whispered, his breath warming your skin, your noses centimeters apart. “You’ve never done that before, not even when your sister made us miserable at your birthday last year.”

Rolling your eyes, you said, “When we went to Iloa and my night became hers and my parents promoted it as her night out.”

Cringing, he nodded. “Damn, yeah.”

“It’s whatever,” you brushed it off with a shrug, “My dad paid for this vacation. I think he felt guilty. She gets their attention, I get their money.”

His eyes flickered to your lips. “You’ll always have my attention.”

With a soft smile you whispered, “Thank you, baby.” Closing the space between you, you pressed a kiss to his lips, one gentle and short. Meeting his eyes once you parted from him, your smiles grew in time, air between your bodies a thing of the past. Hooking one arm around you he kicked his legs out beneath him and laid you on your back, the heat of his kisses ripping a whine from your throat, his body weight over you instinctively making your knees part to make room for his waist. Fingers digging through his hair, tugging gently at the strands, but just enough for him to groan, for his sweats to grow a little tighter.

Tongue sneaking past your lips, he slowed everything down, the tip dragging along the edge of your teeth. Snaking a hand down your middle, his long fingers slipping underneath the band of the shorts you’d slept in, they breached your center, and just before he could get a moan out of you, you pulled his hand away.

Lips pulling away with a smack, he pressed his forehead to yours. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you breathed, speaking in whispers. Pulling the shorts off of you, watching him watch you, you smiled. “Don’t want that.”

His heavy lidded eyes flickered to meet yours. “Tor, I should-”

“Don’t make me wait, Song Mingi.” His sweats went next, your hands yanking them off of him in a hurry. “Get inside me.”

Arms slung around your back, having put you back in your clothes moments prior, Mingi pressed his lips to your cheek while you struggled to pull your hair back. Moving around his kisses, leaning into them, letting them land elsewhere as your hands worked, you finally tied your layers into a pony and spun in his grasp, kissing him properly.

“I don’t wanna go down there,” he whispered to you, dragging his hands over your back, sliding them further, teasing the band at your waist. Pouting your lips, he caught them in a kiss. “Let’s stay here.”

“I wish,” you whispered with a smile. His gaze danced around your face. “We have to help clean up, I know it’s a mess.”

“The house or the people?” He smirked.

Rolling your eyes, you huffed, “Both.”

With a squeeze of his hands, he asked, “Are you gonna talk to Rora?”

“I’ll have to see what kind of mood she’s in,” you whispered, eyes flickering down to his lips you wished you could drown in for the rest of the day. Maybe the rest of the vacation. “She definitely doesn’t remember anything about last night.” 

Mingi brought a hand up, grazing it over your cheek. His brows turned under in the center. “She’s honest when she drinks. Whatever she said to you, it’s the truth, whether she shows it when she’s sober or not. If she misses you drunk, she misses you.”

That means her feelings for Yunho…

“Right,” you breathed, lashes fluttering in hesitance to say any more. “Let’s go down, gonna need you behind me if I talk to her.” Turning for the door, Mingi grabbed onto your hand, pulling you back some.

Lips tightening, he glanced down to your hands. “Just wanted to ask you,” he started, thumb dragging over your wrist as he looked into your eyes, “Is there was anything else you wanted to tell me?”

Everything came to mind, the last week or so like a flashback before your eyes, occurring between you and Mingi. There were things you were unsure of, like the mystery texter you haven’t heard from since yesterday morning, or Jongseob talking about you to all of his friends apparently. The latter seemed the more normal of the two, that happened more often, Mingi already knew Jongseob was a little shit, that he talked about you, that he properly wanted you. This texter though… That was yours to keep, yours to hold onto. A game to play with yourself, one you wouldn’t let get too deep, you’d simply find out who was messaging you, then let it go. 

“Uh,” you sighed, shrugging your shoulders, “Jongseob’s been up my ass whenever he’s around, but I keep him in line. That’s about it,” you said. “I’ll sort things out with Aurora, then I’ll let you know what’s going on with us.”

A smile peeked out onto his cheeks, one that didn’t reach his eyes. Pulling you closer, he kissed your forehead and nodded for the door. “Let’s go,” he whispered. 

Red plastic cups were scattered across the floor, even on the third floor, where people didn’t venture last night. Picking them up, stacking them together, both you and Mingi with a couple in your hands, the two of you didn’t leave the other's energy, sticking close together, almost side by side, elbows brushing as you passed by the other. 

The house was quiet. Silent. Weird.

“What time is it?” you asked Mingi within a whisper, starting down the stairs for the second floor, grabbing cups along the way and stray trash.

Mingi bent over on the stairs, brows focused, picking up the end of a joint between his fingers. Holding it up for you to see, you popped your brows and shook your head with a snicker. “Close to one, I think.”

“Why is no one else up?” 

All around the bar, in front of Seonghwa and Soul’s doors, a mess. Shoving trash into your arms, the stack of cups growing, you stepped over spills on the floor, crumbs and crushed up, trampled on food, a broken shot glass behind the bar, liquor bottles littered on every surface.

“When the fuck did all of this happen,” you muttered, straightening up what you could with what room you had left in your hands. Glancing about at the lounge chairs, it seemed so far that no people were left behind, everyone must’ve left. 

Mingi started putting bottles away until he grumbled about coming back to do it later. “Should we even bother, what’s tonight gonna turn into?” he asked, giving you a look.

Pursing your lips, sauntering by him to the stairs, you winked. “I’m going to Wave tonight, I don’t know about you.”

