#go na byul

[whump-lover-and-reader]

Whump Fic:

‹Jung Eui Sung gets drugged at the bar›

Leverage Team starts what they think is just nother job, but… the person they're after turns out to be far more dangerous than they expected initially, and Jung Eui Sung learns that far too late.

Tags: one shot, whump, hurt/comfort, non-consesual touching, non-consensual drug use, date rape drug/roofies, attempted kidnapping, implied/referenced rape/non-con, unconsciousness, protective caretaker

Word count: 7,180

A/N: my first attempt of writing an original fanfic that is in canon universe. I hope it makes sense👍 it took me quite a lot of courage to post pls be nice

[Ao3 link]

 “This time,” said the team leader, Lee Tae Joon, looking at each member of his team at the briefing table, “we’re going to be a little more spread out than usual.”

Their new target’s name was Kim Dae Kyung. How the team had found him was a little bit different story than most of their cons.

A few days ago Tae Joon ran into his old classmate, a woman named Hye Soo. He remembered her as a wonderful, kind girl, and as an adult she hadn't changed. But one look at her and he could tell that she was not doing great.

“Let's find somewhere to sit down, and you can tell me everything,” he said. Tae Joon decided then and there he was going to do everything he could to help this woman.

They settled in a random little cafe, and Hye Soo shared her story.

Just a week ago she had everything. She was to marry a nice guy from whom she was having a baby, and just the mention of a baby touched Tae Joon’s heart, since he used to be a parent himself. But it turned out, that guy was only after her money. He stole everything from her, even her home.

“He gave me a week to find a new place to live,” she said, “and it's already up. Now I don't have anywhere to go!”

Tae Joon put a hand on her shoulder, but before he could say anything, she continued:

“But it's only a half of the story. As I was searching for a new house, I found this guy,” and at this point Tae Joon already could piece together the rest of the story, but he still let Hye Soo continue. “He had a small company with a few employees. He said they helped families in crisis. He promised new housing cheap and quick. I should've known it was too good to be true... But I was desperate. And he even showed me the apartment, and the documents, and everything, so I thought it might be safe.”

“He conned you.”

Hye Soo nodded, defeated. “When I went to the new apartment the next day, there were people living there. And they said they hadn't heard anything about it being sold to anyone, and even promised to call the police if I didn't leave.”

She then went quiet, and Tae Joon spoke with confidence.

“It’s settled then. We’re going to help you.”

“We?”

Tae Joon smirked. “I know a few people…”

***

Tae Joon graciously offered her to stay at his place while he himself crashed at the headquarters. Not the most ideal solution, but it was only temporarily, until they dealt with the dirtbags accordingly.

After that he introduced Hye Soo to the team, and together they planned out their course of action.

First of all, Soo Kyung and Tae Joon posed as a married couple that were expecting a child in the future and were in desperate need of a new home to get the scammers' attention. They threw the bait and waited until they could meet the agents of this "company".

After that they had to figure out how to get the leader of the company, a man named Kim Dae Kyung. They decided to get more evidence of his crimes and hand him over to the police, which was the least risky and the most effective way of doing away with him. That meant going through his personal belongings and probably blackmail.

But getting the much needed information was so much harder considering their target was a literal hermit. The only times you could catch him outside his house were when he would meet his new clients or unwind in a bar.

Which had brought them to this moment.

“What do you mean spread out?” Eui Sung asked.

“Since it's so hard to catch the right moment, we have to act as quickly as possible. And that means... everyone will have to play their part at the same time, but we'll all be in different locations.”

He then explained that he and Soo Kyung would have a meeting with the agents of the company, allowing the other three to go after the head, Kim Dae Kyung.

“Na Byeol, you will search his house. Find anything and everything that could incriminate him,” he said, and Na Byeol nodded. “Our target only goes out to the bar for a short break, so you’ll have limited time. And that’s where you,” he pointed at Eui Sung, “will play your part. You will have to go in and distract him as long as you can.”

“Me? Wait, what do you want me to do?”

“You’re going to be just another customer who decided to strike up a conversation. Talk to him, stall him, prevent him from going home as long as you can to give Na Byeol time.”

For some reason Eui Sung’s palms started to sweat.

The thought of having to spend one-on-one time with their target, especially after the last time he was forced to be on his own with their targets involuntarily came to mind, of course, didn’t bring him any comfort. His strengths were technology and surveillance, backing his team up from afar, opening all doors for them, only occasionally providing help as minor characters. Not directly interacting with the target, especially when he didn’t have his teammates right behind him.

“W-wait, why me? Why not Roy?” he pointed at the other man. “Surely he fits better. He has more, uhh… natural charisma?”

Roy quirked an eyebrow at that, and Soo Kyung giggled quietly.

“Because you are generally more, you know, amiable looking. Let’s just say I think it would be better if Dae Kyung was approached by someone… less intimidating,” Tae Joon said.

Eui Sung made a confused face, and Na Byeol laughed out loud. He then realized that the insinuation here was that he was just naturally giving off an impression of someone who couldn’t stand up for himself, and he was slightly offended.

“Hey, I can be intimidating!” he pouted.

“The only thing you can intimidate is maybe your breakfast,” Na Byeol smirked and high fived Roy, which has only brought Eui Sung more annoyance at his situation.

“Besides,” Tae Joon continued, not paying their bickering any mind, “Roy will have a different mission. He’ll be the one driving you both to your respected locations and back. Since Dae Kyung’s house is in a very closed off neighborhood, others might get very suspicious of a van waiting around. So instead Roy will wait under the bar and only pick up Na Byeol when she’s ready.”

“So, he’s going to be nearby?” Eui Sung asked, perhaps with a little more enthusiasm than he wished to reveal.

“What are you so worried about, Hacker?” Roy suddenly asked.

“Well, you know… Who knows what could happen…” he thought back to last time, when after he was done with his part and still got got.

“You get to just relax at a bar, what could there possibly be to be scared about?”

Eui Sung didn’t know what to answer. What was he scared about? There was nothing concrete, he just had a bad feeling, but he already had bad feelings most of the time, so he said nothing. He hated to admit it, but he was acting unreasonably in that situation. He really had nothing to complain about.

Roy, on the other hand, was surprised at the lack of a response from Eui Sung. His question was meant as a teasing, but he realized that the other must be genuinely worried, so he decided to lay off for now. Later he would regret his words said in that particular moment. He should’ve listened to his worries, probably should’ve offered to switch places, since he understood very well that the jokes about Eui Sung’s helplessness weren’t particularly unfounded. But at the time it didn’t seem too important, and they were much more concerned with preparing Tae Joon and Soo Kyung for their performance than anything else. So this conversation was long forgotten.

-линия перерыва-

All too quickly came the evening to put their plan into action.

Tae Joon and Soo Kyung had already left, and Roy had already dropped Na Byeol off at the target’s house and was on his way to the bar to leave Eui Sung to do his thing.

He stopped the van in front of the entrance to the bar, and Eui Sung stood up to reluctantly exit.

“You’re going to be outside, right?” he asked Roy.

“Yes, I’m going to be here, at least until Na Byeol finds the safe,” he heard Roy’s firm voice in his left ear. “But the trip there and back only takes fifteen minutes, you will be fine.”

Indeed, they had calculated that the road from the bar to Dae Kyung’s house and back only took about fifteen minutes. But that did not mean absolute security.

Eui Sung really wanted to object that actually so many things could go wrong in fifteen minutes, but then he decided that he should stay silent to save last bits of his dignity in front of Roy. After all, excluding Roy, he got the easiest job of them all, only having to sit and talk for a while, not even playing any particular role.

“Now hurry,” Roy said, “before our target decides to go home.”

Eui Sung nodded resolutely. “Yes, sir.”

He was determined to do his absolute best and not let anyone down. But when he entered the building his confidence instantly faded. He spotted Dae Kyung right away, and at that moment it hit him that he was completely alone. And he would definitely be whining about it if others didn’t absolutely depend on him.

Instead he simply looked around. It was a small establishment with a few tables and a nice atmosphere. It wasn’t too crowded, and Eui Sung could definitely find himself a vacant table if he wanted to. But his destined seat was, of course, next to their target.

Dae Kyung was sitting at the bar counter sipping on a drink. Eui Sung took a deep breath and headed straight to him.

He plopped down on the stool two seats to the left of their target and ordered himself a glass of something light. He had absolutely no desire to get drunk that night. After about two minutes of sitting in silence and figuring out his next move he felt more than noticed the other’s eyes on him.

So Eui Sung got his attention without any effort straight away, great.

“Well, hello there, pretty guy.”

The voice and the words caught him completely off-guard, and made him nearly choke on his drink. He turned to Dae Kyung to make sure the man was talking to him.

“M-me?”

He heard Na Byeol snort in his ear. “Who's pretty? Is he talking to you?”

Dae Kyung laughed softly. “I'm sorry, it's probably not an inappropriate getting. I just couldn't help myself.”

“Ah… It's okay,” Eui Sung laughed it off awkwardly even though in reality he was immediately on edge without even realizing it. “Good evening to you too. My name's Park Man Young,” he introduced himself with a prepared name to move on from the awkwardness.

“Kim Dae Kyung.”

So now Eui Sung just had to bust out all the charm of his personality and get this guy into a conversation.

“So… Do you come here often?”

“Do I come here often? You could say that...” Dae Kyung said, and it was about the most cryptic answer Eui Sung ever heard. He didn’t even know what to say after that, but luckily, Dae Kyung continued: “Although tell me something. I've never seen you around.”

“Ah, right... I'm sort of new to this part of the city. I've moved in a few days ago. I just decided I should go out and meet some people.”

“I knew it.”

“Huh?”

“I knew I would remember someone as handsome as you,” Dae Kyung laughed again, and Eui Sung's cheeks flushed bright red. “You could sweep anyone off their feet, you know.”

“What the hell? Is he flirting with you or something? I can't listen to this,” he heard Na Byeol's voice.

“Hah! Who would've thought,” Roy chuckled. “You're in luck tonight, Hacker.”

Eui Sung started violently coughing to shut them up. “Stop saying nonsense!” he mumbled quietly so that only his teammates would hear him.

“Eh? Did you say something?”

“Nothing! Nothing. It's very nice to meet you, sir.”

He then thought he noticed something weird flicker in the target's eyes. But it only lasted a second, so Eui Sung wasn't sure he didn't imagine it.

“Hey,” Dae Kyung motioned to the bartender, “let my friend have some more, and put it on my tab.”

“Really? Thank you,” Eui Sung said, and Dae Kyung winked at him, which only made Eui Sung more uncomfortable. But nothing was too intolerable just yet.

In fact, Eui Sung felt pretty good about it so far: he managed to draw the attention of their target pretty effortlessly, and it looked like the man was pretty interested in this conversation, so if he kept this up he was sure he could buy Na Byeol all the time in the world to search his house upside-down. Not that he wanted to, since this guy was giving him the biggest creeps ever.

“Do you like this part of the city?” he asked to continue the conversation.

Dae Kyung hummed, thinking. “No, not particularly,” he said in the end.

“Why staying here, then?”

“I like the people here,” he replied. “They mind their own business, you know? I could be doing anything behind the doors of my home, and they wouldn't even care. They don't ask questions.”

Eui Sung suppressed the urge to ask what questions. He determined that he didn't really want to know the specifics. Surely he just meant his fake real estate company, what else could there be, right?

“What, you're not going to ask me what I mean?” Dae Kyung suddenly asked.

“What? U-um...” Eui Sung laughed nervously. “I figured since I'm gonna live here I'm not going to ask questions and mind my own business as well?” he offered. “Unless you want to tell me yourself, of course.”

Dae Kyung bared his teeth in a weird looking smile which could only be described as a wolfish grin of a predator right before it sunk its teeth into its prey.

“No,” Dae Kyung said, and after a somewhat ominous pause he added: “I have a feeling you'll find out soon enough anyway.”

Eui Sung would lie if he said he didn't feel slight chills run down his spine.

He felt his glass nearly slipping out of his hand because of sweat. He set it down on the table. It was empty already anyway.

Back in the van Roy scrunched his nose in irritation. Now this guy was just trying to intimidate Eui Sung to try and manipulate him in some way. And he could practically see Eui Sung's fluttering eyelashes and slightly open mouth as he loses his train of thought completely. If it was Roy out there, he wouldn't have even bat an eyelid at such a crude attempt to instill fear in someone. But it was Eui Sung they were talking about, and the prolonged silence on the other end of the earpiece was good enough indication.

“Hacker, remember who you're talking to. He's just a scammer, he's not going to do anything. Just ignore whatever he says and stay calm,” he spoke in hopes to calm his teammate down a little bit.

But Roy himself didn't believe his own words. He wasn't particularly worried, but if he had only been listening halfheartedly before, now he was definitely more alert. If he was being honest, this guy didn't sound like just a usual scammer, rather more sinister. And now he wished he did switch places with Eui Sung. But it was too late now, and he didn't want to throw their hacker into panic in fear of compromising their mission.

Hearing Roy's words in his ear both comforted and ticked Eui Sung off even more. He was glad to know Roy was still there and listening, so, in theory, he was safe. But he was annoyed because Roy could only hear, he didn't see Dae Kyung's creepy smile, his predatory eyes, couldn't smell his foul breath or feel the revolting warmth he was radiating that Eui Sung could sense even being one seat apart from him. So how could he tell him to stay calm?

“I see your glass is empty over there, little buddy,” he heard Dae Kyung’s voice. “Please,” the man turned to the barkeep, “a refill for my friend.”

The newly refilled glass landed in front of him, and snapped his attention back to the problem at hand. He briefly glanced at Dae Kyung and saw that the other was watching him, as if waiting for him to take a sip.

Eui Sung brought the glass to his lips, and saw Dae Kyung's smile widen ever so slightly.

“Why don't you tell me about yourself?” Dae Kyung then asked. “For example, what do you do for living?”

Eui Sung barely stopped himself from sighing in relief. Finally, a normal question.

Their further dialogue went pretty smoothly. Eui Sung fed him some wild stories about his made up life, and listened to Dae Kyung lie about his line of business as well.

“I work as a real estate agent,” he said, completely omitting the fact that he sold already occupied apartments and stole his clients' money.

“That's so cool!” Eui Sung replied. “Can you tell me more about it?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Dae Kyung flashed him a smile, and once again Eui Sung's stomach twisted just the tiniest bit.

Back in the van Roy also found himself frowning. First time it was kind of funny, second time it was already getting old, but at that point this was starting to look more like a pattern, and Roy wasn’t liking it.

The talk went on for about ten more minutes, until something strange happened.

A loud bang and a sound of glass shattering made Eui Sung jump in his seat and turn his head sharply. At the far corner table an angry woman was storming off leaving behind a lost guy who looked just pathetic. She shouted at him so loudly that everyone in the bar could hear. Something about him cheating, and he could only miserably attempt to defend himself. Eui Sung hissed sympathetically. That guy was definitely having a terrible evening... But that wasn’t his problem. He turned back to their mark to find the other man smiling warmly.

“Has anybody ever told you you have pretty eyes?”

Eui Sung almost choked on his drink once more.

“W-what?”

“Absolutely gorgeous, I could definitely drown in them...”

“Uhhh...”

Eui Sung's skin crawled. Something about Dae Kyung's voice was different, but he couldn't figure out what, and that last comment made him want to run to the exit and ask Roy to drive away as fast as possible.

Dae Kyung moved just an inch closer to Eui Sung, who simultaneously backed away.

“Seriously, with those pretty eyes I bet you have a gorgeous smile as well. Don't you want to smile for me?”

Eui Sung swallowed thickly.

It seemed even Na Byeol understood there were no place for jokes anymore.

“Is this guy out of his mind? I feel gross even listening to him,” Na Byeol commented. “Is it safe for Eui Sung to be next to him?”

Eui Sung wanted to yell that yes, he was, in fact, feeling very unsafe right now, and let everyone know just what he thinks of this guy next to him. But on the outside he could only flash an awkward smile and do his best to hide his discomfort so as not to blow his cover. After all, everyone depended on him being able to stall as long as possible.

After a few more seconds Dae Kyung suddenly burst out laughing. “You should've seen your face! My little guy, I'm just messing with you, relax.”

“Oh,” Eui Sung breathed out. Suddenly he felt a dull headache forming behind his eyes. Was it the drinks, or the fact that he had been stressing out all evening?

“Eui Sung, just give me a sign, and we can abort this,” Roy said. “Clear your throat if you need help.”

But Eui Sung kept quiet. He wasn't about to ruin the con just because of a few weird comments or some messed up jokes. Even if he was freaking out real bad right now. He turned away from Dae Kyung for a second, and whispered: “I'm fine.”

“Okay. Na Byeol, how much longer?” Roy asked, and you could hear it in his voice he wasn't enjoying any of this either.

“I only have the living room to go through. I bet the safe is in here. I think you can start driving now.”

“Okay.”

Eui Sung both sighed with relief internally and freaked out even more. He was alone for real now, but it was just fifteen minutes. He had to endure this creep for just fifteen more minutes, and then he was done.

He asked for the third drink, just to calm his nerves, and prayed to whoever his anxiety didn't show on his face.

But just a few minutes later something else threatened to show on his face, and that was extreme discomfort he was starting to feel in the area of… pretty much his entire body. Not only his migraine had considerably worsened, but now his muscles also began somewhat aching and feeling numb. He blamed it on the exhaustion from tonight’s mission and also maybe his whimsical attempts to exercise earlier that week.

Then he tried to continue a conversation, and… to a certain amount of fear, he felt some difficulty forming his next line.

“How- how about you- you tell me...”

“Do you have any family?” Dae Kyung suddenly interrupted him.

“What?..”

“Like, is there anyone you live with? A girlfriend?”

“Well, no...”

“Really? How interesting...”

“You really should've said you have someone at home,” Roy said.

Eui Sung couldn't understand why.

“...huh?” he accidentally said out loud.

“What?” Dae Kyung asked.

“No, nothing.”

That headache of his was getting noticeably horrible. In addition, it was suddenly getting much harder to verbalize his thoughts correctly. He wanted to tell Dae Kyung that his family was none of his business, but his mouth just wouldn't cooperate.

“It's...The living... none...”

What was happening to him? Why was Dae Kyung suddenly smiling so predatory?

“What are you trying to say there, little guy?”

“How much did you drink?” Roy’s voice could be heard somewhere in the distance. It held almost a worried tone to it. “I’ve told you not to drink too much, damnit.”

Eui Sung really wanted to protest that no, he shouldn’t be drunk at all, he’s only had like three glasses… wait, then what was the case?

Suddenly Dae Kyung hopped from his own seat to the one right next to Eui Sung.

He put his own hand on Eui Sung's, and his heart made a leap. His first instinct was to immediately pull it away, but to his own horror he realized it wouldn't fully obey. He could only make a weak attempt to free his hand, but Dae Kyung grabbed it really tight.

Eui Sung's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would break his ribs. That was enough, he was done. He had to tell Roy, he needed to... but his mouth just wouldn't listen...

He started to speak, but Dae Kyung quickly placed his hand over his mouth.

“Shh, you don't want to say anything wrong now,” he whispered.

***

Meanwhile Na Byeol was nearly jumping from joy, as she finally was able to lay her hands on their target's safe. Number combination and a padlock? Pshh, not a problem for her. She was done in under a minute.

But having opened it, she was disappointed to see there were no gold bars. And no money whatsoever in general.

“What a cheapskate,” she huffed. “Didn't even leave any money for me!”

“This is not what we're after. Look for documents,” Roy reminded her.

“Yeah, yeah...”

There was only a folder and a closed shoebox in the safe. She figured the folder must be where their target kept the documents and everything important, so the shoebox was what had really caught her attention.

“There's some weird box, I wonder what's in it,” she said and went to open it.

What she saw inside almost made her drop it.

There were pictures, a lot of pictures. As she flipped through them she wanted to puke more and more, and her eyes widened in horror.

“Roy, turn the car around,” she said, the tone of her voice having completely changed.

“What about you?” he asked.

“Forget me, you need to drive back and get Eui Sung out, now,” without a second thought he complied, turning the van around to drive back where he came from.

“Why? What did you find?” his voice was steady, but his stomach grew an uneasy feeling. Without noticing he pressed on the gas pedal to drive even faster.

“There are pictures of... of... people...”

“I got it.”

Na Byeol didn't need to continue for him to understand that those weren't pictures of cute puppies and butterflies that were kept in their target's safe. Suddenly it made sense why he spent so much time at the bar. It made him sick.

Next thing he realized he hadn't even heard any kind of complaint or protest from Eui Sung about the fact that they decided to pull the plug on his mission. It could be, of course, due to him not being able to speak next to someone, but still Roy couldn't help but feel even more anxious.

“Hacker, can you hear me?” no answer. “Clear your throat if you can hear me,” only silence in response once again. Roy cursed and punched the steering wheel.

“Is his earbud not working?” Na Byeol asked in a weak voice.

“It couldn't have broken on its own. It must've been found by Dae Kyung.”

Not to mention that Eui Sung turning it off voluntarily was out of the question. All of them know not to turn it off under any circumstances.

“Ah, what are we even going to do?” Na Byeol lamented. Panic was evident in her voice, but Roy couldn't have that.

“Na Byeol, focus on your own escape right now. Don't worry about Eui Sung, I'm going to go and get him.”

“Please hurry. He's there all alone now, no doubt scared out of his mind,” she said.

Roy bit his lip. He really couldn't bring himself to tell her that, considering who their target was, Eui Sung getting only scared would be the perfect outcome.

***

Dae Kyung cupped Eui Sung’s cheek with one hand and reached towards his ear with the other. Eui Sung wanted to scream at him not to touch him there, but his mouth might as well have been full of wool. He blinked, and the next moment he saw his earbud drown in the contents of the glass. Even through the thick fog in his brain he could understand that it was very, very bad. His one chance to call for help was gone.

He could only stare at it blankly, and Dae Kyung snickered, pinching Eui Sung's cheek.

“That's right, I knew about your little toy. I noticed it back when you turned around and exposed your left ear to me. Turns out, some other people have been listening in on our little date all this time. But no matter... Now we are finally truly alone.”

And if Eui Sung's muscles didn't feel completely numb at that moment, he would definitely shudder with his whole body. Suddenly Dae Kyung dropped what little had remained of his nice act, and his face distorted to that of a true maniac.

Next moment Eui Sung felt the last crumbs of strength leave him, a heavy hand landed on his shoulders, and his head dropped on the counter with a dull thud.

“Oh gosh, look at you. That last glass was definitely one too many, eh?” Dae Kyung purred. He then turned to the bartender with a toothy smile. “I apologize, my friend here had a bit too much. I always tell him, he should be more careful, and still...” The oblivious bartender smiled sympathetically, and Dae Kyung continued. “I parked my car at the back, let me take him away.”

Dae Kyung took Eui Sung and half led, half dragged him to the back entrance. Eui Sung wanted to resist, screamed at his body to move even a muscle, but it was all in vain. Nothing was working, and the world around was spinning so quickly that he couldn't even focus on one point. He was completely helpless. Oh Roy, where are you?

