#fae!yeonjun | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hyukascampfire · 8 months ago

Text

RAHHHHHH!!!

To: Someone From a Warm Climate

wc: 17.5k

my works are NOT meant to be accurate representations of any idols. i do not claim them to be as such. they are works of pure fiction.

genre: smut, angst, fantasy violence

pairings: faerie!taehyun x human!reader, faerie!yeonjun x human!reader

synopsis: a life lived as a human among the fae is one hard-earned. the folk are built of indescribable beauty, and of debauchery and mischief. for some, a life lived subservient to the folk is just fine; but to those who dream of something more, they would spend their lives clawing and biting to make it happen.

a/n: y'all. Y'ALL. I have so much in store for you. I was hunched over my desk writing this like a crazed scientist mixing their chemicals.

! warnings: violence (stabbing... twice..), a dead animal appears in a scene, fem reader, mentions of past family trauma, cunnilingus, overstimulation, PIV

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It’s more difficult than you had anticipated to keep your mouth shut about what had happened, but Taehyun stays quiet, so you do too. You make yourself useful, packing up with him, hoping to ease the palpable tension.

Insecurities whisper in your ears that the kiss was just… disappointing to him. It was your first kiss, anyway. The feel of his lips on yours is brutally seared into your mind. You hope your mouth harasses his mind as much as his does yours. You can’t let that fester for too long, though. You have a lot to do to become a useful spy. Your inadequacy is why you’re even here, traveling in silence next to Taehyun, heading north. You’re not sure why they decided to throw you to the wolves for your first assignment, but there has to be a reason. You can only throw yourself more fully into improving your skillset.

You decide on trying to cut the nagging tension with words. You’ve walked for hours with it looming in the air. But, it isn’t easy. You open your mouth to speak, closing it to rethink your words, and repeat a few times, before finally just saying, “What are we going to even be doing, when we reach the north?” You readjust your bag on your shoulders, its thick straps digging into the bone of your shoulder. The bag is heavier than it was yesterday. Everything is heavier today. Maybe it’s the realization that you’re progressing toward your dream, but it’s all hazier than you imagined it would be. Or, maybe, it’s the awful cold shoulder Taehyun is throwing at you.

“Do you know much about the Unseelie queen?” He asks.

You shake your head. You know that her kingdom is revered as the most fearsome in Faerie, and you know that they hold a special brew of distaste for humans. But, you do not know much more. Your school lessons had, for reasons you could infer, brushed over the ice kingdom only very briefly. The folk prefer that humans don’t see those sides of this world. Not for your peace of mind—but, because it keeps you complacent. It’s not like you don’t see it, anyway. You know the evils of this world well.

“You need to be careful when we get there. Things get rough for humans up there. You need to remember that you can’t trust the words that come from their mouths.”

How long until snow powders the ground? The scenery around you has already grown wintry—trees are sparse, and foliage is hardier. It all is so much more muted. Probably not too long.

“We’re going to be infiltrating The Queen’s Court. She’s always pledged allegiance to him, but The King wants eyes and ears in the north.”

The King thinks that she’s going behind his back? There’s more in this world that you are oblivious to than you imagined. You’ve been under the impression that the Northern Queen was starkly allegiant to The High King. It makes sense, though. There isn’t much incentive to keep humans in the know on faerie politics when you’re just here to be working bodies. “Does he have any reason to believe that?” you ask. It would be nice to have some more information.

Taehyun explains, “The Northern Court and High Court have had a history of tension. It’s why it became a tradition to send their children to intermingle with each other’s courts. However, the Queen hasn’t upheld that tradition for at least the past hundred years.” An extra chilly breeze licks at your cheeks, and you shiver. You are definitely making progress northward.

“So, he risks the lives of his heirs?” you ask, pursing your lips. If the northern court is supposed to be so vicious, you cannot imagine why The King would even consider it, especially if relations are supposed to be so strained.

“The Queen would not outright harm them. She values the power that his alliance gives her too much, and she would lose the war that would follow. She is the scheming type.” Taehyun tugs up the hood of his cloak to keep the wind from chapping his skin, and you do so with yours as well. “Which is why we’re going up there in the first place.”

You acknowledge his answer with a nod. The wind whips past you, and you have to fight it to keep your eyes open. You would appreciate the accompanying snowfall if it was not blowing wildly down on you and stinging your cheeks. With a flex of your fingers, you confirm that they’re still mobile, but they’re lethargic and locked up in the cold. A powdery layer of snow builds on the ground, and you curse it for the way it has your toes freezing through even your leather boots.

“Can,”—Your teeth chatter—“Can we get a fire going, or something?”

You catch a glimpse of his face under his hood as he turns to you. His nose and cheeks are rosy, but it seems that the cold affects him less than it does you. The snow is high enough now that you have to drag your feet through with each forward step. Is the rest of the way going to be like this? You might freeze to death, then.

“We’ve got a bit of time. Let’s get as far as we can, before stopping.”

You roll your eyes. Maybe he wants you to freeze to death, and then he could be freed from any trace of what had happened last night. You bring your hands to your mouth and let out warm puffs of air as if it would thaw out your poor hands and nose.

Your mouth struggles to even form words.“I would appreciate living to see tomorrow,” you say slowly. You still lace it with plenty of attitude.

Taehyun doesn’t respond.

❈

Taehyun curses as visibility wanes to only a few feet. All that lays in your path is whipping snow and haze.

Your boot catches on something beneath the snow, and you tumble. Frigid snow and ice shards greet you on the ground, biting your skin. Looking up, you find Taehyun gone. He has to be at least somewhere in the gray haze around you; it’s only been a few seconds. If you can’t find him, you’ll die here. That isn’t up for debate.

“Taehyun?” you shout, your voice muffled and carried away by the howling wind.

You stay where you are, but lift yourself from the ground. You can’t start wandering blindly, you’ll end up separating further from him.

He calls your name, but it’s distant.

“Here,” you say, “I’m over here!”

There are many ways that you do not want to die, but you especially do not want to die like this. Your throat tightens the longer he doesn’t respond.

“Taehyun?”

He appears through the veil of snow and haze. A cry erupts from your throat, your voice breaking with relief. He takes you by the arm and tugs you behind him wordlessly, searching for something.

“I thought I was dead,” you say to the air, but it mostly drowns you out.

“I know.” His voice is thick. “I did too.”

He finds whatever it is that he seems to be searching for, and you might cry as you recognize the rocky opening to be a cavemouth. You won’t be dying today, at least.

“I’m going to start a fire,” Taehyun announces only moments after you both duck under the low cavemouth and step into the refuge of the cave walls.

“You’ll get lost.” It’s true, but you also just cannot stand the idea of sitting in this cave alone for any extended amount of time. Your hand is barely visible in front of you, and it’s only getting darker as the blizzard grows thicker outside.

“I’ll be fine. You’re going to freeze to death without it,” he says, before he dips out, leaving you alone and shivering. He could’ve at least given you a second to protest.

You’re not usually too scared of the dark, but you do press your back to the wall, decorated with liverwort, and sit. Getting separated earlier nags at your mind. You have to remember that you aren’t safe. A line of work like this guarantees it. You could easily have become a body losing heat out in that flurry of wind and snow. You would’ve died before ever seeing the fruits of what you could make of yourself; would’ve died living an insignificant life. Some jaded part of you wonders what Taehyun might’ve felt if you had. Would he move on with this assignment without delay?

At least the wind is no longer circulating about the cave and producing the howl that has been haunting you. There are no such wintry winds to freeze up your extremities in here, but it’s still cold enough to have you shuddering and tucking your hands underneath your knees to ration your warmth.

Will you even be able to make it all the way to the Northern Court? You imagine telling Taehyun that you can’t handle it, or that you’re going back, and you imagine the look that would fall over his face. No. You’d become a statue of ice, frozen forever at a crossroads between a meaningless life and new beginnings, before that.

The cold beckons you to sleep, and the aching in your tired back and limbs say that sleep is a splendid idea, but you resist. You need to see him return so that you know that a fire will warm your aching bones to sleep. But you are so cold, and sleeping it away sounds so nice…

Your eyelids are heavy, and it’s harder to keep them open than it is to just let them fall. Your veins are sluggish with the cold.

When your head drops, you’re brought back to consciousness, but it’s so, so cold when you’re awake. It’s so cold that it burns. Even your lungs are slow and weary.

You are so cold that you can no longer shiver.

Something is muffled and shuffling beyond your shivering huddle, but you can’t rally the energy to worry about it. You hang suspended between dream and consciousness. You want both so badly.

Taehyun curses. “I need you to stay awake,” He says. You can only muster a nod for him. Your eyes protest as you hold them open, watching Taehyun hastily sparking up a fire. He strikes rocks against each other, growing more frustrated each time a spard doesn’t catch. When one does, the flame starts slowly on the snow-wetted wood. Your skin tingles under the warmth radiating from it. The roiling flame is intense, having been cold for so long.

You bask in the fire’s flickering light. Movement comes easier to your limbs as you defrost. Taehyun produces a few hardy roots and skins them with a dagger that glints in the low light, then sets them to roast over the flame.

“How did you find those?” you say. It was hard to even walk out there, and you’re sure it had gotten worse while he was out. How would he even find them under the snowpiles, unless he knew where to look?

He gives you a long look, as if considering something. “Just got lucky digging through the snow while I was looking for the wood.”

That explanation doesn’t make sense; finding three subsurface roots underneath thick snow is different from finding hunks of wood protruding from it. It might be the truth, but you decide to ask, “Under the snow?”

Fire crackling is the only sound to fill the silent moment as he doesn’t answer. Well, if you weren't already iffy, you are now. He watches the flames prance around for a charged moment, the reflection of it shimmering in his dark eyes.

“I’m from the north,” he finally says. You frown. Why hadn’t he just said that in the first place?

“Is that why your ears aren’t pointed?” you ask, sitting up a bit. He pulls the roots, lightly toasted, off the fire.

His gaze rips away from the flame, landing on you. His eyes are a little too intense for such a simple question. “No,” he says. His behavior tickles a curious part of you; if you’re going to be on this assignment together for so many weeks, then it’s best to get to know each other. You also have been intensely curious about his ears from the moment you noticed their curvature. It’s odd to see fundamentally human features on a faerie.

You don’t mean to be overly invasive, though, and you feel bad for prodding so much as his mind races behind his eyes. You hadn’t thought too much about why it might be a sensitive subject for him; you just wanted to satisfy your curiosity. You’re seconds from telling that you like his ears, but he speaks before you can.

“My mother was human,” he says, his eyes trained on the cave floor in front of him. He’s half human? That’s why he’s so averse to mentioning his ears—he’s embarrassed by his human mother. You stew over that. If he dislikes his mother for her humanity, it explains how he has acted concerning you. You pity him, though. It would be difficult to belong anywhere with that specific mix of blood: humanity fears him, and Faerie does not treat half-blooded faeries as truly its own.

“She hid herself away when she found she was pregnant, and gave birth to me where she thought she would be safest. She knew what my father would do. He found her eventually, though. He killed her because she was dirt on his name. He couldn’t kill me, though.” Your stomach does a sickened flip. You know that, by faerie honor, he would have to raise Taehyun.

“I’m so sorry, Taehyun,” you say. He just presses his lips thin and hands you a roasted root to eat.

“I hated him for it more each day, so one day I took a blade to my ears and made sure I never resembled him again. At least, in that way.” Your heart lurches. The thought of him carving off the points of his ears to spite his dad… He had maimed himself, and you’ve poking and prodding him about it. You wince.

You want to apologize again, but you have a feeling that he doesn’t want any more apologies, and you don’t know him well enough to comfort him in any meaningful way. Instead of saying something that you’re sure will ring hollow, you say, “The faerie that stole me from my parents was a seamstress. She wanted a human girl to work her shop for her, without having to pay wages like she would for a faerie. It was taxing work, even when I was this tall,”—you denote the height of a child six or seven years old with your hand—“Maybe she just didn’t know what it means to raise a human child, but she wasn’t the best replacement for parents. She knew that I needed to be fed at least regularly, and provided everything I needed for hygiene, but she didn’t know that I needed a mother. She gave me and education, and I know that humans here don’t usually get that. I’m grateful for it—I really, really am, but it just… The fact that it was more for her own benefit than out of the goodness of her heart…”

Taehyun listens, his eyes reflecting the oranges and yellows of the fire. You know that you’re rambling. “Sorry. What I’m trying to say is… I guess…” You hope the yellow glow of the flames is enough to disguise your embarrassment, and that he doesn’t think you’re trying to upstage him. You just feel wretched for putting him in a position where he had to surrender such dark memories to you.

He doesn’t say anything, taking a root from the fire for himself and biting into it.

You bite into the fat, tuber-like root too, appreciating its nutty flavor, and you embrace the silence that grips the cave. Only the garbling of the fire speaks, but it is a comfortable quiet.

❈

The snowstorm must’ve died down while you slept, because the snow isn’t too much higher when you and Taehyun set back out the next day. It’s a bit of a drag to fight the mountains of snow it left with each step, but you don’t complain.

Sunlight shimmers off ice crystals and sends droplets down from snow-dusted branches and to your cheeks. Every breath into your lungs is crisp, but you have bundled yourself in the thermal clothing from the bag Taehyun had packed for you, so you’re mostly comfortable. At least your fingers and toes are mobile now.

Taehyun says that you have less than a day until you’re there. You repeat that like a mantra in your head as your feet ache with the strain of traveling so far by foot. He hasn’t said much else since, though, and you wonder if it has anything to do with last night’s topics of choice. His shoulders are as tense as his demeanor.

It’s getting boring walking for hours on end, and Taehyun isn’t the most talkative. The most you get for entertainment is your thoughts and watching the scenery change. So, you decide to put this time to use. You apply the silent walking technique that he had taught you despite how awfully your feet ache. It’s harder in the snow, but you’re better off knowing how to do it even in extenuating circumstances. You don’t all that you’ll be facing in the north. Sliding your sword off your back, you realize how it had been dragging your back down. You practice swings and jabs.

Taehyun hears you, and says over his shoulder, “Don’t push yourself today. You were close to freezing to death last night, just recharge your energy.”

Was it so bad? You know you had gotten pretty cold, but you feel fine now. “I was just exhausted, not freezing. We walked forever yesterday.”

You continue trying to get used to the weight of a sword in your hands.

Trees start coming fewer and farther between, and though the snow on the ground grows lower, it is crusted over in an icy layer that you have to break through with each step. Everything is sharper and more icy, less fluffy and light. Icicles drip from trees so sharp they could substitute for a weapon. You put away your sword; the ground is slick, and you’ll fall if you don’t think your steps through. You’ve got to be in the Northern Kingdom, now.

You walk like this for a little while longer, only sparse trees and shrubbery, until an estate standing tall on the snowy flat peeks through the midday haze. An ancient and gnarled blackthorn tree sits proud on the estate’s grounds. Its spiny branches, bare of any fruit or leaf, twist among themselves. They remind you of impish claws.

Taehyun is heading straight for the estate.

“Are we about to meet somebody?” you ask, closing the distance between you with a little jog.

He shakes his head. “It’s my father’s residence.”

You stop, and he makes it a few steps ahead of you before he realizes. “We’re meeting your father?” you say. The thought turns your mouth to cotton. He had killed Taehyun’s human mother. Faerie hospitality doesn’t seem to mean much to him, and you don’t think he’ll like you much.

Taehyun’s brow creases. “What? No,” he says, looking back at the estate. “He’s been dead for a while.”

You reign in the relief that you feel, but that tidbit of information renders you curious again. Faeries don’t die of old age. How had he died? Is Taehyun pleased that he’s gone?

“Oh,” you say, not pushing it. You learned that lesson yesterday. “Good, ‘cause I’m not in any shape to be meeting anybody right now.” You drag your fingers through your knotty and tousled hair to make a statement. It’s wet in some places, where snowflakes found their way to your head and melted there. You’re sure it looks even worse than it feels. “Are we staying here, then?” You could use someplace to make yourself look less like you’ve just traveled three straight days, and it’s relatively optimistic that the sizable estate ahead of you has what you might need.

Taehyun hums in confirmation.

You approach the heavy ironwood front doors, and you gape at the wood interior and high ceilings. Nut-hatch’s humble cottage was more than the roaming life the wilder fae prefer, but it pales next to this. Charcoal-black banners hang down from the mezzanine and are embroidered with silver into a family crest that resembles the blackthorn tree that sits on the grounds outside.

“Who, exactly, was your father?” you ask, running fingers along the top of the dusty dining table that sits center of the estate. The sight of the empty chairs that encircle it is almost mournful.

Taehyun doesn’t answer, and when you look for him to see why, he is planted to the floor. A muscle feathers in his jaw as takes in the estate.

“He was general of The Queen’s guard. And, I guess, also a lord in her court.” There’s icy distance in his voice.

This is absolutely the estate of an esteemed general and lord if you’ve ever seen one.

“Anywhere for me to clean up?” you ask. You don’t want to intrude on whatever he’s dealing with returning here.

He nods, pointing up to the mezzanine floor where the walls are lined with doors. “There should be some stuff left over. You can use whatever you find.”

You follow him as he leads to a room. As you draw yourself a bath with water warmed over a fire stove, you cannot help but wonder what awful memories this place might hold for him in its ornate, wooden walls.