He smirked. “You got a date?”

Tossing your ponytail over your shoulder, you looked back at him. “Are you asking me out, Song Mingi?”

He fumbled with the things in his arms as you gave him a once over. “Maybe.” His voice faltering made you laugh. 

“Hm, well,” you began, starting down the stairs for the kitchen, Mingi hurrying behind you, “I planned to meet up with this guy.”

A warm hum sounded. “Oh, really?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you smiled, looking back over your shoulder, washing away whatever subtle worry he wore on his face. “He’s really tall.”

Mingi blinked. “Taller than me?”

“Just as tall as you,” you said with a giggle. “He’s got blonde hair,” you took a step into him when you both reached the first floor, “He wears these cute little glasses that make me crazy.” Mingi smiled now, tipping his chin down to keep his eyes locked on yours. “Sometimes he’s so silly,” you whispered, the narrowing of your eyes over your smirk making him roll his eyes, “I make jokes and he doesn’t get them.”

He furrowed his brow. “Hey, I get them.”

Taking a hand to his cheek, you give it a pinch. “Of course you do.”

There’s a moment of quiet between you both before Mingi whispered, “You were talking about me right?”

Standing to your tiptoes you pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Yes,” you breathed, fluttering your lashes. He flashed you his teeth in the quickest, smallest smile. “I want to go with you,” you said, taking you and your shadow into the kitchen and around the island to the garbage that you held open for him to dump the contents of his arms into. “And, if anyone else in this house plans to go, like Soul, or anyone else, then we’ll make it a night.”

Sitting up from the couch, quite literally folding himself in half, Yunho popped his head over the cushions. “Where you guys going?”

Jumping a mile, clinging onto Mingi’s arm, you both faced the sofa with an intake of breath, startled. 

“Jesus Christ,” you sneered, glaring his way, shocked to find him still in the building. “Did you sleep on the fucking couch?”

He and Mingi shared something of a look, one unbeknownst to you. Their relationship was their own, their friendship was theirs and theirs only. Made for one another, platonic soulmates if you will, they were brothers, the kind that spoke their own language, the kind that always covered for the other, at least would have, back when the circumstances weren’t detrimental. Whatever they shared now in this moment, it wasn’t for you to understand. 

“I did,” Yunho said. “I’ve been up for like an hour.”

Mingi shook his head. “And you’ve just been laying here?”

“I can’t exactly go walking around this house, can I?” Yunho shot him a glare. 

Your boyfriend shrugged. “We have a… there’s an extra room upstairs…”

The back of your hand swatted at his thigh. “He would not wanna sleep up there,” you whispered through your teeth, but Yunho heard you anyway.

Dropping his head with a laugh, he muttered, “Spare me.”

Tension grew thick, the air going dense, closing in around the three of you. Neither of them knew what to do, knew what to say. Boys were different when it came to this sort of thing, in your years of growing up with a sister they were an entirely different species to deal with, and since your start at Nasara you’ve only just begun to understand what they were like seeing them interact in the wild. 

“I can play mediator,” you said, “Say what you need to say to each other.”

Mingi squeezed your arm, then stepped over to the back of the couch. Lips parting in shock you watched him extend a hand toward him. “Are we good?”

Yunho glanced at his fingers, up at his friend, then back to his hand that he grabbed and shook. “Yeah, we’re good.”

“You talked to my girl?” Mingi questioned, and Yunho answered with an eye roll.

“About you,” he mumbled.

Mingi tilted his head. “And Rora.”

Yunho moved onto his knees to look at you from around Mingi’s frame, both of his hands latching the cushions. “So we’re telling people.”

Throwing a hand toward Mingi, you scoffed. “He’s my boyfriend!” The boys shared another look, then they both started to smile. “I don’t get it,” you huffed, whirling around for the fridge. Their heads followed you in unison. “Are we good? Yeah, yeah? And you guys are fine?” Pulling out a bottle of water you cracked it open and faced the island, grilling them with your brows. 

Mingi and Yunho looked at one another, then they looked at you, and at the same time they said, “Yeah.”

“Unbelievable,” you muttered, taking another swig of water. 

“You gotta keep that shit to yourself,” Yunho said, focusing up on Mingi who bobbed his head. “She was the only one who knew, and now you, so, please, keep it to yourself. I’m already in deep shit as it is.”

His best friend slapped a hand to his shoulder and shook him around. “I got you.” And you and Yunho both knew that he meant it.

Footsteps sounded up on the second floor, your ears perking up as a voice shouted, “Why does it sound like there’s scum in my house?”

Wooyoung. 

The three of you cringed. You swore Yunho’s cheeks drained of all color.

He appeared at the bottom of the stairs in sweatpants and an unzipped hoodie with nothing beneath it. Scanning the room, he managed to read everyone in seconds, ending with Yunho. You and Mingi held your breath. The corners of his lips wanted to pull into a smile, but his piercing eyes said elsewise.

“Oh,” he sighed, then shifted his gaze over to you. “Probably because there’s scum in my house.” Strutting by you, heading for the fridge, you pulled a face, one Mingi told you to get rid of with a wave of his hand, but you couldn’t help yourself.

Turning toward him, you leaned up against the counter. “It’s not your house.” Voice level, completely serious, Wooyoung faced you with the same amount of surety. He twisted open his water and took a sip, letting his lips poke out between his lips. Golden skin on display, perfectly curved nose framed by his messy waves, you didn’t look elsewhere, you made sure of it.��

“It could be with the click of two buttons,” he said, and your hands tightened around your plastic bottle. “It’s not mine, but isn’t it one you’d want to keep your best friend safe in?”

