#fic: love lust & litigation

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Ch 7 (JJK, KNJ)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+)

Warnings: swearing, drinking, explicit sexual content, threesome, oral sex (m + f receiving), protected penetrative sex (m + f receiving), slight dom!namjoon

Word Count: 7.2k

A/N: she's heeeeere, took a long time bc smut is hard, y'all. all that's left is the epilogue. unbeta'd bc fck it we ball, enjoyyy 💜✨

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

“You’re leaving?”

Everyone pauses in a collective inhale, the moment suspended in time. 

Then, Namjoon flinches at the question, the world fast forwards back into action, and you remember that you’re in public, that this is a work dinner, and that you’re meeting peers in your industry. You swallow the burst of panic, and look over at Jungkook. He half-stands, as if he’s about to wrestle Namjoon to the ground and never let him leave. Guilt shadows Namjoon’s face as he looks at the two of you. 

None of you have done a good enough job of moderating your features because Jackson immediately backtracks. 

“Hey bro, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was a secret. I shouldn’t have—“ 

“Don’t stress about it, man,” says Namjoon, turning to his friend with an easygoing smile, that diplomatic mask he wears in important meetings. You hate it. “I was going to announce it when we got back on Monday anyway.” 

You pull Jungkook back to sitting with a hand on his arm. He fiddles with the napkin on his lap before looking up at you, a lost look on his face that mirrors how you’re feeling on the inside. 

The reunion between Namjoon and Jackson doesn’t last much longer, the easy chat between the old college friends now strained. You reach for your drink as Namjoon wraps up the conversation, but your hand shakes too much when you pick it up. He’s your boss, just another face at the office, you try to tell yourself. The wine glass sits on the table, abandoned. 

As he says his final niceties, Namjoon stays facing towards Jackson, watching his retreating back for a long moment. He takes a deep breath and steels his shoulders before he turns back to the table. He tries to act nonchalant as he takes a sip of his wine. His hands don’t shake, and the stiff smile stays on his face. 

“So.” Jungkook breaks the silence that hangs heavy over your group. “You’re leaving.” 

The accusation sits at the table, a fourth dinner companion making everyone ill at ease.

Namjoon nods in response. Jungkook purses his lips and worries his lip ring, waiting for an actual answer. Namjoon’s eyes flit to your face, but you keep quiet. Silence has as much power as any question to get answers. He knows this; he taught you. 

“Remember the songwriter we represented?” 

The sudden change of topic throws you for a loop. “What does this have to do with her?” 

Namjoon twirls his wineglass between his fingers. “She wanted new in-house counsel, and reached out last month. She was really pleased with how the firm handled her case.” 

“How I  handled her case,” you say sharply. 

It stings that she didn’t reach out to you first. Of course she reached out to Namjoon first, though; she melted at the merest hint of Namjoon’s dimple during your initial meeting. Maybe you’re pissed that you melted at the merest hint of a dimple. And now here’s the owner of the dimple, deserting you. Or at least, that’s what it feels like. You don’t want to acknowledge that you’re not even a blip on his radar in his decision-making process because at the end of the day, you’re just a junior employee in the firm. 

He tilts his head in acknowledgement, and your temper deflates as quickly as it ignited. You brush the interjection out of the air with your hands and go back to the matter at hand. 

“I thought you loved your job at Bang and Associates.”

You hate that your voice cracks a bit while you speak. 

“Your friend was right, you were about to make partner. Why now?”

Jungkook’s voice sounds so much stronger than yours, and you hate him a little for that too. 

“Personal reasons.” 

You and Jungkook scoff in unison. Not a good enough answer. 

“It’s a lot of things.” Namjoon studies the glass in his hands while he considers his answer. “The long hours are a big part of it. If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve been feeling more like a robot than a person these days. I was ready to say no when her team reached out, but after I slept on it, I realized, I have no life outside the firm. Weekends are nonexistent. Everything is a fire that needs put out, ASAP. This will be a good change.” 

The tension drains from the conversation. This is the most vulnerable you’ve ever seen your boss. To fault him for this reasoning, for being human, would be childish and petty.

Namjoon reaches for the wine and helps himself to a generous pour.

“You know, she asked about you, Jungkook.” You can tell he’s just trying to change the subject, bring the conversation back to something more light-hearted, but the sudden turn leaves you off-kilter again. 

“Who?”

“The singer. She wanted your number for, ah… personal reasons. I had to tell her you were otherwise engaged.” 

Namjoon’s gaze flicks to yours briefly, and you can’t stop a flush creeping up your cheeks. 

“Yeah.” Jungkook’s hand makes its way back to your thigh and you place your hand on his. “I am.” 

Namjoon clocks this movement and clears his throat. 

“How did this all start anyway? Usually, you can tell when people in the office are about to get together, but it took a lot of us by surprise.” 

You make a face. “I didn’t realize we were such a hot topic of conversation.” 

“Everyone talks,” he says with a shrug. 

You and Jungkook exchange a look. Tonight’s revelation has sent everything into a tailspin. What’s one more to the mix? Jungkook shrugs at your unasked question.

“Mutual pining,” you say, turning back to Namjoon. 

He raises an eyebrow. “For each other?” 

“For you,” says Jungkook. 

Namjoon chokes on his wine. 

It’s a relief to finally say it out loud. To admit it. Your hand tightens on Jungkook’s while you wait for Namjoon to recover. 

“Me?” 

“During the Christmas party. We got to talking, and… ” Jungkook looks at you for reassurance, and you squeeze his hand. “Turns out we were both head over heels for you.” 

“Wait… were?” 

Each new turn in this conversation feels like another landmine being triggered, blasting you into the unknown. 

“Are,” you say. “Present tense.” 

Jungkook lets out a sharp breath. “Yeah. Still are.”

Namjoon doesn’t meet either of your gazes across the table, eyes focused on the bottle of wine in the middle of the table instead. You bite your lip to stop yourself from saying anything else. All your cards are on the table. 

Namjoon runs a hand over his face before speaking. “You’re only saying this because I’m leaving.” 

“You’re only asking because you’re leaving,” you retort. 

“Look, we’re all chicken-shits when it comes to this, okay?” says Jungkook, putting a placating hand down on the table. “But we’ve said our part. We both like you, a lot. And we’re hoping you like both of us, too. Together.” 

Namjoon looks like words are stuck in his throat. 

After a long moment, you scoff, shaking your head. “Yoongi was right, then, when he said—“ 

“Yoongi says a lot of things.” 

“Was he pulling it out of his ass, hmm? When he said you were too hung up on doing the right thing instead of going for what you want?” 

The moment the words leave your mouth, you regret them. A muscle tics in Namjoon’s cheek as he clenches his jaw.

“Fuck. Sorry, I —“

Before you can finish your sentence, Jungkook pulls you up to standing. 

“We’re gonna go get the check. And we’ll wait for you at the hotel. Take your time.” 

You glance back once as Jungkook leads you through the restaurant. Namjoon slumps in his chair, staring out over the city. 

Your footsteps echo in the hotel room as you pace. The TV makes a tinny attempt to fill the hollow emptiness with the sounds of a syndicated sitcom. You stop every so often at the window to look out at the buildings disappearing into the low clouds tinged yellow by the city lights.

By the second episode of the sitcom, you’ve exhausted your patience for canned laughter and stilted acting. You flop on the couch next to Jungkook and flip through the channels, trying to find something, anything, to distract you. Every channel is celebrating Valentie’s Day by playing sappy romcoms. The swelling string music and moon-eyed pretty people annoy you even more than the canned laughter, and you turn the TV off in frustration.

Jungkook has his phone out, swiping aimlessly on TikTok and you join him in pretending to watch as the memes go by.

“Did I go too far? At the restaurant?”

“I don’t know.” 

You sit on the couch for what seems like hours before the door lock beeps open. 

You’re on your feet before you can think, Jungkook beside you. It’s out of a scene in one of those stupid romantic movies, how the door swings open in slow motion and Namjoon appears, bringing a chill in with him. 

“Oh, hi,” he says when he sees the both of you looking at him like spooked deer. His cheeks are red with either cold or embarrassment. “Um, I thought about it on the way here, and I’m in.” 

Your heart jumps into your throat, but you don’t let yourself process the words because he’s started to shiver. His shoulders are damp and droplets of water cling to his hair. 

“Did you walk here in the rain?” 

He runs his hand through his hair. Strands clump together where he runs his hand through. 

“Snowing.” 

You turn to the window. Flurries dance in the air, blurring the cityscape, softening the harsh lights from the buildings nearby. 

“I’ll get you a towel.” 

When you return from the bathroom, Jungkook has already taken the wet suit jacket and is in the process of draping it over a chair. Namjoon stands sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. You hand him the towel, wanting to run it through his hair, but not having the courage to reach up and do so. 

His cheeks stay red once he’s done rubbing his hair dry. You’re flushed too, because now you’ve had time to actually process what he said when he came in. Should you bring it up now? 

He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it and exhales harshly through his nose instead. Jungkook worries his lip piercing and picks at the skin around his nails. You stand between them, heart pounding in your chest. You’re all standing at the precipice but you don’t know how to take the leap.

Namjoon clears his throat before speaking. 

“Um, I don’t know if you heard before but—“ he clears his throat again “—I’m in. For whatever this is.” 

Your heartbeat pounds in your ears, and you can’t bring yourself to produce words. Jungkook looks equally shell-shocked.

The moment drags on in silence.

“I’m trying to be brave but neither of you are saying anything?” The words should sound harsh, but you’ve never heard Namjoon sound so unsure, so small. 

“Now that we’re here, I…” You wish you sounded more confident. 

“Here,” Jungkook says as he reaches out to take Namjoon’s hand. Namjoon looks down at his hand as if he’s never seen it before. You follow suit, and Namjoon looks at you with a fragile hope that makes your heart squeeze in your chest. 

“Don’t overthink it,” says Jungkook. He’s talking to Namjoon, but you try to take the words to heart, too. 

“I don’t think I know how to do that.” 

He rests his chin on Namjoon’s shoulder. “Just be here,” he says. “Take it one step at a time.” 

“How?” 

“Start like this.” 

Jungkook guides Namjoon’s hand to his cheek, and leans into it, closing his eyes. 

“What’s next?” asks Jungkook, voice gentle. 

Namjoon’s thumb runs over his lips. Jungkook lets out a shuddery exhale. The tension in his body shows he’s holding back, letting Namjoon move at his own pace, as if Namjoon were a rare and skittish animal. 

“And then?” 

Namjoon rests his forehead against Jungkook’s and slowly, inevitably, their lips connect. It’s chaste, just a press of lips against lips, but Jungkook melts into it, letting out the tiniest little whimper.

It’s something so intimate, you falter back a step, your hold on Namjoon’s hand going slack. But before you can pull away, Namjoon’s grip tightens and tugs you in closer. He turns to look at you, the expression on his face tender, and scared. His hand comes to stroke your cheek too, and it makes you want to cry, how delicately he’s handling you. 

It takes just a second, but feels like an eternity for him to press his lips to yours, for you to rise onto your toes to meet him halfway. You feel again like you’re on the edge of something, like any second, everything is about to change. You don’t know what you expected, but what you get is the softest lips, plush against yours. Gentle, chaste. A fairytale ending kiss that teases what’s to come. 

As Namjoon opens his lips against yours, you’re dizzy with the realization that you’ve been over the precipice, already falling headlong into the unknown, the first step taken hours, days, maybe even weeks ago. 

He turns to Jungkook and kisses him again, deeper. Jungkook whines as Namjoon bites his lower lip. Then he turns to you, and you taste Jungkook on Namjoon’s lips. And with a sigh of relief, everything clicks into place. There was a missing piece in your life and it was this, you and Namjoon and Jungkook, together.  

“What’s next?” asks Namjoon, eyes closed as he speaks into the disappearing space between the three of you. 

You tug and are tugged to the couch where Jungkook pushes Namjoon to sit. Jungkook sits on one side and you sit on the other, bringing his face towards you and you kiss him once, twice, then run your lips up his jawline and down his neck, inhaling the scent of him, musky and heady. Jungkook turns Namjoon’s head and kisses him like he wants to devour him whole. 

Namjoon’s shirt collar gets in the way of your quest to discover the spot that makes him squirm, and you unbutton the first couple of buttons of his shirt to get access. He hisses when you nip at the spot just where his neck meets his shoulder. 

You spend some time in your new favorite place, tasting and teasing with tongue and teeth, but the new inches of golden skin aren’t enough. You straddle one of Namjoon’s spread legs and work on unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. Jungkook looks on as work your way down. His hand comes to rest on Namjoon’s upper thigh, fingers tracing light circles. You pull out the tucked-in ends of the shirt and let it fall open. 

“Wow.” 

The word sighs out from your lips as you sit back to look. Because Namjoon Kim is magnificent, skin glowing golden in the lamplight. Jungkook's muscles are more defined, but there's power underneath his skin. Everything you see makes you want to take a bite. 

Your gaze works its way up to his face, and the look in his eyes sends a shiver of want straight to the heat between your legs. 

Jungkook smirks at your reaction. “Never gets old.” 

“You’ve been keeping this to yourself,” you say, accusingly. 

Namjoon rumbles out a chuckle as Jungkook shrugs.

“I’m selfish. But it’s nice, right?” Jungkook says into Namjoon’s neck, where he starts on sucking a mark into the exposed skin. Namjoon's eyes close and he leans into the sensation.

More than nice, you think, letting your fingertips graze over Namjoon’s stomach. His muscles jump at your touch, eyes flying open.

“Ah, your hands are cold,” 

“They’ll warm up eventually,” Jungkook answers on your behalf. 

Your hands wander up, landing on his pecs. Namjoon grunts when you give them a squeeze. You bite your lip to suppress a giggle. They’re as good as you imagined, firm and warm under your touch. 

“What’s so funny, baby?” 

The nickname uttered in his husky voice makes your core clench. 

“I’ve been wanting to do this for along time,” you say, giving them another squeeze. 

“And I’ve been wanting to do this.” 

Namjoon’s hand comes to the curve of your ass and he squeezes, bringing you closer, guiding your hips to grind down. God, his thighs. You bite back a moan. 

He turns to Jungkook and puts a hand on his waist. 

“And this.”

He kisses Jungkook’s neck as he palms the front of Jungkook’s straining pants. Jungkook’s eyes shut and he exhales out a groan.

You almost can’t believe it. Being here, with the two of them like this. 

Namjoon’s hands press down on your hips, and you roll your hips down again, the feeling of his muscles between your legs making you slick. But, as much as you want to get lost in the sensation and get yourself off on Namjoon’s thighs, you have much more pressing matters at hand. 

You start at his collarbones, kissing your way down his chest, grazing his nipples with your teeth. He hisses at the contact, and you do it again just to feel him squirming beneath you. You clamber off the couch and settle between his spread legs, kissing all the way down until you reach the waistband of his pants. They’re both looking at you, waiting to see what you’ll do next. You bite your lip in anticipation as you unbutton and unzip his pants. 

His cock springs free when you take both his pants and boxers off, the tip dark, ready. You take him in your hands, and the weight of him, how he could feel inside you, makes your mouth water. 

He’s holding his breath as you lean down. You meet his eyes as you wrap your lips around the head. He lets out a shuddery breath as your tongue comes out to tease the tip. 

“Fuck.” 

Both mean speak in unison. You press open-mouthed kisses against the shaft as you work your way down to the base, then lick a stripe up to the top. Jungkook meets you at the tip, capturing your mouth, licking into you, then onto Namjoon. 

He lowers his head onto Namjoon’s cock, and as he comes back up, you switch places, and take turns taking him deeper and deeper each time. Namjoon’s fingers twine through your hair, his other hand tangled in Jungkook’s wavy locks, setting the pace. His head falls back against the back of the couch. 

The tip meets the back of your throat, and Namjoon’s hips twitch up into you.

“Shit, baby.” 

His chest rises and falls with heavy breaths as you pull off with a pop. Jungkook, never one to be outdone, sinks all the way down, nose pressed against Namjoon’s abdomen. You can see the moment he swallows. 

“Fuck. Wait, wait. Stop.” 

Namjoon pulls him off and covers his face with his hands. You sit back on your heels. Jungkook wipes his mouth as he exchanges looks with you. Did you do something wrong? Is he rethinking his decision? You don’t know what you’ll do if he changes his mind and doesn’t want to do this after all. 

You wait for a long moment, watching his chest rise and fall rapidly. 

“Sorry, it’s just… it’s too soon.” The sound comes muffled from behind his hands. “I don’t wanna come yet.” 

Oh. You and Jungkook breathe sag in relief, the uncertainty draining from your body.  

You stand and pull Namjoon's hands from his face and smooth his hair back. 

“Don’t apologize.” One hands comes to rest against his jaw, thumb stroking his cheek. He looks overwhelmed and a little embarrassed. “We can take it slow.” 

You’re close enough that your breath intermingles, and you watch as the embarrassment and worry on his face melt into incredulity and then into desire. He bridges the gap between you and leans up to kiss you. At first, it’s just a press of the lips, but you deepen the kiss, open mouthed, tongue tangling with his. He nips at your bottom lip and tugs a moan from you. His hands graze down your back and come to rest on your waist, hands bunching in the fabric. 

“Why am I the only one naked?” he mutters under his breath. 

Your hands fly to the back of your dress, but Namjoon stops you. He stands, and pulls you up with him. He turns to Jungkook, who has been sitting on his heels, watching, and points to the couch. 

“Sit.” 

Jungkook hoists himself up and goes to take his shirt off, but Namjoon shakes his head.

“Just wait.” 

Jungkook quirks an eyebrow and puts his hands up in surrender. He sits on the edge of the couch, leaning forward on his elbows, eyes never leaving Namjoon. 

He turns you to face Jungkook and stands behind you. With gentle hands, Namjoon finds the zipper of your dress and at a torturous pace, drags it down. A shiver runs down your spine as he brushes the dress off your shoulders. It pools around your ankles, leaving you in your bra and panties. He sweeps your hair to one side and presses his lips to your pulse point. The touch and the cool air send goosebumps across your skin. 

Namjoon’s arms wrap around your waist, pulling you tighter to him as he works a mark into your neck. You don’t know what to focus on, the feel of his lips on your neck, his cock pressed against your lower back, or the tips of his thumbs just barely grazing the underside of your breasts. Jungkook sits back on the couch, palming his erection over his jeans, gaze heavy on you. You know the look on his face, the patient hunger. The intense focus of it grows the heat pooling in your belly.

It’s almost a relief when Namjoon’s hands slip behind your back and take your bra off. He cups your breasts, and you arch into the warmth of his hands. He hums into your skin and you moan when he takes your nipples between his fingers, teasing them. 

Your hand comes between your legs, pressing your fingers into the soaked fabric of your underwear. A whimper escapes through your lips at the stimulation.

Jungkook comes off the couch to kneel at your feet. He peels your underwear off you but before he can bury his nose between your legs, Namjoon’s voice stops him. 

“I said, wait.” 

Jungkook sits back on his feet with a little huff. Frustration plays across his face, but even so his pupils dilate as he looks up at Namjoon.

“Stand up.”

Cold air hits your body as Namjoon comes to stand in front of Jungkook. He makes quick work of Jungkook’s clothes, no lingering touches or caresses as he works buttons and zippers. Impatience doesn’t get rewarded. 

Jungkook’s clothes join yours on the ground and Namjoon points to the nearest bedroom. Yours. 

You spare a brief thought for the state of your bedroom — sometimes your clothes like to explode out of their suitcase through no fault of your own — but it’s pristine. You send a silent word of thanks up for daily hotel housekeeping. 

“On the bed, both of you.”

It would be awkward to crawl on the bed fully naked were the anticipation of what’s to come not thrumming through your skin. You sit up against the headboard, Jungkook next to you, legs outstretched. 

Namjoon gets on the bed and hovers over you to kiss you, tongue invading your mouth. Your hips jerk as he brings his hand between your legs and drags his knuckles over your slick folds. He doesn’t linger. 

“Tease.” 

He winks at you — which, somehow, makes you blush instead of rolling your eyes — as he leans over Jungkook and pulls him up by the chin. The kiss is all tongues and gasped breaths. 

Namjoon pulls away, leaving Jungkook to fall back against the headboard, dazed. He kneels and wastes no time in putting Jungkook’s cock in his mouth, eyes never leaving Jungkook’s. He groans and reaches for Namjoon’s hair. 

“Hands off,” says Namjoon around a mouthful of cock. 

“Fuck.” Jungkook’s hands twist into the duvet as Namjoon dives back down. 

The sight of the two of them, Jungkook’s muscles straining as he keeps his hands to himself, Namjoon taking Jungkook until his nose reaches his abdomen, has you pressing your legs together. You reach between your legs, desperate for any type of relief, but Namjoon stops you with a look. 

Hands off for you, too. 

You reach out a tentative hand toward Jungkook, and Namjoon sees, but doesn’t say anything. Tacit permission given, you spread your hand on Jungkook’s hip. He twitches at the contact, but doesn’t move. 

You brush his hair back from his forehead with your other hand. “Staying so still. Such a good boy.” 

He whines at the praise. “Ah fuck. Why does that fucking work for me?”

“Is this all you ever wanted?” you whisper in his ear. “Namjoon taking you so well.” 

“God, yeah.” 

Namjoon hums around his cock and you swallow the moan that rises from Jungkook's throat, kissing his pretty lips, sliding your tongue into his mouth. 

It’s not long until he leans back. 

“I’m gonna come,” he says with a gasp. You can feel his muscles tensing under your grip. 

