#au chanyeol

[nanawritesit]

Being EXO’s fem!idol crush who gets shipped with them - Maknae Line Ver.

Hyung Line Ver.

a/n: this is based on the SM girl group idol au that i wrote a while back, please read that first so that the writing will make sense :) AND these scenarios are LONG (esp. Chanyeol’s omg it took FOREVER) so i’m splitting this into two parts! enjoy :)

TW: kissing, sleeping in the same bed, mentions of food, slightly suggestive remarks, mentions of bullying, being held, sitting on his lap, mild cursing

Chanyeol:

You were both sent by the company to be on a new variety show called “Idol Roommates,” where a bunch of idols would be living together in the same house for a month. SM had sent you, Chanyeol, Yeri, and Ten, Hybe had sent Beomgyu, Jake, Sakura, and Minji, and JYP had sent Bangchan, Yuna, Lily, and and Gunil. The fans were super excited to see all of their favorite idols be roommates, and you had to admit, you were a little too excited to be living in such close proximity with Chanyeol.

The first episode began with you all arriving to the house with your label mates, and greeting all the other idols in the kitchen. There were cameras hidden all around the house, except for in the bathrooms, so you never really could tell what was being broadcasted and what wasn’t.

“So, what do we do first?” Sakura asked once everyone had arrived.

“Oh, there’s a note here on the table…” Bangchan said as he reached for it. “‘Welcome to your new home for the next month! In this bowl are all of your names. Please draw for your roommate and choose your rooms in order of your ages.’” he read aloud.

“Well, Chanyeol hyung is the oldest, so he goes first.” Ten explained, patting Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“Wow, you don’t have to rub it in.” Chanyeol joked, a playful smile on his face. Everyone laughed along with him, quieting down when he reached into the bowl to draw a name.

“Y/N.” he announced. Everyone turned to you expectantly. Yeri and Ten shot you mischievous grins, to which you blushed and looked away. They knew about your enormous crush on Chanyeol, how he had been your bias since high school, and how you used to have posters of him all over your wall. You shot them a dangerous glare before turning to Chanyeol.

“Alright, shall we go pick our room?” you proposed, desperate to get the attention off yourself.

“Yeah, let’s go!” he agreed, leading you up the stairs.

“This one looks the biggest.” you suggested after you had surveyed all the rooms.

He walked over from the other end of the hall and glanced inside the room you were talking about. “Alright, works for me!”

You had separate beds on opposite sides of the room, but it was still a little awkward. The two of you had several interactions in the past, and they were all pleasant, but mostly formal. You began unpacking your suitcases and shuffling around the room to get settled in silence.

As you did so, you could hear the other groupings running excitedly up the stairs to claim their rooms. Ten and Sakura were first, then Bangchan and Yeri. Gunil had picked Jake, then Beomgyu picked Lily, and that left Yuna and Minji together. Hearing the chatter of your colleagues in the background helped ease the tension a bit.

“Do you sleep with a light on?” Chanyeol asked suddenly, making you jump a bit.

You nodded sheepishly. “I’m a bit scared of the dark to be honest.”

“Ah, you’ll have to remind me. I don’t sleep with a light. Are you okay with having a fan on?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind that!” you told him, shuffling awkwardly. “I’m sorry you got stuck rooming with me. I know I’m not the most fun person in the world.”

“No, don’t be sorry… I’m actually relieved that I drew your name.” he told you reassuringly.

“Really?” you asked, cocking your head to the side in curiosity. “Why’s that?”

“Because you’re one of the few people I feel comfortable around in the idol world.” he answered, a tiny, bashful grin on his face.

You tried to ignore the flush creeping up your cheeks. “I feel the same way about you.”

Suddenly, Bangchan and Yeri appeared at your door. “Hey, are you guys ready for the debrief? We’re all heading downstairs now.” Chan asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Chanyeol replied, leading you out of the room. He followed Bangchan down the stairs, and with their backs to you, Yeri turned around and wiggled her brows at you. You pushed her forward a bit out of annoyance, causing her to tumble down the stairs by a few steps. You instinctively reached out for her, then looked at her, concerned. You both broke out into laughter, her gripping onto the railing and you holding onto her.

“That would’ve sucked.” Yeri chuckled, holding onto her stomach from laughing so hard.

—————

“Okay, so all the housework has been assigned.” Sakura declared, setting down her slice of pizza. “We’ll do meals in order of oldest to youngest, and chores in order of youngest to oldest.”

The production company had sent you all pizza for your first dinner, but you were instructed to prepare meals for the house for the rest of the time you would be there. That meant that you and Chanyeol would be preparing breakfast tomorrow.

For the remainder of the night, you all just chilled in the enormous living room and talked about all of your careers while a movie played on the TV. Conversation was flowing so smoothly that time just seemed to fly by, and before you knew it, everyone was getting up to get ready for bed, including you and Chanyeol.

“You can take a shower first.” he told you, sitting down at his bed to check his phone.

“Okay, thanks!” you chirped, making your way over to the bathroom.

Once you were done and in your pajamas, which embarrassingly enough had little kittens all over them, you padded your way back over to your own bed. “It’s all yours.” you told him.

“Awesome, be right back.” he responded, getting up from his bed. He did a double take as he looked at you. “Nice pajamas. They’re cute.”

You blushed, trying to focus on drying your hair. “Thank you. Kaori got them for me and I just can’t resist wearing them, even if they are kind of silly.”

“They’re perfect.” he smiled as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

You sighed, placing your hands on your cheeks to cool them off. Get it together Y/N. You’re on TV.

You went about the rest of your nightly routine, then curled up in bed to scroll on your phone for a bit. After a while, you heard the water shut off, meaning that Chanyeol was done with his shower. And then it happened. Everything went to black.

You yelped a bit at the sudden darkness, gripping onto your blankets.

“Guys?” you heard Gunil shout from down the hallway.

Everyone started emerging into the hallway with their phone flashlights on. “Is everyone okay?” you heard Lily ask.

“Everyone’s here except for Chanyeol and Y/N.” Jake stated. You heard shuffling down the hallway coming towards your room, which only made your anxiety worsen. You didn’t want any of your adult colleagues to see you scared out of your mind just because the electricity went out.

Just as you were preparing to face your housemates, Chanyeol emerged from the bathroom and practically sprinted over to the door with his own phone’s flashlight.

“Yeah, we’re both good in here.” he told your housemates from the doorway, shielding you from the view. “Since it’s the middle of the night anyway, I say we just all go to sleep. The production company’s cameras will have suddenly shut off, so I’m sure they’ll fix it by morning.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point.” Chan agreed. “Well, since everyone’s okay, let’s just go back to our rooms.”

Once everyone was back in their rooms, Chanyeol rushed over to you, sitting down on your bed. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice dripping with concern. You had never seen him so serious before.

“Yeah… just scared…” you shuddered, gripping onto your blankets.

“It’s okay, nothing is gonna happen to you. I promise.” he comforted you, patting your shoulder. “Do you think you can try to go to sleep?”

You thought for a moment, then shook your head. “I’d be too anxious. I know that nothing is going to happen to me, but it’s just a fear I’ve never been able to shake.”

He looked as if he was tossing an idea around in his head. Hesitantly, he looked back up at you. “Would you be able to sleep if we shared a bed?”

Your eyes went wide. Was Park Chanyeol actually offering to sleep in the same bed as you just so you would feel safe? It was as if all of your dreams were coming true in this moment.

You coughed awkwardly. “Well um… you don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable, but… it would definitely help.” you stuttered out.

“I don’t mind at all.” he told you, a comforting smile on his features. “I just want you to feel better.”

You grinned, feeling your heart swell with emotions, then scooched over to make room for him.

It was obviously a little bit awkward at first. You both faced away from each other, a good three inches of space between the two of you. You thought that was going to be how the rest of the night went, until you started shaking.

“Y/N, are you trembling?” Chanyeol asked, turning towards you.

You froze. “Um… yeah. I’m sorry. I’m just scared.” you sighed in humiliation.

“It’s alright… do you want me to hold you?” he offered, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“I… I don’t want you to feel like you have to…” you spat out reluctantly, even though your heart was screaming at you to say yes immediately.

“I want to, Y/N.” he told you, a slight chuckle slipping out as he did so. “I mean, who doesn’t want to hold the person they like as they fall asleep?”

Your heart stopped. More than anything, you said in your head.

Your mouth fell open in shock, and you frantically flopped over to face him completely. “You like me?”

He nodded, a small smirk on his face. “I thought it was obvious.”

Your face broke out into a huge, toothy grin, and you lunged forward to hide your blushing face in his chest. He chuckled at your bashfulness, closing his arms around you in a tight embrace.

“Shall we get some sleep?” he asked.

You happily nodded in his hold. “I think I can manage now that I’ll have something to dream about.”

“Goodnight Y/N.” he whispered, placing a gentle kiss to your forehead before curling up around you.

“Goodnight Chanyeol.”

—————

In the morning, you tumbled awake to see him sitting up against the headboard scrolling on his phone. “I was just about to wake you up.” he chuckled, ruffling your hair. “Did you sleep well?”

You nodded groggily, smiling through squinted eyes. “All thanks to you.” you curled into his side.

“Although you look super adorable right now, we really should get started on breakfast.” he suggested. “We don’t want everyone going hungry.”

“I suppose so…” you sighed, getting out of bed. You both threw on your robes and slippers and made your way downstairs to the kitchen.

“Alright, what are we working with?” Chanyeol inquired as he opened the fridge, inspecting its contents.

“Well first of all, we’re going to need lots of coffee.” you giggled, busying yourself with the coffee pot.

“Very true. I can get started on some eggs and bacon while you do that.” he decided, swiping the ingredients out of the fridge and moving over to the stove. You prepared breakfast in a comfortable silence, that was, until the front door swung open, and three suited men strode in. You recognized one as your manager, but had no idea who the other two were.

“Hyung? What’s going on?” Chanyeol asked one of the men you didn’t know. You now assumed it was his manager.

“Don’t worry, we shut the cameras off this morning.” the man responded to him. “However, the production manager would like to tell you something.” He turned to the last remaining unidentified man and looked at him begrudgingly. Your own manager looked equally as annoyed with the supposed production manager, tapping his foot impatiently.

The man sighed. “The electrical outage was staged last night. Cameras were rolling throughout the entire night, and everything that went on was broadcasted.”

“You mean… the fans saw…?” you asked meekly, feeling your heart drop into your stomach.

“Yes, they saw you and Chanyeol sleeping in the same bed and confessing to one another.” your manager told you, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “I’m sorry kid. They didn’t tell us about this, or else we would’ve told you not to act as if you were in private.”

“There is, however, a bit of good news that goes along with this.” Chanyeol’s manager interjected. “The fans are really happy about it.”

You both snapped your heads up in shock. “Really?”

“Our ratings went through the roof.” the production manager explained. “Just in the past eight hours, we’ve received more viewers than any of our previous pilot episodes combined.”

“What are they saying?” you inquired, still incredibly surprised that the response was positive. Fans were not usually supportive of idol romance, wanting to maintain their own personal fantasies about their idols being available. In fact, “Idol Roomates” was kind of a controversial show because it allowed male and female idols to live together as if they were couples.

“See for yourself.” your manager instructed, holding his phone out to you. You began scrolling through some recent tweets he had pulled up on his phone, Chanyeol looking over your shoulder to read them with you.

I TOLD YOU GUYS IDOL ROOMMATES WAS FIRE, NOW WE GET Y/N AND CHANYEOL CONTENT 🔥

channie was soooo sweet to comfort y/n while she was afraid of the dark 🥺 i love seeing him be so soft to her ❤️

that innocent forehead kiss!!! i love them so much!!! <3

“Wow… that’s amazing.” Chanyeol marveled, running a hand through his hair. “So… what now?”

“Well, that’s up to you guys.” his manager replied. “The company has given us the okay to either confirm or deny the relationship based on your wishes.”

You both glanced at the floor, thinking to yourselves for a moment. Suddenly, you looked up and realized that you didn’t owe anyone an explanation.

“Let’s not say anything.” you suggested. Everyone looked over to you with a slightly shocked expression.

“Nothing?” your manager asked. “You mean, just let them wonder?”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea…” the production manager agreed, tapping his chin in thought. “They are the most popular couple on the show, and no matter what, there are going to be skeptics on whether or not it was staged. Why don’t we just let the show be an experiment?”

“And if we ever do develop a relationship, this can be looked back on as where it developed.” Chanyeol grinned, taking your hand in his.

You grinned at him appreciatively, then turned back to your manager. “Is that okay?”

He shrugged, an amused smile on his face. “It’s your call, kid.”

You looked back over at Chanyeol, who gave you a determined nod.

“Let’s do it.” you decided.

“Alright, case closed.” Chanyeol’s manager stated, clapping his hands together. “We’re going to see that you guys have a few minutes to speak with each other alone before they turn the cameras back on...” He shot a dirty look to the production manager before continuing. “… but other than that, we hope you have fun on the show. And please, don’t take it too far. Fans can be quite temperamental.”

As soon as the three men left the room, you turnt to Chanyeol. “Did you really mean that?”

“What? That I see us developing a relationship?” he asked, scratching his head with a cute smile. “I thought that much was obvious.”

You giggled, shaking your head at yourself. “This is the second time I’ve been completely oblivious. I feel like such a fool.”

“You’re not a fool.” he reassured you, pulling you into his arms for a tight hug. His height always allowed him to give the best hugs. He made you feel so safe and cared for. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Thank you…” you whimpered into his chest. “I really do want to make this work.”

“And it will.” he grinned, rocking you slightly. “I promise.”

You looked up, resting your chin on his chest. “I believe you. You promised nothing would happen to me last night, and you were right.”

He smiled down at you affectionately. “There’s one more thing I want to do with these last few minutes we’ll get alone.”

“Hm?” you asked, once again oblivious to his insinuation.

Before you even had time to register what was happening, his lips were on yours. His hands came up to hold onto your face and press himself further up against you. You held your breath, then relaxed into his arms, hands linking together behind his neck. He began to deepen the kiss, puckering his lips against yours repeatedly and darting his tongue between them periodically. When you were completely out of air, you pulled back, both of your chests heaving against one another.

“I can’t wait until this show is over and we can have some real privacy.” you grinned suggestively. “Now, shall we finish breakfast?”

D.O:

You rubbed your sweaty palms against the rough material of your jeans, taking a deep shaky breath as you waited in the recording studio. Usually when you were nervous in a place like this, it was because you were worried about messing up your notes or forgetting the lyrics. But that wasn’t the case today. You had practiced the drama’s OST relentlessly, and knew the song forwards, backwards, and sideways. What you were nervous about was the fact that you were going to be singing a duet with Do Kyungsoo.

Not only were you totally intimidated by his vocals, but you also had the most mortifying crush on him. Everyone at the company seemed to know about it except him, and you wanted to keep it that day. You just hoped you wouldn’t make a fool of yourself in front of him today.

You jumped as he entered the room, springing to your feet. He looked ungodly handsome, clad in a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up halfway and jeans.

“Hey Y/N.” he smiled warmly as you locked eyes. “How’s it going?”

“Hey, I’ve been really good!” you choked out, playing with the sleeve of your sweater. “How about you? I saw you guys were in Jeju Island last week. I mean, on Instagram, I wasn’t there stalking you or anything. Not that I’m not a fan, but…” you stopped yourself before you dug down into an even deeper hole.

He chuckled at your babbling, somehow finding it endearing. “We were, it was a really good trip. Although I almost threw Baekhyun off a cliff while we were hiking.”

“Oh, that’s not good! Accidents happen, I suppose.” you shrugged, brushing your hair back behind your ears. You could feel a thin layer of sweat on the back of your neck, a telltale sign that you were nervous. You had to tell yourself to calm down, you didn’t want to look sweaty when they filmed the video.

“Oh no, it would’ve been on purpose. He was being insufferable.” he explained, grinning evilly. God, he was so attractive.

You laughed, genuinely this time. “I get it. Sometimes I want to strangle the girls.”

He hummed in amusement. “Look at us, bonding over wanting to kill our members.”

You giggled at his comment, feeling yourself relax slightly. Maybe this isn’t going to be so ba-

“Alright guys, the company wants us to film the video now, so in the booth.” your manager decreed as he entered the room.

Nevermind.

“We don’t get a chance to practice at all?” Kyungsoo asked, looking understandably irritated.

“I’m sorry guys, they forgot about the deadline they gave the marketing team for the drama.” the other man explained sympathetically. “They need it within the next hour, and editing is going to need at least a half hour after we film it.”

“Awesome…” you sighed, grabbing a pair of headphones and following Kyungsoo into the booth.

You could feel your nerves getting the better of you, making your hands shake and your throat go dry, both of which would not be good for your performance.

Kyungsoo seemed to notice this, and grabbed your hand gently. Your heart stopped, making you freeze in place.

“Hey, you’ve got this.” he whispered with a comforting smile. “You have the voice of an angel.”

Butterflies swarmed in your stomach. He thought your voice was angelic?

“Alright guys, camera is rolling.” your manager said from the control panel. Music starting in 3…2…”

You exhaled as the music started, letting yourself ease up. You glanced over at Kyungsoo. He was looking at you with such kind, sensitive eyes. You couldn’t help the smile that appeared on your face as you began to sing your lines. When you were looking at him, it was really easy to belt out a love song.

He seemed to feel the same way as he started singing his own verse, his smile never faltering as he gazed into your eyes affectionately.

As you began to sing the chorus together, it was like the stars aligned. You were perfectly in synch, voices intertwining together like two rivers of golden honey merging into one. You were both putting so much passion and energy into the song, the lyrics resonating in both of your hearts as you looked at one another.

As the song came to a close, you both held your notes until the music ended, looking at each other breathlessly. Both of your eyes were twinkling, and you could feel chills running down your spine. That was the best duet you had ever sung with anyone.

“That was amazing you guys!” your manager suddenly said, snapping you out of your daze. “I don’t know how you guys did it perfect on the first try, but great job!”

“Uh, thanks!” you stammered, removing your headphones. You started to blush as you realized the amazing connection you and Kyungsoo had just had. Your anxiety was quickly returning, causing you to act without thinking.

You turned to him. “God, it’s hot in here. Are you hot? I mean, you are hot, I mean-“

He looked at you expectantly, as if you could possibly recover from that humiliating sentence. However, he didn’t look embarrassed at all. He had a hopeful glint in his eyes and an anticipated smile.

However, you were far too overwhelmed with your own nerves to notice. “Well, I’m gonna go home. See you later alligator!”

And with that, you bolted out of the studio and ran back to your dorm, not stopping until you were back in your bedroom. Nabi and Kaori were shouting after you, but you just ignored them, slamming your door behind you.

You collapsed your back against the door and slid down until you were on the floor, placing your head in your hands. “‘See you later alligator?’ What am I, 50?!”

—————

After a few hours of cycling through rotting in your bed, pacing the floor in anxiety, crying out of humiliation, and passing out from exhaustion, you were disturbed by yet another knock on your door. You groaned, assuming it was one of your members trying to talk to you again.

“Dude, I love you, but go away, I need to be alone.” you grumbled, pulling your pillow up over your head.

You heard the door open and someone walk in, but you didn’t have the energy to look up. Maybe if I stay really still, they’ll think I’m dead, and then they’ll leave, you thought.

You felt them sink down on the bed next to you and place a hand on your shoulder. “Y/N? Can we talk?”

You snapped up, eyes widening as you realized who was in front of you. “Kyungsoo!” You frantically fixed your hair and wiped your face. “Oh god, I look terrible…”

“No you don’t.” he chuckled, brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear.

You froze at his touch, relishing the feeling of his fingers in your hair before blinking back to reality. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I just thought you should know how well our OST is doing.” he grinned, pulling out his phone. You leaned forward to see the music video you made that already had millions of views in just a few short hours.

“Wow, people love it this much?” you asked in disbelief.

“That’s not all. Look at the comments.” he handed you his phone, and you did as he asked.

You know this drama’s gonna be good when they got Y/N AND Kyungsoo to sing the OST… total power vocal couple!

Y/N and Kyungsoo might as well be the main couple in the drama, their chemistry is insane

the way they sing the song to each other… my heart 💓 💓💓

You couldn’t help the giddy feeling that was blooming in your chest, attempting to fight off your smile to no avail. “They really like us, huh?”

He nodded, setting his phone back down. “There’s another reason I came here.”

“Hm?” you asked, cocking your head to the side in curiosity.

He took your hand in his, just as he had done in the recording booth earlier. “Y/N, you don’t have to be so nervous around me. I think you’re adorable, and I really like you.”

Fireworks went off in your stomach. “Y-you do?”

“Of course I do.” he laughed, shaking your hand in exaggeration. “Why do you think I asked to sing the OST with you?”

Your jaw unhinged in shock. “You asked to be paired with me?”

“Well yeah, how else was I going to get close to you?” he chuckled. “I was going to ask you out after we finished, but you ran away so quickly, I never got the chance.

You blinked at him a few times, then erupted into a fit of laughter. He joined you, doubling over slightly.

As you both settled down, he leaned in closer. “Will you go out with me?” he practically whispered.

You nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, yes! Of course I will!”

He smiled brighter than you had ever seen him do before, then slowly inched closer to your face. His eyes were focused on your lips.

Deciding you had been oblivious enough for one day, you took the hint and closed the distance between the two of you, crashing your lips onto his. He placed a hand delicately on your cheek, then began deepening the kiss, until you both pulled away, eyelids fluttering open slowly.

He smirked. “So, where do you want to go, angel voice?”

Kai:

“You’ve got it… you’ve got it…” Ten instructed you, guiding your movements. You were both in the dance practice room, covered in sweat as you went through the routine. You were working on a partner dance for your next solo album, and you wanted it to be with Ten, but somehow it just wasn’t going as planned. You were stumbling through the steps, there was no flow so your movements were jerky, and you somehow couldn’t shake the tense expression from your face.

As the music finished, you awkwardly caught your footing and struck the most pathetic ending pose you’d ever done. Ten gave you a crooked smile out of sympathy, which somehow made you feel ten times worse.

“Ugh, this is hopeless.” you sighed, throwing your hands up in resignation as you plopped down on the floor and leaned your back up against the mirror. “I’m never going to get this routine down in time.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” he attempted to reassure you, sitting down next to you. “You’re doing everything right. Sometimes, it just takes a little while to get the right feel for it.”

“Yeah, or I’m just a horrible dancer.” you huffed. You put your head in your hands and scrunched up your hair. The shoot was in two weeks, and this routine had to be perfect. Your fans deserved nothing less.

Ten was conflicted on what he should say next. On one hand, he wanted to tell you how amazing and talented you were, but on the other hand, he knew it wasn’t going to mean anything if you didn’t believe it yourself. He decided to grab a water bottle and hand it to you with a warm smile. “How about you just take a little break? I’m sure you’ll feel better in a few minutes.”

You smiled back at him, taking the water bottle from him gratefully. Your brow furrowed as he stood up and walked towards the door. “Where are you going?”

“I’m gonna go find something that’ll help.” he grinned over his shoulder before leaving the room.

You shook your head at his cryptic behavior, then collapsed back against the mirror, staring up at the ceiling in desperation. Please God, if you’re listening, please send me something to help with this dance.

“Y/N?” you heard someone ask from the doorway.

You snapped your head down to see who it was, and smiled widely at the pleasant sight before you. “Kai! What are you doing here?”

“Just checking in on my favorite junior.” he smirked, shutting the door behind him as he strolled in. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his jacket as he stopped in front of you, looking you over with a concerned expression. “What are you doing on the floor?”

“Just taking a break.” you replied, stretching slightly. “I’m too bad of a dancer not to.”

He frowned, crouching down to your level to glare at you. “Don’t say that about yourself. You’re an amazing dancer.”

“You haven’t seen me practice this routine.” you chuckled. “I’m sure you would change your mind if you did.”

“Alright then, show me.” he demanded, standing back up and taking a step back.

“Wait, like now?” you asked, slowly getting up yourself. “You don’t even know the routine…”

“I’m sure I can improvise.” he grinned, taking his jacket off and throwing it to the side, leaving him in just a cutoff tank top and sweats. “What, do you doubt my skills?”

“Absolutely not.” you chuckled. You had been secretly admiring him since before you even became a trainee, in more ways than one.

You got into position and waited for the music to start, then thrust into action as you began the routine. The first half went almost perfect, as it was just your solo part. You began to get nervous as the duet portion approached, feeling your muscles begin to tense up.

Kai approached you and placed his hands gently on your waist, a focused spark in his eyes. He somehow knew the exact partner position, and began guiding you across the floor.

“Relax, relax…” he instructed calmly, “remember to breathe.” He spun you around and placed a hand on the small of your back.

You inhaled deeply, holding the breath in your chest for a bit, then exhaled and released all the tension you didn’t realize you were holding onto. You started being able to flow through the moves better, but now you were hyper-focusing the footwork.

“Hey, don’t look at your feet. Focus on me.” he brought you back to center once again, twirling you back to face him and placing his hands on the sides of your face.

You looked up at him, locking in on his pretty brown eyes. It was as if they were telling you exactly what you needed to do, and for a moment, your body was running on autopilot, and all you thought about was being close to him.

“Show me that pretty smile, white swan.” he chuckled with a playful grin, instantly making you giggle and blush.

You actually couldn’t believe that you were going through the entire routine without any problems, and as you struck the ending pose, you were absolutely speechless. “That was…”

“Brilliant!” Ten suddenly interrupted you, causing you to jump away from Kai defensively.

“T-Ten!” you stammered nervously. “We were just-“

“It’s okay, I told him to come here.” your best friend smirked from the doorway. “I found him in the hall and he asked how you were doing.”

“You did?” you asked, a touched lilt to your voice.

“I told you, I wanted to check in on my favorite junior.” Kai explained, brushing the hair out of his face with an innocent half smile. “Ten said you were having trouble with the dance, so I had him show me the training video, and then I told him I’d help you.”

“Oh, well that’s a relief...” you sighed, glad you didn’t have to explain yourself to Ten. “So, you’re not-?”

“Jealous? Hardly.” he chortled, shaking his head. “In fact, I think you should do the dance with Kai for your music video.”

Your jaw unhinged slightly in shock. “Really?”

“Oh yeah, the chemistry is way better. You really seem to enjoy yourself when you’re dancing with him.” he teased, winking at you inadvertently.

You shot him a warning glare, then turned back to Kai. “Is that alright with you?”

“It’d be my pleasure.” he grinned, extending his hand to you. “Shall we?”

—————

It had been a week since your latest solo comeback dropped, and all of Starlight was losing their minds over it. Albums sold out everywhere, you had already one two awards, and everywhere you went, you heard it being played on the radio.

After one of your performance stages, you were sitting in your dressing room, and decided to look over some of the comments on the music video again. You always loved seeing what your fans had to say about your work.

There were a lot about how pretty you looked, how beautiful your vocals were, and how proud of you your fans were, all of which made you giddy with appreciation. However, some were starting to stick out to you and pique your interest. Particularly, the ones about your dance with Kai.

the tension between Y/N and Kai is so thick you could cut it with a knife 👀

i don’t think i’ve ever seen our Y/N dance so well with anyone else than with Kai… i hope they do more stuff together :)

anyone else think Y/N and Kai would make the PERFECT couple??? just me???

