#i almost included wonwoo as well but it's not official yet so he will be part of tomorrow's set

[wnjunhui]

CARAT DAY EVENT BY @forsvt​

DAY 1 ➜ BIAS LINE

[gamerwoo]

Wonwoo & Mingyu: Glitch

Characters: Wonwoo x female reader but also Mingyu x female reader

Genre/warnings: hacker au, angst, fluff somewhere in there, enemies to lovers, mentions of abuse, kidnapping, implied torture/abuse, mention of death a lot, depression, mention of separation anxiety, brief mention of alcoholism, and smut at the end (threesome, ig sub!reader???, oral [male and female receiving] double penetration, some praise sprinkled in]

Word count: 18,751

Summary: After your boyfriend goes missing and you can all only assume he’s dead, your boss assigns you a new partner. But considering you don’t want to get close to anybody again in fear of something going wrong again, living together is a lot easier said than done. However, you don’t get hurt the way you think you will.

a/n: wow my longest writing yet!!! shoutout to @neverknewgrey2016 for helping me with the fighting toward the end because i didn’t know how to end this bitch, and also shoutout to markiplier because i had him playing fnaf in the background while i wrote the smut lmao

Masterlist

Very few things in this world could bring you joy: hot cup noodles at 3am, honey butter chips that greased your fingers and your keyboard, warm blankets fresh from the dryer that draped over your shoulders while you worked, and the rare moments of free time where you could spend time with the one thing that made you the happiest.

Mingyu was the one who would cook you ramen at 3am when you hadn’t eaten yet, would keep the cupboards stocked with your favorite chips that he’d gotten you addicted to, and would toss your favorite fuzzy blankets in the dryer to keep you extra comfortable while you worked. He was your best friend, your partner in crime, and the only person you truly loved in this world. You would do anything for him, and he would do the same for you. Despite your dangerous jobs, you loved each other more than anything.

You met through work. You two were the hacker extraordinaires that the agency relied heavily on. That was how your little rivalry started. He’d hack you, you’d hack him back; it was almost a game, really. It started out with ddosing and deleting important files, but it quickly turned into changing wallpapers to memes and leaving dumb notes open for the other. You were always one to keep people at arm's length because your job could get you killed, but you found yourself looking forward to Mingyu’s dumb antics everyday.

Eventually, you just grew closer. Mingyu wanted to video chat out of nowhere -- he just called, he didn’t even ask -- and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, “Should I dress as a sexy maid for this next mission?”

“Uh...what?” you asked, his question causing your fingers to stop typing codes.

“I have to go out for a mission, and I have this sexy maid costume I never used,” he explained as if he was talking to a close friend. “It’s not something I got myself but since it was a gift, I figure I--”

You interrupted his babbling, “Why did you call me?”

“Because,” he sighed happily, holding up his phone for you to see the screen, “I found your info on the agency’s database and you looked cute.”

“I-- Why are you hacking into the agency’s database?”

“Because I wanted to know who I was messing with for the last three months.”

You wondered why you didn’t bother trying to look up Mingyu. You also wondered why the agency’s database was easy enough for one of their workers to hack into it -- then again, you and Mingyu were the top hackers and could hack pretty much anything.

But now that you were looking at who was supposed to be your rival to compete against, you realized...he was really cute. His shaggy brown hair, tanned skin that glowed, and his smile that was even brighter, you wondered how someone like him was a hacker and not some kind of model. Then again, you didn’t think you were awful looking, so…

You spoke with Mingyu for hours while you worked. Even when the two of you fell silent to work, it was comfortable having Mingyu there -- well, not physically but still. That was how your relationship grew until he was taking you on a date, moving in with you, and talking about your future together. Mingyu was the only thing in this world that you truly had an attachment to that you wanted to keep safe -- other than his friends, who quickly became your...acquaintances.

But Mingyu was the same way, which was why he did what he did.

For once, you were asleep in your bed beside Mingyu, clinging to his side to steal his warmth. You had been awake for three days straight, so Mingyu wasn’t surprised when you slept through the intruder alarm going off. The alarm had never gone off before since your security was so tight, but it was a good thing Mingyu installed the precaution anyway. It just made an annoying beep that wasn’t too loud to alert anybody else to you knowing there was a break-in, but it was just annoying enough to wake anybody who hadn’t pulled an all-nighter for the last 72 hours.

Mingyu climbed out of bed, making sure not to wake you as he grabbed his gun and checked the small monitors. Apparently the intruder was in the lounge where the front door opened to. He opened the door quietly and went out to go apprehend the intruder.

That was around the time you woke up. Mingyu yelled, there was a loud bang like somebody had fallen, and you immediately jolted up.

“Gyu?” you asked into the dark bedroom. Realising he wasn’t beside you, you got out of bed as quickly as you could, pressing the emergency button by the door as you exited the bedroom. “Gyu!”

But Mingyu was gone. And there were no traces of him or the intruder.

Various people from the agency arrived to investigate. They said that your push of the emergency button was the only one they got -- Mingyu never pressed it. You wondered why he wouldn’t press it if there was an intruder. You wondered how there was absolutely no trace of him. The place was so clean that even the best investigators couldn’t figure out who took him or how they broke in.

But you held out hope, along with his friends, for three months. They’d reassure you that Mingyu must be out there somewhere, fighting to get back to you. Everybody knew that Mingyu loved you more than he loved anything, and he would do anything to be with you.

“Are you sure you don’t want somebody to come stay with you?” Seungcheol offered. “It might make you feel less lonely.”

“Plus with somebody breaking in, it’s better for you to have more protection in case it happens again,” Minghao agreed.

“Ah, I heightened the security,” Soonyoung scoffed. “She’s safer than the Crown Jewels.”

“I’ll be fine,” you reassured them, though you weren’t smiling, and your heart still hurt over Mingyu. You weren’t really fine. “It would be...awkward having anybody else live with me.”

“Gyu thought it was awkward living with you at first too, and yet…” Hansol’s sentence trailed off with a chuckle. “You guys really were perfect for each other.”

“Dude, shut up!” Seungkwan scolded him.

You opened your mouth to speak when there was a knock at the door. Your head shot up, looking at the monitor only to see a masked figure dressed in all black leaving your front door. Immediately, your hand hit the emergency button, and you could hear the alarm going off in the back of the video call of a few of the agents you were speaking with.

“___?” Seungcheol sounded worried. “What happened?”

“Somebody showed up at the door, but they were dressed in all black and hiding their face,” you reported as you went to review the security tapes. “They left something on the doorstep.”

“Don’t touch it,” Joshua advised.

“Yeah, we’ll be there soon!” Jeonghan chimed in before he ended his call.

One by one, they ended their calls to get to you.

When the agents arrived, they scoped everything out before deeming this another cold case. Nobody knew where the person came from, where they had gone, or who they were. They even checked whatever the person left to see if it was safe, and after careful examination -- including seeing what was inside -- Jihoon gave you the small box.

“You… You’ll want this,” he mumbled, handing it over to you.

As the boys continued searching for clues through the security tapes, you lifted the small lid on the box. There, resting on the cardboard, was Mingyu’s promise ring. The ring that looked exactly like yours; the rings neither of you took off. They signified that one day, the two of you would get married and be happy without worries.

Giving you this ring was like giving you his dead body. You fell to your knees, unable to even touch the ring, like it would burn your skin. Your eyes welled with tears that you couldn’t contain, and a loud sob cut through the murmurs of the agents and the clicking of keys.

It was official. Mingyu was gone forever.

-

“___, did you sleep at all?” Seokmin wondered as he stared at the dark circles under your eyes. He knew that the camera didn’t show just how severe they were, but the sight still worried him. “You can’t keep staying awake for days on end just to pass out for a few days straight and then repeat.”

“I slept enough,” you shrugged before letting out a wide yawn. “Fuck, I need another energy drink.”

“You need sleep,” he sighed. “I know it’s only been two months but you need to take better care of yourself--”

“Or you’ll send someone to take care of me,” you groaned, sitting back from the computer and rubbing your face with your hands, “I know, I know. You sound like my parent, y’know.”

“Somebody has to since you clearly can’t function as a real adult,” he chuckled.

“Are any of us real adults?”

“Cheol, maybe. ...Not so much Hoshi, though.”

“He’s good with security, though,” you laughed softly, stretching your arms above your head and letting out a groan. “Hey, have you heard from the boss yet?”

“About what?” he questioned.

“I was approved to move but he had to pick the location,” you explained, spinning slowly in your computer chair. “I was hoping he would’ve told one of you to relay the message since he’s avoiding my calls and emails.”

“Why would he be avoiding you? Don’t tell me you scare the boss?”

“No, I think I annoy him more than scare him.”

Suddenly, your phone started ringing on your desk. You checked the ID and saw it was Seungcheol, so you told Seokmin to be quiet before answering the call.

“Hey, ___,” he began, though he sounded...uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, furrowing your brows together. “You don’t sound too good.”

“Because I think you’ll find this news to be not-too-good,” he chuckled nervously. “So uh...boss decided it’s best that instead of moving, he’ll give you a new partner to work with.”

“No,” you immediately replied, your mind already made up. “If I didn’t want any of you to live with me--”

“I know, ___, but that’s out of our hands. We just got a new guy in a few weeks ago, and boss thinks he’s about as good as you -- if not, better.”

“Better?!” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Please, nobody’s better than--”

You heard your front door open, causing you to pause your sentence abruptly. Seungcheol kept saying your name while Seokmin watched you curiously. He had heard the noise too.

“Do you want me to call somebody?” he offered.

“Is anybody home?” you heard a deep voice call out.

“Ah!” Seungcheol’s voice suddenly sounded brighter. “I guess Wonwoo’s found his way to your place!”

“Wonwoo?” you repeated.

“Wonwoo?” Seokmin repeated after you, looking confused. “Isn’t that the new hacker?”

“Helloooo?” the intruder apparently named Wonwoo repeated, holding out the last vowel.

You sighed, getting out of your chair and leaving Seokmin on his own, “Seungcheol, I’m gonna call you back.”

After hanging up on your friend, you left your room to go find this Wonwoo character. He was in the lounge, looking around with a duffel bag over his shoulder, and round glasses pushed up his nose. His sharp eyes landed on you when you appeared, but his expression stayed neutral.

“Oh, there you are,” he said as if he was playing a casual game of hide-n-seek. “You know, your system to keep out intruders is very complex.”

“Then how did you get through it?” you quizzed, crossing your arms over your chest.

He just shrugged, “I said it was complex, not impossible to get through.”

“You could’ve rang the bell like a normal person.”

“Considering how long it took you to emerge from your room to find what could’ve been an intruder, I can only imagine how long I’d be waiting outside for you.”

“Yes,” you nodded, turning your nose up at him, “because I didn’t agree to a roommate.”

“I’m not a roommate, I’m a housemate,” he corrected. “My name’s Wonwoo.”

“Do you tell every stranger your real name?” you sighed. “Don’t you have an alias?”

“Woo.”

You frowned, ‘Just like Agent Gyu.’

Wonwoo either didn’t take notice of your facial expression, or he didn’t care, “Do you have one?”

“Glitch.”

He chuckled with a snort, “Where’d you come up with that?”

“It was Agent Z, but...somebody gave me a new one,” you nodded, saying the last part softly.

Wonwoo nodded before he went back to scoping out the lounge. There were a few articles of clothing thrown around, a few empty soda cans, chip bags, and ramen noodle cups, and you weren’t sure when the last time you vacuumed was, but Wonwoo didn’t comment on any of it. Hey, he was a hacker too, there was no way he could always be clean.

“So…” he began slowly as he took careful steps further into the house as if he hadn’t hacked into your security system and technically -- no, he did -- break in, “where do I stay?”

“Away from me,” you replied, turning on your heels and starting back toward your room. “You can crash on the couch.”

“Where does my setup go?!” he called after you.

“Not my problem!”

-

You didn’t see Wonwoo for two days. You were holed up in your office doing work the entire time, and you lived off of the few snacks you had stored in there. But your friends knew when you ran out because your stomach would make loud noises that nobody could miss.

“___, you need to eat something,” Jeonghan had scolded.

You just shrugged and carried on with your work, ignoring Junhui’s comments about your dark circles. You knew you looked like a mess but you always invested so much into your work -- even more so after Mingyu died. Did they really think you’d suddenly change just because some guy had to move in with you?

But things did change. On the third day, there was a soft knock on the door. When you didn’t reply, the door opened slowly, light from the hallway streaming in and making you squint. Wonwoo walked in with a plate a sushi, setting it beside your keyboard. You stared at it like you’d never seen sushi before.

Truthfully, nobody had ever taken care of you, even if it was just bringing you food. Mingyu was the only person who ever made sure you ate. Other than that, it was completely up to you -- other than your friend berating you to eat something or catch some z’s. So your new housemate suddenly showing up with food was...weird.

“What...is this?” you wondered before you looked up at him.

He shrugged, “You haven’t been out of the room in three days and I didn’t know if you had anything to eat. I ordered some takeout and I figured you might want some. Do you like sushi?”

“You know there’s plenty of ramen, right?”

“Clearly, you live off of ramen, and that’s awful for you. I also noticed all those chips and--”

“Don’t touch the chips,” you snapped.

He held his hands up in surrender, chuckling, “I wasn’t planning on it. My point is, you can’t only eat ramen and chips. Just say thank you for the meal, and I’ll leave.”

“Why should I say thank you for something I didn’t ask for?”

Wonwoo let out a deep sigh, his glasses slipping slightly from his nose, “You’re stubborn, aren’t you?”

“Mmm,” you just hummed in reply, looking back at your computer screen.

He just shook his head and left the room, leaving you in the dark once again.

You didn’t touch your sushi.

-

“So what’s her deal?”

Your friends had brought in a nice welcome wagon for the new recruit, and they quickly became friends. Seungcheol had called to make sure he was settling in well, and of course, the conversation drifted to you. Wonwoo explained how you were cold toward him and had hidden away in your room for the last week. So far, your new housemate knew virtually nothing about you.

“Oh, uh,” Seungcheol scratched the back of his head, unsure how to explain your situation, “it’s...a long story.”

“Didn’t you say she had a housemate before me?” Wonwoo wondered as he did some side works on his computer. “How did they warm up to her?”