❈

Waking up in the warm sheets of a plush bed was a soothing balm for your aching joints and bones. Your hair is fresh and perfumed with the soaps and powdery-scented oils left over in the bathing room. You delighted in brushing out the tangles. The estate is full of pleasures that only the gentry could find mundane; you, on the other hand, are only left scheming how you might make this life your own.

You don’t see much of Taehyun all day, until he pokes into the bedroom you’re staying in and informs you that you’re attending Court tonight, and though you’ve known for a while now, a thick ball of nerves coils up in your stomach.

You unstring your travel bag, worrying that you’ll have to wear what you arrived here in, but Taehyun had packed accordingly. You tug out a mute dress, beige in color, and embroidered in the bodice and skirt of it with bronze threads. The short, puffed sleeves are pretty. There isn’t much to decorate yourself with, no pretty pins or silk shoes in the dressing tables or wardrobes, so you just wear your hair as it is and lace up your traveling boots for footwear. You find yourself in the mirror to be prettier than you’ve ever looked. Any dresses you’ve had access to in your life have been largely unspecial, and they marked you as a human servant. Even nakedness, in the land of Faerie, is more ornate than those kinds of dresses.

You hold the skirts of your dress up and above your feet so that it does not tread on wet snow and dirt as you and Taehyun leave the estate for Court. The knots in your stomach don’t let up any. You know you’ll stick out as a human, that’s a given, but you are deeply terrified you’re going to make a fool out of yourself by forgoing some unspoken faerie revel rule. You can’t compromise your assignment. Does Taehyun know you’ve never partied alongside the fae? Humans often attend faerie revels in the High King’s court, but are they even allowed to do so here?

Taehyun is dressed lavishly, clad in black from head to foot, and he wears a sleeved doublet encrusted with shimmering black beads and threads that glitter in the moon’s light. He wears the black fur pelt of some beast around the collar of his neck. He resembles entirely the son of a general. You feel plain, next to him.

“What do I do when we get there?” you ask, stepping around a puddle encased in a thin layer of cracked ice.

“The King wants to know if anything is going on, so you need to just listen. Look around a little, talk to people you think are interesting, and go from there.”

Sounds simple enough.

A thick forest surrounds the snowy flat that Taehyun’s estate sits on, and as you approach it, Taehyun says, “When we’re there, you can’t dance, no matter how badly you’ll want to.”

“I won’t.” You reassure him, but you’ll just run on the hope that Taehyun sticks near you. Faerie celebration is untamed, and if a human happens to dance among them, they will not be able to regain control over themselves until a faerie takes pity and pulls them out. That isn’t usually the case, though. The folk delight in seeing humans lose themselves to the abundance of faerie delights.

Taehyun accepts your answer, but he stops at one of the many wax-leaved holly trees and plucks a few jewel-red berries from their branches. Holly berries are faerie wards, and humans often carry a handful of them in their pockets to protect themselves from simple faerie glamours.

“I don’t have anywhere to keep them,” you say, taking the berries he drops into your hands. You feel around your dress to reaffirm that it doesn’t have any hidden pockets or pouches. None.

He produces a needle and some twine thread, offering it to you.

“What?” you say, a little lost. Obviously, he wants you to do something with it, because the berry’s juices would burn him, but you’re not exactly sure what.

“String the berries on it, and then I’ll show you.”

You purse your lips and do so as you continue on your way to the revel. Some squish as you do, but you tug them down the thread anyway. The thread seems long enough to wear as a necklace.

When you’re done stringing the berries, you look up to find that you’ve arrived. You admire how The Queen’s hall of revelries is not even a true hall, and is instead formed with tree trunks for walls and their branches for ceilings. Off-kilter faerie music twists and turns and floats alive in the air; the lilting flutes urge your limbs to move. Maybe it’ll be more difficult to stay off the dancing floor than you had initially anticipated.

Taking the strung berries from your hands, Taehyun gives you a look that you yet again cannot decipher before walking around you. He takes the top section of your hair into his hands.

“What are you doing?” you say.

He sections the hair into two and spins the pieces before pinning them in place. He continues fiddling with it for a bit, tugging something around and in between the hair, and then steps away. You feel your hair. He had pinned the hair into a half-updo with an ornamental hair comb and braided the berry string through it as a ward that doubles as a pretty hairstyle. It’s a fairly intricate hairstyle.

“How’d you learn to do hair?” you ask, spinning to face him.

He scratches the back of his neck. “It’s intuitive.”

You laugh a nose-crinkling laugh for the first time in a while and take him by the elbow to drag him toward the reverie ahead of you.

❈

You stand eating fruity delicacies and glazed meats off banquet tables, to curb your anxieties. There is plenty to enjoy—throngs of faeries dancing like nobody's watching to the rich song of the fiddle, long tables surrounded by chatting folk and rendered full with the plumpest of fruits and blocks of various cheeses. You had worried that you would stick out as a human attending Court in the north, but you have quickly realized that most are more worried about sinking in the debauchery than ogling you. There are so many conversations to listen to, but you don’t have the slightest clue which to even begin with. The Queen does not make an appearance today, but you don’t know if she ever even does.

You stand here, though, because Taehyun suggested it was best you split off and try to cover the most you can. You’ve been trying your best to strain your ear, but it all blurs into Court jargon to you. You inspect each of your snacks for the poisons Taehyun had taught you. It’s not like anybody cared enough to poison you, but Faerie courts are fickle.

A tap on your shoulders has you turning around to face the most beautiful faerie man you have ever seen. His brown eyes twinkle under the chandeliers hanging from branches overhead as he regards you, as do the plethora of crystals sewn into his extravagant white get-up. You gulp down the last of the cheese block in your hand.

He smiles, the corners of his lips turned up in a cheeky tilt. “Are the snacks any good?” he says.

It feels a bit odd that he’d be worrying what a human thinks of the food, but you reply anyway, “The cheese is fantastic.”

He laughs, having just watched you gulp down the last bit of it. His honeyed laugh compels laughter from you, too. And, so quickly that you don’t notice it, the rest of the revelry fades around you.

“Do you want to dance?” he says, gesturing over at the whirling sea of faeries. He holds himself with grace, down to his posture.

Your lips tug down into a disappointed frown. There are quite a few things you’re better off not doing here, but that is what you should do the least. “I don’t think I should.”

His eyes flicker with understanding, but his smile doesn’t falter any. “I’ll pull you out if it becomes too much,” he says. “I promise you that.” He presses a pristine hand over his chest, right at his heart, in testament to his sincerity.

Well, his words are plain enough to know that he isn’t lying. But you’re not here to dance; you’re here to perform your duties.

He can tell that you’re not convinced as he studies your face. “We can always stay here and enjoy these,”—he pops a cube of cheese in his mouth, so his next words are muffled—“No problem.”

His quickness to compromise is unfamiliar to you.“Let’s have some cheese.” You try to emulate his smile with your mouth, but you’re sure it looks better on him because he throws his head back and laughs.

The more you study his features, the more you realize how reminiscent of a fox they are. “Can I ask your name, pretty?” he says. The sugary-sweet words taste good in your mouth, and they rot your inhibitions. You shouldn’t be sitting here twirling your hair. Where Taehyun is under this same canopy of branches? You wonder if he’s catching any useful stuff. Guilt digs its claws at your skin.

You flounder and try to catch your name as it seems to slip away from your mind and into the air. You’re not always this ditzy, it’s just that his sharp eyes and mouth confuse you. You tell him your name.

“Are all human names as pretty as yours?” he says. He thinks your name is beautiful? Human names are unspirited and prone to repetition, not singular like a faerie name.

You’re not sure how to respond, so you deflect. “What’s your’s?”

His black hair slides over his eyes as he tilts his head, eyes alight. He wears so much on his face. You’re wary, though. Maybe he is cunning like the fox, maybe his face tells you a different story than his mind. You worry again why he is sitting here making conversation with you.

“Yeonjun,” he says, and you try to remember when he had gotten so close.

“Well, Yeonjun,” you say, trying his name in your mouth. “I’m not the most interesting, so if you’re looking for entertainment, I don’t think you’ll find too much here.”

His eyes roam your face for a few heartbeats. “I think you’re plenty interesting. Maybe the most interesting lady this court has had the pleasure of keeping.” His use of the word lady, addressing you, feels good in a bittersweet way. You’re a far cry from a lady, but the sound of it settles deep in your bones and warms you.

The way he sees your burning cheeks, and seems to delight in it, should alarm you. You know his words are saccharine. But, his attention is delicious. You find yourself hoping he’ll stay here and keep you company until the night is over.

“Okay, now I know you’ve got to be up to something,” you say.

He grins and, stepping back, says, “I’m going to go get something for you. Don’t move.” He slips through the gaps of chatting revelers before you can tell him that you won’t move; that you’ll be right here all night because you should be. Taehyun trusts that you’re doing your job. You sigh a breath, trying to force down the guilt that gnaws hungrily at you again.

You make an effort to tune your ears into the conversations around you. There was so much you could’ve missed in the time you spent talking to Yeonjun.

As you do, pair of frilly and silk-draped faerie girls, one with skin like white snow and crystalline wings at her back, and the other with hair inlaid with glittering strands of gold, approach the banquet table arm-in-arm. You hate the way their eyes land on you, and then on your awful dress. You hate the look they share, and the way one hoots at something the other says. Your skin burns with how you become something to laugh at.

You don’t notice Yeonjun’s return until he steps in front of you, his hands full with a bounty of bonbons and indulgences from various tables throughout the hall.

“I want you to try these,” he says. You shoot him a skeptical eye, raising a brow, to which he scoffs and says, “I just wanna know what you think. They’re my favorites.”

You take a sweetmeat and place it in your mouth. Your brows shoot up at its nutty flavor.

“You have a sweet tooth?” you ask, chomping on another.

“You could say that,” he says. The flip of his words and the facetious raise of his brows make you feel that he isn’t just talking about confectionaries. You squirm a bit under his heavy gaze.

You continue taste-testing the sweets he brought, but your mind keeps cruelly spinning the jeering of those faerie girls. You scorn your inadequacies; your inability to be a worthy spy, and your inability to ever fit in. It would be easier to act as one with the court and to coax out meaningful secrets if you look at least like you belong. However, Yeonjun seems like the only place you have to start.

“You meant what you said about pulling me out if it becomes too much?” you say.

Yeonjun doesn’t look at all taken aback by your words. He must’ve seen the way your eyes flickered over to the rambunctious dancefloor. “Of course. I won’t let you lose yourself, and nobody will touch a hair on your head.”

“Let’s dance,” you say, and giddiness blooms wide in your chest. Is dancing among the faeries as enchanting as it's said to be?

Here’s to finding out.

Yeonjun brings you to the dance floor, and he smiles down at you as you begin moving. Your limbs are heavy with hesitance. His hands find your waist, and the touch soaks up the stiffness right from you. Suddenly, you are alive in ways that you hadn’t known you could be before. Your boots slide over the packed earth, and he guides you to a rhythm that you can feel thrumming in your bloodstream. Yeonjun’s eyes are on your face. You can feel the other dancers all around you, and you brush up against some here and there, but you don’t mind much. You feel the music in your heartbeat. His fingertips dig divots into your skin, and it’s the only thing you can really feel.

He leans in over your shoulder. “I heard what they said. Do you want dresses? I can give you dresses more beautiful than those girls could dream of wearing.”

It takes the words a bit to cut through the fog in your head, but you narrow your eyes at him. “Is this one really so bad?”

He squeezes his eyes shut in a laugh, as if that were ridiculous, and then opens them to look you in your eyes. “Pretty, you’d look delightful even in your bare skin.” He tugs your bodies impossibly closer, melding them together into one spinning thing. “But, if what they said hurt you, I will give you whatever it is you ask for.”

Even in your hazy state, you know that doesn’t sound right. But, you don’t ask why he would bother with that, you only lose yourself further into his eyes. They devour you.

The music grows faster, and faster, and faster, coiling itself up and around your legs, willing them to dance for you. Yeonjun’s hands grab here and smoothe over there, exploring. Mapping.

“Do you love it?” he asks.

“Yes,” you breathe. Your head is swimming, crashing through the throes of waves, and the undercurrent of panic only thrills you into dancing more.

His eyes rove over you in a languid pass, before he kisses you like your lips are the sweet delicacies he so loves. You are as lost in his lips as you are the spirit of the dancefloor. His hot tongue explores and licks at your lips. The world swirls behind your eyes even as they are squeezed shut, but you welcome the dizzying nature of it. Your heart jumps from its cage in your chest as he brushes a hand along your collarbone, sliding it up the side of your neck, and then places it at the back of your head, pushing you further into his kiss. A vignette blurs your vision, lungs burning for air, but you can’t find it in you to care.

You’re abruptly pulled from the messy tangle of galavanting bodies. Like if someone were to just halt the Earth’s spinning on its axis, your body reels. Your mind comes back to you, but it’s scattered, and your heart pounds like drumbeat in your head.

Someone speaks. It’s Yeonjun’s voice. He situates you in between two of the pillar trees that make the walls of the hall, and you drag in the night air. It’s so fresh it burns your lungs a bit to breathe.

“I feel like shit,” you say. Your heart is still running amok in your chest.

He snorts. “Yeah, I bet. I’m sorry I didn’t notice that you were slipping earlier.”

You’re unsure how long you two danced, but the sky is breaking into day, so it had to have been for way longer than you remember. You groan. Taehyun has to be looking for you. Or, perhaps he left without you.

“Something wrong?” he asks, watching you recover.

“No, no, I’m fine,” you say. “Thank you for that. I’ve never done anything like it.”

His eyes crinkle. He really, really, is beautiful, down to the points of his ears. “You don’t need to thank me. Seeing you enjoy yourself like that was a sight for sore eyes.”

You laugh a little, looking out at the way the sun crests over the horizon from your little hiding spot. The breeze does wonders in brushing up on your blazing skin and placating it. The thrill still lingering in you makes you wonder if you could claim such a life for yourself.

The sound of Taehyun’s voice saying your name rips out that seedling of hope, and stomps it down into the ground. It was a useless hope, anyway. As he approaches you, Yeonjun nods his head in greeting. Taehyun’s face is drawn, but he bows low at the waist. It’s quite a formal greeting.

“It’s time to go,” Taehyun says, addressing you. His eyes are searching yours like he’s trying to find some answer in them. It seems he doesn’t find what he’s looking for.

A crooked smile tugs at Yeonjun’s lips. “Is she under your care?” he asks. It’s a less direct way of asking: does she belong to you?

Taehyun’s face morphs into something hard, but his words remain cordial. “Yes, she is.” You know he says it because it’s the best way to explain why a human would be attending Court, but for some reason, you had expected Taehyun to answer that a little differently.

Taehyun gives you a meaningful look and tilts his head to the side in a silent way to say let’s go. You curtsy a farewell to Yeonjun, letting a soft smile onto your lips before you depart with Taehyun. Yeonjun doesn’t say anything at all, but you feel his eyes following you.

You walk without words until you clear the hall and reach the forest, where the thicket can muffle your sensitive words and keep them just for you. “Did you find anything?” he says. His attention stays ahead, and his jaw is a bit strained. Here it comes; he saw you wasting time.

“Nobody around me was talking about anything other than gossip until I ran into him. His name is—”

“I know who he is.” Taehyun snaps.“Please, enlighten me. What did you learn of him?”

His words feel a bit like he’s spinning you a web. A trap. You don’t even have anything to offer him, because you hadn’t learned anything about Yeonjun.

“You made a promise to me. You promised you wouldn’t dance at all, and I find you dancing with The King’s son.” The world trembles underneath you at his words. You were flirting with a prince all night. You kissed a prince.

The dam of guilt and embarrassment and shame that has been filling you throughout the night crumbles and washes over you. “I didn’t mean to waste time, Taehyun. He just seemed like the most interesting person to talk to. I thought that maybe I could hear something interesting from him.” Your legs protest as you lift them to step over a tall bush. Dancing had exhausted you down to your marrow. “A prince seems like a pretty good place to find information, though.”

“Does kissing him entail hearing something interesting from him?” His words are spat, and when he looks at you, his eyes hold distaste. So he saw that, too.

You sigh. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, either.”

“You didn’t mean for it to happen,” he echoes, scoffing the words. “You are nowhere near serious about this. Why are you even here? Well, let me tell you this; you did not come here to suck the faces of pretty princes. This life is not yours.”

His words are everything you don’t want to hear, and they antagonize the anger in your chest where shame had previously sat. “It’s a little hard to do what you’re asking of me when you send me in looking like this,” you say, gesturing down at your get-up.

“This is about a dress?” Taehyun says. “You don’t need all that. They’re just putting on a show.” He doesn’t say them, but he dances delicately around the words: You’re human.

You get up in front of him so that he has no choice but to look at you. “You know that I’m going in there at a disadvantage! You know that I can’t just blend in, and it’s so much harder when I look like this.” You point your finger at him accusatorily. “And, did you even get anything? You’re sitting here, picking me apart, but really, what did you do?”

He doesn’t respond.

“Oh, that’s rich,” you say, tone mocking.

“The difference,”—he says his words slow—“Is that I didn’t use the night to enjoy myself in snacks and courting ladies.”