He felt the night air hit his skin. The car was close now. With each step they took Eui Sung felt more and more dread. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't even raise a finger to try and fight off. He knew he couldn't fight anyway, but this was on a whole another level. He was completely at the mercy of a sick and twisted pervert.

“There we are, little friend,” Dae Kyung said with a grin in his voice. “Almost there.”

Eui Sung wanted to cry. Please don't open that door, he begged inwardly, anything but this... Somebody help me...

Dae Kyung’s hand fell on the door handle, and Eui Sung's heart sunk… when suddenly he felt incredible lightness. Dae Kyung’s other hand that was supporting him was gone, and next second he found himself sitting on the ground with his back against the car.

Through rapidly blurring vision he only saw two dark silhouettes, and heard vague noises of someone fighting. For a minute he was only hearing rhythmic punches, and wondered what was going on.

After the hitting stopped, the silhouette moved towards him, and Eui Sung's heart picked up the pace again, when a face appeared in front of his eyes, and he could recognize...

Roy!

The relief hit Eui Sung immediately. Boy was he glad to see him! He could barely see straight, but even like that he was able to see Roy's eyes filled with worry. He felt wetness on his face, and right after that Roy's rough hand through his jacket's sleeve on his cheek. The other man had said something to him, but he couldn't hear. His consciousness was quickly slipping, and very soon the world around him submerged into darkness.

***

Two minutes earlier…

Roy practically tore the door off when he ran into the bar. He scanned the crowd, but couldn't find neither Dae Kyung nor Eui Sung. He sprinted to the counter and spoke to the man behind it.

“There were two people here. One in his thirties, and the younger one had blond hair and glasses,” he hastily explained. The bartender nodded in understanding.

“You missed them by just a minute. The blond guy got messed up, so his friend had to take him home.”

Roy's hair stood on ends.

“Where.”

“They exited through the back door. Maybe you'll catch them, if...”

But he didn't get to finish the sentence, as Roy was already gone.

Oh please, let me be on time.

In a flash he found himself outside and staring at the horrible scene: their target was dragging Eui Sung who couldn’t even stand upright towards his car ready to take off and do god knows what to him.

Roy saw red.

He ran up to Dae Kyung, and practically tore him off from Eui Sung. The latter then immediately lost his balance, slid down the car’s surface and just sat on the ground.

“Who the hell…” Dae Kyung began, but Roy didn’t let him finish. He punched him and knocked him down on the ground, and then proceeded to punch him again, and again, and again. He stopped only when he realized he was hearing some strange noise. Then he realized that it was Na Byeol’s voice calling his name.

“Roy! Roy! Can you hear me? What’s happening?!”

Dae Kyung was completely unconscious now, and even though Roy’s rage would only completely disappear if he killed the motherfucker, he reminded himself what was more important at that moment.

He rushed to Eui Sung, kneeling in front of him to check him over. Thankfully he didn’t find any injuries. Eui Sung’s glassy eyes stared somewhere through him, but he still saw some semblance of relief on his face. A tear ran down Eui Sung’s cheek, and it broke Roy’s heart. He went to wipe it with the sleeve of his jacket, so as not to get blood on Eui Sung’s face.

“I’m sorry for being so late. You’re safe now. Let’s get you home.”

After that Eui Sung’s eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness, his head dropping to the side. Roy sighed and went to pick him up from the ground.

“Roy? How is Eui Sung?”

Roy looked at his load.

“I’m assuming he got roofied. He’s unconscious now. I’m taking him back to the van.”

Na Byeol was silent for a minute, likely processing that information.

“Okay… I’ve already texted Tae Joon and Soo Kyung, they’re coming back too.”

“Alright, meet you at the headquarters.”

***

Eui Sung woke up and immediately wished he hadn’t. He tried to sit up, but then groaned and clutched his head. Somehow that dull headache from yesterday still persisted even today, and was twice, if not three times as bad. Wait, yesterday? What even happened yesterday? A surge of panic went through him, and he attempted to get up again to assess the situation.

“I would advise you to lie back down,” he heard a voice. It was Roy. So Roy was here, huh. It instantly made things better, and he relaxed, feeling much safer.

He looked around the room as much as he could without turning his head too much and realized he was back at the headquarters. His body was covered with a warm blanket. He had no recollection of how he’d gotten here, or what had even happened after he’d gotten into the conversation with their target.

“How are you feeling?” Roy asked him.

A wave of nausea hit him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, a slight moan escaping his lips.

“Like shit,” he managed.

Roy hummed and squatted down next to him. Eui Sung flinched slightly from the sudden movement, but then he saw Roy was only handing him a glass of water.

“Better to stay hydrated,” he said plainly.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the glass. Roy helped him get up a little bit so that he could drink. Even that little movement made his stomach twist with nausea once more, and he nearly gagged. Roy laid him back down, and after waiting a few seconds until his stomach calmed down, he finally asked the question that had been bugging him since he’d woken up.

“What happened?”

“You got drugged and nearly kidnapped, then you passed out and I took you back to the base.”

“…oh.”

Memories came flooding back in. Images of events of the previous evening flashed before his eyes: Dae Kyung’s ugly smile, his hands on his face, the bar’s back door, the car…

All of it came back at once, threatening to completely overwhelm him. His heart picked up the pace, and suddenly it was harder and harder to breathe…

“Hacker?” Roy was right at his side instantly. “Hey, Jung Eui Sung. Just breathe, okay? It’s all over, you’re safe now.”

For a few seconds Eui Sung was simply breathing, in and out, until he was back in the present.  

“Sorry…” he swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes shut. “You must think I’m a total loser right now.”

“Not at all,” Roy replied. “You just went through something traumatic, it’s only natural to freak out.”

Eui Sung couldn’t find what to reply. He fully expected Roy to, well, maybe not mock him openly, but he still messed up where Roy would definitely never.

“I made a mistake…” he said. “I ruined the mission. I…”

Roy demonstratively sighed so loud that Eui Sung had to quiet down.

“You did not ruin anything, okay? And also, do you have any idea how that happened? At what point did he spike your drink, I mean.”

Eui Sung had to pause to think about it. He made sure to watch his glass at all times, even though he did not expect something like this, but there was one moment. If he had to guess then it would be…

“When some loud noise distracted me,” he started recalling. “A couple was having an argument, and the woman caused a scene. I turned away from Dae Kyung and from my drink for a moment because I got startled when she broke a glass.”

Roy closed his eyes and frowned. Eui Sung was already anticipating an earful, but instead all Roy said was:

“I see,” then, after a pause he continued. “So it was premeditated after all. He either was originally targeting someone else and switched to you, jumping at the opportunity, or planned for a random attack, and you were simply there at the wrong time. People like him would stop at nothing to get their way, so it would’ve happened no matter what, and it’s not your fault.”

“…Wow, okay. I don’t know if I’m supposed to feel better, or be in even more misery.”

Roy breathed out the faintest laugh.

“It’s your choice, Hacker.”

They heard the metal gate slide to the side and several footsteps go down the stairs to their headquarters.

“Jung Eui Sung!”

“Eui Sung-ah!”

It was Na Byeol together with Tae Joon and Soo Kyung. They saw that he was awake now, and rushed to his side. They wouldn’t have been able to do anything, but they simply had a strong need to make sure their teammate and friend was relatively okay. Obviously, he still felt the aftereffects of the drug, and was shaken to a great extent, but Roy was just in time to prevent something much more horrible from happening.

Their loud voices felt like someone was hitting Eui Sung’s head with a hammer. Against own desire, he flinched and quietly hissed.

Noticing that Roy has brought his finger to his lips, wordlessly telling everyone to mind their volume.

“Oh, sorry, sorry,” Soo Kyung whispered.

“How are you feeling?” Tae Joon asked, voice as soft and gentle as ever.

“Like shit,” he repeated his own words. “Okay, maybe just slightly better than when I’d woken up. My head’s killing me.”

“It’s gonna be like that for some time. I’m afraid you’ll have to get through it,” Roy said.

“How long?” Na Byeol turned to Roy with worried eyes.

“A day. Maybe two.”

Meanwhile Soo Kyung squatted next to Eui Sung and put her hand on his forehead. He leaned into her touch with gratefulness, as her cold hand felt medicinal to his devastating headache.

“What did we tell you, ah?” she murmured. “Be safe. Why didn’t you listen?”

“Sorry…” Eui Sung replied.

“Yeah, what did you do?” Na Byeol started.

“I got distracted, and he used the moment to spike my drink,” Eui Sung admitted to everyone.

“What?! How could you be so careless?”

“Na Byeol…” Tae Joon stopped her.

“It could be any of us,” Roy said. Everyone turned to him in question. “The couple were most likely his accomplices. It’s a classic scheme: some paid actors create a distraction and make the victim look away while the guy uses the moment to mix in the drug,” Eui Sung looked taken aback. He didn’t even consider the possibility that that wasn’t a coincidence. “Even if that didn’t work, no doubt they had a plan B, or even C. I’ve told you it’s not your fault.”

Soo Kyung gasped softly. “What rascals… Unbelievable.”

Eui Sung swallowed hard and then turned his eyes to Tae Joon. “What happened to Dae Kyung?”

“He’s at the police’s hands now. Drugging and kidnapping attempt is a completely different matter,” he said. “I’ve called detective Park right away, they’ve already searched their house. Turns out real estate fraud isn’t the worst of his crimes. They’ve found evidence of serial abduction and sexual assault, all documented with intent to blackmail the victims if they threaten to go to the police later.”

Eui Sung felt his throat close up just the smallest bit. That means if Roy hadn’t been there…

Soo Kyung ran her hand through his hair. “We’re just glad nothing too horrible happened,” she reassured, “and you’re safe now.”

You didn’t have to tell Eui Sung twice. The thought that something similar could happen to him made him physically shudder.

“What, do you need another blanket?” Na Byeol asked. And for the first time Eui Sung didn’t hear any sarcasm in her voice. It felt really weird.

“No…” he replied. “I’m just… a little freaked out I guess.”

“I know you don’t want to think about it right now, but you will need to give a statement to the police later when you’re better,” Tae Joon told Eui Sung Sung. “Would you be okay?”

Eui Sung pondered on it for a second. Right now all he wanted was to go back to sleep to forget about the whole thing and get rid of his horrible migraine. But they also needed to get that scumbag behind bars for as long as possible. So he gathered up his strength and nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Okay, that’s good,” Tae Joon patted him on the shoulder. “Now… I and Soo Kyung have to go for now, but we’ll leave Roy and Na Byeol with you.”

“Rest up, Eui Sung-ah,” Soo Kyung told him and slightly ruffled his hair.

After that they both left.

Eui Sung was already exhausted by this whole interaction. And it was probably very noticeable since both Na Byeol and Roy turned around to leave him alone.

“Don’t go,” he unconsciously called out to them.

“We aren’t going anywhere, we’ll be around the headquarters,” Roy told him. “I just could use a snack.”

“Yeah, Leader would have our heads if we left you.”

“Oh, okay,” at this point Eui Sung’s eyelids were lowering on their own. “Don’t do anything weird to my face while I sleep,” he murmured.

“It would be very funny,” Na Byeol said, “but now we’re just not in the mood.”

But Eui Sung couldn’t hear those words anymore, he had already dozed off. He slept mostly peacefully, knowing that his teammates and best friends would watch over him and would not let anything or anyone get to him.

[benjaminrussell]

The Eliot Squared Job

Fandom: Leverage, Leverage: Con Artists

Relationship: Hardison/Parker/Eliot (background)

Rating: Gen

WC: 1.8k

Summary: When Eliot, Parker, and Hardison go to South Korea to work with the Leverage crew there, Eliot meets someone who shares his name and teasing ensues.

AKA. Eliot Spencer meets Eliot the dog.

Hardison, Parker, and Eliot were just settling into their seats around the Korean crew’s briefing room table when an authoritative voice snapped, “Eliot! Drop it!”

Eliot, who’d just picked up his cup of coffee, froze, shooting his cup a suspicious look as Parker and Hardison looked around. Na-byul, the young woman who’d showed them in, gave a laugh which she quickly tried to hide behind a cough. The owner of the voice was out of sight, but then there was a clattering of nails on the floor and a ball of fluff in the shape of a small dog ran into view, a single green converse shoe in its mouth.

Read on AO3

[wipbigbang]

The 2022 round of WIP Big Bang is now open for sign-ups! Any fandom is welcome, as long as the fic is 500 completed so far and will be at least 7,500 words upon its finishing. Signing up is easy: just fill out the form linked below after you read the FAQ and take a look at the schedule.

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[mumumumuch]

(210319) moonbyul ☾ on instagram (mo_onbyul)

[nevcolleil]

[filibusterphil]

Man I really wish the subtitles on this show were better. I know they are not saying Darn It and I would really like to see words that reflect the venom (in Go Na-byul’s case) and fear (in Jeong Eui-sung’s case) that I can hear in their voices and see in their faces.

[taelme]

Little taste of heaven (pt 3- final)

genre: single parent!taeyong, kindergarten teacher!y/n (fluff, angst, hurt/comfort elements?)  pairing/s: Taeyong / Reader, Johnny / OC, (ft baekhyun n other nct members)  word count: 26k tw: drinking, slight age gap (5 years), mentions of sex but no smut, might get a bit emotionally heavy at some points  a/n: this is the final part for little taste of heaven!! this, similarly to part 2 was loosely inspired by na tae joo’s poem ‘I want to give you my most beautiful thoughts’! so yes. enjoy~~~ lmk u guys thoughts and do reblog! it would really help a lot also I rly like this gif its what I pictured him to look like for majority of the story like he just looks so clean cut and ugh. lets not get into that read this on ao3 part 1, part 2

“My child is fine, his older siblings all went through the same thing, he’ll be fine.”

You fiddled with the ring on your index finger, nodding with a polite smile, “We understand that, but considering he’s turning three this year, we want to encourage him to be more independent, and we need your help to encourage him to practice independence at home as well. Perhaps through encouraging him to eat on his own or wash his hands on his own.”

The mother of the boy who you were referring to was… a slightly more difficult parent, to say the least. Communication was hard, especially when you were already frustrated about her son’s situation. His situation being that he just wasn’t being cared for enough at home. Staring blankly at the young woman dressed in luxurious clothes sitting before you, you struggled to maintain your smile.

“Oh, that’s because we don’t allow him to touch anything at home,” she told you with a laugh, “Since it’s dirty.”

Your eyebrows raised, a hum leaving you as you nodded slowly, “...Right.”

Thankfully enough, your co-teacher had stepped in, explaining the need to engage the child more at home, to talk to him and show interest in what he’s doing.

His mother had simply laughed, “He hasn’t even said his first words yet, I don’t know how you think it’s so easy.”

You smiled, forcing out a laugh.

You knew your student was capable of talking, and you would know this because you’d heard it before. In your time spent with this class, the first time you’d arrived, all you ever heard about this particular boy was that he doesn’t talk.

But after a while, you realised all he needed was someone who was genuinely interested. He went from no words at all, to full sentences when he talked to you, you knew it was possible, so it was almost frustrating that his mother didn’t.

But you knew every parent’s situation was different, you know, Ning telling you to give her the benefit of the doubt and whatnot.

You’d let Ning take over the talking, reaching for your drink to finish what was left of it, nodding along every now and then with things your co-teacher would mention as you looked through the child’s portfolio for examples.

Glancing at the list of parents who had booked appointments with you, you almost sighed in relief when you realised this was the last parent you would have to see before you could go home.

You were tired beyond belief and wanted nothing more than to head home, take a nice shower and sleep.

Though little did you know, Taeyong was having just as tough of a time talking to Byul’s teacher.

Having rushed over after his last class, Taeyong was already feeling a headache coming on. Though, it seemed that the more Teacher Hana spoke, the worse his headache became.

Going through Byul’s portfolio was fine, and so was talking about her learning progress and development, but Teacher Hana seemed to have come into this with a certain goal in mind, and she wasn’t going to let anything stop her from reaching that goal.

“The last time we spoke, I informed you about Byul’s behaviour during class, right?”

Taeyong nodded.

“Well, recently Byul has expressed a lot of concerns regarding her mom,” she began, Taeyong staring blankly at Byul’s teacher, “We understand that your current arrangement doesn’t involve Byul’s mother, although we do understand that if you were to introduce another motherly figure into Byul’s life, this could cause some confusion for her.”

“She’s fine, though?” Taeyong murmured, eyebrows furrowing.

Byul’s teacher had simply given him her same sweet smile, nodding at him.

“As Byul’s teachers, we were…” she hummed, “concerned, about your involvement with Teacher Y/N. It’s possible that this relationship could be triggering her recent destructive behaviour, and her attitude towards her friends and teachers as well. We understand that it won’t be an issue for long in school because of Teacher Y/N’s dismissal—”

“Wait, dismissal?”

Teacher Hana smiled, nodding, “Yes. Did she not tell you? The school has a strict policy about whether teachers are allowed to… Nevermind, but the point is that even outside of school, we’re concerned that Y/N’s position as a teacher will interfere with Byul’s learning, as she’s confused on how to integrate her school life and her home life. She has clearly expressed an unwelcome attitude towards Teacher Y/N as a possible motherly figure for her, so we just wanted to inform you of these things we’ve noticed as her teachers. We hope you understand the school’s position on this.”

Nodding slowly, Taeyong felt as though he were watching himself from outside his body, not knowing where to start as his mind ran wild with thoughts and things he’d wished to ask you.

Tuning out the rest of her words, Taeyong had blinked slowly, his tongue coming out to wet his lips, “Is uh… Is Ms Jamie still in her office?”

===

taeyong 2:40pm -sorry, just finished recording a lecture, what are you doing? want to join us tonight for dinner at my mom’s place?-

You typed your reply out quickly.

2:40pm -sorry babe :( i’m at home but i’ve got to attend mass with my parents later at 5 and dinner with kun’s family afterwards, but i can meet you now for tea if you want?-

taeyong 2:41pm -its okay, you stay there. i’ll come over-

Waiting for Taeyong to come over, you’d continued working on your resignation letter, a part of you unable to focus because you had felt so unsettled about what you wished to talk to Taeyong about.

Fiddling with the ring on your index finger, you took it out, playing with it, stopping yourself before you could slip it over your ring finger, shoving it back on your index finger quickly.

You felt bad. Taeyong was probably expecting just a nice short hang-out with you by coming over but you couldn’t keep doing this. Each day that passed, the burden in your heart had felt heavier and heavier, you couldn’t continue keeping this from him.

Little did you know, you wouldn’t have to for much longer.

Ringing your doorbell, you’d opened the door to reveal a rather messy-haired Taeyong, looking as though he’d rushed out of his apartment for this. Dressed in his dress shirt (that you assumed he used to record his lecture) and a pair of jeans, pushing his glasses higher on his nose.

“Hey,” he breathed, cursing his anxious mind for rendering him a mess before you.

“Hey,” you stepped aside to let him enter, shutting the door behind him, “do you want anything to drink?”

Taeyong shook his head, his gaze wandering to the pain-relief patch you had pasted on the side of your wrist.

Seating himself on the sofa, Taeyong glanced at your laptop screen on full display, showing your google search on ‘what is another word for handover?’

Walking over with a glass of water in your non-injured hand even though Taeyong said he didn’t want water, figuring he might get thirsty later on, you noticed how Taeyong seemed a little more on edge than usual, his gaze fixed on his laptop as his leg bounced restlessly.

“Hey, is everything alright?” You took a seat next to Taeyong, reaching your hand out to touch his clasped hands.

There were many ways Taeyong had wanted to go about this conversation, but it seemed his anxiousness had gotten the better of him.

Tearing his gaze away from your laptop, Taeyong blurted, “Why didn’t you tell me you got fired?”

Your lips parted in shock, hand stilling over his. Right, he just finished seeing Teacher Hana.

“I didn’t get fired, I’m resigning.”

What were you doing? This was Taeyong you were talking to, not your mom.

Taeyong let out a small sigh, “I spoke to Ms Jamie, she basically didn’t give you a choice, you know?”

“I mean,” you murmured, “she gave me a choice between resigning and her firing me, at least.”

Taeyong frowned, wondering how you’d managed to still seem so calm.

“Yeah, how nice of her,” he muttered bitterly, “It’s always easier to explain a resignation as opposed to getting fired for dating a student’s parent, isn’t it?”

You were barely holding it together, “Okay, but what if I willingly made the choice?”

“Resigning?” The look on Taeyong’s face was confused, bordering on incredulous.

You nodded.

“Why?”

Your lips parted to speak, coming up short as you let out a small huff, “Because…because my presence there isn’t good for Byul.”

Taeyong had fallen silent at that, removing his hands from under yours and taking your hand in his, his thumb grazing over the ring he had gifted you, his gaze briefly flickering to the ring and back to you.

“It’s not like it was an easy decision for me, Taeyong. I meant to tell you about it sooner but I was just so… all over the place recently, I saw how Byul behaved around me and it just made me feel so…”

Shitty? Bad? What was the word you were looking for?

“Why didn’t you say something?” Taeyong’s gaze had softened, “we could’ve worked something out.”

“Honestly? because I was scared out of my mind. Look, I want to be honest with you, I thought about a lot of things when I was making this decision. You know, marriage and parenthood and career shit,” you brought your other hand up to pinch at your nose, already feeling your tears coming on.

“I don’t want to insert myself where I’m not wanted, you know? Me being with you, on this path to… you know, it wasn’t in line with what was right for Byul, and as a teacher that scared me, because I was never in this position before. Of course I want what’s best for my students, and I know for a fact that this was confusing for her and affecting her negatively, I was just stupid enough not to have realised that sooner—”

“Don’t say that,” Taeyong’s voice came out weaker than you expected, and you shook your head, your lower lip beginning to quiver as your chest felt tight.

“But we both know it’s true.”

“But how do you feel?” he asked, though you both knew the answer to that. Taeyong just felt like he needed to hear it right now.

You huffed.

“Are you crazy? I love you,” your voice faltered, blinking back your tears rapidly.

“Believe me, I want nothing more than to just trust you and let us work this out together but my mind won’t let me, Taeyong,” your gaze was fixed on his frown, “And I’d be lying if I said this was entirely about Byul, it’s more than that. You deserve someone that can be there a hundred percent for you and Byul but with how I am right now, I’m not in a good place mentally…  I don’t think I can do that for you.”

Taeyong hadn’t made any move to speak, keeping his gaze fixed on your hands and his lips pressed in a firm line.

“It’s not fair to you either, Taeyong. You deserve someone who won’t have to second guess a life with you, who can make both you and Byul happy.”

Taeyong nodded, letting go of your hand to bring his hand to cover his mouth, letting go of his face with a defeated sigh, “Call me an idiot, but I always thought you are that ‘someone’.”

You were silent for a while, as if trying to convince yourself to stay strong in the midst of your too-quiet apartment.