“Mingyu? Oh, well...I think he hacked the agency to look up her information.”

Wonwoo’s eyebrows furrowed together, glancing at the screen where Seungcheol’s face was, “Why would somebody do that? Didn’t he get in trouble?”

“Nobody even knew he did it!” Seungcheol laughed, remembering Mingyu bragging to him about it. “The two of them were the top hackers in the agency, and now it’s you two; that’s why the agency had you live with her. She was originally going to move away somewhere else.”

As Seungcheol spoke, Wonwoo’s fingers danced across the keyboard, interested in getting more information on you -- or at least whatever the agency had available. He knew it was an invasion of privacy, but he didn’t want to live with someone he was so distant with. He wanted to know more about you, and hopefully help you at least sort of tolerate him.

“Why was she going to move away?” Wonwoo wondered, his eyes scanning the screen as his fingers moved diligently.

“Well, if you’re doing what I think you’re doing, you’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?”

Quickly, Wonwoo found the files he was looking for. He scrolled down the names, noting a few of them as he scanned them. Choi “Coups” Seungcheol: active. Lee “Dino” Chan: active. Kwon “Hoshi” Soonyoung: active. Kim “Gyu” Mingyu: terminated.

Wonwoo stopped, his eyebrows pulling together as he clicked on the file.

“Who was Mingyu, and why was he terminated?” he questioned as he began to scan through the information. “Oh, was he Glitch’s roommate?”

“Yeah,” the older boy nodded solemnly, “but he’s why she was going to move.”

“Because he was fired? Oh wait...oh…”

Wonwoo got to the bottom of the page and read that he was deceased. It said the cause of death was unknown, but that he was kidnapped from his home -- the home that Wonwoo knew he shared with you.

“No wonder she wants to leave…” Wonwoo muttered as he continued his search.

“Yeah…” Seungcheol nodded. “Mingyu and her were inseparable.”

Wonwoo kept Mingyu’s profile up but went in search for yours next. He didn’t know what to look for since he didn’t know your name, but he knew he could at least find you based on your alias. But as he scanned all the files, he found nothing. Every name he didn’t recognize did not have the alias he was looking for. Kim “Kai” Jongin. Park “Chim” Jimin. Lee “Onew” Jinki. You just weren’t there.

But then he remembered what you had told him.

“It was Agent Z, but...somebody gave me a new one.”

Wonwoo went down the list again, softly clicking his tongue as he looked for the new alias. Sure enough, there it was: ___ “Z” ___: active.

“Cheol,” Wonwoo spoke up as he opened your information, “isn’t her name Glitch?”

Seungcheol shook his head, “Not officially.”

There wasn’t much information on you except your name, your address, your height, the year you were born, and a picture of you. Other than that, it said you currently weren’t deployed for an outside mission, and a few details about Mingyu’s kidnapping. It said you were in the house and asleep when it happened, that you knew nothing, and you weren’t a suspect. He also saw that it read, ‘priority,’ on your profile, which he assumed meant you were a valued hacker and were to be taken special care of. He only knew because he was added to that one-person list, so now it was the two of you.

But he at least had something to work with. He knew your name, that was good. That would have to suffice, at least for now. Although, he was a little curious about you and this Mingyu person, but Seungcheol had warned him prior to not say anything about your previous housemate. Maybe he could work up to it, though.

Wonwoo stretched, deciding he was hungry now, “I’ll be right back, Cheol. I’m gonna find some ramen or something.”

“‘Kay,” he replied as he continued to do whatever he was working on.

That was around the time you decided to emerge from your dark room to stock up on more food. You walked into the lounge, expecting to see Wonwoo working away since that’s where his desktop was now -- you only knew thanks to security cameras you accessed from your office. However, he was gone, but his work was still up.

You didn’t think much of it, simply glancing at his screen as you walked to the kitchen. But then something caught your eye: you. Your face was shown on the screen. So you walked over and sat down, scanning the page. He’d hacked the agency’s files to research about you. Your jaw clenched. He was doing exactly what Mingyu had done, and it had those memories flooding back into your head. You hated it because those happy memories only made you more upset.

You were about to look away to go chew out Wonwoo, but then it only got worse.

The familiar smile of Mingyu was peeking out behind the window that had your information, and you saw that Wonwoo was even researching about him. Boy, were you livid now. It was bad enough he was snooping around about you, but now Mingyu? Why would he do that? What right did he have to bring up Mingyu after what happened?

“Oh, ___!” Seungcheol jumped when he realized you were there, red faced and glaring at the screen, hot tears burning your eyes.

Wonwoo heard the older boy say your name, so he walked out of the kitchen to see you standing up to face him, your hands balled into fists at your side.

“So, your name is ___, huh?” he smirked, leaning up against the doorway.

“Do you really think I’m here to joke around with you?” you asked, seething with rage that dripped into the tone of your voice.

Wonwoo’s joking demeanor fell as he really took in your body language. You were so mad, you were shaking Tears were about to spill over, and he’d never seen your face so red.

“___--”

“Why did you look up all that information?” you demanded, cutting him off from whatever he planned to say to attempt to make this better.

He gestured to the computer, getting defensive, “So it’s okay that Mingyu did?”

“Don’t talk about him like you know him!” you shouted, your voice breaking toward the end. “You and him are two completely different people. Why did you even look him up? You don’t need to know anything about him except that he’s gone, and that’s it! Anybody else who mentions him to you will have to deal with me, because he is none of your business, got it? And if you ever look me or him up again, you’ll be the next person to disappear without a trace.”

All Wonwoo could do was stare at you, his mouth slightly agape. You thought it was because you’d really yelled at him, but then you realized you were crying when tears started to fall onto your shirt.

“___, I’m--”

“Shut up,” you snapped, wiping your tears before quickly stomping out of the room.

Wonwoo stood in the same spot for a moment after hearing your door slam before going over to the computer again. Seungcheol looked disappointed in himself, carding his hands through his hair. He let out a deep sigh, shaking his head.

“I shouldn’t have said anything to you,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I was the one who decided to research,” Wonwoo nodded. “It was my own fault. I was hoping I could use the information on her to get to know her better but…”

“She’ll come around,” the older boy promised. “She did before.”

-

Wonwoo gave you space the next week. He knew you were upset because of something dumb he did, and he did plan on apologizing, but he wanted to give you space beforehand. He knew you needed to cool off, but he also needed to figure out how to go about making it up to you. He wanted you to know he did really feel bad for snooping.

He didn’t know much about you, but he picked up on something you liked a lot: honey butter chips. The only times he ever saw you, it was when you made the walk from your office to the kitchen, and you had to go through the lounge. You’d walk back toward your room with your arms full of the bags before he’d hear your door close again. Well, after his little stunt, he noticed you were clean out of the snacks. He didn’t know if your feelings were causing you to eat more of them or not but he knew he should buy you more anyway just to apologize, even if it was a small gesture.

So Wonwoo went to the store in some sweats to grab you some. The cashier definitely gave him a weird look for buying copious amounts of chips -- only chips, and one box of protein bars for when Wonwoo couldn’t have a real meal -- and leaving, but he didn’t pay her any mind. He just wanted to get home so he didn’t have to be out in public for too long. He knew nobody would know he was an agent or anything, but he still hated being in public without some sort of disguise, or a hat at the very least.

When he returned home, there was no trace of you. You hadn’t left your office in four days, and he wasn’t sure if you were even sleeping anymore. But clearly, now wasn’t the time for him to lecture you on how to live your life.

He walked down the hall to your office, where he could hear a male’s voice.

“___, you need to sleep in a real bed, not your office chair,” they sighed.

At least you were sleeping, then.

“Are you sure you’re not working more to keep your mind off of...something?” a new voice asked.

“If you’re talking about Wonwoo, the answer is no,” you replied sharply. “I don’t care what he’s doing as long as it doesn’t involve Mingyu anymore.”

It hit Wonwoo that he shouldn’t be listening in on your conversation. So he knocked on your door before waiting for a reply. When he didn’t get one, he slowly opened the door, peeking inside to see you staring blankly at your many monitors. He frowned seeing the state you were in. Your hair was greasy and matted, your eyes had bags and dark circles, and you were hunched forward like you were going to pass out at any second.

“___?” his voice was soft as he fully entered the room. “I wanted to apologize.”

“You’re forgiven,” you said flatly, “now get out.”

He let out a sigh, “I’m serious! I even went out and bought you more honey butter chips, but I won’t give them to you if you don’t listen to me.”

Your eyes shifted from the screen to your housemate, narrowing at him as he dangled one of the bags in front of you, “You’re forcing me to listen to you with food?”

“Is it working?” Wonwoo asked with the hint of a smile.

“...Maybe.”

“I really am sorry for what I did, ___,” he repeated, turning serious again. “I won’t do anything like that ever again. I just wanted to get closer with you since we live in the same space, but your life should be your life; you should tell me what you want to, and keep secret what you want to. I should’ve respected that, and I’m sorry.”

You just stared at him for a moment before nodding slowly, “Thanks.”

“Then, here’s your chips,” he said, dropping the bag on your desk, “but you have to promise to eat this first.”

He then opened a box he had pinned between his arm and torso, and took something out of it. He tossed it to you, and you read the wrapper, scrunching up your nose, “Why?”

“If I’m being honest, you look awful,” he chuckled. “You can’t live off of chips, ___.”

“That’s what we tell her!” one of the voices from her computer shouted.

“Then make sure she eats that,” Wonwoo told them before exiting your room.

Immediately, you set the bar down on the desk, and went to open the chip bag. You were interrupted by Junhui’s voice.

“What was that?” he wondered.

“It’s a meal replacement bar,” you shrugged, pulling down on the chip bag to rip the side.

“Eat it,” Minghao ordered.

You paused, looking at the boys on your monitor, “Why? It’s still not real food.”

“But it’s better than chips!” Seungkwan agreed. “Please just eat it before you eat more chips. You haven’t been taking care of yourself, and you need to.”

“If you’re not in good health, you know what the boss will do,” Junhui reminded you.

With a groan, you tossed the chip bag onto the desk and picked up the bar. You tore the wrapper open with your teeth, spitting the plastic off into the darkness of your room before taking a bite out of it, and silently cursing Wonwoo.

-

You wandered out of your room one night to get some ramen or something. Seungcheol was scolding you because of your health and eating habits, so you were forced to go find some “real food” or Seungcheol would tell the boss.

With your shitty luck, you ran into Wonwoo as you passed through the lounge. He was staring at his setup before he noticed you walking by. He frowned, seeing you in real light for the first time. You looked even more awful than he thought.

“___,” he called your name softly, though you didn’t stop on your way to the kitchen.

“What?” you spat.

Wonwoo stood to follow you, pushing his glasses up his nose, “You should take some time for yourself before going back to work. Shower, take a nap, and such.”

“You should mind your business,” you shot back, looking through the pantry.

Suddenly, the door you held open was slammed shut. Wonwoo was staring down at you, his expression neutral, “___, please.”

“And what do you care? Huh?” you quizzed.

The two of you stood there in silence, simply having a staring contest with each other. Finally, you let out a loud groan and went to a cupboard. You opened it, took out a bottle of sake, and left the kitchen. You made it a point to stare at Wonwoo as you casually opened the bottle and took a swig before exiting.

“That’s not what I meant by taking time for yourself!” he called after you.

“This is my self care, asshole!” you shouted back before he heard the slam of your door.

Truthfully, it was your self care for a long time. It was how you coped with Mingyu’s disappearance for a while, which definitely wasn’t the most healthy way to deal.

Anybody would argue that your current actions -- or lack thereof -- were because of what happened to Mingyu. You didn’t take care of yourself, you deprived yourself of nutrients, sleep, and hygiene, and you shut people out. People like Wonwoo who were just trying to do their job, and help you. But you always insisted you did all of that because it wasn’t pertinent to your job.

You thought about all of this as you flopped down onto your bed, staring up at the ceiling. Mingyu had stuck a bunch of glow-in-the-dark stars up there because the two of you hardly got to go outside to look at them at night. He thought it was a funny joke, and you thought he was a big dork for it. But that was why you loved him. He was a big dork, but it made your life more tolerable; maybe even enjoyable.

The more you thought about all of it, the longer the drinks you took from the bottle became. You’d never admit it, but you missed Mingyu so much that it hurt. You missed him so much that it felt like every breath you took ignited a fire in your lungs that made it hard to keep breathing. You missed him so much that your heart felt like it was slowly shattering each and every second, to a point where it was hard to stand anymore. You just wanted your Mingyu back, but he was never coming back. The ring that belonged to him that you wore on the thin silver chain, hidden away under your shirt, was a reminder of that.

Mingyu was gone forever.

“Fuck,” you sighed, realizing your eyes were welling with tears.

So you wiped them with your sleeve, and took another drink.

-

You had no idea what you were doing. Stumbling out of your room an hour or so later, drunker than you’d been in a while, and sputtering out your need for chicken and pizza.

Of course, Wonwoo heard you down the hall, and concern showed on his face. He’d never heard your voice so garbled before. But then he remembered how you walked off with the bottle of sake, and he assumed you probably had a lot to drink from the bottle.

Soon enough, you found your way into the lounge where Wonwoo was, and you raised your eyebrows when you saw him standing up already, “You’re...tall.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I noticed. Are...you okay, ___?”

“Yeaaaah,” you slurred, waving away his question while almost knocking yourself over from the movement, “no biggie.”

“You sure?” he asked, moving away from the couch and coffee table to go over to you.

Hesitantly, Wonwoo put an arm around your waist, and almost relaxed himself when you let him. You leaned into his side, having a hard time standing on your own, and gripped the side of his shirt with one hand. He led you over to the couch he was sitting on, setting you down slowly. However, you didn’t release your grip on Wonwoo.

“I haven’t been around anybody since Mingyu,” you spoke up, just blathering out whatever was on your mind, and Mingyu was all you could think about. Your voice was soft, but your words still ran together, and you were hiccuping between every few words. “You’re...warm.”

Wonwoo chose to ignore the first part, knowing you didn’t want him talking about Mingyu, “Do Seungcheol and the others not come visit you?”

You shook your head, “Nobody has the time. I lived with Mingyu, but...he was taken.”

Clearly, you wanted to talk about Mingyu, so Wonwoo had no choice but to ask, “He was taken?”

