#eunha save me

[pleuvoiryn]

VIVIZ ━ Shhh!

[somedayslater]

in the future when haejoon comes back from work...

He helps eunyung memorizing his lines for his next show. its in a little theater from the neighborhood and eunyung likes it.

Eunyung was scouted and tried to be famous but it wasnt for him ; too much exploitation and humiliation, he was not respected. He couldnt keep his mouth shut while witnessing the unfair treatment of his comrades. The world of entertainment is cruel, especially in south korea.

Eunyung began to hate theater. He realized that being rich and famous just to make his parents regret abandoning him was not really productive, if it made him consider abandoning the only thing he managed to keep liking.

So he stopped, took an alimentary job (it pays better than being a rookie actor anyway). Now he plays in an associative theater as a hobby. they do unknown and strange plays that most people dont find interesting -but they have some success thanks to eunyung's previous popularity.

~~~~~~

Haejoon didnt understand why eunyung was throwing away his ticket at being famous at first. he was good at it, people were excepting him to do it, he could earn a lot of money. Just because of his horrible personality, eunyung was abandoning his dream ? he'll really never change.

But then haejoon went to see his shows in this little theater and he understood ; eunyung was having fun here. Haejoon did see how eunyung was miserable working in the entertainment industry. He thought it was normal, because everybody was miserable at work. Life is about finding its place, not about being happy. Happiness, it comes after, if youre lucky.

But here eunyung was shining. He enjoyed being here. That's what eunyung wanted. Haejoon couldnt really grasp that at first, but he began to enjoy going to his shows too.

Really thinking about what you want to do, not conforming to what you think people want you to do or say... eunyung could do that now. haejoon was a little envious.

He studied a lot because he didnt have anything else to do ; he went to a good university because he studied a lot ; he got a good-paying job at a reputable company because he went to a good university. What was the point of it ? he didnt know and he actually didnt care to not know. His mother would be proud, and that was the important thing.

But haejoon was happy when he went to see eunyung playing and that was good. he didnt always understand the plays, and eunyung would spent hours explaining to him the reason behind this light, this silence, this character's action. Haejoon tried to be interested in it ; he didnt always suceed. but he enjoyed seeing eunyung talking, and eunyung seemed to like explaining things to him anyway. Plus, he would often cook while talking, so if haejoon listened diligently he'll have a really nice meal after.

~~~~~~

( i think in the future haejoon wont really have an exciting life but a stable one, with good pay and a nice apartment. he goes by day after day without really knowing the purpose of it all but it is how it is.

eunyung will be the contrary. he's so happy to finally enjoy being alive that he wont loose his time in a place where he's miserable. he'll get by with shitty jobs, and he will find a purpose in doing as many fun things as he can.

I would really like it if they find a balance between them and live together. haejoon provides material comfort, eunyung provides excitement. haejoon is happy to witness the fun in eunyung's life and participate in it in his own way (helping him rehearse, lend a hand during the week-ends to set up the show scene). eunyung is grateful for haejoon to be here, to help during the months he's outta jobs and the rent is harder to pay.

they're not fairy-tale happy, but it's enough. the world isnt so menacing when they're together)

(id also love love it if both get involved in activism, so others in the future dont have to know whats it like to grow poor and ostracized. i really cant see haejoon doing that but eunyung i definitely can)

(im thinking and the dynamic will be something like, haejoon pays for most of the groceries and eunyung cooks. is it a somewhat sexist setup where long-haired eunyung is the wife and buff haejoon the husband then lol ? i also definitely see eunyung as dominant, choosing most of their mutual projects and the direction of their relationship. he also tops haejoon in bed and he enjoys making him cry. fortunately, haejoon loves to cry. outside sex, they hate hurting the other now though ! surprisingly, its a dynamic thats convenient for both of them.)

[moonlinos]

Invisible string (pt. II)

♡ Pairing: Lee Minho × fem!reader

♡ Synopsis: Minho is even more determined to make you see the good in love after falling for you, while you’re too preoccupied with thinking you’re not good enough for him.

♡ Genre: A ‘lite version’ of a soulmate AU, fluff, smut, friends to lovers, pining

♡ CW: Explicit sexual content (minors dni!), hand job, fingering, like two seconds of nipple play, slut shaming, swearing

♡ Word count: 13.2k

♡ A/N: I got such a great response on the first part 🥲 thank you to everyone who left feedback. It means a lot more than you realize. I researched what to do on a trip to Japan so extensively just to write this part that I got sad I’ve never traveled there 🫠

← part I ♡ part III →

The night after you and Minho watched the light show, you stayed awake until four in the morning with your roommates as Eunha cried about her ex-boyfriend. You’ve never been the type to hope for someone’s misery, but that guy is deserving of every terrible thing that could happen to him.

After she calmed down, you fell asleep together on the couch. You only managed to check your phone in the morning, finding it thrown on your bed along with your bag. Minho’s string of messages put a smile on your face. You could use the time away from everything, even if it was only for a weekend.

You agreed to his strange invitation without thinking twice. You did, however, insist on paying for your hotel room. Chan was already being far too generous in offering you his place on a trip he had paid for.

Soon enough, two weeks flew by and the Friday of your trip finally arrived.

You’re already waiting outside of your house when Minho’s car arrives. He greets you with a hug, taking your backpack from your hands and placing it on the backseat. He opens the passenger door for you, waits until you’re settled in your seat, and only then closes the door and walks around the car. It’s something he does every time you go out together and it always makes you smile, even though it’s such a minor detail.

“You know, you’re my first friend who can drive,” you comment as he enters the car. “You shot up a lot of spots on my favorite friends’ list just by saving me from taking the bus.”

Minho chuckles. “And here I foolishly thought you liked me for my personality,” he feigns offense, shaking his head. “I actually only know how to drive because of my mom. I was moving to the countryside, and she got really worried I was gonna be stranded there, so she gave me a car when I graduated.”

You raise your brows. “You lived in the countryside?”

“Yep, I moved to Gurye right after graduating high school,” he explains simply, starting the car.

You nod slowly. Truthfully, you wanted to ask more questions but didn’t want to seem intrusive. Minho had never told you a lot about his life before starting university — the only things you know are that he has three cats back home in Gimpo and started college late for some reason. You figure he’s a private person who will hopefully open up to you once he’s ready. You couldn’t blame him either; you also desperately pretended as if your life before university didn’t exist.

As you two sit in the car, moving slowly through the awful Friday night traffic, you feel the familiar thoughts of panic overflow your mind. This trip felt almost romantic; just you and Minho in Japan for an entire weekend. You should be running away from shit like this, should be shutting him out before anything more than friendship blossoms between the two of you.

Your fingers pick on the fabric of your sheer tights, pulling and pinching apprehensively as your mind races. Because, at the end of the day, Minho is still a guy. He’s still capable of breaking your heart in the same ways it was broken before, and maybe even in new ways. He could still cheat on you, fall in love with someone else, treat you like nothing more than an object or a nuisance in his life, wake up one day and simply decide he’s had enough of you.

But he’s also Minho.

Your heart quickly countered every single reason your brain came up with on why you should run away from the situation.

How could Minho, who believes that love doesn’t allow you to hurt the person you love because it feels like you’re hurting yourself, cheat on you?

How could Minho, who told you that love makes it so that you can only see the one you love, fall in love with someone else?

How could Minho, who does stupid romance movie shit like opening car doors and pulling out chairs for you, insisting that he should walk on the street side when you’re together, reading classic novels, learning how to cook so his mom doesn’t have to, all while having three fucking cats, possibly break your heart?

Part of you hates how you have to do mental gymnastics to even consider allowing yourself to feel something more for a guy, but a bigger part knows the hurt that inevitably comes with love isn’t worth it.

You hear a soft chuckle beside you, and you lift your gaze to find Minho smiling at you as you stop at a red light.

“Is that a style thing?” He asks, gesturing toward your thighs with a nod. You furrow your brows. The light turns green, and his attention is back on the road, a grin spread across his lips. “Ripping holes in your tights. Is that a style thing?”

You look down toward your legs and grimace as you realize you had mindlessly torn two holes in your tights while overthinking. You mentally curse yourself.

“I’m cold,” you lie with an awkward giggle. “Was trying to warm myself up.”

Minho hums, stepping on the brakes as you encounter another traffic jam. He unbuckles his seat belt, turns his body toward the back seat, and retrieves his jacket before draping it over your thighs. He shoots you a small smile and turns his attention back toward the road.

The side of your brain that was against Minho and anything romantic with him just a few moments ago is completely swallowed up, dissipating as you ultimately admit to yourself that you don’t hate the prospect of this being a romantic trip as long as it’s with him.

God, you really don’t hate it one bit.

You two finally arrive at the airport just in time to board your flight with no issues. You’re not big on flying, but the flight is just a little over two hours, and Minho is such a calming presence next to you. He quietly read you some harlequin romance he picked up at the airport bookstore, and you two laughed a bit too loudly at the over-the-top plot and theatrical writing. The two of you were taken aback as the book turned out to be erotica, but hearing Minho dramatically read to you in a whisper about the hunky love interest and his manhood made you laugh until tears formed in your eyes.

After that, you two somehow end up talking about your lives back home. Minho shares how he always cooks Christmas dinner for his family, and his favorite part of the night is always the praises his grandmother throws his way. He explains that although he started cooking simply to help his mother, he found that he genuinely enjoyed it. He said he missed doing it every day, having stopped because his roommates had begun treating him as nothing more than a personal cook. You listen to his every word with a smile on your face that you can’t hide. It feels like he’s slowly opening up more to you about his life outside of university, and even something as small as this detail about his home life makes you feel closer to him.

The flight is so pleasant that you only realize you’ve landed once you see Minho unbuckling his seat belt.

You two take an Uber to the hotel, arriving in thirty minutes — you insist on paying since you’re basically here for free. You stare out the car window in awe the entire ride, Minho fondly laughing at your amazement.

As you arrive, you struggle with your backpack, pulling it out of the backseat with such force you would have fallen backward had it not been for Minho’s hands holding your shoulders. He asks if you’re okay with a chuckle, and you groan about how heavy your backpack is. Packing light wasn’t your forte.

As you two walk toward the hotel entrance, the weight on your shoulders disappears suddenly. You furrow your brows and look behind you. Minho had nonchalantly picked your backpack up by the handle and lifted it off your shoulders, carrying all the weight in his arms. You bite back a smile, murmuring a thank you. He just nods, like he hasn’t just done yet another thing you thought only happened in books written by women.

You feel that damn pinwheel return to your chest, making you feel a kind of thrill that you haven’t felt in a while. A good kind.

The hotel is relatively small, clearly on the cheap side, although it’s still quite charming. Minho mutters an apology as he catches you looking around the place.

“It was the only place I could afford being a broke college student,” He explains with a sheepish chuckle, and you shake your head.

“It’s lovely. I’m so happy to be here, I think I wouldn’t mind sleeping on the floor.”

Minho is the one who checks you in, speaking in near-perfect Japanese to the front desk clerk. You focus on the wood chipping on the table and bite the inside of your cheek as you inwardly berate yourself for finding it so damn attractive. It was different from your classes or your small study sessions. You had never truly grasped just how good Minho was until right now. You didn’t understand a word he said. All you know is that he sounded too sexy for his own good while saying it.

Minho hands you the key and tells you the room number, and you finally make your way up the stairs. He walks beside you the whole way, and you wonder if his room is on the same floor as yours or if he’s just doing this so he can hold your backpack off your shoulders.

As you reach your room on the third floor, he stops you before you can insert the key into the door.

“Before you go inside…” He trails off, pursing his lips before letting out a sigh. “I — we could only afford to pay for one room, so this is actually our room.”

Your eyes widen for a second before you nod slowly. “Oh. It’s… okay,” you assure him, although there’s very little confidence in your voice. The prospect of sharing a bed with Minho makes you nervous, but not for the reasons you thought it would.

“There are two beds! Of course,” He assures you, and you mentally slap yourself on the forehead for feeling disappointed at this information.

It’s because you’ve exclusively been having sex with Hyunjin for so long, you reason with yourself. Your hormones must be making you stupid, making you want something more with someone else who isn’t him.

Yeah, that’s it.

Minho’s your friend, after all. It wouldn’t make sense for you to want anything more with him.

It’s just your stupid hormones.

You turn the key and open the door, stepping inside the tiny room with Minho. The two beds were so close together due to the room size that they might as well be just one. The only other piece of furniture is a bedside table, which basically connects the two beds.

It’s only once you slide your backpack straps off your shoulders that Minho lets go of the handle, and you toss it on the plain white sheets of the bed to your right by the bathroom door.

Feeling a chill run through your body, you let out a groan. The heater in your room is clearly not the best.

“Tights and a skirt weren’t the right choice for this weather. This shitty heater also isn’t helping,” you grumble.

Minho chuckles behind you, and you hear the sound of the bed springs as he all but throws himself onto the bed. “Poking holes in your tights probably didn’t help either,” he jokes, and you force out a chuckle.

It seems you chose today to act like a complete idiot.

You excuse yourself to the bathroom to change into your warm sleep clothes. The first thing you notice as you walk out into the room again is Minho’s bright orange sweater with a cat knitted on the front. He’s lying down, his back resting on the wall since the beds don’t have a headboard, and the color of his sweater might be a bit offensive to the eyes, but it’s quickly forgiven once you take in the kitten adorning the fabric.

You giggle, and he looks up from his phone, his eyes meeting yours.

“Your sweater is really cute,” you tell him as you sit down in your bed, crossing your legs in an attempt to warm yourself a bit more.

Minho grins. “I know,” He says smugly, “It reminds me of two of my cats because of the color.”

“You know,” you hummed, “You never showed me any pictures of your cats.”

You watch as his eyes light up at your words. He locks his phone before quickly turning it to face you, showing you his wallpaper. Your lips stretch into a fond smile as you analyze the picture: Minho holding an orange and white cat close to his face with a grin, a butterfly filter cutely adorning his nose.

“This is Soonie, he’s the first cat I got,” He explains, turning his head so he could look at the screen as well, “I was thirteen when I adopted him, and I remember begging my parents for almost three months until they agreed. In the end, they loved him so much they allowed me to adopt another one.”

Minho unlocks his phone and opens his gallery, flipping through his pictures like it’s the most normal thing in the world. You purse your lips. It feels like you’re intruding, even though he’s the one who hasn’t moved the screen an inch. You couldn’t think of one person you’d trust enough to so freely view every single picture you had on your phone like this. Minho really was something else.

Most of his gallery is composed of blurry food pictures mixed with pages and covers of books and computer screens filled with codes. Until he reaches a point — before he started university, you assume — where the only thing you can see is pictures of cats.

He stops scrolling and clicks a picture of the same orange cat, this time wearing glasses and a hat. You snort because, of course he dresses his cats in clothes.

“Soonie is adorable,” you beam. Minho furrows his brows and shakes his head, looking at you like he’s offended.

“This is Doongie,” he states like it’s obvious, “The second cat I adopted.”

Your brows furrow as well. “Minho, that’s the same cat.”

He clicks his tongue, closing the picture and scrolling before opening another one; two orange and white cats lay together on a cat tree. Your lips fall open.

“See? This one is Soonie, he has a white nose. And this one is Doongie, his nose is orange,” He explains, and you nod, knowing full well you’d be dead if your life depended on distinguishing these two cats. “Doongie is the middle child, so he’s more temperamental.”

You stifle a giggle at him talking about his cats like they’re his children, much like you do.

He closes the picture once again and scrolls down further. His fingers hover over a picture for a couple of seconds, like he’s hesitating before he ultimately opens it. The screen fills with the image of a younger Minho smiling while holding a gray cat. His wire-frame glasses were round, unlike his current ones, and his black hair used to be shorter. The picture has clearly been cropped, only half of the cat’s body still visible.

“This is Dori. He’s the last cat I got, and he’s actually the only one I call my son.” He lets out a breathy chuckle. “I adopted him with my ex-girlfriend. She wanted a dog, but I fell in love with Dori as soon as I laid eyes on him on the website, so she had no choice but to accept him.”

You watch as he smiles at the picture and the memory. You absentmindedly fiddle with your fingers on your lap, an all too familiar ugly feeling bubbling inside you. Jealousy. Not because Minho mentioned a girlfriend — you wish it was as simple as that. Jealousy consumed you when you were forced to face the reality that people have healthy relationships, where one partner sacrifices their own desires just to please their loved one. Where you make plans to adopt a kitten together just so you can call it your son. You know damn well you were never even close to having something even remotely similar to that.

You shake the feeling off, forcing out a smile. “He’s really cute,” you tell Minho, “And he’s my favorite, ‘cause at least I can tell him apart from the other two.”

Minho chuckles, scrunching his nose as he locks his phone and rests it on his thigh.

  You two settle into bed after Minho walked you through the day he and Chan had planned for tomorrow. He had organized everything neatly in a travel planning app — from where you would be going down to an estimate of how much you would be spending. You always preferred roughly planning things out mentally whenever you traveled, mostly enjoying going with the flow.

Among all your coincidentally similar little incidents, you finally found something in which you two are complete opposites.

That should, in theory, annoy you, but you can’t help but find his meticulousness endearing. You can just picture him searching tirelessly online, crunching numbers and jotting everything down. The image is too adorable for you to be mad.

“Guess we finally found somewhere we’re different,” you mention with a smile as you tuck yourself into your sheets. Minho remains sitting on his bed, putting his glasses on their case.

He hums. “Rather than different, maybe we just complement each other in this case? You hate organizing, and I fucking love to do it, as you just saw,” he chuckles, “We’d be a great team. I plan everything, and all you have to do is show up.”

You nod with a smile, going over the places he chose in your head. You were excited for all but one: the very first one on the list, Inokashira Park.

“You know,” you start with a sigh, Minho’s eyes finding yours in the dimly lit room. “I never talk about this, but I weirdly feel like I can tell you anything. Nobody from our friend group knows this but…” you trail off, gripping the scratchy fabric of the comforter. “One of my ex-boyfriends cheated on me during a family trip to Japan when I was seventeen. I found out ‘cause the girl he hooked up with tagged him in pictures on Instagram. They were together in Inokashira Park.”

Minho hums, his eyes studying your face. After a beat of silence, he shrugs.

“We can skip that if you want to. I just��” He purses his lips, shifting on the mattress. “I just don’t think you should deprive yourself of the experience just because of a bad memory. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”

You nod, taking in his words. He was right. You were positive none of your exes ever deprived themselves of going back to places where they cheated on you, so why should you? They were the ones in the wrong, the ones who hurt and betrayed you, so why should you be the one to bear the trauma?

Minho rests his back against the wall, playing with the drawstrings of his sweatpants. “Is that why you don’t believe in love anymore? Don’t feel like you have to answer! I just… I wondered…” He faltered, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. “I wondered what could have happened to make you feel that way.”

“Well, that was just one of five times when love proved to kind of hate my guts,” you chuckle. You didn’t understand why, but the words you held back for so long were bubbling at your throat, ready to spill out. And you were willing to let them. Even if only to a certain extent, you were ready to talk about this pathetic side of your life. You would rationalize it all later. Right now, you simply wanted to talk.

“I’ve had five boyfriends in my life, and they were all terrible in some way. I know, it’s a lot of relationships considering my age.” You scrunch up your face, cringing when you voice out the number.

Minho chuckles, and you’re ready for him to agree.

“It’s really not. There’s no right or wrong number of people to date during your teenage years or your twenties.” You open your eyes to find him leaning on his side, looking at you dismissively. “Some people date more, some date less, some people don’t even date at all. Either way, it’s fine.”

Your lips open and close, then open again. You had always expected people’s reactions to be the same as the ones you heard during high school. From your classmates to your ex-boyfriends, even your friends at the time, they all seemed to be in unanimous agreement that you were at fault for having dated so much in such a brief period. You never thought that maybe people with different opinions existed. And that, maybe, those people would be the ones who you care the most about.

Thinking about it now, after hearing Minho’s words, you were certain neither Eunha nor Soojung — or any of your friends, for that matter — would ever think badly about you or shame you simply because you’ve had five boyfriends. It seemed silly even to think that way now.

It was sad how much your teenage traumas undeniably affected your perception of reality.

Minho is the one to break the silence, his soft voice pulling you away from your thoughts.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. I promise you, the memories we make on this trip will be good enough that they override this lousy one,” he vows with a small nod. “And, more than ever before, I truly hope I can change your view of love.”

You smile at his words. “I surprisingly feel my thoughts about many things changing. Love is one of them.”

“I’m glad,” he hums, finally slipping under his covers. “Y’know, love isn’t only romantic. You say you’re closed off to love, that’s really a lie,” he states matter-of-factly, a smug grin spreading across his lips. You bite back a smile and raise your eyebrows at him. He continues, “The love you feel for your family and your friends, platonic love, that’s also love. I’ve been around you long enough to know just how much you love your friends.”

To say you loved your friends almost didn’t seem sufficient. After graduating high school, you left behind all the judgmental and toxic friends you had. You are immensely grateful to have found such good people at university. Eunha and Soojung were the housemates of your dreams, the three of you so different that it truthfully shouldn’t work, but it simply did. Hyunjin becoming your best friend was also a surprise; he was younger than you, and you had never been friends with a guy before — in part thanks to your jealous boyfriends — but he carved out a space for himself in your life and refused to leave. And you were so thankful for that.

And then there was Minho, who had come out of the blue into your life and just as suddenly became such an important person to you. From the way you two first met to your little similarities and how well you got along in such a short time, it was as if fate pulled you toward him.

You smile.

“I do love them,” you tell him, fiddling with your fingers under the white comforter. “And I love you, too, Minho. You’re my friend, after all. In a way, you’re already succeeding in changing my view of love just by being you.”

Minho’s eyes blink rapidly as he looks at you, his parted lips making him look like a confused child before they close. He hums, nodding as a small smile spreads on his lips, which quickly grows bigger and bigger until he’s basically giggling. He hides his face behind his hand, clearing his throat. You feel warmth spread across your chest at the sight. You’re sure if the lights were brighter, you’d be able to see his ears turning red.

You shake your head with a chuckle. The mood has suddenly become a bit too emotional, and you still find yourself running away from these things. However, you were proud of your progress tonight. Talking about love and your past — especially regarding your ex-boyfriends — was already a huge step for you.

You hope Minho knows he’s part of the reason you’re able to take this step in the first place.

“Okay, your turn.” You sit up on the bed, the white comforter pooling on your lap. “I’m curious too, y’know. You’re such a love enthusiast,” you tease him with a grin, earning you a chuckle from Minho, who throws his head back. “Tell me about your romantic experiences.”

He mirrors you and sits up on his bed. “Experience. I’ve only had one girlfriend,” he corrects you, “We met on the first day of high school and began dating the year after that, when we were sixteen. We were together until I was just about to turn twenty-one, so…” he trails off with a deep sigh. “Yeah, it was quite the long first relationship.”

“My five relationships combined didn’t last as long as that.” You click your tongue, and Minho lets out a breathy laugh. “Why did you two break up after being together for so long?” You blurt out before you can process the words inside your head. Annoyed with your own self, you scrunch up your face. You really chose today to be an idiot. “If that’s okay for me to ask! Sorry for being nosy, I’m just— I guess I’m curious.”

Minho smiles at you, a fond smile he always shoots your way whenever you are word-vomiting. Much like your other friends, he had quickly adapted to your habit of spilling out words before thinking about them.

“It’s a bit of a long story. Basically, she wanted a quiet and simple life in the countryside, so I did that for her,” he explains, shrugging dismissively. So that was the reason he had moved to Gurye after finishing school. “I began saving up money at eighteen with my job at the convenience store while she gave piano lessons to the kids in our neighborhood, and we moved on her twentieth birthday. I figured I could just do programming jobs from home, anyway, so I completely gave up on my plans to attend university…” Minho trails off, his voice all but a whisper at the end of the sentence. He shakes his head, a bitter chuckle leaving his lips as he continues, “I kind of wanna kick myself in the face for that now. It fucking sucks to have started university so late, but it was my own decision. I guess you say stupid shit when you’re nervous, and I do stupid shit when I’m in love.”