“Tell him that.” 

“Fuck! I’m coming!” 

Namjoon somehow smirks around a mouthful of cock and swallows to take Jungkook even deeper. Jungkook’s head presses back into the mattress as he comes with a groan down Namjoon’s throat. 

Then, Namjoon pops off Jungkook’s cock and opens his mouth, sticking out his tongue to show he swallowed every last drop. You and Jungkook take twin gasps of breath. Fresh arousal pools between your legs. Not even in your wildest fantasies late at night alone in your room had you let yourself imagine that. 

“Fuck. That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” says Jungkook, letting his head drop back down onto the pillows. His chest rises and falls rapidly as he tries to catch his breath, Namjoon’s hand lingering on his softening cock. 

“Mmm,” says Namjoon, crawling up the bed to kiss the underside of Jungkook’s chin, as if he hadn’t just blown your minds. Jungkook pulls Namjoon in by the back of his neck for an open-mouthed kiss. 

You squirm a little, pressing your thighs together, and Namjoon notices.

“You’ve been patient.” He bites his lip before he says, “Good girl.” 

“Fuck. Why does that work for me?” you wail.

Jungkook laughs, as he lays back, spent. “Can dish it out but can’t take it.” 

You go to smack his arm, but he catches your hand and twines his fingers with yours. He presses a kiss to the back of your hand before releasing it. 

You look back at Namjoon. 

“Well, do I get a treat for being a good girl?” 

You let your legs fall open. Namjoon’s eyes follow your hands as you trace your curves down to the apex of your thighs.

“Is she always like this?” Namjoon asks, addressing Jungkook but looking at your fingers not quite touching where you want to be touched the most. Heat creeps up your cheeks as Namjoon’s gaze travels up your body to meet your eyes. You bite your lip. Namjoon’s gaze is intense on the best of days, but tonight, it burns. 

“She behaves. Most of the time.” 

“See?” you say with a coy smile, through burning cheeks. “I’m a good girl.”

Namjoon leans over you, getting close but not close enough for your lips to make contact. 

“What if I don’t want you to be a good girl?” His lips brush over yours as he speaks. Heat shoots to your core. 

“I can be whatever you want me to be.” 

He breathes out a chuckle and presses a kiss to where your jaw meets your ear, and works his way down your neck, dropping a kiss on the tender spot he worked at earlier. 

Where he was quick with Jungkook, he teases you, stopping at your breasts to take one nipple into his mouth. You arch up into his mouth at the contact, and he brings a hand to your waist to stop you from moving. 

His big hands are gentle, but you want them to bruise. 

Jungkook lays to the side and just watches at first, eyes glassy post-orgasm. As Namjoon continues down your body, Jungkook has you sit up a bit as he slides in behind you, bringing you to rest back down on him. He wraps an arm around your waist, and the other sinks into your hair, guiding your head to the side to work on marking the other side of your neck. 

You’re dripping by the time Namjoon gets to your cunt. He runs a finger through your slick, and you shiver at the contact, hands twisting into the sheets. His eyes close as he tastes.

“Sweet,” he says, almost to himself. 

He slowly settles between your legs, placing one above his shoulder, then the other. He drags it out, kissing your inner thighs as he makes his way closer and closer to your center. 

You cry out when he finally licks a stripe up your slit. When he wraps his lips around your clit, you let out a strangled sob. He hums in satisfaction as you squirm at the contact. You’re so keyed up that the vibration has your eyes rolling back into your head. It’s much too fast, but not enough at the same time. You move your hips against his face, but he places a hand on your hip. 

“You’re gonna stay still, like a good girl?” Jungkook whispers in your ear. 

“Yes. Fuck.”

Your promise is hard to keep as Namjoon slips a finger into you. It takes every ounce of willpower to not clamp your legs around him.

“Damn, baby. So tight.” 

His voice against you, deep and rumbling, makes you clench even tighter around his finger. He adds another finger, working you open, mouth on your clit, tongue teasing with every thrust. 

Jungkook takes your breast in his hand and teases the nipple between his fingers, keeps breathing obscenities in your ear when his mouth isn’t on your skin. Your orgasm builds with every thrust of Namjoon’s fingers, with every dirty word Jungkook whispers in your ears. 

You whine as Namjoon adds a third finger and presses insistently against your sweet spot. Your gasping breaths and the lewd sound of his fingers moving in and out of you fill the room. 

“You’re gonna be a good girl, and come for us?” Jungkook breathes against your ear. 

You nod, head pressed against Jungkook's, and whine out a yes.

Namjoon sucks against your clit and you can’t hold still anymore. Your hands come to his hair and you hold him in place as you fuck your self against his face. He hums against you in amusement and that pushes you over the edge. Pleasure ripples over you in waves, core clenching, Namjoon’s name on your lips. His fingers fuck you through your orgasm, mouth never letting go of your clit. It’s not until your hands push him off you that his fingers slip from your cunt. 

Your heart thuds in your chest as Namjoon slips out from under your legs and you come back down to Earth. You miss the warmth of him between your legs already, even though you’re so sensitive you might cry at another touch.  

He climbs up on the bed, kneeling into the bed between your thighs. You almost come again when he puts his slick-soaked fingers between Jungkook’s lips. It’s sinful, the way Jungkook takes his time licking one finger clean, then the other. 

Namjoon replaces his fingers with his tongue. Jungkook’s moans reverberate against your back. You press up towards them, joining in a mess of tongues, skin on skin, breaths heavy. Hands and lips wander, discovering sensitive areas, staking claim on curves and hollows. 

Jungkook is hard again against your back, and Namjoon’s stiff cock pokes into your stomach. Their movement makes his thigh graze against your still-sensitive core. You gasp at the first contact, still sensitive, but your skin cries out for more. Fingernails press into his waist as you pull him closer to grind against his thigh. He grunts in surprise at the movement, but meets you thrust for thrust. You’re on the verge of crying from how sensitive you are but still you want more. 

“Needy,” says Jungkook between open mouthed kisses. 

“Shut it,” you whine. 

Namjoon breathes a chuckle before kissing Jungkook once more. He grinds down into you until you see stars, then sits back on his heels. Cold air sweeps across your skin, and behind you, Jungkook lets out a whimper in protest. You pout at the distance. 

“How do you want this?” His eyes search yours, then Jungkook’s, hesitant hope written out across his features. 

You sit up, still nestled between Jungkook’s legs. 

Jungkook speaks first, propped up on his elbows behind you. “It’s not about what we want. Not tonight.” 

“Yeah.” You nod, looking at Namjoon as he kneels before you. “How do you want us?”

His face scrunches as he battles with himself, and you wait. Jungkook’s chin comes to rest on your shoulder, and his thumbs caresses your hip, a mindless habit he’s picked up. You both wait as Namjoon bites his bottom lip, deliberating asking for what he really wants. 

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, cheeks flaming bright red as he speaks. 

“I want Jungkook to fuck me, while I fuck you.” 

A new wave of arousal flows through you as you let out a shuddery breath.

“Fuck.” Jungkook shifts behind you on the bed. “Yeah. Yeah, we can do that. One sec.” 

He slips out from behind you and clambers off the bed, nearly sprinting out of the room. 

Namjoon slumps down on the bed beside you, face up, as if his request took too much out of him. You reach down to stroke his cheek. He’s flushed, chest rising and falling. His hand covers yours, fingers warm, strong as they link with yours. 

“You all good?” you ask. 

“Yeah, just overwhelmed.” He places your hand over his heart and you can feel it beating strong, fast. “Overwhelmed but good. I didn’t think this where we would end up tonight.” 

“None of us did, but I think we all hoped.” 

Jungkook bounds back into the room and drops a box of condoms and a travel-size bottle of lube on the bed. 

“Supplies!” he says as he bounces back onto the bed, the impact jostling you and Namjoon.

You all laugh at his excitement and you reach across Namjoon to pull Jungkook into a sweet kiss. 

“Always so optimistic,” you say with a smile. 

“Always prepared, that’s all.” He gives you your favorite smile, all scrunched up in happiness and you can’t resist pulling him in for another kiss. Namjoon props himself up on his elbows and joins in. Lips wander, hands caress, and you all get distracted for a few minutes, enjoying the feel of each other finally in this place, together.

Then, Jungkook pulls away and asks, “Um… how do we…”

“Here,” you say, laying on your back and pulling Namjoon on top of you, ass up. The weight of him on you is satisfying, like the world’s best weighted blanket. He props himself up on his elbows, one on each side of your head. 

“Hi,” he says. 

“Hey,” you respond. 

Jungkook kneels and rubs his hands on Namjoon’s back, massaging his spine as he kisses his way down to his lower back. Namjoon closes his eyes and hums at the sensation. You reach up and stroke his cheek. Jungkook kneads Namjoon’s cheeks, spreading them, about to start. 

He hesitates. “Is this the first time you…” 

“No, but it’s been a while.” Namjoon inhales sharply as the first drops of lube hit his ass. “Why is it always cold, though?” 

Jungkook’s hands spread the lube around, warming the area, teasing Namjoon’s rim. It’s like you can feel Jungkook’s hands on you, as Namjoon closes his eyes to the sensation, body moving naturally against the other man. He buries his face into your neck and the noises he’s making send you breathing heavy, too.

Your hand comes to the back of his neck, nails lightly scratching against his short hair. 

Jungkook works a finger in, slowly, gently. Namjoon tenses at the intrusion, but then relaxes against you with a moan. 

“Good?” asks Jungkook, rubbing small circles into Namjoon’s back.  

“Fuck. Yeah, good. Good.”

Jungkook drops a kiss to Namjoon’s back, and pushes slowly in and out to get him used to the feeling. You pull Namjoon into a kiss, exploring his mouth with all the languid movements of Jungkook behind him. 

 “You can add another.” 

And Jungkook, patient, the most patient you’ve ever seen him, works another finger into Namjoon’s hole, working him open. 

“Shit. You’re so tight.” 

Namjoon lifts his head and you see the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen. Namjoon looking five different kinds of fucked out, pupils blown, pleasure the only thing on his face. You prop one of your knees up and his cock slips between your legs, teasing your entrance. As he fucks himself back onto Jungkook’s fingers, you move against him, craving the friction, more, more. 

“I think I’m ready,” says Namjoon. 

Foil packets get ripped open, condoms put on, and logistically, the first position you’re in doesn’t work out. Namjoon lines himself up with your entrance and Jungkook tries to position himself behind Namjoon, but the angle is all wrong. You’re ready to give it a go anyway, desperate as you are, but Namjoon holds back before you get any further. 

“Maybe this doesn’t actually work outside of… you know…” Namjoon says with a wave of his hand. 

“Wait, it does,” says Jungkook. “Let’s try it like this…” 

He arranges the three of you, with you on your side and Namjoon spooning you from behind. Jungkook settles in behind Namjoon and tells you to move your leg up just a little bit and— 

Your breath hitches as Namjoon’s cock slips through your folds and brushes up against your clit. You can’t see what Jungkook is doing, but him and Namjoon let out a groan at the same time. 

“Yeah,” says Namjoon breathlessly, “yeah, I think this is it.”

“Fuck.” 

“Ready?” 

Namjoon guides his cock into your entrance and you moan as you feel him enter you for the first time, thick and long. He pushes in slowly, so you can feel every inch of him moving through you. You take a deep breath as he bottoms out, getting used to the stretch. His bottom arm wraps around you, hand splayed out on your collarbone, anchoring you to this moment, as if you are his tether to Earth. In this position, you can feel every movement behind you, as Jungkook enters Namjoon. Namjoon’s cock twitches inside you in response, and he groans in your ear. 

Jungkook sets the pace, thrusting slowly. The movement is stilted at first, but then they find a rhythm, and you meet them, hips swiveling onto Namjoon every time he thrusts forward.

A chorus of moans and obscenities fill the room as each person chases their own high. The rhythm falters but Namjoon takes over, easier now, as he fucks into you then himself back onto Jungkook.

You crane your head to look back at Jungkook. His eyebrows meet in concentration, and he bites his lip as he rolls his hips to meet Namjoon's ass.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he grunts.

Namjoon picks up the pace as he pounds into you, hips snapping against you, and all you can do is take it, hands braced against the mattress. He brings his hand between your legs, circling your clit in insistent circles. Your legs start to shake.

"Come on, baby," he breathes in your ear, and you cry out. You're coming undone again, tight around him, and all you hear is his groan as you pulse around him.

He fucks you though your orgasm, grunting as he tries to hold back, but he follows soon after, spilling into the condom with a cry. Jungkook’s right behind him, breathing expletives as he comes.

The moment pauses, suspended as the three of you try to catch your breath. No one speaks for a long while, and you realize this could be it. You can't see their faces and right now, really, this could be the end of it. You shake your head to clear the thought before tears can threaten to prick at your eyes.

“We should do that again sometime.” It's a weak joke to ease the tension, but you don't want this moment to flit away.

Your whole body shakes as Namjoon and Jungkook laugh behind you. Namjoon squeezes you closer, tight enough to push your breath from your lungs for a brief second, and then he loosens his hold. His cock slips out from you as you twist in his arms and the human knot you’ve become comes undone. Namjoon lays on his back, Jungkook sprawled next to him. You drape yourself across Namjoon to reach out to Jungkook, and he squeezes your hand when you finally reach him. 

Your heartbeat synchronizes to Namjoon's as you lay on his chest. The pounding beat slows as the second pass, and his hand comes to rest on your waist.

Once you're fully back to reality, you become more and more aware of the state of your bed. The room smells like sex and you're sticky with sweat and slick. You push up to get out of bed and Namjoon follows. He swings his legs over the edge to sitting and catches you by the waist before you can go any further. You turn to look at him. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Nowhere. Bathroom.”

His eyes flick down to your body, and you feel suddenly self-conscious. Your hands come up to cover your chest, but he catches them before they make it.

"Don't."

He holds your hands between you, and looks at you with a warm smile. You lean down to kiss him. It's a bit thrilling, even after, for this to be normal. That he'll kiss you back now with no hesitation. You're not used to the casual contact, and it's going to take a long time to get accustomed to it.

You kiss him again. Practice makes perfect.

A sigh from behind Namjoon distracts you, and you both turn toward the sound. Jungkook looks at the pair of you with a soft wistfulness in his eyes, a goofy smile spreading over his features. You've seen this before. If he stays on his back much longer, he'll fall asleep.

“Come on, let's clean up." You reach over to tug him up. "Shower's massive in this bathroom."

A/N 2: eeeek we're almost at the end!! i'd love to hear what you think!!

©sowoozoo-7 2024

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else.

[stylesthebrave]

*all fics can be found at stylesthebrave on AO3!

*organized chronologically from newest to oldest // all fic posts can be found under my ‘my fics’ tag

2022:

✎ silver lining, perfect timing | M | 22k

(friends to lovers; christmas & new years; minor injury; fluff; light angst) [fic post]

For as long as they've been friends, the whole world has been saying Louis and Harry should get over themselves and date already. It takes an impromptu winter holiday for Louis to admit that everyone else might have been right all along.

✎ Crimes of Lust and Perversion | E | 16k

 [fic post]

Kinktober 2022. New chapter, new kink every other day.

✎ Full Plate, Don’t Wait | E | 4k

(trans man louis; established relationship, pwp) [fic post]

To celebrate the end of the school year, Harry, Louis, and their co-workers go out for a celebratory dinner. Things don’t go quite as planned.

✎ lay me by your side | T | 2k

(trans man harry; gender dysphoria; menstruation; fluff) [fic post]

Early into his transition, Harry struggles with gender dysphoria. Louis is always by his side.

✎ best drink i take is when i’m sippin’ you | E | 3k

(established relationship; pwp; blowjob) [fic post]

Harry has a bad day. Louis makes him feel better.

✎ 14 Days of Valentine’s | E | 9k

(alpha louis/ omega Harry; Valentine’s Day; courting; fluff; smut; knotting; scenting) [fic post]

Harry’s birthday and Valentine’s Day are exactly two weeks apart. Louis wants to give Harry everything he wants — and more.

2021:

✎ kisses like snowflakes | T&U | 7k

(1990s; meet-cute; strangers to lovers; fluff; christmas fic; first kiss) [fic post]

Harry is stranded in the snow and Louis is there to help.

✎ Thrill You Tonight | E | 10k

(pwp; part two of ‘holiday pwp drabbles’; vampire louis; divorced husbands; halloween fic) [fic post]

It takes vampire Louis Tomlinson a nine month dry spell and a solution to his problem to work things out with his ex-husband.

✎ the stars are smiling | E | 33k

(neighbors au; strangers to lovers; insomnia; recreational drug use; friends with benefits; feminine harry; written for bhficfest) [fic post] [2]

Harry’s new in town and just wants to spend his nights on the rooftop gazing at the stars. He gets far more than he bargained for.

✎ falling in love (with you) | E | 24k

(meet-cute; strangers to lovers; 1970s; hippie harry; rocker louis; period-typical homophobia; ambiguous/open ending; smoking; written for 1dclicheficfest) [fic post]

It’s 1970, Harry needs a ride to the first ever pride parade in New York City, and Louis happens to be in the right place at the right time.

✎ never doubt i love | E | 72k

(strangers to lovers; one night stands; angst; fluff; smut; drama teacher louis; lawyer harry; they coach footie together; drunken confessions) [fic post]

Louis Tomlinson is a twenty-nine year old theatre teacher who uses one night stands to get over his crushes. Harry Styles is a divorced human rights and civil litigation attorney who guards his personal life like its non-disclosable evidence. Neither of them expect some footie practices, a musical, and drunken confessions to be the reasons they both abandon their philosophies and fall in love far too fast for either of their likings.

2020:

✎ avoiding every mistletoe (until i know it’s true love) | T&U | 10k

(exes to lovers; angst; fluff; sad louis; apologetic harry; minor references to depression; christmas fic) [fic post]

The Christmas exes to lovers AU.

✎ Santa Baby | E | 5k

(pwp; part one of ‘holiday pwp drabbles’; established relationship; christmas fic) [fic post]

The one where Harry gives Louis a striptease and rides him next to the Christmas Tree.

*last updated: 01 January 2023

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Ch 6 (JJK, KNJ)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: PG-13 (whole fic M, minors DNI)

Warnings: alcohol consumption, swearing

Word Count: 4k

A/N: Happy New Year everyone! This chapter has been a long time coming. Hope you enjoy~~

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

The whirring of the hotel elevator reverberates through your head as you, Namjoon, and Jungkook ride up to your floor. You landed, finally, in another city after what should have been a direct, three-hour flight turned into a thirty-six hour travel nightmare. You were supposed to arrive on Saturday night and have all of Sunday to prepare for a week’s-worth of depositions. It’s your first class-action suit and you wanted to be fully prepared for Monday morning, but thanks to the reroutes, thunderstorms, and airplane malfunctions, every moment you spend with your eyes open is another moment without sleep. 

The firm booked a three room suite for the trip, for strategizing purposes, apparently. You suspect it was just cheaper, but at this point, you would take anything that has a bed. 

Namjoon sags against the wall of the elevator. Jungkook, the traitor, can fall asleep anywhere and managed to get some rest on the plane, but even he’s clutching the handle of his luggage for dear life. A headache that started at the beginning of your last flight pounds behind your eyes. You’re ready to wash the smell of airplane out of your hair and you desperately need to brush your teeth. Sweet, crisp hotel linen is in your future and it’s the only thing keeping you going. 

Before you left for the trip, you had the idea to sneak into Jungkook's room if the opportunity presented itself. Things have been going well with your maybe-boyfriend. You're still not sure what you are, and you're not in any hurry to define anything, especially since you blush like an idiot schoolgirl with a crush every time you see Namjoon. Namjoon, whom you have seen more in the past thirty six hours than you have in the last month. Endless meetings have kept him out of the office. Still, every time you see him, you can't help but notice Jungkook's eyes tracking him too. Things felt a little awkward at the airport as you waited for your flight, the conversation stilted, hesitant.

The elevator dings, and the door opens. Not that can spare more than a passing thought to all of that now. Your legs feel like lead, and you send up a quick prayer that the room isn’t in the furthest corner of the hotel, and that the keycard works once you get there. If the keycard doesn’t work, you may just curl up in a ball on the hallway carpet. 

Namjoon waves the keycard in front of the reader a few doors down from the elevator. It beeps green and you sigh in relief as the door opens to a kitchenette and a small living area. 

At first, you think you’re seeing things, that you’re just too tired to see the other bedroom doors branching off from the living room. That if you rub your eyes enough, two more rooms will materialize. Because this can’t be right. You get closer to the door to investigate, Namjoon and Jungkook behind you. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” 

Yeah, no. When all you wished for was a bed, you didn’t mean one singular bed. 

You’re the first to take action, locating the room phone and dialing reception. It doesn’t take long to confirm your worst fears. There was a mistake in your booking and thanks to conventions and concerts in town, the hotel has no other available rooms for the night. 

“So you’re saying there’s nowhere else for us to stay.” 

“The couch in the living room should be a pull-out couch?” At least the receptionist sounds appropriately apologetic on the other end of the line. 

You gesture to the couch, but as Jungkook tries to remove the cushions, they stay firmly attached to the base. 

You sigh into the receiver. “It’s not a pull out couch.” 

“All our couches are supposed to be pull-out couches,” she says in dismay. 

“Maybe this one sprouted legs and switched places with a regular couch.” You wince as the words come out of your mouth. It’s not her fault, you try to remind yourself. Don’t shoot the messenger.