“Kidnapped,” you nodded, your face falling before you added on, “and killed.”

Wonwoo sat down beside you, “How do you know he was killed?”

“They sent me this,” you pulled the ring out from under your shirt, letting Wonwoo examine it between his fingers. “We had promise rings, and this one was Mingyu’s. I still wear mine. I couldn’t...I couldn’t take it off.”

Wonwoo heard you sniffle, and his eyes glanced up at your face as he let the ring drop from his hand. You rubbed at your eyes like a child, wiggling your nose as you sniffled again. Wonwoo frowned.

“___…”

“I miss him,” you admitted, coughing like you were trying to hide the fact you were about to cry. When you removed your fists from your eyes, your eyes were red and glossy. “I miss having somebody that loved me as much as I loved them.”

To that, Wonwoo didn’t know what to say. You had only been cold to him, and now you were suddenly blabbering everything you felt. While he was happy you were letting him in, he felt dirty because he knew it was just because you were drunk.

He noticed you started to cry, so he did the only thing he could think to do: he held you. He pulled you to him and let you cry. You weakly held onto his shirt like it was a security blanket, letting out all of the emotions you kept held in. He rubbed your back, trying to soothe you as best as he could.

Wonwoo let the two of you sit like there for a moment before he decided to take you to the bathroom to get you cleaned up, and hopefully a bit more sober. He managed to lift you relatively easily, carrying you down the hall to the bathroom. He set you down on the counter before going to turn on the shower and setting the temperature.

“Wonwoo?” you spoke up suddenly, watching him from where you sat. He looked over at you, humming in response. “...Why are you nice to me still?”

He shrugged, unsure of how to reply, “Well...if we live together, it would be kind of shitty to hate each other, right?”

“I guess,” you shrugged, leaning back against the mirror. “It’s just...hard. You remind me of Mingyu sometimes.”

That piqued Wonwoo’s interest, “I do? How?”

“He went by Gyu, and you go by Woo.”

“That’s it?” he chuckled, walking over to lean against the counter beside you.

“I wasn’t done,” you huffed. “You both always tell me what to do. Like, he would tell me I have to eat real food, and so do you. And you’re always like, looking out for me, I guess. Nobody looked out for me other than Mingyu.”

“So...do you want me to stop?” he wondered, furrowing his brows together.

“I...don’t...know,” you decided chewing on your lower lip as you thought about it. Part of you liked it -- liked Wonwoo, even -- but part of you still felt uncomfortable about that. You wanted to both push Wonwoo away, but also pull him closer.

But what if you lost Wonwoo too?

You didn’t want to think about that.

“You should shower,” Wonwoo said after the brief silence. “I’ll be in the living room when you’re done. I’ll make you some food, okay?”

“Wonwoo?” you slid down from the counter as Wonwoo opened the bathroom door. “Thank you.”

It was the first time you has genuinely thanked him before, and he smiled, “No problem.”

After the door was closed, you peeled off the clothes you’d been wearing for however many days -- you lost track -- and stepped into the shower. The water was hot, but not scalding. You found it comforting, and just stood there for a while without doing anything. You just...thought about things. About Mingyu, and Wonwoo, and how things were different but how things were still similar.

You spent a lot of time thinking about Wonwoo, though. You tried your best to avoid him, but you just chalked it up to you being angry about people moving on from Mingyu’s death so quickly. You were telling everyone -- including yourself -- that you were angry because you wanted to be alone and move out of this house, but the boss gave you the exact opposite of what you wanted. And sure, that’s what it was at first, but then it was something else.

Wonwoo watched over you. He made you eat real food, he tried to learn about you in the same manner as Mingyu, and he even used the same method of choosing an alias as Mingyu had. He reminded you so much of Mingyu, and it upset you and frightened you. You liked Wonwoo. You saw familiar things in him that made you feel something, and that scared you. What if Wonwoo got taken away too?

In your drunk state, you started crying all over again. You felt so many things at once that your drunk mind couldn’t process, so you just cried. And once that was all out of your system, you washed your hair and body before getting out of the shower and wrapping towels around yourself.

Once you were dried and dressed, you walked out of the bathroom and into the lounge. Wonwoo was working to pass the time, but immediately looked up when he saw you. He was pleased to see your hair was a wet mess, meaning you did actually wash your hair.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

You shrugged, “Still kinda tipsy, and I have a headache.”

He gestured to the coffee table, “Aspirin and water.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled, shuffling over to take the medicine and gulp down half the water bottle. Then you sat down beside him, pulling your knees to your chest. “I’m sorry for--”

“Don’t be sorry about anything,” he told you, sitting away from his computer and laying his head back against the back of the couch. “Somebody important was taken away from you; I can’t imagine how you’d be feeling.”

“And I’m not the best at expressing feelings,” you deadpanned with a breathy laugh.

“That’s okay,” he shrugged, “not everyone can express themselves with words. We’ll make things work.”

You nodded, staring straight ahead at the TV that wasn’t turned on -- you weren’t sure when you had last used it. Maybe before Mingyu was taken? You wondered if Wonwoo ever used it, and what he watched.

“Are you hungry?” Wonwoo’s deep voice pulled you from your thoughts.

You nodded, so he stood and gestured for you to follow. He had you actually sit at the counter -- something you hadn’t done in months -- to eat the meat and rice he’d made for you. It definitely wasn’t the prettiest plating, and it looked slightly overcooked, but hey, he tried. So you sat down and ate while he ate the little bits you didn’t want, as well as what was left in the pan.

While the two of you ate, you each found out small things about each other. How you were in love with the honey butter chips because of Mingyu, and how Wonwoo had a soft spot for cheesecake. How Wonwoo was terrified of dogs, and you always wanted one -- that made him laugh a bit nervously. But they were all tiny details, nothing like major facts about your backgrounds and where you came from.

By the time you were done eating, you were yawning and rubbing your eyes. There was still a little bit of food on your plate, but Wonwoo made sure to give you extra since you had barely eaten anything other than chips and ramen.

“C’mon, I’ll help you to bed,” Wonwoo offered with a warm smile as he went around to the other side of the counter to help you.

He placed an arm around your waist and guided you to your room as you tripped over your own feet. You were too sleepy, which mixed with the fact you were still a little bit drunk. Thus, you were half-dragged to your room where Wonwoo helped you lay in bed. He even tucked you in.

“Goodnight, Wonwoo,” you said softly, already half asleep.

He half-smiled, turning just as he exited your room to see you pull the blankets closer, “Goodnight, ___.”

After he closed the door and walked back to the living room, he thought about you. You said you were bad at expressing your feelings, but truthfully, so was he. Wonwoo was always alone; he never had anybody to take care of. He always wanted somebody he could look out for and take care of, but he never had it. So he usually shoved that want to the back of his mind, pretending like he didn’t feel completely alone.

But now he had someone to care for. Now, Wonwoo had you.

-

You slept for three days. Wonwoo made sure to check on you every few hours when he was awake -- he just wanted to make sure you hadn’t fallen into a coma or something -- and was prepared to order plenty of food when you did wake up because he knew his cooking skills were subpar.

When you did wake up, it was morning. The sun streaming in from your slightly-parted curtains was a clear indication of that. You checked your phone that was about to die where it was in your pocket, and you were impressed with how long you slept. However, you were also impressed with the amount of texts and emails you had.

You got out of bed, changed clothes, and went straight to the bathroom to at least fix your hair a little. You’d brush your teeth after eating, which was also a top priority. Your stomach loudly rumbling was a clear indication of that.

When your bladder wasn’t close to exploding, and your hair wasn’t as big of a mess as it was, you left the bathroom to go to the living room. As expected, Wonwoo was there, already working. However, he dropped everything he was doing when he saw you, his face brightening.

“Well, look who’s alive!” he teased with a bright smile that even made you smile a little.

Honestly, getting all your drunken feelings out kind of made you feel a little better about being around him. Sure, you didn’t completely tell him how you felt, but you definitely felt less tense around him.

“Unfortunately,” you joked with a yawn, stretching out your limbs.

“Your friends were worried about you, but I told them you finally went to sleep,” he chuckled, holding up his phone to signify that he was also blown up with messages. “They sure get worried about you.”

“They were Mingyu’s friends before they were mine,” you explained as you walked over to the couch and plopped down. “They’re nice, though. They make for good company since I was always alone.”

“Didn’t it get weird having them just...pop in out of nowhere?” he wondered, sitting back as he stretched out his arms with a grunt.

“Sometimes,” you nodded with a soft laugh. “It’s definitely a bit weird, but it’s something I got used to.”

Wonwoo just nodded, letting the two of you fall into an oddly comfortable silence. You could hear the purr of Wonwoo’s setup but that was all the noise you heard. You were surprised that you didn’t feel uncomfortable, and you assumed it was because you’d pretty much broken down that barrier you had put up between you and him. But was it really that easy? Just crying about your pent up feelings really solved everything?

It seemed too easy.

“Are you hungry?” Wonwoo’s voice broke you from your thoughts.

As if it understood, your stomach growled loudly. Wonwoo’s laugh was deep and loud and warm, and it made you smile. It reminded you of the loud laughs Mingyu would let out at the dumbest things. Your heart fluttered for a moment.

You did understand Wonwoo and Mingyu were different people, but there were things you saw in Wonwoo that reminded you of Mingyu. Did that mean you only liked Wonwoo because he reminded you of Mingyu? No. You liked Wonwoo because he did things that made you happy. Mingyu just happened to also do those things.

But did you want to like Wonwoo? No.

“C’mon, let’s go out for breakfast,” Wonwoo suggested as he pushed himself off of the couch.

Your thoughts seemed to stutter to a stop as your head whipped around, following Wonwoo as he walked toward the door, “Out? Like...to a restaurant?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, slipping his feet into his sneakers. “I think there’s a diner nearby, right?”

“Uh...I-I think so,” you stammered.

“What?” he chuckled, noticing how odd you were acting. “Do you not go outside?”

“I haven’t in a long time, no,” you answered truthfully, finally getting off the couch to go put on your shoes that had stayed untouched by the door. “I get everything delivered to me.”

“We need to get you some vitamins,” he said, making a face as he opened the door. “Let’s hope you don’t melt in the sun.”

The walk to the road was pretty long considering your security measures. Your front door could only be reached by a long driveway, which had plenty of cameras, motion triggers, and the like. Of course, you could turn them off via your phone, but the walk was still long because the path was long to give plenty of opportunities for warning and/or capture of any intruders in case any of the other traps didn’t work.

Once the two of you reached the road, you turned right toward the diner Wonwoo was talking about. You hadn’t been there in months -- the last time was with Mingyu -- but you remembered exactly where it was. You didn’t know if it was still there, but if it wasn’t, you could probably find somewhere else to have breakfast.

You reached a crosswalk, and went to just walk even though the little light didn’t tell you to. It was something you always did when there wasn’t traffic or the cars were momentarily stopped, figuring it wasn’t a big deal. However, Wonwoo grabbed your shoulder and pulled you back, almost pulling you over.

“Hey, what the--” you whined, turning to face him.

“You have to wait, ___,” he stated, hitting the button with the side of his fist. “If you get hit by a car--”

“I have yet to get hit by a car,” you told him, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Everyone has a first time to die, ___,” he stated matter-of-factly, “and it’s usually their last.”

You opened your mouth for a rebuttal, but came up with nothing. So you just snapped your jaw shut, taking note of the smirk on Wonwoo’s face.

When the light showed the little glowing person, Wonwoo gripped your upper arm and helped you across the street like you needed the assistance. But instead of pulling away, you just let him.

When you reached the diner, you sat yourselves at a booth, sitting across from each other. Wonwoo grabbed the menus from where they were pushed up between the wall and condiment holder, handing one to you before he opened his own. But you already knew what you wanted because you always got it, and Mingyu would tease you for it.

Wonwoo noticed you just put the menu back, smirking at you from behind his glasses, “Already decided that quick?”

“Chocolate milk, coffee, scrambled eggs with wheat toast, bacon, and potatoes, and two cinnamon buns,” you stated with a solid nod.

“Why do you need chocolate milk and coffee?” he asked with a chuckle.

“To appease the child in me, and the other part of me that’s dead inside,” you deadpanned.

Wonwoo nodded, raising his eyebrows as his eyes drifted back down to his menu, “I’ll cheers to that.”

The waitress came over to take your order, and you repeated everything you wanted, exactly how you wanted it. Wonwoo then gave off his order, and the woman wrote it down before going to turn to leave.

“Oh!” you suddenly spoke up, remembering something you forgot. “Can we have a Belgian waffle as well?”

The waitress added that to the list before walking back to the kitchen.

Wonwoo laughed, shaking his head at you, “You really are going to eat all of that?”

“Oh, the waffle was tradition for Mingyu and I,” you explained as another woman came over to pour coffee into the mugs already on your table. “We used to share it when we’d come here.”

Wonwoo thanked the woman before his attention was back on you. He looked interested in your little story, his hands folded together in front of him.

“So...should I share it with you?” he wondered softly, before quickly added, “Unless you want to keep it your thing with him.”

“I...don’t know,” you admitted, your brows knitting together as you thought about it. Would you feel like you were betraying Mingyu by sharing something you did with him, with Wonwoo? “What do you think?”

Wonwoo chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought it over, “I think...you should leave the other half. For him. Kinda like pouring one out.”

You nodded, looking back at Wonwoo with a warm half-smile, “I like that.”

So you enjoyed your breakfast with Wonwoo, eating only half of your waffle. You laughed, talked, and you ultimately felt closer to Wonwoo afterwards. The two of you split the check, but Wonwoo insisted on leaving the tip himself. And then you left the diner, leaving the other half of the waffle behind for Mingyu. In a way, it felt like some form of small closure.

-

Things got better over the next two and a half months. You and Wonwoo spent more time together, you left the house more, and your health was getting better. You didn’t sport dark circles as frequently, and you were forced to eat a proper dinner at least four times a week. Wonwoo typically ordered out, but he was trying to learn how to cook. You taught him little things you’d picked up from Mingyu, since he was a fantastic cook despite his laziness when it came to actually making meals. You even let him sleep in your room since you didn’t have a second bed, and you often found yourself laying extremely close to him when you woke up in the morning. You also let him move his setup to the bedroom since yours took up the entire office.

