#i mean the moon taeil thing is just not shocking to me

[theloyalpin]

when fans realize these male idols aren’t any better than other men irl we’ll truly be free

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

NCT 127 Reacting to the Date Night Prank

TW: None

Genre: Fluff, Romance, Comedy

YN Pronouns: Not Specified

[Main Masterlist]

Word Count: 1.5K

Notes: I've decided to make another one AHAHAHAHA also if you're not aware of this prank basically one partner goes to the other all dressed up and saying that they're excited for their "date night" that they had apparently been planning together ahaha

Lee Taeyong

Confused, absolutely. He was working in his "studio" (it's just his room.) when you walked in dressed nicely and with a wide smile on your face, which quickly dropped when you saw him wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. It was when you said the two magic words "date night" when he jumped into full panic. You knew he'd be shocked when you said it, but you weren't expecting him to get up in a rush to get ready at all, the whole time muttering that he'd be ready in a few minutes and that he definitely had the reservations ready. But, once you told him it was a prank, he'd continue getting ready anyway.

"It was a prank? Oh, goodness, I'd been forgetting a lot of things often with all of my schedules so I... Oh, well! I'm already half ready, I hope you're not opposed to an impromptu date night anyway!"

Moon Taeil

He had just got into bed when the door opened, or more accurately slammed open, and there you were dressed and ready. You both stared at each other for a few moments, Taeil's expression shifting between surprise, confusion, realization, then back to confusion, he'd be looking at his pajamas then to your attire in rapid succession until he finally asked why you were dressed so nicely and you simple said "date night." But, contrary to what you thought would have happened, he just laughed and pulled out his phone, showing you his calendar with a wide smile.

"Nice one, (Y/N), almost got me there! But our date night is planned for tomorrow, or did you forget? I'm joking! I'm joking! We can move it to tonight since you're ready, though!"

Suh (Johnny) Youngho

He'd just gotten home from recording, he was dressed comfortably, of course, sporting loungewear and a beanie, when the front door opened and closed. He'd walk out from where he was and spot you in the front door dressed in formal dinner attire with your hair done nicely and soon a low whistle would escape his mouth while he looks you up and down, which would soon be met by your glare, something he did not catch onto. Instead his lips would settle in a smirk while he leaned against the wall to just take it in because damn you always looked good but tonight must have been special, it was then he noticed your disappointed look.

"Damn, is that all for me- Wait, why are you looking at me like that? What do you mean we were supposed to have a date night tonight? I, hold on, were you at the restaurant by yourself?! Wait! Wait! Oh, god, oh- What did you say? Oh, thank god, it was just a prank, you scared the hell out of me!"

Nakamoto Yuta

As soon as you walked into his room dressed nicely, he'd turn around in his chair and stare at you with the most confused look. He'd study you head to toe and squint his eyes in thought, and it would be then that he'd get the context clues, but not before you could successfully pull off a disappointed face. In an instant, Yuta would be up on his feet comforting you and apologizing that he forgot and that he'd make it up to you another night when he's free, which would then lead to him realizing that this would be his only night off in a while, but his panic would be disturbed by your laughter instead.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I know that I- What? It was a prank? Oh, in that case, you're already dressed up, why don't we see what we can do with this?"

Kim (Doyoung) Dongyoung

He was on his feet as soon as you opened the door. It took one look from you and a few stutters from him to get moving. Man was on the phone making reservations while he was comparing ties. He held his phone up with his shoulder while he held them both up to you and, with your own amused grin, picked the right one and he got back to choosing an outfit for the supposed date night. Then you heard the restaurant he was making reservations for, recognized that it was a rather expensive restaurant, and you were quick to tell him that it was a prank.

"Hold on, (Y/N) what do you mean it was a prank? But you're all dressed up? Oh well, yes I'd like to reserve a table for two, skyline view please, and they will be for tonight, thank you. Anyway, (Y/N), should I go with a gold or silver watch, love?"

Jung (Jaehyun) Yuno

As soon as you opened the door to his room he was staring with a dropped jaw, which would soon move into a low breath. He'd pause whatever Netflix show he was watching and turn to you, becoming very aware of his basic white shirt and gray sweatpants. It was when he noticed the sad look on his face that he'd dart up, making his way to you quickly while making sure no one was listening to the conversation. You'd ask him if he forgot about the date night you'd both been planning for a few weeks and then his jaw would drop again while he frantically looked through your texts and his calendar.

"(Y/N) I thought tonight was Netflix night I'm so sorry, give me ten minutes to get ready and I'll be out in a second, I know just the place to go and- Why are you laughing? (Y/N)? (Y/N)?!"

Dong (Winwin) Sicheng

Immediate denial. This man knows his plans better than he knows himself. As soon as you walked into the room, he'd look more skeptical than anything, then he'd ask why you were so dressed up. You'd tell him that he promised you a date night tonight and that's when he'd start laughing and saying that he'd definitely know if he promised you a five-course dinner, and you really did try your best to look disappointed, but soon your own smile would break out and you'd be laughing together.

"Sorry, (Y/N), I can tell you tried really hard on this one, but I do have a day off tomorrow if you want to go out? I know a great place that Kun's been recommending to me."

Kim Jungwoo

You really couldn't read his expression at all. Was he shocked? Surprised? Scared? You couldn't tell. He couldn't tell. He'd ask you to repeat what you had said to him and all you'd say is that he promised you a date night tonight. Then, it'd click for him within seconds and he's making calls, he's asking his manager if he had any early schedules tomorrow, he's asking Yuta to borrow a suit, he's telling Mark to fill in for his absence if anyone asks, and then when he'd turn to you and see you with a giddy smile on his face, his second realization of the night would dawn on him.

"We don't actually have a date night planned, do we? Ah! You really scared me there, for a second. You're already dressed nice thought but... why don't we just stay in for today, I don't know of any nice restaurants who'd take reservations this late."

Lee Mark

He'd open his bedroom door and immediately be surprised when he saw you sitting on the edge of his bed dressed and ready to go. He'd close the door gently, then throw it open again with an even more confused look. You'd both stare at each other for a moment longer before he'd suddenly excuse himself to another room, asking you to wait patiently for him. But, silly Mark, he always forgets that the walls were thin in the dorms and you'd hear everything he was saying.

"Johnny, please, you have to stop laughing. This is important. I need you to send me a list of all the popular date night places that take reservations last minute. Johnny, please, (Y/N)'s in my room right now all dressed up, I vaguely remember making plans but... what do you mean I got pranked?"

Lee (Haechan) Donghyuck

He'd be laughing as soon as you walked in. But, you'd been expecting that and you'd been practicing for this moment. Cue the crocodile tears. As soon as one slipped out of your eye, Haechan would stop and he'd walk up to you, wrapping a blanket around your shoulders and apologizing for laughing, forgetting about the date night, and so many other things. He'd sit you down and promise you to take you out on a proper date the next time he's off. Then you'd stop the fake tears and say that you'd hold him to that.

"You- Wait, we didn't have a date night planned tonight, right? Why, you little! Argh! I taught you too well! I knew I should've suspected something when you asked me how to fake cry! Come here! I'll show you what happens when you try to out prank the king of pranks!"

General Tag List: @vickylamore @deobis-moon @mizzdivagirl7-blog @sehunnies-hunnie96 @yangsrose @bat-shark-repellant @cloudreads @raeincitizen @here-aeth @lune1897 @gaiyofanfiction @jaeminsespresso

NCT Tag List: @cherrylovr @eggoyu

If you want to be added to either tag list just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

[hyvcklvr]

hey, I hope you had a great day🤗 can I request y/n (taeils bestfriend) cooking something, the 127 members are there too. while y/n is cooking, she wanted to ask if taeil knows where the seasoning is, but she hears the 127 members talking with taeil, they give him advices how he could confess! Y/n pretends like nothing happened and later when everyone except for taeil goes home, y/n says "you don’t need any advice, I already love you" and he’s shocked and so happy?

Confession (f)

Title: Confession Pairing: Moon Taeil x reader Genre: fluff

Thank you for you request! I'm sorry it took so much time! I hope you like it 💚

Requests open, check out my song request event~ -----------------------------------------------------------------

It was a Friday night, which meant hanging out at Taeil's house. When you reached his house, you saw his house already flooded with 8 other people.

Taeil invited you in, giving an apologetic smile.

“Hey Y/n! Sorry we intruded in your hangout.” Taeyong said and you quickly shook your head.

“Not at all! The more, the merrier.” You said. You were quite close with Taeil's friends, so it wasn't a problem at all.

“Hyung, I'm hungry~” Donghyuck whined at Taeyong, who let out a sigh.

Feeling idle and kind of awkward between all the boys, you quickly suggested that you can cook them something, heading to the kitchen immediately.

You looked around the groceries, you knew Taeil's kitchen, and his whole house, like it was your own. You started preparing some ramen for everybody.

Meanwhile, Taeil was getting bombarded by the boys in the living room.

“Damn, the way you were staring at her made it so obvious hyung.” Mark said, while Haechan kept teasing him, saying things like, “Ooh, Taeil hyung got it hard~” Taeil was flustered, but he couldn't deny that everything the boys were saying was right.

Taeyong put a comforting hand on Taeil's shoulder. “Hyung, you should confess to her! I know you really like her, she's perfect for you, I'm sure she likes you too!” He said, as Taeil let out a sigh.

“Yeah Hyung. The sneaked glances, the small smiles, all that blushing, being around you two is like being in a drama. Makes me feel single.” Johnny said.

Taeil's mind was clouded with thoughts. He was so confused as of how to do it. “I don't know how I'll say it to her! I want it to be special!”

Back in the kitchen, you couldn't find the seasoning bottles in the regular place where he stored it. You walked down the hallway to the living room to ask him about it.

You didn't really mean to overhear the conversation, you just.... Did hear it.

“Hyung! You could serenade her!” Mark suggested. “Or maybe take her on a surprise date?” Jaehyun suggested. “Buy her a nice gift and write a letter.” Yuta butted in.

“Why can't you just go to Y/n and tell her that you like her?” Donghyuck said, bored, and hungry.

Everybody gave Donghyuck a judgemental look as he just shrugged.

You cover your mouth with your hands and ran back to the kitchen as quietly as possible. Taeil... Liked you? You thought, your mind and heart both racing. You decided that this ramen just had to go without seasoning.

Later, when all the boys had left, you sat down on the couch beside Taeil, letting out a tired sigh as you watched the show going on in the tv. Taeil looked over at you, staring yet again. Was it his fault that you were attractive?

You knew he was staring, and you smiled and looked over to him. He quickly looked away, pretending to look at the TV. You scooted closer to Taeil, putting your head on his shoulder just to tease him, and almost felt bad for the poor boy as you could feel him tense up under your touch.

“Ya know..... I heard you and the boys talking earlier.” You said, and Taeil looked down at you, his face pale as if he had just seen a ghost.

“Re-Really?” He said, trying to keep his cool. You laughed and sat up, cupping his cheeks with your hands.

“Taeil.... You don't need any advice, I already love you.” You said, and Taeil could swear he felt his heart jump up and down in his chest. “You....do?” He asked, unsure of what you just said.

You nodded, flashing him that smile he was oh so whipped for, and he finally smiled back, not wasting a moment in jumping into your arms.

He pulled away after the very enthusiastic hug, both of you laughing, and he decided that this was the best confession ever.

Masterlist

[whale-minmin]

hello! may i request how would nct 127 reactions to their s/o wants to break up because he/she thinks that they deserve better? thanks before!

NCT 127 reaction to S/O wanting to break up because he/she thinks they deserve better

Genre : angst, fluff

Taeyong :

· He'd quickly hug you, trapping you in his arms

· “No, baby.. How can i have better when you're already the best?”

· He'll whisper sweet, loving words into your ear as he caresses your hand in a calming manner

· You're one of the best things that have ever happened to him and he'll make sure you know that

· “I love you so much. Please never forget that”

Taeil :

· You're his whole world, he wouldn't trade you for anything or anyone else

· “Please don't say that, Y/N. I love you so much, you're my sunshine. I can't imagine my life without you”

· He'll prove to you that you're the best, showering you with affection and love

· He'll only leave you alone after he's sure you have accepted his love

Johnny :

· He'll be quite startled when you say you want to break up because he deserves better

· “You're already the best i have, baby. I love you to the moon and back”

· He'll convince you that you're the best he could ever have

· Showers you with love afterwards, telling you not to scare him like that ever again

Yuta :

· He'll be thrown off track, frowning

· “Did someone say something bad? Who was it? You're the absolute best, Y/N. I'm the one that doesn't deserbe you”

· He'll shower you with kisses and affection

· He'll also rain compliments and praises on you the whole day so you know how much you mean to him and how perfect you are

· “You're my gorgeous kitten”

Doyoung :

· He'll nearly spit out his tea, turning to you with a shocked expression

· “What are you saying? Y/N, you're the best, there's no one better in my eyes. Please don't say that”

· He'll assure you that he wouldn't trade you for anything in the world

· He'll shower you with love and make sure you know how just how dear you are to him

Jaehyun :

· He'd widen his eyes in shock, turning to you

· “Tell me baby, how could i get better when you're already the best i could have?”