“I do apologize ma’am. Normally, I would be able to resolve this issue but we don’t have any other rooms available…”

The poor girl sounds like she’s about to burst into tears. You can’t help sighing once more into the receiver. “I understand, but I expect this issue will be resolved in the morning? A three bedroom suite for the duration of our stay.” 

“Yes, ma’am. Understood, ma’am.”

The click of the phone into the receiver echoes through the quiet room. When you look up at Jungkook and Namjoon, they look back at you with dumbfounded expressions. 

“You’re mean when you’re cranky,” says Jungkook. 

You don’t have the energy to send a glare his way. 

“So, what do we do?” asks Namjoon. 

It’s clear none of you can think straight, not after all the regional airports and middle seat economy seats. No one moves. Your headache goes from pounding to piercing, and you pinch your nose to help you think. 

The clock on the bedside table ticks over to three a.m. You have had enough.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. We have—shit—five hours before we have to be out the door. We’re all exhausted, we all need sleep. This is king size bed. There’s plenty of space for all three of us.” 

A look of panic comes over Namjoon’s face. “I’m sleeping on the couch.” 

You let out a bark of a laugh. “I can’t even stretch my legs out on that thing.” 

“I have to, it’s—“ 

“Go sit on the couch Namjoon, see if you can stretch your legs out.” 

He does. It’s almost comical how hard he tries to stuff himself into a comfortable position.

“See? We’re only getting a few hours of sleep, so we’re all gonna do this on a comfy bed. You know how important this meeting is tomorrow. If it doesn’t go well, all our prep will be for nothing.”

They still look dubious. You feel delirious with exhaustion. 

“Look, we’ll do this. It’ll be me, then Jungkook, then Namjoon.” You gesture to the bed, indicating where each person will sleep. “There’s plenty of room, we don’t even have to touch each other.” 

Jungkook nods along, but Namjoon makes a choked sound. “But you guys are dating.”

You and Jungkook share a look. Even thinking about doing anything remotely intimate is exhausting. Jungkook looks like he can barely keep his eyes open.

“That is the furthest thing from my mind, but if you’re worried, you can be in the middle.” 

He opens his mouth to protest again, but you put up a hand. “I don’t care what order we sleep in. I’m taking this edge, but I’m gonna shower first.” 

Showering is a sweet relief, and the warmth of the water eases your tired muscles. As you come out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, you don’t even have it in you to be self-conscious about being in your pajamas around Namjoon, or to get all swoony about sleeping next to him. You start dozing off as soon as you tuck yourself between the covers, eyes heavy and mind tired. The sounds of the guys getting ready for bed sound distant to your ears. You don’t feel the dip in the bed as Namjoon gets in next to you, your dreams already swirling with depositions and settlements. 

“I had to share a bed with my colleagues. This is unacceptable.” 

The receptionist, a different one from the one you talked to on the phone, glances over to Namjoon and Jungkook and fails to cover a smirk. Infuriatingly, they look refreshed and handsome as ever. You tried your best to look presentable, but it’s like you can feel the lack of sleep hanging in bags under your eyes. No amount of concealer could hide that. 

“I am so sorry. That must have been an awkward night.” 

“Don’t give me that look. I barely got any sleep.” 

She lets out a strangled giggle.

“And not because of that either. They both snore like grandpas who need CPAP machines. Will the suite be ready for us by this afternoon, or not?” 

There’s a slow heartbeat beneath your ear, and it’s dragging you up to consciousness. 

Your mouth feels like cotton and just thinking that thought feels like someone reached into your head and squeezed your brain. How much did you drink last night? 

You don’t want to be awake right now. You don’t even know if it’s worth it to be alive right now.

Maybe if you close your eyes even tighter, you can convince yourself you’re not awake. You snuggle in closer and try to will yourself back to sleep.

A thought floats slowly to the surface. Your arm is wrapped around a waist, but it is not the enviably tiny waist you're used to.

You don’t panic, not at first. 

You crack open an eye only to squeeze it shut again. Morning sunlight streams in from the open window, sending a piercing pain through your head.

But… was that…? 

You look again, squinting against the brightness. Yes, confirmed. That is Jungkook’s tattooed arm draped across the same torso you’re clinging onto. You lift your head, blearily seeing that the has his head tucked into a neck. And that neck is attached to… 

Now you’re wide awake, your stomach flipping in surprise. 

How the hell did you end up sleeping on top of Namjoon? 

You poke Jungkook’s arm and you want to strangle him when he makes a bothered, mumbled noise and burrows his head deeper into Namjoon’s neck. The movement makes him stir, a deep grumble going through his chest. You feel it more than hear it. Your stomach does a funny flop again. 

Several things happen at once: 

1) Jungkook opens his eyes and freezes when he sees it’s not you he’s cuddling. 

2) Namjoon wakes up and clocks that you and Jungkook are sprawled on top of him. “This has to be a dream,” he mutters, the sound vibrating through his chest. 

3) You realize the funny feeling in your stomach isn’t because of Namjoon’s morning voice. 

No, your stomach feels funny because you had one too many cocktails the night before. And several glasses of champagne. Stumbling back to the hotel room with Namjoon and Jungkook, who were just as shitfaced as you. You all tumbled in through the door together and — 

Fuck. 

You’re about to puke up the contents of your stomach. You bolt upright, pushing past the tight embrace of Namjoon’s arms around you. The only thing more mortifying than waking up as one of the slices of bread in a Namjoon sandwich would be to throw up all over the glorious sandwich. You make it to the bathroom, barely.

As you’re decanting the contents of your stomach, flashes of the day before come back to you. The claimants settling before noon on Tuesday. Celebratory cocktails for happy hour. Ordering too much sushi. A second round at a karaoke bar. Pulling Jungkook and Namjoon by their ties to your bedroom. 

The rumble of deep voices comes from your bedroom as you hug the porcelain bowl. You’re never having alcohol again, you decide. 

Once your stomach settles, you pull yourself to your feet. Your reflection in the mirror startles you. You look like shit, your hair knotted and tangled, mascara smudged under your eyes. The thought of Jungkook—let alone Namjoon—seeing you like this makes you want to heave again. 

Wait, no. You do have to heave again. 

It takes twenty minutes for you to be sure that your stomach won’t rebel again, and for you to wash your face and brush your teeth. Your hair, you decide, is a lost cause. You pull on a robe before leaving the bathroom, because even if you made a mistake and slept on your boss in your undies, you sure as hell don’t want to parade around without pants. 

Namjoon and Jungkook sit on opposite sides of the bed when you come out of the bathroom, two feet of space between them. Jungkook looks like a dream, because life is unfair, and he always looks like a dream. Namjoon, mere mortal, looks like someone that just woke up after a night of drinking, face a little puffy, and hair sleep-mussed. They’re in similar states of undress as you, in undershirts and boxers. 

Namjoon notices you first, but Jungkook speaks first.

”Are you okay?” 

His voice is hoarse. He always goes too hard at karaoke. 

“I’ve been worse,” you say, voice croaky from all the karaoke and all the puking. You clear your throat and try again. “I can’t remember when, but this is surely not the worst. Um, how are you guys doing?” 

Jungkook looks down at his hands, his gaze flitting to Namjoon. 

Namjoon scrubs his hands over his face and takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he says, his deep morning voice sending shivers down your spine. “I don’t know what happened.” 

“We drank too much is what happened,” says Jungkook under his breath. 

Namjoon shakes his head. “Drinking is never an excuse. It wasn’t appropriate.”

You sink into an armchair in the corner of the room. “I’m pretty sure it was me who dragged both of you in here.”

“‘A win calls for a cuddle.’” Jungkook imitates you in a high voice. 

If you had a pillow and the energy, you would chuck it at him. 

A little crease appears between Namjoon’s brows as he frowns. “Still…” 

“I need an aspirin if we’re going to keep talking about this,” you say. Your gut is a jumble of embarrassment, satisfaction, and yearning, and combined with the queasiness, you want to hit pause on this conversation. It takes you a second to muster up the energy to heave yourself off the armchair, but you get up, somehow, and go to your suitcase to take out the bottle of painkillers you always carry with you. “Want one?” 

They both nod, looking as miserable as you feel. 

You make your way to the kitchen to get yourself a glass of water. They follow you like little ducklings, copying you as you swallow down the medicine and several gulps of water. It brings sweet relief to your scratchy throat. You want to chug the entire glass, but the water sloshes around in your empty stomach, making you feel a little sick. The clink of the glass on the counter shoots through your brain. You climb onto the barstools by the kitchen counter and rest your head on the counter, the cool marble soothing. Your headache starts to fade a little, but not by much. 

“I’m sorry,” says Namjoon into the silence.

“Stop apologizing,” you say into the counter, words muffled. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me.” You hope the words sound sincere coming out of your mouth, but a voice inside of you keeps repeating that you don’t regret it at all. Not when you can still feel the warmth of him beneath you, the tight squeeze of his arms around you, too. 

He shakes his head. “It wasn’t appropriate. I’ll report myself to HR when we return to the office.” 

You sit up, room swaying a bit. Jungkook stands against the counter, worrying his lip ring with his teeth. Namjoon grips his water glass so tightly you fear he’s going to break it. 

“Did something beyond sleeping happen, and I’m not remembering?”

A look of panic comes over Namjoon’s face. “I don’t think so.” 

Jungkook shakes his head. “No.” 

“Okay, then. We’re all adults here. I wasn’t touched in a way I didn’t want to be touched.” You try not to cringe as the half-confession slips from your lips. “Did you feel uncomfortable Namjoon?” 

“No, but that’s not the point.” Your stomach does a funny flip and this time it is because of him. He doesn’t regret last night. “I’m your boss, and there’s a power im—“

“Jungkook,” you say, turning to him. “Were you touched in a way that you didn’t want to be touched?” He shakes his head. “Were you in a situation you didn’t want to be in?” He shakes his head again. 

Something shifts in the silence that follows. Everything has been all but said, and you’re left feeling unbalanced. Or maybe that’s just the alcohol still talking. The throbbing behind your eyes makes it hard to think straight. 

“There you go.” You put your head back on the countertop, unable to look at either of them directly. 

“Still��“ Namjoon starts. 

You hold up a hand without raising you read. “Stop beating yourself up about it. The worst thing we did was sleep in the same bed together. It’s not like this is the first time, anyway.” 

Someone chokes on water. You keep your eyes closed, waiting for the painkillers to kick in. 

No one says anything for a while. 

Just as you’re about to fall asleep hunched over the counter, Jungkook’s quiet voice jars you back to reality. 

“What’s the plan now?” 

“What do you mean?” comes Namjoon’s response. 

“We’re supposed to be here all week for these depositions, but now that they’ve settled…” 

“I’ll check with the firm.” 

You hear movement in the kitchen, clothes rustling, glasses being placed down. When you muster the energy to sit up, only Jungkook remains. He looks lost in thought, staring into space. 

“I’m gonna shower.” 

He only gives you a grunt in response, eyes focused on another plane of existence.

You stand under the spray until your skin is red and wrinkly. When you come out, the sight of the rumpled bed reminds you of how warm and tight Namjoon’s embrace as around you, how right it felt to be with the two of them in the same space. You want to wail, because you got a taste of the impossibilities you’ve been dreaming of. It would have been best to leave it to your imagination. Why did you have to give in to your drunk impulses? 

You pull on the closest comfy clothes that look clean and go to sit in the living room. Jungkook, also freshly showered, sits on the sofa, scrolling aimlessly on his phone. The way he’s looking through his feed, you can tell he’s not processing what he’s seeing. You slump down next to him and rest your head on his shoulder, closing your eyes. He takes his hand in yours, thumb tracing slow circles on the back of your hand. The repetitive motion almost puts you to sleep. 

“Oh.” 

You open your eyes to see Namjoon in the doorway, looking at you two on the couch as if he walked in on something forbidden. He starts to back out of the living room. You sit up, and take your hand back. Or maybe Jungkook takes his hand away; you’re not really sure.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt—“

“No, you aren’t. We were waiting for you,” says Jungkook. 

You feel like all the air has been sucked out of the room. Namjoon looks like a deer caught in the headlights, not knowing whether to run away or come closer. The three of you are standing on a knife’s edge, waiting for something to tip you to one side or the other.

“Did you get in touch with the firm?” clarifies Jungkook. 

Air fills the room again, and you slump back into the couch, winded. Back to pretending like everything is okay, then. Like nothing has changed between the three of you.

Namjoon clears his throat. “Yeah, we’re staying as planned.” 

It’s Friday night, and the three of you are outside of the hotel waiting for a cab. Namjoon made a reservation on Yoongi’s recommendation for a trendy new restaurant that just opened. The cold, February air has a bite to it, and you pull your coat tighter around you. 

The world felt askew all of Wednesday and Thursday, as if you were on a ship permanently tilted by waves.  Work kept your mind off things, for the most part. As soon as Namjoon made the call Wednesday morning, Jimin and Hoseok got to work and scheduled a full afternoons of meetings for the remainder of your time on your trip. When you weren’t in meetings, you were in your room, sitting cross-legged on your bed as you answered emails and drafted briefs. 

During your free time, you had to remind yourself to act normally around Namjoon, as if acting normal was the only thing keeping everything from careening out of control. Every time you looked at Namjoon, he was either turning his gaze away from you, or looking at Jungkook with a sad expression on his face. Jungkook, on the other hand... you were worried he would chew off his lip piercing with how much he fiddled with it as he worked. 

Though by Friday morning, things felt like they settled down, with normal, easy banter between the three of you. It felt like a relief to laugh, and not feel on edge. You’re looking forward to going back home, to settling back into your normal routine. 

“Oh hey,” says Jungkook as he checks his phone, “it’s Valentine’s Day.” 

“Is it?” Your breath puffs out in a small cloud and you try to suppress a shiver. The longer the car takes to arrive, the more you’re regretting sacrificing warmth for fashion. You’re wearing your warm winter coat, but your legs are bare under your dress. 

Jungkook wraps an arm around your shoulders and rubs your arms to warm you up. He whispers into your ear, “Will you be my Valentine?”

Even though he whispered it, you see Namjoon stiffen out of the corner of your eye. 

You scoff and push Jungkook away, rolling your eyes, in an attempt to clear the tension. “It’s a stupid capitalist construct.” 

“C’mon, I’ll buy you discount chocolate tomorrow.” He pouts and gives you puppy dog eyes. 

Had you been alone, you would have made him beg for it. With Namjoon present, though, you want to kill Jungkook for acting like this.

Thankfully, the cab pulls up before he can do anything else. 

“Okay, but only because no one else is going to put up with your annoying ass.”

Luckily, there’s no more talk of Valentines on the way to the restaurant. You worry a bit if you’re going to be surrounded by lovey-dovey couples and if that will make the whole evening even more awkward, but unlike other places, there’s no red hearts plastered everywhere, no romantic candlelit tables with pink confetti. 

You get distracted by the good food in front of you and by the end of the main course, you forget about the tense atmosphere of the beginning of the night. A couple of drinks and everything gets right back to normal, the alcohol softening the edges of all the emotions you’ve been feeling. It finally feels like you’re at ease, like the three of you can go without blushing every time you make eye contact. It feels normal, instead of illicit, when Jungkook slips his hand onto your thigh under the table.

You’re laughing at a story Namjoon is telling about his first trial out of school, embarrassing in the moment, but hilarious in hindsight.

“Hey, hey, if it isn’t Rap Monster!” 

“Oh no.” Namjoon cringes as he twists to see who called out. 

Rap Monster? You try not to laugh as you exchange confused looks with Jungkook. 

“Who’s that?” asks Jungkook. 

“My past,” says Namjoon with a rueful smile. He gets up to greet the newcomer, a lean brunette with all the attitude of a carefree frat boy. 

“Hey man, how’s it going?” The man extends a hand out in a handshake.

“Hey Jackson. All good man.” Namjoon takes it and pulls him into a one-armed hug. “These are my colleagues.” He introduces you and Jungkook. “This guy was my freshman year roommate in college and we went to law school together.” 

“Oh, the stories I could tell…”

“Please tell us about Rap Monster,” you say. 

Jackson lets out a loud laugh. “Believe it or not, Namjoon was an underground rapper back in the day.” 

“No way.” 

“You never mentioned that!” says Jungkook. 

“With a name like Rap Monster, I’d like to leave that in my past.” 

“I’ll send you a link on YouTube,” says Jackson in a stage whisper, winking dramatically. He turns to Namjoon. “You should have told me you were in town for work! We haven’t caught up in ages.” 

“Big case. Took up all my spare brainpower, you know?” 

“Last big case, then? Rumor mill says you’re moving on.” 

You go cold. Namjoon’s eyes go wide, and he tries to get Jackson to stop talking, but Jackson keeps talking, unaware. You and Jungkook look at each other, then back at Namjoon, who looks like he’s watching a train wreck in slow motion. 

“What’s that all about, bro? Jumping ship just as we all thought you were about to make partner at Bang & Associates.” 

“You’re leaving?” 

A/N 2: Sorry for the cliffhanger 😘 Next installment coming soon, I promise! I'd love to hear from you if you have any comments!

©sowoozoo-7 2024

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else.

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Masterlist (JJK, KNJ)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+)

Word Count: TBD

Summary: Unfortunately, you have developed a massive crush on your new boss. Even more unfortunately, your equally attractive coworker is also harboring massive crush on your boss. AKA Jungkook and reader both pine for big, sexy brain Namjoon. 

Chapter 1 - 4k

Chapter 2 - 3.8k

Chapter 3 - 5.3k

Chapter 4 - 5.6k

Chapter 5 - 4.2k

Interlude NYE - 2.1k (Namjoon POV)

Chapter 6 - 4.1k

Chapter 7 - 7.2k

Epilogue - Dec 2024

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Interlude - NYE (Namjoon POV)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+) whole fic, this chapter PG-13 (for language)

Warnings: some swearing in this chapter, nothing explicit

Word Count: 2.1k

Summary: Unfortunately, you have developed a massive crush on your new boss. Even more unfortunately, your equally attractive coworker is also harboring massive crush on your boss. AKA Jungkook and reader both pine for big, sexy brain Namjoon. 

A/N: It's been a long time coming but here she is! The next installment of LL&L! This takes place in the middle of Chapter 5. More about it in the A/N at the end. Thanks for all your patience as I got over a bit of writer's block (and writer's unmotivation lmao). This is my first time writing a member's POV, so hopefully I did it justice!

As always, I’d love feedback if you have any! Enjoy ~

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

Namjoon Kim doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions. 

It’s a stupid concept, in his humble opinion. Not only is it an arbitrary date to make a change, most people spend the first day of the new year recovering from the night before. Can anyone really make any progress toward their goals while nursing a massive hangover?  

No. If Namjoon wants to make a change, he’ll just do it. He won’t wait until Monday, or to the first of the month. He'll just do it.

Of course, if anyone asks if he’s made any resolutions, he’ll just smile and say “Oh, you know, the usual,” or some other noncommittal answer. His coworkers don’t need to know he thinks it’s a stupid concept. He hasn’t gotten to where he is today by ranting about the uselessness of New Year’s resolutions. 

This year, though, this year might be different.

He arrives late to Jimin’s New Year’s Eve party. Everyone at Jimin's fancy high-rise apartment is past buzzed and barreling toward black-out drunk, and here he is, newly arrived and sober. 

Before he can go in search of alcohol, Jimin finds him. 

“You’re late! Why are you late? It’s New Year’s Eve!” 

Some urgent thing at work kept him there. It seemed life-changing and super important in the moment, but as Namjoon opens his mouth to answer, for the life of him, he can’t remember exactly what it was.

Jimin flaps his hand as if to wave the question out of the air before Namjoon can think of anything to say. 

“Whatever. The more important issue is, you’re not sparkling!” 

The theme for the party is “Sparkle or Bust,” in reference to both drinks and outfits. Namjoon doesn’t make a habit of keeping spare sequined shirts in his office, so he’s in one of his work suits, sans tie and jacket. 

Several hours’ worth of alcohol dulls Jimin’s outrage at Namjoon’s failure to follow the theme and he hands Namjoon a bedazzled NYE tiara and a glass of champagne without further berating.

“There. Much better.” 

Jimin leaves as suddenly as he arrived. 

Namjoon stays on the periphery of the party, sipping on the champagne. He recognizes people from work and some of Jimin’s friends he’s met in the past, but they’re all involved in their own conversations. 

His gaze wanders from person to person, wondering if any of them made resolutions, if they’ve ever kept them. If anything has ever changed—actually changed—by making a resolution for the new year. 

If it’s even worth it to hope for a change.

He keeps looking and his eyes catch on a familiar figure across the room. Jungkook, wearing a ridiculous, shiny blazer that he has no business looking so good in. Namjoon’s stomach does a little flip as he notices, not for the first time, how Jungkook’s shoulders fill out the blazer, broad and strong. He’s talking with Taehyung, Jimin’s roommate, a tall eccentric whose family owns half the city.

The crowd shifts, and Namjoon’s stomach flips again when he catches sight of you, looking increasingly irritated at the conversation between the two men. Now you’re rolling your eyes, annoyed at something they’ve said. 

Namjoon’s eyes follow you as you yank the sliding glass doors to the balcony open. Before he knows it, he’s making his way to the door, murmuring his apologies as he tries not to bulldoze his coworkers out of the way. 

Before Namjoon can reach the door, Jungkook is already there, round eyes apologetic and pleading as he slips out onto the balcony, closing the door behind him. Namjoon stops in the middle of the crowd. 

He’s too late. 

Again. 