You had never met someone who would abandon so much of themselves for the person they loved. It made Minho even more admirable to you. However, even though it was his own decision, he clearly came to regret it. People often say love is all about compromises, and you couldn’t help but feel like Minho had been the only one to give up anything in this scenario.

“Were your parents okay with you two making such a drastic move?” You question, your curiosity bubbling inside your chest.

Minho scoffs. “Of course they weren’t. Especially my dad. But we were nearing our twenties, so there wasn’t much they could do to stop us.”

He drums his fingers on his thighs, and you wonder if this subject brought back sour memories — or maybe even good ones he just didn’t like remembering because they had become part of the past. You want to tell him it’s okay if he doesn’t want to talk about it any longer, but he’s continuing his story before you can speak.

“We adopted Dori and left a week later. We were pretty much broke. All we could afford was a small cottage that hadn’t been renovated in over a decade, but we were happy,” Minho’s voice is soft as he speaks, a smile forming on his lips as he stares ahead, almost as if he’s reliving those moments in his head. “We talked about growing old together and raising our kids in that cottage. And we — god, looking back, this was so stupid it’s fucking funny,” He chuckled, shaking his head and raising his gaze to meet yours. “We were actually trying to get pregnant. We barely had money to feed Dori and ourselves, yet it still crushed us every time that test read negative.”

You feel your expression change, a blend of astonishment and admiration washing over you. They must’ve truly been in love. You felt a slight pang of hurt and envy run through your body; it truly was so easy for other people when it came to love.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” you lament, although you’re not sure if you’re talking about the pregnancy or the entire relationship.

Minho shakes his head, scrunching his nose. “Don’t feel bad, it was a blessing in disguise. I can’t imagine how the fuck we would ever manage to raise a baby at that time.”

“It seems like you two had the perfect relationship.” You force out a smile, waging war against your bitter jealousy.

“It was perfect, until it wasn’t,” Minho shrugs dismissively, “We began to fight a lot after a while. Haneul would always get upset at me for not doing things the way she thought I should do them, down to replying in a way that didn’t fit with what she had hoped I would say. And I was the same, always getting frustrated when she disagreed with me, even if it was about something silly like what to have for dinner. We used to be able to talk it out and come to an agreement in the past — it wasn’t for nothing that we were together for so long — but being in that little cottage, just us two all the time, it became suffocating.”

“Is that why you two broke up?”

Minho nods. “We realized we were merely playing house. Neither of us was happy anymore,” he explains, a soft laugh escaping his lips. “It was like we each had a script inside our heads of what the other should say or how they should act. It wasn’t healthy anymore, so we mutually decided to end things before they got worse.”

Your fingers fiddle with a loose thread on the white cover. You had always been envious of this type of relationship, but you never thought to think about the fact that they can also come to an end. It always seemed to you that your relationships never worked because they weren’t perfect, like the relationships you saw in books or movies — like the one Minho had described with his ex-girlfriend.

You never once rationalized that even perfect things can ebb away. That nothing lasts forever, even if it seems utterly ideal.

“I know how terrible breakups are,” you tell him. “I can only imagine how much worse it must’ve been to you two after so many years together.”

Minho shakes his head with a smile. “I never really felt hurt by it. It was such a perfect breakup she even let me keep Dori without going through a custody battle,” he jokes, raising his eyebrows at you.

“How can it not have hurt you?” You let out an incredulous laugh. “You were in love, planning to start a family, and you tell me it didn’t hurt when it ended? That’s bullshit, Minho.”

He looks up at the ceiling, like he’s trying to find the words to explain to you. He hums. “Well, I loved Haneul. I loved her so very much, with every fiber of my being. She was my first love. My mom once said we were probably a couple in another life as well, and I fucking loved that,” He chuckles, “The idea that someone was destined for me and I was destined for them, that we were fated to find each other and be together across lifetimes.”

“Like soulmates?” You ask.

He nods. “Soulmates, yes. That’s what we were. And, after we broke up, I realized maybe people’s understanding of soulmates is wrong. At least to me,” He shrugs.

You let out a chuckle. He really turned a terrible situation into a chance to reevaluate his beliefs. It was the most Minho thing you had ever heard.

“How are people understanding it wrong, then?” You question him, resting your chin on the palm of your hand and looking at him. Minho mirrors your actions, a grin etched onto his lips. 

“Well, for starters, you can have many soulmates in one lifetime.” You furrow your brows, opening your mouth to ask him more questions, but he quickly adds, “For example, Haneul was my soulmate and there’s no doubt about it in my mind. But it ended, because it was time for it to end. I learned everything I had to learn with her, and she did the same. We couldn’t grow together anymore, so there was no point in staying together.”

Biting your lip, you nod. “I never thought of it that way. You ask anyone and they’ll tell you that a soulmate is unique.”

“It may be so to some people, but I find that way of thinking a bit unfair,” he shrugs. “Haneul found someone new. Wouldn’t it be unfair for me to say her new relationship is inferior to ours simply because we were soulmates? We were soulmates, but our time to be together has passed and she’s with the soulmate she’s supposed to be right now.”

You hum, tapping your fingers against your cheek. “I guess it does make sense.”

He shrugs, feigning smugness. “I am quite the smart man.”

“What about you?” You question, smiling at him, “Have you ever found a new soulmate after that relationship?”

Minho clears his throat, his gaze shifting to look at where his sock-clad feet poked out from underneath the comforter. You could swear you see a tiny smile on his lips.

“I think I did,” He answers with a questioning lilt. “There were some signs, and a lot of things that aligned.” His gaze lifts once more to meet your eyes as he continues, “Makes me think maybe I’ve found her.”

As you take in his words, jealousy rears its ugly head, the feeling almost swallowing you whole. You gnaw on your bottom lip. The way Minho made you feel at times was questionable at best, but you chalk it all up to your jealous nature. You’d always gotten jealous when your friends found new friendships or when they started relationships.

However, that feeling was a bit different from the one currently making you want to bite your lip until it bled out of sheer and petty jealousy.

You let out a heavy sigh, pushing all those thoughts into a neat little box inside your head and locking them up.

“You’re really lucky,” you tell him, and Minho cocks an eyebrow. “That’s why you think love can only be good, because your only experience with it was long-lasting and good until the very end. I’d much rather have love fizzle out than have it end in a way that ended me as well. That’s how it’s always been with me, and I guess that’s why I came to hate love a little bit.”

Minho smiles at you, a genuine smile that reaches his brown eyes. “Well, sometimes love lasts forever,” he asserts, “So you shouldn’t think about how it’s going to end.”

You can feel the pinwheel inside your chest spinning, causing your heart to skip a beat and your cheeks to blush pink. Forcing out a chuckle, you lie on your bed and pull the covers up to your nose.

“You’re back to your hopeless romantic ways.”

“I never stopped,” He corrects you. He lies down as well, facing you, his hand reaching out to turn off the lamp that sat on the bedside table. “Even when I thought you had a boyfriend,” Minho continues, “I was still able to be a hopeless romantic.”

You feel your eyes widen at his words, thanking the darkness that covers you both as confusion and shock swim in your eyes. Did Minho subtly admit he liked you? Were you reading too much into things? Why did this not scare you? It should scare you, should make you terrified, as this is the very thing you’ve been running away from.

You were probably over-analyzing his words.

But why did you hope that wasn’t the case?

The two of you wake up early, hitting the streets of Tokyo immediately after getting dressed. Minho’s list definitely made things easier, with you two hopping from place to place before crossing them out one by one on his phone. Your favorite so far had been the cat café you two went to for breakfast, where you spent the entire hour watching Minho petting and playing with the kittens, the smile on your lips so fond that it probably made you look stupid.

But as you walk around Inokashira Park, that quickly drops to second place on your mental list. It was a beautiful place, especially in the late afternoon sun. As soon as you arrived, Minho took your hand in his without a word. It was unexpected, to say the least, but you were even more surprised to find yourself liking the gesture. You squeezed his hand, smiling at him, before lacing your fingers together.

Your heart was racing so fast you were certain that damn pinwheel brought along a friend today.

After walking around for a bit, Minho abruptly stopped, letting go of your hand and moving to stand behind you. You furrowed your brows as his hands came to cover your eyes. With his lips incredibly close to your ears, he whispered, “I have a surprise. It’s a place that wasn’t on the list. A museum I think you’ll like.”

You felt goosebumps rise all over your body at the sound of his low voice coupled with his breath tickling your skin. You silently thanked the cold weather — had you not been wearing long sleeves, Minho would have seen the effect he had on you, and you would’ve had no other choice but to throw yourself in front of a taxi on the way back to the hotel.

The two of you waddled awkwardly, Minho still standing behind you with his hands over your eyes. He giggled the whole way to your destination. You were too immersed in not focusing on how his body brushed up against yours with every step you took to even think about laughing.

His broad chest so warm against your back, his arms wrapped around you, his lips grazing your neck once as he bent down to whisper something about the museum being just around the corner, and his lower body continuously brushing and rubbing against your ass as you two walked. You had to fight the urge to push your body against his every time that happened, wondering if that would be enough to get him hard.

After Minho’s supposed confession last night, your mind had truly thrown every bit of worry and shame you felt about being attracted to him out the window.

It felt almost liberating, being able to say fuck it and simply feel.

So you were attracted to Minho; why should it be a big deal? You shouldn't deprive yourself of these silly experiences just because love scares you.

Maybe being scared was okay sometimes. Maybe it was worth it for the right people.

Just as your mind was running wild with thoughts of Minho’s body pressed up against yours, his voice whispered in your ear again. You had arrived, he announced, removing his hands from your eyes.

As your eyes adjusted to the light, you made out the words on a wooden sign before you. Minho had taken you to the Ghibli Museum. Before you could stop yourself, you were throwing your arms around his neck with a gasp.

You could just kiss him at that moment. That was how happy you were.

After walking around the museum with a smile engraved onto your lips, your cheeks hurt in the best way possible. Minho hurried you as you looked through the overly expensive gift shop, reminding you that the swan paddle boats would be closing soon. You whined but ultimately had no choice but to leave the shop as he grabbed your hand and pulled you toward the exit. Mourning the loss of a Soot Sprite plush perfect for your collection, you grumbled to Minho about how he had no heart as you two ran across the park.

You made it just in time, being the last ones in line on the pier. Minho insisted on paying for your tickets, and you agreed only after he explained it would be your compensation for the loss of your precious plushie.

And now you sit beside him on a swan paddle boat, failing miserably at containing your giggles as Minho adjusts his life jacket.

“You know,” He starts with a dramatic sigh, “You’re not gonna be laughing if we crash and you drown.”

You poke his arm, making him look at you just as a smile spreads across his lips. “I’m only laughing ‘cause you look real cute.”

You begin to paddle, and it is surprisingly easy — especially because Minho is the one guiding the boat with a steering wheel. The scenery is quite dull because of the cold season, with most trees already bare of leaves and the sky a blend of pale blue and white.

“I wish it was spring,” Minho speaks beside you as if he’s read your thoughts. “The cherry blossoms are fucking gorgeous.”

You look over at him, his eyes fixed ahead as he steers the boat around the pond. His glasses reflect the pale sky and obscure his eyes, but you’re sure he’s blinking rapidly like he usually does whenever he’s focused.

“Did you come here with your ex-girlfriend in spring?” You blurt out.

Minho’s lips stretch into a grin as he turns to face you.

“No,” he answers simply. “But I want to come with you.”

It’s only then you realize he had been doing most of the work paddling, as he easily controls the speed at which the boat glides across the water, slowing down until you two are stopped at the edge of the pond.

Your mind races, but not as hard as your heart does.

“With me?”

“With you.”

His eyes are fixed on yours, and his left hand grips the steering wheel tightly. You part your lips, but only silence is stuck in your throat. Drawing yourself out of the impromptu staring contest the two of you had gotten into, your eyes shift down to stare at your purse which lay across your lap.

You softly utter the only two words your mind can conjure up. “Why me?”

“Because I like you,” Minho’s voice is also quiet. You hear him shuffling beside you, turning his body so he fully faces you. “I know you’re scared, and you feel like you’re protecting yourself, but I’m—” He cuts himself off abruptly, and your eyes shoot up to find him biting his lip, his brows furrowed. He lets out a sigh. “I like you so much I think I might implode if I do nothing about it.”

Your breath hitched audibly. There is still a part of you that’s screaming out run away, this is terrifying, you’re on your way to another heart-wrenching breakup — but that part has become so minuscule, so insignificant now, it feels like nothing but muffled background noise inside your head. Because a much bigger part of you is begging for you to just say, “Then do something about it.”

And he does.

Minho’s hand leaves the wheel and gingerly touches your cheek, his thumb brushing against your skin before he closes the distance between you. It isn’t the first time you kiss Minho, but it is certainly the first time your entire being is fully enveloped in only him; from the way his slightly chapped lips still felt so soft against your own to how his strong hand finds your waist and pulls you closer to him.

And his taste. Minho coaxes your mouth open with his tongue and licks into it, your senses being taken over by the taste of the watermelon candy he’d been eating all day until you’re positively drunk on him. Your heart racing and your hands shaking like a teenager having their first kiss.

You go to grab his shirt, desperate to pull him even closer to you, but your hands collide with the damn life jacket he’s wearing. You whine into the kiss, annoyed, and Minho only chuckles against your lips. He bites your lower lip, pulling softly before releasing it and pressing another kiss to your pout.

“I take back what I said, the life jacket isn’t cute,” you mumble against his lips. His smile grows, and his lips crash against yours again, his hands tangling in your hair.

He groans into the kiss, barely pulling away before whispering, “Don’t wanna stop kissing you.”

You hum. “Well, you can kiss me anytime now.”

Minho’s lips spread into a grin, and he closes the small distance between you for one last kiss before he pulls away, your noses brushing. His eyes are dark yet soft, as if longing and affection had melted together.

“I want to be with you,” He says, “But I want you to think about it before you say anything because I know how scared you are of love. And if by the end of our trip I haven’t given you enough reasons to give me a chance, I’ll let you go and move on with my life. If you want to stay friends, I’ll happily do that. And if you never want to see me again, I’ll also respect that.”

Your heart swells with his words because Minho is the complete antithesis of everything your ex-boyfriends taught you that men were.

And, for the first time in so long, you feel the kind of nervousness that’s nothing but good. The kind that leaves you with trembling hands, a racing heart, and a dizzy head. The kind that only love can provide.

Despite his request, you’re eager to answer him right then and there, but just as you’re about to speak, the sky roars and dark clouds gather above. You jump in your seat at the sound, and Minho’s hands instinctively wrap around your shoulders and squeeze. You smile, simply nodding your head and giving his lips a small kiss.

Minho struggles a bit, but he’s eventually able to turn the paddle boat around, and you two begin to paddle back toward the pier. The light rain quickly becomes heavy raindrops drumming on the roof of the boat, and you dread the walk back to the hotel as neither of you thought to bring an umbrella.

“Y'know,” Minho starts. “There’s a myth here in Japan that says if you ride this boat with a girlfriend, then you’ll break up soon. I kinda always believed that.”

You let out a chuckle. “Really?”

He hums, nodding his head. “So I’m choosing to also believe that if you ride it with someone you like, they will become your girlfriend soon.”

Minho turns to look at you with a smile as you stop at the pier, removing his life jacket and exiting the boat without another word. You bite the inside of your cheek in a failed attempt at holding back a smile. Minho helps you out of the boat, his hand taking yours and pulling you toward him gently.

You two run back to the hotel, Minho holding you close to him with his hand around your waist. The streets are mostly empty as people squeeze under bus stops and shop awnings to shelter from the rain, and it almost feels like you and Minho are the only people in Tokyo that night.

You two giggle the whole way to the hotel. Even when you are struck with the realization that the power has shut off on the entire street upon arriving, you simply turn to each other and laugh even more.

You clumsily manage to take a brief shower in the darkness, changing into your sleep clothes as quickly as you can. You realize with a grimace that if your room was cold before, with the shitty hotel heater on, it’s basically turned into an icebox now.

Wrapping yourself up in your comforter, you shiver with a groan just as Minho walks out of the bathroom.

“Bet you miss that shitty heater now, huh?” He jokes, and you faintly make out his silhouette in the dim light of the moon coming from the window.

You let out another groan. “I'm gonna freeze to death tonight. I've made peace with that. Thaw me with a hairdryer in the morning, please.”

Minho chuckles, sitting on his bed as he checks his phone. You make out his features in the moonlight coming from the window, and he’s wearing another sweater, black with more cats printed on it.

Such a cozy, warm-looking sweater. You curse yourself inwardly for only packing t-shirts to sleep.

As he locks his phone, an idea hits you, and your words are faster than your thoughts — as they always seem to be whenever you’re around Minho.

“Can I lay with you for a bit?” You ask, “Just for a bit, until I get warm? My bed is right under this damn window, and I don’t have any sweaters I can sleep in, and I know I joked about making peace with freezing but—”

Minho cuts you off by calling out your name with a chuckle. “It's okay. You don’t need to make up a thousand excuses. I'm cold, too,” He says simply, scooting to the side to make room for you in his bed. “Come here.”

You smile, ripping the covers from your body quickly like a band-aid and all but jumping from your mattress to his. Minho instructs you to lie on the left side of the bed, facing the wall. You furrow your brows.

“Why?”

He shrugs. “It’s like the sidewalk thing. So I can protect you if a serial killer comes into our room.”

“Oh, so a serial killer’s gonna come into our room?” You ask, a teasing lilt in your voice as you scoot on the bed and slip under the comforter. 

“Well, I—” Minho stammers, pausing with a sigh. He removes his glasses and places them on the bedside table before he continues, “I don’t know, okay? I just… wanna take care of you in every way possible. Even in this weird scenario that my mind made up.”

His words slip out of his lips quickly, much like yours do when you’re nervous and can’t make yourself stop talking. You wonder if your habit is rubbing off on him, and you can’t help but smile.

As Minho settles into bed, you feel your body stiffen up. The two of you lay on your backs next to each other in the cramped bed, and you feel like you can’t move. Hyunjin was the first guy you ever slept next to, and even then, it was after you two had already had sex, so there was no room for feeling awkward. With Minho, everything feels so new. If kissing him had made your hands shake, laying next to him makes your whole body tremble.

You lay like that for a while, watching as the thunder lights up the ceiling until Minho turns to lie on his side.

“Wouldn’t we get warmer if we cuddled?” He trails off in a whisper, clearing his throat after his words leave his mouth. 

You open your mouth to answer but know you’ll only end up word-vomiting again with how nervous you feel, so you simply nod, turning so you’re facing Minho as well.

His arms quickly find your waist, pulling you closer to him until your noses are touching, and you feel his breath on your lips as he lets out a sigh. Before you can make sense of what’s happening, Minho presses a slow, open-mouthed kiss to your lips, making your mind go hazy. You two stare at each other for a beat, your lips agape and eyes wandering through each other’s features until he breaks the silence.

“You make me nervous,” he whispers, taking your hand and guiding it towards his chest. You feel his heart beating quickly through the thick fabric of his sweater. “In the best way possible.”

You smile, whispering back, “You make me nervous, too.”

Clutching at the fabric of his sweater, you pull him closer to you, slotting your lips together once more. Minho’s hands hesitate, his left hand barely touching your back before he changes his mind and grazes your shoulder with his touch, only to settle for cupping your cheek. You smile into the kiss, taking his hand and placing it firmly on your waist. He grips the fabric of your shirt just as you did and brings your body flush against his.

The kiss is hurried, as if you two will be forced apart tomorrow and this is your only chance to feel each other. Minho licks the seam of your lips, his tongue slipping into your mouth as you gasp. His firm grip on your waist, his body pressed against yours so tightly that you can feel his heartbeat thumping against your chest, and how with every stroke of his tongue, he devours you almost greedily — it’s downright impossible to keep the whine that forms in your throat from slipping out, Minho’s mouth swallowing the muffled sound.

And then he’s pulling away, and you’re left chasing his lips. He lets out a breathy chuckle at that.

“Let’s go to sleep, hm?” He suggests, his voice breathless. You can’t help but wonder if you practically moaning while simply kissing him had made him uncomfortable, and you inwardly berate yourself, mortification washing over you.

So you only nod, turning to face the wall so you can properly cuddle this time. Minho wraps an arm around your waist, and you wait for him to pull you closer, but he never does. You furrow your brows. Was it that bad? You can’t be faulted for reacting like you did, especially with how he kissed you. So you take it into your own hands to shift closer to his body. Your lips part as you feel his hard member pressing against your lower back.

Oh. 

So that’s what’s going on.

You bite back a grin, feeling Minho tense up behind you.

“And here I thought you were like a romantic lead in a PG-13 anime,” you joke, smiling as he chuckles, clearly more at ease. 

He uses the hand that had been resting against your stomach to pull you even closer to him, pressing his body against yours. “I am romantic,” He whispers, lips close to your ear. You only then realize he’s hovering over you. “But I’m still human.”

You fight back the urge to shudder at how his voice drops an octave, all low and soft, and, god, how his breath grazes your neck.

You search your brain for something to say but come up empty. Being nervous has rendered you speechless for the first time in your life.

“Let’s sleep now, okay?” Minho presses a quick kiss on your cheek. “I’ll lie far—”

“I can help you,” you blurt out, turning to face him. Going to sleep is the last thing you want right now. “If you want.”

His eyes wander across your face as he pulls on his bottom lip. “I don’t want to rush things.”

“There are ways to do this that aren’t… rushing.”

Minho hums, but his eyes are now fixed on your lips. You move to lie on your back, and he slowly climbs on top of you.

“As long as it’s okay with you, I don’t care what we do,” he whispers. You smile, pushing his black hair away from his face with your fingers.

“It’s more than okay with me,” You answer simply, using your hand on his hair to guide him down into yet another kiss. 

You can feel him still hesitating, so you grab a fistful of that silly sweater of his and pull him closer to you until your bodies are flush against each other.

“Can I touch you?” You ask, breaking the kiss. Minho nods hastily.

“Yes, please,” he groans, “I’m gonna die if you don’t.”

With a breathy chuckle, you move your hand between your two bodies, cupping him through his sweatpants; he’s even harder now, and you subconsciously bite your lip. He closes his eyes, his left hand resting on your waist before squeezing lightly as he hides his face in the crook of your neck with a shaky sigh. It might simply be because it’s your first time being intimate together, but Minho’s timidness is genuinely endearing to you.

Your palm grinds against him gingerly, and his body trembles under your touch. His hand travels from your waist toward your lower stomach, and you let out a quiet gasp as his fingers toy with the hem of your shirt. He lifts his head off your neck, his face so close to yours you can feel his unsteady breathing on your lips.

“Can I touch you, too?” He whispers, and you nod a bit too eagerly. 

“If you don’t, I think I’ll die too.”

Minho grins, his head dipping lower until his lips are pressed against yours, but he doesn’t kiss you. You’d be lying if you said finding Minho so hard after only kissing you hadn’t turned you on — kissing him alone also made you more aroused than you were willing to admit. But you were more than ready to go to sleep without doing anything about it after offering to help him, so the fact that he wants to do the same for you makes your head spin. This was not on your bingo card of things that could happen during this trip.

He pulls your shirt up slightly, only enough for him to slip his hand inside your sweatpants. He hesitates twice before cupping you through your underwear. His dark eyes meet yours, whispering against your lips, “You’re fucking soaking through your panties, and you weren’t gonna tell me?”

You gasp at his words, clenching around nothing. Wasn’t he shy just two minutes ago? Your mouth opens to answer him, but your brain is far too cloudy to form any coherent sentence, so you settle on a nod. He hums, pressing a kiss to your agape lips.

