#college!minchan

[facioleeknow]

Risky gift ° Lee Minho+Bang Chan

You decide to misbehave and your boyfriends have to punish you to teach you a lesson ;)

Wc: 1245 Genre: smut 18+ ONLY, college AU

Tw: professor's assistants chan and minho, oral, deepthroathing, voyeurism, cum eating, masturbation, hard dom minho, soft dom chan, name calling, spitting

Part of my valentine's day collab!

Minho’s lips were hot on yours. His kisses were hungry, he wanted to consume you whole, he wanted to take you down and then build you back up. His hands raked your body feverishly. He was always like that, impatient and harsh while your other lover was the complete opposite, slow and sweet.

“Minho, we’re in the middle of the hallway, we can’t do this here,” you whispered to him, afraid that somebody might catch you. Minho just sighed and parted from you, his heat leaving your body.

“Let’s go,” his tone was harsh, feigning annoyance but his grasp on your wrist was gentle. You knew better than to think he was actually annoyed, he knew that making out in the middle of the hallway during class hours was risky and he would never expose you to that; sure he might’ve teased you about it but only to rile you up, nothing more nothing less.

Minho led you through the hallways of your college with purpose, he knew where he could go to avoid being disturbed. His study was his sacred place and something that came with being a PA. His hand twisted the knob and then closed the door roughly, without sparing a glance to the other guy in the room.

“Hey, baby,” Chan greeted you with a sweet smile and swiftly got up to plant a gentle kiss on your temple.

“Hey Channie,” you shivered at his touch. Your arousal was starting to coat the inner part of your thighs, going paintieless might’ve been a bad idea. Minho scoffed at the interaction.

“You don’t deserve that treatment, whore.”

“What did she do this  time,” Chan sighed at  the younger boy, his hands rubbing your back in soothing circles. Channie was always sweet.

“Show him, slut, get on the desk and spread your legs,” Minho’s tone was harsh and youo looked at Chan for comfort.

“Go on,” he gently reassured you. Your lower lip wobbled and you pouted at the treatment one of the boys reserved for you, but the wetness in between your legs told a whole other story.

You slowly sat on the desk and brought your legs to your chest. Normally every command would’ve been met with a swift reaction from you but you already misbehaved that day so why not go all out.

“I don’t have all day,” Minho’s aura was menacing, you knew he didn’t like misbehaving.

“Baby, do as Minho says, okay?” Chan’s tone was gentle as usual.

With your hands planted behind you for support, you slowly opened your legs to expose your glistening bare cunt, your skirt pooled at your hips. Chan sharply hissed at the sighed, his big warm hand landed delicately on your calf.

“No panties, baby?” he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He liked when you were daring. 

“It’s your valentine’s day present,” you felt hot and excited as the two boys eyed you like you were dessert.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” he looked at the other boy with a raised brow. At the same time his hand moved from your calf to your knee, his thumb circled your smooth skin.

“Was spreading your legs during class and showing me your pussy in front of everyone also a part of the present?” he stepped dangerously close to you and gripped forcefully your other knee, a stark contrast compared to Chan, “ did you forget that this is only ours to look at?” 

Minho landed a harsh slap on your outer thigh and you whimpered.

“Is that true, baby?” Chan’s demeanor had changed but he was definitely less scary than Minho.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry baby, but this time I can’t defend you,” he let go of your knee and took a seat at his usual armchair, “punish her how you see fit, I’ll watch this time,” he talked to the other boy in the room.

Minho shot one of the most fiery and intimidating looks you had ever seen on him. His hand lifted and came in contact with your pussy delicately. His index and middle finger swiped slowly through your fold and played with your wetness. A small whimper escaped you, your eyes closed in an attempt to savor the small pleasure he was giving you. A harsh slap landed on your cunt.

“Get down and on your knees, slut.” He clearly wasn’t asking you and you struggled to get down from the desk without crumpling all of the documents on it.

Minho looked even more breathtaking when you were on your knees, you had never found an angle from which he looked ugly. Your boyfriend fumbled with his zipper and then took out his hard cock. Your mouth watered.

“Do you know what to do to stop?”

“Three taps on your right thigh,” you nodded. His hand carded through your hair. What seemed a sweet gesture quickly changed when he fisted your hair and pulled your hair. 

“Mouth open.”

He gathered the saliva in his mouth and harshly spat out. His warm spit slowly trickled down your tongue. A moan slipped your lips at his harsh actions, but you didn’t have time to beg for more because Minho shoved his dick in your mouth. You whined.

He felt heavy on your tongue, his taste intoxicating. The tip of his thick cock pressed at the back of your throat, your teary eyes on Minho.

“You should see her right now, hyung, she looks just like the whore she is,” he spoke to the other guy in the room calmly, like his dick wasn’t down your throat.

“Oh I can see her don’t worry,” Chan’s voice sounded strained.

“Eyes on him whore while I fuck your mouth or you don’t get to cum for a week.”

You looked at Chan. The sight in front of you made you whine and clench in need; your other boyfriend had his pants and underwear shoved down and slowly fisted his cock. As soon as you made eye contact with Chan, Minho began to fuck your throat, setting a brutal pace. You did your best to help send him over the edge and tightened your throat around his big cock. A moan escaped Minho’s lips, his facade slipping for a second.

Chan on the other hand was still leisurely stroking his cock, he clearly had no intention of cumming so quickly but he was enjoying the view. You raked your eyes over his body, he looked like an ancient adonis. He was spectacular.

“You’re doing so well, baby. Can you make him cum?” asked Chan, his hand picked up the pace slightly. You hummed in agreement, the vibrations sending sparks up and down Minho’s cock. Your tongue started swiping the underside of his cock slowly.

“You’re good at this slut,” Minho grunted, his head thrown back and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. You moaned again, pleased with his reaction.

“God, I’m gonna cum, be good and swallow it all.”

Minho pushed his dick to the very back of your throat, your nose brushed his pelvis. Hot ropes shot down your throat while Minho moaned and pulled your hair tighter in his fist. Your hands made contact with his thigh to help you stand up.

“Stop.” You froze at the command.

“Stay like this and keep my cock in your mouth for the rest of the day, if you want to act like a whore then you should be treated like one.”

[writingforstraykids]

The idiotic urge of starting new things is quite overwhelming at times and you can thank @galaxycatdrawz for keeping me in check many of those times😂 Nevertheless, I still have a lot to finish and I wanted to give you a little preview of what I'm currently working on���🖤

Finding home in your heart Pt.3 (Dilf!Felix x femReader)

Always back to you series (Dad!Minho x maleReader)

Pretty Please Pt.2 (Minchan x femReader)

Addicted to you Bonus Content (Changlix, Seungin, Hyunsung)

Only the best for you series (Minchan x the rest)

A possible other collab with an audio of @slutforchanlix hehe but no spoilers

Also sth with @chanandminhoenthusiast but again no spoilers🤭

Lessons in Love series (OT8 pairings college teachers au)

The member x member💌 series (7 missing)

He deserved it Pt.3 (Minchanlix)

I owe you a kiss Pt.10 (Minchan x femReader)

And suprise suprise the mafia series my 🤡 ass thought would be finished months ago but uhm no bc I'm far from done with them hehehe (Minchan, Chanlix, Minchan x femReader)

@atinyniki @silverstarburst @aaa-sia @lilmisssona @kthstrawberryshortcake @channieaddict @soullostinspaceandtime @rebecca-johnson-28 @lixie-phoria @kibs-and-bits @xxstrayland @ihrtlix @pheonixfire777 @mellhwang @palindrome969 @michelle4eve @harshaaaaa @rylea08 @heeyboooo @manuosorioh @gisaerlleri @andassortedkpop @lailac13 @bbokari711 @kazuuuaaa @rssamj @wolfyychan @stellasays45 @chrizzztopherbang @ionlyeverwantedtobeyourequal @silentreadersthings @myforevermelody143 @sapphirewaves

[hoes4hoseok]

drive

enhypen as 80's music :: jake as ‘drive’ by the cars

"you can't go on thinking nothing's wrong, but now, who's gonna drive you home tonight?"

pairing :: jake sim x gn!reader genres/au’s :: 80s college au, ex! childhood friend! jake, second chance romance, fluff and a sprinkle of angst at the beginning warnings :: mentions of drinking, mentions of cheating word count :: 1.2k author’s note :: coincidentally, i became obsessed with disney's new rom-com, prom pact, a few days after i started working on this. if you love 80's rom-coms you should def watch it, it was like fuel for me to finish this. anyways, i hope you enjoy! beta readers :: @hanniiesuckle17 and @skz-minchan-enthusiast !! tysm for your help :) soundtrack :: drive by the cars

you aren’t one to stay at a party after starting to cry. so instinctively, upon seeing your very drunk boyfriend with someone else on his lips, you bolted, knowing what was to come. struggling to see past the salty puddles forming in your eyes, you somehow pushed and shoved your way to the most secluded section of the party, at least in the middle of winter — the pool.

and, finally staring down at the illuminated glow of the chlorine-filled water with your legs crossed, you let the tears fall into your hands. the two of you had only been dating for six weeks — despite the fact that you had liked him for months before that. but it was good that you found out now instead of later. crying was the best way to bounce back from a breakup. it was shedding the grudges over your wasted time, of course, but mainly your misplaced trust. these were words of wisdom you had come up with on the spot to comfort yourself, of course, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true.

after what felt like 20 minutes, your tears slowed to a stop. almost instantly, you became very aware of the temperature, your nose now cold as ice. to your relief, you had a couple of tissues in your jacket. you used them to wipe your tears and nose as you looked up, peering into the party through the sliding glass door. it was only 11 pm—the night was still young. but all you wanted to do was go home and be met with the warmth of your bed again. watch the vhs you rented for a chick flick he said was too “unrealistic”. but you had driven your ex-boyfriend’s car here, and you weren’t particularly in the mood for the hour-long trek that walking home would be. yet. you were going to make yourself ‘in the mood’ even if it took all night—because enduring a car ride from your ex or any of his friends in that overcrowded house party was out of the question.

“y/n?”

you looked up again upon hearing the familiar voice — it was jake — as in, your other ex-boyfriend jake. who you hadn’t seen in months.

he stood with his brows furrowed in concern, sliding the door shut behind him. “what are you doing out here?”

you managed to crack a slight smile as he walked around the pool. “nothing, it was just way too stuffy in there. i don’t love crowds, you know that. you can go back inside,”

“okay,” jake completely ignored your suggestion, lowering himself to the ground with his legs crossed just as you had. “then why were you crying?”

“no offense, but this is not a conversation i’d like to have with you,” you looked up at jake, eyelashes still wet from your tears.

“why, because we dated for two minutes in junior high, or because i’ve seen you cry countless times before?” jake wore an amused smile, shrugging while he continued. “suit yourself. i’m great at comforting people, though,”

“it was not two minutes, it was three weeks. and you’ve only seen me cry twice,” jake’s smile widened at your response, knowing you were warming up to him again. “my boyfriend was making out with someone else in there,”

“oh…” jake began, his voice softening, “that sucks. he’s the one who you went to prom with last year, right?”

“yeah,” you looked down at your hands, stuffing them into the pockets of your windbreaker. “we weren’t dating yet, though,”

“ah yes, i remember,” jake nodded, “my mom kept telling me how upset you were because he didn’t ask you out. you guys took a long time to make it official,”

“yeah, yeah, thanks for the recap,” you cupped your face between your hands, resting your elbows on your thighs. “i’m an idiot,”

“if this made you an idiot, half the planet would be one,” jake scoffed, “you liked him. it’s easy to get blindsided by people you have feelings for,”

“well, half the planet needs a reality check, then,” you exhaled deeply, “i know i did,”

“why do you insist on blaming yourself for something that was solely that jerk’s fault?” jake rolled his eyes as he leaned back on his palms, knowing you weren’t looking his way.

“i don’t blame myself for the fact that he cheated, i blame myself for not seeing that coming,” you gazed down at the motionless water. you weren’t sure what exactly was making this conversation so easy, but you figured it came down to jake catching you at the right time.

“if you’re going to take one thing away from tonight, i think it should be that now you know he isn’t worth any more of your time,” jake explained, “the past is past. and for the record, i think you’re an idiot for reasons that have nothing to do with your dating life,”

“you’re one to talk, jake sim,” you grinned involuntarily while you swung your head back to look at jake, who had started to laugh before you even reached your hands around to his torso to tickle him. 

“sorry!” he put his hands up in defense.

“you better be,” you retorted, adjusting your seat to face him. “i’ll tell your mom if you keep that up,”

“that threat really lost its weight when we left high school, y/n,” jake shrugged, shaking his head jokingly. “you need a new source of leverage,”

“oh, don’t worry about me. i have plenty of leverage,” you reminded him, “i have a big supply in the box of photos i brought from home. it’s in the album called ‘jake’s mullet’,”

jake leaned in close to you, eyes widening, “you still have those?”

“...yes,” you confessed, “but no soul has seen them since you got rid of it — apart from me. it cheers me up when i’m feeling down,”

jake heaved a sigh, “well…i can’t complain about that. my roommates see your experimental hair from junior high every day,”

you tilted your head, furrowing your eyebrows. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“i have that picture of you and my dog before we went to the spring fling together up in my room,” jake admitted, “next to the one of my family and me at graduation,”

“oh…” you started to mutter, your smile fading in thought.

it warmed your heart a little bit to hear that jake held onto those memories just as you had. it was nice to feel remembered. and not only as a second thought.

“before you can demand that i take it down — which is not happening until i take another one to replace it, by the way,” jake began, pushing himself up onto his feet by the hands, “let’s go, i’m freezing,”

he brushed his palms together to get rid of any poolside debris before extending his right hand for yours. “come on. don’t worry about that dirtbag; he can figure his ride out on his own,”

you had forgotten about said dirtbag for about five minutes. those were the best five minutes you had in a long time. clutching to jake’s hand (which was somehow still warm), you stood up. you found yourselves only inches apart, your gazes meeting in a manner that took you back to the night of the spring fling. he had only grown more handsome in the years since, from his jawline to his impeccable hair, but that wouldn’t have mattered to you. you thought he was gorgeous back then too, embarrassing mullet and all. 

“so, what do you say?” jake asked, “can i drive you home?”

enhypen as 80s music series ☆ masterlist

[leeknow-thoughts]

୨୧ ANNOUNCEMENTS AND POSTING SCHEDULE : AUGUST 4 - AUGUST 10

୨୧ ANNOUNCEMENTS !

𝝑𝝔 guys I'm starting up weekly posting schedules bc with college starting up again and everything crazy going on in my life rn I just want to have a set number of fics I'm gonna be dropping this week !! obviously my request box will still be open, feel free to send me requests, ideas, and asks!!

𝝑𝝔 MY KOFI COMMISSION BOX IS VERY MUCH OPEN I DID NOT KNOW HOW TO USE KOFI SO MY PRICES WERE ALL KINDS OF FUCKED UP AT FIRST WHICH I APOLOGIZE FOR BUT NOW THEY'RE FIXED!!

୨୧ POSTING SCHEDULE !

𝝑𝝔 AUGUST 4TH : ESPRESSO -- Poly!Jilix x reader fic -- REQUESTED BY : 2minjeong anon

𝝑𝝔 AUGUST 4TH : EVERYTHING AROUND IS STUPID, THAT'S WHY I'M WITH YOU/Все вокруг тупое, поэтому я с тобою -- Individual!OT8 corrupting reader drabble -- REQUESTED BY : anon

𝝑𝝔 AUGUST 6TH : DOCTOR'S OFFICE -- Poly!MinChan x reader / Poly!Seungin x reader sick fic drabble -- REQUESTED BY : 🪷 anon!

𝝑𝝔 AUGUST 7TH : PAWS -- Stoned!Minho x reader Pet play fic

𝝑𝝔 AUGUST 9TH : BIRDS OF A FEATHER -- Poly!Hyunho x reader fic

[cutiedwaekki]

KINKTOBER MASTERLIST

here it is , as i promised a kinktober 2023 edition 🤭

But for those who don't knlw what a kinktober is let me give you a quick description :

A kinktober is when the month of october come , during the whole month there is a ff posted everyday about a kink

Here it'll mostly be feederism and wg but read the tags of each day so you won't feel disturbed if some them don't suit you

Btw the fic will be short ≈ 800 to 1000 words so i can write one for every day without having to worry too much because yes, I have a life on the side

/!\ it can happen that someday i won't post for some reasons but please know that with college i ain't have much time so i'll do my best to respect the delay /!\

so enough talk you'll find here all the ff i'll post during october (each link will apparate when i'll post them 🎃

1st : request , kirby , hyunsung ; stuffing ; belly rub ; feedrism ; burp , kind of mention of vore but as a joke that turn on Hyunjin

2nd : request , espresso , 2yeon ; enemies to lover ; weight gain denial ; office au

3rd : rewind , f.i.l.a , minchan , weight gain , fit to fat , clothes ripping , fluff

4th : rewind , paint me naked , changjin , smut

5th : original , pudding , jeongchan , harley quinn!jeongin , weight gain , stuffing

6th : original , halazia , ateez ot8 , pirate!au , magic weight gain , rapid weight gain

7th : rewind , dr.bang , chanlix , doctor!au , teasing , humilliation , smut

8th : original , TT , twice ot9 , inspired by tt mv , reader in it , reader wg , gn reader

9th : original , skzoo , ot8 , magic wg , suit inflation , rapid wg

10th : original , puppy m detective (short version) , murder , mention of violence , forced stuffing , breaking furniture , angst but fluff at the end

11th : original , revenge , Jihoon centric , force feeding , mention of bullying

12th : original , dream come true , Chan centric , harem , royal au , stuffing

13th : original , snow white , sunsun , fairytail au , rapid wg

14th :original , good family , Jeongin centric skz family au , weight gain denial

15th : rewind , love4eva , minchan , honeymoon , weight gain denial , tight clothes , button popping , teasing

16th : original , my real fan , changlix , online!au , camboy changbin , nsfw

17th : original , mr.policeman , seungbin , inspired by brooklyn99 , police!au , involuntary weight gain , wg denial , clothes ripping

18th : rewind , channies room , Chan centric , mukbang au , stuffing , wg denial , button popping

19th : original , kind of magic part 2 , ot8 , fairy au , magic wg , stuffing

And more ...

Request can be made for the kinktober and its even strongly encouraged because I don't think I have enough to do everything 😭

[jaethecreator]

1. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO STOP YOU, BUT AGELESS BLOGS AND EMPTY BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED! I ONLY WRITE AND ROLEPLAY FOR 18+

2. please be patient! this blog is a hobby for me, not my job. im a college student and am actively searching for employment—i will get things out when i can!

3. i write only stray kids for requests. if i get comfortable writing for other groups, this may be subject to change. however, thoughts and asks for any and all groups are welcome!

4. i roleplay only stray kids, tomorrow x together, and ateez. if i get comfortable portraying other groups, this may be subject to change!

5. i write femme, masc, female, male, gender neutral, plus-sized, sub, and dom reader. any and all combinations are accepted!

6. i write member x member and member x reader. my favorite pairings are: binchan, minsung, minchan, seungbin, changlix, hyunbin, and seungin!

7. i do not write: cgl, ddlg, scat, watersports, feet kink, incest, stepcest, selfcest, extreme violence, gore, extreme angst, age play, extreme emeto. depending on the requests i receive, this may be subject to change.

8. i do write: bdsm, choking, daddy kink, mommy kink, feeding kink, food kink, pet play, feedism, weight gain, size kink, teasing, exhibitionism, hybrid, omegaverse (depends), body worship, praise, edging, angst, and fluff. depending on the requests i receive, this may be subject to change.

9. if i decline writing your request for any reason, you do not have the right to send hate or threats. what i choose to write and not to write is up to me, the writer. please show respect!

10. if you do not like the writing i have done for you, you do not have the right to send hate or threats. writing is a hobby of mine, and i have never said everything i write will always be 100% perfect. i am human and make mistakes, like you. please show respect!

11. for roleplay inquiries, my tumblr dms are open. i only roleplay as yeonjun, soobin, san, mingi, and changbin. my favorite pairings are: yeonbin, woosan, yungi, binchan, hyunbin, and seungbin. i do not do member x oc. once we have agreed on our roleplay, i will share my discord with you in private!

12. any and all criticism, please keep to yourself! this is a hobby for me, not my job. i write for the enjoyment of myself and others. if you do not like something, do not read it! i put tags for all my works at the beginning so readers can avoid what they dislike.

13. please do not steal, copy, or plagiarize my writing in any way, shape, or form! this is disrespectful to me, as well as to the writing community.

14. sfw requests are marked with (🌻) and nsfw requests are marked with (🍯). you may check my tags accordingly for anything you are looking for!

requests are (open). any and all rules listed are subject to change. please read through this list before submitting a request, as it will save yours and my time! if you're unsure about something on my rules list, you can send me an ask with your question.

you can find your way around my blog here:

- meet the creator

- masterlist

collage created by me; dividers by @/fishgills and @/cafekitsune

[asterifish]

Watching the stars... / Minchan

Synopsis: Minho and Chan have been close friends since they were little. Minho often complained or rambled a lot, and Chan loved to listen to him. As they grew older, Chan got feelings for Minho. He wanted Minho to stay with him forever, but didn't know how to tell him.

Type: One-shot (Words: 689)

Genre: Fluff, slight angst

TW!!: Mentions of abuse, self harm, and suicide

“Chan, are you sure this is a good idea?” Minho asked, clinging to Chan’s arm tightly. It was late at night and the two had been sneaking around the royal castle. It was a cool night, and the wind was blowing through Minho’s hair, making him seem more beautiful. They were currently on the roof, observing the night sky.

“Of course I do, Min! Just trust me, okay? C’mon let's sit down.” Chan responded, a wide smile on his face. After helping the younger sit down, Chan sat and scooted close. “Anything you want to talk about? I noticed you've been spacing out a lot.” Chan nudged Minho’s shoulder, earning a grunt from the other.

“Not really…. I’ve just been thinking about the future. Mom’s been nagging me about getting a job or going to college but I just,” Minho paused and sighed, “I don't know what I want to do, Chan.” leaning back, Minho let the cold air wash over his face.

After thinking about what Minho had said, Chan nudged him with a chuckle. “You could be my bodyguard! You certainly qualify for it, and honestly you wouldn't have to do much.”

That was the first hint.

A few months later, it was Minho’s birthday. Chan had gotten matching earrings for them. The roof had become their hangout spot, but when Chan got up the the roof, Minho wasn’t there. “Min? Are you hiding from me?” Chan called, looking around. When he didn't find his friend, he immediately jumped off the roof and ran straight for Minho’s house.

As he got closer to his friend's house, Chan could hear yelling and banging. Kicking down the front door, Chan was met with a terrible sight. Minho was on the floor, blood coming from his forehead and a few scratches on his arms. “Min! Holy.. are you okay?”

Running over to his friend, he blocked a hit from Minho’s father as he picked up the younger boy and ran out of the house. He didn’t stop running until they’d reached the castle. Putting Minho down, Chan knelt next to him. “What happened in there?”

Minho winced as he tried to sit up, but pushed Chan’s hand away. “I’m fine.” Chan blinked slowly at Minho and sighed. “No you’re not, Min! Your father was beating you!?” Ignoring Minho’s protests, Chan picked up his friend again and carried him to his bedroom. While he got his first aid kit, he asked Minho to tell him everything.

After a few moments of silence, Minho spoke. “He hits us all the time. Me and my mother. It… started a few years ago. He;d come home one day, furious. He’d picked up the first thing he could get his hands on and threw it at my mother. I….” Minho stopped and stifled a sob as Chan hugged him.

“Take your time Min, and remember you don’t have to tell me, okay?” Chan reassured the younger. Scooting closer, Chan pulled Minho into him. Burying his face into Chan’s chest, Minho tried to take deep breaths to calm down.

This was the second hint, more subtle than the last.

Summertime was always a busy time for the kingdom. Minho finally took up the position of Chan’s bodyguard, and he got to experience so many cool things. Chan loved spoiling the younger whenever he could. “Here Min! Come look at this!” Chan called, ushering Minho over. In his hands, Chan had a bright moon decoration. Minho took it, being careful as to not break it. “It’s…. pretty!” he whispered.

Watching Minho’s reaction, Chan smiled and took the decoration out of Minho’s hands. With the seller’s permission, Chan clipped it to Minho’s halo before stepping back to admire it. The shopkeeper handed Minho a mirror so he could see it for himself. “It fits you well, sir!” The shopkeeper smiled. Looking over at Chan, Minho couldnt help but smile. His friend was smiling brightly, and minho couldnt help but feel like Chan was admiring him. Looking into his eyes, and then looking away when he caught Minho looking at him.

This, was the third and final hint.

Hello! Author here. I just wanted to say that this will be a mini series of four. I'll be using the beautiful creations that @solastalgiart has made. Please support them as well! In all honesty, this didn't high how I thought it would, so I might re-do it a bit later.

[starlostastronaut]

DAY 17 | SOBER

PAIRING: hwang hyunjin x reader

GENRE: angst, unrequited love, college au

WC: 1.48k

CW: making out while drunk (both), implied minchan (because why not lmao)

PROMPT: wish you were sober - conan gray

poor hyune, he got the most of angsty prompts. i can't say i didn't enjoy writing this tho! as usual i strayed away from the plot of the song lol. anyway, i hope you guys enjoy <3

title from wish you were sober - conan gray

general masterlist here

<< previous | mctc masterlist | next >>

You were only half listening to the conversation between Felix and Minho. Too busy looking at everyone who came through the door, you searched for him. Hwang Hyunjin. A transfer student that joined your dance school at the beginning of the year, and ever since you first saw him walk into the class, your mind wouldn't let him go. The best words to describe Hyunjin would be out of this world. He was beautiful, everybody with eyes could see that. But his looks were a mere part of his charm. He was kind, smart, and a talented dancer. He always knew what to say to make you feel better when you messed up the choreography. He showed interest in the same things as you, which resulted in the two of you becoming friends quickly. Catching feelings was just another inevitable step in your relationship. And that's where the problems first arose.

