#gangnam district

[k-star-holic]

Lee Yoo-Mi, it was a magic wand 'golden' brought in from Mongolia...Ong Seong-wu "no need to make money" (Kang Nam-sun)

[thedensworld]

Arrangement Crossed | K.Mg

Pairing: Mingyu x reader

Genre: arrange engagement au

Summary: Mingyu started to enjoy the arrangement between him and you. What should he do?

Why do birds suddenly appear everytime that you near? Just like me i long to be close to you. - Close To You by Carpenters

Mingyu sprinted from his car, heart pounding, as he rushed toward the scene. One of the doctors at the hospital had mentioned that a fire had broken out in a Gangnam district building—your building. His breath was ragged as he pushed through the crowd, his eyes scanning the chaotic scene. Paramedics and firefighters swarmed the area, the flames now subdued, but the remnants of the fire still smoked in the air. A police officer stopped him from moving closer.

"My fiancée lives there," Mingyu gasped, his voice tight with anxiety.

Just as the officer held him back, he spotted you in the distance. You were casually walking, still in your pajamas, holding a half-eaten ice cream cone. Mingyu's eyes widened, watching as your expression changed the moment you took in the sight of your charred apartment building.

"My apartment!" you exclaimed, your voice laced with frustration as Mingyu hurried over to you.

Mingyu quickly examined you, scanning for any signs of injury. A wave of relief washed over him when he realized you had been safely outside while the fire ravaged your home. His tense shoulders relaxed for the first time since hearing the news.

"Where were you?" he asked, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that you seemed so unfazed by the chaos around you.

You blinked, a bit dazed by everything. "I was out for a meal..."

Mingyu glanced at his watch—half and an hour left before his surgery. "I'm glad you're alright. I’ll drive you to my place for now. I’ve got surgery in an hour."

The procedure went smoothly, but exhaustion weighed heavily on him as he sat in his office afterward. All he wanted was to go home and collapse into bed. But he hesitated, remembering that you were now at his apartment. The two of you had never really shared a space before, and the thought made him uneasy. After all, this wasn’t a typical engagement.

A year ago, your families had arranged for you two to be engaged. It was strictly business—a merger of two powerful legacies. Your family owned the hospital where Mingyu worked, while his family operated a successful medical and paramedical equipment company. It made sense for the families to align themselves, and though the proposal had taken him by surprise, Mingyu agreed to the engagement. What really caught him off guard was that you agreed too.

From what Mingyu knew, you ran a small homemade Korean restaurant near Seoul University. It wasn’t a huge enterprise, but it had a loyal customer base thanks to its affordable prices and excellent food. When news of the engagement broke, everyone speculated that your family needed Mingyu to step in and continue running the hospital, especially since you showed no interest in taking it over yourself. Mingyu knew he benefited a lot from this arrangement—more than he was willing to admit sometimes.

It was nearly morning when Mingyu finally arrived home, expecting you to be fast asleep. He took a quick shower, hoping to unwind before getting some rest. But when he stepped into the living room, he nearly jumped out of his skin. You were sitting on the couch, staring into the darkness.

"You scared me!" Mingyu muttered, his heart still racing. "Why aren’t you sleeping?"

You shot him a sharp look, your voice dry. "My house just burned down. How could I possibly sleep soundly?"

Ah, right. He had forgotten that small but important detail.

"Right... of course." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, make yourself at home. Feel free to use the kitchen if you want breakfast. I’ll head to bed."

Mingyu retreated to his room, hoping for some much-needed rest. But as he lay there, he found sleep impossible. His mind kept drifting back to the strange reality that the two of you were now sharing a roof. It wasn’t that he didn’t like you—far from it. You were smart, independent, and capable. But the idea of being engaged, living together, and yet still feeling like you were strangers unnerved him in ways he couldn’t quite explain.

"Yeah, she's fine. She's alright. She's with me. I'll handle things with the building owner about her place. You don’t have to worry, sir." Mingyu reassured your father over the phone as he finished getting ready for work.

Despite having only gotten three hours of sleep, Mingyu needed to be at the hospital for an early morning meeting as the branch director. He had already filled your father in on last night’s fire, assuring him that you were safe and staying with him for the time being. Ending the call, he stepped out of the closet and made his way to the kitchen, where he was greeted by the sight of you preparing breakfast.

You were wearing one of his shirts.

"I’ll call you later, sir," Mingyu said quickly before hanging up, his eyes immediately locking with yours as he entered the kitchen.

You glanced at him briefly, then gestured for him to sit down as you placed the plates on the table. Mingyu couldn’t help but stare for a moment. You must have noticed because you spoke up.

"I didn’t have any clothes with me," you explained, a hint of self-consciousness in your voice. "I borrowed your shirt, if you don’t mind."

Mingyu nodded. "It's fine."

An awkward silence lingered for a moment before he asked, "Is there anything you need to do today?"

You thought for a second. "I definitely need to get some clothes first. And maybe check on the restaurant."

Mingyu thanked you for the food as you joined him at the table. He picked up his spoon, and as soon as he took a bite, his eyes widened in surprise. The breakfast was incredible. He had visited your restaurant a couple of times and knew you were the mastermind behind the recipes, having graduated with a degree in culinary arts. But still, he hadn’t expected his simple morning meal to taste this good.

"How about your belongings?" he asked between bites. "Anything important you need to check, like documents or valuables?"

"Luckily, I left all my important documents at my parents' place," you said, relieved. "But I do need to talk to the building owner about the fire and the damage."

Mingyu nodded thoughtfully. "I’ll go with you."

You both finished breakfast in comfortable silence, and as Mingyu got up to leave for work, he thanked you again for the meal. Before heading out, he made a few calls, one to the aunt who cleaned his house regularly, asking her to pick up some women’s clothes for you, and another to the building manager to arrange an extra parking space for your car.

As he drove to the hospital, he reflected on the morning. He hadn’t expected starting the day with you to feel so... easy. For a moment, he wondered what it would be like if your engagement weren’t just a business arrangement. The thought lingered in the back of his mind as he went on with his day.

"Doctor Kim, thank you for the meal!" the nurses chimed in as Mingyu passed by the emergency room station during his daily rounds.

He blinked in confusion, unsure of what they were referring to. Then, he spotted the neatly packed meals from your restaurant sitting on the counter. You had sent food to his staff. It was thoughtful—something he hadn't expected but appreciated. Mingyu smiled and waved to the nurses, telling them to enjoy the meal before heading to his office, where he found a meal from your restaurant waiting for him as well.

Mingyu quickly shot you a text: Thanks for the meal, everyone’s enjoying it.

You didn’t respond, and Mingyu wasn’t surprised. He rarely texted you, and from what he had observed, you were just as busy as he was. He could understand if you weren’t glued to your phone all the time. Besides, it’s not like he was your priority when it came to messaging.

Over the past week of living together, Mingyu had noticed that the two of you had fallen into a quiet, predictable routine. You would both wake up early, have breakfast together, head off to work, return late in the evening, and go straight to bed. The cycle repeated itself day after day, with only a few short exchanges of "How was work?" or "Did you sleep well?" in between. It was strange to be living under the same roof, sharing meals, and yet feeling like you were still strangers in many ways.

That morning, you casually mentioned that you had signed the lease on a new apartment, not far from your restaurant.

"Do you want to go furniture shopping with me?" you asked over breakfast.

"Sure" Mingyu agreed without hesitation.

And now, here he was, sitting on his couch in a casual outfit, waiting to go furniture shopping with you. It felt like an odd thing to be doing with someone who was supposed to be his fiancée, yet didn’t quite feel like one. Still, Mingyu couldn’t shake the curiosity growing inside him—the thought of spending more time with you, learning more about you beyond the polite small talk and daily routine. He wasn't sure if it would change anything between you, but part of him wanted to try.

"This couch looks good. It fits a lot of people," Mingyu said, running his hand over the fabric as you continued to browse.

You shook your head, clearly unimpressed. "I don't get visitors."

Mingyu chuckled, leaning in a little closer. "What about friends? Boyfriend, maybe?" he teased with a playful grin.

You scoffed and held up your left hand, flashing the engagement ring in front of him. "In case you forgot, I’m engaged."

Mingyu’s eyes flickered to the ring, and he was momentarily struck by the sight of it. You always wore the ring, even though the engagement had been arranged. He, on the other hand, rarely wore his—only during major events or family meetings where it was expected. His profession didn’t really allow for accessories, so he often went without it. But seeing you wear it regularly was a subtle reminder of the commitment hanging between you both.

"Right, how could I forget?" he replied, smoothly continuing the conversation as if the ring hadn’t stirred something unspoken inside him.

Despite the casual banter, the moment felt a little heavier than it should have. He couldn't quite shake the realization that the ring—a symbol of their engagement—was more present in your life than his. It was a quiet declaration, whether intentional or not, that you were his fiancée.

When it came time to pay, Mingyu insisted on covering everything, even after your countless protests. He waved off your refusals, casually brushing them aside as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to take care of it.

"A rib for dinner?" Mingyu requested once he done paying. How dare you to refused.

*

After ten days of living together, Mingyu realized how quiet and empty his place felt without you around. He found himself looking for any excuse to see you, whether it was a quick text, a call, or even dropping by your restaurant. Without fully realizing it, the relationship between the two of you had begun to shift into something he hadn’t expected.

At this point, almost all of your staff knew him. They had even started referring to him as "the boss's handsome fiancé" every time he walked through the door. This month alone, he had visited your restaurant 8 times—sometimes for a meal, sometimes just to drive you home. And he was relieved that you didn’t seem uncomfortable with his presence. In fact, you appeared to be getting used to it, just as he was.

One afternoon, as Mingyu made his rounds at the hospital, he overheard a group of nurses whispering as he passed by, his name mentioned in their conversation.

"If she's the daughter of the owner, then she must be Doctor Kim’s fiancée, right?"

Mingyu, always the friendly type, chimed in with a grin. "I heard my name."

The nurses looked a bit startled but quickly filled him in. "Doctor Kim, the owner's daughter was brought into the emergency room after being assaulted. Isn't she your fiancée?"

What?

Mingyu’s stomach dropped. Without wasting a second, he grabbed his phone and immediately dialed your number. It rang, but someone else picked up.

"Y/n?" he asked, his voice tight with concern.

"Ah, Mr. Kim? She left her phone behind. She's at the hospital right now. A crazy person caused a scene and she got hurt."

Mingyu didn’t wait for more details. He bolted to the emergency room, his mind racing. When he got there, he hurried to the nurses’ station and asked for your whereabouts.

They directed him to a bed where he finally saw you—sitting up, your arm and head wrapped in bandages, while a doctor carefully tended to your injuries. Relief washed over him, but it was mixed with a surge of worry and anger at what had happened.

He approached you cautiously, his heart still pounding in his chest.

You looked up at Mingyu and smiled, a wave of relief washing over you as soon as you saw him by your side. As the doctor finished tending to your wounds, he greeted Mingyu and explained that you would need to wait for the results of the X-ray, as you had hit your head during the incident.

Once the doctor left, Mingyu turned his full attention to you, his eyes scanning over your injuries with a mixture of concern and relief. Without saying a word, he gently pulled you into an embrace, holding you close as if making sure you were really okay.

"I'm so glad it wasn't worse," he murmured, his voice soft yet filled with emotion. He pulled back slightly to look at you. "What happened?"

You took a deep breath, trying to calm the lingering tension from the day. "There was this drunk guy, making a scene in the restaurant. He was about to hit one of my staff, so I stepped in. I got pushed and my head hit the table. This," you pointed to your bandaged arm, "is from some shattered glass."

Mingyu sighed, his jaw tightening in frustration. "I'm calling the police," he said firmly, standing up as if ready to take action immediately.

But you reached out and grabbed his hand, stopping him. "It's already been reported. My staff handled it."

Mingyu paused, looking down at you, the worry still clear in his eyes. Though the situation had already been dealt with, his protective instincts were hard to turn off. He sat back down next to you, still holding your hand, as if to reassure himself you were safe now.

Your mother, the vice president, appeared in the emergency room, her presence commanding attention as she quickly made her way toward you. You couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, though you could see the worry etched in her expression.

"My heart dropped when I heard my daughter was in the emergency room. Are you okay, honey?" she asked, her voice laced with concern as she reached out to touch your arm.

"I'm fine, Mom," you reassured her with a small smile, trying to ease her worry.

Mingyu stood quietly to the side, observing the exchange with a sense of relief. He was glad to see how close you were with your family, something he hadn’t really gotten to witness much before.

Then your mother turned her attention to Mingyu, who stood respectfully behind her. Her gaze softened as she acknowledged him.

"Thank you, Mingyu. I heard you’ve been taking care of my daughter, especially after she lost her apartment in the fire. And now you're here again," she said, her gratitude clear.

Mingyu bowed slightly, feeling the weight of her words. "It's my pleasure, ma'am," he responded with sincerity.

Your mother waved off the formality with a warm smile. "No need for 'ma'am.' Call me Mother. After all, you're part of the family now—my daughter's fiancé."

The words caught Mingyu a little off guard, though he masked it with a polite nod. He glanced at you, noticing the subtle shift in the room. The formality of your engagement suddenly felt a bit more personal, more real.

After spending some more time talking with your mother and assuring her you were okay, the X-ray results came back clear. The doctor recommended rest and monitoring for the next few days to ensure there were no lingering effects from the head injury. With that, Mingyu insisted on taking you home.

As you left the hospital, Mingyu walked by your side, his hand resting gently on your lower back as he guided you to the car. The day had been exhausting, but knowing that Mingyu was there gave you a strange sense of comfort. It was a feeling that was becoming more familiar lately.

The drive home was quiet, with Mingyu occasionally glancing over to check on you. You stared out the window, your mind still processing everything that had happened, from the fire at your apartment to the incident today. You felt the weight of it all, but at the same time, there was a sense of relief that you weren’t alone in dealing with it.

When Mingyu pulled into his apartment complex, he parked the car and quickly came around to your side to help you out. You couldn’t help but smile at how attentive he was.

As you sat on the couch, trying to unwind from the long day, Mingyu hovered nearby, clearly still worried. You noticed his eyes flicking over to you every few minutes, as if checking to make sure you were really okay.

"You really should rest," he said, standing up and grabbing a blanket from the nearby chair. "I can see you're exhausted."

"I’m fine, Mingyu," you protested softly, though you knew you needed the rest.

He walked over, gently draping the blanket over you, his hands lingering for a moment as he looked down at you. “Just lie down, please. Doctor's orders,” he added with a small, teasing smile, trying to lighten the mood.

You sighed, giving in. The exhaustion was catching up with you, and the couch felt more comfortable with the blanket wrapped around you. As you shifted to lie down, Mingyu crouched down beside you, his expression softening as he watched you settle.

"Better?" he asked, his voice quieter now.

You nodded, pulling the blanket closer. “Yeah, better.”

He lingered for a moment before standing up again, running a hand through his hair. "I think I’ll stay out here with you, just in case you need anything.”

"You don’t have to—" you started to protest, but Mingyu was already grabbing a pillow for himself and setting it on the other end of the couch.

"I know, but I want to," he said simply, lying down beside you, keeping a respectful distance. “We both need to rest anyway. This way, I’ll be right here if anything happens.”

You turned your head slightly to look at him, noticing how comfortable and natural he seemed lying next to you. The tension that had been hanging in the air for weeks felt like it was slowly fading, replaced by an unexpected sense of ease.

"Alright," you murmured, closing your eyes.

Mingyu lay there quietly, the soft rise and fall of his breathing the only sound in the room. He wasn’t saying much, but his presence was steady, reassuring in a way that made you feel safe. After a few moments, he shifted slightly closer, his hand brushing against yours under the blanket. He didn’t say anything, but the gesture spoke volumes.

You didn’t pull away. Instead, you let the quiet warmth between the two of you settle in, realizing that maybe this arrangement between you wasn’t so bad after all.

As you drifted off to sleep, you could feel Mingyu relax beside you. The weight of the day slowly lifted, and with him lying there next to you, it felt easier to rest.

As evening approached, the soft glow of the setting sun filtered through the curtains, casting a warm light over the room. You and Mingyu had both woken up from your nap, feeling more rested but still shaken from the day's events. Mingyu sat up, glancing over at you with a gentle smile.

“Do you need anything?” he asked, his voice still soft but with a hint of concern.

You shook your head, feeling more at ease now. “No, I’m okay. Thanks for staying with me.”

He nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Actually, I should probably check and clean your wound properly. Just to make sure it’s healing well.”

You hesitated for a moment but then nodded, realizing it would be reassuring to have him take care of you. Mingyu moved to get a first aid kit from the bathroom, then returned and sat next to you on the couch. As he began to carefully clean the wound on your head, his concentration was palpable.

The proximity brought an unexpected intimacy. Mingyu’s breath lightly brushed against your skin, and you could feel the warmth of his body close to yours. You glanced up at him, and for the first time, you noticed how dangerously close his face was to yours. The closeness made both of you acutely aware of each other, and suddenly, your cheeks flushed a soft pink.

There was a moment of shared awkwardness where neither of you knew quite what to say. Mingyu’s fingers brushed lightly against your forehead, and a nervous laugh escaped both of you simultaneously. The sound was light and shy, a clear indicator of the tension and the new feelings stirring between you.

Mingyu’s hands paused as he looked at you, his eyes meeting yours with an earnest expression. The silence between you was thick with unspoken emotions. He seemed to be gauging your reaction, his gaze shifting from your eyes to your lips.

Without breaking eye contact, Mingyu leaned in slowly, and you felt a rush of anticipation. For a heartbeat, everything seemed to stand still. Then, ever so gently, he pressed his lips against yours. The kiss was tender and soft, a simple yet profound gesture that spoke volumes.

You responded instinctively, your lips moving against his in a hesitant, exploring dance. The kiss deepened just slightly, filled with a mutual tenderness that neither of you had expected but both seemed to crave. When Mingyu finally pulled back, his expression was a mix of relief and uncertainty.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, a slight blush still visible on his cheeks. “I just... I needed to do that.”

You smiled softly, reaching out to gently touch his face. “It’s okay. I think I needed it too.”

Mingyu’s smile was more relaxed now, a genuine warmth in his eyes. He resumed cleaning the wound with a renewed calm, the previous tension replaced by a new, comforting closeness. As he finished, you both settled back into the couch, the space between you now filled with a quiet, shared understanding.

Mingyu set aside the first aid kit and took a deep breath, his gaze locking with yours. “I... I know this might sound sudden, but I think we need to talk about where we go from here.”

You looked at him with curiosity and a hint of apprehension, waiting for him to continue.

He shifted slightly, his expression earnest. “I know our relationship started out as a business arrangement, and things between us have been... different from what I expected. But after spending time with you, especially today, I’ve realized something.”

You watched him closely, feeling a flutter of anticipation in your chest.

“Mingyu, what is it?” you asked softly.

He took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. “I’ve been thinking a lot about us. About how we’ve been living together, how you’ve been there for me in ways I didn’t expect. And honestly, I’ve come to realize that I really like you. More than just as my fiancée. I want to be with you, not just because of our families or the arrangement, but because I genuinely care about you.”

His words hung in the air, and you could feel the sincerity behind them. Mingyu reached out and took your hand in his, his touch gentle and reassuring.

“I want to start over,” he continued, his voice steady but filled with emotion. “I want us to settle everything that’s happened and move forward. I want to take you out on dates, to spend time with you as someone I truly treasure. Not just because it’s what’s expected, but because it’s what I genuinely want.”

Your heart raced as you listened, his confession a mix of relief and excitement. It was clear that Mingyu wasn’t just fulfilling a duty anymore—he was speaking from the heart.

“I’ve felt the same way,” you admitted, squeezing his hand. “I never expected this arrangement to lead to something real, but it has. I’ve come to care about you a lot, and I’d like to see where this could go, too.”

Mingyu’s face brightened with a hopeful smile. “So, are we starting over then? Taking a chance on something that’s more than just an arrangement?”

You nodded, a smile of your own spreading across your face. “Yes, let’s start over. I’d like that.”