“That’s because you spent your night watching me,” you snap. If he was even trying to pick up information, he wouldn’t have had his eyes on you the whole time. “You just wanted to catch something to give me shit about. Can you not see any value in following this thread? If Yeonjun is the king’s son, and he’s taken interest in me, imagine what I can catch hanging around him.” The estate appears on the snow flat as you two clear the forest. The sun hangs well in the sky, now. Ugly hurt twists in your chest. Yeah, you could’ve been more alert, but you can easily turn whatever you’ve got going on into something.

Taehyun shakes his head at you. “I want you to remember this one thing, if you’re going to remember anything I tell you at all. The folk will never fail to make you into a spectacle. Your duties lie in The King, and only that.”

You walk the rest of the way to the estate, and then split off to your rooms, in an awful silence that sits itchy under your skin.

❈

Taehyun’s accusatory voice wakes you up from a hard slumber. You don’t have time to even blink out the sleep from your eyes as he roars, and you listen.

“You had him send you dresses?” There is a scorching flame blazing in his eyes, and they blister you.

“Huh?”

His face is pulled into a sneer. “You had the prince send you dresses because you decided you wanted pretty things? What are you doing?” He holds a silvery, glittering gown in one arm.

His words remind you of what Yeonjun had said to you last night, and you curse. How would he even know where to send them?

“I didn’t ask him to do anything,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m telling you that I didn’t, and I mean it! I didn’t ask him to send me dresses.” You slink out of the mess of a bed, the wood flooring cold under your feet.

“So a royal errand runner shows up at the door, with a pile of dresses directly addressed to you, and I’m supposed to believe that it’s random?”

“Why don’t you just believe me?” you ask, and the words sound pathetic even to you as they leave your mouth. “We’re supposed to be partners. You’re supposed to believe me.”

Rage dissolves from his face, but his features don’t soften. No, instead, they harden into stone. You almost wish they would twist back into fury. You can work with anger. But, whatever this thing that he does is, it leaves you unable to crack through his hardened exterior.

“Take your shit,” he growls, tossing the dress in his arm at you, and then spinning around without care of where it lands.

“I don’t want this, send it back to him,” you say. You go to send the dress back at him, but his words stop you.

“I already sent them back.”

You watch him storm. That means that the dress in your hands is not from Yeonjun; it is from Taehyun.

❈

You hold up the gown in front of you. Looking at the sheer material of it, embellished with beads and crystals that remind you of snowflakes in the sky, feels bitter. It only reminds you of the nasty terms you and Taehyun are on.

You haven’t seen him once today, and you assume you’re going to be heading to Court alone, too. All you can feel is resentment.

You go about getting ready with a ten-pound weight in your mind, and Taehyun is as absent as you had imagined he’d be when you leave the estate for Court. The walk feels a bit longer this time. Though you didn’t talk much last night, the presence of Taehyun just being there was enough to ground your nerves.

All is the same as last night in the hall. The tittering of folk and the lovely aroma of burning incense spices the air, and the music is just as inviting. You find that secluded spot Yeonjun had taken you last night when he pulled you out of the crowd and lean into the tree. Tonight, you’re going to just watch which faeries interact. The more you know about who associates with who, the more you’ll be able to dissect your priorities.

Your eyes fall over the throngs, and a majority you remember from last night, but some are new. These folk all have to be important in some capacity; they wouldn’t have a place in Court otherwise. If you look hard enough, maybe you can find who is the most important. It doesn’t help, though, that you’re not familiar with important figures in the Northern Court. Taehyun forgets that he was born into this Court, and you are a foreign human girl. You may be better off playing into your ability to lie; maybe you should spin up a good falsity and ask around with it.

You’re halfway to the crowd with the intent to poke around when Yeonjun steps into your line of vision. His wry smile is inviting, but you can’t do this again.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he says. “But, I don’t recognize that dress.” He looks you over.

“You didn’t tell me who you were, last night,” you say, crossing your arms.

Yeonjun’s suave falters. “Ah. He told you. Did he also not like me sending you those dresses? You sent them back.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Please, I don’t appreciate being toyed with.”

His lips tug into the first frown you’ve seen worn on his ethereal face. “You wound me. I don’t just send gifts like that to anybody. I’m not toying with you. Not even a little bit.”

You’re not sure what to make of his words. He seems like the type that, even when his lips can not form the shape of lies, he would hide them in between the gaps of truths. But you do see sincerity shining in his eyes.

“I didn’t even get to see the dresses,” you say, relenting to the conversation. If he insists on making your company, you’ll entertain him. You wouldn’t dare shoo a prince away, anyway, and his words are a soothing balm to every thought that tugs at your mind.

“Did he give you this one?” he asks, looking down at the glittering thing.

You hum, nodding your head. You wonder if Taehyun has made it here tonight, or if he is even here at all. You’re going to put all your eggs in this basket. If it leads you nowhere, you’ll deal with that when you get there. You don’t know where else to start.

“They’re all yours, whenever you decide you want them. Just come and ask me, sweet thing. I’ll even send you more if you want.”

His words shoot a thrill through you, for whatever reason. It’s hard for you to imagine a life where those kinds of things can be given away so easily.

“Do you want to dance tonight?” He says. His fingers are warm against your skin as he takes your upper arm into his hand. Each time he rubs his thumb over the skin there, it makes you shiver more than it soothes you. You don’t remember much of the time you had spent dancing last night, but you do remember his kiss.

You really can’t do that. You need to do something that keeps you present so that you can pick up on stuff.

You tilt your head to one side and offer, “How about you show me around? I wanna see your hiding places. I know you’ve got some.” You smile a heart-felt smile; running around the hall and discovering the nooks and crannies Yeonjun hides away in actually sounds like fun. It’ll familiarize you with the layout of Court, as well.

Yeonjun agrees, his face lighting up. He brings you around to alcoves and hollows that you wouldn’t imagine even existed unless he was showing you. Leave it to a faerie to find little places to hide.

“How often do you come to the north?” you say. Taehyun had said that The King sends his heirs here for foreign relations. It must be why he’s here.

Yeonjun pauses his touring. “Most of the year. My father prefers me here, so he sends me out often.” You’re a bit taken aback by how generous he is with the information. You had expected to sly-foot it from him.

The King sounds like a paranoid, centuries-old man. Maybe you and Taehyun will find something in your time here that proves his fears right, though. It’s just as probable that tensions run deeper than you think.

“Why doesn’t he have The Queen send one of her children to his domain if it’s for diplomacy? It’s a bit strange that she swears fealty to him, but he’s the one sending his heirs out.” Also, why does he have you and Taehyun here, undercover, when his son is here already?

Yeonjun shushes you with a finger over his lips, and it reminds you that you can’t just say all that comes to your mind here. He doesn’t seem to take any offense, though.

“The Queen doesn’t send her children out as emissaries.” His words take on a rueful, bitter note. The look plastered on his face says what his words don’t: The King does, though.

Yeonjun is good company, and you don’t notice how night bleeds into day.

“I should probably go now,” you say. Your dress itches and your feet ache in a way that calls for the lush bed waiting for you back at the estate. The revelry is still very much alive and kicking, and the crowds haven’t even begun thinning, but they’re so drunk on pinot wines and faerie spirits that you doubt they even feel the toll the night is taking on their bodies.

He nods. “Let me walk you home?” He offers you an arm, his smile so very sweet. You would like nothing more than to have someone to accompany you on the trek home. The walk here had been dreadful in your loneliness.

You pretend to think about it for a minute, a teasing smile playing at your lips, before you say, “Why not?”

He swipes a baked good topped with sweet fig from a platter for the journey, and begins heading for an exit between trees.

“But!” you say, and he halts. Your eyes scan the crowd.

“What is it?” he asks, rejoining you.

“I need to find Taehyun.”

He offers you the delicacy in his hand. “Do you?”

“Yeah. I need to tell him if I’m going to be leaving.”

Yeonjun scoffs at that. He takes you by the arm and points out Taehyun in the crowd. He appears to be in conversation with a spindly, feather-skinned hob. “He’s right there. But, you’re not going to be doing all that. It’s not right that you have to report your every move to him. C’mon.” You know that he’s only saying it because he thinks that you’re Taehyun’s human servant, or something, but his words are simultaneously gratifying for your current woes.

Your laughs bounce off the darkwood trees as you walk shoulder-to-shoulder. Yeonjun has a way to him that makes you feel like you’re really living. Maybe you can let this hope fester. Maybe Yeonjun is genuinely courting you. And, you foolishly let yourself think, maybe you don’t need to be a spy to make something of yourself.

When you make it to the door of the estate, Yeonjun is behind you, peppering warm kisses up and down your neck. You pry yourself from him to open the door, and you stumble in. You then stagger up the stairs and to your room. Yeonjun doesn’t make it any easier, roaming his hands everywhere they shouldn’t be.

Yeonjun clicks the door shut behind himself, and your stomach drops seeing the unabated hunger written into his face as he turns and looks at you.

You fizzle under his gaze. “Thanks for walking me,” you say. “That walk is scary alone.”

“Turn around for me, pretty,” he says, his voice glazed with honey and sugary syrup. You do, heart thundering in your chest. Something in the deep pit of your mind feels guilt, but you don’t pay it enough mind to sort it out, you just suck in a breath and hold it as Yeonjun steps so close behind you that you can feel his breaths on your neck, and he starts working at the laces of your dress. He doesn’t lean forward and press any more kisses to your neck like you wish he would; he just undoes the ribbon, until the dress loosens on your body, and you have to hold it onto yourself. Should you drop it? Does he want you to drop it? Is he just toying with you?

A puff of air on your neck makes you shiver as he laughs softly, his face hovering over your shoulder. You wish you could see his face right now.

“You’re so tense,” he says into your ear. He takes the top of the dress into his own hands, sliding them under yours. “Are you uncomfortable?”

“No,” you breathe. Your heart is thrumming in your chest and your neck so hard that you hear it in your ears, and maybe even he can, too. He rubs a thumb over the skin where the dress starts to slip.

“Tell me you want it.”

You suck in a breath. “I want it.”

He begins letting the dress down, and you let him. Chills rise on your skin, both at the cold that meets your skin as it is freed to the air, and at the kisses and scrapes of his teeth at your now exposed shoulder. “Yeah? You want me to make you feel good?” he says, and you can hear the tease in it. His words douse you in flame.

“Yes, Yeonjun, please,” you say, and it sounds pathetic to your ears. He makes it so hard to sound like the confident spy that you’ve been trying so hard to convince yourself that you are.

The dress droops lower and lower on you, releasing your skin in tantalizingly slow increments. He’s in no rush. He just continues to pamper your skin with his tongue, nipping your ear here and nibbling at your shoulder blade there. Your mind unravels a bit more with each.

The fabric finally pools at your ankles, and the both of you sit in an electrically charged moment.

“Turn around. Let me see you.”

When your eyes meet his, your breath catches at the way he takes you in, but mostly at the way his eyes come back up and fix on yours with such depth that you feel it in the way your heartbeat skips. You resist every urge to cover yourself, ignoring the tensing of your muscles that tell you that you should run and hide yourself away. You can’t believe that such a beautiful creature is devouring you with his eyes like this; like he wants you, like it doesn’t matter one bit to him that you are so much less than him. And maybe he should. He’s a prince. A prince of the king that you are supposed to be serving right now.

He guides you by an arm around your waist to the bed, and then stands at the foot of it, looking down on you with hazy eyes. Your stomach flips, and your knees and thighs are pressed together. He drags his bottom lip into his teeth.

“Open your legs, baby. I want to see how much you need me.” He reaches down, patting at your knee.

You hesitate, but slowly pry your knees apart, letting him see the mess that had been brewing there. The cold air immediately brushes at the wetness, and it makes you feel impossibly more exposed.

“Fuck,” he says, dragging out the word like a hiss. The raw, ravenous look in his eyes reaches deep into an unwanted part of you, that had for so long believed that you’re not worthy of anything like this. You know that you’re still not worthy of it, but you’ll happily bask in its warmth while you have it. “So wet,” he growls, eyeing your center without ceremony, as if those aren’t the most lewd words you’ve heard spoken aloud. “Pretty, you’re dripping all over your bedspread, and I haven’t even really touched you yet. Makes me wonder if you’ve ever even been touched before.”

Your cheeks flame the more he stands over the foot of the bed, lazily drinking you in. You haven’t. You had your first kiss in the woods somewhere a few days ago. Flashes of those memories plague you for a second, of bark on your skin and Taehyun’s hand in your hair, and that guilt that you can’t seem to place tugs at you again. You need to forget about it; Taehyun doesn’t seem too caught up on it, so why should you be? Where is Taehyun right now?

“Has he touched you? Did you let him put his hands on your skin,”—he brushes a whisper of a touch on your inner thigh, so close to your center, yet not actually paying any attention to it—“like this?” The rush that shoots up your spine is lethal. He draws such intense feelings from you with the simplest of touches in a way that borders on scary.

Oh, yeah. Yeonjun still thinks that you’re Taehyun’s human servant, or something. You decide to just lean into it. “Why would he?” you ask.

“Because I saw the way he looked at me yesterday,” he says, and the plush of the bed dips as he settles his knees into it. He hovers over you, notched between your thighs. You knew the truth behind that look, though. Taehyun was livid at you, at how you had shirked your duties and danced all night. You don’t know how to convey that to Yeonjun, though. Any explanation would just lead to more questions you couldn’t answer.

He plants a line of kisses up the length of your inner thigh, just where his hand had ghosted, and you wiggle your hips in anticipation as if it would move him any faster to where you need him most. It doesn’t, he only continues to antagonize your skin with his tongue and lips.

“Please,” you breathe. Yeonjun’s lazy eyes flick up to yours from his place between your legs, and the sight makes the blood in your veins sing.

“You want my mouth?” he says, sitting back up onto his knees and running a smooth hand from the wet patch of skin on your thigh up and over your hip bone, and then the softness of your stomach, and then he brushes a thumb over your breast. You struggle to breathe a bit as he does, and it’s exponentially harder to as his words ricochet in your ears, cutting through the fog of your mind.

“Yes,” you say. You can’t muster anything else. A satisfied, lopsided smile plays at his lips, and he lets his thumb over your nipple, rolling it.

“Do you realize how badly you’ve got me?” he muses. His gaze leaves your chest, opting for your eyes as he says it. “I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted. I’ll do anything, if you ask it of me.” The alarm bells ringing in your ears sound more like music than warning. It should sound like too much; you’d met him yesterday. He’s a faerie, you’re a human. His words are cloying; he’s lying. He’s lying.

But, he can’t lie.

He settles his head down, a breath’s-width from providing you with relief from the burning that he so cruelly kindled there. “Here? You want my mouth here?” The words puff onto you. You can feel your ears reddening; he seems to enjoy seeing you debased. It’s like he wants to be the source of your ruination.

“Yes, right there,” you say, toes curling in anticipation. He hums, taking the back of your thighs into his hands and pressing them up. It leaves you even more exposed to him. When the first contact of his mouth to your cunt comes, it’s with a barely there roll of your clit with his tongue, but it spreads like alcohol through your system. You mewl as he holds eye contact as if entranced with the way you react to him, and swirls his tongue around it. Your hands find perch in his hair.

He is wholly overwhelming you: his hands dig divots into your thighs to hold you open for him to eat, his eyes make sure you’re watching as he does, the sound he makes into your cunt. You don’t know what else to do, other than squirm on the sheets and chant nonsensical words. The more his mouth consumes you, the more it consumes your thoughts, until you are tunnel-visioned, only able to feel his touches. He runs his tongue down, and you gasp as it prods at your entrance, but he brings it back up, and then suckles at your clit some more.

“More,” you say.

He detaches from you for only a moment, just to ask, “More what?”—he pushes your thighs up, molding them to your body—“More this?” He pushes his tongue into you, and then out.

“Mhm!” you cry, digging your hands into his hair harder. He makes a low hum of satisfaction, slurping you up, lazed, as if you were a sweet sugarplum liqueur. A tense knot settles in your belly, sending your legs jittery even as he presses them, and your toes curling in the air. Your hips roll up and into the bed wildly, chasing that knot. “Yeonjun—”

Yeonjun knows what your cries mean, pulling from your hole, if only to suction his lips around your clit. It halts every thought and word in your mind, and the knot tightens so intensely with it that it snaps. You seize up in his hands and then explode in shakes and desperate whimpers. Your body rages, but your mind is suspended somewhere in the sky, removed from you. Yeonjun lavishes you through it, despite the way his tongue bumping into your sensitive spots has you jumping. His mouth follows your hips everywhere they go as you writhe to escape it; he isn’t letting you float down, he keeps your body on that high and builds on it. Your breaths come panted and whimpered.

“Slow—slow down, ‘jun,” you say, pushing at his head. When he pulls off of you, the sight of you all over his mouth draws a moan from you. His tongue swipes at his lips.

“You’re divine,” he purrs. “Did that feel good, sweet thing? Do you want more?” You lay, catching your breath, trying to let the waves of aftershock dissipate so that you can articulate yourself. You feel it still thrumming in the hollows of your bones. He skirts his thumb oh-so-lightly around your throbbing clit, and it’s no help in your efforts.

You nod. “I want to make you feel good, too.” You can’t fathom letting him please you like this without returning the favor. It would be so nice to see him fall apart, too.

“Yeah?” He drinks in your state. He stops circling his thumb to press it to your bud. You let out a surprised sound, your muscles coming back to life to jolt. He acts as though he’s thinking it over, but you can see the teasing lilt on his face. “Say my name again, pretty. It sounds loveliest on your tongue.”