You felt your cheeks grow red and warm at the insinuation. I mean, sure, you had been fantasizing about dating Kai for years now. But now that you knew your fans approved, it was all the more flustering.

“Knock knock.” someone interrupted your thoughts as they entered your dressing room.

You looked up, then scoffed playfully. “Kai, if you keep showing up unannounced, I’m going to have to start locking my door. I could’ve been bare faced!”

“And you’d still look just as beautiful.” he commented, smiling at you genuinely.

You pouted your lips affectionately, then stood up to hug him. “Thank you so much.”

“Me? What for?” he asked, wrapping his arms around you to reciprocate the hug.

“If it wasn’t for you, I never would’ve gotten that dance down.” you beamed into his shoulder.

A quiet chuckle rang through your ears. “You already had everything you needed to accomplish it. I just pointed you in the right direction.”

You gave him one final squeeze, then invited him to sit down on the couch with you. “So, what brings you all the way here?”

“Well, I had to admit, seeing you do the dance with that backup dancer on stage made me pretty jealous.” he replied, a more serious expression appearing on his face.

“Oh?” you inquired, folding your hands in your lap. “Is that so?”

He nodded slowly. “Indeed. I was going to let it go, but after reading some of the comments on your music video, I was inspired to do something about it.”

Your heart soared as you imagined him reading the exact comments as you had read previously. Did he feel the same butterflies when he read them over?

“And what exactly are you going to do?” you asked, feeling your nerves vibrate harder with every passing second.

“I want to ask you out.” he told you. He leaned in closer to you, to where you could see the sparkle in his eyes. “Is that alright?”

“Yes, it is.” you replied, letting a huge smile plaster itself across your face. “And yes, I’ll absolutely go out with you.”

He replicated your large grin, patting your leg affectionately. “That’s wonderful. Because I don’t want you dancing with anyone else.”

You chuckled, squeezing his hand a bit. “Well, you’re going to have to fight my members for that right.”

He thought to himself for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think I could take them, they’re pretty tough. I’ll settle for being the only guy you dance with.”

“Deal.” you giggled, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on his cheek. “Thank you again, Kai.”

“You’re welcome, white swan.” he chimed. He rose up from his seat and walked over to the door. “I’ll leave you to unwind. I’ll text you later to set up the date, okay?”

You nodded, waving goodbye to him. “Sounds good, talk to you later!”

You turnt back to your mirror, beginning to brush out your curls. However, you were startled as Kai ran back into the room quickly.

He placed a bouquet of flowers on the vanity in front of you, then kissed you on the cheek briskly. “I almost forgot, these are for you. Congratulations on such a good comeback.”

Sehun:

“Excuse me, pardon me, ‘it girl’ coming through!” Nabi declared as you made your way through the busy photo shoot studio.

“Ugh, shut up Nabi!” you scowled over your shoulder at her. “I hate it when you call me that!”

“Hey, I’m not the only one.” the leader shrugged, chuckling mischievously. “Everyone calls you that nowadays.”

“Well, I’d prefer to only deal with it when I’m being interviewed.” you scoffed, setting your bag down at your vanity.

“Spoken like a true queen.” Nabi smirked, crossing her arms across her chest.

You rolled your eyes. “Why did you even come with me today?”

The younger girl shrugged. “You’ve been stressed lately. I figured I’d tag along to make sure you have a comedic buffer.”

You softened at her kind gesture, touching her arm lightly. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“They also always have huge snack buffets at these things.” she added. “I’m gonna go get a plate, okay?”

You went back to your previous mood, sighing and sitting down. “Yeah, just get me some chips.”

You watched her skitter off to the snack table, shaking your head at her. In front of the other girls, she was a strict, stern dictator. But around you, the only member older than her, she was a true child. However, she was your best friend, so you tried to find it endearing.

“Y/N?” a deep voice inquired from behind you.

You spun around in your chair and gawked at the realization of who stood in front of you. “Sehun?!”

He smiled at your surprise, holding out his arms in a dramatic gesture. “In the flesh.”

You sprung up out of your chair in an instant, practically jumping into his arms to give him a hug. He stumbled backwards a bit, laughing at your sudden affection, then caught his footing and wrapped his arms around you.

“I’ve missed you so much!” you told him, pulling away. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for the Valentine’s Day shoot.” he replied.

You knit your brows together in confusion. “Really? Because this is…” You looked around the studio, then it dawned on you. There were heart shaped decorations and pink balloons everywhere, and the studio had a romantic, dim lighting.

“Oh… they didn’t tell me this would be a couple’s shoot…” you chuckled awkwardly.

His eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really? That’s strange. Maybe they knew you’d be nervous if you were told ahead of time that you’d be doing a shoot with the Great Oh Sehun.” He flipped his hair dramatically, a cocky smirk on his face.

You scrunched your nose up, hitting him on the arm playfully. “Ugh, don’t be so smug. It doesn’t suit you.” You were actually just trying to hide the fact that he was right.

Sehun had been slowly becoming one of your best friends at the company, ever since that day he walked in on you being bullied by a bunch of female trainees and silenced all of them with his presence. He was actually competing with Yeri, Ten, and Karina for a spot on your BFF list.

However, you had always secretly hoped for more with him. He was so kind, even though he could seem cold at first, and he always made you laugh. He was so caring, despite how hard he tried not to be, and had incredible wit and humor. Plus, there was the fact that he was incredibly handsome. Like, obnoxiously so. But, as much you wanted things to go to the next level, they remained stagnant. Neither of you were the most upfront about your feelings.

“There you guys are!” the director suddenly clapped his hands behind you, pulling you away from your conversation. “I’ll let makeup and wardrobe know you’re here, and we should be able to start shooting in about an hour.”

You both nodded and thanked him, then turned back to one another.

“See you behind the camera.” Sehun proposed with a minuscule wink that was so small you wouldn’t have caught it if you hadn’t been admiring his features so closely these past few years.

You sent him one last smile, then turned back to your vanity while he strode over to his own.

Suddenly, Nabi reappeared next to you with a plate full of snacks. “What was that about?” she asked, crunching on a pretzel.

“Oh nothing, I just have to do an amorous photo shoot with my secret crush.” you grumbled, falling back against your chair with your hands bunched up in your hair. “Did you get my chips?”

Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“Nabi! Either be helpful or leave!”

—————

The hour of makeup and wardrobe went by way too fast for your liking. You had been trying to build up your courage to no avail. It seemed hopeless. How on Earth were you going to do a romantic couple’s shoot with your crush without it looking you were hopelessly devoted to him? Not that you weren’t, you just didn’t need the whole world knowing it. That would be mortifying, not to mention a total career killer.

You walked over to the photo setup, which featured a red velvet sofa and a table with an extravagant bouquet of flowers. You swallowed the hard lump in your throat, making one last stitch effort to calm yourself down. Settle down, Y/N. It’s just a photo shoot with your colleague. I’m sure he won’t even be-

“Is this chain on straight?” your thoughts were interrupted by the man in question. You flipped around to see him dressed in a deep v-neck black blazer with a white button-up shirt underneath, the top three buttons undone to reveal his chest, adorned with a glimmering silver chain necklace. His thick black locks were tousled and textured perfectly around his forehead, and his skin was practically glowing.

Okay nevermind, time to panic.

“Holy shit, you look hot.” you heard yourself speak, although you don’t remember making the decision to. Instant regret flooded your brain, and you immediately began apologizing. “Oh my god, I meant the chain looks hot. I’m sorry. I mean, not that you’re not hot, I just…”

“Thank you.” he cut you off, a pleased smile evident on his features. “You look hot too.”

Your heart practically jumped out of your chest. “Th-Thank you…” You were sure your face was as red as a tomato. However, you had to admit, you did look pretty hot in your tight red dress, pearls, vampy lipstick, and red strappy heels.

“Alright, we’re ready to get started!” the director declared from his chair. “Sehun, I’d like to start with you laying on the couch horizontally. Y/N, go ahead and sit on his lap facing the camera.”

You did as instructed, although uncomfortably. He sensed your tension and placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“It’s okay, just relax.” he suggested, a reassuring smile directed at you.

You gave him an appreciative grin, loosening up and leaning into his form.

“Okay, now Sehun, put your chin on Y/N’s shoulder and rest your head against her neck. Y/N, just keep looking forward.”

The camera flashed a few times, with a few breaks in between to look over the shots.

“I’m really proud of you, you know.” Sehun told you while the camera crew was busy.

“What do you mean?” you asked him, laying against the back of the couch.

“You’ve come a long way from the girl I met who was letting some older trainees pick on her.” he teased. “I’ll never forget the look on your face when I appeared next to you.”

You laughed at the memory. “And I’ll never forget the looks on those girls’ faces when you told them off.”

He joined you in your laughter. “Notice how none of them are at the company anymore, and how you’re the ‘it girl’ now?”

You smiled contentedly. “Everyone seems to be calling me that these days.”

He suddenly scooped you up in his arms and pulled you down to his chest, ruffling your hair affectionately. “You’ve always been my ‘it girl’ Y/N, from day one.”

You squealed as he caged you in his arms, feigning resistance. A sudden flash went off, and you both looked up to see the camera crew staring at you blankly.

“Ah, sorry guys, that was my fault...” a feeble intern announced nervously. “I accidentally hit the wrong button.”

“Wait, let me see that shot…” the director demanded, motioning for the camera to be brought over to him. He looked it over, then turnt to you both with a baffled expression. “This is it. This is our cover photo.”

“What? No way.” you marveled, getting up and walking over to the director. Sehun followed you, catching you as you stumbled a bit in your heels. You looked at the photo, and soon you were both making the same face that the director had made a few seconds ago. “Woah… this is amazing…”

“Look at how beautiful you are…” Sehun commented, taking in the picture lovingly.

You blushed, nudging him slightly.

The director clapped his hands dramatically, snapping you both back to reality. “Alright, let’s keep this energy going! Next I want a shot of Y/N pulling Sehun in by his chain!”

—————

A few days later, you were chilling out at the dorm with your members, having a much needed girls’ night. All of your favorite snacks were laid out on the coffee table, you were all in your pajamas, and there was a cheesy rom-com playing on the TV, even though none of you were paying attention to it. You were far too busy gossiping, squealing, and beautifying each other. It might have been stereotypical girl behavior, but it was incredibly therapeutic.

“Everyone shut up!” Nabi suddenly decreed, jumping up on the couch and holding something behind her back.

You looked up from braiding Kaori’s hair. “Oh god, what is it now?”

The younger girls all laughed, finding it hilarious that you were the only one able to talk to Nabi like that.

“Well ‘it girl,’ it just so happens that I have the most recent issue of Elle in my hands.” the leader grinned evilly, brandishing the magazine out in front of her.

The other three girls all gasped and rushed over to grab at it, except for Iseul, who just jumped up and down excitedly. Her nails were still wet from Marie painting them a few minutes ago.

“Oh my god, you look so hot!” Marie marveled, flipping through the glossy pages.

“Yeah, and this one of you pulling Sehun in by his chain is just perfect!” Iseul nodded in agreement.

“Wait, the shoot was with Sehun?” Kaori asked, her eyes going wide with innocent shock.

“Yes Kaori, we talked about it three days ago. Keep up.” Marie groaned at the maknae.

“Hey, be nice.” you warned protectively. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah right. You’ve only been in love with him for years now.” Nabi challenged you, jumping down from the couch.

“I am not in love with him.” you rolled your eyes. “Besides, he doesn’t feel that way about me.”

“The fans seem to think differently.” Nabi commented smugly, whipping out her phone. “Look what they’re saying on Elle’s post about it.”

You snatched the phone out of her hand and began to skim over the comments.

you could tell me the cover shot was totally improvised and i’d believe you… their affection looks so real <3

who knew the oldest member of Etoile and the youngest member of EXO would make such a fire couple? TOTAL goals!

The fact that they’ve been friends since Y/N was a trainee makes this so much cuter… they’re clearly in love with each other 💞

These two OWN Valentine’s Day now 😤

“Look at how big her smile is!” Kaori grinned admiringly at you.

“I know, it’s so cute!” Marie added, wrapping her arms around your maknae and twirling her around. “‘Oh Sehun, please marry me!’”

“‘Oh Y/N, I’d love to make you my wife!’” the younger girl acted out, giggling madly.

You scowled, trying not to laugh along with them. “How come you two only get along when it’s at my expense?”

You all froze as the sound of a phone ringing suddenly cut through the noise.

You looked over at the end table to see your phone lit up and vibrating. You picked it up and unhinged your jaw as you saw who it was from. “It’s Sehun. I’m gonna go take this.” You got up and rushed down the hall to your bedroom.

The three youngest members attempted to follow you, but Nabi stood protectively in front of the hallway. “Nope, no one is eavesdropping. This should be private.” Marie, Iseul, and Kaori started pouting and vocalizing their protest. That was, until Nabi gave them her signature glare. “Living room, now.” She really was a great leader when she wanted to be.

Shutting your door behind you, you answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey Y/N, it’s me.” Sehun said from the other end. He sounded uncharacteristically anxious.

“Hey, is everything okay?” you asked in a concerned manner.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine.” he coughed nervously. “I just wanted to… you know….”

“Wanted to what?” you giggled, sitting down on your bed.

You heard him exhale momentarily as if mentally preparing himself for something. “If you’d like to go out with me for Valentine’s Day?”

Your breath hitched in your chest. “What?”

“Don’t make me say it again…” he sighed, clearly having trouble being this forward. “I just… we had so much fun at the shoot together… and you’re just so cool, and fun, and pretty. I’ve never really known how or when to say it, but… something about that couples’ shoot just pushed me to go for it. So will you?”

You clutched onto your chest as if it was the only thing keeping you grounded to Earth. “Yes… yes, of course I will!”

“Really?” he marveled, sounding genuinely surprised. “I can’t believe you agreed.”

“Sehun, I’ve literally been waiting for you to ask me out for years now.” you chuckled. “You’re the worst at picking up on signals.”

“Yeah, well you’re not very good at sending them.” he teased, clearly getting his confidence back.

You laughed cutely into the phone. “We’re not very good at this are we…”

“No, not at all.” he chortled, shaking his head. You could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. “And just so you know… I meant it when I said that you’ve been my ‘it girl’ since day one.”

You blushed with a small smile. “I usually hate it when people call me that. But with you, it feels good.”

“Well, I’ll have to call you by that name as much as possible. Then you can be mine exclusively, and no one else’s.” he replied.

You laughed once again, feeling like a giddy school girl. “I always have been, remember?”

He laughed at your sudden cockiness, knowing that you definitely learned it from him. “I’ll see you on Valentine’s Day?”

You nodded, feeling your lips curl up into a grin. “I’ll see you then.”

“Goodnight, my ‘it girl.’”

“Goodnight Sehun.” you giggled, hanging up the phone. You then threw it across the room and flopped back onto your bed, rolling around and kicking your feet in ecstasy.

“Y/N! What happened?” Marie suddenly burst through your door, followed by the other girls. You assumed Nabi held them off as long as she could, but eventually lost strength. There were three of them after all.

You sat up, brushing your hair out of your face. “Guess who’s going out with Sehun on Valentine’s Day!”

The four girls all screamed and jumped on your bed, showering you with praise and congratulations. You laughed as you captured them all in a group hug. It was then that you realized you didn’t need to be the ‘it girl’ to be happy, you just needed moments like these. And with Sehun, they seemed to just keep coming.

[marshmallow-phd]

Genre: Regency Gothic AU

Pairing: EXO x Reader

Summary: A stormy night brought you to the manor in the middle of the woods. Nine strange men occupied its halls. They won't let you leave. A dangerous secret haunts this estate. Learning it might either be your saving grace or it could lead to the last breath you ever take.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5

**

Lightning lit up the thin curtains covering the two small windows on either side of the carriage. Thunder rumbled and you felt it deep within your chest. Tugging your silk cloak closer, you closed your eyes and prayed that the driver would get you through the storm. There was no one to comfort you, to reassure you that a little rain and noisy sky wouldn't delay your journey.

Your father had insisted you take your sister or even a friend, but the two day’s journey didn’t  seem consequential enough to need a companion. Besides, what would they have done once you arrived? Your elderly aunt had only asked for you. From what you could decipher from her letter, she needed you to be a companion as she traveled to the southernmost coastal town. Apparently, it was now the ultimate fashion to travel to for the summer. Just the idea of rolling waves made your stomach churn. But what was worse was who else would be there–

The carriage jolted to the right. You spread out your arms, only barely catching yourself from falling to the floor. No sane person would have endured such dangerous weather. This storm had come from nowhere. Skies blue and cloudless as you had ever seen bid you farewell in the late morning. Most of the day's journey had been uneventful. Then the joyful light faded. Thunder shook the walls of the carriage. Rain pounded on the roof. When would you reach the inn? Bile rose up in your throat, burning the sensitive tissue as the carriage continued to rock violently. The horses neighed over the sounds of the storm. 

The carriage shifted hard to the left. And kept falling. You slammed into the door, nearly opening it with the force. You didn't know what was happening. The floor was now the wall and the wall the floor. A downward momentum made it impossible to stand. Screams ripped at your throat.

Then it stopped. 

The rain continued to pour and the thunder roared on but the carriage was still. Your legs wobbled as you slowly stood. With your palms, you pushed open the door. The thin wooden panel clapped against the outside of the carriage. Immediately you were pounded by the storm. Large drops pelted your face, obscuring your vision. It was dark. You could tell that much. And there were trees. In every direction. 

You climbed out of the carriage, calling for the driver. Your feet slipped in the mud, but you managed to keep your balance–for now. The mud was thick and sticky as you trudged to the front of the carriage.

 No. No, no, no. Both of the horses were gone. And so was the driver. Somehow, the carriage had fallen down a hill or ravine. With a storm this terrible, you needed to get to higher ground or risk possibly being carried away–or drowning. Clawing and digging your hands and feet into the soaked dirt, you climbed the hard incline back to the road. 

Once you could make out the road, you called for the driver again. No answer. He was nowhere to be found. You needed to find shelter. The storm gave no promise of letting up. You wouldn't survive the night in this forest, even if you went back into the carriage. The only choice was to find sanctuary. You stared in the direction you believed you came from. Nothing but trees and darkness. You turned to the other choice. All the same–wait. 

There was something... when lightning brightened up the sky. Your heart began banging in your ears. Spires, towers. Not trees. It was some distance away, but it was shelter nonetheless. 

With near tears in your eyes, you picked up your skirts–your fingers numb from the cold–and hurried towards the castle that could be your saving grace. 

*****

The manor was calm tonight. Odd, considering the amount of bodies roaming around these haunted halls. Only the beautiful storm outside and Chanyeol's sorrowful melody from the piano broke the silence. Jongin had draped himself over one of the arm chairs as he inspected the wine mixture within his goblet. The taste was… adequate. The cellar would need replenishing soon.

In the corner, a rather lax game of cards covered the small, round table. Minseok smirked at his winning hand. The faded wooden chips with bits of white painted around the edges were piling up in front of Yixing, who leaned back carelessly, sure of his next win. Little did either of them know that the youngest among them had a little... trick his sleeve. As the quickest, Sehun had perfected sleight of hand long ago. None had caught him yet.

A fire roared, coaling the usually gray and brown room in flickering orange. With how close he stood near the fireplace, Kyungsoo's silhouette was visible through his loose shirt. He leaned his palms on the mantel and let the warmth of the flames engulf him. Warmth was all they could feel after all these years. It could be an addiction so strong it was tempting to throw himself into the fire. 

Junmyeon joined him at the fireplace, leaning his shoulders against the brick. The bite of the edge hardly registered in his mind. Pain of that measure... it was only a ghost that had nearly crossed over. 

“Such strong thoughts for a night like this.”

Kyungsoo didn’t look from the fire, but raised a questioning eyebrow in response. 

Junmyeon shrugged a single shoulder. “I can’t read minds, but it's obvious you're turning something over more times than a praying rock.”

“It's the same thoughts,” Kyungsoo murmured in his strange, monotone voice. “Always the same thoughts.”

“One day you will have to let it go,” Junmyeon sighed. “This is our existence now. And forever will be.”

“Acceptance of the present doesn’t erase the past.”

“But it does make the present more enjoyable.” The red liquid sloshed against the rim of the goblet as Jongin draped an arm over Kyungsoo’s shoulders. He wore a mischievous smile. A clear indicator of his true intention. 

Junmyeon shook his head. “We’re not going out tonight. There’s nothing out and about in this storm.” Hunting in these conditions would wield no trophies. Tomorrow would be a better night. 

“Jun’s no fun tonight,” Jongdae teased as he and Baekhyun emerged from the hallway. 

“If you want to go out in this mess,” Junmyeon waved towards the front door. “Be my guest. Just don’t you dare get mud on the rug–”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Help! Please! Help!”

Nine pairs of eyes snapped to the echoing sound. None moved. 

Bang! Bang! 

BANG!

One of the double doors burst open and a figure fell to the floor, landing on its knees and palms. It looked up. A flash of lightning illuminated the face.

The face of a beautiful young girl. 

*****

Your knees vibrated when they hit the wooden floor. Water fell from your loose hair that clung to your cheeks. The chances of  the door opening when you pushed on the handle had been low–yet the barrier that kept you victim to the storm fell open and you crashed downward with it. 

Greeting you in this strange hall were several men, their jaws hanging open in a mirror of your own surprise. More men appeared from a side parlor, curious as to who dared intrude on their evening. One, two, three–you counted nine total. Nine men. This was not ideal–a bit terrifying, really–but you didn't have a choice. The storm raged outside.

"P-please," you stammered past chattering teeth "The st-storm overturn-overturned the carriage.” 

The men stayed silent as they exchanged unreadable glances. One raised a questionable brow. 

"Jongdae, go run a bath," ordered the man closest to you. One of the shorter residents nodded and disappeared into the darkness that led into the rest of the manor. 

That's what this place was. A grand old manor, not a castle. Isolated. When you'd first run through the rusted iron gate, you'd feared it abandoned. A long dormant instinct whispered that you might have been better off if it had been. 

The first man approached, each motion slow, deliberate, and hauntingly graceful. He crouched down in front of you and captured your frightened stare. The fear in you began to melt away. He was… beautiful. Obsidian fell over his forehead in gentle waves. His tunic was of a fashion your grandfather would have worn. There was something strange about this man–all of these men. Something... different. 

"Let's get you warmed up." He held his hand out and you were up on your feet before you even realized your fingers were resting on his. "Don't worry," he murmured. "You're safe here. My name is Junmyeon." 

You nodded, somehow believing him, but unsure if you should. Through your violent chattering, you managed to stammer out your name in response. 

Bang! 

You jumped at the sudden noise. One of the other men had somehow appeared behind you to shut the door you'd fallen through. 

"Thank you, Yixing," the man beside you said. The one named Yixing nodded and then shifted his eyes to you. “Come.” A hand pressed into the space between your shoulder blades and guided you down the hall, leaving a trail of mud in your wake.

The man led you down several halls until you reached an unoccupied bedroom. Red blankets draped the oversized bed. Matching curtains hung limply from the canopy. All of the wood was a dark sort, rich in color but not quite welcoming like other, brighter woods. 

Jongdae emerged from another door on the other side of the bedroom. Steam rolled out after him as if it were following him for its next set of orders. “Anything else?” he asked drily. 

“No, thank you.”

Jongdae strolled the from the room without a glance either of you and closed the door behind him. Your breath hitched in your throat. The two of you were… alone. It wasn’t appropriate. It was…

You looked to the man still with you, fear causing your heart to pound painful against your chest. You tugged your cloak closer to you, but it was soaked from the rain. Shivers violently raced down your arms and spine. The man didn’t seem to notice as he walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a long white cloth. 

“These should suffice for tonight.” He held up the cloth for you to see. A nightgown. An old one by the cut of it, though thankfully it hadn’t been devoured by moths or mice. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.”

You nodded. “Thank you.” 

He visibly suppressed a laugh at your small voice and waved you into the adjoining bathroom. Taking the nightgown, you tried your best to avoid his gaze. You scurried inside and shut the door. 

*****

Junmyeon smirked at your mousy state. It was understandable why you were so frightened. The women of this period were warned of being alone with a man. And now you were alone with nine. 

Nine very dangerous men. 

The proper action for him to take was to leave your room now that you were safe inside the bathroom, but his feet didn’t move. Somehow, the storm had stranded you in their forest. What had happened to the driver, he wondered. Surely a gentlewoman such as yourself was not controlling the carriage. And yet, you were all alone. Circumstances were… ideal.

A small hiss echoed in the bathroom. It stretched out, along with the sound of sloshing water. Junmyeon frowned. 

Hm.

He stood there for a few minutes more, listening to you sigh as your skin grew used to the scalding water. The sound of soap scraping against skin reached his ears, followed by more sloshing water. Soon, you would be getting out of the tub. Time to leave. 

He emerged from the bedroom, careful to close the door as quietly as possible. Everyone had gathered out in the hallway since they were too curious about their visitor to go about their night. Junmyeon found Jongdae blending in with the cluster. He glared at him as he hissed, "The water was too hot." 

Jongdae merely shrugged. Why would he care about water possibly being too hot? It would never hurt him. 

On the opposite end of the group, Yixing cleared his throat. "What are we going to do with her?"

Junmyeon glanced at the door behind him. There was only one best option, for all their sakes. "Tomorrow morning, we will send her on her way." 

The eruption was instant. 

“Enough!”

In an instant, the hissing ceased. 

Baekhyun huffed and folded his arms against his chest, collapsing against the wall. Jongin scoffed. "Such a waste." 

“A waste that will keep this household from tearing itself apart,” Junmyeoun countered. It was an outcome none of them wanted. No one wanted to cause a fight, but resisting was difficult. The temptation was great. The quicker you left, the better off they would all be. 

"Do you really think it’ll end so well?" Minseok’s mocking comment hung in the air. Silent agreements rippled through the air. 

Junmyeon looked to Kyungsoo, whose answer was to look away. "No one touches her," he ordered. They all would try, he knew. But their strength would only get them so far. He stared down a few of them especially, so they knew he meant it.

Sehun pushed off the wall with a roll of his eyes. "Just get her out of here so I can get some peace." 

Junmyeon started to call after him but was interrupted by a soft thud from the room behind him. Confused, he opened the door to find you lying on the floor.

[seiwas]

instagram dump with your selfship! (model/actor!au sel x satoru ver.)

seltoru behind-the-scenes dump — work days and winding down~

liked by sstoru and others

sellybelly last week's shenanigans ✨ 1: shoot day! 📸 2: nails sponsored by mr. gojo satoru 💅 3. loved our outfits for the awards 🥺 (thank you dior! 💫) 4. that feeling when you change into home clothes tho >> 5. maybe he's pretty sometimes 🙄 6. caught him in the act (texting me during a meeting 😭) 7. satoru in hair & makeup (some good sleep he's had there 🤧) 8. our lil treat to end the week 🍓😋 9. phone hijacked by mr. gojo satoru 🧿🧿 👁️👁️

sstoru knew you were obsessed with me 😌

thanks for the tag my love @tteokdoroki this was so so fun 🥺 tagging: anyone else who wants to do this!! it's so pretty and so fun 🥺

[kpop---scenarios]

Obsession (1)

Pairing: Chanyeol x Reader

Warning: Smut, Stalker

Genre: College! Au

Word Count: 3.4k

Fuck. You really should have declined this fucking date.