Once you feel his thumb tentatively brush against your clit through the thin fabric, you find the courage to slip your hand inside the waistband of his sweatpants, your fingers immediately brushing against his member. Minho shudders at the touch, his eyes still fixed on yours.

Your brows shoot up at the fact that he had foregone wearing boxers, and he chuckles lightly at your reaction.

“I never wear underwear to bed, so don’t think I was trying to seduce you,” he jokes.

“Too late,” you hum, “I was seduced the moment I saw your bright orange cat sweater.”

Minho grins, sucking your lower lip as he pushes your panties to the side painfully slowly, his middle finger gliding from your entrance toward your clit and spreading your arousal. With a sigh, you bring one leg to wrap around his waist, and he adjusts himself so he’s properly hovering over you. You take this opportunity to slide his sweatpants down his hips, his hard cock finally free from its confines. He groans low in his throat, his tongue suddenly licking into your open mouth as his right hand intertwines with your left, your fingers locking together. He presses your clasped hands onto the mattress beside your head.

Your hand now glides through his length, the palm of your hand beginning to rub at the head of his cock and Minho sucks in a breath, breaking the kiss, his eyes remaining closed. Pressing your thumb to the slit, you gather as much precum as you can and spread it through his member. You quickly find that it’s not enough, wanting it wetter and messier and—

Minho whines as you stop touching him, eyes shooting open. Bringing your hand to your lips, you lick a stripe on your palm and let a glob of spit fall on it before finding his cock again, wet both with your saliva and his precum as you begin to stroke him gingerly. With a quiet moan, Minho’s hips buck up at the touch and he kisses your lips again. You giggle into the kiss, inwardly thanking Hyunjin for teaching you that guys love sloppy shit like this and, in turn, making you realize you do too.

You avert your eyes from his intense gaze as his finger moves to find your entrance, pushing in slowly before moving at a steady pace.

He squeezes your hand. “Look at me,” his voice is all but a whisper, low and hurried. You turn to lock your eyes on his once more, immediately biting your lips to stop a moan from slipping out of your lips as his thumb begins to rub your clit in circular motions, and he slips another finger inside of your aching cunt. It was getting increasingly difficult to keep yourself from vocally begging him not to stop.

You focus on your own hand as you stroke his cock, your steady pace gradually quickening. Minho’s pace mirrors yours, and soon the small room fills with the noise of his finger swiftly pumping in and out of you mixed with the sound of your hand stroking him.

“What do you like?” Minho asks suddenly, his breath hitching as you tighten your fist around his cock. Your mind is far too clouded by desire and pleasure to fully comprehend, so you hum, your brows furrowing. He leans in, pressing his forehead against yours with a quiet moan and curling his fingers inside you, causing your eyes to shut tightly and a whimper to escape your closed lips. “Look at me, baby,” he repeats himself, his voice firm and his shy demeanor having completely shifted. You slowly open your eyes. “What do you like? I — fuck,” He curses as your hand twists on the head of his cock. “Wanna make you feel good, tell me.”

You’re definitely not used to being vocal about what you want or like during sex; your ex-boyfriends always too selfish, and Hyunjin too confident for you to even have had the opportunity to do so. Coupled with just how good you felt, you know you won’t possibly be able to speak a word without moaning the way you’re trying so hard to avoid. You settle for guiding his hand, which was tangled in yours, under your shirt. Minho immediately massages your breast, his thumb caressing your nipple as his eyes find yours once more.

You feel as if his gaze is setting you ablaze, his eyes boring into you. It felt as if all his desire was accumulated in his dark eyes, clearly visible in how he watches you like he’s drinking in every last drop of you through his stare. You’ve never had someone look at you like this before; it makes you feel so wanted, so desired, as if the only thing Minho could ever need in this moment is you. That alone makes your body tremble, your left hand holding onto his shoulder for purchase as you feel you might float away at any second.

If you were told a couple of hours ago that something as simple as having Minho’s fingers inside you would have you so euphoric, you most definitely would have laughed.

Minho groans into your open mouth, his breathing heavy and his brows drawn together tightly. You force your lips shut once more as his thumb rubs your bundle of nerves more hastily. Your hand leaves his shoulder to tangle in his black hair, futilely attempting to tug him even closer to you before you kiss his agape lips that spill out groans and sighs like a mantra.

It’s almost all-consuming. His fingers inside of you, the warmth of his hand on your breast, his cock pulsating beneath your touch, his hot breaths that fill your lungs as he sighs into your kiss, and his eyes — his damn eyes that look at you as if he wants to eat you whole.

You finally allow yourself to moan as you feel your orgasm building up, whimpering his name against his lips as your strokes on his cock turn messy and desperate among the copious amounts of precum. Minho growls, pulling your hand from his hair — his grip on your wrist so firm it stings a little — before he pins you down to the mattress, fingers messily intertwining with yours again.

This time, you’re unable to restrain your whimper at his actions; Minho had always been gentle and sweet, something as simple as him pinning you down to the bed has you clenching around his fingers. This duality of his you just discovered is something that stirs up curiosity inside of you.

“I’m gonna come,” He announces with a sigh, his hand squeezing yours. You can only nod as you melt around his fingers, your whole body trembling. Minho soon follows, his cum spilling into your hand and your shirt, a low guttural sound leaving his throat.

His eyes only leave yours as he leans down to connect your lips again, giving you small kisses before a stifled laugh escapes him. You furrow your brows, and Minho grins.

“Sorry for getting your shirt dirty,” He mumbles against your lips, the two of you unwilling to move for the time being.

You shake your head with a chuckle. Although you cringe slightly as you feel the fabric of your shirt stick to your stomach.

“It’s okay.”

Minho shifts on top of you, and you only then realize his fingers remain inside of you. Your body jolts faintly at the stimulation, his name falling from your lips in the form of a whine. He grins at you again, all lopsided and handsome, before bringing his hand to his lips. You watch with agape lips as his tongue flicks out to lap at his fingers before sucking on them with a hum, his eyes locked onto yours once more.

Once again with this newfound duality of his. He’s pure romance and gentlemanly behavior, but seemingly so alluring and shameless in bed. The way he looks at you alone makes you clench around nothing as if you didn’t come mere minutes ago. And it’s such a simple act — you can’t count on one hand the number of times you watched as Hyunjin licked his fingers clean after being inside of you — but the contrast of his calm and endearing everyday personality and him suddenly pinning you to the bed or licking your cum off his fingers while looking into your eyes makes this entirely different.

You would’ve never expected this from Minho, and it makes your brain stir up with thoughts of what he would be like while eating you out or while fucking you. Would he pin you to the bed again or pull your hair, or maybe—

The sound of him clearing his throat interrupts you from your thoughts, and you only now realize you had been staring at the ceiling while fantasizing about Minho fucking you. Great.

Once your eyes meet, he’s quick to avert his gaze. “I will, uh, pay to wash your shirt when we — when we get back,” Minho stumbles over his words, his eyes now fixed on your shoulder. “If you want. But, like, I got it dirty, so…” He trails off, and you purse your lips to muffle the giggle that bubbled up your throat as it seems all the confidence he had only minutes ago had dissipated into dust and left his body.

He was back to his usual self. You can’t help but smile as you realize you adore any version of Minho.

He pushes himself off of you, muttering that he’ll be back before disappearing into the small bathroom. You remove your soiled shirt, wiping your hand on it, only to blanche at the sight of the logo printed on the fabric. It’s one of Hyunjin’s shirts that you had stolen ages ago. You mumble a string of apologies to him as you pull the covers off your body. After discarding it on your bed, you change into the first t-shirt you fish out of your backpack, worried Minho might come into the room and see your naked chest — as ludicrous as that was, seeing as he was knuckles deep inside of you less than twenty minutes ago.

Minho returns to the bedroom just as you’re closing the zipper on your bag. He silently takes your hand in his and wipes it with a towel, his head lowered as his eyes focus on his actions. You let out a breathy chuckle.

“There’s really nothing there anymore,” you inform him. “I wiped most of your cum on my shirt.” You nod toward the crumpled-up fabric thrown across the bed. Minho’s mouth opens, then closes, then opens again. He lets out a small noise, nodding his head slowly before ultimately pressing his lips together. Under the faint moonlight that lights up the room, you almost miss how his cheeks dust a shade of pink. You smile, pressing a kiss to his nose. Minho hums, smiling back at you and dropping the towel on top of your shirt.

Soon, you find yourself back in bed with him, Minho pulling you into his chest, his hands now offering you pleasure by gingerly massaging your scalp. You are almost asleep — listening to his heartbeat through his sweater, smiling at the soft snores that escape his parted lips — when it dawned on you.

You notice just how different being with Minho had been. How kissing him alone made your hands shake, how even without being fully intimate, the way you felt with him tonight was incomparable.

Minho’s words from months ago about how sex with someone you love eclipses the feeling of sex with any other person linger in your memory. You hum, a smile on your lips as your eyes flutter closed again.

Before they shoot open.

Because holy shit.

If it felt that way with Minho, it can only mean you’ve fallen for him.

Awakening to the sound of the heater’s soft hum, you feel Minho’s arm tightly around your waist, keeping your body pressed against his. His gentle breathing brushes against the nape of your neck, and you cautiously turn your head, careful not to wake him, only to be greeted by his tender eyes already gazing at you with a soft smile. Cuddling with Minho is another thing that feels different. You feel safe, adored from how he holds you to the way his eyes look at you.

As he realizes you’re also awake, he suddenly turns to lie on his back, staring at the ceiling as his ears slowly turn a light shade of red. You frown, chuckling a bit at his actions, before settling yourself across his chest.

“The power came back a while after you fell asleep,” he explains.

You giggle as you assume maybe he’s shy because of what happened last night. But your smile fades as your mind begins to overthink, your subconscious screaming that maybe you should feel shy, embarrassed. Weren’t you too easy? Letting him touch you like that after just a few kisses. Does Minho think you came into bed with him for that reason?

You think back to the last boyfriend you had, who berated you for how ‘whorish’ it had been when you asked to have sex with him instead of waiting for him to initiate it. And how your first boyfriend would tell you — every chance he got — that you acted like a slut, touching him as if you knew it would make him have sex with you. How, at the end of your relationship, he told you maybe you acted that way because you knew that sex was all you were good for. How another ex had laughed as he told you that even though you went through so many guys, you still managed to be a terrible fuck, and that was the reason he had to cheat on you.

There were also the murmurs around your school whenever you started a new relationship. Another one? She’s boy hopping so much she’s gonna get through our entire class in less than a year. Some girls just can’t stand to be alone, it’s kind of sad.

At some point, you had detangled yourself from Minho, now lying on your side and looking out the window. You never understood why so many people thought that way. You had five boyfriends from fifteen to eighteen, and in each of these relationships, you were either cheated on or broken up with in a less-than-pleasant way. But you did have the awful habit of jumping into relationships with little thought, often because you felt incomplete without a romantic partner — as romantic as high school relationships can be, anyway. Being single and content for almost four years now, you were proud to have worked on that.

But you still can’t shake off the feeling that maybe you were a bit too… forward. You were single, sure, but you were quick to jump at the opportunity to have Hyunjin as a fuck buddy. Perhaps people were right about that.

“Is everything okay?” Minho’s voice pulls you away from your racing thoughts. You offer him a tight-lipped smile, nodding.

“Yeah, I just zoned out.”

Sitting upright on the bed, you stretch with a sigh. Minho takes your hand before you can realize it, placing it on his chest and gently playing with your fingers, his eyes still glued to the ceiling. You gnaw on your bottom lip, pulling at the skin until it stings.

“I’m sorry if I was too forward last night,” you blurt out. Minho’s gaze shifts to focus on you, confusion swimming in his brown eyes and his hands halting around yours. Oh god, why did you say that?

“Forward?” The question trails off his lips, his eyebrows coming together in a frown.

With a sigh, you grimace at your own words. “Yeah, forward, like I was throwing myself at you. I’m sorry if it came off that way. I swear I’m not…”

“You’re not…?”

“You know what I mean, Minho,” you mumble, but his eyes remain swarmed with confusion. 

“I really don’t.”

You roll your eyes in exasperation, annoyed not at him but at yourself for having brought this up in the first place.

“You know, Minho,” you groan, “Forward, like, slutty. Like I asked to come to your bed just so you would fuck me.”

His expression softens, his eyes widening. He sits up as well, his hand still clutching yours.

“Why the fuck would I think that?” He asks matter-of-factly. “What happened last night was completely natural. We made out, we got horny, we took care of it together. You didn’t even ask me to touch you, I did it because I was dying to do it. You weren’t forward — you weren’t slutty.”

You feel the heavy veil of worry lift off your shoulders at his words. It was definitely going to take a while for you to work on that aspect of your trauma. This had never been an issue with Hyunjin since you were pursuing nothing more than a sexual relationship with him — things were different with Minho.

Minho was the complete opposite.

After countless moments of your heart racing and your hands trembling because of him, you finally confess to yourself that your affection for Minho extends well beyond platonic feelings.

With a small smile, you slowly nod your head. “Sorry for bringing this up, I just… didn’t want you to think badly of me.”

Minho smiles, placing a kiss on the back of your hand. “That wouldn’t have made me think badly of you. I’m not some Victorian man who thinks women should be burned at the stake for showing their ankles,” he chuckles, and you bite back a laugh. “Even if you had been slutty, so what? I’d like that just as much.”

You playfully hit his shin under the comforter as he wiggles his eyebrows at you.

Minho was unquestionably different.

“We gotta get to the airport soon,” he says with a sigh, stretching his arms over his head, carrying your hand along the way. “I had to book the earliest flight I could to save up some money.”

With a frown, you retrieve your phone from under your pillow and check for the time: seven-thirty a.m. You feel a pang of guilt as you recall how you are essentially on this trip for free.

“Why didn’t Chan help with the tickets?”

Minho bites the inside of his cheek before his lips stretch into a barely-there grin. “Chan was never coming to this trip,” he blurts out. You feel your lips fall agape.

“What?”

“I… planned this trip by myself. Only for you and me,” he explains. “I wanted to get far away from everything that distracted us so I could concentrate on showing you the good side of love like I’d been trying to do with all those fruitless attempts at taking you on dates.”

You take in his words and find yourself smiling at the gesture — the white lie Minho told pales in comparison to everything else he has done for you, both during this trip and since you met him. Truthfully, you didn’t even realize he had been taking you on dates. You mentally slap yourself in the head for that, believing he simply wanted to spend time with you as a friend.

“I’ll pay you back for my part of the trip as soon as—”

Minho’s voice interrupts you with a drawn-out ‘no.’ He smiles as you stare at him, puzzled.

“This entire trip must’ve been so expensive, Minho.”

But he’s unrelenting, shaking his head with a squeeze of your hand.

“I told you,” he says simply. “I do stupid shit when I’m in love.”

♡ taglist: @notevenheretbh1 @malunar28replies @jazziwritesthings @finchyyy @bloom-ings @linocz @minhochaos @lastgreatamericandynasty1

[coldfanbou]

Hi back with another fluff thought, this time on eunha, where she feels that she put on weight but you reassure her that she's perfect the way she is and besides, thicc is good

Thick thighs save lives.

Eunha sat on your lap, pouting as she pinched her legs. "Eunha, you know not to worry about that." You tell her, wrapping your arms around her to give her a big hug.

"Don't you think I've gotten a little...big?"

"Not at all; you're perfect the way you are. Besides, I actually like you like this. You're soft and squishy, like a plush." You squeeze her softly. , "It doesn't matter to me if you gain weight, Eunha; you'll always be perfect in my eyes and if it bothers you so much, then we'll work out together, and get you to a place where you feel comfortable."

"Do you really like me like this?"

You nod and kiss her cheek, "What's not to like? You're the most beautiful woman in the world. Besides, I like your thighs like this; they're good for...bedtime activities." Eunhablushes at your response; she turns around and kisses you, thanking you for your support and love.

"Thanks, honey. I don't know what I'd do without you." She pinches your cheek, a big smile on her face as she kisses you again and gets off your lap, pulling you off the couch. Eunha moves your arms side to side, happy and trying to get her energy out. She comes to a stop and hugs you. "Do you want to get something to eat?" You barely hold back a laugh. You had just finished having that conversation about her weight, and she was already on the subject of eating. You tell her to choose her favorite place, satisfied that she won't worry too much about her appearance.

[yaniluvs]

𝒾 ┆ ༊·˚ (승민) : STARS AND RAINDROPS “ 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡𝘩𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠. ” ── crushing on your roommate-best friend is really.. eventful. especially when he starts crushing on the campus' favorite girl.

index | next ₍⑅ᐢ..ᐢ₎

𓍯 bsf!seungmin ʚଓ fem!reader ：（ 𝒾 ） 3.1k ── ༯ SERIES, angst, mature, fluff, comfort, petnames, unrequited love, melancholy, one sided, skz ensemble, music students, happy ending, trio of seungsung and reader, uni au. ⸝⸝𓂃 LiBRARY. /ᐠ.ꞈ.ᐟ\ྀིྀི

yani's note ˖˙ ᰋ new series >< taglist for all fics/this series is open, so are requests. i'll try to stay as consistent as i can ;3. comments, likes and reblogs are always appreciated ! happy reading <3

the brunette sat slouched on his dorm's worn-out, velvet couch, his eyes locked onto the ceiling but his mind clearly elsewhere. he hadn’t moved in the last half-hour, a dead giveaway that something was eating away at him. the room was quiet, save for the soft hum of the air conditioner, the low volume of the random drama playing on the tv, and the occasional distant sounds from the campus just 9 floors below.

the sound of the door unlocking barely snapped him out of his trance. his dorm-mate pushed the creaking wooden door open with her hip, one hand loaded with takeout bags, a pepero stick hanging loosely from her lush lips, and her familiar, black, guitar case slung over her back, the stickers on it glistening slightly as it reflected in the muted sunlight. she huffed as she struggled to balance everything in her hands.

"guess which lovely roommate of yours got takeout!" she announced grandly, her voice still a contrast to his silence, despite muffled by the chocolate pepero in her mouth. she stepped inside with an exaggerated sigh, kicking the door closed behind her and using her feet to slip off her converses, the effort almost graceful. the strap of her grey tank top slipped slightly off her shoulder as she tossed her guitar case to the side, which she barely managed to catch before it hit the ground.

but that idiot, too busy day-dreaming, didn’t notice her, his eyes still distant, staring blankly ahead. without skipping a beat, the annoyed lady tossed the pepero box toward him, admittedly aiming for his– fluffy, brown hair that always drew her attention and made her drool; hoping to catch his undivided attention. the box smacked lightly against the top of his ear, ruffling a bit of his hair, then his shoulder, making him yelp in surprise. he straightened, finally aware of her presence.

"hey!" seungmin protested, grabbing the box and rubbing his shoulder to ease the ‘pain’,  as if the impact had actually hurt. "what was that for?"

“don’t blame me,” the girl in question simply rolled her eyes, an annoyed glint in her eyes as she struggled to walk with all the weight in her hands, him unbothered by her presence. “you were totally zoned out, daydreaming about eunha, probably?” her voice carried a subtle hint of meekness, though she tried to cover it up.

the loverboy slightly flinched at the mention of her name, his expression shifting from startled to slightly defensive. his eyes, usually warm and inviting, now held a depth as he shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "i wasn’t daydreaming about anyone," he muttered, his voice a bit too sharp, betraying the truth behind his denial.  (stage 1: denial but we’re on y/n’s side rn so fuck u eunha)

"right, because that totally explains the sulking," she shot back, her tone playful but her eyes sharp, catching every little telltale sign of his mood. 

y/n glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she unpacked the takeout, laying out the boxes of fried chicken and spicy noodles with precision, yet distraction. the savoury aroma of the food filled their small dorm, mingling with the faint scent of his cologne that lingered in the air. food and nothing else –  a simple meal that should have made him smile, but today, the same as the past few days, it felt more like her gesture barely registered.

"what, did felix crack another lame joke, and eunha laughed too hard at it?"

he groaned, leaning back into the couch, the takeout momentarily forgotten. "it’s just… i don’t get it," he finally admitted, his voice quieter now, almost as if he were talking more to himself than to her. "he’s not even that funny, man, but she just—" he trailed off, his frustration evident as he buried his face in his hands.

the girl just watched him, her heart sinking a little. it wasn’t that she hadn’t seen this coming; her roommate’s massive crush on the university’s most loved girl, who aced in academics and in talents, had been as clear as day from the start. but seeing him like this, so tangled up in feelings that seemed to lead nowhere, the stupid unrequited love, it bothered her in ways she didn’t want to know. 

she bit down on the same pepero, trying to focus on the crispy sweetness in her mouth rather than the ache in her chest.

"well, maybe he is kinda friendly or funny?” she blurted out, accidentally, earning a loud whine and a glare from the guy in front of her – that she almost choked onto the pepero.

“what i meant was.. maybe she just has a.. terrible sense of humour!" she offered lightly, hoping to lift his spirits, even just a bit. "or she’s just… i don’t know, blind?"

after getting some water, and washing her hands, the girl plopped down on the floor, her back resting against the edge of the coffee table, her knees drawn up as she tore open a pair of chopsticks. "if looks could kill, the ceiling would’ve been toast by now."

he sighed, running a hand through his hair, the strands flopping back into place with that annoyingly perfect, tousled look, she’d say. "you’re terrible at talking, i think shutting up would be easier for you."

she chewed offendedly on another quick pepero stick, her eyes never leaving his annoyed face. he could feel her gaze, like a warm, steady pressure, and it made him fidget under the weight of it.

 "look, i’m sorry but jisung and i, both, are really running short of ‘comforting’ phrases right now, for your certain unrequited love,” she quipped. she simply shrugged, used to this, as she dug into the bowl of hot noodles. “it’s been a year, seungmin.”

he avoided her eyes, joining her on the floor too, reaching for the same with a mumbled thanks, but she wasn’t about to let him do that just yet.

she lightly slapped away his wrist, “wash your hands first, dipshit,” she shot a glare, not wanting her meal to be ruined by his groggy, lazy attitude.

he groaned at the pain, standing up lazily, having no option but to obey her.

“being a close friend and a roommate to me doesn’t make you any less of a guy, you know!” she called out, the corner of her lip curled into a teasing smirk as she continued to eat.

they fell into a comfortable silence after that, the quiet ticking of the clock filling the space between them. she busied herself with the food, passing him a box of fried chicken, which he accepted with a small smile. he was grateful, of her and jisung both, even if he didn’t say it outright.

the next day.

the day rolled in quietly, the sun casting a pale glow through the blinds of her room, illuminating the soft dust particles dancing in the morning light. 

her roommate had been up earlier than usual, probably pacing back and forth in front of his mirror, combing through his dark, chestnut hair like a man on a mission. he mumbled to himself, practising lines as if they were the opening of some grand opera, but in reality, it was just another attempt to talk to eunha.

how’d she know that? you’d ask, but blame the loverboy. it was seven in the morning, their rooms were right on the two sides of the wall, so yes, she could hear his footsteps and groans.

fuck you, kim seungmin, she thought. turning her head away and pulling the blanket tighter over herself, she tried to slip into slumber once again. yet, even in her half-asleep state, she could feel the familiar pang in her chest. 

unable to sleep, she got up from the bed with a groggy groan, almost tripping on her slippers, before wearing them quickly. she walked out of her room, approaching his room, as she twisted the knob slowly.

she stared at the guy through the little crack, him being oblivious to her presence. nothing new, of course. 

"you know, practising in the mirror, early in the morning every day, won’t make you any better at flirting," she muttered, her voice hoarse from sleep.

seungmin stopped his pacing and turned to face her, the hint of a blush dusting his cheeks. "i’m not trying to.. flirt. i’m just– preparing," he said defensively, tugging at the collar of his shirt, trying to make it look presentable.

“you’ve woken me up for the ninth time this week.”