With a sense of newfound clarity and excitement, Mingyu leaned in and kissed you again, this time with a deeper sense of commitment. It was a kiss that promised not just the continuation of an engagement but the beginning of something much more meaningful.

As the evening drew on, you and Mingyu talked more about your hopes and plans for the future, feeling a sense of anticipation and warmth. The journey ahead was still uncertain, but now it was a journey you were both eager to take together, as partners who truly cared for each other.

*

“Because you’re handsome?” Mingyu chuckled softly, clearly amused by your answer. He had asked you why you accepted the engagement in the first place, and he hadn’t expected your candid response.

“Of course, you’re very handsome and attractive,” you said with a playful glint in your eye. “But beyond that, I didn’t have anyone special, and I didn’t want to go against my parents’ kind intentions, especially when it didn’t harm me.”

“You didn’t go against it?” Mingyu asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

You paused to think before shaking your head. “No, not at all. I wasn’t planning to get married. I was just focused on my business.”

Mingyu nodded thoughtfully. “How about now?”

“What do you mean now?” you asked, a hint of confusion in your voice.

“Get married,” he clarified. “Do you want to get married?”

It had been three years since the engagement, and throughout that time, you and Mingyu had maintained your commitment to each other. Even though your parents had pushed for a wedding, you both had insisted on getting to know each other better. It was only after a year of engagement that you truly began to enjoy each other’s presence.

“With you?” you asked innocently, and Mingyu rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

“I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t with me. Do you want to get married to me?”

A scowl formed on your face as you stared at him, your emotions a mix of surprise and curiosity. “Are you proposing?”

Mingyu laughed, his eyes twinkling with affection. “Why? You don’t like it, baby?”

The scowl melted away, replaced by a warm and genuine smile. “I’d love to. I’ve been happy these two years with you. Why not be happy forever?”

Mingyu’s expression softened as he cupped your cheeks gently. “You’re really happy?”

You nodded, your eyes shining with sincerity.

He leaned in, his lips brushing against yours in a tender kiss. “Then I’m happy too.”

In that moment, it felt as if everything had come full circle. The uncertainty of the past had given way to a future filled with promise, and both of you were ready to embrace it together.

[midnightstar-kpopsmut]

Chapter I, Coming to Seoul

He had come to South Korea on a business trip, this was one of his days off to explore the city, he was trying not to rush it. As a first stop on his walk he had decided to go look at the streets of Gangnam, a district that had been popularized more than ten years ago by the song Gangnam Style, an instant global hit that mixed hints of sex with promises of something big yet to come. Walking in the Apgujeong neighborhood, one of the busiest and party oriented sections of Gangnam, he could often feel girls eyes stopping on him. He was, luckily enough, a handsome boy. A clear and cut American look, which is not surprising since he came from California, short brown hair, brown eyes, a wide white t-shirt that made him look fresh. Now at the end of his twenties, you can imagine something like « young but experienced »... He was just hot. But not too hot, and surely not arrogant. Anyway now he was walking so let’s keep going.

Despite the attentions received his mind was elsewhere. It could have been him being used to be looked at, but it was probably just the heat. Seoul had entered spring a few weeks ago, announced by all those pretty flowers blossoming, and it was now starting to gradually heat up, pointing to a scorching summer. He had imagined to walk until sunset, but this was unbearable. Too hot. He needed something to drink and a place to sit. He started looking at the bar signs. This was a rich neighborhood, so they were all quite pretty, and it already soothed his mind. One in particular grabbed his attention, a blue neon sign with pink accents displaying a bold english name: - Midnight Star. The center of the front door was decorated by a round logo, a full pale blue moon with a pair of lips lasciviously placed in the middle of it. Our hero couldn’t stop himself from thinking that a moon isn’t a star, that they should have used some kind of stylized five points star with a tail, instead. Despite these criticism, which were part of his job after all, he found the name intriguing so decided to enter. If the occasion arose he could have discussed the logo with the manager of the place, but without being too arrogant, since he was indeed not arrogant. Inside the Midnight Star the atmosphere was pleasant. Not many costumers at this hour, but the fresh breeze coming from the air conditioners was all that mattered. The spacious main room was lit by crystal chandlers and massive leather chair were placed all around tables. He aimed for one at the back and sit down. After his drink arrived, now more in control of his body temperature, he started looking at the costumers. One couple had been sitting at the bar since before his arrival. He couldn’t stop looking. He was not in a relationship himself, he had been before but they often ended over lack of interest, no matter from which side. But still he found them sweet, especially the girl, who was letting her head hang in front of the guy as if saying “do with me what you please”.

Emerging from the toilets, or maybe from one of the back rooms, a guy with a round face and a pleasant smile noticed the American sitting at the table. This new guy was Korean, at least visually speaking, and was on his forties. The more he looked upon the American drinking his drink and looking at the couple, the more he smiled. The Korean regained his composure and approached the table. - Hello, said the Korean, can I sit here with you? I mean, don’t you mind? - Sure, answered the American.” Making a gesture to give him space to his side. The Korean was so happy, he immediately sit and said: - They are cute. I’ve never seen them around here. I hope they will come back more. - Do you come here often, asked the American, this must be your table. - No, no, this is a nice bar but I am all over the place, I just didn’t want to sit alone. What’s your name?” The American presented himself, stating his name and job, while the Korean nodded and listened. He then asked the same question to the Korean. - I am... Jimmy, the Korean answered, nice to meet you” Jimmy didn’t include his job. Which the American found odd, but he had probably just forgot. Instead he asked: - Jimmy? Is Jimmy... Korean?” - Korean is what you want it to be, answered Jimmy, I like the sound of this name, my friends always call me Jimmy.” - I hope I can be your friend, then, added the young American.” Upon hearing this Jimmy smiled even more and ordered his own drink with one hand, while the other patted his new friend on his back.

Waiting for the drink Jimmy asked: - You are handsome...” but was interrupted by the handsome American which said – Thank you, I am normal.” This time Jimmy really asked – No, really, you are handsome. You are tall, and your jaw, is... so sharp. So what is stopping you, from being like them? I mean like him? - Well, first of all, I am not Korean. - I mean, having a beautiful girl like her” said Jimmy, who wasn’t easy to trick. He added: - You said to me you are single, don’t you... like girls?” Jimmy faked distress and put some space between themselves. The American answered: - Of course I like girls!” Jimmy patted his back again and said in Korean: - Good, good! I am sorry, do you know a bit of Korean? - Not really. - It means “good”, said Jimmy. The American: - But I could need it for my job, depending if we decide to move forward in Seoul.” He took a sip of his drink – Maybe we can talk more, in Korean?” Jimmy looked dubious: - I like speaking in english, what I was saying is, you could find a girl easily here, and she could teach you Korean, cook, and do many nice things for you. I would love to meet her.

The American really considered the question, even though he answered briefly at first: - I am not looking for a girlfriend, here in Korea.

- Why not? Asked Jimmy back.

The fruit of the American thoughts then shined: - I feel like my life has been a constant state of looking for something, something that would fill my solitude maybe, a strong dream, or a great partner. And trust me I tried, I am not shy, I approached many women that I liked...”

- Girls? Interrupted him the Korean. - Women, girls, you understand? - Oh yes, yes, keep going.

- Point is all of that never gave me what I was looking for, now I don’t want to look for anything. I want to take things as they come, I feel like all the relationship I had I was forcing myself, because I felt like that was the good thing to do, but there is a difference among good effort and bad expectations.

Jimmy, the Korean guy, looked a bit sleepy, but still managed to say: - That is... Important. I understand you better now. But do you like... Korean girls? Be honest.

- Yes, answered the American, clearly yes. I was the one that volunteer to come for this trip. This is my first time in Seoul, and I really like what I am seeing so far. I just wish to find a bit more than what my life has been until now. Some new experience, I guess.

Jimmy had a brilliance on his eyes, he asked: - Do you like K-pop?

- I’ve listened to some songs, it’s not bad.” Jimmy was pushing him to say more with his eyes: - Yes, yes, I like it.

- What about the girls of K-pop? Do you like them?

- Sure, I like them.

Jimmy had been playing with his phone for a while. - Can I, I mean do you, want to see... something?

- Of course, answered the American, where?

- Just here, on my phone.

Jimmy took the time to browse through his phone, shielding it from the young American eyes. He then got something ready and asked: -Ready?

- Ready.

Jimmy had placed the phone in front of them, near the table, with its back visible. He flipped it to display a picture. A girl with enormous black hair, could have been a wig, eyes closed, was photographed from top down inside of what could have been an apartment. The American immediately recognized her. She was Karina from Aespa, a top of the top star from the contemporary K-pop world. He had partially lied, he actually knew K-pop more than he liked to admit. Not that it mattered that much, since Karina’s face was impossible to forget. Exceptionally gorgeous, small, and delicate. But nothing was delicate about her expression in this particular photo. The face of Karina, which fans had photographed countless times, was covered in thick splashes of sparkling cum.

Jimmy left the picture up only for a couple of seconds, but it was enough. After he pulled his phone away nobody spoke for a few seconds.

- Is she...? Started the American. -Yes, Karina. Answered Jimmy. - Was it you? - No. - Then, how did you...

Jimmy smiled: - I can tell you more, but... Maybe you should pay me something? I have to trust you with this. Not that anybody would believe you anyway.

The American wasn’t even sure that the photo was real, but it surely looked like it. - How much?

- Mmmhh, fifty?

That’s cheap, he thought: - All right, you got it.” He grabbed his wallet: - What is this? I thought idols were not even allowed to date.

- You should order another round of drinks first, this could become a bit... hot.

The drinks arrived, the American payed, and then Jimmy started to talk.

[matchaelette]

GIF from pinterest

when exhausted jungkook is equal to a cranky jungkook but you’re just a simple girl

summary: idol!jk and oc!ash, established relationship, both ash and jungkook are working very hard and they’re exhausted to the point where it feels like they might drop dead soon. kook gets frustrated because ash won’t pay him enough attention but soon she ends up pampering his majesty’s ass anyways. also, there’s a backdrop on ash’s life; she is a musician and a part of iu’s band.

genre: pure fluff.

warning: none. go crazy children

word count: 4.5k

notes: I know I know, like, a part of iu’s band? isn’t that a bit too much? nah it’s not. I have enough reality chasing me irl, let me have my fun here. also, I hope ya’ll are doing okay. a new year comes with a lot of expectations and responsibilities so don’t be too hard on yourselves <3 happy 2024 peeps :D

“what. do you want. jeon jungkook.”

“ooh she used the full name, have I been a bad boy?”, the words tumble down your boyfriend’s lips with a dramatic flare, followed by a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, unfazed by the sheer force of your previous sentence, “what do you mean what do I want? attention and affection, of course.”

not that you’re counting, but what you assume to be the nineteenth sigh tonight, leaves your lips. your eyelids were so heavy that you doubted if even a fire in the building could wake you up. exhaustion tore at your limbs and you didn’t have the power to lift your eyelids to shoot a glare at your golden retriever boyfriend, let alone muster enough energy to face him and provide him... what did he say again? attention and affection.

you’ve been tirelessly working throughout the week, barely having time to eat or sleep. almost every day you’re coming back home at four in the morning, when jungkook is sound asleep, and leaving again in three hours, when he is yet to wake up. it’s the first time in quite a few days that you came home at a reasonable hour and were tangled in the bed with a very much awake jungkook. but as much as you want to entertain him, your body does not seem willing to cooperate.

you’re a musician, and boy when you pursued a music career, you never thought it could ever make you tired. music has been your love and your life since you could remember and a very fundamental part of your life. whether it was humming random strings of sounds while having your diaper changed as a baby (your parents’ word) or singing meaningless lyrics to any tune you heard when you started talking (again, your parents’ word), your love for music has always just grown. you’re now a full-blown musician, having the privilege to work with all the a-rated musicians of the world. you are pretty much a regular member of iu’s band— iu being the living legend of korea and the forever-long crush of jungkook’s life— but you still worked with other artists from time to time, sometimes as a producer, sometimes as a composer.

throughout your high school years, you developed a reputation as the person who would randomly start humming during examinations, writing lyrics on her exam papers, and always playing instruments or plainly singing in every single school function. and if that wasn’t a wake-up call, getting scouted as a musician through your personal instagram was certainly one. it happened right during the end of high school when you were preparing for uni, and the single event changed everything in your life. you were scouted by an agency called bighit, and they convinced you to audition, intriguing you enough to skip school one day and show up in a rusty building in the gangnam district of seoul with a guitar hanging on your shoulder. impressed by your skills, they signed you up as a trainee.

it was one of the best things that happened in your life.

ironically, it was also where you met your boyfriend for the first time.

saying your parents weren’t happy when you decided to completely backtrack from uni and focus solely on music would be an understatement. you were always an exceptional student— part of the reason your teachers would always overlook you humming in class or using your projects as a canvas for your musical colors— and were supposed to major in business studies as your parents’ wishes. while it was never something you hated— in fact, you always thought that you’d rather be a super successful businesswoman if you couldn’t be a musician— but having your first choice being handed to you on a silver platter, you'd be a fool not to take it. your parents were enraged, they cut you off from the family entirely, but you were nothing if not stubborn. determined to make it, alone if you have to, you've worked your ass off for all these years to get into the position you’re in now, a place where your name is gold-plated in the music industry.

but success was never truly your goal. your goal was to simply stay immersed in a world of music and you can’t help but take pride of how far all alone. but working like your life depended on it became sort of a habit, sometimes to the point where a singular musical note could make you groan. you don’t sing as much as you used to back in high school, instead, you use up all your time to compose music and play the guitars for iu.

said idol is supposed to be having a comeback very soon, somewhere your boyfriend’s bandmate was also going to star— kim taehyung— and so work has been extra draining lately, with everyone trying to master every single detail and point.

“kook, stoooop”, you whine, burying your face in the soft pillow, waterfalls of hair obscuring your vision as you make a feeble attempt to wriggle out of jungkook’s grasp. but he is relentless. he rolls his eyes and manhandles you back into his arms, causing you to let out a small yelp as your back presses against his chest.

jungkook, himself, was tired as hell. while you were coming back at four in the morning, he was coming back at three, working equally hard as you. jungkook is always driven by his passions and he never hesitates to work hard for it, but despite that fact, this week has been particularly challenging, especially with the pressure of working on his own solo album. the lack of food and sleep was almost getting to him, leaving him irritable to the point where he almost snapped at the choreographer. although he apologized quickly, he noticed that he was in the mood where people pick up fights for no reason. he decided to just come back home and get some rest before something else could provoke him, but when he discovered you were at home as well, he couldn’t help but get clingy. after all, you guys haven’t properly talked for weeks.

and he missed you.

“c’mon, I can’t even see your face”, jungkook props himself up on his elbow, his breath gently fanning your face.

“we’ve already established the fact i’m pretty. let me sleep, kook.”

“aren’t pretty faces meant to be looked at?”

jungkook furrows his brows when he gets no answer from you. he blinks furiously to keep his own exhaustion at bay and studies your face to see if you’ve already drifted off to sleep. your eyes are closed, and he can feel the steady rhythm of your heart inside the hoodie of his that you’re wearing. he can also sense you’re not asleep though. not yet anyway.

“babeee”, jungkook lets out a high-pitched whimper and immediately yelps when you elbow him in the ribs but he isn’t sure which one strikes a nerve, the elbow or the words that follow.

“dude, would you please let me sleep? I am tired as fuck and I have to wake up early”, you grit your teeth in clear annoyance, not even bothering to open your eyes, “unlike some people”

jungkook feels a twinge of guilt, but he can also feel a surge of a new emotion. anger? before he can fully comprehend what is going on, inconsiderate words escape his mouth.

“so am I. but you don't see me complaining all the time.”

your eyes fly open. before you can fully discern their meaning of jungkook’s words, he moves away from you, retreating completely to his side of the bed and putting as much space between your bodies as possible. you use your last fragments of remaining energy to prop yourself up into a half-seated position to face him, but jungkook has already turned his back on you.

“what is that supposed to mean?”

silence.

“jungkook, what the hell was that supposed to mean?”

“go to sleep, okay?”, his quiet voice makes you falter and you immediately understand that he is angry. though for what, you don’t quite understand.

“jungkook, i’m sleepy, okay? and—”

“then sleep! no one’s stopping you now.”

“but you’re mad at me for being tired! how is that fair? i’ve been working like crazy—”

“geez, sorry for being unfair, ash”, sarcasm drips from jungkook’s voice and you don’t like that in the slightest, “I also have to wake up early, earlier than you in fact, so please let me sleep.”

an uncomfortable silence follows his sentence.

“alright”, you sigh and drop it after staring at his back for a few seconds. you don’t want to get into an argument now, not when both of you are on the verge of collapsing, prone to say things you don’t mean at all. you’d rather sleep and deal with it in the morning when both of you are well rested and not running on two hours of sleep and a shit ton of caffeine.

it’s not always you get to see this side of jungkook. anyone who knows him knows that the boy is crafted from starry skies and honeyed galaxies alone, always smiling a bit too easily and lighting everyone around him as bright as the evening star.

however, every time you see a crack at his easy, carefree demeanor, you can’t help but feel a sense of helplessness within. jungkook doesn’t get irritated often and certainly not easily, but when he does, his behavior takes a different turn. he doesn’t shout or scream or take his anger out on inanimate objects as you tend to do. instead, he completely shuts himself out of the world. every curt answer feels like a form of silent treatment, every word spoken laces itself with sarcasm, always hitting where it hurts the most. even though he never takes his anger out on you, you don’t like seeing him like this.

if you knew he would react like this, you would have given a little more effort to remain awake in his company. jungkook may be childish but he rarely behaves like this. and you’re just a simple girl, hopelessly in love with the boy who has his back turned to you.

“goodnight”, you draw closer to him and drape an arm around his waist hesitantly. when he doesn’t stir or reply, a dejected sigh escapes your lips. nonetheless, you tenderly wrap the blanket around him and nestle your face at the nape of his neck, inhaling the familiar scent of fresh linen and mint.

despite the fatigue draping your limbs, despite jungkook starting to softly snore within minutes, it takes you an entire hour to fall asleep.

you let out yet another groan as memories from last night come flooding back into your mind. it has been like that all day, the memories coming and going as they pleased, striking you with a sense of disappointment every time they do. jungkook was already gone when you woke up in the morning and despite knowing he had an early schedule, you couldn't help but feel downhearted.

you immediately checked your phone back then, hoping to find a message from him but much to your disappointment, there was none. both you and jungkook had quite hectic schedules, but it became an unspoken agreement in the house to update each other about your days ever since you moved in together. jungkook would always leave little neon post-its on the fridge with messages— reminder to eat something before you get coffee!!! and call me after you wake up, let’s get lunch together??? — whenever he left the house before you were up and vice versa. soon, the post-its turned into text messages because it was always easier in the rush of the mornings. jungkook would always wake up to texts from you— before you get mad, I did kiss you before leaving but you wouldn’t budge— and he would instantly call you to check if your schedules aligned and if he could pick you up after work.

but having no text from jungkook this morning could mean only one thing.

he is still mad.

despite being agitated because of your lack of basic human activities, you pushed aside those emotions and called him immediately. you got more worried when jungkook didn’t pick the phone up because you knew he wasn’t one to hold petty grudges. you reluctantly dragged yourself out of bed then, brushing and getting ready to face the day. now that you’ve had gained a few hours of rest, you realized how tired jungkook looked last night. you could almost hear the constant grumbles from his stomach that pointed out how hungry he was. But he kept saying that he didn’t have the energy to eat. you could see the swollen eyelids and the purple hue outlining it more clearly, how he walked unsteadily as if he was drunk.

jungkook called you back while you were on your way to work. you weren’t really surprised but it still dissipated some of your nerves. he explained that his phone was on silent and he didn’t see your call but his voice still sounded distant and his responses were short. he also mentioned that he might not come home tonight, hoping to squeeze in some extra practice hours.

he didn’t call you once for the rest of the day.

very un-jungkook of him.

and you were too busy to call him.

it is nearly midnight now. you find yourself inside your car, driving through the dimly lit streets of seoul. despite the hour, the city is bustling, alive with people and emotions. driving through the city always puts you at ease; you hated crowds but you loved observing people, the multitudes of emotions they go through every moment, making every one so much different than another but still intricately woven within love and life.

after the long day, you yearned for the warmth and comfort of your bed, considering skipping the shower part because that’s how drained you were. you didn’t eat anything all day, something that has become a routine now, save for the apple you grabbed while leaving the house in the morning. minus the seven-something cups of coffee.

yet you find yourself driving in the direction of the hybe studios.

you’re almost near the building when a sudden realization makes you click your tongue in annoyance. should have gotten some flowers. why did I not think of that before?

you park your car and make your way inside the extravagant building. the staff knew you well by now, both from your days as a trainee and your frequent visits to your boyfriend and his bandmates. you ascend to the top floor of the establishment, going straight toward one of the empty practice rooms jungkook loves to use whenever he is rehearsing on his own.

pushing the door open, you enter the room. the space is slightly dark, only illuminated with neon purple lights, ridiculously confirming your boyfriend’s presence to you. call it jungkook being jungkook, but your boyfriend hates harsh lights. you don’t doubt that he would happily reside in the darkness for the rest of his life if he was asked to.

you spot jungkook in the farthest corner of the room— hybe practice rooms are scarily huge— a blur of black sweats and bobbing hair, vigorously throwing hooks and uppercuts at the gray punching bag hanging in front of him. even from a distance you can see that he is completely absorbed in his own world, a side of him that you have come to know well over the years. this jungkook is full of energy and passion. this jungkook is the golden maknae of bts, putting his heart and soul into whatever he was working on, squeezing every last drop of capability, and surpassing every single one of his limits every minute. this is the boy who keeps on giving birth to beauty, elegance, and unparalleled talent.

you didn’t like to disrupt jungkook’s concentration when he was working so you decide to sit silently until he noticed your himself. however, concern washes over you when you see the lack of gloves in his hand. instead, his hands are wrapped with gauze and tape as he mercilessly throws jabs at the punching bag, and you can notice the blood seeping through the rips of the cloth around his knuckles.