While you were head over heels for him, Hyunjin never showed interest. He would take you out but then claim it was a friendly outing. He would ask for your help on assignments, bring you chocolate as a thank you, and then say that's what friends do. Bring you flowers because they reminded him of you, but bring them to someone else the next day. Every time he would get your hopes up, only to break your heart a bit more the next second.

Until The Incident that occurred at the Halloween party Bang Chan organized, Minho got you all an invite because Chan was his 'very close friend’, as he phrased it. You and Felix were excited because Bang Chan's parties were legendary and only carefully selected people were invited. Meanwhile, Hyunjin took it as an opportunity to get completely wasted. And then The Incident happened.

As the evening progressed, somehow you found yourself on the dance floor with Hyunjin. You were dancing together, both heavily intoxicated, with Hyunjin's arm around your waist, pressing your back against his chest. He was mumbling lyrics to the song into your ear, and when you looked up at him, the heat of the moment took over him. It took just a second of looking into each other's eyes for him to crash his lips into yours, kissing you hungrily, like it was the last time he was allowed to. His lips were soft and gentle when they touched yours, but there was a certain want, or maybe even need, behind it. He tasted like vodka and strawberries, and to you, it was the most heavenly combination.

“Let's go somewhere else,” Hyunjin whispered into your lips, pulling away. You made a little sound to protest it, but Hyunjin quickly shut it with another kiss. He slipped his hand into yours and began leading you away from the dance floor. He walked you to the stairs, sneaking up to the second floor of Chan's house. 

Once you were alone in the hallway, he didn't even bother finding a room. Instead, he reached for your other hand, intertwining your fingers together and pressing you to the nearest wall, pinning your hands on either side of your head. Hyunjin looked at you, his eyes glistening with desire, and you felt your body tense in anticipation. Hyunjin licked his lips and leaned down, capturing your mouth again. You parted your lips for him, sighing when you felt his tongue slip in.

“Shouldn't we… move… somewhere… somewhere private?” you asked between kisses. But before he had a chance to answer, or do anything else, for that matter, an unknown force pulled him back and away from you. You wanted to protest against the disruption, but your words quickly died in your throat when you met the eyes of a very angry Minho.

Feeling embarrassed, you let your hands fall down to your sides, sheepishly looking up at Minho. And Bang Chan, who was holding Hyuniin by his shirt, was most likely the one who pulled him off of you.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Minho spat out, crossing his arms on his chest.

“You're one to talk,” you muttered, nodding towards Minho's unbuttoned shirt. You watched the tips of his ears go red and felt a sense of victory for a second, but Minho didn't let the sudden shyness show in his demeanor in the slightest. 

“I'm not talking to you.” He turned back to Hyunjin, who was squirming in Chan's hold. “Get out, Hwang. And don't talk to any one of us until you've sobered up,” he said coldly, glaring daggers at the young dancer. He waved his hand as a signal for Chan to let Hyunjin go. As soon as he was free, he didn't waste a second, and he scurried away. 

You slumped against the wall, your brain only now catching up with reality. You and Hyunjin were dancing, then making out, and then… Minho and Chan. As if from a distance you heard Minho say something to Chan, who smiled in understanding, and... did he just kiss Minho's cheek or was your mind just playing tricks on you? Nonetheless, he left you alone. 

Minho was immediately by your side and gently guided you to sit down on the floor with him. “Are you okay?” he asked softly. All the anger in his voice had disappeared, and his eyes were full of worry. He placed a reassuring hand around your shoulders and let your body fall against his. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Hyunjin kissed me…” It was half a question, half a statement. You still couldn't fully comprehend what happened, and the alcohol wasn't helping. Hyunjin had kissed you. That was something you waited ages for to happen, so why was Minho so worried? But it was Minho, so he probably had a good reason, even if your brain couldn't understand it. Still, he could have let you enjoy it for a moment longer, you thought bitterly.

“Hey, let me take you home, okay?” Minho said, bringing you out of your dreamy state again. You only silently nodded, and he gently helped you stand up, immediately wrapping a hand around your waist to steady you. You gave a weak but grateful smile, and he began leading you out. 

The next day, you woke up with your body aching. Your head was spinning, and the memories from last night were slowly coming to you. Bang Chan’s party, Minho yelling at Hyunjin... Oh god. Hyunjin. He kissed you. That was one of those moments you couldn’t forget, no matter how drunk you were. Closing your eyes, you pictured the memory again. The feeling of Hyunjin's soft, plump lips on yours, the way his hand tangled into your hair on the dancefloor...

That was it; you decided. You were going to tell Hyunjin how you felt, and you were going to do it tomorrow (because, frankly, you couldn’t be bothered to do anything besides dealing with a hangover today). What was there to lose, anyway? If anything, last night was a confirmation of at least some attraction to you. He wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise, would he? 

Fast forward to today; you were on your way to class, determined to tell Hyunjin. And there he was, standing next to Felix, who was in the middle of explaining something to him. As you were getting closer, you caught words like party and alcohol. It was worth noting that both of them went completely silent the moment they saw you. Strange.

“Hyunjin, can we talk?” you said as you approached them. Hyunjin shot a nervous look in Felix’s direction, but he followed you into the hall. “I’ve wanted to talk about…”

“About the party,” Hyunjin finished your sentence. “I know. I actually wanted to talk to you about the same thing. Minho spent the whole of yesterday screaming at me over the phone about something with you. Look, I just wanted to apologize for whatever I did. Minho made it sound like I really hurt you.”

You were rooted to the spot, your mouth hanging slightly open in disbelief. He didn’t remember. You wanted to cry, scream, or punch something. You actually weren’t sure which one it was. maybe all three. But now was not the time for any of those things. “No, no it’s… fine. Minho probably just overreacted,” you heard yourself saying. 

Hyunjin smiled at you. “I’m glad- Hey are you okay? You look like you’re going to throw up,” he asked, noticing your poor state. You shook your head, suddenly not wanting to deal with him anymore.

“I think I’m still sick after the alcohol. I better go home,” you murmured. Without bothering to wait for any sort of response, you turned on your heel and began walking out, ignoring Hyunjin’s feel-better wishes. Once you were safely on the street with nobody around, only then did you let your tears fall down your cheeks freely.

taglist: @stayconnecteed @saintriots @vivioluh @ivaneedssleep @jazziwritesthings @darkypooo

©starlostastronaut 2023 | do not repost/translate my work without permission

[milkybonya]

it's you

order 005 for anon: large banana milk tea with pudding, lychee jelly and grass jelly

Warnings: some explicit language, flooding mentions

Summary: when you and your soulmate kiss, a small, very small part of your hair will turn white. But why would you and college!Minchan ever kiss when you hate each other?

word count: ~3k

[a/n]: i miss Minchan so much pls :( aLSO I'M SORRY THIS IS SO SH*T AND LATE BUT I HAD FUN WRITING IT!!!

"Move out of my spot," Minchan sighs, towering over you as you sit hunched over your notes in the front row of the lecture hall.

"No, why should I?" you spit out, still looking down.

"Because it's my spot, didn't you hear me say that?" Minchan clarifies with a scoff.

"Oh just shut up. Is your name written on here anywhere?"

He sighs and chooses to sit behind you, accepting defeat for now.

"Can you and Minchan not just give it a rest for one day?" your friend asks you as they take the spot beside you.

"If he wasn't so annoying, then maybe I would be able to do that," you say, organizing your notes for today's lecture.

Minchan kicks the back of your leg with his foot after hearing your words, and you turn around, sighing.

"You're literally proving my point. Just stop," you say.

"You stop badmouthing me first then," Minchan says with a smirk.

"Okay, good morning everyone!" the professor says, causing you to turn back to the front so you can pay attention.

The lecture passes peacefully as the two of you focus. Sure, you have a deep rivalry, but you're both dedicated students who never mess around when a lecture begins.

It's only after it ends that Minchan gets on your nerves again.

You find it right in front of a vending machine, pressing the buttons to dispense a drink. After he steps away, you realize that he had bought your favourite drink, and you don't think much of it until you step up to also buy that drink... only to find there's no more left.

"Minchan, what the hell? You don't even like that flavour anyway, why did you have to take the last one?!" you yell, pointing at the drink in his hands.

He shrugs in response, unscrewing the cap.

"If you want it, you'll have to do something for me."

"And what's that?"

"Convince everyone that we're dating."

"Just for a drink?!" you exclaim.

"I'll have a lifetime supply for you. Anytime you want, just tell me and I'll buy you one."

"Minchan... have you lost it? You know I hate you, right? Why would I pretend to be your s/o?"

"Because people think I'm dating this stuck-up asshole and it's ruining my reputation."

"Why would me dating you fix anything?"

"Because you get good grades, [y/n]. Not as good as mine, but good enough. And I hate your guts, but everyone else seems to think you're alright."

You sigh, shaking your head at the boy.

"I'll give you the drink this once. You've got till tomorrow to think about it," he says, flashing you a smile before walking away.

Confused, the drink almost slips out of your hands as you shuffle to your dorm, feeling bewildered.

-

"So Minchan, your mortal enemy wants you to fake date him?" you friend asks you, sitting on your bed while watching you pace around.

"Yeah."

"That makes no sense."

"Right?!"

"And all you get out of it is a lifetime supply of your favourite drink?"

"Yeah! I mean, those drinks are expensive so..."

"No, [y/n]! Focus!" your friend tells you, holding onto your hands and shaking them.

"Right, right," you mumble.

Your friend suddenly claps their hands and you jump back in fright, swearing at them for scaring you.

"I've got it! Just tell him that you'll only do it if he stops being such a little shit to you."

"So... fake date him to stop our annoying rivalry?" you repeat.

Your friend nods and you step back to properly consider their words. It doesn't sound so bad, especially since your rivalry with Minchan kind of started out of nowhere anyway, and you've always been hoping you never met him so this stupid thing would stop.

-

You: hey! dumbass!

stinky min: ???

You: let's do it

stinky min: ??

You: the,,, thing

stinky min: well don't be shy now

stinky min: spit it out

You: YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!

stinky min: you want to date me?

You: fake* !!! FAKE date you yes

stinky min: ok

You: ugh i hate you

stinky min: :D

You: IT'S ONLY ON ONE CONDITION THO

stinky min: and that is?

You: we end this dumbass rivalry and you stop being so annoying

stinky min: sorry babe can't do that

You: okay then bye

stinky min: NO WAIT

stinky min: i was joking..

stinky min: fine..

stinky min: tomorrow for our first class,, you better come sit next to me when i wave to you

-

"[y/n]!" Minchan yells, waving at you frantically with a big smile on his face.

You sigh and cover your face with your hand as you compose yourself, wondering why you're doing this for a lifetime supply of drinks and for this stupid rivalry to be over. Then, you finally look up and nod in Minchan's direction, approaching his spot in front row. You slide into the seat he saved for you while gritting your teeth and whispering, "why are you sitting in my seat?"

"[y/n], I saved a seat for you in the front row! Since you always like to sit here," Minchan says, obnoxiously loudly.

"I can see that, dumbass," you whisper, still continuing to smile at him while gritting your teeth.

"[y/n], be a bit more natural, would you?" Minchan whispers, stretching an arm around you and pulling you close.

You almost fly off your seat as you hadn't expected him to do this, but stay put despite your heart thumping heavily in your chest. When he leans his head on your shoulder, you have to do everything not to punch him.

"Your heart's beating so fast, my dear," Minchan mumbles.

"Are they dating?" someone whispers in the row behind you.

Murmurs begin to rise and Minchan smirks the whole time, his head still on your shoulder. His hair feels strangely fluffy and soft against your neck.

When the lecture begins, Minchan sits up straight but listens to the whole lecture with his hand around your waist. All of this skinship makes you dizzy and angry, and by the time the lecture is over, you've pulled Minchan aside to have a word with him.

"Minchan, if you're doing to do things like this, then I want out."

"What do you mean, babe?" he says, reaching forwards to push your hair back with his fingertips.

You catch his hand with yours, holding it there.

"This is what I mean," you say, pointing to his hand sitting on your head.

"Well we're dating, aren't we? Isn't it natural to show some skinship?"

"Minchan, firstly this isn't even real. Secondly, skinship isn't a required thing or anything. So just... chill out, okay?"

Minchan leans forward until his lips are right next to your ear.

"Why, is it cause I make your heart rate increase?"

"No!" you yell, pushing him a way.

A couple of students see this and speed walk away, whispering amongst themselves while staring at you.

"Okay, [y/n], calm down. I'll go easy on you, I promise. Have this drink and I'll see you later," he says, holding out your favourite drink.

"When did you even buy this?" you ask, taking it from him.

"Be there at the party tonight, okay?" he tells you while walking away.

What party? you wonder, until you check your phone. Someone has posted in your class about a party happening in Minchan's dorm building.

Sighing, you start to write a text to Minchan asking him why you have to attend a dumb party when you don't like parties anyway, but he messages you first.

stinky min: going to the party will be a great place to show everyone we're dating. and finally stop people talking behind my back... so be there, okay?

stinky min: and about the skinship.. i'm sorry. i'll genuinely stop. but at least you only have to see me a couple times during the day! it's not like we're in the same dorm or anything..

-

After getting your studying and classes done for the day, you head to Minchan's dorm building, which is already flooded with people.

"How isn't anyone getting in trouble for this?" you mumble, looking at the people scattered across the hallways with drinks in their hands, socializing.

You weave through the people, searching for Minchan.

"Hey! Looking for your... boyfriend?" a familiar voice asks you, taking hold of your arm.

You turn around to see your friend, looking lovely as ever.

"Yeah... seen him anywhere?" you ask.

They point upstairs while saying, "he's in his room, 204, waiting for you."

"Alright, I'll see you around then!"

"Don't have too much fun," your friend says with a wink.

Fun? This is not fun at all, you sigh, trudging upstairs and pushing past people to find room 204.

When you finally find it, you're surprised to see it's the only room with the door closed. You knock and the door knob quickly turns, revealing a very.... annoyingly attractive Minchan, with his hair parted comma style, wearing a white tee and a blue jean jacket.

"[y/n], you came! Come in, the real party's in here," he says, inviting you inside.

You walk in to find his TV showing a game he was playing, and he sits down to continue.

You throw him a confused look, but he just stares back at you.

"What? I know you didn't wanna be there, so let's at least have some fun before we have to go out there," he tells you, patting the spot on the ground next to him.

"Wow, Minchan. This is actually the kindest thing you've done for me," you reply, sitting next to him and taking the controller he's offering you.

After absolutely destroying Minchan in the game he thought he was the best at (what a reality check for him!) the two of you stand up and take a few deep breaths before stepping out into the hallway.

"Hey, you owe me something for beating you," you say before Minchan opens the door.

"Oh, shut up," he says, but with a smile.

As soon as he opens the door, people start to greet him. It isn't surprising, since he is just a bit of a popular guy. Okay, maybe more than a bit, but you don't want to admit that.

Many people ask Minchan if he broke up with Jennifer, the stuck-up asshole that he had been telling you people thought he was dating, and Minchan clarifies each time, with a bright grin, that they were never dating, but that it's only ever been him and you.

Everyone seems to find this so cute, but you almost vomit on the spot. Who would've known that Minchan could be so cringey?

Feeling tired after socializing with so many people, the two of you find your own space to stand in one another's company for a second.

"So, how does it feel, Minchan?" you ask him.

"To be dating you?" he asks back, a cheeky grin on his face.

You hiss at him and shake your head.

"No! To be rid of that dumb rumour about you and Jennifer."

"Ah, it feels good! Thanks, [y/n]. Do you want me to go grab your favourite drink for you? The vending machine here has it."

You take a second before agreeing, telling yourself that you deserve it after having role played for so long.

A few moments after Minchan leaves, the somewhat loud music that had been blasting this whole time stops, and someone starts yelling from up the stairs.

"GUYS, THERE'S BEEN A FLOOD AND IT'S SUPER BAD. IT'S SPREADING TO ALL THE HALLWAYS SO WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!" he shouts.

Even from down there you can notice water pooling around his feet from where he stands near the stairs, and water trickling down the steps, too.

Some people immediately rush out, but you search around for Minchan for some time, wondering why he's taking so long. Then, the flood starts getting really bad, rushing down the stairs and beginning to approach you.

You start speedwalking towards the door, not even stopping when someone grabs your arm.

"[y/n]! You waited for me?" the person asks.

You turn to find Minchan with his pants soaked up to his knees and holding your favourite drink while panting.

"No. Maybe. Anyways, let's go!" you say, dragging him out with you.

That whole night, no one gets any sleep as the campus' staff decide what to do with all the students who won't have a place to sleep. It's only at 4am that they decide on a solution: to send everyone from Minchan's dorm into your dorm, because yours is the one with the most vacant spots.

And as if by the worst luck on this planet, Minchan just has to be placed right. In your. Room.

He trails in at 4:32am, shyly following you inside and acting very differently from his usual arrogant state.

"So this is where you sleep, huh [y/n]?" he quietly asks, looking at your bed.

"Yeah, of course. This is my dorm, what would you expect? That bed on the other side is vacant, so you can sleep there. If you need anything, just go grab it. But if you can't find it or need help, you can wake me up, it's honestly fine," you explain, grabbing your clothes so you can get changed in the bathroom

Minchan stops you.

"No, [y/n], it's fine! I'll change in the bathroom. You change here and tell me when you're done."

You shrug and nod, accepting his offer.

Once you're both changed, you decide to just sleep, because by now it's 5am and you both have class in a little over 3 hours. But you're unable to sleep with the presence of another person in your usually empty room, and you notice Minchan rustling around in his bed, too.

"Having trouble sleeping?" you whisper, not wanting to wake him in case he's actually asleep.

"Yeah..." Minchan says with a sigh.

"Let me just turn on the light, cause I can't sleep either-"

"No! It's better like this." Minchan says, interrupting you as you begin to leave your bed.

You fall back on it, sitting on the edge.

"Anything... I can do to help you sleep?" you ask him, feeling weird that you're being so nice to someone who was your enemy not too long ago.

"Do you wanna cook something?" Minchan asks you after a long silence.

"Cook? Now?"

"We didn't eat," Minchan points out, making you laugh.

"I guess you're right!" you say, standing up to turn on the light.

With whatever random ingredients you have, Minchan helps direct you in making a meal, carefully teaching you how to cut the vegetables and how to fry things correctly. He always gets real close when he does this, but never touches you since he thinks you wouldn't like that. You notice this and appreciate it.

At one point, Minchan asks you to lean in close to the stove to look at the texture of the food. You lean in and place your head practically next to his.

"See how it's this colour and is a lot softer? That means it's done!"

Minchan turns to you after he says this, and this might sound crazy, but your faces are so close to each other that Minchan's lips literally graze yours when he turns to you.

He immediately jumps back and apologizes, laughing slightly for his stupid mistake while covering his mouth with his hand. You, on the other hand, feel mortified and hold your lips with your fingers, wondering if they haven't fallen off or anything, because for some reason, they feel like they're buzzing.

"Wait, [y/n], why is your hair... turning white?" Minchan asks, pointing to your hair.

You notice a strand of white in Minchan's hair too, and you also point up to it. Reaching out to touch each other's white strands, the two of you seem to realize at the same time.

"Ah... so it's you? You're my soulmate?" Minchan asks, his cheeks clearly tainted red.

"I guess so... Damn, that wasn't even a real kiss but it was enough to turn our hair white!"

The two of you remain speechless for a few moments.

"So I'm really soulmates with my enemy?" you ask, groaning.

"Hey, I guess we have to learn to love each other now," Minchan says, puckering his lips and fake-kissing the air.

You push his face away and run off towards your bed, leaving Minchan chasing you around your room while the two of you laugh loudly. Thankfully you don't get any noise complaints, but running around at 6am leaves the two of you running on an all-nighter for your first class.

As the two of you practically fall asleep on each other for the whole class, everyone giggles at your sleepy states, but most importantly, gawks at the white strands in your hair.

"So they were really meant to be, huh," your friend says, sitting behind you and kicking your shin, forcing you awake so you can pay attention.

[kangminyoo]

*indefinite hiatus*

hi!! this has been a long time coming, but i’m going on an indefinite hiatus while i go to school! 

i’ll probably be back when winter break rolls around and i’ll still log on from time to time, you’ll probably just see a lot less activity from me.

[jisquish]

yall know I haven't written fic in like a year but all my old ones have been updated to remove or replace woojin. If you still support him my writing is not for you. just like everyone I don't want it to be true, but I stand w the victim(s) until or if more information is disclosed

[whatsk-poppinhomies]

Bang Chan

What If I Love You? {Angst}

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst}

Not Yours {MinChan Angst} -> All Mine {MinChan Angst}

Distracted {Angst} -> Focused {Angst/Fluffish}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

Miss You More {Angst/Fluff}

Secret Secret {Angst/Fluff}

Seo Changbin

Because You Told Me Not To {Fluff/Angst-ish}

Wasted Tears and Wasted Time {Angst/Fluff-ish}

You Coming? {Angst/Fluff}

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst}

Headache {Angst/Fluff}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

Stolen Joy {Angst} -> Life Goes On {Angst-Happy Endingish}

Lee Minho

Yandere!Lee Know Part 1 Yandere!Lee Know Part 2 {Smut} Yandere!Lee Know Part 3 {Angst/Smut} Yandere!Lee Know Part 4 {Angst/Smut} Yandere!Lee Know Part 5 {Angst/Smut}

Always With You {Comfort}

Cut Like Knives {Angst}

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst}

Fight or Flight {Yandere!Angst}

Okay… And? {Angst/Fluff} -> Welcome To The Family {Fluff}

Not Yours {MinChan Angst} -> All Mine {MinChan Angst}

Two For One {MinSung Angst}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

Dad Minho Headcanons {Fluff}

Make You Stay {Yandere!Angst}

Hwang Hyunjin

Soft!Yandere!Hwang Hyunjin {Smut}

And The Leaves Will Fall {Angst}

Frag-Ill {Angst HEAVILY TRIGGERING}

A Sea of Green {Angst}

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

Little One {Angst} -> Daddy’s Girl {Angst}

It’s Just That Time {Angst/Fluff}

Purely Accidental {Angst/Fluff}

Han Jisung

When Winter Turns To Spring {Angst}

Mommy!May Collab {Smut}

What Happens In College {Angst}

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst}

Congratulations {Angst/Fluff}

All Work and No Play {Smut}

Two For One {MinSung Angst}

Time and Space {Angst/Fluff}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

No Mistakes {Angst} -> Happy Accidents {Angst}

So The Story Goes {Angst/Fluff}

Anonny {Angst/Fluff}

Lee Felix

Someday We’ll Both Be Happy {Angst/Smut} -> One Day We’ll Both Have Each Other {Angst}

Home Is Where The Hurt Is {Angst} -> You Are My Home {Angst/Fluff}

Me or the PC {fluff/suggestive}

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst}

Glass Ashtrays and Nicotine Kisses {yandere!angst}

Welcome and Goodbye {Angst} -> Erase and Rewind {Angst}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

Order Up {Fluff/Angst}

Kim Seungmin

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst}

He Said She Said {Angst/Fluffish}

Purple and Blue {Angst}

Go Tell Him {Angst}

X’s and O’s {Yandere}

Catchup {Angst/Fluff}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

Looking {Slight Angst/Fluff}

Besties {Little Angst/Fluff}

Yang Jeongin

Pins and Needles {Yandere!Angst}

Pieces of You {Angst}

When Reader Doesn’t Feel Good {Angst/Fluff}

One Sided {Angst/Fluff}

Snippets of Life {Fluff}

Father?With Benefits {Angst/Crack} -> What Brings Us Together {Angst/Fluff}

Ot8 Headcanons

When Their GF Is Followed Home {Angst/Fluff}

24 Hours After S/O’s Death {Angst}

Domestic Headcanons {Fluffy}

Random Texts {SMAU SUGGESTIVE/CRACK}

More Random Texts {SMAU SUGGESTIVE/CRACK}

Jealous Texts {angst/fluff} Hyung Line | Maknae Line

[matryosika]

after hours

pairing – minho x reader

genre – smut

wordcount – 6.2k

warnings – character is in his 30's, harddom!minho, babysitter!reader, alcohol consumption, voyeurism, dirty talk, fingering, sir kink, humping an inanimate object (corner of a table), nipple play, breeding/impreg kink (there are more elements to it than just a creampie in this!) humiliation, degradation, praise, unprotected sex, piv and creampie.

note – it's 5.38 a.m. and i haven't read this so i apologize for any mistakes in advance. this was initially a minchan threesome but at some point i completely lost the plot and ended up with only one character (sorry to dissapoint you all this time!). also, i have said this several times but i genuinely think this is one of my most filthiest drabbles haha. this has some breeding/impregnation elements that might not be for everyone so, just a heads up! still. if you decide to read this i hope you like it.

please remember that i have a ko-fi! tips are highly appreciated.

[18:36, Mr. Lee]

sorry for the unexpected, but do you think you can stay longer tonight? i completely forgot that i was supposed to make dinner for a friend who happens to be one of the company's associates. just in case i need some help with min.

i'll pay you the extra hours, of course.

you couldn't help but let out an audible groan as soon as your eyes read those words. it wasn't that you hated your job and that you wanted to leave as soon as possible but, to be completely honest, you already had plans to spend your friday night.

nonetheless, the opportunity of earning extra money was too tempting to be rejected.

[18:38, y/n]

it's alright mr. lee,

i can stay as long as you need me to.

your eyes traveled to the image of min who had spent the past 45 minutes playing with some stacking blocks. suddenly, you recalled a lecture you had read on one of your pedagogy classes that talked about kids and the stages of games. the average toddler was capable of piling 1 or 2 blocks at the age of one year, yet min was already doing so at barely 10 months.