You were in your second year of University, now you were currently hours away from your friends and family now, but you needed it. For your first year of University you had gone to one closer to home, and while the school was good, you were miserable. You lived at home with your overprotective parents, who didn't allow you to go to any parties, join any clubs, or do anything you wanted. They were smothering you and you felt like you couldn't breathe while being around them. You needed to leave, so when you heard you had been accepted for your second year, 6 hours away, you were so fucking delighted.

Here you were, at your new school for 4 months and you had only managed to make one friend. Everytime she invited you out with more people, something came up and you hadn't really been able to meet more people who you vibed with. Lisa had quickly become your best friend. And while you loved this school, you almost regretted transfering, due to your current predicament. When a guy from one of your classes, Mark, had asked you out, you hesitantly accepted. He was nice enough in class but now he was weird and making you uncomfortable.

“What kind of things do you like to do?” You ask, trying to bring on some kind of conversation.

“I'll like whatever you do.” He smiles, reaching over the table to grab your hand. You quickly pull it back, pretending to itch your leg.

“You don't have any hobbies?” You ask, raising an eyebrow. You wanted to get the fuck out if here.

“You. You'll be my hobby. I could look at you all day.” He smiles. That made you groan.

“I think you need to have your own hobbies. Staring at me is not a hobby.” You say, checking your phone. You quickly typed a message to Lisa, begging her to call you with an emergency. It's only been 30 minutes of this date but you couldn't do it anymore.

Seconds later your phone rang, Lisa's name popping up on the screen. You gave Mark a slight smile before answering. She was laughing on the other end, but you put on a pretty convincing performance.

“What? Oh, Lisa!” You exclaim. “Yes of course, I will be right there.” You finish.

“Meet me at the Rook.” She says before hanging Up.

“I'm so sorry Mark, I have to go.” You tell him, grabbing your purse. “There's an emergency.”

“What happened?” He asks.

Fuck, you hadn't thought that far.

“Her…dad was hit by a..dog.” You stutter. “Yeah, just zoomed right under him, took him right out. He's in the hospital.” You say. “Thank you for a..evening.” You finish before darting out of the diner. You decided to walk, since you weren't far from the bar she wanted to meet at.

Pulling open the doors, you're met immediately with Lisa at a table with a few others you hadn't met yet. Others that would soon become just as close to you as Lisa.

“Y/N!” She screams, giving you a giant hug. “This is Jennie and Rose, Jongin, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Sehun.” She smiles introducing you to everyone. “So, how was your date?” She asks. You settle in at the table and begin telling them all about the 30 minutes you had just spent with Mark.

“He kept trying to touch me, saying that he'd do whatever I wanted him to do.” You sigh. “It was all very weird and he made me extremely uncomfortable.” You finish, finishing off your drink.

“Who made you uncomfortable?” You hear a deep voice from beside you. You glance over and see quite possibly the most attractive man you'd ever seen. He was tall, black hair parted just right. He wore a nicely fitting shirt, dark ripped jeans. He pulled up a chair beside you, sitting down and smiled at you.

“Ah, Y/N, this is Chanyeol.” Lisa smiles. “Y/N was just telling us about her date tonight.”

“If you could even call it that.” You laugh. “I only lasted 30 minutes before Lisa called me with an emergency.”

“Speaking of, what did you tell him the emergency was?” She asked.

You covered your face in embarrassment.

“I never said I was good at lying.” You start to defend yourself. “Your dad was hit by a dog.” You start to laugh. “It zoomed under him and took him out.”

Everyone stared at you before the table erupted in laughter.

“Oh my poor dad.” She laughs.

**

A few hours and a few drinks later, you were all paying your tabs, but first exchanging numbers with everyone at the table. You'd all made a plan in a few weekends to get together, there just happened to be a party at the EXO frat, and you, Lisa, Jennie and Rose were going to attend. You were happy to finally be making some new friends.

“Are you sure you're okay to get home?” Lisa asks you, as you sway outside the bar.

“I um, think so.” You giggle.

“Yeah okay.” She laughs. “Jongin?” she says, motioning towards you.

“I'll happily get her home.” He smiles, fuck he was hot. You glanced over at Chanyeol, but he had already turned to walk away.

Jongin wraps his arm around your waist, heading in the direction of your address, that Lisa had told him.

You shouldn't have drank so much

Before you knew it, you were standing in front of your apartment door, trying to unlock it, but it really didn't help that you were seeing two of the locks.

“Here.” Jongin laughs, taking your keys from you. He unlocks your door, allowing you to stumble in. He hands your keys back to you. You mumble a thank you as you walk in and crash on the house. You can faintly hear Jongin chuckle as he closes your front door. You wanted to get up to go to your bed, but unfortunately your body was already down for the count. You snuggled into the couch and very quickly drifted off to sleep.

**

You swear to god you felt like you died. You rolled off the couch, your neck was stiff, your body hurt. This is why you never slept on the couch, you felt like an old, frail woman after whose body was failing her.

“Fuck.” You cry out, trying to move your neck around as you make your way to the bathroom. You turn on your shower, as hot as you're able to stand before checking your phone. You'd been added to a group chat with all that you met last night. They were talking about their upcoming week, until Jongin asked about you.

[From: Jongin 10:08am] How are you feeling this morning, Y/N? 🤣

[From: Lisa 10:08am] she probably feels like shit lol

[To: Group 10:10am] hangover wise, I feel great. Body wise? I slept on my couch and I have a hunchback now.

[From: Baekhyun 10:11am] don't die on us now

[To: Group 10:12am] no promises. I'm pretty fucked up ha.

[From: Jongin 10:15am] I can straighten you out if you need

You stared at your phone with your mouth hanging open. Did he? Was he really hitting on you? Your phone dinged again.

[From: Lisa 10:16am] I'M SORRY WHAT

[From: Kyungsoo 10:16am] I'm going to throw up my breakfast.

[From: Jongin 10:17am] STRETCHING. You fucking pervs. But I mean.. 😉

You set your phone down, and got into the shower. Would you take Jongin up on the stretching? Probably not, the hot water was already helping. However, would you take him up on sex if he offered? Possibly, but there was one face you just couldn't get out of your head.

**

The weeks went by, and you spent more and more time with Lisa, Jennie, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Sehun and Chanyeol. You didn't see Chanyeol as much, but you would see him around school every once in a while and when you would see him, you were met with a smile and a wave. You really wanted to hangout with him more.

The night of the party finally arrived, you were getting ready with Lisa, Jennie and Rose. The way you all acted together, no one would have known that you had only met the other two a few weeks ago, it was like you'd known them for years. Music blasted through Jennies apartment as you all danced around while doing your makeup, hair and getting dressed. Pre-drinks flowed and already you were having so much fun, you couldn't wait to see what the rest of the night had in store for you. An hour or so later, the four of you walked into the house of EXO, immediately met by the smell of weed and sweat. People were drinking, smoking, dancing and it looked like everyone was having fun. You and Lisa made your way to the kitchen to grab a drink while Jennie and Rose went to talk to some people. After a few more shots, Lisa dragged you to the dance floor, where you both let loose. You felt a pair of hands slide behind you, grabbing your waist tightly. You looked up at Lisa who had a weird look on her face. Turning your head, you looked to see who was behind you. Immediately you were uncomfortable. It was Mark.

“Hi, baby.” He whispers into your ear. You look at Lisa with wide eyes, mouthing “help” to her.

“Bathroom break, c'mon Y/N.” She says, grabbing your hand to pull you away from him. She pulls you upstairs and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind you.

“Oh my god, thank you.” You breathe.

“Ew, what is he doing?” She says. “What did he say to you?”

“Hi baby.” You gag, remembering the feeling of his breath in your ear.

“Oh that's fucked up.” She laughs. You both wait a few minutes before you head out of the bathroom, looking down the hall to make sure he's not waiting for you. Luckily he isn't upstairs, and when you went downstairs, you didn’t see him. You breathed a sigh of relief. You and Lisa got another drink, heading back to the dance floor where you met the rest of the group. Hours had passed and you had forgotten about your little interaction with Mark. You had left the dance floor, sitting on the couch with someone you didn’t recognize immediately. He wore a sweater, ripped jeans and a hat that almost covered his face.

“You want a hit?” he asks, passing you a blunt. You’d smoked a few times before but not very often because of your parents. You happily took it, taking a few puffs before handing it back. He looks over at you, giving you a smile and that's when you saw.

“Chanyeol.” you smiled.

“Having fun?” he asks. You nod your head as you feel the weed mixed with alcohol hitting you.

“That may have been a bad idea.” you giggle. Chanyeol smiles at you. Before you can say anything, you’re being pulled off the couch by Jongin, who insists that you dance with him, so you do. His hands on your hips as you grind your ass into him, but your eyes never leave Chanyeol. He adjusts his hat, showing his eyes that are set on you. Chanyeol licks his lips as he watches you dance with Jongin, his hands moving up and down your body. Chanyeol leans forward, his eyes still trained on you, his arms now resting on his thighs.

When the song is over, Jongin asks if you want a drink, you decline, wanting to go back to Chanyeol but you were cut off.

“Hey you.” Mark smiles, stepping in front of you. “Why did you run off?” He asks, tilting his head to the side.

“I've been with friends.” You say, trying to push your way past him, going anywhere else. He grabs your wrist, tightening his grip.

“Why are you trying to leave? I'm talking to you.” He snaps.

“Look Mark, you seem nice.” You say, glancing down at his hold on you. “But it's just not going to work out between us.” you finish, trying to get him to release your arm.

“Why not?” He asks, holding you tighter.

“I'm just not interested.” You say, fighting his grip a little harder now. You were beginning to panic. Everyone was in their own little worlds, no one realizing what was going on.

“You haven't even given me a chance.” he spits. You can't be nice anymore. He just wasn't getting it.

“I don't fucking like you.” You yell, pushing him with your free hand. His grip loosens a little, allowing you to rip your arm from his hand. You turn to walk away, catching the eyes of Chanyeol, who was looking at you with a concerned look. You start walking towards him when you're pulled away, Mark's hand back on your arm, pulling you in the opposite direction, towards the front door. You looked back for Chanyeol but he wasn't there. Mark continues to pull you through the crowd. Panic was really starting to set in, until you came to an abrupt stop.

“Move.” Mark yells. You look ahead, seeing Chanyeol blocking the way.

“She doesn’t seem interested, dude.” Chanyeol deadpans, glancing down at Mark’s hand on your wrist. He grabs Mark’s arm, swiftly moving Mark’s hand from you. “Don't touch her, or we're gonna have a fucking problem.”

Mark stares at Chanyeol for a moment before looking back at you. He gives you a wink before he walks away.

You let out a breath that you hadn't realized you were holding. “Thank you.” You say to Chanyeol.

“Can I take you home?” He asks. You quickly look around for the other girls to say goodbye, but you can't see them.

“Please.” You half smile at him, heading towards the door.

The walk home was pretty quiet, until you were close to your building and Chanyeol spoke up.

“So that guy..” he starts.

“Was the guy I went on a date with a few weeks ago.” You confirm.

“That's crazy.” He laughs. “I mean, I can see the appeal though.” He smiles.

“It's just right up here.” You tell him, pointing to the building coming up. “Would you.. want to come up for a drink or something?” You ask. Chanyeol nods his head, as you both make your way into the building.

You really had planned on having a drink, but as you closed your door behind you, Chanyeol turned around, looking your body up and down. He stepped towards you, you stepped back, backing into the door.

“Just say no if you want me to stop.” He whispers.

You say nothing.

He crashes his lips onto yours, his tongue sliding into your mouth, both of your tongues tangling together as he deepens the kiss, pushing his body against yours. You quickly discard your coat onto the floor, never breaking the kiss. Chanyeol bends down, his lips leaving yours and moving to your neck as he puts his arms under your thighs, effortlessly picking you up, letting you wrap your legs around his waist. He pins you against the wall once again, freeing his hands as you're still wrapped around his body.

“Hope you didn't like this shirt too much.” He groans, Using both his hands to rip open your shirt, buttons flying everywhere.

That was so fucking hot.

He pulls the shirt off of you, throwing it wherever, he kisses your neck, moving down your chest. You flick his hat from his head, upset that you were the only one half naked.

“Bedroom?” he asks.

“Kitchen table.” You breathe.

He smirks, walking you to the table. He lays you down, pulling his shirt off in front of you.

Holy fuck.

He was a lot more muscular than you had originally assumed, he looked so fucking good. He reaches up, grabbing the waist of your jeans, he tugs them down, discarding them on the floor, leaving you in your bra and panties. You place your feet on the table as Chanyeol kneels down in front of you, peppering kisses between your thighs. You're so fucking wet, desperate and needy right now and this was not helping.

“Please.” You pant.

“Tell me what you want, baby girl.” He says, moving closer to your pussy but not close enough.

“Eat me.” You groan, spreading your legs even more. Chanyeol licks his lips as he moves your panties to the side, spreading your lips before he licks a strip up your wet pussy.

Fuck

“Mhmm.” Chanyeol groans, latching his lips to your clit. You back arches as he continues to lick and suck on your clit. Your eyes are closed as you feel him reach up, grabbing your tits, squeezing as he devours you. Your toes curl as he moves his mouth quicker, your hands make their way to his hair, gripping tightly as you push his face deeper into you, grinding your cunt on his face.

“Oh my fucking God.” You cry out, your orgasm building quickly. “Shit, oh fuck, I'm gonna cum.” You whimper just as your orgasm hits you, your eyes roll back into your head as your body works through the pure fucking euphoria you were feeling. Chanyeol takes one last slurp as he stands up, his rock hard cock pressing against his jeans.

He gives you a cocky smile as you sit up, your head spinning uncontrollably. “Wow.” You whisper, sliding off the table and down to your knees. You fumble with the button of his pants for a second before you get it undone, yanking his jeans and boxers down, letting his cock spring free.

You grab the base of him with your hand, licking the precum from his tip, before letting him shove his cock down your throat, as far as he could. You gag on him as he grips your hair. He thrusts his cock in and out of your mouth, tears falling down your cheeks, making your mascara run.

“Your fucking mouth feels so fucking good.” He groans, giving you one more hard thrust, before pulling his cock out. “I don't want to cum yet.” He breathes. You stand up, staring at him, he takes his thumb, smearing your mascara even more.

“Fuck that's hot.” he groans, bending you over the table. He stands behind you, his hard hands on your hips as he lines himself up with your entrance, his large cock stretching you out.

You cry out loudly as he shoves himself into you as far as he can go. He slowly pulls himself out before slamming back into you. Chanyeol grabs your hair, taking a clump in his hand to pull your head back before picking up his pace. His cock slams into you, hitting the perfect spot to build up another orgasm

“Right there, fuck, don't stop.” You scream. He lets go of your hair, pushing your head down, pressing your face into the table as he rams into you.

“Shit, you feel so fucking good.” He groans, not slowing down. Your apartment fills with the sounds of your skin slapping together, moans coming from both of you. The smell of sex and sweat filled the air as you came all over his cock, tightening your pussy around him. He pounds into you for a few more seconds before he finishes, releasing his cum inside of you.

He stands with his cock still inside you for a few seconds, both of you catching your breath. He pulls out of you, asking where the bathroom was. You continue to lay on the table, pointing in a direction, you weren't quite sure which one but he'd find it. You couldn't move, your legs didn't want to work right now. When he came out, he chuckled at you still laying against the table.

“Need some help?” He asks.

“please.” you half laugh. “I'm weak.”

Chanyeol laughs, scooping you up, taking you to your room, that he saw on the way to the bathroom. He laid you in your bed, covering you up with your blanket. He grabs your phone doing something quickly with it before pulling out his phone. He looks at it briefly, furrowing his brows.

“I gotta go, but I'll text you.” He smiles. You nod your head, your eyes already closed. chanyeol leans down, placing a small kiss on your lips before heading out.

Fuck you wished he'd stay.

[cstlji]

friday nights || byun baekhyun

1:34 AM 250424 

word count: longer than i expected

pairing: byun baekhyun x reader (ft. im changkyun)

description: baekhyun ignores you for an entire week, and you don't know why.

genre: bestfriends to lovers!au, jealous!baekhyun, mutual pining, angst-ish, fluff after lmao

a/n: kinda rushed ending (?) lmk if you guys want a part 2 or a longer version!

You and Baekhyun have been best friends ever since you both got stood up by your dates on prom night. You vividly remember Baekhyun's reaction as your dates began making out in the middle of the dancefloor, leaving you both partnerless — and almost miserable. So, you invited him that exact moment to ditch the night and have some fun of your own, basically and invitation to sit on the gutter as you eat your melting ice cream.

But, that was a story for another time - now you’re in your third year of college. Your friendship’s been that long, and you swore, the last time you checked, the platonic energy between the both of you was almost tangible. Although you had a moments when romantic thoughts about him invaded your mind.

You swore it were mere milliseconds, though – and that you didn't think about how his hands could perfectly fit in yours and, how sweet his lips would've tasted like. Nothing of that sort, really. You knew that the both of you were awfully platonic, and nothing more. You didn't want to entertain thoughts of you and him together romantically, because it would never happen. Plus, you went out on a date last week.

You and Changkyun were totally hitting it off. And you would've told Baekhyun about him, but he's been ignoring you for the past 5 days. No calls, texts, nothing. Everytime you'd visit him on his breaks, he's always be out, or busy, or just not in the mood — which rarely happened.

So, you planned to corner him into telling you what's wrong. You really had no clue, but you've got a feeling that it had something to do with you. It was your break, and you checked your phone for Baekhyun's schedule. You both exchanged schedules the beginning of the semester, which is also probably why he'd been successful in avoiding you.

There was an overlap between your schedules. His class would end at around the same time as yours would start. But you were really determined to know what the hell's wrong you could just be late to class for a couple of minutes. And after a long, painful wait — catch him, you did.

He walked out with two of his friends, who you knew as Minseok and Jongdae. It was Minseok who spotted you first. He called Baekhyun and pointed at your direction.

"Hey, Y/N." Minseok waved at you, and so did Jongdae. You smiled and waved back as Baekhyun's eyes widened.

"Go on first, I'll catch up later." He told his friends, his eyes avoiding your gaze. The two walked off after saying goodbye.

"What are you doing here?" Baekhyun held your arm, gently pulling you to the side.

"You were avoiding me for a week, what's up?" You asked, eyeing him carefully. He reached to the nape of his neck. He removed his cap, fixed his hair, and put it back again.

"I... wasn't avoiding you," he said, still avoiding your eyes. You weren't convinced, so you pulled his face to meet yours.

"There, see!" you exclaimed, "you avoided my eyes again. What's wrong, Baek?"

"Nothing," he muttered. He glanced down his wristwatch, and urged you to move. "You're literally five minutes late to your class, get moving dumbass."

"No, I'm not leaving 'til you tell me what's wrong. Is it something I said? or did? Or, like, did something happen to your family? Come on, talk to me, don't shut me out like this."

You were honestly nervous, you feared that the friendship you had would be gone in a blink if you didn't do this.

Baekhyun sighed, and met your eyes. You heart dropped to your stomach. It felt different from his usual teasing glints, there were hints of longing. His eyes glossed a little, eyes bloodshot red. You immediately reached to his face, and his eyes closed and he leaned to your touch.

"Baek," you sighed softly, "have you not been sleeping?"

"Mmhm," Baekhyun hummed, hand on top of your hand on his cheek. "Let's...talk later." His eyes met yours this time.

You nodded with a soft, gentle smile. "Of course. Come over later? Let's watch a movie tonight." Your thumb ghosted over his cheek.

"But that's for Friday?"

You swore you saw Baekhyun frown a little from the loss of touch as you retreat your hand from his cheek, but you decided you were just crazy and that it wasn't like that.

You shrug, hands on your pocket. "We could do it like, two days earlier, it's fine."

"Why? So you could ditch on me and go on a date again?" He blurted out.

You audibly gasp, earning stares from passerbys. Your hand flew to your open mouth. "What do you mean? I didn't ditch you, I asked you if it was okay and you said yes!"

"I didn't!"

"You did! I even have the text messages here if you need refreshments, dude."

"Don't dude me, Y/N," Baekhyun groaned, rubbing his face roughly. It was an a look of frustration, and you felt it was directed to you.

"Is this why you're mad at me? Because you thought I ditched you?" Your voice slightly trembled. Now you were frustrated and confused.

"No!" he abruptly said, "No, I'm - I'm not mad at you, I just, Friday nights are for us," You internally winced, because you took that in way that isn't how friends should take it as.

"And you — "

"Baekhyun-ah!" You both looked at the direction of the voice. It was Junmyeon who called out with a smile as he approached you. "Oh hey, Y/N, what's up?"

You smiled and tried to push the argument you just had at the back of your mind. "Hi, oppa."

Baekhyun sighed, "What's wrong, hyung?"

"I couldn't find Chanyeol, he told me he'd be with you." Junmyeon's lips parted a lottle, "Did I interrupt you guys?"

"Yeah, we're kinda bu—" You interrupted Baekhyun.

"We just finished talking, oppa," you glance at your watch to avoid Baekhyun's intense gaze. "I have to get to class, I'm suuuper late. See you later!" You waved Junmyeon goodbye, and turned away quickly.

You hear Baekhyun call to you as the distance grew farther. You didn't want to lose Baekhyun over a fight like this, especially when you thought of him in a different light yet again.

~ • ~

Baekhyun's heart broke a little as he looked at you walk away. He let out a heavy sigh as he massaged his eyebrows.

Junmyeon noticed. "Are you good?"

Baekhyun looked up at him and nodded yes. Junmyeon was not convinced though, but he decided not to push it. "Come on, let's meet them."

Baekhyun stayed silent. He moved on autopilot, basically just following Junmyeon's footsteps — but not before looking back to the place you once stood at.

The guys laughed loudly in the middle of the restaurant. Baekhyun and Junmyeon settled down, "Did you get food already?" asked Junmyeon.

"We ordered pasta and pizza, you could order more if you want to, though," Minseok said. "It's Jongdae's treat for missing the last get together."

"Nice."

The guys continued to talk, and joke around. Food kept arriving at their table, and everyone dug in except Baekhyun. He was staring at nothing, just picking on his food with a fork.

"Hyung, are you okay?" Jongin nudged Baekhyun. He looked up, and forced a smile.

"Yeah, of course." There was a moment of silence before Chanyeol broke the ice.

"You guys remember Changkyun?” He asked. Baekhyun’s ears perked up, the name was familiar. Too familiar, in fact. His eyebrows knitted tightly, he couldn’t help it.

“What about him?” Sehun popped a fry in his mouth. Lay tilted his head slightly.

“He’s throwing a party tonight, he invited us.”

“What’s his business inviting us? We don’t even know him,” Baekhyun bitterly spat and did not go unnoticed by his friends.

Chanyeol and Junmyeon exchanged glances with Kyungsoo, who sighed and said, “We can just not go, it’s not a big deal.”

Baekhyun just drew a big sigh and ruffled his hair. To say he was pissed was an understatement. He’d been so bothered about you dating other guys, and he hated the fact that he couldn’t even tell it to you directly.

After all, you both agreed on staying strictly platonic after having witnessed your sister and her then bestfriend get married and divorced on the same year.

“What’s with you, Hyung? You rarely act this way,” Jongin asked, eyes full of concern.

Sehun snickered, “He always acts this way whenever a certain someone’s involved.”

Minseok hummed in agreement. Baekhyun groaned as Kyungsoo spoke, “You mean Y/N?”

“Precisely,” Sehun confirmed with a smirk.

“Aren’t you strictly platonic?” Jongdae asked.

“Yes.” Sadly.

“Huh, so why are you jealous?” Kyungsoo asked.

“I am not jealous.” Lie.

“You definitely are.”

“I’m not.” Yes, he was.

“You like her, don’t you?”

“What?” Yes.

“You do!”

“What are you even —“

“Someone’s got a crush —!”

“I—“

“Just admit it, Hyung!”

“N —“

“Baekhyun —“

“I love her, damn it!”

Silence filled the table. Everyone suddenly laughed out loud after his outburst — they knew you got Baekhyun fucked up in the head and they love to see it.

Now, Baekhyun’s admitted it and there was no going back. He had avoided saying it for the longest time for the fear of it “coming true” when he knew that he had no say in his feelings from the get-go.

“Just tell her, confess, do something,” Kyungsoo said.

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Would you rather lose her to Changkyun?” Lay suddenly spoke up. Baekhyun looked at him, and he knew his hyung made a point. He had to do something.

~ • ~

Time went by fast, and it's been two days since you last saw Baekhyun. Still, no calls nor texts from Baekhyun. You were beginning to doubt your decision of avoiding the conversation — you start to think that you should've let him finish talking before walking out like that.

Is he gonna drop by tonight? It's literally friday, its — its your movie night. Or is he never gonna talk to you, and you end up losing the love of your life?

Wait, no. He's your bestfriend, so you love him, right? Its that kind of love that's purely platonic, isn't it? Plus, you had a date! And you totally hit it off, you swore to god.

Okay, maybe you lied. You and Changkyun were bonding over relationship traumas instead of building up a new relationship. You both had a cup of sweet tea, but the conversations you had left a bitter taste in both your mouths.

Changkyun also mentioned someone he liked, and was in fact, asking for advice. That's why you both set another date for tomorrow, solely for the sake of advices. Besides, you also enjoyed complaining to him about Baekhyun's annoying habits that you secretly liked.

You then pace back and forth, probably hyperventilating and on the verge of another panic attack. You bite on your nails as you watched a late night game show, or atleast tried to watch.

You couldn't focus on it. You sat down, your knees bounced up and down. So you stood, but you kept pacing back and forth. And you'd look at the television, but would later find yourself starting at the clock. You were so immersed that you failed to notice the numerous missed phone calls.

Until the door bell rang. You sprinted towards the door, opened it in one motion.

And there he was, holding a bouquet of roses. He offered a sheepish smile, and offered up the bouquet.

You didn't even realize you've been holding your breath 'til you saw him on your doorstep. You immediately engulfed him with a hug, your tears threatening to spill.

He hugged you back as he buried his face at the crook of your neck. You missed his scent, so much.

You pulled away, "I - I thought you wouldn't — "

He cut you off, "Don't go."

You look at him, confused. You wipe your tear-stained cheeks, settling your hands on his biceps. "What? What do you mean?"

"On that date," he said, eyes intensely on yours. "Don't go on that date, please."

"Well, that's for tomorrow still, I —"

"No, you don't understand. I," Baekhyun took a deep breath. "I don't just mean tonight. I mean, don't ever go on a date with another man. Please."

You were speechless as you watched Baekhyun frown in thought, trying to compose what he wanted to say.