“are you trying to piss me off on purpose?”, you hiss softly, walking towards him and putting your palm on his shoulder so as not to scare him. but jungkook yelps in shock anyways, bambi eyes wide and startled like a deer caught in front of headlights.

“ash?”

“why are you not wearing gloves?”, you take his hands into your own, flinching when you get a good look at it. his knuckles were visible through the torn cloth, red and angry, blood seeping through the gashes on his skin.

“sorry—”, jungkook throws you a sheepish glance, recovering from the initial shock, “—when did you come here? wait, why are you here?”

“to kick your ass”, you say, exasperated, “seriously jungkook, how hard is it to wear a glove? you just take the damn thing and squeeze your hand insi—”

“I did! but then it tore somehow”

you scowled.

“it’s true! look! I threw it on the ground when it ripped. it’s still there!”

“then don’t punch so hard!”

“but I have to train!”, jungkook pouted, hoping his cute facial expression would calm you down. you scowled more.

you huff, releasing his hands and making your way toward the line of closets in the back of the room. it’s where the first aid kits are usually kept. you know every practice room in the entire building has one or two of these because this is where most of the accidents happens. you can sense jungkook’s gaze following you but he remains mute.

getting what you need, you take a seat on the furnished floor and pat it, urging jungkook to do the same. he falls silent once again, any surprise from your unexpected arrival which urged him to talk normally wore off and the tension was back.

jungkook complies and sits down in front of you. he takes a good few seconds to stare at your outstretched palms before sighing in defeat and offering you his hands when he notices your enraged glare. He doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of your rage. and doesn’t matter he says, he would be lying if he said his hands didn’t throb from the pain.

you carefully remove the white gauges from his hands, wincing when more blood oozes out. looking at red cuts and bruises across his skin almost physically pains you, but jungkook stays completely silent, eyes drinking you in. he recalls being mad at you but he can’t quite recall the reason. it’s not because he can't remember now, especially with you here, tending to his wounds in such a delicate manner that you fear you would hurt him. as if something as gentle as your touch could ever cause him harm. not because you look like you were put on this earth to solely heal his hands. and not because you showed up here unannounced. because he genuinely can’t remember what made him so mad at you last night, literally out of thin air, and now he feels embarrassed at his own immaturity.

he just couldn’t figure out how to approach you after being a total jerk.

weird how humans tend to hurt the ones they love the most, almost always for no particular reason at all.

you finish your work wordlessly, putting band-aids around his knuckles and ointment on the cuts peppering his fingers. letting his hands fall onto his lap, you gather the bloodied materials from the floor and rise up to throw them in the waste paper box. jungkook follows your suit, standing up cluelessly.

“you’re gonna start throwing punches again?”

“hmm? uh no— I think I will practice the choreographies now”

“okay”, you sigh.

jungkook looks like hell, you realize. his messy hair is messier than usual, sticking out wildly at all angles, eyes droopy and rimmed with circles darker than you remember seeing last night. sweat glistened on his hunched figure tired from the physical exertion, soaking his sweatshirt.

you know you look just as worn out as him. you can feel it by the way he looks at you.

“uh so— are you gonna drive ho—”

“come with me.”

jungkook’s eyes widen as you wrap your arms around his torso, hiding your head on his chest. while a sweaty jungkook usually makes you giggle out a gross and maneuver far away, you hug him with gentle ardor, more so than usual.

you just want him to come home tonight.

“ash, sweetheart, i’m sweating”, jungkook tries to pry himself away from you but you just hold him tighter.

“don’t care. please come home.”

jungkook goes limp in your clutch for a few seconds before he’s softly hugging you back. of course, he would go home if you wanted him to, you didn’t need to ask him twice. who the heck is he to deny you? always a prisoner to your wishes, always prisoner to your love, and gladly so. how could he not? he rests his chin on your head and sways your body from side to side in a rhythm.

“okay”

“really?”

“really.”

the drive back home was short.

you drove, as jungkook was all out of it. he didn’t have the physical and mental coordination to walk down the building to the car, how the boy was gonna rehearse overnight, you had no idea.

“whoops, babe how were you gonna dance?” you supported his weight leaning down on you while you were walking, steading yourself before both of you fell on the ground, one arm wrapped around his torso, his figure hunched and head resting on your neck.

“I can walk. I am just choosing not to since you’re here”, he flashed you a grin with his eyes closed.

after arriving home, jungkook went straight to the shower and for a few seconds, you contemplated joining him. however, recalling how jungkook’s grumbling tummy throughout the whole ride, made you change your decision. he mentioned that he didn’t eat anything fulfilling all day. that is why you told him to freshen up and made a beeline towards the kitchen to make some instant ramen, not very healthy but quick and easy, and always gratifying.

so here you are now, serving ramen into two bowls with the leftover kimchi you guys had in the fridge. sleepiness makes your eyelids droop and you feel like prying them open with scotch tapes.

like tom, you snort to yourself, from tom and jerry.

man, you loved that cartoon during your childhood.

after all these years, you still don’t know if you’re team tom or team jerry.

hearing a faint clicking sound, you turn around and see jungkook approaching you, shirtless and clad in sweatpants. the shower had done marvels because he looks as attractive as he always does, with the water dripping down his damp hair onto the well-defined muscles in his chest. feeling a blush creep in, you quickly avert your eyes.

both of you are tired enough without resorting to er— any other activities for the night.

“what are you doing in the kitchen?” jungkook stares at you with confused doe eyes.

“putting food on the table like the dutiful girlfriend I am.”

“pretty sure that’s wife material”, jungkook whispers as he works his way into your arms, tugging your waist flushed with his.

“kook, you need to dry your hair properly! you’ll catch a cold”, you scold him softly, feeling greasy when you see him so fresh and glowy. you card a hand through his locks, feeling it to be more sopping than it seemed. you break free from his grasp to grab a towel from the washroom, ignoring the loud protests.

“sit”, you command, gesturing for jungkook to sit on one of the stools lining the kitchen island. when he complies, you gently massage his head with the towel, squeezing every last drop of remaining water from his hair. jungkook prefers to air dry his hair when he is at home, allowing it to get some rest from all the heat and styling he has to do on a regular basis, but he also religiously manages to forget at least soaking the water out.

he grabs you closer by pulling your waist. you stand between his thighs and continue massaging his scalp while he muffles his face on your chest, desperately seeking your warmth and comfort. a smile stretches across your face watching jungkook moan in satisfaction.

“how are the hands?”

“mmm good. need to put more band-aids”, his voice comes out hoarse being squished in your chest, “you didn’t need to cook. I know you are tired.”

“but i’m hungry too”

“oh. let’s eat then! it smells so fucking good!”

and jungkook’s sudden burst of enthusiasm prompts a hearty laugh from you, endeared to your core, just as you always find yourself enamored by his every action.

“what. do you want. jeon jungkook.”

jungkook’s soft laughter echoes inside the room in response to the aggression in your tone. he pulls you closer to himself, wrapping an arm tightly around your torso once your back is secured against his chest. after finishing your meal, jungkook volunteered to clean the dishes while we waited for you to take a shower. now that both of you are clean and full, you find yourselves tangled together in bed once again; your usual routine, you trying to sleep and jungkook trying to keep you awake.

“I want you to eat well. I want you to sleep well. you. I want you. always you”, he presses his face in your hair, taking in the aroma of wood and wild berries.

“and I am sorry”, he adds quietly.

you stir when you hear his words, turning around in his hold to face him. you know what he is apologizing for.

“well, you should be.”

“I really am.”

“i'm kidding, kook. you don’t need to be sorry. you were tired and—”

“but see, that’s the thing! every time I tell you that i’m tired and just want to sleep, you make damn sure I get some actual rest but I—”, he gestures at himself, looking at you with utmost concentration, “start acting like a spoiled child when I don’t get absolutely one hundred percent of your attention.”

“can't really disagree with that.”

“hey!”

“your words, not mine!”, you let out a squeal as jungkook tries to tickle you, holding him tighter in an attempt to make him stop, “love, that’s a part of you. and I adore that. that you feel comfortable enough to get mad at me for nothing. I don’t want you all smiley and cheery, without the bad things. I love you. and I want you as... you.”

“however annoying you may be”, you add as an afterthought.

jungkook scrunches his nose, “I am pretty annoying from time to time, aren’t I?”

“oh boy, you have no idea.”

“wow. am I imagining things or does everyone feel like you’re in a mood to constantly attack me tonight?”, he hugs you tighter if possible, shrugging, “my fault for loving you so much, I guess.”

“well, I am very lovable.”

“...oh boy, you have no idea.”

[s3thwrit3sstuff]

❝ you make me feel like I am clean again ❞

yandere!mob leaders x gn!reader | how you met | not proofread

warnings: graphic description of violence, guns, power imbalance (r! is part of the gang but they are a low-ranking member), yandere tendencies, mentions of drug dealings, very brief mention of r! getting felt up by someone in JH's section

masterlist ;

authors note: doing some oc writing feels lowkey daunting but I hope you guys enjoy it, I wasn't exactly sure how to format this aaaa but! I hope it isn't too confusing. I wanted to go more into depth but I suppose this serves as an introductory post to them??? IDK, I've never written this kinda thing before. * here is the better-quality post of the illustration * song on repeat: Love Song by Mariee Sioux

Kim Seo-Yun —

Seo-Yun would be unimpressed the first time she laid her eyes on you. It wouldn't be due to your looks, mannerisms, voice; she's just been hardwired that way.

Wants and needs are hard to convey when you're running one of the most dangerous businesses one could run. Drugs, gambling, skin, weapons — Seo-Yun's a busy woman.

Over time, however, she'll let her gaze linger on you.

Have you always looked so good in that colour? It really does bring out the shine in your eyes, and the suppleness of your lips. Seo-Yun's gaze is intimidating but seeing you squirm is all a part of your charm.

That's right. You're only dressing and acting this way to grab her attention, correct? Why else would she find it so hard to rip her sights from you?

Honestly, she shouldn't be making such frequent trips to the lower ring of her gang. This warehouse was meant to weed out the weakest of her guard dogs. It reeked of sweat and blood and cigarettes and cheap booze. The constant sounds of wrapped knuckles beating down on sandbags and bodies falling on thin mats gave her a headache.

Yet. She stands here on the second floor, gazing down at the sweaty men, a handful of women, and most importantly; you.

Favoritism comes slower than her interests. Seo-Yun will shove her feelings down until it bursts like a fucking volcano. All of a sudden, it's as if she's a hound that's caught the scent of their kill.

"What?" The man before you is wearing an expensive suit, luxury adorning him from the shimmering cuffs to the stitching that holds it together. "Madam Kim is requesting your transfer," he says curtly.

The transfer promotes you from doing grunt work near a polluted harbor to one of Seoul's most expensive penthouses in Gangnam.

It's jarring. She does not give you time to adjust. One moment you're setting down your duffel bag of things and the next you're in the back of a luxury car driving through Seoul's wealthiest district.

The guards (who are double your size and proudly show off their facial scars) push you toward the door of a seamstress. The very air you breathe smells like money.

When you see Seo-Yun, your eyes widen and you kneel to bow.

She muffles her amusement with a slow drag of her cigarette.

"They're very pretty, Madam Seo-Yun," a kindly old lady says from behind her. Her hands were bony and delicate, and the pin cushion she wore around her wrist looked heavy. Everything about her seemed deliberate and put together.

Despite that, despite the glamorous patterns she had on her and the jewelry hanging from her ears; Seo-Yun called for eyes on her with no more than a simple wave of her hand, flicking the ashes away from the cigarette.

"Aren't they? Such a gem."

Seo-Yun orders you to be a part of her security team. Dresses you in custom-made suits to blend in with the rest of the capable men and women. She gives you new weapons and arranges for you to have an apartment near hers. New fake IDs in store, local beat cops turning their gaze away as you smoke in alleyways with an obvious bulk under your jacket.

A gem she called you. And like a gem, she cannot keep her eyes off you.

Stares at you as if you were put on display. Relishes in the way you keep your gaze down, squaring your shoulders, straightening your posture — squirming under her gaze.

"Come inside," you freeze at her words. The other security guards stand stoically in the private entryway of her penthouse and she stands on the threshold of that obscenely large and heavy door.

"Madam?" you squeak out. She narrows her upturned eyes, like a goddess with no mood to be asked twice.

This is a nightly occurrence. It becomes a routine.

She invites you into her home, leaving the door open for you to close on your way in. She sits on the tufted leather sofa, and her grin is expectant.

You kneel. Then, you bring your palms to the floor and crawl towards her. Only stopping when your chin is on her knee and you bring your eyes to meet hers.

"Sweet thing," she'll coo. Her palm is soft and cared for, but there is the slightest bit of callousness here and there. That roughness that comes with holding a gun to someone's head.

The first time she had told you to kneel, you'd been so confused you stood there like a statue. Seo-Yun gives you a minute to let it click, and she tilts her head as you jerkily kneel on her expensive floors.

"Crawl to me."

"Sweet darling," she continues. Your eyes flutter close as she traces your cheekbones with her thumb. "So good for me, so obedient, aren't you?"

How could you not be?

In the weeks you'd been with her, your life took such a drastic turn. Well-fed, well-cared for, and pampered in little but big ways. You were the runt of the litter, a stray, she told you.

She had seen you, she said. She had seen your potential, your drive, your passion.

"I was...I just, I just needed the money, Madam," you sheepishly admit that first night, balancing your chin on her knee.

Who would choose to become the grunt of a dangerous gang? Miniscule soldiers with dreams of dying a movie-worthy death, of brotherly bonds between hardened criminals — Please. You were at the end of your rope, this was the only option before the noose.

"Money is life," Seo-Yun strokes over your cheeks. "You fought to live, climbed through the muddy filth of the pier, and here you are. In my lap."

"I see you, (Y/N)."

"Are you tired?" the shake of your head earns a firm squeeze on your jaw. Your eyes flutter open so she grins sweetly.

"Bathe with me." She lifts your chin and you stand, taking her into your arms as she tugs on the shoulder gun strap you wore, leading you along like a leash. A security guard's job does not include such tasks. You're aware. But how could you say no to the most powerful woman in Seoul?

Your relationship starts off with a clear dynamic. You belong to Seo-Yun, no ifs or buts. No matter how dubious your feelings towards her are, you cannot deny there is such a lovely prospect of being a powerful person's beloved.

Or gem. Or pet. Or...whatever it is Seo-Yun considers you as.

All you know is you are hers and she expects nothing but loyalty and excellence from you. She dresses you in the best, feeds you the best foods, your mattress is hers and therefore it is fit for a Queen.

How spoiled are you, (Y/N)?

So spoiled you do not even realise the pretty cage she's put around you. Don't realise that those pearly white gates are her own teeth as she closes her jaws; too distracted by the gifts, the love, she showers you in.

Exactly how she wants you to be. Pliant, demure, and hers.

So what if your old friends suddenly never contact you again? Or your financial dependence has suddenly been transferred to her? If you never hold a gun in your hands ever again.

"Crawl to me, baby."

And you do. And she grins as she holds your face.

"Good pet."

Kim Jeong-Hyun —

Jeong-Hyun is a peculiar man. Some would argue he's barely a man; others would chime that he's barely human. The sight of the deep scars on his body; the mutilated side of his face. His left ear was chewed off, his left eye cloudy, and a good chunk of his lips ripped off to reveal gums and teeth.

Even if he wasn't a monster; he looked it. That was enough to set people on edge. Seemingly unaware of how he plants the fear of God within people, Jeong-Hyun stares at everyone with a dark gaze that could make the devil shiver.

Unlike his older sister, who hides her emotions until they spill over the edge, he makes his interest known from the beginning.

His good eye, lighter than any brown you've ever seen; a molten hazel that flashes gold in sunlight, devours you as he stands before you.

Although Madam Seo-Yun attends the funerals of her fallen men, she does not linger for the drinking and eating. Jeong-Hyun does.

You'd excused yourself from your circle, the drinks making your body warm enough to endure the cold night air as you light up a cigarette.

The clicking of nails on the brick ground forces you to look at the whimpering dog. Mangy, fur matted, and with its stubby legs like rubber as it paws at your shoe. It was someone's pet, left on the streets. Judging from the overgrown fur, it's been a while since someone's given it any kindness.

Jeong-Hyun had just walked out for a breather (he enjoys spending time with his men, but the noises and the scent of booze could get overwhelming), a bag of meat in hand as he set his sights on feeding the local strays.

But then he sees you crouched by an alleyway, pouring some cheap kibble you bought from a nearby convenience store onto some newspaper. Jeong-Hyun's footsteps are ghostlike, you don't even notice he's there until you feel his breath whisper along your ear and when you spin he's statue-like.

"B — Boss!" He's not the boss — he's just her brother. He still outranked you (by a whole league) so, he doesn't correct you as you bow your head so far down it's between your knees.

He looks silly crouched down in his two-piece suit. You're dressed formally, though the two of you were in different financial brackets. Jeong-Hyun does not speak. The pinkish scar that runs across his neck peeks from the collar of his button-up. It has your toes curling just imagining what had caused it.

He nudges the plastic bag your way, and you cautiously take it from him. To your surprise, he squishes his eyes into crescent moons, and despite his scarred cheek lifting from behind the black surgical mask he wore he looked so...innocent.

The rounded shape of his eyes, the deep crease of his eyelid, and his brows - it all makes him look boyish.

You turn your attention to the strips of expensive beef he had gotten, feeding the poor puppy in silence.

Jeong-Hyun's interest begins with him accompanying your crew as you were tasked to make a show of a traitor. He shoves the blade your way, hilt tilted your way as he connects his gaze with you.

The leader of your crew informs him you are new. He does not even pretend to hear him.

You took the blade, the forged metal heavier than you expected it to be but not impossibly so. It seemed as though it was his favorite, a little longer than a dagger but still small enough to hide under your clothes. Weighing it on your palm, you test the balance of it before gripping it tightly and Jeong-Hyun is entranced by the casual dominance you have over it.