"aren't you a smart baby?" you questioned, poking his nose and earning a smile from him, "just as smart as your daddy".

judged by min's activities throughout the day, you knew that he was going to fall asleep and wouldn't wake up until tomorrow morning at minimum. you had been babysitting kids for over 3 years now yet none of them were as easy to handle as he was, and that automatically made you feel lucky. not only that but mr. lee was generous in terms of money, paying you even 4 times more than your last babysitting gig.

"taking care of a child is hard work," he had said the very first time you had talked to him about the ridiculous amount of money he transferred to your bank account, "even harder when you are a college student and the kid isn't yours".

and as much as you wanted to protest, you couldn't reject such a kind act.

[18:49, Mr. Lee]

can you please open the door for me?

i forgot the keys in my car and my hands are full carrying the shopping bags

taking min into your arms and walking toward the door, you wondered why he was home this early.

oh, right, the dinner.

and as you opened the door, you were welcomed with the image of minho after an exhausting day at work. his light blue, unbuttoned shirt had the sleeves slightly rolled up and the loose tie he was wearing gave him that extra "CEO" job touch. sometimes you wondered how his wife had given up such man, but you were never brave enough to ask him about his divorce, let alone his ex-partner.

"hi, hi," he sighed in a rush, leaning down a bit to plant a kiss on little min's nose while he let out a small laugh, "hi there, honey".

"rough day?" you queried, looking at the small droplets of sweat on his forehead and the stain of coffee on his shirt.

"and it hasn't ended yet", he mumbled, walking towards the kitchen bar as he laid the shopping bags on top of them, "is it too late to cancel dinner?"

"i'm rooting for you, sir" you cheered, closing the door right behind you.

"how was min today?" he questioned, rolling his sleeves even further to wash his hands, "did he gave you a lot of work?"

"if playing with stacking blocks, watching the wheels on the bus video for 19 times in a row, and making some gerber cereal by demand of little min is a lot of work, then yes" you joked, smiling fondly at him while you held him.

"i'm glad you two get along well," minho mumbled with a smile, taking out some vegetables of the shopping bags and placing them on top of a cutting board, "and you," he cooed with a playful tone, approaching min on his way to get a plate from the kitchen cabinet you were leaning, "find a new video to watch so that our pretty girl won't get bored of the same one".

"it's driving me insane at this point," you sighed, smiling at the fondness of how minho treated his son. "but he laughs a lot while watching it, so it's alright".

"did you have plans for tonight?" he queried, chopping the vegetables and pouring them on a big plate.

"nothing too special," you admitted, "i don't mind working extra hours tonight".

"i will make it up to you, alright?" he mumbled while fixing his gaze on you.

the way minho made you feel was different, new. even though you knew he never did it with any other intention than being friendly, his behavior towards you had you daydreaming about him often.

of course, the reality of him being a father in his 30's and you being nothing more than a college student who babysits his kid hit you immediately after your mind started to drift away to impossible scenarios.

"it's alright, mr. lee," you reassured him, "i can see this dinner is important for you, so i'm truly happy to help".

"you are an angel", he praised while being too focused on his cooking tasks.

other than the trivial chat about min's day and his tragic events at the supermarket, you two didn't talk any further. at some point, the little one started to get unsteady and so you took him to his room to play for a bit before his bath time, not wanting to stress minho with his crying any further.

a couple of minutes and 6 educational videos later, you noticed that min was starting to get sleepy. the way he blinked with laziness and how his body was starting to lean on you for support betrayed him, so you decided to clean him up before it was too late.

unfortunately for you, min's baths were always messy. even though he was practically falling asleep mere moments ago, the feeling of warm water woke him up. he entertained himself while playing with his set of rubber ducks, splashing water all over you and the floor —something that you were going to have to mop later. Even though bath time was one of your favorite activities to do with him, you weren't too fond of getting your clothes wet especially when you knew you were going to stay longer than usual, so you tried to rush the process in hopes of saving as much of your clothes as possible.

"come here, little one," you whispered, covering him up with a clean towel.

the moments after the bath were spent quickly, dressing him up with the coziest pajama you could find and lulling him until he finally fell asleep inside your arms.

"aren't you such a good boy?" you hummed, leaving a faint kiss on his forehead, "so cute, just like your daddy aren't you?"

"y/n," minho cleared his throat, making you feel your heart sinking deep into your insides.

"oh my god," you gasped, embarrassed and hoping he hadn't heard those last words. nonetheless, judged by the teasing smirk he had, you could only assume he had listened to your praise.

"i'll take a bath quickly," minho stated, "if by any reason sungho gets here early, do you think you can invite him in?"

"oh, yeah-" you replied, puzzled, "sure, yeah".

"good," he smiled, "i'll rush".

right after he walked away from min's room, you cursed yourself for even agreeing to stay longer than you needed to. your appearance was a mess, your clothes were wet and stained with oatmeal cereal, and, judged by the time you spent playing with min in the park under the bright sun that afternoon, you smelled.

luckily for you, as you were laying min down in his cradle, you remembered the pink bag you carried this morning for college. there were the clothes you were supposed to use that night and, even though they weren't appropriate for a babysitting job, you would rather wear those than the dirty clothes you had on at the moment.

all you had to do was patiently wait for minho to get out of the shower and pray for his friend to arrive late. the idea of having to talk to them made you nervous because this wasn't the first time mr. lee had friends over and you knew which kind of men they were.

rich, important, refined and powerful, the mere thought of having to be in the same room as them intimidated you enough so you couldn't think about engaging in trivial conversations with them.

and just as if the universe was hearing your pleas, the sound of minho's footsteps across the living room saved you from insanity. closing the door slowly to avoid making any loud noises, you walked towards him only to be welcomed with an image that you were most definitely going to remember on one of those nights: white shirt with the chest slightly unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up, a pair of suspenders, black pants, and wet hair, the sight was as attractive as it was sinful.

"sir," you mumbled, trying your best to appear collected in front of him, "i was wondering if i could take a shower quickly".

"do you need me to lend you some clean clothes?" he queried, fixing the buttons of his sleeves.

even though the proposal excited you, you were somewhat embarrassed of asking such favor in addition to him allowing you to take a shower at his place.

you shook your head, "i have some clean clothes in my bag".

"go on then," the brown-haired smiled at you, "you already know where the bathroom is".

you didn't really thought anything of it until the moment you had to step foot into his bedroom to make your way to the bathroom. min's room had one as well but, since he was a toddler, the only thing it had was a bathtub and not a shower, so this was your only option.

even though he never forbade you from entering his room, the thought of walking around it seemed a bit invasive so you tried to do it as little as you could. nonetheless, the times you had visited it, you always felt overwhelmed.

holding your pink backpack against your chest, you walked along the bedroom and into the bathroom that was located after a big, walk-in closet. judged by his bedroom, you could only infere that minho had good taste.

well, either him or his ex-wife. even so, the whole place was elegant, luxurious and it made you feel small.

not trying to lose any more time, you got rid of all your clothes and hopped into the shower allowing the warm water to wash off every single trace of sweat and dirt on your body. the scent of the shampoo and body wash were exactly what minho smelled like and you couldn't help but inhale the fragrance in hopes of it engraving into your mind.

you were conflicted, hating yourself for even thinking about him that way but feeling a pleasant sensation each time his image appeared into your mind. it was like a forbidden door that you knew you shouldn't cross, but you'd still try to open it every once in a while.

just as you were approaching the end of your bath, the faint sound of footsteps in his room made you freeze in your place. knowing that he was aware of your presence there, you didn't bother to close the door of the bathroom because you knew he was not going to walk anywhere near it, taking into account that his guest was just about to arrive. however, you should've thought about it twice, especially because the shower was surrounded by tempered glass and nothing else.

it was then, in the heat of the moment, where a wicked thought appeared in your mind. more than scaring you or make you uncomfortable, you wanted him to see you. you wanted him to walk near the door of the bathroom to catch a glimpse of your naked body. you wanted to pretend you didn't know he was watching you.

but, little did you know that when you were picturing that scenario, it was already happening.

spying on you weren't his initials intentions, no. all he wanted was to get his cellphone that he had forgotten inside of the walk-in closet but, as he saw the door of the bathroom completely opened, he just couldn't help himself.

taking advantage of the fact that you were facing towards the shower instead of him, he cautiously positioned himself at an angle that he was sure you were not going to catch.

however, the sudden stop of his footsteps betrayed him. it took you one quick glance at the big mirror to noticed he was there, standing right at the toughened glass door of the bathroom with both of his hands inside of his pockets.

you continued with your task rather nonchalantly, soaping your whole body and even daring to lean downwards to give him a full sight of all he needed to see. at the end of the day you were just innocently taking a shower, right?

your hand reached out to close the shower head and it was only then that minho walked away from his previous position, leaving you completely alone again. you took a few seconds to process the events that just happened and how they most definitely were going to affect your job.

but, as you pondered the possible outcomes, you reached the conclusion that things were going to remain the same. minho believed he caught off-guard and he was obviously not going to admit spying on a 22 year old so the possibilities of this situation evolving to something else were minimum to zero.

or at least that's what you thought.

"i'm telling you," minho mumbled while taking a sip of his wine glass, "she is my angel".

your skin turned hotter at the sudden compliment, covering your face with both of your hands as you tried to divert the gaze of both men from you.

"how long have you been working with minho?", his friend, kim sungho, inquired.

just as if dealing with someone as powerful as minho wasn't enough, you were now tied to a dinner table with not one but two intimidating men. not only that, but the recent shower events weren't really helping you in making eye contact with any of them, especially your boss.

"next friday i will be 6 months," you answered shyly, picking on the food of your plate to keep yourself busy.

"and how does min behave?" he questioned again, showing his full interest in you.

"he is such a calm baby," you mumbled, your eyes shining brightly as you spoke about him, "he hardly ever gives me any trouble and since he is getting older, it is way easier to handle him".

"he is very cute, isn't he?" minho intervened, bringing back the words you had said just a few hours ago.

"he is," you replied with a smile, forcing yourself to make eye contact with him. it was unusual that someone intimidated you this much and, to be completely honest, you weren't too fond of the feeling, so you needed to prove yourself that he didn't have that much power over you.

"do you have any plans after graduating?" sungho asked you, capturing your whole attention.

"i want to do a master's degree in early childhood education and hopefully get a job as a preschool teacher," you replied.

"i'm guessing forming a family is something you have in mind," sungho blurted, earning an honest smile from you.

"it is, yes," you replied, a bit amazed with the question, "of course, i still want to do other things before motherhood but that is definitely on my list".

"i'm sure she will be such a great mom," minho praised, taking another sip of his glass, "she is so... gentle".

the blood in minho's body traveled to one specific place as he recalled the memories of your naked body in his shower. your rounded breasts and hips were perfect for him to admire, thinking about how pretty your body was to be bred over and over again.

"yeah, i will try to," you shyly murmured in response to minho's compliment, "i really like children and i would love to have some of my own".

there it was again, that pulsating feeling between his legs. whether it was pure biology or his own perversions, minho couldn't help but feel aroused at the thought of having his way with you. he wanted to have you underneath him, begging for him to pump his cum inside your cunt until it was leaking out of you.

the rest of the dinner was spent casually, minho and sungho talking about work stuff and you praying for min to start crying so you could have an excuse to leave the table. now that you were witnessing the last goodbyes between your boss and his friend from the dining room, it was safe to say that the little one was still sleeping soundly.

as soon as he closed the door of the apartment, minho let out a loud sigh. almost as if he had been struggling to keep his composure throughout the dinner, desperate to be on his own.

"rough day?" you questioned him again, taking off your sweater and picking up the dishes from the table.

"and it hasn't ended yet," he repeated the exact same answer, walking towards you. he placed both of his palms against the kitchen bar, his eyes analyzing every single movement you did.

"i will just clean this up and get going," you murmured, trying to avoid any kind of silence to prevent yourself from getting clumsy, "it is already too l-".

"y/n," he interrupted, his low voice sending shivers down your spine. for once you were lucky that you weren't facing him, both of your eyes fixed on the plates you were washing.

"yes, sir?" you queried, trying to act as oblivious as possible.

"why didn't you stop me?" the dark-haired questioned you, making your whole heart sink into your chest. no matter how hard you tried to give him a proper answer, your mouth just wasn't connected to your brain.

your gaze fixed on the running water of the faucet and soon, the memories of your last shower invaded you.

"has the cat got your tongue now?" he mumbled rather harshly, "you acted so bold in the shower while putting on a show for me and you are scared of an innocent question?"

"did you drink a lot of wine, sir?" you teased him with a silly laugh, the evident nervousness betraying you in front of his eyes.

"don't try to act dumb with me, y/n," his hoarse voice took you from surprise, the sound of his words indicating that he was approaching you from behind while you kept on doing the dishes, "you know what i am talking about".

you swallowed hard, licking your lips while you tried to focus on your task to seem disengaged, "i think i heard something on min's room, i will go-".

"you are not going anywhere until you answer my question," he breathed, cornering you between his body and the sink, "or do you need a reminder of how naughty you acted this evening?"

while both of his arms were wrapped around your figure, he took the faucet sprayer from your hands. it took you one wrong movement to feel his growing bulge against your arse, the only things intervening between the two of you were clothes and absolutely nothing more.

"you don't remember?" he queried, his breath tickling against the skin of your neck, "how you were soaping your body for me?".

he drove the faucet sprayer towards you, wetting your chest and blouse. the feeling of his body against yours, combined with the coldness of the water, made your nipples harden in a matter of seconds.

"you even bent over, exposing that cunt of yours for me," he purred into your ear, the feeling of having your body shaking under his hold sending electricity trough his veins, "you are going to tell me you don't remember?"

having minho confronting you about the incident was not on your list of possible outcomes and that alone was enough to have you on edge.

"you looked so pretty, you know that?" he whispered, wetting the cotton fabric on your breasts even more, "massaging your breasts and bending over to wash your legs".

only when he noticed your hardened nipples through your wet blouse, he turned the faucet off.

as much as you tried to hold back and control yourself from doing something you would regret in a future, the overwhelming stimuli was too strong to be fought.

you were too needy and too eager to see what was on store for you, your hips involuntarily grinding against his bulge and your nipples begging to be used.

"i am sorry sir," you murmured, your gaze falling on minho's veiny arm that was wrapped around your waist, "i just- i don't know what happened-".

"you knew i wasn't going to be able to control myself," he whispered into your ear, the digits of his available hand caressing the sides of your body and making you squirm under him. "you wanted to tease me, didn't you?"

"i did," you cried, feeling how your heartbeats were going faster and faster as minho's words got the desired effect on you, "i am not sure why-".

"because you are too needy, y/n," he mumbled with his lips attached to the skin of your neck, his available hand reaching out for your string top and pulling it downwards to reveal your swollen breasts, "too desperate to have your holes filled".

he pinched one of your hardened buds, forcing a loud moan out of your lips. "you are lucky i was the one who walked into you this time," he groaned, brushing the tip of his digits against his nipples, "what would you have done if it had been sungho? would you had put on a show for him as well?"

you moaned at his touch, bucking your hips against the sink desperately every time he teased your breasts.

"i am sure you would have," minho murmured, gropping both of your breasts with his hands, "moving your hips from side to side and inviting any men to fuck your dripping cunt in exchange of cum".

even though you weren't a virgin, you were not really used to men talking you down like that.

saying you enjoyed it was an understatement.

"i am just too horny," you shyly whispered, closing your eyes shut as you felt minho's fingers twisting your hardened buds, "i am sorry".

minho let out a soft scoff, grinding his hips against yours ever so slightly. "you should feel sorry, y/n", he groaned, wrapping one of his arms around you once again and guiding you all the way to the dinner table that had been occupied by you, your boss and his friend for the past hours. "you should feel embarrassed by how needy and filthy you are".

with a swift movement he pressed your lower abdomen against the table, forcing you to bend over it. he smirked at the sight of your skirt rolled up and your pink panties completely exposed, taking quick notice of the dark patch in the middle of it created by your own juices.

"you know i am too generous," he breathed, gripping a fistful of your hair with one hand to hold you in place while pulling down your ruined panties with the other, "i can't let you go home like this knowing that your dripping cunt needs to be used and filled with cum".

you let out a faint whine at his words, your pussy clenching around thin air and wishing for him to make even the slightest contact with it.

"why are you so needy these days, huh?" he queried, his digits tracing your wetted slit and making your whole body tremble against the table, "is it the middle of the month?"

you shook your head slightly, "i am not sure, sir".

"you are not sure?" he hummed, caressing your wet folds and teasing your bundle of nerves without actually giving you any simulation, "it seems like it, y/n. you are acting like a slut in heat."

without giving you a proper warning, he pumped two of his fingers inside of you. they slided in so easily that minho couldn't help but groan, feeling how your warm walls clenched around his digts aggressively each time he thrusted them deep inside you.

"i didn't even had to lubricate them from how wet you are," he mumbled, "aren't you embarrassed? getting turned on by being humiliated?"

you whined painfully at the lack of stimulation on your clit, bucking your hips against him as he fucked your cunt with his digits.

"sir, please," you quietly begged, trying hard to prevent the tears of frustration from falling down your cheeks, "i need you to rub me".

"i don't think you deserve it," the dark-haired teased you, pulling your hair even harshly while his fingers reached a deepest spot inside of you, "if you want to cum, you have to find a way to do so without using your hands because this is all you are getting for what you did earlier today".

you cried again, feeling the tension accumulating in your lower back but knowing that you were going to need more than the penetration of his fingers to cum.

both of your hands reached out for the edges of the table and you positioned yourself even closer to the corner you were bent over, grazing your throbbing clit against it.

"you look so desperate," minho laughed, his cock twitching inside of his pants as he witnessed the scene of your pathetic body humping the corner of the table while he fucked your cunt, "you really want to cum this bad, don't you?"

"i do sir," you whined, moving your hips and circles against his palm, "please make me cum, i need it".

"you need it?" he hummed, lost in the way your cunt dripped over the table, "you have to earn it, y/n".

you arched your back at his words, feeling how the tightened knot was going to come undone at any second now.

"what do i have to do?" you queried desperately, feeling the tears streaming down your face and your hardened nipples brushing against the table, "i will do anything you ask me to sir, please".

"degrade yourself," he commanded, giving you no further instructions, "you are such a smart girl and, by now, i am sure you know what i would love to hear".

even though the task was embarrassing, you were already too fucked out to even reconsider following his command. you had always been bold with every single on your partners, and today wasn't going to be the exception.

"what do you want to hear, sir?" you teased him between broken moans, "you want me to say that i am nothing but a needy slut?"

"keep on going" he demanded, the bulge in his pants suddenly becoming too painful to bear it.

"i am nothing but your little cumslut," you whined, feeling how your hips were starting to lose their pace as minho's digits increased theirs, "all i am useful for is to be filled with cum over and over again".

"you can let go," he breathed, feeling how your body was too close to your climax for him to deny it, "make a mess on my fingers and i'll force you to clean them afterwards".

with a high-pitched moan, your whole body started to tremble against him and the table. "such an obedient slut," he praised, "cumming only when i allowed her to".

you laid down on the table while trying to overcome your nerve-wrecking orgasm, a series of spasms taking over your body even minutes after cumming.

"thank you sir," you whispered, trying to recover your breath, "thank you, thank hou, thank you".

"are you really thankful, y/n?," minho mumbled turning you over and picking you up to sit you on the dinner table.

you simply nodded.

"why don't you show me your gratitude then?" he queried, his gaze fixed on your swollen cunt, "open up your legs and take my cock all the way in".

still dizzy from your previous orgasm, you followed his pleas. both of you still had almost all of your clothes on and, as weird as it sounded, it only made the scene ten times hotter.

it made you feel more humiliated, you would dare to say. your strap top completely pulled down and out of place, your wet panties on the dining floor and your pink skirt completely rolled up to have your cunt exposed were such a delightful sight to minho, one that was almost making him lose his senses.

"i want to know how thankful my dirty slut is," he grunted, unzipping his pants and freeing his veiny length, "by allowing me to do as i please with her".

you nodded eagerly, without thinking it twice and he couldn't help but let out a faint laugh at your despair. "you are more needy than i thought," he scoffed, rubbing the tip of his cock against your swollen clit, "allowing me to use you as i please only for a crumb of pleasure?"

"minho please," you whined, grinding your hips against it, "thrust it in me".

he clicked his tongue a few times, "that is not my name, y/n".

"sir, i am sorry," you corrected yourself, "sir, please, let me feel your cock inside of me".

"i would love to have you begging for hours on end for my cock," he groaned, gripping both of your thighs, "but after tonight, i am just too desperate to fill you up the way you deserve it".

slowly, minho's hips started to thrust his length inside you. the way his cock wss stretching your walls made you shed a couple of tears because it was way more painful than had expected it to be. nonetheless, he was quick to wipe them away with his fingers.

"you are going to have to get used to my cock," he hissed, immersed in the feeling of your tight walls welcoming him, "so i will fuck you as many times as needed for you to learn how to take it properly".

he barely moved inside of you but, wheter it was the overstimulation or pure neediness, you suddenly felt the knot on your stomach again.

"sir-" you gasped, wrapping your hands around his arms, "sir, i think i am going to cum".

"is that so?" he groaned, teasing you with a cocky smirk, "but i haven't done anything, y/n".

the only thing you needed was the slightest touch on your bundle of nerves and you were completely sure you were going to cum again.

it was embarrassing, yes, but it was also proof of how needy and aroused you truly were.

"fuck, fuck, fu-" you hissed, arching your back while you clenched around his thick length. just as if he was reading your mind, his right hand approached your clit with a swift movement and the tip of his digits grazed against it, earning a whiny moan out of you followed by a series of spasms throughout your whole body.

"all you need is your hole filled to cum?" he queried, forcing both of your thighs opened while his cock was still inside you, "i didn't even thrusted it completely and yet you made a mess all over me".

"i am sorry sir," you gasped, tears of bliss running down your cheeks, "i can't help it, i am feeling so fucking needy".

minho smiled at your words, pushing your thighs even further and slamming his cock inside you with no prior warning.

"fuck," you screamed in pain, arching your back and grasping for dear life to the table.

"shhhh, you don't want my neighbors to hear how much of a slut the babysitter is, do you?" he groaned, placing a hand on top of your mouth as he pulled himself out of you only to slam his cock into you again. "though i think you would like that, wouldn't you? having all the neighbors hear how much of a cockslut you are, begging for me to fill up your pussy with my cum".

another thrust and your sore cunt was already to overstimulated to take anything without a pinch of pain.

"i should've known better," he hissed, acquiring a steady –but rough– pace, "that time i interviewed you for the job, i just knew you were going to be a problem for me".

all the moans and whines escaping your lips were repressed by minho's hand on your mouth, forcing you to be quiet.

"you just looked to good, wearing that cute sundress and picking up the toys from the living room," he groaned, his dark gaze meeting yours that was clouded with tears of pleasure, "do you know how hard i had to control myself from bending you over and fucking you that day?"

his movements against your hips continued with a rough rythm, making your swollen breasts bounce to the point of hurting.

"i just wanted you to have you in my room with your legs spreaded and ready for me to use you," the dark-haired moaned, drops of sweat starting to form on his forehead and neck, "i wanted to fill you up with cum several times a day, having you begging for it like the desperate slut in heat you are".

you arched your back against him, desperarely gripping onto his arms as you felt your third orgasm approaching. he moved his hand from your mouth, allowing you to grasp from air and let out the obscene moans he had been repressing for the past minutes.

"i am cumming," you whispered quietly, your whole body shaking and your eyes rolling to the back of your head due to the overwhelming pleasure, "fu-".

you couldn't form a coherent sentence, let alone keep your eyes and legs opened for him. you gropped your breasts and pinched your nipples as you reached your high, feeling the sensations a hundred times more thanks to the overstimulation and the soreness of your chest.

"keep clenching around me," he breathed, going even deeper, "make me cum".

the overwhelming sensations of still being touched even after three orgasms were maybe too much, but you were determined to show him how thankful you were for his cock. spreading both of your legs opened for him, and attempting to look directly into his eyes, you knew exactly what he needed to cum.

and since you were truly thankful for the mindblowing sex, you had no choice other than indulge him.

"minho-" you breathed, bouncing your breasts and spreading your cunt for him, "please fill me up with your cum".

his gaze drastically changed from lust to a strong desire and his hips lost the steady rythm he had maintained for the past minutes.

"i want you to cum inside me", you cried, the sounds of his moans and heavy breathing sending you all the way to cloud nine. "remember how you said earlier that i was going to make such a great mom?" you queried in between broken words, panting and gasping for air, "i bet i would look so pretty, wouldn't i?"

minho moaned louder this time, his eyes closing while the veins on his neck became more and more prominent.

"always ready to be stuffed with your cum until it is leaking out of me," you whined, wrapping your hand around his neck and pulling him closer to your face, forcing his eyes open, "don't you want to breed me? i am so fertile, i bet it would only take you one attempt to get me pregnant, sir".

and just as if you had pushed the right button, minho came inside you. painting your walls white, his sticky, hot arousal was leaking out of you in no time. and as it leaked it out you, he pushed it back inside you.

"be a good cumslut and keep it all inside you," he breathed, pushing back your hair that was sticking to your forehead with sweat, "don't you dare to waste any drops".

you whined at the warm feeling, grinding your hips against it while trying to bear the overstimulation.

"thank you sir," you chanted again, catching your breath. he wiped away the sweat from your face and your chest, pulling out of you.

"i am glad you caught up on that," he murmured, still panting and referring to his unusual kink.

"i guess we have something in common," you admitted.

[goldinthemtharhills]

Intro & List

Hello hello! I’m TheSunshineDragon on Ao3! I also occasionally write non-kpop works under WoodElfJedi and post High & Low fics under YukensHairtie. 