· He'll trap you in his arms, refusing to let go until you acknowledge how amazing you are

· “My beautiful kitten, i love you so much~”

Jungwoo :

· He'll pout and look at you with puppy eyes

· “But you're already the best, i don't know what i would do without you”

· You can't do anything against his pouty face, so you just give up

· He'll cuddle with you all day, complimenting you almost every second

Mark :

· How can you say something like that? You're the best out of best

· “Baby, i'm the one that doesn't deserve you! You're the best, alright?”

· He's going to give you at least 100 reasons on why you're the best

· Then he'll cling to you all day, refusing to let go

Haechan :

· Stares at you like you said you just killed someone

· “Baby, you're the best! I don't want anyone else other than you. You're so perfect”

· Proceeds to tickle the living hell out of you for saying such stupid things

· But then he has mercy on you, cuddling with you 24/7 and giving you all of his love

WinWin :

· You're the most perfect human on earth to him

· “But, baby, you're the best.. There's no one better in my eyes, and there will never be”

· You can't help but give in to him because of his sad pout

· He'll hug you tightly, forcing you to accept his love for you

❀❀❀❀❀ a/n ❀❀❀❀❀

Oh my god i'm so sorry, i accidentally published it and i only saw this morning :( But i finished it now ♡

���❀❀❀❀

None of the gifs are mine!

[i-growl-growl-growl]

Can I request a reaction for yandere!nct 127 or all of them (if you all have time ofc) finding out their darling is a virgin, and how did they found out? was it through punishments or something? -🍦

 ———————————————————————–

Warning! This contains yandere themes.

~Ahreum Rhea

———————————————————————–

Taeil: Would find out through just asking you. He wanted to punish you but wanted to know if he was your first or not. 

“I’m very pleased to be your first. That’s how it should be! My true love should be a virgin for her soulmate. If anyone would have had you before, this would turn rocky pretty quickly. I’d rather not have to hunt anyone down and murder them, so you’ve made the right choice, my love. 

Taeyong: He’d, of course, find out through a sexual punishment. At the start of it, he noticed you bleeding and immediately realized why. Needless to say, he was ecstatic and over the moon to be your first. Not like he didn’t expect you to be a virgin because he did.

Chuckles “I’d expect nothing less of my kitten. You’ve pleased me immensely by keeping your legs closed, only opening them for me! I’m the only one whose ever had you and I’ll make damn sure it stays that way. Be a good girl and obey me or else I won’t make your first time so pleasant for you, understand me?”

Yuta: Would find out through claiming “what’s his.” He’d expect you to be a virgin, and if you weren’t, he’d find out who your first was, hunt them down, and then kill them. He’d be just as ecstatic as Taeyong but would be a little more interested in making sure you enjoyed every moment despite him being very sadistic. 

“You’ve made the right choice saving yourself for me, kitten. Since you’ve done the right thing, I’ll make this night the most pleasurable experience in your life, and finally claim what’s mine. I can hold off on seeing you suffer for a while” he smirks.

Johnny: He’d find out through just talking to you. When you tell him you’ve never been with anyone he’d honestly be shocked because it’s amazing how you’ve held off for so long.

“Wow, y/n, that’s pretty awesome! Not many people can do that, but I commend you for being able to hold off. Now, does that mean you’ve never done anything or have never been penetrated? Just wanna know how much I’m gonna completely blow your innocent little mind when I claim you soon.”

Jaehyun: Also would find out through talking. He wouldn’t care if you were but that isn’t to say that he isn’t pleased with it either. He’d be glad to know that his babygirl’s/boy’s first sexual experience will be with him and him only.

“Ah, really now? I’ll be your first? Well, let’s just be sure of that, little one. I’m gonna take you right here, right now, so strip for me. You’ll never be able to escape to have anyone else anyway, but better safe than sorry.”

Doyoung: Found out through having to go so long without any action. Meaning, he held off on doing anything with you, but then got fed up and impatient. Upon finding out, his s/o will see his eyes turn dark with lust and need.

“This is exactly as I hoped- to be your first and last. If you weren’t a virgin- well, let’s not think about that. The main thing is that you are, so let’s  cherish this moment together and consummate our relationship. Just relax, love.”

Jungwoo: He would find out through punishing you, thinking you were cheating on him. He thought you’ve given yourself to another but, once you tell him the truth and explain yourself, he’d decide to immediately consummate your relationship. He’d give you his all, using every trick he knew to make sure you’d always have a, somewhat, fond memory of your first time.

“I’m so glad you saved yourself for me, y/n. No one else deserves to receive such a precious thing from you. It’ll only hurt a bit but, don’t worry, this will be worth your while. I’ve wanted you of so long and now you’re all mine.”

WinWin: He found out through hearing others talk about how you aren’t putting out or “about that life.” Once he finds this out, he sweet talks his way into your bed and heart. This’ll make it even easier to take you later on once he’s ready.

“Babe, they were saying some hurtful things about you, but I admire what you’re doing. There’s nothing wrong with waiting and I think you’re pretty strong for that. Although, I wish you could be my first. I’d prefer my first time be with someone I love and respect who also shares the same values as me, but I understand. Oh? You want to? Ah, I’m so happy then!”

Mark: Found out through trying to have sex. When they told him that they’re a virgin, he’d be pleased to know. It wouldn’t matter either way, really. He’s not worried about their past without him.

“Oh really? That’s rare. Well, either way, I’d love you still, because you’re mine now and no one else’s. What happened before me doesn’t involve me, so I’m not concerned with it much, unless it can be  a problem now. Good to know I’ve got nothing to worry about, which means that you don’t either.”

Haechan: He found out through a punishment because he got impatient with you keeping yourself from him. He could understand you being nervous for your first time, but refusing him is a no no. He’d take care of you and go easy on you, though.

“It’s good that you’re a virgin. It means that I’m the only one who’ll ever have you. Now, I understand you being nervous, but it going to happen, so relax and let me have whats mine. Don’t worry, though, you’re in good hands- I’ll go easy on you, sweetheart. Now open your legs wide for me, ok?”

[specsforwoo]

Son of Morpheus | Demigod!Lee Jeno

Parent Deity: Morpheus (God of Dreams and Human Dreamers)

Allegiance: Hypnos

This boy loves to sleep

Like LOVES to sleep

He could be found sleeping anywhere

High key his mom found him sleeping on the kitchen floor one day

And ever since he was little

He was able to remember his dreams with intense detail

His family just thought it was a 4 year old’s imagination running wild

Until the night terrors started

He was tormented with them

They started around the time he was 7

They still happen today, just much less in frequency

But when he was younger

They were really bad

Like he would wake up screaming and crying

And it took ages for him to calm down

It got to the point that his mom was considering taking him to a child psychiatrist

He found a way to calm himself though

He began drawing out scenes from his dreams

No matter what they are

Light and airy or nightmarish

It helped him cope in a way

Life continued on

And he started opening up to his mom about his dreams

He talked about a young man with tan skin and dark curly hair

And wings of a white warblers

He told stories of epic battles

Of courtrooms filled with music and sleeping bodies

Of sleepless nights talking with a man sitting on the moon

Jeno couldn’t tell if he was scared of the man or not

As he entered middle school

He started being able to interpret his dreams

Other’s dreams too

He kept it a secret though

It terrified him

He learned to accept this too

As he did everything else

But then he learned he could predict others dreams

And it scared the shit out of him

He told his best friend, Jaemin first

Jaemin just gave him this knowing look and took him to his mom

His mom sat him down

And for the first time in his 14 years of life

His mother pulled out a photo of his father

And he was shocked

It was the curly haired man that he saw every night in his dreams

Sitting there next to his mother in a cafe in Greece

He was fucking confused

Like really fucking confused

Until it clicked

That was his dad

His dad had wings of a garbler

HIS DAD HAS WINGS OF A GARBLER

Am I going to grow wings too!?!?!?!?!?!?

No, you idiot. Jaemin

I’m not?

No, you have to earn them. Also Jaemin

So that night he was lying in bed

Questioning whether or not he wanted to fall asleep

Knowing he would have to confront his father there

But a cloud with a dreamcatcher with dew drops hanging from the strings shrouded with a calming silver light appeared above his head

And he fell asleep instantaneously

His father was sitting there

Talking with the man who embodied the moon

The man that he didn’t recognize made a comment and vanished after he caught sight of him

His father turned around. It was like he hadn’t aged a day since the photo see saw

Do you know who I am?

Uhhhhh. A dude with white warbler wings??? That haunts my dreams every night. Who also happens to be my father?

He didn’t mean to sound as sarcastic as it came out

Yes, that is all true, though I don’t ‘haunt’ you. But, do you know who I am?

No

He sat him down in the dark pavilion, explaining about the gods and goddess, the war and everything in between, even how he was born.

Do I like…. Have half-siblings??

No, but Jaemin is your cousin. His father smiled

After that, the dream faded off and he was peaceful for the rest of the night

Waking up, Jaemin was passed out on the couch in the living room

Picking up the nearest thing (a remote) he threw it at the boy on the couch, causing him to wake up

WHY IN OLYMPUS DID YOU NEVER TELL ME WE ARE TECHNICALLY COUSINS????

Not my place?

Anyways start packing, Mom said I can take you to camp with me this year :)

Yes, Jaemin calls Jeno’s mom his mom

And so he went to camp with Jaemin that year

It was nothing like what Jaemin described

It was WAY cooler

On the first day people were milling around everywhere

Jaemin led him over to a couple older kids with badges around their necks

Hey Jaemin!

Jaemin introduced them as Johnny and Ten, both sons of wind gods, both camp leaders who were helping all of the new kids get around and find their cabins

They’ll take care of you, I have to go find her.

Jaemin basically dumped Jeno on their shoulders so he could go find his girlfriend smh

Jaemin told us you were Morpheus’ kid, we were thinking about putting you in the Crios cabin? Does that sound okay? We would put you with Jaemin but he said you should get to know other campers your first year here. The shorter one spoke up

The taller one, Jaemin introduced him as Johnny, pulled out a gold coin, flicking it into the air while muttering something, and a wavering rainbow appeared in front of them

Put me through to Taeil and soon the rainbow was showing an older boy as well with a red undercut over some astrology papers

The rainbow??? Was facetime???

Ten obviously saw the shock on poor Jeno’s face, carefully explaining what an Iris message was and how to do it

After that he settled into demigod life pretty quickly

Jaemin introduced him to all of his friends, the Dream team, even some older campers who he was close with

He even liked the Crios cabin so much that he decided to stay there past the first year. The Morpheus cabin was lonely and Jaemin always had his girlfriend over trying to get her to sleep

The night terrors slowly subsided and soon his dreams were more peaceful than anything else

But one time he dreamt about a girl, right around his age, running into camp, a dark aura surrounding her but obvious scared

It wasn’t the dark aura that worried him, Kun and Jaehyun both had a dark aura, both sons of gods related to death

But her aura was different, it was mixed with madness, it was close to driving her insane

Even though it was only a dream, he couldn’t shake it off

He asked everyone that he knew, especially Jaemin, he found out a while ago that he was the one who founded the camp, what the aura could be and no one knew

He also started watching the border of camp everyday

Not stalking it or anything, just glancing over whenever he had a chance

A couple weeks past and Jeno was convinced that it was just a really weird dream

But then you actually showed up

Same way that it happened in the dream

You ran into the borders of camp like you were out of your mind, you were paranoid, no one could even touch you, not even Sicheng

When Jeno had heard what happened, he ran down to the pavilion

There you were, on the ground, covering your ears, eyes wide open, terrified to shut them, and shaking in fear

Once he had pushed his way through the crowd, he placed his hand over your eyes and shortly, you had fallen asleep

After that, Sicheng had moved you to the infirmary with Jeno’s and Johnny’s help

He found that you were severely dehydrated, and even he couldn’t describe the aura around you. It wasn’t that of Kun or Jaehyun’s but it was definitely similar

You were were in and out of consciousness for about 3 days and when everything finally settled down, a raven with a snake in its mouth appeared over your head

It was symbols that no one had seen or heard of, not even Jaemin or Taeyong

The boys spent the next couple of days researching who the symbols could belong to, and eventually they found it: Melinoe

Goddess of ghosts and spiritual passage who brought mortals nightmares that drove them insane

That would explain the way you were when you first came into camp

After that, Jeno stayed by your side every step of your recovery

He also helped you to manage the nightmares and control your powers

He had been there before, dreams were a tricky subject and nightmares made it even more complicated

But slowly you got the hang of it

And slowly Jeno started to have a crush on you, and slowly it turned into more

When he finally asked you out, you were ecstatic, it would be a lie to say that you hadn’t developed feelings for Jeno since coming to camp

And when camp closed for the summer- except for the few that stayed, he found out that you were attending the same university

He had been studying astrology while you were in the art department, soon, everyone in campus and camp knew who the two of you were

Y’all were inseparable

The Dreamies even accepted you into their group

(Jisung is your favorite don’t tell Jeno)

You eventually ended up moving in with Jaehyun

He had become like your older brother at camp

When Jeno wasn’t able to help you learn about your powers, Jaehyun was there to help

He even got his mom to visit personally and talk to you about your own mom and what he role was, and most importantly, that she wasn’t a bad person

Jaehyun knew the pain that you dealt with having a parent being a literal embodiment of death

And soon enough, it was even like Jeno had moved in with Jaehyun with how much he was at the apartment

Jaehyun was okay with it as long as he didn’t wake up in the middle of the night :)

[meow-bebe]

Pairing: Moon Taeil x reader Genre: fluff, high school au, best friends to lovers Word count: 1.1k Warnings: swearing A/n: psst @neonun-au​ this ones for you! youve been complaining about a lack of taeil content so heres a little something to keep you from having to reread your own work for the next few days heh. oh and google docs was bugging out and i had to write this whole thing on my phone so its unedited oops

[Taeil: Meet me at the playground in fifteen minutes?]