“oh.” he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, “sorry, i’ll keep it down next time..” he mumbled out an apology, her eyes softening and glistening a light tap of vulnerability to his voice.

but she clouded it, once again, “you better.” she pretended to act annoyed, grumbling under her breath as she left his room.

during breakfast, the two met again. since it was a thursday, it was the girl’s chore to make breakfast. after a while of stir-frying vegetables, making 2 omelettes, and roasting some bacon, the brunette emerged from his room, smelling the food.

"does this hoodie make me look too… i don’t know, comfortable? casual?" seungmin asked, his brow furrowed in frustration as he fidgeted with the drawstrings, walking to the counter. his breakfast was casually plated well, as he reached the fridge to get the usual apple juice, mumbling out a quiet thank you.

y/n, who was too busy flipping the last omelette, which was hers, didn’t need to look up. "you look like you’re going to a study group, not a date," she quipped, fingers idly reaching for the black pepper from the upper shelf.

he turned to her, pouting. "it’s not a date, and anyway, eunha said she likes when people are… casual."

she rolled her eyes, biting back a sigh. "right. because clearly, what eunha says and what she does are the same thing."

ignoring her sarcasm, seungmin got his plate, his glass of apple juice, and mumbled a quick thank you again, before walking to the couch.

later that afternoon, the raven-hair found herself idly snacking on another pack of pocky sticks, on a bench outside the university cafeteria, sharing the space with jisung, who, as usual, had his earbuds in and was tapping away at some random beat on his phone, with the occasional talk. she glanced up just in time to spot seungmin standing across the courtyard, his face lighting up as he spotted eunha approaching with felix.

"here we go again," jisung mumbled, pulling out one earbud as he noticed the scene unfolding. "seungmin’s endless mission to woo the girl who has no idea how to even spell his name."

y/n couldn’t help but snort. "right? i swear, he’ll bring her banana milk today, and felix will show up with chocolate milk, and they’ll just stand there, offering her beverages like some weird vending machines."

"and guess who’ll win?" jisung raised an eyebrow.

"not seungmin, that’s for sure." y/n's voice was a little more bitter than she intended, but jisung didn’t seem to notice, too focused on the spectacle ahead.

as if on cue, seungmin greeted eunha with a shy smile, handing her a neatly packaged bottle of strawberry milk this time. felix, not to be outdone, pulled out a chocolate bar from his bag, causing eunha to giggle softly.

y/n watched the exchange, the ache in her chest growing with each passing second. it wasn’t just seungmin’s persistence; it was the way his eyes softened every time eunha smiled, the way his posture changed when she laughed—he stood a little straighter, as if her attention alone gave him some kind of superpower. it was… poetic, in a tragic way. 

"look at him," y/n muttered under her breath, her voice thick with unspoken feelings. "he’s like some lovesick poet in a cheesy romance drama."

jisung followed her gaze, and with a dramatic sigh, he added, "oh yeah, totally shakespearean. except instead of 'romeo, romeo,' it’s more like 'eunha, eunha, why don’t you notice me?'"

y/n snickered, even though it hurt. "and here i am, the sad side character in the background."

jisung glanced at her, eyebrow raised. "you sure you’re not the main character in this tragedy?"

before y/n could respond, seungmin beckoned them over from across the courtyard, clearly having noticed them. she sighed, pushing herself up from the bench. "come on, let’s save him from himself."

as they approached the trio, seungmin’s eyes lit up, clearly relieved to have his best friend and dorm-mate join him. "hey, you guys! we were just about to grab some lunch. wanna join?"

eunha smiled brightly, seemingly pleased with the idea. "yeah, come with us! the more, the merrier."

felix, ever the friendly competitor, added with a grin, "yeah, plus, we could use a buffer. you guys can make sure seungmin doesn’t steal all of eunha’s attention."

y/n forced a smile, ignoring the jab of jealousy that felix’s words brought. "sure, why not?"

as they sat down together in the cafeteria, seungmin was, unsurprisingly, absorbed in eunha, hanging onto her every word like she was some rare bird singing a once-in-a-lifetime song. he laughed at every joke, even the ones that weren’t all that funny, and leaned in a little closer every time she spoke.

and y/n? she could only watch from across the table, her heart twisting in knots as seungmin admired eunha the way she admired him. it was almost poetic, the way his gaze softened when he looked at eunha—the way he seemed to forget the rest of the world when she was near. y/n knew that look all too well, because it was the same way she looked at seungmin, hopelessly and silently.

felix, ever perceptive, seemed to notice the shift in y/n’s mood. he leaned over slightly, nudging her with his elbow. "you okay?"

she plastered on a smile, though it didn’t reach her eyes. "yeah, i’m fine. just… tired, i guess."

felix didn’t push, but he gave her a knowing look, his gaze flickering between her and seungmin before he turned back to the conversation at hand.

"so, eunha," seungmin was saying, his voice almost reverent, "what made you get into photography? you’re so good at it."

eunha blushed slightly, twirling a strand of her hair. "oh, i’ve always loved capturing moments, you know? i think there’s something beautiful about freezing time in a picture. it’s like… you get to hold onto a memory forever."

seungmin’s smile widened, and y/n could practically see the admiration glowing in his eyes. "that’s… that’s beautiful."

y/n, on the other hand, silently picked at her food, each bite feeling heavier than the last. how long was she going to watch him fall for someone else? how long was she going to be the one sitting on the sidelines, waiting for something that would never come?

jisung, noticing her quietness, nudged her under the table. "you’re unusually q—" he whispered, or tried to.

she shrugged, shooting a glare his way. "quit it, squirrel face.”

jisung raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further. he knew her well enough to recognize when she didn’t want to talk about something, and right now, her facade was clearly visible to him.

the air between them thickened slightly, a tension she couldn’t quite shake off. her heart pounded in her chest, its rhythm uneven, as her thoughts wandered. she stole a glance at the brown-haired boy across the room, her gaze softening as it settled on him. 

his fluffy hair, a tousled mess of warm chestnut, danced lightly with each nod and drift of the wind, catching the sunlight in a way that made it seem almost sun-kissed. 

he was talking animatedly with eunha, his every gesture filled with an energy she had grown to both adore and dread. 

his smile, wide and genuine, lit up his entire face, causing his eyes to shine with a brightness that made her chest tighten with a familiar ache.

his presence was magnetic, effortlessly drawing her in like a moth to a flame, even as she tried to resist. she watched the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, the soft curve of his lips that always seemed to hover between a grin and a laugh.

 it was a sight she could never grow tired of, yet it pained her all the same. 

he was a picture of effortless charm, with his broad shoulders and lean frame, the way his clothes always seemed to fit just right. but it wasn’t just his appearance that captivated her; it was the way he carried himself, the kindness in his voice, the gentleness in his movements. 

but more the way he cared. not a lot for her, but for the people he loved.

the way he went out of his way for those he cherished.

even when she wasn’t one of them.

it was.. cruel, in a way. but how could she hate him? that’s the guy who made her fall in love for the first time. who made her feel ‘love’ for the first time. even when he didn’t know it.

he had a way of making everything around him seem brighter, more alive, more.. appreciated.

and then there was eunha. her presence beside him was like a shadow that made her heart sink into a deep hole, even as she tried to push the feeling away. 

eunha, with her flawless skin and effortless beauty, her laughter like music that filled the room. she was everything y/n wasn’t – poised, graceful, just.. perfect. and it was clear that her lover saw it too.

the hopeless romantic could see it in the way his gaze lingered on eunha, how his eyes softened whenever she spoke. the way he leaned in just a little closer to catch every word she said, his attention fully captured by her. his admiration for eunha was evident in every glance, every smile, every word he spoke to her.

she watched him as he admired eunha, the way his eyes seemed to trace every delicate feature of her face, the curve of her lips, the way her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders. 

his expression was one of quiet reverence, as if he were witnessing something godly, something precious. it was a look that maybe she, herself, found to be doing, to him who was so busy with someone else. the look, she had once hoped to see directed at her, but now, she could only watch from the sidelines, her heart burying with each passing moment.

y/n admired him with the same intensity, her eyes tracing the familiar lines of his face, the way his hair fell into his eyes, the way his smile seemed to light up the entire room. but while his gaze was filled with admiration for eunha, hers was filled with longing, a silent yearning that she knew would never be returned.

she swallowed hard, the knot in her chest tightening. she could hear their laughter ringing in her ears, but it was distant, drowned out by her thoughts.

it was too much.

[eunhagal]

Best pictures of eunha tits?

I really wish I had a better way to respond to this, because that would imply that I had a bunch of pictures of Eunha's tits. Unfortunately I often don't have the wherewithal to save every picture I come across. Mostly I go hunting around the internet for pics to attach to what I write

I have a few, but it's not a very robust collection (holy godfriend did I just get funny?)

If you ever want to send some to me, it could inspire me to write more though possibly just saying *wink nudge boob poke*

Oh dear and goodness me, how did that last one get in here?!

[hjnxx]

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ welcome to the jinxxdom.

round one ⸻ the representative hit song battle.

hijinxx would start off their run on queendom with an orchestral version of their hit title track attitude for the first round. the crowd was blown away by the performance and uptick in sound and in strings, live and at-home audiences having a positive reaction.

when it came time for the self assessments, the girls would up vote hyolyn’s performance. they themselves would be up voted by viviz and kep1er, but down voted by brave girls—which sparked netizen speculation online. at the end of the battle, the girls would rank second, just a few thousand points behind hyolyn.

round two ⸻ the cover song battle.

with their pick for wjsn this round, hijinxx performed save me, save you from their 2018 ep ‘wj please’? their cover took on a somber twist to the upbeat song—complete with eerie strings and dark stage outfits. having a live orchestra with them on stage alongside the tweaked backtrack intrigued the audience, cementing them earlier on as performers dedicated not only to their craft but their visuals as well. they would remain in second place when it came to the self assessments.

round three part one ⸻ the position unit battle.

with the group split cleanly down the middle between the two units — ahyeon and eunji for the vocal unit, micha and yuina for the dance unit — fans were eager to see how the girls would perform separated from each other. eunji would make a comment that it reminded her of their house of cards days, only with less stress because she would still have them all by the end of the show. the moment warmed netizen hearts, especially when ahyeon promised to treat them all to a big dinner regardless of their position after it all.

ahyeon and eunji would perform iu’s hold my hand alongside viviz’s eunha and wjsn’s soobin and yeonjung. it was no surprise that eunji was quick to become a fan favorite for her heartfelt emotion while singing, especially being a longtime fan of iu long before she even debuted, but fans were just as surprised to note how well ahyeon’s voice meshed as well. ahyeon herself would say that singing was something she was constantly working on to be more confident in since most of her comfortability resigned to being behind the scenes. so it was to her tearful surprise that their unit won first place.

as for the dance unit, micha and yuina would be paired with hyolyn and wjsn’s yeoreum and eunseo. already known as the group’s strongest stage performers, excitement for their stage was already through the roof—but the live audience was blown away by the energy brought by their synchronization. yuina’s facial expressions would also go viral once again, as well as micha and hyolyn’s chemistry. despite the energy and effort they put in, the unit would only rank second place.

round three part two ⸻ fantastic queendom.

in part two of round three, the fans would give their input and choose shatter me as the song they wanted the girls to perform. and in sticking true to the theme they had somewhat established during their time on the show, hijinxx performed an yet another orchestral version of the powerful song. their performance was full of drama from the exaggerated moves to the newly heightened instrumental, and the high note sung live by eunji only added to the overall atmosphere.

the other contestants would describe their performance as ‘insanely good’ and ‘emotional’, a funny clip of chuu going viral for standing up out of her seat to show the goosebumps she’d gotten from their stage. at the end of voting, this would give hijinxx their first top ranking at first place together since the show began.

the final round ⸻ the live comeback stage.

for the final round, hijinxx performed a new song cryptically titled ‘because’ as their last performance. with the fun instrumental, a live band playing behind them, and back up dancers dressed like them but with detailed masked obscuring their faces, both the audiences and other contestants were in for a treat. the track was produced by ahyeon, who had head creative vision over the performance outfits as well. this would earn them their second first place win.

this performance along with the rest of their stages cemented hijinxx as an upcoming group with dominance in both stage presence and vocal ability. in the moments where all the contestants stood waiting to be told who the winner was, the girls were standing at the very end of the left side of the stage as if in their own world. hands held tightly, and the three youngest with their eyes closed as ahyeon looked over them fondly.

and as the girls huddled together, biding their experience on the show — taeyeon would announce their first place ranking as the winners of the season. yuina’s head would snap up first with a gasp before letting out a loud scream. her abrupt reaction would scare both eunji and micha, causing a chain reaction ending with ahyeon blinking back into focus just as the award was placed in her hands. it would be left to micha to give a short speech on the group’s behalf with eunji and yuina crying in each other’s arms and ahyeon looking like the events of the entire show were suddenly catching up to her.

the girls would then celebrate on stage, thanking the hosts and mingling with the other contestants. later that same night, a celebratory dinner picture would be taken with ahyeon making sure on her promise.

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ popular reactions during and after the show . . . did you tune in ?

[ryan-golds]

a lot of people wanted a redemption arc for the prosecutor but while i don't actually like him, i like that he's a morally grey character. he only sees things black and white and doesn't see he's being a terrible person toward eun ha with how forceful and obsessed he's being but believes it's in the name of justice and saving her. it's ironic for him to think bad people don't change while he thinks he's holier than thou but never changes anything about himself. he thinks eun ha is brainwashed or something when i think he hopes to control her too (sorry for the ramble! you're a fun person to see in the tag!)

Hi anon!!

I have to admit I was one of the people that wanted a redemption arc for prosecutor but after he refused to change his stance towards Jihwan even after he learned he was mistaken all along...I don't think we'll get it and if we do, I think it's going to be something very mild in comparison to what could be a really good redemption arc.

About prosecutor being a morally grey character...you definitely got me thinking for a minute here and you're very right. I also realized that he's the personification of not only society's stigma towards ex convicts but also of the superiority complex quite a few people who work with / adjecent to law enforcement have towards those who don't have a squeaky clean record. Which leads me to believe there won't be much redemption for him since realistically, the real world doesn't work like that (but this is a kdrama so I might be wrong here).

You're so right about him being so blind about his own actions towards Eunha, he's basically having the behavior he thinks Jihwan is having. Brainwashing is definitely the word I was looking for yesterday, it's so obvious with the whole 'I'll just think she's here for a brief moment' line. Honestly I wouldn't be shocked if he'd be the controlling type if he ever dated Eunha, I can see him not wanting her to hang out with x or z because 'they're not good enough' according to his standards. Not to mention that, given that he completely disregarded her feelings for her home, threatening to remove her by force regardless of how she'd hypothetically feel there in a situation of danger, I also wouldn't be surprised if he'd be the type to ignore her feelings if they disagreed because 'he knows best'. It's almost funny how when we really look at it, he's having the behaviors he himself despises and that he tries to project onto Jihwan, who's the complete opposite. Realistically, Jihwan doesn't want the prosecutor around for valid reasons yet he hasn't pressured Eunha to give up her connection to the prosecutor once. It shows a respect for her own agency that prosecutor definitely doesn't have.

(And you are so sweet! I hope you know you made me smile so hard, sometimes I think I talk too much in the tag so thank you for enjoying my ramblings <3 and feel free to ramble anytime, I love getting asks!)

[enterenews]

Kim Ji-min and Kim Jun-ho indirectly mention 'laughter'

Comedian Kim Ji-min made an indirect reference to Kim Jun-ho.

In the JTBC entertainment program 'Knowing Brother' (hereinafter referred to as 'Brother'), which aired on the 21st, Kim Ji-min, Park Mi-sun, Jo Hye-ryun, Hong Ji-yoon, Mimi, Yua, Sin-bi, and Eun-ha appeared as guests as a special feature on New Year's Day, and Kim Ji-min indirectly met Kim Jun-ho, who is in a public relationship. It was mentioned and attracted attention.

On this day, Shindong first gave his partner a chance to transfer before the final partner selection time. The older brothers and the guests wrote down the favorite mate in their hearts that they had hidden from each other on a piece of paper.

When Shin-dong opened the note a little later, Mimi wanted Kang Ho-dong as her new mate, not Lee Soo-geun, who was her previous mate. Park Mi-sun, who was Kang Ho-dong's previous partner, rather wanted Lee Soo-geun as a transfer partner, leading to a reaction of "It was mixed love."

In response, Park Mi-sun asked Mimi, "Why did you choose Kang Ho-dong?" Lee Soo-geun said, "Mimi likes men she doesn't live with." Then, the older brothers said, "Kang Ho-dong is a housemate of more than 20 years," and showed reactions going back and forth between the setting of the situational drama and reality.

Afterwards, Shindong explained Kim Ji-min's note, saying, "Jimin wrote down his fortune here. I will collect my fortune and save it. Lee Sang-min." Lee Sang-min also kept his loyalty by choosing Kim Ji-min, his existing partner.

What Kim Ji-min said about her is a laughing code indirectly referring to comedian Kim Jun-ho, with whom she is in an open relationship in real life. Kim Ji-min and Kim Jun-ho started dating in April last year as comedian seniors and juniors.

The two recently revealed their plans to marry next year through SBS' 'Doll Sing For Man', drawing attention. While Kim Ji-min and Lee Sang-min seemed to have passed the chance to swap partners without trial, Lee Jin-ho pointed out Kim Ji-min and caught her attention, saying, "I want to take care of you. I knew you cut your hair."

Previously, Kim Ji-min revealed that her boyfriend, Kim Jun-ho, did not recognize that she had cut her hair. Kim Hee-chul and Park Mi-seon responded, "What is this?" and "It's very shit", drawing laughter.

On the other hand, Kim Hee-chul aroused curiosity by saying, "Can I do it again? Can I not do it?" Previously, Heechul Kim's partner was SinB and Eunha of the group ViviG.

It turns out that Kim Hee-chul wrote, 'Monday, Wednesday, Friday date with Sinbi, Tuesday, Thursday, Sat date with Eunha', showing a sense of not choosing between SinB and Eunha, but continuing the setting of a man straddling both legs.

However, SinB and Eunha both laughed because they did not choose Kim Heechul. Kim Heechul was perplexed, saying, "What will my parents who are watching think of me?"

SinB pointed to Lee Soo-geun and Eun-ha to Kang Ho-dong and explained, "Because Heechul is so popular", "I thought Heechul would be Shin Sin-go", "I thought Eun-ha would be Go". In response, Kim Ji-min burst out laughing, saying, “What should Heechul do?

[mctherly]

VISUAL SERIES + Family photos

ft. @voteno , @bearmauled & @empaath 

[kimsowon]

ᵔᴥᵔノ ♡

[mactuna]

🌸flower of evil🌸

i have no words. idk why it took me so long to start watching it, but omfg this show was a MASTERPIECE. the ACTING and the EMOTIONS.

spoilers ahead!!

hyeonsu is just such a dynamic character w the best background story and his relationship w jiwon gives me so much hope for the world. in the first episode, we are introduced to him as this cold, unforgiving, unfeeling character.

BUT THAT IS JUST COMPLETELY FALSE

as the story progresses, we see how hyeonsu takes responsibility for his actions and even carries the burdens of others he cares about, so you can’t help but feel bad for him. 

but jiwon? omg she literally is such a queen and i love how she is nothing like any other kdrama female lead i’ve seen, married or otherwise. she perfectly portrays what it’s like to find out the heart-breaking deception of someone you love (MARRIED 14 YEARS, GOALS), only to find out that her heart was completely right in choosing him when she finds out the whole truth of what happened with the village chief, his sister, and the serial killings. i also love how she won’t stand for her husband murdering someone. that just says so much about her morals as a police officer and as a person, despite how much she loves hyeonsu and jung misuk telling her what went down with heeseung.

the scene where she finds out about his past is absolute heart-breaking and my heart broke along with hers when he said that “i’ve never loved her, not even once.” LIKE GODDAMN. i was ready to cry and punch someone at the same time. but THEN, we find out that he just hasn’t realized what love is because he’s been conditioned to believe he’s incapable of it. 

oh god the plot twists??? twist after twist. like i knew the real baek heeseung definitely played more of a significant role than some vegetable, but the accomplice?? definitely evil incarnate and then do minseok taking him in under his wing as the killer. and then his parents too? i like how i honestly couldn’t hate the parents for doing what they could to protect their idea of who their son really was. it’s just such a hard decision to make when you so desperately wish to believe something else. like i honestly can’t blame the mom for doing what she did. i love hyeonsu still visits him, even though director baek imagines him as the wrong son, despite everything that happened because he just has so much heart and kindness. 

the dynamic between jiwon and her coworkers was literally so cute. like for jaeseop to endanger his career because he has so much trust in jiwon and hyeonsu is amazing, and their whole dynamic together is honestly heartwarming af. also when hojoon shot heeseung and their captain was like, omg my son. i love how much they care for her and how they trust her even though she has to leave to take care of eunha a lot and they’re super understanding of that bc they know how hard she works.

also moojin and haesoo’s redemption arc? i love how she transitioned from being terrified and helpless to sacrificing herself to save her only niece. my heart broke, watching that scene and knowing how terrified eunha must have been. she’s barely five and all of this is happening around her, but she handles it so well despite being LITERALLY FOIVE. 

anyways, the ending is so bittersweet but it honestly fits and gives him the chance of a new life without all that heartbreak and pain in between. it sucks for jiwon but for him to go back to her, simply because his heart is telling him to and based on all the flashbacks he gets of their relationship (THE RAIN SCENE)... THATS TRUE LOVE. there’s literally so much more that i loved about this show that i can’t put into words but i’m happy they got their little happy ending at the end :’)

[sorryimananti-romantic]

Take Me Home (Chapter 9)

faerieprince!seonghwa x reader

genre and warnings: fantasy, fluff, angst, suggestive, violence warning

word count: ~15k

synopsis: prince seonghwa, the faerie prince of dark, has been having dreams about his own death by the hands of his friend, prince hongjoong of light, his only hope the girl with an incredibly familiar face appearing in those dreams telling him she'd go back in time to save him- the girl being yena, who's lived her life without memories of her childhood and a block in her mind, now out on a journey to get herself treated, where she'll encounter the princes and find her life changed, in ways she never thought, discovering her powers and her soulmate along the way, love strong enough to survive through multiple timelines

series masterlist

Yena, San and Cheetah were walking in the hall when Hwasa came rushing towards the three, shouting 'the robe, the robe!'

Wheein gasped, and Yena and San stopped in the middle of the hallway, watching Solar and Moonbyul rush towards Yena with a robe, "You have to wear this."

"Oh, right," San took the navy blue robe, putting it around her shoulders and clipping it, "Anything else?"

"Aren't there gloves too?" Cheetah frowned.

"Oh please, it's just us," Yena groaned, "If I had a choice, I'd walk wearing men's clothes."

"That's exactly why you don't," San concluded. "Come on. Everyone's waiting."

Putting one hand back on San's arm and the other in Cheetah's, she walked with them to the throne room, and two of the guards standing bowed to them, opening the doors, making Yena gasp.

She had just seen the throne room a few hours ago- but now it was full of candles, hydrangeas and lavenders hanging from the ceiling, the chandeliers in full glow. The silver carpet ran to where the thrones were, where Yeosang stood.

Seonghwa did suck in his breath when he saw her- she was beautiful. He watched her as she smiled nervously, San leading her slowly and proudly across the hall, the court members on the sides bowing to her. 

Yena bowed back her head slightly to everyone, greeting new faces as she went, and noticed familiar faces-

"You guys," Yena almost cried as she saw her friends- Sana, Jihyo, Mingyu and Seokmin from San's court, Siyeon and Jeongin from Wooyoung's court, Hyungwon, Changkyun and Eunha from Jongho's court, Seulgi, Yugyeom and Jaebeom from Hongjoong's court, Yeji, Ryujin and Woosung from Yunho's court, Soyeon and two other from Seonghwa's court, and finally three people from Mingi's court. They all waved at her, smiling widely, especially Seokmin who made her laugh with the way he was smiling.