“Yeonjun,” you indulge him. A content sparkle in his eyes tells you that he’s gonna give you what you want. He lets your thighs down, instead resting his weight on either side of your head, leaning down to capture your lips in a sultry kiss. He tugs your bottom lip into his mouth. The scrape of his teeth is dizzying. He’s freeing himself with one hand when he pulls back, and your spine tickles with anticipation until you see the look on his face.

Is he suddenly disgusted with you? You can feel the color drain from your skin as you ask, voice thin, “What?” He climbs off of you, and you could throw up. “What is it?”

“I think your friend is here,” he says, adjusting his clothes. Oh. Your mind wars between relief and terror knowing that, if Yeonjun knows Taehyun is here, Taehyun knows Yeonjun is here. Damn their superior hearing.

You curse. “Go,” you urge, slipping out of bed with sticky thighs and stumbling to the wardrobe to source a shift dress to slip into. Yeonjun thumbs your chin, tugging your face to him, and presses a parting kiss into your lips. It lingers on your lips as he lets out a soft laugh, shoving open the window and disappearing through it. You roll your eyes, finding the image of him clambering down the tree to escape quite humorous.

You clean up and settle into the bed. Is whatever you have going with Yeonjun sustainable? Echoes of Taehyun’s voice, vicious and tart, tell you that you should get it together; that you should nip this in the bud, and focus your energies elsewhere. You want so badly to make the little girl, snatched from her home, proud. You want to fulfill her dreams. But, you can’t shake yourself from whatever hold Yeonjun is getting over you, He so casually promises to give you everything you ever ask for; would you be stupid to ignore it? Is it naive to imagine that a man would say his words and mean it? A faerie, no less?

You sink further as sleep calls you. If Taehyun knows that Yeonjun was here, or what you had done with him, he doesn’t show up to chew you out for it. You wish he would.

❈

The next few days blur into hours of Court spent around Yeonjun and his courtly friends. You try to glean as much information as you can from it, but really, it’s mostly nothing of any importance. You begin to think that Taehyun is right; that you shouldn’t be sticking your nose into the business of a prince. If Yeonjun were to ever find out your reasons for even attending Court… Your stomach does a sickened flip. He might hate you for lying, maybe even begin thinking that you have been using him.

You really do like Yeonjun, though. It’s not just that he’s an interesting thread to follow; he treats you like you’re no different from him. Your bruised and beaten heart clings to him, hoping he’ll soothe over all the years you spent insignificant and unloved. If anything ever comes of all of your stolen nights and kisses, he’d have to know eventually. It can’t be shoved down forever, though you truly wish it could.

You sit at the ornamental vanity in your room, combing through your hair, when Taehyun makes an appearance at the door. You haven’t had even one conversation with him following the morning Yeonjun had those dresses sent to you.

“We’re not going to Court today,” he says, his arms crossed over his chest. His face is steely.

“Oh?” You place the boar bristle brush down. “What are we doing, then?”

He studies the room you’ve been staying in. It looks an awful lot like he’s searching for something. His eyes linger on the bed. “I think I got something last night. We’re going check it out. You’re gonna need your weapons.”

He’s gone from the room with that. The conversation was terse and majorly discourteous, but it’s the most you’ve seen of him in multiple days. You’ll take it. Maybe you’ll even have time to plead your case today, or some way to show him that you’ve been practicing your fighting stances and memorizing poisons on the days sleep doesn’t find you as easy.

You’ve armed yourself to the teeth by the time you meet Taehyun at the bottom of the stairs. He’s armed much lighter than you.

“Did I overdo it?” you say, slicing yourself some cheese to eat on bread.

He adjusts the blade sheathed at his hip, shaking his head. “That’s just fine.”

You frown and bite into your breakfast. What kind of information could he have gotten yesterday? The need for weapons worries you.

You like to think that you’ve adjusted to the chill of the north by now, but as you break through an untrodden forest with brambles catching your legs in each step, it does nip at your skin. You’re still only human, after all, no matter how hard you pretend yourself to be a faerie lady in the Court. You’re still only a spy, you’re reminded, as the two of you come across a mound of packed dirt sitting atop the snowy ground. It’s marked as an entrance only by a hole that looks hand-dug. You’ve lived long enough in Faerie to know that it’s more than just any old dirt hill or foxhole. The folk dwell in odd places like these.

“When we get in there, I need you to pretend that you’re a human servant. Can you do that for me?” he says. You’re unsettled, but you nod.

You head for the entrance first. It’s just big enough for you to slip a leg into, duck under, and wiggle in. The entrance opens up, and you’re sent sliding down a chute of twigs and dirt. It takes every bit of your willpower to not make a ruckus of shouts in your shock. When your feet meet the ground you stumble to steady yourself. You know you look a mess. Taehyun makes a much more graceful descent, and you explain away any mortification with the notion that Taehyun had been anticipating it.

A throaty voice hoots almost immediately, “So, great Lord Taehyun thinks to show his face at this honkey tonk?”

So, this is that kind of place, then. The reek of ale and wilder spirits tells you enough. What does he think he’ll learn from a place like this? Clearly, he’s known in this place, too. You’re always left with more questions about Taehyun than answers.

Taehyun doesn’t pay the barkeep any mind. “Fetch me a drink,” he says, before leaving you as he cuts through the measly crowd of revelers drowning in their merriments. You narrow your eyes and brew with distaste at his words, but you know he needs you to play the part of demure servant. You don’t know exactly why, but you can do it for him; you’d lived the role your whole life.

You scurry off, shoulders curled in, to the barkeeping hob that stands pouring foamy goblets of honey mead from barrel taps. He eyes you. “Pity you, girl,” he says. “That one’s a real brute.”

You infer that his words are about Taehyun. Really, you should just grab a drink and go, but curiosity compels you. The faerie laughs at the questions brimming in your eyes.

“A real, stone-cold killer,” he drawls, twisting open a different barrel. You resist the eye-roll tugging at your eyes. He’s just looking to entertain himself off of your human fright. You feign hesitance in your limbs when you accept the goblet full for Taehyun. He goes to fill another, from a third barrel. “The House of Blackthorn are all such a frightful bunch. The late Lord even more so, but he sowed a good seed of wicked into his son, regardless.” The worry you let your features into is real this time. There’s so little you know about Taehyun; this is the first you’ve ever heard of him that isn’t directly from his mouth. Should you be scared of Taehyun? Ice runs in his veins, sure, but you can scarcely imagine him as a brutal Lord.

“One mead for the Lord, and one sugar-sweet liqueur for the lady,” the hob says, handing the drinks to you. You offer him a meek, “Thank you.”

He shoots you an unsavory, toothy grin. “Welcome to The Hovel.”

You find Taehyun in conversation with a sweet-faced faerie boy who strums at a lute. Their conversation tapers off as you approach. You hand Taehyun’s drink off to him.

“You’re sure of it?” Taehyun says to the boy.

“Yup. Just last night,” the boy says. His waved mop of blonde hair moves as he nods. You see the cogs of Taehyun’s mind turning behind his eyes as the exchange comes to a close. So, the information he was following from last night came to fruition, then. You kick yourself for your lack of any real results.

“Who was that?” you ask, voice hushed. You tilt your head at the faerie as he rejoins the other musicians, and the stream of lute song intermingles with the other instruments once again. You pretend to sip from the drink the hob had given you for free, tipping it into the dirt when you think nobody is looking. You know it’s bad manners, especially in Faerie, but you have bigger fish to fry. Taehyun hadn’t paid that boy for that info, nor had he paid the tavernkeep for his drink. You recall the hob’s words of warning. They fear him.

He shakes his head. “Let’s get out of here, first.”

When fresh air meets your lungs, you realize how stale and muggy the air inside the little burrow is. You pull yourself out through the exit, following Taehyun. The two of you begin your battle against the wild forest again.

“So…?” you say.

It’s getting colder as night arrives. His breath puffs from his mouth, furling like smoke into the air as he says, “Apparently, there were some lackeys there last night asking around about me and a human girl in cahoots with The Prince.”

Your mind launches into a frenzy. Do they know that you’re spies? How would they even know? It’s not like the two of you have even done anything to garner any suspicion. Whoever has had their eyes on you and Taehyun has also noticed that you’re running around with Yeonjun. Is Yeonjun in danger? You gnaw at your cheeks. This person had to have been hovering around you two for days and days—not once had either of you noticed.

“Did you find out who it could’ve been?”

He shakes his head solemnly. You can tell he’s unseaming and picking apart every moment leading up to this one—you are, too. Nothing sticks out.

You freeze in your tracks. A pretty magpie sits dead on the forest ground, its blood decorating the snow in patches. No arrow pierces it, nor is it caught in any sort of trap. It lays with its little legs in the air. The imagery is unnerving.

“Poor thing,” you say, crouching down by it.

Taehyun pays you and the bird no mind, but you feel that something is off when he turns to you with his limbs and shoulders stiff. “What?” you ask.

His eyes survey the forest around you. He must be hearing something that you can’t. The hair on your skin prickles. Are you being watched? Taehyun continues through the foliage, and so you decide that you should too, despite the feeling buzzing on the back of your neck.

Somebody comes crashing out of the foliage, securing your arms to your side before you can process that they’ve got you. They hold the point of a dagger to your chest.

Metal hisses as Taehyun frees the blade from his hip, but he doesn’t make any advancements. Your heart beats under the point of the weapon, chasing breaths as fear paralyzes your chest.

“A little birdie told me,”—your captor says from behind you—“that I’d find you two here.”

“Let go of her,” Taehyun says. He stands with so much restraint in his limbs.

A patronizing laugh hurts your eardrum with its proximity. He sounds like a cawing crow. “No, I don’t think I will, Lord.” He spits the title out like it is bitter in his mouth, letting the blade dig the littlest bit into your skin. You don’t even feel it with the way adrenaline buzzes in your gut, leaving your limbs shaky.

Taehyun can’t move, so you begin wiggling your fingers for your dagger. Fear chokes you.

“You won’t miss this one, right?” the man says. He uses the metal to point up at your face, before replacing it over your heart. You’ve almost made it to your thigh, and still, he hasn’t taken notice. “I’ll just get this over with, and then we can talk about this more comfortably.” You may throw up.

You bunch up the hem of your dress with the littlest of movements to free your thigh and slide out the dagger hidden there.

“Who told you where to find us?” asks Taehyun. Your palm is sweaty around the metal of the dagger, and you readjust your grip a few times, trying to muster the courage to swing it up.

“I told you already,”—the man readjusts his hold on you—“a little birdie.” There’s a sneer to his words. He points the tip of the dagger up to your chin, ghosting it down the column of your throat. Repressed whimpers of terror bubble to the surface.

“Shut up,” he spits.

Taehyun challenges him. “Do it, then.” Blood roars in your ears.

“You think I won’t?” your snatcher says.

“Do it,” Taehyun repeats, and you almost let your life flash before your eyes until you see that Taehyun is not looking at the man as he speaks; he’s looking at you. He’s telling you to do it. You tighten your grip on the dagger, before driving it behind you. It makes contact, and the faerie man bellows. You use his shock to free yourself.

You had driven the blade deep into the man’s shoulder. He thrashes, ruby-red blood inking his fingers as he holds the wound.

“Bitch!” he howls. “You’re fucking dead, anyway.”

What does that mean?

Taehyun plunges his sword through the faerie before you even notice he had approached, or ask the man what, exactly, he means. He drops to the floor, mouth filling with blood. You can see it when he opens his mouth to scream and is only able to burble. His own blood chokes him. Your fingertips feel numb, and so does your face.

Taehyun turns to you. “You did good.”

You did good? You don’t feel good.

You nod. “Thanks.”

Now, on the forest floor of white snow, lies both a dead faerie man and a dead magpie. You feel the sensation of his skin breaking under your dagger reverberating in your hands, twisting in your mind.

“Are you okay?” Taehyun asks, eyeing you.

“Yeah,” you say. “Yeah, I am.”

❈

You and Taehyun attend court the next day skittish. Taehyun delegates you a new role, now; make as big of a scene with Yeonjun as you possibly can. The goal is to throw attention to that, rather than toTaehyun as he continues snooping around.

It’s not hard to make a spectacle of you and Yeonjun when everybody is already noticing. He doesn’t hide the way he showers you with luxuries, nor does he want to. You can’t help but wonder why he’s making such a show out of it. At some point, his father will hear of him courting a human. Word flies fast in Faerie. You can’t imagine The King would be pleased.

A hand curls around your hip, and you know it’s Yeonjun’s.

“You weren’t here yesterday,” he says.

You frown. “No need to state the obvious.”

He laughs and thumbs your cheek, and you swear the butterflies that flutter in your stomach are nearly painful. “I missed you,” he says. His eyes glitter with the words. “Did you go somewhere with him?” he asks. You don’t miss the way the word him curls in his mouth, much like how a person of the court would speak of something more unfavorable in a sickly-sweet way, to keep up a mask of indifference.

“We just ran some errands.” You shrug it off. It isn’t the truth, but it also isn’t so far removed from it that you feel uncomfortable about lying to him. Lately, the guilt lays more heavily over you. With each dress and bejeweled trinket Yeonjun sends your way, the more you want to get this big lie out of the way. You should’ve done it before Taehyun set you out to do this; at least then, you could face him and not feel so deceitful. Is there a way to tell him that still conveys that you aren’t using him?

Yeonjun’s eyes flicker to your mouth, and back up to your eyes so quickly you could’ve missed it with a blink. “I see,” he muses. “I could take you under my care, you know. He wouldn’t have a say in any of it.”

Your expression sours a bit, and you know it’s not the reaction Yeonjun had expected if the look on his face says anything.

“I don’t want to just become a playtoy,” you say.

He looks taken aback. “You wouldn’t be a playtoy,” he says. “Ever.” He searches your eyes for something. “Why would you even think that?”

Because you’re a prince, you think. Because I’m a human. Because that’s all we are to your kind.

“Then why don’t we just stay as we are?” you say. There would be no real reason to even go through with such a thing—not when nothing would come of it. Princes of Faerie don’t marry humans. You’d become a mistress, and that’s being optimistic.

“Taehyun is not a good man,” Yeonjun says. His voice is stripped of its usual playful inflection. Why does everybody seem to keep telling you that? “I would feel better knowing that you’re safe.”

Safe? He thinks Taehyun would hurt you? “I’m okay, Yeonjun,” you say, if only to placate him. He doesn’t look convinced at all. “He treats me well,” you laugh. You meet his hand on your cheek with your own, curling it around his. While he doesn’t know the truth of everything, or why you stay with Taehyun in the first place, it stitches some old wounds inside you seeing that he cares for you.

His jaw tightens. “My offer will still stand if you ever decide otherwise.”

He brushes his thumb at the plush of your bottom lip. Your mind goes fuzzy. When he presses it fully to your lips, you suck his thumb into your mouth, tasting the imprint of his fingerprint with rolls of your tongue around it. He looks as though he could moan standing there watching you, so you make a point of not losing contact with his eyes. You feel multiple burning stares on you, but you shove them out.

He watches your tongue and his gaze comes alive with hunger, tugging your lower lip down before taking your chin into a hold and molding his lips to yours. His kiss conveys every thought plaguing his mind in its raw nature.

Their eyes are on you; so many eyes are. You know they look, but for the first time, you don’t falter under the weight. He tastes like broken shackles and weightless limbs. He tastes like salvation.

He roams his hands dangerously. When your mouths part, despite your shortage of oxygen, you say, “I’m sure you had many courtly ladies to entertain in my absence.” Your head buzzes.

You’ve never seen Yeonjun so much as interact with another woman, but you still worry that he doesn’t only have eyes for you.

His face turns sly again. “They’re honestly all quite dull.”

Maybe, one day, you’ll join those ranks. You remind yourself that you won’t be here forever—that this moment in time is finite. Hopefully, you won’t be here long enough to see that happen. You’re not sure your self-worth could handle that hit.

“Are you really so superficial?” you ask. You stay playful in your tone, peeling from him to waltz toward an entree table. He follows. The way he trails you like a puppy on a leash does a bit to bloat your ego, despite your worries. “What’s so special about me?” It’s cheap, you know, but you crave his praise. You’ve found yourself thriving off of Yeonjun’s sweet words like oxygen. The question had been plaguing your mind since he had first spoken to you, anyway.

He looks as if he can’t articulate what he’s thinking. Or, maybe, he’s just concocting some words that’ll sound nice to your ears. “This life has become tiring. It drains you, and I am surrounded by it. Endlessly.” He pops a treat off a platter into his mouth. “You’re like a breath of spring air to my lungs.”

You’re his distraction. He saw a human and decided it would be the biggest spectacle he could find to distract from his princely woes. You draw back. What do the faeries in this court think of you? Do they snicker when you turn your back? Do they laugh to see you think that you’re more than just entertainment to him? Does he join them?

“What’s wrong?” Yeonjun asks, seeing the way you retract into yourself. “What is it?”

You have to keep this act up; the well-being of your mission relies on it. You should’ve never gotten your feelings so entangled.

“Because I’m human?”

A frown etches into his porcelain face. “No. Maybe at first, but…”—he releases a measured breath—“No.” Selfishly, you’re thankful that his kind can’t lie.