[You: Dude it’ll be dark soon]

[Taeil: Yeah i know and im sorry]

[Taeil: Please come before i change my mind]

[You: Well at least now i have an excuse to use the super cool lights on my bike wheels]

Your tone is harsher than the meaning behind it, and you’re sure Taeil knows that. He’s your oldest friend, after all.

You’ve been through so much with him. You met him the first day of school, and you clicked immediately. He had been with you through so many things, all your years of school, the time you broke your arm in seventh grade, your first major breakup. And on top of all that, he was the first person you ever truly loved. Not that he knew that of course.

He would do anything for you, and you would do anything for him. Which is probably why you found yourself leaving the house as the sun sinks below the treeline with what could barely even be classified as an excuse left for your mom.

The sky is still light, giving the trees that certain look of darkness that they only can achieve at a very certain time. It’s your favorite time of day, and as you turn your bike onto the path through the woods that connects to the other side of your neighborhood you find that you don’t actually mind that Taeil dragged you out here. The sky is beautiful, sporting the colorful oranges and purples of sunset, and though it’s surprisingly cool for the end of July the weather is perfect.

The wind caresses your face and whistles slightly through your wheels as you pedal quickly to the elementary school. Biking has never been your favorite means of transportation, but it was easy and cheap and if you went farther than over to Taeil’s house you could always get someone to drive you. Usually there would be a lot more complaining involved, but tonight you feel a strange peace amongst the trees despite your heaving breaths.

You catch sight of the pole which may or may not have once had a sign on it that indicates the exit from the path. From there it’s just a short ride down the street and around the corner before the school—and more importantly the playground—rises up before you. The gate has been left open, presumably by Taeil taking the same path, and as you ride through you spot his bike abandoned by the tree he always leaves it by. Taeil sits on the swingset, moving back and forth only slightly. He stares off in the other direction, and he seems nervous. You’ve known him too long and too well to not recognize the way that he obviously wants to fidget but shoves it down in order to remain mostly still.

“Hey!” you call out as you hop off your bike and set it down next to Taeil’s. He whips his head around in surprise and returns his own greeting.

“So what was so urgent that you called me out here to talk now?” you ask as you meander over to the swingset and take a seat on the swing next to Taeil, immediatelykicking at the ground to give yourself a bit of momentum. The nervousness that you detected in his body language a moment before surges up, swelling into his face as he gulps and twists his fingers together.

"Oh, nothing much. How're you?" His words are almost too calm, and he still refuses to meet your eye.

"'Nothing much'?" Your disbelief is obvious as you quirk an eyebrow upward.

"Just answer the question," Taeil mumbles.

You roll your eyes, slowly kicking your legs back and forth. The air has begun to chill slightly, and goosebumps begin to slowly form on your exposed skin. "Oh you know. Still going through constant internal turmoil over college. Go to college with my best friend and not have to separate myself from you or go to the best college for my major. Same old same old. You?"

"I'm in love with you," Taeil blurts out.

Your eyes pop open like a cartoon character's and you just barely manage to stop yourself from falling off your swing in surprise. "Holy fuck."

Silence falls between you as you try to gather your wits enough to form a sentence and Taeil sits statue still. The chorus of cicadas and the wind in the trees hums in the background as your surprise slowly fades enough for you to regain brain function.

"This is nothing much—"

"I understand if you—"

You speak at the same time but quickly cut off, each chuckling slightly. He was still Taeil, and you were still his best friend.

"You go first," you say with a slight smile that Taeil returns, if with slightly less enthusiasm.

"I get it if this makes you uncomfortable," he begins, taking a big breath. "Trust me, it weird me out just as much." You roll your eyes good naturedly and open your mouth to respond but Taeil barrels on like a runaway train. "I'm sorry this is so sudden but I needed to tell you and you've probably going to a different college than me and that's terrifying on it's own but the thought of you never knowing—"

"Taeil," you say, setting a hand on his shoulder, "do yourself a favor and actually breathe." He nods vigorously and wheezes in a breath, looking very much like he was about to continue his crazed monologue. Unfortunately, you couldnt hold yourself together anymore and burst out laughing. "You dumbass!" You finally cackle  "I love you too!"

Now its Taeil's turn to almost fall over in surprise. "What?" You've never heard so much shock in his voice and for half a second you wonder if perhaps you just caused his brain to disintegrate. "Since when?"

You count backwards in your head, finally coming to the right year. "Eighth grade."

"Eighth grade?" He demands. "You mean we could have been dating this whole time?"

You snort out a laugh, "I don't know about that, anyone in their right mind would've dumped tenth grade you."

Taeil grimaces. "Good point."

"But hey," you say, a grin taking over you face, "others may arise but this solves one problem."

"Which is?" Taeil asks, fingers brushing across yours where they grip the chain suspending you from the swing set. You take his hand and swing your conjoined fingers back and forth between you. He offers you a small smile, happiness glowing on his face.

"I know which college I'm going to.”

@kpopscape​ @neowritingsnet​ @nct-writers​

[affreckles]

A Light In The Night

Moon Taeil

It was night, I was walking through the streets of Seoul aimlessly, thinking of a thousand things.

Taeil and I have been dating for a year and a half, we don't live together but we visit each other from time to time due to his busy schedule as a famous artist. I have already met my family but he, being quite shy, does not know how to introduce me to his members

Minutes before I was in my bed trying to sleep but those harsh words would not stop haunting my head. "He won't come back y/n" My mother said encouraging me to turn the page.

It’s been a month since Taeil disappeared completely, not a message or a call he just left; After three days I managed to contact Haechan, the only member I knew and the answer, I received was a simple "We are busy y/n" and after saying that, he hung up. But It left me so confused “ Has he run out of battery? What if he really doesn't come back for me? Was he tired of me?” It was driving me crazy.

I decided to stop thinking too much and return to home cause it was already late, a few meters from home I saw a flashing light. When I got a little closer I saw that it was a phone flashlight, and it was held by a person, a silhouette that I would recognize with closed eyes; at first I was shocked but then I decided to get closer, I wanted answers and Istg I would get them.

“Hey” there he was, with that charming and particular smile on him and those bright eyes, he was dressed quite casual, a hoodie and long wide jeans but nevertheless looking as cool as always.

“Oh...hey” After my answer there were several minutes of silence, he was feeling guilty and the words did not come out of his mouth, tired of waiting, I decided to speak "Don't you think I deserve any explanation?" "I was, N-no I..just- I'll explain everything to you but let's enter I don't want you to get cold" "Fine, come in"

Already inside the house, I was very nervous, I offered him something to drink and I while I went to leave our things in the room. When I came back I sat on the sofa with an intriguing look, I didn't know what was going to become of us but my thoughts didn't help at all.

"So ..." I was about to ask something but he interrupted me "I'm sorry y/n I know how worried you were, but many things had happened in this month and I just decided to solve it by myself, I know we are a couple and we have to share everything with each other, but I thought that solving it like this would be easier for both of us, I even talked to the boys so that they wouldn't answer your calls and say nothing about what was happening.

Someone took a photo of us leaving the house, I thought that nothing would happen, that the rumors would go unnoticed but it was not like that, they reached the ears of the staff, my colleagues and even my boss, I knew that I was in serious trouble, several days later I received a call from the manager where he wanted to meet me to speak, at the end of the meeting I had two options, one was to end my contract with sm town and the other to end my relationship with you, neither seemed fair to me, I was so scared, I didn’t wanted to loose you and but my dream work was in danger I- I just wanted to stay in bed and cry for the rest of the day..”he started to stutter and tears were falling from his eyes, I was feelings guilty , I approached him, grabbed his arm and rested my head on his shoulder, allowing him to continue explaining “All the way back to the dorms I was thinking of various solutions and talking to the rest of the members but upon arrival they ignored me, one after another, they were disappointed, scared and sad, I realized that I had not only put my I work in danger but his too, when entering my room Haechan was in my bed, and he told me let everything out, he listened to me and agreed to help me to solve this, but first he said that I should explain everything to the rest of the members. All of them listened carefully and asked a lot of things at the end, after many hours of thinking we found it. We went to propose our solution to the boss, we explained to him that I was a great singer and quite an important figure for NCT's image and after telling him our idea, he accepted due to the pressure of 23 eyes on him, and after finishing the meeting , I came running here "

I was confused, and at the same time worried, he has been through all that, mean while was thinking he didn’t want to see me "And what was your solution?" instantly he got up from the chair approaching the door, I followed him without thinking "Are you leaving me? Is it all over here?" “Y/n I can't open the door, could you do it for me" I didn't understand anything, why did he ask me to open it myself?, I approached the door and heard several voices outside it, when I opened it, I couldn't believe what I saw .Most of the members were holding a sign with the phrase, 'will you marry me?' on one side the members of dreams throwing confetti and on the other they are holding a bouquet of flowers. "So ... what's your answer princess, will you?" he says whispering into my ear from behind, "Of course baby, yes yes yes yes" I turned and brought my lips to his without hesitation. Taeil put the ring that he had been hiding from the beginning no my finger , everyone was clapping, I saw how Jaemin covered the eyes of little jisung, the poster was on the ground, Haechan had come to give me the bouquet of flowers.

"I love you and never doubt my love for you princess" "I love you too"

[mahalkitajohnnysuh]

Awkward

I live for moments like these, so keep on reading to know what kind of awkward I’m talking about. 

Here’s a flirty, puppy-eared Johnny to hype you up! 

Mahal ko kayong lahat! :)

–––

Summary: It’s all about sexual awkwardness or any semblance to it with today’s offering. It’s a bit ecchi-ish if you know your anime lingo. Essie becomes a blubbering and forgetful mess, and Johnny couldn’t help but get turned on with that. 

POV: Both of these short pieces are in 3rd person, y’all. 

Word count: 1,615 words 

Warning: There are times that we should be candid about sex talk, and this is one of those times that I get graphic with it of some sort. And oh, italics are for thoughts. 

–––

Essie and Johnny were a hot mess after filming a vlog on the different kinds of red wine.

They were both laughing on the couch, sweaty with their clothes almost in disarray. The guy has three buttons undone on his white shirt while the girl’s skirt was hiked dangerously close to her underwear.

“And to think you wanted to do this alone?” Essie panted, placing her hand on her chest. “Yeah, I know. I’ll die from embarrassment that I’ll get drunk on camera alone. I’ll be more meme-worthy,” Johnny replied, patting his girlfriend’s exposed thigh.

“We shouldn’t do this again,” the girl straightened up, letting the skirt of her silk dress cover her legs again. “This is bad for our health. I think we finished two bottles per person.” She eyed the half-empty bottles of cabernet sauvignon and merlot before turning her attention again on her boyfriend.

“I know I’m going to need more coffee than usual,” he groaned. “Please, Youngho. Lay off on the coffee. Your cum will taste even bitter if you drink more than a liter, I swear.”

Essie was caught off-guard with the last words she said and clamped a hand over her mouth immediately. Her eyes widened in shock, jolting her a bit out of her drunkenness. Shit, did I just say that out loud?

Unfortunately, Johnny heard her loud and clear. “So, my baby doesn’t like how my cum tastes?” He moved closer to her, his hands wiggling in anticipation to touch her thighs again.

“John, please,” she grumbled, moving farther on the couch. “What do you suppose I drink then? You know what Mark said, right?” Her boyfriend’s voice sounded lower than usual – he was in the mood to torture, er, taunt her until she accepts defeat.

“Coffee without Johnny isn’t coffee, and Johnny without coffee isn’t Johnny,” both of them said, with Essie rolling her eyes at the end, and Johnny staring intently at her face.

“See? You know how I’m inseparable from coffee,” the guy didn’t stop moving forward, “so what do you suggest I eat or drink then?”

“John, I swear to God!” Essie hit the end of the sofa, “If only you listened to me and drank pineapple juice whenever we did it, then I wouldn’t be complaining like this!”

She was surprised at the words that tumbled out of her mouth again and buried her face in her hands. I am a worse drunk when I have wine instead of beer, damn it.

“Pineapple juice? Maybe you’d like watermelon juice too! So, fruit juice then?” Johnny stopped perusing her and leaned on the couch.

“If possible, yes. I want to taste something else, love. Your cum’s like battery acid,” Essie groaned, mimicking his action of leaning on the sofa.

He laughed at her response. “Seriously, baby? Where is this all coming from? You’re funny,” he patted her knee, which was within his arm’s reach, “And do you really want to know how yours taste like?”

“Please, spare me the details. I don’t want to know.”

“Yours taste like bitter fish paste.”

His answer earned a pillow thrown on his face. “I said I didn’t want to know!” The girl whined, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Hey, it’s fair! You commented on how mine tastes like, why can’t I comment on what yours tastes like?”