Your heart skipped a beat. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”

Wooyoung threw a hand toward Yunho. “Bringing him in here, having him-”

You closed the space between you, going nearly nose to nose. “No, what the fuck do you mean by that, Wooyoung?”

“Tori,” he sighed, both of his hands coming up to keep you at a distance from him.

“Are you saying I should’ve stopped her last night? Should’ve kept her away from you? Away from San?” Mingi rounded the island at some point, one of his arms around your shoulders, pulling you back from the boy's face.

Yunho shifted on the couch, his eyes sharp. “What happened last night?”

“Nothing happened last night,” Wooyoung spat, and you laughed aloud, the sound echoing up towards and past the third floor. 

“Bullshit,” you shouted. “Those were a bold choice of words to use, Wooyoung, what the fuck?”

Capping his water, he shook his head and moved about the kitchen, looking for something to eat. “Not what I meant Tori, and you know it,” he grumbled, turning back around with two big bags of half eaten chips, glancing toward the stairs as Seonghwa stepped off the bottom one. “What happened last night we planned weeks ago,” he said to you, punctuating his sentence with a grimace, replicating the one he gave you yesterday morning, almost in this exact spot. 

Yunho gripped the cushions, his eyes not having left Wooyoung since he came downstairs. Almost like he was the next best thing to Aurora herself. “What happened last night,” he repeated in a whisper so hushed you’re certain no one else heard it.

“Hey, bro,” Seonghwa took a lap around the couch to shove Yunho’s head and ruffle his hair. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked with a laugh, taking in the energy of the room, you in Mingi’s grasp, Wooyoung now in his own world. Yunho gave him a look that said if only you knew. “Oh boy,” he snickered, passing by you and Mingi, “You guys are friends again?” Wooyoung lifted his eyes, him and Mingi making eye contact for the tiniest of seconds.

“We’re cool,” your boyfriend said, his voice vibrating in his chest against your back. 

“Cool,” Seonghwa situated himself with a snack at the counter and exchanged something with Yunho, “Don’t get comfy.”

The boy on the couch frowned, his shoulders slumping. “Why?” he asked quietly.

Footsteps sounded from the floor above. 

Seonghwa pointed toward them. 

“Who runs this house?” Yunho shook his head. “I feel like I’m at school.”

Wooyoung groaned. “Don’t group me in with that shit.” 

Shifting in Mingi’s arms to face the stairs and Seonghwa, you nudged his ankle with a toe and he graced you with his attention. “Did he not stay over?”

“Who? H?” Curling his brow, you answered with a nod and he relaxed. “Nah, he left with Yeosang and Keni.” 

Pouting your lips, you asked, “Why?”

He shrugged. “‘Cause I wanted him to.” Smirking at your confusion, he turned his attention to the stairs, leaving you with a thousand unanswered questions. 

Wobbling beneath San’s arm, one of her own wrapped around the back of his bare torso, Aurora had her head laid on his shoulder. Her hair was a mess, the strands thrown up on top of her head in a tie, like she’d fallen asleep like that. Clearly unshowered, makeup stained her face, beneath her eyes, the bronzer on her cheeks streaky from obvious tears. Your stomach lurched. She shouldn’t be down here. Your Aurora wouldn’t want to be down here, not like this. 

Slipping from Mingi’s arms you left him beside Seonghwa, the boys falling into conversation of their own, Wooyoung included. Yunho sat on the couch, eyes locked on Aurora, brows confused, body equally ready to jump up to aid her even though he knows he can’t.

She was clothed, that much had been done. She wore more than the boys in the kitchen combined. 

“Hi,” you said, voice hushed, cutting off whatever she and San were whispering about. They came to a pause before stepping fully into the kitchen. Everyone had seen her, and she didn’t even know it. Lifting her head, blinking her smudged eyes toward you, you accepted the dirty look. You weren’t sober friends yet, you knew this, she didn’t. “Come upstairs with me.”

“Why would I do that?” She reeked of vodka. Of straight liquor. She might even still be drunk. Her body dipped into San’s more than it already had been. “San was gonna make me breakfast, I’m starving,” she whined, her eyebrows flipping over. Something else lived behind her eyes, something you’ve never seen in your years of knowing her.

“I got her,” San beguiled, but it fell flat. For the first time, his light smile and lusty eyes didn’t make you blush. He tried to move past you, through you, but you held out a hand, placing it to his shoulder. “Tor, she wants to eat.”

Aurora gulped, one you felt. She looked up, the emptiness within her reaching for you, like all feelings of stupid bullshit that shouldn’t have even mattered in the first place had been washed away. Without her even saying a word, she pleaded, begged you to take her elsewhere.

“Yeah,” you breathed, slipping an arm around her back, swiftly pulling her out of San’s, “Let’s go.” 

“Tori,” she whispered to you, her voice cracking, tears welling in her eyes. Letting her entire weight go into you, you held onto her and started for the stairs.

“I know,” you whispered back to her with a reassuring squeeze, “I got you.” 

“Wait,” she whispered, stopping you with what strength she had to turn around in your arms.

“Ror, let’s just-” “No,” she said, cutting you off, her eyes flickering around the kitchen at every face. It was evident when she found Yunho, though she tried to keep it on lock, she couldn’t help the way her fingers tightened around you. “Where’s Soul?”

“Hm?” you questioned, keeping your focus over her. 

Seonghwa overheard. “Is he not in his room?” Wooyoung stepped around the boys munching, brows furrowed over his pointed eyes.