He tips the contents of his champagne glass down his throat. It’s not enough to quiet the self-loathing, but enough to carry him to the glass door and peer out onto the balcony. 

You’re looking up at Jungkook, something like disappointment on your face. He has his hands on your shoulders, rubbing the bare skin to warm you up in the cold. Your expression softens. You’re forgiving him for whatever transgression he has committed. 

An ugly roil of feelings churns in Namjoon’s gut, a mix of jealousy, envy, and longing he doesn’t want to untangle. 

Regret, though, is what he feels the most. There were so many moments when he could have done something, anything, when he could have made his feelings clear to either, both of you. 

Yoongi pushed him to do something, to say something. Of course he did, what else are best friends for? But even though Namjoon saw want clearly written in Jungkook’s eyes, time and time again, he hesitated. Every time they touched, whether in passing in the office, or when they were working out together, Namjoon was so careful, so careful to not let his hands linger, even though all he wanted to do was feel the planes of Jungkook’s body against his, strong and muscular. Because it was inappropriate, because of Namjoon’s position, because he was Jungkook’s mentor. 

And then you showed up, beautiful, confident. Every time you won a case, you lit up the room, radiant, victorious. And all Namjoon wanted to do was crowd you against the elevator walls as you headed back to the office together. He wanted to know if you were as soft and pliable out of your clothes as you were hard and unyielding in the courtroom. Yoongi had more to say every time you and Namjoon were in his restaurant. But again Namjoon hesitated. 

And he was too late. All he has left is regret and unrelenting visions of both of you, soft and hard, next to him, on top and below him, wanting nothing more than the all-encompassing press of warm skin against skin. 

A loud bang pulls him back to the party. One of the ladies from IT tripped into the glass door beside Namjoon. He reaches out to steady her, his hand on her elbow. She blushes when Namjoon smiles at her, and she laughs it off, embarrassed.

By the time he turns back to glance out to the balcony, Jungkook has you wrapped up in his blazer and you’re both facing out to the city. 

Someone claps him on the shoulder, and he looks back to see Taehyung. “You look like you need something stronger than champagne.” 

A karaoke machine appears sometime before midnight. 

Namjoon has officially joined the ranks of the well and truly sloshed. Taehyung took him to the large pantry behind the kitchen, where Jimin had stashed the good bottles of whisky behind boxes of cereal, and he has gone back several times for a refill.

He doesn’t let himself get this drunk, not usually. He’s so careful, always so fucking careful, about how he’s perceived, about what he’s expected to do, how he’s supposed to act, as an adult, as a manager, as the hotshot lawyer people think he is. But the whisky warms his stomach tonight and blurs the edges of the sharp feelings deep in the pit of his stomach. 

Whoever is screeching at the karaoke machine needs to stop. He feels it in the base of his skull and it’s making the night all the more unpleasant than it already is. He can tell them off, of course he can. He’s the head of Litigation. 

He stumbles his way into the living room to make the horrible noise stop, but the song ends before he can get across the room. Thank god. He’s about to turn back to the kitchen to top up his glass when an angelic voice comes through the speakers. 

It takes a few blinks to focus his eyes. He eventually sees across the room that Jungkook has taken the mic, with Taehyung’s arms slung around his shoulders. 

They’re swaying as Jungkook sings “Leave The Door Open” by Silk Sonic. The rumble of the party quiets down. Someone whoops when he nails a high note. 

Namjoon leans back against the wall for support. It’s not the first time he’s heard Jungkook singing. He hums constantly in the office, but it’s only when he’s several drinks in and past the point of self-consciousness that he lets loose and really sings. His eyes are closed, not needing the lyrics, as he belts the song. 

A little sigh sounds next to him and he turns to see you, also leaning against the wall. Your eyes are soft for the man across the room, and a smile tugs at the corner of your lips. Namjoon looks back at Jungkook, and those feelings he was trying to dam with alcohol come rushing back. 

“You’re lucky, you know?” 

He doesn’t even realize he’s spoken out loud until he hears your voice beside him.

“Lucky?” 

Fuck. He has to say something. Clarify? Does he owe that to you?

“Look at him,” he says, gesturing across the room with his glass. “He’s hot and talented and good at his job. Competent people are hard to come by.” Shut up shut up shut up Namjoon, you’re rambling. “You’re competent too.” 

“Thanks?” 

The song ends and the room cheers for one more. Namjoon keeps his eyes trained across the room as Jungkook queues up another song. He can’t look at you right now. You’re too close.  

"Don't be a manager. It's overrated," he says quietly. "Careers don’t fucking matter. You have that freedom still, to do whatever.” 

The next song starts, “Falling” by Harry Styles. A shiver runs down Namjoon’s spine as Jungkook starts singing. 

“Jesus, just listen to his voice.” 

“Boss, are you okay?” you ask, putting your hand on Namjoon’s arm. 

He closes his eyes at the touch, and at that fucking nickname. He hates it. Hates his role at work, his chronic overthinking. He fucking despises himself for the person he’s crafted himself to be, hiding behind a job title, too focused on what society tells him is success to chase what he wants now. 

He looks at you, finally, to see confusion and concern written all over your face. 

“I’m happy for you two.” He can hear the sadness in his own voice and it’s fucking pathetic. He goes to take a sip of his drink, but it’s empty. Again. “I really am. Truly.” 

You just look at him like you’re about to say something nice and sweet and heartbreaking. Fuck. He’s gotta get out of here. 

In his drunk haze, he doesn’t realize that you don’t follow him to the kitchen. 

Karaoke ends with everyone scream-singing some pop-punk song that Namjoon vaguely recognizes. 

It’s getting close to midnight anyway, so the party roars back into swing, bass thumping, people dancing in the living room in a crush of bodies. 

Namjoon stands against the wall, the empty drink glass in his hand, watching everyone else lose their inhibitions. Even drunk as he is, the vice grip of anxiety keeps him from joining the crowd, from letting loose, and letting his body move to the music. 

He spots you and Jungkook in the crowd, your back against his, eyes closed as you dance to the beat, both faces flushed with alcohol. Namjoon waits, anticipating… something. What exactly, he doesn’t know. All he knows is that this picture is incomplete. He sits on the outside, watching the two of you from afar.

Then it hits him. He’s used to it now, like breathing, like the sun rising and setting, your faces turning towards Namjoon like sunflowers face the sun. Always finding him in a room. How many times has he locked eyes from across the room with Jungkook, with you?

And now, you’re not looking at Namjoon. Neither of you are. 

As the countdown to midnight starts, Jungkook spins you around to face him. You laugh and join in counting with the crowd. 

3…

Namjoon holds his own countdown, waiting for either or both sets of eyes to find him on the edge of the crowd. 

2…

Jungkook’s arms wrap around you. 

1…

Your fingers tangle in his hair. 

Happy New Year!

You’re kissing and laughing, rejoicing in the new year. When Jungkook’s eyes open, they’re trained on your face, and you look back, eyes only for Jungkook. 

Something breaks inside Namjoon. He doesn’t even know who his envy is aimed towards. Does he want to be Jungkook, kissing you, or does he want to be in your place, cupping the back of Jungkook’s head? 

Things never change on New Year’s Eve, except this year, something has. 

He slips out of the party without anyone noticing. The sharp cold brings him back to his senses. Without the party in his head, he can breathe. He can think. 

His breath fogs up in the early morning air. Every inhale brings a cold clarity back to him. 

He knows what he has to do. 

A/N II: This scene was originally meant to take place in the middle of Chapter 5 from reader's POV. The more I worked on it, the more I struggled with it. The whole chapter was dragging and nothing I wrote was working, so I took it out. I think it improved the flow of Ch 5 and helped me finish Ch 5 a bit faster. It's still an important part of the story, and I think it worked better from Namjoon's POV. So before we head to the final couple chapters (!!!!) I really wanted to show how Namjoon's been feeling. (And my brain wouldn't let me work on Ch 6 until I finished this.)

I'm not gonna put a date on the next installment. It's still largely unwritten, but hopefully the momentum from finishing this helps with the draft for Ch 6. Thanks for your patience! Lots of forehead kisses for y'all 💕

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Ch 4 (JJK, KNJ)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+)

Warnings: swearing, drinking, implied sexual content

Word Count: 5.6k

Summary: Unfortunately, you have developed a massive crush on your new boss. Even more unfortunately, your equally attractive coworker is also harboring massive crush on your boss. AKA Jungkook and reader both pine for big, sexy brain Namjoon. 

A/N: Hello my lovelies! This fic is going to be a little longer than I expected! There's going to be at least three more chapters, and possibly more with the way things are going. Chapter 5 may be a little late next week because a friend is coming to visit, but I'm going to try to have it finished and ready to go before she arrives. Will Essie beat her procrastinator habits? Tune in next week to find out. Okay I hope you enjoy reading! I'd love to hear from you! Bye!

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

The sun wakes you, bright and intense through the windows. 

“Mhhnnn.” 

The heat is heavy and clinging, like when you leave your electric blanket on high the entire night. Your mouth feels like cotton. You don’t remember turning on the heater last night before going to sleep. 

Last night. 

The party. 

Dancing. 

Jungkook. 

You crack open an eye to see a familiar tattooed arm around your waist, but close it quickly because fuck it’s bright. Right. You asked him to stay. Pressure starts building behind your eyes. Maybe those last three glasses of champagne were a mistake. 

As far as hangovers go, though, you’ve had worse. At least you don't need to puke. But there’s something off, something missing this morning. The thought chases itself around in your half-asleep state, like a dog chasing its tail. 

Eventually, the urge to pee gets you out of bed. Not without effort, you wiggle your way out of Jungkook’s tight embrace and sit up, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. 

Jungkook grumbles and rolls over, throwing an arm over his face. 

“Turn off the sun.” 

You suppress a giggle as you tiptoe your way to the bathroom, picking up a discarded robe off the floor to cover yourself on the way. 

You take a look at yourself in the mirror as you’re washing your hands. Your face is puffy with sleep and alcohol, but there’s no mascara panda eyes. Apparently, drunk you had the wherewithal to wash her face last night, somewhere between asking Jungkook to stay and falling asleep. 

And it hits you, the thing that’s missing. Usually on mornings like this, when you wake up naked next to a person you didn’t plan on sleeping with, you see yourself in the bathroom mirror, makeup smudged under your eyes, regret deep in the pit of your stomach. That regret is nowhere to be found. 

All you feel, as you brush your teeth to get rid of the terribly dry feeling in your mouth, is a deep seated satisfaction. 

Huh. 

Jungkook looks like a painting on the bed when you come out of the bathroom, a slash sunlight across his bare torso. He looks so soft now, sleep-mussed, mouth hanging a little open. You admire the hard planes of his abdomen, swallowing thickly. 

As much as you want to snuggle up against him, throw a leg over him and let your hands wander over his body, you keep your distance. You’re not feeling any regret about sleeping with him, but you were both more than a little tipsy when he agreed to stay last night. 

The clock on the nightstand says you have an hour before the in-room complimentary breakfast ends. Your stomach rumbles. You perch on the side of the bed and poke him. 

“Jungkook.” 

He grunts a response.

“I’m gonna order breakfast. You want some?” 

You get another grunt in response. 

You turn towards the nightstand and call down to the kitchen to order. You get two of everything, and an extra pot of coffee, knowing that however hungry you are, Jungkook will easily eat you under the table. 

As you hang up the phone, you feel his chin on your shoulder. He’s properly awake now, sitting up, looking at you with a sleepy smile. 

“Good morning.” 

“Morning.” His gravelly morning voice makes your toes tingle. “How’d you sleep?” 

You twist to face him before you answer. His hand comes to play with the tie of your robe. 

“Better than I have in a while. You’re like a little space heater.” 

His lips quirk up in a lazy smirk. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?” 

You flush. You hoped you had outgrown that habit. “Did I say something embarrassing?” 

“Something about the peaches being nice and firm.” 

Your mouth hangs open in mock outrage and you poke him in the chest. “I order you breakfast and this is how you thank me?”

Before you have time to process it, he’s grabbed your wrist and got you on your back, straddling you. He presses a kiss to each temple, then each corner of your lips, and then finally makes his way to your mouth. His lips are soft, gentle, his tongue teasing the seam of your mouth.

“Is this better?” 

You nod and he trails kisses down your jaw and neck until he reaches the neck of the robe. He mouths at the uncovered part of your chest, and before he can pull the robe open, you pull his face up to yours for another kiss. 

“Breakfast will be here in a few minutes.” 

“So we don’t have time to waste,” he says, his eyebrow lifting. “Can I have a little appetizer before then?”

“Oh god, that’s the worst line I’ve ever heard.” 

You nod anyway. Consent received, he tugs at the tie of your robe and makes good use of the time before breakfast arrives. 

When the knock comes at the door a few minutes later, you wave at Jungkook to get it. Getting up seems insurmountable. Your legs feel like jelly. He jumps up from the bed and wipes his face. 

“One sec,” he calls. 

He pulls on the robe you were just wearing before accepting the room service trolley. Before he has a chance to reach for the coffee pot, you hold out your hand.

“Wait!”

A surge of energy has you scrambling out of bed to get your phone. You pull the sheets after you, wrapping them around you in a makeshift dress. “Camera eats first.” 

Jungkook groans but steps back to let you take your photo. It’s picture perfect, with bacon and eggs worthy of a Studio Ghibli film, fluffy pastries, and artfully arranged fruit. He leans into the end of the video you take, making a silly face. 

“Now can I eat?” 

You gesture for him to start but he pours you a cup of coffee first, a dash of cream and a spoonful of sugar, just how you like it. A warm, fuzzy feeling spreads over your body, and you tell yourself it’s from the cup of coffee in your hand.

He grunts when he takes his first bite of food, his eyebrows coming together. He looks almost angry.

“This is so good. Damn.” 

He takes another bite and pretends to faint. You laugh at his antics, and your hands itch to take a video of him pretending to punch the food because it’s too good. You shake the thought out of your head and reach for a croissant instead. 

Soon, your stomach groans, stuffed with one of the best brunches you’ve ever had. Checkout time is just around the corner. Jungkook disappears to his room to shower, and you do the same, washing the night’s sweat and stick off your body under the hot jets. 

Doubt creeps in while steam billows around you. Was it a mistake to sleep with Jungkook when you’re both hung up on another guy? You don’t know and you try to dismiss it. 

Shower thoughts. Always intrusive, sometimes illuminating, and often annoying.

A knock sounds at your door as you’re pulling your shirt over your head. You open your door to find Jungkook on the other side of it. Somehow, he looks even better just out of the shower than he did the night before. His hair is damp and he’s wearing an oversized green plaid flannel and black joggers. He has his duffel bag with him and a puffer jacket draped over his arm. You let him in and he sits on your bed as you finish getting all packed up. 

You feel his eyes on you as you crouch to zip your own duffel bag. An awkward tension hangs in the air. There’s some sort of expectation, on both sides of this. You’ve never navigated this before, sleeping with a coworker. 

You straighten and meet his gaze. 

“So.” 

“So,” you echo. The silence stretches longer than is comfortable.

“Want a ride home?” His lips turn up in a close-lipped smile, uncertain. 

You internally sigh in relief. You don’t want to have the conversation now either.

“I’d love a ride.” 

He takes your bag as you leave your room. No one has done that for you in recent memory and you don’t know what to do with your hands as you ride down the elevator.

Checkout is a nearly silent process and so is the car ride over to your building. You only break the silence to give quiet directions. 

He parks neatly in an open space in front of your building. You look at him in surprise when he cuts the engine. His hands are on the steering wheel, thumbs rubbing up and down the curve of the wheel. You can’t help but remember how those same thumbs felt all over you, pressing indents into your body, holding you down. 

He looks straight ahead. 

“Everything okay?”

He closes his eyes and his head falls back against the headrest. “Is it stupid to say that I don’t want to go home yet?” 

You bite down a little laugh that threatens to escape. Sounds like the prospect of the rest of the weekend alone is just as daunting for him as it is for you. 

“Wanna come up and watch a movie?” 

He looks at you and lifts an eyebrow. “You’re taking pity on me. 

“No, I’m taking advantage of you. There’s—“ you check your watch “— thirty-six hours left of the weekend, and I have zero plans. I’d love company.” 

That’s how you and Jungkook end up spending the rest of the weekend together. 

You laze on the couch for the rest of Saturday, watching terrible, cheesy Christmas movies and ordering Chinese takeout when you get hungry. The sun has barely set when he shifts closer to you during a particularly badly acted movie, and you cuddle against his shoulder. One thing leads to another, and you’re both half naked as the credits roll. 

He ends up staying over, and, well, there’s worse ways to wake up on a Sunday.

You’re both still reluctant to go your separate ways, so after you stop by his place — surprisingly clean and airy for a bachelor pad — you have brunch at your favorite cafe. 

You take a walk in the park after brunch, walking off the stupid amount of pancakes you had. Your hand naturally slips into his, and he doesn’t let go. 

You talk about anything and everything, how his parents pushed him towards a career in law when what he really wanted to do was pursue art, and that he still paints in his spare time, though he likes working at the firm more than he though he would. You share that your dream has been to practice law ever since you saw Legally Blonde as a kid. 

“She’s a feminist icon,” you insist. 

He laughs at this, and remarks that you’re still missing the pink suit, blonde hair, and the Chihuahua to complete the look. 

You’re still holding hands when your meandering walk leads you to Cat’s Pajamas an hour after sunset. The atmosphere of the bistro feels more intimate during their dinner service, with dim lighting and crooning jazz playing softly over the speaker. The bistro is full of people, but you feel like you’re alone in a little cocoon with Jungkook. 

Yoongi doesn’t say anything when you both go to pay, but you don’t miss the expression on his face when he sees Jungkook’s hand on your lower back. 

“Here,” he says, giving you and Jungkook each a flyer. “Just in case I don’t see you during the week.”

It’s an invitation to the soft opening of his and Jin’s new restaurant, Tonight. 

“Any plans on Saturday?” Jungkook asks you.

You take out your phone to check your calendar. “None so far.”

“Wanna go then?” 

Should you? You’re under no illusions that this weekend will lead to anything serious with Jungkook. You’re not in the right space to start a serious relationship, and you don’t think he is either. Extending this little fantasy of a weekend seems like a bad idea. 

Your traitor mouth says, “Let’s do it.” 

Yoongi watches this exchange with a familiar serious expression. You’ve seen this expression before, this mask covering exasperation when dealing with idiot customers. You’re thankful the low light hides your red face as he confirms a reservation at Tonight for seven pm the following Saturday. 

Whatever judgement Yoongi was passing doesn’t stop you from slipping your hand back into Jungkook’s as he walks you to your building. It’s cold, you tell yourself, and his hand is warm. 

He walks you up the stoop to your building. 

“This was the best weekend. Thank you.” He smiles so earnestly, it makes your heart clench. 

“I had a lot of fun. Thank you for… well, the good food and the multiple orgasms.” You laugh as he blushes and looks down. “Hey, this reminds me, we have to report this to HR.” 

“Report it?” He looks scared, like so many men have when you’ve brought up defining a relationship. Except you don’t want to define this, not yet. 

“Not as an official relationship or anything, just that it happened. You know how people talk. Especially about women. I’d like to have all my ducks in a row. Just in case.”

He nods, looking significantly less like a deer in the headlights. “Coworkers with benefits.” 

“Something like that.” You take your phone out and check your calendar again. “Are you free tomorrow at ten?” 

He’s checking his phone too. “No, I have a meeting. How about eleven? Gives me an excuse to end the meeting early. This guy tends to go on for hours.” 

“Eleven works,” you say, hitting send on a calendar invite. Jungkook’s phone pings with the notification, and yours pings back a second later with his confirmation.

You notice the time on your phone. “It’s getting late.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow at work.” 

With one last squeeze of your hand and a chaste kiss on your cheek, he walks back down to the sidewalk and leans against his car. You wave for him to go first, but he waves you into the building first. You shake your head with a laugh. You know he’s stubborn and he’ll sit outside until you crack first. You turn and wave one last time before going inside. 

As your apartment door closes behind you, the emptiness returns. Without Jungkook around, it feels like the walls are closing in around you. The weekend was just a fantasy, making you forget how alone you really are. It’s just you. It always has been. 

A lump rises in your throat as you slowly get ready for the week ahead, setting out your clothes for the next day and changing your sheets. The apartment echoes around you as you move. You play some music to try and fill the empty space.

You get ready for bed and you slip into your freshly changed sheets. You almost regret changing them. These ones don’t smell like Jungkook. Before you turn off the lamp on your bedside table, you send a text without thinking too much about it. 

You [22:15]: The apartment is too cold without you. I had to pull out the electric blanket. 

Your phone lights up with a response a few minutes later. 

JK [22:21]: Anytime you need me to keep you warm, call me ;)

There’s a line stretching down the hallway from the HR offices when you arrive at eleven. 

You haven’t seen Jungkook yet today. Jimin and Hoseok pulled you into a strategy meeting almost as soon as you stepped off the elevator that morning and you’ve been glued to your desk ever since. 

As you wait for Jungkook to arrive, you see Jimin coming out of the HR office with Brian. Nerdy Brian with the bad haircut. Jimin leaves Brian at a hallway junction with a wink and a small smug smile on his face. Brian just looks shell-shocked as Jimin struts away. 

Jimin catches your eye and stops to chat.

“Brian?” you ask. 

Jimin lowers his voice. He’s a gossip and a flirt, but he’s discreet about it. 