Essie just huffed and glared at him. “Come on, be a good sport!” Johnny resumed moving closer to her. “Or else I’ll fill you up with my battery acid.”

The girl wasn’t able to do anything once her boyfriend tackled her. “Let’s rev you up, okay?”

“Yes, sir. Please start me up.”

///

If there was another member from the group that Essie had a special connection with, it was Taeil.

After all, they lived close to a month with Jaehyun before the affair and bonded over their love for Frank Ocean and cats among many other things. Whenever he was out, she took care of Ying and Yang, his adorable black and white kittens.

Since it has been some time since the two met up along with their other friends, the girl couldn’t help but tackle him. “Moon Taeilllll!” She cried, almost jumping on him as she hugged him tightly. The tomato-haired guy laughed at her enthusiasm and hugged her back. “Hey, Essie noona! It’s been a while!” He said, drawing circles on her back to calm her down.

“Yes, I know! How are you, Moony? How are our fur babies?” She clasped her hands together in glee as she continued talking to Taeil, which was getting on Johnny’s nerves.

Lest we forget, Essie has been dating Johnny for a couple of months now. They’ve been through a lot – yes, do we need to be reminded of their affairs? – and for him to see her gushing at his hyung irritated him.

What made him almost lose his temper was that her short skirt went a bit up, and he saw a sliver of lace trimming when she hugged Taeil excitedly. At first, he didn’t want to think much of it. But yes, she forgot to put on a pair of cycling shorts and flashed almost everyone with her underwear.

He looked at his friends if they saw the same thing, but alas, they were all in their worlds. Yuta and Jungwoo were teasing each other, while Doyoung and his girlfriend were talking to Haechan in hushed tones. It was just Johnny who observed everything, and he wished that Mark was already there so he’ll have someone to talk to.

\\\

Essie didn’t mean to make Johnny jealous, but she felt that he was fuming because of how touchy she was with Taeil.

Who couldn’t be when he’s such a lovable and huggable friend? If she remembered correctly, her boyfriend mentioned wished that he had his hyung’s body because it was huggable.

Not that Johnny’s body was built in the same way, but the downside of having rock-solid abs is that the body lacks softness and warmth sometimes. There were times his hugs didn’t feel warm enough for her, and she had to stay in his arms for hours just to reach that level of warmth she wanted. No wonder she loved cuddling with Jaehyun more when they sneaked out before since he had more body heat despite having more defined abs.

As she continued to gush to Taeil about the latest cat Instagram accounts she found, she noticed that her boyfriend looked sullen as he listened to Mark. The younger guy arrived late with Taeyong, as both came from another project they were involved in.

“Not that I don’t appreciate you showing these adorable accounts, but I think you should talk to your boyfriend,” Taeil whispered, noticing how Johnny grunted in response to Taeyong’s question.

“I can talk to him later,” she huffed, scrolling through her phone quicker. “He’s a big boy. I’m focused on all these cute cat IG accounts that I think you should see and follow.”

“Noona, don’t be stubborn. Look at him,” he tilted her head towards Johnny’s direction, “he’s jealous of the attention you’re giving me. And like everyone else in the room, I don’t want to incite his wrath.”

The six-footer was now brooding in a corner, with Mark and Taeyong conversing with the other members. Oh God, how can I blame him for not being jealous after all we’ve been through? She thought before finally standing up and going to his location.

“Hey, my love,” Essie started, sitting down beside him. He didn’t move from his spot, but he put up the hood in his jacket to cover his profile. “Hey yourself,” he grumbled, tucking his knees to his chest.

“Are you jealous of how I’m interacting with Taeil?” She went straight to the point, which stunned Johnny a little. He was used to her mincing words every time she tried to apologize for her behavior. He tried to hide his shock by burying his chin into his knees.

“Yeah, baby. I am. I know you have a special friendship, but I can’t help but be jealous of other guys you act very chummy with. Considering, you know…” He was fiddling with his thumbs this time, a sign that he was unsure of the next things he wanted to say.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t mean to. It’s been a while since I last saw him too, and you know how much I love his kitties. So please, don’t think bad of it, okay?” Essie tugged the hood away from his face and cupped his cheeks in both of her hands.

He looked like he was about to cry, and she couldn’t help but kiss both of his puffed-up cheeks. “I love you, dummy. And I’m sorry that I made you jealous. It wasn’t my intention, I promise.”

“I’ll try my best not to be overly jealous, but baby…” He pulled her into his arms until she was sitting on his lap, “please don’t forget to wear your cycling shorts. You almost flashed everyone with your panties.”

Her eyes widened in fear, and she held onto the hem of her skirt. “Oh my God, I did forget to wear my shorts. No wonder it felt so breezy down there,” she murmured, giving Johnny an apologetic look. “Sorry, my love! It won’t happen again.”

He responded by smacking her bottom before carrying her over his shoulder. “You know what to do to make it up to me, right?” He asked sternly as he readjusted his hold on her.

“Yes, sir,” she whispered, ignoring the eyes that looked at her as Johnny brought her to a spare room.

–––

FIN

P.S. Weren’t those weak-ass endings? Or is it okay for you guys? 

[qianinterprises]

Unsaid Silence

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: It's worth mentioning that I 1) write this a while back and posted it on a03, 2) wrote this in one night and finished at like 4am, and 3) got a lot of help from my ex-bestfriend.

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: Johnny thought it would be fun. Walking around in the darkness with flashlights and friends.

Everyone else thought it was a half drunken joke to cackle about well into the week.

It was all fun and games until they realized... Johnny was serious.

It was not going to be fun.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: this is a horror, read at your own risk, WayV makes an appearance and kinda in a bad way so again, read at your own risk (I love WayV from the bottom of my heart so please don't be offended!)

It shouldn’t have come as a shock to anyone when Johnny announced his bright idea. Yet somehow, it shocked everyone. It was the type of thing that is announced over drinks at the bar, giggled about during late night movie nights, but no one ever stops to wonder if it’s serious, because it usually isn’t.

So when Johnny enlightened the 127 members of his “enthralling idea” to go crawling around the old Daegu Asylum while they were sitting around their bar table, half drunk, it had seemed like a great idea. Mark was particularly amused by the idea. As he sprawled himself across Haechan’s lap, giggling and hiccupping, it was all he could mutter about. How exhilarating it would be to investigate when they finished their schedules up early the next week.

And that was just the beginning. Throughout the rest of the week, everyone had brought it up at least once. Even Doyoung was excitedly chattering about it to his boyfriend over video call one evening. The male on the other end had warned him them that Johnny might not be joking. But it was all too much of a hilarious joke to be serious.

At least, that’s what everyone thought.

When Friday rolled around, they all piled into the vans, sweaty and tired from their latest dance practice, all eagerly awaiting for the rest of their evening and the next day off. The sun was still in the sky, although preparing itself to descend behind the horizon and wake up the rest of the world.

“Are you guys ready for tonight?” an excited Johnny asked the group he was with, practically bouncing in his seat beside Jaehyun.

He didn’t receive a verbal answer. A few grunts of confusion and lazy moans of others who just didn’t care. The only thought on anyone’s mind was shower, dinner or sitting around the television watching a movie.

He took no mind to it, grinning to himself in excitement. He’d spent his week packing a few backpacks for their excursion.

Upon arriving home, Taeyong noted how excited and bouncy Johnny appeared to be, even after a particularly grueling dance practice. He tried not to let it bother him though, or to pay too much attention to that nagging feeling in his gut. All he wanted to think about was getting his sticky body under the hot spray of the shower before crawling into bed with Jungwoo for a nice night of movies and cuddles.

Everyone went their separate ways, into one of the three bathrooms or to change into something more comfortable. Some even opted to flop down on the couches for a much needed break. Doyoung called in a pizza order for dinner before collapsing on the couch beside Yuta and plucking his buzzing phone from his pocket.

He squinted at a particularly coded text from Kun. The male was hardly ever straight forward when either of them ran the risk of one of the youngers seeing their messages, but this one, Doyoungcouldn’t even understand.

“Hyung, how well can you read Chinese?” he asked the elder.

Yuta glanced at him tiredly and then at the phone Doyoung was holding. With a sigh, he looked at the screen and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

“It says ‘The John Giant serious about dead people’” he read.

Doyoung stared at the black screen of the television in confusion. His boyfriend had never been this hard to read.

He spent the next two minutes pondering the words until Taeil came into view, dressed in cargo pants, a polo shirt, and an X-shaped vest strapped across his chest with small round pockets full of something.

Yuta took one look at him and burst out into giggles.

“What are you wearing?” he asked loudly, laughing and slapping his thighs.

Doyoung just stared at the elder as he pouted.

“Johnny made me wear this! He said something about “needing it tonight,” whatever that means,” Taeil said, walking over to sit beside Yuta.

Understanding slapped Doyoung in the face. He sprang up from the couch, startling the other two with the suddenness before running up the stairs. He slammed open Johnny’s door to see the elder strapping on a vest similar to Taeil’s. He could see what was in the pockets clearly now. Shotgun shells filled with a white substance. If he had to guess, Doyoung would say salt.

“Johnny hyung! What the hell? Please tell me you’re not dressing for what I think you’re dressing for!” Doyoung cried.

Johnny just grinned at him and handed him a backpack stuffed to the brink.

“Make sure everyone gets ready! We leave at dusk!” he beamed.

He didn’t lie. As soon as the sun disappeared and the sky was cast in dark blue’s as the moon and stars came into the light, Johnny was pushing everyone out the door into one of the larger vans that would fit everyone. By this point, everyone knew his intentions. All dressed in movable jeans or cargo pants, polo shirts, hiking boots (or durable sneakers), and either wearing a vest of salt bullets or carrying a heavy backpack.

“I can’t believe he was serious,” Haechan whined.

No one responded, but almost everyone felt the same. It was a tipsy suggestion at a bar one night after practice. Those weren’t supposed to come true and be serious. Yet, here they were. About to go into this Asylum that was supposed “haunted” because Johnny thought seeing ghosts would be fun.

This wasn’t anyone’s definition of fun. Except Johnny’s.

The van came to a stop and Yuta let out a groan.

“Oh lovely. We’re here,” he whined, opening the side door and crawling out sluggishly.

Johnny was still the first one out, and practically vibrating with excitement.

“Come on! Let’s go! Let’s see some ghosts!”

Jungwoo looked at the asylum skeptically. Fear traced in his eyes as he struggled to keep his hands steady at his sides.

“Are you sure we have to do this? We can rent a horror movie instead!” he whined.

Johnny rolled his eyes and grabbed the males hand.

“Come on! It’ll be fun!” he beckoned, tugging Jungwoo closer.

Jungwoo let out a screech and wrapped his lithe fingers around Taeyong’s hand, digging his nails into the leaders flesh in his escape to tear himself from Johnny.

“Come on, it’s not that bad. Ghosts aren’t real anyways, guys. I just wanted to look around. Please,” Johnny pouted.

“Why couldn’t we just explore it during the day? You know, when it’s not creepy!” Yuta fired.

Johnny released his grip on Jungwoo and turned his attention to Mark, who was already shrinking back and attempting to hide behind Jaehyun. Only to be shoved out by Haechan, who was already hiding behind the elder male.

“Come on Markie! You know you wanna come in with me!” Johnny cooed.

Mark grumbled, his resolve falling rapidly as he begrudgingly stepped closer to Johnny.

“You too Jaehyunnie! I bet if you use one of the video camera’s to record yourself, you’ll have that girl you’re trying to impress swooning!” Johnny said.

Jaehyun sighed and wrapped a hand around Haechan’s wrist, the youngest protesting loudly as he was dragged to the front as well.

Taeyong groaned and looked around at the remaining members.

“Let’s get this over with. The longer we stand out here waiting, the longer we have to be here. Johnny, you have one hour. I’m setting my timer. If you’re not done in one hour, we’re leaving you here and going home,” he said.

Everyone knew Taeyong was lying. They’d never leave Johnny behind. Taeyong himself would knock the giant out and make Jaehyun and Doyoung drag him out by his ankles if it came down to it.

He received lots of irritated moans and groans, but eventually, everyone was mentally preparing themselves to enter the asylum.

As they pushed open the creaky, moldy door, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Mark, and Yuta switched on the large torch flashlights they had all received in their backpacks, among other things. Broken glass crunched beneath their feet as they entered, and as Jaehyun (who was bringing up the rear) stepped in, the door slammed shut behind them. Jungwoo let out a fearful whimper and Taeyong wrapped an arm around his waist in an attempt at comforting the male.

They walked slowly, shining lights on everything they could, broken lamps, busted out chairs, ancient computers, a gargoyle head, a skull and bones, medical papers. Yuta shuttered against Taeil as the carefully walked past the bones.

“I didn’t think anyone died here,” Mark asked curiously.

“That’s the official statement,” Taeyong answered, hissing when a rat ran across his foot.

He nearly elbowed Doyoung in the nose as he lunged away from the rodent, earning a glare from the other.

“I was young at the time, but my brother told me about it. Apparently, there was this doctor that was experimenting on patients in his office. He was paid by the city to pick random patients and do lab experiments on them to try to “cure their psychosis,”” Doyoung said.

Haechan slammed into Doyoung’s back when the sound of glass shattering filled the air. The younger trembled, burying his face in the back of Doyoung’s shirt and the elder sighed, spinning around and wrapped his arms around the maknae.