Aurora shook her head. “I checked when I came down, he’s not… Fuck.” Her fingers tightened tenfold. “We told him not to leave.” She looked from Seonghwa, to Wooyoung, back to Seonghwa. “I told you guys, don’t let him leave.”

Seonghwa held his arms out. “We know that.”

“I said it last night,” she shook her head. “I swear, I was saying it all night, since his little friends showed up.” A chill ran down your spine. Seonghwa glanced at you. “Don’t let him leave.”

Meeting eyes with Yunho, both of you equally flabbergasted, you stifled a nervous laugh as he rose from the couch without making a sound and slipped into his shoes. 

“I’m sure he’s at Jongseob’s,” you muttered, pulling Aurora toward the stairs, but she dug her feet into the hardwood. 

“No, no, no,” she gasped, eyes shooting open wide as she reached for Wooyoung, “You have to go. Now.” Seonghwa leapt into action first, whizzing by you and Aurora in nothing but a pair of shorts, flying toward the front door with Wooyoung right behind him. “Oh my god,” Aurora whined, tipping forward into your chest, her tears falling. “Theo’s gonna kill me.” 

Maneuvering Aurora up three flights of stairs when her muscles could barely hold herself up was a trip, but you managed. Skipping over her bedroom on the third floor not wanting to find out what was behind the closed door, you opted for your own room, helping her over the opened suitcases on the floor and stray clothes thrown about. Pushing open the bathroom door with one hand, you moved her inside and she dropped to her knees in front of the toilet, white knuckling the ceramic.

Groaning the whole way up, your littles whispers of encouragement keeping her moving, she finally grumbled, “I don’t feel good.” And then she repeated herself, pushing wisps of hair off her forehead before the hand slapped back to the toilet.

Standing behind her, her waist wedged between your ankles, you pulled out the elastic completely tangled in her hair, and pulled it up nicer, more tidy, out of her face. 

“You’re gonna be okay,” you spoke quietly to her, you knew her head was pounding, and she most definitely was still drunk. With one hand on her back to comfort her as she made herself sick, you turned the shower on to the hottest that it would go. Still wedged between your legs, you rolled toilet paper onto your hand and bent down to wipe her face, pulling her back some to flush the toilet, tossing the tissue in as you did. 

“I’m sorry I’ve been mad at you,” she muttered, her eyes squeezed shut as she tipped her head up like she wanted to look at you. 

Leaning backward to pull a cotton pad from one of your bags, you doused it in micellar water and bent down again to wipe the makeup off of her face. “You don’t have to apologize to me. I’ve equally been a bitch.” You threw the soiled cotton pad into the toilet and reached for another, the first one completely black. 

“We’ve both been bitches,” she said, rocking with every one of your wipes, pulling across her skin, letting you move her around. “Why?” Her eyes opened. You paused. Looking at her upside down, not the first time you’ve seen her like this, you took a deep breath.

“You know maybe you should stop drinking, too,” you said, and she started to laugh, one short and half amused.

“Don’t ignore my question, Tori,” she almost slurred, tossing a hand up to pat your cheek. “Talk to me. Tell me things.”

“Like, things you told me last night?”

She dropped her hand and opened her eyes, her smile wiping away. With one more swoop under her eyes now that you could get to it, you tossed the cotton pad in the toilet and sighed. 

“What did I tell you last night?” Her whisper shook. 

Glancing into the mirror in front of you, the glass foggy and the air in the bathroom growing thick, you shook your head. “Nothing, come on, get in there, sweat this out. Shower it off of you. I know you feel gross.” You reached for the hem of her shirt and she snatched it away from you. The emptiness in her eyes came back.

“I feel gross,” she barely whispered. Twisting on the floor between your legs she looked up at you and her lip quivered. “We…”

Dropping to your knees, you shook your head really fast and she stopped. You wrapped your arms around her and pulled her into a hug, holding her tight. 

“Tori,” she whispered after a minute of quiet tears on your shoulder. Pulling back from her a bit you wiped one of her cheeks and nodded. “They didn’t do anything wrong.”

Swallowing hard, clenching your jaw, you nodded again, muttering a quiet, “I know.” 

Her lip crinkled, and a tear fell down her cheek. “Then why do I feel like this?” 

Because you shouldn’t be dealing with them.

Because you should be with the one who may or may not still be on the couch downstairs.

Your so-called soulmate.

You opted for, “I don’t know, but I’m here. You’re tired. You need a shower. Some water, too. Let me step out so you can get in there.”

Her hands clutched onto you, not letting you move an inch. “No,” she whispered. “Stay in here.” Nodding your agreeance, you sat atop the closed toilet after helping her into the shower. “Can you tell me what I said to you last night?” 

Eyes widening, you clasped your arms around your knees and took a deep breath. “You sure about that?”

“Please,” she said from behind the glass. 

“Okay,” you started. “But, you said this, not me.”

“Can we get another round?” Aurora asked the bartender in a black leather bodysuit behind the bar. The man with spiky blonde hair and skinny shoulders nodded once with his pursed, glossed lips, and he hurried off to fetch the tiny glasses while attending to his other guests at the bar. Yanking at the hem of her shorts, Aurora adjusted herself on the stool made of silver metal and twisted on it to face you.

Elbow on the edge of the bar that reflected the flash of the neon lights, you watched her with half of a frown. “We could be done after this,” you said, and she laughed.