Your friends noticed the change, too. They were pleased to see you weren’t as grumpy, and they wondered if you were finally coming out of your depression over Mingyu. Obviously, there wasn’t a time limit on how long you could mourn somebody, but you had mourned Mingyu for a long time, and you hadn’t really let your feelings out until that night you got drunk and cried in front of Wonwoo. You didn’t completely let everything out, but you addressed the biggest thing: you missed Mingyu, and you hated feeling alone. You’d conquered those feelings, and let somebody new in. Now, you didn’t feel so alone.

Wonwoo and you were closer than ever. However, that scared you. You realized you were starting to feel similar feelings toward him that you felt toward Mingyu, but you didn’t feel those things because he sometimes reminded you of Mingyu. You felt those feelings because he was Wonwoo, and you just liked Wonwoo.

Maybe even loved Wonwoo…?

When you thought about it, the fact was that Wonwoo took care of you, and you liked it; you loved it. You loved feeling cared for and loved. You loved having Wonwoo nag you to take care of yourself because he wanted you to be healthy. The fact Wonwoo took time out of his day just to make sure you were doing alright made your heart race, and your stomach do flips. That was something only Mingyu did for you, but now Wonwoo was doing it, and you thrived off of it. You figured it was because you never really had a proper family to care about you, but you absolutely loved being cared for.

But there were things Wonwoo did that Mingyu didn’t do, and you still loved those things. He wouldn’t let you go on work binges where you’d stay up for days at a time. He would force you to go outside at least once a week, even if it was just for walks. He liked to invite you to watch movies with him that weren’t just crappy comedies that the two of you would make fun of. Sometimes they were horror films based off of real events, or sometimes they were documentaries that made you think about the world, and cry sometimes. But Wonwoo was always there to comfort you, and he never laughed at you for crying.

Mingyu was Mingyu, and Wonwoo was Wonwoo, but you loved Wonwoo like you loved Mingyu, and that terrified you.

But some sadistic part of you wanted to love Wonwoo anyway.

One of the times the two of you were on the couch together watching a movie, you decided to play a drinking game. You were watching some classic horror movie, and you were supposed to take a shot every time a certain thing happened or someone said a significant word or line. It didn’t get you really drunk, but it got the both of you drunk enough to start talking about your past lives.

“Don’t you wonder why other people leave their lives and families to do this?” Wonwoo wondered after swallowing a shot. He placed his shot glass on the table before leaning back and sighing. “This is the shadiest job ever, so only people with shit lives could take up the offer.”

“So you had a shit life?” you assumed, hiccuping at the end.

He nodded, running his slim fingers through his hair, “I had a younger sibling who passed away from leukemia. My parents stopped giving a shit after that so...I left.”

“Oh…” you nodded, not really knowing what else to say. “I’m sorry.”

He just shrugged, “‘S okay. What about you?”

“I was raised in an abusive household, and one of the neighbors basically stole me away and had me training for the agency ever since,” you explained shortly before taking a shot just for fun. “That’s why I’m the best.”

“One of the best,” Wonwoo correct with a smirk. He wiggled his eyebrows when you playfully glared at him. “You and me are tied, cutie pie.”

“Cutie pie?” you scoffed, trying to ignore the heat rising in your cheeks. “That’s new.”

“You know what I think, ___?” Wonwoo asked, leaning over to pour himself another drink. He didn’t continue what he was saying until he had another shot ready in his hand. “I think Mingyu started calling you Glitch because you like...glitched out his heart.”

You paused getting yourself another drink, all of your attention hyper focused on Wonwoo now, “...What?”

“In our business, we’re not supposed to give a shit about anybody, right?” he asked. “But I give a lot of shits about you, ___. You like, glitched out my feelings and you just...you made me feel...things.”

All you could do was laugh, but the kind where you just exhaled out of your nose, “I make you feel things?”

“Yeah, like...warm, fuzzy, heart racing feelings.”

“Are we in kindergarten, Woo? You can just say you like me.”

“But I don’t like you,” Wonwoo groaned, running both hands through his hair, “I love you!”

You were completely frozen now. Yes, you loved Wonwoo, which you were still coming to terms with, but you didn’t think in a million years that he would ever love you back! So...what did you do now?

“Y-you love me?” you stammered out in a whisper.

Wonwoo just stared back at you, staying silent for a few seconds, “You know, if I wasn’t kind of drunk, I wouldn’t have told you like this.”

“How would you have told me?” you wondered, just staring at Wonwoo.

“Well…” he began slowly, sitting up a little straighter and taking your hands in his, “I’d sit you down, completely sober--”

“Already doing great,” you joked lightly.

He snorted a bit, but kept going, “And I’d look you in your eyes…”

You just barely nodded, “Y-yeah…”

Wonwoo leaned in slowly, his lips getting closer and closer to yours, “And I’d ask if I could kiss you…”

You stayed still, anticipating what you knew would happen next. When you didn’t stop him, Wonwoo let his lips press softly to yours. Your hands instinctively went up to his shoulders, and one of his hands cupped your cheek as the other held your waist. His kiss was slow and sweet, his lips moving cautiously against yours in case you wanted to stop. But nothing in you wanted to stop. In fact, every single part of you wanted to keep going.

His lips tasted like the alcohol the two of you were drinking, but it somehow seemed like the alcohol from his lips got you drunker than the alcohol straight from the bottle. Your head felt like it was spinning in the best way possible, and your heart was pounding in your chest. You hadn’t felt like this in a long time, and you didn’t want it to end. You didn’t feel afraid to love Wonwoo anymore, you felt somewhat comforted.

As the kiss got deeper and his lips moved a bit faster with yours, you found him suddenly on top of you. You were on your back, your legs wrapped around his hips as Wonwoo held himself above you just enough that he wouldn’t completely crush you.

“I love you,” he mumbled into the kiss, making your heart beat so quickly, you were sure he could feel it.

“I love you,” you replied, not even giving it a second thought.

You could feel Wonwoo smiling against your lips, pulling back to look at you, “Really?”

You nodded, “Really. I was afraid to, but...I do.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” he reassured you, stroking your cheek with the pad of his thumb. “We’ll take it slow, don’t worry.”

“You...do realize you’re completely on top of me, right?” you laughed.

The serious, sensual mood suddenly shifted as Wonwoo let out a deep belly laugh, his face turning red, “Okay, yeah, you make a good point.”

Wonwoo sat up, climbing off of you and sitting back in his original spot on the couch. This time, though, you sat closer to him, resting your head against his shoulder.

“Actually, that was why Mingyu called me that,” you informed him suddenly. “He started calling me Glitch when he started to like me, and then he told me he loved me by hacking into my computer because he said it was ‘only fair’.”

Wonwoo laughed deeply, shaking his head, “He sounds like he was funny.”

“He was definitely something,” you agreed with a laugh of your own. “It doesn’t hurt to talk about him anymore. I still miss him, but I don’t mind telling you about him.”

“That means you’re coping,” he chuckled, letting his head rest on top of yours.

You fell into silence, just watching the movie. You weren’t really paying attention to the movie, though, because you couldn’t get over what just happened. Wonwoo actually loved you, and you loved him. You had to realize you couldn’t just shut yourself out from others; you had to move on if Mingyu wasn’t ever going to come back. These last few months, you had realized it’s okay to be happy.

And Wonwoo really made you happy.

-

You sat at your computer, eyes staring at the screen. They were dry, but you just powered through, wanting to get this last bit of the project done before you stopped. Once it was done, then you would take a break. That’s what you told yourself.

Of course, it wouldn’t be work without somebody distracting you.

“How’s it gooooing?” Soonyoung sang.

“Do you ever do work?” you asked with zero emotion in your voice.

“Do you ever take breaks?” he shot back. “Don’t you know what day it is?”

“I do, but I need to get this done,” you replied, your eyes flickering back and forth between monitors. “Besides, Wonwoo’s working too.”

“Is he?” Soonyoung asked with a smirk in his voice.

You finally peeled your eyes away from your work to look at Soonyoung’s face in the corner of your screen. As expected, he was smirking at you expectantly, wiggling his eyebrows.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you asked with a sigh.

“Go see for yourself,” was all he said before ending the call.

You let out an even deeper, longer sigh as you leaned back in your computer chair, running both hands through your messy hair. Deciding you could just pick up where you left off, you went to go check on Wonwoo like Soonyoung suggested, trudging to the bedroom in your sweatpants and thin t-shirt. However, your bedroom was empty.

“Woo?” you called out.

“Kitchen!” he replied.

You groaned loud enough for him to hear across the small house as you stomped toward the kitchen, “Why are you and Soonyoung doing this to me? I’m almost done with work, and you guys just--”

You stopped when you saw the kitchen lights dimmed, a chocolate cake with the words “Happy One Month Anniversary” written poorly in red gel frosting, and various takeout boxes on the counter. Wonwoo was smiling brightly, gesturing to it all.

“Happy anniversary!” he cheered.

“Oh my god!” you laughed, shaking your head. “Woo, it’s just one month!”

“One month since I told you I love you, and that’s a big milestone for both of us,” he stated proudly as he walked over to you, his hands settling naturally on your hips, “C’mon, let me have an excuse to eat junk, drink alcohol, and get you naked.”

“You just want your dick sucked,” you scoffed, playfully rolling your eyes as his lips pressed against yours.

“Sort of,” he grinned, “but that, among other things. My dick is not the point, ___.”

“Well, thank you for buying all of this food,” you finally sighed, letting him kiss you again. You backed away from him to grab some food since you hadn’t eaten since morning. “I appreciate it.”

After that night that you and Wonwoo confessed to each other, you both just kind of...assumed you were dating. He referred to you as his girlfriend, and you referred to him as your boyfriend. Nobody was really surprised -- to be fair, Wonwoo had told all of your friends about his feelings for you -- but they were definitely happy that you were moving on.

Things were going well, too. You still got anxiety about Wonwoo suddenly getting ripped away from you, but he did everything he could to make you feel better about it. He definitely understood you had separation anxiety after what happened, so he always tried to make you feel like everything would be okay. He had yet to really see how afraid you were -- you never had somehow been able to avoid anxiety attacks around him  -- but he knew you were severely worried. But he did manage to make you feel better. You really had to learn to trust him, and you were. So much so that you took off the ring that matched Mingyu’s -- you still wore Mingyu’s on a necklace, but nobody expected you to take it off.

Wonwoo grabbed plates and got you some food before getting his own. As the two of you sat at the counter to eat, you suddenly felt your phone vibrate where you had stashed it away in your pocket. You ignored it, wanting to just spend time with your boyfriend. However, you then heard the security system announce an “intruder”.

“It might just be a package,” Wonwoo shrugged, thought he went to stand up to check anyway.

“Security disarmed,” the system said in it’s female-sounding voice.

Your eyebrows furrowed, knowing only very few people could disarm the system: You, Wonwoo, Soonyoung, Junhui, and Jihoon. However, the next words from the system had your heart stopping completely.

“Person identified: Kim Mingyu.”

Wonwoo whipped his head around to look at you, his expression unreadable. You just stared back wide-eyed until you managed to fumble around in your pocket and fish out your phone. You opened the security app and searched through all the cameras until you saw a figure in tattered clothes, but his head was aimed down. However, the height was the same, and his build almost looked similar to Mingyu -- just thinner than you remembered him.

But...there was no way...

“Stay here,” Wonwoo said before going off to investigate.

He did grab a knife before he left the kitchen, going toward the lounge. But despite Wonwoo’s instructions, you followed behind him, wanting to know who was pretending to be your dead boyfriend.

Wonwoo stalked up to the door right as there was a loud knock. You gripped the back of Wonwoo’s shirt tightly as you poked your head around him to see.

Cautiously, he opened the door, but it was quickly shoved open before being slammed closed behind the intruder. They were panting, and looked afraid with their clothes a dirty, tattered mess, and their face just as dirt-stained and beaten up. However, you still recognized him under all the blood, bruises, cuts, and grime.

“Mingyu?” you breathed out, stepping out from behind Wonwoo.

“Oh god, ___!” Mingyu sighed, already holding his arms out for you.

Without a second thought, you threw yourself into his arms, immediately sobbing into his shoulder. Mingyu just held you -- he definitely felt thinner than you remembered -- enjoying the feeling of having you in his arms again.

“Fuck, I was afraid they got you, too,” he mumbled.

Wonwoo wasn’t really sure what to do -- you were his girlfriend now, but here was the boy you were in love with first -- but Mingyu’s last sentence really caught Wonwoo’s attention, “Who’s ‘they’?”

Mingyu lifted his head to study the unfamiliar boy in his house, but kept his arms around you as you cried, “The pricks that kidnapped me! We need to get out of here; they’ll come find us.”

“W-what?” you pulled away to look up at Mingyu, your face streaked with tears. “H-how did you…?”

“I barely escaped, but I did,” he explained quickly, “but I’ll tell you everything when we get somewhere safe. Call Seungcheol, tell him there’s a code black. I’ll start packing things.”

“I’ll call,” Wonwoo told you as Mingyu pulled away from you to go pack some of your belongings, “you help him.”

Even though Wonwoo was trying to help, you could tell his demeanor shifted. His eyes seemed...sad. But you couldn’t focus on that, you had bigger things to worry about, like everybody making it out alive.

You ran off to help Mingyu pack and delete data from the computers while Wonwoo called in the emergency. Seungcheol was confused as to why there was a code black, but he couldn’t question it when everybody was safe. So Wonwoo was connected to the boss, to whom he explained the situation.

“There’s a safehouse on Jeju Island, inside the city so it’ll be harder for any kidnappers to be discreet,” the boss told Wonwoo. “Delete all data before going to the airport. You’ll have three plane tickets under the name ‘Kim Jisoo’. I’ll have Agent Vernon drop off your fake IDs in one hour, so please be there on time.”

“Three?” Wonwoo questioned.

“You’re also in danger if you live there, Agent Woo,” the boss stated. “You’ll go with Agent Z and Agent Gyu to Jeju; please do not be late.”

With that, he hung up.

Meanwhile, you and Mingyu had come out of the bedroom with duffel bags and backpacks. Mingyu had changed into cleaner clothes -- you had kept a few of Mingyu’s things just because they were your favorite things to steal from his closet. He tossed a bag to Wonwoo before helping you get your jacket on.