“Sorry, I kicked over a mirror and it shattered,” Johnny apologized, bending down to investigate the mirror.

A few jagged shards of glass still clutched the panels of the mahogany brown frame, covered in thick dust. Johnny blew some of the dust away and found bloody fingerprints dotted all over the frame. Curiously, he flipped the mirror over and gaped.

‘Room 513’

The frenzied message appeared to have been written in blood with a shaky hand, the letter’s crooked and jagged.

“Let’s go!” Johnny declared, getting ready to lead the brigade.

“Are you crazy! No!” Haechan whispered back, his body still pressed as close to Doyoung as he could get.

“Uh… guys,” Jaehyun said, his voice wavering.

“It’ll be fun! We have to find out what’s in that room!” Johnny declared.

“Do you even hear yourself? No! We don’t go in strange rooms looking for trouble! Haven’t you watched any horror movies? That’s where the killer is always waiting to slaughter whoever is stupid enough to follow the instructions!” Yuta hissed

From somewhere nearby, a droplet of water could faintly be heard hitting the floor.

“Guys…” Jaehyun tried again.

“Don’t be stupid! Horror movies don’t exist! We’ll never know what’s back there if we don’t explore!” Johnny persisted.

“Johnny no! That is a dumb idea!” Jungwoo cried.

“GUYS!” This time, Jaehyun was yelling.

“What?!” Johnny yelled back, clearly irritated.

“The blood… on the mirror… it’s fresh…” Jaehyun spluttered.

Attention turned to the mirror in time to watch another droplet of blood patter down to the floor.

Haechan let out an ear piercing scream.

“Where’s Taeil hyung?!” he cried.

This sent everyone into a frenzy, particularly Yuta who was determined that Taeil was hiding rather than admitting the fact that he was gone.

“Stay calm! I’m sure there is a rational explanation,” Doyoung tried, but his voice was shaking so much, almost no one believed it.

Taeyong took a shaky breath and counted down the members. Taeil was indeed missing.

“We need to try to find him. We’ll split up into teams of four,” Taeyong said.

He slipped the backpack off his back and pulled out two walkie talkies with full batteries.

He took one for himself and handed one to Doyoung before splitting ways with his companions, Johnny, Junwoo, and Yuta.

Taeyong led the group down the hallway they had been following, carefully watching the floor and walls for any signs of Taeil. He didn’t know whether to be thankful or terrified that there were none.

Jungwoo was practically glued to his back, whining if he became too far out of the youngers grasp.

Yuta was already a mess. Trembling and whimpering with practically every step. Taeyong could almost hear his rapid heartbeat as his desperate eyes drove over the walls, looking for anything that would lead him to his boyfriend.

All of the excitement seemed to have evaporated off Johnny now, replaced with a look of pure terror and self-loathing that Taeyong almost wanted to wipe off his face. But the sick part was, he found Johnny’s mood justified.

“HELP ME!” Taeil’s voice screamed down the hall, rattling off the tattered walls.

“TAEIL!” Yuta screamed, tearing through the hallway, or trying to at least.

Taeyong’s fingers snagged around Yuta’s empty beltloops and held him in an iron grip he didn’t know he possessed.

Yuta squirmed in his grip, Taeyong’s fingers burning with the movements, not that Yuta cared at the present.

“Let me go!” he shrieked.

Taeyong was at a loss. Jungwoo was clinging to his left arm, refusing to let go. Yuta was struggling against Taeyong’s grip, practically ripping the joints from their sockets. Johnny stood stiff as a board, eyes staring off down the hall, glazed over.

“HELP ME!” Taeil’s voice shrieked again.

Yuta let out a loud wail as he struggled to free himself from Taeyong’s fingers, his feet scuffing at the dusty red rug thrown across the floor, kicking it up in large wrinkles until the movement eventually had him face planting into the worn rug, dust particles immediately sprouting into the air.

Jungwoo’s sensitive nose rattled off the walls as his body shook and convulsed by the force of his sneezes, snot blobs springing from his nose to plop gracelessly on Taeyong’s arm. In a crazed rush, Taeyong shoved Jungwoo’s still convulsing body into Johnny’s stiff one as he tore the fabric of his own sleeve to wipe away the disgusting residue of dust.

As Jungwoo’s body collided with Johnny’s the taller male was ripped from the grip of his stupor, arms wrapping protectively around the younger’s waist, steadying him before pulling the other’s shirt over his nose in an attempt at creating a filter between the dust and Jungwoo.

Another scream tore through the hallway, but this time, it wasn’t Taeil’s voice.

Doyoung led his group the opposite direction of Taeyong’s. There had been a narrow hallway that bridged off from what was presumably the main hallway. This hallway was much thinner. The walls were separated by a few yards. As Doyoung led the way, his flashlight barely provided much light in the pitch black. His shoulders brushed against both walls, making him shutter every time his clothed arm touched a paint-chipped dip.

Haechan huddled as close to Doyoung as he could get, practically tripping on the elder’s heels, his arms wrapped tightly around his hyungs middle, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He shined the light against the walls, hoping the clarity would calm his racing mind and open his lungs that had seemed to collapse on themselves.

“It’s ok Hyuckie,” Mark called quietly, a large hand splaying across Haechan’s back, rubbing small circles with his fingers.

It helped that there were others there. The warm body pressed against his chest. The soothing hand against his back calmed him down only slightly. But when that hand suddenly vanished, Hyuck was left shuttering.

“Hyung?” his voice shook at the question.

The other grunted in response and Haechan felt his heart jump into his throat in relief. But the hand wasn’t replaced.

The group toddled along until Doyoung’s leading feet collided with sheetrock. Haechan collided against his back and another body collide against his.

“Oof, hyung, get off me!” he whined in protest at the weight pressing him against Doyoung.

There was a muffled apology and scuffling feet as the body lifted off Haechan’s back, allowing the youngest to back off Doyoung just enough for the male to get himself off the wall.

Jaehyun shined his flashlight against the white wall that was suddenly in front of them, coming out of nowhere. And if Doyoung hadn't turned his head to the right and faced a dooming blackness, he’d have assumed they were trapped at a dead end.

The sharpness of the curve wasn’t expected, and sent a chill down Doyoung’s spine as his flashlight skidded across the dusty red carpet, ensuring that they were indeed headed down another dark hallway rather than dropping into a random pit.

Haechan’s grip on Doyoung tightened as the male took a tentative step into the hallway, his blood running cold at the creak of a floorboard under the other’s weight.

“Be careful hyung,” Jaehyun’s whispered voice was right in his ear.

Haechan shivered away, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up at Jaehyun’s deep voice rattling around in his brain, confusion clouding his mind.

Doyoung hummed in response, focusing solely on stepping on the floor as if the floor could shatter in seconds. Haechan didn’t want to think about how possible that was.

The whole group jumped, Haechan clinging to both hyungs in fear as a familiarly, loud scream echoed off the walls.

“Mark?” there was Jaehyun’s voice again.

And suddenly, Haechan knew why he’d been confused.

“... Mark hyung is gone…” his voice was weak with trembles as tears welled up in the ducts of his eyes.

Taeil’s back hit the wall with a quiet thud, the icy hand on his forearm squeezing tightly as he watched in horror as red letters were spelled out on the mirror, the wound on his thigh still drizzling small spurts of blood, but not enough to be alarming. Not enough to really be… anything.

He was confused.

The freakishly cool body had brushed against his back and tugged him off into the darkness, a bony hand wrapped tightly around his mouth, forcing any cry for help back into his chapped lips. A raspy voice whispered something hoarsely against his ear, trembles tingling down his spine in fear before he passed out.

The wound on his thigh was there when he’d awoken. It looked horrible. Like a stabbed gash. But upon tearing away the fabric of his pants, he found a gash, not much deeper than a small cut, but it admittedly hurt like hell.

A dark figure came into view, soundless footsteps falling on the carpet as the figure approached and a screaming plea tore itself from his throat.

Yuta grumbled unhappily, his body squished and exposed in ways that would make Mark blush in shame. His stomach pressed in on itself at the odd angle, legs dangling uselessly below him.

His body jolted suddenly, pain searing through his ribs at the weight of his body slamming into the solid surface.

“Yah! I’m not a sack of rice!” he protested angrily, slapping at the rigid back.

“Well if you’d stop squirming, maybe it’d be easier to walk!” Johnny snapped back, a hand slapping against the others thigh.

Yuta let out a loud yell and glared at the floor.

“Stop it you two. The last thing we need is for someone else to disappear,” Taeyong hissed through a whisper.

Ever since they’d heard the second scream, they’d been trying to place who it was. All they knew for sure was, either someone else was in the asylum with them, or another member of their group had gone missing. None of them were ready to face any of those options.

Johnny’s foot collided with something hard and movable. It crunched beneath his feet, a sickening crack rattling in his stomach as his legs flew out from under him, the extra body on his shoulder tempting gravity far too much as his plush bum collided with the ground, the floor groaning in response.

A hiss poured from his lips, Yuta’s now writhing body rolling from his shoulder, curling into a ball to clutch at his center. Johnny could faintly see the glisten of tears in his eyes from the glow of Taeyong’s flashlight as Jungwoo knelt down to nurse the male.

Johnny felt bad. Well, he almost felt bad. It was at the brink of building until his eyes fell on the tarnished white walls, his pupils freezing over the words clawed out in crooked, jagged piques, mixing with the paint and sheetrock. His blood chilled and he swore his heart stopped for a moment before clanging loudly in his ears.

“J-Jungwoo… how are you feeling?” he asked shakily, his eyes never leaving the markings on the wall.

“I’m fine hyung, why?” the male asked.

Johnny could feel Taeyong’s gaze burning a hole in the back of his head.

“Jungwoo, don’t leave Yuta’s side, OK?” he urged.

“What the hell is going on?” Taeyong asked, more than a little irritated and frightened.

Johnny had no words for the sight his eyes refused to leave. All his words had seemed to dry up completely now. He simply pointed.

Taeyong put a hand on Johnny’s shoulder to brace himself as he knelt down. A gasp rushing from his lips as his eyes landed on it.

Jungwoo

The lone name was scrawled into the wall like a desperate plea of a sharp nailed child in one last attempt at calling out.

“Shit.”

The word seemed to fall out of nowhere.

A shiver ran through Johnny’s back. That wasn’t any of their voices.

“Let’s keep mo- Jungwoo!”

The boy whose name appeared on the wall was suddenly pressing himself against the wall for support. Choked coughs tearing painfully from his throat and a smell wafting through to Taeyong’s nose. But it was too late.

With drooping eyes, Taeyong’s knees began to crumble, unable to support his weight any longer, rather, falling on top of Johnny, both body’s colliding lifelessly to the dusty floor.

Coughs continued to tear from Jungwoo’s throat as he struggled to keep his eyes open, clutching at Yuta’s limp arm before his whole world faded to black, his body slamming against the red carpet, eyes long rolled into the back of his head.

Doyoung’s breathing came out slow and erratic. Particles of what was hopefully dust swarming the air around him as the narrow walls pressed closer, making it unable to walk straight any longer.

Haechan whimpered beside him. His shoulders pressed between Jaehyun and Doyoungs as they shimmied their way down the hallway. Doyoung’s back was pressed flush against one wall, the opposite wall a foot away from his head now.

“Breath Haechan,” Jaehyun instructed.

Doyoung turned to look at the youngest, his heart clenching at the sight.

Haechan was a mess. His breathing uneven and choppy. His eyes shifting around and his body trembling. Doyoung could imagine his heart was likely also beating painfully against his ribs.

It was a well known fact that Haechan was painfully claustrophobic. He also had a fear of horror movies. And this damn well felt like they were sucked into the middle of one.

Haechan clenched his fingers around Jaehyun’s hand, trying desperately to calm himself down, but that task didn’t get any easier as he suddenly heard creaks in the floor, getting closer and louder.

“Hyung!” Haechan cried, burying his face in Doyoung’s shoulder until the creaking stopped.

“Shh, it’s ok Haechan,” Doyoung whispered softly.

He shined the light of the flashlight down the hallway as let out a deep rush of air as the light hit a wall expanding the narrow hallway.

“Come on, the wall expands back here,” he whispered, itching himself down the wall.

When they finally broke from the narrow hallway, they all felt the air become more open and easier to breath. The air that had stuffed itself in the swell of Haechan’s chest rushed out greedily as he took a few cleansing breaths.

It was pitch black. Even with the flashlights, none of them could see much in front of them. The glow of the lights licked at the inky shadows, but to no avail, simply revealing minuscule secrets of whatever room they were in.

Feeling more confident, Haechan used his own torch light to look around, never leaving his spot between Doyoung and Jaehyun, hand still grasped in Jaehyun’s.

As his light glowed, they fell on a pair of black shoes that he immediately recognized.

“It’s Mark!” he cried, shining the flashlight up the thin legs.

Something felt off as the light trailed up the body. The stature seemed too small and frail to be Mark’s, but Haechan wasn’t going to chase away his own relief.

The light glided over a tiny torso and up fragile arms. That didn’t seem like Mark either, except for the way the arms were crossed over one another almost awkwardly.

Haechan had Jaehyun and Doyoung’s attention. Six eyes trailing up the figure of Mark, checking him for injuries and finding none.