“I,” he paused. He looked his shoes, and licked his lips in anticipation. “I get livid when I think of another man touching you, or holding your hands, and the mere thought of you kissing someone else makes me go insane, you have no idea.

“My heart races when our fingers touch, and I can’t help but want to kiss you when you do something childish. Or when you cry because of a stupid movie — I want to grow old with you, sit under a tree and watch as our children run across the fields. I — I love you. For the longest time, I’ve loved you. I love you, Y/N.”

You were speechless and shaking. Here was the man you longed for, confessing his love to you — and you couldn’t believe it. Your jaw drops, and he looked at you with great intent.

“I love you, too,” you said, tears rolling down your cheeks. “You dumb idiot, what took you so long? I kept it all in, I waited for you for so long! I —“

He captured your lips with his in the softest way possible. A moment lingers as he pulled away,

“I’m sorry for making you wait, Y/N. I —“

You pull him back in, deepening the kiss as you hook your arms around his neck — bodies flushed against each other. He dropped the bouquet, and put his hands on your hips, pulling you closer to him.

“Shut up and kiss me, baby.” You said in between breaths and kisses.

[baejl]

lawyer-to-be

exo 10th member

somi feels the pressure of her final semester at uni while getting ready for EXO's comeback after a while

masterlist 🌻 requests are open feedback is always important to me!  

"Let’s go back from the second chorus to the bridge." the choreographer told the group. 

Somi whined and pouted, returning to her position on the other side of the room. 

All these years she could count how many dances she didn’t cross the whole room or stage and things would not be any different with ‘Don’t Fight The Feeling’. 

But, other than that, one more thing kept her anxious that night: finals. 

For a long time during her journey at university, she thought this moment would never happen. Deep inside, she knew that balancing her life and a whole university dream was almost impossible but, somehow, she made it. If everything works out, Somi will officially be a Bachelor of Law in less than a month. 

"Can we take a break?" Xiumin asked, taking a sip of his water. 

"No!" Somi answered before the choreographer himself, making her members and managers laugh. Xiumin looked at her, surprised. "Sorry, oppa. We’re running late and I have finals today."

"That’s true." Sehun said, massaging Somi’s back. "Poor girl is studying her brain out."

Somi frowned at the sudden display of affection and stepped aside, running away from Sehun’s message. 

"Oh, really?" the dance director asked her manager, who agreed. The man turned back at Somi, with an apologetic gaze. "I’m so sorry, Somi. I didn’t know. We can start earlier tomorrow and cover the rest, you’re all dismissed."

The boys sighed, relieved. For most of them, especially the ones coming back from the army, everything was still a bit hard to get used to again. 

After some minutes deliberating if they’d either eat at the company or their respective houses, the members decided to enjoy those few minutes and eat together at the company, like in the old days. Each manager bought something and less than ten minutes later, they were spread out in the lounge area of the dance room, some sitting on the couch while the other sat on the floor - like Somi, who was eating her sandwich while scribbling her notes. 

"Somi-yah", Baekhyun called her attention, teasing her. "this isn’t the library. Eat peacefully."

Somi sighed, shaking her head without looking up. 

"It is my last semester, oppa. I can’t let things slip now." she answered him. "I don’t even have time for that."

Kai, on the other hand, took one of her papers and - tried to - read it, raising an eyebrow while taking a bite of his apple. 

"How do you even have space in your brain for dance moves and legal articles?" he genuinely asked, making everyone in the room laugh. 

Somi rolled her eyes at him playfully, but still appreciated the lighthearted support. Taking the note from his hand, she placed it back to where it was before. 

"Your brain is the small one here, oppa." she joked around. Kai laughed too, and understood that was his cue to let Somi quiet. 

Eventually, the boys started packing their things and getting ready to go back home. Before leaving, Chanyeol headed straight to Somi. 

"Before I leave, pop quiz." he said, making the girl look at him without getting exactly what he was expecting of her. "Tell me what the 10th article of the Korean Constitution says."

Somi laughed nervously. 

"You’re testing me now?" she asked. 

"Consider it a challenge! What’s it about?" he insisted. 

"The dignity of individuals and the right to pursue happiness. Every person deserves respect." Somi answered, confidently, making the managers and members still there cooing. 

Chanyeol winked at her, giving the girl a quick hug before taking his backpack from the couch where he was sitting not too long ago. 

"Look at you! Ready to ace the test." he joked. 

Somi learned how to calm herself before an exam as time went by. In her first semester, she couldn’t sleep for two whole weeks, too anxious about everything. She couldn’t stop thinking how embarrassed she’d be if she failed any subject - she could even imagine the headlines, ‘EXO’s Somi fails university’. 

But, luckily, with a lot of therapy and self-confidence that she was doing what she could to be a great student, she realised that being that desperate was kind of useless. Somi couldn’t pull out the ‘I’m an idol’ card because things were hard. Some of her colleagues had to work twice what she had and they’d still do their best. 

With time, Somi learned to trust her guts. 

"Somi-ssi," she heard D.O calling her and looked at him. "fighting!"

They waved each other a quick goodbye before Somi’s phone started to buzz, indicating it was time for her to start getting ready to leave too. As her house was away from either the company or her university, she packed a change of clothes and some makeup, just to cover the huge dark circles under her eyes and look less tired. 

Going to the private washroom inside the practice room, she took a quick shower before getting ready. Luckily, her manager had already left, leaving Somi all by herself, enjoying those few moments of silence, trying to remember as much as she could about everything that could be on the exam. 

The road to the uni was filled with silence. Somi needed silence after spending the whole day listening to the same music, over and over again. Parking her car in a more private spot in the parking lot, Somi took a last check on her phone. A thousand missing calls and hundreds of messages, but one in particular caught her attention, and it was from Jungkook.

"Good luck, sunshine. I’m open for a good glass of wine after the exam 😝❤"

Somi chuckled as she read the message, feeling her cheeks warming. He was being so cute to her after their little moment at the ‘97 line party, that she’d eventually have to accept one of his multiple invites to go out. However, that was not the time to think about any of that. 

Making a quick prayer before leaving her car, Somi felt that bittersweet feeling on her belly as she walked to her classroom, greeting some of her uni friends on the way. 

Somi felt incredibly comfortable while she was there. She didn’t know how to describe the feeling, but it was like she didn’t have to worry about anything else but getting great notes and studying, not about the thousands of steps, rhythms or beats she had to hit per minute and, luckily, people around her seemed to understand that. Somi never had to take any actions and the other students were always very polite when they wanted attention from the “idol Somi”, as they’d joke. 

When Somi got to her classroom, most of her classmates were already there, focusing on their notes just like she had a few minutes ago. She sat down in her usual spot and waited for the time. I am fine, she kept mentally repeating. I’ve faced greater challenges in life, she assured herself. Anyway, all she could do was wait. 

A few moments later, the professor arrived, with a bundle of paper in his hands and a killer look on his face. 

That was it, she was going to fail. 

When the professor handed her the paper, she didn’t think too much. It was almost like her body would shut down and the only functional thing was her brain. In less than an hour, Somi finished the exam, taking extra time to review her answers before it was too late. She gave the paper back to the professor, who kindly gave her a thumbs up before dismissing her, wishing her good luck. 

As soon as she stepped out of the classroom, Somi felt her energy drained. She sent her friends a message saying she’d head straight home and that she was sorry for not going out with them, but all she wanted was a warm bath, with her special bath soaps and her bed. 

The way back to the dorm was as silent as it was to the university. She heard her phone vibrating sometimes but nothing really mattered as her parents, members and managers were the only contacts she’d get notified. 

Getting home, Somi tried to balance her books, bags, water bottle and some packages the doorman gave her. When she opened the door, dropped all of that on the floor. That was a problem for Future Somi. 

But, something on her table called her attention. 

It was the most beautiful pink and white roses bouquet, smelling so fresh and sweet, perfectly placed in a pink pot. She took the small envelope placed beside the bouquet and felt tears in her eyes when she read it. 

We’re so proud of you. Keep going - you’re doing amazing. Fighting! - All the love, Kyungsoo. 

She smiled, feeling the warmth of their support as she headed straight to her room, knowing she was not just carrying the weight alone.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Roll Into Me

Pairing: Park Chanyeol x female reader

Genre: smut / suggestive fluff

Tropes: established couple

Warnings: everything but the actual smut scene occurs here, nudity, mild cussing

Word count: 961

Chanyeol had barely gotten through the front door and dropped the bag he had over his shoulder before you launched yourself at him, his surprise thankfully not inhibiting his body from moving quickly to catch you. He then grinned, delighting in the shriek-whimper that left your mouth before your head buried into the side of his neck.

He chuckled. “Did you miss me, by chance?”

“I’m so glad you’re home. It was hell without you.”

“Aw, was it?” he wondered genuinely, looking around the apartment for telltale signs of such torment. Everything looked almost the same, and he smiled brightly when he spotted the flowers he had gotten delivered two days prior with a note telling you he was coming home earlier than planned sitting in a vase on the corner of the kitchen countertop.

He carried you over to said countertop and placed you down, right as you pulled back enough to scowl at him. “Why did you put the instant pot on the top shelf?! I wanted to pressure cook some chicken to shred, but I couldn’t get it down because I have no idea where the stool has gone to!”

“Did I?” he asked, scratching his head in what he hoped appeared like confusion.

You didn’t buy it for a second and slapped his upper arm playfully. “And where is the box of my snacks?! You hid them on purpose, didn’t you?”

“I did no such thing!” he responded, but he was unable to stop another chuckle from tumbling from his lips.

“You’re such a teasing shit, you know that? I’ve been going out of my mind with all the small but significant changes you made to annoy me whilst you’ve been gone, and here you are trying to act innocent?! Park Chanyeol, you’re anything but!”

“I didn’t want you to stop needing me,” he disputed, and you stopped mid-way from retorting, your expression softening. He leaned forward, chuffed at your reaction. “And your snacks are up on the top shelf too.”

“The stool?”

“Behind the washing machine,” he confessed, smiling even when his lips met yours. You sighed into the embrace, shifting again until you were flush against him, your body rolling forward into him in that familiar way that he loved so much. He couldn’t stop the extra thud his heart did then, his brain crooning there she is to him as he realised just how much he had anticipated the move. You arched further into the embrace, a needy little moan breathily being passed from you through the kiss. He kissed you deeper, harder, until he couldn’t breathe anymore and needed air.

“Missed you.”

“Missed this,” you refuted, and he grinned, nodding down at your body flush against his.

“Me too. I thought I was imagining it when I was away and thinking about this.”

“What?”

“You when you kiss me.” You frowned, and instead of explaining it, he reached out for your lips again. He smiled when your hips shifted against him and briefly cut off the kiss. “That. You do that.”

“I do what?”

“You have no idea?” he asked with a surprised laugh and moved his hands from the countertop where they had ended up and put them on your hips. “You roll yourself into me when you arch your back. With every kiss you give me. You’ve never noticed it?”

“I…” Pausing to look down and then up at Chanyeol, you placed a hand on his neck to bring his lips closer to yours. You were too rigid going into the kiss as you tried to understand the habit, and whilst your body shifted infinitesimally, it wasn’t like it usually was. Chanyeol scooped you up and kissed you more passionately, hoping that after losing your focus you’d discover the little habit. Instead, he too lost track of what you were both discussing, his own body shifting, needing, craving.

Soon you were no longer resting on the countertop but clumsily pulled into his arms again and making your way to the bedroom, Chanyeol tripping over a soft toy your dog left lying around. He cursed but managed to right you both, succeeding in reaching his destination, sans his hoodie and your dress along the way.

“It’s been too long.”

“Really,” you agreed, your hands greedily smoothing over his skin whilst he kicked off his pants. Chanyeol’s attention slipped back to you, his palms skimming over familiar trails as he stripped you of your underwear. Crawling up onto the bed, he brought his body back against yours. It wasn’t long until your lips moved from his neck up to his lips, and Chanyeol groaned with the satisfaction of having your taste upon his tongue once more.

Suddenly, it stopped.

“Oh my God!” you exclaimed, sitting up and leaving him stranded below you with his lips still puckered mid-kiss. “I really do it!”

“Huh?”

“The hip thing! I never realised, but I just did it then.”

Chanyeol blinked several times before pointing down at his body. “Could you do it again right now? I was experiencing something then.”

“It’s your fault! You pointed it out to me.”

“Talk later? Meet me here now?” he begged, and you laughed, pushing him onto his back and throwing a leg over his waist, nestling your body with his.

You kissed him sweetly, and now that he didn’t feel so bereft with you back against him, he matched your smile when you rolled into him, your back arching.

“There you are.”

“You wait for me to do it?”

“Almost every time,” he confessed, drawing you back into the throes of your building passion. Closing his eyes as your lips moved to other parts of his body, he let out a little contented sigh.

It’s good to be home.

_________________

All rights reserved © prettywordsyouleft

[EXO Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist]

[ff-rtp]

Soft spot

Helllooooo! This is going to be by far my biggest story . Please suport me !

Chapter1 Chapter2

Three women: an ambitious rookie cop, a rebellious ER doctor, and a quiet dance student, find themselves entangled in the dark, seductive world of Seoul’s Mafia.

On the other side: a brilliant Mafia boss, a cold-hearted enforcer, and a dangerously charming manipulator.

When their worlds collide, love and loyalty blur, and crossing the line may cost them everything.

Count :8.8k

Genre: Mafia AU | Angst | Romance | Drama

Pairings: Suho x Min | Chanyeol x Nari | Baekhyun x Sunny

Warning ⚠️: Violence and physical altercations, mentions of death/murder, weapons use (guns, knives, etc.), swearing, mild suggestive themes or sexual tension , mentions of blood/injury (e.g., medical descriptions or violence-related wounds), morally gray characters/actions.

Exo Ot12 !!!

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The office was a whirlwind of chaos as the mafia prepared to make another bold move, eliminating Police Chief Kang Hyu-cheol, the trusted right hand of Chief Im Dong-hyun. The air was thick with frustration and fear, tension mounting with each passing second.

Inside Chief Dong-hyun’s office, the phone on his desk rang incessantly, its shrill tone cutting through the suffocating silence. But Dong-hyun didn’t move. He sat frozen, his hands trembling slightly as the devastating news sunk in.

That was when his daughter, Min, burst into the office. Hyu-cheol had been more than her father’s right hand—he had been like an uncle to her, a steady and familiar presence throughout her life. But there was no time for grief, no space for weakness. Min forced herself to push aside the growing ache in her chest. She had to be strong. For her father.

“Dad…” she said softly, her voice laced with sadness, trying to mask the cracks threatening to form.

Her father didn’t respond. The only sound in the room was the muffled sobs he tried—and failed—to contain. As the cries turned into heavy, unrelenting weeping, Min’s heart clenched. She had never seen her father cry, not once in her life. The sight left her unmoored, unsure of how to react.

Slowly, she approached him, crouching beside his chair and gently taking hold of his arm, forcing him to meet her gaze.

“Dad,” she repeated, firmer this time, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her. “I promise you, we’re going to stop them. They won’t kill anyone else. Not on my watch.”

Her father’s tear-streaked face twisted with anguish. He knew better than anyone that this was a promise far beyond her control. And the thought of her being the mafia’s next target wrenched his heart painfully.

“You are not getting involved in this case,” he said, his voice hoarse but resolute as he fixed her with a desperate look. “Do you hear me?”

His words carried a weight that even his sobs couldn’t undermine. They were not a request—they were an order. An order born of fear, love, and the unbearable thought of losing the only family he had left.

Nestled in the secluded, impenetrable depths of Gwanmok Forest, the mansion stood like a phantom of power and wealth. It was a four-story architectural masterpiece, hidden from the world by twisted, unlit roads and signal-dead zones. Its modern façade exuded luxury—glass, steel, and stone fused seamlessly under the faint glow of the evening sky. Outside, an elegant cascading waterfall dominated the courtyard, flanked by well-manicured gardens. Gigantic gates guarded the property, reinforced with cutting-edge security.

Inside, the mansion was a labyrinth of purpose. The underground basements housed an expansive training facility and an arsenal of weapons and vehicles. The ground floor featured a state-of-the-art casino, a lavish bar, and a sprawling living room. Offices filled the first floor, equipped with high-tech surveillance and hacking equipment. The third floor was reserved for the minions and staff quarters, while the fourth was strictly for the core eight members—the Mafia’s elite. This uppermost level hosted their bedrooms and an ultra-private meeting room where only they gathered to decide the fate of their empire.

The core members sat around a sleek glass table in the dimly lit meeting room. Suho leaned back in his chair, his piercing gaze scanning the room. A glass of whiskey rested in his hand, the amber liquid catching the light from the digital screens that lined the walls.

“So, I’m assuming you’ve heard already,” Suho began, his voice calm yet cold. “Someone killed Hyu-cheol. But now the police are sniffing around.”

Sehun slouched in his chair, twirling a blade between his fingers. His irritation was palpable. “We’ve got too many businesses running right now to deal with this. The last thing we need is the cops breathing down our necks.”

“What’s the plan, then?” Xiumin asked, his tone steady as he folded his arms. Ever the reliable one, he was always ready for action but measured in his approach.

Suho’s expression remained unreadable as he replied, “They’ll probably send someone after us. We need to stay vigilant.”

Baekhyun smirked, leaning forward with his usual mischievous air. “And who’s going to come for us now that Hyu-cheol is out of the picture?”

D.O., seated at the far end, didn’t lift his eyes from his laptop as he tapped away. “From my sources, Hyu-cheol’s superior is Im Dong-hyun. Chief of Police in the Violent Crimes Division. He’s been in his position for over 12 years but has never touched a case involving the Mafia. Until now.”

Suho swirled the whiskey in his glass, his sharp eyes narrowing. “What else do we know about him?”

D.O. connected his laptop to the large screen at the front of the room. “Plenty,” he replied, his tone even. As the screen flickered to life, a profile of Dong-hyun appeared. “He’s 52. Solved dozens of high-profile cases, with a success rate of 97%. Widowed. Has diabetes, mild form. But here’s the interesting part—he has a daughter. An only child. His weakness.”

The room went silent for a moment, the implication sinking in.

“Should I give you more details about her?” D.O. asked, his voice cutting through the silence.

Suho gave a curt nod.

D.O. clicked through the files. “She’s 25. A junior officer in the Violent Crimes Division. However, she’s been kept on low-risk cases—probably her father’s doing. She’s green but ambitious.”

The screen shifted to live surveillance footage, showing Min with two women walking inside of a café.

“Is this live?” Chen asked, raising an eyebrow as he leaned forward.

“Yes,” D.O. confirmed.

“Who are those two with her?” Chanyeol asked, his deep voice breaking his usual silence.

D.O. pulled up their profiles. “Kim Nari, 24, a dancer at the Korean National Opera. And Han So-yeon, also known as Sunny, 25, a resident ER doctor.”

Baekhyun’s eyes sparkled with mischief as he leaned back in his chair. “A cop, a doctor, and a dancer. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.”

Kai, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. “What’s their relevance to us?”

“They’re not involved in anything… yet,” D.O. said. “But they’re close to her. If we want leverage against Im Dong-hyun, they might be the key.”

Kai’s jaw tightened as he glanced at the screen. “Leverage is one thing, but dragging innocent people into this?” His rebellious streak was always at odds with his sense of loyalty to their moral code.

“They’re not innocent if they’re in our way,” Sehun said coldly, his eyes fixed on the screen. “If they want to protect her, they’ll become collateral damage.”

Suho raised his hand, silencing the room. “We’re not making any moves yet. Dong-hyun hasn’t come for us directly. But keep watching. If he does, we’ll use whatever means necessary to protect our empire. Understood?”

A collective murmur of agreement echoed through the room.

As the meeting adjourned, the tension lingered in the air, each member retreating to their thoughts, knowing that the storm brewing outside was just the beginning.

“However…” Suho’s voice cut through the air, halting the members who were halfway out of their seats. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing with a faint smirk. “I’ll need you to keep an eye on them.”

Chanyeol let out an arrogant laugh, crossing his arms. “That’s newbie work. Why don’t we send lower ranked staff ? They got time to waste.”

Suho raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. His smirk deepened. “So, we have a volunteer?” he asked, looking straight at Chanyeol. The room chuckled lightly, Suho’s mockery evident.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “This is bullshit.”

“You think so?” Suho said with a teasing laugh. “Then maybe you’re not as elite as you claim to be.”

Baekhyun sighed dramatically, tossing his head back. “Enough of this. We’ve got the China export to handle. Don’t tell me you expect us to babysit on top of everything else.”

Suho’s tone turned sharp, commanding the room’s attention. “That’s why you’re here, Baekhyun. Because you’re elite. You’re not just muscles and charm, you can multitask.”

Baekhyun groaned but didn’t argue further.

“I’ll keep tabs on Dong-hyun and his daughter,” Suho continued, his gaze shifting across the table. “Chanyeol and Baekhyun, you’ll keep an eye on the other two—Nari and Sunny. D.O., keep digging into their backgrounds. Report everything to me.”

D.O. gave a subtle nod, already processing the assignment in his head.

Chen, leaning casually against the wall, spoke up. “Who do you think killed Hyu-cheol? Was it the China Mafia?”

“Probably,” Suho admitted, his voice laced with frustration. “But we don’t have proof yet.” His fingers tapped rhythmically against the table as he continued. “They’ve been waiting for an opening since they betrayed us years ago. They’ve grown fast, too fast. But let’s be clear: they’re still not on our level.”

The room grew quiet as Suho’s words sank in. Everyone understood the gravity of the situation. Betrayal wasn’t something Suho, or the EXO Mafia would forgive easily.

The café buzzed softly with the hum of casual chatter and the clinking of cups against saucers. Nari, Min, and Sunny had just stepped inside, their presence turning a few heads—not that they noticed. Min chose a cozy table near the back, away from prying ears.

“Thanks for coming,” Min said after they sat down, her tone heavy with unspoken tension. She rubbed her temples as if trying to massage away the weight of her thoughts.

“Is it true?” Nari asked carefully. “About the Chief of Police being murdered?”

Sunny leaned back in her chair, her expression serious for once. “Yeah,” she said, her tone low. “The ER was a mess when his body came in for the autopsy. You wouldn’t believe the chaos.”

Nari blinked, her curiosity piqued. “Wait, so you saw him?”

Sunny shook her head quickly. “No. I didn’t see him. It’s just… bad news spreads fast, you know?”

Min exhaled sharply, frustration evident in the way she clenched her fists. “I swear I’ll catch them one day,” she muttered, her voice filled with determination.

Sunny, ever the chaotic one, leaned forward with a playful grin. “And what if they catch you instead?” she teased. “Imagine being kidnapped by a mafia boss. How thrilling would that be?” Her laugh rang out, light and carefree.

Nari rolled her eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Why am I not even surprised you’d find something like that exciting?”

The three of them laughed, the tension momentarily easing. Still, Min’s eyes kept darting to the security cameras positioned around the café.

“Min, are you okay?” Nari asked, noticing her distraction.

“Yeah…” Min said, forcing a smile. But the crease between her brows told a different story.

Sunny clapped her hands together suddenly, snapping them out of the moment. “Anyway! Are you guys coming with me this weekend to the casino? I got invited by this guy who came to the ER, someone cut off one of his fingers. Poor guy.”

Nari’s eyes widened. “Wait, what? Are you sure it’s a good idea to go to a place like that with everything happening? The Mafia’s all over the city right now!”

Sunny waved her hand dismissively. “That’s why we’re taking Miss Police Officer over here.” She pointed dramatically at Min. “If anything happens, she can arrest them or something.”

Min’s lips quirked into a faint smile. “That might actually help me find some clues. Could be useful.”

Sunny grinned, victorious. “See? Even Min thinks it’s a good idea.”

Nari hesitated but finally sighed in resignation. “Fine. But if we end up in trouble, you’re the one explaining it to the authorities, Sunny.”

Sunny laughed, clapping her hands. “Deal. So it’s official, we’re going!”

As they continued talking, Min’s eyes lingered on the cameras once more, that nagging feeling of being watched refusing to leave her.

Next day , the ER was loud and chaotic, exactly like Sunny herself. The constant buzz of ringing phones, nurses barking orders, and patients crying out in pain seemed to mirror her personality. She fit perfectly there, like chaos personified in a white coat.

From kids with appendicitis to car crash victims, births to toddlers with high fevers, Sunny had seen it all in just one day. Yet, amidst the overwhelming energy of her job, her mind kept circling back to the conversation she’d had with Nari and Min the day before.

Mafia. The word held an allure she couldn’t quite resist. It wasn’t fear that gnawed at her, fear rarely fazed Sunny. No, it was curiosity, a deep itch she couldn’t ignore. And that curiosity was about to lead her somewhere she’d never ventured before.

The morgue.

The cold, sterile basement of the hospital wasn’t a place Sunny frequented. She’d avoided it thus far, preferring the chaos of the ER to the stillness of death. But now, her curiosity had gotten the best of her.

When she pushed open the heavy metal door, the temperature dropped immediately, sending a chill down her spine. The faint hum of the fluorescent lights echoed in the empty space.

“Of course, it’s freezing down here,” she muttered under her breath, rubbing her arms.

“Sunny?” came a voice from across the room.

She turned to see Jayhun, another resident doctor, standing by a desk piled with papers. He looked up, slightly surprised to see her there.

“Hello, Jay!” Sunny said brightly, masking her discomfort. She walked over to him, her usual confident stride intact. “Can I ask you a few questions?”

Jayhun nodded, setting down his pen. “Sure. What’s up?”

Sunny leaned slightly against the desk. “Were you here when they brought in Hyu-cheol? The police chief?”

Jayhun’s brows furrowed, his focus shifting to her fully. “Yeah,” he said slowly, almost cautiously. “Do you want to know about him?”

Sunny nodded eagerly, but Jayhun was already flipping through some documents. He handed her a report, his expression unreadable.

Sunny scanned the page, her eyes widening. “Wow… was he stabbed? I was expecting something a bit more, what’s the word, classy from the Mafia. Guns or something, you know?”

Jayhun stiffened, his gaze narrowing. “How do you know it was the Mafia?”

Sunny, always quick with her tongue, shrugged nonchalantly. “Who else? He was working on Mafia cases, wasn’t he? Seems logical.”

Jayhun’s tone turned sharp, almost defensive. “You don’t know that.”

Sensing the tension, Sunny decided not to push further. “Right, right. Just speculation,” she said lightly, setting the report back on his desk. “Thanks for this.”

Jayhun didn’t respond immediately, his eyes still on her as she turned and left.

By the time Sunny returned to her floor, the usual chaos had resumed. Nurses rushed by with clipboards, and a patient’s groan echoed faintly from a nearby room. She headed straight to her locker, where she pulled out her phone and dialed Min.

Min answered on the second ring. “Sunny? What’s up?”

Sunny didn’t waste time. “I just came from the morgue. Hyu-cheol was stabbed, Min. Not shot, not poisoned—stabbed. Doesn’t that seem… off?”

Min’s voice was calm but laced with tension. “I already know. I got the autopsy report earlier today.”

Sunny leaned against her locker, frowning. “Oh. Well, doesn’t that strike you as weird? I thought the was all about guns these days.”