“It’s not good… for Byul.”

“I know, and it’s selfish, but it’s good for me,” Taeyong had finally met your gaze, almost making you look away with how much his eyes gave away what he was feeling.

“You make me want for myself… I never do that.”

Taeyong let out a deep breath, shakier than before, “That’s what I hate the most about this… I know in the end I'll still want what’s best for Byul, but that doesn’t mean I want you any less,” he shook his head.

Your frown deepened, “I know, and I’m sorry, I never wanted to put you in a position where you would have to choose between what makes you happy and what makes Byul happy—”

“Y/N,” he met your gaze, his hand coming up to your face, wiping away the tear that you hadn’t even realised had rolled down your cheek.

“Hmm?”

“I want you to be happy too, you know?”

You couldn’t control your tears when you’d heard his words, feeling as though your heart was being pummelled and it was all your fault.

Maybe if you’d met later in life, even just a little later, things might not have had to turn out this way.

“I’m sorry, I just keep thinking of things we can do to make this better.”

You nodded, “I know.”

After what felt like ages of silence, you felt as though your stream of tears was finally ceasing.

“I’m sorry it turned out this way, Taeyong. I just… need some time to sort myself out, you know, figure out what it is that I want to do moving forward. Need time for…” you swallowed, “for Byul to feel safe again.”

Taeyong, like always, was respectful of your decision, even if it felt like he was falling apart right in front of you. 

Maybe this was what his mom was trying to say, that as much as he didn’t give himself a choice in taking on parenthood, you still had a choice and he respected that.

“No, I understand. It’s important, take as much time as you need,” he sniffed.

Taeyong didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to leave, but the longer he stayed here, the more difficult it felt for him to let go of you.

Standing up abruptly, he ran his hands through his hair with a sigh. 

Taking that as a signal that he’d wanted to leave, you stood up, following behind him as he’d made his way slowly to the door, stopping just before the threshold.

Turning to face you, there was an incommunicable amount of pain you could see in his eyes.

“Maybe… maybe if we met a little later in life…” you began, immediately regretting your words and the flood of emotions they sent through your heart, “maybe things would be different.”

Taeyong knew, though, that he didn’t regret a single moment spent with you.

Pulling you into a hug, Taeyong wrapped his arms around you tightly, feeling him relax almost instantly, emotional beyond words as he held you close to him, savouring the feeling of having you close to him.

“Can we stay like this… just a little longer?” his voice was barely above a whisper, and you nodded, your arms wrapping around him.

“Of course we can,” you whispered, burying your head in his chest as your tears stained his shirt, feeling as though you had no more tears left in you.

With one hand cradling the back of your head, Taeyong felt his throat start to constrict, shutting his eyes tightly as a small whimper had left him.

You thought you were okay, you really did. Until you pulled away and before you could react Taeyong had pulled you in for one last kiss.

Every kiss felt like your first, even the last. He’d held you closely to himself, deepening the kiss with all the desperation within him to leave you with all the love he possibly could. Even with the messiness of it all, the salty taste of tears, you continued clutching tightly onto his shirt, ignoring how much your wrist was aching.

And when he pulled away, his eyes were red and bloodshot, though his gaze wasn’t like before. His gaze was hardened now as he forced his hands off of you, bidding you goodbye before clenching his jaw. He figured he had to, standing as still and rigid as he could, worried that his legs would run out of strength if he didn’t.

Without another word, he left your apartment, the echo of the door shutting louder than before, leaving you to walk back to the sofa and stare at the untouched glass of water sitting on your coffee table.

===

“Heaven,” Edward had uttered upon feeling Bella rush into his arms just before he could expose himself to the public.

Your lips parted, a sour taste in your mouth as you switched channels in annoyance.

Heaven? Please.

You bit off another chunk off your ice cream stick harshly, braving through the regret of the cold that rushed up to your brain as you huffed, switching to a cooking channel and tossing the remote aside.

At the same time, you couldn’t help but feel the lingering envy from the harmless scene in ‘New Moon’, as ridiculous as it made you feel. You were sure if Kun had seen what you’d just done, you’d never be able to live it down.

You knew you wanted that, your own little taste of heaven, even though you knew he was probably busy marking assignments right now.

As if hearing your cry for a distraction, your phone began to ring, picking up the call immediately after reading the caller id.

“Hey,” you huffed, taking in another mouthful of ice-cream.

“How’s life being unemployed?”

You rolled your eyes, “So much for a hello.”

“Seriously, though, how’s the job search been going?” You could hear the sound of a PA announcement in the background, paging for a doctor to go to a blah blah blah ward (you couldn’t hear very well).

“Like shit,” you quipped, a chuckle sounding over the phone.

“That bad? You had an interview this morning, right? How was that?”

“I mean it, Kun, it was horrible. I’ve never felt so humiliated in my life.”

“Why? Wasn’t this one of the centres that your friend Johnny recommended?” Kun pulled his phone away from his ear, searching your chat for the name of the preschool you interviewed for, swiveling around in his chair to type the name into his search engine.

You recounted the horror story to Kun, your blood boiling just at the thought of the principal’s spitefulness.

“Word travels fast, Y/N. I’m afraid you’re not an employee that fits our centre’s… ethics.”

“Word travels fast? What are you talking about?” you asked her, the woman giving you a sympathetic look.

Lowering her volume, she’d given you a knowing look, “Your relationship with that professor? I mean I can totally understand, he’s a very eligible bachelor but what a workplace nightmare, am I right?”

“So… you’re not offering me the job because of a rumour?”

“I mean, we both know it wasn’t a rumour,” she snickered, “But, no no. Not because of that. I’m not offering you the job because I think you’d do better at another centre, dear. You know, one that finds you to be a better fit with the school image.”

Kun let out a low whistle, bringing his thermos to his lips and taking a long sip.

“Yikes,” he clicked through the images of the website, leaning back in his chair, “I mean, looking at the website now, it... doesn’t even look that nice.”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better, Kun, the place is huge and their funding is insane.”

“Okay, fine, I lied, the place looks pretty cool.”

You groaned, slumping down onto your sofa, kicking your blanket up so you could yank it over yourself.

“Honestly, it’s been more than a month, I can’t believe they haven’t gotten over it yet.”

Kun sucked in a sharp breath, “I mean, I can’t imagine they hear about something like that everyday.”

“Not helping, Kun.”

You sighed, running a hand through your hair, “But, whatever. Honestly, I’m really considering just going overseas for my masters.”

You heard Kun hum.

“I mean, why not? Pretty sure you can check out their scholarships, see if you can apply for the January intake.”

“Yeah, why not, right? I don’t know, maybe I’ll check later tonight. You’re coming for mass later, right?”

Kun let out an affirmative hum, “Remember to mentally prepare yourself, I’m also pretty sure your mom’s not finished with her list of comments about Taeyong.”

Scoffing, you wanted to deny it but eventually grunted in defeat, knowing Kun was right.

“Fine, anyway, I should probably go get ready now.”

“Yeah, go, go. I’ll pick you up at four thirty.”

===

You’d taken a seat next to Kun for dinner, eyeing your mother curiously after she’d flashed you a warm smile.

Lowering your volume and turning to Kun, you muttered, “You saw that, right?”

Kun stifled his giggles, “Pretty sure it’s because she saw you crying when you were praying just now. Heard her telling my mom she thinks the Lord helped you to reach an epiphany about the problems in your ‘doomed-to-begin-with’relationship.”

“Seriously?”

Kun nodded, reaching over for the bottle of wine to pour some for himself and for you.

Sighing, you brought your glass to your lips.

“Whatever, as long as she’s happy,” you murmured.

Your mom wasn’t entirely wrong, you were moved, definitely, but not over what she was thinking. You were desperate,frankly, asking the God you were so used to hearing about to help you in your pathetic state of mind, to be so kind as to send down some guardian angels to guide you as you tried so hard to enter your next stage of life. You didn’t think it would happen so easily, but you figured it was worth a shot.

You were currently in the stage of grief where love songs were the last thing you’d wanted to listen to and you avoided taking the train at certain times of the day so you wouldn’t be surrounded by couples on their way to work and school. You guessed it was easier now that you were unemployed, you’d only left the house for groceries or regular appointments with people anyway.

And it seemed, this stage of grief was lasting awfully long.

“It’s so nice to have us all here like this, isn’t it?” your mom had commented, the brightest of smiles on her face as you mustered a patronising smile.

Kun’s mom nodded, humming in agreement, “Yeah, yeah, definitely! Y/N, you’ve been looking a lot better these days, as well.”

Kun’s eyebrows raised while you managed a huff of laughter.

“Really?” I feel like absolute shit, though.

“Yes, you do! How’s the job search been going?”

You hummed, Kun interjecting smoothly, “Actually, Y/N’s been considering going overseas for her masters… on a scholarship,” he added pointedly, knowing your mom would be elated to hear that.

“I mean, yeah, I haven’t applied yet but yeah I was thinking of that,” you glanced at your dad, gauging his reaction.

He’d simply given you a nod, the smallest of smiles on his face.

“That’s great news, honey. Where are you planning on going?”

“I mean, I have a few options, I’m really just researching right now. But I’ll definitely update you guys, don’t worry.”

Your mother had simply smiled, her tone pointed and laced with satisfaction.

“Things are falling into place now, don’t you think, honey? It was a blessing for you to break up with that boy, he was practically promising you the moon.”

Kun’s mother was nice enough to defend you, murmuring something about the blessing to have experienced love in that way, but your jaw clenched, nodding slowly, your mom managing to successfully turn your mood sour with minimal effort. 

You’d managed to keep your mouth shut for the rest of the dinner, though her words had lingered in your mind bitterly, not knowing if the metallic taste in your mouth was imagined or whether you’d actually bit the skin of your lip too hard.

Once the dinner was over, your dad and Kun’s parents had gone to the living room with their drinks, Kun announcing that he was going to the washroom, leaving you and your mom alone in the kitchen.

Picking up the dishes, you’d put them together a little too harshly, your mom sending you a glare.

“Don’t destroy my plates.”

You couldn’t bite your tongue fast enough this time.

“Promising me the moon, mom? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” you spoke, exasperated.

Unfazed, your mom had carried on washing the dishes. 

“Language,” she’d warned.

“Whatever you think Taeyong said, he didn’t ‘promise me the moon’ if that’s what you’re thinking.”

She’d huffed, letting the dish go in the sink and hearing it thud, turning to look at you, her gaze full of contempt.

“He didn’t? Are you sure? All of that marriage talk, that ‘we can be one happy family’ bullshit he fed you. That was promising you the moon. Look at you, honey. One simple comment about him and that’s all it took for your mood to go sour for the entire evening. Looks like he’s got a bigger hold on you than I thought,” she shrugged.

You didn’t have the energy for this, frankly.

Neither did Taeyong.

Johnny had been friends with Taeyong for almost a decade now, and in that time, he knew that Taeyong had grown to be someone who was always very controlled in his behaviour. He did things intentionally. Every decision he’d made, he was sure of it, confident in his decisions.

So, as a friend, it was natural for him to feel concerned for Taeyong.

Taeyong had seemed as though he’d reverted back to how life was before he’d met you, going about his usual routine with Byul, coming back home and convincing himself that his bed had always felt this empty. Forcing himself to Byul’s bedroom door fully instead of leaving it a crack open like how you always did.

So now, in Johnny’s apartment, the first time Taeyong had managed to find a hole in his schedule to meet Johnny for drinks, as Taeyong listened to Johnny talking about his girlfriend, he had only one thought on his mind, and that was that he didn’t have the energy to put on a brave front any longer.

“But yeah, anyway, I was- Hey, dude, might wanna slow down,” Johnny warned, the way Taeyong was downing his drink making Johnny feel like he was back in college again, well other than the fact that Taeyong’s alcohol tolerance was nowhere close to what it was in college, and if he kept it up he’d be passed out in half an hour.

Taeyong had simply grunted, setting his bottle of soju down on the table, supporting his head with his hand on the coffee table, turning his gaze to the television that was playing ‘500 days of summer’, which of course, had made Taeyong turn his head to face the other direction just as quickly.

Taeyong heard the television louder than anything, even Johnny.

“Someday, someone will walk into your life and make you realise why it never worked out with anyone else.”

Taeyong didn’t have the energy for this.

Turning his head so his forehead rested on his arm, he felt everything hit him without a warning. His eyes scrunching shut as his mouth felt dry and his eyes had begun to well up with tears that stung him, his hand shaking as he felt his heart pounding as though it were right next to his ear.

“Can you change the channel, please?” Taeyong mustered weakly, a small sniffle leaving him as Johnny heard the shaky sigh that had left his friend.

Turning to the television, Johnny realised what was happening. Taeyong’s month-worth of bottled up emotions was finally making itself known.

“You shouldn’t bottle it up, you know? Let it out,” Johnny frowned, “If you’re mad, say you’re mad. If you miss her, say you miss her. If you feel like shit, say you feel like shit.”

Taeyong was crying even harder now, his shoulders shaking as his pitiful sobs had left him.

“Fine,” he lifted his head off the table, sniffing.

“I miss her, I’m upset at her for telling you about the things her the other teachers and parents said to her for dating me because you told me and now i’m pissed at them for hurting her,” the words felt foreign on his lips, having thought about them endlessly but never voicing it out until now, “I’m frustrated because Byul asked me where she went the other day and I told her Y/N went on a holiday. I hate that she was right about Byul needing time away from her...” Taeyong stopped himself short, his chest feeling too tight to continue, letting his vision blur as he stared straight at the colours that made up Johnny’s figure.

“But God,” he groaned, his forehead creasing as he frowned, “I miss the feeling of sleeping in on a weekend and I would wake up to the feeling of her hands in my hair and just see her using her laptop on my bed doing work even though she wanted to sleep in but she couldn’t because she was used to waking up early. I miss… the way she would hold me and ask me how my day was, distracting her when she was doing work on the sofa, the look on her face when I ask her for another kiss and—” Taeyong choked on his breath, his hands coming up to rub at his eyes harshly.

“How she was always so afraid that she would lose the good things she had going for her, but she never let me feel any of that fear. No, all I felt was… was love.”

Taeyong frowned, swallowing even though it made his throat sting, wiping his tears to look at Johnny whose expression was thoughtful.

“Maybe if you guys met when you were a little older,” Johnny murmured, making Taeyong sigh, remembering the words you’d told him before he’d left your house.

When Taeyong hadn’t answered, Johnny continued.

“I don’t know, like, maybe it’s like what they say… about how sometimes you meet the right person but… at the wrong time.”

Taeyong took a deep breath and let it out. Like Johnny said, Taeyong was always sure of his decisions. And call him crazy, but he was sure that you were the person he’d wanted to build the rest of his life with.

“I told her this before, and I guess it would be good for you to hear now,” Johnny began, Taeyong’s sniffles filling the silence of the room, only realising now that Johnny had turned the television off.

“I told her that what the both of you had was too good to give up… and if the both of you haven’t given up yet… who knows how things will work out in the future, you know, in the name of love.”

Taeyong would’ve thought he’d be sick of hearing that phrase, especially at a time like this, but strangely, as Johnny had implied, it comforted him to some extent.

Nodding slowly, Taeyong picked his drink up, holding it out as Johnny had smiled, picking up his can of beer to clink it against Taeyong’s glass.

A deep sigh left Taeyong, glancing down at the ring on his index finger, giving Johnny a small nod of acceptance.  

“Till then, I guess.”  

===

Perhaps, time had healed the both of you more than you’d expected.

For Taeyong, he’d gone back to his previous ‘my first priority is Byul’ mindset, frankly, not giving himself any room to worry about anything else other than whether Byul was happy and healthy.

He’d found out through Johnny that you were going overseas for your masters (or more accurately, that you were already overseas and starting your academic term), hoping that you were alright- knowing how scared you must’ve been to jump into a new environment like that, which surprised him even more that you’d done it.

On the bright side, Taeyong had been taking care of himself more (which had definitely gained him more attention from his current cohort of students), exploring his creative freedom through painting and mindless doodling whenever things got too quiet while Byul was napping and the sofa felt too big.

You, on the other hand, had been trying to adjust to your new schedule, new environment and new people you met. It was alright, you guessed, nothing you couldn’t handle, you always told yourself.

But of course, everyone had bad days, days where nothing seemed to be going right and even the rough feeling of your deskchair’s armrest was enough to make you frustrated. Days like today.

On the phone with one of the friends you’d made in school, a girl in your class, you took in a deep calming breath as you asked her what she was calling you for.

“Hey, I think I used your phone to record the class last week, do you mind sending me the audio?”

You fished your car keys from your bag, preparing yourself for the long drive you had back to campus from your part-time job, cursing how far the school was from the heart of the city.

“Yeah, sure, just give me a minute, I’ll send it to you now.”

Hanging up the phone call, you shifted in the front seat of your car, you’d scrolled through your apps, pulling up voice memos. One was titled ‘Voice Recording 2’ but the other was weird, titled ‘July 1st’. Clicking the one titled ‘Voice Recording 2’ first, you heard your professor’s voice sound through the sound system of your car, quickly sending that one out to your classmate.

Maybe the other one was recorded by accident, you figured. Your curiosity got the better of you as you clicked on the recording, immediate regret filled you at the sound of Taeyong’s hushed laughter.

“Hi to you whenever you find this recording,” Taeyong’s voice had filled your rental car and you felt frozen in place, “In case you didn’t realise from the title, it’s my birthday when i’m recording this… we just had dinner at the beach, and you’re asleep in the car next to me because the drive was too long and too comfy,” a huff of laughter followed.

“You look very cute when you sleep so deeply like this, I don’t know if that sound you’re making counts as snoring… but I don’t get to see that side of you often because you always wake up before I do. Anyway, I just wanted to leave this here, I hope you find it eventually so you can hear me tell you that I’m very thankful for everything you’ve been to me so far, and... “ he giggled, “this is a little embarrassing to be saying like this but… I love you.”

“When you do find this recording, though, congratulations! Because you get to redeem a kiss from me, not that you ever need to ask, of course. If you’re finding this on a good day, I’m happy for you, and if you find this on a bad day, I hope it cheers you up… even if it’s just by a little bit.”

You heard him sigh, hearing shuffling over the recording, “Alright, I’m gonna wake you up now, so goodbye future Y/N,” he giggled, “Don’t ever let Johnny listen to this, by the way, he’d totally make fun of me… I hope you know how much of a gift you are to me. Bye for now.”

You don’t know when you had started crying, your hands clutching the steering wheel tightly as you let the recording replay itself, your heart feeling weaker than ever as you sat in your car, almost being able to imagine Taeyong sitting in the driver's seat of his car and recording this.

How cruel it was, for you to have only found this now, yet how thankful you were for it, for the love that you were hiding deep in your heart had simply glowed.

===

“Yo, dude you look good!” Mark let out a drawn-out sound of admiration when he’d shown up at the café he was supposed to meet Taeyong and Donghyuck at.

Pressing his lips into a firm line, Taeyong dismissed Mark and Donghyuck’s endless praises, scanning the menu as a distraction even though they’d already had their drinks on the table.

“Where’s Johnny? He said he couldn’t come, right?” Mark asked, earning a nod from Donghyuck.

“Yeah, said he had lunch with his girlfriend’s parents or something,” Donghyuck filled Mark in on what Taeyong had said before he arrived.  

Shifting in his seat to cross his legs, Taeyong smiled, “So, how’ve you guys been? You applied for a job right?”

Donghyuck nodded, “Yeah, but I'm waiting to start my masters. But I’m interning at the police force right now, one of their divisions that look after the welfare of the force and stuff.”

An impressed hum leaving him, Taeyong nodded, “Nice, nice. Mark, you're doing social work, right?”

Mark grinned, nodding.

“How are you guys liking it so far?”

Taeyong had let them each tell him about their jobs, how they were doing, Mark slipping in something about one of his colleagues seeing Taeyong on his instagram and begging for his contact.

Taeyong giggled, “You’re joking, right?”

Donghyuck’s lips parted, exasperated.

“Why do you always act like we’re clowning you when we tell you people think you’re hot, you must’ve heard it a thousand times already.”

“Yeah, dude, seriously, you’re probably considered one of those eligible bachelors or something,” Mark added, Donghyuck pretending to hurl.

Taeyong huffed, dismissing the boys with a wave, “I’m sorry, I’ll have to politely decline.”

Bringing his drink up to his lips to take a sip, shaking it in his hand to stir the drink, Donghyuck let out an exasperated groan.

“You’re really not gonna date anymore?”

Nudging him harshly, Mark glared at Donghyuck, lowering his voice to murmur, “Dude, are you kidding? Everyone knows he’s still in love with Y/N.”

“You know I can still hear you, right?” Taeyong cut in, earning a sheepish smile from Mark, “But to answer your question, no I don’t plan on dating… Just, isn’t a priority for me.”

Donghyuck did a once-over at Taeyong’s getup. He was wearing a black cardigan buttoned up and revealing a bit of his chest, together with a pair of jeans, a pretty silver ring on his finger and small silver rings adorning his ears. He looked good, it was just a shame that he was too attractive for his own good.

Sighing, Donghyuck shook his head, “I pity the girls who have yet to hear that.”

Mark snickered at the way Taeyong’s lips had parted, rushing to defend himself.

“C’mon, you say that like there’s a lot of them.” Taeyong adjusted his top, oblivious to the girl who wouldn’t stop staring at him as she took a seat next to their table, frustrating Donghyuck with his nonchalance.

Mark sucked in a sharp breath, “Well, that’s because there is. Do you have any idea how many people would be showing up with love offerings if they didn’t know about Y/N?”

Taeyong giggled, seemingly flattered by the idea that people found him attractive,“Love offerings.”

Pausing, realisation had struck Taeyong, he frowned at Donghyuck, “they know about Y/N?”

Donghyuck snickered, “‘they know?’” he imitated Taeyong’s tone, “of course they know, they’re not blind, you know? God, you’re like the most oblivious person i’ve ever met, other than Mark—”

“Wait, what?”

“— I mean, they know you guys broke up too, so they think you’re available. But obviously they don’t know you’re like this.”

Taeyong was amused to say the least, nodding along with Donghyuck, “Like what, exactly?”

“A lovestruck fool.”

Mark hummed, raising a hand to speak, “In Taeyong’s defence, Y/N was really nice. We follow each other on Instagram and she still asks me how I’m doing every now and then.”

Donghyuck narrowed his eyes at Mark, “You sure she’s not just doing that to get updates on him?” Donghyuck gestured to Taeyong.

“Again, I’m right here,” Taeyong deadpanned.

“I mean, no offence dude,” Mark turned to Taeyong, “but we don’t actually talk about him, like… okay look.”

Fishing out his phone, Mark opened his Instagram app, going to his direct messages to show his chat with you.

Taeyong didn’t bother hiding his curiosity, leaning over to read the chat on Mark’s phone laid out on the table between him and Donghyuck.

“Oh, that’s lame,” Donghyuck remarked.