Up a taunt chest and sunken in collar bones.

He looked fine. No injuries. Maybe he’d found a trap door that led him to the room where he’d been waiting for them.

Up narrow face.

A scream ripped from Haechan’s throat. Doyoung let out his own shriek and Jaehyun’s high pitched wails blended horribly with the others.

Piercing red stared directly at them, unblinking, from their friend that shouldn’t be here.

Ten’s red eyes and sunken in state had Doyoung and Jaehyun sprinting from the room, clabbering over themselves, uncaring what the sickening crunching under their feet was or the scraping of metal. They didn’t even pay any attention to the groaning close.

Doyoung’s hand hit a slightly ajar door and he burst through it, Jaehyun following him as they were once again swallowed up by darkness.

“Oh my God,” Doyoung whispered hoarsely.

Jaehyun grunted in response, resting his hands on his knees in an attempt at catching his breath.

A terrified scream startled them both before all was eerily silent. And it was at that moment, that they realized their fatal mistake.

Haechan’s mortified scream still hanging in their ears as Doyoung’s chest tightened.

He’d left the maknae.

Mark opened his eyes into a gray blackness that had his head fuzzy and flittering. Where was he? Was this heaven? He felt so soft. Pillows under his head, blankets delicately draped over him.

A scream broke through the silence of the room and he sat up, eyes snapping back open. He didn’t realize he’d shut them. The bed disappeared, replaced with wet concrete and the smell of sewage. An anger yell snagged his attention once again and the soggy concrete was replaced with pure, fuzzy darkness once again as a familiarly deep voice tendered his ears and calmed his mind.

Johnny’s eyes flew open, staring up at a high ceiling covered in cobwebs that shined in the light of the flashlight. He took the flashlight and sighed as he sat up, his joints stiff from his time on the floor.

How long had he been out?

“Guys?” he asked, shining the light around to where Taeyong, Yuta, and Jungwoo once were.

He gaped as they were nowhere to be seen.

His heart stilled. Eyes frozen over in terror as a realization flashed through his mind.

“I got them killed…”

There was no point in running anymore. His eyes were drawn to the red carpet once again. But now, there was a trail of blood right where Yuta had been laying, heavily pouring further down the hallway like a river.

“No…”

He fell back against the floor. The carpet scratching uncomfortably against his skin, but he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. He only had one person left to live for. And he didn’t deserve him.

Johnny was a murdered. His stupid idea had gotten his friends killed and now, he was left with one person to answer to. A person he’d never be able to look in the eye again. A person wearing all black. A person with dark red eyes. A person carrying Haechan’s lifeless body.

Wait what?!

“Do you see what you’ve done?” Ten hissed, standing over Johnny menacingly.

Johnny gulped. Why was Ten here? What happened to him?

“Congratulations,” the sneer was nasty.

It had Johnny nearly crippled with the gripping ice of the voice.

Tiny arms dropped Haechan’s body to the floor, watching it land with a hard slap against the carpet, his head merely moving with the force of the fall.

Johnny almost couldn’t bring himself to look at the maknae, tears welling in his eyes.

His eyes were open, dinged over in deep gray, gone, cold, dead. His clothes were covered in blood stemming from the long gash around his throat.

Tears fell from Johnny’s eyes.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Ten’s voice hissed.

Johnny gulped as he clutched Haechan’s cold hand.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“You should be.”

The voice wasn’t Ten’s.

Johnny’s eyes widened again in horror as Haechan’s eyes shifted to glare at him, eyes turning as red as Ten’s.

“You killed us,” Ten growled above them.

Haechan stood up as if he wasn’t dead moments ago, effortlessly.

“And now you share our fate.”

Ten lifted his shirt and Johnny’s mind raced as his eyes caught side of the knife buried in Ten’s side. He watched the knife glide from the torn and bloodied skin and he wondered if this was how Ten had died. Slow and painful. But he didn’t have time to ponder this as the knife was plunged deep into Johnny’s chest before both bodies disappeared into dust.

Jaehyun’s knees hit the floor as he stared at the door they had just raced from. There was no sound. No creaking floors. No screaming. No whispering. No groaning. It was silent. Dead.

The thought had Jaehyun shaking as he reached out to grip Doyoung’s shirt, but his palm connected with something warm and wet instead.

“You killed him.” a voice echoed in his ears.

It was strangely familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“You ran and left him there to die.”

Where the hell was that voice coming from.

“He sought you out for protection and you repay him with betrayal.”

Something cold pressed against his head and he froze. He knew that voice.

“I-I’m sorry!” he stammered.

“I don’t think you mean that,” the voice echoed again, the blade of the knife digging into the skin of his temple.

“Please! No! I thought he was with us!” he cried.

He felt something trickle down the side of his face, something warm and wet.

“Pathetic.”

The knife disappeared from his head as a boot clad foot pressed itself against his back and shoved him forward in the darkness. His hand collided with something warm before light flooded his vision, temporarily blinding him before YangYang’s form came into view, red eyes just as piercing as Ten’s.

He didn’t know what happened. Watching Doyoung flail around in terror struck a cord deep within his heart and he couldn’t stop his actions. Xiaojun’s red eyes staring directly into Doyoung’s, knife pressed against the vocalists throat, and he couldn’t take it.

With the press of a button, the pitch black room brightened into a blinding white light that took his eyes a while to adjust too.

“Well that was anticlimactic,” one of them whined, but he couldn’t be bothered to care who.

“Did you really have to cut me?” another voice whined.

“Taeil?” Doyoung’s voice quivered.

Doyoung jumped as hands pressed themselves into the softness of his back as he turned, alarmed to stare at whoever was touching him, only to be met with kind, honey brown eyes that he loved so much. His eyes welled with tears as he lunged for the male, wrapping his arms around him tightly as the door opened again.

“He fainted,” Haechan cackled, half carrying, half dragging a limp Johnny through the corridor and into the room with the cells.

Ten walked close behind, helping carry his boyfriend, guilt nagging at his gut at the terrified expression still on the taller’s face.

“Is he ok?”

Jaehyun looked around frantically, confused as to why suddenly, everyone was in the same space, safe, in the light.

His eyes first landed on Taeil, who’s body was pressed closely on a soft-looking bed with an unconscious Yuta, a tight bandage wrapped around the Japanese males ankle. Taeil brushed his fingers through the males hair, smiling fondly down at him as he stroked over his face with the pads of his fingers.

His eyes drifted over to Mark, who was leaning against a worried and guilty looking Lucas. Mark’s facial expression was somewhere between confused, sick, and delirious as the soft pink blanket draped delicately over his frame.

He caught sight of Haechan, who had flopped on a bed beside YangYang, an angry red welt around his neck surrounded by blood, but upon further inspection, turned out to look more like crushed up cherries.

This was confusing. A mess. Why was everyone’s boyfriends suddenly here? What the hell was all of this.

Johnny’s eyes cracked open after a long half hour and he glanced around the room, eyes smiling happily at the reunited couples.

“Did we win?” he asked.

Ten opened his mouth to respond, a small smile on his lips as he carded his fingers through Johnny’s hair. His response was cut off as the door opened and a middle aged man with gray hair walked in.

“Congratulation NCT and WayV. For participating in this years “horror film” with such a realistic experience, you are all hereby granted a two week vacation from any and all responsibilities along with a full trip blank plane ticket for each of you.”

The males voice was dull and anticlimactic, but as Johnny and Ten looked around the room at the shocked faces of the 127 members, all the guilt he felt putting them through such a horrifying adventure was worth it.

[jeogiyall]

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞; 𝒎.𝒕𝒍

✪︎︎ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 𝟷𝟶.𝟺𝟺𝚔 (𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚕)

✪ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: 𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖿𝖿, 𝗌𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝗀𝗌𝗍, 𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗂𝖼𝖺𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗋𝖾! 𝖺𝗎; 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘅 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗲𝗶𝗹 <3

✪︎︎ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: 𝗌𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝖼𝗎𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝖺 𝖽𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗍, 𝗅𝖾𝗌 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝖾𝗋𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾𝗌 𝗌𝗉𝗈𝗂𝗅𝖾𝗋𝗌 (𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍)

✪︎︎ᴀᴅᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ: 𝗅𝖾𝗌 𝗆𝗂𝗌! 𝖺𝗎, 𝗌𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝖻𝗎𝗋𝗇 𝗋𝗈𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾, 𝖻𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌! 𝗁𝖺𝖾𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇 + 𝗃𝖺𝖾𝗁𝗒𝗎𝗇, 𝖿𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗅𝗎𝖼𝖺𝗌, 𝗐𝗂𝗇𝗐𝗂𝗇, 𝗑𝗂𝖺𝗈𝗃𝗎𝗇, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗋𝖾 𝗄𝗂𝖽𝗌.

✪︎︎ᴀ/ɴ: 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗋𝖾 𝗄𝗂𝖽 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝗂𝗌 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗍, 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗌𝗈 𝗌𝗈 𝖿𝗎𝗇 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗐𝗋𝗂𝗍𝖾!! 𝗂'𝗏𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝖼𝗅𝗎𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝖺 𝗌𝗆𝖺𝗅𝗅 "𝗀𝗅𝗈𝗌𝗌𝖺𝗋𝗒" 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗆𝗌 𝗎𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗐𝗁𝗈 𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗇'𝗍 𝖿𝖺𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗂𝖺𝗋 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗀𝖾. 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝗅𝗈𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀 𝗍𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝖺 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗋𝗍 𝗌𝗒𝗇𝗈𝗉𝗌𝗂𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗂𝗍 here, 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗌𝗇'𝗍 𝗇𝖾𝖼𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖺𝗋𝗒. 𝗂 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖾𝗇𝗃𝗈𝗒!! -𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝

Theatre Glossary

Callbacks: Second step of the audition process, almost like a second audition but you focus on a certain character

Blocking: Movement and positioning of actors on stage during a performance

Dance Captain: An actor in the show (typically ensemble) that helps with anything dance related. Can help choreograph some numbers, usually runs dance rehearsals

Stage Manager: A crew member who is in charge of crew as well as everything backstage during a show. Whatever they say is a direct extension of the director

Stage Door: A door where the actors, crew, and staff can enter and exit the theatre

Tech Week: The week leading up to opening where the cast and crew do the full show each day in full costumes and makeup. It is extremely physically and mentally challenging and you can often end up at the theatre for 6+ hours

“Thank You Five”: Whenever the stage manager gives a direction back stage, actors should reply with “Thank you (direction given.)” This is to let the stage manager know that you heard their direction

Mic Check: Before the show each actor that uses a microphone will get the levels and placement on them checked

Notes: After a performance or rehearsal the director will give commentary (critiques or praises) to the actors

—

Ever since you were a little girl, bouncing in the velvet seats of your city’s theater while watching Les Miserables, it was your dream to play Cosette. From the lilting notes of ‘In My Life’ to her character that leapt from the countless pages of the book, the character (and show) took over your brain. It was a genuine miracle that your parents hadn’t hidden your copy of the cast recording, or that your best friend (Lee Donghyuck) didn’t duct tape your mouth when you’d go to his house after voice lessons and force him to listen to you sing ‘Castle on A Cloud’ with countless different interpretations. 

After years of being obsessed with the show, you felt that it was a sign when your youth theatre announced the summer musical. An email with Les Miserables in huge red, white, and blue letters. It was challenging to not get your hopes up, even throughout callbacks. Even as the director tested different boys and kept you on to read for Cosette, you forced yourself to swallow the thoughts of ‘It’s me!’. When the cast list was finally posted you had to force your hands to quit shaking... Then made Haechan open it because your will didn’t work.

”Why are you even nervous, you know you got the part.” He grumbled, fishing through his pants pocket and trying not to throw up.

“The same reason you’re nervous, now open the damn list” 

“I’m going as fast as I can!” If it weren’t for his panic, you’re sure he would’ve slapped you, “Okay, I have it.”

“Give it to me straight, Doc.” He rolled his eyes and scrolled, undoubtedly skipping past a lengthy message from your director.

“You are such a dork,” It was easy to tell how nervous he was, so you bit the side of your cheek and allowed him to read, “okay. Xiaojun is Valjean, Jaehyun is Javert..” You nod with your jaw clenched, twiddling your hands where they sit in your lap.

“That’s good, they’ll be good in that.” He nodded in agreement, swallowing hard.

“Yea, they will. Lucas is Thenardier, that’ll be funny.” It was becoming increasingly harder to speak, so you hummed an answer and hoped that he understood what you’re trying to say, “Oh no!” he groaned, causing your heartbeat to falter in it’s place.

“What?!”

“The girl who got Cosette! She’s so annoying, but also really talented. As well as hardworking, and she’s wanted to play this role for forever, and-” Realization slowly sunk into the lines of your face as you slapped your best friends arm.

“Shut up!” He started laughing, something huge and sparkly forming in the space between your bodies.

“She’s also my best friend, so...” It was impossible to not hug someone in that moment, so you threw your arms around Hyuck’s shoulders and hoped that he didn’t notice the shake of your shoulders, “Are you crying?” 

“No...” You had sobbed into his shoulder while fat tears were fall onto his cotton t-shirt,��“A little bit.” He laughed, a sound that’s familiar and comforting and wraps you up like a blanket.

“I’m proud of you.” Hyuck breathed, squeezing your body tightly.

“Thank you, me too.” The smile when you pulled away was beaming, soaring as high as your full heart.