List of Works:

Stray Kids

Series:

Domestic Doses (Perpetually Incomplete, Platonic Fluff, Slice of Life, General Shenanigans)

The Wind Under Your Wings (Complete, Danceracha with Wings, Platonic, Wingfics, Sickfics, Hurt/Comfort)

I’ve Got An AU For That (Incomplete, AUs, Platonic Relationships, Little Bit of Everything)

Tell The Wolves I’m Home (Complete, Werewolf/Wolves AU, Platonic Pack Dynamics, Wolf!Minho, Angst, Sickfic, Hurt/Comfort)

Ash & Oak & Thorn (Incomplete, Magic AU, Platonic Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort)

Let Be What Is, And Be What Isn’t (Incomplete, AUs, Platonic HyunLix)

Yours & Mine (Incomplete, Platonic Soulmate AU, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection)

Chan the Zookeeper (Incomplete, Shifter AU, Humour/Crack, Hurt/Comfort, Wholesome Vibes Coming Your Way)

The Saga of Chan & His Dragon Menaces (Incomplete, Dragons, Humour/Crack, Magic, Fluff)

The Heart of a Summer Child Born in Spring (Complete, MCD, Terminal Illnesses, Magic AU, Hyunjin-centric, Two versions)

Non-seried Fics:

Threads (One-shot, Based on the I’ll Be Your Man Kingdom Stage, Heavy Angst, Grief/Mourning, Magic, Brotherhood)

Let’s All Die Naturally In A Healthy Way (One-shot, MinChan Fic Fest, Platonic Relationships, Androids, Post-Apocalyptic, Hurt/Comfort)

Broken Glass, Pieced Back (One-shot, Rated M, Platonic MinSung, Vampires, Heavy Angst, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Whump)

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider (Incomplete, Spiderverse AU, Hurt/Comfort, Angst)

Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine (One-shot, Jisung-centric, Sea Monsters, Burn Out, Introspection)

You’re Not A Bet I Care To Take (But I’m Going To Anyways) (One-shot, Platonic ChanLix, Assassins & Hitmen AU, Angst, Found Family)

Attachments Have Consequences (One-shot, Spies & Secret Agents, Inspired by District Nine MV, Light Angst, Found Family)

Stabby Stabby (One-shot, Angst, Jeongin Being an Idiot, Hurt/Comfort) 

Ficlet Collection (2023) (Incomplete)

You May Be Idiots, But You’re My Idiots (Complete, Sickfic, Assassins & Hitmen AU, Minho is a Good Hyung)

The 100-Point Children (Complete, Based on a Tumblr Post, Adoption, Found Family, Hyung-line as Single Parents, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort)

An Objective Reply To A Subjective Question (One-shot, Minho & Seungmin-centric, Canon Compliant, Platonic Relationships, Character Study, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff)

I’ll Stand Until I Can’t (One-shot, Gang AU, Minho-centric, Miscommunications, Bang Chan Being an Idiot, Heavy Angst)

Into The Thick Of It (One-shot, Magic AU, Toddler!Jilix, Witch Minho, Fluff, Slight Crack)

Blooming Death In These Lungs (One-shot, Platonic Hanahaki, Angst, Minho-centric, Angst With A Happy Ending)

Drowning Without Water (Deadpool AU, MinChan, Platonic Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD)

SKZITZY

The Ferryman (One-shot, Vague Allegory for Death, AU, Grim Reapers, Kid Fic, Angst, Magic, Non-Linear Narrative)

To The Wind I Go (Incomplete, Magic AU, Wendigos, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Found Family, Winter VibesTM)

Money Can’t Buy Class (One-shot, Hyunjin/Yeji, College/University AU, Complicated Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending) 

NCT

Affectionate (One-shot, Doyoung & Taeyong are Best Friends, College/University AU, Emotional Support Best Friends)

Lord of the Rings

Tiny Legolas Causing Chaos ft. Thranduil The Tired Single Dad (Incomplete series, Family Fluff, Kid!Legolas)

Another Pillow Fight (One-shot, Slight Crack, Aragorn and Legolas being idiots)

The 68 Rules of Middle-earth (List-fic, Crack Treated Seriously)

Quit Snoring Already (Slight crack, Dwarves Causing Sleep Problems)

Transformers: Prime

Transformers Prime: Communications (Complete, Crack, slight OOC-ness)

The Field Medic & The Doctor (Complete, Grief/Mourning, PTSD)

Star Wars: Rebels

The Rebels Prank War (Incomplete, Prank Wars, Slight Crack, Humour)

Merlin

A Nice Thing To Have (One-shot, Fluff, Merlin Gets A Hug)

HTTYD

Cotton Candy Spun Clouds (One-shot, PTSD, Light Angst)

High & Low

We’re All A Little Fragile (One-shot, PTSD, Fluff, Light Angst)

Fireworks (One-shot, Fluff, Injuries, Light Angst)

Crashing Down (One-shot, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort)

Brother Bear (Little Bear Cub) (One-shot, Modern AU, Angst, Accidental Baby Acquisition) 

Crossovers

Don’t Shoot The Messenger [SVT x High & Low] (Gang AU, Child Abandonment, Mild Hurt/Comfort)

[xxhanjifairytalexx]

fingers

LINK TO MY MASTERLIST !!

roommates!minchan

finger kink / finger sucking

cw // hand/finger kink, finger sucking, heavy emotions, characters are conflicted with their relationship, brain rotting fluff

chan and minho had become friends during their freshman year of college, always attached at the hip like twins. they roomed together until graduation, when they moved into the apartment downtown in which they had resided for the last 3 years.

their relationship was nothing more than friends for the time being, both of them ignoring the fact that they'd once admitted their feelings for one another with a drunken confession at a college party. despite both of them reciprocating the other's feelings, they vowed to keep the relationship platonic so that no one would get hurt.

however, that didn't stop chan from constantly commenting on how beautiful minho was.

he thought he looked like a god, hand sculpted to perfection by the universe. his gorgeous smile that made his nose scrunch up, his eyes that shone so brightly whenever he laughed. everything about minho was perfect in chan’s eyes, especially the one part of his body that minho would never expect any attraction to:

his fingers.

chan knew it was strange, but he just couldn't stop himself from loving minho's cute little fingers so much, always crying about how adorable and perfect they were whenever he was drunk. not only that, but he had also complimented them sober on more than one occasion, his only weird quirk that set him apart from everyone else that minho knew.

now minho was no stranger to compliments on his beauty, constantly being asked out by coworkers and random strangers at bars and clubs, but he always turned them down. he never really understand why he denied others a chance to be his lover, however, the voice in the head told him exactly why.

you're in love with your roommate, dumbass.

it had been almost 3 years since graduation, and while the two had completely opposite jobs, they still found a way to live together. it was a struggle since chan's job paid less money, which led minho to offer covering some of chan’s living expenses.

he insisted, but chan denied the help, opting to work extra hours instead. this worked perfectly fine for a few months, until the extra hours began to tire chan out and cause the tension between the two roommates to grow.

6 months into their new, more expensive lease, chan began lashing out at minho for every little thing, making him feel guilty for even existing. no matter what minho did, he only upset his roommate and caused things to spiral out of control.

minho couldn't lie, he was sometimes terrified of chan, but he knew the chan he loved was still somewhere inside, so he never moved out. the voice in his head told him that chan needed him, whether it was romantically or platonically, and he knew the voice was always right.

after a particularly long 16-hour shift at work, an exhausted chan arrived home around two in the morning, all the lights in the apartment's main room turned off for the night. he sighed, placing down his bag and coat before trudging to his bedroom, closing the door quietly as to not wake his roommate who was probably sleeping.

minho normally got off of work around dinner time, meaning chan rarely saw him anymore since he'd started working more and more hours later into the night. it was necessary to cover their apartment costs, but what was the point of having the apartment together if they never saw one another?

chan couldn't stop his eyes from watering as he collapsed in bed, still in his work clothes but too tired to change out of them. he'd had such a long day, yet was unable to fall asleep due to the insomnia he'd developed after months of working himself to death. even with the insomnia he could normally fall asleep eventually, but this night was different.

everything had been piling up in his mind, especially since a few days ago when he'd lashed out at minho for not cleaning up his dishes. he came home after work, seeing multiple plates stacked in the sink, preventing him from washing his hands. when minho walked into the kitchen, he was met with a dish flying past his head, shattering from the impact against the wall.

no words were spoken between the two roommates about the incident, but that silence had only made chan feel worse.

he felt frustrated and trapped, work getting to be too much but his life at home being too stressful as well. it felt like he could never truly relax, and it was too overwhelming.

chan had no idea how to break this vicious cycle, but one thing was for sure:

he really needed minho right now.

without hesitation, chan rolled out of bed and found himself heading towards his roommate's bedroom, pushing the door open gently. when he noticed minho was seemingly asleep, lying down with his back towards the door, chan quietly shut it behind him.

there were still tears rolling down his cheeks as he walked around the bed to the other side, carefully crawling onto it until he was sat next to minho's sleeping body. he didn't wanna startle him awake, so he just sat there and watched his chest rise and fall with his breathing, the quiet breaths tickling chan's arms that were wrapped around his shaking torso.

chan reached out to touch minho's cheek, softly cupping with his calloused hand as he admired his beauty. he knew they agreed to stay friends and nothing more, but chan was regretting that agreement. 

he was regretting a lot of things, especially his outbursts that seemed to occur more often these days with all the stress piling up. why had he been so stupid to yell at his roommate, the person he loved more than anyone else in the entire world?

his family wasn't around anymore now that chan was out as gay, leaving him alone during his darkest times, but minho had always been there. in fact, he was the only person to stay by chan's side.

chan wasn't crying silently anymore, his thoughts becoming too overwhelming for him to stay so calm. he was full on sobbing now as he stroked minho's rosy cheek, feeling him stir underneath his palm.

"chan?" he rasped, eyes opening as he looked at the figure sitting next to him. it was dark in the room, but he could tell by the tone of crying that it was only his roommate and not a stranger.

"m-minho," chan cried, pulling his hand back, his lingering touch leaving minho feeling disappointed that he stopped.

"hey, what's wrong?" minho asked. he was slightly afraid to touch chan in case he didn't want to be touched while crying, but he was mistaken as chan practically threw himself into his roommate's arms. minho let him curl into his chest, holding him as he sobbed harder.

"it's ok," minho cooed, "it's all gonna be ok. please don't cry, i-i'm right here."

chan wished that had calmed him down, but it didn't. it only made things worse as he remembered how awful he had treated minho, making him doubt that things would ever truly be ok between them. his sobs only grew louder.

"i-i'm so tired, but i c-can't sleep," chan cried, "a-and i hate myself f-for being an asshole to y-you."

minho tightened his arms around chan, holding him as he tried to get him to calm his rushed breathing.

"let's just lay down and get some rest, ok? no more overthinking for tonight."

minho had no idea how to calm his roommate down, slightly panicking that chan may never stop crying unless he did something to help the poor man. he'd never seen him bawl this hard, especially not when he was stressed out. he suspected that things were getting to be extremely out of hand in chan's life, and he needed more than just a hug or a cuddle to fix things for good.

he tried really hard to think about the things he knew chan liked, something that would relax him enough to fall asleep. obviously minho knew chan liked him, but that attraction wasn't calming.

but one thing did pop in his mind that could soothe the man, hopefully allowing his to get some sleep for once. it was that damn voice in his head again, the one that had never been wrong before.

you know exactly what he loves.

chan laid with his roommate's arms wrapped tightly around his trembling self, expecting him to say something else to comfort him.

he didn't really expect anything more than for minho's fingers to run through his hair, pleasing his brain enough to let him sleep, so to say chan was shocked when he felt a slight poke at his lips was an understatement.

he opened his eyes and looked down, watching as a finger danced on his lip before poking between his top and bottom lips again. chan hesitated to open his mouth, but when he finally did, he felt the finger slip inside and rest itself on top of his tongue.

minho hummed in chan's ear, letting him know that he was ok with the current situation. chan wasn't crying anymore, partly because he was confused and shocked at the current situation, but also because he was starting to enjoy the feeling of soft salty skin in his mouth.

he felt one more finger push inside his lips before he closed them around minho's fingers, keeping them inside his mouth as he began to softly suck on them. 

he felt himself begin to calm down and drift off to sleep, minho's fingers being the strange cure to his insomnia, but neither would complain: chan was calm, and minho was weirdly proud that his solution had worked.

without even trying, minho found himself falling back asleep, the soft suckling allowing him to peacefully sleep through the night while his roommate smiled on his fingers.

[peaches-writes]

heart attack!

description: han jisung can charm any heart if he wants to but he just wants one, whether he admits it to your face or not. 

member: jisung / han

genre: fluff, fantasy, rivals to lovers au, childhood friends to lovers au, witch / wizard au (sugar sugar rune-inspired), royal au, college au, roommates / housemates au, slice of life format, a side of hwang siblings, sunshine twins, cousin chan, and minchan (!!)

word count: 25.1k i’m so sorry

warnings: explicit language, alcohol, some mentions of injuries, a brief episode of someone getting abducted, mentions of a creep being,,,well a creep at public transportation, self-indulgent tooth-rotting cheesiness, idk if i should put a warning for unconscious emotional manipulation but im gonna write that in here anw

note: idk if i want to write little drabbles w this same pairing again since it ended up being so long but i kinda lost the plot halfway lmao lmk if u guys want additional lil drabbles for this hehe + again happy 1k yay!

You don’t always get along with Han Jisung, crown prince of the Eastern Kingdom, for reasons you simply can't limit to the number of fingers and toes that you have. He loves annoying you for the sake of getting a reaction, bratty as far as a wizard prince goes, and prideful among many traits that you were forced to grow up alongside with.

These days, however, you hate the way that he is the only other candidate alongside yourself for the High Crown of the magical world. As if fate didn't just want the two of you to butt heads in school and at royal social functions all the time, suddenly you're pushed to compete with him for something much greater.

For the record, though, it's tradition that all firstborn heirs of the 4 major kingdoms are considered eligible for the highest throne that unites all of your domains. You were going to compete with him either way, just with other people initially involved. However, with prince Hyunjin of the Southern kingdom mysteriously disappearing over a month ago and princess Lia of the Western kingdom subsequently refusing the candidacy, suddenly there was only you and the Eastern prince for the high jury to challenge in their Crown Candidacy exam. Fate and circumstance clearly love you with the way Jisung is always in your line of sight when all you want for yourself is to not be on the receiving end of his teasings and competititve streak all the time.

Though you yourself didn't desire the High Crown at first, the elders continuously pressuring you eventually pushed you into accepting the task. Plus, knowing that it's Jisung—the brat who pulled on your hair during those silly etiquette lessons the high jury made you and the other royals take as kids and embarrassed you when you once confessed your past crush to him in middle school—who would be automatically crowned without a test if Hyunjin isn't found in time and you also refuse made you go forward with it. After all, as much as you personally don't want to answer to Jisung as the next High King, you also think that entrusting the entire magical realm to him is simply not right. You would know, you had to grow up with him.

So, here you are on the night that the Crown Candidacy exam begins, receiving the final blessing from your mother and the high jury with Jisung who has been sneakily trying to poke on your side and get a reaction out of you since the ceremony began. If 15 elders and your mentors aren't surrounding the two of you with their scrutinizing eyes right this very moment, you would've easily snapped on the first poke and blasted the blue-haired boy.

"Stop that," You instead gritted your teeth next to him with the 17th poke to your waist, lowering your voice that only he can hear. "Ji, I swear to the gods—"

Among the circle of witches and wizards chanting ritual protection spells over the two of you, your mentor Younghyun glares at you and Jisung as if in a non-verbal scolding that the two of you should stop "playing around" as he would usually word it. You simply roll your eyes at this in response, earning you more quizzical looks from the other elders.

You also hate the way that Han Jisung keeps stringing you into his antics as his favourite person to mess with. If anything, you're most often in trouble with the elders because of him.

"This part of the ceremony is so unnecessary. I'm bored" He murmurs tiredly under his breath, bringing his hands back inside his black cape and pushing his shoulders back as he stands up straighter once more. "It's not like humans can hurt us. We're the magical ones, hello? Besides, the jury’s already cut the one-year exam by half. What could even happen in that time?”

"Stray monsters can still hunt you there if you don’t stand still." You correct immediately, earning you a look from your own mother this time as she finishes leading the last of the spells. At this point in your unwanted association with him, you don't even care much anymore that you get in trouble because you entertain his antics. You just want him to shut up. "Whatever. It's done."

The prince then giddily springs up in place once all of the spells are casted, suddenly looking more awake than the past 5 minutes of ceremony. "Finally! Okay, thanks for that! We'll be going now!"

"Wait." Your mother calmly interrupts him, perfectly hiding her slight annoyance over you and Jisung as she whips out her blue wand from the pockets of her ceremonial robes. "For the high jury to properly tally the ecure that you'll collect in the human world after this task, we'll be providing you with vessels to keep them."

As she mentions the vessels, a sapphire locket and an emerald ring materialize in front of you and Jisung respectively before settling at the palms of your hands. You're then quick to notice the way that the diamond-cut sapphire encrusted at the center of your locket emits warmth as you place it around your neck, indicating its magical properties.

"These vessels have been modified further to record everything that you collect and any spell or potion that you might use them on while undertaking in this task." Your mother then continues. Simultaneously, Younghyun gestures for you and Jisung to mount your brooms and prepare to fly off into the yellow crescent moon where the portal to the human world lies on its other side. "Though the ecure that you lose is not counted in the final tally, knowing how you used or lost them also contributes to the jury's examination of your magical skills and knowledge."

Jisung chuckles, bumping the bristle end of his broom with yours playfully. "And to see what kind of trouble we'll get ourselves into, right?"

In response, you simply roll your eyes. Your mother, on the other hand, purposely tunes out Jisung's usual antics and continues, "Remember, this exam will determine the next monarch that unites all of the 4 major domains. Collect as much ecure as you can from the humans in the 6 months that you're given with them and you will be rewarded greatly. Until then, have a safe journey to the human world, candidates."

With that, you and Jisung push yourselves off from the castle balcony, heading straight to the crescent moon.

"Last to the other side is a lousy flyer!" Jisung yells playfully into the quiet night, speeding ahead before you could even process his words. “And has to pay for a meal sometime!”

"Ya! Han Jisung!" You increase your speed yourself anyway despite knowing that his words don’t have any ill meaning, catching up to him with ease just as the two of you pass into the portal. “I paid for the meals last time!” 

-

Han Jisung isn't always fond of you, the heir to the Northern Kingdom, for reasons he simply can't limit to the number of fingers and toes that he has. He thinks you're too uptight (especially in the presence of the high jury and the other elders of the bigger royal circle), easily irritable, and surprisingly a bit of a pushover to your kingdom's advisors ever since your cousin, Chan, renounced his royal title and settled in the human world.

These days, however, he hates the way that you've suddenly taken up an interest in competing for the high crown of the magical world alongside him even when you've made it clear countless times before that you only wanted to rule your own kingdom. You only started showing interest after Lia formally refused her candidacy and the elders pushed you more into changing your mind, clearly hinting that you don't want Jisung to automatically be crowned High King.

Do they really think that terribly of me? Jisung has resorted to thinking a lot about these days, even now as the two of you arrive at Chan’s place where you would be staying for the duration of the test. I make a good high king as much as I do the king of my own people! Hmp!

It shouldn't bother him this much, it's just you anyway. But at the same time, it bothers him for this very same reason: because it's you, the know-it-all who always busted his antics to the teachers back in school and embarrassed him to his friends when you confessed your past crush to him back in middle school. Jisung hates the way you challenge and compel him to be petty and competitive all the time, especially in the little things. Like right now, as the two of you argue on who gets the bigger bedroom in Chan's house right after you arrived.

"You know, I was just holding back a while ago because we were in front of the elders but I swear, I won't hesitate to blast you now that we're away." You warn as you try your best to stare him down while he blocks the bedroom door you both want. You have your hands raised to the side, sparks of a spell encircling our fingers and the space between your hands. "Move, Jisung!"

Still, Jisung stubbornly refuses. You two have bickered enough to last you all of your lifetimes and for him to know that you won't really do it. "I was here first! You go to the other room!"

The blue ball of energy in your hands begins to shape itself into a more tangible shape as your brows furrow even deeper in frustration. "But I called dibs on this room to Chan firs—!"

Before you could finish your words, however, Chan peeks his head out from the opposite end of the hallway with a pile of blankets in his hands. "You two still going at it? It's almost 2 AM." He teases in feigned disapproval, approaching the two of you to throw a blanket each of your way. "Come on, give it up, Sung. Y/N gets the big room."

Jisung's initial smug expression contorts into disbelief in an instant while you celebrate with a wide grin and a teasing tongue stuck out at him. "What?!"

"Ha! Thanks, Channie!" You clasp your hands together in satisfaction, the red sparks in your hands disappearing into thin air as you do so, before pushing the paralyzed Jisung out of the way and locking yourself in the bedroom. Once Jisung's pulled himself together at the betrayal, you then briefly peek your head out of the door, sticking your tongue out for the last time before greeting the two boys with a quick, "Goodnight!"

Jisung glares and purses his lips in front of Chan who chuckles at this. "Hyung!" He whines, grabbing the older boy by his biceps and shaking him wildly like how a child would throw a tantrum. "I don't see you for three years and when I do, I get treated like this?!"

"Exactly." Chan nods with an amused smile, tugging Jisung to his side and leading him to his room across from yours. "Y/N was kind enough to visit me here while you didn't even send a letter. I think that's enough to give them the big room."

"Aah, but you already know why I couldn't! I was busy with all the prince stuff!"

"Y/N was too, though? And they’re doing twice the work than you."

"But Y/N's more organized than me!"

"So you agree? My cousin earned the bigger room?"

"No, it’s not th—aish! Bang Chan!" When the older boy in question tries pushing Jisung back to the smaller bedroom, the latter childishly protests by gripping onto the doorframe. "I'm making it up to you now! I'm literally staying here for 6 months!"

"Yeah and I'll definitely treat you to lots of other things for that later. Seriously, Ji, give it a rest. It's just your temporary room for the exam." Chan sighs with a tired laugh, prying the younger wizard's hands off of the doorframe and shoving him inside the room. "Unpack your things and get some sleep. We're having a welcoming party for you two on the weekend."

"You're supposed to side with me here."

"Don't pull that face, you're not kids anymore." Chan chuckles, ruffling the younger boy's hair. "And I'm not siding with anyone. It’s just a room! Night, Sungie."

Jisung opens his mouth to protest, only for Chan to close the door on him and walk back to his own room. With a sigh, the boy defeatedly trudges to his new bed and, after taking out his expandable pouch from his pockets, jumps to the mattress with a muffled groan to the plush pillows.

Jisung also hates how one of his best friends favors you better just because you're cousins first. He's had enough of Chan coddling you before from when you were kids, always taking your side when the two of you bicker and offering you his extra food when the three of you are together, and he would much prefer it if he doesn't see it now that the two of you are undergoing an important exam.

"At least the view's nice." He pouts to himself once he's seated up once more, facing the window that overlooks the city. After just spending ten minutes flying over Seoul and exploring Chan's vast mansion, Jisung gets it a little now. Chan definitely didn't choose this realm over their home for no reason.

If I'm not in line to be king, Jisung thinks to himself, this life also seems nice.

Hovering his hands over the enchanted green pouch, its neatly packed contents of clothes and other personal belongings then emerge from its seemingly tiny space before levitating to their respective places. "Aish, that Y/N!" Jisung yells loudly on purpose, leaning on his side closer to the door to hear your reaction.

Across the hall, while you make a fuss out of unpacking and changing the appearance of some furniture, you yell back, "Shut up, Ji!"

Jisung has many reasons for disliking you at times but, if anything, he lives for your reactions when he purposely annoys you. Even when he knows you’re always a spell away from actually snapping at him, you never actually do and it never fails to amuse him. Scoffing, he lets it slide for now and quietly unpacks.

-

If attending social functions as a royal has taught you anything over the years, it's to avoid being within reach of Jisung at a party before, during, and after he makes a huge mess of things. You've had your own fair share of spilled drinks to your dress robes, purposely getting embarrassed in front of the elders and other important public officials, and even a huge fight over not wanting to be his dance partner to remind you of this at all times.

Of the places that you and Jisung have to be standing next to each other, it's the parties that you hate having to see him at the most because they bring you nothing but trouble. Chan's welcoming party for the two of you, with witches and wizards living in the human world as well as Chan's own human friends in attendance, is no exception.

"What do you think he's going to do this time?" Yeji snickers next to you on the makeshift dance floor of the house's backyard. Ever since her brother disappeared, she's been staying in the human world combing through every inch of Seoul and trying to retrace what is little known of the steps he took. Naturally, you've stuck to each other like glue since she arrived. "It's been two hours since this party started and all he's doing is—"

"Flirt with every human on the dance floor. I know, that's why I'm not looking over my shoulder. I think that's all he's planning to do in this party, given that we've started with the test." You frown, taking a sip of your beer as the song changes to a more lively one. "This guy's never taken any exam back in school seriously but now he suddenly wants to win this one exam. Weird, right?"

"Hm, maybe he really wants to win this exam and become high king. You can never really tell what goes on in that head of his." Yeji shrugs, blinking twice in quick succession to make her eyes turn red, an indication that she's scanning the venue for the humans' ecures. "Anyway, he's definitely working hard. I see a lot of orange hearts for him as much as there are for you."

Only then do you also turn your head around the place, your own eyes turning blue as you collect the orange hearts of infatuation and green hearts of friendship that people you've met tonight have for you with a non-verbal spell. As you catch these little crystal hearts into your locket, you briefly catch a glimpse of Jisung at one of the foldable tables chatting with three human girls. It somehow irritates you.