Ignoring Donghyuck’s comment, Taeyong scrolled down the chat, a scoff leaving him as he looked at Mark.

“You asked her for help with your little cousin? Dude, why didn’t you just ask me? I have a child,” Taeyong was almost offended, but he had to admit, he found it nice that Mark could depend on you as an older sister of sorts.

“I don’t know, I was panicking when that happened, she was the first person I thought of that would have the answers.”

“Fine, forgiven,” Taeyong huffed, Mark taking the phone away just as Taeyong saw the chat mentioning something about when she would finish her masters.

“But, since you follow her on Instagram, does she seem like she’s dating anyone new?” Donghyuck prodded.

Mark hummed, shaking his head, “Nope. I don’t think she meets people a lot… the only guy I think she’s close to is this guy Kun when he video calls her. But I’m pretty sure Kun’s fruity…”

Her hospital friend.

Taeyong wasn’t jealous, of course. Taeyong was lying, of course.

Donghyuck let out a cackle, clapping his hands together, “Well, there you have it, then. She’s just as hopeless as you. You guys are absolutely infuriating.”

Mark couldn’t help himself from giggling as well, his expression turning more serious as he looked at Taeyong.

“But for real, though, you guys haven’t talked at all since… then?”

Taeyong nodded.

“Not a single word. I don’t actually hear anything about how she’s doing… I mean, other than what you guys are telling me now,” he brought his drink up to his lips, the bitter taste of his coffee snapping him out of his curiosity, “I guess… I guess I preferred to keep it that way, you know, so I could focus more on what I had to do.”

“...Which is?” Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows.

“Take care of Byul,” Taeyong mustered a nonchalant shrug, “work.”

Donghyuck grunted, sighing exasperatedly, “Forgot you have no social life.”

“I do have a social life, for your information.”

Mark added smoothly, “Byul’s playdates don’t count.”

Taeyong couldn’t help but wonder whether Donghyuck was right, whether your life was similar to his in the sense where you didn’t give yourself much time for getting out there and dating because you were so busy, or because you just simply didn’t want to.

If anyone had asked you that question, you were sure you would’ve laughed. At this point, where you were in the deep end of research for your thesis, the most socialisation you were getting at this point were the all-too-frequent phone calls from your mom.

“Hi, honey, how are things?”

You hummed, letting your eyes shut and your head rest against the neck pillow you’d clipped around the headrest of your chair. “The same, honestly, nothing much has changed here.”

“Kun said he spoke to you that day... you’ve been contacting him quite a bit these days, haven’t you? Are you sure you’re not seeing him, honey?”

You snorted, knowing very well that Kun was not interested in the slightest bit.

“Yeah, I’m not exactly a fan of long-distance relationships. That, and I don’t like Kun that way.”

“M’sure you could use the support, you know, since you’re so far away from home.”

“He can still be my friend and support me, you know,” you told her pointedly.

“Anyway, I’m fine. Things are a little stressful I guess, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary… I’m almost in the last stretch, anyway,” you yawned, enjoying the little bit of shut-eye you were getting.

“Don’t you feel glad you made the decision to leave? Now you can focus fully on your work with nothing here to distract you.”

You forced your eyes open, glaring at your phone. She always couldn’t leave Taeyong out of it, could she?

“Other than you, of course,” you quipped back, hearing her scoff.

“Don’t be rude.”

“Am I wrong?” You hummed when you were met with silence. “Anyway, mom, sorry. I appreciate your concern, but I'm really fine here. I’m just… doing what I need to do.”

It wasn’t like you were lying, you did feel a lot better than you did months before. You were taking care of yourself, you were healing, you were making progress, slowly but surely. You honestly just wanted to finish your masters as quickly as possible and go back home.

You heard your phone beep, signalling another incoming call, a smile on your face when you saw that it was Johnny asking to facetime.

“Sorry, mom, I have to go. Talk to you next time.”

“Alright, honey, bye.”

Hanging up the call, you’d answered Johnny, laughing when you’d heard the long drawn out ‘hey’ he’d practically yelled into the phone.

“Well, you sure sound happy,” you spun yourself slowly in your swivel chair.

“Because I am. I have good news.”

“What happened?”

“Guess.”

You hummed, Johnny seeming too excited to entertain you for long.

“Nevermind, you’re taking too long to guess. She said yes!”

It took you a few seconds to process what he said. Who was ‘she’? What was she saying yes to? What good news was Johnny referring to that required a ‘yes’?

And then it hit you. He finally proposed.

Straightening up in your seat, you’d accidentally kneed your desk, pain shooting through you as you yelped, clutching your knee, “Oh my God, congrats! Good for you, you lucky bitch!”

His chuckles resounded through your dorm room.

“I know! I mean, I expected it but that doesn’t make it any less exciting,” he gushed.

“So, what’s the plan now?” You could imagine it already, Johnny was definitely the type to have a destination wedding, willing to pull out all the stops to make it as dreamlike as possible.

You could practically hear Johnny’s grin.

“Well, we wanted to have a destination wedding—”

“Called it,” you quipped, Johnny’s laughter bubbling out of him.

“—of course, right? Anyway, get this. We were thinking of... Italy.”

You gasped, “You’re shitting me…”

“I wish I was, even saying it feels like a dream. I told you, right? How her family has some connections there and they’re so excited about the wedding they said they’d sponsor the accommodation and everything.”

Hearing Johnny ramble on and on about the location, you couldn’t help but let your excitement take over you, the prospect of going back home becoming something you looked forward to even more with the knowledge that it would mean you were closer to attending Johnny’s wedding.

“This is the best news I’ve heard in a long time, I’m really happy for you,” you sighed, breathless with excitement.

“Thanks, it means a lot to me that you get to share this experience with me… even until now I still feel like I’m dreaming.”

You really did feel happy for Johnny, but you couldn’t deny the part of you that felt almost… as if you were longing for something you couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was because it was almost two years since you’d broken up with Taeyong, you felt different from back then.

Maybe it was all part of your healing process, but you felt as though nowadays, your first reaction to something good happening wasn’t really to push it away in fear that you would lose it and be met with disappointment. Instead, you embraced it graciously, understanding that it was something to be joyful about, and to relish in it instead of living in constant fear of its disappearance. So that when it really was time for it to leave, you could bid it goodbye with no regrets.

A part of you wanted to test your theory, but you dismissed the temptation quickly. You figured you’d cross that bridge when you got there.

For now, you figured you would just be thankful for what you had, the little blessings you were presented with everyday that kept you thankful even when there seemed like there was nothing to be thankful for. Perhaps this was your previous prayers being answered. You’d asked for God to send down his angels to guide you along the way, so you figured the least you could do was be patient for them to show up.

What you didn’t expect, though, was for them to show up in the form of Taeyong’s mom.

The soft clacking of the wheels of your luggage on the marble tiled floors echoed behind you, the scent of the airport being so unmistakably home-like that it’d brought you immense comfort. Tugging your coat closer to yourself, you’d sighed, letting your gaze wander to observe the people around you as you made your way to the taxi stand.

You saw a couple reuniting to your right, exchanging a passionate kiss without even bothering to wait for their partner to walk past the barrier railing.

A few paces away from them were a mother and her three children, watching a specific luggage collection belt in anticipation as they waited for their family member to come into view, the youngest of the children erupting in squeals as they spotted who you assumed was their father waving at them from the belt.

On the other side, you saw an elderly woman with the happiest of smiles on her face as a young woman had jogged towards her with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder, hugging the elderly woman tightly.

Pressing your lips into a firm line, you kept walking, keeping your gaze straight even as you passed a young man carrying his toddler, pointing towards the glass as he cooed, “Look! There’s mommy!”

Figuring you didn’t have any food at home, you’d stopped by the supermarket to get your groceries before heading home, lugging your bags along with you for a little longer, telling yourself you weren’t that tired and that you could afford to spare half an hour longer for you to get your groceries and travel home.

You had to admit, it took you a while to get used to the new layout of the supermarket, seeming completely different from how it used to be. So it was safe to say that you had to waste a little more time walking past the same aisle more than twice before you found what you were looking for in that very aisle.

Standing in the bread aisle, you were seriously contemplating whether or not to purchase a bag of bagels when you were interrupted.

“Sorry, excuse me,” the woman had spoken, a soft and gentle voice. Turning to quickly remove your luggage from her way, you’d glanced at the woman, recognition in the woman’s gaze.

“Y/N?” she smiled, letting go of the handles of her trolley almost immediately.

Your eyes widened, greeting Taeyong’s mom quickly. She’d surprised you when she’d made her way to where you were standing, enveloping you in a hug, something about her gesture making you feel warm, and very loved, wondering for a moment if this was how those people at the airport had felt.

“Oh dear, I’ve missed you! You look great, dear, even more beautiful than I remember,” she smiled, “Did you just come back?”

You nodded, “I missed you too. You look even more beautiful than I do, aunty. But yeah, I just came from the airport actually.”

She let out a dismayed sound, “Oh, gosh, why didn’t you say anything!”

You huffed, not being able to keep from smiling, “Surprise?”

Walking with her, she’d glanced at what was in your basket. 

“I’m finished with my shopping, do you have any more things you need to get? I can give you a ride back when you’re done.”

You gasped, shaking your head, “No, no please, I mean, I’m done but it’s fine, I don’t want to trouble you or anything—”

“Please, darling, I insist.”

You shut your mouth quickly, nodding, a small smile lingering on your face as you walked with her.

“Are you back temporarily or…”

You shook your head, reaching the self check-out point with her and helping her to bag her groceries.

“Nope, I’d say it’s pretty permanent,” you laughed, hearing her hum.

“Good, good. So, are you going back to work at the college kindergarten?”

You shook your head, frowning slightly, “Taeyong didn’t tell you?”

She gave you a small smile, shaking her head. 

“He… told me about you two breaking up but he didn’t mention anything about the school…”

Before you could explain, her lips parted in realisation, her hand coming up to her mouth, “Oh, gosh, I’m really sorry. I’m making you uncomfortable, aren’t I? I’m so so—”

“No, no, really it’s fine. I’m not uncomfortable, it’s really alright. I mean, you deserve an explanation, I know how abrupt it must’ve felt.”

She nodded, listening patiently to you as you paid for your items.

“I actually… got fired from my old job,” you told her, her frown deepening, “I mean, it was my fault, honestly. They had a strict policy on teachers not being allowed to date a student’s parent and all, and I could see how Byul was affected by my presence in her life… I just… didn’t want to make it worse.”

Done with bagging your groceries, you carried the bags in your hands, helping Taeyong’s mom with some of her bags as well as she led you to the carpark.

Humming thoughtfully, she let out a small sigh, “I can’t imagine it was an easy decision to make.”

You shook your head, “Definitely not… but you know, if it meant that Byul would benefit, that was all the reassurance I needed.”

Nodding, she’d unlocked her car, letting you put your groceries inside her trunk. You helped her to shut the door of her trunk before getting in the front seat.

“So, have you thought about where you want to work next?” she asked after buckling herself into the driver’s seat, earning a sigh from you.

You watched as she pulled out of the lot smoothly, a delicate nature to her actions that were stronger than they looked, her fingers tapping a beat to a silent song on the steering wheel as she drove.

Pursing your lips, you shrugged, “I mean, it’s tough to find one that pays as well as the old one, but I’ve tried interviewing for a few, they… they won’t take me because of... what happened.”

Clucking her tongue in distaste, Taeyong’s mom had huffed, “That’s horrible of them. They didn’t even consider that you were a capable teacher.”

You huffed, “I mean, yeah, it was humiliating if I’m being honest, but… yeah I guess that ruled out most of the places for me.”

Stopping at a traffic light, she turned to you, “You’re still staying at the same apartment, right?”

After receiving a nod from you, she continued, “Actually… I used to work at this kindergarten, it’s a private kindergarten, a nice school. They’re a Catholic school. I had a very nice experience there, the principal is a lovely woman. Maybe you could consider applying for a job there?”

Telling you the name of the school, you’d wasted no time once you were home, your grocery bags haphazardly laid out on your countertop as you rushed to get your computer, sending your resume and cover letter to the preschool.

Still jittery with anticipation after sending out your email, you tried using the time to pack your groceries to calm yourself down.

Figuring the school wouldn’t have gotten back to you so soon, you took a shower, unpacked your things and continued to settle down. Strangely, you’d felt calmer than ever, not anxious like how you were with your previous applications. Maybe that was because you trusted Taeyong’s mom, trusted her opinion. And you had a good feeling about this preschool, better than any of the ones from before.

And it seemed these feelings were justified, because later on when you were winding down in the evening, you heard the chime of your email app, the first line already enough to put a smile on your face.

Thank you for your application, Y/N. We’d love to meet you for an interview tomorrow at…..

You guessed you had your angel to thank for that.

===

And it seemed that your blessings were not over yet, for you received another one in the form of your new co-teacher, a language teacher named Ten.

He’d been an enormous help in getting you acquainted with the centre, filling you in on the children in your class as well as his own little profiling of the teachers in the centre (which, admittedly, was very entertaining).

You were surprised at how well the two of you had clicked, conversation flowing naturally and candidly. Ten was like a breath of fresh air, a little reminder that it was okay for you to make mistakes as you got used to the momentum of working again because he was here to support you.

Introducing you to another senior teacher, Jaehyun, who had been friends with Ten since college, you were surprised at the number of male teachers at this preschool considering your previous one had none. But that's besides the point, what you were getting at was that the three of you had grown rather comfortable with each other overtime, their presence adding to the warmth you’d felt while working here.

Attached to a class of toddlers again, a group of ten two year olds, you were enjoying your work, to say the least. Since it was almost the end of January, you learnt that the classes were already beginning preparations for their Spring concert for their parents.

You enjoyed the way things were run at this centre, the principal living up to Taeyong’s mom’s praises about her. She believed in letting you take charge more as a way to help you integrate yourself into the team, so this week, your new task was serving breakfast, something you never realised you’d missed this much.  

However, as you were carrying the container full of spoons from the lower deck of the trolley to the top deck, you’d felt a sharp pain in your wrist that almost made you drop the container.

You didn’t think you’d have to go through this again. Maybe you should really ask Kun about those steroid injections.

Wincing, you rolled your hand back gently as you stood by the breakfast cart, watching your class happily eating and greeting the children that were arriving at school now.

“What’s for breakfast today?” You looked up to see Ten strolling towards you, temperature gun in his hand, holding it up to your forehead to take your temperature for the fun of it.

“The little buns with the different fillings in them,” you told him, seeing his eyes light up.

“Nice,” he shoved the temperature gun into your hands, fishing a plastic glove from the packet on the trolley and scooping a few chocolate-filled buns into the glove, turning the glove inside out to use it as a bag.

At the sight of your stare, he simply shrugged, “Trust me, the kids could do with a little less chocolate in them.”

Taking the temperature gun back from you, Ten glanced at your hand that was massaging your arm.

“What’s wrong with your hand?”

You shook your head, “Nah, it’s just this thing that’s been bothering me for a while now. I’m trying to remember the massage that Taeyong did for me-”

“Taeyong? Who’s that?” Ten’s voice came out muffled over his mouthful of bread.

You’d cursed mentally, not realising you’d said his name.

“My uh…” you felt as though you were buffering.

“Boyfriend?” he smirked.

“Ex.”

Ten hummed, “Not that I don’t care about your hand, but why’d you break up?”

You thought of a brief way to explain it without needing to go into detail.

“Just… wasn’t the right time for both of us.”

Your words seemed to have struck a chord with Ten, who gestured with his bread towards you, “I hear that.”

Ten took another mouthful of bread, sighing wistfully, “I knew a guy named Taeyong once. We were friends in college. If my sources are correct, his mom used to work as a cook here, but that was before I started working here, obviously.”

You froze. Taeyong’s mom used to work here.

“... Lee Taeyong?” you dared to ask, the way Ten’s eyes had widened making your heart stop.

Nodding, Ten made as if to speak, almost choking on his bread, coughing and patting at his chest before finally swallowing his bread and heaving a loud sigh.

“Oh my God, no fucking way—”

“Ten, there are kids here!” you gasped, smacking his arm with your good hand.

He dismissed you with a shake of his head, “Doesn’t matter, they didn’t hear me. But, dude, your ex is Taeyong?”

You nodded slowly, “I’m confused, is that a good reaction or a bad reaction?”

“Good! Like really good! God, I can’t wait to tell Jaehyun. I mean, sorry about your breakup and whatever but dude, we haven’t heard a word about him since he graduated. It’s been like… what? Seven years?”

“Yeah, I don’t think he kept in contact with any of his college friends… other than Johnny.”

Ten hummed, “Understandable, he was closest to Johnny.”

His gaze darted to you, his expression serious and his hands clutching onto your arms firmly.

“Is he still hot?”

You rolled your eyes, folding your arms as you ignored him. Turning back to look at him after a while and see him still looking at you like that, eliciting a scoff from you.

“... well yeah, he is,” you blurted out quickly, making Ten snicker, finishing the last mouthful of his bread and tossing the glove into the trash can.

“Did you guys date seriously? Or was it just like a… you know,” he let out a whistle, making you gasp.

“I mean, I would think it was pretty serious.”

“How long has it been since you guys broke up?”

You hummed, glancing at the time. It was almost time for you to keep the breakfast cart.

Turning back to Ten, you answered, “About two-ish years?”

Ten sucked in a sharp breath, folding his arms and leaning against the wall, “That’s a long time ago.”

“Whatever, but he… he’s a nice guy.”

Ten hummed in agreement.

“So, have you dated anyone since then? You were saying that day that you went overseas for your masters right? Any… foreign romances?”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head, “Nope. Haven’t dated anyone since.”

“Wait,” Ten’s lips parted, “Like.. at all?”

You laughed, “What do you think I mean? Of course, I mean at all.”

Ten grimaced, “Well… why not?”

You sighed, rubbing at the flesh at your thumb as you shrugged, letting your gaze monitor your children who were slowly standing up and keeping their bowls into a big bucket at the side of their classroom closest to you.

“Dunno,” you sighed, “just… never really found someone else that I was interested in.”

Poor excuse, you know, but it wasn’t like you could say you didn’t think you were capable of loving anyone as much as you loved Taeyong. Ten would probably laugh in your face.

Ten seemed to have read your mind, giggling, “That, or you’re still hung up over your ex.”

You frowned, glaring at him.

“Am not,” you lied.

Before waiting for his reply, you started pushing the cart to the far end of the preschool near the kitchen so the cook could come and bring it back.

Ten had simply followed behind you, like the little figure on your shoulder telling you things you didn’t want to hear.

“Then fine, tell me what kind of guy you’re into and I’ll hook you up with a blind date.”

You bit your lip, shaking your head, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Ten laughed, grabbing your hand and leading you back to your classroom, sitting you down on one of the tiny chairs.

“Means I really don’t know,” you huffed, laughing at the ridiculous nature of the situation you were in, some of your toddlers laughing at Ten’s animated demeanour.

“Look, it’s gonna sound stupid, but I just want someone that makes me feel secure, that I can be happy with and just… live knowing I love them and am loved by them.”

“I’d love to make fun of you, but I get it. It’s not stupid.”

“Like… you know that one scene in twilight—”

“Are you seriously comparing your love life to a twilight scene?”

“Shut up, just listen. Like, that one scene where Edward is in like… Rome? I don’t know, but whatever, he was trying to get himself killed and he was gonna show himself to the public and Bella runs over and she runs into his arms and the first thing he says is… ‘heaven’. It’s like… as if he thought her in his arms was literally what it would feel like to die and go to heaven.”

Glancing up at Ten, you watched his smile grow, his hand coming up to cover his mouth as he nodded slowly.

“I like that… you want…” he thought hard for another way to express what he interpreted from your rambling, “a love that feels like your own little taste of heaven.”

You nodded. That was exactly it.

Ten hummed, “Okay, we’ll continue this discussion later. Can you sing the songs today? My mouth is kind of dry from all that chocolate.”

===

Kun and you had just finished eating lunch, walking around the mall to use your rare relaxation time before you’d both have to go back to work, unconsciously walking towards a baby and parenting items store.

“I mean, now that you’re back home, have you seen him since?” Kun asked, earning a shake of the head from you.

“I don’t know, a part of me is kind of hoping that I don’t see him, but… I kind of wish I did… you know, coincidentally bump into him somewhere.”

Kun laughed, shaking his head, “Honestly, the more I hear you talk about him the more I don’t understand why you guys broke up.”

You huffed, your hand reaching out to grab one of the soft-toy bunnies on display, your fingers smoothing over the lovely texture of the bunny, almost thinking it would be a good present for Byul.

Drawing yourself back to your reality, you clicked your tongue in annoyance.

“I told you a million times already, it was for Byul’s sake.”

Kun rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, congratulations. You think Byul’s gonna thank you for that?” Kun took the bunny from your hands, using his other hand to grasp the bunny by its arms, flailing it around, “‘Wow, thanks Teacher Y/N, I love knowing that I was the reason behind my dad’s failed love life’.”

Reaching a hand out to hit him, you winced at the pain that had followed.

“See? Karma,” Kun tossed the bunny back on the display, making you glare at him, clutching your wrist in pain.

“It actually hurts, you know.”

Kun nodded, “Yeah, that’s why I brought you here—”

“We literally walked here together.”

“—I wanted to see if they sold this paraffin wax machine thing that you could use for your wrist.”

You let out a disgruntled sound, “Whatever that is, it sounds like it costs a bomb.”

Kun dismissed your worries with a wave, leading you to the shelf that had various boxes of contraptions, his gaze landing on the very one he was just talking about.

“Great, it’s here.”

Your lips parted, glancing between the picture of the machine on the box and Kun.

“Looks complicated.”

Kun opened his mouth to speak but shook his head, “Forget it, if I tell you now, you won’t remember it by the evening, I’ll just send you a video tutorial.”

Huffing, you didn’t bother fighting with Kun to pay for the machine, figuring you could just repay him another time with something else, but you were thankful nonetheless for Kun’s generosity.

Walking out of the store, Kun helped you to carry the wax machine, gesturing to the ice cream shop nearby, “Wanna get ice cream?”

Nodding, you felt your phone buzz with a text.

Ten 1:10pm -image attached- 1:10pm -what do you think about him? his name is Baekhyun, he’s only 8 years older, rly funny, really smart even though he has himbo energy 1:10pm - he has his own fashion brand n all that shit-

“Who’s that?” Kun asked, earning a shake of the head from you.

“Nah, nothing, it’s just my co-worker Ten, he’s been trying to set me up on a blind date… keeps saying I need to get back into the dating scene and see how I feel.”

Kun hummed, “I mean, you are turning twenty-five this year.”

You grimaced, “Yeah, yeah I get it, time is ticking,” your tone was more resigned than anything, making Kun laugh.

“I have a colleague you could try going on a date with, he’s like… a senior resident now so he’s pretty busy but I guess it could sort of work since you’re busy a lot too.”

You shrugged, “I mean, I’m open to trying but I don’t necessarily have very high hopes.”

And it seems your low hopes were more or less proven correct.