*

Playing Cosette was everything you’d ever dreamed, except for two tiny things. For starters, there was the wig. Of course you knew that you’d have to wear a wig, almost everyone who plays Cosette has to wear a wig. You just weren’t expecting yours to be so... Ugly. 

It was a nearly five pound mop of thick blonde curls, that would spend every single rehearsal tickling the back of your neck. It didn’t help that you were still a little confused on how to put it on, which caused the terrifying object to slip and slide around constantly. Pretty much at any chance it could get. The first time Xiaojun saw it happen he laughed so hard that he cried.

(”Xaiojun!” You had whined, trying desperately to straighten the blonde rat tail on your head.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I was just trying t-to sing at you a-and your wig-” 

Needless to say, the most that came out of that rehearsal were some cursed images of your wig mishaps and one scene being blocked.)

The second, and much more pressing, issue was your love interest. Moon Taeil was a newcomer to your theatre company, but no one was shocked when he got Marius. His voice is technically perfect, you and Xiaojun had analyzed every note of his audition while waiting for the cast list. There was not a single flaw, then when you factored in his emotion... Any director would be lucky to have him in a show.

Based just on his callback, you figured working with him would be a dream. It was for the most part; he came in already memorized every single rehearsal and his voice was just immaculate. His chemistry was stunning... With every one else.

Maybe it’s because you’re spoiled with your lists of love interests, which consists entirely of your closest friends, but you just could not get used to Taeil. It was clear he felt the same way, causing all of your blocked scenes to be stiff as a board. 

(”He’s not like that with Donghyuck! Why is Marius more in love with Enjorlas than Cosette?!” You lamented during an after rehearsal Sheetz run. Donghyuck had rolled his eyes while snatching Sichengs milkshake out of his hands.

“Hyuck, I have literally never hated a person more-” 

“Stop whining, we’re talking about (y/n)!” He quipped, passing the drink back to your peeved dance captain, “It’s probably because he doesn’t have to kiss me, which is a real shame for him.” 

“But he also kisses Emily, and they seem fine.” Jaehyun commented while taking his seat next to you. His addition caused you to groan, head sinking into your hands.

“Why can’t I act with my Marius! It’s so awkward and I can’t even get to know him! He just shows up, does the work, and leaves. Which is fine, whatever, but really? That’s it? No Sheetz afterwards? No McDonald’s? Not even a bag of chips from the vending machine outside the auditorium?! How am I supposed to get to know him when he’s just in and out like a ghost, are we even sure that he’s real?!” You’re breathing has turned heavy while your hands are gripping your wig cap braids almost violently, “Also my wig is so ugly and I don’t know how to put it on!”

“What’s wrong with (y/n)?” Lucas whispered, popping a chip into his mouth and chewing slowly while waiting for someone to answer his question.

“She’s having a mental breakdown for no reason.” Sicheng answered, snatching his milkshake back from Jaehyun. You were so busy ranting that you didn’t even notice the theft.

“It’s not for no reason!” You snapped, chin catching on the straw of your drink.

“(Y/n)?” Donghyuck began, eyes wide and sincere, “Shut up and drink your slushie.”) 

The scenes were so flat, in fact, that you and Taeil were called for a characterization meeting. Alone. If you thought you and Taeil were awkward on stage, sitting on the leather couches of the green room while waiting to talk about how awful you were together was much worse. Plastering on a smile when your director entered was physically challenging. 

“Okay!” She started, dropping files onto the cofee table in front of you, “For the record, you are both doing great. I mean really, love love love the effort. Taeil, you and Donghyuck are just hilarious, and (y/n) and Xiaojun almost made me cry the other day!” 

“Thank you!” You both answer simultaneously, Taeil nodding his head while twiddling his thumbs.

“Of course, that being said there are some issues regarding chemistry.” A shiver runs up your perfectly straightened spine, “I just remember at call backs you two were mind blowing together, like seriously. Those voices were made to sing with each other, and your characters were just what I wanted. A true directors dream, so what happened to that?” Your eyes flick to Taeil, internally begging him to speak first. It almost looks like he’s going to, but the words die on his lips, “I know it’s awkward to talk about, but we need to be open if we’re going to make this work.” You look at your Marius one more time, willing him to speak.

“Personally, I think it’s challenging for me because all of the boys who have previously played my love interests were really close friends. Like Jaehyun, I’ve known him since we were in diapers so it wasn’t... Weird, for either of us.” You turn to Taeil, who’s shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “It’s not that I don’t like you or anything, I do! You’re very talented; I just don’t know you, y’know?” From a force of habit, your eyes flick to your director. She’s nodding, ink pen tapping the tip of her nose. 

“Okay, Taeil?” She prods after a silence that takes forever. The boy fidgets, one hand coming up to scratch the nape of his neck. For one brief moment you notice how beautiful he is, with his sharp jawline cutting perfectly against his soft cheeks and high cheekbones. His eyes glisten while he thinks, then they flick to you. It makes everything feel red.

“Um, I agree... You’re really sweet, and funny, I just don’t know you. Or anyone, really.” The warmth on your skin dissipates and is replaced with a heavy swirling in your gut. Is it always going to be this hard to make him talk to you?

“Okay,” Your director starts, dropping her pen to the table, “so it sounds like for (y/n) to be more comfortable you have to get to know each other, and for Taeil to be more comfortable you need to get used to the environment; nod if I’m right.” Taeil looks at you with the same expression of a deer in headlights, but you’re used to this form of communication. He watches as you nod, then follows timidly, “Alright, I have an assignment. I want you two to go on a date.” 

Let’s just say, if you thought your ego wasn’t damaged by having to do this meeting it was definitely damaged by Taeil’s incredulous sputtering.

“Excuse me?” He asked, cheeks flushing beet red. You bit off the hangnail on your thumb, stomach churning again.  

“I don’t think she means a real date.” You muttered, embarrassment threatening your cheeks. 

“You’re right, (y/n), I don’t. I just mean that I need you two to go out somewhere, sit down, and get to know each other. Not as Marius and Cosette, but as Taeil and (y/n), okay?” You nod eagerly despite the redness flushing your face, because you’re a directors pet first. Taeil is a little (read: a lot) more reserved.

“Okay, we can go after next weeks act one vocal run through?” You suggest. He smiles, it’s the same one he uses while acting. 

“Yea, I’ll drive.” You want to tell him that he doesn’t have to look so scared about it. It’s not like you bite.

“Perfect!” Your director sighs, clapping her hands while popping up from her chair, “It’s a date.”

You wish her words sounded less like a threat.

*

There were few things worse than choreography rehearsals. One thing was choreography rehearsals lead by Dong Sicheng. Especially when they happened on Haechan’s (more commonly known as your ride) sick day. Even worse? Having to wear a blonde rat tail on your head.

“I’m really sorry (y/n), I just can’t even-” His words were cut off by the sound of him retching, you prayed that it was into a toilet, “Yea. That.” You chewed anxiously on your thumb nail, eyes tracking to the slowly dwindling parking lot.

“Don’t even worry about it, I’ll bring by some soup tonight.” You could hear his mom ushering him back into his bed, “Okay?” 

“Sounds good.” He groans out, making an ‘oomf’ sound as he drops into his bed, “I gotta go before I get something gross on my phone. Love you.” 

“Love you too, bye bye!” As you dropped your phone back into the rehearsal bag slung across your shoulder rain started to drizzle outside. It wasn’t a long walk from the theater to your house, and if you ran there was a small chance of actually getting wet (you had learned this with Donghyuck and Jaehyun back in middle school, after many unfortunate weather days.) You could always wait until the stage crew is done and see if one of your friends was on today, but the rain was already turning from drizzle to downpour. Besides, it felt wrong to talk to someone just because you needed a ride; running would be perfectly fine. 

“Who were you talking to?” A voice asked. You yelped, whipping around to see black hair and soft cheeks.

“Oh, Taeil!” Your voice comes out so fake that it makes you cringe, “It was just Donghyuck, he’s sick so I’m here. Why are you still here?” He shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants, eyeing the rain where it falls behind you.

“I was talking with Henderey. He’s stage manager, do you know him?” Slight irritation itches the back of your neck. 

“Of course.” He swallows roughly, hands briefly coming out of his pockets to brush through his hair.

“Oh, well our dads are friends. So...” Silence settles awkwardly in the room, so thick that you could spread it on toast, “So if Donghyck’s not here how are you getting home? Doesn’t he usually take you?” A sigh escapes your lip as you turn around again, noticing the rain that’s beginning to come down in sheets. 

“He does, I think I’m just gonna... Walk?” Taeil’s face twisted, jaw going slack while his eyebrows furrowed. 

“Y-you know I can’t let you do that, right?” A small laugh bubbles in your throat as you suddenly understand why he’s the perfect fit for Marius. The only word that can be used to describe Taeil in this moment (other than awkward) would be pretty. His lips are puffy and twisted with concern, soft cheeks pulling downwards with a frown. He’s pure lover boy material, which makes you even more frustrated that you can’t act with him.

“It’s fine, you clearly don’t want to be around me. Or go out with me, and if I run-”

“Hold on,” he interrupts, taking a step closer to you, “who said that?” a blush rises all the up to your ears, you almost move to cover them.

“Well, you didn’t say it but-”

“ME?!” His eyebrows are raised, they’re so perfect that you wonder if he’s ever had them done.

“Yes! Last week, you all but spat on yourself at the idea of going out with me. I mean you don’t have to get married to me or anything, but seriously? Is it that revolting?” His cheeks are the color of the daylilies that bloom in your front yard. Running in the rain doesn’t sound too bad at this point.

“I didn’t mean- it wasn’t like th- I just don’t know you!” For some reason those five words are what make the pot in your brain boil over.

“I don’t know you either! You aren’t the only uncomfortable one!” His expression is softening, it makes you want to scream... Or cry, “I don’t know you, anything about you! I try to joke around backstage, ask about your favorite shows, I even gave you permission to make fun of my wig! I won’t even let Donghyuck do that! You literally just won’t talk to me, so it’s safe to assume you don’t like me very much. Which is whatever, that’s all up to you, but you have to work with me! Which means you have to not, oh I don’t know, spit on yourself when the director says we have to do something together!” The expression of concern on Taeil’s face had twisted into one of sadness. It was unbelievable to you that he was sad, you were the offended one! With a frustrated sigh, you turn to the glass doors and brace yourself for the rain.

“Wait!” He calls out. You turn back around to see that he’s taken a step closer to you, one arm outreached as if he wants to touch you. Something flips in your stomach, “I’m really sorry. And I promise it’s not like that, I do like you.”

“Sure have a funny way of showing it.” You mumble, arms folding across your chest. He froze for a moment, lips forming a straight line on his face.

“I know, I’m sorry. Let me drive you home and make it up to you?” You’re about to say no when thunder booms outside, “I’ll even pull up and get you.”

“Does your car have seat warmers?” A smile starts cracking at the corner of his lips, you can’t tell if it’s endearing or infuriating.

“Yes.” 

“Okay, fine. I’m still upset though!” The smile finally spreads, it looks like sun rolling over hills. He nods and moves past you.

“Noted.”

* 

The moment you decided that Taeil was okay (probably more than that) was when you were sitting in his mom van underneath the cover of a Kangaroo gas station while listening to your musical theatre playlist. He was eating sour patch kids and sipping on a mountain dew while laughing at your answers to ‘twenty’ questions (twenty in quotations because in reality the two of you had far surpassed that number. It had been almost an hour of asking questions back and forth while chewing on gummy candy.)

“Okay... What’s the best role you’ve had?” You ask, stomach fluttering at the way his face lights up.

“Other than Marius,” He playfully sticks his tongue out at you, causing a giggle to bubble in your throat, “Tulsa in Gypsy. That was super fun.” 

“You can tap?” You ask, shooting up out of your seat. He chuckles, stealing a gummy worm from the bag in your lap.

“Is that your question or...” 

“No! Don’t count that; and stop taking my worms!” He laughs again as you protectively cradle the colorful bag.

“What’s your best role? And yes, I can tap.” You mull it over for a second, sucking on the red and blue candy in your mouth.

“Probably Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, that was really fun. I got to do it with Jaehyun, too, so that was nice. My turn?” He nods while taking a long sip from his green can, “Okay, what’s your favorite musical?” 

“Oklahoma.” He answers definitely. It makes you want to gag.

“Why?!” He answers with a ‘tsk’ sound, wagging an index finger towards you.

“It’s not your turn anymore.” He shoves a clump of blue sour patch kids into his mouth before continuing, “What do you think is the best movie musical?” 

“Easy, Mama Mia. And swallow before you talk.” He smiles, poking one blue blob in between his teeth, “Why Oklahoma?” He sighs, plopping back into the drivers seat. 

“It was my moms favorite.” His voice has taken on a softer tone, it makes you want to turn down the music.

“Permission to pry?” He looks towards you with glassy eyes, then nods, “Was?” 

“Yea.” He breathes out, head tilting backwards. The motion exposes the elegant lines of his throat (it takes everything in you to not stare,) “Was, she passed when I was nine. Stomach cancer. I started theatre pretty soon after that.” Your heart softens at his words.

“I’m sorry, I had no idea.” He locks eyes with you and grins.