“You’re coming, breadstick,” he stated.

“That’s Wonwoo to you,” Wonwoo informed him neutrally.

“What did the boss say?” you asked as you slipped on your sneakers.

“We’re going to Jeju Island, and Vernon will meet us at the airport in an hour,” Wonwoo reported.

“Then let’s get going,” Mingyu said, opening the door and ushering you and Wonwoo out. “The sooner we get to the airport, the safer we’ll be. I’ll drive, you keep ___ safe.”

Mingyu pulled a gun out from the back of his jeans, tossing it to Wonwoo like it was nothing. All Wonwoo did was nod curtly before placing a hand on the small of your back and leading you to the garage under the house.

You knew which car Mingyu would go to since it was “his baby”. It was the fastest car in the garage but you had never touched it since he was kidnapped. But getting back into the car in so long made you nostalgic for the rare midnight drives with him. The car even still smelled like him.

Mingyu got in the front to drive while Wonwoo sat in the back with you, one arm protectively around you. All thoughts of your one month anniversary were gone now that he knew you were possibly in any danger, so all he could focus on were the windows. His eyes were scanning the surroundings carefully while Mingyu peeled out of the garage and left your house behind, pulling onto the road and weaving easily through traffic. He was always amazing at driving.

“So,” Mingyu began as his sharp eyes checked every mirror while also watching the road to make sure nobody was following him, “who’s this?”

“Wonwoo,” you replied as Wonwoo muttered, “Why does it matter?”

You looked up at him, “What does that mean?”

“I think you know what it means, ___,” he said harshly.

“Is he your…?” Mingyu let his question trail off, unsure if he even wanted to know the answer.

“Well…” you began slowly, but you knew things would only be made worse with Wonwoo if you didn’t outright say it, and it was better to only deal with an angry Mingyu rather than two angry boys, “yeah; Wonwoo’s my boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Mingyu said flatly, and you noticed his knuckles gripping the wheel tighter.

You groaned, “Jesus, Gyu, can we deal with this when we’re not in danger?!”

“As much as I’d love to get through this awkward situation as soon as possible, I agree,” Wonwoo decided.

“Nobody cares what you think,” Mingyu grumbled.

“Mingyu!” you growled.

“Alright, alright!” he sighed, deciding to drop the topic for now. “But once we’re on that plane, we’re having a talk. All of us.”

After that, the car fell into a tense silence as Mingyu drove to the airport. Thankfully, Wonwoo didn’t seem to see anybody following the three of you, but he refused to let his guard down. That meant all you were left to do was think. Think about how you loved Wonwoo, but you still loved Mingyu. About how you’d have to choose between them but you weren’t sure how that would ever happen because you loved them both just the same.

Mingyu finally pulled into the airport parking lot and went to the trunk to grab all your stuff. Wonwoo helped you out of the backseat and held you close even as Mingyu handed him things to hold. Mingyu stood on your other side, keeping an arm around you almost in a territorial manner as the three of you walked into the airport to find Vernon.

Wonwoo took out his phone to find the information given about where to meet Vernon, “He’ll be waiting by the McDonald’s with Hoshi.”

You heard Mingyu let out a short laugh, so you looked up at him. He was actually cracking a smile, and it made your heart flutter.

God, you missed that smile.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen them,” he said, running his free hand through his matted hair. “They don’t know I’m back, huh?”

“No,” Wonwoo replied, “I haven’t told them. Only the boss knows, unless he told them, too.”

“At least Hansol has to know,” you realized, remembering that it was Hansol that was usually in charge of making fake documents. “If he had to make our IDs, he would need to know Mingyu’s alive if he was asked to make one for him.”

“Can we at least keep the reunion short?” Wonwoo requested as he held the door open for the two of you. “We’ll be safer waiting at the terminal.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mingyu replied, waving his free hand. His other hand moved away from your waist to hold your hand tightly. “C’mon, breadstick.”

“For fucks sake, it’s Wonwoo!” he groaned.

Without even having to think about it, your other hand reached behind you to grab onto Wonwoo. He walked closer to you, putting his arm around your shoulder. Your arm went around his waist, your hand fisting his shirt as Mingyu dragged you toward the McDonald’s to meet Vernon and Hoshi.

The two boys weren’t hard to spot. They were standing up against the wall together, talking casually, but their eyes were sweeping the airport in search of the three of you. When they spotted you, Vernon’s face broke out into a smile, and Hoshi looked like he was about to pass out.

Mingyu let out a loud laugh before letting go of your hand to go hug his friends. Wonwoo scoffed beside you, but you weren’t going to feed into his immaturity.

When you reached their little reunion, the three boys were talking and laughing like old college friends meeting at a bar. Vernon’s eyes finally landed on you while Soonyoung was still giggling at Mingyu. Vernon looked confused, and you noticed his gaze had zeroed in on how you and Wonwoo were holding each other. He had seen you and Mingyu holding hands just before the tallest agent had ran over…

But thankfully, Hansol didn’t ask.

“We’ll make sure you’re safe,” he assured you. “I have the passports, and Soonyoung will bring the car to HQ so Mingyu doesn’t have to worry about his baby.”

“Good,” Mingyu nodded with a pout. “Don’t scratch her.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Soonyoung smiled, waving away Mingyu’s concerns.

“Here’s your documents,” Hansol said as he distributed them to their respective owners, “and some money.”

Vernon held the back of one of your hands in his palm before placing a wad of money in your hand and closing your fingers around it. He looked deeply into your eyes for a moment, trying to tell you something you couldn’t understand. It was like he was worried for you specifically, and you had a feeling you knew what it was: he was worried you’d be left alone again. He knew you loved Mingyu, and he knew you loved Wonwoo. So the money was for you to take care of yourself more than anything else.

Hansol suddenly pulled you in for a hug, pulling you away from both boys to wrap his arms around you.

“Be safe,” he whispered, “and watch out for yourself. Call if anything happens, and we’ll come get you.”

“Thanks,” you replied quietly, letting your arms drape around his waist.

He pulled away and hugged the two boys while Soonyoung pulled you into a spine-crushing hug. Once all the goodbyes were done, Hansol dragged Sooyoung off to get Mingyu’s car and get back to HQ. That left your awkward trio alone once again.

“Alright,” Mingyu nodded, “guess we should get going. Do you need anything before we go through security?”

Both boys were looking down at you -- Mingyu really didn’t give a shit if Wonwoo needed anything, and vice versa -- so you shook your head, “No… I’ll relax when we get on the plane.”

“Okay,” Mingyu sighed, placing a hand on the small of your back and leading you toward bag check.

Everything went by in a blur. Your bags were taken care of, you got through security no problem -- you trusted Vernon’s skills -- and you were waiting at the terminal in what seemed like a short amount of time. Your head rested on Mingyu, your eyes looking up at him as you couldn’t believe he was here in front of you. He had excused himself to the bathroom to wash up, so you could actually see his skin a lot better. He was a little bit paler, he had some scars you didn’t recall him having before, and he still had some cuts on his face that were healing. He definitely looked tired, but his eyes were hard and determined as he stared straight ahead.

Meanwhile, your hand was in Wonwoo’s, gripping it as tightly as you could. His hand was warm despite the tense situation. He was silent the whole time, only speaking up to ask if you needed anything. But you could tell he didn’t really want to hold your hand since his grip wasn’t as solid as it normally was. It was loose, and he didn’t lace your fingers together. He held your hand like Mingyu liked to hold your hand, but Wonwoo always held your hand with your fingers woven between each other. It just didn’t feel right.

But what did feel right currently? Mingyu was angry, Wonwoo was upset, and you were caught in the middle. Nothing felt right anymore, at least not right now. And you were pretty sure nothing would really feel right after this, either.

You didn’t notice your eyelids drooping as you thought about the two boys beside you. You hadn’t realized you’d dozed off until Mingyu helped you up so you could walk down the terminal and onto the plane. But once you were in the seat between the two boys, you were out once again, and you wouldn’t remember the walk from the airport to the airplane.

Neither of the boys spoke to each other on the plane. Mingyu stared out the window while Wonwoo just stared blankly at the movie playing in front of him. They chose to pretend the other wasn’t there instead of at least trying to be civil. Mingyu hated Wonwoo because he was the new guy, and Wonwoo hated Mingyu because he was the old guy who was supposed to be dead. Both had ruined the others plans.

But then there was you. They were both upset with you: Mingyu was upset that you moved on, and Wonwoo didn’t know why he was upset with you, but he was. You knew deep down that both of them had some harsh feelings toward you, but you were trying to put that conversation off for as long as possible. You were scared they’d both just leave you, and you couldn’t handle that. You lost Mingyu once, you couldn’t lose anybody else anymore.

The plane landed safely in Jeju, and Mingyu gently shook your shoulder while Wonwoo gathered your carry-ons. Wonwoo just carried everything off the plane while Mingyu helped you walk in your sleepy state. A car was ready for you when you got to Jeju, so all you three had to worry about was getting the rest of your belongings from bag check, and following the directions to your new house.

By the time the three of you reached the car, you were wide awake. You helped put bags in the trunk before getting in the backseat with Wonwoo -- he refused to sit near Mingyu -- again. Mingyu just started up the engine and drove to where the GPS told him to, not saying anything to either of you.

It was nighttime, but you couldn’t see the stars here like you did back home. The lights of Jeju City made the stars invisible, and it made you miss your home even more. But you couldn’t focus on that, you had to let the agency know you arrived safely in the city.

You texted Seungcheol to let him know, and he called you immediately after. You put the phone to your ear, guessing exactly what he would say next.

“Vernon and Hoshi said Mingyu’s alive,” he said quickly, though it sounded like a question.

“He is,” you insisted, nodding even though he couldn’t see you. “He just...showed up.”

“Holy shit,” Seungcheol breathed. “How is he?”

“Thinner, paler...dirtier,” you listed off, remembering the scars you’d seen on his skin. “He hasn’t said much about what happened, so I can’t tell you anything. Sorry.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“He’s driving.”

“Can you have him call me as soon as he can? But make sure he gets some sleep. The boss will call when you guys get to the house, though.”

“Alright, got it.”

Seungcheol kept the conversation short since he figured you were stressed out and exhausted. But that just left you once again in an awkward silence among the people in the small car. But hey, you’d be living like this for a while, so you might as well get used to it.

-

The house was small but it had a basement with computers already set up. There was a bedroom on the main floor -- the house was only one floor if you didn’t count the basement -- and a bed in the computer room in the basement. That meant only two beds, and three of you. So somebody was sharing, and you weren’t sure who it was going to be.

Other than the beds, though, there was a bathroom, and a small living room/kitchen. Basically, the house had the bare minimum, but it was really all you needed for now. Besides, the less conspicuous, the better.

All of the bags were dropped on the floor in the basement while Mingyu turned on all the monitors and towers. While he did that, Wonwoo looked around slowly before breaking the silence.

“I guess we should talk about this now, then,” he decided.

“No, we--”

“Good idea,” Mingyu agreed with a way-too-cheery tone. His sharp gaze went straight to you, and you almost flinched. “___, care to tell me why you’re dating someone else?”

You gave Mingyu an incredulous look, “Are...are you serious?”

“I was only gone for a few months!”

“Mingyu, everybody thought you were dead!”

“Oh,” he let out a harsh laugh, “is that why I found this in the nightstand?”

Mingyu’s hand came out of his pocket, holding your promise ring between his index and middle finger. His eyebrows were raised, waiting for your response, but all you did was stare at the ring, every memory with Mingyu suddenly hitting you all at once. You missed him so much it hurt, but all he was doing was accusing you for doing what? Moving on? Not being miserable forever?

All of your emotions escalated into anger.

“Mingyu, you’re acting like a dick!” you burst.

“Me?” he snorted before his expression turned dark. “I was kidnapped and tortured, and you went and found someone new as soon as you could!”

“I waited months, Gyu!” you told him, standing toe-to-toe with him and leaning up to get even more in his face.

“Yeah, she held out hope for a dead guy,” Wonwoo scoffed to himself, but it was still loud enough for both of you to hear.

You looked over at him where his fingertips were running over one of the keyboards, and you saw his eyes roll in the dim glow of the monitors.

“And you,” your anger was now zeroed in on Wonwoo, who looked up at you like he didn’t expect the outburst, “what do you have against me now? Do you think it’s my fault I loved Mingyu before I even knew you existed? Is it my fault Mingyu came back?”

“No, but you have to choose one of us,” Wonwoo stated, trying to avoid making sense of why he was so angry at you. “We both know it has to happen.”

“Ugh, I can’t!” you shouted, your hands slapping against your thighs as your head dropped back and you just stared at the ceiling. You lifted your head to look between the two boys that were surprised by your outburst. “I still love Mingyu, but I love you, too! I-- I can’t help it; I can’t decide!”

“Just admit I’m a second choice, ___,” Wonwoo scoffed.

“Oh, fuck off. You and I both know that’s not true. You reminded me of Mingyu, but you are not Mingyu. I didn’t fall in love with you to get over Mingyu, I fell in love with you for you.”

“Then what am I, huh?” Mingyu chimed in, holding his arms out. “Just the dead boyfriend?”

“Oh, don’t you act like I haven’t been clinging to you since you walked through my door,” you frowned, your hands balling into fists at your sides. “I think we all know how I feel about you, otherwise Wonwoo wouldn’t be acting like a huge fucking baby right now.”

“That’s not--”

“You--”

“You numbskulls do realize we’re all being hunted down by whoever the fuck took Mingyu, right?” you quizzed them, interrupting their arguing. “So until you two can get your goddamn priorities straight, you two can share the bed down here!”

With that, you grabbed your things and marched up the stairs before slamming the door closed behind you, leaving the two boys in a stunned silence.

-

You didn’t go see either of them for two and a half weeks. You were furious and upset and afraid and confused all at once. All you did was cry and talk to whoever was available to listen to your worries. You knew you should’ve tried to fix things, but you were just so angry with them for worrying over who gets your heart when you could die at any moment. Not only that, but you loved them both. How could you let one of them go?

Slowly, though, you were gathering your thoughts. You were figuring out the best way to go about handling the situation -- with a little help, of course -- and you were mentally preparing yourself to finally go and talk to them. It had been two and a half weeks, anyway, so you figured you should go check on them.