“Come on, Tor,” she reached over to you to adjust the edge of your tank with beads that glowed like a beacon within the dark walls of Wave, “It’s our night, I don’t wanna think about anything else.” Spiky blonde hair with neon green nails slid a few shot glasses towards you two before sauntering away to the other end of the bar. Aurora picked her two up and knocked them back with ease.

It’d been a few hours since you helped her get dressed, the two of you moving about her mess of a bedroom in complete silence after you’d dropped the bomb of her drunken confession. Not that it was confession material, but it certainly was bomb material. She’d been keeping it in since the end of the school year. You vowed not to tell a soul, and that you would let her and help her unpack it more when she felt ready to do so. 

Side by side down two flights of stairs, you kept an eye on her as she wandered the kitchen, the room having cleared of all boys aside from your own, making sure she hydrated and found something to eat. You had slid into Mingi’s arms in the living room for all of five seconds, popping a quick kiss on his lips, flashing him the tiniest smile of admiration. Appreciation. Your rock.

Aurora said the words herself. You had a good one, your soulmate. With Mingi, his loyalty was never a question. His devotion to you, something that would never have you lying awake at night doubting. What you see is what you get, nothing more. His ability to be one thing, so consistent, a quality that bothered you for months, and for what?

This morning you watched your best friend trudge down the stairs in another man's arms while her supposed man didn’t seem to care. In fact, you didn’t see them speak until an hour or so before you pulled her out the door, dragging her here to Wave on your own, out of the house, away from men. Her and Wooyoung, they spoke quietly, whispers, though Aurora couldn’t hide shit and gave away what they were discussing by throwing out a hand in the direction of Jongseob’s house.

Soul. The quiet little thing that you allowed to stay beneath your roof for the month.

Don’t let him leave!

She was talking about Soul. Not Yunho.

That weird protection thing, it was done for a reason. One no one let you in on.

“Did they end up finding Soul?” you asked, taking a shot at the same time.

Aurora swung her head side to side, tipsy already. Hair that hung naturally over her shoulder flipped backward as she flashed you her raised eyebrows. “No,” she whispered, then giggled. Squeezing her eyes shut she pressed her fingers to her forehead and groaned. “He won’t pick up his phone either.”

“He’s with his friends,” you said, and she dropped her hands into her lap. “He’ll be fine, he’ll come back.”

Aurora laughed, once. “Yeah, or he’s on a boat in the middle of the ocean, or on a plane on his way across the world, or in the back of someone’s van sipping on wine coolers.” 

You laid your arm across the bar, reaching for your second shot. Eyeing her, you asked, “Ror, were you really babysitting him?” The breath she released told you plenty, yet not enough. “He’s a big kid. He can take care of himself.”

“No, he can’t,” she scoffed, shooting you a tight lipped smile. Sliding her hands down to her knees, she squeezed them and glanced out at the crowded room. Colors flashing like mad, people’s clothes, their bathing suits glowing in the blacklight, keeping expressions hidden, she closed her eyes again before focusing back on you. “He believes everything people tell him. Seonghwa fucks with him all the time to teach him not to, but…”

“He trusts too easily,” you shrugged, and the way her smile faltered rendered you uneasy.

“He doesn’t work like everyone else, Tor, let’s just say that,” she sighed, taking the shot from your hand, downing it herself. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she said, “It gets him taken advantage of. Those friends of his?” Her face distorted. “They use him, ‘cause they know he won’t say no. He wants to keep his friends, he trusts his friends, so when they ask him to do something that’s not right, or that’ll get him into some massive shit, he’s gonna do it.” 

“That sounds like a Soul problem, Ror,” you said quietly, animosity unknown to your tone. “It’s not your responsibility to fix him, or babysit him.”

She slid the glass against the bar and it took off, bumping the edge, tipping over the other side onto the floor with a crash. Pressing her lips together, she jumped off her stool like you did. “Oh shit,” she giggled, sparing you a glance. The tiny little bartender hurried over and shooed your worry away.

“Happens all the time,” he said, kicking broken pieces of glass with his foot before someone else swooped in with a broom. “You girls want more?” He propped a hand on his hip, over his leather, and shifted his weight to the side while his coworker cleaned up Aurora’s mess.

“Ye-”

“No, we’re good,” you said with a smile, grabbing onto her wrist. “We’ll be back, you can keep the tab open.” 

“I wanted another shot,” she whined, stumbling over her feet behind you as you dragged her to the mass of bodies dancing in the middle of the room. Luckily the lights flashing and the glow of the clothes people wore distracted her. “God damn, this place is cool. Soul was right.”

“Let’s dance,” you said, taking hold of her wrists. “Ror and Tor,” you offered, and she smiled, and for the first time since you’ve arrived in Haos you saw a peek of your best friend behind the facade of all she was becoming.

“Ror and Tor,” she parroted, letting the music take control.

All thoughts of Soul dissipated. Though you were beginning to understand why things were the way they were with him, it wasn’t fair to Aurora to carry this strange responsibility of caring for him. Both her and Wooyoung, it seemed, even Seonghwa. The three of them hovering over him like some sort of parent. How much trouble could one person get into? How bad was bad?

Minutes stretched beneath the lights, within the hot, sweaty air of Wave. In the midst of the crowd of bodies moving to the music, you and Aurora holding onto one another somehow, your smiles never breaking, you let the energy swallow you. Hips swaying, hands in the air, spinning in circles gripping to each other's wrists, dancing to music you half recognized, everyone beneath the lights moved just the same. In their own world, not a care if you bumped into them, and when you did, they’d invite you into their circle. Strangers taking you and Aurora into their arms, laughing together, singing along to the rhythm pouring out the speakers. 