"When did they all even reach here?" Yena wondered, and San said he would tell her later. The three then walked further, until they reached Wooyoung and Jongho.

"Princess Yena," they bowed, and Yena rolled her eyes, smiling. They gave her a bouquet of hydrangeas and lavender-lilies. Yena thanked them, and Cheetah took the bouquet, Jongho plucking out one small lily and handing it to her, "They'll clip it on you."

Yena nodded, taking the flower, and walking along, smiling at Mingi and Yunho. The two bowed, greeting her and Yunho said, "Welcome home, Princess."

Yena smiled, and Mingi took the brooch- a pretty silver little thing, and took the flower from her, clipping it near her collarbone on her dress, smiling proudly at her.

Yena bowed, then looked ahead at Hongjoong and-

Seonghwa.

He looked regal in black- it really was his colour. The look in his eyes made her flush, and she subconsciously squeezed on San's arm, who only grinned as he walked her to them.

"Princess Yena," The two said in unison, bowing, and she bowed back, "You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Hongjoong," Yena smiled, and Seonghwa took out a ring from the box he had been holding.

"Your mother's ring," he said, and Yena wowed at the elegant silver band with a single pearl in between- her birthstone. "If I may."

Yena took a deep breath, and raised her right hand, and Seonghwa took her hand in his, caressing it before sliding the ring on her ring finger.

They shared a look- and she knew that even if he hadn't said anything to her, he had a lot to say later. Yena bowed, and finally looked at her brother, whose eyes were shining brightly, a silver crown on his head.

"Kang Yena of Space," he announced, and Yena heard shuffling- a number of men and women wearing dark blue uniforms stood in front of Yena, kneeling on one knee. "Your court."

Yena looked in wonder at each of them, asking them to raise. She looked at each of them carefully, smiling, "Thank you."

They all bowed before leaving, and the three stepped on the two stairs, Yeosang a step above them, Namjoon standing next to Yeosang with her crown on a pillow.

Yeosang held a scroll, "Kang Yena of Space, daughter of the Kang bloodline of Space and Spirit, twin to Kang Yeosang of Spirit, blah blah-"

"Yeosang!" Yena scolded, hearing a roar of laughter throughout the hall, and Yeosang told her that it was okay.

"Tonight, you'll be crowned Princess Yena of Space," he ditched the scroll, "I'll make my own speech. You've been unaware of your status as a princess ever since you were taken. At the age of 22, you have thankfully returned to us," Yeosang took a deep breath. "You are Princess Yena, even if you choose not to rule your Kingdom. You'll be Princess Yena of Space, wherever you go."

"I will, eventually," Yena told him, "It will take some time to adjust, of course."

"Of course," Yeosang assured her, "No rush."

With that, he took the crown- a beautifully arched silver thing with midnight blue stones and pearls embedded on it. Yena stopped breathing as Yeosang set the crown on her head- and even though it was heavy, she felt light.

"Long live the Princess!" Someone shouted, and everyone echoed, Yena watching them with surprise as they bowed, and Yena took her throne along with Yeosang, hand in hand.

"Now that the formalities are over, can we party?" Wooyoung asked.

Yeosang rolled his eyes, "Go ahead."

He cheered, and Yeosang got up, taking off his own crown and Yena took off hers, handing it to Namjoon and getting up. "Can I take off this robe now too?"

Yeosang nodded, helping her. "Some formalities we had to deal with."

"You made the speech pretty interesting," Yena looked at him pointedly.

Yeosang laughed, putting a hand on her shoulders. "Mother and father would be the most proud right now."

With a kiss on her forehead, the two walked down the steps, joining the rest. The princes hugged Yena one by one, and then she hurried off to meet her friends.

"Sana!" She shouted, and the two giggled as they hugged, Sana almost picking her in the air. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too!" Jihyo joined the hug, "If I knew it was the princess I was healing, I would never have left your side!"

"How's your mother?" Yena asked, and Jihyo looked at her, touched.

"She's fine now. Thank you for remembering us."

"How can I forget!" Yena said, and Mingyu joined.

"It would be a sin to forget," he hugged her, and Yena laughed.

"You giant. I missed you too. And you!" She looked at Seokmin, who came silly dancing towards her, making Mingyu embarrassed.

"I saw you!" Seokmin said after hugging her, "The future Yena- I saw you!"

Yena gasped, "You did?"

"I thought it was normal Yena until you came out looking like a zombie from the Prince's chamber," Seokmin said, referring to the healing session at Antares.

"She doesn't look like a zombie, ever, okay?" Siyeon punched Seokmin's arm, embracing Yena and spinning her, making her squeal.

Jeongin greeted her shyly too, and Yena asked how they had been. Soon, the others joined, and Yena caught up with everyone, sighing when she finally embraced Soyeon.

"Are you alright?" Yena asked her.

"I should be the one asking you," she shook her head. "We never thought that Jinki- of all the people..."

"It's okay," Yena assured her. "I remember him as Seoho- I think I won't be able to forget that side of him- when I thought he was my friend."

Soyeon nodded, "He wasn't too warm, but we had our moments. Even he got used to us."

"Don't resent the good memories if you can," Yena told her, and Soyeon nodded.

Someone touched Yena's shoulder, and Yena knew it was Seonghwa before she turned. "How do you feel?"

"Not Yena," she said, making him chuckle, "You look neat. Glad to see you out of your uniform."

Seonghwa shrugged, "You don't look too bad either."

Yena gave him a side-eye and he laughed, "Do you want to get some air?"

"I'd be glad to," Yena admitted. Taking his hand, she followed him out, the two nodding at Yeosang who just smirked at Yena, Yena returning it with an eyeroll.

He took her to the balcony, and the view was breathtaking- the sea in front of her shimmering pearls, the moon and the sun glowing equally side by side.

"If my castle is not as pretty as this," Yena said, "I'm making Yeosang move out of here."

"Time to pull that card, is it?" Seonghwa grinned, "The pity card."

"Of course," Yena laughed. "He should do that for his long lost twin, shouldn't he?"

"Oh please, your castle is exactly the same. I'd say the view is better there."

"You've been there?" Yena asked, and he nodded. 

"Everyone, at some point. Yeosang lives there for half a year every year."

"It must have been hard," Yena thought, and Seonghwa shook his head.

"Let's not be sad tonight," he said, caressing her hand that rested on the grill. 

Yena smiled as she watched his hands on her- making her hands feel small. "This is giving me deja vu."

Seonghwa looked at her, surprised, "I guess the memories are still there somewhere for you to have a deja vu. Do you remember us on the terrace in my room?"

"I remember how the moon was brighter, and the sky- starry. Did we talk all night?"

"Pretty much," Seonghwa looked at the sky, and Yena took that time to admire his side profile, partly hidden by his bangs. "That's when you told me about your dreams with the darkling."

"I never knew it was a memory," Yena admitted.

"Do you want to see the memory? Of us on the terrace?" Seonghwa hesitated before asking.

"Sure," Yena was ready. Seonghwa turned, and once again, Yena felt the familiar feeling, a memory creeping up as Seonghwa put his forehead to hers, running their nights in the terrace through her mind. 

"That's when I asked you about your wings..." Yena realised, looking at Seonghwa as he drew back, "You showed me your wings, later. Didn't you?"

"In Antares, I did," he admitted. "Do you... remember?"

"Sadly, I don't," Yena sighed, "Can you show me?"

"Here?" Seonghwa laughed, "In your dreams."

Yena realised he was quoting himself. She shook her head, smiling. "Can I... look at you then?"

"Look at me?" Seonghwa asked, confused.

"Just like," Yena tried explaining, taking his hand, tracing the veins on his hands, "Like this. I want to remember... you."

Seonghwa tried to resist the urge to tell her she could touch him anywhere she liked. His throat tightened, and he only nodded, watching her as she examined his hands. 

"I think I remember your touch," Yena said, and Seonghwa drew a hand back, hiding his blush, and Yena watched amused.

"I forgot how you say things like these abruptly," Seonghwa admitted, looking at Yena, "If you say it like this, Yena..."

Yena threw her head back, laughing, "Come on. You deserve this after making me blush endlessly for days!"

"It's only been two days," Seonghwa shook his head, "I might take revenge-"

"Save it for later," Wooyoung and Jongho watched the two, amused, "It's time for the dance."

"Dance?" Yena gaped at the two, then looked at Seonghwa for help, "I don't know how people dance!"

"How do you dance?" Jongho asked, and Yena made some weird movements, making them snicker.

"That would suffice," Wooyoung laughed. "Come on."

Yena groaned, and Seonghwa said it would be okay, the formality only lasted for one dance before everyone danced to their own beat.

Entering the ballroom this time, as grand as the throne room, Seonghwa offered to be her dance partner and she gladly accepted, muttering he better make it look like she was an expert. Seonghwa led the dance, Yena trying not to step on his boots, and she realised he was slow- slower than the others dancing for her sake.

The sound of the music filled the air- the faeries in full glory and jewels playing the instruments in one corner. Yena looked around- everyone was dancing with anyone- Seokmin and Mingyu were the highlight couple, Jihyo dancing with San and Sana dancing with Jongho. Siyeon and Wooyoung were arguing even while dancing, Mingi and Yunho decided to be a couple for the night too, Hongjoong was dancing with Seulgi, Yeosang with Solar. Yena smiled at them- they seemed to be having fun.

"Mingi and Yunho always do this at events," Seonghwa told her, laughing. "Wait till you see them dance freely- I might have to cover your eyes."

"I'm curious now," Yena said, "Also, you can match their pace. I'm actually not that bad- I just haven't danced in a while."

Seonghwa nodded, waltzing around with her, hand tight on her waist, not breaking eye contact. It was overwhelming, Yena thought, to look at the man she loved when he was gazing at her so longingly.

"I don't know how, but I still love you," Yena suddenly said, and Seonghwa almost tripped, muttering something about a warning, "How does that work now?"

"I guess you really, really love me," Seonghwa grinned, "To not have forgotten."

Yena's mouth suddenly parted, "You don't believe in soulmates, do you?"

Seonghwa realised she remembered now- at least that memory. "I didn't really, until I met you."

"I remember," Yena's eyes were distant as she thought about the memory- a flash of her and Seonghwa in a room, Seonghwa telling her about the concept of soulmates.

He brought her closer, and Yena focused back on Seonghwa. "Maybe it's because Kieran is gone now that my memories are coming back quicker than I thought."

"If you remember everything without me showing you," Seonghwa smirked, "Where would the fun in that be?"

Yena frowned for a moment, blushing widely when she realised what he meant. "I hate you."

Seonghwa laughed, kissing her cheek. "And I love you."

Yena smiled, and the song changed, a sigh of relief going through the hall as everyone lost it.

—-----------------------

It was a chaotic mess, to put it nicely. 

Drinks mixed with a little magic that made you high enough to make you relax and let loose, but not enough to make you forget, were passed throughout the ballroom. As the song changed and drinks were downed, all the faeries in the ballroom had started grooving at their own pace.

It was truly a sight to see, especially as the Eight Princes circled around the Princess, dancing with bright eyes and wide smiles, and Yena herself, feeling high not just because of the drink but the atmosphere, had ditched her heeled sandals and danced barefoot all night long with anyone and everyone.

She had never felt wild and free, not like this. She had never in her life laughed so loud, laughed without a worry, without something holding her back. And this time- she was in her home, with her family. It was a night she would never forget.

Especially the moment when everyone else had left, leaving just the princes and her. They had danced a bit more- the princes had all danced to a song with her while the others cheered, and then they had all gone to the balcony, huddling close to each other as the chilly breeze caressed their skins, and watched the starry sky as the effect of the drink wore off.

"I never thought I'd get to see one of the princes someday," Yena sighed, feeling overwhelmed. "Much less find out that I was one of them."

"And here you are," Jongho, who was sitting next to her, said, "I never thought we'd share a moment like this."

"I know," Yena tucked stray hair behind her ears, "I feel like this is a dream and I'm gonna wake up, and I'm gonna be back in Fomalhaut with the girls and Cheetah- or back in... when- oh, god. This is not a dream, right? I'm not in that little room with... Junyoung, right?"

"You're not, not anymore," Wooyoung, who was sitting on her right, rubbed her back. "You're here, Yena. You're home, and safe."

Yeosang looked worriedly at the panic lacing his sister's eyes, "This moment is real, Yena. I guess it's the drinks making you feel overwhelmed, but you are here, right now, with us. You're safe."

Yena nodded, putting her head on Jongho's shoulder, "I'm so tired. I don't want to sleep anymore- not without the guarantee that I won't have nightmares of that time."

San and Seonghwa shared a look- it really was the drink that was making her talk about her fears so openly. 

"You'll sleep okay tonight- this drink won't make you dream tonight at least," Hongjoong assured her, but looked at Mingi while he said it- he, too, looked weary from all he had been through. "The nightmares will go away with time."

"Time," Yena scoffed lightly. "I'm so sick of hearing about time."

Everyone looked at Yena, surprised at the bitterness her tone held as she talked about her own magic. Yena stifled a yawn, her hand going to cover her mouth. "Don't you ever become sick of being used for your magic?"

There was a moment of silence, but then Yunho was the one who broke the silence, to everyone's surprise. "You're not the only one, Yena."

"How so?"

"People expect a lot from the Prince of Water," he scoffed, and in that moment, everyone could relate to Yunho. "They think it's easy to make it rain, to calm the waves when they're strong. They don't understand how my body handles it."

"They think it's easy to change the direction of the winds too," Wooyoung said, "They really think we got it easy, even when they're the same as us, don't they?"

"I hated my magic," Yena confessed to everyone but Mingi's surprise. "It's probably why it took me so long to come back."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Yeosang said, "The important thing is that you made it."

Yena didn't reply, just stared into the distance, her mind blank for once. A few moments later, they decided to sleep- dawn was approaching already. Yeosang decided to give Yena the mansion tour when she was sober enough, and just led her to her room- right next to his. Yena didn't look around, simply laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her eyes dry but her heart wet with tears.

A knock sounded and Mingi entered when Yena said yes. He looked around the room once, before coming to sit beside Yena. "Are you okay?"

"I can't sleep."

"I know I should be the last person to say this, but Hongjoong was right. You can't avoid sleeping forever, Yena."

Yena gave him a pointed look- she knew he was referring to the times in the other dimension when she was drained after practising and could have slept, but the fear of having nightmares about her time in Algieba had kept her awake, to Neve's annoyance.

"Now that Neve's not here to tell me how much of a coward I am to be afraid of sleeping, I guess you took over."

Mingi knew she didn't mean it like that- yet his heart hurt a little at her words. She probably missed Neve too. "Don't act like you're the only one who's been having sleeping problems ever since that time."

"Ah," Yena shook her head. "Sorry. And thank you- for teaching me to shapeshift. I know I never thanked you for it, because I used it to sleep to your annoyance, but really. Thank you, Mingi."

Mingi smiled sadly, "I tried it last night. Slept as a salamander. I wonder where you got the idea of sleeping as an animal to avoid dreaming."

"I wonder..." Yena frowned as a memory tugged at her- almost like it was scratching at her.

"At least sleep in your animal form," Mingi scolded her.

"I'll try," Yena promised, and with an encouraging pat on her shoulder, Mingi left, leaving Yena wondering why she wasn't turning into her animal form ever since she came back.

She should have been excited to tell everyone- especially Yeosang- that she had learnt to shapeshift too, during her time in the other dimension. But... It felt like there was a memory related to shapeshifting that she had forgotten- which meant it was probably linked with Seonghwa.

Seonghwa... Yena shook her head, and decided it was best she shapeshift and sleep before thoughts gripped her mind- thoughts she would rather avoid right now.

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

"Yena's... not in her room."

"What do you mean she's not in her room?" Yeosang's voice raised a little as he looked at Hwasa, who had just checked the room. 

"Exactly that," Hwasa said, "Maybe she's somewhere else?"

"But almost everyone is still sleeping... unless-"

"Nah, it didn't look like it," Hwasa winked at Yeosang, who shook his head.

Yeosang, unsatisfied, went to Yena's room, opening the door a little and peeking inside. There was no one there. Frowning, he went to the living room, where Hongjoong, Yunho, Seonghwa and Jongho were already present. 

"Did Yena sleep with you last night?" Yeosang asked, and Seonghwa almost choked on his drink.

"She did not," he frowned at Yeosang while the others stifled their laughs. "Why are you even asking?"

Yeosang, more unaffected than oblivious, answered, "She's not in her room. Not in any of your rooms, is she?"

"Nah," Hongjoong said, "Maybe check Wooyoung and San's room- they have a thing with sleepovers."

Yeosang nodded, checking their room, finding only the two sound asleep. Next, he went to Mingi's room, and found him getting ready.

"Yena's not in her room," Yeosang said, "I was wondering if she was here."

Mingi shrugged, "Maybe she's out roaming around?"

"She wouldn't leave without informing anyone- she wouldn't make us worry like that."

Mingi nodded, "Point."

He followed Yeosang to the living room, spotting a white furry thing by the window. "Did nobody notice the cat by the window?"

"What cat?" Everyone looked at where Mingi pointed, and Yeosang started towards it.

"How did that thing enter-" he was held back by Mingi, who was smiling.

"Let her sleep."

Yeosang almost said something colourful, but then a collective gasp of realisation sounded throughout the room and Yeosang had to sit down.

"She learned how to shapeshift?"

"I taught her," Mingi sat proudly between him and Hongjoong, earning a look of surprise from the rest. "She uses it to sleep, mostly. There's not much a cat does anyway."

"Where did she get that idea-" Seonghwa began, but then paused abruptly as he realised it was from him. 

"Don't tell me it was you," Yunho laughed.

"He's guilty," Jongho confirmed.

"She doesn't remember it," Mingi told Seonghwa, "She gave me that idea too."

Seonghwa sighed, sitting back as he stared at the majestic fur of a cat. "What can I say? At least she's not a meerkat."

"Not this again," Yeosang groaned, laughing as he threw a pillow at the eldest prince.

"I can't imagine her as a meerkat- she got the good gene I guess," Jongho laughed.

They were laughing when their eyes went to where the cat had been- surprised to find it staring back at them- with obvious annoyance on her face.

"I guess we were too loud," Hongjoong muttered, and the cat, shaking her head, walked lazily to the nearest room- which happened to be where San and Wooyoung were, and disappeared through the little gap in the door, making sure to shut the door behind her.

The princes looked at each other, and burst into laughter. That was Yena, alright.

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

"Wooyoung, hey," San poked Wooyoung's forehead. "Look at this."

"5 more minutes," he groaned, turning his back to San, but San pulled at his hair.

"There's a cat here," he said, and Wooyoung turned, rubbing his eyes. 

Indeed, between them, a white cat was curled, sleeping rather peacefully. 

"Where did it come from?" Wooyoung asked.

"It was here when I woke up," San said, lightly touching the fur on the cat's tail, "Do you think Yeosang got one and didn't tell us?"

"He probably didn't tell us because we'd tease him about being a meerkat and not inheriting the cat gene," Wooyoung scoffed, and San laughed.

The cat yawned, opening one grey eye and then stretching, curling back. San and Wooyoung took that as a yes to do whatever they liked with the cat, and they started petting it, rubbing its head and neck, smiling as the cat didn't respond much.

"It’s still sleepy," Wooyoung laughed.

"No, it's because you're doing it wrong," San slapped Wooyoung's hand away, "Watch this."

He dragged the cat- to the obvious annoyance of the cat- closer to him, rubbing its head and neck, then lightly caressing the space between the cat's eyes, making it relax. Wooyoung lightly caressed it under the chin, satisfied when the cat rested its face on his hand, stopping him.

The door abruptly opened, surprising the three as they turned to see Yeosang.

"It's been an hour since we've been awake- what do you think you're doing?"

"You never told us you got a cat!" Wooyoung yelled at Yeosang, and Yeosang gasped as he realised-

"Dumb and dumber," Yena said, having shifted back in an instant, making the two scream in surprise, almost falling off the bed. Yena, amused, stretched like a cat before jumping off the bed, "Dumb and dumber."

San laughed in disbelief, "When did this happen!"

"I had a lot of time in that dimension," Yena smirked. "Thanks to Mingi, I learned."

"My heart almost stopped!!" Wooyoung was still recovering. It was Yeosang's turn to laugh at him.

"I should hide well the next time I sleep as a cat," Yena said, hands on her hips, mouth thin in annoyance, "No one lets me sleep peacefully."

"You should," Yeosang laughed, leading her out. Yena took a good look around the living room, where the princes were still sitting, absorbed in discussion. 

"So the castle in Alhena, it's pretty much the same, right?" Yena asked, and Yeosang nodded. "I love it. It's really elegant."

"It is," Yeosang agreed, "Probably the most simple but elegant out of all the castles and palaces."

"I like that," Yena smiled, "I'll join you in a minute."

After refreshing, Yena grabbed a pancake, folding it and stuffing it in her mouth as she stared out of the window, the blue, purple and white flowers in full bloom. She was suddenly reminded of last night when she had been presented with the bouquet, and she smiled subconsciously.

"What are you thinking?" Hongjoong joined her, both in watching the view and stuffing a pancake in his mouth as well.

Yena swallowed the food in her mouth, "Last night was... a fever dream."

"It was," Hongjoong agreed. "Unforgettable. I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

Yena nodded, grabbing another mini pancake, "What was that drink? I think I won't mind getting drunk on that every now and then."

"We keep it for special occasions," Hongjoong laughed, "You should know why."

Yena looked down at her still swollen feet, "Can't promise I won't do that again."

The two shared a grin, and Yena stared into the distance. "Everyone will go back to their homes and get busy now, won't they?"

"We're staying for another day," Hongjoong told her, "We've been gone too long- but we'll be back whenever you ask for us, Yena. You know that, right?"

Yena looked at the princes wistfully, talking and laughing with each other, "If it were up to me, I'd have us like this forever."

Hongjoong smiled as he joined her in watching the princes- in that moment, normal people. "I know. But hey, you have a portal!" 

Yena gasped as she looked at Hongjoong, slapping her head, "Now that's an idea!"

Hongjoong laughed, "We can meet up every month now, instead of waiting for a year- only if you want to-"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I meant, if you're okay with doing that magic," Hongjoong said cautiously, and Yena smiled, ruffling his ginger hair.

"Of course I am. Anything for you guys."

Hongjoong smiled, and the two looked at their friends.

"Anything for you guys," Yena repeated.

—----------------------------

Yena spent all day with the princes who gave her a tour around her home, took her to the shore and played in the water, and Yeosang promised to show her all of her land when everyone would be back in their homes. Yena looked forward to seeing her kingdom the most.

It was her last dinner with all of her friends- the princes and the court members- all in the enormous dining hall, seated together, sharing jokes and food. Yena's eyes stung- she was close to tears throughout the whole thing as she realised it would be a long, long time when all of them would gather together like this again.

Yena spent the rest of the night with the court members- mostly catching up with Seokmin, Mingyu, the healers including Sana, and Siyeon- the ones she was the most close to. She cried when they said she was welcome to portal and meet them whenever she felt like it. 

The farewell with Cheetah was the hardest- she was leaving in the night time. Cheetah told her she was proud of her and hugged her as she cried- and then the both of them were crying and laughing, promising to make time for each other every few months at least. Yena told her that she was welcome in her kingdom anytime and to expect her within this month- she wanted to get some of her belongings. 

"You really grew up for this moment," Cheetah tucked Yena's hair behind her ears, smiling proudly as she tapped her cheeks playfully- like she always did. "I think I saw it before too."

"Really? When?"

"When you came back from the portal after a week, and refused to cry when everyone got scared of you," Cheetah said, "I saw it on your face then- the look that told me that you were made different. I should have known."

Yena scoffed, "Looks like all this information is meddling with your memories- I remember how I was trembling!"

"But still!" Cheetah laughed, "I saw it on your face, Yena. You were always a little different than the rest. I'm just glad you found your home finally."

Yena smiled, "My home is with you too."