The date was nothing short of a nightmare.

Sure, he was good-looking, and you let it slide when he’d asked you to foot the bill for lunch. But afterwards, he’d brought you to the flower garden you’d gone to with Taeyong and Byul, the difference being that he’d complained about the garden not being properly decorated the entire time, complained of how cold it was outdoors and how gross the pond looked.

If that wasn’t enough, the conversation was dismal as well. He’d dropped the ‘did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’ line not more than five minutes into the date, and when he’d asked you what your plans for the future was, he’d visibly grimaced when you mentioned that you’d like to find someone you loved and get married and start a family.

“Oh, no it’s just that I’m not really looking for anything serious.” He had explained.

Not to mention, his first question after you told him you worked as a preschool teacher was: ‘did you really need to get a masters for that?’

Upset from the horrid date, you’d let him leave first since he was so eager to get back to his apartment to watch the baseball game playing on television tonight.

Figuring you’d wanted to enjoy the ambience of the park a little longer, you walked around aimlessly, not thinking much of where you were going and simply letting your legs lead you wherever your subconscious wanted to go.

You weren’t exactly sure what to feel when you’d ended up at the other side of the large pond, standing in front of the many rock stacks, your gaze searching for the little splash of paint on one of the rocks.

True enough, you’d spotted it, but it was different this time.

The last time you’d seen it, there had only been 4 rocks stacked up. This time, there was an additional rock stacked on top.

You wondered what he wished for.

The cherry on top was that your date hadn’t offered to send you home even though he lived just in the next street from you, which was why you were currently on a bus squeezing between the college students and working adults that were on their way home.

Getting an incoming call from Kun, you’d sighed.

“What?” you answered.

“I just saw your text rant, I’m guessing the resident is a no-go?”

You groaned, “I said I wanted heaven, Kun. That date was straight out of hell.”

The sound of Kun’s laughter had only served to mock you.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

Letting out a hesitant hum, Kun fought to stop his laughter.

“I swear it wasn’t on purpose, I wasn’t trying to sabotage your date or anything.”

You huffed, “Whatever, if this is what I'm gonna encounter in the ‘dating scene’ now, I don’t want it.”

Kun huffed, “Okay, I’d love to hear more, but I gotta go, talk to you later.”

“Fine, bye.”

“Bye,” Kun had hung up, leaving you to shove your phone into your bag, sighing as you rolled your shoulders back, watching the people on the bus stop come onto the bus and fill the space more.

One of them stood out in particular, though. A boy with a bright red cap on his head, headphones covering his ears, black shirt and khaki pants that reminded you of the outfit you remembered seeing Mark wear in his instagram post (did all young people dress like this these days?), laptop in hand and a black backpack on his shoulders. Watching the boy make his way to the standing area right in front of where you were seated, you almost flinched when the boy looked up abruptly, turning to you.

Eyes widening, you couldn’t help the smile on your face from turning into a grin, the boy mirroring your expression.

“Y/N!” he beamed, removing his headphones and hanging them around his neck.

“Good to see you, dude!” he gushed, stumbling slightly when the bus had jerked, holding onto the railing between the both of you.

“How’s things been? How long have you been back?” he asked.

“Almost a month? I’ve been pretty good, actually, adjusting into my new job,” you told him, earning a delighted hum from him.

“Nice, nice,” he hummed, “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Yeah, I do feel a lot better now. Are you still doing social work?”

Mark nodded, “Yeah, I’m just coming from work actually. You too?” he glanced at his watch, “It’s pretty late.”

Shaking your head, you sighed at the dreadful memory of your day’s events.

“Nope, just came back from a date actually.”

“Date?”

Mark’s lips parted. Maybe he was a little too confident when he told Taeyong you weren’t dating. 

Only noticing your get-up now, Mark found that you were dressed up a little more today, a change from the usual attire you wore to work.

“Bad date,” you corrected.

Mark sucked in a sharp breath, trying his best to hide how relieved he felt, though he wasn’t doing very well in containing the way he’d visibly relaxed.

“Yikes,” he let out a low whistle, making you shrug.

“It’s fine, I’m not really sure if I’m ready for all that, anyway.”

“Really?” Mark didn’t mean to sound so happy about that, he just couldn’t help it, he was hoping that Johnny was right about you and Taeyong finding your way back to each other again.

You shrugged, “Yeah, maybe it’s for the better, you know. Gives me more time to focus on my job.”

Humming, Mark smiled.

“Does Johnny know you’re back?”

Your eyebrows raised, nodding, “Yeah, he does! I’m actually supposed to meet him tomorrow so he can pass me the invite for his wedding and stuff.”

“Cool, cool,” Mark glanced out of the window, a disappointed sound leaving him, “Shit, I didn’t think the bus would be that fast. I’ve got to go now, see you around?”

Waving, you smiled.

“See you around, Mark.”

It felt good, seeing Mark again. Somehow, it reminded you of how much things have changed over the years, but at the same time, there was the same familiarity of your youth you found in people like him.

Slowly but surely, you guessed. You knew you didn’t have the courage to actually go out and find Taeyong, but you knew that there would be no going back if you’d met him again. Especially if he was just as respectful, just as kind, just as affectionate, just as unashamed with his love.

Just as much the little bit of heaven you were longing for.

===

“Wait, Ten? Ten as in… lots of piercings, kind of looks like a cat, tattoos Ten?”

You nodded, “Him and Jung Jaehyun, they’re your friends right?”

Johnny’s eyes widened, eyebrows furrowing as his eyes narrowed, sipping his smoothie from his straw extra slowly.

“Okay, on one hand, they’re very nice people. But on the other hand, they’re kind of questionable so I’m kind of curious how you know them.”

You huffed, “Well, remember I told you I’ve been working at this Catholic preschool? They’re working there too.”

Realisation flickered in Johnny’s eyes, his lips parting, “Ohh, you’re working at that preschool. I kept thinking you were applying for the one further uptown.”

You shook your head.

Johnny was still processing his newfound information, ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s leaving his lips, as he nodded slowly.

“I didn’t know you applied there, I thought you said you wanted to work in a government-subsidised one?”

You shrugged, “I mean, that was what I wanted, but after I kept getting rejected I was pretty desperate, and Taeyong’s mom told me about this one so I figured why not, you know? But I don’t regret it, I’m having a lot more fun at this school.”

“Taeyong’s mom? You still keep in contact with her?”

You shook your head, “No, I just bumped into her when I came back, but it was nice… to feel like she still cared about how I was doing.”

Johnny leaned back in his seat, looking at you with a hint of knowingness to his gaze.

“You miss him, don’t you?”

Your tongue peeked out just slightly from your lips before you’d taken your lip between your teeth and let it go, pursing them and pressing them into a firm line.

“He was never mine to keep,” you turned your head, looking elsewhere as you pretended to be fascinated with the frame of the painting on the wall, “you and I both know that.”

Johnny knew you well enough to know what you were doing right now.

“Do you really, though?” he prompted, leaning forward just slightly even though you were desperately avoiding his eyes.

You nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“It’s a small world, Y/N,” he began, adjusting his necklace, “you can’t avoid him forever. What are you gonna do if you see him again?”

You huffed, finally meeting his gaze and keeping your stare as strong as you could.

“Don’t ask me questions I haven’t figured out the answers to.”

Rolling his eyes, Johnny gave you a sarcastic smile, “what a great teacher you are, is that what you tell your kids too?”

“Shut up, Johnny. It’s your fault for asking me a stupid question. What do you think?” your tone was exasperated, “of course I miss him.”

“Good, ‘cause he and Byul miss you too.”

“What does—” you stopped yourself short, knowing exactly why he’d chosen to mention Byul.

“I hate you,” you told him, annoyed that he’d put the thought in your head.

Johnny had simply smiled, giving you an innocent shrug.

“You’ll thank me later, trust me. It’s like I said, what exists between the two of you is… something you both need.”

You felt something within your heart begin to surface, hiding how you felt with a scoff.

“You’re gonna say that thing again, aren’t you?”

Johnny’s eyebrows raised, a dreamy smile on his face, “What?”

“That things will all work out in the name of love,” you huffed.

Johnny grinned.

“Honestly, I wasn’t. But the fact that you’re saying it is already something.”

Huffing, you ignored the fact that you truly were feeling hopeful, a part of you trying desperately to ignore those feelings, the passing thought of how you wanted things to work out with you and Byul.

“Whatever.”

===

Italy was absolutely beautiful in the springtime. In particular, the place Johnny was having his wedding.

A valley midway Florence and Rome, it didn’t take you very long to get there, though you were sure you would’ve reached a lot sooner if Ten didn’t keep requesting your driver to drive even slower just so he could ‘bask in the sights and sounds’.

“That’s it… I’m not leaving… Y/N, send a text to the staff chat group right now I’m resigning and migrating here,” Ten spoke, his head almost out of the car as he sighed loudly, the wind blowing his hair into disarray.

“This place is really beautiful,” Jaehyun murmured slowly, concentrating on getting a good shot of the pretty sunset on his camera.

Sighing, you let your mind rest as you watched the endless field passing beside you, going up the hill as you spotted the villa Johnny and his fiancé had rented for the three and a half days you would be here.

“I heard there’s a pool, can we hit that first?” Ten asked, making you grunt in dismay.

“We have to get ready for the welcome party,” you reminded him, seeing his mouth form an ‘o’ shape in realisation.

Groaning, Ten sighed, “I wanna congratulate the bride and groom but I'm really not in the mood to socialise today.”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes, “You see, that’s what you say now, but we all know you’re gonna get plastered later.”

“Okay fine, then I guess we could go for the welcome party, we congratulate them, then we go hang out at the pool, how’s that?”

Ten shrugged, “Fine with me.”

Upon reaching the villa, you marveled at the colours of the flowers that lined the stone walls of the entrance, a large black gate that opened to lead you down a stretch of road, the driver stopping between two gigantic walls lined with bushes, concealing the rest of the estate that you were yet to see.

With your bags, the three of you followed one of the staff as they led you up the path, past bushes that had been trimmed into different forms that were symmetrical to each other.

“Woah,” Jaehyun let out a low whistle, a small smile on his face as he marveled at his surroundings, “I really respect whoever maintains the garden here, it’s insane.”

“I feel like I'm in ‘Meet The Robinsons’,” Ten breathed.

Continuing up the path, you walked through a small field with a large fountain in the middle of the garden. Even the water looked like it was magical. Clear and shimmering as it flowed in the fountain.Trust Johnny and his fiancé to have picked a place as jaw-dropping as this.

Finally reaching the residency area of the villa, you decided to share a room, Ten and Jaehyun would share one of the beds and you would have the other to yourself.

But once you’d reached your rooms, Ten had splayed himself on the little recliner next to one of the beds, and Jaehyun had soon done the same on the floor, both busy with their phones.

Ten sighed, shutting his eyes as he let out a groan, “God knows we need this break… I think I can speak for Y/N and I when I say we’ve been extra tired lately trying to create a ‘High School Musical’ out of our bunch of two year olds.”

“Completely agree,” you chipped in from the bathroom, hearing Jaehyun’s laugh get interrupted by his loud sneeze.

Coming out of the bathroom, you’d shut the door behind you, walking over to the window to admire the view, a small “bless you” leaving you.

“You’d better not be falling sick, or you’re sleeping on this chair tonight,” Ten warned, pointing at the cushioned chair he was currently curled up on, making Jaehyun dismiss him with a lazy wave.

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t. I think I’m just exhausted. I’m gonna try to squeeze in a nap before the welcome party,” he glanced at the time on his phone, “Y/N can you wake me up at seven?”

You nodded, “Yeah, sure thing.”

“Hey, why didn’t you ask me to wake you up?”

“‘Cause you’ll probably be asleep too, idiot.”

Ten gave Jaehyun a sheepish smile, “Right.”

“I think I’ll go explore the area a little first, call me if anything.”

Hearing their hums and grunts of acknowledgement, you’d taken your spare room key and set off on your way. Walking through the warmly lit corridors of the building, you walked aimlessly past the library and the dining room, eventually finding yourself at a balcony of sorts. It overlooked the swimming pool below, and had an extremely beautiful view of the entire villa from where you stood.

Resting your forearms on the railing, you sighed, taking in all the beauty of the colours in the sky to the expanse of nature, to the faint sound of the water flowing in the fountain.

Ten was right, you did need this break more than you realised.

Fishing your phone out, you snapped a picture of your view and sent it to Kun, who had replied simply.

Kun 6:32pm - enjoy yourself, don’t drink too much. update me if there’s any cute guys-

With the smallest of smiles lingering on your face, you shoved your phone back into your pocket, looking out and trying to see what was the furthest thing you could make out in the distance.

Though you couldn’t do that for very long, distracted by the sound of a distinctive sound of laughter your brain could only associate with Mark.

Looking around you, you frowned. There wasn’t anyone else here. Looking again over the railing, your eyes widened when you saw none other than Mark, jogging to the far side of the swimming pool, a young girl following behind him.

You should’ve known who that young girl was. The laughter that escaped her was the same infectious laughter you were so used to hearing at a point in your life.

Looking a little taller now, less of her baby fat remaining, Byul’s hair was longer now, wet and sticking to her shoulders as she stalked after Mark, trying to get him to join her in the swimming pool.

A gasp left you at the sound of Taeyong’s voice calling out for her to be careful, unsure why you’d crouched down to hide yourself from view, a hand on your chest as you tried to calm yourself down, to stop your throat from feeling as though it were closing in on itself.

Would he look the same as before? The way he did his hair, the way he dressed. Would he act like he didn’t know you? To spare you from having to explain your past relationship to others.

Would he even want to see you?

Dismissing your spiral of thoughts, you briskly walked back into the building. Your head was spinning as you tried to find your way back to your hotel room, fumbling around for your hotel room key as you shoved the door open, almost stumbling into the room and shutting it behind you, supporting yourself against the door as Jaehyun stared at you from his position on the floor.

“I know I said I wanted you to wake me up but you didn’t have to run here…”

Your eyes were wide, shaking your head at Jaehyun as you tried to compose yourself, straightening up and mustering a small smile, “I’m… I’m gonna take a shower.”

===

It was safe to say that the party was no less stressful.

You weren’t sure if it was because there were a considerable amount of Johnny’s friends from his college here, but the welcome party had slowly started to feel like a college party that you were desperate to get out of.

Ten was certainly not holding back, seeming to have lost his filter the more buzzed he was, calling you over to where a group of them were gathered around a few of the lounge chairs at the swimming pool.

“Have you guys seen Johnny?” you asked with a small frown, you didn’t even get to congratulate him yet.

One of the girls in the group had shook their heads at you, “He left a while ago with Taeyong and Yuta, said he had some last minute stuff to settle about the venue.”

Nodding, you tried to conceal your disappointment as you sat next to Jaehyun, him scooting aside to give you more sitting space.

“Guys this is Y/N, Y/N meet… everyone.”

“You’re not from our college right? I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” one of the girls sitting across from you had spoken, introducing herself, her name sounding vaguely familiar.

You shook your head, “Hey, your name sounds really familiar, are you friends with Kun?”

Her eyes had lit up, nodding profusely, “Yeah! Yeah I am! You know Kun too?”

You nodded, feeling a little more comfort in knowing that there was someone at least vaguely familiar here (even if it was through a mutual friend).

“So, what were you guys talking about?” you asked, Jaehyun turning to you with a small giggle leaving him, his cheeks already rosy.

“We were playing truth or dare, but not really much of dare ‘cause we’re lazy.”

“Oh, alright, great,” you hummed. You didn’t plan on drinking much tonight, simply wanting to spend as little energy as possible before heading to bed.

Jaehyun snickered, “Prepare yourself, though, you’re playing with them.”

You almost thought Jaehyun was exaggerating, until you realised maybe Jaehyun was right. The scale of the questions they were asking were not what you were expecting.

You heard the sound of laughter coming from behind you, turning to see a man walking towards the group of you with a beaming smile on his face, laughing at something someone had said to him as he walked past them, spotting you and tilting his head at you, his eyebrows raising slightly, making you look away quickly in your panic.

Following your line of sight, one of the girls in the group had squealed at the sight of the guy.

“Guys! Baekhyun’s here,” she announced, everybody welcoming the boy excitedly as he took a seat next to you on the grass, grabbing the bottle of whiskey from the centre of the circle and filling his cup.

Ten gave you a pointed look, “Y/N, meet Baekhyun,” he grinned, and that was when you realised he was the guy Ten was telling you about.

“Nice to meet you,” the boy had turned to you, giving you a small nod.

“What are they doing?” he’d asked you, one of the things you first noticed was how young he looked, his puppy like eyes that were slightly downturned at the corners and the way he looked so happy came as a pleasant surprise to you.

You huffed, taking a small sip from your cup, “Truth or… truth?”

Giggling, Baekhyun nodded, “I see, so, bride or groom?”

“Groom,” you answered quickly, “We were colleagues… ish. I mean I’m friends with the bride too, it's just that I know Johnny more.”

Humming, Baekhyun’s eyebrows raised, “Oh, so you’re a professor too?”

You shook your head, “Nope, preschool teacher.”

His smile had almost brightened, taking a sip from his drink and nodding slowly, tucking his legs up to his chest and resting his arms on his knees.

“Nice, that’s cute. Lucky kids,” he poorly stifled his smile, enjoying the look of confusion on your face, “they’ve got a beautiful teacher.”

Huffing, you couldn’t help yourself from rolling your eyes, “What about you? Bride or groom?”

Baekhyun huffed, “Both?”

Momentarily distracted by the laughter in the group, you heard Ten shouting something about how Kun’s friend had the highest body count among anyone else in the group.

“What about you? What do you do?” you asked, shifting in your seat as you tried to tune out the noise from the rest of the guests.

Baekhyun smiled, “I run my own fashion label,” he told you, “been doing it for a few years, actually.”

“Cool,” you hummed.

Taking a sip from your drink, you recalled what Ten said about Baekhyun being quite a bit older than you, almost laughing at the thought of how your mother would react.

Momentarily distracted by Jaehyun’s laughter making him lean back and almost shove you off of your seat, you turned to see what the group was reacting to, hearing one of the girls groan.

“Come on, don’t be a chicken, just answer it. We might not even know who they are, anyway.”

“What was the question?” you turned to Jaehyun to ask, seeing him rubbing at his chest, the redness of his ears obvious in this lighting.

“Best sex,” Jaehyun told you, looking on in curiosity for her answer.

“Honestly? I said this before and the answer still stands,” Kun’s friend had spoken, glancing around, “He left already, right?”

“Spit it out already, I need to pee,” someone had prompted.

Bringing your glass to your lips, you sighed.

“Definitely Lee Taeyong.”

Eyes widening, you’d almost choked on your drink, unfortunately attracting the attention of the group, who looked at you with suspicion in their eyes.

“Y/N looks like she knows something.”

Ten was far too drunk to have a filter, rolling his eyes as he grinned at you, “Of course she does, she dated Taeyong.”

The people in the group had looked considerably more shocked now, Baekhyun’s gaze curious as he watched your reaction.

“So, do you agree?”

Your lips parted, shrugging. You wouldn’t know, you’d never done anything of the sort during your relationship with Taeyong.

“We’ll take her silence as a yes.”

Sucking in a sharp breath, you mustered a weak laugh, “Please don’t.”

Jaehyun tilted his cup in your direction, a look that read ‘I told you so’ on his face, “Too late.”

“Baekhyun, it's your turn.”

Laughing, the boy nodded, using his hands to make an inviting gesture, “Okay, hit me.”

“... Okay, pick a person in the room you think is the most attractive.”

“Lee Taeyong,” Baekhyun answered quickly, shaking his head, “Okay, no I’m kidding…”

Scanning the people around you, Baekhyun hummed thoughtfully.

“Can it be anyone in the room?” he asked, earning nods and ‘yeah’s from the group.

“Okay,” he nodded, turning back to face the girl who had asked the question, “I pick Y/N.”

Your eyes widened, averting your gaze as you stared into your cup, the cheers and whistles erupting from the group making your head start to throb, letting out a nervous huff of laughter.

“Fat chance, you’ve got Taeyong to compete with,” Jaehyun let out a small burp.

You were sure you probably looked horrified now.  

You huffed, standing up abruptly, “I’m a little tired, I think I’m gonna call it an early night.”

Ignoring the disappointed hums you’d received, you bid goodbye to Ten and Jaehyun, making your way back to your hotel room as you massage your temples, your headache absolutely frustrating you.

Glancing at the time, you saw that it was only 9, which was considerably early especially since you’d been sleeping pretty late the past few days doing work. But then, you guessed that could’ve been why you were extra tired now.

Washing your face before you’d changed into more comfortable clothes, you’d wasted no time before getting into bed, your eyelids heavy and aiding you into falling into your slumber.

That was, until you were woken up by the sound of the phone ringing.

Groggily opening your eyes, you winced at the brightness of your phone, your hand coming up to rub at your eyes as you picked up the phone, not bothering to see who was calling before you did so.

“Hmm?”

“Y/N!” you heard Mark’s panicked voice over the phone, “Shit, uh, it’s Byul. She’s running a fever and she won’t stop crying and I don’t know how shit works here I don’t know if she needs medicine or to see a doctor or what I don’t know what to do and I didn’t know who else to call but—”

You frowned, already getting out of the bed, casting a glance at the other bed to see Jaehyun and Ten there, sprawled over each other still in the clothes they’d worn to the welcome party, reaching for your cardigan as you wrapped it around yourself.

“Where are you guys?”

“We’re in the other house, I forgot what it was called but it’s the one that starts with a ‘B’.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be right there.”

Grabbing your hotel room key, you’d left immediately, practically running over to the only house you remembered seeing on the brochure that started with a B, knocking on the door and seeing it open not long after, Mark staring at you with wide eyes.

“Did you fly here?” He marveled, shutting the door behind you as he led you to the bedroom, pushing the door open a little wider as you saw Byul lying on the bed, sweating, a wince etched on her features and tears on her cheeks.

You didn’t know what came over you at the moment, any hesitance from before disappearing as you approached her confidently, crouching next to the bed as you touched the back of your hand to her forehead, almost pulling it away in shock from how warm she felt.

Opening her eyes slowly, stared at you wordlessly, before she’d brought a hand to grasp yours tightly, refusing to let go.

“Is there a pail here?” you turned to ask Mark, who had to tear his gaze away from Byul and your interlocked hands, seeing him nod at you.

“Can you help me fill that with cold water, and hand me a small towel?”

Mark did as you instructed, while you brought your hand up to push Byul’s hair away from her face, her gaze still observing you silently.

“Am I gonna die?” she murmured weakly, managing to elicit a huff of laughter from you.

Shaking your head at her, you smiled, your thumb rubbing the back of her hand soothingly as you urged her to sit up slowly.

“No, honey, you’re not gonna die. Why do you think that?” Mark had returned with the small pail of water and the cloth, setting it on the bedside table.

“Because he looks scared…” she pointed at Mark, making you laugh.