You and Yeonjun find the dancefloor, more packed with cavorting faeries each day, and you accept the distraction from your dreary thoughts. The wild nature of it strips you of such things, leaving you bare to just your happier feelings. It leaves you just as breathless as the first time had. You kick and whirl and flail your limbs freely.

When Yeonjun inevitably tugs you from your trance and out of the throng of folk, you’re dazed. Exhausted. Your hands itch to be all over him.

“Breath,” he reminds you, smoothing over the wild tousle that your hair had become. You focus on steadying your erratic breaths. “You’re a wild one,” he says, a pleased grin on his lips. The flush on his cheeks mirrors your own, despite his teasing.

You lean into him to support your legs of jelly. You must’ve danced for hours.

Yeonjun looks down at you, and his features are soft. “You wanna rest?” You nod. He laughs and then takes your hands into his. He guides you away from the soiree, out from the canopy of trees, but not toward Taehyun’s estate. You don’t question where he leads you, even as cold air makes you realize how bare this dress leaves your arms, even as the unfamiliar path catches at the hem of your dress. He notices how you don’t care to lift it from the ground, snorting, before lifting you into his arms.

“Woah!” you protest, feet off the ground in seconds. “I can walk.”

“Ah, but, only a fool would let a pretty lady like you soil her dress in the dirt.”

You scowl at him, but it doesn’t change the way your belly swoops. He treats you so delicately.

He carries you until you arrive at a mini palace that is no doubt royal—it towers over any surrounding trees. And, you had thought you had seen luxury. This is luxury. This is a life spent fed off of only crystal spoons. You admire the lush interior as he carries you into the palace.

“This is where you stay?” you say.

He hums, and you can feel the rumble of it in his chest. “For one half of the year, this is my home.”

You notice how utterly empty it is. You had expected advisors and permanent guards and bustling servants. “It must get lonely here.”

“I prefer it here,” he says. You can sympathize with that. You had spent the entirety of your life in the land of summer, but you had found more warmth than ever here in the north. This place was supposed to be a death sentence for humans, and though you had briefly met the danger that the north could present yesterday, you almost dread leaving. Maybe you just need more time, and then you’ll be so overtaken by fear that it’ll make it easy.

Yeonjun carries you through a door, and into what you assume is his room. A bed so large it would swallow up a third of the room you’re staying at in Taehyun’s estate sits in the middle of his room. He sets you down onto its velvety, rose-petal coverlet, before he climbs in next to you, propping himself up onto an elbow so he can admire you.

Your skin sighs as he rubs sweet circles over your bare shoulder with the pad of his thumb. The two of you settle into a long, comfortable silence.

“Do you believe that I don’t care for you?” he asks into the quiet. Do you hear hurt in his words?

You meet his gaze and struggle to find words. Is it wrong to lie, just because you can?

Your hesitance tells him enough. His fingers on your skin stop. “I am not so shallow, if you actually meant that.” Your words from earlier must’ve been gnawing at him.

“It’s not that,” you say, avoiding contact with his eyes. It was exactly that. He doesn’t allow you to look away from him, sitting up to cut straight back into your vision.

“What is it, then?”

Your heart thrums. You want to tell him that you’re a liar, and that he should spit in your face and tell you to get out. You want to ask him if he’d still care for you the way he does if he knew your truth. You want to ask him if there’s any way that this can play out where the both of you end up together and unscathed. Your mind beckons you to ask him about every little doubt that has harassed your mind concerning him so that he can comfort you and assure you that they are just doubts.

You ask none of those.

“How can I show you?” he says. He climbs over you, knees straddling each side of your legs. “What would it take to prove to you that I mean it when I tell you that you make my heart ache? What will it take to make you become mine?” He lines a kiss up on your forehead, and then your cheek, and then onto the corner of your mouth. “This?” he asks, and then he hikes up the length of your dress, bunching all the fabric above your hips. He draws back so that he can plant a kiss on your clit, and he makes sure you’re looking at him while he does it. “Or is it this?”

You breathe in the sensation, gasping his name like prayer and making room for him between your thighs.

“Is that what it is, pretty? You need me to make love to you? I can do that,” he says. “I can do that, no problem.”

He works at his clothes with one hand and brushes touches to your cunt with the other. Eventually, his needlessly extravagant Court shirt is off, and he’s holding your hip down as he prods the tip of a finger at your entrance. Your hole flutters in anticipation, his eyes catch it, and he breaks into a lousy grin. He finally begins pushing the finger into you, watching as you gasp at the way he curls into you.

Pleasure whorls in your belly, rendering you increasingly dumber. “I need you,” you say. The muscles in his arm strain as he fingers you, and his black hair falls into his face with the movements. Your heart clenches.

“Slow down, baby. I need to do this, you’re not ready for me yet,” he says, pressing a soft kiss into your temple. “I want to make you feel good.” He slides another finger in, and you suppose he’s right, because it stretches you. He pumps and curls the both of them, and you dig your nails into his forearm as it all starts building in your belly.

Yeonjun tugs his lip into his mouth, biting it, as he watches you grow restless under his fingers. Your peak feels so close, but his pace is so leisurely that you’re worried you’ll never reach it, as if caught in a limbo of torturous delight. “Faster,” you cry. “Faster, please.” It amuses him, and he abandons his casual pace for sloppy curls that have you whimpering into the air of his bedroom.

“Yes, yes, yes!” A crescendo looms over you, until it crashes and your back is arching off the bed and you’re making embarrassing sounds. You dig crescents into Yeonjun’s arm when he continues to finger you. Your insides protest his stimulation, tugging and clenching tight in a way that borders tastefully on discomfort.

“Fuck,” you hear Yeonjun say through the haze. It’s the first crude word you’ve heard from his princely mouth. “Just like that. Doesn’t it feel good?” he purrs. His fingers plow you through this peak, hurling you toward another one brutally. “I know it does; you’re clenching around my fingers so hard.”

Your hand covers your face. His words are lewd, and he says them like it’s nothing. It makes your insides burn. You can tell that the orgasm he beckons you into with each deliberate thrust is going to be explosive, frantically squeezing your thighs around his arm to staunch the intensity of his movements. Wet sounds punctuate each curl of his fingers. You can hardly believe that those sounds are coming from you.

“You want another one?” he says. You only answer him with pathetic whimpers. “Keep making those pretty noises for me.”

You do, and he rewards you with his thumb on your clit. It drives you utterly wild. The blend of his fingers inside you and each bump against your nerves is exactly what you need to explode, and so you do, bucking. You’re worried he’s going to try and have you cum again when his fingers don’t stop, but he brings you down gently with small swirls.

You catch your breath while Yeonjun adjusts you on the bed, tugging you down by your hips and sliding one of his thinner pillows under the bottom of your spine in a way that lifts your bottom half into the air. You laugh through ragged breaths; it feels a tad ridiculous.

“What’s that for?”

He massages your inner thigh, soft humor twinkling in his eyes, but also so much more. “You’ll see,” he says. He hovers over you, bracing his weight into one arm at the side of your head so he can look right into your face. His free arm lines the tip of him up with you. Before making any moves to slide into you, he kisses you and takes your bottom lip with him as he pulls back. It exhilarates you; everything he’s ever done to you is exhilarating. You’re swept into a ripwave of emotion. Do you deserve all this? Is this life yours?

His hand rests on your hip, brushing over your hipbone with great gentleness, as he pushes into you. It’s slow and full of peppered kisses all over your face and neck, and then he’s in you to the hilt, and then he’s pulling back out of you so that you’re just so empty, but of course, with just a thrust he’s filling you back up. He falls into a swift pace, but each time he ruts up into you, it’s calculated and well-placed. Maybe it’s the pillow, or perhaps it’s just expertise, but he’s plunging into a sickeningly soft spot inside of you that makes your legs that are locked around his waist shake each time. Your eyes flutter close, but your mouth drops open in a soundless moan.

“No, open your eyes. Look at me. Do you feel it? Do you feel my love for you?” he says, voice raw. “Is this what you needed?”

Yes, this is exactly what you need. You feel so far removed from yourself that you can’t even feel your hurt or worries. You nod your head frantically.

“Please, open your eyes,” he repeats, pleading in his tone. His face is right in front of yours when you do. His eyes flicker between both of yours. The intimacy of it is as consuming as the flames licking your insides, winding you up so tight that you might explode into a ball of blazing fire. The rolls of his hips turn into short, needy ruts. His mouth drops open, but he won’t close his eyes. He wants to watch you.

“Yeonjun—” you breathe. Your muscles are tense all over, especially in your core, where he winds you tighter. The impending orgasm whispers into your ear that it will swallow you whole in its wake, and you believe it; you can’t breathe.

“I know,” he says. When you squeak, face screwing up, Yeonjun reads you like letters on paper. “I know, it feels so good.” He’s just as much of a mess as you, panting while his free hand grabs at each of your curves to ground himself. You hold back your climax; it’s so hot in your belly that you fear how it’s going to wreck you. The hair on your skin prickles and rises.

He feels how tightly you clamp down on him. “C’mon, pretty.”

Your nails rake paths down his biceps. “I can’t” you gasp. “Can’t—”

“Yes, you can.”

Warm tears pool in the corners of your eyes and you shake your head. You do everything you can to urge it back; wriggling under him to escape his thrusts, pushing at his chest, biting into your poor lip until you fear it’ll bleed. Pressure builds all over you, your eyes burn and your muscles burn, like a thousand pounds of ecstasy pressing on each square inch of you and begging to be released.

“Stop running from it,” he says, pushing your hips into the mattress, pinning them so that he can deliver pointed thrusts up into that place that is so sensitive. It works wonders. “Let go, baby. Let it happen; I promise you it’ll feel so good.”

You crumble, crying out into the air and clenching wildly around Yeonjun.

“Yes, fuck!” he growls. He’s chasing his own peak now, leaving you no time to breathe through your own.

You chant his name.

“Squeezing me so good—you’re driving me up the fucking walls, pretty.”

The sounds he rips from you are errant the more he pistons into you, and your hair sticks to your neck. For the third time, you cum, circling him in your arms and keeping him close while you try your best to ride this one out.

With the encouragement of you sporadically tightening around him, he stills over you, abdomen tensing up, before cumming into you, producing strangled sighs. He collapses down to his elbows and drops his head into your neck, delivering shallow rolls as he rides it out. Breaths puff from onto your skin as he peppers warm kisses over every inch of your exposed skin. He stays like this, intertwined with you, for a while, lazily delivering thrusts until you’re both able to breathe fully again.

When he pulls out of you, you feel him dripping from you. You should’ve told him to pull out; you must have no fears. It’s hard to worry too much about that, though, with the way he’s looking at your cunt as if the sight of his seed oozing from you was like nothing he’d ever seen before. He takes your ankle into his hand from where it hovered in the air, feathering a kiss there.

“Do you see now?” he asks, bringing his eyes up to yours.

“Yeah,” you say. “I do.”

END PART 2

a/n: there she is! I wanna see who y'all are more attached to this far.

tags: @lvrs-street2mmorrow , @soohashits

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justbelievinginmagic · 11 months ago

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˗ˏˋariadne's threadˎˊ˗ series masterlist

pairing(s): hyunjin x fem!reader, hints of jisung x reader, hints of jisung x hyunjin if you read between the lines; all of the characters are intrigued by the reader tbh

series summary: The tale of the LABYRINTH was by far your favorite book to read - even now in adulthood. Wishing for the goblin king to steal you away was your favorite past-time growing up. Everything changes one stormy night when your wish to be stolen away by the Goblin King comes true and a honeyed blonde fae man appears in your bedroom to whisk you away to be his - body, mind, and soul. Do you take his fantasied offer or shall you fight through his Labyrinth in order to reclaim your humanity & free will?

OR - When tempted by an intoxicating offer by Hyunjin the Goblin King, you fight against him to find your own sense of self once more while in the Labyrinth.

warnings/tags: inspired by the 1986' movie Labyrinth, follows majority of the movie's plot points with divergence, 3rd person POV, use of Y/N, mature topics, strong language, faerie lore!!, all of skz show up, txt cameo that i love, tension, slow burn enemies to lovers, unequal power dynamics, manipulation, fear, faerie drugging, labyrinth runner!reader, goblin king!hyunjin, banished!jisung, hunter!chan, knight!changbin, junkland boss!jeongin, sluagh!minho, boggart!seungmin, gancanagh!felix, selkie!yeonjun, changeling!soobin, knight!hoseok, knight!seokjin, war generals!ateez, more tags to be added.

word count: 88k written; ongoing

part 1 - a deal, a deal, a deal!!! (posted 4/12/24) part 2 - never go that way. (posted 4/15/24) part 3 - onwards & downwards. (posted 4/28/24) part 4 - the oubliette. (posted 5/7/24) part 5 - forwards is backwards. (posted 5/12/24) part 6 - the hunter and the hunted. (posted 5/29/24) part 7 - the wild hunt. (posted 6/5/24) part 8 - a green-eyed monster. (posted 7/30/24) part 9 - the bog. (posted 11/19/24) part 10 - betrayal. (posted 11/22/24) part 11 - as the world falls down. (posted 11/24/24) part 12 - forgotten. (posted 1/2/2025) part 13 - tba!!

extra content for ariadne's thread: how i visualize skz in the world

#skz x reader #hyunjin x reader #hwang hyunjin x reader #jisung x reader #han jisung x reader #skz imagines #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagines #hyunjin imagines #hyunjin angst #hyunjin reactions #stray kids scenarios #stray kids fanfic #stray kids fantasy au

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bunny-dr34ms · 7 months ago

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the love fate demands of us - chapter 1

- mystical!txt x angel!reader

summary. you were perfect in every single way; beautiful, kind, not even so much as a blemish out of place. perfect apart from the fact you had magic coursing through your veins and the worst possible thing you could be in the land of flora, was magic. at least you have your companion, horangi, who was the only one who comforted you through all your sorrowful nights. but fate never fails to be cruel and you find that the world was against him as much as they were against you. what will you do when they try to take the only kindness you've ever known away from you?

cw/ tw; f!reader, elf!yeonjun, vampire!soobin, werewolf!beomgyu, wizard!taehyun, fae!kai, fantasy au, royalty au

features; txt, names of other idols that i decide as i go

wc; 4.8k

Chapter 1: The Wingless Angel Cries

You sat on one of the many exquisite swings in the Esor estate, gently swaying back and forth as you admired the white rose vines climbing up the gazebo overhead. Bathed in the warm orange glow of the sunset, it was almost as if your skin shimmered in the light. The scene was truly enchanting—not just the roses, but you as well. At 18, your youthfulness bloomed on your cheeks, face as fresh as a flower, you completed the view, really, you completed any view with your unrivaled beauty. It was no wonder why you were spared. You, a child of infidelity. You, a child of magic in a kingdom for humans.

The people of Esor remember as if it were yesterday when the princess was born. They knew she would be the last child of the King and Queen, which made her all the more precious. However, news of her birth quickly spread, and the shock it carried soon reached even the farthest corners of Flora.

You were spared from death, but you could never forget your origins; they wouldn’t let you. Beyond the constant whispering and the odd stares from both maids and knights, your family ensured you were always aware of your difference. Your father enjoyed your presence but detested when you spoke or moved, preferring you to be nothing more than a statue in his sight. Your older brother, Prince Hyunjin, is sweetly cruel, and you can’t discern whether his feelings are of hate or love. In truth, he is deeply concerned for you, yet he feels guilt for it, knowing he'll never do anything more than watch you struggle. Your older sister, Princess Yeji, harbors a deep-seated loathing for you, making it clear to both you and everyone else in the castle. Your mother is the only one who truly loves you, but not for who you are as her daughter—rather, because you are a beautiful reminder of her lost lover. Even as she runs her hands through your hair and caresses your face with a yearning for another, you choose to return her love. Love, no matter how cruel and bittersweet it may be, is still love.

So there you sat, swaying gently in the wind, nestled in a secluded spot of the garden, wearing that sorrowfully blank expression that seemed permanently etched upon your face. They said the tears you shed were the source of those endlessly sad eyes. You, without friends. You, without a suitor. You, with no future, condemned to remain in the castle, wasting away. No matter how extraordinarily beautiful you were, it would never be enough to overcome the stain of your tainted blood.

Somehow you stayed kind, choosing to look at the brighter side of things, caring for others even though they would cast you aside given the chance. Even as the maids approach you reluctantly to tell you the queen was looking for you, you nod and only mention to them that the roses need to be watered, but tell the gardener tomorrow as it was getting late.

“Come, my beloved, sit,” mother says the moment she sees you, ushering you past her gold doors just to lock it behind her. There was routine to this meeting, every other night you would be called to mother’s chambers so she could, ‘comfort her troubled heart’ as she says. Like clockwork, you sit on the edge of the bed, the side closest to the window where the moonlight shines in. She’s already all over you, running her hands into your hair, forcing you to look up at her while she mutters sweetly about how much you resembled him. Minutes later she’s finally sitting next to you, her hands caressing your face.

“Oh, how angelic, how ethereal you are, my love,” she whispers her face inching closer and closer to yours. She presses her cheek against yours, relishing in the feeling before she pulls away to look into your eyes. You don’t speak because it ruins the moment for her, you can only speak after she allows you to retire for the night. Moments pass of her just staring in your eyes as tears fills in hers, memories of another man, long dead, flashing through her mind. She told you the first night she asked for you, that she felt guilty for her lover’s death, that it was her fault she kept you because of it wasn’t for that, she would’ve never been caught. In that sense, it was partially your fault too, so helping her cope was the least you could do.