The man before you, on his knees with his cut lip hanging heavily and his eyes so bruised you wonder how he can still see you enough to squeak in fear; he shivers and bows desperately.

"How do you want him, boss?" You glance at him, the grip on the blade strong and confident. He narrows his eyes then closes his eyes, jerking his chin forward.

' However you see fit. '

Jeong-Hyun falls in love with your violence.

Asking for you, always. Giving you food to bring back, giving you new knives and even transferring you to his personal squad of men and women. He'd even invited you into his home. Which, apparently, was not unusual but no one had ever had the pleasure of being able to see the pack of dogs he had.

He starts hanging around you more. His favoritism is hard to mask and it causes you more issues than you'd like to admit.

"You're his little bitch now, huh?" or "His cock tastes good, (Y/N)?"

But who can say no when their boss tells them they want you to follow him around, be his shadow, do nothing more than observe boring meetings and itching for the usual vulgarity of mobsters while you're stood by the wall or behind him?

The madam is not impressed by you. Whenever she speaks to her brother, she will cast a glance filled with nothing more than mild bemusement and disgust.

"Hey, boss," he tilts his head in your direction. You're sat in a barbeque restaurant, and he's watching you intently as you flip the meat, licking his exposed teeth with an almost canine-like attribute.

"...Can I ask you a question?" Jeong-Hyun nods, tearing his eyes away to now look at you. They're almost golden, you think to yourself, the colour of his eyes is so bright.

"Why do you favour me?"

Jeong-Hyung, you come to find out, does not speak. The scar you see peeking from his high collars was apparently a wound that had gone so deep, it took the ability for him to speak comfortably. So Jeong-Hyun signs; "What does that mean?"

"Favour?" You ask and he nods.

"Well, it means, why do you...like me...?"

Jeong-Hyung blinks for a few seconds then tells you to flip the meat. The conversation seemingly ends. That is until you find yourself in his home and he has invited you to his basement.

The dogs bark from behind the doggy gate, a hallway away feeling like a stretch of land as their noises echo. In the basement, you find yourself surrounded by crusted blood and metal. He lifts a dagger and shows it to you. It takes a moment for you to recognize it, it's been weeks since you've held it, but then your brows furrow.

"You kill good. Like me, I like that. I like you," he signs while you hold the dagger. "You like me?" He nods, pulling his black mask away from his face, and grins. It's surreal to see, not exactly grotesque but an unusual sight.

"I like you," he signs.

When his enthusiasm is met with confusion, Jeong-Hyun's face contorts into worry.

He takes the dagger from your hand, places it down, then holds your hands in his. He's tall, towering easily over you as he brings your knuckles to his lips.

He has essentially muted himself. Focusing his strength on keeping your hands hostage as he walks forward until your back meets the smoothed limewash walls of his basement.

"Boss? I'm flattered, but this is a lot to take in....!"

His cloudy eye is in a perpetual squint, healed scars tugging on the skin so it looks almost uncomfortable stretched. They have so much sadness that you feel guilt sprout in you.

'Love me,' they say, 'Love me, love me, lovemelovemelovemelovemelovemeloveme'

Your relationship is dubious. The jeers from your comrades make you feel more flustered than before and Jeong-Hyun is not shy about his affections.

He holds your hands in meetings and traces the shapes of your fingers and joints.

When a snake requires a beheading, Jeong-Hyun takes off your jacket for you and hands you a weapon of his choice. The men who snicker at the sight? Jeong-Hyun is not fond of guns but he so does love it when his sister presses her Beretta to the back of their necks and makes them gasp and sputter.

Madam Seo-Yun may not like you but you matter too much to her little brother for her to allow their insubordinate to make fun of you.

Jeong-Hyun is like a touch-starved puppy. Despite his towering size, he crumbles under your touch, your gaze.

"My brother, he is naive to relationships," Seo-Yun informs you during a lunch meeting. "I noticed, Madam," you shrink under her gaze. How is it she has the same shade of eyes and hers are so, so, so cold?

"But he likes you, favours you I think is the word he used. He has never liked someone before. Not as strongly as this. I suppose I should advise you to take some caution."

"My brother's love comes with a storm of violence. It runs in the family, I'm afraid. Please, don't be frightened by his displays."

You didn't quite understand what she meant.

He'd never been violent to you. You had witnessed him kill before, torture, maim — it was not an unusual sight in your line of work.

You didn't understand until you saw it.

Another funeral, more drinks, more meat. Jeong-Hyun has you beside him, eagerly awaiting your metal chopsticks to place more grilled beef onto his plate.

No one laughs at the sight anymore, they treat you as an extension of Jeong-Hyun which, considering how he monopolies your time, you might as well be. It's rare to see you without him.

But as you got up to wash your hands — someone had spilled their drinks and your hand became sticky — an inebriated man had pressed himself against you.

"You must be a good lay if *hic* Jeong-Hyun-ssi keeps you around, riiight? C'mon, just a quickie, c'mon," "Fuck! Get away from me!"

Jeong-Hyun's hand grabs the back of the man's head, rears it backward, and slams it right into the sink. It shatters, the man yells, people around you scream; but Jeong-Hyun tightens his grip, rears his hand back, and slams him down again.

By the end of that public fiasco, the man's head was obliterated so badly, his face was no longer there. Just shredded skin, muscle, and shattered bone and brain matter.

Madam Seo-Yun's gaze on you is heavy in the car. Jeong-Hyun lumbers in, his hand covered with tissues and you immediately pull the bloody fist to your lap. Approval shines in her eyes as you apply pressure and ask if it hurts.

Well, you couldn't say she didn't warn you now, could you?

[bbsmuts]

Field Trip Ft. BLACKPINK Jennie and Jeon Somi

A/N: This was another pitch by @xiaoondc, the Momo smut was his idea as well. I don’t know how long this will be, I’m just going off of the pitch. I finished my collab smut that I wrote for when I hit 1k followers, just waiting to reach it now. Enjoy!

Also, this contains sexual violence and a humiliation scene, so that might not suit everyone. 

Editing this a year and a half later, little did I know that this would blow up to be my biggest smut ever, more than 1,000 notes racked up over time. Can’ t thank you guys enough.   -상훈

Length: 4.83k

Possible TW: Whipping, spanking, rough gangbang, humiliation, etc

Tags: Gangbang, bondage, whipping, spanking, dub con, throatfuck, anal, humiliation

Field Trip Part 2

It was about ten in the morning when the plane landed in Kenya. After a not-so-good night of sleep on the plane, Jennie was ready to be off. 

It wasn’t as though she wasn’t looking forward to the trip, she had been anticipating that for ages. But she wasn’t used to the heat of Africa or being jetlagged from changing time zones. She would be glad to have some rest in the hotel before the tour started. They would be exploring the Kenyan savanna with the tour guide and passing through the village of an the Kikuyu tribe (real Kenyan tribe, by the way), then making a circle back to Nairobi. Her taxi took her to the hotel, and after giving him his pay she stepped out and cast an eye over the hotel. A large sign out front on the roof read ‘Radisson Blu’, along with another on the west wall. She could tell just looking at it that she had chosen the right one. When she entered and checked in, a bellhop showed her to her room. The lobby was one of the finest she had ever seen, and that way saying a lot. The interior had a white theme with dark colored armchairs. Plants dotted the room here and there, and twinkling lights hung from the ceiling. Even the hallway leading to her room was extravagantly decorated. She took her luggage off the rack and unlocked her room with her keycard. She would have a couple of hours before the tour started, enough to get a good rest in. She quickly undressed and fell into the immense bed, falling asleep within seconds.    

…

  When she woke, she realized she would need to move quickly, the tour was starting in fifteen minutes. She got up and slipped on her shorts and crop top, not wanting to be stuck in pants or anything warm while she was out in the hot Kenya sun. After a quick snack she headed out to her taxi and headed to the venue for the tour. She arrived shortly after, where a small group of other foreigners (foreigners to Kenya, not Kenyans themselves) were waiting for it to start. The tour guide introduced herself as Ngina Mwangi and shepherded them onto a large, open-windowed bus. Jennie sat down next to a friendly-looking Korean woman and introduced herself. “I’m Somi,” the woman said in response to Jennie. “Jeon Somi. How are you?” “Good.” Replied Jennie. “It’s really hot here, especially compared to Seoul.” “You live in Seoul too?”   “Yes! What district?”    “I’m in Gangnam-gu, what about you?”    “Ah, I’m in Insa-dong. Not that far from Gangnam-gu, though.”    The two of them hit it off, getting along well as the only two Koreans there. (Yes, I know Somi isn’t Korean, but give me a break, she moved when she was a year old. Besides, Somi wasn’t my idea.) Ngina pointed out various historical sites and landmarks along the way, and after a while they pulled up to the village boundary of the Kikuyu tribe. All of them disembarked the bus and walked into the village.    The tribe leader shook hands with Ngina, saying something in Swahili, and welcomed the group into the village.  “I guess these people know Ngina,” Jennie whispered to Somi.     “Probably from all the tours,” Somi replied. “I wonder what they do when they get to this village?”   “Mmm, I don’t know. Just have a look around, maybe? They’ll lead us around.” However, Jennie’s assumptions were incorrect. The tour guide invited them to look around themselves, as allowed by the tribe leader. Jennie noticed the leader’s gaze following them as they wandered off.    “So,” said Somi, once they were away from the village, “Ngina said to meet back at the village in three hours?”   “Yes, I expect they’ll want us back before the high heat of the afternoon. Liability issues, you know.”    “I guess. She gave us maps to get back, but they’re not easy to read. C’mon, let’s have a look around.”    The natives were very friendly, though they had trouble understanding what Jennie and Somi were saying. They got along it fine though, and ate up about an hour talking with the locals. Then they went to explore the surrounding savannah. It was already getting very hot, and Jennie could feel sweat gathering all over her. A group of men were trooping around the village and surrounding areas wielding spears and machetes, and they passed by Jennie and Somi. Jennie saw a few eyes follow her retreating ass as she walked. She thought of what they must be thinking. She and Somi were both hot, and they had good bodies. These men probably didn’t have sex much, so that was definitely on their minds. Despite herself, Jennie felt a pang of lust run through her at the thought.  “Did you see how they were looking at us?” Somi asked, a tinge of indignation in her voice.    “Can you blame them?” Jennie asked, completely unconcerned. “No offense to the locals, but they’re not exactly supermodels, are they? As for us, we’re probably the only really hot girls for miles. I wouldn’t be any different if I were one of them.”   “I know, but…” Somi gave a delicate shudder. “Pervs.”  “Hey, give them a break. Like I said, we’re probably the only super hot girls for miles around.”   They walked around for a while more, and by the third time the guard passed them by, Jennie started to suspect they were doing it deliberately. She didn’t mind, though. The men wore nothing but a loincloth made of parasol tree leaves, which didn’t leave much to Jennie’s wild imagination. She caught herself daydreaming about lewd things as she and Somi walked the fields together, and intentionally swaying her hips as they went by. She and Somi walked to the edge of a field and looked over a large lake. A large Mugumo tree sat by the bank closest to them, and they went to have a closer look. An altar had been built about five feet from the base of the tree. Jennie had read up on Kenyan rituals and such before she left Seoul, and she knew this altar would be for goat sacrificing rituals. Before long they spotted the guard making its way steadily towards them. Jennie wondered what they were doing. As far as she could see no one else was here, so they had no reason to be over here. “You are not allowed here,” said the leader in a thick accent, advancing towards them. “This is a forbidden area, for priests and spiritual leaders only. Come with us now.”   They were led unprotestingly back to the village. But when they got there, they were not taken back to Ngina. The guard split up when they reached the village. Somi was taken the opposite direction, while Jennie was taken to a smaller hut closer to the outskirts. Four members of the guard came in with her. Once the door was closed, they seized her by the arms.  “What the fu-”    Her indignant exclamation was cut short by a length of linen cloth being tied around her head and in her mouth, cutting back any cries.   The tribesmen grabbed ahold of her midriff shirt and tore it off, taking her bra with it. They yanked her shorts and panties to her ankles and took them off as well, leaving her naked on the floor. They bound her hands together behind her back and her feet together, rendering her incapable of movement.   She tried to scream for help but the gag muffled all noise from her, and they left her alone.        …

It must have been ten minutes she sat there, naked and bound on the packed clay of the floor, wondering what came next. Would she be raped, tortured, killed?  Her questions were answered as five tribesmen from the guard entered and removed their loincloths. Her breathing quickened as she saw five huge, erect cocks pointing back at her, and knew that she was about to experience her first BBC gangbang. Despite her misgivings, a burgeon of excitement shot through her, and she felt a bit of slick leak out of her.  She didn’t resist as they approached her and made her kneel. One of them slashed through the binds on her ankles and got under her, spreading her legs wide. She moaned against her gag as he entered her and started thrusting his hips. Two more advanced and knelt. One of them pushed his cock into her ass and the other went to her face, removed her gag, and drove his shaft roughly down her throat.  She moaned luxuriously into it. She had never been airtight like this, she had never felt so pleasured in her life, and most of all, she had never been gangbanged by hung tribesmen on a clay floored hut in a rural tribe village in the middle of Kenya. Their cocks reached points deep inside her she didn’t know existed, the sheer size driving her mad with lust and unobstructed pleasure.  “Jamani, inajisikia vizuri sana,” groaned the man under her as he fucked her pussy.  Vaguely she wondered whether Somi was receiving the same treatment. But the thought was pushed from her head by the pure bliss she was feeling and the orgasm building inside her.  No sooner had she realized this sensation than the man fucking her ass gave a loud groan and stopped thrusting, burying himself in her tight hole and spurting his load into her. The flood of warmth from this triggered Jennie’s own orgasm, which caused a chain reaction. Jennie let out a cry of intense pleasure and squirted hard onto the man under her, causing him to also cum. The second torrent of cum shot into her caused another orgasm from her. The pleasurable vibrations from her second squeal of bliss caused the man fucking her throat to cum as well. He released a roar and shoved his cock as far as he could in her throat, erupting in her and firing his cum down her throat. She gagged and choked on both his cock and the cum, overwhelmed with the simultaneous orgasms. His dick slid out of her throat as she slumped onto the man below her. But what came next took Jennie by surprise. The three of them got up, replaced the gag around her head, and took her by the arms. Two of them opened the door after putting back on their loincloths, and Jennie was dragged right into the middle of the street and dumped in full view of the entire village.  Despite her pleasure at being gangbanged, she felt her cheeks grow red and hot with humiliation. Here she was, naked and tied up in the middle of the street, a small crowd already gathering around her, pushing and clamoring to get a good look at her. She tried to shift her legs so as to hide her pussy from the stares of the crowd, but to no avail. Before anything else could happen, however, she was grabbed and pulled to her feet by the three guards. They led her to a tall baobab tree with branches extending horizontally over her head. Her eyes found another, familiar figure, whose hands were tied to a branch far above her head and recognized it as Somi, who had also been stripped naked. Though Jennie was in a rather perilous situation, she couldn’t help admiring Somi’s graceful, slim, curvy figure, from her chest to her hips to the round of her ass. She shot Jennie a fearful look as Jennie’s hands were seized. Another roped was tied around them and thrown up over another branch by someone she could not see. The rope was secured on the branch.  Jennie squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the jeers of the crowd. She had never been overly modest, but standing there completely naked before the large crowd of locals ignited a sense of strong humiliation. Then a deep, gravelly voice spoke out from behind her.  “Wanawake hawa walipatikana wakiingia kwa njia isiyo halali kwenye uwanja wa mti mtakatifu wa Mugumo, na kama adhabu watapokea kuchapwa viboko hadharani. Umati unapaswa kusimama nyuma.”  Jennie didn’t speak Swahili, but she could understand some. From what he said she understood ‘caught’, ‘trespassing’, ‘mugumo’, ‘punishment’, and ‘whipping’. A few in the crowd of onlookers jeered angrily at the mention of the trespassing on the mugumo tree. At the mention of a whipping she felt a dreadful and anxious anticipation, and the crowd gave a unified gasp at something she couldn’t see.  A sharp crack sounded and Somi gave a cry of pain beside her. Jennie’s dread intensified. Another crack sounded and she felt a searing pain on her back, making her gasp in both shock and pain. She looked around and saw two men, each of whom carried a long bullwhip with a tassel at the end.  She looked away as Somi was hit again, trying to ignore her shriek of torment.  Jennie was lashed again, this time lower down on her back. She gave a whimper, feeling the sharp sting in full. Ten lashes were given to both of them, leaving their backs stinging and aching. Then the two men approached and turned them around, so they were facing the crowd. Jennie hung her head in shame, trying not to meet the gazes that roved over her naked body. Another lash was given to Somi. Then the tip of the whip made contact with her breast, lashing her nipple directly. She yelled in pain as Somi was hit again. Then the man lashed her other breast, and she felt shock before pain. They were targeting areas that were sure to cause intense suffering, and it was working. They each got ten more lashes, and then the bullwhips were put away. Jennie breathed a sigh of relief before seeing what they brought out next. A full crate of whips was brought out. One guard removed a barbed cat-o-nine tailed whip and Jennie caught her breath, but the other shoved it back, shaking his head and muttering something in Swahili. Then he took out two long, thin wooden switches and handed one to the other man.  They approached Jennie and Somi once more and turned them around. No uniformity or pretense of professionalism was shown this time. The guards didn’t wait for one another, but immediately began striking their asses savagely.  Jennie, eyes watering with pain and mouth open in a continuous cry of agony, looked to Somi and saw each swat of the switch crack off of her ass, creating ripples on her skin. One particularly nasty smack made Jennie scream in pain.  Jennie lost count of how many times she was hit, but after a minute they backed off, leaving Jennie and Somi breathless.  Jennie truly thought it was over, until they took out riding crops.  The two of them were turned around again. One guard asked something in Swahili and the other nodded.  He raised the crop in front of Jennie and brought it down on her right breast, smacking her squarely on the nipple. She tensed up with a cry and then fell limp against her bonds, wishing it to be over. He whipped her breast again, and then once more. Then she looked up just in time to see the crop streaking towards her left breast. She cried out once more, still resolutely trying to ignore the gazes of the crowd. She felt shamed, humiliated. The guard whipped her breast twice more and then stepped back for a moment. She looked up optimistically, thinking it to be over, and then her hopes were dashed once more as he advanced again. He grabbed her thighs and wrenched them apart, baring her pussy to the crowd’s stares.  The next moment, he brought the lash up from the ground into her still-wet pussy with a smack that resounded around the square. The crowd took a collective inhale at this, and with a tremendous effort Jennie kept silent. The screams of torture from beside her were no longer audible. A sense of defiance had risen from the jumble of other feelings inside her, risen like a viper from a pit. She would keep silent, no matter how many times he struck her. At the same time she came to this conclusion, he realized it, and gave a vicious uppercut to her smarting lips, and her effort doubled as the sting seared through her. He gave her five more, ten more, twenty. She lost count as she shut her eyes and bore it. But at what she thought was number forty, he gave one particularly forceful stroke, and despite herself Jennie finally let out the wail of torment that had been longing to escape her.  The guard, satisfied, motioned for the other to stop and put away the crops and the crate. Jennie looked to Somi and saw that her entire front was covered in red marks from her beating.  Their arms were untied from the branches, but not untied from each other. Someone grabbed ahold of her and threw her off the dais that the tree sat on. She landed painfully on the ground, and when she looked up she saw that she had been thrown at the feet of the crowd. Then the man’s voice spoke again, and Jennie understood what he said perfectly.  “Do what you want to them.”  Hands, Jennie couldn’t tell how many, groped at her body. Her breasts were roughly squeezed and slapped, and more hands rubbed, smacked, and teased her pussy. She tried to cry for help, but the gag was still in her mouth and she couldn’t make a sound. She shut her eyes tightly as she was lifted into the air, also noticing the guards sitting back and watching. A few supported her and two forced her legs apart. More fingers teased her slit, and then someone forced three fingers inside her. She moaned in pleasure despite herself, bucking her hips when the fingers brushed her g-spot.  The person fingering her pulled his fingers out and shouted something to the crowd in which the words ‘whores’ and ‘parade’ were distinguishable, to general assent from the mob. Jennie knew nothing good could come of those words, and she was right. The mob set her down and someone came running to the man who had been fingering her with a collar. The collar was fastened around her neck and then yanked forward towards the town center. She didn’t even try to resist, there were too many of them, and in any case they were too unpredictably volatile to risk it. She was paraded around the town naked with Somi for a good ten minutes, and her cheeks were on fire by the time they returned to the square, her naked body having been on display for everyone in the area. After being informed of their heinous crime, the natives had spat on them, slapped them, beaten them with sticks, and whapped them with canes. Jennie was covered in red marks and spit, and once they returned to the square their hands were tied to the branches again. More countless hands groped her body and slapped her breasts, and then someone in the crowd started a chant of “Kuwatomba!”, which Jennie didn’t understand but figured out when she and Somi were forced onto the ground.  Immediately, she was surrounded, face to the ground, the side of her head collecting sand. A second later she gave a cry as she felt two cocks invade her ass and pussy. Someone yanked her head from the ground and stuffed his cock into her mouth. Hands landed on her ass and tits, slapping ferociously, and the crowd cheered the men fucking Jennie on. Jennie never suspected that such peaceful villagers would get so aggressive after finding out what Jennie and Somi did. It didn’t seem that serious, but now the crowd’s rage and lust was reaching fever pitch. As much as she tried to hold it in, she couldn’t stop herself moaning in pleasure at the huge cocks stretching her out. The men groaned and fucked her harder, and the feeling overwhelmed her. The pleasure took her over and she felt herself squirting hard onto them. The men backed up and then someone smacked her ass hard.  Their hands were tied to the tree again so that any passersby could see them. After a few more minutes of physical and verbal abuse the crowd dispersed and finally they were left alone there.  Passersby stopped, whispered, and pointed at them, but no questions were asked, and no help was offered. 