“They are,” Min admitted. “That’s what’s bothering me. They haven’t used knives in years, and the location where Hyu-cheol’s body was found, it’s not one of their usual spots. Something doesn’t add up.”

Sunny could hear the frustration in her friend’s voice. “So… what now?”

“I keep digging,” Min said firmly. “And I keep my father from finding out how involved I am. He’s already trying to push me off this case.”

Sunny smirked. “Good luck with that. We both know you’re as stubborn as they come.”

Chanyeol wasn’t happy. In fact, he was downright pissed.

Sitting in the shadows of the opera’s vast auditorium, he leaned back in the creaky wooden chair, arms crossed tightly over his chest. The rehearsal was in full swing, with dancers moving fluidly across the stage. But his eyes were glued to one figure: Nari.

She stood out effortlessly, not just because of her beauty but because of the way she moved. Graceful yet powerful, she commanded attention without even trying. Chanyeol hated to admit it, but she was captivating.

Still, that didn’t make this assignment any less irritating.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Baekhyun.

“What?” Baekhyun’s voice came through, annoyed.

“This is pure bullshit,” Chanyeol hissed. “Is Suho testing us or what?”

Baekhyun chuckled dryly. “I agree. We’ve got a billion better things to worry about than babysitting some girls.”

“At least yours is a little interesting,” Chanyeol shot back. “I have to sit here watching Miss Little Swan do pirouettes.” His tone was dripping with disdain.

Baekhyun laughed outright, clearly enjoying Chanyeol’s misery. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of her talent.”

Chanyeol growled into the phone. “Shut up. Have you found out anything about Sunny yet?”

Baekhyun sobered slightly. “Yeah. My guy inside, Jayhun, told me she went to the morgue asking questions about Hyu-cheol.”

Chanyeol’s jaw tightened. “She’s nosy. That could be a problem.”

“No kidding,” Baekhyun replied. “But if she keeps poking around, it might actually help us figure out who killed Hyu-cheol.”

Chanyeol sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I swear, if this turns into more of a headache, I’m done.”

Baekhyun snorted. “Yeah, sure. Like Suho’s going to let you off the hook that easily.”

Chanyeol hung up, his eyes drifting back to the stage. Nari was in the middle of a complicated routine, her movements so precise they seemed almost effortless.

The rehearsal had finally wrapped up after what felt like an eternity to Chanyeol. The dancers filed out of the auditorium, their tired chatter echoing through the space. But, of course, Miss Little Swan had to stay behind.

From his hidden corner, Chanyeol watched as Nari moved across the stage, repeating the same spin over and over again. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, her movements sharp yet fluid. She seemed completely unaware of the emptiness around her, completely focused on getting every detail right.

“Perfectionist,” Chanyeol muttered under his breath, tapping his finger against the armrest of his chair.

Just then, movement near the stage caught his eye. Yoomi, one of the cleaning staff, appeared, struggling to carry a basket loaded with cleaning supplies and brooms that looked far too heavy for her.

Before Chanyeol could even consider stepping in—though, realistically, he had no intention of doing so—Nari noticed the older woman. She stopped mid-spin, her expression instantly softening. Without hesitation, she jogged over to Minji and took the basket from her hands.

“Oh, Minji! You should’ve called someone to help you,” Nari scolded gently, her voice warm and full of concern.

Minji smiled gratefully, brushing her hands off on her apron. “Ah, you’re too kind, Nari. Thank you, dear.”

Nari set the basket down and straightened up, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “It’s nothing. You shouldn’t be carrying something so heavy by yourself.”

As they spoke, their laughter filled the otherwise quiet auditorium. Chanyeol’s brows furrowed slightly.

“You were amazing today,” Minji said, her eyes lighting up. “I was watching from the back. You’re more and more perfect every day.”

Nari waved a hand dismissively, her cheeks flushing faintly. “You’re too kind, Yoomi. I’m far from perfect. There’s still so much I need to work on.”

“Nonsense,” Minji said firmly. “You shine brighter than anyone else on that stage.”

Nari tried to laugh off the compliment, changing the subject. “How’s your husband? He was sick last week, wasn’t he?”

Minji's face softened at the mention of her husband. “He’s much better, thanks to those medicines you sent us. I don’t know how to thank you, Nari.”

Nari reached out and hugged Yoomi, her genuine warmth practically radiating from her. “Please don’t mention it. I was happy to help. I’m just glad he’s feeling better.”

Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed as he watched the interaction. There was something almost unnerving about how kind she was. That kind of kindness could easily get her in trouble. People like her, soft-hearted, selfless, were easy targets.

He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. He used to be like that once, before life beat it out of him. Nari didn’t seem like someone who’d been through that kind of hardship. She had no idea how cruel the world could be.

Too naive, he thought grimly. She won’t survive like that.

Just as he was starting to get lost in his own thoughts, a ringtone broke the silence, snapping him back to reality.

Nari fished her phone out of her bag and answered it, her voice light and cheerful. “Sunny? Hey! How was your shift?”

Chanyeol sat up slightly, straining to catch snippets of the conversation.

“Yeah, I’m done here… No, I stayed a little longer. You know how it is,” Nari said, laughing softly.

Her tone shifted slightly, a mix of excitement and nervousness creeping in. “Wait, where did you say? The casino? At the periphery of Seoul?”

Chanyeol’s interest was piqued. A casino?

Nari paused, biting her lip. “I don’t know, Sunny. That sounds… well, a little sketchy.”

Chanyeol smirked faintly. At least she’s got some sense.

But then she sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll go. But if anything weird happens, you’re buying me lunch for the rest of the month.”

She hung up, shaking her head with a small smile.

Chanyeol’s smirk faded. A casino on the outskirts of Seoul? That was dangerous territory—too dangerous for someone like her.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed Baekhyun.

“Now what?” Baekhyun answered, his tone exasperated.

“They’re going to a casino tonight,” Chanyeol said flatly, his jaw tightening.

“A casino?” Baekhyun echoed, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Well, that’s… unexpected.”

“Yeah, and it’s one of those casinos. The ones Suho told us to stay clear of unless absolutely necessary.”

Baekhyun let out a low whistle. “Guess you’ll be working overtime tonight, huh?”

Chanyeol ignored the jab. “Just keep an eye on Sunny from your end. I’ll handle this.”

“Good luck with that,” Baekhyun said with a chuckle. “Sounds like your Little Swan is going to be a handful.”

Chanyeol hung up without replying, his eyes narrowing as he watched Nari gather her things and leave the stage.

“Handful doesn’t even begin to cover it,” he muttered, rising from his seat and disappearing into the shadows.

The Paradise Casino exuded a level of luxury and exclusivity that instantly caught their attention. Warm, golden lighting cascaded through shimmering metallic curtains that hung like drapes over sections of the vast room. Tables with sleek, polished finishes were surrounded by plush, leather chairs. The patterned carpets in deep shades of black and gold gave the space an air of sophistication, while the soft hum of conversations, clinking glasses, and the occasional cheer from a winning hand filled the air. Private rooms were tucked away on an upper level, accessible only by a staircase with glowing railings, reserved for the wealthiest or most dangerous guests.

Sunny parked the Mini Cooper, and the three of them stepped out, adjusting their outfits to shield themselves from the cold. Nari tugged at her dress uncomfortably as they approached the entrance.

“This place looks… a little too fancy for us,” Nari muttered, glancing at the extravagant decor visible through the grand glass doors.

“It’s perfect,” Sunny said confidently, adjusting her blonde bangs and flashing a mischievous grin. “A little glamour never hurt anyone. Plus, it’s not like we’re here to gamble our life savings—just to look around.”

“You’ve never been to a casino before, though, right?” Nari asked, frowning.

“Nope, but how hard can it be?” Sunny replied nonchalantly. “Besides, if anything goes wrong, Min’s got her cop badge, right?”

Min laughed as they stepped inside. “Yeah, sure, that’ll help. Too bad I couldn’t smuggle my gun in here. Don’t worry, though—I’ve got my intimidating glare.” She winked at Nari, who groaned softly.

“This feels like a terrible idea,” Nari whispered under her breath, but neither of her friends seemed to hear her over the upbeat jazz music playing in the background.

They found a cozy booth near the center of the room and ordered a round of cocktails. Sunny pouted when her virgin mojito arrived. “This sucks—I can’t even have a real drink.”

“You don’t need alcohol to cause chaos,” Nari teased, finally relaxing enough to join in the banter. “You’re a walking hurricane.”

Sunny laughed, raising her glass. “Cheers to that!”

As they laughed and sipped their drinks, they were completely unaware of the three pairs of watchful eyes tracking their every move from a shadowed corner of the casino. Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Sehun sat at a private booth, blending seamlessly into the opulent surroundings. All three were dressed in sharp, tailored suits that screamed power and authority, their weapons concealed but easily accessible.

“This is ridiculous,” Chanyeol muttered, his eyes narrowing as he observed the girls. “Why are we babysitting?”

“Maybe Suho wanted to see if you’d finally develop a soft spot for someone,” Baekhyun teased, smirking as he swirled his drink. “Look at you, playing bodyguard.”

Chanyeol scoffed, leaning back in his chair. “At least your target has some spice. I’m stuck watching a ballerina who thinks the world’s all sunshine and rainbows.”

“You sound jealous,” Baekhyun quipped. “I, for one, am enjoying this. Who knows? Maybe something interesting will happen.”

As if on cue, a tall blonde man approached the girls’ table. All three of the men stiffened slightly when they recognized him.

“Luhan,” Baekhyun said under his breath, rolling his eyes. “What are the odds?”

Sehun smirked. “This might actually get entertaining. Luhan’s probably got a pocketful of drugs ready to spike their drinks.”

“We’re not letting that happen,” Chanyeol said sharply. His voice was low but commanding, leaving no room for argument. He gestured to one of the casino’s staff—a man loyal to their mafia—and whispered instructions. Within minutes, the waitress carrying the girls’ drinks accidentally stumbled, spilling the contents before they could take a sip.

“Crisis averted,” Baekhyun said, watching the scene unfold. “Luhan must be fuming.”

Back at the girls’ table, Luhan had introduced himself as one of the casino’s owners, sliding smoothly into the seat beside Nari. His charming smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Min immediately felt her guard go up.

“Are you ladies having fun?” he asked, his voice dripping with charisma. “I hope the Paradise Casino is treating you well.”

“It’s nice,” Sunny said, shrugging. “But it could be more exciting.”

Luhan chuckled, leaning in slightly. “Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to make your evening more… memorable.”

“Actually, we’re waiting for some friends to join us,” Min said quickly, her instincts telling her to lie. She met Luhan’s gaze with practiced calm, but she wasn’t sure if he believed her.

Luhan’s smile widened. “Of course. I hope you enjoy your time here.” With that, he stood and walked away, leaving a faint trace of expensive cologne in his wake.

“Creepy,” Nari whispered, shivering slightly.

Meanwhile, back at the corner booth, Sehun laughed quietly. “Luhan and his old tricks. Think he’ll try again?”

“Probably,” Baekhyun said, already losing interest. “He can’t help himself.”

Chanyeol’s expression darkened. “We need to keep them out of trouble. I’ll handle it if Luhan tries anything else.”

As Min decided to approach Luhan for more information, Sunny and Nari wandered over to the gaming tables. Sunny, with her usual confidence, tried her hand at a slot machine, while Nari stayed close by, clearly uncomfortable but putting on a brave face.

“Relax,” Sunny said, nudging her friend playfully. “It’s just for fun. Who knows? Maybe you’ll hit the jackpot.”

Nari forced a smile but couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. Little did she know, Chanyeol’s sharp eyes were locked on her every move, his protective instincts kicking in despite himself.

Nari’s head felt heavy as the overwhelming glitz of the casino grew too much to bear. The loud chatter, the relentless lights, and the haze of cigarette smoke pressed down on her chest. She needed air. Spotting a side door near the back, she slipped away unnoticed by her friends.

The cool night air greeted her as she stepped outside into a dimly lit alley behind the casino. She exhaled deeply, trying to clear her mind, but her relief was short-lived.

“Lost, sweetheart?”

Nari froze. Two men emerged from the shadows, their grins wide and uninviting. Their suits were cheap, their demeanor cocky, and their intentions unmistakable.

“I was just leaving,” she said, her voice steadier than she felt.

But they didn’t move aside. One of them stepped closer, his eyes shamelessly trailing down her sparkling black dress. “Leaving? Not so fast. Stay a while. Let’s chat.”

Nari’s stomach churned as panic began to set in. She instinctively took a step back, but there was nowhere to go.

“Don’t be shy,” the other one chimed in. “We don’t bite.

When the first man reached out, his hand brushing against her lower back, Nari felt as though ice had suddenly gripped her spine. Before she could react, a deep, commanding voice echoed from the darkness.

“I’d remove that hand if I were you.”

The air turned frigid, as if winter had arrived in that alley alone. Nari shivered, her dress doing little to protect her from the sudden chill. She turned her head toward the source of the voice and froze.

He stepped into the faint light, his towering figure dominating the space. Nari was tall, but he was taller—a striking man with fiery red hair that seemed to glow even in the dimness. His dark suit was pristine, tailored perfectly to his lean but powerful frame.

The two men immediately paled, their bravado vanishing. One of them stammered, “W-We didn’t mean any harm—”

Chanyeol didn’t let him finish. His piercing gaze bore into them, his voice low and menacing. “Leave her alone. Now. Unless you want to leave here in pieces.”

The menace in his tone was undeniable. The men didn’t need a second warning. They scurried away like rats, throwing fearful glances over their shoulders as they disappeared into the night.

Nari was rooted in place, her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Was he dangerous? Probably. But he had just saved her, and for some reason, that thought was oddly comforting.

“You okay?” his voice was softer now, breaking through her haze.

She nodded mutely, unable to find her voice.

Satisfied, he turned to leave, but just as he was about to disappear into the shadows, she finally managed to speak. “Thank you.”

He paused for a moment before glancing over his shoulder. His lips twitched upward, barely forming the shadow of a smile, but he said nothing as he walked away.

As she watched him disappear into the night, her thoughts raced. He was polished, expensive-looking, and dangerously handsome. But there was something about his cold aura that unsettled her. Who was he?

Chanyeol, meanwhile, felt equally distracted. He hadn’t planned to intervene, but seeing her there—vulnerable and out of place—something in him snapped. And then he remembered her from the opera. That kind smile she had given the cleaning lady. That softness. That light. It was a stark contrast to the world he lived in.

Something was wrong, and he knew it.

Nari returned to the casino, weaving through the crowd until she spotted Min and Sunny at a table. The two were playing some game she had only ever seen in movies, laughing and teasing each other like they didn’t have a care in the world.

Min immediately noticed her friend’s tense demeanor. “What happened?” she asked, her tone low and concerned.

“Nothing,” Nari lied, shaking her head. But she couldn’t hide the distracted way her eyes scanned the room, searching for a flash of red hair.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was thick with tension. Suho sat at the head of the table, his expression thunderous. Everyone else remained silent, knowing better than to speak when their leader was in this mood.

“I have information,” Suho began, his voice sharp and controlled, “that the Chinese mafia might be here in Korea.”

“‘Might’?” Baekhyun scoffed, leaning back in his chair. “Do you mean ‘definitely,’ or are we just guessing?”

Chanyeol cut in, his voice calm but firm. “It’s confirmed. We saw Luhan earlier tonight at the casino.”

A murmur spread through the group.

“That means they’re responsible for Hyucheol,” Xiumin said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“It’s not just about him,” Baekhyun muttered, swearing under his breath. “If they’re here, they’re not just sending hitmen. They’re here for us.”

“There’s another problem,” Chanyeol added, his tone darkening. “We saw Luhan talking to someone. The police chief’s daughter.”

The room went silent. Suho’s expression didn’t change, but the way his eyes darkened made everyone uneasy. He stared down at the reports in front of him, deep in thought.

“D.O.?” Suho finally asked, breaking the silence.

D.O. pushed his laptop forward, his tone calm but precise. “I hacked into the airport arrivals data and CCTV footage. It’s confirmed—they’re here. But they arranged to avoid all customs and registration checks.”

He clicked a button, and a grainy video played on the screen. Four men were seen leaving a private jet.

“They didn’t even try to hide,” Chen muttered, recognizing their faces immediately.

“So, all of them are here,” Xiumin said, his voice grim. “They’re up to something big.”

“That’s why we need to stay vigilant,” Suho said sharply. His eyes swept across the room, landing on each member in turn. “No distractions.” He put heavy emphasis on the last word.

The tension in the room was palpable. Everyone knew the storm was coming—they just didn’t know when it would hit.

The meeting room fell into a tense silence after Suho’s final declaration. Everyone exchanged heavy glances. They all knew the reputation of the China mafia—their cruelty, their resources, and their mastery of manipulation. It wasn’t just another gang. It was an organization that thrived on fear and annihilation.

“For now,” Suho broke the silence, his voice sharp and authoritative, “we stick to our assignments and routines. Nothing changes. I’ll assign more guards to the house and our bases. Stay vigilant.”

His gaze shifted to Sehun and Kai. “You two will find them. Track their movements, figure out what they’re planning. Report directly to me. No screw-ups.”

Kai nodded curtly, already processing the task at hand. Sehun, however, smirked as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

“And while we’re out there doing the real work,” Sehun drawled, looking straight at Chanyeol and Baekhyun, “you two can keep babysitting.”

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes, his irritation visible, but it was Baekhyun who immediately fired back, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Aw, Sehun. Don’t be jealous that Suho doesn’t trust you with important tasks like babysitting. It requires tact, charm, and brains—three things you seriously lack.”

Sehun laughed mockingly, leaning forward. “Say that again after you’ve had your first successful mission in, what, a decade?”

Baekhyun opened his mouth to retort, but Suho slammed his palm on the table. “Enough!” His sharp tone sliced through the room, silencing them instantly. “This isn’t a game. Act like the professionals you’re supposed to be, or I’ll find people who can.”

The tension thickened as both Sehun and Baekhyun sat back in silence, their glares still burning.

Suho turned to D.O. with a slight nod, his voice measured but firm. “D.O., any progress on the police chief’s daughter?”

D.O. smirked faintly, sliding a folder across the table toward Suho. It was thicker than any of them expected. “A little,” he said, his tone smug.

Suho opened the folder, and his brows furrowed in surprise at the sheer volume of information. The others couldn’t help but glance curiously as Suho flipped through the pages—her academic records, family history, career achievements, and even candid photographs.

“Impressive,” Suho murmured, still scanning through the file. His tone was calm, but there was an edge of satisfaction.

When the meeting adjourned, the others filtered out of the room. Suho stayed behind, seated at the head of the table with the folder open in front of him. His eyes lingered on a photograph of Min at the police academy. There was something about her—a spark of determination in her eyes that caught his attention. “This girl…” he muttered to himself, tapping the edge of the photo absentmindedly.

The next day at the violent crimes office was as chaotic as usual—phones ringing, detectives arguing, and paperwork scattered across desks. Min entered her father’s office to find him pacing furiously, yelling into the phone.

“This is unacceptable! You’ve had this information for weeks, and you’re telling me now?!” Chief Im’s voice boomed, his face red with anger. When the call ended, he slammed the phone down, the sound echoing through the room.

“Wow,” Min said with a soft chuckle, closing the door behind her. “I haven’t seen you this mad in a while. What’s going on?”

Her father sighed heavily, running a hand through his graying hair. “This damn mafia… They’re causing problems again. Every lead is a dead end, and now this.”

“Well,” Min said brightly, leaning against his desk, “I might have some good news. But first, you have to promise to let me get involved.”

Her father shot her a sharp look. “Yoon-min, no. Absolutely not. This is dangerous work—too dangerous for you.”

“Dad, come on,” she said, exasperated. “You know I’ve been training for this my entire career. Trust me. I can handle it.”

Chief Im rubbed his temples, clearly torn. After a long pause, he sighed in defeat. “Fine. But listen to me—if anything happens, even the smallest thing, you’re out. Do you understand me?”

Min rolled her eyes but nodded. “Got it, Dad. Now, let me show you what I found.”

She placed a set of papers on his desk and began explaining. “I’ve been looking into the Guan-mok forest on the outskirts of Seoul. The satellite maps of the area have been tampered with—likely hacked. There’s no other explanation for the discrepancies I found. It looks like someone erased key details from the system, possibly to hide something. If my theory is correct, this forest is being used as a base or meeting point.”

Chief Im’s brows furrowed as he leaned over the papers, clearly impressed.

“But there’s a downside,” Min continued. “The forest is huge. There’s no signal out there, which means any search would be difficult and dangerous. And if they’re hiding something, there’s bound to be security—probably armed.”

Her father stared at her, a mix of disbelief and pride on his face. “How… How did you even find all of this?”

Min smirked and crossed her arms. “I have my ways. Maybe you should trust me more often.”

Chief Im sighed again, sitting heavily in his chair. “You’re just like your mother,” he muttered, shaking his head.

Min smiled softly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Be careful, Yoon-min,” he said, his tone serious. “This isn’t a game. These people don’t play fair, and they don’t give second chances.”

“I know,” she said firmly. “But I’m ready.”

As she left the office, Min couldn’t shake the feeling that her father was holding something back—something that made him more anxious than usual. She resolved to get to the bottom of it, no matter the risk.

It was late, and the fluorescent streetlights cast long shadows over the empty parking lot as Sunny finally clocked out from her grueling shift at the hospital. She stifled a yawn, her legs aching from the endless hours on her feet. Her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since lunch. Cooking was out of the question—she was far too tired—so she decided to stop at a small convenience store on her way home to grab something quick.

Sliding into her car, she sighed deeply, cranking the engine to life. The short drive to the store felt like a blur, her exhaustion making every second drag. When she arrived, she parked near the front of the shop, noting how deserted the parking lot looked. A chill ran down her spine, but she brushed it off, blaming her overworked nerves.

Baekhyun was leaning against a car near the edge of the lot, a cigarette between his fingers. The soft glow of the ember illuminated his sharp features in the dark, his gaze distant as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. Tonight had been another headache—Suho’s warnings about the Chinese mafia lingered in his mind, but Baekhyun wasn’t the type to stress outwardly. His moment of solitude didn’t last long, though.

A man emerged from the shadows. Baekhyun noticed him too late; the stranger lunged at him, catching him off guard. A punch landed squarely on Baekhyun’s jaw, splitting his lip and sending blood dripping down his chin. The taste of iron filled his mouth as pain radiated through his face, but Baekhyun quickly regained his composure.

“You really picked the wrong guy,” Baekhyun muttered, his voice low and dangerous.

The man didn’t have time to react before Baekhyun grabbed him by the collar, slamming him to the ground with a force that made the concrete echo. The stranger scrambled to his feet, realizing his mistake as he caught the cold, murderous glint in Baekhyun’s eyes. Without another word, he turned and ran, disappearing into the night like a coward.

Baekhyun wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand, muttering a curse under his breath. He leaned against his car, trying to gather himself when he heard the faint sound of heels clicking on the pavement.

Sunny emerged from the store, a small bag of groceries in hand. She was heading to her car when her eyes landed on Baekhyun. Her jaw dropped at the sight of his bloodied face, and the bag slipped from her hands, its contents spilling across the asphalt.

“Wait here!” she called out, rushing to her car to grab the first aid kit she always kept in her trunk.

Baekhyun straightened, surprised by her sudden urgency. Before he could say anything, she was back, gloves on her hands and a determined look in her eyes.

“Let me help you,” Sunny said firmly, her usual playful tone replaced by the authoritative voice of a doctor.

“It’s just blood,” Baekhyun replied dismissively, turning his face away. “I’m not dying.”

“Stop being difficult,” she snapped, moving closer. Her hands were steady, and her focus was sharp. “Sit still, or this will hurt more than it already does.”

Baekhyun froze, caught off guard by her no-nonsense attitude. He allowed her to clean the blood off his face and examine the cut on his lip. As her fingers brushed against his skin, he found himself staring at her. Her concentration was unyielding, her brow slightly furrowed, and her lips pressed into a thin line.

“There,” she said softly after a moment, stepping back and handing him an ice pack. “It’s not too bad, but you should keep this on for a while to stop the swelling.”

Baekhyun smirked faintly. “You’re pretty bossy for someone I just met.”

Sunny rolled her eyes. “And you’re pretty stubborn for someone bleeding all over the place.”

She packed up her kit, but her concern lingered. “What happened? Did someone just randomly attack you? If you want, I can call my friend—she’s with the police. She could help you file a report.”

Baekhyun let out a dry laugh. “A report? For some idiot who doesn’t even know how to throw a punch?” He wiped at the dried blood on his jaw. “Trust me, he’s not worth the trouble.”

Sunny frowned at his harsh tone but didn’t press further. “Well, with the mafia out there, you really should be more careful,” she said, half-joking but still somewhat serious.

Her words struck a chord, but Baekhyun hid his reaction behind a cold expression. “You’re one to talk. It’s late. You should go home.”

Sunny hesitated for a moment but nodded, realizing she wasn’t going to get much more out of him. “Alright. Take care of yourself,” she said, offering a small wave as she got into her car.

Baekhyun watched her drive away, her taillights disappearing into the distance. He touched the bandage on his lip, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “The mafia’s out there,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head. Something about her amused him, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He flicked the spent cigarette to the ground, stepping on it before getting into his car. As he drove off, he couldn’t stop thinking about the strange girl who’d patched him up without a second thought. Maybe the night wasn’t so bad after all.

Baekhyun lay on his bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake off the memory of the interaction in the parking lot. The way Sunny’s hands moved so delicately, yet with determination, while treating his wound. Her serious tone, so unlike her usual playful nature, had stirred something deep inside him.

“Damn it,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. The thought of her concerned face kept replaying in his mind, and it annoyed him that she had this kind of effect on him. He wasn’t supposed to care.

The next evening, Chanyeol found himself in the opera house, a place he never thought he’d willingly go to. The grandeur of the venue was almost suffocating, and he felt out of place in the first row among elegantly dressed patrons. But he didn’t care—his attention was solely on the stage.

The performance began, and as soon as Nari appeared, he felt the air in his lungs catch. Her costume was a deep red, adorned with intricate gold details that shimmered under the lights. A glittering tiara rested on her head, completing her regal appearance. Her long dark hair was perfectly swept back into a bun, emphasizing her graceful neck and delicate features.

She moved like she owned the stage—powerful and precise yet ethereal. Every leap and turn was executed with perfection, her slender frame defying gravity. Chanyeol couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked fearless, unstoppable, and yet, in her quieter movements, there was a fragility that tugged at something in him.

When their eyes met during her solo, it was as if time froze. Her steps faltered ever so slightly, but she recovered quickly, resuming her choreography with an elegance that masked the momentary lapse. For Chanyeol, however, that brief connection lingered like an echo in his mind. Without thinking, he pulled out his phone and snapped a photo. He stared at the image for a second, frowning, unsure why he had even taken it.

When the show ended, the applause was thunderous, echoing through the grand hall. As the crowd began to disperse, Chanyeol stayed in his seat, watching the dancers congratulate one another. His sharp eyes scanned the room, noting how Nari stood off to the side, her smile radiant but solitary. No family. No friends.