“What can I say, he moves his hips well on and off the dance floor.” He finally notices that you’re also standing in line for HR. “Who’d you sleep with? Don’t tell me it was—“ 

“Sorry I’m late.” Jungkook walks up and stands next to you in line, which has grown by a few people behind you. “Meeting ran long. Guy could just not stop talking.” 

Jimin, for once, doesn’t say anything. He just looks back and forth between you and Jungkook, eyebrows disappearing into his bangs. You feel yourself warming at his incredulity. 

“What’s up Jimin? Already done your due diligence?” asks Jungkook. 

Jimin snaps back into it. “Yep. I will say, I did not see this coming, but good for you guys, I guess. You looked great on the dance floor.” He shakes his head, looking confused and a little impressed. “See you at the meeting later.” 

He walks off, and Jungkook just looks at you and shrugs. He takes out his phone to respond to some emails. You do the same, but you don’t actually process anything you’re reading. Maybe this was all a mistake after all. 

A few minutes later, Jungkook looks up. “This is taking forever. Want a coffee?” 

You’re about to say yes, but one of the HR assistants walks out with an armload of clipboards. 

“Hi everyone. Each of you please take one of these and fill out the paperwork. It will save us a lot of time once you’re actually in there. If the paperwork doesn’t apply to you, great, don’t fill it out, just hand it back to us once it’s your turn in the office.” He starts handing out the forms, and mutters under his breath. “Though I doubt any of you are here for anything else. Busiest day of the damn year, every year.” 

You take your clipboard and read the form. Consensual Relationship Agreement.

“Where’s the box for coworkers with benefits?” whispers Jungkook. 

You elbow him in the ribs and start to fill it out.

The line moves a lot quicker with all the paperwork filled out in advance. The HR manager looks tired and over this workday when you and Jungkook take your turn in her office. 

“Okay, so we now have your forms all filled out.” She checks the forms to make sure all the information is complete and filled out correctly then makes a note in the system. She hands you a packet of information from a stack several dozen high on her desk. “Here is a copy of the firm’s relationship policy. Neither of you report to the other, right?”

“Correct,” you say. 

“Great.” Her voice is monotone. Likely she’s been repeating herself all morning. She turns back to her computer. “Now, is this a one-time event or a continuing relationship?” 

“Um,” you say. 

“Continuing,” says Jungkook at the same time.

You open your mouth to say something, but she waves you off. “Spare me the details. I don’t need the angsty drama about defining the relationship. You’re both adults in a consensual something. I just need to document if it’s ongoing. I’m gonna mark it as continuing. Just don’t let it affect your work or your workplace. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” you and Jungkook say. 

“Great. Next!” 

You’re unceremoniously ushered out by the harried HR assistant. The line out the door is longer than when you started. The HR assistant looks like he’s going to cry.  

“Coffee?” asks Jungkook. “I didn’t have time this morning and I need the boost.” 

While you’re in line for your drinks, he vents about his client talking too much and you ask for advice on a tricky case of yours. You were friendly before, but now conversation flows easier. It’s nice, you think, to have someone at work who gets it. All of it. 

As you head back to your department, Namjoon walks by, deep in conversation with a senior attorney. You both freeze. 

It’s the first time either of you have seen him since the party and you feel a tug of longing at the pit of your stomach, followed by a serious wave of guilt. You look at Jungkook and see your feelings mirrored in his face. 

Neither of you bother with goodbyes as you hurry to your office and close the door behind you. You lean against the door and sink to the floor, burying your head in your knees. What did you expect? Did you really think that a weekend of good sex and good food would make you forget your feelings for Namjoon?

It doesn’t stop you from seeing Jungkook outside of work again. You last all of one day before you’re texting him to come over and spend the night. 

He texts you the day after to stay at his. 

Then, come Saturday, you find yourself getting dressed with care for dinner at Tonight. They have a dress code, and with Nina’s help, you pick out a little black number with thin straps and a tulle skirt that makes you feel like a cupcake. Nina doesn’t ask about the occasion. She knows you’re not ready to talk about it, and she doesn’t push it. 

You leave your hair down and put on a blood-red lipstick. You don’t usually go for bold colors, but you feel the winter weather and the fancy restaurant merit it. Sheer tights and boots round out the look. 

You don’t have time to question whether it’s all a bit too much because the doorbell rings just as you finish getting ready. You buzz Jungkook up, gathering your coat and clutch, and retouching your lipstick in the time it takes for him to come up the elevator. 

He’s rocking the all-black look again, but a little more formal this time, with a black tie and hair swept up out of his face. 

“Damn,” you say at the same time. You both dissolve into giggles. 

“You look great,” you say once you’ve recovered.

“So do you.” 

He offers you his hand and you take it. 

The restaurant is on a covered rooftop overlooking the city. It’s filled with beautiful people, and you’re glad you dressed up. It’s not somewhere you’d ever go on your own, but it feels like a special holiday treat to be here, all dressed up with eye candy on your arm. 

You meet Jin at the host stand. He’s greeting everyone personally for the soft opening, wearing a cream turtleneck that accentuates his broad shoulders. He leads you across the restaurant, and you follow, Jungkook’s hand gentle on your waist, guiding you through the maze of tables. 

Jin seats you at a table by the window and takes your coats. The view is stunning, all sharp edges and glittering lights. The chill from the window makes you shiver, and Jungkook takes his blazer off and drapes it over your shoulders. 

You feel like the lead in a ditzy romcom, getting wined and dined by a beautiful man who only has eyes for you. Each small plate looks like something out of a food magazine. There’s a wine pairing with every plate and by the time the main course comes out, you’re pleasantly buzzed. 

Jungkook opted for steak and you went with grilled octopus. You almost moan when you take a bite, the octopus soft and chewy, the flavors melting together in your mouth. 

“Damn. This is the best steak I’ve ever had.” Your dining companion looks at the steak like it personally insulted his mother. “You have to try this,” he says, loading up his fork with a perfect bite. 

He holds it out to you across the table, fork dripping with mashed potato and bordelaise. You hesitate for half a second before you take the bite, so flustered by the surprisingly intimate gesture that you almost forget to taste the food.

When the taste finally registers, all you can say is, “Wow.” 

“Try it with the wine.” He offers you his wine glass and you finally understand why people make a living out of choosing wines to pair with food. 

He watches your face the entire time, a soft smile on his face as you experience all the different flavors. 

“That’s incredible,” you say. “Try mine next.” You do the same with your dish, putting all the elements into a bite and offering it to him across the table. He leans over and glances up to meet your eyes as his mouth wraps around your fork. Heat flashes through you. 

“Don’t look at me like that while we’re eating.” 

“Like what?” he says with a smirk. Ass. 

“You know like what,” you say. “I want to enjoy this delicious food I’m paying good money for.” You take a big swig of your wine. 

“What about after?”  

“After?” You look up at him slowly, taking him in inch by inch. “After you can look at me however you want.”

A slow grin spreads across his face, then he bites his lip. You can’t help but grin back. Maybe it’s the scent of him on his blazer enveloping you, or the way the candlelight flickers on his face. Shit. It could even be hormones. Whatever it is, it’s making you feel warm fuzzies towards someone who you’re meant to keep casual with. You decide to enjoy the evening for what it is and examine these feelings when you’re able to process them alone. 

Dessert comes encased in a sugar bubble. You pull out your phone to film Jungkook cracking it open to reveal a fluffy chocolate mousse underneath. Just as you’re setting your phone down on the table to dig in, your phone rings. NAMJOON KIM flashes across the screen. Jungkook pauses, his spoon in his mouth, then waves for you to take it. 

“Hi, Namjoon.” 

A flash of emotion crosses Jungkook’s face, but you don’t have time to analyze it before Namjoon’s saying your name and suddenly you can’t concentrate on anything else but his voice in your ear. 

“We have an issue with the Dartagne brief. They need an answer by open of business Monday so they can draw up their strategy before they break for their holiday. I'm drowning in documents. Can you come in tonight?” 

“Tonight?” Jimin and Hoseok were helping with the Dartagne brief. You had only heard about it in passing during all-hands meetings. 

“I know it’s last minute, but Jimin is out of the country already and Hoseok is out of town for the weekend. I’m going to call Jungkook too. We need all the help we can get.”

Your eyes flick up to meet Jungkook’s gaze. He’s been watching you intently as you’ve been talking. You cover the microphone with one hand and whisper, “He wants us to come in. The Dartagne brief.”

“Now?” 

You nod and he nods back. You uncover the microphone and speak. “I’m with Jungkook now. We can be there in a half hour.”

“Oh.” There’s a brief pause on the other end of the line. “See you two soon.” 

The phone call ends with little fanfare. Jungkook looks at you with an inscrutable expression. 

“Let’s finish dessert,” he says. 

But the magical feeling of the evening is over. You’re no longer the lead in a romcom. This is real life now, with real people, flawed and beautiful and complicated. You don’t talk while you eat, both of your minds elsewhere. Even though dessert is as delicious as the rest of the meal, you don’t savor it. 

Jin looks surprised when you ask for your coats and the bill.

“Is everything all right?” 

“We just have a work emergency. Everything was great. Congrats on the opening.”

“Next time, turn off your phone and stay a while longer,” he jokes. Still, he looks confused at the detached atmosphere between you and Jungkook.

Before you know it, you’re walking into the office. Most of the lights are off, save for a trail of lit hallways that lead you to the conference room. 

The door is open and — heaven help you — Namjoon’s wearing glasses. A desk lamp washes over him, making his skin shine golden. Papers are piled high on the table. He’s concentrating, annotating with red pen as he compares two documents. His white, button-down shirt is pushed up to his elbows and a lock of hair hangs over his furrowed brows. Soft acoustic music plays from his computer. You want to capture this moment in video forever. 

Jungkook knocks on the doorjamb when Namjoon doesn’t look up from his papers. 

Namjoon looks up at you two over the rim of his glasses, taking in your appearance. He sits back in his chair and looks both of you up and down. You feel exposed, regretting the short length of your dress. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt date night,” he says, frowning, voice deep.

You exchange glances with Jungkook. He speaks before you know what to say. “We were just out for dinner at Jin and Yoongi’s new restaurant. They have a dress code.” 

Something ugly twists in your gut at his dismissive explanation, but you swallow it down as you nod. 

“The food is amazing. You should go when you get the chance.” You clear your throat. “Where do you need us?” 

“Right,” says Namjoon, a muscle twitching in his jaw. “They delivered these papers late last night. I’ve been going through them but there’s no way I’m going to get through all of these on my own in time. What we need should be in one of these file boxes.” He gestures to bankers boxes stacked higher than your head and two deep. “Grab a box and start looking. We need to find the original bylaws that govern a board takeover.” 

“They’re not labeled,” says Jungkook. 

“It’s the shittiest file management system I’ve ever seen,” says Namjoon, clearly tired and frustrated with the situation. “Just pick one and start digging.” 

Jungkook removes his blazer, loosens his tie, and rolls his shirtsleeves up. His muscles flex as he takes down two of the top boxes and sets them down on opposite sides of the conference room table. 

You excuse yourself to your office to change into the clothes you keep in your office precisely for moments like this. You leave your dress on, but pull a pair of sweats to cover your legs and a cardigan to cover your shoulders. You exchange heels for fuzzy slippers. 

The first box is promising. You find something interesting almost as soon as you’ve started looking. A brittle set of papers stapled together, handwritten initials scattered all over. 

You bring the folder to Namjoon. “Is this what we’re looking for?” 

His fingers brush over yours as you hand him the folder and you suppress a shiver. You’re a professional, in a professional working environment, you remind yourself. You read over his shoulder as he takes a look. You don’t realize how close you’ve brought your face to his until he turns to look at you. 

This is the closest you’ve ever been to him, even closer than when you danced together at the holiday party. He has pretty lashes, and his dark brown eyes seem like they go on forever. You’re holding your breath. 

“This is part of it, but we still need the official, signed bylaws.” You feel more than hear his voice. 

“Right. I’ll keep looking.” 

His eyes flick down to your lips then back to your eyes. “That’s a nice lipstick color,” he says before turning back to his papers. 

You go back to your seat, feeling a little lightheaded. You take your time marking the file and setting aside for comparison, but you force yourself to snap out of it. You’re a professional. In a professional working environment. You have a job to do.

You don’t notice Jungkook frowning down at his papers.

Time ticks on, and you finish looking through the second box with no luck. You stand with a stretch.

“I’m making coffee.” 

The kitchen is dim at night, and you don’t bother turning on the lights. You move on automatic, measuring out the coffee and putting it in a french press before pouring hot water over the grounds. The smell of coffee hits your nose, making you feel more alert. As you’re pulling down three mugs from the cabinet, you feel a presence at your back. 

You tun to see Jungkook. “Coffee?”

He doesn’t answer. He just steps into your space. There’s nowhere for you to go. The counter is already pressed against your lower back. You find nothing of his usual humor in his expression. His mouth is set in a straight line and he’s focused on your lips. 

He takes your face between his hands, thumbs ghosting over your mouth. Your lips part, and you let out a little exhale. His eyes darken as he leans in to kiss you. It’s slow, and intense, exploring territory he has already claimed as his. You grip the sides of his shirt as his mouth moves against yours. 

He pulls back, both of you breathing hard. Your lipstick is smudged all around his lips, and you reach your hand up to wipe it away. He does the same for you, thumbs gentle as they scrub away the last of the color on your lips. 

“There,” you say when you’ve rubbed it all away.

He turns to kiss your palm then kisses you again, softer this time, just a lingering press of the lips. Shivers run down your back as he trails kisses up your jaw and to the back of your ear. 

“Only wear this color around me,” he breathes against your ear. You stand frozen as he reaches behind you to press the plunger on the french press. He pulls away to start putting together the coffee tray. 

“Bring the mugs?” He throws the question over his shoulder, his light tone at odds with his intense expression.

He disappears around the corner. You hang back to catch your breath for a few moments. 

If Namjoon notices that you don’t have any more color on your lips when you return to the conference room, he doesn’t mention it. 

©sowoozoo-7 2023

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else.

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Ch 1

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+) whole fic, this chapter PG-13 (for language lol)

Warnings: some swearing in this chapter, nothing explicit

Word Count: 4k

Summary: Unfortunately, you have developed a massive crush on your new boss. Even more unfortunately, your equally attractive coworker is also harboring massive crush on your boss. AKA Jungkook and reader both pine for big, sexy brain Namjoon. 

A/N: Phew! Here she is! The first chapter of my first fic. This has been slowly chewing away at my brain for the last few months, and I finally decided to say fuck it and write it. I don't know anything about law or lawyers other than what I've seen from movies and read in books so I'm sure I've gotten something wrong, but whatever, it's my own alternate made up universe.

Anyway, I’m new to all this — longtime reader, first-time poster — so I’d love feedback if you have any! Hope you like it ~

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

Two hours into your new job at Bang and Associates, and you’ve already made a fool of yourself.

The first couple of hours went smoothly. Check-in with HR was all standard forms, waivers, and NDAs, and the view from your new office is killer. 

Though your new boss and the other associate on the litigation team are at court for the morning, you get to meet two of the paralegals on your team, Jimin Park and Hoseok Jung. They look like they just stepped out of a menswear ad, in their fitted suits and slicked back hair. You'd normally be wary of office workers who look a little too put together, but you get the sense that they’re going to be good coworkers from the few minutes you spend talking to them, both good-natured and quick to share a laugh. 

It’s when they’re giving you a tour of the office that your heel slips on a set of marble stairs and you find yourself briefly experiencing flight. You decide flying is overrated when you land on your ass and bounce down several steps. One of your shoes takes its own trip and lands a few yards away. You sit on the steps, frozen for a minute, with your bare foot just out there for the world to see. 

“Oh my god,” says Hoseok as he rushes down to the step where you landed. “Are you alright?” 

You’re quiet for a moment while you deliberate whether or not you’re going to cry. It’s inevitable that you’ll cry in front of your coworkers one day, but looking around, you see everyone else in the atrium glancing over at the absolute idiot who fell down the stairs on her first day. 

Not the day to cry, you decide. First impressions and all that. At least you wore a pantsuit today and not a dress.

“I think I’m okay,” you say with a rueful smile. “Just a bruised ego.”

Jimin retrieves your shoe and hands it to you with a sparkle of laughter in his eyes. “Another one bites the dust." It’s not malicious, you don’t think.

“He means that you’re not the first to slip down the stairs,” says Hoseok. “We think the janitors are polishing them extra to get back at all the asshole lawyers.” 

You limp for the rest of the office tour. 

***

You get sent to the courthouse after finishing the brief admin in the office to shadow your new boss, the firm’s superstar. 

Namjoon Kim is mesmerizing.

You have heard of his reputation — how could you not? Top of his class with a winning streak unmatched in the industry — but you have yet to see him in action. 

He lives up to his reputation. 

You sit at the back of the courtroom, trying not to put too much weight on your bruised ass, watching as he delivers his closing statement.

His voice is deep and measured, drawing everyone to the edge of their seat to hear every twist to the argument he’s crafting. You pity the opposition. They went first with their closing statement and now they’re squirming in their seats as Namjoon takes down every argument, point by point. The jury hangs on to his every world. 

Maybe it’s the way he carries himself, with a quiet confidence and authority, maybe it’s that he’s built like a tree and looks like a dream in his pinstripe suit. Whatever it is, you get the feeling that working under a beautiful genius is going to be some kind of Dantean torture. 

“Thank you, Your Honor.” 

You blink, realizing it’s over, and you watch as he goes to sit. Silence hangs in the court room in the brief second it takes the courtroom to snap out of their Namjoon-induced daze. The room shuffles as everyone shifts back in their seats. The closing formalities continue, with the judge sending the jury to deliberations. 

“Court is adjourned.” 

The room rumbles with a flurry of activity as everyone goes to exit. You hurry to catch Namjoon — you want to introduce yourself to your new boss as soon as possible — but you get lost in the shuffle of people filing out. By the time you catch up to him outside, he’s giving a press interview on the steps of the courthouse. 

You wait on the outskirts of the small crowd that’s gathered. Deja-vu hits as you watch the reporters lean in to hang on to his every word. He takes the questions with grace, and even a little humor, and smiles at a joke one of the reporters makes. 

Dear lord. He has dimples.

“Spectacular, isn’t he?” 

A young man stands next to you, smirking as if he knows how much you’re fangirling over your new boss. You recognize him as the second attorney at the defendant’s counsel table. The remaining member of the litigation team. 

If you weren’t so preoccupied with Namjoon, you’d be mooning over this man instead. His just-messy-enough-to-show-he-doesn’t-care hair frames his face in waves. An eyebrow piercing and a lip piercing glint in the late morning sun. Tattoos decorate the back of one of his hands. He would look like a punk kid up to no good, but you can the tell the suit he’s wearing costs more than your monthly rent. Jesus. Is everyone in the office just a walking GQ campaign?

“Excuse me?” 

“Namjoon,” he says with a smile that changes his expression entirely, from a little rakish to boyish in its delight. “I call it the Namjoon Effect. No one’s immune. I think it’s the dimples.” He puts out his hand to shake yours. “Jungkook Jeon. I’m th—“

“The other associate on the litigation team. I know.” You shake his hand and introduce yourself. “Looking forward to working with you.” 

“Ah, I thought it was you. Jimin texted me to look out for you today.” 

The impromptu press conference breaks up and Namjoon ushers his client down the stairs. 

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” says Jungkook, flying down the steps. You follow at a slower pace, the twinge in your hip reminding you of your fall earlier that day. Still, you try to strike a confident stride in your heels. First impressions and all. 

Namjoon pats the roof of the private car he has bundled his client into and straightens as Jungkook claps him on the shoulder. 

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about any type of evidence to the press.” 

Namjoon raises an eyebrow. “The PR team said that. I didn’t agree to anything. Besides, it’s the same evidence we presented at the trial, just in a different light. Even if we have a less-than-favorable verdict, we’ll still have the public on our side.” 

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “Why do you even bring me with you?” He sees you and gestures you over. “Namjoon, may I present your latest lackey.” 

“I resent that,” you say, mock-frowning and pointing a finger at Jungkook. “But you’re not wrong.”

You introduce yourself to Namjoon and shake his hand. It’s warm and firm. You hope yours isn’t cold and clammy. “Pleasure to be working with you.” 

“Pleasure’s all mine. I’ve heard great things from your former boss,” he says with a smile. There go the dimples again. He glances at his watch. “Shall we discuss our caseload over lunch?” 

You feel a little thrill at being included in the “our.” Bang and Associates have a reputation for working on some of the most high-profile cases in the city and you’re ready to dig your greedy little fingers into the cases. 

“Cat’s Pajamas?” asks Jungkook. He doesn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll drive.”

Namjoon sighs as Jungkook turns to walk towards the garage. “He always weasels his way into lunches. I swear he’s a never-ending pit,” he says with a note of fondness for the younger man. 

Cat’s Pajamas is an airy bistro just a few blocks away from the offices. There’s a sizable lunchtime crowd, filled with self-important business people taking their clients out to lunch. Jimin and Hoseok meet your group at the restaurant. 

You wince at you sit down, rubbing at the side of your hip. The bruise you expected from the fall is developing faster than you thought. 

“Are you okay?” Namjoon asks. 

He and Jungkook look at you with concern.

You wave them off. “Just a bruise.” 

Jimin shakes his head. “The marble stairs have claimed their newest victim.” 

“Ah,” says Jungkook with a knowing nod. “I almost broke my wrist when I fell down those stairs a couple months ago. It’s practically a rite of passage at Bang and Associates at this point.”