Eventually six men came. They took Jennie and Somi’s hands down from the tree and gave them some water, asking where they came from and how they found themselves in such a situation. Jennie answered their questions, and when she got to the part about having accidentally tresspassed, one of them shook his head. “They are always going bananas about that tree, I tell you.” He said. “Whenever someone will get near that tree, it’s always a public whipping. You two are lucky,” he added, “that they didn’t take out the cat-o-nine tails.”  “Yes, one was going to,” said another, “but since you are tourists the other refused, on the grounds that you couldn’t have known.” “Exactly!” Jennie exploded. “We had no idea! We were walking along the field, we stopped to have a closer look at the stupid tree, and the next thing I know I’m naked and tied to a tree, having my backside thrashed off!”  Somi shook her head.  “It’s not right, what they did,” she said hollowly. “Even before they whipped us. We were stripped naked, bound, and fucked. Raped.”  Privately, Jennie speculated that for her it wasn’t really rape; she hadn’t objected at all, but the men looked disgusted.  “Well, I’m glad some people around here have some decency, at least,” said Jennie wearily. After this the men left, promising to bring back food and clothes.  A few minutes later they returned with a few blankets and bowls full of Nyama Choma. Jennie and Somi accepted the blankets and food and covered themselves as best as they could (though it didn’t really matter at this point, the entire town had seen every part of them), thanking the men for their help. Jennie’s wary eye noticed the guards still hanging back over by the hut Jennie had been abducted to. Her eyes followed them as they approached again, the other men having walked off.  One started talking to Jennie and Somi in Swahili, talking rapidly.  “I can’t understand you,” Jennie said tiredly. “I don’t speak Swa-”    The guards bent down as quick as lightning and grabbed Jennie and Somi by the arms. Somi tried to scream but the guard clapped a hand over her mouth, and Jennie’s guard followed suit. The guards strapped gags into their mouths again and Jennie had a feeling that their troubles weren’t over.    …      It wasn’t long until Jennie found herself naked and tied up on the clay floor again. The guards entered once more, but they didn’t immediately commence fucking her. They took her to the post supporting the tent and tied her hands above her head and her feet to the bottom of the post. Her sensitive nipples grated against the wood. A moment later she felt a strap make contact with her already sore ass.  Her voice was already hoarse from screaming in pain, moaning in pleasure and other sounds, and her cry was broken and hoarse.  The strap hit her again and she cried out again. They weren’t hitting her hard, but hard enough to cause pain. They struck her ten more times and then she collapsed as they untied her.  She mentally wondered what was next. They had beaten her into complete submission, now what? She would let them fuck her, no issues. Tired and sore as she was, she was not going to say no to another gangbang. In fact, that’s what they were about to do, Jennie noticed.  They were removing their loincloths again, and despite her anger at being beaten, she spread her legs eagerly. One looked taken aback but advanced anyway. In a matter of moments they were on her.  She felt one enter her pussy, which was already wet from arousal, one in her ass, and one man tip her head back and slide into her throat.  She moaned as she felt the cock rub against her g-spot. He fucked her harder, making her scream in pleasure into her facefucking. She loved it, she didn’t want it to stop.  The man fucking her throat couldn’t last any longer and slammed his hips into her face, burying himself in her throat and shooting his cum into her.She moaned as he pulled out, trying valiantly to swallow it all. At last she managed it, and her toes curled with pleasure.  “Oh god yes, fuck me harder!” She yelled. Her hand reached down to her clit and rubbed furiously, pushing her towards her peak. “Feels so good, fuck, I’m gonna cum!”  One of them slapped her tit hard and squeezed roughly, only heightening her bliss.   “Harder!” Jennie cried, other hand massaging her other breast. “Yes, yes, yes, fuck! Harder, pound my pussy! Shit, I’m cumming! I’m cumming, OH FUCK!” Her last scream of pleasure reverberated in the very timber of the house as she experienced a very intense orgasm and squirted hard onto the man’s cock. He in turn groaned loudly and exploded in her pussy, flooding her with hot cum. The man under her fucking her ass orgasmed as well, pumping her ass full of his seed. “Oh, fuck,” she moaned, feeling the warmth inside her. The men got up and reattached their loincloths. After retying her hands and feet, they went out, leaving her tied, naked, and alone once more. They returned with who Jennie recognized as the tribe leader with them. He took a moment to admire Jennie’s flawless naked body before speaking to her. “I have been informed of your position as a criminal and a trespasser.” He said. “I have decided to give you a choice; Either you disobey and go to prison, or you obey, submit yourself and your body to our village, and become our breeding queen.” Jennie saw the potential to either live in prison forever or live in pleasure forever. But what about Korea? She was only going on vacation, but she didn’t want to stay here forever, not at all. Maybe they could negotiate. “But I don’t live here,” Jennie said. “I will become your breeding queen, hell, even your fucktoy. I’ll let you use me whenever you want, I’ll be your sex slave. But I only request that I be able to return to my home and come here once a year instead of living here.” The guards and leader talked among themselves and then turned back to her. “Yes, that would be acceptable,” said the leader. “So long as you return every year to fulfill your role as breeding queen, we will allow you to leave.” Privately, Jennie speculated that she would be searched for if she wasn’t back when she was supposed to be, but she went with it. She was untied, given her clothes (which had been sitting in a corner) back, but Jennie noticed that they kept her panties. Not surprising. Then she was shown back to Ngina, who certainly had some questions.Had someone told her she would be agreeing to be the cockslave of a Kenyan tribe ten days ago, she would have called the straightjacket patrol. But the pleasure had been too much to handle, she was addicted. With much resignation she answered all the questions. The following discussion sucked away a lot of time, and then the bus was clumsily loaded back up. Most of the passengers cast Jennie fervent looks but avoided her gaze. After about ten minutes of waiting, Somi boarded and flung herself into the seat next to Jennie. Her entire face was burning red and she was clearly livid. “Unbelievable,” she said quietly. “Those stupid, perverted scumbags forced me into being their slave.” “What happened?”  “I refused at first. They threatened my life, they held spears to my neck. I had no choice. They’re savages, I had no doubt they would kill me on the spot.” 

“Are you ever coming back?” Somi looked at Jennie like she had two heads. “Are you insane? Never! Not once in my entire life! Surely you’re not either?”“Never.” Jennie lied. “They did the same to me, I never want it to happen again.” The bus took them back to Nairobi, where Somi gave Jennie a terse “see you later” and departed. Exhausted, Jennie headed back to the hotel and fell asleep.  It wouldn’t be the last time she went to that village.

[kisses-soft-like-sunshine]

Bittersweet - Part I;

Fluff w angst, Lee Know x fem!reader, coffee shop AU, idol AU, 2k words. Content warning: knife, mid violence, mention of blood and injury. nothing graphic!

I like to take things slow, I hope you'll enjoy ♡

Coffee is your thing. It has been for what feels like ages. You remember the first time you smelled the grounded beans your grandmother cherishes, slowly boiling in her French press on a dewy morning. The aroma of your father’s embrace when he would leave early for work, a mixture of wet dirt after a storm and dark chocolate. Coffee was always there for you, even if it took you time to grow accustomed to its taste – or rather tastes.

Everything changed when you set foot in a coffee shop for the first time, though. It didn’t matter how bitter the beverage was to your inexperienced pallet, this was the place for you. This warm blend of hurried workers desperate for a comforting break and silent readers having a cozy late breakfast. Everything about coffee shops always felt right for you, the music, the people, the ambiance. The smell. It smelled like home and excitement at the same time. So naturally you became a barista. You learned everything there was to learn about coffee. You knew it was hard-work, and you loved every bit of your life that it took over.

It had been 8 months since you left the peaceful boredom of your hometown for the buzzing capital city of South Korea. You always knew in your heart that you were meant to live the city life, if only for the plethora of coffee places big cities offer. Seoul became a dream destination when you had the opportunity to exchange with a few talented Korean baristas and roasters from a well-known Gangnam company. It then became an option when you successfully graduated and managed to charm your way into said company (in Korean nonetheless). You were now working at one of their newest coffee shop in Gangdong district. 

It had been 8 months since you left the peaceful boredom of your hometown for the buzzing capital city of South Korea and you felt lonely. Your heart was heavy with the concern that your dreams required sacrifices you didn’t know you had to make. How can your days go by seeing so many faces, hearing so many names and still felt so alone. You had friends of course, among which were your three usual coworkers, and language quickly managed to not be a barrier anymore. Yet, you felt so lonely it made your favorite blend turn to bitter dirt in your mouth as you finished your last cup of the day. A clot of black liquid to turn your heart dark - you thought. The autumn air could make you so dramatic. 

“Chilly Weather” by Norwegian Wood and Kim Jin Sol was playing over the speaker. The atmosphere was calm and cushy in the café at this time of day. Only two of you were working, and barely six customers were cruising or queuing or snoring in a booth. You could make out a few regulars. There was a woman in her late 40s, who religiously ordered the same ice cold drink at 8pm everyday (your shop was open till midnight). You always assumed she must work at night given her business attire and resigned expression, but you never dared to ask. Then there was the usual highschool student who liked to roam by, musing about their future adult life. There was also a young man, about your age, who always kept his face covered and always picked a discreet seat in the back, far from any windows. He would sometimes come in with a book or a friend, but you had yet to see his face. He was polite and his voice was kind and soft. His eyes glistened the way coffee does when it’s freshly served. You liked seeing him around, as if there was in him something that mirrored your loneliness. You kept yourself from feeding into this feeling, though, his secretive appearance reading as a “do not disturb” sign. One of your coworkers had informed you the coffee shop shares its street with a famous entertainment company and you sometimes wondered if he was not just one of the many idols working there.

You decided to clean up any table that needed to be cleaned when a young man rushed into the coffee shop, nearly bumping into you as he passed by. He didn’t even bother greeting you or your coworker and had a very determined look on his face. A bad kind of determination. His steps were heated and quick. You instantly noticed he was moving towards the young man sitting alone in the back. Before you even realized, you were swiftly following his pace. Coffee shops were relatively tranquil environments but the romantic setting had been the witness of numerous break-ups and lover's quarrels. You had learned to play the diplomat as to maintain the peace many customers seek here. The young man sitting at the booth seemed to pay no mind to his furious acquaintance, that until the other man screamed his name. You could feel every head in the café rise and turn. You promptly looked back at your coworker in a desperate attempt to communicate your surprise when the young man at the booth finally got up and asked the other man who he was. The angry man seemed even more furious now, as if the question had lit a fire in him. From where you were manically swiping a table that was already clean, you heard him mumble something about his girlfriend leaving him for the other man. A lover’s quarrel again it seemed. What is it with Thursday evenings… 

The few customers that hadn’t already left after the man shouted didn’t seem to be interested in the situation one bit, which you deemed lucky if the mystery customer was indeed a celebrity. This wasn’t the kind of free advertising neither him nor the coffee shop would enjoy. The man at the booth seemed to have no idea what the angry man was talking about, and you wondered if it was a habit of his, stealing people’s girlfriends. Were you always this noisy when anything eventful happened here on a slow evening? Or was it the glistening eyes of the young man that had drawn you in? Your gazes met when the angry man started spewing insults. Something else then caught your attention, something shiny that the angry man held in his right hand. Is this a knife? You wondered. IS THIS A KNIFE? You rushed to the scene when it finally hit you. The angry man was raising his knife to the customer when you placed your hand on his shoulder, swiftly making him turn to you. He froze in surprise as you grabbed onto the knife’s blade. You kept a straight face as blood started to run from your palm and immediately used the cleaning spray still in your other hand to blind the man with its content. He whined as the spray burned his eyes and intuitively let go of the knife to cover himself. A gasp escaped from the few witnesses and you heard your coworker dial the police. The angry man must have noticed too, and decided to flee the scene. 

Your heart was pounding in your veins and you could barely make sense of your surroundings, if it wasn't for the familiarity of it. The customer you had just saved was standing in front of you now, talking. You couldn't make out the words but kept on repeating that you were okay, that everything was…okay…the man grabbed onto your sides before you could collapse. His closeness made it easier for you to hear him.

“Let me take you to the hospital,” he said.

You nodded as an answer and the both of you were quickly out of the coffee before anyone could fully digest what had happened. He pulled you in his car as the lights of the city flew around you into thousands of shooting stars. You felt warm and cold at the same time. You fold in the car seat after this stranger - what am I doing in a car with a stranger? - kindly puts your seat belt on.

“Are you okay? I'm so sorry…” he says as he starts the car.

- “I'm fine… it's been a long… day… I just… I'm just tired…” you answer. “I haven't eaten yet.”

You can feel the car going faster as the night sky and the buildings blend into brush strokes. You can faintly see the man’s reflection in your window. His eyes draw your features on the glass like a wet brush fuses with aquarelle. You don't know whether you should trust your sight or not. After all, you're still in shock from what happened. What happened? 

“We’re here,” the man says. You feel a shiver crawl down your spine. His voice is kind and soft. You let him guide you out of the car, carefully holding you by the arm as to let your injured hand rest. 

- “Lucky me being left-handed,” you say. Both of you lightly chuckle to diffuse the tension as you make your way to the hospital entrance. 

The stranger helps you fill the paperwork as you wait on one of the temporary beds in the emergency room.  You realize he now knows your name while you do not know his. A nurse comes in to check on you and the man tells you he will wait for you in the waiting room. The cut is less deep than you had expected. You were fortuitous to be holding on a dust rag when you grabbed the knife by the blade. That was a pretty dumb move… The nurse neatly stitches you up, warning you of the future scar you’ll get. She prescribes you painkillers for the few days to come and a check-up in two weeks from now. You are not to work for seven days which feels like a bigger punishment than the scar. 

You come to join the stranger in the waiting room but he is nowhere to be found. You take a seat wondering if you should call a cab or wait. You finally decipher his back at the front desk. He is lean and comfortably dressed. He turns to you and smiles as he hastily walks to join you. A plastic bag dangles from one of his hands.

“Here. You said you haven’t eaten yet. I didn’t know what you liked so I got you a bit of everything.”

- “Thank you,” you reply. You open the bag to discover a variety of convenience store snacks. You open up an onigiri and bite into it.

“What did the nurse say?” He asks politely.

- “She had to stitch me up but the cut wasn’t deep enough for any nerve to be damaged. I still have to come back in two weeks.” you answer while finishing your snack. To hell with being well-mannered. “I should go pay the bill.”

“No need,” he says, eyes locking into yours. “It’s the least I could do.” You look into each other for a moment, slowly blinking in agreement. “Should I drive you back to the coffee shop… or perhaps your home?” 

You hesitate before answering. After everything you are still two strangers. Or at least he is to you. A stranger who causes trouble in public places nonetheless…

- “Home, if you don’t mind,” you answer, inclined to trust him no matter what. You both get up and leave. He hands you the bag on your way out and gently insists you keep its content. You can tell words are clogging in his throat. You’re both seated back in the car when he finally talks again.

“I don’t know whether I should apologize or thank you.” he says, head low on the steering wheel. “Thank you.” his eyes meet yours as he says those words heavily. 

- “Ah! No worries, I’m a part-time knife catcher. Coffee doesn’t pay the bills” you answer with a grin on your face. He laughs the stress off.

“Rest if you want.” You wonder if he’s always this caring as the car drives away. You rest your head on the cold window and your eyes quickly shut. Had they been opened you would have noticed how quickly his smile left his mouth. How soft his gaze was whenever he could look at you instead of the road. How his fingers nervously played with the leather of the steering wheel.

The car smoothly makes its way in front of your apartment when you finally wake up. You look up at the driver with tired eyes. He seems as exhausted as you. 

“Thank you for driving me home,” you tell him softly.

- “It’s the least I could do.”

“I don’t even know your name”

- “It’s…” he hesitates and you wonder why. “It’s Lee Minho.” You realize it’s your first time seeing him without a hat or a face mask. When did he remove them? His face is familiar but you can’t pin it. He is strickingly handsome which leaves you silent for a few minutes.

“I don’t mean to intrude but… whoever this man was, you should probably go to the police about him.” you finally say.

- “I don’t know him. I swear. Maybe he mistook me for someone else… I mean I have a pretty common name” You nod, more as a way to show you understood than you agree. You don’t agree. Something about this whole situation seems off. But it doesn’t really have to be your problem does it?

“Alright… I believe you.” You do not understand why but you truly do. “I should go now, it’s getting late.” He stays silent when you open the door and leave. As you fetch your keys, he comes out of the car to join you and hands you a piece of paper.

- “Here. Take this. It has my number on it. If anything happens, call me. I’ll be there.” he says. His dark eyes reflect the light like the sea reflects the moon. Your hands gently brush as you take the card, leaving goosebumps all over both of your bodies.

“Goodnight, Lee Minho” you say before the entrance to your apartment closes.

- “Goodnight, Y/N.” he calls back. 

You dreamed of nothing but coffee and him that night, feverish with pain and infatuation. 

[skzhua]

Episode eight.

MASTERLIST

pairing: XO, Kitty's Min Ho x Female Reader

genre: Fluff, angst, enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, coming-of-age.

word count: 3.8k

warnings: Swearing, that's it. This one is cute as hell, y'all.

summary: Transferring to KISS was the last thing you had asked for and, yet, a certain tall boy made it seem both worse and better than you expected.

note: Bold - Korean, Italic - Over the phone

a/n: So I got productive and wrote this in under a few hours only... I hope you'll enjoy this!

(let me know by filling the form in my bio if you want to be added to the taglist!)

You looked at your two friends in surprise. While Kitty was smiling widely as she held Dae's arm, the latter gave you looks of pleading. From that, it wasn't hard to get that he didn't want you to speak about the fact him and Yuri were fake. A shame, you were thinking that this would give you the chance to be free of lies.

"I'm happy for you two." you grinned and raised your coffee cup. "Long live Kitty and Dae."

"And not us?" Min Ho huffed as he sat next to you.

Us. A term with which you were still quite unfamiliar. It had only been a day since you and Min Ho started whatever that was happening. You weren't sure what you were or where it was going but you preferred it that way. Putting tags on it honestly frightened you.