“What’s the worst thing that could happen, anyway?” Hansol had asked through the phone.

“They could both decide to not be with her,” Jihoon deadpanned.

“Technically the worst thing that could happen is that the island explodes,” Seokmin interjected.

“Neither of you are helping,” Hansol sighed.

Jihoon shrugged, “You asked.”

“I’m just gonna go do it before you idiots make it worse...” you grumbled before hanging up from the call and trudging down the stairs.

To your surprise, all was silent.

“U-um...” you didn’t really know what to say, but the sound of your voice made both boys look up from their work, “hello...”

“Wow,” Mingyu was the first to speak up, “I thought you were going to leave us down here to rot.”

“We’d deserve that,” Wonwoo nodded, standing up from his chair. “Are you feeling better, _____?”

Your eyebrows furrowed, “You guys...aren’t...mad at me anymore?”

“We shouldn’t have gotten upset with you in the first place,” Mingyu admitted with a sigh, standing up as well and going to stand beside Wonwoo in front of you.

“We did some talking and--”

“You talked?” you asked.

Wonwoo chuckled, “Well, after messing with each other for like, a week -- give or take a few days.”

“But we realized we were the jerks,” Mingyu continued.

“And we’re both just afraid of losing you,” Wonwoo admitted.

“So,” Mingyu’s face began to break into a smirk.

You made a face, eyeing the taller boy up and down, “I don’t like the look you’re giving me...”

“Stop that,” Wonwoo scolded, whacking Mingyu in the stomach and making him laugh. Then he turned his attention back to you, looking at you softly. “It’s okay if you love us both.”

Your eyes widened, playing his words over and over in your head, making sure you heard him correctly, “I-it is...?”

“Yeah, only if you’re okay with it,” Mingyu smiled to show you that everything was okay now. He even tossed an arm around Wonwoo’s shoulder. “We can share, we’re big boys and shit.”

“W-wait,” you stuttered, leaning away to look seriously at Mingyu, and then up at Wonwoo who was watching as his chewed on his lip, “what about...you two?”

Mingyu shrugged, “I mean, I personally don’t get what you see in him, but I think he’s alright.”

Wonwoo playfully scoffed as he brushed Mingyu’s arm off of him, “You’re no prize, either,” he chuckled before turning serious again and looking at you. “We’ll make it work, _____. We know you're afraid of losing both of us, but you won’t have to worry anymore. Neither of us are going anywhere.”

“Yeah, nobody will leave,” Mingyu agreed, walking over to stand behind you, his hands moving to your waist and holding you flush against his body, “okay?”

You nodded slowly, breathing out, “Okay.”

Mingyu’s lips pressed to the skin of your neck, nipping softly and playfully as his thumbs pushed up your shirt just enough for him to touch our skin just above your shorts. You whined and tried to elbow him away.

“Stop, I missed you!” he whined back. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Yeah, but Wonwoo--”

“He can watch, I don’t care,” he chuckled. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to get my hands on you again? The boss could walk in and that wouldn’t mean shit to me.”

Wonwoo’s eyebrows twitched upward as he turned to go sit back in his chair, “Yeah, pretend I’m not even here.”

Mingyu cupped your cheek and turned your head to look at him, gently pressing his lips to yours. Mingyu bit down a little harder on your flesh, making you gasp, and he deepened the kiss. But Mingyu was always a little more impatient when he hadn’t seen you in a while, and this time, it had been the longest you’d gone without seeing each other. So he was already trying to tug your shirt off over your head.

“She likes being teased more,” Wonwoo murmured, his eyes scanning his screen as if he wasn’t even paying any attention to the two of you.

Your eyes snapped open again at the sound of his voice, already so lost in Mingyu that you actually kind of did forget his presence.

“I will tease her,” Mingyu pouted, managing to pull your shirt off over your head before throwing it directly at Wonwoo, the clothing landing on the older boy’s head. “Don’t tell me how to fuck my own girlfriend.”

“She’s my girlfriend, too,” Wonwoo reminded him, glancing over at him. “Maybe I should show you how to do thing properly with her since it’s been a while for you.”

You tensed as arousal suddenly shot through you at the thought.

Mingyu smirked as he caught your reaction, “I think she likes the idea.”

“Oh really?” Wonwoo asked, a smirk of his own growing on his face as he slowly stood and walked over to you until he was right in front of you, cupping your jaw. “Would you like that, baby? Do you want me to join you and Mingyu?”

Slowly, you nodded.

Wonwoo leaned down to kiss you, his thumb rubbing softly against your skin. Mingyu brought his attention back to your neck, nipping and sucking and kissing. After a moment, the two men switch spots with Mingyu’s lips on yours. But you soon turned in his arms and your lips went to Mingyu’s neck to nibble on him like he had with you. Your hands moved straight to the waistband of his sweats, slowly pulling them down. Mingyu whined into the kiss -- he hated when you didn’t pull his pants down quickly, and you knew it.

The clothing pooled around his ankles, and you let one hand drift over his boxers as you sucked a mark on Mingyu’s neck. You could feel his member starting to get hard, so you palmed him through the thin material, smirking when he moaned softly. You even heard the older boy chuckle.

But your actions were stopped when you felt a hand on your wrist, tugging your and away from Mingyu’s crotch. You pulled away to see Mingyu staring at you with a raised eyebrow, “You don’t get to tease me, baby. We’re going to tease you.”

Wonwoo smirked immediately, eyeing you up and down, “I kind like that idea. Why don’t you strip for us, baby?”

The two boys moved to sit back in their computer chairs. Wonwoo undid his belt and jeans while Mingyu pulled his half-hard member from his boxers and started to stroke himself. Both pairs of eyes were on you as you stood before them in just a shorts and your bralette.

Your clammy hands moved up to grab your bralette and tug it over your head. You heard Mingyu suck in a breath between his teeth, and when the article of clothing had dropped to the floor, you could see him staring at you through lidded eyes.

“Fuck, I haven’t seen you in so long,” he groaned as his hand stroked up and down his length slowly. “My memory did not do you justice.”

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Wonwoo agreed as his fist wrapped around his own cock, watching you as he licked his lips.

“You two talk too much,” you smirked, rolling your eyes. “Neither of you know how to just shut up and enjoy a show.”

Mingyu’s eyes slid closed momentarily, “She still loves to talk back, huh?”

Wonwoo let out a low groan, “Y-yeah. I think she likes punishments.”

You were almost completely hypnotized by the boys in front of you that you almost forgot to remove the rest of your clothes. You shimmied out of your shorts before kicking them off to the side, and then you turned around and bent over as you slowly discarded your panties that had your arousal pooling in them.

Wonwoo pointed over to the bed, “Go lay down on your back.”

You did as you were told, swinging your hips as you went. You sat down on the mattress and laid back on your elbows, watching the two boys. Mingyu walked right over to you, taking off his shirt and boxers, tossing the clothing off in a random direction. Wonwoo just watched you as he started discarding his own clothes.

Mingyu eagerly kissed your lips, his hands finding yours and holding them above your head. His lips trailed down lower, his tongue momentarily flicking over one of your nipples before he carried on, going lower as his hands slid down your body. He held your hips in place with one hand while the other parted your legs. He settled between them, his hot breath fanning against your core. You could feel your arousal dripping down your thighs and onto the bed, and Mingyu smirked as he assessed how wet you were.

“You want both of us, hm?” his voice was low and rough as his eyes glanced up at you through his lashes. “C’mon, _____, I know you can speak. Say you want both of us.”

“I want both of you,” you breathed.

“Good girl,” he hummed before pressing his tongue flat against your clit.

You let out a soft moan, trying to push your hips into Mingyu’s face, but he kept his grip on you solid. You went to at least move your hands down to his hair, but you felt the bed dip before you felt strong hands on your wrists. You looked up and saw Wonwoo kneeling beside you, his hands holding yours above you, and his half-hard cock in your face.

“I think the idea was for you to stay where you are,” he mused as you bit your lip, feeling Mingyu’s tongue slip in and out of you. “Maybe you need a distraction.”

Wonwoo used one of his hands to hold his length, lightly tapping the side of your face with it. You opened your mouth, looking up at him with wide eyes because you knew he loved when you looked at him like that. He bit his lip, inhaling sharply.

“Fuck, you look so good like this,” he grunted, cupping your cheek.

Mingyu looked away from what he was doing to watch you and Wonwoo. Your head bobbed at a slow pace, trying to get him fully erect before you did anything more. You sat up on one arm while your other hand wrapped around the base of Wonwoo’s member. The older boy let out a shaky breath as he watched you before his eyes flickered to Mingyu, meeting his darkened gaze for a moment.

You started taking more of Wonwoo in your mouth, letting him thrust into your mouth as he pleased while his head dropped back, letting out throaty moans. His hand moved from your cheek to your hair, guiding your head to move just how he liked. His Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly, groaning softly.

“Fuck, you’re so good, love,” he mumbled.

Mingyu wrapped his lips around your clit and sucked, making you moan around Wonwoo. The vibrations made the older boy moan out louder, and he suddenly pulled himself out of your mouth with a pop.

“I wanna cum inside you,” he said softly, his finger tracing over your jaw. He turned to look at Mingyu, who was still working his tongue against you. “I have an idea. Lay on your back.”

“Since when am I taking orders from you?” Mingyu mumbled, sitting up before crawling to lay on his back beside you. 

“Since now,” he replied before he looked at you and nodded toward Mingyu. “I want you to ride him.”

“What do you have planned for yourself, then?” you quizzed as you straddled Mingyu’s hips.

“You’ll see,” Wonwoo sang with a smirk before he got off the bed and walked over to the corner of the room the bags were still dropped in.

As you sank down on Mingyu’s length, you let out a soft moan, enjoying each delicious inch of him. Mingyu just watched you, relishing in the look on your voice, and the noises you made. His hands held your waist, guiding you down onto him.

“You feel so much better than I remember,” he groaned, waiting for you to move. “Fuck, I missed you so fucking much.”

Just as you were adjusted and ready to start moving your hips, you felt something cold against your hole. You sucked in a breath between your teeth, not expecting the sudden coldness.

“Shh, relax,” Wonwoo cooed as he swirled around his finger coated in lube. “Have you done this before?”

“Plenty,” Mingyu replied with a breathy chuckle. “She’ll be okay.”

“So,” Wonwoo began, his voice a little more mischievous than you would’ve liked, “if I did this, then…”

Wonwoo slid his long digit in slowly, leaning around you to watch your face for any signs of discomfort. While your eyes did close, the noises you made were all out of pleasure. You whimpered, but pushed back on his finger, therefore swiveling your hips a bit on Mingyu, causing him to let out a quiet moan.

Wonwoo smirked, “You like that, don’t you? You want more, huh?”

You nodded, biting on your lip.

“Words, baby,” Mingyu told you teasingly.

“I-I want m-more,” you managed to stammer out.

Slowly, Wonwoo added more of his index finger, making sure you were still okay before each move he made. Mingyu was patient about it, not expecting you to move much while Wonwoo stretched you out with more fingers. Just being inside you, watching your expressions, and hearing your moans was enough for him anyway. It had been so long since he was touched at all that even this was amazing to him.

Finally, Wonwoo coated his length in the cold lube before lining his tip up with your hole, “Relax, baby.”

You nodded, feeling his warm hand move down your back before resting on your waist. Carefully, he inserted his cock into you, your eyes squeezing shut as your mouth opened without sound coming out.

Mingyu watched, biting his lip as one of his hands moved down to your clit. His thumb rubbed small circles into the bundle of nerves, and your hips jerked at the sensation. He smirked, nodding to Wonwoo who was looking to Mingyu to see if you were okay.

“Shit, you’re such a good girl for us, _____,” Wonwoo breathed when he was completely buried inside you. “Look how well you take both of us at once.”

The praises motivated you to slowly lift your hips before moving them back down, a low, long moan trailing from your lips. Mingyu groaned out your name quietly while Wonwoo sucked in a sharp breath.

“Oh fuck, you’re so tight,” Wonwoo mumbled before slowly thrusting in and out of you in small movements.

Mingyu matched his pace despite the fact he wanted things hard and fast. He knew he wouldn’t last nearly as long as the two of you, but he just wanted to finally cum. But he held back and copied Wonwoo’s movements to bring you the most pleasure.

You’d never felt anything like this before. You’d never felt so full, and the feeling was euphoric. You couldn’t even open your eyes, your nails digging into Mingyu’s chest as he held you close to him. Wonwoo’s hands held your waist tightly as his thrusts became longer and faster, and your moans started to turn into high cries of pleasure.

“Are you gonna cum, baby?” Mingyu cooed in your ear as he thrust up into you in between pants and gasps, his thumb still circling your clit. “Are you gonna cum on my cock like a good girl?”

“God, fuck--! Y-yes,” you cried, nodding frantically as you swiveled your hips, chasing your high.

Your need to reach your orgasm had Mingyu releasing without warning, filling you with warmth as his head dropped back. You peeled your eyes open to see his Adams apple bobbed as he groaned out your name, his hips bucking up into yours sporadically.

Wonwoo leaned down slightly, still thrusting into you. You whimpered loudly as your orgasm hit you, your eyes meeting Mingyu’s for a brief moment. Your eyes squeezed shut as your back arched forward and away from Wonwoo’s front that was flush against your back. Your toes curled, and your legs shook from the intensity, everything behind your eyelids going white. You clenched around both boys, making Mingyu cry out softly, and Wonwoo groan deep in his throat.

“Fuck, that’s it,” Wonwoo’s breath was hot on your neck as he praised you through your orgasm.

With a few more thrusts, Wonwoo released into you as well, his arms snaking around your waist and holding you close to him, his face buried in your neck. Mingyu ran one hand through your hair as he rode out his release, his teeth grazing against your bare shoulder.

“Fuck,” Wonwoo panted, gently pulling out of you before rolling over to lay down on his back beside Mingyu. “God, that was… Fuck…”

Mingyu placed a kiss on your jaw before looking up at you, smiling as brightly as he could for somebody was tired out from sex, “You did so well, baby. I’m proud of you.”

You let yourself relax onto Mingyu’s chest, your cheek squished up against his sweaty skin. One of your hands wandered over to Wonwoo, your thumb stroking his cheek as you stared at him.