“Looks like you’re already part of the team,” says Namjoon, lifting his water glass in a toast.

***

The rest of the day passes quickly.

You return to your office to find a stack of documents already on your desk, with a sticky note from Hoseok on top. Welcome to the team!!!! it says, with a big looping smiley face next to it.

You slip out of your heels and bring your legs up under you as you settle into your desk, a routine study position that has followed you from college through to your professional life. There’s nothing you like more than finding your way in the maze of paperwork and laying out your trail in court. You lose yourself in the legalese, getting familiar with an ongoing case that Namjoon mentioned over lunch. 

Jungkook pulls you into his office when you’re returning from the bathroom to strategize about the case. His office is exactly the same as yours, with enough space for two guest chairs, a large desk and a set of bookshelves crammed with leather-bound law books. And, your inner petty competitor is pleased to see, the view is also almost exactly the same. Of course, he has a slight advantage because he’s worked here longer, but you have the same job title, the same office. You’re almost on even footing. You’ve noticed a competitive streak in him, and you’re excited to play against it. It’s only going to make you a better lawyer. 

The “quick chat” turns into an hour-long discussion and you decide by the time you leave his office that you’ll head home at normal close of business hours. You’ll be staying late anyway as your caseload grows. 

You’re surprised to find a brown paper bag on your desk, one of the simple gift bags you can find at the drug store. Inside, you find a get well soon card with a cartoon of a man on a hospital bed in a full-body cast with a thermometer coming out of his mouth and an ice pack on his head. Inside, it reads: 

Even though your welcome to Bang and Associates was a painful one, I’m very happy to have you on the team and I look forward to working with you. Now you know to avoid the stairs :) 

-Namjoon

Inside the bag you find a bruise balm and a travel size pack of ibuprofen. Warmth spreads through you, pleased at the gift. There’s another layer to that warmth, a feeling that you don’t want to examine too closely, because he’s your boss, and you suspect (no, you know) it's inappropriate to feel that towards your boss. 

Later that night, though, as you’re applying the balm to the colorful bruise on your hip, you can’t help but think of his dimpled smile.

***

“You’re babying me.” 

You’ve won your first case for Bang and Associates. Your client, a rich young widow who married an older man for love, was the sole inheritor to his massive fortune. His children, some older than the widow, were upset that they got nothing in the will. As you worked with the client, you got the sense that she was genuinely sad about her late husband’s passing. Not that it made any difference. She was a paying client, and you had to represent her regardless, but it made rooting for her easier.

“I thought it was for sure a trick case and that there would be something to trip me up in the prenup, but it was so straightforward.” You’re in the elevator with Namjoon heading up to the office. He was present at the trial, to keep an eye on you to make sure you lived up to the promise of your initial interview.

He shrugs. “It’s nice to start off with a win. You’d be surprised with how many people don’t prepare or get wrapped up in how things should be and completely flounder.” He pats your shoulder as the elevator dings open. “You did good today. Good prep, good execution.” 

He nods a goodbye and heads to his office without looking back. You head to yours at a slower clip, your shoulder burning where he touched you. You feel warm overall anyway, knowing you did a good job, but the praise still feels good. A little too good, maybe. 

Over the next month, the cases get harder and harder, and you have to pull out the most obscure references from your time in law school. You start spending more and more time at the office, racking up insane amounts of billable hours. You have a permanent cup of coffee at your desk and you change into your fuzzy slippers you brought from home to give your feet a break from heels whenever a new case file lands on your desk for review. 

At least you’re not the only one pulling crazy hours. The rest of the litigation team often stays late. You fall in quickly with the guys, cracking jokes over the Nespresso machine you all hover around. They were wary of you at first, an unknown entity coming into the equation, but you proved worth after the second night you stayed late and cracked the key piece of a case buried in ancient tax laws. They treated you to drinks at the local watering hole afterward. The biggest reward though, was getting a small dimpled smile and a thumbs up from Namjoon before he called it a night.

It helps that your boss stays late with the rest of the team. Every time you come to him with a tricky case, without fail, he gives brilliant insight or a nudge in the right direction, giving you advice on where to look for the answer.  And when he goes to his fancy client dinners, he’ll always bring something back to the office when he inevitably stops by the office on his way home. You can’t say no to a good takeaway creme brûlée. 

One Friday afternoon, Namjoon pulls everyone into a meeting a half hour before close of business. “It’s been a tough few weeks. You’re all going home at five today.” He holds up a hand when the team starts to protest. “I’m going to be at Silver Spoon for happy hour. Drinks are on me. You don’t have to come, but you can’t stay here.” 

“I have too much work to do,” Jimin says with a pout. 

“I’m firing you if you don’t leave at five on the dot.” The good-natured threat falls easily from Namjoon’s lips. “That goes for all of you. Wrap up what you need to.” 

You spend the rest of the time cataloguing what you need to finish Monday morning. Usually you’d work Saturdays too, but with the promise of an early weekend, you decide everything can wait until open of business Monday. Well. Maybe you’ll work on that memo from home over the weekend, but everything else on your to-do list can wait. 

You join Jungkook and Hoseok at the elevator bank three minutes before the hour. 

“Think he’s gonna make it?” asks Hoseok with a laugh.

You check your watch. “Two minutes left. He’ll make it right at five.” 

“He’ll be two minutes over,” says Jungkook.

“I think five over,” says Hoseok. 

“Loser buys the nachos,” you say. They both shake on it.

Jimin runs into the elevator bank just as the clock ticks over to five. You pump your fist in victory while the other two groan. 

Jimin leans over to catch his breath. “I thought I wasn’t going to make it.” 

He straightens just as Namjoon rounds the corner from his office.

“Glad I’m not losing any of the team today.”

“And I get two sets of nachos,” you say, getting into the elevator behind the rest and pressing the button for the ground floor.

“Hobi gets the nachos. I’ll get the wings,” says Jungkook.

Jimin looks back and forth between you two, a confused pout on his face. “What did I miss?”

***

Silver Spoon is all leather and dark wood. Namjoon leads the way to a large booth in the back, waving to the bartender behind the gleaming wooden bar. 

“You know everyone,” comments Jungkook as you all pile into the booth. It ends up with Namjoon in the middle, you and Jungkook flanking him, Hoseok next to you, and Jimin next to Jungkook. 

“I’ve been working in this area a long time. It pays to get to know the people working at your favorite haunts.” 

Namjoon drinks whiskey, neat. Junkook orders a pint of the house craft beer. Hoseok has a glass of red wine, and Jimin has a double straight vodka. You get an elderflower spritz, light and refreshing in the unusually hot fall afternoon. 

The conversation deteriorates to work talk, as it usually does among coworkers. The nachos and wings follow the drinks, and everyone digs in. They’re good, just the right amount of elevated to make the price worth it, but not so fancy that the bar food is unrecognizable. 

Silver Spoon fills up as the finance bros and hedge fund managers who work in the area trickle in. You recognize a few former coworkers, and you raise your glass to them in a toast when they wave hello, but you don’t attempt to engage further. You don’t care to reconnect with them. The cutthroat, backstabbing environment at your last firm is what made you leave in the first place. Bang and Associates hires ambitious lawyers, but fosters a workplace that manages to keep the ones that are ambitions without the cattiness, encouraging a collaborative work environment over individual hotshot lawyers. You're settling into your new workplace just fine, thank you.

Namjoon gets a call shortly after the third round of drinks, and Jungkook and Jimin shimmy out of the booth to let him out so he can take the call in private. 

Hoseok picks up where the conversation left off, brainstorming where to start to research a tricky case. Jimin interrupts him before he can get a full sentence out.

“Uuuugh,” he says, dragging his hands down his cheeks. “Can we talk about anything but work?” 

“Please,” you say. 

Jimin looks at you with a mischievous grin and pops his chin onto his hand. He calls your name in a singsongy voice. “Are you seeing anyone?” 

You snort into your drink. “Do I look like I have time for a relationship?” 

“It’s amazing what you can get up to in our limited free time if you have some determination,” mutters Hoseok with a sidelong glance at Jimin. 

“Jimin is slowly working his way through the office,” explains Jungkook.

Jimin crosses his heart with his finger and holds a hand up. “All above-board with HR, of course.” 

“Doesn’t mean you haven’t left behind a trail of broken hearts,” says Hoseok. 

“They all knew what they were getting into when they consented to the relationship.” 

“Or lack thereof,” says Jungkook with a snort. 

Jimin turns to look at him, eyebrow raised. “Speaking of lack of relationships, still hung up on Namjoon?” 

Jungkook turns an impressive shade of red. “Stop, I’m not—“

“Ever since he broke up with his ex-girlfriend, he’s had this massive crush on Namjoon,” Jimin tells you.

“Shut up!” 

“We all see how you look at him,” says Hoseok, not unkindly. “Stars in your eyes when you think he’s not looking.”

So you hadn’t been imagining that. 

Jungkook’s only response is to chug the rest of his pint. 

“I don’t blame you,” you say, then freeze as three heads whip around to look at you. “What?” you ask, voice squeaky.

“Not you too,” groans Jimin. 

“What?” You hope the heat creeping up your face isn’t noticeable in the low bar lighting. “I have eyes. He’s attractive. You can’t deny that.” 

“And smart,” says Jungkook morosely. 

“And kind and he’s a good leader. I’m surprised you guys aren’t also harboring secret crushes,” you say, as if they’re the idiots for not having a massive crush on their boss. In reality, it’s terrifying to say these things out loud, everything you’ve been thinking over the past month you’ve been working at Bang and Associates. 

“Unfortunately, I’m straight,” says Hoseok. 

“And disgustingly in love with his fiancée,” sneers Jimin. “It’s actually sickening to see them together. She’s super pretty and an amazing dancer — you’ll see at the holiday party— and you really want to hate her but she’s also really nice on top of all that.” He takes the rest of his drink in one shot without a wince. You’d think he was sober if you hadn’t seen him down his vodka doubles like they were water. “And I’m not straight, but I know a lost cause when I see one. Namjoon’s practically married to his work. There are other men and women still waiting to be added to my bedpost.” He waggles his eyebrows in an exaggerated imitation of a leery cartoon character. 

“You’re disgusting, you know that?” 

“Thought I don’t know about Namjoon.” Jimin continues like he didn’t hear Jungkook’s comment. “I don’t think he’s married, because I’ve never seen a ring, and I’ve never seen him flirting or taking anyone home after drinks. No dates to company parties.” 

“Maybe he’s asexual,” says Hoseok. 

“That would be a shame because I bet he’s got a big d—“

Jungkook interrupts Jimin with an elbow to his side. He sits up straight, and you follow his line of sight to see Namjoon coming back to the table. They move out of the booth to give him his spot back in the middle. 

“Sorry about that. What are we talking about?” asks Namjoon as he settles in, just an inch closer than he had been sitting before. The intoxicating spicy smell of sandalwood that you’ve come to associate with Namjoon fills your nose and you suppress the urge to take a deep breath. 

You and Jungkook exchange guilty glances over the table. Jimin heaves a dramatic sigh, thankfully drawing Namjoon’s attention away from you two. 

“We were just bemoaning our single status. Not Hoseok, of course.”

“I’d be surprised if you all have time to date, what with the hours we’ve been pulling.” 

“How do you balance it all? Work, a social life, dating?” The question falls from your lips and you wish you could shove it back in your mouth. Jungkook kicks you from the other side of the table, and Jimin looks impressed that you actually asked the question. 

Namjoon lets out a hollow laugh. “I’m the wrong person to ask.” 

You exchange glances with Jungkook again. Does this mean he’s single? 

Before anyone can ask a follow-up question, a group of lawyers from the (mostly) friendly competition approach the table to make small talk. You want to shoo them away like pigeons so you can continue the conversation, but you busy yourself with your drink instead. 

Your coworkers disperse soon after, with Hoseok slipping away to go home first, red-faced and quiet. Namjoon talks to a group of his law school classmates by the bar. 

As the evening progresses, it’s painfully obvious to you now that Jungkook is mooning over Namjoon. You’d had your suspicions before, but after the conversation from earlier, the not-so-subtle glances make you cringe a little. You hope you’re not that obvious too. 

Not that Namjoon’s presence stops him from chatting up sone of the women who join your table. They work in the advertising firm a few floors below you, and you’ve gotten friendly with them over the past few weeks. The petite woman with the swishy blonde hair touches him a little more than necessary. 

You and Jimin exchange looks when you both clock her hand on Jungkook’s bicep for the third time in as many minutes. 

Jungkook and the blonde head out together not too long after. Good for him, you think, not getting so hung up on Nmajoon that he can’t focus on a different pretty face for the night.

When it’s just you and Jimin left at the booth, he leans in a little close. “What do you say you and me head out?” 

You laugh in his face. “I’m not going to sleep with you, Jimin.” 

He takes it in stride, and stands with a wink. “If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.” 

He blows you a kiss before zeroing in on one of the finance bros who’s been looking over at your table for the past hour. He won’t know what hit him once Jimin is done with him. 

You don’t bother trying to pull someone at the bar, choosing instead to slip away without any fanfare. Though you’re no stranger to one-night stands, you’re looking forward to sleeping in and you can’t be bothered with the logistics of a hookup. Tonight, you have a date with your bed, and your bed only. 

The air has a bite to it as you step out of the bar, and you pull your coat around you as you hurry to the curb to your Uber. You settle into the back of the car as the driver pulls out into traffic. 

You can’t help but feel kinship with Jungkook, what with both of you lusting after the same ill-advised man. The city lights blur by and you let your eyes unfocus.

You wonder what would happen if you were the last three people left in the world. Would he go for you or Jungkook? In your buzzed state of mind, you think you really wouldn't mind sharing.

©sowoozoo-7 2023

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else.

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Ch 3 (JJK, KNJ)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+)

Warnings: swearing, drinking, explicit sexual content

Word Count: 5.3k

Summary: Unfortunately, you have developed a massive crush on your new boss. Even more unfortunately, your equally attractive coworker is also harboring massive crush on your boss. AKA Jungkook and reader both pine for big, sexy brain Namjoon. 

A/N: Ooh look at me, Chapter 3 right on time for y'all. This is my first ever smut and tbh it's taken a lot for my repressed former catholic brain to actually type it out 🙈 Hope you enjoy!

I’d love feedback if you have any!

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

Winter arrives with a flurry of snow and early sunsets, and with the change in season comes a crushing wave of loneliness. Maybe it’s the lack of sunshine making you sad and mopey, maybe it’s the endless couples holding hands everywhere you turn, cozying up under the mistletoe. 

Whatever it is, now that you’ve been at Bang & Associates for a few months, the shiny newness of the job has worn off. All you’re left with is a dark, empty apartment waiting for you at the end of a long day. You’ve worked hard to make your apartment feel like a home, but no amount of cozy comfort can negate the emptiness. It used to be better, when your ex was around, but that relationship fizzled out about six months after moving in together, both of you too busy to make time for the other person, and not enough in love to want to make it work through seventy-hour work weeks. 

It doesn’t help that your crush on Namjoon is only getting worse with every passing day. You keep it together during meetings, but it seems like every free moment you have, you’re daydreaming about him. The way his voice dips low at the end of a long day, the way he smells, the way he twirls his pen when he’s concentrating on a document. You ignore the meaningful glances Yoongi sends your way at Cat’s Pajamas when the team gathers for lunch, but there’s nothing to stop Yoongi’s words haunting you when you’re trying to fall sleep. 

The thing is, no matter how many nights you spend with your vibrator, fantasizing about Namjoon pushing you up against your office door, you know you’ll never approach him first. HR is clear about relationships with subordinates and Namjoon is a stickler for the rules. And if he did somehow have a complete personality transplant, you’ve known one too many women whose careers get ruined by the rumor mill after they sleep with their boss.

Still, Yoongi’s words make you think of all the potential, all the possibility between you two. It’s torture. 

Jungkook isn’t doing any better. 

More often than not, you catch him glancing at Namjoon during after-work drinks with sad puppy eyes. Even if he leaves the bar with someone, the men he takes home resemble Namjoon, tall and well-built, and the women he leaves with have the same intellectual intensity Namjoon has. 

“Poor kid,” says Jimin, every time. 

You think you should try that too. After all, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else, right? 

But the long hours you’re racking up leave you too exhausted to even begin of thinking of pulling a one-night stand at happy hour, or of going out to a bar on a weekend and going home with a stranger. You used to do that with Nina, but ever since she’s been with her boyfriend, weekend nights out are few and far between. It’s not the same going on your own. It feels more desperate, somehow. 

So it’s just you, in your empty apartment, with thoughts of Namjoon in your head, and cheesy holiday movies clogging streaming services home pages. You’ve spent more than one weekend in front of the TV with a bottle of wine, wallowing and crying that you’ll never find love. 

At least the cold weather brings with it holiday decorations. It’s beautiful, the city in winter. Fairy lights drape over every surface, keeping the darkness at bay. Sure, it’s cold, the wind bites through your winter layers, and you’re the loneliest you’ve ever felt in your life, but the twinkling lights almost make up for it. Almost. 

Before you know it, the holidays are only a couple weeks away. There’s a flurry of activity as the days get shorter and the nights get longer, and the firm tries to wrap up any last-minute deliverables before the holidays. 

One miserable Thursday, when the sky can’t decide whether to rain or snow and instead settles into a miserable sleet, you misjudge the depth and consistency of a slush puddle on your way to work. Water rises up above your boot and floods your sock with filthy, freezing water. You squish with every other step.

“You look terrible,” chirps Jimin when you arrive at the office. “Ready for the holiday party tomorrow?” 

“I’m not in the festive mood, not when I’m cold and wet and cranky.” 

He follows you into your office as you pull out your emergency shoes. They don’t match the outfit you were so happy to put together that morning — cozy, yet professional — but they’ll have to do. You set your boots and socks next to the heater to dry out.

“Liven up, Grinch. It’ll be fun!” 

“I’ll have more fun when I have a cup of coffee in my hand,” you mutter.

He links his arm around yours as you head to the in-house barista that the firm has set up in the cafeteria for the holidays. You order a disgustingly sweet latte that Jimin swears tastes like Christmas in a cup.

“I’m going to get a cavity,” you grumble, as you head back to your department. You refuse to tell Jimin that just with the first sip, you feel the warmth of Christmas Present flooding though your body. 

“But it’s gonna be a Christmas cavity!” he says, sipping his own drink. “Anyway, everyone’s leaving early tomorrow for the party to get ready. We’re pulling out all the stops and you better dress up too. I expect Christmas cheer! And don’t forget your dancing shoes.” He executes a smooth spin before heading to his office, miraculously not spilling a drop of his drink. 

The party isn’t a command performance, but it is the event of the season. At least in the law world. The firm rents out a ritzy five-star hotel downtown that caters to mega-rich people and celebrities. The firm reserved a room for every employee so no one has any excuse to drive home drunk. Even if the party’s a bust, at least you’ll enjoy a mini staycation. The hotel has a complimentary room service breakfast that looks indulgent and divine. You can't wait to sit in your room in a robe looking out at the city view with a cup of coffee in your hand.

Before you log in to your computer, you shoot Nina an SOS text. You planned to do your own hair and makeup for the party, but with the way you’ve been feeling lately, you need a little pick-me-up. Before lunch, Nina has worked her magic and set you up with a last-minute hair and makeup appointment, along with a spa mani-pedi.

You deserve it girl, have so much fun at the party! Send pics when you’re all dressed up 😘😘

It’s all your coworkers can talk about at lunch that day. Free dinner and an open bar? Everyone’s ready to let loose. You’re excited too, now that you have a pamper session to precede it. 

The following day passes in a blur of emails and memos, and before you know it, Namjoon is ushering everyone out the door a couple hours early. “I’ll see all of you at the party tonight.” 

You go straight to the salon after work. It’s nice to spend some time pampering yourself solo. Usually you’ll do these spa weekends with Nina, but it’s nice to have a moment of solo luxury after so many weeks of go-go-go at work. 

You check into your hotel room to finish getting ready. The dress Nina put aside for you is even better than she promised. The velvet dress hugs all your curves just-so and the deep emerald color makes your skin glow.

Before you leave the room, you tidy up a bit. You feel a little silly, as you tug the bedspread into place and put your suitcase away in the closet, because the only person who will see your room at the end of the night is you. But you do it anyway, just in case. 

You head out of your room with five minutes to spare, and you walk directly into a solid body. A set of hands comes to your shoulders to steady you as you stumble back, familiar tattoos decorating the back of one of them. 

“You’re on this floor too?” 

You look up to see Jungkook and words fail you. 

He’s in black, head to toe, black suit, with a black shirt underneath, the first few buttons undone. His hair is wavy as usual, but it looks like he spent a little more time than usual getting it to fall just right across his forehead. 

You clear your throat and step back. “Uhm, yeah. Clearly.” 

It’s his turn to look you up and down. A slow smile spreads across his face. “Damn. You clean up nice.” 

You roll your eyes and flip your hair over your shoulder as you strike a pose. 

“Don’t I?”

Behind the confident façade, you feel a little trepidation. He’s right, you do look amazing, but you’re showing a lot more skin than you usually would around your coworkers, with its off the shoulder neckline and slightly shorter hemline. 

He nudges your shoulder playfully. “Come on, we’ll miss the champagne toast.” 

He offers you his arm and you take it. Then you remember.

“Hang on.” You fumble in your clutch for your phone. “I promised Nina a picture.”

“I’ll take it,” he says, holding out his hand for your phone.