Careful and sober enough to not let her get swept away by strangers she danced on, you didn’t bother pulling her away from a twenty something year old, shirtless with hair dark, short and spiked. With one eye on her you gave your attention to the two girls standing with him, both in swimsuits that rendered electric under the blacklights. 

“This is cute,” the one with long, straight hair reached over to you, tugging at the hem of your tank top embellished with beads, “Where’d you get it?”

Leaning into her, smiling at her friend with a messy pixie cut, you shouted over the music, “My boyfriend bought it for me last summer. Vintage Louis Vuitton.” 

Pixie cut gasped, stepping closer to you, putting her hands on the soft fabric that hung off your frame loosely and flashed a bit of your tanned midriff. “This is money.”

“It is,” you grinned, letting them fawn over you. “They don’t make it anymore, so he had to fight to find it. Some collector up in Iloa had it.”

“Iloa,” the girl with long, straight hair scoffed, looking up at you. “You from there?”

“Tamoe,” you corrected nicely, “But, we’ll take weekends there all the time. One of our good friends plays for the Lions.” Pixie cut gave her friend a look, her fingers still playing with your tank.

Long, straight hair side eyed her. “So, you guys are rich, rich.”

With a breath, you rolled your eyes. Stomach taking a tumble, never sure how to handle this kind of conversation, you mustered up, “Just… taken care of.” 

“I’m sure.” Long, straight hair shifted her stare into something that furthered the weight in your gut.

“My boyfriend never buys me cute things,” pixie cut pouted.

Forcing a smile back onto your face, you asked, “Boyfriend, is he here?”

She tilted her head. “Your friend’s grinding on him.”

“Oh my god,” you sighed, cheeks flushing of color. “I’m so sorry.”

Whirling around to grab onto Aurora’s shoulders, you heard her say, “It’s fine, we like it.”

“What!” Aurora shouted, falling backward into your arms. 

Whisking her away, leaving the group behind and the boy dumbfounded, you mumbled, “You know how to find ‘em.” 

“Who!?”

“The freaks.”

Getting her on a bar stool, listening to her laugh, one high pitched and breathless, you pulled your phone from your pocket and flopped onto one beside her. Checking your messages for the first time tonight, you had missed two, both sent within the last two hours. One from your dad, and another from ITZ. Tapping on your dads thread, the corners of your lips perked up.

[best dad ever<3]: Hope you’re enjoying your vacation! Your mom and I are headed up to Iloa with Sitara, she’s filming interviews for her new movie… You’ll be home in time for the premiere. She got you and Mingi tickets. She hopes to see you there. I added $$ into your account. Send us pictures!

Money, right. Rich, rich. Typing back to him after adding a heart to the message, you gave him endless thanks without mentioning a word about attending your sister's movie premiere. You’d discuss further with Mingi. The last one didn’t quite go to plan. Sure it was smaller than this one would be, she didn’t have as big of a role like she did this time around, so tickets were limited. At least that was her excuse. You had to attend without Mingi, just you and your parents, shortly after Sitara’s horrific breakup with her co-star you begged her to not get involved with.

Two tickets for you and Mingi. Surely your parents doing. Your fathers doing. He had your back as much as he could have when it came to your mother and Sitara, the two of them always in cahoots, running the show, ordering him around. Whenever he did things for you it happened in secret.

Aurora tipped her head backward and stared at the ceiling, twisting her chin side to side. “Trippy,” she sang, then fell back into a fit of breathless, high pitched giggles. You spared her a glance, your brows furrowed, then opened the message from ITZ.

[ITZ]: miss me?

[you]: not at all.

To your surprise, he responded instantly. 

[ITZ]: are things better with the boyfriend

[you]: yes actually, we’re great.

[ITZ]: wow. so u told him abt me ;)

[you]: no, why would i do that.

He didn’t answer. Staring at the screen for about a minute, swiping at the messages, waiting for another, you groaned and slapped your phone to the bar, twisting to face it. Resting your elbows on the edge, you looked over at Aurora half bent over on the stool, still laughing.

“Ror, what’s the matter?” you asked. When she sat up, her face split with a grin, she almost toppled backward. Pushing her up, keeping one hand on a shoulder, you used the other to grab onto her chin. “Ror?” Turning her, forcefully because she tried to fight you, still laughing, one glimpse in her eyes and your stomach sunk. “What the fuck?” Pupils blown open, cheeks warm and getting warmer, you knew her skin was buzzing.

“You’re so pretty,” she said, voice sweet. 

“What did you do?” you asked, voice stern.

She blinked, slow, and started to laugh again. “That guy gave it to me.”

“Gave you what,” you grit your teeth. She shrugged, growing more and more limp in your grasp. In these minutes she reverted back into someone you didn’t recognize. Swallowing hard, clenching your jaw, you spoke words you wished to never speak again. “Aurora, what would your dad say?”

A topic never discussed unless she brought it up first.

Within her, whatever part that still listened, was still conscious, it wanted to scream. Hearing those words, knowing what that threat did to her, she wanted to yell, she wanted to lay you out on the floor with figurative fists made of words laced with venom, but she was high, so she couldn’t. You wanted her to do it, you wanted her to yell, to get mad, to move with the passion you know consumed her, but she couldn’t. Restraints in more ways than one prevented it.

“I’m fine,” she said after a breath, sitting herself up. Pulling you off of her, actually moving your hands, she twisted herself around and leaned against the bar. Standing beside her, holding up her weight, you huffed a laugh and shook your head,

“No, you’re not,” you grumbled, looking out onto the dance floor, at the masses of people, letting her order another drink from the tiny bartender. 