"He never lost that cringey fuckboy persona, huh?" Yeji points out once you're done with your collecting, shaking her now empty bottle and frowning once she realizes that it's already empty. "I guess I didn't miss out on much even after being away for a few weeks."

"You talk like you were gone for a year, not 3 weeks." You laugh. When she then asks you if you want to get new beer bottles, you follow her back to the coolers behind Chan's DJ set. "I hate how we'll be seeing more of those again when we start attending uni to collect more hearts."

"Oh, right! You're attending mine, right? You'll be with me, Seungmin, and Ryujin?" When you nod once more, she links her arms with yours and adds, “Gosh, I can just see it now, girls from the different departments flocking the two of you on the first day but especially Sung. A lot of girls I know from uni really dig that e-boy thing he has going on."

You pretend to gag, making her throw her head back in a cackle of laughs. "Humans and their weird tastes in men." You scrunch up your nose, the two of you briefly pausing to politely wave at Chan as you pass by his booth.

Your cousin doesn't hesitate to wave back at you both before going back to his spinning. You and Yeji then head to the back of his area where the coolers of different beverages have been placed.

"Oh shush, didn't you too also have a crush on him way back then?" Yeji teases the moment the two of you are alone again, opening the cooler with a simple flick of her hand. You follow along despite the glare you send her way, your empty beer bottles getting replaced by new ones. "Sometimes, Ryujin and I like to think that you still have a little bit of that."

"No way." You shake your head in denial, picking up a bottle opener from one of the closed coolers and using it over yours and Yeji's. "Middle school was a long time ago. Jisung just irritates the hell out of me now."

"Who irritates who now?" A voice behind you perks up almost immediately, causing you to jump and spill a little of your beer on the grass. When you glance over your shoulder, Jisung's white bucket hat comes into your vision, eventually uncovering his mischievous smile. "Ah, so clumsy. Look, you spilled a little beer on the grass.” 

Next to you, Yeji giggles behind her hand while greeting Jisung. You glare at her in response.

"You're annoying." You point out with a pout, thrusting the bottle opener to his chest before linking arms with Yeji. "We're going."

Jisung only shrugs with a smirk, waving goodbye to Yeji as the two of you pass by him to go back to the dance floor. "It makes you look, doesn't it?"

"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that." You roll your eyes before disappearing back into the crowd with Yeji.

Once Jisung is out of earshot, Yeji then nudges your side with your linked arms. "I'm telling you, there's still a little something. Deep, deep down there." She teases in a singsong. “That’s probably why the banter just won’t die out.”

"Nope, definitely not." You shake your head. "Have you been watching too much of those human dramas while you’re here? It’s playing with your judgement."

-

It comes even as a surprise to Jisung himself that he hasn't caused a major mishap in this welcoming party so far. Since the majority of the guests started arriving two hours ago, he hasn't done anything troubling besides losing to Ryujin at beer pong and finishing a whole red cup of Chan's jungle juice concoction as punishment almost an hour ago.

It doesn't bother his "instincts for mischief" that much—his mentor's words not his. It means that he's more focused on collecting ecures at the moment with the amount of humans he's mingled with at this party, especially the girls who have taken it upon themselves to flirt with him.

What does bother him slightly, however, is the way you occasionally glance over to him knowingly from across the lawn, as if you're expecting him to do something. You always seem to do that after years of getting roped into his troubles, much like a lot of your childhood friends who'd frequently end up in similar predicaments. Somehow, however, it's always intimidating when it's you looking at him. He personally hates that, the look in your eyes when you're trying to catch him in his mischievous acts.

"Who are you and what have you done to my twin brother?" Felix has been teasing the entire night every time he encounters Jisung. When Jisung pouts this time, while the two share a drink on a couch that was brought out for this party, Felix laughs over his drink and adds, "Oh, so you're really focused on this test, huh? No trouble until this party's over?"

"Why do you guys think I'm not?" Jisung frowns, elbowing his brother by his side. "Geez, Lix, you're supposed to root for me here. If I win, you get to be king too."

In response, Felix waves his solo cup dismissively. "No, no, I think you're doing great! You've caught how much already? Twenty hearts in this party? That's a great start, bro." He comments with a proud smile. "It's just a little new, seeing you all so serious and focused. It's not because you're up against Y/N, right?"

"Ha? Nope, definitely not. It's barely a competition when I'm clearly winning." Jisung shakes his head a little too defensively as he sinks into the soft velvet couch. "I just think it's natural that another kingdom should get the high crown this time and since it's only me and Y/N competing, unless we also find Hyunjin while we're here I should work hard and make it happen."

Just then, Seungmin sits down on his other side with a cup of punch and a small paper plate of sweets from the chocolate fountain. "If Hyunjin was here, he would've whipped your asses in this party by getting all of the human guys and girls with one smile." He points out matter-of-factly. "Plus, if Lia accepted the candidacy, all three of you would've lost even before you left home."

"You never really rooted for me, huh, Minnie?" Jisung feigns sad eyes as he rests his head on Seungmin's shoulder. "And here I thought we're best friends."

"Oh no, I'm totally rooting for you now." Seungmin replies with a dry chuckle, passing his paper plate over to Felix when he holds his hands out in a motion asking for food. "But if the gang was complete, I would've changed to team Hyunjin."

Jisung scoffs at this, swiping a marshmallow covered in chocolate from Seungmin's plate. "Fine, I won’t hold it against you. I miss Hyunjin too."

"Yeji and Chae are doing everything they can to look for him. He'll turn up somewhere, he just has to. Until then, you should just focus more on your exam. Hyunnie would want that." Felix quips in before turning his attention over to you and Yeji at the nearby karaoke mini bar. "Look, that's what Y/N and Yeji are doing right now."

When Jisung looks through the crowd that has gathered around you, his eyes turning a deep green, he sees a lot of orange hearts gravitate over to you, mostly from the uni boys and girls that Yeji, Seungmin, and Ryujin have invited to this party.

"You guys are seeing it too, right?" Felix asks, his own eyes a matching shade of green when he tilts his head over to Seungmin and Jisung. "At least twenty new hearts in a span of 10 minutes, right after they just gave Y/N a bunch of green hearts."

Seungmin nods, his head movements making Jisung's head shake a little on his shoulder. "Yeah. Y/N's really working extra on this." He notes in complete awe. "The competition's really close, don't you think so Lix?"

"Definitely. What do you think, Ji?"

"Nope, definitely not." Jisung crosses his arms and shakes his head in disagreement. "It's impressive but not enough to catch up to me."

But the smallest hint of a frown gracing his features is enough to give his feelings away to his friends. Only now does it fully sink in that it’s definitely a tight competition between the two of you.

one out of six months

At one point, you understood why people would foolishly fall for Jisung. On a really good day, when he's not causing you or anyone too much trouble, you could see his playful side as charming, maybe even too cute for you to admit it out loud. A long time ago, back when you were still so naïve, you had a small playground crush on him too, after all; a crush that ended so badly you're convinced it's where your bickering naturally escalated.

But now, as your days in the human world turn into a month spent fulfilling your Crown Candidacy exam at university with your friends, you just wish that not a lot of humans are so insanely attracted to Jisung. It's nothing personal, of course, you're not jealous at all in that way. Whenever you sit in the library to study, attend classes from late in the morning to early afternoons, or even just sit in the quad with your shared friend group discussing updates on Yeji's search for Hyunjin, however, your competitor is just always being followed by flocks of smitten girls with their orange and pink ecures of crushes on their sleeves, ready to be collected by Jisung's emerald ring.

And you're not going to get started on the rainbow-colored hearts that send him little gifts and love letters at least once a week before classes, sometimes even directly to Chan's house where the third kitchen fridge is now filled with bakery goods stashed along with Chan's fan gifts. Not wanting to admit it to him or any of your friends, you're admittedly quite jealous because he attracts the ecures from the humans so easily while you have to work extra harder in socializing with your human peers to garner even just pink hearts. You hate having to work extra, extra harder just to be on par with him all the time, especially when he seems to be effortless in his ways.

"Before Lix went back to the magical realm, he relayed that Changbin from back home suggested that we start expanding our search for Hyunjin to—" For the sixth time since your group met up at the quad after classes this particular afternoon, another group of girls pass by and greet Jisung, interrupting Yeji in her explanations. Pouting slightly, she then turns to Jisung and pokes him with her pen, snapping the smirk off of his face. "Sung, focus."

Jisung nods quickly, waving Yeji's pen away from his side. "Yeah, let me just collect their hearts real quick."

You roll your eyes in response, nudging Yeji to resume her updates. "Just go on, Yeji." You encourage her, Seungmin and Ryujin nodding along in agreement. For emphasis, you make sure to tap Jisung's hand on the grass with your own pen harshly, making him wince dramatically in pain. "You're extending the search to Incheon, right?"

"Oh, uh yeah. Like I said, Lix said that Changbin suggested Incheon since Hyunjin briefly mentioned it in one of his letters. We'll start looking into it ourselves before this semester is over." Yeji continues on, ignoring the next group of passing girls that Jisung gets distracted over again this time around. "Chaeryoung is going there in the following months, though, to scout the places first. Then, we'll try and follow up with a search of our own. I'll have to ask Chan and the jury back at home if you and Jisung are allowed to go, though, since you're taking your exam."

"Among those places, Hyunjin often went to this stretch of the beach because he was investigating a monster from home who escaped here and took an artifact from our kingdom." Seungmin added, pointing to a location on Yeji's map sprawled over your laptops at the very center of your circle. "It was one of his last assignments here before he suddenly disappeared. We'll probably stay here the longest."

You try your best to listen, adding your own inputs to how your search operations would go while also noticing a couple of people who recognize you and wave your way, but Jisung somehow keeps grabbing your attention by the way he entertains his admirers who greet him shyly as they pass by you group. The playful smirks he sends their way, the polite waves, and the way his hand keeps twitching in between the two of you as he collects the ecures with his own spell keep eating away at your attention span, pressuring you that he's taking the lead in your race.

You also try discreetly collecting your own share of hearts under your breath whenever someone you know passes by but you eventually find it hard finding people while trying to listen to your friends. "Ji, focus." You mumble under your breath after a while, breaking his focus as he collects two more orange hearts.

"Y/N, keep up with me here." He smirks, just as the orange hearts disappear into his ring. "Why are you so distracted by me, anyway? Jealous?"

"I’m not jealous!” 

"Guys focus." Ryujin snaps at the two of you this time, chuckling in amusement when you and Jisung both glare at her. "Hey, easy on the stink eyes. I'm just telling you two to listen over here."

"Do as I do, Ryujin, and just tune them out." Seungmin jabs nonchalantly as he and Yeji take down notes of their discussion, not even once looking up at you nor Jisung. "It works out splendidly once you've mastered it."

"Hearing them bicker over random things before was one thing. Hearing them bicker over ecures now is a whole new playing field." Ryujin smirks, particularly to you. "Ah, you guys sound even more like a married couple now that you're competing. Tsk, tsk..."

"No, we're not!" You and Jisung answer in chorus, looking incredulously at each other after. "Ya!"

"Seungmin's right. Just tune them out, Ryujin." Yeji points out without missing a beat, a small smile taking out the initial annoyance from her face. "Anyway, what's important is we settle our plans first. Let the married couple race for the crown."

"Ya! Hwang Yeji!" You scold, flinging your notebook towards her which she dodges swiftly. "I'm listening, I swear."

Yeji gives you a look of mock disbelief in response before chuckling and going back to her work. "Whatever you say."

-

Jisung won’t admit it to any of you nor his friends’ faces but he may be just a little jealous that you’re catching onto him at a great speed and looking surprisingly nonchalant about it on the outside. You work extremely hard, that’s a given and Jisung respects that as much as the two of you annoy each other. But he doesn’t even have to sneak over to your room at night and check your locket for your ecure count; the boys and girls from uni, the market where Chan forces the two of you to run errands on weekends, and even at Ryujin’s favorite skate park who always take two glances your way wherever you go are enough giveaway to the amount you’re collecting everyday. And it’s a whole lot of hearts. He won’t even be surprised if you’ve managed to collect 300 hearts by now.

And he’s not even going to get started on how fast you manage to take ecures from the same people twice in less than a week, managing to charm same-age neighbors and classmates from good friends to secret admirers in a span of a few days and getting you at least twice the amount for your tally. You have enough hearts on your locket to keep up with Jisung’s count and use your magic leisurely at home. You definitely keep your competitor up on his toes all the time with how you’re giving your all in this competition and it’s gnawing at him to do even better. 

What annoys him on top of this, however, are certain kinds of people that look your way, or even Yeji’s and Ryujin’s for that matter. When the three of you aren’t looking and a bunch of passing jocks would eye you weirdly on the quad or at the library, especially since you’re new to the school, his natural instinct is to glare them down until they’re looking away. He sees their purple ecures from where he would sit across from you as you study, a sign of a lusting kind of feeling, and it does nothing but to tick him off into intimidating them until the color fades out. 

Seungmin thinks that, in a way, this is cheating and that you’d probably think the same way if you find out since purple ecures are ranked quite high in the tally, just above pink hearts (”Y/N’s gotten mad at you before for going too far or breaking the rules. You, of all people, should know not to get on their bad side.”). When Jisung writes to Felix back home after, however, his twin naturally defends him and says that he’s just looking out for you. 

“You guys don’t always see eye to eye, even now that you’re competing against each other,” Felix recorded over the enchanted mail that arrived after your meeting at the quad, Jisung and Seungmin separating from your group to do some more studying at the library. “but you’re just looking out for Y/N and protecting them from any weirdos, like for Ryujin and Yeji. Just tone it down a bit and let them handle it sometimes.” 

“See? Lix thinks I’m doing something right.” Jisung sticks his tongue out at Seungmin who simply shakes his head in stubborn disagreement before returning back to his class notes. “I’m telling you, I’m not sabotaging Y/N on purpose.” 

“Still, whether they want to collect those purple ecures or not is not your choice to make.” Seungmin points out. Though he agrees with Jisung’s intentions, as he’s been doing the same and looking out for you and your friends in his own ways as well, he also trusts that you can take care of yourself. “Just let them handle it next time, unless they actually do need your help.”

“But—“

“Consider the guys that passed by at the quad the last time you’ll mess with Y/N’s ecures.” “You saw that?!”

Still, it gnaws on Jisung’s conscience when he takes the train home with you later that day, when another purple heart springs up for you as he checks your surroundings and finds it to be from a stranger. What a creep, Jisung cringes internally with disgust before strategically blocking the man out from your sight and standing closer to you, Y/N’s competition but I’m a decent being! Be the bigger person or whatever bullshit.

“Ya, what are you doing?” You push him away with your index finger to his stomach, leaving a bigger gap between the two of you as you stand on the moving train. “Ji, personal space.” 

“We’re literally cramped in this train like canned sardines, Y/N. I’m just trying to make space for the people coming in.” Jisung fibs in retort, unknowingly timing his words perfectly with the train making a stop and justifying his next action of taking a step closer to you. This time, he makes sure that he’s towering over you and blocking the creep behind him completely by moving his hand over to the train handle right next to where your hand is. “Don’t make it weird!”

Your expression is surprisingly unwavering now, clearly unamused by his boyish quips. “You’re the one making it weird! You keep hovering over me.” 

“Sure, sure, whatever you say.” He rolls his eyes, instinctively steadying you with one hand when the abrupt movements of the train pushes you slightly forwards. “Oops, careful there.” 

When Jisung takes one last glance at the creep and finds him still looking over your general direction, the boy finally snaps and sends a little spell over the man’s way, one that makes him itch all over and ties his shoelaces together. This is the last time, Jisung swears to himself with a chuckle under his breath, oh what the hell? Punishing creeps is kinda funny.

two out of six months

The first time Han Jisung spots a red heart that he can collect, it’s 2 months into your candidacy exam and he makes the surprising decision to prolong collecting it by several days. It’s not that Soonyoung from your Math class is aware of this. As far as she knows, Jisung is simply stringing her along much like he does with every other girl he’s flirting with and she doesn’t seem to mind this fact. 

But you mind, you and your other friends do a lot. “It’s a powerful heart and costs 5000 points on the point system.” Seungmin even noted himself once on another day that Jisung left your class without Soonyoung’s crystal red heart. You mostly agree on this, coupled with the fact that you can’t steal the heart for yourself to gain more points in the race since it’s not for you. “Just take it, it’s not going to get any higher than that.”

No matter how much you or any of your friends nag, however, Jisung simply lets the days pass doing nothing much about it besides entertain Soonyoung whenever the girl approaches. As his sole competitor in your candidacy exam, you visibly feel the most frustrated out of everyone else by each passing day, especially at the thought that you yourself haven’t managed any red hearts yet. 

“It is weird, very not like him but also a bit like him if that makes sense?” Ryujin notes by the 10th day, after you recounted Math class to her as you take a short break together. Today, Jisung agreed to go to lunch with Soonyoung, only to tell you and Seungmin that even then he’s not going to take her heart today. “I mean knowing what happened between you two in middle sch—” 

You immediately shake your head before she could even finish her thought, “No, I don’t think that has anything to do with now. Definitely not.” 

“It’s not like that! I meant to say that this is even worse than when you had a crush on Jisung. The girl’s ecure is as red as red could go!” Ryujin exclaims, forcing you to cover her mouth with your hand just as Soonyoung and Jisung comically pass by your table at the kiosk to eat lunch together. Slowly prying your hands off once the pair in question are out of earshot, Ryujin then leans over the table and continues, “But even then, he’s not taking it to gain momentum in your exam. Aren’t you a little bit curious why?” 

You hesitantly shrug, “I mean, a little...but honestly I think he’s just being stupid. If I were him, I won’t string the girl along, not for this long anyway. It’s a waste of time and effort when he can just pick up the heart and reject her carefully.” 

“Then, maybe he has his reasons. If you know about it, you might get an advantage!” Yeji speaks up this time, joining your table late with a huge pile of library books on top of her laptop bag in her hands. As much as this girl has been busy looking for her brother, she also keeps up with her human world cover surprisingly well even when she doesn’t have to with all the studying that she does on the side. “One way to find out, right? I heard Felix’s not that busy these days back home.”

You feign a frown at the two girls agreeing in unison, especially at Yeji as she takes out her phone from the magical realm. “You know, you’re really good at sticking your head into a lot of things even when you’re busy looking for your brother.” You note dryly, making Yeji laugh while dialling Felix’s phone on the other side. “That was sarcastic, Yeji.” 

“I’m a great multitasker.” She winks before placing her phone at the center of your table then scooting her chair closer to you and Ryujin, effectively hiding the odd-looking device that projects Felix’s face almost immediately. “Hey Lix!”

“Hi Lix!” You politely greet along with Ryujin anyway, waving to the small projection of the prince on Yeji’s phone. By the faint greenery that surrounds him, you immediately assume that he’s back at home and tending to his personal garden. 

“I’m not in trouble, am I?” The younger Eastern prince jokes, greeting the three of you individually after. “What’s up? Seungmo and Sungie not with you three today?” 

“Seungmin got held back in class today for a TA offering and your brother’s on a date! Can you believe it? A lunch date with a human girl!” Yeji explains a little too excitedly, you and Ryujin immediately shushing her up. Giggling, the princess continues anyway, “Which is why we called! We just thought it’s a little weird that Jisung’s not trying to catch this red heart when it’s a clear advantage to his tally and maybe you’d know why.” 

All the while Yeji explains your purpose for calling, you slowly observe how Felix’s own expression morphs into that of genuine surprise. “What? He hasn’t taken it?!” He exclaims in response after Yeji finishes speaking. “Are you sure? That’s not very like him.” 

“Well, why do you think he hasn’t taken it, then?” You suddenly find yourself asking this time, earning you incredulous looks from your peers. Brushing them off, you simply glance over at Felix as he tries thinking of a reason himself. 

“Maybe he still can’t reject admirers for shit.” Ryujin snickers under her breath, making you elbow the girl harshly on her side. 

But surprisingly, Felix nods absentmindedly to this. “Maybe…”

“Are you seriously agreeing with that, Lix?” You frown. “I think he’s just up to no good.” 

“Hey, Ji can act weird and not be up to trouble too, you know.” Felix pouts back. “But honestly, I don’t know why he’s not thinking of taking it either, especially knowing how he’s so proud of getting to receive it alone. Maybe he likes this person, who knows?” 

The thought feels so foreign to you, Jisung genuinely liking someone, especially knowing what he did when you were much younger. But when you glance over to your friends, you also notice the same confused looks on their faces. 

“Han Jisung...liking someone? Enough to respect their feelings?” Ryujin muses out loud before eventually shaking her head. “Nope, sounds weird. Dangerous! Alien! Y/N, have you been noticing any other weird things from your housemate lately? Maybe he’s been secretly abducted by aliens!” 

“Oh stop it, Ryujin! Whatever it is my brother’s planning, I trust that he at least has an idea what he’s doing.” Felix sighs, running a hand through his blonde locks. In the background of his end, the faint voice of Changbin beckoning him over momentarily catches his attention. “If he’s being stupid again, then just let him be. If he does like this person, though, I just hope that he treads carefully while he’s at it. You know how precious witch ecures are.” 

“Oh, I know…” You murmur under your breath as you scrunch up your nose, unconsciously glancing over to Jisung and Soonyoung’s table where the two are laughing over something you can’t hear from across the room. When Changbin’s voice grows louder on Felix’s end, you then smoothly steer the topic to a close, “Anyway, sorry for bothering you at this time. Bin’s calling for you.” 

Next to you, Ryujin and Yeji agree with nods and smiles as Felix waves his free hand dismissively at this. “No, it’s okay! Just look out for my brother, yeah? I gotta go, Queen Lia just arrived for tea with me and my mom!” 

“Oh, then we’ll see you!” “Have fun at tea!” “Say hi to Lia for us!” 

Felix waves one last goodbye before ending the call. As his image disappears from Yeji’s phone, the princess is quick to pocket her phone back and turn to you with a raised brow, “So, what do you think? Even Lix finds it weird.” 

Personally, you think it’s odd. The thought that Jisung could easily be developing feelings for someone while taking your exam, to someone human no less.  You’ll probably never admit it to him but he’s been working hard in collecting hearts up to this point and you know him enough to know that he won’t let himself get distracted with something like this. “What is he planning exactly?” 

-

You’re giving Jisung that look again, through the boy’s reflection on the bus mirror no less as the two of you head to Chan’s studio where he has promised the two of you dinner. The same look you kept giving him during your welcome party just last month, probably without you knowing, rests on your tired features as you listen to music on your phone and rest your cheek against your propped up hand on the window seat you almost threw him out of the bus for. What did I do now? The boy can’t help but whine pitifully to himself as he steals another glance at your direction while scrolling through his phone. 

Jisung helplessly rakes his brain for anything that he’s done today that could’ve possibly pissed you off while pretending to look down on his phone, missing the way you shift uncomfortably in your seat as if you were going to ask a question. 

“So—” “I meant to ask—”

Jisung’s immediately closes his mouth shut when the two of you speak at the same time, eyes widening when he looks up and sees you already looking over at him directly. Simultaneously, you’re quick to look away from him and cough awkwardly, quietly mumbling out that Jisung speaks first. “Go ahead.” 

“What did I do this time?” Jisung immediately goes for it, pouting and sinking into his seat for extra emphasis. This visibly surprises you by the way your eyes widen slightly and you visibly freeze in front of him. “You’ve been glaring at me from the window since it started getting dark outside and it’s starting to get annoying but I’m too tired from today to think of everything that I did today to pinpoint where I ticked you off again.” 

Your lips curl down to a frown and you bring your propped up arm back to your side, sinking down your own seat to his level. “I wasn’t glaring at you!” 

“Yes you were—” “—No, I wasn’t!” “Yes you—”

“Okay, then, if I was glaring at you like you said, it’s because I meant to ask you something.” You huff before shyly looking away, gazing out of the window again. “W-Why haven’t you...whyhaventyoutakenthatgirlsheart?”

Now, Jisung is even more confused than ever from not understanding a word you just said. Raising a curious brow, the prince nudges you by your shoulder with his own until you look back at him again, uttering a slow, “What?!” 

You inhale slowly, as if holding your embarrassment in, before repeating, “Why haven’t you taken Soonyoung’s heart?” 

“I—really? That’s what you wanted to ask?” That’s it? So I didn’t do shit? Whew...

You nod, crossing your arms and looking away. “Well, don’t act so smug now! I’m just curious, it’s powerful and worth a lot of points, after all.”

Caught off-guard, it takes Jisung a worryingly long time to answer your question. He looks down on his phone first, with his emerald ring right next to it, before glancing over to the distant LED screen at the very front of the bus, announcing the next stop. “Just because…” He trails off with a reluctant shrug, avoiding the feeling of your curious gaze. If it were any other situation, maybe involving a lower-ranking heart like a yellow, green, or even an orange one, he would be laughing at you and teasing that you’re obsessed with his count or trying to compare it with your own. “You, of all people should know…” 

But it’s a red heart, one that’s made him a bit too flustered for him to admit to anyone, even to his own brother. “I don’t know what I’ll do with it.” He answers vaguely because of this, hearing a little ‘oh’ from your side. “I already told Soonyoung over lunch that I don’t see her like that but it’s still red. Her feelings are too sincere for me and I feel like I can’t take advantage of that, not for a competition.” 

Jisung doesn’t hear any verbal response from your side after this, not even when the LED screen ahead announces that you’re nearing your stop. When he glances over to you through the window, however, he catches a glimpse of the smallest hint of a content smile on your features. 

Only when the two of you arrive at your stop, while you’re following him down the stairs down from the bus, do you nudge him on his side once more and say, “I guess that’s sweet of you. Plus, you’re actually using your head for once.” 

Your soft smile momentarily catches him off-guard, freezing him on the sidewalk, until a passerby brushes him by his shoulder and snaps him back to reality. “Y-Ya! What’s that supposed to mean?!” 