Letting go of her hand, you told Mark he could wait outside, turning to Byul and asking, “You have a high fever now, can I help to wipe you with this towel so your fever can get better?”

Byul nodded, watching silently as you wrung the towel, cradling her head gently as you wiped her face and neck gently.

“Byul, can I take off your dress so I can wipe you with the towel?”

She nodded, moving to remove her long sleeved pajama dress so you could help to wipe her down, the girl seeming to have felt slightly better after the second time you’d wiped her down.

“Can I ask you something?”

You nodded, “Of course, you can ask me anything.”

Byul averted her gaze to look at her hands.

“Are you angry at me?”

You hand stilled on her leg, resuming your actions though a frown had lingered on your features, “No, of course not, why would I be angry at you?”

Byul fiddled with her fingers, “Because… because I said I didn’t want you to be my mom?... I didn’t mean that…”

At your lack of a response, she’d continued, her gaze lifting from her hands to look at your face, “I just didn’t want you and daddy to have another baby because my friend told me you and daddy wouldn’t wanna play with me after that. I thought you and daddy wouldn’t love me anymore.”

Your eyebrows lifted, her words making your heart ache.

“No… no, not at all Byul,” you felt your face get warmer, blinking back your tears as you swallowed.

“Your daddy and I will never stop loving you… even if there’s another baby… we would still love you, so much… and the baby too.”

Byul frowned, her eyebrows knitting as she pursed her lips, “Then why didn’t you call us? Daddy said it was because you went far away to study but why did you forget to bring your phone when you went far away?”

Your lips parted, shaking your head, “I’m sorry, honey… it was my fault… I thought you didn’t want to speak to me, but I was wrong.”

She nodded, “Yeah, you’re wrong. I missed you… daddy missed you too. He told me.”

You laughed in spite of the warmth in your eyes, the sting of the tears that welled up in your eyes as you wiped Byul’s face, using your hands to tuck her hair into a small ponytail.

“I’m sorry, honey,” you murmured, cursing mentally at how shaky your voice sounded.

Byul was ever as honest, shaking her head at you.

“It’s okay… because you’re here already. I want you to stay here,” she told you firmly, making you smile.

After what was almost two hours of tending to Byul and making sure she was okay, you took her temperature again, seeing that her temperature had gone down immensely, a sigh of relief leaving you.

“Are you feeling better?”

She nodded.

“I have to go soon, honey… back to my room.”

She frowned, “You’re not sleeping here?”

You shook your head, “No, I’m not. My room is in another building, baby.”

“But I don’t want you to leave.”

You laughed, “Why not? You don’t want to go to sleep?”

“I want you to stay here and sleep in my bed with me… because I love you.”

You heard it before, the l bomb from the kids you taught. But something about it coming from Byul rendered you speechless.

You were at a loss for words. This girl was going to be the death of you, for sure.

Byul frowned, wracking her brain for ways to make you stay just a little longer, turning to you abruptly to grab your wrist.

“Can you tie my hair? Like elsa?”

You gave her the response you usually gave to the children in your class that requested for you to braid their hair, “I can, honey, but you’ll have to sit still for a long time, are you okay with that?”

She nodded, a firm ‘yes’ leaving her.

So you did as she’d requested, brushing through her soft and smooth hair with your fingers as you tied it into a loose braid, trying not to laugh at the way she was slowly falling asleep as you tied her hair.

Once you were done, she was practically asleep against your body, you’d carefully put her clothes back on, laying her down in her bed and stepping out of the room slowly, leaving the door open just slightly for Byul.

Stopping at the sofa of the living room, you pressed your lips firmly into a line, finally letting yourself feel the emotions you’d tried hard to ignore during your exchange with Byul.

You didn’t know what you were scared of in the past, but you knew now that you were here, and you wanted nothing more than to stay. You weren’t scared. You were here, and you were ready, and the thought itself was enough to bring tears to your eyes again.

Your hand covering your mouth, you tried to stifle your sniffling, wiping your tears away with the back of your hand.

“Hey, everything okay?” Mark had spoken softly, his voice echoing throughout the otherwise silent living house.

Quickly composing yourself, you got up from the sofa, nodding, “No, yeah, just a little tired.”

Mark made his way over to you, knowing you were lying but choosing not to comment on it.

“Sorry, again, for calling you at like… ass o’clock. I just, you know, felt like she needed you.”

You nodded, your lip quivering as you nodded at Mark, avoiding his gaze as you blinked harshly.

“I’ll uh… I’ll get going now,” you turned, making your way towards the door.

“Y/N,” Mark called softly, stopping you before you could leave.

“Yeah?”

“I won’t tell Taeyong you were here if you don’t want me to.”

You nodded, “Thanks Mark.”

===

“Oh my God, why is he talking to her?” Taeyong’s frown was deep, his gaze piercing as he looked your way, sitting a few tables away from him and sitting between Jaehyun and Ten.

Mark followed Taeyong’s gaze, huffing, waving a hand in dismissal.

“Dude, it’s fine, it’s just Jaehyun.”

Taeyong’s eyes widened, Byul laughing at her father’s expression, the girl’s fever having fully disappeared by the afternoon, back to her energetic self by the evening.

“Are you kidding me? It's Jaehyun! He loves kids!”

Mark’s giggles bubbled out from him freely, his hand hitting Taeyong’s thigh, “Dude, are you scared? Think you can’t compete with Jaehyun?”

Mark’s words had reminded Taeyong of his current situation, his expression returning to a neutral one as he shook his head, feigning nonchalance with his shrug.

“Compete? Please. Who said anything about competing?”

A flicker of realisation washed over Mark’s eyes, his smile falling, “Okay, but for real, though. I heard Baekhyun’s interested in her.”

Taeyong frowned, seeing Baekhyun (who was unfortunately seated next to Ten) telling you something that made you laugh.

Taeyong pursed his lips, shrugging, “Whatever. Between him and Jaehyun… it doesn’t matter ‘cause they’re both not her type. I still win.”  

“You literally just said it wasn’t a competition.”

“That’s because it’s not,” Taeyong retorted.

“Okay, but you gotta admit, Baekhyun kinda is—”

Taeyong glared at Mark, “Are you on my side or not, Mark?”

Mark giggled, “Your side, your side. I swear.”

Huffing, Taeyong took another sip of his wine, turning to Byul to ask if she was enjoying her food, not expecting her to be busy staring at Y/N as well.

You and me both, Byul. Taeyong sighed.

At your table, you were distracted enough by Baekhyun and the speeches the bridesmaids were giving that you didn’t feel as tempted to look in Taeyong’s direction.

Which surprised you, because everything around you had to do with love, and it was making you stare at the table displays with an inexplicable longing inside of you, wondering how different your experience of Johnny’s wedding would have been if you and Taeyong were still dating.

What had sent you over the edge was when Johnny had stepped up to give a speech.

“I always tell my friends this,” he gave you a pointed look, “and they’re probably sick of hearing it, but I’m a sucker for the whole red string of fate thing, you know… this idea that things will work out in the name of love...the concept of your person. And I truly believe that that was what had brought us together,” he looked at his fiancé with nothing but love in his eyes.

“A huge thank you to Lucas, she likes to joke that you were the ‘red string’ ‘cause you kept telling her to give me a chance,” he laughed, “I still remember asking you to bring her to one of our stupid mixers and you definitely delivered but… seriously, though, thank you for that,” he smiled, turning back to face his soon-to-be wife, “My love, I’m certain that a life with you will be as beautiful, if not more, as i’ve always been certain it will be.”

You frowned, embarrassed that Johnny’s words were moving you to tears, looking up at the ceiling and blinking harshly to suppress your urge to cry.

“To my lovely guests, I’m happy to be sharing this experience with you guys, but for now, let’s enjoy the rest of our time in this beautiful place.”

People had continued to eat their dinner, the dj taking over after a while and playing music for people to dance, many of the guests getting up from their seats to mingle with the people from other tables.

Without thinking, you glanced at Taeyong’s table, making eye contact with him and feeling almost frozen in place, tearing your gaze away as you chose to look at the people dancing.

Byul didn’t seem to have gotten the unspoken memo, getting up off her chair with a thud as her feet landed on the floor.

“I’m gonna go say hi to Ms Y/N,” she announced, running off before Taeyong could stop her, watching in horror as she’d bounded over to your table, enveloping you in a hug.

About to intervene, Mark saw Taeyong shake his head, “It’s okay, I’ll go.”

A hint of a smile on Mark’s face, he nodded, ushering Taeyong away.

You’d almost gotten knocked off your chair by the force that Byul hugged you with, your arms wrapping around her instinctively, Ten and Jaehyun cooing at the young girl.

“Byul, this is Uncle Ten and Uncle Jaehyun.”

Byul had giggled, holding both her hands up to Ten, “Ten,” she giggled.

“Are they your friends?” she asked, grinning at you.

You nodded, “Yes, they are, honey.”

“Do you want to go to my table? My daddy and Uncle Mark are there,” she patted your shoulder urgently, pointing at the direction of her table.

You fumbled for an answer, gaze darting up and your eyes widening when you felt Ten kick your shoe a little too late, signalling Taeyong’s presence at your table.

“Hey,” you breathed, Taeyong shifting his weight awkwardly with his glass in his hands and a lump in his throat.

The silence was almost suffocating, your mind running wild with the million things you’d wanted to say, hating how the one you’d wanted to say the most was a pathetic ‘I miss you’.

Seeming to have sensed the tension between you and Taeyong, Jaehyun had cleared his throat, “Uh… Byul, do you wanna go see the desserts with Uncle Ten and I?”

Nodding, she turned to Taeyong, “Can I go, daddy?”

As if snapping out of his thoughts, Taeyong turned to Byul to nod, letting the three of them leave the table, leaving you and Taeyong in your own world.

“Do you uh…” Taeyong gestured to the garden, “wanna go somewhere a little quieter?”

Without another word, you followed behind Taeyong as you left the dinner area, walking through the field and past the large fountain, leading you down a set of cobblestone stairs until you’d ended up at a more secluded area, entering a little cave of sorts that was carved into the wall, a little resting area with benches lining the sides of the walls and a fountain in the middle.

The fountain wasn’t flowing with water, which made it seem quieter than it actually was. Made of stone, it’s stem was sculpted to look like there were two cherubs holding up the sturdy bowl, a little cupid perched in the middle of the bowl, his arrow pointed right at Taeyong.

Leaning against the fountain, you relaxed knowing that it was sturdy enough to support your weight, your gaze flitting around the room as you tried not to stare at Taeyong.

His jacket had been left upstairs and the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up past his elbows, he leant against the wall of the cave facing you, his glass still in his hand as he let his gaze linger on the little stone arrow aimed at him.

Now that he was right in front of you, you’d given up on avoiding him, letting yourself observe him in the silence as he felt your gaze all over him, waiting for it to meet his eyes with an anticipation that made his heart pound.

He looked healthier, stronger almost. More confident too, you observed, in the way he carried himself.

Letting your gaze flicker to his hands, you noticed that he was still wearing the matching ring he’d given you, something about it telling you more than any words ever could.

“Your glass is empty,” you blurted, Taeyong’s gaze calmly shifting to look at his glass, a small huff leaving him as he’d leant down to place it carefully on the bench, straightening up and shoving his hands in his pockets, something in him almost desperate to reach out and hold you.

A small sigh left his lips. Taeyong held your gaze, “You look beautiful.”

Something about it reminded you of all the times where you’d felt like everything would slow down, when it became obvious that the boy staring at you was so filled with love that it seemed unreal. It was so expected of him, to be looking at you as though you were everything he wanted.

“I know what you’re going to say and I don’t like it already,” you murmured, though there was no menace behind your tone.

A hint of a smirk played on Taeyong's lips.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” he spoke, his voice just as soft.

“... good.”

“I missed you,” he blurted, completely disregarding your previous words.

You huffed, “I told you not to say anything.”

He had the audacity to look sheepish, making you avert your gaze. You knew that the longer he was here, the quicker your resolve was dissolving. Then again, you thought, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Sorry… if there was one thing I needed to get off my chest tonight, it was that.”

Your hands fiddled with the fabric of your dress, Taeyong taking the liberty to fill the silence.

“How’ve you been?”

You nodded, “Good… I’m working at a new preschool… a Catholic one… with Ten and Jaehyun.”

Taeyong’s eyebrows jerked slightly at the mention of Jaehyun, composing himself quickly.

“Are you uh and Jaehyun uh…”

“What if we are?”

You didn’t know why you said that, maybe it was your feeble attempt to make him feel as flustered as you felt under his gaze.

“I mean… I don’t know. Good for you, I guess…” Taeyong shrugged, “He’s a good kisser.”

You couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped you.

“You think I'd date him just because he’s a good kisser?”

Taeyong shrugged, “I was just hoping you wouldn’t even have a reason to date him.”

You gave in, your soft spot for him getting the better of you.

“Good. ‘Cause I’m not.”

He had smiled at that, shaking his head at you.

“Thanks, by the way, for helping Mark with Byul last night,” he spoke, observing your reaction carefully.

Your eyes widened, “Mark told you?”

Byul shook his head, “Byul did.”

“She… she wouldn’t stop talking about you the entire day… she misses you, a lot.”

You nodded, “I do too.”

“You do?” he looked shocked, but you saw how his shoulders relaxed.

You nodded.

“Can I be honest with you?” he asked, pushing himself off the wall slowly so he could take a step towards you.

Nodding dumbly at him, he took that as his cue to continue, “My feelings for you haven’t changed… and there’s no point lying about it because it tortured me.”

“I thought about you all the time… wondered how you were doing. It’s embarrassing how many times I contemplated just sending you a text to ask how you were but I didn’t because I knew you needed your space… I just kind of drove myself crazy wondering if, you know, you were thinking of me too,” he huffed in spite of himself.

You nodded along with his words.  

“I did,” you told him quickly, “more than you think.”

Taking another step towards you, Taeyong had a teasing smile on his face.

“What did you think about?” he prompted gently, your brain practically yelling for him to come closer, wanting nothing more than to hold him.

“I… I thought about you, wondered if you were having trouble taking care of Byul. I thought about whether you would be working too hard and forgetting to take care of yourself… I thought about-” your breath hitched when you’d felt how close he was to you, his hands on either side of your body, resting against the fountain as he nodded, prompting you to continue.

“I thought about how much I missed you…and missed doing work with you even though we couldn’t ever get much work done before getting distracted by each other... How I missed your touch,” you stopped yourself at the feeling of his hand that had touched the side of your face gently, brushing your hair back with soft touches against your face.

Taeyong hummed, smiling, enjoying how you were reacting.

“Keep going, don’t mind me.”

You rolled your eyes at him, trying to brave through the feeling of his other hand that had rested on your waist gently, rubbing it through your dress in a slow and intoxicating manner that made you squirm.

“I thought about how much I missed your… your kisses.”

“Did you?”

You pressed your lips into a firm line, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

He had simply nodded, playfulness in his gaze and the smile he gave you.

“A lot,” he admitted, scrunching his nose slightly.

“Anyway, you were saying? You missed my kisses?” he prompted, leaning closer to you so his breath ghosted over your ears, spreading to your neck, Taeyong pressing a soft kiss to your neck.

“These kisses?”

You nodded, his actions knocking the words from your mouth.

“What about…” he pressed another soft kiss to your cheek, “these kisses?”

You nodded again, watching Taeyong pull away slightly, the look in his eyes making your knees week, his gaze flickering from yours to your lips.

Bending down, his hands wrapped around your thighs, “Jump,” he whispered, and you did as he told, feeling him carry you to perch you on the bowl of the fountain so you were eye-level with him, your legs spread slightly as he stood between them.

“What about… this kiss?” he’d cupped your face with one of his hands, pressing a soft kiss to your lips, your eyes shutting, a confused hum leaving you when he’d pulled away.

You should’ve known what he was doing. After all, he was Taeyong.

“Can you—” you were frustrated at this point, his hand that was on your cheek using his thumb to caress your cheek.

“Can I...?” he taunted, his thumb just barely grazing over your lower lip.

“Kiss me more,” you hated how breathless you sounded, hoping he would take pity on you and put an end to your misery.

Taeyong grinned, “If you insist.”

Leaning forward, he’d pressed his lips against yours, less gentle than before, but all the emotion he felt conveyed in the way he’d deepened the kiss, his other hand going from your thigh to your hip, holding you steady.

Moving from your hip to your back, he pressed his hand against your back so your chest was flush against him, drawing a sigh from you as you let your hands get lost in his hair, one of your hands touching his jaw.

Your head was absolutely spinning, nothing feeling real to you other than the burning touches Taeyong was leaving on you, the kisses he’d begun to trail down your jaw and to your neck, his gaze landing on the shiny ring that had peeked out from the collar of your dress, Taeyong smiling against your skin.

“You’re still wearing the ring,” he brought his face back up so it was level with yours, seeing you nod.

“Couldn’t bring myself to take it off.”

Taeyong smiled, his hands coming up to cradle your face in his hands, pressing a long kiss to your lips and pulling away with a sigh.

“Do you think Byul is looking for me?”

You glanced at your watch, not realising how much time had passed, grimacing slightly, looking to Taeyong to decide.

Shaking his head, Taeyong huffed.

“No,” he breathed, “five more minutes.”

He pressed another kiss to your lips, giggles bubbling from the both of you as you were both enveloped in a dazed happiness, “Maybe ten.”

===

Though neither of you had addressed what happened that night at the fountain after that, it was more than clear to the both of you that something in your dynamic had shifted once again. Though, you supposed, for the better this time.

Maybe it was Johnny’s unwavering belief that had allowed this to happen, but things did seem to be looking up for the three of you.

Byul was much more open to the idea of you coming back into their lives now, especially after the reassurance she’d received from you that night, even going to the extent of telling Taeyong that it felt like you were an angel sent to help her fever subside.

When Johnny found out about your little incident at the fountain as well, he was more than ecstatic, giving Taeyong a variety of excuses he could use to schedule a meeting with you. But Taeyong figured he’d prefer a more authentic approach as opposed to attending morning masses at the church next to your preschool just so he could bump into you when you reported to work.

It seemed, Taeyong’s mom had been doing her little angel duties for Taeyong as well, using the opportunity when Taeyong had dropped Byul off at her house for a sleepover to give him a bag full of side dishes for you, insisting that he drop them off to you as soon as possible.

And if it was an opportunity to see you, who was he to refuse, right?

It’d been a relatively long day for you, the day that Taeyong had visited. A Friday night, you were eager to wrap up your day and watch something on the television to wind down. Your wrist had been feeling better after using the wax machine and following the hand exercises and massages Taeyong used to do for you.

Sitting on the sofa in a tired daze, you’d heard the sound of a few firm knocks at your door, standing up slowly (careful not to move your hands too much and break the wax), you saw that it was Taeyong outside.

Pressing the button at your door with your elbow, you opened the door with your elbow, Taeyong pushing the door open after spotting your hand situation.

“Hey… sorry to interrupt your uh… hand spa,” he laughed, “but my mom made some side dishes for you… so I thought I’d just drop them off.”

Your eyebrows raised in delight, nodding at him, though he hadn’t made any move to pass them to you, and you didn’t feel like letting him leave so quickly either. Guess it worked out for the both of you.

“Do you, by any chance, wanna come in for some tea?”

Taeyong was a little quick to reply, nodding and stepping into your house as you let the door shut behind him.

Quickly loading the side-dishes into your fridge, you’d thanked him, leaning against the counter.

“Sorry, I realised I’d make the tea for you but my hands are… you know,” you huffed, Taeyong dismissing you with a shake of his head.

“It’s okay,” he gave you a small smile, “what’s it for, anyway?”

“Oh, it’s just this paraffin wax thing Kun bought for me, it’s supposed to help my wrists and I guess it has been helping a bit since I started using it.”

“It’s still hurting?” he frowned.

You gave him a sheepish smile, “Yeah, a little, since I started working again. But it’s fine, it’s getting better I guess.”

“Can I…” he gestured to your wrists, “do you want me to help you?”

He was already washing his hands, as if knowing you would say yes.

You felt weird to be asking something like this of him, especially after so long of doing it for yourself. But something in you missed the feeling of his attentive gestures to you, not being able to find it in you to refuse his offer.

“Yeah… yeah, that would be nice,” you murmured, seeing him follow you to the wax bath, “I usually just like… you know, peel it off and let it melt with the rest of the wax. Cause that’s what the instructions say.”

Nodding, Taeyong had carefully peeled the wax off your hands, humming at how it came off easily, leading you to your sofa after he was done, sitting next to you and taking one of your hands, massaging it carefully, looking almost… repentant.

“If anyone saw this, they’d think I bullied you into doing this for me,” you joked, attempting to alleviate some of the tension you were feeling, seeing him huff, though his expression remained the same.

“You… you can be angry at me, you know. For all the trouble and fear I put you through… you can just let it out. You don’t have to pretend it didn’t happen, you can be angry at me.”

You frowned.

After all he’d done for you, all the love he’d poured out to you, you weren’t sure why he’d expected you to be angry. If anything, you thought it’d be the other way around, for all the pain you’d put him through.

“Ang-” you paused, a huff of exasperation leaving you, “I don’t want to be angry at you, Taeyong. How can I be angry at you?”

At his lack of a response, you’d felt something in your heart clench, frustrated that he could ever think this way, “You’ve been nothing but… love to me this whole time… how can I be angry at you when you’ve been so good to me? I should be angry at myself… for not trusting what I felt for you back then.”

Taeyong shook his head, taking your other hand to massage it like how he’d done with your other hand.

“I didn’t think about how you were feeling… you know, it never even crossed my mind that you could’ve had reservations about marriage and stuff—”

“Honestly, Taeyong? I was just scared I wouldn’t be able to support you and Byul… I mean, I was a mess back then,” you laughed in spite of yourself, “I couldn’t even be strong for myself, I didn’t think I could have been a source of support for you and Byul.”

He nodded slowly, his hands cradling your hand delicately.

“But that doesn’t matter… What matters is we’re both here now… we’re, you know, different than how we used to be. Our only option is to... move forward.”

“Move forward?”

You nodded, hoping Taeyong understood the implication of your words, dismissing the hesitance that lingered within you as you met his gaze, “Do you want to do that?”

Taeyong nodded, his lips parting and shutting as he fumbled for the words to say.

“Do you wanna come with me and Byul to the beach next weekend, then?” he finally said, the proposition putting a smile on your face.

“She keeps asking me to ask you to hang out with us,” he admitted, a hint of embarrassment in his smile.

“So is it her asking? Or you asking?” you teased, Taeyong’s smile growing.

“Both.”

You nodded.

“It’s a date, then.”

===

You realised that the beach was a place Byul enjoyed because she simply loved the water. You saw it in the way she didn’t care about getting her hands dirty, how she would bring her binoculars just in the hope that she would be able to spot a shark (despite telling her that they were definitely in a shark-free zone), the way she would squeal and giggle at the feeling of her feet in the sand but then proceed to look nothing but calm and relaxed even when she was thigh-deep in the water.