As the room emptied, he approached the stage. She noticed him, her expression shifting into one of faint surprise before she stepped closer.

“Congratulations,” he said softly, his deep voice cutting through the quiet space.

Her smile widened, though he caught a glimmer of something else in her eyes. “Thank you. Did you enjoy the performance? Are you a fan of ballet?”

“I’m not,” he replied bluntly. “I was here by mistake.” His tone was cold, sharp, and he immediately regretted it when her smile wavered for a split second.

Nari tilted her head, studying him with quiet curiosity. “Then I suppose I should feel honored to have accidentally gained your attention.”

He didn’t respond, instead glancing around the now-empty theater. “No one’s here for you? You’re the lead, though.”

Her smile remained, but the sadness in her aura was unmistakable. “I don’t have anybody,” she said simply, her voice light, as if the statement was a fact she’d long accepted. Before he could respond, a voice called her name from backstage.

“Excuse me,” she said, stepping back. Then, as if compelled by something, he added, “You were amazing.”

She paused, meeting his gaze one last time, her smile softening. “Thank you.” And with that, she disappeared backstage, leaving Chanyeol standing there, his thoughts in disarray.

The atmosphere in Gwanmok Forest was tense, the dense canopy of trees blocking out most of the evening light. Min adjusted her flashlight, leading the team deeper into the woods.

“Are we ready?” she asked, her voice brisk and authoritative as she scanned the group of officers.

Her father, Chief Im Dong-hyun, shot her a stern look. “Min, don’t stray too far from me.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, though her excitement was palpable. She had a hunch about this place, and she was determined to prove herself right.

As the team trudged through the underbrush, Min’s sharp eyes caught something—faint tire tracks embedded in the dirt. She grinned triumphantly. “We’re on the right track,” she whispered to herself.

But as they ventured deeper, the forest grew eerily quiet, and the fading light made the shadows seem alive. Suddenly, the distant rumble of an engine broke the silence. Min’s heart raced as she and her father ducked into the bushes, switching off their flashlights.

A sleek black SUV came into view, its headlights slicing through the darkness. Behind the wheel was a tall man with striking red hair. He exuded an aura of danger, his sharp eyes scanning the forest as if he sensed he was being watched.

“Recognize him?” Min whispered.

Her father shook his head. “No, but he’s not in any of our reports. We’ve got confirmation—there’s mafia activity here.”

Min’s pulse quickened, a mix of fear and exhilaration coursing through her veins. But her father placed a firm hand on her arm. “It’s getting dark. We should regroup and come back tomorrow.”

Min hesitated, her instincts urging her to push forward. “Just a little further,” she pleaded. Without waiting for his approval, she moved ahead.

Soon, the forest opened up, revealing a massive, ominous castle-like structure. Min’s breath hitched. “This is it,” she whispered, barely containing her excitement.

Before they could approach, the other officers joined them. But their victory was short-lived. Out of the shadows, armed figures emerged, encircling the group.

“Drop your weapons,” a deep voice commanded.

The red-haired man from the SUV stepped forward, a smug grin on his face. “Well, well, what do we have here? A little lost police party?”

Min clenched her fists, her mind racing as her father stepped protectively in front of her. The tension crackled in the air, the standoff on the verge of exploding.

[mulloey]

pent up • pcy

Request: hii can i request size kink + manhandling with chanyeol please? maybe the reader is around 158cm tall?? idk i want him to dominate me uwu

Warnings: size king + manhandling obviously, fairly dom!chanyeol, some slapping, pent up aggression kind of, unprotected sex (don’t), breeding, not proofread sue me

—————

The sound of the door closing wakes you up. You look up at the TV, still droning on and realise you must have fallen asleep waiting for him.

He’s been working a lot lately, always coming home late with flowers and an apology. You’re never mad at him, knowing it’s you that he works so hard for, but damn do you miss his touch. The roses piling up in the dining room can't compare to the feeling of his hands on you, running up and down your body, worshipping you, owning you. It’s been too long since you’ve laid shivering beneath him as he hovers over you, eyes dark and wanting.

You huff, pulling yourself up from the couch to greet him, finding a brave face to disguise how much his absence is weighing on you, on your body. You find him by the door still, kicking his shoes off and muttering to himself. “Yeol?” You whisper.

He turns quickly, softening slightly at the sight of you, wrapped up in his hoodie that nearly reaches your knees, but his eyes are dark, expression grim. He’s home later than usual, so it must have been a long day, and he looks pissed. If you hadn’t gone so long without his touch, you might feel bad that your first thought is how good, how animalistic the sex is when he’s pissed.

“What happened, baby?” You ask him.

He scoffs. “Piece of shit album just won’t fucking finish,” he mutters, voice rough and frustrated. He stares at your hoodie, eyes narrowed. “Take that off.”

You blank for a second, confused. He normally likes it when you wear his clothes. He loves how they dwarf you, make you seem even smaller than you already are compared to him. It’s only when you meet his gaze, see the fire, that you realise why he wants it off. Finally, you think.

You slip out of it hurriedly, letting it fall, your heart racing. It’s been so fucking long since he’s looked at you like this, eyes all hunger and control as he stalks towards you. His hand lands softly on your hip, covering it completely. You gulp. He’s so big. Every last bit of him.

“You’re shaking,” he says. “It’s been that long, huh?”

You nod and he sighs, grip tightening. “I’ve neglected you, baby,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you say quickly, but you’re so desperate it sounds more like a squeak. His mouth quirks upwards, a brief smile.

“Little mouse,” he whispers. “Gonna make it up to you, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you breathe, eyes wide. He smiles again, soft and brief before his expression hardens. He shoves you slightly, nodding in the direction of your room.

“Go,” he says, and you’re so desperate you’re not even embarrassed at how fast you run.

You hear him on your tail, stalking after you like prey and fuck have you missed this so damn much. He’s gonna make you feel so small, so weak, so vulnerable beneath him, just how you like it. Just how he wants you.

He closes the door behind him, gaze fixed on you. Sometimes he’d have you on your knees by now, or crawling across the floor towards him, but it’s been weeks for him, too, and he’s as desperate as you. He doesn’t hesitate as he darts towards you, doesn’t hold back as he slams you into the soft bed. His grip on your hands is strong and unrelenting but he knows you’d never try and fight back; no, when you’re like this, you don’t move a muscle without his permission.

“How d’you want it, sweetheart?” He mutters. “I left you so long, I should make it up to you.”

You shake your head quickly. “No,” you whisper. “I need it hard. Fuck me like you haven’t in weeks.”

He cocks his head, grinning darkly. “I haven’t fucked you, in weeks, baby. It’d be way rougher than normal.”

You smile, your little face a picture of innocence compared to your words. “Exactly.”

“Alright,” he says. “You’ll take it all then.”

He doesn’t give you a chance to respond before he flips you over, pushing your face into the pillow with one hand while the other lifts your hips, pulling your legs apart. You feel his breath on your neck as he gets closer to you, moving your hair to whisper lowly in your ear. “You’re gonna keep your body exactly the way I put it,” he mutters. His hand tightens in your hair. “Aren’t you, baby?” You nod, and he shoves your head further into the pillow before letting it go.

“Don’t lift your head, baby,” he says. “Just feel it.”

The hand that was in your hair trails down your body, towards where your ass is in the air, millimetres from his crotch. You hear him unzip, freeing himself from his jeans before his cock is pressed against your hole. You gasp, jerking when you feel the tip press into you slightly and he slaps your thigh, stilling you.

“Not even done anything,” he mutters. “Quit moving.”

You nod, making a noise of acknowledgment and he squeezes your ass. “Good girl,” he says. “Gonna put it in now.”

He doesn’t wait for a response before he slams into you, arm snaked under your hips to hold you still and close to him as he starts to thrust. You scream into the pillow, overwhelmed. You forgot how ridiculously, monstrously large his dick is. It hits your spot every time, fast and hard and without mercy. Maybe it’s just that you haven’t been fucked in weeks, but it seems like he’s somehow gone even deeper than normal, stretched you even further than normal. It feels like the first time again, like a virgin hole ripped open by an unrelenting hungry cock. His arms grip your torso as he leans over you, sucking at your neck as his thrusts get faster and deeper.

“Oh— fuck!” You scream, writhing in his hold.

His hand moves from where it was squeezing your tit to slam over your mouth and nose, keeping you quiet and heightening every sensation. He doesn’t relent, content to have you screaming into his palm as he fucks you like a madman. He’s whispering in your ear too, filthy things, but you’re so fucked out and overwhelmed that you barely hear him. The only thing you know is the feeling of him slamming into you, over and over and nearly inhuman in his strength.

He pulls out with a slap to your ass, but you know he’s not done. He flips you hurriedly, crashing his lips against yours and kissing you like he’s struggling for air. His hand grasps the back of your head, dwarfing it while the other guides his cock back into you. You moan into his mouth when he starts to thrust again, lifting your legs up to give him leverage to go deeper.

Rough sex seems to give you flexibility you never normally have, because he moves your legs up by your head with ease and still the only thing you feel is his cock. Your eyes are closed, too weak to open until a slap to your face wakes you.

“Look, baby,” he whispers, eyes awed and completely feral. “Your stomach.”

You look down and feel yourself tighten around him at the sight of his cock through your stomach, so big and deep you can see it move. “Fuck, Yeol,” you yell. “Fuck, you’re so big.”

He groans, huffing with a particularly hard thrust. “You’re just fucking tiny, baby,” he grunts. He speeds up again, grip iron on your hips. “Fuck, fuck, you’re so fucking small, fuck,” he chants. “Gonna come in you, fuck.”

You moan, hands wrapping around his back to pull him closer to you, your face buried in his tight chest. “Shit, Yeol, fill me up,” you moan breathlessly.

That seems to do it for him, weeks of need and aggression coming out as he unloads in you with a strangled yell. He fucks your through it, never ceasing in his thrusts even as his come spills out of you around his dick. Your own orgasm quickly follows, one of the biggest in memory, and you collapse into the bed. He falls next to you, breathless and covered in sweat as he pulls you into his arms. He runs a large hand up and down your back, slowly lulling you back to reality.

“Fuck, baby,” he breathes. “I missed my little girl so fucking much.”

You missed him too.

—————

It’s been a long ass time I know sorry y’all I started uni and it’s fucking hard like?? I rly gotta work and shit. Anywayy thank u anon for the request I loved it and I rly do think we all need to get manhandled by chanyeol sometimes. Working on the other requests after this and keep them coming! Requests are still open! As always reblogs and comments especially are so appreciated. And thank u chanyeol for being very easy to write size king about. Love<3

[noona-clock]

Encounter - Part 1

Use this as a free pass to write whatever you like for Yeolie or Suho 😉 ily, I miss you!! 💕

eeeeeeeep! thank you for this request @trishmarieco 🫶 ily imy icwtsya (i love you i miss you i can't wait to see you again)

Genre: Star Trek!AU, Enemies-to-Lovers Lite

Pairing: Chanyeol x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: None

Part 1, 2, 3, 4 | Words: 1,846

You had no idea why you were so nervous.

Sure, you were just minutes away from being transported onto the USS Solstice, your first official starship assignment. Sure, you'd spent the last few years after graduating from the academy on a science research assignment on Ligos VII and were leaving behind a life of stability on a planet for a life in space. Sure, you'd just been promoted to Lieutenant and would be assigned more responsibilities.

But what was there to be nervous about? Your time at Starfleet Academy had prepared you for this!

And as you stealthily gazed around at the small group of cadets, ensigns, and lieutenants who'd been assigned to the Solstice along with you, you noticed none of them looked at all nervous.

So, even though your stomach was queasy with butterflies, you forced a placid expression onto your face. Sometimes, pretending to not be nervous helped you to actually not be nervous, right?

That's what you'd tell yourself, at least.

But then. Just as the group of six ahead of you stepped onto the transporter platform at the Starbase, ready to beam up to the Solstice... you saw and heard someone run up to join those of you who were still waiting.

And when you turned to look to see who it was...

Your eyes narrowed.

Oh, great.

Him.

Of course.

Of course! Of course, Chanyeol had also been assigned to the Solstice.

Once you'd graduated from the Academy and almost immediately accepted a position on the research team, you had sighed heavily with relief at the fact that you would no longer have to see, speak, interact, or compete with Chanyeol.

Apparently, your era of peace had ended.

Luckily, Chanyeol's uniform was gold (yours being blue, of course) so the two of you would at least be working in different departments. Though, that was no surprise since he'd been an Engineering major.

And looking back on things, it really didn't make much sense why the two of you had been rivals. You'd focused on planetary sciences and stellar cartography -- once you'd completed all of your required general education courses, you and Chanyeol had barely had any classes together.

But somehow, you would always encounter each other and end up comparing grades and scores. Most likely, it had just been because you were both competing to be Valedictorian (an honor that ended up going to neither of you). At least, that's really the most sense you could make of why you'd had such a rivalry with him.

As the transporter Chief motioned for your group to step onto the platform, you focused your gaze ahead of you, desperately trying to avoid catching Chanyeol's eye.

You knew you'd have to face him eventually, but the longer you could put it off, the bet --

"Well, well, well," Chanyeol chuckled as he stepped onto the transporter pad closest to you. "Look who it is. Did you see that I had been assigned to the Solstice and immediately put in a request of your own?"

You shouldn't even reply. You knew you shouldn't reply. You were an adult! There was really no place for any sort of rivalry on a Starfleet ship, especially between people who worked in completely different departments!

But you couldn't stop yourself.

"Actually, no," you said cooly. "Quite the opposite, in fact. As soon as I saw you just now, I had to talk myself down from requesting a re-assignment."

A smirk tugged at Chanyeol's lips, but you were transported onto the ship before he had the chance to say anything else.

Luckily, there was no chance to continue your conversation -- if you could call it that -- once you arrived on the Solstice since the two of you were almost immediately ordered to report to your respective departments after setting your bags down in your newly-assigned quarters. At least you had that thought to comfort you: you and Chanyeol were in different departments (he in Engineering, you in Science), and would be working in totally different parts of the ship, for the most part. Unless you ran into each other in the mess hall or both eventually made your way onto the bridge as officers, you probably wouldn't even see him!

You tried to stop yourself even thinking about seeing, running into, or speaking to him as you walked briskly down the hallway of deck seven toward your quarters. You had a job to do, and you had to jump into doing it as soon as you dropped your luggage off. There was simply no time to think about anything other than your new position in the stellar cartography lab, much less your academic rival from the academy. I mean, you were in the real world now, and had been for some time! Your life at the academy barely mattered anymore. What really mattered was what you'd learned there!

Your quarters came into sight, then, several yards ahead of you just before the hallway started to curve. You sped up to reach them as soon as possible --

But you came to a sudden stop just before arriving at your door.

Because someone was standing at the doors right across from yours, and rather than opening the door to go inside, he was staring at you.

Smirking.

"Are we neighbors, then?" Chanyeol asked, his tone light and teasing.

Somehow, you were able to answer him with a steady "Appears so." Your stomach was flipping over itself with anxiety, and your heart was still racing from walking so quickly that it was a wonder you had managed to speak at all.

Chanyeol raised his eyebrows at you, his smirk growing just a bit. "This'll be fun."

He pressed the button to open the door then, leaving you standing out in the hallway, your jaw clenched and your hand white-knuckle gripping the strap of your bag.

Ugh!

Were you being punished for something? Had you unknowingly done something against Starfleet regulation and were now facing the consequences? You couldn't think of another reason why this would be happening to you!

As you pushed the button next to your own door and stomped inside, you had to fight back a bemused laugh because really, truly, and honestly -- you didn't have time for this! You had a job to do!

So, after dropping your duffel onto your new bed, you turned on your heel and headed right back out into the hallway.

Why were you even the least bit surprised when you almost ran into Chanyeol? Again?

Well, you were determined to get the last word this time.

You narrowed your eyes at him, took a few steps in the direction of the lab, and hissed, "Don't blow up the warp core."

Before Chanyeol could reply, you broke out into a speedy walk, heading away from him.

Just before you turned the corner, though, you heard his chuckle, and he called out, "If I did, you know I'd invite you to watch the show!"

Damn it! How did he always manage it?!

Despite your best efforts, you saw, ran into, and spoke to Chanyeol a bit more than you'd initially thought.

You had both been put on Alpha shift, so every morning at 0745, the two of you left your quarters to head to Engineering and Stellar Cartography. Even when you'd tried to leave earlier than normal, you'd still managed to run into him, so you'd eventually given up. It's not like you wanted him to dictate how you lived your life, anyway!

You also ran into each other in the mess hall every day at 1200 for lunch, and more than once during the first few months on board the Solstice, you'd even arrived at the Holodeck at the same time! Sometimes, it seemed like, no matter where you went or how hard you tried to avoid him, you simply couldn't.

Chanyeol was just always there.

Teasing you.

You would say that you felt like you were back at the academy, but that would be a lie. Maybe it was because you were both adults now or because the environment on a starship was just totally different than on campus -- no matter what the reason, the tension between the two of you was just different. And if you thought about it too much, it would drive you crazy.

So, you didn't. You ignored him and ignored your thoughts about him as much as you could. You were polite and responded to him when it was appropriate, but as soon as he started to tease you about your work or your perfectionism or your analytical brain, you would do your best to just roll your eyes and walk away.

It worked, most of the time. There were some times you simply couldn't help yourself and gave back exactly what he'd given to you. But it was during those times that it was most apparent that something was different in the way you interacted with each other. Hence why you ignored him as much as you could!

You should've known.

In fact, as soon as your commanding officer informed you of the away mission you'd been assigned to with Lieutenant Park from Engineering, you were embarrassed that you hadn't seen it coming.

The universe obviously wanted the two of you to face each other and -- what? Work out your differences? Become friends? Chanyeol was an arrogant jerk, so you couldn't particularly see yourself warming to him enough to call him a friend.

But, at this point, you were beginning to think that what you wanted was irrelevant. Chanyeol kept worming his way into your life, so maybe it was time to just accept it and be civil. Not tease him back. In fact, maybe what you needed to do was to go so far as to tell him to stop teasing you in the first place!

You were determined to do just that as, the next day, you headed into the shuttle bay to embark on your mission -- you would grab the first opportunity you could to tell Chanyeol that it was time to put your academy rivalry to rest now!

As soon as you stepped onto the shuttle, though, Chanyeol greeted you with "How many other science geeks did you have to fight to get assigned to this mission with me?"

You instantly forgot every single reason why you should be civil to him.

"If you think I want to go on an away mission on a shuttle with you, you're delusional," you retorted.

"I've been called many things, sweetheart, but 'delusional' has never been one of them."

You whirled on him, clenching your fists at your side. "Do not call me 'sweetheart,'" you sneered.

Chanyeol smirked at you and lifted one hand to give you a two-fingered salute. "Yes, ma'am."

At that, you could only roll your eyes and huff out your frustration.

Not even two minutes into the mission -- you hadn't even started the shuttle, for Pete's sake! -- and you were already rolling your eyes!

This was going to be a long three days.

Part 2

[noneedforjoy]

Does everyone go by their human names?

"They all have names the chose for themselves, but don't mind being called by the names of their toys since they understand the confusion."

[marshmallow-phd]

A Manor of Shadow and Blood

Genre: Regency Gothic AU

Pairing: EXO x Reader

Summary: A stormy night brought you to the manor in the middle of the woods. Nine strange men occupied its halls. They won’t let you leave. A dangerous secret haunts this estate. Learning it might either be your saving grace or it could lead to the last breath you ever take.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5

**

The grand hall was lit as bright as midday. Every surface was polished to perfection, reflecting the candlelight at a greater force. Brilliant brass and gold surrounded you as you made your way through the dancing couples, their movements in perfect sync. Wrapped in each other's arms, they spin around without a care for your wandering presence. 

While all who surrounded you were decorated in blacks and whites, your own dress was the color of freshly spilled blood. The heavy skirts that hug from your waist made it difficult to navigate the ballroom. Their fullness was of an older fashion, one that maybe your grandmother would have worn in her youth. The dropped shoulders left you exposed, your skin chilled despite the amount of bodies in here. 

You kept navigating the dance floor, on the look out for something, though you didn’t know what. Then you felt the familiar burn of eyes boring into your back, which sent a shiver down your spine. You whirled around to find the source, the dress brushing at your feet with the sudden motion. Through the crowd, you spotted Baekhyun leaning against the wall. With a single finger, he beckoned you over. And you obeyed. 

Breaking through the sea of dancers, you took in his elegant suit, the hems lined with gold thread that shimmered against black velvet. 

"You shouldn't dance alone," he purred. Arms crossed over his chest, he smirked at you with a grin even the devil wouldn't wear.

"I have no partner," you retorted. He held out a lazy hard. Hardly the romantic gesture. "No, thank you." 

"How about me?" asked a sweet voice in your ear. 

You turned your head to find Junmyeon at your back. He laid a soft hand on your hip to keep you from escaping out of propriety. When you didn’t shove him away, the hand slyly moved to your stomach, pulling your bare shoulder blades into his chest. With the fingers of his left hand, he tilted your chin towards him. 

"Am I a suitable partner?" 

No answer passed your lips. You could think of nothing to say. The thought of him twirling you around the dance floor was not… unpleasant. 

Junmyeon neither needed nor cared for a reply. He dipped his head to your shoulder and pressed a kiss to the skin. A small gasp passed your lips. And then he pressed another. More and more as he climbed up the curve of your neck. Heat rose from every inch of you as you sighed into the affectionate touches. You relaxed into his touch, welcoming each new contact of his lips. 

"It's rude not to share, Junmyeon.”

Your attention snapped back to Baekhyun, who you had forgotten was there. He pushed himself off the wall and stepped closer to you so he stood in front of the minor. 

No, not a mirror. There was no reflection. 

Except… there was. The mirror reflected the floor, the ceiling, the candlelight. You. 

But not Baekhyun. Not Junmyeon. And not the dancers still spinning behind you. 

Fingers snaked through your hair and pulled your head back, your vulnerable neck exposed. From the gallery above, Kyungsoo watched as elongated fangs flashed behind Junmyeon’s lips and plunged into your neck. 

*****

You woke with a start, the blanket flying off of you as you sat up in a fury. Sweet drenched every pore of your skin. Your day old dress clung to your skin in a way that felt suffocating. Each breath was a struggle for your lungs. 

Vampires. The nightmarish tale that had kept you up as a child until you were convinced they weren't real turned out to be true. But how could they be real? 

Creatures of the night. Blood drinkers. Horror stories meant to keep children from wandering about after dark. 

Curling your legs to your chest and encasing them in your arms, you tried to think of a way out. To escape. With what strength you possessed, you slid off the bed and walked over to the window. The sun, so bright and full of life, was just beginning its descent towards the horizon. Night–their domain–was hours away. If the legends were true, then they would all be asleep at this moment. Any risk that was to be taken had to be taken now. 

After changing into a sturdier dress, you retrieved your still mud-covered boots and, keeping them in one hand, you carefully pushed away the pathetic barrier and snuck out of the room. 

Each step was taken with unmatched caution. You tested every board with your foot before fully committing. Any squeak of a floor or stumble down a stair could alert them to your escape. But by the grace of a miracle, you made it to the front door. Fingers trembling, you pulled on the boots and tied up the laces before opening the door only wide enough for you to slink through. 

The next breath taken outside was like the first breath of life. But there was no time to take it in. 

Gathering your skirts in your grip, you took off into the trees. The dirt was dry and sturdy under your feet. Branches and leaves crunched with the weight of your boots. A lady’s delicacy was out of the question as you ran without abandon. You didn't know what direction you were running. But vampires needed blood to survive and they weren’t drinking yours. And Jongdae had brought those buns from a bakery, not their own kitchen. You doubted any of them knew how to cook. That meant a village or town had to be nearby. Junmyeon had lied about the isolation of the manor. If you just kept going, you could find freedom. 

However, your stamina was running out. This was never your preferred activity. Your lungs and throat burned in an unfamiliar way. The sun still shined above. A short respite could be spared. 

You leaned against a tree trunk for support. In your boots your feet pulsed. Only now did you realize that you had run away without food or water. Not knowing where the kitchen was located, you didn't have time to waste on it. You could survive, you told yourself. Just a little farther. The town couldn’t be too far. Unless you were headed in the wrong direction. 

A rustling rippled through the silent forest. You snapped to attention, trying to find the source. 

“The wind,” you gasped between ragged breaths. “It had to be the wind.” 

A low, rumbling growl said it wasn't wind. 

In the distance, large silhouettes emerged. Wolves. Nearly a dozen of them. 

You ran as fast as your crying legs could take you. With their superior nature built for the hunt, the wolves caught up to you within seconds. Their growls and howls grew louder and more threatening behind you. Running from the manor had been easy. Running from the wolves was to be your end. 

Powerful paws slammed into your back. You were thrown to the ground, rolling across the ground as a scream ripped at your throat. The momentum stopped you on your stomach. Hair covered your face, but you could still see your death through the strands. 

Wolves of gray and black gathered in a half moon circle. They had their prey in perfect position. The middle wolf pounced. All you had time to do was throw up your arms to protect your face. Claws raked across your forearm. Another scream echoed through the merciless trees. The wolf landed on the other side of you with pride. Now you were surrounded. A second wolf leapt. 

A blur appeared in front of you and collided with the wolf midair. The two bodies tumbled across the forest floor. A human and the wolf. 

Not a human. 

Chanyeol. The wolf trapped within his grasp, Chanyeol tightened his grip–

Crack. 

The wolf fell limply to the ground, its tongue hanging from its jaw. 

The others appeared seconds later. Not understanding what they were up against, the wolves let you go to attack the newest threat. 

"Are you alright?" Junmyeon knelt down in front of you. His hands were outstretched as if you were the wild animal on the verge of attack. Behind him, snarls and whimpers told of the fight–and who was winning. Despite not answering him, he caught sight of your bleeding arm. "We need to get back to the manor." 

He didn't ask permission before picking you up into his arms and sprinting through the forest. Everything blurred past you, your loose hair whipping at your face. He burst through the manor doors and didn't stop until he was able to set you down in the largest chair. Once you were safe, he fell to his knees, only his palms keeping him upright. The others soon stumbled in behind him, heaving and collapsing onto the floor. Only then did you notice the smoke floating up from each of their backs. Patches of burnt, red skin sizzled on their knuckles and faces. Anything that had been exposed to the sun. 

"Baekhyun," Junmyeon gasped. 

"I already have it." Kyungsoo came into the parlor with bottles stacked in his arms. He quickly passed them around, waiting until the others were quenching their thirst before pulling the cork out of his own bottle and chugging the contents. 

With his bottle empty, Junmyeon tossed it to the side and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Red smears stained the ivory fabric. You shrank back in the chair as he turned towards you. 

"What hell were you thinking!" He growled. "I warned you about the wolves!" 

"Junmyeon, she's shaken up enough," Jongdae defended. Before your eyes, his burnt skin healed to be like new.

"She could have been killed!" 

Your head was pounding. He was… concerned about your life? The legends said that the sun was a vampire's deadliest enemy. It was why they thrived in the darkness. But they had all risked a final death to come after you. 

"Did you hear me scream?" you whispered. You could barely feel your own lips moving. All heads tuned to you. 