You wave your hand dismissively at him with a laugh, running off ahead to Chan’s studio. “Last one to the studio is a lousy runner and won’t get dessert!” 

“Hey! Y/N! What’s that supposed to mean? Did you just call me stupid?!” 

-

The next day, a ‘secret admirer’ leaves a red apple, a milk box, and an unsigned heart-shaped note on your usual table as you enter Math class. Though the note has your name and its message typed and printed, a simple nonverbal spell that you cast over the gifts reveal a familiar fingerprint. 

“So, who’s it from?” Jisung asks, swiftly swiping the apple from your table and taking a huge bite. “How many points are we looking at here?” 

You scoff at his action, taking the apple for yourself and biting on the opposite side. “It’s from Soonyoung.” You answer with a mischievous smile, causing your competitor to choke. When you glance over at the girl’s table, your eyes briefly turn blue to see a pinkish heart for you. “I guess you don’t want her red heart, huh? Mind if I make a pink one from her into a red for me?” 

Jisung coughs violently, thumping his fist against his chest as he recovers. “Y-Ya! Don’t you dare!” 

three out of six months 

One thing you’ve been most looking forward to in this Crown Candidacy exam, besides seeing your cousin and friends currently staying in the human world and helping with Hyunjin’s search, is getting to see your cousin’s boyfriend again. Though the rest of your family doesn’t really approve of Minho, mostly since he’s the reason why Chan renounced his duke title in the first place and why your cousin might be permanently tied to the human world in the future, you’ve taken a liking to the guy since you first met him on a short visit 2 years ago and have been looking forward to hanging out in person once more after a long while. 

Minho makes Chan the happiest you’ve ever seen him since you were kids, cooks really well, travels the world as a performing artist, and is totally cool with the idea that his boyfriend is a wizard from another realm. Plus, he catches onto magical items really quick, having adapted quickly to using your realm’s inter-world mailing system hence how you’ve been keeping in touch up until this point. You honestly don’t see any reason to hate him, even before meeting him in person. If anything, knowing that it’s Minho that’s keeping Chan from fulfilling his royal duties makes you support your cousin’s decision even more than before. 

However, you’re already halfway done with your exam and Minho is still nowhere to be seen. He initially promised you that he’ll cook you and Jisung a meal as soon as you arrived but last-minute plans in his touring schedule with a ballet company held him back abroad, postponing this plan indefinitely and making you focus more on school and helping look for Hyunjin. 

That is until you and Jisung came home from your usual Saturday grocery errands to inhale the smell of meat and mushroom soup coming from the kitchen. 

“Is Chan cooking?” Jisung raised a brow at this, closing the door behind you and walking further inside the house. “It smells nice, though. So it’s not him?” 

You roll your eyes, biting down a laugh at this surprisingly funny quip. “That’s definitely not Chan.” You affirm anyways, excitedly walking past him to the kitchen where you find the familiar back of a person stirring a big pot of soup next to Chan who’s chopping up side dishes. “Minho!” 

Jisung follows you to the kitchen and watches from the doorframe as this said Minho turns around, opening his arms out to hug you as you quickly drop your groceries on the dining table and run towards him. Next to you two, Chan stops his own work and laughs at the sight, prying you away after a moment and reminding you, “Hey, hey, Minho’s tired from his flight!”

“Tired? Then you make him cook dinner? I don’t think so!” You giggle, clutching onto Minho like a koala while the said boy pretends to shrug you off. “I was wondering when you’re coming home! You haven’t even written since I came here, you jerk!” 

“My schedule was jam-packed until the other day but I promised some magic freaks that I’ll cook them dinner so I came home as soon as I can.” Minho laughs, hugging you back and only then catching sight of a confused Jisung. “Oh, hi there! You must be Han Jisung?” 

“Y-Yeah?” Jisung nods slowly in confusion, raising one hand holding multiple eco-bags up in a wave. He hates it when he’s not in the loop of things but more importantly, he hates it when it’s you keeping him out of the loop in particular. Who’s this guy?! “Sorry, and you are?” 

“Lee Minho! I’m keeping Chan hostage here on Earth.” Minho formally introduces himself, earning him a nudge from both you and Chan. “What? Should I curtsy? I know your family and Hyunjin’s doesn’t really require it but I don’t know about the others so—” 

Oh. At this, Jisung visibly relaxes with a chuckle and finally approaches your little group, settling his own share of the groceries down on the dining table before sitting down himself. Chan then takes this as his cue to reluctantly drag you over next to Jisung while he and Minho finish cooking. “No, no, it’s cool! We’re not at home, anyway.” 

“Okay, then, cool. You guys are okay with waiting for a little bit, right? The lamb’s not fully cooked yet.” Minho explains. “I was going to make you two a meal when your exam started but I got caught up in work so—”

“Yeah it’s fine!” You agree eagerly, taking out your groceries and organizing them on the table. “We’ll just fix up the groceries.” 

Jisung side-eyes you with an incredulous look in his eyes, something Chan definitely notices as his lips quirk up into a knowing grin before whispering something to Minho. “Why are you so chirpy all of a sudden?” He asks you, helping you take out the groceries and arrange them into their respective shelves. 

“What do you mean? I’ve been chirpy since this morning.” You scoff. “Why do you even keep track? I told you not to stare at me, weirdo.”

“Um no, you weren’t. You were complaining about me breathing next to you on the bus a while ago. ‘You’re not helping me get any hearts’ or whatever it was you were rambling about a while back.” Jisung points out with a huff. “And I don’t stare, that’s you! If anything, you’re the weirdo, always up my business!”

“Well, why wouldn’t I complain? I was at the market with you all day! You don’t know how to pick good vegetables and you kept flirting with the store clerks to try and up their orange hearts to pink ones! Then, you wore that stupid perfume again when I told you already that it smells bad! Now we’re at home and you can stay the fuck away from me.” 

“Ya, you little sh—” 

Across the kitchen, Minho giggles in amusement at hearing you and Jisung bicker live for the first time. You’ve always complained about this Jisung fellow in your correspondence and he’s never had a clear grasp as to why you’re always at this boy’s neck but now that he’s meet Jisung in the flesh and is starting to hear what you two are exactly fighting about, Minho can’t help but laugh into the mushroom soup. “So this is the troublemaker who’s been bugging our Y/N.” He ends up musing out loud. “I see why you need me home now.”

“Believe me, you should’ve seen them grow up together with the other kids. Always fighting over the smallest of things, competing on who’s better, and all that.” Chan rolls his eyes in disinterest, glancing over to you and Jisung as the latter starts chasing you around the dining area with a bundle of scallions. “What you’re seeing right now is barely the tip of the iceberg, Min.”

“Reminds you a little bit of us back then, don’t you think?” 

“Ya, and which one am I supposed to be?” 

The couple glances over their shoulders to see that you’ve now successfully snatched the scallions from Jisung with your magic and have started to hit him over the head with it. This then makes Chan squint his eyes suspiciously at Minho who only chuckles. “Babe, you and Y/N are definitely related, don’t you think?” 

“Do you also want to get hit with scallions?” 

-

Though Jisung was initially wary of Minho at the start of the evening, having only heard of him vaguely from gossip among the other royal kids prior, your cousin’s boyfriend slowly and naturally transitioned over the prince’s good graces as soon as the lamb chops and mushroom soup were served along with stories of Minho’s own adventures and questions about the magical realm. Now that he’s put a name and a face to the person that people back home simply referred to as the reason why Chan left (and who he’s admittedly been blaming as well for the sudden shift in your attitude at the royal courts), Jisung now genuinely believes that the people back at home jumped to their conclusions quickly about Minho. 

Minho’s really nice, Chan is really fond of him and you clearly support the two. In return, Minho looks out for you and Chan, you in particular as the older guy proceeds to drill Jisung shamelessly with questions on whatever it is that you’ve mentioned about him in your letters. 

Jisung didn’t even know a lot of the things Minho kept rambling on about while you tried so hard to keep his mouth shut next to him by helplessly trying to cover his mouth.

“Y/N talks about you a whoooooooole lot. Like, a minor inconvenience during their royal duties then they’re quick to talk to me about it.” Minho grins playfully, dodging your attempts at shutting him up while he eats his share of the pastry dessert. “When we first met and this candidate exam thing was first brought up, they talked about the other royals briefly but they talked about you in super great detail! Oh, and Y/N was rambling a lot about how you reacted to when they confessed to you in middle school and everything, it was so funn—” 

“Minho shut up!” 

“It was really funny!” Minho pins your wrists to the table after a while, gesturing towards Chan, sitting next to Jisung across the table, who then uses his magic to switch your places. This then effectively shuts you up as your flustered expression overcomes your face upon accidentally locking eyes with Jisung right after. “But I want to know what actually happened when you rejected Y/N at your magic school? I want the full scope of what happened just so I get both sides!”

“Y-Ya!” You protest, only to be silenced by Jisung this time who laughs as he swallows a mouthful of food. “Ugh, you’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

“Why do you still talk about that, anyway? It was a long time ago.” Jisung chuckles, propping an elbow up on the table and resting his cheek on his palm as he glances over to you with a smirk. “God, you’re in love with me, aren’t you?” 

“No, I’m no—” “So, Minho hyung, what did Y/N tell you about that?” 

-

It was in the 7th grade, on Valentine’s Day of all days even, when you confessed your crush to Han Jisung. You actually didn’t plan any of it to happen because you just thought of it as stupid, especially at the thought that almost everything Jisung used to do back then annoyed you and made you think of him as childish. 

But Hyunjin somehow slipped you an enchanted cookie on that day as a prank after you confessed at Ryujin’s party the previous weekend that you thought that Jisung was cute sometimes (”I specifically said sometimes and it was one time. Clearly, it wasn’t me who had a problem, right?” “That still doesn’t change the fact that 12-year-old you had a crush on me, Y/N.”). He told you that it was from a batch Felix made for their baking class, bluffing about its distinct strong vanilla scent as a mistake on the younger Eastern prince’s end. 

As it then turned out, however, the cookie was laced with a potion that forcefully exposed the true color that your heart reflected towards Jisung in front of the entire cafeteria while the two of you bickered over some mishap that happened in one of your shared potion classes. Being young as he was as well and feeling embarrassed of all the passersby that looked at you both, Jisung’s fight or flight response made him visibly cringe at seeing the surprisingly pink, bordering red, heart and childishly berated you for it until the potion wore off and your ecure disappeared back into the sleeves of your robes. You ran away crying while Jisung didn’t go to school for the few days that followed in embarrassment.

“You were like 12 back then, it happens.” Minho shrugs after yours and Jisung’s messy storytelling. “And for the record, Y/N, if Chan did that to me as Jisung, I would’ve been annoyed at him too. Your rants are totally valid.” 

“I’m eating my croissants in peace.” Chan complains, slapping the younger man’s arm. “Don’t drag me into this.” 

Simultaneously, Jisung glances over to you and sees a small pout rest on your features. “Well, I don’t know, it’s not really an ‘it happens’ kind of situation if you come from our world.” You point out, glaring at Jisung when you feel him staring at you. “Especially back then. My heart was looking pink and a little reddish for Jisung at the time—ew—which gave him the power to take it if he wanted to.”

Now, this is apparently new information to Minho as he then asks, “You can do that? I thought witches only have one heart so it can’t be taken away?”

“Yeah, exactly.” You nod. “Since we don’t produce the crystal hearts as infinitely as you humans do, it could only be taken if it’s pink or a higher color. It’s the natural law in our world.”

“And if that happens, the witch could become weak, controlled by the other witch who takes their heart, or killed.” Chan quips in this time. “That’s why marriage is sort of a permanent commitment back at home and witches are more encouraged to use human ecure when performing higher-level magic.” 

“That’s a bit of a stretch in our case, though! It’s not like 12-year-old me would think of killing Y/N back then.” Jisung purses his lips into a thin line at you, unamused. “You really are a bit dramatic sometimes, you know? What would I even do with your heart?”

“You were 12, Jisung. Who knows what you were thinking back then...if you were thinking at all.” You retort immediately, turning to Minho again after. “That’s why my family’s a bit wary about you, Min, no offense. With you and Chan in a relationship, he can give up his heart to you but if you don’t reciprocate it by exchanging with one of your own, he might get weak or die.” 

This then makes Jisung turn to Minho as well, curious as to what his response would be. 

Unfazed, Minho smiles and turns lovingly to his boyfriend. “Then, aren’t you lucky I’m obsessed with you, huh?” 

“Really now?” Chan chuckles, slinging his arm over Minho’s shoulder and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Then I guess I can stay here permanently, right?” 

You pretend to gag as you sip on your water, reminding the older guys that there are “children” in front of them. Jisung rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair at this scene, looking away at the tender display of affection across the table. The two of you don’t even have to check how the pair’s ecures reflect towards each other with your magic to know that they’re a matching bright red. 

When he looks over to you, he catches the briefest and fondest smile gracing your expression as you mumble about how “stupidly cute” Chan and Minho are being. Jisung knows he shouldn’t look, not in this moment when he sees you at a vulnerable state and you would slap him over the head if he teases you about it, but his eyes unconsciously turn green and peeks over at your ecure as it watches over your favourite cousin and his boyfriend. 

It’s a bright blue, a sign of deep respect and familial love for Chan and Minho. Jisung looks away immediately when you glance up at him curiously, forcing his eyes back to their natural color before he could accidentally see how your heart reflects to him. “What?” 

He gets it now. Why you’ve been so uptight in fulfilling your royal duties, snapping just a little more easily these days whenever he annoys you, and acting like a pushover to the elders who keep ordering you around back at home. You’ve been shouldering a lot of the responsibilities back home, both yours and the ones that Chan has left behind, all because you want your cousin to be happy in this world without worries. 

“Why were you looking at me?” You pout. “You didn’t check my—ya, Han Jisung!”

“I wasn’t looking at you like that! I was gonna ask you to pass me the cream puffs!”

You begrudgingly pass him the bowl of cream puffs, rolling your eyes before smiling at Minho and Chan again and changing the conversation to something else. “Anyway, Minho, you’re staying longer now, right?”  

- 

“I saw what you did at dinner, by the way. Y/N would beat you to a pulp if they knew you were looking into their heart, especially since we were just talking about it.” Chan speaks up after a moment of walking around Jisung’s room, tidying up the fallen music sheets on the ground and closing the curtains for the night. You’ve long stolen Minho from your cousin right after dinner hours ago to binge his tour videos and so he’s resorted to hanging out with Jisung, playing video games until the clock struck midnight.  

Jisung pouts as he tucks himself away in bed, turning to his side to face Chan as the older boy continues arranging his “messy” work table. “I looked at how it reflects for you and Minho, not at how it looks at me. Just that, swear.” He clarifies in between protesting over Chan’s actions (“It’s an organized mess!” “It’s a mess, Jisung.”) “It’s almost like your family’s sapphire when it looks at the two of you, bluer than how it looks when Y/N’s with the King and the High Queen. You’re more family to them than their own parents.”

This effectively freezes Chan in place for a moment, a small smile gracing the former duke’s features. “Of course I know that.” He replies, almost as an inaudible mumble from across the room. “That’s why it was so hard to leave at first.”

“Then why did you—?” 

“Because Y/N told me to.” Moving to the door and preparing to leave, Chan sees Jisung’s face and continues, “Believe me, I was even more conflicted than you’re being right now back then. We both know that my own siblings are too young to shoulder the job I’ll leave behind but Y/N told me that they’ll gladly handle it if it meant that I can be happy here. We argued about it a lot, I kept telling them that I can just juggle moving between the two realms, but you know how persuasive and stubborn Y/N can be.” 

The last comment makes Jisung chuckle. Of all people, he should know of it the best. “It’s just hard to argue with them.” He nods in agreement. “I heard they’re the one who got you this house and everything.” 

Chan nods, slowly putting one foot out of the door. “Y/N cares a lot, sometimes a little too much, that they end up sacrificing a lot and putting their own feelings last because of it. Since I went away, I’ve only ever been worried that they’ll just explode one day, actually, but I know you and the other kids keep them in check.” 

“I’d hardly call Y/N relaxed with me.” Jisung pouts, fiddling with his fingers nervously as he confesses this shyly. “I think they just find me annoying…” 

“Oh you definitely annoy each other but that’s just how you two are together. It’s all in good fun and that’s good, especially now that you’re going to take much more responsibilities once you go back home.” Chan notes with a shrug, briefly glancing over his shoulder as you and Minho arrive on the second floor. “Just be a little gentler with them. Night, Sung.” 

four out of six months

You know better than to expect nothing less from Lee Chaeryoung, one of the best investigators from your realm, as she helped Yeji lead Hyunjin’s search party. When you initially expected that she would finish scouting Incheon before the end of the semester, she came back with the most solid lead that anyone’s picked up since the start of the search party around Seoul with 2 months left on your time in the human world. 

Apparently, from the scouring she’s done beyond the initial parameters of the search, a few magic and non-magic folk living around the beach area have seen the Southern kingdom’s prince at a party on the night he disappeared, interacting with a strange group of people they only described by their unusually white hairs, matching snake tattoos, and icy blue eyes. What was even more interesting is that these people were still around the area when Chaeryoung visited but without any sign of Hyunjin. With this, she could only confirm that they’re also from the magical realm.

“They could only be Northwestern ogre witches, I’m sure of it.” Chan commented after hearing Chaeryoung’s report over dinner with everyone present. When Minho then asked about it, your cousin didn’t hesitate to explain, “A group of witches back home who were initially banished to the wastelands because they practiced darker arts and only collected black ecures. Lately, a lot of them have been turning up here and doing gods-know-what.” 

“But if they only want the artifact that Hyunjin recovered, why would they still keep him?” You ask, crossing your arms over the dining table as Chaeryoung showed you photos of the location she ascouted on her phone. “Hyunjin’s high-profile too, yes, but unless they want him to collect colored ecures for them, there’s no other reason to keep him captive when there are other magic folk there. Why him?” 

“Unless they have something bigger up their sleeves.” Seungmin notes with a frown, closing Chaeryoung’s phone as he grows more and more upset from across the table. When you and Jisung glance over to him curiously, he then meets your eyes and adds, “Maybe we shouldn’t let you two go with us on this.” 

“What?! Why?” Jisung is the first to instinctively speak up against this, sitting up taller in his seat. You echo the same question, albeit a little quieter when you see Chan nodding worriedly on your side. 

“I have a feeling that they might be after the two of you too from this.” Seungmin explains once Jisung calmed down a bit from his sudden outburst. “Like Y/N said, keeping Hyunjin to collect colored ecures against his will doesn’t seem like a good enough reason, at least not this long.”

“It’s timed perfectly, too, that they caught Hyunjin right before the candidacy exam.” Yeji quips in, belatedly nodding in agreement to Seungmin’s suggestion. “They might be luring you two specifically by using my brother.” 

“But that’s just a hunch for now! We don’t know th—” 

Chan’s entire disposition in a flash, slamming his hand down on the table a little too loudly and effectively shutting everyone up around the table including Minho. “That’s exactly why we can’t risk it.” He counters firmly and you know, just by the tone of your cousin’s voice, that he already has the final word. “Remember, you and Y/N are here first and foremost because you’re taking your exam. Keeping you on wraps with this search is formalities, at most. Anyway, there’s enough of us here who can look for Hyunjin. You two just stay put until we can sort this out and ensure that this problem stops interfering with the exam any further.”

When you peek over to your right to glance at Jisung’s reaction two seats away, you see him glancing back at you from the corner of his eyes before sighing in defeat. “And if they want our group separated?” 

“The house’s enchanted with protective spells. Minho and Ryujin will also stay and watch over you two while we extract Hyunjin over the weekend.” Chan notes, continuing before Jisung could complain further. “That’s final, Ji. We’ll take over from here.” 

“Don’t fret too much, Sung.” Seungmin adds comfortingly. “Anyway, if we find Hyunjin, we’ll all stay here for a few days before going back home.” 

In response, you hear Jisung slam his back on his seat hard before huffing childishly, glancing over to you as he opens his mouth. Knowing that he’ll throw a fit, you immediately shake your head, forbidding him from doing so. “Fine...” He murmurs under his breath with a sigh, knowing better than to start an argument with one of his best friends at this time. “Just—just bring Hyunjin back quickly.” 

Somehow, even when you understand where Chan’s coming from, you also feel somewhat bad for Jisung. You want to see Hyunjin too but your circumstances aren’t exactly favourable to let you be of much help. 

- 

As much as Jisung used to hate how Chan coddled you, he hates it even more now that the same behavior is directed towards him, especially in situations like this when he wants to actively help in Hyunjin’s search. The circumstances couldn’t have been more unfavorable to him now: the group finding a lead but at a time when he’s participating in an exam that has him more at risk of being targeted by creatures from the magical realm that have strayed to this world. 

On top of this, he hates how he can clearly see that you want to see Hyunjin just as much as he and everyone else does but you’re quicker to comply the moment Chan, and eventually even Yeji, put the two of you on house arrest for the weekend while the rest of the group goes to Incheon. It frustrates him to no end that you keep quietly complying to everyone else when you clearly want to do something else. And, as a result, you end up channeling your energy aggressively elsewhere much like today as you spend most of your Sunday cleaning and redecorating around the expansive house with Minho. 

“Can’t you two like, tone it down a bit?” Jisung complains for the third time this afternoon as he plays with the music software on Chan’s laptop, lifting his feet off of the coffee table in the living room when Minho passes by with a vacuum before pushing a levitating plant that hovers too close for comfort to his face. Somewhere, Ryujin has retreated outside to the garden in order to tend to more plants. “The house’s going to get thrashed after a while anyway.” 

“And why can’t you help clean?” You ask back in retort, fluffing up the pillows next to him as you occasionally glance over your shoulder to make sure that the levitating objects around the room aren’t falling over. “If you’re just going to complain while we’re cleaning here, you can just go up to your room since we’re done upstairs, anyway.” 

Jisung pouts, crawling over to the other side of the sofa anyway when you gesture for him to move. “The sunlight’s better here at this time.” He points to the glass windows. “Just finish up quickly already.” 

“If you want to get some sun, you can help Ryujin outside.” You poke back, moving over to the sofa across the coffee table. As you move, the hovering plant pots slowly move to where you want to relocate them to, one moving next to the sofa almost hitting Jisung in the face once more with its leaves. “Make yourself useful, Jisung.” 

The witch in question scoffs, closing Chan’s laptop and finally planting his feet back on the floor to a stand. Jisung also hates that tone you use when you order him around because it always makes him do whatever you ask without fail. “Fine, I’m going outside.” He grumbles, trudging to the direction of the back door leading outside and making sure to close the door with a loud thud. 

Out in the gardens, Ryujin is busy reviving dried up leaves and flowers while a few watering cans go around to water the trees and bushes. Upon seeing Jisung walking down the mini stairs with a pout and furrowed brows, the younger witch can’t help but laugh, “Y/N banished you outside?” 

“I’m supposed to help you but you don’t even look like you need help at all.” The prince continues to grumble, setting himself down on a foldable chair and crossing his bare arms over his chest. “If I do help, I might actually kill the plants. You already know how I’m terrible I am at healing magic.” 

Ryujin acknowledges with a hum, turning her attention back to Chan’s mini garden of camellias. “Just sunbathe, look around or whatever, I can handle this.” She assures with a smile. “I won’t tell Y/N too, don’t worry.” 

“I think I’ll take you up on that looking around thing later.” Jisung sighs, sinking into his seat and closing his eyes. “I’ll nap for now.” 

- 

“He just does whatever you say, huh?” Minho points out to you as soon as you finish cleaning the living room, tiredly taking up the empty space next to you on the couch with two pillows hugged close to his chest. When you open your mouth to protest, “I know I said it’s amusing when you two bicker over stupid things but it’s actually really nice and quiet when you two reach compromise like this. So peaceful.” 

“He just knows when to not mess with me. Don’t exaggerate it.” You scoff at this, pushing Minho away from you as you lift your legs up to the coffee table. “He knows that I feel the need to be busy when I’m on edge like this but he was in the way. The least he could do is either be useful around the house too or just stay out of my sight for a while.” 

“Don’t be too worried, I’m sure they’re all being careful and getting to Hyunjin soon.” Minho assures you with a small smile, waving his human world phone in front of you as it displays a flurry of messages from Chan. “If it makes you feel better, your cousin’s been asking me about you and Jisung as much as he’s been updating me of what’s happening.”

You frown at this, making Minho chuckle. “He’s been talking to you but not to me? I’m his cousin!” 

“He knows you’re redecorating his house in 50 different styles while you wait for him so he just asks about you through me. Don’t get it twisted, Y/N.” The older boy continues laughing, carefully shoving a pillow away from his face when you levitate it closer to him. “Anyway, they said that they’ve confirmed that the ogres are still staying at the beach resort so they’re planning to get to them tonight and confirm if they really took Hyunjin.”

Your expression visibly shifts more positively, eyes widening and mouth hanging agape. “Really?” 

“If things go smoothly, everyone, including Hyunjin, would be home really soon. Until then, Chan has asked me to make sure that you and Jisung don’t kill each other or go outside without permission.” 

You shove Minho once more at the last statement, mustering up a laugh this time. “Hey, we’re not that childish.” You point out with a pout before another thought crosses your mind. “Oh, right, I can tell Jisung, right? I mean, it’s just an update anyway.” 

“Yeah, go ahead.” Minho nods, poking you on your side to get you to stand up. “It’s also getting dark out, call Ryujin in too so we can reheat some leftovers for dinner.” 

You scoff at the thought of leftovers for dinner, standing up anyway and heading outside where the sun has indeed set on the horizon. As you walk down the steps leading down to the backyard, you easily spot Ryujin by the back gate as she flirts with one of your neighbors who holds an orange heart up her sleeve but it takes you a moment to see Jisung fast asleep under one of the outdoor umbrellas. 

“Ryujin!” You call for your friend, biting down your lip when the girl she’s been flirting with awkwardly looks away and your friend in question consequently glares at you for interrupting her. “Where’s Jisung?” 