"Us?" Kitty frowned. "Did I miss something?"

Min Ho put his hand on your thigh, squeezing it gently. "More or less."

Dae coughed. "Well, while you two do your thing, we'll go do ours. Kitty, let's go?"

He brought her along behind him, grabbing her purse for her in the way, and left the dorm. Q having gone to the Outdoors Club already, you and Min Ho finally had some time alone. Approaching you, he laid a quick kiss on your lips before stealing your mug.

"Dude, come on! I didn't finish it."

"You had one sip left." he said and then drank the rest of your beverage. "And now it's empty."

You shook your head in disapproval. "You're kind enough to make me coffee but evil enough to steal it away from me."

He walked to you and got you off your stool before wrapping his arms around your waist. "You'll have to admit, it kind of turns you on."

You held onto him by the neck and frowned. "Being both a gentleman and an asshole?" you asked and he nodded. "You're way too confident in yourself."

"You said I was a gentleman, I'll take it and ignore the rest." he laughed.

You exchanged a long-lasting kiss, and he positioned himself to help you up so he could hold you by the thighs. He was still kissing you as he walked to his room but the door just had to open at this exact moment. Min Ho dropped you as horror plastered on your face.

Widening his eyes, Q nearly screamed. "What is this? When?" he asked but stopped himself. "You know what? I don't want to know. I'll just grab my water bottle and let you finish your business."

He hurried to do so and slammed the door behind him. Looking back at each other, Min Ho let out an awkward chuckle.

"We can continue..."

You rolled your eyes. "Get ready, we have class in a few."

But class didn't seem so important as the days went by. Making out in the library, cute dates in Gangnam district, more kissing in his room with a disgusted Dae on the side (as if he wasn't any better with Kitty)... This thing you two had was going strong. You were hoping that he might not see it as a simple casual thing. Because you were falling, and deep. There wasn't going to have any turning back at that point.

Q packed some last minute items in his bag. At the same time, you were debating whether it was a good idea to bring cute outfits despite the fact you were going in the middle of nowhere for two days.

"Oh, that dress is dead gorgeous." Q commented as he checked up on you.

"Not this one, too revealing." you said and pushed it aside.

He took it and put it in your bag. "And that's exactly what we are aiming for."

"What? No, Q." you complained while letting him zip it all close.

"Min Ho is going to lose his mind over this."

You suddenly got shy. "Min Ho? Why would I dress for him? I don't need to do that, it's stupid."

He laughed. "You'll thank me later." He went to the kitchen and you followed him behind. "Okay, time to go. Bus leaves in twenty." he told the other couple.

Just then, Min Ho got out of his room and was bringing with him a huge ass luggage. Plus one of those luxury bags of his.

"Gosh." he mumbled to himself, struggling a little.

"Dude, the class trip is camping. In tents. In nature. For two days." Kitty told him, unimpressed.

"I know." he rolled his eyes. "That's why I packed light."

You laughed and walked up to him. "Right, you did. Let's go."

The five of you headed outside to where the bus was waiting for you. You stayed with Min Ho and he exchanged a few things about Kitty with Dae. And that made you rather uncomfortable.

"She wants to go over everything that happened with Yuri." Dae explained.

"Don't, it's a trap." Min Ho advised right away.

You shrugged. "I don't know. Honesty is always the key, don't you think so?"

Dae sent you a glare, visibly not wanting you to reveal you knew all about his fake relationship. Meanwhile, Min Ho shook his head in disapproval.

"You're right about honesty. But in this case, they say they want to know all the details to move on, but then they obsessed about them."

You let out a huff. "You really know women..."

"Is that how it is with her?" Dae asked Min Ho, nodding his head to your direction.

"Y/N?" he said before he slung his arm around your shoulders. "No, she's totally uncomplicated and chill."

You looked at him. "Really?"

He sent a smirk your way. "Really. You're quite great, actually."

Growing more embarrassed, you broke away from his grip as soon as you came closer to Yuri. She was already with her other friends but didn't seem to mind your presence. In fact, she seemed reassured.

"You've kept yourself busy this week." she said, referring to your few make-out sessions she had accidentally stumbled upon.

"And you have been moving on quite well from Dae."

Her face became serious. "Not a word, please."

The girls suddenly started to scream and Madison came closer to show you a video on her phone. There stood the famous actor Ocean Park. He was explaining how his grandmother's village had been ravaged by a flood and was thanking Madison and your school to come help them out. She squealed at the mention of her name, jumping up and down.

"He said your name!" Eunice exclaimed.

"I know! And we owe it all to Min Ho and his famous mom." she replied before running to him and giving him a hug, almost making him fall.

"Whoa..." he let out before breaking away from her.

Leaning on him, she went on to explain about how his mother had worked with Ocean Park before. Apparently, Principal Lim agreed to cancel a ski trip to go to the village instead. But you weren't listening, you could only focus on her arm that was on top of Min Ho's shoulder.

"Your mom is really good with pulling strings." Madison finished off with telling Yuri that.

"For evil, usually."

You choked out a laugh and Yuri followed. You, then, proceeded to get seated in the bus. Analyzing the places, Madison and the other girls had already took the back seats. Kitty surprisingly sat with Finnerty, leaving Dae stuck with another student. Florian and Q together, the others with their friends... That left you a two-seat spot that you could share with Min Ho. However, the image of Madison being glued to him from earlier still fresh in your memory, you hesitated.

"Hey." Yuri said. "Sit with me?"

You ended up agreeing and got yourself comfortable with your friend. So when Min Ho got on the bus, he was more than confused to see you seated with Yuri instead of keeping a spot for him next to you. He stopped where you were with a perplexed look on his face.

"What is this?"

You shot your head up as you heard his voice. "Hey. I'm sitting with Yuri if you don't mind. We'll see each other when we get there."

He seemed disappointed but acquiesced nonetheless. "It's okay."

You watched him getting to a solo seat and started to feel bad. At this point, though, who could blame you for being mad? First off, you had never brought up the subject of Madison in the last week and, second off, you were now wondering why the hell she went to hug him after telling everyone he helped her with organizing this trip.

After a while in the bus, you were growing tired more than you'd liked to be. Yuri had shared a ballad playlist with you and that only made you more sleepy. After some time, she shook you out of your daze and told you she was going to speak with Dae and that she'd switched places with the guy next to him. As she left her seat, Min Ho took the opportunity to go beside you, sending the other guy at the singular seat he was previously at. You let out a scoff at him.

"Excuse me but I believed we agreed last night that we would sit together." he justified himself.

You shrugged. "That was before I learnt you were still hooked on Miller."

He sighed. "Is it about this morning?"

"I don't know, Min Ho. You tell me." you answered, growing frustrated.

"Jealousy kind of looks good on you." he joked but you slapped him across the chest.

"I'm not jealous. I don't want to be in your collection of women, that's all."

"I have spent every second of my free time with you this last week. You would have known way sooner if I was seeing another girl at the same time."

"You hid your trip arrangements with her very well, though."

"Exactly. It was trip arrangements."

You plugged in your earphones again, not wanting to hear any more of his unclear answers. He did look at you for a bit afterwards but he ended up getting the message. That didn't stop him from taking your hand in his, and neither did it restrain you from liking it.

You arrived at the camping site soon after and joined Eunice outside. She and the others were still scrolling through social media as they wanted to see more pictures of Ocean Park. You weren't necessarily a fan, but you had to admit that the man was fine as hell.

After Professor Finnerty gathered everyone together, he asked you all about the rooming arrangements. You were taken aback when Yuri told him she'd be with Kitty. That wasn't even the best... What followed shook you even more.

"Y/N and I, sir!" Madison shouted.

Barely having any time to process what she had just said, Finnerty noted it down and she took your hand to head towards your tent. She started to talk about how excited she was and all about the whole trip, ignoring completely the elephant in the room.

"I'll take the left side and you can take the right. Does that work for you?"

"Yeah." you confirmed. "Why did you pick me?"

She hummed. "What?"

"For the room. We barely know each other."

"Ah." she smiled and invited you to sit with her. "I have noticed that I might be creating some tension between you and Min Ho. No hard feelings about him choosing you, by the way. I would've picked you too."

"Thanks..?"

She continued. "I want you to know I was only looking for a casual fling that night at his party. And he only kissed me back because he told me you went all out on him so he got sad."

You smiled in guilt. "I did, yeah."

"And the day after, I thought he was still on with the casual dating but he obviously told me off and went to you instead."

You were still in doubt. "That does not change the fact he's Min Ho. He'll go after someone else in a week at most if I'm lucky."

She exhaled. "Well, you are more than lucky, then. He wants you, I can see it. And, by the way, the trip thing was because I begged him to do so. And the hug was just friendly, I swear."

"It's fine." you let out a laugh. "I appreciate you for telling me all this. I was barely getting anything out of him when I asked."

"Men are like this." she shrugged.

You could do it for an extra hour before curfew but nothing was going to make you like cleaning up. You did enjoy having a clean personal space and cleaning a village for a good cause was good too. Still, you were not having the most fun. You and Yuri being similar on that aspect, you helped each other as one raked the branches together and one put them away in a bag.

Min Ho watched you from afar. Considering you were still not acknowledging him, he took it as in Madison told you something that put you off. That was the last thing he wanted. The night before, he called his mom to tell her about you. He wanted to know her opinion on the situation and it made him realize a lot of things. One of them being that he wanted something more with you, something real. Not a close friend he'd kiss whenever he'd want to. No. He wanted to try and date you.

"You're looking at her again." Madison snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I know."

"She's not mad at you, I told you I cleared things off with her."

He scoffed. "Explain why she is still avoiding me, then."

"From what I got, she feels like a fling to you... which she is so-"

"Not." he corrected. "She's not."

"Then, show her."

"How?"

Madison had shifted her attention elsewhere by then. A car pulled over in front of the camping site and everyone – meaning every fangirl – rushed to see what was happening, Madison being the first. Min Ho followed lazily as Ocean Park stepped out of the car, greeting his fans.

You joined out of curiosity. It wasn't like he was a nobody; you were getting to meet a celebrity. You stood next to Min Ho. Not on purpose, it was only because he was close to the front. After Madison introduced herself, Min Ho did the same but with much less enthusiasm.

"Hi. My mother, Dami, says 'hello, Mr. Park.' "

Ocean looked up dreamily. "Ah, Dami... Your mother is an incredible woman. Did she ever tell you about the time I ran into her at Sundance?" Min Ho gave him a very clueless look. "She kept me warm on a very cold night."

Min Ho was baffled. "Excuse me?"

"And who are you?" Ocean smiled at you.

"Park Y/N." you bowed.

He held his hand up. "No need to be so formal. Are you with him?" he asked, pointing at the man next to you.

"Oh, we're not-"

"She is." Min Ho cut you off while bringing you closer to his body by your waist.

Ocean nodded his head at him in acknowledgement. "You got yourself someone as beautiful as your mother." Clasping his hands together, he then addressed the crowd. "Let's take a selfie."

You pushed yourself away from Min Ho while Ocean Park and his groupies went to a spot to take photos. "What is it with you?"

You walked off to continue your task. You didn't get why he acted all possessive when, clearly, Ocean was only being polite. Nor did you get why he felt the need to keep you so close to him. It made you feel things and you hated feeling things.

An hour was added to your time before curfew as a reward to the hard work you had done all day. Yuri had briefly told you what happened so far. You felt much better now that Kitty finally knew the truth and that Yuri didn't forget to tell her that she asked you to keep it shut for her. Kitty texted you later on to tell you she forgave you and understood that it was not your place to tell. Overall, a weight had come off your shoulders.

Exhausted from the day, you didn't plan on doing much other than watch some shows you downloaded before leaving and staying in bed in your pyjamas. You were going to have the tent to yourself since Madison was going to Ocean Park's grandmother's house for dinner. You were more than okay with finally getting some time for yourself. Well, for a few minutes at least.

Min Ho: Come to my tent.

Min Ho: I've got a bit of a surprise for you.

Y/N: No. :)

Min Ho: Do you want me to beg or something?

Y/N: Maybe...

Min Ho: Please, come to my tent, my sweet puppy?

Min Ho: Get all ready too, it's a formal occasion.

Y/N: I'm in my comfy fit, so it's still a no. I'm not coming out.

Min Ho: I have strawberries dipped in chocolate.

Y/N: Coming in ten.

Most people would tell you that this was a bad idea. And usually, you'd say that it was, indeed. But, hey. Strawberries and chocolate couldn't be a better bait for you. You loved food, he knew that and he got you just how he wanted. You honestly didn't care, as long as you had something to eat in the end.

You thanked Q mentally for forcing you to bring the tight off-the-shoulders dress. You picked it to go with some golden jewellery and did some waves for your hair. Once you determined you were all good – which was more than ten minutes after you told Min Ho that you were coming – you finally left your tent.

You weren't sure how to react when you saw him in a suit, standing in the middle of the room he had decorated with candles, petals and all. On the table were the strawberries with a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne. You stepped closer, growing more confused.

"What is happening here?"

"Surprise." he said. "I was hoping this could help me for you to not be mad at me anymore."

You acquiesced slowly, still scanning the room. "I can't say that I am not impressed."

"Want some?" he offered you the treat and you happilly took them.

"I never thought I'd see you do something like this for anyone. Even less make a heart out of petals." you teased.

"Can you appreciate my effort instead of mocking me?"

You laughed. "Alright, I'm sorry. This is a very nice surprise, thank you."

"You're welcome, beautiful."

He came closer to you and wiped off the chocolate that smudged on your lips. With a single look down your lips, it was just enough to make you melt all over again and press your lips against his. He let out a gasp, startled by your move.

"I'll take it as we are good now?"

You nodded. "Yeah, we are. I'm sorry, by the way. I was overthinking things and you have the right to see anybody else because it's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything." you laughed nervously.

He bit his lip. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about with you."

And, of course, your little insecure self had to start thinking about all sorts of negative thoughts. Was he about to tell you this thing was over? Would he still want to be friends? Was he only playing with your heart?

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but..."

And it was coming, you knew you were going to get your heart broken.

"... I think I want more."

And just like that, everything stopped. Your brain short-circuited as you attempted you comprehend properly what he had just said.

"You, what?" you said in a whisper.

"I think I'm ready for a real relationship and, honestly, I don't see it happen with anyone else other than you."

You said nothing, you just couldn't physically speak. So you kissed him, slowly and passionately. In all the times you kissed, this felt like the most intimate you had ever been. It wasn't physical intimacy, it was emotional. Without even noticing, teardrops came out of your eyes. Just a couple as Min Ho brushed them off with his thumb.

"Are you okay?" he asked once he pulled away from your face, but still kept his forehead to yours.

"What... Why the change of heart?"

He sighed. "You really want me to tell you how special you are, don't you?"

"I actually do, yeah." you admitted without any shame.

But the evening went on like this. There was some friendly teasing, kissing here and there, talking for what felt like hours. You wanted to stay forever there with him.

"I could kiss you forever." he said softly after lifting your chin up to make you look at him.

You held onto him even closer. "Me too." And you kissed him again. "I should really go."

He shook his head and placed a couple of pecks all over your face. "Or you could stay."

"No." you laughed. "Curfew starts in five minutes."

He pouted but still help you up on your feet from the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, you will."

"On the bus, this time."

You sighed heavily. "Yes."

"Good. Then sleep well." he kissed you one last time for the night.

"Good night."

As soon as you got to your tent, Madison was already sleeping. You lost no time in dialing Kitty's number but she didn't answer. The next person in mind was Yuri but she did not respond either. Last person was Q who, thankfully, picked up.

"So? How was it?" he asked.

"It couldn't have been any better."

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[lookismstuff]

Lookism TMI (Trivia)

During the last of The First Affiliate arc, the four leaders of the crews appear like this in one of the panels. It actually corresponds to the map of the Districts of Seoul.

Please see this map for reference:

Clockwise in the manhwa panel:

Johan was the remaining leader and member of God Dog, which was located in Gangbuk-gu (강북구; 江北區), north of the Han River.

Eli was the leader of Hostel, which was located in Gangdong-gu (강동구; 江東區), east of the Han River.

Samuel was the former president of the Third and Fourth Affiliates of Workers, which was located in Gangnam-gu (강남구; 江南區), south of the Han River. And last but not least,

Jake was the leader of Big Deal, which was located in Gangseo-gu (강서구; 江西區), west of the Han River.

Map sources: Wikimedia Commons, Adobe Stock

[myobsessionsspace]

This is an assumption. But why do you think JK bought his property in Itaewon out of all places ? And now building a mansion there which means that will be his main house he decides to settle. I've seen all korean stars buying their homes to love with their family in more decent and high end areas like Gagnam, Hannam etc. No one really buys property in itaewon with an aim to settle there with family as it's like the party spot of SK. Itaewon is known for clubs, brothels, parties, drugs and prostitution, most only go there to party, have one night stands or do illegal activities. Someone visiting Itaewon often is eye brow raising enough so building a whole mansion there is sus af isn't it ?

Hey,

I understand tone can’t be accurately interpreted with written words, so I just want to make my tone clear first and foremost.

I’m speaking with no harshness, judgement or condescension.

DM me and we can delulu cutely together with no air of authority on the matter, cos we should know we don’t know shit, but can still want to coo and dream with others 🤗.

We’ve seen and been outraged by sasaengs and their stalking of members and called them out at times. We’ve literally seen Jungkook on live entering his apartment and being annoyed with sasaengs loitering outside of his building, he has even said in that same live that he knows people knows where he lives and posted online.

Put yourselves in their shoes, who wants millions knowing your full address and being able to turn up unannounced? Because they’re fans of your music, of your image? I’m gonna leave that there.

I will say in regards to Itaewon, I’m not Korean, I don’t have a Korean father, a Korean brother, a Korean bff who works at Hybe, nothing. I do have a friend who went on a program, studied there and lived there for years but that’s it. I don’t know anything about Itaewon apart from the Halloween tragedy and a K-Drama. So guess what I did, yup you guessed it, I GOGGLED💪

No one really buys property in itaewon with an aim to settle there with family as it's like the party spot of SK. Itaewon is known for clubs, brothels, parties, drugs and prostitution, most only go there to party, have one night stands or do illegal activities. Someone visiting Itaewon often is eye brow raising enough so building a whole mansion there is sus af isn't it ?

Incoming cheeky tone…I thought I said ‘genuine asks’? This right here sounds like laying down the groundwork to paint a certain picture of Jungkook?🤔🤨

Itaewon

You said: ‘I’ve seen all Korean stars buying their homes to live with their families in more decent high end areas like Gangnam, Hannam etc’.

I say: That’s a pretty bold, blanket statement 😬

Famous idol Rain and his actress wife and children have a home in Itaewon as do many other celebrities with their spouses, partners and families

Actor Song Joong-Ki and his British wife, who was pregnant at the time, moved to his Itaewon mansion along with her family from the UK. They welcomed a baby girl in 2023.

Chaebols like those belonging to the Samsung family also have homes in Itaewon

Doing my googles, Itaewon is known as ‘a multi-cultural commercial area located in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Seoul, known for its nightlife and trendy restaurants.’ ‘Seoul's International District’.

I know some other places that sound like the above.. London…New York…Paris…

I wonder where the prostitution, drugs and one night stands come into it for people who wanna buy or build houses in those cities?

Jungkook is currently a 26 year old multimillionaire, who is a member of one of the biggest groups in not just South Korea, but the world, so I guess he’ll have lots to do when he’s not working his ass off with his intense more than full time job. Settling somewhere with family…I’m sure he’ll take Bam into consideration in his plans, wherever it may be.

Something I did find cool when doing my googles 😁

‘Korean singer-songwriter JYP (Park Jin-young) and Yoo Se-yoon's hip hop duo UV released the song "Itaewon Freedom" in April 2011. The title alludes to (and the lyrics celebrate) a common Korean perception of Itaewon's "open atmosphere", in contrast with conventional Korean culture, which is more conservative.’