You cry with her, because the heartbreak you saw in her eyes was painful too. Warm tears running down your cheeks as your mother pulls your face closer and closer to her. Your eyes flutter shut when she pulls away to kiss your tears mumbling, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I love you.” There are times her lips press so close to your own that you wonder if she’ll ever end up kissing you. She never does. As much as you wish you could reciprocate her passion, you didn’t feel much no matter how she held you, just the bittersweetness of longing and grief.

Mother does this for two hours before she dries your tears with a handkerchief and then her own. She takes your hand in her own as she does every night, waiting for you to look up at her with those wonderous pink eyes of yours. “Thank you, my dear. You cannot imagine how much solace your face brings me.” “I am glad to have been of help,' you say quietly, not making the effort to return her smile. With that you’re permitted to leave, your mother wasting no time to click the door quietly the moment you are out.

Before you could start walking, a hand ravels itself in your hair and yanks it back. Yeji. "You're a fool if you think Mother loves you," she seethed as she drags you towards her, "But I'm sure you know that, disgusting things like you cling on to whatever affection you can get." Tears fills your eyes again as your trembling hands try reach up holding on to your head, "Yeji, please" you plead as she jerks your head up, watching as your face contorted in pain. At that she throws you on the ground, glaring as she stalks towards you, "Look at you pleading to your sister, have you no shame?" She grabs your face, brutally squeezing your cheeks together, fingers digging in deeply, "so unworthy of this beauty," she mumbles running her eyes across your features. All you could do was hold your breath, eyes frantically begging her to let you go. When she does, she tosses your head back into the carpet, leaving before you could manage to right yourself up on your arms. "Your existence is revolting. No amount of beauty will ever change that." With that, you're left alone.

Again, you're sobbing into your arms, curled up in your bed while your body continued to shake. The only comfort you had was your puppy, Horang, based on the unique striped patterns in his fur. You found and took him in when you were strolling in the woods a few weeks ago. At first, you considered releasing him after his paw healed from how much he would snarl and bite at you, but he warmed up after a few days, going as far as lying next to you when you cried. "He pities you too, princess," your maids would joke when they came around to tidy your room. He's grown quite quickly since then and now he's curled around your feet, almost wrapping all the way around you, whining each time you sniffled, staring at you with saddened eyes. Eventually you look up and run a hand through his fur, petting him gently, "you're all I have in this place, in this world," you sigh sadly. You move around and lie your head softly on top of him, tears dampening his fur as you whisper, voice broken and worn, "you're the only one I truly love."

It's a good thing you're a deep sleeper. You can't feel the clawed hand running over your cheeks, brushing the blonde locks in your face behind your ear. You can't hear him as he murmurs sweet nothings, admiring the way you radiate in the moonlight. He wraps his large arm around your body, pulling your small figure into him, his tail covering your body, mentally scolding you for falling asleep atop your blankets again. Even when you shift under him, he doesn't react, knowing your sleeping habits by heart, instead he nudges his head into yours, breathing in your sweet floral scent.

When you wake up the next morning, you’re greeted by a kisses from Horangi on your face, warm tongue excitedly panting when you sit up. You pet him between his ears drowsily, “Good morning, you’re excited today?” Horangi barking as if he understood you, brought a smile to your face, something rarely seen, which naturally led him to jump up on top of you. Your maids come in soon after, asking you to quiet or control your pet as they got you up and ready for the day. “Sorry Horangi, I’ll see you later.” You pet him sadly before you leave your room.

“Prince Hyunjin asked for you,” your personal maid, Eunchae, says as you stroll down the hall, “he insisted it was of utmost importance.” Eunchae is a pretty, kind girl who was often caught staring at you for too long, genuinely admiring your angelic appearance. She was someone in the castle with whom you felt at ease, or rather, she was the only one who didn’t treat you like an outsider. “I see,” you say, changing your route to go to Hyunjin’s office, “I shall be going then,” silently bidding her good bye.

“Come in.” his smooth voice beckoned you in the moment you knocked. “Good morning brother,” you greet him, closing the door behind you, “You asked for me?” Hyunjin puts his quill down, humming as he stands up, walking around his desk, “Indeed I did. There is something you should know.” Confused, you stood there, quietly waiting for him to continue. He leans against the edge of the brown wood, arms crossing in front of him, sighing heavily before looking up at you. “You are forbidden from seeing Mother any longer. She must learn to manage her grief without you.” He understands how much Mother means to you, how she is the only one providing the false sense of security, the illusion of family bonds, and a semblance of love. Despite how harsh it may appear, he is doing this out of necessity. He needs to protect you from the deceptive comfort she offers while he still can.

Hyunjin knew you weren't going to take it lightly but when you speak, retaliate really, he can't help but be surprised. "No, I...I refuse. I can't leave her alone, she needs me!" Your soft voice pitching with each word, a tightness building in your chest as you think about how woefully Mother cries, looking at you as if you're who she is grieving for. You watch as he sighs again, looking down to his hands as, head shaking as he fiddles with the ring brandishing the family crest, "Y/n, I'm sorry but I'm not going to allow this to continue. It's sick, the way she's using you." Trembling you step back, holding tears in your eyes as you stare at him with disbelief, "S-She's not..Mother is not using me, she loves me, you don't understand." Hyunjin walks over, stopping right in front of you, staring at you with pity, the same way everyone in this castle does. Placing a hand on your shoulder, he could only watch as tears roll down your eyes, then as you started sobbing into your hands. He knows you'd accept this the way you accepted everything else unfair about your life, even so, he feels an ache in his heart as you crumble away a little more.

"Horangi, why is fate so cruel to me?" you mutter, burying yourself into his fur. It was night time now and after your break down in Hyunjin's office, you sat there for a couple hours, curled up on one of the chairs as he worked away. He was kind enough to let you stay while your tears dried up, making sure no one came to bother you until you left on your own. It wasn't until you decided that it was best to see Mother one last time before she becomes another family member you have to avoid. Hyunjin seemed to know where you were going, reassuring that he'll make sure Mother gets all the help she needs. You knew your brother was kind, that deep down he wasn't like the others. He really does care about you, maybe even wishes he could love you like the baby sister you were supposed to be. Alas, he is the crown prince, loving his anomaly of a sister would go against the image he needs to rule. As you hesitantly opened Mother's door, she was taken aback, her hand flying to her chest as she hurried towards you, bombarding you with questions while you quietly closed the door behind you. You could never forget the look of despair on her face when you revealed the news to her, nor could you forget how she fell to her knees, clutching your hands tightly, pleading for forgiveness for all her failings: for not loving you as a mother should, for all her sins, and for the sin of bringing you into this world. A few more hours passed as you reassured her with whatever words were needed to calm her down, guiding her to her chair and gently countering every self-deprecating remark she made about herself. As the sunset marked the end of your visit, you dried her tears and then wiped away your own before you finally took your leave.

Horangi whines as your hands tighten into fists in his fur, his head raising to look at you as tears rolled down your face. "How unfair this all is. There truly is no one who loves me in this world is there?" You sob, scarcely aware of how Horangi curls up around you more tightly, his tail brushing gently against your feet. You think that if it weren’t for him, you might have lost your mind long ago. When his head nudges you, you look up at him, seeing your own exhaustion mirrored in his sad, almost concerned eyes. Your hand moves from his fur to gently stroke his face, "Your eyes are beautiful too Horangi. They hold so much emotion, just staring at them makes me feel better," murmuring as he bunted his head against your hand affectionately. You take a deep breath, inhaling the familiar earthy-musky scent of his fur that has begun to permeate your room since you first took him in. The comforting aroma washes over you, and you can feel yourself drifting towards sleep, your body finally relaxing as the fatigue of the day takes hold.

You were so exhausted that you didn’t notice him slipping out of bed after a few hours, nor did you hear him moving around, extinguishing the candles. You remained unaware of his tender efforts to lift you and tuck you back under the blankets, only vaguely sensing a slight adjustment as you settled deeper under the covers. He crawls under the sheets with you, facing you, nose to nose as her admired how peaceful you were asleep. His sharp eyes could see how each eyelash kissed the top of your cheeks and the little details of your lips. The way your body curled up made you look so small compared to his long lanky body, barely reaching the end of his torso. Oh, how he longs to pull you into his arms and hold you tightly against his chest. Instead he decides carefully scooch a little closer, brushing stray strands of hair behind your ear. Words he wishes he could tell you escape him, voice deep and silky as he whispers, "I'd love you until the end of the world." He stares at you for a moment longer, holding his breath as if your eyes would flutter open to see his human form and react to his words. When you remain asleep, he reassures himself that it’s for the best. Relieved, he allows himself to drift into a light sleep, taking care to avoid detection by morning.

The night would have continued as it usually did, with him slipping out from under the blankets, shifting back into a medium-sized dog, and then leaping back onto the bed to resume his sleep. But tonight was different; Hyunjin had sent maids to check on you, the image of your distress still vivid in his mind. A sudden scream jolted both of you awake as the maid discovered a man sleeping beside you. Your heart pounded in your chest as you shot upright, scanning the room for the source of the alarm, only to realize there was an equally startled man sitting up beside you, naked and in your bed. Your mouth opens to let out a similar scream but he turns into Horangi right before your eyes. "Werewolf! W-Werewolf in the castle!" The maid shrieks, collapsing to the floor in terror as she scrambles towards the door, calling out for help. Horangi barks and whines, darting around the room in a frantic frenzy before halting to look at you as you get out of bed and slowly approach him. Strangely, you weren't scared, even now, knowing he is a mystical beast, he is still your Horangi. He laid down on his belly, his tail wagging anxiously as your hand reached out to pet his pressed down ears, his eyes looking at yours with newly found fear. Your heart raced in your chest as you think back to the man who had the exact same eyes staring down at you. Horangi really was a werewolf, you think, but when his ears flop up at your touch, you find yourself mesmerized by him. Did he understand all the things you told him? Has he been listening this whole time? Does he love you too? Horangi had magic in his veins, just like you, he knew you were half-human and tolerated that too.

"Horangi I- " you begin but The sound of numerous knights thundering down the hallway made his eyes widen with panic, and it was only then that you grasped the gravity of what was about to unfold. You sprang to your feet and positioned yourself in front of him, arms outstretched as you tried to shield Horangi from view when the soldiers burst into your room, "Move Princess, that is a danger that we need to exterminate immediately," the head knight said his sword at the ready. For the first time in your life, you cried out, desperate as you tried to use your title, "Please stand down! Obey your princess and lower your weapons! He is not a threat!" Your hands trembled as you strove to maintain your stance, even as the knights pressed ever closer to you. You could hear Horangi's whimpers, the shuffle of his body pressing closely to the floor and backing into the wall. You've lost so much in your life already, you won't lose the only thing that supported you all this time.

"Princess, please step away, else I use force. That thing is a an endangerment to us all. You are putting us at risk protecting that monster," the head knight shouts. Their blades drew nearer, and you found yourself with no space left to retreat. Who were you kidding, believing they would listen to you? After all, to them, you were part monster as well. The knights encircled you, driving you into a corner, the dread prickling your skin as their advance remained relentless. They only ceased their approach when an eerie howl echoed through the room, soon followed by a fierce, loud snarling sound. You turn to see Horangi in an aggressive stance, teeth bared with gaze focused on the knights, feeling yourself pale when he stalks forward. "N-no, no no, Horangi no, don't! Please just trust me!" You rush towards him, kneeling in front of him, wrapping your arms around his head, stroking his muzzle, hoping to calm him down. Taking this chance, the knights only come closer, raising their swords, the head knight raising his voice, "Princess you leave us no choice! We will fulfill our duty to protect the people at all costs!" With that, you brace yourself, pushing against Horangi the best you can, trying to stop him from jumping forward, shutting your eyes tightly.

"How dare you raise your weapons against the princess!" Hyunjin's voice boomed, enraged and labored as he stormed into the room. “Lower your blades this instant, or I will have your heads by dawn,” he commands sternly, his gaze fierce. The knights, swiftly sheathing their weapons, stand at attention before him. "Your highness! There is a werewolf and the princess is foolishly protecting it! We must eradicate it as soon as possible!" the head knight reports. Hyunjin signals with a wave of his hand for the knights to part and make way for him. He strides closer, his eyes scanning the scene until he sees you clinging to what he recognizes as the pet dog you rescued months ago. "Y/n. Give him up. I shall spare him from death, seeing as you care for him so deeply, but I cannot permit a beast to roam freely within this castle."

At first, you shake your head, preparing to plead for mercy. But as your gaze meets Hyunjin's, you realize this may be the extent of mercy Horangi will receive. Frantically, you pull Horangi's head against your own, staring into his wide, fearful eyes, hoping to convey your desperation, "Go with Hyunjin peacefully okay? No matter what they do, do not harm any of them and try your best to be good, for me, hm? I will see you as soon as I can, Horangi. Please, have faith in me," You reassure Horangi as much as you can, stroking his fur. Just as you are about to say more, Hyunjin steps forward, pulling you away gently but firmly. He nods to the knights, signaling them to take action. They clasp a muzzle around Horangi's head, tying multiple ropes around his neck, going in different directions. As Hyunjin holds you, you collapse into uncontrollable wails, your tears flowing freely. Through your blurred vision, you see Horangi walking out with a shockingly calm demeanor. He turns to look at you one last time before disappearing through the door.

You turn to Hyunjin, your hands gripping his collar tightly, your eyes pleading with him as you struggle to stay upright. Your voice trembles as you fight not to collapse to your knees, "Please make sure he lives. You have to make sure they don't kill him. I have never sought a favor from you in all my days, brother, so I beseech you, grant me this one request." You are met with the same pitying look as yesterday. Hyunjin gently takes your hands and guides you to your bed, helping you sit down. He then kneels in front of you, his expression softening as he looks up at you. "Chan would never let them kill an animal, even if it's a werewolf. However, I can't promise you'll see him ever again once he is released," he says calmly, gripping both of your hands tightly, trying to ground you.

You burst into tears once more, pulling your hands out of Hyunjin's to cover your face. Fate truly is cruel. Hyunjin leaves you after a moment, understanding that you won't be speaking to him anymore. The night passes agonizingly slow, the fear for what was happening to Horangi invading your mind. The loneliness of his cell if that was all he was condemned to. All you could do was cling on to the hope Hyunjin's words gave you about the grand commanding knight. You had just barely drifted off into a restless sleep when the brightness of the sun peeking through your windows awakes you. Immediately, you're clambering out of bed and rushing out the door. You ignore every maid and every question that comes along your way as you race to the dungeon.

When you arrive, you're initially shocked, never having ventured into the dungeon before. It's dark, the air damp, and the hallways, lined with brick and iron bars, seem to stretch endlessly. Each cell is just barely the size of a horse stable, and the oppressive atmosphere presses heavily upon you. For a moment you think if this where you would've called home if you weren't so fortunately beautiful.

At your first step into the maze like dungeon, you hear the sound of chains rustling and a whine so familiar, it makes your heart ache. Running towards the sound, you check every single cell you pass for your beloved friend, for both a dog and for a boy. Finally, almost seven cells down, you find a slightly different cell, one with a pillory hanging from the ceiling and Horangi's watery eyes staring at you. You can't help but fall to your knees, horrified at the sight in front of you, your hands clasping over your hands to muffle your cries. Horangi was forced on his knees, dressed in rags that hung off his beaten frame, blood was dripping down his arms from the way he struggled against the pillory. A similar red decorated his neck and ankles, Horangi wincing every time the metal touched his skin. Silver.

"Oh, Horangi.." you mumbled, hands wrapping around the bars of his confinement, muffling yours sobs for his sake, "Oh, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault." For the first time in your life, you find yourself cursing this world. This evil world where magic was unfairly condemned, where you couldn't protect the only friend you've ever known in your own castle because of that magic.

A voice, worn yet smooth, echoed through the cell, pulling you out of your thoughts, "Don' be sorry, s' not your fault princess." You're sure this is the first time you've ever seen Horangi speak but you swore you recognized it. You shake your head, trying your utmost hardest to not break down right there. No, you needed to be strong, you needed to help Horangi. "I'm going to help you, alright?" You start, talking past the lump in your throat, "I promise, I'll get you out of here."

A few moments pass, the dungeon eerily quiet save for the constant dripping of water bouncing off the walls. His eyes search yours, you can see them shining under his long, shaggy hair, the pure trust contrasting yours, full of worry and pain. "I trust you, princess," he says softly, "I trust you with my life." If it wasn't for him breaking the silence, you might've stayed there for another hour, tears running down your eyes, heart shattering piece by piece at his state.

Willing yourself to stand up, you're on your feet and nodding at him, "Thank you for your faith, I'll be back as soon as I can." Before you walk away, you linger for a second, to take in his state once more, to ingrain his pain in your heart if it wasn't already. You begin to walk away, a million thoughts on who to confront, who to ask, who to beg.

“Wait.”

You don’t make a few steps before he calls you back, the urgency in his voice beckoning you to come back. And you do, resuming your place in front of him, heart racing at the tension built by his gaze.