You should take her home, but that meant lugging her into a house of men, one of which lived on your shitlist at the moment. She probably didn’t want to be near him right now anyway, and in this state, it’d do them no good. It played out in your head, Wooyoung reprimanding her, therapizing her. Though after what they’ve done they should talk about it, he should listen to her feelings, even if you weren’t sure how she really felt about it all, or the reason behind why she was living how she’d been living…

Chestnut brown hair poked out from the half naked bodies, half naked himself. In tiny shorts and a cut off tank, Yeosang weaved through people with Keni attached to his hand, both wearing smiles that grew once they found you. 

“Mingi said you were here,” he said, throwing an arm around your back to hug you. Keni gave you a quiet hi, keeping herself snug against her boyfriend's arm.

Returning her hi, you looked up at Yeosang and pursed your lips. “We were having fun,” you said with a subtle eye roll. 

“What happened?” he asked, brows flattening over his round eyes that narrowed. The birthmark on his cheek winked at you. Grabbing Aurora by the hair, you gently pulled her back against your chest. Gripping her drink that she sipped through the straw, she blinked up at Yeosang and Keni and gasped, nearly choking on her drink. Yeosang studied her face. “She’s high,” his doctor's brain came to a conclusion way faster than yours was able to register her state.

“A stranger gave her drugs.” Aurora looked up at you, upside down, her head pushing into your heart. She giggled. “Not funny,” you spat, and she laughed harder.

Yeosang touched her cheek and softly tugged under one of her eyes with the tip of his thumb. Curling his lip, he shrugged and took his hand back. “She’s on molly. It’ll wear off in a few hours.” 

“You’re sure?” Flashing him widened eyes, he reassured your worries with a definite head nod. “What are we gonna do without you?” 

Keni let out a laugh, one she shared with Yeosang as he looked down at her.

“I’ll be a phone call away,” he said to you before focusing on his girlfriend, “Want a drink?” he asked, ushering her onto a stool on the other side of Aurora.

“Always,” Keni smized, sliding her hand down his muscley arm to link their fingers together. He stood behind her, his other arm wrapping around her front, resting his chin on top of her head. 

Sparing you another glance, he said, “Get her a water instead of whatever she’s drinking.” 

“Right,” you breathed, and followed his directions, letting the couple go back to themselves. Positioning her upright, Aurora reached for your phone and tapped at it, head wobbling to either side as she attempted to hum along to the music thumping. “You’ll finish this,” you said to her, bringing the fresh glass closer to her after the bartender dropped it off, “And then, we’re leaving.” She grabbed the glass and brought it to her lips. After one sip and a lick of her lips, she started to chug the rest.

“I lost you guys!” A laugh followed the words, one that made Aurora lurch and cough, the glass rattling on the bar as she let go of it. Whipping your head to the right, worst case scenario manifested before your eyes. 

“Yunho.”

His smile vanished, looking from Yeosang, to you, to Aurora. “Tori.” Shaking his head, he focused his eyes on Yeosang. “I was- I got stuck over- Where there…” Squeezing his eyes shut, he scrunched his entire face up. Keni laughed at him. 

Aurora used both hands on the bar to turn herself around to face you, her back to Yunho and the couple. She blinked up at you, then sloppily thrusted your phone toward you. Brows pointed, eyes dreary, staring at the beads on your tank, she said all too loud, “Who’s ITZ?”

Only Yeosang turned his head. Yunho ordered a beer from the boy much smaller than him.

“I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said, trying to keep your words between you two, and you two only.

She cinched her brows. “ITZ, in your phone,” she said. Tipping her chin up to look at you, she almost fell backward, Keni had to take an arm to her back to maneuver her back up. 

Now Yunho paid attention.

“Ror,” you half laughed, resting an arm on her shoulder, both to comfort her and support her, “It’s nothing, let’s just go, okay?”

She blinked, moving her head around, as if she tried to shake it. “Is there a group chat behind my back?” The words came out slowly, a little slurred. 

“No, Ror,” you shifted around to catch her eyes that focused elsewhere. “There’s no-”

“Why are you texting ITZ?” she asked, voice cracking. Giving you her flipped brows, her eyes welling with tears, you took your hands to her cheeks and shook your head. “I don’t know about it, and you’re texting ITZ, for a long time, I scrolled, Tori, what is that? Who?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” you pleaded with her, brushing your thumbs under her eyes. “Aurora, I swear to you, it has nothing to do with ITZ.” 

She was high. She was drunk. Intoxicated. She wouldn’t remember this. Deal with the drama now, let her forget about it tomorrow. You’d change the name in your phone, it’d be as if it never happened.

Why was naming the stranger ITZ a good idea?!

“What if you’re lying?” she whispered, gripping onto the fabric of your tank. Yanking you closer, she stared at you.

“I’m not lying.”

“But, what if you are?” Her eyes narrowed. “You aren’t supposed to lie to me. We don’t lie. Who is ITZ?”

Pulling your lips into a line, your eyes begging hers, you could only shrug.

A laugh left her, one wicked enough to turn a few heads. Tears spilled over onto her cheeks as she threw her hands away, not enough strength to push you, or move you at all. 