You feel a little ridiculous, posing in the hotel hallway like a teenager about to go to her first prom. Jungkook, to his credit, doesn't tease and steps back and takes the photo from several different angles. Before he hands the phone back, he holds it out at arms length, front camera on.

“Selfie!”

The selfie is too cute not to send along with the first photo, both of you pouting and flashing V signs. You shoot a quick message to Nina before getting to the elevator bank.

You ride the elevator up to the penthouse ballroom together. It takes forever, because the elevator stops at almost every floor to pick up another one of your coworkers. Jimin was right, everyone does pull out all the stops. Even the ladies from tax law dress up more than usual. 

A few floors from the top, your phone buzzes with Nina’s response.

damn girl!! You look 🔥🔥🔥 and e-boy looks 🤤🤤 have soooo much fun tonight 👀😘😘

The ballroom looks like a Christmas dream, with glowing golden decorations and highlights of red and green. Round tables fill the ballroom, spread out around a large dance floor. Outside, the city glitters in the cold winter night. 

You pick up two champagne flutes from a passing waiter and offer one to Jungkook. You clink glasses and sip as you walk further into the room. 

Jimin stands by a table at the edge of the dance floor along with the rest of the litigation team, and waves you over. He’s on theme, wearing a red and black plaid suit. His golden blonde hair looks like he’s already run his hands through it several times. 

He lets out a low whistle when you arrive, and greets you with a kiss on your cheek. 

“You look amazing in that dress. I almost thought you were going to show up in one of your regular suits with just a Santa hat on, after yesterday.”

He turns to Jungkook and shakes his hand. “And you! Didn’t I tell you to dress more festive? This does not scream Christmas.” 

You laugh as Jimin cocks an eyebrow and looks Jungkook up and down.

You go around the table to say hi to the rest of the team. You also greet Hoseok with a kiss on the cheek, and he introduces you to Cee, his fiancée. She has a blunt bob and a sunshine smile to rival Hoseok’s. She pulls you into a hug when you’re introduced. 

"Happy holidays! So great to meet you! I've heard so many good things."

You decide you like her already.

You go to Namjoon last. He’s in one of his regular business suits, wearing the glasses he wears when his contacts have been bothering him, the wire-framed ones that make him look like a professor. His hair is styled back, with a couple of strands falling onto his forehead. 

You lean in for a cheek kiss like you have with the rest of your colleagues, but he goes in for a handshake instead and you end up in an awkward hug, with your hand sandwiched between you. He pats your back hesitantly. 

You pull away as quick as you can, offering a laugh at the awkwardness. Thankfully, he laughs too. You step back to the other end of the table, giving Jungkook the space to say hi too. 

Jimin looks like he’s about to combust from trying not to laugh. 

“Still not over your crush?” he asks under his breath.

“Shut up,” you mutter, face red as you down the rest of the champagne in your flute. He grips the back of his chair to keep from falling over as the giggles win. 

Waiters go through the room, replenishing champagne flutes as the firm’s founder, Sihyuk Bang, steps onto the stage for a speech. He thanks everyone for a great year and wishes everyone a happy holiday season.

“To a great new year!” 

The room raises their champagne flutes in a toast. 

Soft jazzy Christmas standards play over the speakers as everyone sits and waiters swarm the ballroom with covered plates.

Namjoon clinks his knife against his champagne flute to get the table’s attention. Jimin and Hoseok reach out immediately to take the knife away and everyone at the table, including Namjoon, laughs. Everyone knows what a disaster putting fragile things in Namjoon’s hands can be. 

“I wanted to thank every one of you for your hard work this year. The success of the team is really thanks to all of you.” He looks to you. You make eye contact over the flickering candle on the table, and your heart skips a beat. “I know you’ve only been with us for a few months, but I think I speak for everyone here when I say we’re all very happy to have you on board. Cheers, team.” 

“Cheers,” everyone choruses. 

You hide your flush behind your champagne flute. Jimin, sitting next to you, nudges your leg under the table. You swat him with your hand. 

Dinner is delicious and a welcome distraction. It’s the typical holiday party fare, but presented with artful swoops of sauce. Unlike fancy restaurants though, the food is filling and hearty, likely on purpose to soak up all the booze you and your coworkers are going to consume during the party. 

You stick to champagne, the fizzy drink giving you a pleasant buzz as the evening continues. You know yourself. If you switch to anything else now that you’ve started on champagne, you’ll puke. And you don’t want to get puke on this beautiful dress. Or puke in front of your coworkers. Or on one of your coworkers, god forbid.

A band sets up while dessert is served. You’re curious from the start, because it’s not the usual setup for these corporate parties. There’s conga drums and a güira, along with space for an entire horn section. 

“What’s with the Latin music band?” you ask. 

“Oh, that’s right. You weren’t here for all that,” says Jungkook, who’s sitting on your other side. “Shame.” 

“All what? What’s a shame?” 

Jimin smirks. “We had a client a couple of years ago, a salsa choreographer who claimed that a big studio used their choreography and hadn’t credited them properly. Bang took them on as a client, and won, but instead of payment, he wanted lessons for everyone in the firm.” Jimin laughs at the memory. “He made everyone go twice a week for six months, until everyone could dance. He said he was bored of no one dancing at parties. Cee was actually one of the instructors and she turned Hobi into a pro dancer. You’ll see.”

“Really?” You can’t wrap your head around your colleagues dancing with any type of grace. Well, Jimin, yes, but the rest of them? 

“Yeah, it’s tradition at these parties now.” He looks at you and shakes his head. “How are you going to fit in if you can’t dance with the rest of us?” 

Before you can respond, the band strikes up their first tune. The opening strains of Elvis Crespo’s Suavemente fill the room. There’s a ripple of excitement as people all over the room start to get up. Soon the dance floor sways with couples dancing. You almost can’t believe your eyes. They're actually good.

Jimin’s face sparkles with mischief. “Come on. Merengue’s easy.” 

He stands and holds his hand out to you. You put your hand in his and let him pull you out of your chair and onto the dance floor. He finds an empty spot and places one hand on your upper back, the other holding up your other hand. “It’s easy, just follow my lead. It’s step, step, step, to the beat.” 

You roll your eyes and follow his exaggerated movements, your hips swaying to the music. He’s right, merengue’s easy, and you’ve danced it before. He looks at you, eyebrow raised and tentatively leads you into a turn. You follow flawlessly. He narrows his eyes at you when you come back to face him and he brings his arms up in a series of twist and turns. Again, you follow his every move. 

“Are you a sleeper agent or something?” 

You laugh and keep dancing while you chat. “I learned in college, then kept dancing in law school to blow off steam.” 

As the music ends, he spins you out then back into a dip. 

“You owe me at least two more dances before the night’s up!” 

You’re grinning as you come back to the table. It’s been at least a year since you last danced, but it all came back to you, like riding a bike. 

Your coworkers clap as you sit down. 

“Did they ask you if you could dance when they interviewed you?” asks Jungkook. 

“Yeah, there was a dance component to the interview,” you deadpan. Hoseok laughs across the table. 

The band strikes up an upbeat salsa and the rest of the table sits back to watch as Hoseok and Cee become the center of attention. They’re mesmerizing, their footwork impeccable. It’s clear they’ve spent many hours getting to know each others’ bodies, and they communicate with just a single look. There’s shimmies and even a lift that sends Cee flipping over Hoseok’s back. At the end of the song, the room claps for them just as much as they’re clapping for the musicians. 

The night passes, with you dancing to almost every song. Even Brian from Mergers and Acquisitions, nerdy Brian with the bad haircut and the ill-fitting pants, can lead a fun salsa. 

The song ends, and the band transitions to another merengue. 

“Can I have this dance?” 

You turn to see Namjoon holding out his hand to you. You nod and tell yourself it’s okay that your heart is beating fast, because it’s just all the physical exertion of dancing seven songs in a row. 

Instead of bringing you into a closed hold like Jimin did, Namjoon holds out both of his hands in front of him in a two-hand hold. He cracks a couple of jokes you can barely hear over the music as he spins you around the dance floor. His moves are a little basic, but he’s confident in his leads. You wonder if he only knows simple steps, or if he’s keeping it simple on purpose to avoid causing a medical emergency. 

The song ends and he leads you back to the table. You plop down on your chair, beat. He looks like he’s going to sit next to you, but one of the partners pats him on the shoulder, a silent request to dance the bachata the band just started. 

Jungkook emerges from the dance floor, his sweaty hair clinging to his forehead. He takes the chair Namjoon was about to take and gulps down water. “I forgot how much I sweat at these parties.” 

He hasn’t sat down for a while too. You’ve seen him out of the corner of your eyes, pulling off daredevil moves on the dance floor. 

“You look like you’re having fun, though.” 

One corner of his lip lifts in a half-smile, teeth flashing. Your stomach flip flops as he considers you for a long moment.

“You did too.”

Namjoon comes dancing into view and you both lapse into silence. He’s doing the two-hand hold for this dance too, though from this vantage point, you can see his hips swaying expertly to the sensual beat. You can’t take your eyes off him. 

You and Jungkook sigh at the same time when he disappears from view. He’s been watching Namjoon, too. 

“We’re hopeless,” laments Jungkook from beside you. He looks at you with a sad smile on his face. “We can’t keep going like this.” 

You want to rub your hands over your face to scrub all thoughts of Namjoon out of your head, but remember at the last second the painstaking effort the makeup artist went through to get your eyeshadow just right.

Instead, you take up your latest glass of champagne. You hold it up in a toast in one hand and in the other you extend your pinky finger. 

“We’re going to get over this crush by the end of the year,” you say.

Jungkook looks serious as he wraps his pinky finger around yours. He clinks glasses and says, “Or die trying.” 

“That’s a bit dramatic.“ You tip your drink back regardless. “We won’t go that far, but we’ll try.” 

“We’re in this together,” he says, his nose scrunching up as he smiles. He still hasn’t let go of your pinky finger and he pulls you up when he stands. “Let’s dance.” 

One of your favorite salsa songs starts playing, “Yo No Se Mañana” by Luis Enrique. The song starts off slow and he makes you laugh by hamming it up, doing some dramatic body rolls to the initial oohs and aaah of the song. He strikes a dramatic pose and gestures to you. You turn slowly, adding a few slow body rolls of your own and you end with your hand in his. The beat kicks in and you’re spinning and turning. 

Any remaining thoughts of Namjoon get twirled out of your head as you come in close together to execute tricky footwork and then out again. Jungkook is not a lazy lead like some men who just stand in place and twirl you over and over. He dances along with you, his leads sure and confident. You hold your own, your feet never missing a beat. It’s the most fun you’ve had dancing salsa and you can tell he’s having fun too. 

A gleeful smile stays on your face the entire song, which ends too quickly. You’re both laughing and out of breath at the end of it. You give him a double high five to say thank you. 

Usually, you’ll retreat to the edge of the dance floor for the next song, but the band announces a quick break and as the strains of the next song come on, he turns to you and raises an eyebrow in question. 

You recognize the Romeo Santos song and it seems like Jungkook does too. It starts out with an accordion playing a tango beat, and he pulls you close into a parody of a tango hold, your clasped hands stretched straight out. You drape yourself over him, giggling, as he leads you in a few steps of a tango walk. As the beat melts into the sensual bachata groove, he keeps you close. 

You don’t know whether it’s the alcohol, the lyrics of the song, or shit, that you haven’t gotten laid in months, but your heartbeat picks up as he slots his leg between yours. It borders on inappropriate, how close he’s holding you as he uses his whole body to lead you in the dance. You can feel his breath in your ear as you spin together across the dance floor. 

When you feel like you’re about to combust from being flush against his body, he leads you in a series of spins that ends with your back against his front. God. You know he works out a lot, but it’s one thing to know it, and quite another to feel his muscular frame pressed against your back. His hand splays across your belly, his thumb just barely grazing the bottom of your breast and he leads you into a slow body roll. 

Your skin is on fire everywhere he’s touching you. 

The delirious thought crosses your brain, does Jungkook speak Spanish? Because he times his hand dragging up your thigh to the hem of your skirt to the lyrics of the song and, fuck, do you feel like your good sense is being tested as his hand catches, lifting your skirt a fraction of an inch. 

He spins you to face him and you swivel down in time to the beat, your hands dragging down from his shoulders to his sides. You look up to his face and your breath catches in your throat. His wide eyes have lost the puppy dog look they get sometimes. They’re dark, like they were that day in your office, like he could eat you whole.  

The song ends and you’re breathing hard, forehead pressed against his. Your arms are wrapped up around his neck and his hands are pressed into your lower back. The outside world starts to trickle back in as a new song plays. Luckily, everyone around you is even tipsier than you are, lost in their own little holiday bubble. No one noticed how you two set the dance floor on fire.

“Wanna get out of here?” 

The question is barely a whisper out of his lips and you nod in response. He squeezes you to him one last time, then takes your hand as he leads you back past your table. You thank whatever higher power is out there that no one is at the table as you grab your clutch. 

Jungkook doesn’t let go of your hand as you cross the lobby to get on an open elevator. A small group of your coworkers, absolutely smashed and headed to someone’s suite to get even more wasted, jumps onto the elevator at the last second. They don’t seem to notice you and Jungkook at the back. 

The ride down is torturously slow. You worry your lower lip between your teeth and you glance over at Jungkook. He looks straight ahead, his stare intense, but you feel his hand squeeze yours. 

The elevator dings open at your floor and you slip out from the crowd of your drunken coworkers. You walk together with determination down the hallway. Your room is closer and as you fumble with the keycard, his hands come to rest on your hips. His body radiates head behind you. After two tries at the door, the lock finally clicks open and you push in over the threshold together. 

He crowds you against the closing door, one of his hands flat against the door by your face, the other wrapped around your waist. The door is on a hydraulic and it feels like it takes forever to close behind you. 

“Can I kiss you,” he breathes when the door clicks shut.

“Please,” you manage to get out before he presses his lips against yours. Your mouth opens in a gasp, and he takes advantage of this by pressing his tongue against yours. He tastes like whisky and sweat, and it makes your head spin. You tangle a hand into his hair, gripping the soft strands. He groans as you pull, and you bite at his lower lip. 

“Is this a good idea?” he asks between kisses. 

“I don’t care.” 

You hook a leg over his hip and bring him even closer, needing him to be flush against your body. He kisses up your jaw and down your neck, finding a sensitive spot that makes you gasp. He hums against your skin at the sound. You’re going to have a hickey in the morning if he keeps going, but it feels too good in the moment to stop him. 

His hand wanders down as you bring his mouth back to yours, fingers ghosting up the leg that’s wrapped around him. You shiver at the light sensation. He finds the hem of your skirt and slips his hand up your skin until he reaches the curve of your ass. He teases the lacy edge of your panties, slipping one finger in between your ass and the lacy fabric. 

Heat pools between your legs and you know he’s going to find a mess if his fingers go in the direction you’re hoping they will. But his hand stays firmly on your ass, massaging the skin there. He licks into your mouth and you suck on his tongue. He groans into your mouth. The sound travels directly to your lower belly.

“Touch me,” you say. “Please.” 

His hands tug at the waistband of your panties and pull them down. You step out of them as gracefully as you can in a rush and they get discarded somewhere on the floor. You take his wrist and lead it to the apex of your thighs, but he grabs your wrists instead and pins both arms above your head with one hand. You whimper and squirm as his other hand finally cups your cunt. His fingers swipe through your slick folds. 

“Fuck. All for me?” His voice is low and rough. 

“For you,” you breathe, the half-truth falling easily from your lips. 

He wastes no time in slipping two fingers in you and you gasp as he crooks his fingers into your sweet spot. His thumb finds your clit and you feel like you may pass out at the sensation. Your hands clench into fists above your head. He kisses you again, swallowing the noises coming out of your mouth. You grind down on his hand. 

“Jungkook, please,” you say into his mouth. You haven’t come yet, but you’re desperate for more. “Please tell me you have a condom.” 

He nods against you. 

“I need you inside me.” 

In the time it takes him to pull a condom out of his back pocket, you’ve already unzipped his pants and taken him in your hands. He’s fully hard, thick and and long in your hands. You give his cock a pump, but he’s pulling your hands away as he rolls the condom on. He brings your leg back around his waist again, making space for himself and pushes you back against the door again as he guides his cock to your entrance. 

He buries his face into your neck as he pushes in, inch by inch. You whimper at the stretch, and he groans out your name. You both still when he’s all the way in and you breathe deeply as you adjust to the fullness. 

You roll your hips experimentally and that’s all it takes for him to set an unforgiving pace. You meet him thrust for thrust, mutual desperation hanging unspoken between you. 

His hand slides up your neck to tangle in your hair, pulling a whine out of you. This spurs him on, his fast pace never faltering. You feel so close, so close, but you still need more. 

You move to reach down between your legs, but he swats your hand away with a growl, replacing it with his own. The additional pressure on your clit sends stars bursting behind your eyelids. 

You come with a gasp of his name, tight around his cock. You’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to not be responsible for your own orgasm, and god, do you feel like you’re on your way to heaven. Your clenching cunt sends him over the edge, and he comes with a groan muffled into your neck. 

He brings his lips to yours again, kissing you gently, softly, tender.

You stay together for a few moments longer, panting, in the same position as earlier, your foreheads pressed together, your arms around his neck, and his arms wrapped around your lower back. His breath intermingles with yours, and he lets out a little laugh after your heartbeats have slowed down a little. 

“Stay?” you ask quietly against his lips.

A/N: I’ve been missing going dancing for a while aaaand I’ve been daydreaming of latin dancing Bangtan for a long-ass time so this is the result of that. Here’s a playlist for this chapter: 

Suavemente - Elvis Crespo // Lloraras - Oscar D’Leon // Bachata Rosa - Juan Luis Guerra 4.40 // Niña Bonita - Chino & Nacho // Ven Devórame Otra Vez - Lalo Rodriguez // La Carretera - Prince Royce // Lo Tengo Todo - Milly Quezada, Los Vecinos // Ojalá Que Llueva Café - Juan Luis Guerra 4.40 // Yo No Se Mañana - Luis Enrique // Propuesta Indecente - Romeo Santos 

©sowoozoo-7 2023

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else.

[sowoozoo-7]

Love, Lust & Litigation | Ch2 (JJK, KNJ)

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader x Namjoon

Genre: lawyer!AU, coworkers to lovers, slow burn, eventual smut

Rating: M (18+) whole fic, this chapter PG-13 (I guess)

Warnings: some swearing in this chapter, nothing explicit

Word Count: 3.8k

Summary: Unfortunately, you have developed a massive crush on your new boss. Even more unfortunately, your equally attractive coworker is also harboring massive crush on your boss. AKA Jungkook and reader both pine for big, sexy brain Namjoon. 

A/N: Aaand here she is! Chapter 2! It took me a while to finalize this draft, mostly because I was on a trip with my bff, but also because I was, well, procrastinating. I don't do well without a deadline, so I'm going to try to post a chapter every week on Saturday until the fic is done! Look out for Chapter 3 in a week :)

mlist | ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5 | interlude | ch 6 | ch 7 | epilogue

Your newest client sits across a large conference room table from you, Namjoon, and Jungkook, flanked by two impossibly large bodyguards holding equally tiny dogs. She’s one of the most popular singer-songwriters of the moment.

An indie artist filed a lawsuit claiming that your client copied lyrics verbatim and stole the melody from a song of his after attending an intimate showcase. To your ears, the songs sound vaguely similar, but you’re no music expert. 

In the press though, the indie artist has spun it as a David and Goliath story. The court of public opinion is firmly on his side already. 

“It’s a bullshit case,” says your client, rolling her eyes. “There’s only so many ways you can string the words ‘I,’ ‘love,’ ‘you,’ ‘so,’ and ‘much’ together in a song. And everyone knows that all modern pop songs have the same four chord progressions anyway.” 

Namjoon nods, taking notes on his legal pad. “We’ll take the case, but there’s no guarantee the judge is going to rule in our favor. These plagiarism cases can be very unpredictable.” 

“Right, but you guys are the best right?” She takes one of the fluffy dogs into her lap and starts petting it. The dog makes direct eye contact with you as it starts to pant.  

Namjoon lets out a little laugh. “We are, but we’re not miracle workers. We can’t guarantee a win even in the simplest case. But we do guarantee our best with some of the best lawyers in the field.” 

He caps this off with a little smile, one that makes his eyes look kind and his dimples pop. 

The songwriter melts a little and she honest-to-god starts twirling her hair around her finger.

“Well, if it looks like we’re not going to win the case, I’m not above settling with this guy.” 

You look over at Jungkook in confusion. She was adamant that she wouldn’t settle at the top of the meeting. He mouths back, The Namjoon Effect.

Ah. Yes. You can relate.  

“Understood.” Namjoon gives her another smile as he closes his legal pad. “And unless there’s anything else you would like for us to take into consideration…?” 

“I think that’s it.” 

She gives him a coy smile as he gestures her out of the conference room. "Thank you so much for your time."

Namjoon turns to you and Jungkook once she's gone down the hallway.

“Right. What’s our angle?” 

You and Jungkook look at each other in surprise. High profile cases usually go to Namjoon and you assumed this one would too.

You only ever play the “What’s our angle?” game when the case will go to one of the junior associates. The game is simple. Whoever has the best pitch gets the case. It's a brilliant move on Namjoon's part, really. It taps into you and Jungkook's natural competition and it makes you think out of the box to win cases. You’re keeping an informal tally in the back of your planner and so far, it’s an even split. 

This time, Jungkook beats you to the draw. “We still have contacts in the music industry who can be expert witnesses. With these two songs, it’ll come down to the specific instrumentation, composition, and lyrical flow.” 