“My name is Beomgyu,” he whispers, eyes not faltering from yours, “Choi Beomgyu.” Your hands reach up, trembling as they grip the iron bars, pulling yourself as close as you can to him. “Beomgyu,” you breathe, echoing his name back to him and you can see how it affects him, his hair bristling wildly as if it was alive. For the first time, you can clearly see his face and you etch it into your mind, new tears rolling down your cheeks. A fluttery feeling bubbled in the deepest part of you, your breath catching in your throat on its way out. He was beautiful. Such distinct and wild features, surpassing even your brother, who shared the beauty of Mother. You don't think you've ever seen a face that wound your heart so tight.

And by Flora and all of her powers, you were going to save him, you owed that to him. You were going to turn this whole castle upside down if you had to. For the years of oppression you’ve endured, for the new spark burning in your heart, for Beomgyu.

"Oh Beomgyu, I promise you, I will do everything and anything I can to save you, I will save you."

author note: sorry for the long wait this took forever to come out because i was doing every thing but finish this one(which means this is not proofread yet) we finally get the first member! let's see what our princess does to help beomgyu>< the upcoming chapters will most likely be much shorter than this one, we'll see! thank you for those who have been waiting^^ as always, reblogs, likes, and comments are always appreciated <3

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cheolsfae · 1 year ago

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hii could you do taehyun ideal type?💗💗💗

Sure!!!💫💫💫

*Disclaimer: solely for fun! Please do not take this seriously. For entertainment purposes only!*

Past: the devil, 3 of swords

His previous type was someone toxic, I think. Someone who had a seductive energy to them. It wasn't working for him. He's gotten his heart broken repeatedly by this type of person. These type of people might have been too emotionally unavailable or they might have just been the type to use him until they were bored of him but he was choosing to look the other way until it became too much. He was being warned about these kinds of people in dreams but he was choosing to ignore the red flags (like many of us) and just keep it pushing with them. He should have been paying closer attention to them.

Present: ace of swords, 3 of pentacles

Presently, he's looking for someone who is honest and can communicate clearly without any sort of doubts or hesitation. Someone he isn't left guessing with. Someone who is willing to work towards something solid and not half assed. Like genuinely put in the work to make the relationship last. He also needs to be the type of person to have that mindset too. It can't just be one sided. He needs to also be in that way of thinking and I don't feel that he is fully in this mindset yet. He's certainly working towards it but he's not fully there yet. You get what you give.

Future: 4 of cups, hanged man

He wants someone who can help him to look at things differently. Right now, he might just be bored with his life and he wants someone to show him differently. Someone to challenge what he's already believing about life or things that are happening with him. This could be old beliefs from childhood. He's wanting to shed these old things and move into more happier energy. Does that make sense?

Bottom of the deck: ace of wands

Again, he wants someone to challenge his current way of thinking. Someone to change his beliefs on certain topics. Just someone entertaining enough to keep him wanting more. Someone who he can continue to open him to new things. Things he hasn't tried before.

*Oracle deck was also used!

#—faes readings #txt tarot #tomorrow x together tarot #tomorrow x together reactions #tomorrow x together scenarios #tomorrow x together #txt scenarios #txt reactions #txt smau #txt smut #choi yeonjun #choi soobin #choi beomgyu #kang taehyun #heuningkai #idk how to tag txt/tomorrow x together help please i beg you 💫💕

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gyumibear · 6 months ago

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ᯓᡣ𐭩 STUPID CUPID !! | FIVE: party ready!

warnings — swearing, eunseok insults wonbin (as a joke), references to yn’s appearance (she has no set look i just like the picture), mentions of being the other woman

BACK | SERIES MASTERLIST | NEXT

notes — disclaimer: i love wonbin and it’s a silly mean girls reference i did not type that from the heart. please do not try to chew me up over a silly smau i made in my silly room!

sc tidbit #5 — eunseok takes being cropped out of pictures seriously. also, he loves a good black comedy.

taglist — open! [if your @ is bold, check your privacy settings because i am unable to tag you! if you need any additional help, send me a message! please remember to request to be added via the masterlist only!]

@onlyhyunjin @pxnklover @glorism @nujeskz @soheendo @starwonb1n @miyawwn @yoursyuno @akemiixx01 @i03jae @bebubilu @film-sea @saranghoeforanton @https-yeonjun @icewons @nctrawberries @neoculturewhat @hisrkive @taroddori @wonychu @kyusqult @fae-renjun @riizing777 @romehan @conwunder

#kflixnet #k-labels #riize x reader #riize #riize fluff #riize imagines #riize smau #riize wonbin x reader #riize wonbin #wonbin fluff #wonbin imagines #wonbin #wonbin x reader #wonbin park #park wonbin #wonbin smau

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nyuoqi · 5 months ago

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— SO I MARRIED MY ANTI-FAN ౨ৎ SES

O19. FUCK hello october!

✸ SYNOPSIS ! : congratulations! you have been invited to korea's #1 romance reality show 'We Got Married' where you will be living with your co-star like a married couple. but what will you do when you find out that your husband is actually your anti-fan?

𓍼 previous | masterlist | next 𓂅

TAGLIST (closed) : @ujisworld @leileixq @renjunsversion @marshwatz @onlyhyunjin @yipyipmorals @wonychu @renjuneoo @secretiny @haowonbins @https-yeonjun @vixensss @luffysgfforevaa1 @beomgyusonlywife @st4rryhae @woniepop @gisellessgf @yningz @jeeluv @billiondollarworth @keilovr @nyiaswrld @meowbini @asahilvr @brachioswrld @chuutaroo @sinsgaybutthatsokay @sunriize @samvagejkflxhrt @itsactuallylina @injunnie-lemon @icewons @fae-renjun @nujeskz @wantluv @lilyluvszb1 @jyullery @lotties-readings @sanasour @dutifullyannoyingfox @haechansbbg @woongiez @kaelysian @niinaspeaks @en-verse @yyangj3lly @ffixtionista @astro-doll-the-star @mizuhasgurl @lovaeri

#✩ - so i married my anti-fan #riize fluff #riize x reader #eunseok x reader #eunseok fluff #song eunseok x reader #riize scenarios #riize imagines #riize texts #riize smau

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ayukas · 20 days ago

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settle down 001 unblock me

previous / masterlist / next

notes i said i would deliver and i did. ddolbyong this was dedicated to u 🔥 (its almost 6am and i have school in 4 hours.) also this is a rather long chapter i hope u guys dont get bored halfway through... ( •̯́ ₃ •̯��) have a good week ahead!!!!

taglist @jirsungs @f6llsun @lizzieray @ddolbyong @https-yeonjun @sunghoonsgfreal @richachaslide @yizhrt @4yunogf @4chensungs @dudekiss3r @torissirot @hyuckies18 @hexnoia @rikufan3000 @jwiloves @222brainrot @polarisjisung @gomdoleemyson @chenlezip @t-102 @ballsa420 @wh1spyz @nahyuckers @keeryverse @axo-l0tl @heegyuwrld @jeonghansshitester @aerivrs @i-kai @sqh3e @inmymark @lanaaameowyy @lampcults @antifrggile @zgzgzh @cinneorolls @kukkurookkoo @xiuriii @spacejip @moon-gyus @hyucksunset @haechyuckan @dear-97 @dearmonamour @kaosuni @spideykeyring @hibernatinghamster @neozon3nha @fae-renjun

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cultofdionysusnet · 1 year ago

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Check out this entry for the Thrill of the Hunt Collab by Flurry!

Enypnion

Enypnion (n.) - a thing seen in sleep; dream

Pairing: Seo Changbin (Skz) x Fem!Reader x Choi Yeonjun (TxT)

Genre: Fae AU, Romance, Smut, Angst

Rating: nsfw, mdni, 18+

Warnings: Brownie!Changbin (type of fae), Fae!Reader, Human!Yeonjun, humans being seen as lesser beings and used as pets or slaves, Reader being quite moody, Angry Changbin and therefore turning into a boggart, penetrative and unprotected sex, creampie, hunting humans, a bite -> yeonjun accidentally claiming reader, reader invading yeonjun's dreams, more penetrative and unprotected sex, groping, slight breast and nipple play, another creampie, a blowjob, angry yeonjun, changbin getting stabbed, reader burning her hand, angry reader, threats towards yeonjun, open and menacing ending...

Wordcount: 5.440

Collab: Thrill of the Hunt by @cultofdionysusnet (if you have time check out the others stories by all these fantastic writers)

Summary: In the spur of the moment you decided to buy a human male on the local market. Though you lost your interest in him again after he ran away. Changbin - your loyal companion - forced you to follow the tradition and start the hunt to capture the human again.

A/N: This is unedited as I finished this half an hour before my designated time to post this. :D Also this is heavily based on scottish, irish and celtic folklore about the fae folk! And thanks to @sanjoongie for keeping me motivated and hyping me up for the last five hours while speed writing basically the whole thing! Once I had the flow I truly enjoyed writing this (even though my wrists hurt like hell now) As always, everyone, please enjoy this and tell me what you think!

“Binnie, I’m back home!” You sing-songed as you nearly slammed the front door to your hut open. You immediately got greeted with the scent of freshly baked cookies and a smile spread over your lips.

“You’ve been away longer than usual! What took you so long?”

Even though you couldn’t see Changbin you heard his voice from somewhere deeper into the hut. You folded your translucent wings on your back, making sure you wouldn’t knock them into anything, before you walked inside. “I visited the market!” You turned around and grinned at the human standing in the doorway. “I bought something, come and look!”

Changbin finally emerged and walked over to you, frowning the second he noticed someone else with you. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Look at him! Look at how cute he is! I just had to buy him!” You told him with glee, slightly jumping on your tippy toes from excitement. You definitely ignored Changbin’s side eye as you tugged at the human’s sleeve and pulled him further into your home.

He begrudgingly followed you inside. His eyes darted around warily and landed more often than not on the smaller man.

While your cheerful and somewhat carefree attitude didn’t seem threatening, the other supernatural being with his buff features and hard expression definitely looked like he could snap a human in half.

You placed the human down at your table, where the freshly baked cookies by Changbin stood. Humming softly, you wandered around the open kitchen space to make some tea out of dried flowers.

“How did you get into this realm?” Changbin turned to the human with crossed arms in front of his chest, refusing to sit down or let him out of his sight for even a minute.

The human flinched momentarily. His gaze immediately landed on the other male in the room. Only after you encouraged him to speak as well, did he open his mouth: “I stepped into a mushroom circle for a dare.”

You laughed softly, amused there were still humans stepping into faery rings.

“He isn’t really the brightest, is he?” Changbin turned to you with a scoff. His gaze told you more than any words. He definitely questioned your choice to buy a human. “Last I checked, humans knew not to step into a natural circle.”

“We didn’t think the rumours were true!” The human protested with a prominent pout on his lips.

“You weren’t alone?” You asked with curiosity, sitting down in the chair next to him and watching him intently. “Are the others here too?” Your excitement died down again when he shrugged with his shoulders.

Changbin moved behind you, his stance still the same. “What’s your name, human?” He needed to school his expression to keep it cold when he saw how you piped up again.

“Yeon-”, he stopped and slapped his hand in front of his mouth. His eyes widened momentarily with fear.

“Maybe he isn’t as idiotic as I thought”, Changbin grumbled.

You only giggled and playfully slapped his chest, trying to ease the tension of your fellow Fae. “We’ll have a wonderful time together.”

Changbin grunted something under his breath, knowing full well you were simply in your utopia mindset again.

And he would be right about it. While you quickly fell back into your usual routines - dancing with bare feet on the grass, playing tricks on him and the human, letting patches of four-leaved clover grow and summoning little sprites at dawn, Changbin stayed behind. He didn’t join you like he usually would, too occupied to keep the human in his sight. Changbin didn’t trust the human - and probably never would - but as long as that male stayed cautious and kept being skittish, Changbin wouldn’t relax.

“Yeon-Yeon!” You called from the grass in front of the hut, not even turning around to see whether he came over or not. You sat on the smooth ground, letting your long fingers glide through the green.

Soon enough the human appeared next to you, looking over the vast fields that stretched in front of him.

“I can feel your yearning.”

“Wha-?” He pulled his gaze away and crouched down next to you, tilting his head in confusion. For a second his eyes wandered to the Brownie, who stepped out of the hut and walked over to the little garden. He sighed and returned his attention to you, staring at your side profile silently.

You giggled softly and pulled your knees to your chest, wrapping your arms around the legs and resting your head on your knees as you returned his stare. “Your feelings are quite strong, which makes it easier for me to see them. You yearn for your home.” You whispered softly as you raised one hand to brush some strands of hair out of his face.

“Is there a way for me to escape?” He asked and closed his eyes, the lump in his throat choking him. He still leaned into your touch, searching for comfort.

“There are many ways to leave this realm. You just have to find them. But the question is aren’t you happy being with me?” You observed his reaction intently, noticing how he pulled his lower lip between his teeth and how his glassy eyes looked at you with raw emotion.

Before he even knew it, he fully sat on the ground and you straddled his lap - thighs on both sides of his hips. His hands automatically came up to your hips, holding you in place and even pressing you down. His heart raced inside his chest as his eyes roamed over your features and put a spell on his thoughts.

“I want to have a wonderful time with you”, you whispered against his lips - so close to him you felt the ghost of a touch.

“Me too.”

A wide grin spread over your face and you jumped up from his lap. You danced around him in a circle - half jumping, half flying with your translucent wings. Laughter bubbled from your throat, sounding like chimes and bells ringing in the wind.

When you noticed Changbin from the corner of your eye, you dashed towards him - nearly bringing him to fall from the force you slammed into him. “Yeon-Yeon finally agreed to have a wonderful time with us, Binnie!” You cheered and excitedly kissed the Brownie, who pulled you against his sturdy body and held you close.

“Heart, that’s nice to hear.” While he didn’t trust the peace, Changbin would do anything to see you happy. You owned his heart and without you he’d just cease to live.

You giggled softly and wriggled yourself out of his hold, dashing back to the human and slamming into his body with delighted laughter.

He held you carefully, letting you litter his skin with soft pecks. Yet, his attention stayed with the other male, who watched him with a stern expression. Before he could help himself, he spoke: “What kind of Fae is he? I always thought Fae were quite tall, yet he’s smaller than me.”

You stilled on top of Yeon-Yeon, eyes widening with panic. You didn’t have to turn around to see Changbin turning from a Brownie into a Boggart.

The anger consumed him whole, making his body somewhat deformed and turning his skin colour into an ugly shade. “I AM PERFECTLY WELL HEIGHTENED! IN FACT I AM QUITE TALL FOR MY SPECIES!”

You jumped up, wings quickly carrying you to the raging Boggart. You tried sweet talking to him, hoping it would calm him down enough before offering him some honey and therefore transform Changbin back into the Brownie he actually was.

You barely noticed how the human stood up on shaking legs. How he slowly walked backwards with fearful eyes. Your head whipped around the second he turned on his heels and started running. You watched his form becoming smaller and smaller in the distance until you lost sight of him. Only then did you return your full attention back to Changbin.

“Love, Binnie, hey, look at me. You’re perfect the way you are. So good to me, so strong and handsome!” You pulled a flask of honey out of a bag strung to your belt and offered it to Changbin, while patting his hair and kissing his temple until he finally transformed back into his usual self.

“I am strong and handsome”, he grumbled, before taking another sip of the honey.

“Oh yes you are.”

Changbin looked at you, relishing in the attention you gave him. For a moment he didn’t want to follow the responsibilities, for a moment he wanted to indulge himself in this pleasure of having you all to himself again, for a moment he wanted to forget all about the human. He leaned forward and captured your lips, pressing them against your fiercely.

You moaned softly and opened your mouth, letting Changbin take control as you tasted the sweetness of the honey.

Changbin’s hands wandered underneath your clothes, groping at your skin while he grew more and more desperate to feel you - to take you. “Hold on tight”, he rasped and grabbed your thighs, hoisting you up on his hips.

You immediately wrapped your arms around his sturdy shoulders and your legs around his hips. Another moan escaped your lips when Changbin snaked his arm around your lower back and pressed your core against his hard on.

He basically ripped the fabric away to reveal your cunt. With quick motions Changbin freed his dick and slapped the thick shaft against your folds.

“Please Binnie”, you whined and threw your head back, trying to move your hips for some friction. “Please be good to me, please fuck me! Fuck me good!” Your wings quivered from the pleasure, fluttering even more when Changbin finally pushed his girthy length into your hole.

Changbin grabbed onto your hips with both of his hands again. He breathed heavily from the tightness wrapping around his shaft. “I’ll be so fucking good to you”, he grunted and started a relentless pace - pulling out almost completely before slamming into you again. “My Heart, touch yourself for me, please. I want to see how you’re becoming a mess.”

Your insides tightened around his cock and you whimpered from simply imagining the scene. You carded your fingers through his hair, grabbing a handful of locks at the nape of his neck and pulling it softly, while your other hand wandered down along your body and to your clit.

Changbin groaned from the slight sting at the back of his head as well as from the sight of your fingers circling your sensitive nub and how it sent tremors through your whole body.

Soon enough you came with a guttural moan, squeezing Changbin’s dick until he spilled his load inside of you. Once you came down from your high, you slumped against Changbin, humming softly from his gentle ministrations while he held you close to himself.

“As much as I love staying like this, Heart”, he said after some time, “we need to follow that human.”