“I love you,” you mumbled sleepily. “Both of you. I don’t ever want either of you to leave.”

“We won’t,” Wonwoo promised, holding your hand to his cheek as he leaned over to press a chaste kiss to your forehead. “Neither of us.”

“Promise?” you asked as your eyelids got heavier.

“Promise,” Mingyu mumbled, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“Promise,” Wonwoo agreed, his smile being the last thing you saw before your eyes closed.

-

You rubbed your dry eyes, letting your head drop back against your computer chair. You knew you should’ve gone to bed two days ago, but you thought you were on the verge of getting through this firewall. But then there were other obstacles that had popped up, and you kept telling yourself you were almost there. Therefore, you persisted on for three days straight.

Wonwoo wasn’t happy about that, and neither was Mingyu.

“_____!” Mingyu called your name from up the stairs. “Dinner’s ready!”

“Just a sec!” you called back, your hands moving from your face, up to your hair and carding through it.

“No, now!” you heard Wonwoo’s deeper voice shout.

You let out a loud groan, frustrated you had to stop your work when you were -- yet again -- so close to being done. But you knew better than to argue against both of your boyfriends, so you pushed yourself up from your chair and went up the stairs.

The house smelled like food, and you knew Mingyu was trying to teach Wonwoo how to properly cook. Both boys were in the kitchen, bickering as usual. They were facing away from you, looking down at the stove instead. Mingyu seemed to be showing Wonwoo something while the older boy watched beside him, squinting down at the stove like it had just insulted his mother. The two  continued to bicker about something Wonwoo didn’t understand about cooking.

“Hey, don’t tell me dinner is ready when it’s not,” you pouted, crossing your arms over your chest.

Wonwoo turned around, laughing at your expression, “Don’t ‘hey’ me. Dinner is ready, he’s teaching me how to make dessert.”

“But it’s our one year,” you pointed out, sitting at the counter as you waited for Wonwoo to bring over the plates, “I thought we had...not food for dessert.”

“No, that’s still the plan,” Mingyu nodded, untying the apron from his waist, “but he wanted to know how to make something himself.”

You rolled your eyes as Wonwoo placed a plate full of food in front of you, “Woo, you act like you’re a worse cook than you actually are.”

“She has a point,” Mingyu agreed, walking around to the other side of the counter to sit beside you and eat.

Wonwoo shrugged, bringing over the last two plates, “Yeah, but Mingyu’s better.”

As the three of you ate in a comfortable silence, your mind wandered to moving. The three of you were moving into a new house tomorrow that would be larger to accommodate all of your things. Since it had been a year since Mingyu escaped his kidnappers -- he never would tell you exactly what happened, though he did tell Wonwoo, and Mingyu often woke up from nightmares -- the agency deemed it safe for the three of you to move into a better living space. Security would still be tight, and you were going to be living closer to Minghao, who was a pretty decent assassin when he had to be.

“_____, stop that!” Mingyu frowned, his thumb pressing down on the crease formed between your eyebrows.

You looked up at him, “What, stop thinking?”

Wonwoo snorted, covering the lower half of his face with a napkin.

“You’re stressing over moving again,” he sighed. “C’mon, we have everything packed, and nobody is tracking us. Things will be okay.”

Mingyu’s warm hand landed on your knee comfortingly, his ring shining in the light from the kitchen. Then, you felt Wonwoo’s on your other knee, stroking your leg through the fabric of your jeans with his thumb. He had gotten you and him promise rings about six months after that first night the three of you spent together. You looked between the two boys, both giving you looks like just screamed, ‘stop worrying’.

So you sighed and nodded, knowing with both of them with you, things would be okay, “Alright, fine.”

“Good,” Wonwoo smiled before pressing a chaste kiss to your temple.

“Well then,” Mingyu sighed, shoving his half-empty plate away, “I’m ready for dessert.”

“We’ve hardly even started eating!” Wonwoo pointed out.

“Just wrap it up,” he shrugged before he stood up. You thought he was going to go get whatever Wonwoo had made, but instead, you were tossed over Mingyu’s shoulder as he said, “I’ll take dessert to go!”

You let out a squeal, “Mingyu, put me down!”

“Yeah, put her down!” Wonwoo agreed, which had Mingyu pausing as he went to walk to the bedroom. But the older boy’s next sentence had him laughing with glee. “We’re supposed to share dessert, remember?”

[hoyoungy]

On-Air | Vernon/Hansol (II)

genre: fluff, comedy, slight angst, college au | vernon x radio personality!reader summary: under the pseudonym Honey, you are the host of the most popular radio show in the city called Honey Time Radio where you give advice about relationships, school, and life in general. when it comes to your own love-life, however, you don’t have the best luck, and you don’t even follow your own advice! so what happens when you get a call from a listener who’s asking you advice on how to get to your heart? word count: 3112 a/n: glad to see you guys like it so far! warnings include swearing, that it’s a dialogue-heavy fic, and there’s a lot of platonic wonwoo x reader. as seen on my ao3

part i, iii

“He wants to what?” Wonwoo asked, tossing his backpack on his chair in the studio.

You sighed as you slumped in your own chair, trying to settle in before you start Monday night’s show. “He wants to study together. Or grab lunch… Or both, I don’t know, he was being really weird on Friday.”

“Hansol doesn’t want to study,” he scoffed. “In a good semester, he owns one notebook, wide-ruled and maybe three pencils… Hansol doesn’t study.”

“See, that’s what I thought, too! What should I do? Should I say no when he asks for a date and time?”

“What!? No, go through with it! Play along and make him think you think he’s smart and likes to study!”

“Why would I do that!?”

“Because Hansol’s just that guy, you know? He likes to impress girls by liking things that they’re interested in and that’s how he makes them fall for him. I’ve seen his work.”

“And I’m supposed to just listen to him talk about how the mitochondria is the trap house of the cell and I’ll fall in love with him?”

“Yes! Or at least try to, it’s obvious he’s interested in you.”

“I don’t know why he’s even bothering. He’s probably just using me to get to Honey.”

“_____, not every guy is like that.”

“I don’t know, I’ve got a pretty good streak going on,” you said sarcastically. “I’m at a whopping five boys who have played me.”

“Ok, so there’s a chance that Hansol might be using you to get to Honey. But what if he isn’t? Are you going to let your connection with Honey cock-block you for the rest of your life?”

“That’s not what I meant,” you pouted. “I can still get laid if I want to.”

“But that’s not the same as a relationship.”

“I don’t think I should be taking relationship advice from someone who brings home a different girl every thirsty Thursday.”

“Hey, this is you we’re discussing, not me,” he scolded, though you could see him holding back his proud grin.

“Shut up and press the button already, we’re like fifteen seconds behind,” you demanded. He mocked your nagging with funny faces before dramatically pressing on the ‘On-Air’ button.

You sighed deeply into your mic. “Hello, friends. It’s your favorite problematic duo here, Honey and Wonwoo, aka HonWon. Or should it be HonWoo? HonWoo makes more sense, doesn’t it? I don’t know, let us know what you guys think our ship name should be, we trust you.”

“But put my name first!” Wonwoo shouts across the room.

“It’s 7:00 PM on a Monday evening as we’re recording this. You know, the melancholic Mondays are starting to feel a bit numb as the cold season approaches. My only class on Mondays and Wednesdays doesn’t start until three in the afternoon, and do you know what time I got out of bed today? 1:36 PM. And I was still so tired! It might be because I found out yesterday that I didn’t do so hot on my English exam. I almost didn’t get out of bed. I was ready to call Wonwoo to just come over so we can do the show in my room, but I didn’t. I got up, conquered my day, and now here I am, doing what I love by talking with all of you. Getting out of bed is half the battle. I know some days can get harder than others, but I know we can do it. I hope you all did or are doing what you need to do today and are ending your day how you want it to.” Wonwoo shoots you a thumbs up for your motivational speech. “On a much lighter note, I think we’re ready for our first caller! Caller number four, you’re on air.”

“Hello?” a familiar voice said. “Wow, hey, I got it! U-Uh, how are you?”

You and Wonwoo exchange a glance of panic. Neither of you could believe your ears. No way was it Hansol. But looking at Wonwoo’s wide eyes, you began to doubt yourself.

“Hey ~ there ~” you hesitated. “I’m doing well…! How about you?”

“Good, good. Absolutely nervous right now, but you know, good.”

“There’s no need to be nervous here. What’s your name?”

“Vernon,” he said quickly. “My name is Vernon.”

Wonwoo jumps out of his chair from excitement and quickly scribbles on his notepad. In his messy handwriting, you see the words, ‘THAT’S HANSOL’S MIDDLE NAME’ in all caps as he shakes the notepad vigorously.

You suddenly can’t find your voice. Shit, why was he calling!?

“W-Wow, interesting name. Sounds American,” you commented awkwardly as Wonwoo snickered. “So what do you want to talk about, Vernon?”

“This sounds stupid, but do you ever get the feeling that you’re misunderstood?”

You raised your brow at Wonwoo and he did the same. That’s not what either of you expected from Hansol.

“I mean, you seem like someone who’s pretty open about their feelings and what not, and maybe it’s because a lot of us don’t know who you are,” he continued. “But doesn’t that ever feel, I don’t know… Alienating?”

“Huh… You know, I never really thought about it. But I know what you mean. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve wanted to just shout out to the world about who I am. Why do you ask?”

“I feel like I’ve been trying to be someone I’m not for a long time. How emo do I sound right now, do I sound like I’m twelve?”

“No, not at all,” you said, trying to hold back your chuckle as you watched Wonwoo step out of the studio to laugh. “We’ve all been there, I promise you. Why do you think you’re trying to be someone you’re not?”

“I think I’ve just been so used to pretending because it’s gotten me laid so many times,” he chuckled sheepishly. You rolled your eyes at his obvious statement and ignored the sting in your chest. Something like that really shouldn’t bother you as much as it should. “And all of this pretending has sort of become a part of me, you know? All of my friends and all the girls that know me see me as this guy who doesn’t really give a fuck and I’ve kept this facade up for so long that I feel like I’m losing myself and it’s driving me fucking insane! Oh shit, I swore, sorry!”

“No worries, we’ll edit it that out.” Wonwoo rushed back inside to listen to the rest of Hansol’s story. “Why are you suddenly tired of it? It seems like you didn’t have a problem with it until now.”

“This is where the real problem comes in, I guess. So there’s this girl…” As Hansol paused, Wonwoo aggressively pointed his fingers at you with a wide grin on his face. You flipped him off to shut him up. “I really want to get close to her. Not even in that way, you know, at least not yet. Just like… As friends.”

“And you think that she won’t see it that way,” you mused. “You think she’ll see it as an attempt for you to get something else out of it.”

“Exactly! I don’t want to come off as the nice guy because I definitely think that’s what she’s thinking.”

Well, he’s not wrong. You’ve experienced way too many nice guys in the past and it bit you in the ass one hundred percent of the time. You thanked Honey for that.

“Have you asked her to hang out with you yet?” you asked, thinking that he wasn’t talking about you. You really hoped he wasn’t, and if he was, what were you to do if he actually asked to hang out?

“Not yet… We sort of made unoffical plans, but nothing was set in stone.”

“If you really want to be her friend, you have to show her. You know, put in the effort by asking her when she wants to make the plans official.”

“I was going to when I last saw her, but she’s really scary!”

“What!?” you exclaimed, insulted that he thought about you that way. Well, the girl he was talking about… “Why do you want to be friends with her then!?”

“I guess that’s kind of what attracted me to her,” Hansol chuckled. “I’ve never met someone like her before. She’s definitely not just someone I’d bring home for one night.”

“Maybe that’s what’s scarying you, too - commitment.”

“Yeah, that sounds like something I’d be terrified of.”

“I think you just need to put a foot through the door for now. If you’re serious about getting closer to her, then you need to take things slow. I think your idea of just grabbing lunch and hanging out is a great start.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. I don’t even know why I’m overthinking so much in the first place!”

“You must like her.”

“A little bit,” Hansol sighed dreamily. “She’s really cute…”

A bright blush began to color you cheeks. Even if this wasn’t about you, the way he just talked about ‘her’ was so heartfelt. If this wasn’t about you, you might admit you were a little jealous.

“I wish you the best of luck, Vernon. You can always try calling us back if you need anymore help.”

“You’re the best, Honey. I hope you have a nice night.”

“Y-Yeah, you, too,” your flushing face was starting to get too much for you to handle. “Ok, I’ll be taking a short break as Wonwoo plays music that’s probably too explicit for this station. Be back in five.”

You mute your mic and take a deep breath before chugging some water. Looking at the clock, you saw it was only 7:20. You had over two and a half hours left of the show and you were already tired.

“That’s totally Hansol!” Wonwoo exclaimed. “I know that wannabe-deep voice anywhere! He was talking about you!”

“Shut up, that’s not -”

You were cut off by the loud textone of your cell that lit up the studio. You and Wonwoo froze in your place. You were too afraid to touch your phone and Wonwoo was all too eager, grabbing it before you could and reading the message.

“‘Hey, _____, it’s Hansol’,” Wonwoo read in his best Hansol voice. “‘I was wondering if you’d be free to grab some food after you’re done with Honey Time? I could use a study break.’ Oh, shit, see! I told you!”

“No way…” you whsipered. “So he really wants to be my friend? I don’t understand.”

“He wants to be your friend and then eventually, he wants to be more than just friends, come on, _____, I know you’re not dumb.” Wonwoo vigorously tapped on your phone. “‘Hey, Hansol! I’d love to grab a snack. I can totally help you with studying, too, if you need it.’”

“Hey, I’m not consenting to this!” you pouted. “Why did you agree!? I’m already tired!”

“Shut up, you woke up at 1:30 today. Be prepared to stay up late ‘cuz Hansol’s fucking terrible at science.”

“Why do you hate me?”

“I’m trying to get you laid, you should be thanking me. Oh, he texted back so quickly. ‘I definitely need it, but I couldn’t ask you to stay up so late with me.’ He’s so charming with girls, why doesn’t he ever text me like this?”

“Tell him, ‘Yeah, you’re right, that is too late for me to stay up.’”

“‘It’s no problem at all! I have nothing planned early tomorrow, anyways.’”

“I have a 9:00 AM tomorrow!”