“There.” Ryujin quickly points towards the outdoor umbrellas on the far corner of the backyard before turning her gaze back on your neighbor whose heart immediately turns a shy pink at this. 

You roll your eyes at this with a chuckle before heading over to Jisung, finding him snoring lightly and snuggling into a pillow despite the cold evening breeze. He doesn’t budge an inch when you call his name or poke his side, stirring only when you slap his cheek gently awake by instinctively swatting your hand away and mumbling a string of curses for you to go away. “What?!” 

“It’s starting to get cold out here. Come on, we’re eating dinner in a while.” You respond, taking the pillow from him and grabbing him by the arm to help him stand up. When he doesn’t budge, you resort to adjusting his hoodie at least so he doesn’t freeze himself to death. “Minho also said that Chan’s been texting him. Everyone’s okay so far and they’ll interrogate the ogres tonight, maybe even get Hyunjin if they really took him.” 

Jisung finally springs awake at this, jumping to a stand in surprise. “What? Really? Is there—well, is there anything else?” He asks quickly, stumbling over his words in shock while you drag him back inside. 

Ryujin follows along after a while, running to the kitchen to check what you’re having for dinner. You and Jisung walk a little slower as he rubs his eyes from his surprisingly long nap next to you, somehow not making a fuss this time about your linked arms. 

“Sadly, that’s only what I got from Minho a while back so I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning for anything new.” You answer his previous question as you head to the kitchen where Ryujin and Minho reheat leftovers and make some new side dishes. When you see Jisung’s ears perk up slightly at your words, you quickly add, “Don’t try staying up late just for an update. You should get some more sleep after dinner so you don’t look like a ghost when we see Hyunjin again.” 

He scoffs at this, sitting down on the dining table and dragging you along with him on the adjacent seat. “How can I sleep if I know that we’re so close to seeing Hyunjin again after months? I’ll stay up late if I want to!”

“And I’ll kill you two if you stay up all night then get all cranky tomorrow when you have to get to class.” Minho cuts you off before you could even speak, setting the dishes down on the table. “Okay, eat up!” 

“That was him, not me.” You shrug at Jisung’s semi-permanent pout with a chuckle, receiving a plate and utensils before thanking Minho for the food. “Eat up, Ji.” 

You don’t even have to glance back over to his direction to know that he has his usual determined look plastered over his face again. Because of the new update on Hyunjin’s situation, he’s suddenly more alert now that he might actually take you up on staying awake the entire night. 

-

“Jisung, are you awake?” 

Jisung doesn’t really expect you to hold true to your word and check up on him at 3 AM when Ryujin and Minho have both gone to sleep. You suddenly knock on his door while he’s in the middle of a song he’s been trying to write on his guitar lately, startling the poor boy who almost falls off of the window and causes a big fuss about it. 

“Are you okay in there?” You ask worriedly from outside after knocking for the 4th time, the doorknob clicking gently after. When only shuffles reach your ear on the other side, you immediately add, “Hey, I’m coming in!” 

Jisung doesn’t even have time to protest, catching a glimpse of you going in and closing the door as a tray of mugs trails behind you. Quickly hiding the guitar by the curtains, he clumsily scrambles up to a stand and retrieves the tray from the air, “H-Hi! You made...tea?” 

“Those two mugs are for me.” You pretend to swat his hand away jokingly, joining him on the small balcony on the other side of his window. Spotting his guitar hidden haphazardly on the side, you’re quick to pick it up and slide it over your lap while Jisung’s occupied with the tea, strumming a few chords. Only then, do you also notice his music sheets strewn across the balcony, all labelled with the word ‘sunshine.’ “I didn’t know you brought this along. It still plays good, I suppose, but do you still play badly?” 

Jisung scowls at you as he sets the tray down next to his notebook, sitting down criss cross once more before swiftly snatching the guitar from your hands. “I play better than you, at least.” Ignoring your protests, he then strums a few chords of his own and continues, “Why are you still awake, anyway? Don’t you have a 9 AM later?” 

When he turns to you, he sees you taking a sip of your tea first before answering, “I feel like ditching,” a statement he’s definitely never heard from you before by the way his eyes widen in surprise. “Don’t act so surprised! Uni’s just a cover and a way to get hearts while we’re here in the human world, anyway. Since everyone could be here later and there’s a possibility that we’ll see Hyunjin again with them, I wouldn’t want to miss a second of him back.” 

“Don’t tell me, am I rubbing off on you?” Jisung snickers playfully. Deep inside, however, he’s undoubtedly a little impressed. After all, it’s been a while since he’s seen you so carefree outside of royal duties. “This is bad. We’re still competing, you know!”

“Tch, don’t push it. My current count’s quite high so I’m not that worried.” You shake your head in disbelief, leaning back against the windowsill and gazing ahead to the brightly-lit city. “It’s just that it’s been 5 months since Hyunjin’s gone missing and Yeji started combing every inch of Seoul, only to find a lead out in Incheon. I want to see him as much as you do.” 

Jisung nods slowly in agreement, picking up the second mug of tea and taking a sip. It’s chocolate matcha, the flavour you always craved on elementary school field trips back in the magical realm whenever you missed home or so Felix once said. “It’s been that long, huh? And we’ve been here taking our exam for 4 months now.” He muses out loud between sips of tea, warming him up in an instant against the unusually cold night. “Time flies a little weirder when you’re on the other side of the moon, don’t you think?” 

“I think you’ve just been having too much fun flirting with humans.” You point out, gesturing over to his emerald ring. Over the months, you’ve noticed that the vessels grow warmer every time you reach a thousand points which is roughly every 100 hearts or so. In the rare moments these days that Jisung’s ring has accidentally brushed against your skin, usually at the bus or when passing dishes along, the stone feels intimidatingly hot and almost burning. “How much do you have already?” 

“Enough to win against you.” He teases playfully as he hums along to his song, making you scoff. “I mean, it’s been fun. Gaining a lot of ecure here has made my magic feel more powerful but, still, I can’t help but think sometimes that this whole exam would’ve been fun if the 4 of us were complete.” 

You take another sip of your tea, listening along to Jisung’s humming. “If Hyunjin didn’t disappear beforehand and scared off Lia and her parents from letting her compete...yeah, I guess it would’ve been much more fun if we’re all competing together and the exam duration was 1 year like normal.” Thinking about it more, you end up chuckling at imagining how this whole exam could’ve gone differently. “But, at the same time, it’s been fun competing with you so far.” 

“Going soft on me?” He raises a brow with a smirk. “I know we’ve been stuck to each other like glue for the past months but you should look out for that heart of yours, it might turn pink for me again.”

“I mean you’ve put up a fight so far. It’s a professional compliment, don’t exaggerate it.” You roll your eyes with a slight snicker, making him laugh. You purposely ignore his last comment, though, knowing that he wouldn’t really look into your feelings for him, anything but that. “Maybe you’re the one who’s going soft on me. Seungmin told me about the purple hearts.” 

“He what?!” Jisung exclaims, his smug expression instantly morphing into panic as he almost throws his guitar off of the balcony. “Wait, I can explain!” 

You shake your head and wave your hand dismissively. “No, you don’t have to! I understand.” You assure with a laugh, placing your hand on his nearest shoulder and making him sit back down when he wobbles over the messy and narrow space. “Though, yeah, I probably would’ve yelled at you if Seungmin told me any earlier but it’s all said and done now, anyway. I appreciate it, actually.” 

“A lot of guys were being creeps to you so I thought...I got protective, okay? Ryujin and Yeji were getting stares too so even Seungmin would do the same thing to protect them.” Jisung pouts. “I know we’re in a competition and we’re supposed to rake up a bunch of hearts but your dignity’s much more important than some stupid crown...” 

“I know, and I also know that you would’ve done it for Lia if she were here.” You nod understandingly, mustering up a small appreciative smile. Jisung can be sweet if he wants to, you conclude internally. “Ah, seriously, just imagine if there was 4 of us competing. This would’ve been much more fun and less stressful. You would’ve gotten your ass handed to you when you wanted to race to the moon.” 

“Tch, Hyunjin would’ve taken all of the red ecures for himself.” Jisung adds, sharing in your quiet laughs now that the conversation’s shifted once more. “Much like how he charms everyone back home. He might even win, like he always does in every challenge the elders give us. He’s just the favourite!” 

“I can’t wait for him to come home safely. He’s been gone for too long.” You sigh against your tea, tiredly adjusting to the uncomfortable space of the window. Seeing this from the corner of his eyes, Jisung doesn’t hesitate to pass you a pillow and nearby blankets this time which you’re more than grateful for. “I can’t wait for all of this to be over and go home, just visit again when I feel like it.” 

“Me too. I can’t wait to see him.” Jisung sighs, peering down onto the balcony as he adjusts his guitar on his lap. “And I can’t wait to go home, too.” 

And just then, the car that Chan used to drive everyone over to Incheon materializes at the front porch, spewing out Chan, your friends, and Hyunjin who’s supported by Seungmin and Yeji.

five out of six months 

Hyunjin sports distinctly black cuts and gashes across his arms and legs when you greet the group in front of the house, similar to the ones Chan and Changbin also sported one time when the two also had an encounter with dark magic. Limping on his right leg and supported by his arms, Yeji and Seungmin used their magic to lift him over to the nearest sofa once they’ve reached the other side of Chan’s protective spell from the front door while the rest of the group crash into the vast expanse of the living room. 

“I tried healing him as much as I can so it’s easier for you and Ryujin.” Seungmin huffs, tiredly sitting down on the ground by the coffee table. “He’s mostly fine, just exposed to a lot of dark magic.” 

“And you guys? Are you okay? Is anyone else hurt?” You ask worriedly, darting your eyes over to Chan, Yeji, and Chaeryoung who all individually affirm to you that they’re not nursing any big injuries. “What happened?” 

At that moment, Jisung arrives in the living room with a half-sleepy Minho and a frantically running Ryujin who immediately makes a beeline to Hyunjin and Yeji. Standing next to you, he echoes the exact same question to Seungmin. “What happened? Is Hyunjin going to be okay?” 

You kneel down in front of Hyunjin, right next to Ryujin, and examine the cuts and gashes. Meanwhile, Jisung sits next to Seungmin while Minho runs over to Chan. “Turns out, they’ve been keeping Hyunjin to try and get him to activate the artifact.” Seungmin answers Jisung’s question after a moment, taking out the stolen compass that Hyunjin was supposed to retrieve from this world. “Then they heard that you and Jisung were going to proceed with the exam. So they tried using him as bait as well but the protective spells the elders casted on you two made it hard for them to find you even when they planned to separate our group.” 

“We got there before they could manipulate my brother into it with dark magic.” Yeji continues tiredly in between casting her own spells, making her smaller wounds and a sprained ankle disappear. “They were quite hostile but we managed. It’s just that Hyunjin still hasn’t woken up since we took him.” 

“Then aren’t you glad we stayed at home, Ji?” You mumbled under your breath as you and Ryujin casted spells to identify the magic needed to heal the half-conscious Hyunjin’s injuries. “Hyunjin’s probably not waking up because of exposure. We’ll have to determine just how much dark magic those witches used.” 

Behind you, Jisung grumbles stubbornly at your comment. “So, is Hyunjin okay? What’s the diagnosis?”

Hovering your hand over Hyunjin’s chest, his heart suddenly reflects a horrifying black over your magic and making yours and Ryujin’s eyes widen. “Oh no…” 

“What?” Suddenly, Jisung’s next to you and peering over Hyunjin’s ecure. “What the hell? Why is his heart black?” 

Ryujin then places her hands over Hyunjin’s forehead, going through his fresher memories as her eyes turn a bright blue. “He’s...it’s an ancient spell, a really powerful one.” She eventually concludes, turning to Chan after. “Chan, do you think you can take a look at this?” 

Across the room, Chan stands up with Minho’s help, having just treated a healing cut on his leg, and sits on Ryujin’s other side to briefly access the same memories. “The three of us can do it,” He gestures to you and Ryujin with pursed lips. “But it’ll take hours and a whole lot of ecure. We’ll need to purify his heart with an equally powerful spell.” 

From the corner of your eye, you see Jisung immediately turn to you in worry, as if he already knows what you’re going to say. “Y/N, don’t—”

But you’re already reaching for your locket, forcing the stone to reveal its contents. “I can give up mine. It’ll save you both your energies and time.” You assure, tuning out Jisung’s protests.

“A-Are you sure?” Ryujin asks worriedly, echoing Jisung’s concerns. Next to her, Chan shakes his head at you in equal concern. “Y/N, these are your ecures for the candidacy exam, you can’t just—not right now when you’re almost do—”

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is that we save Hyunjin.” You nod without any hesitation. “Anyway, I have enough for both purifying Hyunjin’s heart and healing his wounds. It’s fine.” 

You then take out more hearts from your locket, the clumped crystals of oranges, greens, pinks, and reds hovering above Hyunjin as he continues lulling in and out of consciousness and his body tries rejecting the prior spells Yeji casted to help him heal. Before you could fully empty out the vessel, however, Jisung’s hand with his emerald ring flies over yours to stop you. “Wait!” He exclaims, startling you, Ryujin, and Chan. “I’ll give up some of mine too. Don’t empty yours out.”

“Ji—” 

“—Y/N.” He snaps frustratingly, raising his voice and confusing you further. “Please, let me help! I don’t want you to empty your count, I’m not letting you.” 

This seems to effectively catch you off-guard. Jisung then takes this as an opportunity to stop you, not letting your hand go while he summons his own collected hearts out from his ring and firmly making sure that you don’t argue with him further until Chan has reluctantly made sure that you have enough ecures to convert into magic. Even then, he doesn’t let you go by your hand and instead moves his over to your free hand while Chan instructs you and Ryujin on how to purify a black heart. 

“J-Jisung.” You call for him once your initial annoyance of him stopping you has died down, eyes widening when he glances back at you with worry. “I need my two hands.” 

“Oh, shit. Sorry.” He lets go of your hand immediately, keeping his hands down on his lap before leaving the three of you to check on Seungmin, Yeji, and Chaeryoung. “Sorry…”

You cough out awkwardly as he leaves, glaring at Ryujin when she musters up a teasing smile despite your current predicament. 

“He’s right, you know.” Chan comments after a while, instructing you the following spells while the dark color of Hyunjin’s ecure fades to a glowing white. 

“Don’t start.” When you send a glare over your own cousin’s way, however, he quickly drops the subject with a shrug. 

Purifying a darkened heart, as it turns out, lasts until the very break of dawn as the three of you exhaust the ecures you and Jisung have put out to heal Hyunjin. As time ticks by agonizingly slow for Hyunjin who could only lay back on the sofa and absorb all of your energies to heal himself, Minho eventually gets everyone to clear the living room and sleep in the much more comfortable guest rooms after making sure that no one is greatly injured before hurling himself to the kitchen and make breakfast. 

But you see Jisung stay from the corner of your eye, taking up space on your opposite side to steal glances at you or comfort Hyunjin. From the way his eyebrows furrow over his sleepy eyes and how he refuses to leave even when you awkwardly tell him off, you could tell that he too can’t make out your previous exchange. 

“—Y/N. Please, let me help! I don’t want you to empty your count, I’m not letting you.” You know that he acted the way he did because it was Hyunjin that you were trying to save, one of his best friends. But the way he sounded so angry, the way he snapped at you in the spur of the moment, a small part of your thoughts wants to make you think that he had other reasons for doing what he did. 

“Hyunjin? How are you feeling?” Chan asks after 2 hours of nonstop spellcasting, halting you and Ryujin in your steps after. “Can you sit up?” 

Your eyes turn blue at the same time you see Jisung’s turn green, surveying Hyunjin’s heart for any hints of leftover dark magic. Meanwhile, Hyunjin struggles to sit up with Jisung’s help, tiredly groaning under his breath. “Much b-better.” He manages to stumble out after a moment, mustering up a small smile despite the dizzying and overwhelming fel. “Thanks, you guys.” 

You sigh in relief, resting your back against the coffee table behind you before nodding. “Finally…” 

“Come on, Hyunnie, I’ll move you upstairs.” Chan volunteers, standing up from his position on the floor and briefly stretching his arms out. Turning to you, Ryujin, and Jisung, he then adds, “You guys get some rest too. Just skip for today and tomorrow. I’ll write to everyone back home.” 

You don’t even argue against your cousin this time, finding yourself nodding when he gives you the same look he always does whenever you intend on shouldering some work for him. Standing up from the floor, you, Ryujin, and Jisung then head upstairs in silence. 

The entire walk, you feel Jisung stealing glances over to you but you decide to not act on it, shaking your head when he suddenly opens his mouth to speak before the two of you could go on your separate ways. 

“Y/N, wait—” “Goodnight, Jisung.” 

-

Growing up, Jisung has always relied on two people in helping him through the crisis of accidentally going too far with you: Chan and Felix. Chan, obviously, because he’s your cousin and the only other friend he has who harbors an inkling of a braincell and Felix because he’s everyone’s favourite and he knows the kinds of snacks that get on your good graces. These moments when he’s actually pushed your buttons too far are rare (as much as the two of you like to express your annoyance over each other, you’ve actually come to understand that this is just your dynamic growing up), but Jisung personally keeps a list of steps to do in situations like this anyway. Now more than ever, it seems, because suddenly, it feels weird and awkward being around each other—and not the usual kind. 

But as fate would have it, Chan is busy working out how to safely get Hyunjin home and explaining to the elders what happened. If normally Jisung would be asking Chan first about you and what he could say when he confronts you, this time he’s asking all of them to his twin brother who’s more than willing to listen (after listening to Yeji, Ryujin, and Chaeryoung gossip everything to him prior, of course).

“Why did you do that anyway?” Felix points out on the other side of the call, snuggling into a pillow as night falls on both realms. It’s been 3 days since Hyunjin returned and both the house and the officials back at home have been busy arranging his return with Yeji, Seungmin, Ryujin, and Chaeryoung; only allowing for the twins to talk in the late hours of the night. “And you said it angrily too from what Ryujin told me. No offense, bro, I’d feel a little weird if you raised your voice at me, too, then offered up half of your collection on their behalf.” 

Jisung groans in frustration, running his hand through his hair as he shuffles uncomfortably around his bed sheets. “I don’t know, it’s just...I was thinking of a lot of things.” 

“Like what?” 

“This candidacy exam, what Chan told me beforehand, Hyunjin, Y/N…” The older twin purses his lips, taking his eyes away from Felix to gaze down at his hands. The emerald ring is much cooler now after losing ecure but somehow, it feels heavy on Jisung’s ring finger. “I thought that it’d be unfair if they lose all of their ecure at this point in the race, trying to save Hyunjin, then the elders might not be too pleased about it when we return. But most importantly, I thought about what Chan told me when Minho first arrived, about how Y/N’s always jumping at every opportunity to help other people without thinking too much of themself. I was right there with my own vessel of hearts for them to use and if I just let them empty out theirs, then I’d be letting them get the short end of the stick in the long run again.” 

Felix nods along understandingly at his brother’s words, all the while trying to hide a smile behind his hand. So Yeji was right! “So why did you call me, then? You seem to have your reasons sorted out, just tell Y/N what you told me.” He shrugs after Jisung’s extensive speech, giggling at the dramatic reaction that he receives from his brother after. “I know you guys aren’t those emotional kinds of people to each other but you said so yourself that Y/N’s been quieter these days and that it’s been eating at your conscience. I say you just go for it and tell them how you feel.” 

“I’m not you, Lix. Y/N’s going to laugh at me.” Jisung pouts helplessly. “I can’t just tell them that.” 

“You’re so dramatic! It just implies that you care about Y/N like a decent human being. Anyone in your situation who knows what you know about them would’ve been considerate enough to do the same thing.” Felix argues back, rubbing his temples at how the older boy’s acting. “Don’t get it twisted, brother...unless you want it to, of course.” 

“Ya, and what’s that supposed to mean?!” 

“Figure it out yourself.” Felix sticks his tongue out teasingly before laughing and waving a dismissive hand. “Anyway, Yeji told me that Y/N’s been craving blueberry pancakes lately. You can just make them right now and give it tomorrow so you don’t have to go out.” 

“If anything, I want to leave the house right now and never come back.” Jisung grumbles back in frustration before sighing in defeat. “For the first time, I can’t believe you’re no help at all, Lix. I’m hanging up.” 

“Tch, you just can’t handle the truth, Sung. Anyway, I have to go too, mom and dad are asking me to come to this thing. I’ll update you on it later! Love you! Bye!” Felix then waves to the call one last time before hanging up, leaving Jisung in the uncomfortable silence of his room. 

Jisung sighs against the heavy blankets, throwing his phone to the other side of the mattress before ultimately deciding on standing up and heading to your room across the hall. Fuck it, he thinks to himself, it’s not like I like them or anything like that! Nothing to worry about! Let’s not get it twisted. 

When he opens the door, however, the first person he unexpectedly sees outside the hallways is you just as you close the door behind your own room. “Y/N!” He ends up blurting out loud in the moment, catching your attention with wide eyes. Not knowing what else to say, the first thought that comes to mind is, “Are you going to Hyunjin’s room?” 

You furrow your brows in confusion, shaking your head slowly. “No, I’m going to the kitchen?” 

“O-Oh.” He runs his hand through his hair once more in nervousness, nodding along and hiding the heat rising up his neck in embarrassment. “Well, I’m going there too. Mind if I join you?” 

You simply nod in response, walking down the end of the hallway with him in relative silence. He hasn’t seen you much since Hyunjin’s arrived either since you spent most of your time checking your mutual friend for his condition and brewing tea. The dramatic gears in Jisung’s head would like to think that it’s just pure convenience. 

“So, what did you and Felix talk about?” “How’s Hyunjin?” 

Jisung glances over to you on his right just as you mirror his actions, the gesture somehow making him flustered this time around as he’s quick to look away. “S-Sorry. Um, we just—talked about how things are back home.” He shrugs in his best feigned nonchalance, mentally cringing at how visibly awkward he looks as the two of you go down the stairs anyway. Not that it’s a lie, anyway, he and Felix did talk about other topics besides you. “Everything’s pretty busy back home since the elders are talking about how Hyunjin coming back is going to affect the exam now.” 

“Oh.” You nod along almost absentmindedly. “That’s...yeah, I’ve heard about it too. It’s pretty hectic on my mom’s end right now.” 

“So...how’s Hyunjin?” Jisung chimes in almost a little too quickly, feeling even more awkward that he accidentally brought up your candidacy exam again. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

You purposely pretend to not notice anyway, answering his questions carefully as you approach a curve into the spiral staircase. “He’s regaining his strength at least. Still on bedrest but he should be okay by the weekend when Changbin fetches him and the others.” The two of you then pass through the living room to get to the kitchen, finding Minho and Chan cuddled up on one of the sofas as they watch a movie on the television. 

The kitchen, on the other hand, is deserted when you turn on the lights which Jisung internally thanks every guest in the house for before taking a deep breath. “About what I said back then, by the way…” He starts carefully, catching your attention before you could even detach yourself from him to open the nearby fridge. You freeze a few steps ahead of him, making the poor boy gulp nervously. “Um, I’m sorry that I raised my voice at you. I shouldn’t have done that, even when I was stressing out.” 

Much like when he actually did raise his voice, you momentarily freeze in your spot before eventually shaking your head reassuringly and moving over to the fridge. “It’s alright, you don’t need to apologize for that.” You add with a small smile, taking out the fruit bowl from the fridge. “Is that why you’ve been quiet these past days? It’s okay, really.” 

“I haven’t been—it’s you who’s—” Jisung stops himself halfway before he could even start another argument, biting down his lip before shaking his head. Walking over to the stove area, he then opens a few cabinets in search of the pancake mix while you shuffle around the area behind him. “A little, yeah. It’s just that it looked like it bothered you so it bothered me too.”

When Jisung then glances over his shoulder, he sees you approaching with the fruit bowl hugged close to your chest. “I thought about it a few times. After that, I just thought that you were bothered so I couldn’t talk to you after.” You explain slowly, voice growing louder as you set the bowl next to him. In the dim lights of the kitchen, he suddenly can’t tell if you’re lying or not. “But it’s all good now. Are you making pancakes?” 

Jisung nods sheepishly, finally finding the pancake mix in the deeper crevices of the cabinet and taking it out with a pan and spatula from the adjacent cabinet. “No, but you have to know that—that—”

“Hm? What?” You raise your brows curiously, taking the pan and spatula for him before proceeding to the stove and twisting the knobs to preheat. 

“You’re not letting me finish.” Jisung points out with a feigned disapproving situation while quickly preparing the pancake mix, one which you somehow find amusing enough to laugh at. “Come on, don’t laugh, my twin made me say a bunch of things then coerced me into telling you so I’d—”

“Yeah, I know.” 

“—So, I appreciate it if you’d lis—wait, you know?!” His feigned expression then turns into one of surprise once more as you nod and break into giggles. “W-What?!” 

“You were being really loud, Hyunjin was even complaining to me from the next room by phone that he can’t sleep because of you.” You chuckle in amusement, nudging him by the arm when you notice that he’s slowed down his mixing. “He said something about you complaining to Felix about something or whatever. I don’t know, I was on a call with Lia.” 

“Then why did you—? So, you just came out here for pancakes?!” 

“No! I wanted to hear what you were going to say! I didn’t hear any word besides the pancakes, I swear...well, not clearly at least.” 

By now, all of the awkwardness has immediately dissipated as Jisung stops mixing the pancake mix altogether to turn to you and cross his arms. “You’re unbelievable.” He pretends to roll his eyes and scoff at you, earning him a glare.  You then swipe the pancake mix from his hands, pouring them into the pan in big circles. “And you still have the audacity to make me do this pancake mix.” 

“Well, you’re already mixing it so might as well.” You shrug with a knowing smile before nudging him again by the handle of the spatula. “Now, go on, what were you going to say?” 