LGBTQIA+ ‘haven’ Itaewon

‘The 2020 South Korean Netflix television series Itaewon Class is set in Itaewon. The drama was praised for its diverse and inclusive cast and its realistic portrayal of subjects such as prejudice and discrimination against foreigners, ex-convicts and the LGBT people, as well as the portrayal of misbehaviors by chaebol corporations.’

Sounds like Itaewon is a cool, diverse, inclusive place, full of sites & attractions, shops and good food. If a 26+ year old man that’s been working and in the public eye since 13/14 wanted to build a home there, Itaewon sounds like a great place and a good investment.

I’d love to visit there, if I ever had the time AND money 🥲

Thanks for the ask, it caused me to learn something new!

💜

[k-star-holic]

Strong Girl Nam-soon' Joo Woo-jae, "Let's Join the Money" Is an Iron Wall in Kyungri...A Love Crisis?

[smileydk]

You can't con the Con-Man

Pairing: Magician!Taehyun x PickPocket!OC

Summary: A pickpocketer finds a fancy looking man in the middle of the street. He's wearing a neat suit, his hair is styled nicely, over all he looks clean. She comes to conclusion that since he looked fancy, he's gotta carry some cash on him. She however does not expect him to catch her, and she absolutely does not she take into account that he could be a magician and con-artist.

cw/tw: Kissing, make-out session, hickeys, fingering, unprotected sex (wrap it if you wanna tap it), orgasm denial, creampie, slight breeding kink, choking, cunnilingus

Jiwoo looked for her next offer. It was hard considering the fact that she was in the Jung-district, which meant almost no one carried enough cash to even risk anything.

She sighed. She had to go to Gangnam, which she didn't want to do since the cops knew her a bit too well.

But then again, she liked having a roof over her head as well as sleeping on a full stomach.

''Fuck'' She mumbled and turned her heel towards the subway.

She kept her head down as she got on the train. She was hoping there would be no controls this time, since she jumped the gate and hadn't paid for a ticket. It was rarely any controls, but she had seen thos annoying, blue-clad men coming down the trains.

Her prayers were heard and she got off the train in Gangnam. As soon as she stepped off the train, she walked into a giant flood of people.

The clock was 5 in the afternoon, meaning everyone were on their way home after work.

''Perfect'' She mumbled as she bumped into people, apologized and smiled sweetly, meanwhile her hand dug around in their pocket for something worth stealing.

She was silently thanking her genes and looks. She fit into the Korean beauty standard almost perfectly, and she had an innocent face. No one would ever suspect her to pickpocket. Except the police who already knew her.

Besides, she wouldn't keep the wallet, she'd take cash and throw the wallet in the nearest trashcan. There would be no actual way of proving the cash wasn't hers.

As she made it up to the ground she smirked. She'd already made 100'000₩. Sure, it was two bills, but it was more than she'd ever find in the Jung-district.

The woman kept walking down the streets, bumping into random people she thought looked wealthy enough to loose a few bills. She would never steal from someone who already seemed poor.

She stood by the ugly Gangnam Style statue, doing nothing. She was mostly looking for a new victim. No one was to her liking. Most of the people were either teenagers, kids shopping for their families or old couples, none of which she'd ever pickpocket.

She had a tiny bit of morale.

''Ha!'' She exclaims quietly to herself. She'd found her next victim.

A tall man, probably around the 6 feet mark, clad in a striped suit, nice polished shoes, big doll-like eyes, a kind smile on his lips. He looked rich.

Jiwoo approaches him to take a closer look and notices the small hat infront of him as well as a deck of cards which he shuffled in some fancy way. It did look quite cool, she had to admit.

She took a spot in the front and watched as he performed different card tricks. Whether it was finding someone's card or simply making them appear out of thin air, he made it look simple.

He took a bow and the crowd that had gathered around him applauded. Some people dropped a few bills in his little collectors hat before they left.

He collected his stuff and didn't seem to notice the woman who still watched him. She carefully walked around him and allowed her hand to slip into his, not-so-tight, blazer pocket. She found a couple of bills and grabbed them.

As she tried leaving something stopped her.

A pair of handcuffs, in the other end was the magician. He wore a smirk on his lips. ''Where do you think you're going with my money... Kim Jiwoo?''

Jiwoo froze. She didn't know what to do. ''Uhm... you're not gonna believe me if I said that you dropped them I guess?''

He chuckled and shook his head. ''Nope, hand them back''

A groan left her lips, but she held out the bills for the man to take. ''Are you gonna let me go, or do you plan on keeping me around as a pet?''

''Well, you would make a beautiful pet'' He smirked as he turned to take a better look at her.

''Oh yeah? I'm an expensive bitch''

''I live in Gangnam, sweetheart, I've got money. Judging by your little con attempt, you don't''

Ouch, she thought. Sure, she'd tried stealing his money, sure, he was correct, sure, she deserved the words he used, but still!

''Don't act innocent, we both know I'm right''

The woman only raised an eyebrow. ''Oh yeah? Sure, you are. But let's take a look at you. You're a magician right now, on which you can't make much since not everyone leaves bills, and those who do never leave over 5'000₩, meaning you must have a much better job, or you're con-artist''

The man looked slightly impressed. ''Well, love, you're correct. I work in a boring office during the day, when I'm off the clock I come here and do my magic but simply for entertainment''

''So, you're gonna let me go or?''

''They were never locked, darling. They're from the toyshop around the corner. They were literally like 1'000₩''

Jiwoo's cheeks heated up. Now that he said it, and she actually paid the handcuffs some attention, they looked crappy as hell.

''So, your name is Kim Jiwoo, got a number? Or you wanna borrow mine?'' The man packed up his last things.

''Never give anyone my number, why should you be any different? And how the fuck did you know my name?'' Jiwoo stood by the man as he packed. She'd shoved her hands into her jean's pockets as the wind picked up. No, she didn't bring a hoodie.

''Well, because I didn't tell the police man over there about your failed plan. I recognize your face, you're wanted for pickpocketing. And you really need to keep track of your Credit Cards'' Taehyun held up Jiwoo's Credit Card.

Jiwoo groaned. ''Fine, +81 705 161 423. You got a name?''

''Kang Taehyun'' He bowed elegantly.

''Are you a prince or sum?'' The woman raised an amused eyebrow. ''Why do you care who I am anyways? I literally tried stealing your money''

''You failed anyways, and I have your Credit Card, so I'd say I won. And you're pretty. Why wouldn't I want to get to know a pretty girl?''

Jiwoo still didn't understand. ''What if I'm a minor?''

''As I said, I've seen your wanted posters, I don't think they'd care that much about a minor'' Taehyun finished packing up all his tricks and turned to her. ''Wanna join me for dinner? On me''

The woman was much to hesitant. Sure, the man was absolutely gorgeous and he was kind, but she also had never allowed someone to be "close" to her, no matter how cheesy it sounded. Nor did she really trust the man.

But then again, free food.

''Fine''

''Well we're gonna have to swing by a dress shop because no restaurant in Gangnm is gonna let you in looking ike that'' Taehyun motioned to her ripped jeans, which wasn't design, and her worn out t-shirt that could pass for a dress due to how outstretched it was.

''I have no-''

''I didn't say you should pay. I simply said we needed to get you one. I'll pay for that as well''

Jiwoo was hesitant. ''Why are you so determined to take me to dinner? You met me a minute ago''

''No sweetheart, I'm a con-artist, I've seen you a lot. I've seen you pickpocket for years. I'm impressed. But you know the poor, blind man you gave 10'000₩ last week? Me'' He smirked and bowed.

''Not as impressed. Happens all the time''

''I made 100'000₩'' Taehyun smirked and raised an eyebrow. ''How much did you make? Minus the 10'000₩ you gave me''

''Fuck you'' She mumbled under her breath.

Taehyun raised an amused eyebrow. ''Only if you want to''

He started walking, and Jiwoo followed blindly. She had no idea where they were going. She never spent much time in Gangnam, she was usually in and out within the hour.

The man, who she'd met 10 minutes ago, dragged her inside a giant gown shop. It held floor gowns, princess looking dresses, puffy gowns, floral gowns and so on. They were all kinds of colors.

Jiwoo walked up to a random gown and checked the price tag. Her eyes widened. ''Taehyun, these gowns are literally 3'000'000₩, and those are the cheap ones''

''And as I said earlier, I'm paying. Pick anyone you want, Princess''

The women in the shop looked her up and down with judging faces. Sure, she was dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and an oversized t-shirt, and she hadn't showered in a week, but she felt judged.

She found a white gown with a slit. Sure, she wasn't much for gowns, but it just spoke to her.

Women in Korea were generally quite short and petite, but Jiwoo was (apparently) even shorter. ''Excuse me, do you have this in size 44?''

The women who worked there only laughed. ''I don't think you can afford that, darling''

''I didn't ask you if I could afford it, I asked you if you have this in my size''

The women only continued laughing at the single woman standing in the shop, gown in her hands that was way too big.

Taehyun let out a loud groan. ''Assist her, would you? I've got money to spend. If you're not gonna help her, I might as well just take my Black Card here, and go somewhere else''

The women were suddenly very, very excited to help the woman find a dress to her liking.

''Would you like to take a shower? No extra cost''

Taehyun sat down in one of the velvet futons. He smiled to himself. She was probably the most gorgeous woman he'd ever laid eyes upon.

Jiwoo came out 40 minutes later, dressed in the white gown, which was slightly lose at the cleavage, not leaving much to the imagination, it was tight around the aist and flowy from the hips and down. The slit was high which made her legs appear longer.

On her feet were a pair of white LouBoutin, which added an extra five inches to her short height.

Her hair had been blow dried and curled by the clerks and flowed down her back in perfect waves.

Taehyun walked up to her and took her hand in his. ''How do I look?'' Jiwoo asked as Taehyin spun her around. Due to Jiwoo never wearing heels before, she tripped over her own feet.

''Easy there'' Taehyun chuckled and wrapped a securing arm around her waist, and pulled her against her own body. ''I'll pay, and then we'll head out. Sounds good to you?''

The woman nodded. ''Uhm, will-''

''No, we're not taking your disgusting old cothes with us. You can burn them. We'll buy new clothes for you''

Jiwoo raised an eyebrow. ''So you're saying I'll see more of you?''

''Only if you want to''

Taehyun was laughing loudly as Jiwoo spoke. ''No you did not!''

''I did! I swear! So, I was running away from his asshole of a police, and he was catching up since he was literally twice my height, and so I didn't know what to do! Then I remembered something my friend told me, flash a man and your problems will go away, so I did''

Tears were filling Taehyun's eyes as he continued laughing. ''Oh my god, kind of wish I was on the other end though''

Jiwoo smacked his arm and glared at the man. ''How dare you?''

''With the cleavage on that dress you're not leaving much to my imagination, altough, uhm, my imagination is... that now''

The woman leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. ''Oh yeah?''

''Yeah, you're hot, I'm hot, let's fuck'' Taehyun stated bluntly. He leaned back and looked at Jiwoo through hooded eyes.

Jiwoo would never admit it to the man's face, but it made her hot. She liked his burning, mysterious gaze.

The waiter came over with the tab, which Taehyun quickly paid. The two left the restaurant and waited for the valet to drive the car to the front.

Taehyun had a tight grip of Jiwoo's hips. ''Quite sure you're gonna leave a mark if you don't release my hips''

''That'd mean you're mine, eh? Wouldn't it look beautiful?''

''Taehyun-'' Before Jiwoo could scold the man the valet pulled up with the slick, black Audi r8.

Jiwoo sat down in the passenger seat again and Taehyun closed the door behind her. As he sat down in the driver's set he smirked. ''So, you're coming to mine?''

''I would never fuck someone on the first dinner-''

''Stop lying to yourself, I saw you shifting when I stared you down before''

The woman blushed and looked out the window. ''No''

''Don't deny it, Princess'' He smirked and started the car. ''I know you want me''

Jiwoo decided to not reply and continued staring out the window. Taehyun only chuckled and drove towards his own place, one hand on the steering wheel and the other one resting in Jiwoo's lap.

She tried ignoring his, rather big, hand on her left thigh. It was warm, and squeezing her flesh every now and then. Jiwoo tried her best to ignore it, but he made it very hard.

As he squeezed her thigh once more Jiwoo'd gotten enough. She laid her hand on his and held it in a firm grip. Taehyun smirked. He enjoyed the effect he had on her.

''You are such a tease''

''I know, two words and I'll do it''

Jiwoo looked at him. ''I am not gonna say that''

Taehyun chuckled. ''Okay, I'll leave you high and not-so-dry''

She was silently cursing him in her head. She was hoping he'd completely ignore her and take her in his car.

''I know you want me to take you here, in the car. But I'm gonna need to hear you say those two magic words''

She continued cursing him. ''Fine! Fuck me!''

Jiwoo had never seen a man pull over that fast. She also could not understand how he pulled her into his lap with one swift motion.

''Wanna ride me? Or do you want me tot ake you in the backseat?'' Taehyun raised an eyebrow and massaged her waist.

''I don't care''

''Backseat then'' Jiwoo followed his orders and climbed into the backseat. Taehyun made sure to smack her ass before following her lead.

Taehyun didn't waste anymore more time and leaned down to press his lips against hers. Jiwoo wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him flush against her body.

A small chuckle left her lips as she felt him grinding against her. ''And you teased me?''

''Well Princess, we're gonna see who's the one begging soon'' He pulled her panties to the side and looked at Jiwoo. ''As I said, not-so-dry? Hm?''

His hands ran up her thighs, fingers moving too lightly for Jiwoo's liking. Goosebumps grew on her legs, causing her to shudder.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers again. He smirked to himself as he inserted his fingers in her pussy. A small, breathy moan left her lips.

As his fingers pumped inside of her Jiwoo could only moan. His hands were huge, and they surely knew what they were doing.

His fingers nudged her g-spot, forcing a louder moan from her lips. ''Taehyun~'' She whined. ''Do that again!''

Taehyun wore an, almost sadistic, smile on his lips as he repeated his previous action, forcing more pornographic moans from Jiwoo. ''Such pretty sounds, Princess. You're such a little slut''

Jiwoo felt embarrassed, but she enjoyed his degrading comments. ''Fuck, yes, for you Taehyun''

He curled his fingers, making Jiwoo buck her hips slightly. As she clenched around his fingers he sped up his action. ''Are you gonna cum? Hm?''

She nodded as her whole vocabulary was gone within a second.

Just before she could cum around his fingers, he ripped them from her heat and smirked. ''Nuh-uh, not yet'' A small whine left her lips as she tried sitting up. ''Taehyun~''

''Nuh-uh to that as well'' He pushed her back down.

He backed up even further and hooked his arms under her knees. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her heat. A whine left Jiwoo's lips. He chuckled to himself as his ego grew, before diving back into her pussy.

He was also slightly embarrassed. One taste was all it took and he was addicted to her. The way she tasted, the way she smelled, the way she reacted to his actions, the way she moaned his name.

Jiwoo's hands found Taehyun's hair and grabbed a firm hold. A small groan left his lips as she pulled slightly. ''Fuck, keep pulling''

A small chuckle left Jiwoo's lips, but continued pulling slightly at his hair. Her chuckle was cut off as he plunged his tongue back into her hole.

The lewd sounds that echoed in the car only made Jiwoo wetter, if that was even possible. He ate as if he was a starved man, as if he hadn't eaten since forever.

''Taehyun, can I please cum this time?''

''Nope'' He sat back up and wiped his mouth. ''Am I too mean to you, Princess?''

Jiwoo wanted to nod, but she enjoyed that he used her as he wished. ''Yes, but for some reason I like it''

''You're a sadist'' He chuckled and leaned down. Jiwoo was ready for a kiss, but he stopped right before they met. ''You like pain? And degrading? You like being embarrassed by me?''

''Maybe?'' She found Taehyun's hand and brought it towards her neck. ''Choke me?''

Taehyun froze for a second. Sure, he'd had his fair share of freaky people, but never one he cared about.

But he was, weirdly, into it. He chuckled in a sadistic manner and wrapped his hand around her neck. ''So pretty''

With the other hand he undid his belt, which turned Jiwoo on a bit too much, and pulled down his pants together with his underwear. Without warning he pushed his dick inside her.

Jiwoo's jaw fell open as he bottomed out. Taehyun removed his hand from her neck and pushed his fingers in her mouth instead.

After a short moment of letting her adjust to him he started thrusting hips in a slow pace. He wanted her to feel every inch of him.

''I thought you said you were gonna fuck me'' Jiwoo smirked, knowing she was hitting every nerve he had.

''Oh yeah?''

Taehyun's hands wrapped around Jiwoo's neck again and his hips sped up.

The car shook as he thrusted his hips in an, almost, unhuman pace. Jiwoo had been worried earlier that someone could walk by, those worries were out the window the second he entered her.

''Is this what you were planing when you stole my money?'' Jiwoo shook her head to the best of her abilities. ''Oh yeah?''

Jiwoo could feel herself getting closer, which wasn't hard due to the previous acts. ''Taehyun~ please let me cum''

''Fine''

She clenched around his dick before releasing her orgasm. Taehyun's hips only sped up as she came, smirking sadisticly again as she whined from the sensitivity.

''Fuck, you're so pretty, hm. I'm gonna cum because of you-'' He was about to pull out, but Jiwoo wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer. ''-want me to cum in you, hm?''

Jiwoo nodded. ''Fuck, yes!'' She pulled slightly at the ends of his hair.

''Want me to fill you up? Fuck, you'd be pretty with my babies. Don't you agree? Even prettier than now''

Taehyun stopped his thrusts and Jiwoo could feel him twitch. A second later he came in her, filling her to the brim. He pulled out and smiled as he could see his cum leaking out.

He quickly stuffed his fingers in her, pushing everything back in. ''Can't let anything go to waste if we want you swollen, hm?''

No one moved. They kind of just stared at each other.

''You're so pretty'' Taehyun mumbled again, this time an adoring smile on his lips.

Jiwoo chuckled and sat up. She leaned against the, now fogged up, car window. It was cool against her shoulder blades and it felt nice. ''And you're very handsome''

''Wanna move in with me?''

''Wow there. Moving very fast now, are we?'' Another chuckle left her lips as she was about to put on her underwear.

Taehyun was quick to snatch them and stuff them in his pocket. He then shrugged and pulled his own pants on. ''I’m keeping those for easy access'' He winked. ''And to be honest, I kind of just assumed you lived on a park bench or a run down barn''

''How dare you?'' Jiwoo replied jokingly. ''I'll think about it. Now- fucking hell it's steamy'' She painted a heart on the window.

''All you, Princess'' He leaned over her and pressed his finger against the window before he started to write something.

''We just fucked <3''

''Taehyun!''

''That's my name, don't wear it out unless you're screaming it'' He winked and climbed back into the driver's seat.

''Fuck you''

''Round 2 already?'' He smirked as Jiwoo climbed into the passenger's seat.

''Drive''

''Yes, Princess''

[mizldrizl]

What is where in Beyond Evil?

I always wondered where certain locations in the show actually are and how far each of them is apart from the others. Thankfully, the scriptbook has some addresses -- partially fictional, of course -- I can work with.

1. 문주시 (Munju-si) - 파주시 (Paju-si) (*si = city)

In one of the Blu-ray features, they mention that they filmed Dong Sik's neighborhood in Paju.

문산읍 (Munsan-eup) is part of 파주시 (Paju-si) (*eup = small town). It is easy to guess how they came up with the name "문주."

문산천 (Munsancheon River) = 문주천 (Munjucheon River)?

Trivia: The house used as Dong Sik's family house is actually in 용인시 (Yongin-si), which is about 100 km away from Paju. While filming the scene where Joo Won and Dong Sik are on their way to arrest Kang Jin Mook in Ep. 8, the actors momentarily thought they should take Joo Won's car because Manyang Supermarket is in Paju. They realized, soon after, that it is only a few minutes' walk from Dong Sik's house in the show.

2. Han Joo Won's apartment

The scriptbook says Joo Won's apartment is in 서울시 마포구 (Mapo-gu, Seoul-si) (*gu = district).