“‘Sounds great, you’re the best. Can’t wait to see you.’ Ooh, you hear that? He can’t wait to see you ~”

“Fuck, break’s over,” you said, unable to curse out Wonwoo for his recklessness. You throw on your headphones and put on your fakest smile. “A~And we’re back. I think relationship advice is one of my favorite forms of advice to give. It’s especially rewarding during the cold seasons, as flourishing love warms my heart.”

“Gross,” Wonwoo commented.

“Too much? Let’s move on then, shall we? Caller number twenty-nine, what’s on your mind?”

“That Vernon guy sounds cute! Can I get his number?”

“Whoops, you’re connection’s going bad,” you said bitterly, purposely hanging up on the caller. “Sorry ~ Try calling again later.”

You ignored the peripheral sight of Wonwoo shaking his head at you in disapproval.

“And that’s all for tonight, folks. Thanks for tuning in, and as usual, stay safe out there. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, same time, same place. This is Honey signing off.”

Your phone lit up as Wonwoo began to shut down the studio. The text was from Hansol.

‘Just listened to the end of the show. I’m already here, but take your time’, it read.

“Jeez, someone’s eager,” Wonwoo said, looking over your shoulder.

“Pray that I won’t embarrass myself tonight.”

“That’s a waste of a prayer because I know you’ll do so, anyways.”

“Thanks for your support…”

“You’re welcome! I’ll head out first. You can tell him Honey left with me through the back door if he asks.”

“How is it that I hate you and love you at the same time?”

“The real statement is you hate that you can’t love me anymore than you already do.”

“Goodnight, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo left the studio first and you took the two minutes of alone time that you had to mentally prepare yourself for this little, uh, date you had with Hansol. From the way that he was talking to Honey, it seemed like he thought you were intimidating, or something. But he also said that’s what attracted you to him in the first place… Should you be keeping up your own facade as Hansol was trying to break down his own?

Walking outside of the studio, you see Hansol waiting for you in sweats and a hoodie. He looked extremely tired and you wonder if it’s because he’s actually been studying a lot this whole time or if he’s just that tired.

He greeted you with another dazzling, gummy grin. “Hey! How was the show?”

Shit, you almost forgot he was your first caller earlier. Whenever you met your callers, you were always so awkward around them because it was hard for you to keep your cool and your secret a secret.

“It went well. Honey had a lot of callers talk about relationships today. It was interesting to listen to, to say the least.”

“Yeah… Do people ever call back and tell her if her advice worked?”

“I think a couple of times, but not really. It’s a shame, she and I always want to know if it ever worked out,” you said, trying to clue him in on calling again after tonight.

“Have you ever asked her about relationship advice before?” he asked you.

You shake your head. “No. Not yet, at least.”

“Why not?”

“Not to toot my own horn, but I think I’m pretty good at gauging how I feel about someone right when I meet them. If I have a feeling they’re using me for something, I cut them off.”

“I think your gauge must like me then,” he said, smiling proudly.

“I think so, too.”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you needed help…”

You and Hansol sat at a table in one of the 24-hour cafes on campus. He paid for your drink as a thank you for tonight. You noticed he liked his coffee black.

It was 10:30 right now, and with midterms coming up, you weren’t surprised to see that the place was packed. Hansol scattered all of his notes, past quizzes, and past exams on the table in front of you. His quizzes and exams had a lot of numbers in the 50s and 60s written in red ink.

“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell,” he said robotically.

“I can see that you got that question right, at least,” you said, pointing to one of his quizzes.

“Ugh, what do I do? The second midterm is next week and if I don’t get at least a B in that, I gotta retake the course in the summer!”

“Have you actually been studying?”

“Yes, I swear! It’s just that science isn’t really my subject and I have to take this course because I gotta fulfill the fucking gen-ed requirements.”

“What are you even majoring in?”

“International relations,” he grinned.

“Wow, I didn’t expect that.”

“Not many people do. Suits me, doesn’t it?” he asked. “Imagine me in a sexy, black suit, looking sexy. Totally my major, right?”

“Seems like you wanna be a fashion model instead.”

“Am I that handsome to you?”

“Ugh,” you groaned. “Go study.”

“What, you’re supposed to be helping me!”

“You’re distracting yourself!”

“Distracting myself or you?” he teased, leaning in closer.

You sighed, pulling on his hoodie strings to close the hood. “Do you flirt with all of your tutors?”

“Is it working?”

Hansol’s hands wrapped around yours so you’d let go of the hoodie strings. His hands were soft and warm, exactly how you expected them to be. Almost immediately, you yanked your hands back, not used to the closeness.

What have you gotten yourself into?

“Oh, sorry -”

“N-No, don’t worry about it! I’m just not used to, um, skinship.”

“Haven’t you had a boyfriend before?”

“No, not really,” you shook your head. “I’ve dated guys here and there, but it never worked out.”

“How come?”

You looked at Hansol and saw genuine interest in his eyes. You could tell he didn’t see you as that crazy girl who couldn’t get a boyfriend. If he really was trying to get closer to you for Honey, you couldn’t tell and you didn’t want to believe it.

You shrugged. “Just not lovable enough, I guess.”

“Did someone tell you that?”

“No, I just assumed.”

“Good, I thought I had to beat someone up,” he smirked.

“Then you really won’t pass biology.”

“Will you help tutor me still if I don’t pass?” he begged, batting his long eyelashes at you.

“No, because you’re going to pass, starting by labelling all of these organelles in a eukaryotic cell.”

“Ok, but after I get us more coffee.”

“Oh, no, that’s ok -”

“Nonsense! Friends get friends more coffee, right?” he winked, taking your empty cup.

“You’re stalling.”

“I definitely am.”

[veryotl]

Seventeen Teen.age album review

In the past, I’ve posted album reviews generally a few days after new Seventeen album releases. I waited a little bit for this one, so that I could get used to the sound of the album before reviewing, but it’s been about a week now so I’m officially posting my Teen.age album review! 

1 and 13. Intro and Outro 

It’s not a new concept, but it’s the first time Seventeen has made an album with an intro and outro song. There’s not a whole lot to be said for a song that’s under a minute long, but as a general overview I do enjoy these short clips. For intro, I feel like it ties in well with the general album concept and feel, and it bears similarities to some other songs on the album. Similiar piano intro to Without You, low mumbling backing vocals similar to Bring It... I’d be interested to see it fleshed out into a full song, but I’m still very satisfied with the length it is currently. The progression into the slow piano near the outro is satisfying, and in general it has a good feel to it. For Outro, I can’t analyze it much, I’d kind of like to see it analyzed by someone who knows more about music. It seems to blend essential elements from title songs past such as a funky bass with key elements from Clap like a wailing electric guitar and addictive beat. Honestly, I really like the effort to show that the “Seventeen style” isn’t completely going away despite the change in atmosphere in this new album. It reminds us of the previous songs while still transitioning to the new style, and I find it very satisfying.

2 and 6-8. Change Up, Lilili Yabbay, Pinwheel, and Trauma or The B4

Sort of in an effort to keep this post kind of short, I’ve already written up most of my thoughts on the B4 songs, I’ll just link that here and not keep repeating myself. As a summary, Change up is simple but enjoyable, Lilili Yabbay is truly a subversion of expectations pulled off flawlessly, Pinwheel is a little bit expected but still has some really fantastic killing parts, and Trauma makes a lot of smart production choices to perfectly capture the emotion and feeling behind being trapped in traumatic memories of the past. 

3. Without You 

Without you is a little hard to pin down on style, tricking you into thinking you’re listening to a ballad and then suddenly bursting into a louder, slightly intense feel. The song jumps back and forth a few times, possibly causing some people genre whiplash. However, considering the song is only two verses and a chorus which is relatively simple for a song, it’s not a bad choice and it adds a sense of fullness to the song. The lyrics seem to pick up where Don’t Wanna Cry left off, about someone who is still waiting for someone who has moved on without them. It’s a very emotional song about working through regrets and feelings when you’re the only one left, and having to change and adapt to the new life you lead. Altogether it’s quite an emotional song and a nice continuation of DWC, I definitely enjoy the dose of reality of “sometimes people don’t come back even if you want them back and you just need to move on”. I think I would enjoy it more with a bit more structure, and I found the dance a little underwhelming. But altogether, I think they pull it off even though it’s a bit of a difficult song, especially Woozi and The8′s vocals that suit the styling well. 

4. Clap

My first reaction when I heard the preview of clap was “if they can pull this style off, it really will be true that Seventeen can do anything”. I was worried that it would be a base breaker, causing fans of their past fresh style like Pretty U, Adore U, and Mansae might have a hard time adjusting to the new rock style of the teaser, and that they’d end up having a difficult time this era because of the backlash. However, Clap holds up Seventeen’s legacy admirably, building on themes introduced from Boom Boom while still keeping true to the style of pop rock. Despite being shorter than most other Seventeen songs, Clap manages to accomplish two verses, a rap break, three choruses, a bridge and even a drop out of the main instrumentals allowing for an impactful dance break before the bridge. It mixes a wide variety of instruments such as rock guitar, the usual fantastic bass work and creative percussion, and even horns. The music video is legitimately enjoyable to watch, and the dance is engaging and fun with obvious point moves that are easily mimicked while still managing visual complexity. Clap is a fantastic song, and Seventeen has truly proven their capability expressing themselves in a new genre and style without abandoning their special touch.

5. Bring It

While I am a little disappointed they didn’t keep the translated Korean title “Just Shoot Me and Go”, I do really love this track. It didn’t really hit me how good Hoshi would be at writing rap lyrics, but considering how he cleverly spoils us each comeback, comes up with witty choreography like the visual pun in Jam Jam, and thinks on his feet to make jokes in part of the Booseoksoon friendship, it makes a lot of sense. The strong has a similar feeling to Hurricane, but there’s one notable difference which is, of course, the addition of Woozi’s vocals. His transition into the chorus is addictive and smooth, and comes off as so freakin badass. I didn’t expect their dynamic to fit so well with the song, but Hoshi’s energetic cockiness and Woozi’s laid back confidence work so well together. Although Hoshi dominates most of the song, the killing part by no contest is Woozi’s Busan dialect in the bridge which is just so freakin cool. The percussion throughout the song and the sampling marks good production choices even though it might not be the most comfortable genre for Woozi. By the end of the song, you feel pumped up and energized proving that the Hoshi and Woozi really is a killer combo. 

9. Flower

Simply put, Flower is probably my personal favorite song on this album. The balance of sweet voiced vocals like Seungkwan, Jeonghan, and The8 is stacked pretty high against Coups and Wonwoo’s often rough style, Dino being able to swing either way. And yet, they still manage to pull of this song which has a pretty fast beat for how low and deep the song is. The instrumentals switch from intense during the chorus to fairly understated verse and lead in. The vocals also play around with styles, Jeonghan providing a nice light and smooth vocal that contrasts Seungkwan’s emotional and high chorus, and a similar affect takes place with Dino’s upbeat pop rap in comparison to Wonwoo’s rough almost punk-influence rapping. The plucked string instrument leading the minimalistic sections adds an addictive melody to the song that calls back to the strummed muted strings in Trauma. Flower is another song that defies expectations and still manages to be pulled off in an interesting manner that keeps you coming back to listen again. A+ for this mix unit. 

10. Rocket

Rocket uses a lot of American electronica trends including a peppy synth and liberal autotune use. While I don’t listen to this style very often anymore, I can remember when I really enjoyed it and I can honestly say Rocket is an enjoyable, upbeat song. It finds a happy medium between the gentle vocal style of Joshua and the unique vocal color of Vernon’s rap, a strange combination that couldn’t have been easy to bridge stylistically. There’s no particular hard hitting analysis on the lyrics or the style to be made beyond that, and that information is an analysis all on it’s own. Rocket is best enjoyed by just enjoying it. It’s not deep or complex, it’s lighthearted and easygoing just like the two featured vocalists on the song. The style, the lyrics, the vocals, even the choice of autotune all made a connection between two unique voices that create something that is fun to listen to and just groove along with, and it’s just perfect for them. 

11. Hello

Originally, I disliked the song when it was on Seventeen Project. Mostly because it was a cringe inducing performance, but also because it felt sweet but underwhelming. The new version is only changed subtly, however the changes make a world of difference. Firstly, the remade track is ever so slightly sped up, making it a bit more peppy. It’s a good change to make with the style of the song, and it really pays off. The second change is additional instrumental, a cute and subtle synth that comes out to make the chorus stronger, changing the piano from sustained notes to shorter ones making it seem more bouncy, a few added percussion pieces, and some natural development as the song builds. The song suddenly seems more cheery and doesn’t drag as much and feel as empty. A few of the lyrics have been redone as well, helping Mingyu’s rap to flow much smoother. Also, the addition of both a vocal bridge, rap section, and alteration in the final chorus helps the song feel varied and interesting. The changes are pretty subtle at first, but they make it seem like a completely different, more finished, more satisfying song. Of course, the vocal development of DK, the pronunciation growth of Jun, and Mingyu better fleshing out his personal style is a real difference maker as well. All in all, the song is still the same song as before, but still completely redone and made better where it counts so it’s truly enjoyable and sweet.

12. Campfire 

The first time I listened to Campfire, I couldn’t exactly express what I loved about it. It sounded like a holiday - the good kind where you have a party with all your best friends and you laugh and make memories. Now I can truly say what is so satisfying about Campfire. Up until this song, there has been so many sounds on this album. From rock to electronica, from ballad to electrohouse, from punk influence to disco influence, each song is unique and individual. However, at the end, they all gather together into one group and sing a song that is entirely themed towards the idea of harmony. The idea that despite the differences, being together is precious and special and it creates warmth and comfort and joy like a campfire. The song is emotional and nostalgic because of the harmony and the honest feelings expressed by the members in the lyrics. It’s sort of a follow up to Smile Flower, which had a message of “Even though we don’t know what lies ahead, no matter how hard it is, I will always be there for you and hold you in my heart”, Campfire has a message of “When we laugh together and make special memories, it doesn’t matter how scary it is and hard it is in the future because I’ll always have this warmth when you’re in my heart and my memories”. 

And now that I’m crying from how much I love these boys, it’s time to wrap up my official full review of Teen.age! I hope you love this album as much as I did and support Seventeen and appreciate their hard work and love them forever, just like I do. <3