Walking back from where you were previously playing with Byul near the edge of the water, you went to sit with Taeyong nearby on the little mat he’d brought, Taeyong putting his camera down on his lap and holding up a piece of whatever food he was eating to your mouth. You’d accepted it gratefully, too tired to even ask what it contained.

“Did you have fun?” he asked, earning a long sigh from you, your hands going behind you to support your weight.

“I’m old… I’m getting old,” you sighed.

Taeyong simply rolled his eyes, taking a spare towel and draping it over your wet legs.

“Tough being a senior citizen, isn’t it? Should we just sign ourselves into a nursing home now?”

You laughed, bending over to use the towel to dry your legs, your necklace carrying your ring falling out from under the collar of your shirt, Taeyong almost immediately taking his camera from his lap and pointing it at you, the click softly sounding before he’d turned, pointing it in Byul’s direction with another soft click following.

Taeyong’s way, he figured, of filling his camera with what he loved.

Taking your phone from where it lay next to Taeyong’s leg, you went to your playlist, putting it on shuffle as you sighed, letting yourself relax where you were.

Byul’s voice had called out to you,“Aunty Y/N, look! It’s the shell you dropped!”

Taeyong laughed, turning to you with a look on his face that read pure amusement.

“Did she just call you ‘aunty’?”

“She’s been calling me that for a while now. Insisted that she didn’t want to call me Teacher or Miss anymore,” you explained.  

Taeyong beamed, proud of his daughter.

Taeyong reached into the little cooler he’d brought, “Do you want ice cream?”

Nodding profusely, Taeyong took out two ice cream popsicles, one for you and one for him.

And as simple as it was, just the act of the both of you sitting on the beach, Taeyong asking you if you wanted to try his ice cream, Byul running over to the both of you when she noticed the ice cream in your hands and taking a huge bite out of Taeyong’s (or as huge as her mouth was, which wasn’t that huge).

The song that was playing, a little song you remembered to have given you more comfort during your time overseas than you ever could describe, heightened the feeling of bliss that you were feeling now.

As silly as it would’ve sounded to anyone else, what you felt in that moment was truly the comfort of knowing that you may have been young and afraid of the future, not knowing what you wanted from the world back then. But now, all you knew was that what you felt with Taeyong and Byul was love and love in it’s most genuine, playful nature.  

You heard the saying many times. To live is to live in fear. But you didn’t want to live in fear. You’d felt this love strongly for yourself in this moment and you knew that you wanted to live in this love, for as long as you lived.

Turning to Taeyong as Byul had sat on top of the towel on your legs, your free hand brushing her hair behind her shoulders neatly, you smiled.

“I could get used to this,” you murmured.

Taeyong hadn’t said a word, simply doing what he always did, resting the back of his hand on the mat, his hand open in an invitation for you to place yours in his.

And when you did, it seemed there was an unspoken wish fulfilment in the midst of that for Taeyong. The wish he’d made at the flower garden that you would find your way back to each other.

“Sorry, hope you don’t mind me interrupting,” your gaze was torn away from Taeyong to look at a teenage-looking girl who held a piece of paper in her hands.

“Oh, yeah, no problem. What can we help you with?” you spoke, seeing her hand come up to scratch at her neck, sheepish.

“No, I uh, I usually come here to paint and I saw you guys here since just now and I couldn’t help but paint you guys.”

Your eyes widened, a delighted hum leaving you, “That’s so sweet of you, can we see the painting?”

She held the piece of paper out, Taeyong taking it with a nod of thanks, finding that it was the thicker kind of paper people used for watercolour painting, the picture showing you and Taeyong sitting on the mat, your hands interlocked as you both watched Byul playing in the sand.

“Can I ask, how long have you guys been together?”

Taeyong wasn’t sure how to answer her, and you stepped in quickly.

“A while,” you laughed, “why’d you ask?”

The girl shook her head, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she averted her gaze, “Sorry, no, it’s just ‘cause you guys look really happy together… it was nice to see.”

Leaving without another word, you turned to Taeyong, who was still staring at the painting.

Turning around to take a look at the painting, Byul hummed, “Is this me?” she pointed at the little girl in the painting, playing in the water.

“Yes, it is, baby.”

Her smile grew, “Can we put this in my room?”

Taeyong turned to you, eyebrows raising in a silent question, to which you nodded.

“Of course, you can.”

“Okay, can you help me keep it? I don’t want to get it wet and ruin it.”

Having her fill of ice cream, Byul had gone back to playing in the sand, trying to make a sand sculpture of a shark.

Taeyong picked up your phone, “Can I choose the next song?”

He searched through your playlist as you gave him the go ahead, wondering if your favourite song was still the same as it was before.

Though, he noticed that you had two songs of the same name, giggling at the thought that you might have liked the song so much you didn’t realise you downloaded it twice, clicking on one of them randomly, your heart almost stopping when you realised what he had just clicked.

The sound of Taeyong’s hushed laughter played from the phone, “Hi to you whenever you find this recording,” you heard. Your hand immediately reached for your phone to pause the ‘song’.

Taeyong didn’t know what he thought was cuter, the fact that you’d saved the recording as an actual file, or the fact that you’d saved it under the name of your favourite song.

“You didn’t delete it.”

Feeling exposed from the way he was looking at you patiently, a teasing smile on his face, you shook your head.

“Yeah, I didn’t.”

Taeyong’s thumb rubbed over your knuckles gently, turning back to look at Byul, his voice now a soft murmur, “I’m glad you didn’t.”

Taeyong smiled, “Remember, you still have a kiss you haven’t redeemed.” 

Flustered, you averted your gaze, shaking your head at him. 

“Really? Even after that day in Italy?” 

Taeyong hummed, the same playfulness you were used to receiving from him making itself known in how he’d smiled at you, “I mean, if you want, you could redeem one for every time you listened to the recording too, I wasn’t specific.” 

“For a reason, clearly,” you huffed. 

Neither of you brought it up after that, winding down as the three of you had slowly packed up your things and left the beach, Taeyong driving while Byul slept in the back seat.

You’d run through your mental calendar as you thought about what else you had planned in the next few weeks, realising you had Johnny’s housewarming in a few weeks before your school’s spring concert.

You wanted to go to Johnny’s housewarming together with Taeyong, instead of going separately and spending the entire evening in misery again, but you weren’t quite sure how to bring it up.

“Are you going to Johnny’s housewarming?” immediate regret had filled you the moment the words had left your mouth.

Of course he was going for Johnny’s housewarming, what were you thinking?

Turning into the street where he lived, Taeyong’s lips curved into a smile, his eyebrows raising, knowing exactly why you’d asked that (though, he had to admit, he was glad you’d brought it up). He figured he’d save you the trouble of asking this time.

“Wanna go with me?”

It was as if he’d read your mind, asking you that, but you’d nodded nonetheless.

“Then, we’ll go together,” he said simply, fiddling with the ring around his thumb absently.

Reaching his apartment, you opened your door to get out of the car. Taeyong opened Byul’s door to wake her up gently, carrying her upstairs as you helped him to bring his and Byul’s things to his apartment.

Though upon reaching the apartment, as you were taking out Byul’s spare change of clothes and whatnot, Taeyong had gone in to help Byul wash up and get ready for bed. You heard the sound of the hair dryer turning off when you were almost done. Taeyong had come out with an amused smile on his face, a hand gesturing for you to head in the direction of Byul’s room.

“Your presence has been requested by the princess.”

You gasped, exaggerating your shock, “I’d better hurry then, wouldn’t want to keep the princess waiting.”

“Careful now,” Taeyong spoke as you’d walked past him in the corridor, turning to look at him expectantly, his body leant against the wall as he looked at you with an emotion you couldn’t quite place, “looks like we’re both after your heart now.”

Flustered, you’d gone into the room in your attempt to escape, going into Byul’s room to find her already tucked in bed, dressed in her pajamas as she grinned at you.

“Your highness,” you bowed, eliciting another burst of giggles from her, making your way over to her bedside, adjusting her blanket, your hand brushing her hair away from her face.

“Do you want me to read a story to you?”

She shook her head, “Just want you to tuck me in.”

You smiled, going the extra mile to make her feel extra tucked in, leaning over to press a soft kiss to her forehead, Byul’s hand reaching out to touch your cheek.

“Can I tell you something?” she mumbled, prompted by the soft hum you gave her.

Cupping her hand around your ear, her other hand haphazardly pushing your hair away from your ear, the sensation tickling you and making you squirm.

“I want you to be my mommy,” she whispered.

You were shocked, of course, but you were glad. Your hands coming up to cup her face.

“Can I say no?” you teased.

Her expression turned pensive, narrowing her eyes at you.

“Do you want to say no?”

You grinned. “No, I don’t.”

Her grin now mirrored yours, “Good! Then you can go and tell daddy.”

You nodded, standing up and giving her another exaggerated curtsy, “If the princess insists, I’ll do it right away.”

“Goodnight, Byul.”

“Goodnight,” she smiled.

Coming out of the room, you saw Taeyong still standing outside her room, his gaze following the way you’d left her door a crack open.

“Were you eavesdropping?” you gasped, earning a small smile from him.

“So what if I was?”

You huffed, feigning dismay, “I’ll have you know, that was a private conversation between me and the princess.”

Taeyong let out a huff of laughter, his hand reaching up to run it through his hair. He wasn’t sure how fast he was supposed to move, or how slow, when it came to ‘moving forward’. If it were up to him, he’d want you to stay the night like you used to, but he wasn’t sure if you were comfortable with that.

You were simply aching for him to ask, not wanting to return to your empty apartment either, not after experiencing such life with him and Byul here.

“So, I’ll uh… I’ll get going, then…?” you finally spoke, Taeyong’s eyes widening as he straightened up, no longer leaning on the wall.

“Oh, uh, actually… it’s pretty late… do you wanna just like… ”

“Stay over?” you finished his sentence for him, his smile growing as a small giggle escaped him.

“Why are we even dancing around it at this point? We sound ridiculous,” he laughed, eliciting giggles from you as well, shaking your head.

“Customary hesitance,” you laughed.

Taeyong scrunched his nose, “To hell with that.”

You nodded, mustering your best serious expression as you tried not to laugh.

“Indeed.”

Lying in Taeyong’s bed later, it didn’t feel foreign to you, the way he’d picked up one of your hands, gently massaging your palm.

“Taeyong,” you murmured, hearing him hum.

“Since we’re… you know, ‘moving forward’, I want to be honest with my mom and dad.”

Taeyong nodded, “I know.”

“I don’t know how that’s gonna go, but I just thought you should know.”

Taeyong hummed, turning around to wrap his arm around your torso, interlocking his fingers with yours as you let yourself relax at the feeling of your back against his chest.

“I’ll be here, if you need me. You don’t have to be scared.”

You nodded.

True enough, with him here and with the knowledge that you were both more certain in what you wanted, you weren’t.

===

4:32pm -one of the kids in the older classes is so nervous i think he might puke on his costume if i tell him the performances start in 15 minutes 4:32pm -kind of wish Byul was here, think she’d like to know they’re performing her favourite song-

Taeyong laughed, typing out his reply to you quickly, taking in a deep breath and letting it out as his car pulled to a stop.

Walking up to the building, Taeyong rolled his shoulders back, ringing the doorbell and waiting.

Soon enough, the door opened to reveal your dad, who didn’t seem all that shocked to see Taeyong.

“Come in,” he let Taeyong in, and Taeyong saw your mom’s gaze almost darken at the sight of Taeyong.

Hopefully, this wouldn’t take too long.

At your end, Ten had finally returned from wherever he’d disappeared to, holding up his cup of milk tea to you.

“Want some?”

You huffed, “No, I don’t. Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be emceeing?”

“Nope,” he grinned, “did a little trade with Jaehyun, so he’ll be emceeing and I’ll be working the camera.”

Huffing, you gathered the consent slips for the children’s participation in the concert that you’d only received today (a little late, but better late than never, you figured).

Taking your place in the front row, you’d made sure you were visible to the kids as Ten had bid you goodbye, taking his place at the camera, watching Jaehyun make his way up to the podium and starting to greet the parents.

Taeyong had arrived at the hall just before it was your class’ turn to perform, greeting Ten when he’d seen him at the camera, Ten gesturing to you.

“She’s over there,” he whispered, Taeyong nodding with a huff. Even Ten knew you were the only person he was here for.

Standing at the side of the hall, Taeyong couldn’t contain his smile as he heard the very happy sounding song start to play, your little toddlers dancing on the stage in their costumes as you did the dance along with them from where you were seated, praising them every now and then and reminding them to smile, the sight somehow being one of the most endearing things he’d seen.

Your phone buzzed once the class performance was over, seeing a text come in from Taeyong.

Taeyong 5:18pm -i don’t know which was cuter to watch, your kids or you-

Lips parting in shock, you’d turned around, scanning the room and eventually spotting Taeyong standing at the side of the hall, giving you a small wave when he’d caught your eye.

5:18pm -my class is one of the last to perform, i’ll probably be done soon-  

Finishing up, you’d spent what felt like ages greeting your children goodbye as they left with their parents and families, saying goodbye to the teachers before you’d left with Taeyong, Ten giving you a knowing look before you left.

“I can give you a ride to your parents’ house,” he offered as you got into the car.

“I’d be lying if I wasn’t kind of hoping for that,” you gave him a sheepish smile, Taeyong shaking his head as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“You did well, I would never have thought that your kids had such a short time to prepare the number.”

You shot him a look, “Are you being sarcastic?”

“No, no,” he giggled, scoffing, “Can’t I compliment you?”

“Of course you can, but that sounded backhanded as hell.”

“Backhanded? It was a compliment!”

“Yeah, a backhanded compliment.”

Taeyong rolled his eyes, reaching for your hand.

“Backhanded, backhanded,” he imitated you, bringing your hand up to press a kiss to the back of your hand, “how’s that for backhanded, hmm?”

The way his eyebrows raised expectantly and his lips jut out was all it took for you to sigh. This boy was going to be the death of you, for sure.

You rolled your eyes, “Fine, I’ll give that to you since you look so proud of yourself.”

Pulling up to the pavement next to your parents’ house, you sighed, slightly reluctant to go in, but feeling a little more motivated knowing that it was gonna be an important night for you to have a genuine talk with your mother that (hopefully) wouldn’t end in her kicking you out again.

“Call you tonight?” he asked, earning a nod from you.

“I’ll update you on the verdict.”

Smiling, Taeyong nodded, already bidding you goodbye.

“Wait!” you stopped him, grabbing his face to press a quick kiss on his lips, shocking Taeyong into a fit of giggles.

“Sorry, I was feeling a bit nervous. Okay, bye, for real.”

Taeyong nodded, waving you off, “bye, for real.”

Entering your house, you were met with the sound of the television in your living room, your dad greeting you, seeing that your mom was seated on the sofa with him.

“We’re having pizza for dinner today.”

Your eyebrows raised, “that’s… different.”

“Lot’s of things are different these days,” your mom shrugged, earning a nudge from your dad, who seemed fairly amused at her behaviour.

“How was your performance, honey?” your dad asked.

“Good, good. The kids were really cute, look,” you pulled your phone out to show him a video, your parents looking on and cooing at the children.

A text from Taeyong came in.

Taeyong 5:47pm - I think you left your laptop in my car - 5:47pm -ok not think but u rly did leave ur laptop in my car-

Your eyes went wide, swiping the messages aside quickly, looking at your mom’s face to gauge her reaction.

In the absence of a reaction, not even a snarky comment, you frowned in confusion.

“You’re not saying anything?”

Your mother looked at you, eyebrows lifted expectantly, “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know…” you began, “Just, thought you’d be upset or something.”

Your mom shrugged, “Honey, there’s… I don’t think anything I say at this point is going to stop you, or that boy.”

“He has guts, I’ll give him that,” your dad commented, earning a frown from you.

“What... what happened? Did something happen?” you frowned, confusion written all over your features. 

“He came by just now, to speak to us.” 

Your lips parted in shock. Taeyong never mentioned anything about this to you. 

“I want you to remember that as your mom, I still want your happiness… and if it’s with this boy…” she stopped herself, “since the both of you are so insistent on it, and... he seems very certain that he can support you, go ahead.”

“But if anything doesn’t go well, don’t come crying to me,” she added as an afterthought, your dad letting out a grunt.

“You know she doesn’t mean it, honey,” he reassured you.  

“So… I can keep going? No objections?”

She sighed, “As much as I would want to… no, no objections.”

Well, that was certainly easier than you expected.

Funnily enough, that was one of the first peaceful dinners you’d had with your parents, the weight of the last lingering worry dissipating as you let yourself relax in your old house. Things were falling into place, working out in the name of love. In the name of your love for Byul and Taeyong, their love for you, your mother’s love for you. You were glad.  

You couldn’t wait to tell Taeyong the good news (even though he probably knew how things would turn out already).

===

You didn’t think you could get any happier than this. 

The weekly outings with Byul and Taeyong, the little activities you would do with her and him when you were at home together, watching movies with Byul and Taeyong having to entertain both Byul’s and your endless questions as if he’d directed the movie.

Though Taeyong was a little more stressed than he’d let on.

He had something planned, of course, but he was a perfectionist at heart, and he’d wanted it to be perfect, rehearsing with Byul endlessly, even in the car as they were on their way to pick you up for another beach day because of the good weather (or so you thought).

“Do you remember your cue, baby?”

Byul was practically bouncing with excitement in the back seat, her hands gripping her dress tightly as she looked out the window, as if unable to wait for Taeyong to pull up at your apartment building.

Nodding, she’d replied loudly, “it’s when you say ‘here’ right?”

Taeyong nodded. Okay, so at least she knew her cue. He didn’t think there was much else he could control, simply hoping that the weather would remain good for the evening.

Getting into the car, Byul had tried her best not to reveal the surprise to you, even at the endless opportunities you’d been unintentionally presenting her. From the way you fiddled with your ring, to the questions about why you were going to the beach at this time of the day when they’d already had dinner.

Once you’d reached the beach, you were excited to be at the receiving end of the cool breeze and watch the sunset as the sky had begun to turn pink.

Slightly more relaxed at the beautiful backdrop the universe had blessed him with, Taeyong held your hand in his, walking and pretending to find the perfect spot as Byul was practically vibrating in her anticipation.

Walking in front of the both of you, Byul listened hard for Taeyong to give his cue, hoping he wouldn’t forget any of the words they’d rehearsed just about a million times the previous few days, Byul having it practically memorized by heart by now.

“Should we sit here? I’m surprised there’s not a lot of people here now,” you asked, snapping Taeyong out of his daze.

“Sorry, what? I couldn’t hear you.”

Byul had turned almost immediately, getting down on one knee and yelling, “Daddy, now!”

Your eyes widened, bursting into laughter, leaning over to try to get Byul to stand up.

“Byul, are you okay? Did you trip on something? Let me see, is your knee alright?”

Taeyong winced, though he couldn’t help but laugh as well, figuring it was fine for her to have gotten the two words mixed up.

“No, I didn’t fall down! Daddy wants to tell you something but I have to kneel first!”

Your eyes widened, straightening up as you turned to Taeyong.

“What… hmm?” You fumbled for words, figuring this was another one of Byul’s little sudden skits.

Taeyong had blanked, trying to compose himself as he tried to recall the words he’d prepared.

“Byul,” he started, realising he’d uttered the wrong word but figuring he’d might as well go with it, “loves you a lot… and so do I.”

“Uh-huh,” Byul nodded.

In your shock, your filter was thrown out of the window, uttering the first thing on your mind.

“If I didn’t know any better I'd say you look like you’re about to propose to me,” you let out a huff of laughter.

Byul didn’t seem to understand why you were laughing, though she laughed with you.

“We are!” she confirmed (just in case you didn’t get it by now).

Your eyes widened.

Taeyong took that as his cue to get down on one knee, flustering you to no end.

“Y/N,” he started, “I know what they say about me… you know, that by promising you a happy life with me I’m ‘promising you the moon’,” your smile had only grew when you saw how Byul was silently mouthing the words along with Taeyong, seeming to have it memorized.

“... but I’m not. I didn’t promise you the moon, I was ready to give it to you, and I still am. But if the moon is too much, I’m telling you today that what I can promise you, is my love. My support, my presence, my kisses,” he let out a small giggle. 

Taeyong’s gaze was unwavering, filled with all the love he had in him.

“All of it, all my love… you can have it all,” This wasn’t in his script, but he felt like he needed to say it.

If her dad was going out of script, Byul guessed she could too, a firm, “me too!” leaving her.

“So…” Taeyong began, a huff of laughter escaping him as he averted his gaze briefly, “God, I never thought I’d be saying this in my life, like ever. But… what do you say? Will you do us the… the honour of being my wife?”

“And my mom?” Byul added, a proud smile on her face that she hadn’t missed her cue.

You’d acted before you could process, crouching down and letting Taeyong cradle your face in his hands as you nodded, a breathless ‘yes’ leaving you.

His hands on your face were gentle, though he couldn’t bear to take his hands away. It was as if the entire moment felt so unreal to him that he needed some sort of reminder that it was real. And looking at you now, feeling your hands come up to cover his hands, he knew that it was very real.

So he did what he’d been wanting to do for a while now, leaning forward and pressing his lips to yours, the both of you not even being able to kiss each other properly with how much you were smiling, resulting in laughter from the both of you.

And like she always did whenever she watched movies with her Uncle Johnny, Byul had squealed, jumping up and down in excitement before she’d finally calmed down, throwing her arms around you and Taeyong, tapping his shoulder incessantly.

“My turn!!”

Byul had rushed over to you as soon as Taeyong had pulled away, peppering your face with kisses before finally letting herself ‘pass out’ on the floor, the laughter that had left you at the sight making Taeyong sigh.

“She always does that when we watch romance movies.”

After you’d all calmed down, sitting and enjoying the breeze and the last colours of the setting sun, Taeyong had jerked slightly when he realised something, eliciting giggles from Byul.

Pulling a small ring box from his pocket, a sheepish smile on his face, “I got too excited, I almost forgot to take this out.”

Opening the box, he’d revealed a beautiful ring, three interlaced bands of yellow gold, white gold, and pink gold.

“Three rings, one for you, one for daddy and one for me!” Byul explained, making your heart melt even more than it already had.

“Will you do the honours?” Taeyong told Byul, the girl picking up the ring roughly from the box with a grunt, grabbing your hand and sliding the ring onto your index finger.

“That’s the correct finger, right?”

About to correct her, you grasped her head to press a loud kiss on her forehead.

“Any finger you choose is the correct finger,” you insisted, earning a scoff from Taeyong.

“You really pamper her, you know?”

You stuck your tongue out at him, “Can’t help it, she’s too cute.” You pressed another kiss to her cheek, Byul practically beaming now.

“Me, me, you always say I’m cute too,” he stuck his cheek out at you, “kiss me more.”

You grinned.

“If you insist.”

Letting out a satisfied sigh, you nudged Taeyong, “Taeyong.” 