You can feel the case slipping through your fingers — you haven’t been at Bang & Associates long enough to have a long list of contacts yet and Jungkook minored in music composition in college. He has all the advantage here and he knows it. He smiles, like he’s already gotten lead on the case. 

You shake your head anyway and speak up. 

“That’s an important component to the case, definitely, but it’s not the determining factor. There’s been an increase in these types of cases, with two high-profile cases in just the last six moths and countless others that flew under the radar, and the trend I’ve seen is that the outcome depends on precedent and how IP laws fit around the specific musical particularities.” 

Jungkook clenches his jaw, his tongue playing with his lip ring. Both of you wait while Namjoon deliberates. It’s all part of the game, one that Namjoon takes seriously. He considers every facet and it takes him unbearable minutes to make a decision. You've learned to not second-guess your pitches and to be comfortable in the silence.

This time, though, you don’t have long to wait. He nods and points at you. “Good thinking. You’re taking lead on this case. Jungkook, I want you on support. Normally, I’d take this case, but I have the class-action suit on my plate, and I can’t spare Jimin or Hoseok. Bring me your complete plan by COB tomorrow. Send me a calendar invite for a time that works for both of you.” 

You want to grin and do a little victory dance, but you nod instead, in a way that you hope looks level-headed. 

“Will do. Thanks, boss.” 

Namjoon's eyebrow twitches at the title and he gives you a look you can't fully parse. He leaves the conference room with a strange two finger salute.

Jungkook gives you a disgruntled look as soon as Namjoon is out of sight. You give him a smug grin in return. This is the second case in a row you've won, and you can officially tally yourself ahead by one.

“Congrats, I guess,” he says as he goes to leave.

You reach out a hand to stop him, your fingers brushing his sleeve. He looks down at your hand like it offends him and all his ancestors before him. He's sulking again.

“Do you have any meetings now?” It's impossible to deal with him when he's like this, but you have a quick turnaround on this case, so it leaves you no choice.

“Nothing on the schedule,” he says.

“Let’s meet now, then. Come to my office.” 

He follows you and sits in one your guest chairs, slumping down, spreading his legs long and wide. One of his legs bounces up and down. He doesn’t meet your eyes.

You lean back against your desk instead of sitting behind it. 

“Given you’re the music expert here, what’s your opinion on the songs? Do you think we have a good chance of winning? Just based on the songs themselves.” 

He shrugs. “Right now, it’s a toss-up. I’ll have to take a closer listen to really be able to say. But I have a couple of friends in the music industry who we’ve used before as expert witnesses. They’ll break it down to the nitty gritty.” 

“Great, get me those names and the specifics of how they can help with the case by the end of the day. Contact them if you can to see if they're willing to be our witnesses. I’ll take a closer look at the caselaw and the suit itself and get the memo for Namjoon together tomorrow morning. Unless you can think of something from the precedent perspective?” 

“Seems like you’ve got that part covered.” His tongue pokes out into his cheek, still not looking at you.

“Okay, then. I think that’s it. Maybe we can chat tomorrow before lunch to make sure we have all the bases covered.” 

He doesn’t respond, just gives you the barest of nods and gets up to head towards the door. 

“Jeon.” 

He turns in your doorway to look back at you. You’re still leaning against your desk, arms crossed. He takes you in, his eyes trailing from your heels all the way up to meet your eyes. Your breath hitches as his expression shifts to something darker. Hungrier.  

“Should I let you win next time so I don’t have to deal with you acting like a whiny little baby?” 

He huffs out a little laugh and rolls his eyes. The look from a second ago is gone. 

“If you did, I’d call Area 51 to make sure there was no extraterrestrial activity in the area because you’d for sure be an alien in disguise.” 

He leaves, the sound of his soft chuckle trailing behind him. It takes a second for your breath to return to normal. 

You and Jungkook go to court after a couple weeks of trying to negotiate a settlement, armed with files, documents and expert opinions. Namjoon takes time from his class-action suit to supervise. 

The case drags on for a week. Photographers swarm the court. They snap a picture of you, Namjoon, and Jungkook on the way to the courtroom the third day and the picture goes viral. It’s the first time any of your cases have been in the public eye like this. Even though you’re the defense, the internet goes crazy, with endless “Mommy? Sorry, Mommy? Sorry? Daddy?” memes. 

Whenever you’re in the office, you get playful comments from your coworkers. Jimin swears he didn’t mean to include the firm-wide distribution list in his email to the PR team about the photo. You don’t believe him, but you can’t really be too mad at him. 

It’s one of the best pictures you’ve ever seen of yourself. The three of you look like a promo picture for a legal drama on cable TV, with you in the middle, holding your own between your stupid-hot coworkers. 

Jungkook looks like a federal agent, his all-black suit fitted in the right places. He carries a shiny leather briefcase and the glimpse of the tattoos on the hand holding the briefcase is primarily what has the internet in shambles. 

Namjoon, in a navy suit and tie, looks like the hottest politician you’ve ever seen. His brown hair sweeps away from his face, lethal in wire-frame glasses. 

“Damn, girl, you look hot.” Your best friend, Nina, looks at the photo on her phone. You’re at brunch at your favorite cafe the weekend after the trial ends. “Aren’t you glad I convinced you to get that suit?” 

The court ruled in your favor, and your client — graciously — didn’t counter-sue the independent artist. Instead, she offered to have him feature on her latest single, so the royalties can cover the legal fees that he’s now responsible for paying. 

You’re sitting in the patio, an umbrella shading you from the unseasonably hot late fall sun. The rickety patio table groans under the weight of poached eggs, bacon, smoked salmon, fruit, and the best pancakes in the city. The mimosas go down easy. Life is good.

“I was running on so little sleep that day. The suit was really the saving grace.” 

You bought it on a whim on a semi-drunk post-brunch shopping trip with Nina a few weeks before you joined Bang & Associates. You balked at the price, but Nina reminded you of the massive pay increase you were about to get, and you caved. The suit fits you perfectly, with the skirt hugging in all the right places and the cropped suit jacket adding the illusion of height to your frame. You feel invincible every time you wear it. 

It’s thanks to Nina that you’re breaking out of the boring black and grey suits. She’s a local fashion influencer and runs a trendy boutique in the artsy part of town. 

“Nah, girl. The suit is the added bonus. It’s you in that photo totally rocking it.” 

“I wanna get that framed.” 

Nina laughs and clinks her glass against yours. You’re both a little drunk on mimosas and sunshine. “I’ll do it for Christmas.” 

You’re pleasantly buzzed when your post-meal lattes come out. Nina chokes as she goes to take a sip, her eyes wide. 

“Is that…” 

She doesn’t need to finish her sentence. You follow her gaze and thankfully, your cup is firmly on the table because you would have otherwise snorted coffee out of your nose. 

A sweaty and glistening Namjoon and Jungkook cross the wooden patio to go inside the cafe. They must have been running in the park across the street because they're dressed in exercise clothes, both in sleeveless tops and shorts that leave little to the imagination.

Namjoon is practically glowing. His shirt clings to his chest, outlining muscle you didn’t know existed until this moment. He runs a hand through his sweaty hair as they walk across the patio, biceps flexing. 

Your mouth hangs open. Muscle definition, on top of everything else?

Jungkook’s tattoos are on full display. You’ve seen part of them before, when he rolls his sleeves up at work, but you had no idea he had a full sleeve, bold and colorful. His sweaty hair sticks to his face, the waves even more pronounced. 

The spell breaks as soon as they disappear into the cafe. You and Nina exhale at the same time. 

“That’s indecent,” you breathe. 

“Holy mother of God,” she mutters. “How do you get any work done around the office?”

“They’re usually not prancing around half-naked.”

“I want to put my hands on their chests and squeeze.” She puts her hands out and makes grabby hands. 

You let out a squeak and swat her across the table. “Nina! Why would you put that image in my head? How am I going to get through meetings? I’m not gonna be able to look them in the eye.” 

“I would ask why you haven’t slept with them yet, but I know you’re too proper to shit where you eat.” She shakes her head. “College you would have been all over that.” 

“Namjoon is practically a monk,” you say morosely.

Nina chokes on her coffee again. “Oh my god, you actually like him.” 

A tiny, pitiful wail escapes you. “I mean, you just saw him, Neen. He looks like that and he’s nice and smart. It’s like if a man like Namjoon exists, he ruins all other men, really.” 

“What about e-boy?” 

You snort. “He’s cute, but he’s in l—“ 

“Cute?” Your friend looks at you incredulously. “That’s the understatement of the year. I want that man to pin me against the wall and — shit. They’re coming this way. Quick. Pretend we’re talking about my shop.” 

You swallow your coffee nervously. “Um. Tell me about the clothes you set aside for me?” 

“Oh!” She perks up, eyes shining. “Remind me to send you pictures. I just got the most gorgeous dress that would be great for your holiday party!” 

“Already? It’s not even November yet.” 

Nina rolls her eyes. “Your firm’s holiday party is the event in the law world. I’m not even in law and I’ve known about it since grad school.” 

You hear your name called, and your heart rate picks up. Your coworkers walk towards your table with iced coffees in their hands. From what you know about their usual coffee orders, Namjoon’s is an iced americano and Jungkook’s is some ungodly sweet concoction involving every syrup they have available. They look less flushed now coming out of the air conditioned cafe. 

“Come here often?” 

You roll your eyes. “Terrible line, Jeon. Working out?”

“Yeah, I live a couple blocks down and Namjoon wanted a running buddy today.”

“Sunshine is good for your health,” says Namjoon. “God knows we don’t get nearly enough when we’re in the office.” 

You wouldn’t know it from the way his skin glows golden in the sun.

“Oh, we must be neighbors,” you say to Jungkook before you get stuck ogling Namjoon’s exposed skin. “I’m a few blocks that way too.” 

You can feel Nina’s eyes boring hole in your skull. “By the way, this is my best friend Nina. Nina, this is Namjoon and Jungkook. Namjoon’s my boss, and Jungkook is the other junior litigation associate.” 

“Oh yeah, I thought I recognized you,” says Nina.

“The picture?” asks Jungkook. 

“The picture,” you confirm. “I kind of want to get it framed so I can show my grandchildren someday.” You put on an old lady voice. “‘Look kids, granny used to be a hotshot lawyer.’”

A thrum of satisfaction runs through you when they laugh at your joke. Namjoon’s eyes push up into half-moons and Jungkook’s nose scrunches in the most adorable way.

“Anyway, we won’t keep you.” Namjoon places a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder and steers him toward the exit. Jungkook inhales at the contact, and his cheeks redden a shade. You wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t watching him. “Have a great rest of your weekend.” 

“Enjoy the sunshine,” you say with a wave. 

“See you at work!” Jungkook calls over his shoulder. 

As soon as they’re out of view, you and Nina slump over. 

“Enjoy the sunshine? Really?” You bury your face in your hands. 

Nina pickup her coffee cup and puts it back down without taking a sip. “Why doesn’t my boyfriend have dimples. Why do I even have a stupid boyfriend?” 

The following week, you find the photo framed on your desk, wrapped in a simple ribbon.

So you can show your future grandchildren, reads the note. There’s no signature. 

It can only be one of two people and you decide not to say anything to either of them, you just simply put the picture up in one of the empty spots on your bookshelf. You don’t want to know how you would feel if you knew for certain who gifted it to you, and what it would mean for those hypothetical and very unprofessional feelings you definitely aren’t feeling already. 

That doesn’t stop you from tucking the note in the back pocket of your planner anyway. Just in case. 

A few weeks later, you’re wading your way through a series of ownership bylaws for the city’s pro basketball team. You lost the “What’s our angle?” game, and the case went to Jungkook. He actually fist-pumped in victory when he got lead. This means you’ve been sitting on at your desk for the past week, with fuzzy slippers and yellow-light glasses on as you scroll through endless PDF’s to find your client an out from ownership without having to pay a massive fine. 

A knock on your office door breaks your concentration. It takes your eyes a second to focus on something further than your computer screen. Namjoon leans against the doorjamb, coat on.

“Had lunch yet?” 

“No, I was going to wait until after our meeting.” Your computer pings helpfully with a calendar reminder and your stomach follows up with a growl. Breakfast consisted of a sad piece of toast and a latte too many hours ago, and you were too nervous for your performance review to even think about a snack. 

Namjoon chuckles. “Let’s do this over lunch, then. I’m starving, too.” 

You draw your coat around you when you step out of the office. The temperature has dropped decidedly in the past few days. No more sunny autumn days, just the impending chill of a snow-filled winter. You wrap your arms around your stomach in the pretext of warding off the chill.

In reality, you stomach is doing flips, and you don’t know if it’s because you’re hungry or because you’re nervous for your performance review. Objectively, you know you’re doing well. You’re efficient and ruthless in court, but when it comes to performance reviews, you’ve been blindsided before.

It’s almost inevitable that you end up at Cat’s Pajamas. It’s close to the office, they serve delicious food, and the owner, a slim, quiet man named Yoongi, is a longtime friend of Namjoon’s. You’re in there at least once a week, whether for a client meeting or just as an excuse to get out of the office for lunch. Whenever you’re there with your coworkers, you get a little treat sent from the kitchen, usually one of the cookies that Jin, Yoongi’s business partner, makes fresh every morning.

Yoongi stands at the host stand and greets Namjoon with a handshake. 

"Just you two today?" he asks, eyes flitting between you and Namjoon.

Namjoon nods. “How’s business?”

“I think your firm is keeping us afloat,” says Yoongi with a serious face. You think he’s joking.

He leads you to the back of the restaurant. It’s unusually crowded today, with office workers sheltering from the first cold snap of the season. 

Namjoon gestures for you to go first. You don’t know if it’s your imagination, but as you walk through the restaurant, you think you feel a whisper of a touch against your upper back, fingertips gently guiding you through the maze of tables. A shiver runs down your back, and you keep your eyes forward as you walk. You don't look back to confirm.

You're off balance already, and knowing that Namjoon is the type to guide you with a gentle touch would tip you over into the deep end.

Yoongi seats you in your usual booth. This probably means good things for your review, you tell yourself. The booth is secluded enough, but if there was anything serious to discuss, you would hope your boss would have the sense to have this meeting behind closed doors. You place your orders as you sit.

Namjoon takes out a paper form from his briefcase when Yoongi walks away. You must look worried because he gives you a reassuring smile. 

“Just an HR form to document the performance review. It’s dreadfully overdue, but it’s my fault, and I apologize for that. This was supposed to be your three-month review, but we're now at what, five months?"

He makes a face and starts filling out the top of the form. Your heartbeat speeds up and you play with the hem of the tablecloth under the table. Does that face mean good things or bad things? 

He looks up at you with a smile. Good things? 

“Unless you have anything to bring up with me, this is going to be quick. So far, I’m pleased with the work that you’re doing for the firm. Even though you’ve only been with us for a few months, you’ve integrated excellently with the rest of the team. Everyone has nothing but great things to say about working with you, so we can mark all these boxes as exceptional…”

You let out a sigh of relief as he concentrates on ticking boxes and filling out comments. All the tension you had stored up in your shoulders releases as you get the verbal confirmation that your performance has been up to par. 

“And I think that’s it. Anything you want to say to me on the record?” 

An image of Nina making grabby hands rises unbidden, and you have to fight to keep a straight face. 

“I don’t think so. I’ve been happy working here. The work is rewarding and I like your management style. I appreciate that you let us junior associates take ownership of our work and empower us to make our own decisions and mistakes.” 

“Ah, that’s too kind,” he says with a bashful smile, waving away your comments. “I’m glad you’re enjoying your time here." He pauses. "Is that all? No HR complaints to be filed against Jimin?” 

You laugh and shake your head.

“If anything does come up, you know my door is always open.” He looks at you with a serious look. “And I mean that. If you ever need to talk about anything, you can come to me.”

“I appreciate that, boss.” 

His expression flickers at the title, but he gives you a wide smile as he lifts his water glass in a toast. “Then, here’s to a successful working relationship and more wins in court.” 

You clink your glass against his, unable to stop the grin that spreads across your face. 

Lunch arrives soon after and you spend the rest of the hour chatting about an exhibit you both attended at the modern art museum. You get the sense that’s where his passion lies by the way he lights up when he talks about the artist’s specific choice of material for her sculptures and what that conveys about her underlying message on global warming. He makes you promise that you’ll go to the artist’s pop-up exhibit during the Christmas markets. 

You're amazed that he has time for anything outside of work. You barely do, and he’s at the office just as much as you are these days. 

It strikes you that this is the first time you've sat down with Namjoon for a one-on-one meal. Every other time has been a client meeting or after-work drinks with the team. The conversation flows easily and you feel like you could keep talking to him forever.

By the end of the meal, your cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and your heart hurts a little because why did you have to meet Namjoon at this stage in your life? You excuse yourself to the restroom, but head to the host stand instead to pay the bill. 

Yoongi waves you off before you can say anything, not even looking up from what he’s writing. “Namjoon’s already paid for it. You’re all good.”

“Oh.” You’re elbow deep in your bag searching for your wallet.

“You know, he’ll never say anything because he’s your boss and all, so you’ll have to make the first move.” 

“Excuse me?”

You freeze before you can extricate yourself from your bag. Is it your imagination, or did he really say what you think he said? You don't know, your heartbeat is so loud in your ears.

“Excuse me?”

He looks up from his notebook, eyebrow raised, looking at you like you’re an idiot. You can feel the tips of your ears turning red. “It’s obvious he likes you. I've seen the way he looks at you whenever you're all in here. And you like him, if I’m not reading you wrong. All of his coworkers are head over heels for him. So you have to make the first move unless you want to be in this—“ he gestures vaguely at you “— forever. He’s a brilliant lawyer, but an idiot when it comes to relationships.” 

“I’m really not sure what you mean.” Your voice comes out in a squeak. You clear your throat and change the subject. “Where’s the restroom?” 

“I think you’ve been here enough times to know where the restroom is.” 

You can't even come up with a retort, you just walk away, cheeks flaming. If Yoongi can tell, everyone probably can.

And yes, you do know exactly where the restroom is.

A/N: Ok my friends! Remember when I said it was slow burn? Fun things should start to happen next chapter 👀 Again, I don't know anything about The Law, so if you do and you see something wrong in this fic, no you didn't, it's my fictional universe and yes this is how the The Law works in my fantasy land thank you. This is the energy I'm bringing to this fic and all my writing, so... yeah, I’d love feedback if you have any, but feel no obligation. Hope you like it ~

©sowoozoo-7 2023

Please do not copy or repost. I do not crosspost anywhere else.

[sowoozoo-7]

friends, i am absolutely mortified. i was perusing @miscelunaaa's mlist for something to reread and came across love, lust, and life mushrooms again. i read it for the first time last year and the title must have stuck somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain. i did not mean to copy the title in any way, i am just wholly uncreative when it comes to titles and my monkey brain loves alliteration.

my sincerest apologies em 🙇🏻‍♀️

[sowoozoo-7]

a lil bit of ch 6 under the cut ✨💕

Even though it’s the most spacious hotel room you’ve ever stayed in, it feels like the three of you overflow out of it.

Jungkook stands at the junction between the entrance and the living room, bouncing on the front of his feet. You catch a glimpse of his hand stretching out, like he’s consciously trying not to clench it into a fist.

Namjoon sits against the back of the couch, gripping the edge with white-knuckled fingers. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it and exhales harshly through his nose.

You stand between them, heart pounding in your chest.

Something’s about to begin but none of you know how to start.

[sowoozoo-7]

Next installment of LL&L will be up sometime in the next two days! It just needs some editing before it's done-done. So here's a little teaser for you guys <3

Namjoon Kim doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions. 

It’s a stupid concept, in his humble opinion. Not only is it an arbitrary date to make a change, most people spend the first day of the new year recovering from a party the night before. Is anyone really furthering their goals while nursing a massive hangover?  

No. If Namjoon wants to make a change, he’ll just do it. He won’t wait until Monday, or to the first of the month. 

Of course, if anyone asks if he’s made any resolutions, he’ll just smile and say “Oh, you know, the usual,” or some other noncommittal answer. His coworkers don’t need to know he thinks it’s a stupid concept. He hasn’t gotten to where he is today by ranting about the uselessness of New Year’s resolutions. 

This year, though, this year might be different.

[sowoozoo-7]

i had the sweetest ask in my inbox from @thepeopleintheback and tumblr ate it as i went to answer it 😭 i just wanted to say thank you! i’ve been kind of stuck with the next installment of ll&l but i’m slowly working on it 💕💕 hopefully i’ll have an update for you soon!

[sowoozoo-7]

my lovelies, life has caught up to me. i had a few blissful weeks where i had next to no social obligations and could work on my fic in peace, but those halcyon days are behind us. alas, with the change in season comes a flurry of visits and a dearth of leisure time.

sorry to wax dramatic lmao, my friend is coming to visit tomorrow and i’m very excited to see her! but this means my normal writing days have been taken away and if i want to do this chapter justice it’s gotta marinate a bit more. no new chapter this week, but will have it for you by next week 💕

[sowoozoo-7]

friends, i’m posting this because if i don’t put it out there i’ll never actually finish it: ch 2 of love, lust, & litigation will be posted saturday at the latest 💕

[sowoozoo-7]

i decided i want them all to be a similar length so ch 2 is gonna be a while!

should i post a mini chapter 2 (~1.5k) tonight or wait until i’m back from my trip at the end of feb and do a longer one (-4K) 🤔