You whined and buried your face in his chest. “Why? I don’t wanna! I’d rather stay here with you and let you take me in every corner of the hut. I don’t want to follow Yeon-Yeon! He just ran away!”

Changbin kissed your temple and slowly let you down on your own two feet again. “We can fuck in every corner once we’ve found him. You know the rules, Heart. Any escaped human needs to be captured again. It is the rules of the Hunt.”

“Nobody needs to know he escaped.”

Changbin shook his head and chuckled softly, giving you a peck on your pouty lips. “We could teach Yeon-Yeon how to fuck you right though. Let him watch how I do it before he tries it himself.”

You perked up at those words, eyes shining with interest. “I like that idea.” With a grin you kissed the tip of Changbin’s nose, before rushing into the hut and getting properly dressed again. You’d definitely find Yeon-Yeon now.

That initial excitement quickly dimmed down the longer you looked for him. At one point you started to float next to Changbin - your feet hurt from walking so much. “I changed my mind.”

Changbin grabbed your wrist and pulled you further, scolding you for giving up so quickly. “I smell a human nearby. We’ll get him in no time!”

“We’ve been walking throughout the night! I had thought we’d find him before sundown and then I tried telling myself we’d find him before sunrise! Now it’s early morning and there’s still no sign of Yeon-Yeon.” You glared at Changbin and if he hadn’t been holding your wrist you would have crossed your arms in front of your chest to underline your statement.

Changbin stopped and inhaled the air deeply, ignoring all your complaining. “The human is close. The whole area is filled with its scent.” He turned to you, caressing your cheek. “Heart, could you fly up and check whether there might be a place for him to hide?”

You grumbled something under your breath but followed his request nonetheless. Your strong wings pushed you up into the air where the wind tousled your hair and caressed your body. You turned around your own axis until you noticed a fallen tree on top of a hill. The roots hung down like a curtain, giving a perfect hiding spot. Still you narrowed your eyes.

“There’s a fallen tree on top of that hill”, you shouted towards Changbin, pointing with one hand into the direction, “but I don’t think Yeon-Yeon would hide in a natural magic laden place!”

“We should still check it! I know I smell a human somewhere around here!” Changbin started to jog towards the hill and you begrudgingly followed him.

You landed in front of the opening and peeked inside. “Oh, Yeon-Yeon are you hiding here?” You stopped in your tracks when you caught sight of someone. “You’re not my human.” With a frown you pulled back out of the hole and turned to Changbin. “He’s not here, Binnie” You pouted at him and crossed your arms about to whine about the whole situation again, when you had a thought.

Without hesitation you grabbed into the hole and yanked the female human out of its hiding place. As she struggled against your hold, you let her go and watched her falling down on her behind right in front of Changbin. “I told you, Yeon-Yeon wouldn’t be smart enough to hide here.”

“But I swore I smelled him this way.”

You moved over to Changbin and wrapped your arms around one of his biceps. “Are you sure, we can’t just take this one? She’s adorable too!” You leaned forward, wanting to bop her nose when she suddenly slapped your hand away.

“No. We have to find OUR human, Heart. This is not our hunt and you know we must respect another’s hunt. Now respect ours and leave that human.” Changbin glared at the female on the ground before he turned to look at you with intense eyes.

“Fine”, you scoffed and already turned away, “I don’t like that one anymore anyway. She’s not that cute when she slaps.”

Changbin inhaled one last time, remembering her scent before he turned and followed you. After enough distance towards the hill, he tried locating Yeon-Yeon’s scent again. To his surprise you had been walking into the right direction already, wondering whether you sensed the human somehow as well.

Around noon, when you already started floating again, you noticed someone dragging themselves towards the edge of a small forest. You squinted your eyes and recognised your human’s clothes. “Finally”, you breathed out and without another warning you sped up.

Changbin watched how you shot through the air like an arrow, screaming the human’s name at the top of your lungs before you collided with his form and tumbled to the ground. Worried about your wellbeing, Changbin started running. He saw how the human struggled in your hold and how he pushed himself up, desperately clawing at your hands and trying to free himself. It was then that he leaned down and bit down in your hand.

You gasped in shock, eyes comically wide just like your mouth. You pulled your hand away from the human and stared at the bite mark for several seconds.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Changbin growled and rushed to your side, grabbing your hand and checking the bite mark as well. He looked panicked.

Your eyes wandered back up to Yeon-Yeon, your own shock reflecting in his expression. Before you or Changbin could say anything else, he took off again - running away from you just like he did before.

“What should we do? He bit you! You know what that means!” Changbin let go of your hand, running a few steps after the human but returning back to your side just as quick. He paced around. His worry slowly consumed him, turning his usually loving and caring personality into something dangerous yet again.

For a while you could only watch. The deja vu strong in your mind. You watched how the human grew smaller and smaller until he vanished from your sight. Watched how Changbin lost his temper. Watched how the bite mark on your skin already started to heal again. Not that it would heal completely. After all, the human had just claimed you.

The realisation slowly set in and somehow your heart started fluttering from it. With an almost excited grin you grabbed the bottle of honey you always carried with you and handed it to Changbin, waiting for him to calm down again.

“Why are you grinning? This is a serious situation!”

You placed a hand on Changbin’s upper arm, gently caressing his skin to keep him calm. “It is serious”, you agreed softly and nodded, “but that bond makes it a lot easier to follow him.”

Changbin grunted something unintelligible under his breath before he took another swig of the liquid golden honey. “I can’t believe he just claimed you.”

You laughed brightly, the sound of chimes and bells filling the air again. “I’m sure he didn’t know any better. Now, let us rest until night time. We’ll find him then.”

The moment the sun had gone down, you whispered a few words at the fine bite mark before forcing yourself to sleep.

Changbin hoisted you on his back, having your arms wrapped around his neck and holding onto your thighs. He trusted your powers but he wanted to close the distance while the human would be sleeping. So he continued the pursuit with you on his back, sleeping soundly.

You found him deep asleep leaning against the trunk of a large tree, half hidden behind the protruding roots. “Oh, Yeon-Yeon”, you giggled, leaning over one of the roots and looking down at his form.

He jumped up and staggered a few steps away from you. “Stop following me!”

You pouted and tilted your head, playing mockingly sad. “You know I can’t do that. Humans aren’t allowed to roam free in this realm. They could hurt the nature.”

He looked pained and on the verge of breaking down before his expression changed into a panicked one. With wide eyes he turned around and checked his surroundings. “Where is he?”

“Who? Binnie?” You giggled softly. “He isn't here. This is a dream after all.”

Perplexed, the human turned back to look at you. “A dream?”

“That’s right, Yeon-Yeon. A dream. And anything is possible here.” You walked around the roots, swaying your hips seductively in the process.

“Then stop calling me Yeon-Yeon.” He grabbed his upper arm and rubbed over it, clearly affected by the way you moved.

“How do you want me to call you?”

“My name is Choi Yeonjun.”

You smiled and stopped right in front of Yeonjun. You linked your fingers behind your back and playfully leaned forward, giving him a perfect view of your cleavage. “So, Yeonjun. What else would you like me to do?”

He swallowed harshly, trying to tear his gaze away from the swell of your breasts. “I- uh, I- I don’t know.”

Another giggle escaped your lips. You rounded him and walked towards the roots again, gracefully sitting down and patting the ground next to you. “We could continue what we started before you ran away.”

Yeonjun nodded slowly and moved almost mechanically towards you. The second he sat down, you straddled his lap again. Your arms rested on his shoulders and you played with the strands of hair in his neck.

“You know, you made me very sad when you ran away”, you told him with a pout, rolling your hips against him. “I wanted to have some fun with you. I still want to have fun with you. Do you want to have fun with me?”

“Ye-yes.” He cleared his throat and nodded quickly, staring at you with longing in his eyes. His hands came up to your hips, pressing you down against his growing erection.

Your lips curled upwards as you closed your eyes from the delicious friction. One of your hands slid down from his shoulders and over his chest between your bodies. You palmed his dick through his pants, feeling his outline.

“I want to fuck you”, he rasped, his eyes momentarily switching down to your lips. “Please.”

You closed the distance between your faces and kissed him, moaning against his plump lips and rolling your hips even more now. His soft moans turned you on and you hurriedly removed both your clothes. With your long fingers you pumped his shaft, softly praising him.

Yeonjun groaned and threw his head back. He moaned even louder when you guided his dick into you, sinking down on his length with your full weight.

Your wings fluttered from the pleasant stretch. You needed a second to control them again, helping you to bounce on Yeonjun’s dick.

He opened your blouse and started groping your breasts as well as leaning forward to suck, lick and nibble on your nipples. Yeonjun loved how you reacted to his ministrations, loved the sounds you made for him and how you slowly came undone on top of him. “You’re so beautiful”, he whispered against your bare skin.

You closed your eyes and threw your head back with a loud moan. Your walls fluttered around his shaft and soon enough you couldn’t hold back, cumming with full force.

Yeonjun held your hips in place with his hands and fucked you through your high with fast and deep thrusts into your cunt. Once he came as well with a pleased groan, he wrapped his arms around your lower back and held you in that position.

You rested your head in the crook of his neck, smiling softly. “That was incredible”, you whispered and kissed the soft spot on his throat.

He hummed tiredly. He moved his head ever so slightly to place a kiss on top of yours, before he rested his cheek there and fell into yet another slumber.

You woke up with a pleased giggle, wriggling slightly in Changbin’s hold. “I know where he is”, you whispered and kissed his neck. You then pushed yourself away from him and fluttered around him in an euphoric dance.

“Must have been a good dream”, he commented with crossed arms, “you’ve been moaning and whimpering the whole time.”

You giggled again and landed in front of Changbin, noticing the raging hard on in his pants. “Oh, it was, Binnie. It was incredibly good.” You got down on your knees and opened his trousers, pumping his length several times.

Changbin’s breath hitched. Having the erection for quite some time now, he was incredibly sensitive. Your breath fanning over his tip was nearly enough to make him cum all over your face but he tried to prolong his high at least until you sucked him off.

For just a moment you teased him with licks and kisses, but knowing Yeonjun could wake up any time, you opened your mouth and glided down Changbin’s thick shaft. You hollowed your cheeks and started bobbing your head, pumping the base of his cock as you couldn’t take all of him in. Throughout giving him head, you kept eye contact with Changbin. You loved how his expression twisted from the pleasure and you knew when he was close.

The second you added a slight twist to your wrists while pumping the base, Changbin couldn’t hold himself back anymore. He came down your throat with a moan, his heart beating fast and his breathing irregular.

You swallowed every last drop of his cum and licked over your lips with a wicked grin as you stood back up again.

“I could get used to that whenever you wake up.”

“Me too”, you giggled and leaned forward pecking Changbin’s lips. “But now we have a human to hunt!”

With that you jumped up into the air, flying a loop and dashing into the direction Yeonjun was hiding. Even though Changbin couldn’t fly and therefore wasn’t as fast as you, you knew he’d catch up at some point. He’d simply follow your scent and the bond that pulled both of you towards each other.

You found Yeonjun in the same spot where you had seen him in his dream. Suppressing a giggle, you carefully placed yourself on his lap again - basically taking in the position the both of you had in his dream.

“Am I still dreaming?” He mumbled, eyes barely even open. Yeonjun pressed a kiss to your temple and yawned heartily.

“Does it feel like a dream?”

He made contemplating humming noises, still too tired to think straight and register all the information his body received.

“Heart!”

Yeonjun stiffened, eyes suddenly widening. “This isn’t a dream”, he whispered and pushed you away from him. He stumbled to his feet and away from you. “You tricked me!”

You pouted and stood up yourself, dusting off your clothes. “I did no such thing.”

“Just let me go home!”

Changbin came to a halt next to you, his eyebrow rising in confusion. “Doesn’t he know he can’t go home?”

Yeonjun stared at the both of you. At first his expression was filled with disbelief, before it slowly turned into anger. He accusingly pointed a finger at you. “You told me there is a way for me to get home!”

You blinked a few times, before you laughed softly and tapped with a finger on your lower lip. “Ah, ah, ah. I did no such thing.” You gracefully walked towards him a few steps. “If you remember correctly, I only told you there are ways to leave this realm. That doesn’t mean you get home.”

“What?”

Another giggle ripped through your throat and you shook your head. “Silly, little Yeon-Yeon. Even if you’d find a portal you’d come back to earth hundreds of years after you left it. None of your family would be alive anymore. Time here is different.”

Yeonjun shook his head, tears brimming at the corner of his eyes. “No!” He forcefully rubbed over his face. “No! You’re lying!”

“You truly haven’t learned anything, have you?” You laughed again, teasing him. “A Fae can’t lie, Yeonjun.”

You watched how he stared at the ground, knew how his thoughts were racing in hopes of finding a solution. His whole body trembled in desperation and anger, before it momentarily stilled - the realisation you called him by his full name hitting him. Yeonjun looked up with red eyes, glaring holes into your form. “You’re a twisted sicko!”

Your lips curled upwards and you shrugged with your shoulders, turning to Changbin to see how he reacted to this whole situation. Though instead of amusement, you saw how his face morphed into sheer panic.

As if everything happened in slow motion, Changbin rushed towards you.

You turned back around to Yeonjun.

He held something dark in his hand. Raised high above his head. Yeonjun moved towards you as well.

And you knew he intended to stab you.

At the last second Changbin pushed you out of the way. He wasn’t able to stop Yeonjun’s movements though, getting the tool stabbed right underneath his collarbone.

You heard the sizzling, followed by Changbin’s pained screams. He fell down to the ground, half in a foetus position and expression morphed from the unbearable pain.

Yeonjun stumbled back in shock, his eyes trained on the writhing body on the ground.

“Binnie!” You yelled and rushed over to him, falling to your knees and holding his shoulders to keep him still. Even though you knew deep down the material of the tool, you moved your hand to the protruding tip. You hissed in pain as the iron burnt your skin.

Changbin whimpered and cried in pain, the iron lodged into his body.

You turned towards Yeonjun. “Pull it out!” When he didn’t react you got louder. “Pull. It. Out! PULL IT OUT!” You screamed out after Yeonjun only shook his head, turning back to Changbin.

“It’s going to be okay. We just need to get it out and you’ll heal again, Binnie.” You pressed down on his chest once more, keeping him from writhing around. You bit on your lower lip and wrapped your fingers around the iron tool.

Your skin immediately reacted to the metal. The pain hit you at the same time you hurt the loud sizzling of your skin. Yet, you didn’t let go of the tool. Instead you tightened your grip and pulled on it.

With an inhumane scream you pulled it out of Changbin and threw it far away into the surrounding woods.

You pressed your burnt hand on his wound and started whispering incantations that helped healing, needing to close the wound as fast as possible.

Changbin passed out from the pain, growing limp under your touch.

Yeonjun stared at your trembling body, too stunned to do or say anything. Though as he momentarily blinked, he suddenly found himself slammed to the ground.

You snarled at him with bared teeth, any sign of cuteness vanished behind your mask of rage and terror. You glared down at the human and wrapped your long fingers around his throat.

“Please don’t”, Yeonjun whispered as tears filled his view. He was barely able to breathe now and fear settled deep inside of him. Maybe he shouldn’t have underestimated you but it was too late now.

Yeonjun felt the raw skin of your palm and for a second he thought it must hurt holding him down with your jarred hand. He blinked repetitively, so he could look up into your face.

Your eyes were red from unshed tears. You breathed heavily, exhaling with trembles. And for the first time Yeonjun noticed how your teeth were sharper than normal human teeth.

“You hurt him”, you hissed, each word layered with venom as you spoke. “How did you get the iron?” When Yeonjun didn’t answer immediately your hold on his throat tightened and you raised his head slightly only to slam it full force back into the ground. “ANSWER ME!”

“I- I found it.”

“Did you know iron can be deadly for us?”

Yeonjun shook his head vigorously - as much as he possibly could with your hold on him.

You clicked with your tongue. “How can one stupid little human be that lucky”, you mumbled more to yourself than asking him.

“I’m sorry.”

You hissed again, appearing even more menacing than before. “I’m sorry doesn’t cut it!”

Yeonjun whimpered in pain and closed his eyes. “Are you going to kill me?” His whole body shook in fear, yet he tried to suppress it, hoping he wouldn’t aggravate his situation even more.

You clicked with your tongue. “Oh, I want to. I want to so badly right now. If you hadn’t claimed me, I would have done so already.”

He opened one eye, confusion written over his pained features. “Claimed?”

“You bit me. It’s like-” you pondered over the words- “what do you humans call it? An engagement? Though it runs even deeper! If I kill you now, I would kill half of me.”

Yeonjun exhaled, a sense of relief washing over his body.

You growled again and narrowed your eyes. “Don’t think that’s a good thing! I’d gladly sacrifice half of myself for him! Though maybe I should keep you alive and make your stay a living nightmare - not just at night!”

He whimpered softly, his lower lip quivering in fear.

With a stone-cold expression you leaned down to his ear and whispered: “Just know that you’ll never escape this realm.”

Taglist: @xavi-in-kpopland @songsoomin

#CoDN Collabs #Thrill of the Hunt #group: stray kids #group: txt #member: stray kids changbin #member: txt yeonjun #genre: smut #genre: angst #genre: romance #au: fae au #wc: 5 10 k #rating: mature #type: one shot #type: collab

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