“Hmm?” 

Your smile was contagious, Taeyong feeling his expression mirror your even before you said anything. 

“Guess you can finally bring the good news to your grandma.” 

Grinning, Taeyong nodded, leaning over to press a soft kiss to your cheek, his eyes lingering closed just for a few seconds even after pulling away, somehow still feeling as though he were dreaming. 

Byul let out a loud sigh, “Can we stay like this for a little longer before we go back?”

You glanced at Taeyong, who had nodded. 

“Yeah,” he pressed a kiss to her cheek, “let’s take as long as we want.”

===

“Daddy, you have a white hair!” Byul had gasped, horrified.

“Mommy! Look at daddy’s hair!”

You feigned shock, laughing from where you were in your shared bedroom room, busy painting a little mural on the wall in the space above your headboard.

“Oh no! What should we do?”

Byul shook her head, “We have to cut it all off daddy! So the other white hairs won’t grow,” she explained, Taeyong’s eyes widening at her solution.

“Do you think daddy will look nice with no hair?” you encouraged Byul, making Taeyong’s lips part in shock. 

Byul narrowed her eyes as she observed her father carefully, pushing his hair back flat against his head, taeyong sputtering.

“What are you doing, Byul?”

You gave him a look, waving him off, “Leave her be, she’s just… picturing something.”

You set your paintbrush down.

“Taeyong, come here, I wanna know what you think of this.”

Taeyong had suggested cleaning up the mess of newspapers and pieces of drawing paper that they’d used, but Byul had insisted that she still had a little creative juice left in her, wanting to see if she can make an aquarium themed art piece with the deep blue paint water left from her previous play activity.

“Careful where you aim that paintbrush, Byul, or it won’t end up on the canvas,” Taeyong reminded, standing up and dusting his shorts off, making his way over to where you were in yours and Taeyong’s room, on your knees on your bed as you observed the mural from where you knelt.

Feeling the bed dip behind you, Taeyong’s arms wrapped around you from behind. Relaxing into his touch, his hands caressed your waist before moving to your stomach, rubbing your belly with a little giggle.

“Hey, where’s Byul?”

Taeyong nodded in the direction of the living room.

“Living room,” he sighed, relaxing further into you, “she wanted to use the paint water to make something.”

Letting your head rest against his shoulder, you felt his hands move slightly lower.

“I like the stars. Maybe you can add more stars?”

You gestured to the little tattoo on his arm, the north star that he’d gotten years ago.

“Like this one?”

He nodded.

Taeyong seemed distracted, feeling your belly and bringing his hands away from your torso in a circular motion, as if sizing something.

“What are you doing?” You narrowed your eyes at his hands.

“Just… picturing something,” he smiled.

Your eyes widened when you realised what he was doing, swatting at his hand with a gasp.

“You’re crazy.”

Taeyong would never admit that your reaction had only spurred him on, loving the way it was so easy to get a rise out of you. Or maybe, a part of him really was hinting at something.

“I mean…” walking you to the door of Byul’s room, Taeyong called out, “Byul! Do you want a little sister or brother?”

Byul squealed with excitement, loving the idea of having another little friend to take care of and play with.

“How fast can they get here? Can you ask mommy now?” she’d asked, making your eyes widen as Taeyong had simply turned to you with a playful glint to his gaze.

“Yeah, mommy? How fast can they get here?” he teased, making you roll your eyes.

You shook your head.

“There’s no guarantee that it’ll be easy to conceive,” you reminded him.

Taeyong let out a huff of laughter, pressing a kiss to your neck that left your skin feeling as though it were burning, his voice soft and alluring as his lips were barely next to your ear.

“Yeah, but… at least we’ll have fun trying, right?”

You gasped, swatting at his arms, turning around to face him and feeling him pull you so you were pressed against him.

“Fine, fine, I’m kidding…”

You huffed

“Okay, not really kidding but—”

“Do you want to?” your reply had shocked him, not having expected you to go along with it so easily.

“Of course I want to.”

You heard Byul yell from the living room, “Can we deliver it A-S-A-P?”

Taeyong turned to you, the stars in his eyes just as glittery as the first time you’d seen him.

This was it. The feeling you got in his arms, in the way he looked at you; the heaven you were looking for.

Taeyong was grinning now.

“If the princess insists... who are we to refuse?”

[offergreys]

Move to heaven

MOVE TO HEAVEN ARCHIVE

MOVE TO HEAVEN SERIES

Parameter |url-status= yang tidak diketahui akan diabaikan ( bantuan) " 지진희X이재욱X홍승희, 넷플릭스 '무브 투 헤븐' 출연 확정" Ji-hee Ji x Lee Jae-wook x Hong Seung-hee, Netflix'Move to Heaven' confirmed].

^ a b "NETFLIX CONFIRMS CASTING OF LEE JE-HOON AND TANG JUN-SANG FOR A NEW KOREAN ORIGINAL SERIES, MOVE TO HEAVEN".

MOVE TO HEAVEN SERIES

^ "Lee Je-hoon Starring in Netflix Original Series "Move To Heaven "".

" 이제훈X탕준상 '무브 투 헤븐', 5월 14일 전세계 공개" Lee Je-hoon x Tang Jun Awards'Move to Heaven', released worldwide on May 14th].

^ a b "NETFLIX ANNOUNCES CASTING OF JI JIN-HEE, LEE JAE-WOOK AND HONG SEUNG-HEE FOR NEW KOREAN SERIES MOVE TO HEAVEN".

Seri ini dijadwalkan rilis melalui Netflix pada dan akan menjadi seri orisinal Netflix Korea Selatan ke-11 yang dirilis melalui Netflix. Pada tanggal 25 Februari 2021, foto-foto dari seri televisi ini dirilis. Pada 25 Februari 2021 Netflix mengumumkan rencana masa depan dan garis waktu untuk proyek yang akan datang termasuk Move to Heaven. Karena infeksi akibat pandemi COVID-19 dilaporkan, produksi Move to Heaven, bersama dengan seri orisinal Netflix lainnya, dihentikan pada akhir Agustus 2020. Pada 3 Juni 2020, Netflix mengonfirmasi bahwa Ji Jin-hee, Lee Jae-wook, dan Hong Seung-hee akan bergabung dengan para pemeran seri ini. Pada 17 Desember 2019, Netflix mengonfirmasi pemeran utama Lee Je-hoon dan Tang Jun-sang untuk seri tersebut. Pada September 2019, diumumkan bahwa Kim Sung-ho akan menyutradarai seri televisi untuk Netflix, ceritanya terinspirasi oleh esai "Things Left Behind" karya Kim Sae-byul, seorang mantan "pembersih trauma".

Kevin Oh sebagai Matthew Green/Kang Seong-min.

Park Jung-eon sebagai warga (di episode 3).

Kwon Soo-hyun sebagai Dokter Soo-hyun.

Dalam perjalanan bisnis mereka mengungkap cerita tak terhitung yang terkait dengan mendiang dan melalui emosi dan sentimen yang berbeda. Mereka memulai bisnis pembersihan trauma. Gu-ru (Tang Jun-sang) yang mengidap sindrom Asperger dan pamannya Sang-gu ( Lee Je-hoon) bertemu saat ayahnya meninggal. Move to Heaven terinspirasi oleh esai "Things Left Behind" oleh Kim Sae-byul, mantan "pembersih trauma". Seri ini akan dirilis melalui Netflix pada. Seri ini merupakan seri orisinal Netflix yang menampilkan Lee Je-hoon, Tang Jun-sang, Ji Jin-hee, Lee Jae-wook, dan Hong Seung-hee. Move to Heaven: I Am a Person Who Arranges Articles Left by Deceased) adalah seri televisi Korea Selatan tahun 2021 mendatang yang disutradarai oleh Kim Seong-ho dan ditulis oleh Yoon Ji-ryeon. "I'll never let go of your hand till I die.Move to Heaven ( Hangul: 무브 투 헤븐: 나는 유품정리사입니다 RR: Mubeu tu hebeun: Naneun yupumjeongnisaimnida lit.

MOVE TO HEAVEN ARCHIVE

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings.Language: English Words: 6,470 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 8 Kudos: 24 Bookmarks: 4 Hits: 267ĭisconnectusErectus Fandoms: 무브 투 헤븐 | Move to Heaven (TV) Then there’s the undeniable attraction she feels for Sang-gu, Geu-ru’s uncle. There's the blooming friendship between Geu-ru, who she has yearned for for years, and the dying girl he befriended, Eun-byeol. Na-mu has a lot of problems to deal with. MZinica (MadamZinica) Fandoms: Move to Heaven (TV) For flowers to bloom they have to go through winter

[dailyleverage]

Leverage is getting a Korean remake!

- It’s set to premiere next month, October 13. ‘The Korean remake, titled “Leverage: Con Artists” (literal title), will tell the story of Lee Tae Joon, an elite insurance investigator turned scam strategist who recruits the best “players” in order to catch the real criminals who think they’re above the law.’ (x) 

- Lee Dong Gun will play Lee Tae Joon, a man of principle who becomes the leader of a team of con artists. He was once known as the “Grim Reaper” of con artists due to his role in evading every trick in the book with his intelligence and insight, but after an unexpected incident, he will bring together the best con artists he once caught with his own hands to bring down society’s true criminals and show an authentic “implementation of justice.” (x)

- Jeon Hye Bin will take on the role of Hwang Soo Kyung. Although she’s a terrible actress on stage, Hwang Soo Kyung becomes an Academy Award-level actress when it comes to real-world scams. She is a top scammer who is also able to speak four languages fluently, and her mysterious relationship with Lee Tae Joon piques viewers’ curiosity. (x)

- Yeo Hoe-hyun plays Jeong Eui-seong, a timid and whimsical character who has skills like no other when it comes to computers, CCTVs, cell phones and anything digital. However, he's blind when it comes to current affairs. He's talkative and nosy, but a good source that connects the fraud team to everything. (x)

- Kim Sae Ron will be playing Go Na Byul, a former national fencer and now top class thief who specializes in opening locked doors or safes, evading lazer obstacles, running, and sneaking in with her unequaled agility and flexibility. Though she has an impulsive personality and nonchalant way of speaking, she is lovable in her own unique way. (x)

- Kim Kwon is Roy Ryu, a security specialist and a fighter whose strength makes him into a human weapon. When he was young, he was adopted by a family in the United States and became a mercenary specializing in various forms of martial arts. He only cares about getting rewarded for his skills and does not trust other people or believe in things like justice or loyalty. However, he sometimes shows an unexpected soft side like when he adopts a puppy abandoned on the battlefield. (x)

[ashleybenlove]

Soo-kyung just was like, “is she human or is she Spiderman?” about Go Na-byul (who is the thief). 

[nancethepants]

My Sh**ting Stars Wishlist

A fake love triangle between hick boy, Manager Blackbelt and Manager Fanclub. There's a rumor she's dating Kang Yu Sung. She vehemently denies it. Turns out she wasn't seeing her star, she was ACTUALLY sleeping with her sunbae. Same name shenanigans ensue.

Yuuuuuuuuuuuu Na quits to go back to medical school, where she was top of her class. You'll miss her when she's gone, guys.

SOME kind of CNBLUE reference. A song playing in the background. The lawyer calling himself a loner. A bass guitar in the corner of his apartment. You get what I'm saying.

Mean girls love. My grumpy journalist hooks up with Happy Happy Beam girl and they go smoke cigarettes into the sunset.

Yuki is unveiled as the source of all the leaks that drive everyone crazy. Maybe they should keep their voices down when they're in his establishment.

Da Hye is an angel and does her job and wins awards and never gets hurt and doesn't become a crazy stalker fan please don't do it, show.

Han Byul and Tae Sung start dating and everyone is SUPER COOL ABOUT IT AND THERE IS NO BACKLASH AND THEY GO TO THE MOVIES TOGETHER IN PUBLIC AND I CRY TEARS OF JOY.

Soo-hyuk teaches everyone to chill out and pet a dog every once in a while. Goddamn.

[ghostbhyun]

🍼 mobyul

send in 🍼 and i’ll create a child for our characters!

GO NAEUN (norway)

likes / dislikes: + rock, drums, fashion, cats, travelling / - strawberry cake, hospitals

first word: appa

appearance: cabelos e olhos castanhos (mas ela pinta as vezes)

which parent they look more like: diria que os dois? tipo os olhinhos pode ser dos dois porém mais com a byul na mente do moscow

which parent they like more: moscow

height once fully grown: 1,70 cm

job ambition: musician

faceclaim: hwang yeji (itzy)

GO NAMJOON (london)

likes / dislikes: + hiphop, kpop, instruments, drawing, travelling  / - honey, bugs, legos

first word: gato, a primeira palavra foi exatamente essa porque tava indo atrás do freddy e o gato fugindo dele

appearance: cabelos e olhos castanhos

which parent they look more like: o moscow todinho kkkk até o jeitinho, o modo de vestir .. boatos que até o gosto musical

which parent they like more: hanbyul, esse deu certo e virou mommy’s boy

height once fully grown: 1,80 cm

job ambition: musician

faceclaim: jay park (enhypen)

[rosekim]

My ID Is Gangnam Beauty | Review

“We throw up and do plastic surgeries as if we’ll die if we aren’t pretty.”

The lessons and realizations put in this drama are very commendable. It made me reflect on how I see and judge people’s appearance.

The drama follows the story of Kang Mi Rae going through her first year in college right after a major plastic surgery. She used to be ashamed of her face for being ugly, bullied and considered an outcast for it. She thought things would start to be normal with a new face, however, things didn’t go her way.

One thing that I love about this is Kang Mi Rae’s character development on how she used to rate people’s appearances, I am guilty of that one—and Do Kyung Seok’s response struck me like a bullet.

Another favorite scene is during their Frosh Week were only the three pretty girls are assigned to serve, thinking that they will be able to attract more customers with beautiful servers as if they object. In the end, all of them leave, leaving on the three girls that the guys labeled unqualified just because they are not so pretty. Yoon Byul’s guts to speak up is great, I love how she speaks up, urging the others to do as well.

Moving to the characters, at first, I gotta admit that I only watched to see Cha Eun Woo (hahaha sorry) but I really got amazed and hooked by the drama at the end.

If you expected that Kang Mi Rae’s plastic surgery led her to a more beautiful life, then you’re wrong. She was even labeled plastic monster for it. She didn’t wish to be that pretty, she just wanted to be normal like anyone else. I really hated Kim Chan Woo and his personality. The audacity to blame Mi Rae for his gullible mind to easily fall for Soo Ah??? Hated him to the bones, from start to end. Period.

Speaking of Hyun Soo Ah, I couldn’t even explain how much I hated her in the beginning. She proved how much of an attention seeker she is, doinjng everything just to be the lovely girl lf their university. However, my perspective towards her changed and softened by the end. I really hated her character at first, thinking she’s being plain evil for attention. But after knowing her story, I was able to sympathize with her. She may be bad, but she don’t deserve the trauma that she experience. I even wish that she’ll have her own drama at the end.

And lastly, of course, Do Kyung Seok. I know that his personality here is a cold-hearted, silent loner. However, I was a bit disappointed. I wasn’t able to see much from his actions. With his lack of reaction, it kinda made me feel like he’s a robot. Though, I might say that he did a great job handling Do Kyung Seok’s cold hearted personality for I really see him that way. But, then, as things picked up by the end, his change became visible and I started to love him. Those scenes where he and Mi Rae would smile shyly to each other are the best.

I also love how he was able to forgive and understand his mom despite everything. Speaking of Na Hye Sun, she’s super beautiful!!!

Overall, I enjoyed this drama. Even though Mi Rae and Kyung Seok are awkward towards each other, they started getting cute as they began to have feelings for one another. The lessons showcase are really worth it. I would love to see this two in another drama again, although of course that’s impossible.

Rating: 8.5/10

This review is transfered from my writeblr account: lumierezi. i would be posting my reviews and kdrama things here from now.

[aseal-theories-thoughts]

The Penthouse 2

 So here’s my first post lol

I got a lot of thoughts and theories about this drama I’m in episode 12 right know so not much of theories so I’ll write my thoughts and theories for the next season 

So since the first season i noticed it wasn’t  Shim Su-Ryeon the one who’s dead since she didn’t have the earrings on... also giving it another thought the hair was darker than  Shim Su-Ryeon original color 

moving on to the other episodes my thoughts got mixed up on like HOW did  Kyu-Jin know that Ro-Na is Dr. Ha real daughter like that’s weird 

but moving on through the episodes that Butterfly is everywhere like you can see it on the pillows the tattoo the painting that went between the teacher and Oh Yon-Hee like its everywhere 

so looking it up; Many cultures associate the butterfly with our souls. The Christian religion sees the butterfly as a symbol of resurrection. Around the world, people view the butterfly as representing endurance, change, hope, and life

so in another way it meant the comeback like how Shim Su-Ryeon came back for revenge on Dan-Tae 

in the episode of Ro-Na’s death episode like i thought its kinda dumb, like why didn’t Ro-Na just run to the place where’s people in and why did you even run to where no one can see but after watching episode 9 i knew the reason... so their was 3 killers for Ro-Na’s murder more of two: Eunbyul and Dan-Tae were the killers Dr. Ha tried to kill her but couldn’t in which it made it half joining this killing triangle 

for my thoughts on these episodes i found it a little reasonable because a parent will do anything to save their kids even if it meant k*lling someone BUT it doesn’t mean i say yes to k*lling that’s no reason to do that 

But going to ep11 Shim Su-Ryeon told Yun-hee; “ you have to do anything for your kid even if you have to be evil” In which that what Yun-Hee did in season 1 k*lling min-seol 

So going through the characters 

They never gave any of them to explain their POV like they only gave the “heroes” 

You know  Cheon Seo-Jin they showed her story or they showed most of it how she wanted Love and affection from someone in which she didn’t find any from her parents how they easily replaced her with her sister and how they always abused her mentally from her father telling her you’re not good enough to her mother turning against her after the father’s death 

And for Ha Eun-Byul she turned this way because of her mom and dad mostly her mom locking her in the room were Min-seol was locked in before her death and her love towards her mother turned her like this wanting to save her by hiding the truth of Seo-Jin killing her father and and almost killing Min-seol because of the phone that had the evidence of her cheating with Dan-Tae also the pressure she’s been through on being the best out of everyone and the jealousy she had against everyone specifically Ro-Na knowing that Ro-Na didn’t have the best background like her and not wanting her mom being disappointed in her got her sick going psycho 

The twins:  Seok-Hoon and  Seok-Kyung

All of us know how they were abused by their father and that i don’t need to explain any farther But them helping Seo-Jin wanting revenge of their father’s deeds 

Ro-Na I always thought of Ro-Na as an ungrateful kid like she wanted to sing at first her mom didn’t accept but after time she did and when she didn’t get in its logical to have a mental breakdown after trying so hard But giving up wasn’t a thing u should do either ways it was just a thought and when she was accepted she wanted to leave(?) and then she wanted to live in the penthouse building but when Yun-hee finally made her wish come true she started yelling wanting to leave like that’s too much 

but i see some of the point she was bullied and wanted to have a peaceful life 

Kyu-Jin and  Min-Hyeok  both are mommy’s kid like they don’t know how to do anything without  Go Sang-A  and  Wang Mi-Ja (the grandma) help 

Kang Ma-Ri and  Je-Ni both of them got the best change in characters through the whole 2 seasons but i think their characters from the first weren’t bad people they only wanted to fit in... The pressure of Society made them act like this but again that’s no reason to be a bad person 

Dan-Tae till now we never got his back story that’s why i can’t judge him but what he’s doing they never gave him the chance to give us his POV more of his past we already saw that he hates Blood and is scared of it on him and he’s a clean freak who hates the poor 

Logan Lee The master mind more of the 2nd Master mind all we know he’s Min-seol adoptive brother and he wanted revenge for her in season 1 and in season 2 he wanted revenge for  Shim Su-Ryeon and to torture Oh Yoon-Hee for what she did 

Shim Su-Ryeon 

the Biggest master mind when someone said always be afraid from the quite people we all know her story by getting revenge BUT the thing is HOW DID SHE MEET  Na Ae-Gyo like we know  Na Ae-Gyo called Logan so she might’ve called Su-Ryeon too But you know in season 1 Logan found the picture of Ae-Gyo with the twins so she might’ve looked for her and found her

The secret people:

through the drama u can see when Su-Ryeon found that box photos of   Na Ae-Gyo was found with another man so he might’ve been the real father of the twins not Dan-Tae that’s why he abused them 

Je-ni father they said that he’ll appear through the drama so what’s his deal all we know that he covered up for Dan-tae crime and went to jail for him but you know i think adding him might have a reason of adding him in the future he knows what they did to his daughter and seeks revenge for it although i don’t find it reasonable since Ma-Ri already dealt with it 

Moving on to Cha Eunwoo being added?

uhm idk what reason he’s added and i can’t even find why 

but thinking about it i got this thought ; i think in season 3 and the end of season 2 Eunwoo's role is to take revenge for his sister like since Seokhoon played Eunbyul or it'll be complete opposite he'll help them get his sister in jail or smth but this changed when Seo-Jin helped Yun-hee

so the 2nd thought was Dan-Tae will use him to take revenge on Seo-jin and Doctor Ha by using their son against them 

my third thought on it was like a love traingle (?) like him Rona and Seok-hoon but then changed cuz he’ll be her half-brother(?)  so the thought got cancelled and switched to him trying to play with Seok-Kyung but he falls in love with her 

But either ways these are only theories i made 

in conclusion in this drama i don’t think any of them are bad people 

they’re just humans with bad past like they gave everyone a chance to show why they did it but not Dan-Tae 

if they gave the evil a chance to show their POV in the end no one is the hero everyone is evil from the inside however they show they’re nice evil still exist inside of their heart 

all of the characters in The penthouse seeks revenge and greed for money and wanting a happy ending but who knows theirs still season 3 and 4 episodes of season 2 

[ericmun]

Shinhwa’s Eric Is A Star Chef Absorbed In His Cooking In Upcoming Romantic Comedy

Channel A’s upcoming drama “Yoo Byul Na! Chef Moon” (literal title) has released new stills of Shinhwa’s Eric!

The drama is romantic comedy that follows the growth and romance of a reckless world-famous fashion designer named Yoo Yoo Jin (Go Won Hee), who has lost her memories, and star chef Moon Seung Mo (Eric).

In the newly released stills, Moon Seung Mo is frowning as he concentrates while taking a sip from a ladle. He appears to be absorbed in his cooking as he peers into the traditional pot.

Fans are already highly anticipating Eric in his new chef role as he has previously showcased his skills and love for cooking in past variety programs such as on tvN’s “Three Meals a Day.” Since the actor is known for being an expert at romantic comedies, fans are curious to see what kind of acting he’ll showcase in the upcoming drama.

The new Friday-Saturday drama “Yoo Byul Na! Chef Moo” premieres in March following the conclusion of “Touch.”

Source (1) + Via Soompi