Cheetah hugged her, long and tight, before saying her farewell to everyone in the court and leaving. Yena watched her go with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, and Seonghwa joined her.

"Now it feels real," she laughed, "Now that she left. This place is going to feel so empty."

"Tell me about it," Seonghwa shook his head, "The post-depression after gathering up every year stuck for weeks."

Yena looked at him, "Are you leaving early tomorrow?"

Seonghwa nodded, "In the morning, with the rest."

Yena bit her lip- she really wanted to spend more time with him and get her memories back while making new ones.

"You know, you can always portal to my place, whenever you like."

"I know," Yena smiled. 

Seonghwa was about to say something, but then Yena was called by one of the court members, and she got busy again. 

After wrapping up, the princes all sat in the living room again- this time, grim.

"I get that you all are leaving," Yeosang said, "But does the mood have to be so... gloomy?"

"I'll miss this so much," Wooyoung groaned loudly, and everyone echoed in agreement.

"Yena~" San wailed, holding her hand dramatically, "After having spent such a long time with you, how am I going to deal with Seokmin on my own?"

"Good riddance," Yena shrugged and everyone laughed, leaving San with a hand on his heart, hurt.

"No, but," Yena shook her head. "Truly. I'm saying it for the first time? I don't know, but it's the last time I'm saying this, so you better not interrupt-"

"Okay," Jongho said, and Yena looked pointedly at him while the others roared in laughter, Mingi doubling over after Yena sent the nearest object- which happened to be a pen she had been playing with- at him.

"Thank you, guys, for all you did for me," She looked at each of them as she said this, "And I'm truly sorry for all the trouble we've been through. I know it's not our fault, but I'm still sorry."

There was a moment of silence, then San said, "This better be the last time you say it then."

Yena smiled, "No more apologising, I promise."

"All that trouble did us one good thing," Yeosang said, "That we're here, today. That you got to know every one of us- the way you should have from long ago. Let's put behind all the bad memories- I know there are more good ones that we all made."

Everyone agreed, and Mingi laughed, "Don't you cry on us again!"

"I'm trying not to!" Yena laughed, looking upwards. "It's hard!"

"No more crying, no more crying-"

"That would make her cry more, San," Jongho scolded. 

"I'll be a mess if I cry anytime again," Yena wiped her eyes, "No more crying. Not tonight, at least. Also- don't you dare hug me right now if you don't want me to cry-"

Yena was interrupted by San and Yunho crushing her in a hug from both sides, and then the others tackling them along, making Yena scream for breath as they all laughed loudly.

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

It was after everyone had gone to their rooms that Yena knocked at Seonghwa's room, knowing he would be up. As if Seonghwa had been expecting her, he opened the door instantly, making her jump in surprise a little.

"Hi," Yena breathed, taking in his figure that towered over her. "Did I disturb you?"

"Not at all. You wanna come in?"

Yena nodded, entering, seeing his clothes sprawled on the bed- he was packing, it seemed. "I was almost done," Seonghwa said, and Yena took a seat as she watched Seonghwa neatly fold his clothes and stuff them in the bag, "What brings you here?"

"I- " Yena paused, and Seonghwa looked at her, "I just... wanted to spend some time with you. You're going back tomorrow."

"Do you want me to stay?" A smirk was growing on his face, and Yena shook her head as she laughed.

"It would be unfair to ask that of you, I'll just portal whenever I miss you too much," she said, "Just finish packing, then we can talk properly."

Seonghwa nodded, speeding up, and Yena took that time to scan him- his bare arms revealed in the half-sleeve black shirt he was in, his bangs falling over his forehead, making her want to tuck them behind. Gosh, she thought, I need to wash my face with cold water.

All that staring made her zone out and she didn't realise when Seonghwa was done and just sat staring back at her from that distance, finally waving his hands after a minute and Yena jerked back to reality, shaking her head, muttering sorry.

Seonghwa came closer, sitting right in front of her chair, on the bed. "You look... distant. What do you keep thinking of?"

"You," Yena admitted, to Seonghwa's surprise. "More specifically, how I realised today that half- maybe the whole reason I learned to shapeshift and sleep was because of... you."

Seonghwa scanned her face, "You want me to tell you about it?"

Yena nodded, and he inhaled, "I had nightmares too. The ones that Junyoung- Kieran- planted, where either I died or I killed Hongjoong. You saw it too, when we were in Antares- we were living in the same room, if you remember."

Yena grinned, "The dream where you killed Hongjoong- I may have planted that..."

"What?" Seonghwa laughed in disbelief, and Yena told him how she time-travelled to that night when she was practising with Neve.

Seonghwa nodded, continuing, "It's why we're here today, isn't it?"

Yena nodded, and Seonghwa sighed in disbelief- everything that happened was truly meant to happen.

"Anyways, I had that nightmare. I shapeshifted then. I'm a wolf."

"Mingi showed me," Yena smiled, "With that fire thing he does. Can you... show me? It's right there- I can feel it. It's like the memory is scratching at me, I just need to see it to confirm."

Seonghwa nodded, and in an instant, there was a huge grey wolf in front of Yena, making her squeal in surprise before she laughed, and hesitantly brought her hand forward. Seonghwa nudged her, and she finally ran a hand through his fur. "I think I remember now."

Seonghwa shifted back, "What do you remember?"

"Playing with your paws as you slept," Yena smiled. "Progress!"

Seonghwa clapped, "Progress, well done."

"Can I see your wings?"

Seonghwa laughed at how abrupt her question was, "Again? You ask me whenever you get the chance, nothing has changed."

Yena smiled, but her eyes were determined, "It's the first memory Kieran took away. I don't want to say goodbye to you tomorrow without remembering everything he took away from me."

Seonghwa stared at her, taking in her words- she really did want to remember everything. He gripped the armrests of her chair, pulling it so she was closer to him, and then he took her hands. "You don't have to feel any sort of pressure-"

"It's not that," Yena put a hand on his, "I really, really want to know how I fell in love with you, how I still feel that even when I have no memories. That's not wrong, is it?"

"Of course not," he met her eyes, "Should I tell you everything?"

Yena nodded. 

Seonghwa took a deep breath, "Do you want to see?"

"I do," Yena said. 

Seonghwa nodded slowly, bringing himself closer as he put her forehead against Yena, and memories started flooding Yena's mind- the first timeline, their endless conversations in the nights, the healing sessions, up till Seonghwa' death- when Yena drew apart, catching her breath.

"That's the first timeline," Seonghwa told her, and let her sort her thoughts out.

"I remembered most of it," Yena nodded, "I guess the real damage was done to the memories of this timeline."

Seonghwa nodded, "Are you ready?"

Yena nodded, and Seonghwa put a hand on her neck, cupping her cheek and caressing it as he stared in her eyes. Yena felt overwhelmed- she mirrored his expressions, tucking his hair back, scanning his face- the face she was miserably in love with.

"I miss you," Yena said, and Seonghwa drew closer to her, hesitating. But Yena closed the distance, bringing her lips to his, testing the feel of it, making him groan as he pulled her closer.

God, he missed her so much, he realised as he kissed her, desperately at first, forgetting that he was supposed to be showing his memories for that moment. Her hand caressing his face and the other fisting his shirt was enough to make him forget about everything else.

They drew apart for a moment, and then Seonghwa kissed her gently, showing her the memories- their pointless arguments, their time in the library, their first kiss and the awkwardness that followed, their time in Antares when they shared a room and Seonghwa realised he was in love with her. He showed her each memory, imprinted in his mind like a burn, and he realised Yena was crying when he drew back, his hand that had been holding her face wet.

Yena breathed, but broke down, putting her face in her hands as she recalled everything- how could she have forgotten? It was such a violation of her mind that Kieran took her most lovely memories, and threatened to replace him with his own self, as if he could ever succeed. 

Seonghwa made her get up and sit on the bed, sitting next to her as he held her while she cried. "What happened to no more crying?"

Yena laughed in between crying, "I'm sorry."

"What happened to no more apologising as well," Seonghwa laughed, wiping her face. "Look at me."

Yena wiped her eyes and face with her sleeves, sniffing as she did. 

"It's okay, Yena. Everything's okay now. You're here, with me. That's all that matters."

Yena nodded, bringing him in for a hug, holding him for a good two minutes, "I missed you so much, Seonghwa. It's been so much longer for me- I missed you incredibly."

"It might have been a week or more for me, but that was enough to drive me insane," Seonghwa admitted, breathing in her familiar scent, "I missed you too."

Yena drew back, her arms still linked back at his neck, "Let me look at you, Seonghwa."

Seonghwa smiled as she scanned his face, taking in every detail- the grey eyes that were so warm, his sharp features, his plump lips, the hair she loved running her hands through. She kissed his forehead, then his nose, then began planting butterfly kisses on his face.

"You're testing my patience," Seonghwa groaned, making her throw her head back and laugh. Seonghwa shook his head, holding her by the waist as he turned, making her fall on her back on the bed, Seonghwa on top of her.

"Remember this?" He smirked, and Yena rolled her eyes as he kissed her jaw, trailing down to her neck, "And this?"

"I guess you're going to make me relive those memories now," Yena shook her head, and he smiled as he kissed her, slow and passionate. 

"We have the whole night for that," he whispered in her ear. "If you're up for it."

"Don't make me fall asleep then, I guess," Yena smirked and Seonghwa promised she would be dreaming about this night from now on instead of having nightmares anymore.

—---------------------------

The princes and Yena all sat for breakfast the following morning after getting ready. Yena had been awake the whole night, courtesy of Seonghwa, and had only slipped in her room after making the both of them sleep for two hours before they had to arrive for breakfast.

"Is it just me," Wooyoung said, "Or she reeks of Seonghwa?"

Seonghwa choked on his bread, but Yena casually bit on hers, "Of course I do. What did you expect?"

It was his turn to choke, and there was a collective hustle on the table as everyone shifted in their seats, half of them scolding Wooyoung for pointing out the obvious while the other just trying not to laugh.

"Oh come on," Yena laughed. "I'm joking... Or am I?"

"Okay, stop," Hongjoong waved his hand, "Before Wooyoung loses it."

"It's because I can smell it on her!" Wooyoung yelled, earning a slap on the back of his head by San.

"What did I tell you about not saying stuff like this out loud?"

"This is reminding me of that time when he sniffed Yeosang on her," Jongho laughed, "And thought-"

"And that's enough, don't make me kick all of you out of my house," Yeosang cleared his throat, casually buttering his bread. "That's on Wooyoung being dumb, by the way."

They bickered back and forth for the rest of the breakfast until it was time for everyone to leave. Seonghwa and Yunho were leaving together, Hongjoong on his own, San, Wooyoung and Jongho together and Mingi on his own as well- all of them accompanied by their court members.

Yena went to say her farewell to the court members first, sharing a hug with everyone. She made Siyeon and Jeongin promise they would visit often, told the healers they could come here as a group anytime, made Seokmin and Mingyu promise they would tease San less than they already did and visit often as well. They all told her she was welcome anytime as well, and Yena waved a final goodbye, teary-eyed.

She went to Hongjoong first, sharing a long hug with him, "Thank you for teaching me all about my magic. I couldn't have made it this far without you."

"I'm so proud of you, Yena," Hongjoong kissed her forehead. "I'm proud you made it so far. Do come visit me whenever you feel like it."

"Aren't you busy?" Yena teased, and Hongjoong laughed, saying never for her.

"Wait till you actually visit him," San said, coming to hug her. "He's gonna ask you to wait and forget you came."

"I know," Yena laughed, and Hongjoong scowled at the two.

"I'm gonna miss you so much!" San held her by the shoulders, taking a good look at her face, "I'll feel lonely now."

"Should I not have asked Seokmin and Mingyu to go easy on you?"

"Hey!" San threw his head back and laughed, hugging her again and Yena kissed his cheek, "Please visit this weekend, will you?"

"I will," Yena promised, and Wooyoung joined them.

"Take me with you when you do," he sighed dramatically, crushing them both in his arms, "I'm gonna miss this so much!"

"It's not like we can't see each other again ever, stop being so dramatic," Jongho shook his head at the three, who just stuck their tongues out at him.

"Say that when you find yourself missing us tonight!" Wooyoung said, and Yena pinched Jongho's cheek, making him smile the gummy smile that she adored.

"I'll miss you, Jongho bear," Yena smiled.

"What was the story behind 'Yunho bear'?" Yunho asked.

"I thought you'd be the bear, since you're..." Yena scanned his figure from head to toe, "A giant, basically."

"I wish I was," Yunho pinched his nose bridge, "Being a water dragon is boring."

"It's not! You have to show me the next time I come," Yena said, and Yunho promised, hugging her, teasing at how small she was- she didn't even reach his shoulders. Mingi joined in the teasing, and Yena looked for help around but everyone was just laughing at them.

"I'm normal sized! It's you both that are giants!"

"Come on now, I've seen taller," Mingi flicked her on the forehead. "Good luck being a princess."

Yena cringed, "Gee, thanks for the reminder."

Mingi laughed, sharing a brief hug, and then Yena looked around, meeting Seonghwa's eyes.

"Should we leave you two alone?" Yunho teased.

"Nah, you can enjoy the show," Yena retorted, leaving both Yunho and Mingi snickering.

"So, we part ways," Yena smiled at Seonghwa. She had no regrets now.

Seonghwa hugged her, rocking her back and forth, "If you can't sleep, you know where to find me."

"Of course," Yena said, and Seonghwa broke the hug, kissing her forehead.

"Take care of yourself, Yena."

"You too," Yena squeezed his hand, and the two stared lovingly at each other while the rest watched, cringing.

"What's wrong with Seonghwa's eyes?" Wooyoung shook his head.

"He looks like he's gonna- no!" San covered his and Wooyoung's eyes as Seonghwa kissed Yena briefly, sending the rest including Yeosang roaring at each other.

"We should have left!" Yunho wailed, "My eyes!"

"Did you have to do that in front of me!" Yeosang groaned dramatically.

"I never asked you all to watch us!" Yena pouted, flushed because she, too, hadn't expected this very public kiss. She glared at Seonghwa, who was smirking.

"All right, let's go before they take it further," Hongjoong announced, and Mingi slapped his arm, laughing.

Yena and Yeosang walked them to the castle entrance where the court members were already waiting. With a final goodbye, they watched everyone leave and disappear into the distance.

"This feels like a dream," Yena wiped her eyes, "I know I can visit them, but I miss them already."

"I know," Yeosang patted her back. "Come on, let's go inside."

Wheein and Moonbyul smiled at her as she passed them in the hallway, and a thought struck Yeosang. "Do you want to see our parent's room?"

Yena looked at him, surprised, "Sure."

Yeosang led her to the room next to his chamber, saying his room used to be their parents but they moved out after his coronation. It no longer looked alive- their belongings were in a trunk and the room was pretty much empty.

Yeosang brought a trunk forward where they sat on the couch, fishing a key out of his pocket and opening the lock to reveal what looked like their mother's dresses and jewellery. Yena wowed, opening the glass box and examining the pearls and diamonds.

"You can take whatever you like, whenever you like. After all, it's all yours."

"Hmm," Yena looked around, "What were they like?"

Yeosang leaned back on the couch, facing Yena as he thought. "Very caring," he finally said, "They missed you a lot. I didn't get much time to spend with them since they were always either busy with this job or searching for you, but whenever they spent time with me, they made sure I didn't feel distant."

"That's... good, actually," Yena nodded. "I worried about that part- you being neglected because they were too busy trying to find me."

"There's only so much they could do," Yeosang sighed. "But as kids, we spent more time with each other, us princes and the court members. We weren't that lonely. We're probably lonelier now."

Yena laughed, agreeing- as kids, it was easy to get along with everyone. As adults, however, it got complicated. "Not lonely anymore, I'll make sure," Yena smiled. 

"To be honest, I'm glad we're comfortable with each other," Yeosang admitted. "Probably because you got closer to the others and it felt more like being with a friend."

"I know!" Yena smiled in agreement, "I was so nervous about meeting you- but I think the others helped with breaking the ice. It would have been awkward otherwise, don't you think? Since I barely have memories of you."

"I think my memories are mixed with my imagination too," Yeosang shook his head.

"Understandable. I only got that memory back thanks to Seonghwa."

"So," Yeosang wiggled his brows. "Seonghwa, huh? I never got to ask how it happened."

Yena made a face, rolling her eyes, but smiled, "I think I liked him in the first timeline too. He was different- he was distant at first but somehow, we got close that one week we spent together. When he died and I went to save him, he was... completely different from the Seonghwa I knew."

"How?" Yeosang was intrigued now- he hadn't seen these sides of Seonghwa.

"He was... an arrogant, stubborn bastard, to put it simply," Yena said and Yeosang burst out laughing, "Yunho was so nice to me. He believed me when I gave him the proof- that I was Kang Yena. But Seonghwa? I don't know why, but he refused to believe it. Probably because of the dreams he was having."

"Seonghwa has always been such a... mother, to us," Yeosang shook his head, laughing. “So I can't really imagine this… so how did you two..."

"Well," Yena smiled, "We grew on each other. When I showed him my memories, he recalled everything from the previous timeline and realised that- well, that he liked me. He found himself falling for me again, according to him."

"I don't know whether to barf or cry."

"Do nothing, idiot," Yena slapped his arm. "But yeah. I like him."

"He likes you a lot too, it's so obvious," Yeosang laughed.

"Do you believe in soulmates?" Yena asked, and Yeosang nodded, "Seonghwa said that with faeries, the concept of soulmate went... deeper?"

"More intense is the right word," Yeosang said, "It's what we believe. You know how there are some people we just don't get along with, no matter how hard we try? Or some people we just dislike?"

Yena nodded, and Yeosang continued, "We believe that it's because our souls didn't get along, from the place where they came from. Call it a past life or an abode for the souls. So with people you just click with, you just get along so well, it's because our souls have a connection with them. People theorise that it might be the magic instead of the soul that causes it."

"Ah," Yena nodded slowly, "So with... romantic partners?"

"I haven't had an experience- I think Seonghwa is the first one out of us who found his soulmate."

Yena's heart skipped at the words, and Yeosang nodded, smiling, "With romantic partners, everything is more intense. You instantly feel a connection- your magic just... embraces each other, I guess. It's like our magic and our soul knows- and we, our minds try to reject it. Did you feel it too?"

"How would you know it's a soulmate when it's your first time with someone?"

"I'd say go ahead and try with someone else," Yeosang laughed, "but you wouldn't be able to do that now, would you?"

Yena rolled her eyes. "I think it's a little late for that."

"I think the most obvious proof is that even when Kieran took away your memories, you didn't forget," Yeosang's eyes were sure as he said it. "There is no way you could have remembered your love for Seonghwa after all that if he wasn't your soulmate."

Yena frowned in surprise, "I thought it was because his magic wasn't as strong?"

"No," Yeosang shook his head, "Think about it. The magic he did years ago- you're still recovering from it. Your memories still aren't back. But this time? He couldn't take away what your magic, what your soul knows."

"Wow," Yena breathed, "So it's... true?"

"It is," Yeosang said, "Congratulations on finding your soulmate- not many faeries do."

Yena inhaled- it felt unreal. 

Yeosang smiled at her state, "Also, you're free to choose what to do with your life. You can live with me and learn about this kingdom, go to yours and explore your land, or... live with Seonghwa, if you wish. Or settle as a normal faerie anywhere on this planet- whatever you like."

Yena smiled at him, "Thanks for giving me the choice, Yeosang. I think I'll learn about what being a princess means- the job. I owe it to my parents, and the people-"

"You don't owe anyone anything," Yeosang shook his head.

"It's not just that, Yeosang. I want to, really," Yena was sure, and seeing the look in her eyes, Yeosang nodded.

"Once I learn, can we go to Alhena? I'd like to see my land."

"Of course," Yeosang said, "I'm planning to go there next month anyway."

"And finally," Yena exhaled, "I'll think about the future when I get there. I have all the time I need now, don't I?"

"All the time in this world," Yeosang smiled. 

—--------------------------

"Jaemin, I swear to god, if you crack one more joke while we're having a meeting, god help me I'll-"

"Calm down, Yena," Taeyong laughed out loud, rubbing her shoulder. "Blame Hyunjin- she keeps fueling his flames."

"Literally," Yena sighed, putting her head in her hands as Jaemin laughed out loud, the evil evident in his laugh, "I'll ask Yeosang for a new court-"

"Okay, that's my cue to take charge," Haseul got up, clapping and grabbing everyone's attention. "Let's not give our princess a hard time-"

"Let's not give the court a hard time, what say you, Princess?" Renjun smirked.

Yena stared at each faerie sitting with her in the meeting room around the table, shaking her head. "Where did Yeosang find you lot? And why did he keep the sane ones?"

"You think they're sane?" Olivia pinched her nose-bridge, "You'll thank us after spending time with them."

"Crackheads, every one of you," Yena muttered, finally getting up from her chair. "Alright, enough of fun and jokes- I have more to do. Yeosang arrives today. I think you all know what needs to be done, don't you?"

"Yes ma'am," the group said mockingly.

Yena smiled, "I believe in you guys- you've always handled stuff like this so well, haven't you? I don't even know what I'm doing here ordering you around- as if I could! You guys should be telling me what to do-"

"Finally," Jaemin grinned as he got up, only to be held back by Taeyong as everyone laughed out loud at the mischief in his tone.

"Yena," Taeyong squeezed her hand, "You're the princess. We'll manage everything, but it's after you give us the order, after you make the decision."

"What Taeyong means is you need to man up-"

"I'll help you with kicking out some court members," Haseul raised her hand, making Yena laugh and look pointedly at Haechan, who was grinning widely. 

"Fine. It's been two months since Yeosang has been here, so let's make it... grand. Yes. Let's surprise him."

"Since we've always welcomed him normally," Jeno commented, "Anything you do at this point would be 'grand' to him."

Yena grinned, "That's a good point. But let the chefs prepare his favourite dishes, and let's brighten up the hall and the chamber. Maybe we should have a little party tonight while we're at it."

"Half his court is arriving with him, it would be chaotic," Haseul pretended to wipe sweat from her forehead and Yena watched as the men and women of her court brightened up at the mention of their friends arriving.

"We should definitely have a party," Yena's mouth stretched into a smile as she began to plan. 

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

"What did I miss?" Yeosang stood in the middle of the hall as he looked at the court members, all dressed up rather formally, and then finally at Yena who was also... overdressed. "Is someone else coming too?"

"Come on, can't we tidy up for you?" Jaemin smirked, making Solar and Moonbyul double over with laughter. 

"Is this coming from the same person who never got out of his pyjamas even during official meetings?" Yeosang raised his eyebrow and Yena gasped, looking at Jaemin.

"Pyjamas? But... I've been to every kingdom and I've never seen any of the court members in pyjamas, not even this lot..."

"Ah, I guess they're finally acting as proper court members," Yeosang scoffed. "And everyone of them is guilty of this, in case you think Jaemin is the only guilty one here."

Yena looked pointedly at Taeyong and Haseul, who were elbowing each other trying not to laugh. "I guess you all are doing something for your princess after all."

"Come on," Chuu- Yena's healer- whined, "We dress up sometimes when you arrive too!"

"That was only because Wooyoung was arriving with me," Yeosang sighed, shaking his head.

Everyone broke into giggles and Yeosang nudged Yena forward, the two entering the Princess' personal chamber. "It's really weird to see them act like professionals now- it's making me proud."

"They really do work hard," Yena smiled, "You shouldn't have been calling them lazy bums."

"Now you know why I called them that," Yeosang looked at her pointedly, referring to the court members putting effort to look their best everyday thanks to the Princess being home now, "Also, why do you keep smirking?"

"Nothing," Yena shook her head, "Anyways, tell me about how things are back there."

Yeosang began to narrate the events of the past two months- He had finally left Yena here with a heavy heart after living with her for five months, in which Yena had drunk every drop of knowledge about magic and history. 