Yixing was the one to answer. "Yes. We all heard you." 

"Why were you out there?" Sehun asked aggressively.

You sucked in a sharp breath. There was no escaping the truth now. You stared at Jongdae. "I figured it out.” 

Baekhyun laughed. "At least we don't have to walk around delicately anymore." 

"When exactly did you do so?" Minseok mocked.

"Then you should remember what I said to you before was true. Harm would not come to you within these walls." Junmyeon crouched down next to the chair. His eyes... there was something behind the darkness that tugged at your still wildly beating heart. "I know you were running away. And if you're desperate to get away enough to get yourself killed, then the choice can be yours. We can send you on your way with every provision. Or," he cleared his throat, "you stay here. With us." 

A choice? He was giving you a choice?

Your gaze drifted over the faces that stared back at you. Even Kyungsoo refused to look away while he waited. There was almost a plea in his expression, a subtle beg. But was it to stay? Or for you to run as far away as possible? 

Junmeyon took your attention away when he picked up your wounded arm with delicate fingers. His pleading was much more clear. 

To leave would be the better choice. The more sane choice. But what would happen afterwards? You could claim being lost in the woods. With evidence of the carriage and the missing driver, what else could they believe? After a few days on bed rest, you would be back by your aunt's side, following her every whim. Including indulging her on a "perfectly adequate" suitor because you had no other option, no other path. That suitor who would then become your future. But you didn't want it. You refused to give in to it. 

Already within these few days, you were… changed in a way. They might not be human, but these men would forever be burned into your memory. Who could move you with music the way Chanyeol had? What silent strength could match the aura of Junmyeon? You had been promised that none of them would harm you. The chance for something extraordinary was right in front of you. The kind of chance you had only read about. It just had to be taken.

"I think… I think I want to stay."

*****

The moon became an ever changing friend. You hardly saw the sun anymore. Like the men you had given yourself over to, you lived under the stars. It was oddly beautiful. This time was often forgotten about by you and many others. The night was only a background to your time within your dreams. But now it was your entire world. 

Every evening, you awoke to the dying orange light of the day. Breakfast always waited for you outside the door. It was the rule that no one broke; none could enter your room without explicit permission from you. Those walls remained your safe haven when things grew too overwhelming. 

Despite your decision to stay, discovering that other creatures walked the earth required a step away once in a while. Especially now, with you aware of their true nature, the men were refusing to hold back. 

Dropping from the roof, running around with spectacular speed, and lifting objects that ten men couldn't hold. It was remarkable. Except for the diet and inability to walk in the sun, the… condition seemed more like a blessing.

"You're rather thoughtful this evening,” Jongdae commented. He walked beside you like he did every twilight. 

After you finished your breakfast, you met Jongae at the front doors to go on a walk around the manor grounds. Often others would join you as well. Junmyeon was the most frequent, though Yixing, Changed, and Jongin made many appearances over the past week and a half. Boundaries were constantly tested, but one word from you and they retreated.

"I guess you could say I am thoughtful tonight," you finally sighed. You hadn’t realized that you were being so obviously quiet. Funny, since you would have thought Jongdae would enjoy the silence. You typically had many questions or comments of your own to make. 

"Should I go steal a penny from Sehun?" 

You laughed. "I'd like to think my thoughts are worth more than a single penny.”

"They must be if you've become so skilled in deflecting from them." He crossed over to block your path. Gaze narrowed, he studied your carefully guarded expression. "What are you thinking about so hard? Regretting your decision to stay already?" 

"No," you insisted. "Not at all."

He raised an eyebrow that simply asked, "Then what?" 

"Do you always stay here?" you countered. "At the manor, I mean." 

"We travel," Jongdae answered with a nod. "Not too often. It’s a bit difficult, you see."

"But we like traveling north.” Minseok dropped from who-knew-where, landing with barely bent knees and hands folded behind his back. "In the winter, the night lasts longer. Junmyeon has a small hunting lodge up there. 

A hunting lodge? "Then why do you stay here?" 

Minsoek shrugged. "This manor is bigger." 

"Having nine of us in one household can be a bit volatile,” Jongdae added. He stepped aside to continue the stroll. "We need the room to separate so we don't level a building." 

Your foot caught on an invisible lump in the grass. "You could destroy a building while fighting?" 

Minseok snickered as he caught your stumble and helped steady your stance. His hand lingered at your waist until your sharpened glare made him remove it. "We haven’t crumbled a wall in a few years."

You scoffed at the casual tone. "What sort of fight caused that?" 

"I can't remember." Minseok leaned forward slightly to look at Jongdae for help. But he didn't seem to recall either. 

"Who knows what started it between Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.”

Your mouth dropped open in shock. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol had fought over something to the point of destroying a wall to crumble? It didn't feel plausible. Neither seemed like the hot-headed sort. You wanted to know the igniting incident so desperately. 

Both Jongdae and Minseok suddenly whipped their heads towards the front of the manor. 

"What is it?" you asked when neither offered an explanation. 

"Junmyeon's calling for us." Jongdae scooped you up into his arms without warning. At your confused expression, he explained, "We're not leaving you alone out here." Remember your last adventure in the woods lingered in the silence.

The short lived wind whipped at your hair that you still wore loose to cover your neck. As soon as he stopped running, you wiggled out of his arms to be back on your feet. Everyone else was already gathered just outside the door. Several eyed you and Jongdae with suspicious and annoyed glares. You took a step away from him for some separation. 

Clearing his throat, Junmyeon called everyone to attention. "We have to go hunting–real hunting. Now, normally, we all go together, but now that we have our guest," he nodded towards you, "some will have to stay behind with her until the first party… comes back." 

"If you all need to go,” you couldn't quite speak the word feed, "then I'll be alright. For a few hours, at least." You weren't sure how long this excursion would take.

Junmyeon's features softened. "No. We'll go in groups. Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Minseok and I will go first. We shouldn't be gone long." He reached out and patted the top of your head before disappearing into the trees. Kyungsoo gave no goodbye as he followed suit. The last two playfully shoved each other while taking off. 

"Come." Yixing took hold of your hand and started pulling you inside. "I want to show you something."

"But–" You had wanted to ask Jongdae a question, but the traitor was already gone, off somewhere to do something he would never tell you about. So, you let Yixing take you into the manor and up the main staircase at the end of the hallway. At least he let you stay on your own feet instead of insisting on going at his speed. 

Going down an unfamiliar hallway, you were reminded how big this place was and how much you still had to explore. The men occupied most of your time, vying for your attention and pulling you this way and that so you didn’t have much time on your own. It was odd and overwhelming at times. 

During your seasons in town, you were hardly a well-sought after prize. There were prettier girls with grander dowries. You had accepted that fact. Now you were the center of a courting dance to which you knew none of the steps and possessed endless partners. 

Yixing paused in front of a door that looked identical to all the others. He kept his fingers tight around yours as he slowly turned the knob with his free hand. The door swung open. 

The gasp inhaled through your parted lips wasn't enough to convey your awe. 

Maps of all the places you'd heard of and dozens more you hadn't covered the walls like homemade wallpaper. Slipping out of Yixing's grip, you walked further into the study, spinning slowly around to take it all in. The maps were varying degrees of tan, some as light as his skin, others as dark as animal leather. 

Instead of bookshelves, doorless cabinets waist high lined three of the walls. Their squared shelves were stuffed full of parchment and ink and quills. A lone sketcher's desk sat in the middle, an unfinished drawing laying against the tilted surface. 

"What is this place?"

"It's my personal study," Yixing answered as he laid a hand on the edge of the desk. "Kyungsoo gave it to me after I had accidentally taken over one of the parlors." 

Your awe increased ten-fold. Your initial assumption was that he was a collector, not the original artist. "You drew all of these?" 

He nodded almost... shyly. "I did. I was a cartographer. Before." 

"Before?" You understood what he meant, but you didn't know how to ask for the story. 

Turning his eyes to the parchment, he pinched it between his fingers. "I didn't just love traveling. I loved capturing it on paper. I wanted to make these places into art, but not like every other painting. I wanted them to be perfect. Exact replicas as if you were staying at them from God’s point of view. And I wanted to be the best. I couldn't be, though. I wasn’t good enough." 

You moved closer to him, entranced in the story. "What happened?"

A rueful smile tightened at his lips. "I was given a chance to become perfect. What I didn't know was that I traded everyone knowing my maps for the talent to make it happen." Sorrow rolled from him like the tide warning of an oncoming storm. 

Feeling the pull to comfort him, you reached out and covered his fidgeting hand with your own steady fingers.

"People will be able to know your work some day," you whispered. "I’m sure of it." 

Perhaps you had been a bit too forward, a bit too open. 

Yixing moved gracefully forward to eliminate most of the space between you. A smooth thumb that once must have been calloused when it was human caressed the edge of your jaw. His flickering eyes made intentions obvious. 

Clearing your throat, you stepped out of the touch. "Why isn't this one finished?" You pointed to the drawing on the desk. It was an aerial view of the manor, with the top half of the parchment containing the beginning edges of the garden hedges. Disappointed, Yixing sighed and went along with your distraction. 

"I'm still working out the maze. It is intricate. Much more than I was prepared for." 

"Goodness." You were thankful that you hadn't wandered in there yet, especially on your own.

"Yixing.” 

Both of you turned towards the door to find Sehun standing under the frame. 

"Yes, Sehun?" Yixing said through somewhat gritted teeth. The young vampire wasn't phased. 

"I need to speak with you." 

"Fine." None of you moved. 

Sehun looked at you with a pointed glare.

You received the hint loud and clear. "I'll leave you, then.” 

With more relief than you cared to admit, you scurried out of the room and down the hallway. 

Around the corner, you pressed your back against the wall and forced yourself to take deep breaths that filled your lungs to capacity. Panic had been the response at Yixing's closeness. You didn't mean for that to be the response. You didn't want to be closed off to any of them. But you couldn't help it. Maybe it was merely the closeness of the situation. 

Giving yourself a small amount of grace, you pushed off the wall and made your way downstairs. So used to your time being absorbed by the men that you weren't sure what to do with yourself. Two of the ones that remained behind were currently occupied. As for the three others, they could have been anywhere. 

You wandered around the main floor with a fleeting hope that one would come to find you. Then you saw them. A row of grand doors evenly spaced along the north wall called you forward.

The grand ballroom took your breath away. Not so dissimilar to the one in your dream, though this one’s lack of warmth and light left you heartbroken. Memories of dancing figures and lively music haunted these walls. In the corner, you could imagine a small orchestra strumming their instruments in delight. 

You walked to the center where dozens of pairs used to twirl and bow and embrace each other in time with the melody. Ghostly laughter echoed in your ears. What had once been  bright and golden and full of life was dull, dark, and covered in cobwebs that swayed in the breeze of unknown origin. 

Glancing around, you confirmed that you were truly alone before closing your eyes, lifting your arms, and began a soft hum. 

You danced with an invisible partner in the fashion that your grandfather had taught you as a small child. It was more intimate than the choreographed dances currently popularized. You had always imagined your first ball like this, instead of the disappointment you really experienced. You had pictured a boy you didn’t know catching your eye. As the music was struck up, he laid a hand on your waist.

Just like now. 

Hm. Your imagination was running wild, even pretending the weight of a palm was there on your lower back. And now in your lifted left hand. 

No. That wasn’t your imagination. 

Your eyes snapped open. 

Jongin had taken the place of your imagined partner. He smiled down at you with a feline smirk as his hands tightened around you, refusing to let you slip away. There was no choice in leaving this musicless dance. You had stopped humming but he continued to whirl you around the marble floor. He controlled the dance, in charge of every step. He led with an expertise he shouldn’t have possessed–if he were a man of this age. 

In one final move, he slipped his arm fully around your waist, pulling you so close that no room remained between you. Without breaking the spin, he lifted you from the floor as if you were no more than a kitten and whirled you around like the heroine from your favorite novel.

When the spin came to a close, he set you back on your feet, but didn’t let go. Your lungs heaved from the exercise–and from the way your bodies pressed together. Each rise of your chest brought you even closer to Jongin. He kept your gaze like a stablehand trying to calm a wild horse. His right hand slipped from your fingers, softly tracing the delicate inside of your arm. The touch left behind a fire you couldn’t explain. A cold, simmering fire.

He cupped your jaw as his eyes drifted down to your lips. This was a different reaction to Yixing’s wandering gaze. Not panic, but something similar. 

Jongin held you in place as he leaned down, his lips pressing gently into the corner of yours. The thin breath in your lungs hitched. He lifted his lips only to find a new patch of skin. The delicate skin covering your pulse. Every muscle in your body froze. He kissed the skin softly. Surely, he could feel the race of your blood. 

“Whenever you need a partner,” he said in a hush against your neck, “just whisper my name.”

And then, he was gone. 

You stared off at the empty path left behind Jongin. The sheer hubris.

His name lingered on your lips, wondering if he would really come back like he said. But you kept the whisper inside and left the ballroom just the same. 

[elysiangroundsforall]

I Plead Guilty

"I am guilty of loving you"

Prologue

"EXO! EXO! EXO!" The thunderous chants echoed through the packed stadium as the members exited the stage, their adrenaline still surging from the electric atmosphere. Backstage, the air buzzed with a mix of exhaustion and exhilaration. The night was monumental—it was EXO’s 15th debut anniversary, and their special fan-con had exceeded all expectations.

Kai, ever the charismatic performer, ran a hand through his sweat-drenched hair as he leaned against the wall, catching his breath. His signature grin tugged at the corners of his lips, his dark eyes still sparkling under the dim backstage lights.

"Gosh… I can’t believe it’s been 15 years," Junmyeon said, wiping his face with a towel, his voice tinged with both disbelief and pride.

"I know, right?" Minseok replied, slinging an arm over Kai’s shoulder. "Feels like yesterday we were those wide-eyed rookies."

Kai chuckled softly, the weight of the years settling briefly on his shoulders. "Wide-eyed, sure. But now we’re veterans who can still set the stage on fire," he said with a smirk, earning a round of laughter from the group.

"I think it’s going to rain," Sehun remarked, peering at the darkening sky.

Chen’s lips curved into a knowing smile. "Why are you suddenly grinning like that?" Chanyeol asked, narrowing his eyes.

"It rained the day we debuted too," Chen replied, his voice warm with nostalgia. "Feels like we’ve come full circle."

Kai stood silent for a moment, gazing at the others with a fondness that words couldn’t express. The thought of how far they had come—the battles fought, the friendships forged, the love they shared with EXO-Ls—flooded his heart.

"We need to hurry, guys," Baekhyun said, breaking the moment.

Kai’s lips twitched upward again. "Right. Let’s make this a night they’ll never forget."

The members returned to the stage, and as the lights dimmed, the familiar opening notes of MAMA echoed across the stadium. A roar erupted from the crowd, the energy palpable. Kai took his position at the center, the powerful beats of the track syncing with his heartbeat.

When the lights snapped on, the stadium erupted into chaos. The silhouettes on stage revealed not just the current members but eleven distinct figures—an impossible sight. As the spotlight illuminated their faces, the screams reached an ear-splitting crescendo.

Suho, Xiumin, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun, Lay, Luhan, and Tao stood together, dressed in their debut-era outfits, styled exactly as they had been 15 years ago. It was a vision that no one dared to dream, a moment that surpassed even the wildest fantasies of EXO-Ls worldwide.

Kai’s intense gaze swept the crowd, and his movements, as precise and magnetic as ever, drew everyone’s attention. He owned the stage, commanding it with the same grace and power that had made him a global sensation. His every move was electric, a reminder of why he had been dubbed the ultimate performer.

As the group performed, the synergy was undeniable. Kai exchanged glances with his brothers—Lay’s familiar smile, Luhan’s effortless charm, Tao’s fierce energy—and felt the weight of time dissolve. They were one again, not just a band but a family.

After the encore and the emotional goodbyes, the members gathered in the old EXO dorm for a night of reminiscing. They went live on Weverse, sharing jokes, heartfelt thanks, and cherished memories with their beloved fans.

Kai took the lead in the broadcast, his laughter contagious as he teased Sehun and joined Baekhyun in a hilarious re-enactment of their rookie days. But when the mood shifted to gratitude, he spoke from the heart: "Tonight wasn’t just for us. It was for every EXO-L who stood by us, believed in us, and reminded us of who we are. This bond we share is unbreakable, and it’s all because of you."

The live ended with a toast to the past, present, and future of EXO. Later, as the members shared drinks and stories, Kai sat quietly for a moment, watching his brothers laugh and chat. He felt a deep sense of fulfillment, knowing that after all these years, they were still together, stronger than ever.

When the night settled, and everyone drifted to sleep, Kai stood by the window, gazing at the rain. He smiled, a quiet but profound joy radiating from him. The journey had come full circle, but this was just the beginning of a new chapter.

"EXO forever," he whispered to himself, the words carrying both a promise and a dream.

The Seoul High Court was silent, save for the rhythmic tapping of the judge’s gavel. The case had gripped the nation for weeks: Kang Min-seok, a single father and factory worker, stood accused of arson. The prosecution claimed he had set fire to his workplace to collect insurance money. The evidence seemed overwhelming, and public opinion was stacked against him.

But Kang had one unlikely ally—his lawyer, Y/N, a criminal defense attorney with a reputation for tackling impossible cases and exposing hidden truths.

The presiding judge sat sternly at the bench, flanked by two associate judges. The prosecution’s closing argument had been damning, detailing witness testimonies, forensic evidence, and financial records that painted Kang as guilty.

Now, all eyes were on Y/N as she prepared to deliver her final defense. Her every movement was deliberate, her voice steady.

Y/N began by dismantling the prosecution’s timeline. "The prosecution argues that my client, desperate and cunning, committed this crime to solve his financial woes. But let’s examine the facts closely."

She pointed to CCTV footage presented as key evidence, which supposedly showed Kang near the factory hours before the fire. With a confident smile, she introduced new evidence—an alibi substantiated by GPS data from Kang’s phone, showing he was miles away with his daughter.

"If Kang Min-seok didn’t start the fire, then who did? And why?" she asked, her voice cutting through the room.

Turning the focus away from her client, Y/N highlighted damning evidence against the factory’s management. She revealed internal emails proving negligence, showing that the company was aware of severe electrical hazards but failed to act.

The key moment came during cross-examination of the plant manager, where Y/N pressed him about safety measures. Beads of sweat formed on his brow as he finally admitted the truth: "We didn’t have the budget for repairs."

In her closing remarks, Y/N addressed the bench directly: "Your Honors, this is not just a case of justice for my client. It is a case of accountability—of ensuring that the truth prevails over assumptions. Kang Min-seok is not a criminal. He is a scapegoat."

After deliberation, the judges returned with their decision: not guilty. The presiding judge cited insufficient evidence and significant doubts about the prosecution’s claims, commending Y/N’s thorough investigation.

Kang Min-seok broke down in gratitude. As Y/N left the courtroom, her face betrayed no emotion—a mask she wore well. Reporters clamored for her attention, but she walked past them with a sharp reply: "I let the facts speak for themselves."

Ch 1>>>

[kpop---scenarios]

Obsession (2)

Pairing: Chanyeol x Reader

Warning: Stalking, Threatening, Launguage

Word Count: 3.8k

Part One

It had been a little over a week since you and Chanyeol fucked, and it had been radio silence. You had hoped he would have texted you by now, but you didn't want to come across as that needy girl. So you kept it cool, until you couldn't keep that cool any longer.

“Oh my god!” Jennie yells. “Did you hear the latest news?” She asks, rolling her eyes. You had been invited for a night out at Baekhyun's apartment with everyone in your new friends group. You had partially expected Chanyeol to have been there and when he wasn't you were disappointed. You liked him and wanted you get to know him more, you also wouldn't have minded fucking around with him again.

“What!?” Lisa asks. Everyone was intently staring at Jennie, impatiently waiting to hear what she had to say.

“A little birdy told me that Chanyeol and Maya got back together.” She says, trying to stifle a giggle. Every single person that sat around Baekhyun's living room table groaned so loudly. Sehun, Baekhyun and Jisoo started fake sobbing, Jongin threw his head back in frustration, Lisa started to pretend to gag, while Kyungsoo began muttering about how he had to go back to avoiding Chanyeol.

You, on the other hand, sat there in complete shock. He had a girlfriend? How long has this been going on?

“What's wrong with her?” You ask, glancing at the dramatic group around the table.

“Let's just say, Maya is..” Baekhyun pauses.

“Insufferable.” Kyungsoo sighs.

“Stuck up.” Jisoo adds.

“Fucking annoying.” Lisa says.

“She's like the worst possible human in the world.” Jongin says. “I don't know how he puts up with her.”

You nod your head, you didn't have anything else to say. You felt hurt and confused. Your hands played with the full shot glass that sat in front of you. Just as Sehun was about to say something, the front door opens and in walks Chanyeol with a big smile on his face.

“Hey guys, what are we talking about?” He asks, plopping down on the floor, across the table from where you and Jongin sat. You felt the anger bubble up inside of you, and even though you had planned on saying nothing, words came out of your mouth.

“Oh, just talking about how you have a girlfriend.” You say, looking up at Chanyeol, staring him in the eyes. They go wide, as if he's a deer in headlights.

“Oh, uh.” He chuckles. “Yeah, surprise, Maya and I got back together.” He says, looking away from you to avoid eye contact. You continued to stare at him, you hoped he could feel your stare burning into him.

“But why?” Baekhyun asks. “Why would you do that?”

“What's wrong with her?” Chanyeol laughs.

You were uncomfortable. You were sad, mad, annoyed. Every emotion was felt right at this moment, and it was like Jongin could sense it. He moved closer to you, putting his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer into him. He turns his head to whisper in your ear. “You okay?” He asks. You continued to look at Chanyeol who was now eyeing up you and Jongin, trying to process why his arm was around you.

“Uh huh.” You whisper back, breaking off the eye contact with Chanyeol. You gave Jongin a small half smile, hoping he would stop questioning you but that didn’t work. For the next 45 minutes, every few minutes you would catch Jongin looking at you, you could tell that he was questioning how quiet you were, wondering why and why you wouldn't tell him. You’d finally had enough social interaction for the night and decided to go.

“I’m going to head out right away.” you announce. “Just using the bathroom first.” you finish, walking towards the bathroom. You stepped outside to see Chanyeol standing outside the bathroom door, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

“You’re ignoring me.” he says, looking over at you.

“You have a girlfriend.” you say back. “Were you together..when..” you pause.

“No!” he exclaims. “No.. I, uh, met up with her afterwards. That's who had texted me..and we got back together that night.” he finishes. You can feel the tears threatening to fall. You didn’t want to cry over him, it totally wasn't worth it.

“Great, I'm happy for you.” you say, walking away from him. You grab your jacket, and again, Chanyeol stands in front of you.

“Let me walk you home.” he says, grabbing his jacket.

“Nah man, you stay. I already told her I would take her. Don’t worry, I'll make sure she’s safe.” Jongin says, coming up behind you. He slides his arm around your waist, pulling you towards the door. You were grateful for Jongin, but you really hoped he wasn’t getting the wrong idea. The two of you chatted about anything and everything on your walk, he made you laugh - hard. You continued to laugh all the way to your front door. Unlocking your door, you look at Jongin.

“Thank you.” you smile. “Really.”

“Anytime, Y/N. and look..” he pauses. “I don’t know what's going on between you and Chanyeol, but just know you deserve more.” he finishes, flashing a dazzling smile before starting to walk away.

“Wait!” You call out. He turns around. “You know?” you ask him.

“I had a feeling,” he says. “Good night.” he finishes, walking away. You walk into your apartment, feeling exhausted. You didn't realize how much of a toll this night had taken on you until you laid in your bed. You hadn't even taken your clothes off, but you didn’t have the energy any longer, swiftly falling asleep.

You woke up the next morning, feeling refreshed. As you crawled out of your bed you heard a loud banging at your door. Looking out the peephole, you didn't see anyone there, so you opened up your door, only to see a dozen purple tulips sitting outside your door. A smile spreads across your face as you look for a note.

Miss me yet?

Your smile faded just as fast as it had appeared. You stared at the note, a very uneasy feeling pulsing through your body. You brought the flowers inside, took a deep breath before deciding what you were going to do. You walked into your kitchen, dumping the flowers and the note into the garbage can before heading back to your bed. You'd already had enough for today. All day, you lounged around, your phone was off, you ate and watched shitty movies. You cried, you laughed, you slept. It was the perfect day before classes on Monday, you were dreading them already. You were not taking anything easy, and your entire body was a ball of stress.

Monday you had minimal interaction with anyone, you went to classes, had lunch with the group, went home to study and work on papers and it was the exact same on Tuesday. When Wednesday rolled around, you were so excited. The week was almost done, not to mention the group had decided to do a Friday Friend Dinner every other Friday, and this week it was on. Drinks and good food, you couldn't wait. Kyungsoo was an amazing cook, you often craved his food.

You were walking to your class, when out of nowhere you're yanked to the side. You looked over only to see Mark standing there with a smile on his face.

“Hi baby.” He says, leaning in closely. You try to back up, but you back straight into a pillar. “Did you like the flowers I sent you?” He smiles, moving closer. “I've been waiting all week for you to thank me for them. It hurts me that you haven't done that yet, Y/N.” He finishes, his smile dropping.

“Oh!” You say, forcing a smile. You were trying so hard to not show him any fear even though it was radiating through your entire body. “I didn't realize it was you. There was no name on it. They're so beautiful, Mark, thank you.” You smile. You needed him to calm down and let you go without an issue. You watch his facial expressions, he was getting angrier.

“Who else would they have been from?” He snaps. “Are you seeing someone else?”

You didn't know what to say. He stares at you as the panic sets in. Your body is trembling as he gets closer. You let your instincts take over, pushing him away from you.

“Leave me alone.” You scream. He rushes back towards you, slapping his hand over your mouth, stopping you from screaming anymore. Before you can react, Mark is pulled off of you, thrown down to pavement. You look over to see Chanyeol standing there, huffing as he stares down at Mark.

“Didn't I tell you to keep your fucking hands to yourself?” Chanyeol yells. He goes to you, grabbing your hand to pull you away. He takes you out into the open, and you see a blonde girl standing there with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

“Chanyeol.” You breathe. “Thank you.”

He looks at you concerned. “Has he been bothering you alot?” He asks.

“No, no. He sent me flowers on Sunday, with a note but no name attached. I guess he was mad that I didn't thank him.” You explain. “I'm sure he's gotten the message now.” You half smile. You were trying to be okay but you weren't. Your body shook, you felt like you were still in shock. You looked over at the girl who looked even more unimpressed with you.

“Hi.” You smile, holding out your hand. “I'm Y/N.” You say.

She scoffs, rolling her eyes. You retracted your hand feeling uncomfortable now. She looks at Chanyeol with a pout. “You let go of my hand to help her, Channie.” She says. “I'm so sad now.”

Chanyeol sighs. “I'm sorry Maya, do you want me to buy you something?” He asks. She perks up, grabbing his hand to pull him away, spewing on about some purse she wanted.

You already hated her.