According to the Naver navigation service, it would take 35~50 minutes from Joo Won's place to Manyang by car. Mind you, I enter a city hall or its equivalent in "from" or "to" for the cities that are not familiar to me, and that's what I did here. Still, it would be safe to say that it takes about 45 minutes commuting for Joo Won, maybe an hour, tops, when the traffic is bad.

3. Han Ki Hwan's house

서울시 강남구 (Gangnam-gu, Seoul-si). The scriptbook says "청암동 (Cheongam-dong)" as well, which is clearly a little tweak from 청담동 (Cheongdam-dong) (*dong = town); it is in the northern part of 강남구. It takes about an hour from here to Joo Won's place by car, but thinking of Seoul's traffic, it might take a bit longer than that depending on the time of the day.

4. 서울경찰청 (Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency)

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is in 서울시 종로구 (Jongno-gu, Seoul-si). It takes 25~35 minutes from Joo Won's apartment, and 45~55 minutes from Han Ki Hwan's house by car. But again, it's Seoul, so you can never be sure.

5. 옥산군 (Oksan-gun) - 옥천군 (Okcheon-gun)

옥산군 (Oksan-gun) is where Chief Nam's lakehouse is (*gun = municipality). The actual location is called 옥천군 (Okcheon-gun). It would take 3~3.5 hours from Manyang by car.

6. 부산시 (Busan-si) & 울산시 (Ulsan-si)

In Ep. 8, Dong Sik says he and Chief Nam once arrested a culprit in Ulsan and went to Busan together to have pufferfish soup before going back to Seoul.

It takes 4.5~5 hours from Seoul to Ulsan, and another 1.5 hours from Ulsan to Busan by car. From Manyang to Busan, it would be about 5 hours by car. If you take a KTX train from Seoul Station to Busan Station, it takes about 2.5 hours.

7. 강원도 (Gangwon-do)

In the last episode, it is mentioned that Joo Won is working at a station in Gangwon-do (*do = province).

You can see that it is a fairly big province. As of November 2023, there are 17 police stations in Gangwon-do. Meaning, Joo Won can be anywhere 80~250 km from Manyang. Because I am a shameless JWDS shipper who hopes that Joo Won can go see Dong Sik both in Manyang and Oksan easily, I would like to imagine Joo Won is working at the station in 원주시 (Wonju-si), which would be about 2.5 hours from either Manyang or Oksan by car.

(*All estimated times are based on around 4 pm on a weekday. Of course, if one drives at dawn or in the middle of the night, it would take a much shorter amount of time.)

[wannaeatramyeon]

Gun Park x Reader: this is our place (we make the rules)

Chapter 2 - Probably should read ch1 first Gun has a new neighbour. Index: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Epilogue

Good manners cost nothing.

Certaining when you barely had a few wons to your name, that was all you could afford. And your pride.

So just because your neighbour essentially said ‘leave me alone, have a nice life’, he still did you a favour. 

That you owe him for.

Love thy neighbour and all that.

.

.

Gun Park’s home is not homely by any stretch of the imagination.

All black and white and grey, nearly industrial in taste with wooden accents. Straight lines and sharp edges softened by nature’s hues.

Very few furnishings adorn his apartment, minimal and just shy of clinical. Anything that has a place is the best of the best, luxurious and with an exorbitant price tag to match.

Handcrafted bed from Sweden, which apart from Gun’s, has not experienced the same body twice.  

Imported italian coffee machine, used only with beans from Kenya. Drink of choice: 2 shots of espresso, taken as is. 

Never-used cooking appliances, still brand new and silver and top of the range. 

L-shaped sectional sofa from one of the hottest designers in South Korea, selected and praised by HNH’s own Interior Designer with words that held no interest to Gun.

An obscenely huge bathtub in the corner of a spacious bathroom and facing a breathtaking view. A shower with a rainfall head amongst other sprays and nozzles. Both having washed away a lifetime (and then some)of dirt and grime and blood.

Enough space for a personal home gym in one room (even if the building does include a gym and pool for communal use), and a walk-in wardrobe the size of most other pads in Gangnam.

He’s not much for sentiment, just a couple of more meaningful trinkets here or there. Reminders of Japan and souvenirs from his victims. 

Most surprising of all, in a lone forgotten corner, outlined against the impressive, sprawling cityscape and where the best sun spot should be, sits a plant.

Given to him by Goo Kim as a joke for housewarming, “Let’s see how well you can keep something alive”.

Gun’s first urge was to throw it back in his face. Though. The idea of keeping something living intrigued him. A little challenge.

Healthy and vibrant and green with long spiky leaves when it was thrusted into Gun’s hands. 

It didn’t hold his attention for long.

Kept alive in the early days by the cleaner, before Gun realised he hated the idea of someone touching his things and being in his space. 

Now a sad, neglected eyesore. Shrivelled and brown and hanging on for dear life. Lucky to get a few squirts of water once a month; momentary rejuvenation until it is left to wither again.

And lastly.

Hidden in the cabinet below the huge TV, regularly rotated out for the latest model, lives a few gaming consoles.

...Because Gun is still a young bachelor after all. He isn’t completely immune from the psychological thrills of video games.

.

.

Minimal as it is, and busy as Gun is - it’s still his home.

A sanctuary full of things he has collated and deemed worthy enough to be in his life that he makes sure to regularly return to. 

Today, he’s ready for a weekend of nothing. No doubt his leg will bounce and get twitchy after a few hours, but the last few weeks of being on the go with the Four Crews has taken a toll.

Not to mention the hijinks with his neighbour yesterday. Someone that looks like they don’t belong in this district, nevermind in the building.

Yet you knocked on his door. 

On Shiro Oni’s door. 

Exuding a quiet confidence even as your body betrayed your nerves. Even as two spots of pink appeared on your cheeks once you took in the full view of Gun Park.

Most fascinating of all is that you saw his eyes, treated it as an everyday occurrence, and did not hesitate or flinch.

Huh.

.

.

You ring the doorbell again.

At first, you thought this was an excellent idea. 

But now, as you wait (seriously, what is Gun doing in there), you’re feeling more and more foolish.

Tupperwares of homemade kimchi stew, and kimchi sits in the crook of your elbow. 

Because when someone has enough money to drown in, and obviously someone living in this building should have, then there’s nothing like a homemade touch.

Here he comes. 

The footsteps don’t sound irritable today. Thank the heavens. Maybe antsy, a little too quick footed to be relaxed.

The door is flung open, and your neighbour greets you. 

Ok, his footsteps didn’t sound irritable but his face certainly is.

And how does this guy have this effect on you? 

Your throat dries up as you notice his hair flopping over one eye, no longer messy after a full day of what must be work, instead likely just leftover from his bedhead. 

(Bed. Head. your horrid nasty brain repeats as you think about his BED.)

The linen shirt and pants. Chest bared, pretty collar bones on show and teasing the outline of hard pecs. 

Relaxed mode, weekend mode.

Sleeves again rolled up and highlighting the tattoos and faint veins protruding on his forearms.

Seriously, did this guy choose the tattoo placement just to highlight his muscular forearms? Fuck him, it absolutely works. 

Gun crosses them, leaning against his open door and observing you. His face, previously not bothering to hide his annoyance at being interrupted by you once again, only shows amusement. Amused to see how hard you are ogling him. It’s not new, though many don’t make it this blatantly obvious.

“Morning,” You hear your voice cracking and clear your throat. “Here.”

You hold out your tupperware boxes.

No hands receive them. They just hang there, in the air between you both.

Gun doesn’t move, continuing to look at you with a hint of a smile and an arched brow.

“It’s thanks. For yesterday.” You give the boxes a little shake. Why the hell can’t this guy just take it. 

“No.” is all he gives, retreating back and closing the door.

Your foot darts out, jamming itself into the gap just before it shuts.

“Just take it,” you try to shoulder your way in a little, "it’s for you.”

“I’ve broken people’s necks for less. Move your foot.”

“Just take it,” you repeat again, “then I don’t owe you anything. We’re even.”

Gun considers this. 

He didn’t think you owed him anything for yesterday, but you obviously did. It was a quick job in exchange for a peaceful evening, not out of the goodness of his heart.

If this right now is what it takes to get you out of his hair-

“I promise I’ll leave you alone,” comes your voice.

And out of his life forever. Fine.

Gun relents, stepping back as you stagger forward and into his domain.

You hold out the boxes, avoiding his gaze, face bright red at how much of an idiot you feel and what a fuss this has turned out to be.

He finally takes them, once again fingers grazing yours. “Thanks.”

Your eyes meet his as that singular word catches you off balance. You didn’t think it existed in his vocabulary.

“Now get out.”

Ah, that’s more like it.

[drunkewok]

Tiger Inside Chapter One

Stray Kids Mafia (Ongoing)

Masterlist

Likes, reblogs and feedback always greatly appreciated

WC: 2.6k

Pairing: Lee Know x reader

Genre: Series, Enemies to lovers, non-idol AU, Mafia AU

Warnings: 18+, Minors DNI, drinking, swearing, violence, weapons

Please do not copy or repost my work

Remember when we were kids and the teacher would instruct us to draw whatever we wanted to be when we grew up? Boy, were all of mine wrong.

Instead of being the doctor,

the firefighter,

the astronaut,

the vet,

I’m traversing a crowded upscale lounge, delivering drinks to plastered patrons clad in designer suits as they discuss their next business merger. Something I wouldn’t highly suggest digesting beside a bottle of drained soju, but who am I to decide that.

Rather, my drawings should have been that of a scandalously dressed cocktail waitress, the click of heels echoing off of stained mahogany, eyes shallow in the shadows from nights of little sleep, and the forced smile in lieu of a groan at another poor excuse of a drunken pickup line.

My body sat propped up by my elbows on the cold surface of the bar, my eyes pointed, but unfocused, on the bottles of liquor adorning the shelf. The music and voices behind me failed to make it past my ears, a simple white noise drowned out by the mindless black screen that sat behind my eyes.

“Earth to Siu, any lights on in there?” I blinked sharply as my attention is pulled to the gentleman standing across the bar with snapping fingers, a tray littered with expertly assembled drinks placed in front of me.

“Shit, thank you” Quickly snapped back to my reality, I slipped the tray forward onto my hand and raised it to my shoulder, before finally looking up to the bartender’s eyes watching me, carefully painted with worry. “I’m good Seongho, just zoned out for a second.” I flashed him my best attempt of a smile before retreating back into the sea of patrons.

Blossom sat tucked away in a back alley, door unlisted, in the dark corners of the Gangnam Business District. Those in attendance only knowing of the location by word of mouth. It made for a simpler atmosphere in terms of customer service. Our patrons were always regulars, creating a social environment, and causing loose lips of the inebriated businessmen made far too comfortable sharing details of their personal lives beyond the front door of the establishment.

This made it that much more surprising when a glance to the door let me observe two unfamiliar faces strolling in and making their way to a booth in the back corner, much younger than the usual, older crowd. My gaze follows the two across the room, once distinctly taller than the other and both in expertly tailored suits. The tray perched upon my hand is now tucked under my arm after placement of the last drink, making my way towards the newcomers now settled in their booth. In my approach I can notice they haven’t spoken to each other at all since sitting, instead they sat silently observing those around them. A tension sat in the air as I neared their table, an uneasy feeling quickly settling into my stomach as I leaned against the end of their booth, giving my best go at a genuine smile in an attempt to slice the thick air as I spoke.

“Been a while since we’ve seen some new faces here, welcome to Blossom.” My eyes flicked between the two, trying to give them a grin, the feeling in my stomach starting to make permanent residence “My name is Siu, what can I get you two to drink tonight?” The moment Siu left my lips the two exchanged a glance before the taller of the two grabs my attention with a clearing of the throat. His hair is a crisp blonde, perfectly swept back with what looked to be enough hairspray to commit arson at just the thought of a spark. His eyes avoid mine, still glued to the peer in front of him. The second male had equally bleached hair, although shorter and much more tousled than the first’s. His cheeks were peppered with freckles, a bit of boyish charm to his appearance. I held my arms across the tray pressed to my stomach, finding at least some solace in closing in my body language just slightly through the tension.

“Two whiskeys, neat.” The first’s voice was sharp, quick and to the point. I pursed my lips with a subtle nod, clearly they weren’t going to be the talking type.

“Alrighty then, I’ll be back shortly with those.” Tucking the tray back under my arm, I settled firmly back on both feet before turning my way back towards the bar.

“Could I possibly get a water with that too? Please and thank you!” The second’s voice caught me off guard, much deeper than I initially would have expected coming from that face, especially paired with the grin that quickly adorned his cheeks. At least one of them seemed friendly. With a smile and a nod I turned back on my heels. “You don’t have to be so cold to her, Hyung.” ever so quietly I could hear him mutter to the first as I walked away. I let a quiet giggle leave my lips, go figure the younger was the more polite one, but even taking to scolding his older was going to be entertaining to me.

“New blood?” Seongho nodded to the two in the corner before glancing back to me with a raised brow.

“Yeah, interesting characters for sure. Not the usual crowd.” I set the tray to the counter, glancing back over my shoulder and catching the eye of the older of the two burning into my skin. I quickly swiveled back to Seongho, with wide eyes. “Alrighty then, we got a watcher, add that to the list.” Our exchanged laughter at the two muffled by the start of a new vocals from the stage where the live artist settled in front of the mic with a fresh trot song. “They want two whiskeys, neat. Oh, and a water too” Seongho made haste pulling a bottle from the shelf behind him, filling two rocks glasses and placing them onto the tray with a grin and a wink.

“Good luck out there, don’t let ‘em eat you alive.” He quickly added a water bottle before shooing me off into the crowd once more, the rest of the night falling into the same monotonous pattern as always.

The two started to frequent the lounge every night, and each night turned into weeks, then quickly months. Slowly but surely I was able to chip away at the icy exterior of the older. He finally began to speak to me in full sentences, and dare I say I’ve gotten some laughter out of him on a couple occasions. I definitely spent more time focusing on him, determined to get him out of his hard shell. Eventually they shared their names, finally getting to put Hyunjin and Felix to their faces. Without fail they always showed up in their crisp suits, never a thread out of place and ties never loosened, their order always two whiskey neats and a water for Felix. Seongho insisted that they never showed up when I wasn’t working, but I kept assuring him that they were probably just sneaking in under the radar as usual and being assisted back in the corner unnoticed.

The night already wasn’t playing out smoothly for me, missing my bus adding time to my already long commute and surely setting me up for a late clock in. I made my way quickly out to the floor, finding Seongho behind the bar as I let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m so glad you’re working tonight, everything has been going wrong and it’s nice to see your face here.” I began to grab a tray and prepare it in front of me as Seongho immediately set two whiskeys and a water onto it.

“Your boys are already here, been waiting for you in the usual booth.” I glanced over my shoulder to see Felix sitting facing the bar, the spot usually occupied by Hyunjin, as he gave me a small wave and soft smile. I turned back to Seongho, with a sigh. “Yeongja tried greeting them and asking their order, but they just told her they’ll happily wait for you to get here.” With a groan I started to lift the tray onto my hand.

“So I’m the only one allowed to serve them? They’re choosing favorites now?”

“Siu, you’re always the only one serving them.” Seongho leaned against his hands on the bar and glanced back to the booth. “This is just the first time they explicitly mentioned you. Maybe one of ‘em has a little crush you never know.” He quickly clapped his hands together with a mischievous grin. “Oh my god, maybe you can finally get a date.” I swear my eyes rolled back so fast that if they had any more force behind it they would’ve popped directly out of my skull.

“You’re very funny, Seongho.” Balancing the tray upon my hand I maneuvered through the crowd to the back corner where Hyunjin and Felix sat, in a tense silence just like the first day they came. Setting the glasses down, I grinned at the two.

“My apologies for my late arrival tonight, one of our other waitresses would have been glad to serve you so you two weren’t waiting on me” My smile wasn’t reciprocated from either of the boys, that original unsettling feeling back in my stomach. This felt like a weird case of deja vu.

“You had us worried there for a second.” Hyunjin took a sip from his glass, staring forward at the table, his cold demeanor clearly back. “We thought you weren’t going to show tonight.”

“Oh no I’ll always be here, just ran into some hiccups that made me a bit late.” My forced smile was surely becoming more evidently fake as I tried to keep the conversation going. Even Felix has a bit of chill to him tonight, the two exchanged a glance before Felix finally looks up to me with a strained smile.

“Well don’t let us keep you, we know you’re probably behind schedule now and have a lot on your plate.” With a smile and slight bow I thanked the younger before continuing to make my rounds around the floor, a full house of patrons making use of their Friday night.

Thankfully the night seemed to progress fast and smoothly, at least my shift was going on without a hitch. Although I realized time had escaped me and I hadn’t had the chance to check in with Hyunjin and Felix for a while, but as I glanced over to their booth I found it empty. A twinge of disappointment settled in my chest at not being able to bid them goodbye, but I knew they’d be back during my next shift and I could once again apologize to them for letting time get the best of me.

Seongho and I slipped our coats on, the night finally coming to an end. He flicked the lights off behind us as we exited into the late night air before turning around and securely locking the door behind us and making our way down the alley to the main street.

“Are you in tomorrow?” Seongho’s voice finally broke the silence as we reached the sidewalk before parting ways.

“No, thankfully I can rest tomorrow, I’m exhausted.” I stretched my arms back, feeling the pull in my muscles before glancing back to Seongho. “Get home safe, alright?”

“You too, Siu. Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.” Seongho patted my arm before making his way up the street as I turned the opposite way and started my own trek home.

I’ll be first to say that I know walking home at such an hour alone is never my best choice, but it had a calming nature to it within the empty streets. Only the occasional passing car and very few other pedestrians littering the streets. It provided me with the much needed calm down period after my shifts, and I wouldn’t trade those walks for the world.

Yet tonight proved itself different, a looming anxiety was firm in my bones that my walk wasn’t as lonely as usual, but could never pinpoint the reasoning for the feeling. No one was in sight, and each time I turned around to check, no one was behind me. I contemplated trying to catch a bus for the remainder of my commute, but instead of feeling like a sitting duck at a bus station I opted for adding a bit of pep to my step and speeding up my steps.

A wave of relief washed over me as I finally reached the doors of my apartment building, slipping in as fast as I could and ensuring the door was firmly shut behind me before making my way towards the elevators. The building was quiet as ever at these hours, not a voice or peep to be heard. There was nothing I was looking forward to more than removing my makeup and crawling into bed under my warm covers and allowing myself to drift into slumber. A warm shower was in the plan as well, my muscles felt stiff and needed some form of relaxation.

Finally settled into pajamas, wet hair, and tea in hand I slipped under the blankets, immediate comfort taking over me as the hot liquid made its way through my chest like the roots of a tree. I flicked on the tv, searching for a documentary to put on for a quiet lull of a voice to assist in my sleep before settling my head onto the pillow and letting my eyelids grow heavy.

The morning sun was the first thing to wake me up, the absence of a screaming alarm giving some comfort to my warm morning. Sitting up, I attempted to blink the sleep away from my eyes, the morning fog starting to clear from my head with a yawn.

My slippers dragged across the floor as I shuffled into the kitchen, in dire need of a cup of morning coffee. After prepping the coffee maker, I leaned against the counter and crossed my robe tighter across my body in an attempt to hold in any warmth before the heater could finally kick on and warm the apartment.

The ding of a complete coffee cycle alerted me to my prepared drink. Sipping from my mug, I leaned against the counter again, waiting for the caffeine to make its way into my veins. I scanned the apartment from my spot, making a mental note of my to-do list needing to be completed throughout my day. My eyes fell on my front door next, more specifically a white envelope on the floor sitting in front of it.

“What the fuck…” I set down my mug and made my way towards it. Surely this wasn’t there when I got home last night, I would have noticed it when I took my shoes off. Its positioning looking like it had been slipped under my door in the night. Bending down to pick it up, I slowly broke the seal of it and began to unfold the paper sitting inside, the name on the sheet quickly making my stomach drop and all source of breath leave my body.

Y/n.

We need to have a talk.

East bank of the Tancheon bridge, 9pm.

- Felix.

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