Yena had spent her initial days sticking with Yeosang throughout the mornings, monitoring how running the kingdom worked. She realised just how big a role the court members played and had already started feeling indebted to her own court members whom she had only met briefly once. They all seemed too young to have this burden on their shoulders. 

During the first few nights, Yena always woke up screaming and crying, Yeosang always by her side to help her get through this. At times when she felt too overwhelmed and felt as if the present was an illusion, she would open a portal and Seonghwa would come through, comforting her throughout the night. 

The first month had been the hardest, and she had started getting therapy from the very skilled healers of Yeosang's castle- Hwasa and Yoongi. It had eventually gotten better from there, until she could finally sleep alone throughout the night.

When Yeosang had come with her to the state of Castor finally and made way to Alhena where Yena's castle was, she had been welcomed at a grand scale. The people of Yena's kingdom had been carrying blue and white flowers with them and the kids had given her the pearls from her sea. Yena had cried throughout the way, but it changed into laughter as she entered her castle and met her court.

Her court.... it was truly a family she had gained. She had interacted with everyone by now but she was closer to the people she had to interact with on a regular basis. She had an immense amount of respect and love for everyone who served in her court.

Taeyong and Haseul- her Right Hand and 'Left Hand', as Solar had dubbed it- had taught her a lot about being a princess and her duties. The two months had passed in a flash- especially because she was still getting to know everyone in her court, still getting used to her duties and making time to meet any of the princes during her free time.

Portaling was a second nature to her now, especially considering how huge the distance was. But with everyone being so busy, they all hadn't been together since right before Yena left for her castle, where everyone had been present in Yeosang's castle, spending the last night before Yena began performing her duties as a princess. That had been two months ago.

After Yeosang was done narrating what happened in the past two months without Yena at his castle, he yawned wide and good, stretching. "I think I'm going to sleep. Or take a power nap. I think I'll take a nap- wake me up after a few hours, will you?

Yena nodded, leaving him and nearly rushing out of her chamber, where Jaemin, Haechan, Yves and Gowon were already waiting for her. Yena usually hung out with them the most- she supposed it was the reason she was able to laugh so loudly these days.

"I was just gonna put Prince Yeosang to sleep," Gowon rubbed her fingers, and Yena shook her head- she had a unique power, truly, and Yena was often tempted to ask her to put her to sleep when she had trouble at nights. 

"He's fast asleep, don't worry," Yena walked with them to the hall, where the court members awaited. "Sorry for the delay. What's the plan?"

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

Yeosang woke up to an empty chamber but the distant sound of music filled the air. Freshening up, he knocked at Yena's room, wondering if she was inside, but the door opened itself and Yeosang peeked inside.

Yena had changed her room a lot- there were fresh lilies in a vase on her table, photos that she had clicked for the first time with the princes two months ago on the wall- a group photo and individual photos with every prince, some with her closest friends from different courts- it looked like she had the most friends in San's court. Yeosang spotted a messy drawing, frowning when he bent to get a closer look-

It was Mingi's handwriting- a boy with little fire sparks around his head and a girl with little planets around her head. Yeosang smiled- he had to ask Yena when exactly Mingi made this.

Leaving the room, Yeosang walked to where the sound of the music was coming from, figuring the court members must be having a little party with Yena or bothering her- but when he opened the doors, his jaw dropped at the sight of his friends.

"Now when did you all arrive!"

"Yeosang!" Wooyoung cheered, rushing to hug him, "We've been here for about an hour now but Yena insisted we let you catch up on your sleep."

"And it was a wise decision," Jongho scoffed, "You're not getting more sleep tonight."

Yeosang looked at Yena- she was truly glowing as she smiled at him, winking. "I knew something was up the way you kept smirking earlier."

"You might need to notch up on your acting," Yunho teased, Yena slapping his arm.

"I say she's a pro at acting," Hongjoong laughed, "I didn't even realise it was her- I was looking down at documents and I kept listing things to her- I didn't realise it was not one of my court members until she slapped me with that very list."

The princes burst into laughter. "I wasn't lying when I said Hongjoong forgets you're there," San shook his head.

"So," Yeosang looked around, "It looks like we're partying."

"Mingi's singing," Seonghwa started laughing, "Brace yourself."

"I feel like singing today!" Mingi laughed as he waltzed around, Yunho joining him, and Yena watched the two, shaking her head.

"Who wants drinks?"

~

All it took was one hour for the drinks to settle for Yena to realise that the princes might be competitive but her court members weren't any less.

"Do it, throw it hard!" Hwasa shouted at Jaehyun, who was trying to flip the disk but failing. On the other hand, Wooyoung was cheering for San who looked like he would flip the disk anytime soon-

"Yes!" Jaehyun threw his fists in the air and the court members cheered, Taeyong immediately hugging him, the two jumping as they hugged, Yena joining and sticking her tongue out at the princes.

It was the princes versus the court members plus Yena in every match- they had been playing different games for hours and so far, the competition had been so strong- they really couldn't decide which team won and none of them wanted to settle for a tie.

"I should ban the drinks in our kingdom," Yeosang pondered, making Yena giggle as she stood by him to watch the chaos as everyone argued about who the winner was.

"I used to love silence," Yena scoffed, "I'm so used to this amount of noise now that it doesn't even affect me."

"Spending my childhood with Wooyoung did that," Yeosang smiled as he looked at Yena. "If you can tolerate Wooyoung, you can tolerate anyone."

"Point," Yena laughed as she looked at Wooyoung, who was, indeed, the loudest in the room. Seonghwa truly was the mother of the group, Yena realised, as he tried to break the argument and make them settle. 

Seonghwa spotted Yena, sighing as he joined the twins. "Can you like, I don't know, portal them to the desert? They ought to shut up once they find themselves there."

"That's a very nice idea," Yena actually pondered for a second. Yeosang sighed, saying he was going to get another drink because his head was finally starting to hurt due to all the noise.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Seonghwa took Yena's hand.

"It wouldn't be fair to leave them here," Yena pouted.

"We'll come back. We have all night, after all."

Yena smiled, following him to the balcony- their favourite spot to hang out, where the purple moon shone on the Pearl Sea, the sight often reminding her of the starry sky of Seonghwa's kingdom.

"How have you been? I missed you so much," Seonghwa wrapped himself around Yena in a back hug, her hands automatically going to hold his.

"We met like two days ago Seonghwa," Yena smiled.

"Are you saying you didn't miss me?" Seonghwa mumbled in her ear, burying his nose in her hair.

"Of course not," Yena teased and Seonghwa tickled her, making her laugh out loud. Seonghwa had been hearing a lot of laughing from Yena lately- and it was music to his ears. 

"Are you okay these days?"

"Perfectly fine, actually," Yena said, turning around, her arms around his waist now, "Are you okay?"

Seonghwa nodded- though it hadn't been as bad for him as it had for Yena, he also had trouble sleeping with the nightmares, and Yena had made him promise to signal to her if he was having a hard time- the signal being the magic Yena had slipped through his mind as a brace a few months ago as a precaution, which now worked as a call.

It made Yena almost cry out with frustration that he would rarely use it, pretending he was okay, when he had been reliving dying in his dreams every few nights, but she couldn't exactly blame him- she, too, had resorted to his help only when it felt like she couldn't take it anymore. But it looked like Yena depending on Seonghwa when she had trouble sleeping helped him too, and they both had gotten used to sleeping with each other every other night, just laying in each other's arms knowing they wouldn't have a nightmare.

"I don't believe you," Yena shook her head, "Promise me you'll tell me if something's wrong. Or else... I won't portal to you again."

Seonghwa scoffed, making Yena laugh- they both knew she was bluffing. "I'm fine, Yena. But that doesn't mean you can skip on portaling every other night- you know I can't spend two days without seeing you."

"Gosh, you're such a softie," Yena poked his chest, smiling as Seonghwa kissed her. "Well, what can I say? I thought we wouldn't have much time to see each other, but I have the most convenient magic it seems."

"You're truly blessed to have that," Seonghwa smiled, "Thanks to you, we all can have time to relax."

"I finally love my magic," Yena laughed. "Gosh, I can't believe I once wanted to get rid of my magic."

"I know," Seonghwa nodded, "It's a love-hate relationship with magic. It's normal."

"I guess it is," Yena buried her face in his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She couldn't believe how safe she felt in his arms. 

"Shall we get back inside now?" Seonghwa almost whispered, rubbing her back, "Someone's gonna come complaining any second now."

Yena smiled, "Let's wait and see who comes this time-"

"Ha, here they are, the lovebirds. Seonghwa, Hongjoong's cranky because you've been gone so long," San shook his head at the sight of the two clinging to each other and pouting because they weren't letting go.

"Ask Hongjoong to stop being a cranky-"

"That's my cue," San interrupted Yena, laughing as he walked to the two and started unwrapping their arms, "Come on now, don't be so whiny."

Seonghwa finally let go, out of breath from all the laughing, rushing to see what was up with Hongjoong while Yena stood, stomping her feet with a big pout.

"Come on, it's not like you don't see each other everyday," San shook his head.

"Every other day," Yena corrected, and San slapped her head.

"You should be seeing one of us then every day," he scolded her. "And then I'll call it fair."

"Next time I portal to your place," Yena threatened, "I'm gonna spend time with Seokmin and Mingyu and Sana and Jihyo instead of you-"

"Alright, alright, come on, let's go inside," San took her hand and the two laughed as they started to walk.

"You weren't serious though, were you?" 

"Maybe I was," Yena smirked.

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

Epilogue

"Is it possible to die because of nervousness?"

"If it was possible, I wouldn't be alive right now, Yena," Gowon shook her head. "Even when it's not me who's getting married."

"Okay, true," Yena grinned, looking at the mirror, tendrils of curled hair falling free from her hair tied in a messy bun, her cheeks flushed, "Do I look okay? Is the bun too much?"

"Gowon, don't answer that," Olivia, who was making sure Yena's nails looked okay, said, "She's gonna ask you again in a minute."

Yena glared at Olivia, "Who put Olivia in charge today, I just wanna know-"

"Calm down," Taeyong came in, laughing, "The Princes are ready, everyone's ready. Your call now."

"And where's Yeosang?"

"On his way," Taeyong patted her shoulders, looking at her in the mirror, "I'm gonna cry."

"Taeyong," Yena laughed, "Don't!"

"I am so proud right now, I'll be right back," Taeyong pretended to wipe a tear from his eye as he turned his back dramatically, spotting Jaemin, Renjun and Haechan, "And the troublemakers are here." 

"Yena~!" Renjun started wailing, "I can't say I'm sad about you leaving for what- a month, Haechan?"

"Yes," Haechan confirmed, "We'll finally have the castle all to ourselves!"

Yena picked a hairbrush and sent it flying in their direction, Haechan catching it and scowling at her, "Maybe I should ask Yeosang to stay here, what do you say?"

"Oh please," Jaemin scoffed, "Like he'll agree."

"I might," Yeosang stood in the doorway, arms folded as the boys started grinning, embarrassed to have been heard, "I guess Yena wasn't joking about the change of a court..."

Jaemin gasped, a betrayed look in his eyes as he looked at Yena, who just laughed, "You did not!"

"She did not," Yeosang grinned. "But now I know it's true."

"He tricked us!" Renjun sighed, "Alright, enough of the jokes. We came to cheer you up because we knew you would be a nervous mess."

"You might want to cheer up Gowon more," Yena looked at Gowon who couldn't stop fidgeting.

"On it," Haechan said, and everyone left the room, leaving Yeosang and Yena alone.

"Have you been... crying?" Yena looked at Yeosang, who shook his head no, "Come on, your eyes are red!"

"My eyes are very itchy today," Yeosang scoffed, pretending there weren't tears surfacing again, "You look beautiful, Yena dear."

"You look pretty neat too," Yena winked, "I hope someone catches your attention tonight."

"Tonight is all about you, I won't be looking at other girls."

"Oh come on," Yena laughed, nervous now that she checked the time. "Is everything ready?"

"As ready as it can be," Yeosang said, and Yena got up, straightening the wedding dress, Yeosang taking out the crown and settling it on top of her head, "This is the last time you wear this crown as Princess Yena of Gemini. After the vows, you'll be Princess Yena of Gemini and Aries."

"Woah," Yena breathed, her hair rising at the thought.

"Our parents thought we were too 'young' to be called kings of our kingdoms, which is why we've always been princes. But Yena... I was thinking we need a change."

"Don't tell me..."

"Queen Yena of Gemini and Aries doesn't sound too bad, does it?"

"Yeosang," Yena laughed nervously, "That sounds too much!"

"We're gonna be kings and queens sooner or later, but we thought we could start with the oldest, this occasion makes sense," Yeosang wriggled his brows, making Yena bite her lips.

"I have a better idea!" Yena said, "When one of us has a child and eventually crowns them, we can be called Kings and Queens so they can be called Princes and Princesses!"

"Yena, with marriage comes kids, sooner or later, but even if you don't have kids, you should be called Kings and Queens," Yeosang rubbed her shoulders, Yena nodding. It made sense.

A knock sounded, and Haseul peeked in, grinning at Yena, "I'm ready when you're ready."

"Give us a minute," Yeosang said, hugging Yena long and tight, "I wish you all the happiness in the world as Queen to Seonghwa."

"Thank you, Yeosang," Yena rubbed his back as he shook, making her tear up as well, "Let's not ruin our makeup by crying, okay?"

Yeosang smiled, drawing back, wiping her eyes and Yena mirrored his action, "Let's go."

The two of them walked out of the room, her hand on Yeosang's arm, and Yena's bridesmaids - her court ladies- cheered, all of them dressed in light blue gowns and pearl jewellery. Haseul took the lead, falling right behind Yena, lilies and hydrangeas in everyone's hands as they walked behind the twins.

The room she left was the closest to the main garden where the wedding was hosted, and as she exited the castle building, she was glad to see that it was cloudy and not too sunny- the perfect weather, though she suspected Wooyoung might have a hand in that. Yena stood at the foot of the long path she had to walk, the male court members taking position right next to the bridesmaids, Taeyong leading them next to Haseul. Yena nodded at them, and finally looked ahead.

The monochrome theme wedding decor was Seonghwa's idea- white for Yena and black for Seonghwa- the perfect balance. White and black roses adorned the path, an occasional blue popping somewhere, thanks to Yunho who insisted blue was 'necessary'. Obviously it hadn't been because blue was also Yunho's colour. 

Yena spotted Wooyoung, San, Yunho, Mingi, Hongjoong and Jongho waiting for her at the end of the altar, sliding to the sides when they were near to reveal-

Seonghwa.

Just one look and Yena was down memory lane:

"I've always wanted to take you here," Seonghwa rubbed Yena's hand.

Yena wowed as she looked around- they were at a cliff, right near the edge, the Diamond Sea glowing fiercely under them. The sky was just as starry, putting even the moon to shame.

"I can see why this is your favourite spot," Yena turned to look at Seonghwa, her breath stopping when she saw him-

On one knee.

"Kang Yena of Space," Seonghwa breathed, revealing a diamond ring, "Will you marry me?"

Yena exhaled, dropping to her knees in front of him, "I wanted to propose to you, you beat me to it! I've been planning and planning-"

"Someone had to do it first," Seonghwa grinned.

Yena took his hands in hers, "Yes. Yes, I will marry you."

Seonghwa smiled, sliding the ring on her left hand. It was exactly to her liking- a single diamond on top of a silver band. Yena admired the ring for a second before looking up at the man she loved.

"I love you."

Yena brought her hands to his face, running it through his hair once before cupping his cheeks and finally hugging him- she was overwhelmed by the way he looked at her. 

"I love you more."

Yena felt like her breath had been knocked out of her- he was beautiful. His black hair were slicked back, tendrils falling rather stylishly on his forehead, and his eyes glowed as he looked at her.

Seonghwa couldn't breathe either- Yena looked like she didn't belong to this world- white really was her colour. As she walked closer and closer, her smile grew wider, especially when she met eyes with the princes, sharing a grin.

"Seonghwa," Yeosang nodded and before Yena could take a step, Seonghwa was there with his hand extended, and Yena smiled, putting her hand in his as she ascended the three steps, facing everyone once before looking back at Seonghwa and grinning- she couldn't help it.

"Someone's nervous," Seonghwa laughed.

"Rich coming from you- San told me you felt queasy the whole day."

Seonghwa only shook his head, and an elder fae of the castle smiled at the two, motioning for them to read the vows, which were poetic lines about life and death, about two souls joining and remaining till the end.

Hongjoong, who stood with the elder fae, waited with a crown made for Yena- a diamond and pearl crown, a crown for the King and the Queen. After the elder fae made them recite the vows and took his leave, Hongjoong stood in front of the two.

"I know you all would have me as a King if need be," Hongjoong said, "But I want this tradition to start with you two- the strongest union there could have been. Prince Seonghwa of Dark, and Princess Yena of Space."

The two smiled and nodded at him, before Hongjoong announced, "Prince Seonghwa of Dark, please crown your Queen, Princess Yena of Space."

Seonghwa took off the crown that Yena wore- her princess crown, and tears stung Yena's eyes as she felt the new crown settle on top of her head.

"Princess Yena of Space, please crown your King, Prince Seonghwa of Dark."

Yena smiled through the tears as she crowned Seonghwa, the crowd cheering.

"King Seonghwa of Aries and Queen Yena of Gemini, husband and wife!" Hongjoong announced, clapping as the two hugged, Yena smiling through the tears and Seonghwa drawing back to give her a kiss as everyone hooted.

The two turned and finally looked at their friends, eyes blurry with tears, everyone's faces bright with smiles and tears. Yeosang came forward, hugging Yena and Seonghwa, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"You better take care of my sister, Seonghwa."

Yena rolled her eyes, "Here it starts."

Hongjoong joined, wiping his own tears, "You better take care of Seonghwa, Yena."

"Right," Yena scoffed, "If you are done-"

"Yena!" Wooyoung and San motioned at her to come down and Yena did, the three sharing a group hug, "Congratulations on your double promotion!"

"Shut up," Yena laughed, Mingi, Yunho and Jongho joining, congratulating her.

"You like what I did there?" Yunho motioned at the blue flowers, and Yena nodded.

"Monochrome with a pop definitely looks better."

"All hail Queen Yena!" Mingi and Jongho saluted, making Yena laugh, "Here comes the King!"

Yunho crushed Seonghwa in a hug, patting his back, "You're one lucky man."

"I am," he looked at Yena, winking.

"I meant about being the first one to be crowned King-"

"Yeah, yeah," Yena poked Yunho's arm, "We know exactly what you mean."

Yunho winked at her, and Yena watched as the princes shared hugs with Seonghwa, Wooyoung saying he better not bore Yena to death, San threatening to steal Yena if they ever fought, Jongho reminding him that they were a better company to Yena than Seonghwa himself, and Mingi teasing him about how he had just signed himself to a lifetime of Yena, which meant a good amount of tolerance for occasional bad jokes.

"You all are making it sound like I committed a sin," Seonghwa laughed.

"If you ever start to regret your decision," Hongjoong teased, "You know where to come-"

Yena slapped Hongjoong's arm, making him scowl at her, "Why am I the only one getting hit here?!"

"Because they all were in my support, but you're always on Seonghwa's side," Yena pouted.

"Come on now," Hongjoong laughed, giving her a side hug, "You know who to come to if you ever have a problem with Seonghwa."

"Not you, as you've made it clear."

"I was joking!" Hongjoong shouted, Yena finally bursting into laughter.

"I know, I know I'll come to you whenever Seonghwa starts to act up- you're the only one who can put him in place," Yena side-eyed Seonghwa, who put a hand to his heart, hurt.

"I guess I'm not needed here..."

"Bye~" Yeosang waved at him, earning a chokehold from Seonghwa, and Yena spotted Cheetah.

"Yena!" Cheetah hugged her, "Congratulations, Queen."

"Thank you, I'm glad you could make it," Yena smiled, hugging her again. Cheetah had been busy with work and Yena had threatened to portal herself in the middle of the wedding to bring her here if she couldn't make it herself. 

"Your friends are here too," Cheetah motioned at her childhood friends- Eun Byeol and Seungyeon, the two waving at her,

After meeting and catching up with them, Yena made time to greet everyone- all her friends were thankfully here, from all courts. Between meetings, her own court gave her a peek at the amount of gifts she had received. 

"She won't even know if we take some of these gifts," Jaemin sighed out loud.

"Good luck wearing ladies shoes, Jaemin," Yena scoffed.

Yena changed into a black gown for the night, gifted to her by Seonghwa, an elegant sleek gown with net sleeves, diamond earrings to go along with it. She let her hair loose, and Seonghwa sucked in his breath when he saw her.

"Queen Yena of Dark," Seonghwa said, putting his hands on her hips and giving her a lingering kiss, her arms on his shoulders as they rocked back and forth, "I kind of want to ditch the party and make you portal back home."

"What's with you getting all romantic right before parties," Yena laughed, motioning him to come along before she could decide that his idea was better.

The party was as wild as the one they had on her coronation day, if not wilder. The two shared a dance with everyone in the hall before sharing one last dance, music and laughter loud in the hall. 

Yena had to say this one was wilder- she couldn't fathom how her own court had been 'civil' during her coronation party. Jaehyun told her they all had vowed not to take a single drink for the sake of good first impressions, and Yena told him their strategy had worked.

Yena was convinced she had the wildest court- even wilder than San's court, or Yeosang's court. Her court members were full of energy, as bright as Seokmin, as they danced and laughed and cracked jokes. Yena downed another drink, smiling at the sight.

"What do you think?" Seonghwa joined her, downing one drink himself.

"Chaos, utter chaos," Yena confirmed, making him laugh.

"Wanna get some air?"

"You bet."

The couple slipped through the crowd to the balcony, and Yena took a deep breath as she looked at the sea and the city. She wouldn't be back for a month, and she would definitely miss her home.

"I'm realising I've truly been blessed with my magic," Yena laughed. "I can't imagine how we would have managed to be married and running separate kingdoms."

"I guess Yeosang would have volunteered, but yes," Seonghwa nodded, "It would have been very hard."

"I got used to portaling," Yena smiled, "It's been, what, two years since I came to my kingdom? Time flies."

"Well," Seonghwa wrapped himself around her back, "You're finally my queen."

Yena smiled as Seonghwa kissed her neck, "I really, really can't wait to go home."

"Seonghwa," Yena flushed, "Stop it."

"Are you suddenly shy?" Seonghwa teased, nibbling at her neck, Yena biting her lips because yes, she was shy, and yes, she couldn't wait to go home either.

Yena turned around, kissing him before looking at him, caressing his face. "Have I told you you're beautiful?"

"Today?" Seonghwa thought, "Only about a hundred times, yes."

Yena grinned, standing beside him, her arm wrapped around his waist and his arm resting on her shoulder. "And have I told you that I love you, Park Seonghwa?"

"Yes, my Queen," Seonghwa kissed her head, "Only a million times."

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

A/N: This marks the end of the series. Thank you for reading!

[addictedtojmanga]

Enjoyable male leads in manhwa

Noah Wynknight - The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion

Poisoned to death by her own betrothed?! Eunha didn’t wake up in a novel’s story just to get killed off again as an unfortunate extra! To change her story she needs a cover… 6 months pretending to be the fake fiancée of the novel's male protagonist, Duke Noah Wynknight. But will this cold-hearted, angel-faced demon of a man really help her avoid another ill-fated ending?!

Erudian Belgoat - Seduce the Villain’s Father

After being in a bus crash, I woke up to the world of my favourite web novel. Not only that, It was before the protagonists were born, to their parents’ world! Right! The way to save that man from marrying a witch and getting killed by his son, and for someone who is vulnerable to mana such as myself to live, is for us to get married!

Axion Berzet - Untouchable Lady

“Please, Hilise. Please die in place of Gabrielle.” My always dignified brother begged me for the first time. He wants me to die for our stepsister, whom we don’t even share a drop of blood with. “For the first and last time, I ask you this.” I’ve always been miserable, and there is no exception this time. The seventh time that I was betrayed and killed, I was completely free of lingering feelings. “I’m glad that you’re a scumbag until the end.” I won’t be swayed by love anymore. It’s my turn to abandon them first.