Thursday, you didn't go to your classes. You stayed curled up in bed, answering the calls from Lisa, Jennie, Jisoo, Baekhyun, Jongin and even Kyungsoo, asking you if you were okay and what they could do for you. You were eternally grateful for all of them and how much they cared for you. They had asked you if you wanted to postpone your friend's dinner, but you didn't want to. It was something that you desperately needed to try and take your mind off your Mark situation.

Friday comes, and starts off better. You went to your classes that day. It wasn't until you looked at your phone, did your heart sink, and your anxiety flared up.

[From Unknown - 8:45am] I like your outfit today. You look so cute.

[From Unknown - 8:49am] I hope your first class goes well. I miss you.

You slipped your phone in your pocket, trying to focus on your lecture. Your phone doesn't stop vibrating the entire time you were in your hour and a half class. After it ends, you pull out your phone to read some of them.

[From Unknown - 9:07am] Please text me back.

[From Unknown - 9:10am] it's really not nice to ignore someone.

[From Unknown - 9:17am] Please, baby.

You deleted all the messages, only reading a few of them. You didn't want to deal with this. Maybe eventually he would get the hint. And he did, only until the afternoon.

[From Unknown - 2:47pm] I miss your smile. You looked so happy taking in the warm sun as you were walking.

[From Unknown - 2:52pm] Did you take a picture of the sky for your IG? I can't wait for you to post it.

You ignored them again, putting your phone into your pocket as you headed to your last class of the day. The hour went by quickly, with no excessive buzzing coming from your pocket. You were relieved but that didn't last long. As you made your way to Kyungsoo's apartment, the texts continued, and got progressively worse.

[From Unknown - 4:59pm] I don't fucking appreciate this.

[From Unknown - 5:04pm] You are being a goddamn cunt right now, Y/N.

[From Unknown - 5:07pm] ANSWER ME!!

[From Unknown - 5:11pm] I'm sorry, baby. I just miss you so much. Please answer me.

You sigh as you knock on the door of Kyungsoo's apartment, finishing reading the last message.

“Hey.” Kyungsoo smiles, opening the door. You walk into the most delightful smells, immediately causing you to forget about the texts. “You can join the others in the living room.” He says, heading back to the kitchen. You take your coat off, following the sound of laughter into the living room.

“Y/N.” Everyone yells, all happy to see you. You say hi to everyone, looking at Jongin, who mouths “sorry.” To you before you see Chanyeol with his arm around Maya on the couch. You wanted to roll your eyes so fucking badly. But your phone began to vibrate.

[From Unknown - 5:27pm] I can't wait to pin you down, kissing your body all over.

[From Unknown - 5:33pm] I'm going to make you cum so many times from my fingers when I finally get you in my bed. Do you want that baby?

You can feel the tears starting. Why won't he stop?

You press the phone button to call and scream at him but it won't connect. “This number is no longer in service.”

Maybe he deactivated it.

[From Unknown - 5:46pm] I hope you're not fucking Chanyeol or Jongin baby. I'll have to punish you for that.

[From Unknown - 5:54pm] Would you like that baby? I'm going to tie you up and punish you. I don't like being ignored.

[From Unknown - 5:56pm] Y/N. ANSWER ME.

[From Unknown - 5:59pm] I will fucking kill you if you don't answer me.”

You couldn't take it anymore. The tears fell as Kyungsoo walked into the living room.

“Y/N?” He asks, glancing around at everyone else. You completely break down, sobbing into your knees.

“Hey, what's going on doll?” Lisa asks, moving towards you. You slide your unlocked phone towards her, allowing her to read the messages as you sniffle.

“What the fuck.” She gasps.

“What? What do they say?” Everyone asks.

“Can I read them out?” Jongin asks you. You hide your face but nod your head. You didn't want to deal with this shit alone.

“Holy shit. He talks about what she's wearing today and gets mad at her for not responding.” He pauses. “I can't wait to pin you down, kissing all over your body.” He reads out. You look up, every single person there was pissed beyond measure. Except for Maya, who rolled her eyes at every text.

“Y/N answer me.. I will fucking kill you if you don't answer me.” He finishes in a whisper.

No one says a thing. Lisa, Jennie and Jisoo hug you tightly until Baekhyun pipes up. “Who wants to go hunt this mother fucker down and make him wish he never met our precious Y/N?” He says.

Everyone jumps up agreeing, including Chanyeol. Maya scoffs loudly at him

“What the fuck, Chanyeol?” She yells.

“Here we go.” Baekhyun laughs.

“You're going to protect her again? What about me? I actually matter.” She says, pouting again.

“Y/N matters too.” Chanyeol tells her. “She's important to me. As are all my friends.” He says.

“So I'm not as important as this fucking thing whose scared of a few little texts? Like grow up.” She yells at you.

“Who are you calling a thing, bitch?” Lisa snaps, standing up.

“Miss fucking cry baby over there.” Maya yells.

“Maya!” Chanyeol yells, his voice booming through the house. “Shut the fuck up.” He snaps. He glares at her, she tries to stand tall but she cowers under him. “Get your stuff. We're leaving.” He yells. “NOW.” He booms. She rushes out of the room without a word. Chanyeol mutters a “sorry” towards the group before slamming the door behind him.

The group sits in silence.

“Has anyone EVER heard Chanyeol yell that loud!?” Baekhyun asks, jumping up onto the couch. “I mean sure he's loud during game nights but holy shit.”

“literally never.” Jisoo says, her eyes still wide.

Kyungsoo looks at you. “Have you gone to the cops?” He asks.

“Yeah, you really should.” Lisa and Jennie urge.

“I have.” You sniffle. “They can't do anything for me until he physically hurts me.” You cry. “Apparently covering my mouth to stop me from screaming isn't enough.”

“That's messed up.” Kyungsoo sighs. “You shouldn't be alone. You need to stay with someone.”

“She can stay with me.” Chanyeol announces, walking into the living room.

“What happened?” Baekhyun asks.

“I ended things. For good.” Chanyeol says to everyone, before turning to look at you. “Y/N I am so sorry for the way she spoke to you. That was uncalled for and not fair.” He whispers with his head down. “You didn't deserve that.”

“Thank you.” You sniffle. “You didn't have to break up with her though.”

Baekhyun laughs out loudly, making everyone else laugh along.

“Yeah I did. It was time. I can't be with someone like that, I wasn't really into it anyways.”

Your phone buzzes again on the table.

[From Unknown - 7:08pm] I'm so sorry baby, please forgive me. Just talk to me.

Chanyeol picks up your phone, reading the message. He holds out his hand for you to pull you up. “We're going to go to Y/N's apartment and grab her things. I'll let you all know when we've made it safely back to my place.” He says. You go around the group giving everyone a hug while saying thank you to them. You didn't know what you would do without such great friends. you and Chanyeol didn't say much on the drive to your apartment. You were exhausted and just wanted to rest but you knew it wasn't going to come easily tonight. You and chanyeol head up to your front door, you unlock the door, letting him in first before you lock it back up behind you. You felt too paranoid to leave anything to chance. Chanyeol chuckles as he walks towards the table, patting it with the palm of his hand.

“This is a solid table.” He smirks. You roll your eyes at him, heading into your bedroom. quickly you find a bag, shoving your clothes into it, grabbing everything you can think of right now that you would need. You grabbed your charger and your laptop, and just as you thought you had everything, you heard a loud, rapid banging on your front door. You freeze. Chanyeol puts his finger to his lips, telling you to be quiet. He waves you back into the room, mouthing for you to hide. Quietly, he creeps up to the door as the banging continues. He looks out the peephole, all he can see is black hair.

“Yes?” He says, his voice loud and deep.

“Where's Y/N?” He asks. You can hear Mark's voice.

“She's not here. You need to leave.” Chanyeol announces. “She's not interested in you. You need to move on.”

“Hah. I need to move on? She and I are meant to be together. You tell her I'll see her soon.” Mark yells, leaving Chanyeol's view. He opens the door slightly, making sure that Mark is actually gone. Chanyeol calls you out of the room, tears streaming down your face. He wraps his arm around you, taking you out of your apartment, heading for his car. You were terrified that Mark was going to be out there waiting for you. But he wasn't. Chanyeol opened the car door for you, you got in, placing your bag on the floor.

The drive is silent. It was late, you were drained. Walking up to Chanyeol's apartment, he unlocks the door, letting you go in first. It's bigger than you thought it would be. It was decorated very minimally, he had furniture around but not much else.

“It's very nice.” You smile.

“I'm still working on getting more things for it.” He laughs. He takes you to his bedroom. “You can sleep here. I'm going to take the couch.” He says.

“Chanyeol.” You sigh. “It's enough that you're letting me stay here, I can't take your bed too.”

He laughs. “You can. And you will. Get some rest okay? I'm right out there if you need.” He gives you a hub before grabbing his pj's and going into the bathroom. He comes out in a shirt and pj pants, heading for the living room. You dig through your bag, finding your shorts and a tank top to sleep in. You change and crawl into his bed. It smells so good. It smells like him. Sleep came to you easier than you thought, but it didn't last long.

You woke up breathing heavily, sweating and a little confused. You had dreamt that Mark had taken you captive and you were really shaken up over it. You crawled out of bed, heading to the living room.

Chanyeol laid on the couch, scrolling on his phone until he noticed you. He sits up quickly. “What's wrong?” he asks, standing up. He was no longer wearing a shirt.

Holy shit, you'd forgotten how ripped he was.

“it was.. a dream.” you start. “Mark.. he had..uh, kidnapped me.”

Chanyeol wraps you in his arms, in a tight and comforting hug. You hold onto him as tightly as you can, you feel so safe with him.

“Can you please sleep in the bed with me? I don't want to be alone.” You whisper.

He lets go of you, grabbing your hand and leading you to the bedroom. You both crawl into the bed, getting comfy. Chanyeol rubs your arm and shoulder as your back faces him. You quickly fall asleep, feeling more comfortable than you've been in a while. You wished the feeling of peace would last, unfortunately you knew it wouldn't.

You woke up in the morning with Chanyeol wrapped around your body. You were sweating so bad, you had no choice but to get up. You managed to wiggle your way out of his embrace, making your way to the bathroom and then to the kitchen. You snooped around his cupboards, trying to find something to make for breakfast. You settled on making eggs and toast, it was easy enough. As you continue scrambling your eggs, Chanyeol walks out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes with a smile on his face.

“What's this?” He asks.

“Breakfast. Duh.” You laugh. You were feeling good today, you felt like it was going to be a great day. Until your phone on the table started to ring.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

Chanyeol grabbed your phone, declining the call and blocking the number.

“There. That should work.” He smiles. He sets your phone down, before it starts ringing again.

UNKNOWN NUMBER.

[united-as-one]

The museum had just been established in the city a few months ago and had bagged ancient relics and texts from a time long passed; while the world didn't need to know of the existence of magic and that a grand sorcerer walked amongst them anymore, it was quite entertaining to walk through the art galleries and ancient exhibits to check on whether the pieces were legitimate. Today was no different.

The detective sighs as he looks at an art piece listed on the side as an a painting from his own era of origin, raising a brow at that statement as not a lot of that era survived due to the ransacking of the kingdom. Chanyeol had seen it all, the fall of his lands. He discreetly pinches on a talisman granting him sight as he analyses the art, and to his surprise it was real! He's taken aback for sure but calms down as he bows his head at one of the last few remnants of his time.

"Well, Emperor. You really did make it into the modern era." He says with a gentle chuckle, rising from his bow before turning only to be met by a stranger, an alluring one to say the least however as well as a familiar scent and aura. "Are you here to remember the past as well, kumiho? This place is as authentic as it gets..." The detective says quietly with a small smile before winking. - (closed starter for @eachnight)

[mymoodwriting]

Request for Anon (Werewolf Baekhyun) 3.3k, A/B/O, fighting, verbal abuse, drinking, intoxication, tipsy behavior, kidnapping, drugs, restraints, pheromones, smut, non-con, dub-con, biting, blood, marking, intimidation, implied pregnancy, yandere (@starillusion13)

“You’re an omega, and you’re mine.”

     You wanted to slap Baekhyun, you tried, but he grabbed your hand. When you tried to pull away he held on tighter, and you threw a sharp glare his way. You two had been friends for as long as you could remember, basically growing up together, but as of late he had changed. He always seemed to have an attitude around you, especially when others were around. You chalked it up to the fact he finally presented, and turned out to be an alpha. You were happy for him, but you also understood that came with its own burden. So you let some things slide, but this was where you drew the line. You were out with friends, and as the night dragged on he started getting handsy with you. Throughout all those years you had never seen him as anything more than a friend, so you stopped him, which only pissed him off.

“What is wrong with you!”

“I am telling you the truth!”

“My birthday is still months away, and I haven’t presented yet! I’m not an omega, let alone yours.”

“You are! I can tell.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Yes, I can. I don’t know how to explain it, but I know. You’re an omega.”

“I am not! My family mostly consists of alphas and betas. There hasn’t been an omega in generations and it’s not gonna be me!”

“Y/n-”

“Shut up!” You pulled your arm free. “I have had enough of your attitude, and this stupid idea in your head finally puts it into perspective. I’m not some lowly omega that needs protection from an alpha! And I don’t belong to you either!”

“Listen to me, I-”

“No! I’m not tolerating your bullshit anymore.” You took a breath. “I’m sure being an alpha has its own things to figure out, so you do that, and let me know when you stop being a dick.”

     You walked off without a word, swearing you’d hit him if he tried anything, but he knew better this time. You never thought you’d fight with him, he was always a good friend to you, but this was something else. You wanted to be understanding, but you needed to do what was best for you as well. You didn’t hear from him for weeks, which really worried you, but you weren’t going to reach out to check on him. This was something he needed to figure out on his own. You weren’t sure when you’d hear from him, but a week leading up to your birthday you got a call from him. You were nervous to answer, but you owed him that much.

“Hello?”

“Hey… how’ve you been?”

“Fine for the most part, and you?”

“Me too. I’ve had a lot of time to think, and I owe you an apology.”

“Yeah, and?”

“I should do it in person. Are you free anytime soon?”

“I have some time tomorrow.”

“After your classes?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you then.”

“Sure.” 

     All this time you felt like you had been holding your breath, that after all these years you had lost a close friend. Hearing his voice again was a relief, especially since it seemed he had gotten his senses back. Still, you’d have to wait and see if anything had really become of him. So the next day you kinda dreaded your last class, dreaded seeing him for fear things couldn’t go back to the way they were. You had to see him eventually though, so it was better to do it now and rip off the band aid. After class you found Baekhyun waiting for you. He offered you a quick smile but saw your expressionless face and dropped it. He followed you as you went off somewhere so you two could talk in private.

“Did your classes go well today?”

“Same old, same old. How have you been?”

“Good. I’ve done a lot of thinking lately… I can’t excuse my actions, only apologize for them.”

“Yeah.”

“I was a dick, I don’t even know what was going on in my own head. A lot changed for me, and I couldn’t keep myself in check. I’m really sorry you had to witness such a part of me, and I’ll do better to make sure you never do.”

“Is that it?”

“I mean, no amount of words can change what I did, but I’m hoping we can get over this hurdle together, or at least start over.”

“You were such an asshole.”

“I know…”

“And you’re done with that shit?”

“Yes. I never should have treated you that way. I don’t know what was going on with me.”

“Neither do I. Now if you ever pull that shit again, I will not forgive you.”

“I understand.”

“Good.” You took a breath. “Have you seriously been okay?”

“I’ve been doing my best, but there’s a lot going on with me.”

“How’s the family then? You being an alpha and all that. I mean, that’s most of your family anyway.”

“I’ve talked with them a lot. They’re happy I’m an alpha, but there are definitely things I need to be aware of.”

“No shit. Maybe if I’m an alpha too you can let me know.”

“Definitely.”

     Things couldn’t go back to how they used to be, but he was still your friend. Sometimes you could see him slipping back into that possessive behavior, but he composed himself well enough. He was doing better, which was the important thing. So when your birthday party rolled around you trust him to behave himself. Besides, it was your day of celebration, and you were going to enjoy yourself. So a night out at the club, endless drinks and a VIP room full of dancers, best birthday for sure.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough.”

     You were dancing around, clearly already gone for the night. Some of your friends had already gone home, so only a few were left hanging on. Although at this point it was safe to say someone had to end things before you all passed out. That someone was Baekhyun, having remained mostly sober to keep an eye on himself and everyone else. Now he was getting people in cars and sending them on their way. In the end it was just the two of you out on the streets.

“Taxi!” You danced off the curb. “Taxi!”

“No, no, come here.” Baekhyun grabbed you and pulled you back onto the sidewalk. “I’m taking you home, okay?”

“Nuh-uh, you can’t drive.”

“Yes, I can. I didn’t really drink.”

“Prove it.”

“I don’t think I can with you in this state. Come on now.”

     Baekhyun carefully led you over to his car, getting you into the passenger seat and getting your seat belt on. You leaned your head against the glass, Baekhyun getting into the car and driving off.

“Did you have fun?”

“The best…” You giggled. “And you?”

“It was a good night. Get some rest, I’ll wake you when we arrive, and please don’t throw up in my car.”

“No promises…”

     You shut your eyes and let the soft rumble of the car lull you to sleep. You figured you’d be out for a little bit and get some help going inside the house, but when you woke up you felt way more hungover than you thought. You got up, needing a second to realize you were in bed, and needing another to realize this wasn’t your room. The panic sobered you up real quick, but then you recognized the room as Baekhyun’s and calmed down. Although now that made you question why you were at his place. The hangover was starting to hit again, but you managed to get on your feet and go looking for Baekhyun.

“Ya! Baekhyun.” You mumbled. “Baekhyun… why am I here…”

     You managed to find the boy in the kitchen, sat down at the counter eating breakfast. Once he saw you stumbling around he got up and helped you take a seat.

“How’d you manage to get up?”

“Panic… why am I at your place? You said you were going to take me home.”

“I did take you home, to mine that is.”

“Baekhyun.”

“I was tired and my place was closer anyway. I’ll take you home now, after you have breakfast and recover from the hangover.”

“You better.”

     Baekhyun made you a quick breakfast. He was a pretty decent cook, and it was nice to try his food. It had been a while since you last spent time together like that.

“Here. A hangover cure.” Baekhyun handed you a glass. “You’ll feel better.”

“Already do, so thanks.”

     You chugged down the contents of the drink, knowing it was better to get it over with quickly. It didn’t taste bad thankfully, but still made you shiver.

“I’ll get my things and we can go.”

“Sure.”

     You got up, stretching for a moment and then heading back over to the bedroom to grab your belongings. When you returned Baekhyun was exactly where you had left him.

“Alright, we can-”

    You suddenly felt dizzy, grabbing your head and stumbling back a few steps. Baekhyun watched you for a moment and then got up, taking you into his arms so you wouldn’t fall.

“Baekhyun… what’s going on…”

“Just a little something to help.”

    He led you back down the hall towards the bedroom, although when your legs have out he had no problem picking you up and carrying. Your vision kept fading in and out, and you were feeling hot all over. Words were becoming difficult as well, but you still tried. Baekhyun just found you cute, laying you down on the bed. Then you realized he was tying your arms down.

“… what… what are you…”

“I know you still don’t believe me, and that’s fine, but I’m still worried about you. Since you’ve come of age you can present any day now, and I didn’t like the idea of me not being there for it. So I thought I should speed up the process, and this way I’ll be here to look after you.”

“Baekhyun…”

“It should only take a couple hours, so don’t worry.”

“Let… me… go…”

“Definitely can’t do that now. Someone else might want to claim you if they find you in such a state.”

“Why… why…”

“I told you. You’re mine, and I’m not letting anyone else have you. Just try to relax.”

“Baekhyun!”

    You tugged on the ropes, but you barely had any strength left. Your head was spinning and you could barely make out Baekhyun sitting at the edge of the bed, watching you. It hurt, not just your body, but your heart. You had been worried about Baekhyun, and you desperately wanted things to go back to normal that you let him back into your life without being cautious, without letting others know what he had been saying lately. It was getting harder and harder to think, and you could feel your body shutting down to deal with the changes being forced on you. If you could fight it you would, but you didn't even know what was happening. So in the end the darkness swallowed you, and your feelings of fear with it.

🖤

     When you opened your eyes you felt so out of it, barely managing to stay conscious. Your body was shaking, and you felt very hot. You soon found out you were still tied up, and once again tried to free yourself, but it was useless.

“Baekhyun…”

     You didn’t feel so good, you felt sick, and in the moment you didn’t want to be alone. It wasn’t long before you made out Baekhyun in your field of vision. He was sitting by the edge of the bed, his palm against your head.

“You have a fever.” You whined which made him chuckle. “It’s normal to be sick when you present.”

“Huh?”

“I told you that you’re an omega, and it’s all the more obvious now.”

“No… no what… what did you… do…”

“Just helped you awaken your true nature.”

“I’m not… an omega…”

“You can’t deny that now.”

“… home… I wanna…”

“I can’t take you home like this, besides what would your family think? There hasn’t been an omega in generations.” You whimpered. “It’s okay, I’m going to take care of you. I’m sure they’ll be relieved to know that.”

“No… no… I’m not…”

“The fever will pass on its own, but I’m not sure about the other things. They say omegas are pretty delicate, which is why it’s so important to claim one.”

“… go… away…”

“But you called for your alpha earlier.”

“… you’re not…”

“I am. I’ll go get you something for the fever.”

      Once he was gone you began tossing about, wanting to get free. You focused your energy on the rope, trying to untie it, but Baekhyun soon came back and stopped you.

“Is it bothering you?”

“Um…”

“I suppose you don’t need that right now.”

     Baekhyun untied you and helped you sit up, trying to give you some medicine. You refused though, not wanting to take anything from him anymore. He pet your head softly, finding your rebellious acts cute.

“This will make the fever go down and help things settle.”

“I’m not… an omega…”

“You know that’s not true. You can feel it, can’t you?”

“No… you did something…”

“You know there’s no way to change what you are. You can hide it or suppress it, but you can’t change it.”

     You knew all that was true, but you didn’t want to believe him. It wasn’t just about his betrayal, or what he had done, but what this all meant for you. Baekhyun seemed to know what you were thinking, pulling you into his arms despite your protests. He held the back of your head, rocking you softly to the sides, trying to sooth you.

“Sh, sh, it’s okay. I’m here, I’m not gonna look at you differently or anything like that. You’re still y/n to me.”

“It’s not… I can’t…”

“We don’t choose these things.”

    You didn’t know how you were gonna face your family. You weren’t sure you wanted to. This all felt more like a nightmare and you desperately wanted to wake up. If that was the case you felt you would have already woken up, but all this felt way too real. You don’t know when you started crying, but the tears weren’t going to stop easily. So you sobbed into Baekhyun’s chest, letting all your thoughts overwhelm you. That is until something else caught your attention. As you were coming down from the tears you began to notice something. 

    Baekhyun smelled very different. You carefully moved your head up into the crook of his neck, taking in a breath. You never really paid attention to the scents of your friends. You could tell them apart but you never really took them in to know them better. Although you could tell that Baekhyun’s had changed, again. When he had become an alpha you noticed the change, but this was something else entirely. He smelled sweeter, and you couldn’t help yourself, wanting to take in more. Of course Baekhyun noticed, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.

“What is it?”

“You… you smell…”

“Nice?”

“Hm…”

“They say the scent of an alpha is sweeter to an omega, and vice versa. I certainly know that’s the case.”

“… why…”

“Cause alphas and omegas get along better. We’ve always gotten along so well, even before all this. I guess we were meant to be.”

“That’s not fair…”

“I’d call it destiny.” Baekhyun took a moment. “You’re still burning up.”

“I’m fine.”

“You should still take something to make it easier… or I could help.”

“Help?”

“I told you it’s important for an omega to get claimed. I have no problem doing that now.”

     Baekhyun pulled you back a bit, pressing a kiss to your cheek. From there his lips trailed down your neck. Despite the heat and uncomfortableness, his mouth was a sweet relief against your skin. You didn’t want him to stop, and he had no intention of doing so. He knew you were already so high off his scent alone, and in this state you were all the more sensitive. Of course you weren’t the only one being affected. Baekhyun had been holding himself together, but now that he had you so close he couldn’t help himself either. Without asking permission he began to tear up your clothes.

     At that point it was hard to keep anything straight in your head. One minute Baekhyun was kissing down your chest, the next thing you knew you were lying beneath him with less clothing. Your vision was a bit hazy but you could see Baekhyun clearly. He had always been a friend in your mind, but now you thought of something else, of something more. Everything about him was different in your eyes. Your mind taking in the little things and feeling your heart flutter. The feeling only grew more and more as your body was accepting all his attention. 

    Even if you went out clubbing with friends you had never gone home with someone, or showed interest in hookups, so this would be your first. Baekhyun would be the one to take it all, and you knew at that moment you would never give it to anyone else. Your mind was so lost in his everything you didn’t realize the fangs, not until you felt a sharp pain in the crook of your neck. Your eyes went wide and you screamed, the smell of blood hitting your nose soon after. When Baekhyun pulled away you could see his bloody mouth.

“Couldn’t help myself…”

“Baekhyun…”

“No one else can have you.”

     There was a sharpness to his tone, almost like a warning. His one and only time saying this to you, and if you ever forgot it, there would be consequences. You couldn’t comprehend on the surface, but deep down you got the message. He wasn’t done here though, far from it. Baekhyun took off his own shirt, getting rid of the rest of your clothing and his in the process. You made a move to cover yourself, feeling exposed, but he stopped you, holding your hands above your head.

“Don’t hide from me. You’re perfect just like this, and I’ll make you even better.”

🖤

     If anyone asked you to recount that night, your first, the day you were mated, you probably couldn’t tell them anything about it. There was just a mix of heat and blood and pleasure. Your body would never forget, and neither would your soul, even if your mind was completely blank. Baekhyun wouldn’t say anything either, loving to have this secret to himself and to a degree you. All you did know was waking up in his arms, feeling safe, feeling loved. Your future was still uncertain, but you were alright there and then.

“Awake?”

“Hm…”

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired…”

“Well the fever’s down, so I think the worst of it is over.”

“I guess…”

“Sh, take it easy.”

“I feel tingly…”

“That might be the bite.”

“Bite… yeah… you bit me…”

“You still need to bite me back.”

“Hm…”

“Better now before you find out you’re pregnant.”

“What!”

“What? You don’t remember how much we did it? If I didn’t put a baby in you we’re gonna have to try again.”

“Baekhyun, I can’t-”

     You jumped up and away from Baekhyun, but he grabbed your arm and pulled you back down. He pet your head softly, immediately soothing your worries.

“It’s much easier for an omega to get pregnant, especially when they just presented. It’s only natural for you, for us.”

“Us… you really planned this all out, didn’t you?”

“Can you blame me? I’ve always looked after you, I wasn’t gonna let anyone else do that.”

“There were better ways…”

“You wouldn’t listen.”

“You were a prick.”

“Perhaps…”

“No you were.”

“Sh, sh, you should go back to sleep. We can talk more later, and finish things up properly too.”

“Sure.”

“Don’t worry. I got you, and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“Thanks… I suppose…”

“It’s always been you and me. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

(II)