Jisung shoots you one last incredulous look but you effectively counter it by encouraging him, promising that you “won’t laugh.” “Ah, well...I just wanted to say that you shouldn’t go all out wasting all of your collected hearts at this point, not when we’re almost done with the exam.” He blurts out, gazing down and fiddling with the fruit bowl while you take spoonfuls of blueberries from it to mix with the pancakes. “I want to win but it won’t be fun if your tally suddenly drops, right?” 

When he looks up, you’re raising your brow at his last comment as you make more pancakes. “I mean, I know you want to do what’s best for everyone but you have to look out for yourself too. Geez.” With a sigh, he then corrects which makes you nod in agreement. “A-And I guess lean on us too. We’re your family and friends, don’t shoulder all of the work for us all the time.” 

“I doubt I can lean on you.” You tease, flipping through your second batch of pancakes to cook. When Jisung sends a glare your way, you simply stick your tongue out at him. “Kidding.”  

“I get all emotional and all you say is that you doubt you can lean on me. Unbelievable…” Jisung scoffs, stuffing his mouth with more blueberries in feigned annoyance. 

The blueberry-filled pancakes are all eventually set on a plate you find on your opposite side, stacked up as a tall tower leaning on one side. Carefully passing Jisung the plate, you then twist the stove’s knobs off and reply, “You also made me cook the pancakes you wanted to make for me so I think that makes us even.” 

“Y/N!” He whines between mouthfuls of blueberries as you move around him to transfer the pan and spatula to the sink. 

You sigh in defeat, chuckling when you meet gazes once more and see him sulking with his cheeks full. “Right, right, I’m sorry!” You then beckon him over to the dining table, taking the fruit bowl on his side. “A-And...you know, thank you for that. We’re all good now, right?” 

“If you are.” 

“Definitely. Want to eat with me? I still owe you that meal from our first day.” 

six out of six months

Your mother as well as the high jury of elders from back home eventually proposed that you and Jisung finish your Crown Candidacy exam while Hyunjin, should he eventually announce that he wants to participate as well in the incoming 6 months, do his under stricter supervision in the following year. This ensures fairness in your situations, that yours and Jisung’s efforts aren’t wasted in the past 5 months while also thinking of Hyunjin who wasn’t around in time for the traditional schedule of the exam. When Hyunjin was escorted home by Changbin and Felix, however, he briefly hinted towards a plan on refusing the candidacy and the exam. He left with the others before you or Jisung could even ask him about it. 

Regardless, you and your sole competitor easily fall back into the race as soon as Hyunjin, Yeji, Seungmin, and Chaeryoung have settled their business in the human world and went home, returning to university over a week later to regain the ecures that you lost. Not that it’s suddenly harder, anyway. Timely as it is, an announcement for a school festival at the end of the month has Jisung signing up to perform while you join the organizing committee to spend more time with your human friends. 

In the time that you’ve spent in the human world, you’ve made many genuine friends beyond collecting their ecure for your exam, especially in your classmates Yuna and Jeongin. Though they don’t know about your true nature, the two have unknowingly aided you a lot in your mission by accompanying you through the different activities around university. 

Yuna, in particular, was even the one who first mentioned the school festival to you, encouraging you to join the events committee with her and invite Jisung to perform. “It’s free backstage passes and we can see all of the artists up close!” She sighed dreamily on the day she showed you the gold and red poster that she picked up from the department bulletin board. “And come on, you’re really good at organizing stuff! We should do it together!”

And more hearts to collect, you thought to yourself when you accepted and attended the orientation.

And more hearts it was, indeed, as you spend the next 3 weeks meeting people from different colleges as you and Yuna are assigned to helping organize the music performance for the end of the festival. With your previous experience fulfilling your duties back at home, it’s unsurprisingly easier for you to juggle the work assigned to you—contacting students to perform, arranging the program flow, and turning the university football field into a makeshift mini concert stadium—with socializing and fulfilling your original mission of collecting hearts. 

Across from your room at home, on the other hand, Jisung has been busy spending the same time making his own music to perform at the music festival. You invited him to perform some time after starting your work with the festival committee—well, your friends insisted that you invite him and Chan after finding out that the famous DJ, CB97, is your cousin and that you and the “College of Psychology Cutie” commute home together (“Don’t tell me...are you guys secretly dating?!” Yuna had shamelessly asked during one of your meetings, to which you had to smack your hand over her mouth and improvise a cover story for you and Jisung that you live in the same neighbourhood). 

Jisung accepted at the thought that he could garner a huge crowd of hearts from this opportunity, cooping himself up in his room right after the following days that followed to complete his 15-minute set. Ever since, all you’ve heard coming from his room in the middle of the night would be guitar strums, drum loops, and the faintest hints of Jisung’s voice singing along to freestyle raps and lines. 

He mostly sang about love, of all things; something you, Minho, and Chan immediately noticed in the next 3 Friday nights that the three of you would be huddled in the living room to watch a movie, only to hear Jisung repeating lines as if he was talking to someone in Chan’s home studio. You wanted to ask about it out of pure curiosity, and just the general worry that he might not be looking after his heart while finishing your exam after all, but decided against it in favor of waiting for the final product at the music festival.

Fortunately, the month somehow went by in almost a flash as you and Jisung both got busy preparing and collecting more hearts on the side. Before you know it, it was the afternoon of the music festival and Felix is suddenly back in the human realm to accompany you and Minho to the school festival. 

“So, did he tell you what he prepared for tonight?” Felix asks you as the three of you walk around the festival grounds. Over the course of 3 weeks, you and a large team of student volunteers have managed to haul in food stalls, arcade booths, and rides from the quad all the way to the football field for this festival, amenities which you yourself haven’t tried yet because of your busy schedule but Felix and Minho have both been so overwhelmingly excited to check out even on the bus trip to your university. 

In response to the prince’s answer, you shake your head with a small pout. “I just hear him all over the house and I didn’t really want to pry if he didn't want to tell me anything.” You point out, the two of you suddenly changing the course of your mindless walk as Minho points to a crossbow shoot booth. “Why? Doesn’t he tell you what he’s been working on?” 

“No! He stops whatever he’s doing whenever we call, even when I ask him to play just a little bit of his work.” Felix is quick to mirror your pout, only for it to disappear when Minho jokes that the two of you help him cheat in the booth as he picks up a crossbow. “I thought since you guys are living together, you’d know better than me.” 

“Ah, you kids just wait until Jisung and Chan perform later.” Minho dismisses your concerns, holding the fake crossbow up properly while the staff manning the booth prepares the targets on the other side. “Now, help me win Chan a giant wolf.” 

You roll your eyes at Minho, shrugging at Felix. “I guess he’s right. Let’s just help Minho get a giant wolf first.” 

-

Chan and Jisung arrive at university 10 minutes before the music festival from Chan’s studio halfway across the city, initially unable to find you in the crowd of organizers as they set up backstage with Yuna and Jeongin’s help until you call Chan late that you’re “babysitting” Minho and Felix. 

“They’ve somehow teamed up and have been competing with the rigged booths since we arrived.” You explained over the voice call, the distant sounds of Minho and Felix yelling while tossing metal rings around almost muffling your own. “I’ll be on my way in a while as soon as Minho leaves the ring toss alone but Yuna and Jeongin are there. Just ask them if you guys need anyth—oh my gods, Felix, you won another plushie? That’s so cool! Wait, I’m on a call with Chan!—uh, yeah. I’ll be there in a second!” 

The commotion on your end makes the two boys laugh, even as you bid your goodbyes and end the call, but especially Jisung who’s been looking nervous since he arrived. Throwing his head back in a laugh as he tunes his guitar, he comments, “That’s a bit unexpected. I didn’t know my brother and your boyfriend would get along like that, and this quickly!” 

“Beating out rigged games sounds about right.” Chan chuckles along, seated on a plastic chair and running a quick check on his equipment. Turning to the younger boy, he then asks, “Are you still nervous?” 

“Me? Nah, I wasn’t even nervous to begin with!” At this, Jisung’s laughs naturally die down to an uncertain shake of his head. He dismisses with a scrunch up nose which Chan immediately raises a brow at. 

“Come on, Sung, I practically raised you with the other kids.” Chan proceeds to roll his eyes as Jisung’s brief confident facade crumbles down slowly. “What’s up?” 

The boy in question eventually sighs in defeat, shoulders slumping against the plastic chair he occupies. “Fine, maybe I’m a bit nervous! Just a little bit, though, I can still get on stage later! I mean, it’s not like performing here is gonna be different from back home like you said on the way here but…”

“But what?” Chan asks patiently, glancing up to see Jisung’s gaze fixed down on his yellow acoustic guitar. When the younger boy doesn’t respond immediately, he then continues, “I’ve heard bits and pieces of what you’ve been working on this month and all of the songs sound great. You’ll catch a lot of hearts tonight with them, I’m sure. What are you worried about?”

Jisung looks up from his guitar and opens his mouth to speak, only to get cut off when you come in the performer’s tent running and balancing different kinds of microphones in your hands. “Sorry I’m late!” You announce in between tired pants, catching both his and Chan’s attention as you pass the microphones around the artists with Jeongin who instinctively comes to your aid. “I was with my friends and they wouldn’t budge from the ring toss!” 

“I think I’m going to faint.” Jisung mumbles under his breath with furrowed brows, loud enough for only Chan to hear, until you approach them last with their microphones. 

“Mics?” You offer obliviously, holding up the last 2 hand mics in your possession. Passing one to Chan quickly, you then sit down next to Jisung and pass him his hand mic. “Hey, you’re up fourth, right?” 

Jisung glances over to Chan with a panicked look but the older boy simply shakes his head with a chuckle and focuses on his keyboard. Turning to you, Jisung then nods quickly with a hum before gazing down at his guitar and the laptop he’s set up on the table in front of you two. 

Immediately sensing his odd behavior, you then hover your hands in the space between the two of you in a quick spell, eventually verifying his nervous feelings. “Yeah, totally not nervous.” You chuckle in amusement, laughing even more when he turns to you and whines in complaint. 

“Ya! Don’t do that!” 

“Well, it’s not like you’re that good at hiding your nervousness!” You point out in defense, holding your hands up in front of you in between uncontrollable fits of giggles. When the glare he sends your way doesn’t relax one bit, you then fish out a small quokka plush from your backpack. “Anyway, Felix was kinda expecting that you’d be a little nervous so wanted me to give you this plushie he won at the milk bottle game with Minho for good luck. He would’ve given it himself but LUCY was already performing when we came here so he dragged Minho to the audience area before I could even bring him here.” 

You then place the plush toy on the table right next to his laptop, looking around once to make sure that no one is looking your way before mouthing a quick spell to shrink the quokka into something smaller that he can hang on his guitar strap. As you do so, Chan notices how Jisung’s ears are quick to turn red as he follows your every movement. “You can stick it to your guitar strap and bring it with you to the stage.” You point out once you’re done, only then noticing his stares. “What?” 

“Huh?” Jisung shakes his head absentmindedly, mentally slapping himself back to reality before scrambling to pick up the plush toy by the chain you added on top of its head and tying it to the small hole along the edge of his guitar strap. “O-Oh, yeah, thanks!”

You chuckle, just as Yuna suddenly calls for you to help in getting the next act’s microphone stands on stage. Standing up, you then pat Jisung’s shoulder reassuringly, saying one last, “Don’t be nervous!” before running off again to where most of your committee members are. 

Once you’re out of earshot, only then does Chan look up from his equipment once more but this time with a knowing grin and squinted eyes. “Yeah, Sung, don’t be nervous!” 

Jisung rolls his eyes in front of the older boy at this, securing the quokka plushie on his guitar strap one last time. “Shut up.” 

-

Your committee heads lay you off of work just as Jisung heads to the stage for his set, the small quokka plush you gave him dangling behind his fretboard with a toothy grin while he sets up his laptop and greets the energetic crowd. When you discreetly scan the people’s ecures while standing behind the curtains, you quickly spot a growing number of pinks and oranges. “Such a charmer.” Chan notes, eyes also blue when you look up at him. 

You nod in agreement, reverting back to your original color as more of your peers gather around the curtains to listen to Jisung’s introduction. “Um, hi, I’m Han Jisung from the Psych department.” You hear him greet with a shy chuckle over the microphone, earning him another wave of cheers. Behind you, even Yuna and Jeongin cheer despite Jisung having his back partially facing you. “This is my first time performing here at uni and the songs that I’ve prepared so please go easy on me.” 

You then turn to Chan again, taking a sideways step closer to him as a thought crosses your mind. “Hey, Chan,” You call for him in a lower voice, craning your head up when he leans towards you. “Have you heard of the songs he’s going to perform tonight? You were together before coming here, right?” 

“Only a little bit. We mostly talked while we were at the studio.” Chan shrugs in response. “I think he wanted it to be a surprise to everyone.” 

On stage, Jisung then checks his guitar one last time before announcing the name of the first song. “So, this first song is something that I’ve been thinking about since I moved here. It’s called ‘Close.’” He says, pressing play on his loops and singing the first lines of the song. “Can you tell me about you? You, seen from afar. I just don't want to watch. Yeah Just tell me about you.”

Jisung is a great performer, there’s no doubt about it. Though you’ve grown up hearing him sing and rap at your more casual events back at home, he always manages to surprise you every time he performs just with the way he enjoys himself on stage. You can see him smile widely from the side of the stage, his nervousness long gone as he interacts with the crowd and collects the pink crystal hearts that float above your heads. 

“He’s really good…” You murmur, more to yourself than to Chan, as you find yourself gently swaying to the song. “What was he even worried about? It’s a great song…” 

Chan glances knowingly at you, a small smile playing on his lips as you sing along to the next round of the chorus. “I don’t think he has nothing to worry about too, not right now at least.” 

“Hm?” “Nothing.” 

-

In truth, even with the positive response from the crowd and the amount of ecures he’s collected from this set alone, Jisung is still nervous for his last song. “Sunshine” was supposed to be just another warm-up song with barely a cohesive topic, a compilation of sketches about his experiences in the human world that he spent his free time on when he wasn’t collecting hearts these past 6 months. As more time passed by, however, and the time of your exam was suddenly coming to a close, they eventually took a different direction without him even realizing it until you were inviting him to perform at this music festival. 

The times that the two of you would bicker just to laugh at each other in the end, the competition that brought the bests and worsts in you, and your chocolate matcha tea and musings on the one time you sat down with him on his balcony. Eventually, you were all he was writing about. On top of the nervousness that comes with finishing the competition you’ve found yourselves in for half a year and finding out who will be declared the winner, Jisung was more nervous about the thought that you’re just behind the stage curtains with Chan, anticipating his next song. 

“For my last song, I picked this one for someone I know whom I’ve spent a lot of time with these past few months.” He confesses shyly in front of the crowds. Among the hundreds of people that came tonight, he easily spots his twin brother in front of the barriers with Minho, sporting the most exaggerated surprised face ever. “I was hoping that when all of this is said and over, we’d get well-deserved breaks...maybe music and tea at night again or something.” 

Jisung doesn’t have to turn around to gauge your initial reaction as he begins the song, Felix’s expression turning into that of giddiness as he looks over at the stage curtains is enough to set every gear in his head to pump out more nervousness. Instead, he pushes through until halfway to the song before he could steal his first glance over to you since beginning his set. 

With his eyes still an emerald green from scanning the crowd’s ecures, your eyes meet under the harsh stage lights as he sings the bridge. “This place is quiet without a sound ye ye ye. Quiet except for the sound of our breaths ye ye ye.” He doesn’t intend to look again, not in that split second before he’s turning his gaze back to the crowd of cellphone lights and LED signs, but he sees your heart’s reflection once more. 

Reminiscent of when you first confessed in middle school, a pinkish heart floats by the sleeves of your sweater, almost looking red if he just looked longer. You didn’t even turn away this time and simply just stood there, heat visibly rising up your neck. 

Reminiscent of when you first confessed in middle school, a pinkish heart floats by the sleeves of your sweater, almost looking red if he just looked longer. This time around, however, you don’t turn away to try and hide it. 

And this time around, Jisung doesn’t childishly call you out for it or ignores it. This time, it makes his own heart swell at the thought. 

-

The car ride home, with Chan on the wheel and three extra boxes of equipment most of the backseats in his SUV, is a comfortable and awkward mix of quiet between you and Jisung as the two of you are forced to sit next to each other in the cramped space. You sit by the window, using it as an excuse to peer outside and avoid any kind of small talk from the boys, while Jisung has hisi eyes glued to his phone while a sleeping Felix snuggles into his shoulder. The only human noise in the car, as it seems, is coming from Minho and Chan as the two recall the songs the latter and Jisung performed at the program. 

It’s even quieter at the thought that you, Jisung, and Felix will fly back to the magical realm tomorrow, something that Minho reminds you when he suddenly asks, “Right, what do you kids want me to cook for lunch later, by the way?” 

The question comes right as the car suddenly comes to an abrupt stop at Chan’s garage, masking the way you and Jisung simultaneously jump in surprise. You instinctively glance over to him after with wide eyes, before gazing over at Minho who has a poorly-hidden snicker on his expression from the front passenger seat. “Um,” You stutter out awkwardly, glaring at Minho when he smirks teasingly over your way. “Anything’s fine for me.” 

Jisung nods over to your direction in agreement. “Yeah, anything’s fine.” 

Minho nods with pursed lips, as if he was biting down a laugh. “Does crispy pork belly sound good?” He asks, earning him nods from you. “Okay. You guys have been quiet back here this entire time, you guys good?” 

“Yeah?” “Totally.” 

Clearly unconvinced, Minho shakes his head and scoffs before twisting his upper body to face front once more, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the car door next to him. “Oh, kids…” 

You roll your eyes at the comment before stealing a glance over at Jisung again, only to find the boy already staring at you. “W-What?” You manage to ask this time despite your initial surprise. In front of you, Chan has already turned the engine off and left the driver’s seat to open the back of the car. “You okay, Ji?” 

He hums almost absentmindedly, phone now set down on his lap as he fiddles with his hands nervously. “Yeah, um—” He stutters out, biting his lips down once. Briefly glancing at his side, he then gestures towards his twin and adds, “Wait, sorry, um, let me wake Lix first.” 

“Okay.” You nod awkwardly, deciding to unbuckle your own seatbelt and open the car door next to you. Jisung then gently shakes Felix awake, leading his brother out through the same car door since the opposite one’s blocked by more of his and Chan’s equipment. 

“You go on ahead, Lix, I’ll just talk to Y/N.” You hear Jisung say as the three of you now stand outside in the cold, levitating boxes of instruments and computers flying over your head and heading inside the house. 

Felix nods at this immediately, sleepily bidding you and Jisung with loose hugs before trudging back inside the house with Chan and Minho. 

Once the doors leading back to the house fully close on the two of you, only then are you engulfed in the same awkward silence again and the two of you, for the third time in the past 6 months, speak up at the same time. 

“So um—” “—Yeah, a while ago—” 

This time, the two of you chuckle awkwardly over speaking at the same time again. You then gesture for him to go ahead and speak first as you adjust your sweater’s placement on your shoulder. 

Instinctively, Jisung fixes your sweater for you before speaking, causing him to stutter a little. “S-Sorry, um…” He licks his lip awkwardly, retracting his hand as fast as he can and moving a step back. “Yeah, I meant to say that I didn’t...I didn’t mean to look at your heart.” 

Suddenly, at such an important moment, you’re speechless and frozen in front of Jisung. Your hands find their way down the hem of your sweater, absentmindedly playing with the loose threads as you shift your weight on the balls of your feet and stutter out your response. “I-I um…” 

Simultaneously, Jisung takes in a huge intake of breath and continues, “I looked at you because I actually made the song for you—well, about you but not in a weird way! It can be for you too, that is if you want it!—”

“Jisung?” 

“Ah, anyway, I’m losing track! Just, I looked at you because I wanted to know what you thought of it the most in the moment, you know—”

“Jisung…”

“And I didn’t realize that my eyes were still green and I saw so I looked away as fast as I could, I swear—!” 

“Ji.” 

“I know you don’t want me looking into your heart and stuff because of before. I promise I won’t do it again—” 

Realizing that he’s not going to stop in his ramblings, you then impulsively take a step towards him and grab him by his arms. “Ji, it’s fine.” You shake him gently, effectively stopping the endless flow of thought. “I mean, you already saw it and everything.” 

“But I—” 

“Just don’t lash out or stop talking to me again while I sort it out.” You shrug reassuringly with a sigh, reluctantly sliding your hands off of him and taking a step back again as you see him listen intently to your words. “It’s just pink, anyway, it can still go away like before. Just don’t avoid me again this time.” 

Though he’s clearly been listening intently, you see his brows furrow and his expression suddenly becomes confused towards the end of your words. “What?” He echoes helplessly after you. “No, I...why would I stop talking to you? That was a long time ago. I won’t do that now, I...” 

“Then just don’t take my heart or something.” You point out, almost like a question as his reaction confuses you similarly. “Anyway, that’s not the point, like I said, I’ll sort it ou—”

“Don’t.” He cuts you off immediately this time with more conviction, shaking his head and suddenly taking your hand. “Don’t sort it out. Don’t make it go away or anything.”  

“What? Why?” 

You’re pulled closer again, Jisung mumbling an incantation to show his ecure under his breath. “Look at mine.” He points out, a pink crystal heart floating over to your upturned palm as he holds onto you by your wrist. “If anything, I should be the one telling you to not take mine on the spot or something.” 

“It’s pink.” You muse out loud in surprise, the warmth of his ecure feeling overwhelming as it floats above your hand. “And it’s for me…?” 

Jisung rolls his eyes at this in disbelief, nodding patiently anyway. “Who else would it be for?” He scoffs gently, making the heart disappear before it could burn your palm. “I don’t know since when it’s been like that, maybe it’s been like that for a long time even I don’t know I’ve only looked at it while Chan and I were at the studio. All I’m sure is that suddenly I was writing a song for you and sacrificing half of my ecure count so you don’t lose easily in the exam and looking out for you and—just, this time it’s me who’s afraid that you’ll run away or disappear for a while if you knew.”

“So don’t...sort it out.” He concludes after unknowingly speaking at such a fast rate, heaving belatedly from this. “I like you now, I like you a lot, and I’m not going to lash out like when we were kids. Take my heart if you want just don’t change your feelings for me, please.” 

There’s a brief pause that follows, the only noise ringing in your ears being the unusually loud beating of your own heart as the two of you freeze in place. Jisung tries waiting as patiently as he visibly can in this silence, puffing air in and out of his lips as he fails at trying to conceal his recurring nervous feelings, while you gaze at anywhere but him because of the heat rising up your neck. 

“Listen…” He speaks up after a while. “I’m sorry, I—”

Fuck it, you think to yourself before stepping forward, shakily cupping his cheeks, and pressing a kiss to his lips. “Don’t say sorry.” You muster up a shy smile in between brief kisses. “You already know that I like you too.” 

bonus epilogue

When you return to the magical realm to the news that Hyunjin won’t be taking his own candidacy exam next year in favor of his own kingdom’s crown, the elders are quick to take your locket and Jisung’s ring to proceed with the final results. Since the decision takes at least 3 days, coupled with the fact that a major complication arose in the 6 months that you were given, Jisung was asked to stay at your castle until the jury could come to a conclusion and crown either one of you. 

The others would also occasionally come and visit (especially Lia who’s mostly kept up with your trip through Yeji and Ryujin) but since confessing to Jisung, the boy has been doing the most trying to sneak you away from everyone and your regular royal duties just to spend more time with you. 

“So this is what you meant with Sunshine?” You ask in the afternoon before the elders would summon you back to the throne room, the two of you hidden away in your favourite greenhouse garden. Today, Jisung has somehow convinced you to ditch a visit to Chan’s family in favor of just sitting on your greenhouse’s cushioned sofas and listening to him hum his songs until your mentors would eventually come looking for you. “Chocolate matcha and your guitar?” 

“Yeah, just a relaxing rest date with your crush.” Jisung points out next to you, his head snuggled into the crook of your neck as much as the guitar in between the two of you could allow him. On your opposite side, his cuddle rival, the quokka plush toy you’ve somehow managed to turn into a life-size pillow today, sits on your lap and occasionally pokes on the end of his guitar. “Why? Do you want to refill your tea? I’ve been getting Felix to teach me this spell to refill tea, you know. I’m getting it but chocolate matcha’s kinda hard to replicate.” 

You shake your head in disbelief with a chuckle, a stark contrast to how you’re internally flustered over the small comment on your favourite tea flavor. “Who said you’re my crush? Bold of you to even assume, Ji…” You pretend to roll your eyes, sinking deeper into the soft cushions behind you. 

“Baby, you’ll be taking those words back when I get crowned tonight.” He pouts, elbowing you gently before shifting to place his guitar on the side. With his hands now free, the prince then resorts to linking his arms with your free one and intertwining your hands together on top of the plush quokka. “If I win, I’ll make sure to banish this quokka first so you’ll be forced to cuddle with only me.” 

“Tch, Felix won you this quokka. You’ll have to duel with him first if you want this gone.” You argue, sliding the quokka closer to him so its face is adjacent to Jisung. “Plus, it kinda looks like you. If I get crowned and you’ll be away doing your own duties back East, I have something of yours.” 

“I think you meant that if I win and you’ll be staying here doing your own duties, you’ll have something of mine.” Jisung huffs pettily. “Maybe we should keep the quokka, after all. You might get lonely if I get busy.” 

You shake your head immediately with a chuckle, leaning more of your weight on his side. “Oh, no, no, no.” You correct teasingly, making him giggle along against your shoulder. “Who said you’re going to win later?” 

“Wanna bet?” He raises a brow and smirks, lifting his head briefly to glance over to you.

You roll your eyes at this, leaning forward to meet his lips. “You’re so competitive, babe. Give it a rest, you know I’ll win anyway.”