Cassis Pedelian - The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother

Kidnapping, murder, and risqué relationships! Within the scandalous pages of The Abysmal Flower, the downfall of Roxanne Agriche's criminal family is already foretold. So when Cassis Pedelian, the heroine’s older brother, is kidnapped by Roxanne's father, she can either wait for the heroine's revenge... or take matters into her own hands, since Cassis is the key to her survival. But with deceitful characters on all sides, can Roxanne and Cassis trust each other enough to bring down the brutal Agriches?

Yustaf de Lachia - The Viridescent Crown

I was a normal grad student until I woke up in a world right out of a novel I wrote as a teen. But danger’s on the horizon—the character I became was originally destined to die AND people are out to get me! Even though this character’s past was full of villainy, I’m using my insider knowledge to survive the flame of the Azure Ring, settle debts, and make things right for the House of Lachia! Can I earn the trust of the hero and get ahead in this world? Are there secrets that even I don’t know?

[stay-with-eunhae]

Video cr tsubasaka via gyuwenelf0616

It got me emotional when I saw this scene so I suddenly want to write a little. It may be a little ficitional or imaginative, but just expressing what I’m feeling for them.

No one understood why he was taking the long bunch of white bows across the bridge. ‘What is he doing?’ ‘I don’t know.’ Until the moment when he put the bows on his head, everyone understood. He wanted to give him the most beautiful thing he had in the world at this beautiful moment. He wanted this scene to be captured frame by frame, and saved as the most beautiful memories for them. Everything he was doing was just to make him happy, and didn’t want the pain to get to him too much at this moment.

He didn’t lie. He is really accompanying by him again and again. How they looked into each other’s eyes, how they walked through the stage together, he was telling him that I am always supporting you through the pain.

They are always silent to ELFs for all their pains and put on smiles for us. Thank you Eunhae for always being the sincerest and kindest person for each other. The one who can see through the pains for each other, and actively taking care of these on the other’s behalf.

Let me try to get my next update this week^^. It’ll be the personality analysis of Donghae.

[kpopxx]

Spy Games [Chapter 1] : More Than It Seems

Characters: Twice Momo, Male Reader

4579 words

Authors Note: This is literally the first fiction writing I have done since I was a little kid writing stories about a town full of hamburgers. I was inspired to try my hand at writing by the plethora of amazing kpop smut writers out there right now, but by @lockefanfic​, @nsfwtwicecatcher​, @nsfwflint​, and @ggidolsmuts​ in particular. If there are any similarities between my writing and theirs, please forgive me as I’ve spent more hours than I’d care to admit “researching” their work. 

One thing that amazes me is how the hell everyone cranks out thousands of words with such frequency, as this post isn’t even 5k and it took forever to write. I can’t begin to explain how much respect I have for all the authors out there who can write so much and maintain such high levels of quality.

As a new writer, I welcome any and all feedback! Feel free to drop me a line if you have any critiques, or if you just want to chat!

***

“Coming up on the target now.” 

“Roger that, remember the office is on the top floor. Let us know when you’re inside. And remember, no elevators...” teases your handler, Choa.

“Thanks for the reminder,” you reply sarcastically.

You survey the skyscraper against the night sky--it would be impressive if it weren’t one of a hundred just like it downtown Seoul--and wonder what you had done to deserve getting the short end of the stick. Of course, you knew there was a reason to avoid the elevators: they sat directly in front of the building’s concierge and the cameras in the lobby, while the stairwell lay in a remote part of the first floor. The logic behind your impending hike didn’t make the reality any less abhorrent.

“Meanwhile, Seolhyun gets to infiltrate an organization in the Caymans. Just my fucking luck.” you grumble to yourself.

“Oh, stop whining, you big baby,” says Choa, reminding you to keep your thoughts to yourself.

You sneak past the lobby and towards the back of the floor you find the entrance to the stairwell in a poorly lit area.

“Beginning my climb.” you report, shaking out your legs as you prepare to go up.

“Sir, I-I’m getting some interference over comms,” chimes in the timid voice of the girl you knew to be your newest team member, Yoo Jeongyeon. “It could just be local chatter, but I want to make sure it’s not someone trying to listen in.”

“Probably nothing to worry about, but we’ll let you know if there’s anything you need to worry about.” Choa assures you. 

As you climb up the stairs, you wonder why anyone would want to listen in on this particular mission. This was a run-of-the-mill operation to investigate money laundering at an accounting firm. You’d infiltrated foreign governments, broken into and bugged the offices of billionaire CEOs, and tailed enemy agents. You could understand people wanting to hear those comms, but this? Either someone wanted something to listen to as a sleep aid, or this mission was more interesting than it looked.

A tip had come in through one of the new girls at the Intel Desk reporting that there was some fishy activity related to organized crime going on at the accounting firm. This was routine and you’d gone on dozens of similar recon missions before: break in, find suspicious intel, get out. But if someone wanted so badly to hear what was going on, the new girl may have stumbled onto something worthy of a promotion. Hayoung, you think her name was. Her chestnut, shoulder-length hair along with her well-endowed physique reminded you of a young mother, but her mature beauty belied her young age. You had caught yourself more than a few times fantasizing about her in your off hours…

You stop mid-way in the stairwell, scolding yourself for losing focus. Too often over the course of the last year you found yourself fantasizing about the women in your life. Sure, before the incident with Eunha you had sexual thoughts about your coworkers--you were surrounded by beautiful women, after all. But recently you noticed that your life was increasingly preoccupied with sex: both in your thoughts and the real-life exploits you carried out. 

Much longer than a few minutes later, you reach the 63rd floor out of breath and sweating, wishing more than ever that it was you and not Seolhyun lounging on the beach. You take a moment to compose yourself before peeking out into the office floor to see if the coast is clear.

“We may have a problem, boss. Jeongyeon looked into the comms disturbance and someone much more sophisticated than the average joe is definitely trying to tap in,” Choa says. “Jeongyeon’s kicking their ass right now blocking their access, but there’s only so much she can do alone. Eventually we’re going to lose control of this channel.”

“Dammit. I knew something was off with this op,” you grumble. “If they want to listen in to whatever I find, it must be important. We’ll go dark. Recon says this should be a quick in and out anyways. I’ll tag you once I’m out.”

“Be careful. Signal us if anything goes wrong. Just don’t do anything stupid.” replies Choa. 

“What do you think they pay me all this money for?” you tease, wanting to put her nerves at ease. “See you on the other side. Over and out.”

You could hear the concern in her voice. Even though keeping you safe was part of her job, you knew she cared about you. You also knew as well as she did that anything could go wrong even in the five minutes it would take you to break in, especially when it appeared that someone knew exactly what you were doing.

You switch off your comms link and head out the door and into the office.

It looked exactly as you expected--rows and rows of non-descript cubicles, with a princely office lined with glass walls occupying the far corner. Jeongyeon had retrieved the floor plan by hacking into the building’s security database earlier in the week, and you knew after her effort tonight in detecting and fending off the comms interference that Choa would want you to acknowledge the work the new girl had been putting in. She certainly was more skilled than the five previous team members you’d fired after Eunha, but you found it difficult to bring yourself to praise her. The Ops Officer position she occupied was a sore point for you, after all.

You deftly pick the lock on the corner office door and immediately sit down in front of the terminal on the desk, logging in with the security bypass Jeongyeon drew up. 

Again your thoughts drift to Eunha. Eunha was your longtime Ops Officer--highly skilled, you trusted her more than anyone. It also helped that she was your fiance. It made you sad to think about her; about what could have been, what should have been. Over the past year, you were constantly reminded of her absence by the utter incompetence of her replacements. You suppose it was nice that at the very least, Jeongyeon didn’t give you many opportunities to bemoan her performance in the same way--to remind you of Eunha.

You shake your head, compelling yourself to rise out of your funk and get on with the mission.

As you scroll through files, you stop on one with a familiar signature. Reading its contents, your eyes open wider--suddenly you understand why someone would be interested to listen in to your communications. You quickly save the file to your flash drive and stand up to leave, only to be startled by a figure in the doorway.

“Care to tell me what’s on that?” comes a familiar voice from the darkness that you knew to be Hirai Momo’s. Momo was an agent for a foreign espionage agency--you had as friendly a rivalry as you could have when working for different governments. 

“What was the point of trying to hack our comms if you were just going to show up and ask me that?”

“I had no intention of coming until you decided to ghost your girlfriends,” teases Momo. “Besides, I like showing you how much better I am at sneaking around.”

Momo flicks on the light and she comes into focus. The Japanese government made a good decision when they hired her, you think. She was built for the job of a seductive spy. Her perfectly toned legs had a lovely sheen all the way up to her short skirt, while her cleavage suggested that her tits were ready to burst out of her tight, patterned blouse. Where most of your attention was drawn, however, was her lustrous blue hair, which fell to her shoulders.

“I may actually need your help with this, once you see what’s on it,” you say, nodding your head at the flash drive.

“Oh, so you’re willing to give it to me? I thought I was going to have to fuck you for it,” she says sarcastically. You knew behind the humor was more than a nugget of truth, though. Sex had been the primary vehicle for information trading with Momo over the years. You decide to test your reading of the situation.

“Just because I need your help doesn’t mean I’m giving it for free…”

Momo brings her thumb to her mouth and bites gently as she ponders your not-so-subtle proposition. She takes her turn to look you up and down, making you feel more than a little self conscious in her gaze of judgment. After so many years in the dangerous world of espionage, there were only a handful women who could make you feel so small. Then again, Momo was no regular girl. 

Once she’s satisfied she has properly appraised your worth, Momo lets go of her thumb and straightens her blouse.

“Fine,” she says matter-of-factly, “let’s get to it,” unbuttoning her blouse as she walks towards you.

You are surprised by the lack of fight she put up, but you thought it best to keep that to yourself. Her tone reminds you of a business meeting--that is, if you hadn’t seen her pull her top off as she approached you. She sits in your lap on the chair, wrapping her arms around your neck as you meet her lips for a kiss. Momo’s mouth was familiar to you, introduced to you many times throughout your career. It seemed like every time you ran across her you had sex. One thing you adored about your relationship with her was that it was absolutely without strings attached. You fucked for work, but just because it was part of the job didn’t mean you both didn’t enjoy it. 

Momo, however, was loath to admit the pleasure she got out of her liaisons with you. Call it pride, call it being professional, whatever--Momo refused to act like sex with you was anything other than work, no different than working in a spreadsheet.

You feel her reach down to your pants, quickly unbuttoning them as she sinks to her knees in front of you. You smirk--her eagerness to please you betrayed her air of ambivalence.

Momo wastes no time getting down to business. You are certain the Japanese trained her very well in tender foreplay, but it seems she doesn’t care much for subtlety at the moment. Instead, she utilizes a more direct method to extract your pleasure--one that must have required its own fair share of training--as she spits on your cock before immediately forcing it as deeply in her mouth as she can take it. One, two, three bobs is all it takes for her to reach the base of your cock, her nose buried in your pelvis.

“Fuuuck me, that’s good,” you groan as you hold her head in place for several seconds, and Momo replies in turn with a cough that spits a healthy serving of saliva on to your cock. You release your grip on the back of her head to give her a chance to breathe, but she surprises you when she simply continues to work her mouth on your increasingly saliva-drenched cock, swirling her tongue around your base. Most of the other women you had slept with in recent months would be gasping for air by now, but Momo’s demeanor was cool, calm, and collected. Almost as if she was reading your mind, Momo paused her slurping and pulled her mouth off your shaft--but not forgetting to continue stroking it with achingly deft corkscrew motions.

“What’s the matter? Girls in your department not able to take care of your cock like a real woman?” Momo clicks her tongue and grins. “I’ve told you for years, you’d never be treated so poorly if you came to work for a professional outfit like ours.”

“Shut up and suck my cock.”

Momo shrugs, and gets back to the task at hand. Slobbering even more as she takes you into your mouth again, you pause to thank your lucky stars that you had a job that paid you in part to fuck women like Momo. You gaze upon her face, which has become just as messy as your cock. Momo’s sloppy blowjob has not only left liberal amounts of spit on your cock, but on her face as well--with strands of her blue hair plastered to her cheeks. Even though you thought it impossible, you feel your cock get harder at the sight of Momo’s messy face.

For several minutes, Momo continues inhaling your cock as you find yourself nearing the point of no return, you yank Momo’s head off your throbbing cock in order to prolong your session. A bit too forcefully, it seems, as Momo falls over onto her side.

“What the fuck!” yelps Momo as she picks herself back up, glaring at you. “I suck your cock and you thank me by throwing me on the ground?

“I didn’t mean to, I’m just not ready to cum yet. We both know you would’ve ignored me if I had asked you to stop.”

“I guess you’re right about that,” Momo replies sheepishly. You knew from previous run-ins with her that she loved nothing more than swallowing cum. Even though you had just denied her that favor, you were already thinking about how to make it up to her in a few minutes.

“How about I repay your kindness? Get up on the table and let me eat you.”

“Let’s skip the pleasantries. I’ll get up on the table, but you’re going to fuck me.”

“Someone’s eager to see what’s in this thumb drive,” you tease, inadvertently reminding yourself that this was a transactional liaison. You suspected that Momo’s interest in you extended beyond her desire for the information at hand, and part of you yearned to take her outside of the confines of work. You’re skeptical such a day would ever come, however, given how ambitious Momo was. 

You knew her story--she applied for a job in the Japanese spy agency several years ago, making it all the way through the process before being cut at the very end. She ended up receiving an offer shortly after one of the other finalists died in a ‘training accident’, but Momo lived with a chip on her shoulder ever since. She lived and worked with a pathological drive to prove the agency wrong in their original decision to cut her. Already the youngest lead operative in her country’s history, she had an eye on the directorship and seemed destined for it. So, you supposed, it was nice to be able to fuck her before she became famous.

Momo hops on up on the desk, hiking up her skirt to reveal a delicious-looking blue thong that matches her hair. She looks behind towards you with lust heavy in her eyes as she pulls her thong to the side, revealing her glistening pussy--already dripping, you noted.

“I don’t have all night.”

More than happy to oblige, you line your painfully throbbing cock up with her pussy and you can feel the warmth radiating from it. You take a second to appreciate Momo’s incredible physique as your hands graze downward from her upper back, to her hips, and finally to her ass. As you rub it, you cannot help but appreciate how sublimely taut it is. 

“Jeeze, you act like this is the first time you’ve seen a woman naked,” Momo jabs, interrupting your reverie.

You are starting to get annoyed with Momo’s demeanor. It was nothing new, really--she always carried an air of superiority--but it nonetheless grates on your nerves to see her be so dismissive. You are mature enough to understand that at least a part of this aggravation had to do with the fact that you knew Momo slept with plenty of men for work. Not so mature, however, to be able to stifle the primal urge deep inside of you that wanted Momo to see you as the best of all her lovers. More than ever, it seemed that sexual vanity mattered a great deal to your self-confidence.

With a renewed sense of purpose and your cock in hand, you enter Momo slowly with a long stroke until you fill her to the hilt. In unison with your initial insertion, Momo lets out a whine that crescendos as you bottom out.

As you begin to thrust in and out Momo settles in and widens her stance ever so little, which has the added benefit of allowing you to go even deeper into her warm, wet pussy. Momo was not a girl of surprises. Her face was gorgeous, capable of angelic beauty and fiery lust. Her body reflected the many hours she spent in the gym with ample breasts, insanely tight abs, and a toned ass to match. Her pussy feels exactly as sublime as her beautiful face and incredible body suggested. The perfect combination for a woman who used her body to seduce and take advantage of brainless men. You decide to push out your mind the realization that at this very moment, you are in fact one of those men.

You wanted to make sure Momo felt each and every drive into her hot flesh. Momo continued to moan quietly, each breath punctuated with a new thrust and the sound of your skin meeting hers.

“Looks like someone’s gotten real quiet all of a sudden,” you say, noticing her haughty attitude had subsided as pleasure took you both over.

“Oh, get over yourself,” Momo says, looking back at you with rekindled determination in her eyes, “you’re no better than half the guys I’ve been with. I’m here for the file, not for whatever you call this.” She cooly turns her head to face front again, leaving you seething.

Your twinge of annoyance was now a bubbling boil.

You slow down before withdrawing your cock from her warmth--Momo lets out the faintest whine of disappointment, betraying her dissatisfied front.

Just as Momo turns her head again to complain, you quickly slam your cock deep inside her. Momo yelps, and you notice her eyes bulge as you move your hips in a circular motion with your cock filled to the hilt, scraping deep inside her pussy. After several seconds of this you grab a makeshift ponytail out of her hair and yank backwards, causing her to gasp and arch her back instinctively. As much as she bothered you with her air of indifference, you had to admit that the image in front of you was the stuff of dreams.

Taking advantage of the highly erotic sight before you and the increased leverage offered by your grasp of her hair, you began to truly fuck her with quick and powerful strokes.

“Take it, Momo,” you grunted, beads of sweat beginning to form on your forehead.

Momo said nothing, emitting only breathless gasps from her open mouth. You noticed that their intensity was gradually increasing, so you increased the speed of your shaft penetrating her young, sinful body. You knew she was enjoying this, but you wouldn’t be satisfied until you broke her facade. You wanted her to lose herself to you.

You speed up even more, and the volume of your skin slapping together increases as her pussy drips wetter and wetter, mixing with your leaking precum. You are slamming your cock into her now, and Momo has to grab on to the table to steady herself. Slowly but surely her pretense was crumbling.

“You want it, don’t you Momo? You want more?”

“Fuck yeah,” Momo gasps hoarsely, struggling to speak with her hair being pulled, “Give it to me...o-oh...fuck, give it to me!”

Satisfied that she had succumbed to her pleasure, you relax your grip on her hair slightly and lean over to growl in her ear.

“I’ll give it to you. I’m gonna make sure you remember this, make sure every time you’re with another man you wish it was me.”

Momo acknowledges your promise with a deep groan, giving you great pleasure as you resumed fucking her gorgeous body.

Your eyes drift downward to her glorious ass, now shining with sweat and jiggling violently with each crash of your cock inside her. Inspired by the sight, you release her hair and put one hand on her hip and begin striking her ass with your other. Momo shrieks in surprise, but quickly looks back at you with lidded eyes while biting her lip to tell you she wanted more.

Again you oblige, and it was quickly becoming clear that lust and pleasure were staging a coup of Momo’s senses. She’s making lots of noise, but nothing intelligible. Nothing but guttural moans interspersed with high-pitched squeals. You continue spanking her ass, alternating cheeks--noticing a deep pink beginning to form on both. She’d most likely be dealing with soreness for several days after this, you think.

“You wanna cum, Momo? Cum for me, I know you want to.”

“Mmmmm...Ah, ah, AH! Unggghh,” comes Momo’s response.

“Come on Momo, fucking cum baby...cum all over this cock,” you shout, sincerely hoping there was no one working in an adjacent floor to hear.

“FUUUUCK!” Momo screams eloquently, suddenly dropping her head as her body begins convulsing. You knew what to expect having slept with her before, but you are nonetheless surprised to see how completely overtaken her body was by pleasure. Her upper body jerks spastically as her legs tremble with your cock plunged deep inside her pussy, all the while letting out a high-pitched whine that turns into a soft whimper. Just a few minutes before she was defiant and happy to throw insults at you...now she was a mewling, writhing mess incapable of speaking. The dark, primal part of you is satisfied by her tacit recognition of your talent.

After a short while, Momo begins to compose herself and lifts her upper body from the table. You take it as a sign to slowly resume taking your cock in and out of her. You decide to give her now glowing pink ass a rest and caress her back, tracing long lines with your nails.

“Mmmmm, that feels good,” Momo says, her eyes still closed, “you fuck me so good.”

You slowly begin ramping up the pace, rolling your hips with each stroke. You want to make sure your cock pleases every inch of Momo’s pussy, and make sure it craves you when she’s alone at night. 

After several minutes of this tender, softer version of lovemaking, Momo comes back to her senses. She arches her back again and turns her head to gaze in your eyes as you continue to take her. She begins to move her ass back and forth on your cock in unison with your own strokes.

“Oh my god, you feel so good in my fucking pussy! Every...fucking...stroke!” Momo gasps, the final words punctuated by the force of her majestic ass crashing against your cock.

“You’re a bad girl, Momo,” you tease, “you like being taken and shown who’s boss, don’t you? You like me grabbing your hair and slapping your ass?”

“Yes!” she gasps, “Yes I love it! Mmmmm...I want you to fuck me until you cum. Fuck me until you cum!”

There was no command in the world easier to follow.

Satisfied that you had fulfilled your vain, immature desire to see her acknowledge your skill as a lover, you now focus yourself on extracting pleasure from the young woman beneath you. You settle into a pace with rough strokes, fiercely pounding her over and over. Your pleasure rises with each thrust, aided not only by the mindblowing caress of her pussy, but by the incredible sight of Momo on all fours before you moaning with each strike of your cock inside her.

“Fuck Momo...I don’t think I have much longer, I’m gonna fucking cum so hard!”

“Yes,” comes the response from Momo, “Yes, yes! Fucking cum baby, I want your cum so bad!”

A few more thrusts and you can feel the point of no return coming. For a brief moment you contemplate cumming inside Momo, to truly claim her. You quickly reconsider, wanting to give her what she truly wanted--to swallow your load.

And so, you quickly withdraw your cock from Momo’s now sopping wet pussy and she instinctively turns around and drops to her knees on the floor. Stroking your cock with great fervor, her mouth wide open begging for what was to come.

“Please give me your cum, please, please! I want it...I need it! Cum for me!”

Your head tilts backward as a long groan escapes your lips. Your cum explodes from your shaft, shooting long, thick ropes of semen into her mouth and onto her cheeks and nose. Over and over, your cum splashes on her beautiful face until you finally reach the end of your orgasm, panting and exhausted. Momo’s face is a pornographic picture of lust, her eyes rolled back in pleasure as she swallows the mass of cum you deposited in her mouth.

“I fucking love your cum,” Momo says as she wipes the remaining cum off her face with her finger and promptly brings it to her tongue before swallowing it down as well.

“I’m glad we were both able to get what we wanted,” you say, struggling to catch your breath.

“Speaking of getting what I wanted…” Momo says, nodding her head to the part of the floor where the USB drive now sits, evidently thrown from the table during the session that had just taken place.

“Right,” you say, suddenly remembering you’re here for work, “make a copy and let’s get out of here.”

“Great,” says Momo, still on the floor with a satisfied smile of content on her face, “Hey, I meant what I said about having you join our team. As much shit as I give you, we could really use someone with your talent.”

“Thanks, but I think I’m better off staying put. Don’t think the Korean government would let me live if I tried defecting.”

“Probably true,” says Momo as she begins picking up her clothes, “Never hurts to ask, though.”

***

A few minutes later, you and Momo had both gotten dressed and copied the file onto a drive for her. Momo disappeared into an adjoining hallway and you set off to traverse the stairwell again. As you prepare yourself for the descent, you also steel yourself for the repercussions of giving the intel to a foreign spy agency. With the information you saw in the file, you knew the Japanese would have to be looped in sooner or later. If it was going to happen eventually, you thought it made the most sense to entrust that intel to the agent on the other side you knew would make sure things got done correctly. As logical as it seemed to you, however, you knew it wouldn’t be taken well back at the office.

You click on your comms link, now knowing there’s nothing to fear. 

“Hey Choa, I’m on my way back to the rendezvous.”

“Oh thank god! That took forever, I was about to call for a tac team!” Choa sighs with audible relief, “I take it you got everything you needed?”

“Got more than I needed, actually,” you say, nervous about Choa’s reaction to what you say next, “Listen, there’s one small thing you should know...”

“You did WHAT?!”