Yunho’s focus followed her, every move she made. Attempting to keep her where she sat, she apparently did have enough strength to dodge you, but she tripped and stumbled when she tried to stand up. Both you and Yunho moved, hands out to catch her, and he won. She ragdolled over his arm, and he managed to get her back on her feet. With one arm. Lips parted, eyes scared, his breath caught in his chest as she held onto him, you could see it. Her fingers dug into his cream colored skin, his arms bare in the cut off shirt he wore, a grey one with Nasara faded on the front of it, half of the N and half of the A cut off. 

You were frozen, stuck in place, forced to watch it all happen. 

Aurora wobbled on her feet, her world spinning all over again when she glanced up at him. Rearing backward, he cringed and wrapped his other arm around her back. Their gazes were locked, Yunho’s afraid, Aurora’s tear stained and unreadable. 

It felt like ages they stood here, staring, blinking into nothing, like they were looking at each other for the very first time. Yeosang and Keni paid no mind, the two had cozied in on themselves, keeping the three of you out of mind for the time being. You hated to be the one to break things up, to interrupt, but Aurora had been sick all day, and now that she was full of a multitude of substances, this night wasn’t going to end prettily. 

Stepping up behind her, hands hovering over her back, you spoke to Yunho whose face had softened in a way that it used to, in a way you never picked up on before you knew anything about them. 

“We have to leave,” you said, hushed. Aurora didn’t move, there was still a few inches of space between them where she was wrapped in his arms. 

Yunho gulped. “She can’t walk out of here.”

“Can you… help me?” you asked, feeling sorry that the words even came out of you.

Shooting you a crazed look, he gulped again. “Tori,” he said from behind his teeth, “She is half conscious, in my arms, and you want me to help you get her out of here?”

Fighting away your smile and the excitement that bubbled within you, you sighed and nodded. “Yes, please.”

“And, what if someone sees us?”

“You mean Wooyoung,” you said, and his shock swirled into a glare. A laugh came out of you, and he squinted. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you nearly whined, letting your hands touch Aurora’s shoulders. “I just…” Intaking a breath, you gave her the smallest, most gentle nudge, and she fell into him, her arms of rubber grabbing onto his shirt, part of his exposed chest. 

A gasp ripped through him, but his arm settled around her, Aurora fitting perfectly within his biceps. “Tori,” he sneered, but the nasty look didn’t last long, not when Aurora melted into him, her fingers curling around the grey fabric, a long deep breath taking over her as her eyes fluttered shut.

He hadn’t said one word to her.

He wasn’t allowed to.

She hadn’t spoken to him yet.

He could sense it before you even said anything.

“Aurora, did you say hi?” you questioned in a tone dripping with honey so sweet his face went sour. 

“What are you doing?” he whispered all too harshly. You answered with a smirk, there was no time to say anything, Aurora was already looking up at him.

It took him a second to meet her gaze, and when he did, she mumbled, “Hi,” so quietly you couldn’t even hear it. You only knew she said it because of the breath that fell from his lips. 

“Hi,” he whispered. A word incredibly precious. A word finally spoken after months. 

They went back to staring at each other, it made you wonder if this was what they did with each other. Weird. Yet, fitting.

“Wait,” Aurora said, some power behind her tone. Pressing her hands into his chest, she tried to move him, but Yunho was a brick wall. You moved to their side.

“Ror, we need to leave,” you said to her. “We’re gonna go home.”

“No,” she scoffed, looking at you through hooded eyes. “I wan’ stay, I don’t,” she paused. She swallowed. “I don’t wanna leave.” Her eyes opened a bit more, and you cocked your head to the side knowing exactly what was about to come out of her mouth. She swallowed again. Even Yunho knew what was coming. “I don’ feel good.”

“That’s why we’re leaving,” you said, shifting your eyes over to Yunho who questioned you with a brow. “Help me, please. I can’t carry her out of here.”

He let out a laugh, one full of some sort of pain. “You want me to carry her?”

Gesturing to her with your shoulder, you said, “Ask her if it’s okay.” That crazed look found his face once more, and you yourself almost couldn’t believe what you were doing to them. You couldn’t help it, they were ridiculous, and you didn’t want her in her current relationship any longer than she has been.

Yunho took a breath. “Rory,” he said, nerves in every word. “Can I help Tori take you home?”

Still confused, knowing what she was doing wasn’t right, or that it didn’t feel right, at least not yet, she looked from his shirt, her fingers pressing into his partial bare skin, up to his face, and she hummed some sort of agreeance you could barely hear. Yunho nodded his head, then bent his knees, meeting her on her level. Their eyes met, and he said something to her, and she listened. His hands slid down her back, and gripped her thighs, hoisting her onto his front. Standing up straight, he shifted her effortlessly, letting her wrap her arms around his neck, her cheek pressing to his hair. Her legs hung loosely around his waist, his arms and hands keeping her in place over his chest. 

He gave you a look, one that made you flash him an innocent smile. As much pain as this brought him, his lashes and the pink tint in his cheeks thanked you.

She wouldn’t remember this.

Besides it was for her own safety, something her dear boyfriend seemed so worried about this morning.

She wouldn’t remember this, and she didn’t have to.

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[chimivx]

gimme gimme gimme -> mingtor ~ 'smarteez on sand'

Friends have graduated, board positions have changed, relationships are brand new and ever changing, but you and Mingi… You don’t change. Which to some should be a comfort, peace of mind knowing your partner is right by your side, always there for you especially in your times of need… You can’t figure out why you don’t feel the same.

highly rec'd to read Nice for What first, this is a continuation of that story <3

one: stuck.

two: who?!

three: cheers!

four: soulmate.

five: wave.

six: awakening.

seven: dare.

eight:

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