“Don’t you dare go and forgive me because I have a dead mom!” The strict words make you bust out in laughter,doubling over so quickly that you almost push his drink out of the cup holder. He chuckles too, pushing playfully at your shoulder, “Come on, sit up.”

“That isn’t why I’m forgiving you.” You answer through laughter, placing a hand on his arm, “I’m forgiving you because you’re actually really funny, and kind, and... You’re like a pomegranate person. They seem so ‘meh’ on the outside, then you have to work really really hard to open it up, but once you do it’s worth all of it.” 

“Thank you, I think?” He chuckles, putting his free hand on top of yours, “Did you just call me ugly?” The laugh that comes out of you is so aggressive that it could be classified as a snort. It makes your gut clench.

“No!” You gasp, running one hand across your face, “I was saying that... I’m glad you forced me to let you take me home.” He gives you a soft smile, your ears turn pink.

“Yea, I am too.”

*

Being part of a theatre company in a small town resulted in two things; a lack of crew and strange traditions. The lack of crew was a direct cause of the lack of people auditioning, but after ten years that was proving to be less of a problem. However, the traditions (thankfully) had still yet to die out. There were countless examples, but amongst your favorite was the pajama sing through. 

It started in the very first show, ‘The Little Mermaid’ (you were participating at a ripe eight years old, in the groundbreaking role of ‘Clown fish’.) The girl playing Ariel decided that a pajama party would be fun, someone even brought a waffle maker. You remembered sitting next to Donghyuck in matching onesies and sharing a waffle with whipped cream and strawberries, and so the tradition was born.

(He had laughed his butt off when you got into the car that morning.

“You look ridiculous, it’s perfect!” You wanted to slap him, but in a caring way. On one hand, he made you wear a Mike Wazowski onesie. On the other, you wouldn’t want anyone else to be your Sully.

“Shut up and drive! Also, are you feeling better?” He chuckled again, punching your shoulder the way an older brother would.

“Much, it was just food poisoning. Let’s go!”)

Everyone cheered when you and Hyuck entered the green room with a rusty waffle maker and fresh strawberries. It was a heartwarming sight, thirty kids all sitting on the floor of a shabby room with neon green walls dressed in over the top fuzzy pajamas.

“Where’s the waffles?” Jaehyun called out from across the room. He wore a black cotton shirt with fuzzy plaid pants, an outfit that fondly reminded you of your middle school sleepovers.

“Will you get your bag off the counter please?” He stuck his tongue out at you, slinging the leather satchel over his shoulder. You smiled sweetly at him then immediately got to work setting the machine up, “Sicheng should be here soon with the batter.” 

“Um, why are we all in pajamas?” A voice asked from the door, one that you quickly recognized to be Taeil. He was in a white t-shirt tucked into a well fitted pair of jean shorts. all tied together with a brown leather belt.

“Did no one tell him?” Jaehyun whispers, the room falling quiet. Everyone’s staring at him, it almost makes you embarrassed.

“Um, we always wear pajamas to sing through’s. I guess no one told you, but don’t worry! I brought extras!” You walk towards the door, grabbing his arm as you pass by, “Did Hendery really not tell you?” 

“Guess not, it’s weird to have everyone stare at you for not going out in pajamas.” His face when he makes a joke is so pure, particularly the way he softly laughs to himself. You make a point to laugh as well. 

“Yea, it’s a tradition that we started at the first sing through. It’s always fun, kind of like a movie night. We’re parked this way.” You pull him towards the stage door.

“Aren’t we supposed to not use this door?” You scoff and push it open.

“No one follows that rule, also the pj’s are Hyuck’s. They should fit fine, if anything just a little long-”

“Okay you can call me annoying, or rude, or say that I have the personality of a door knob. But if you start calling me short I won’t hesitate to dropkick you.” A laugh escapes your mouth, coming out bubbly and kind. Like something you’d share with a friend.

“Relax! I wasn’t calling you... The s-word. I was just saying, Hyuck is a little bit tall-” He slaps your shoulder as you move towards your friends silver car.

“Not another word!” He punctuates each word with a short slap to your bicep, it makes you giggle.

“Okay, okay! I call mercy!” You laugh out while retrieving the fuzzy pajamas from Hyuck’s car, “Here you are, one pair of pj’s!” When you turn around to hand them off he’s standing just a little bit closer than before, you can almost feel his breath.

“Thank you,” He sighs, taking the fuzzy green pants and white hoodie into his hands, “I guess we’re not going to a restaurant after this?” You laugh again, softly pushing his shoulder.

“Are you trying to say my Mike Wazowski onesie isn’t good enough for the public?” He gasps and clenches his chest, perfect eyebrows furrowing.

“(Y/n)! I would nev-” He’s interrupted by the stage door swinging open, Donghyuck poking his head out ever so slightly.

“(Y/n)!  Waffles!” You smile widely, like a little kid on Christmas morning. You slam the car door behind you shut and begin moving towards the door.

“Coming!” You sing in response, turning back to motion at Taeil, “Come on, there’s waffles!” You see him smile, something about it looks reserved.

(What you don’t see is the longing glances he cast to you throughout rehearsal, the clench in his gut as you feed Donghyuck the piece of strawberry that had fallen onto his Sully onesie. You don’t see his eyes cast downwards as you nestle into Donghyuck’s side and stay there for the rest of the sing through.)

*

It turns out Taeil’s plans consisted of eating Taco Bell in the trunk of his mom van while listening to the Mamma Mia cast album. You passed around questions and laughs while stuffing your faces with burritos and chips that were too greasy. 

“You really don’t think I would play Harry?” He asks through a mouthful of burrito. 

“No, you’re definitely a Sky. Also, swallow before you speak!” He laughs, threatening to fling a piece of lettuce at you, “Don’t you dare!”

“I won’t. You’d probably be Sophie.” You flash him a bright smile, doing an over exaggerated hair flip.

“I think so too.” He rolls his eyes, the sunlight spilling from his car windows highlight a honey colored undertone in his pupils. A part of you wishes you could bottle up this moment and keep it forever, “Permission to pry?”

“Is it about my mom?” He asks knowingly. You nod meekly as he smiles a gentle smile, “Go ahead.”

“Yesterday, when you said that you started theatre soon after your mom passing, was... I don’t know, was there a reason for that?” The words coming out of our mouth feel heavy, threatening to shatter the bubble. You had never worried about shattering a bubble before, but something about the memory of Taeil’s glassy eyes from yesterday makes your stomach clench.

“She was an actress. A really good one too, there’s tons of pictures and stuff. We actually have one cast recording from when she was off Broadway, but I can’t listen to it anymore.” He takes a deep breath, tilting his head back again. You’re starting to think that’s a habit when he talks about his mom, “I did Suessical right after she passed because I wanted to... I don’t know, feel closer to her? I stayed because of the whole family thing, since my family had actually fallen apart. Like, unraveled. Then I found out I was kind of good at it, so here we are.” It’s tempting to reach out and grab his hand, so you do. Your eyes lock as you offer up a gentle smile.

“That’s sweet, I’m sure she’s really proud of you.” He smiles back and breathes out. One strand of black hair swoops over his eyes, you think that he looks like a love story.

“She was a lot like you, actually.” You cock an eyebrow, eliciting a breathy laugh from the sweet boy, “I’m serious! She was so sweet, and funny, and like... Stubborn, but in a quiet kind of way.” Warmth blossoms in your chest.

“I’m glad you think of me that way, does that have anything to with why you wouldn’t talk to me?” He laughs again, unwinding his hand from yours. The answer is hesitant, you choose to believe it’s because he was laughing.

“Sure.” 

You stay in the back of his car until the sun sets, wrapped up in the feeling of being with Taeil like it’s a warm bathrobe and you just stepped out of the shower.

*

“Where to this week?” You ask while bouncing over to the mom van. Taeil smiles, unlocking the door so you can climb in.

“I’m feeling ice cream, so Dairy Queen?” You smile and nod enthusiastically.

“Dairy Queen, absolutely!” He flashes you a smile while settling into the drivers seat, immediately connecting his phone to the aux and flipping through countless cast recordings.

“What are we feeling today? Maybe some Phantom?” When he looks over he’s greeted with a hazy smile, one that’s exclusively reserved for post rehearsal sappiness, “What?” (You pretend to not notice the goofy grin catching on the plane of his face.)

“I’m just really glad that we’re doing this weekly now. It’s almost like we’re friends.” He laughs, punching your shoulder. You think that it feels different than when Hyuck does it.

“We are friends, now text me your order.”

*

“Where are we headed, Miss?” Taeil questions, mustering up a rancid British accent. You would’ve laughed less if his hair wasn’t stuck to his forehead with sweat. The entire cast had been hoping Sicheng would lighten up on choreography rehearsals as you got closer to show week, but sadly you were all dead wrong.

“How about Dunkin’? I need the caffeine after that torture session.” He smiles widely, you pretend to not notice the bead of sweat that drips down his nose.

“Sounds great, text me-” 

“My order, already on it!” He pinches your cheek before putting the car in reverse; you try to ignore how it makes your skin burn for the rest of the day.

*

“I can’t believe we’re one week away from tech.” You lament while Taeil sinks his teeth into a Five Guys burger. The idea of inhaling fast food while sitting in the back of this boys car would’ve once been so foreign to you, but now it’s a routine, “It feels like just yesterday we were stuttering our way through every scene together while Hyuck roasted me in our group chat.”

“Would he really?” A laughs spills from your mouth, along with a single shred of lettuce from the bite of cheese burger you had just consumed. Taeil immediately points at the spot where it landed on your thigh, laughing along with you, “Swallow! Swallow before you speak! Laugh? Either!” He’s shaking a finger at you, it reminds you of something your father would do.

“Stop! It’s your fault for making me laugh!” You whine, reaching up to grab his still waggling finger, “I swear we’re gonna have to fight!” His laughter has permeated the air, it makes something flutter in your stomach.

“I can’t believe your manners are so bad! Get it together, (y/n)!” He brings his other hand up, but doesn’t get very far before your hands are wrapped around both of his index fingers.

“Keep this up and Marius is going on with eight fingers.” You manage through a laugh, trying not to notice the pink spreading across his high cheek bones. (The same way you tried to not notice the freckle on the shell of his ear, or how his skin looked like honey against his black sweatshirt,) “I’m not kidding!” 

“Forgive me for finding a girl who was wearing a blonde pom pom on her head an hour ago less than threatening.” He teases. You pretend that your heart doesn’t clench at his mischievous smirk.

“You’re so lucky that I like you too much to hurt you.”

*

When Jung Jaehyun moved in down the street you were six years old. It immediately resulted in countless days of riding your bikes up and down the street and stuffing your face with traditional Korean food at his house. Over the years the activities have changed, but the accessibility was always the same.

Which is how you ended up knocking on his front door at midnight exactly eight hours before tech rehearsals were set to begin. He opened the door wearing an expression of concern, as well as a bright green face mask.

“(Y/n)? It’s kinda late, isn’t-”

“I think I’m in love with Taeil.” You blurt out. His jaw drops open, light cracks forming in the green goop on his face, “I don’t really know how it happened, but we have those weekly dates or whatever, and he makes me laugh, a-and I don’t know! He’s just so kind and gentle, so so gentle, and our stage kiss! That, that used to be something just like... Whatever, you know? Like how I’ve kissed you and Hyuck. Just a stage kiss, but with Taeil it leaves chills all over my body! I literally forget my lines, which I’ve never done before! At least not because of a kiss!” Your eyes are wild (though, the fact that you’re donning fuzzy plaid pajama pants and bed head definitely adds to that.)

“Um... I’m not really in a position to talk right now, why don’t you come inside?” You nod, chewing nervously on your lower lip. He ushers you into the house, immediately seating you on the couch with a warm cup of honey tea, “I’m gonna go wash this off, but I promise I will be right back. We can talk then, yea?” You nod shyly, sipping the hot tea as he exits the living room.

The thoughts of Taeil had been dwelling in your head for weeks, causing your romance scenes to flourish. Receiving adamant praise from your director was nice, but you always left the stage with a hole in your chest. A gaping hole that only closes up in the solace of Taeil’s mom van with his eyes trained on you and everything feeling warm.

Jaehyun reenters the room with a clean face, immediately plopping next to you on the couch. His hair is pulled back from his forehead with an elastic headband, causing it to poke out in every direction. You think he looks like an octopus  

“The tea’s good.” You breathe, face taking on a tired expression. You think Jaehyun doesn’t notice until he places his ring finger on the space between your eyebrows.

“Relax, we don’t need tech week wrinkles before tech has even started.” You roll your eyes dramatically, running a hand across your face.

“I’ll never forgive Hyuck for teaching you about skin care.” You groan as he playfully punches your shoulder.

“Whereas I am forever grateful. So, Taeil?” You whine like a peeved child at his comment, head falling onto his shoulder. He let’s out a squeaky laugh while pushing you to sit up, “Come on, tell me everything!”

So you do, mouth letting out words faster than you thought was possible. You tell him about the first day he drove you home, how he ate sour patch kids and sang along to Mean Girls. You tell him about taco bell, about how your weekly outings have become almost sacred. Most importantly, you tell Jaehyun about the moment you started to fall. Sitting in the back of Moon Taeil’s car with a mouthful of burrito; ‘She was a lot like you, actually’. It was so certain, so meaningful.

“I don’t know. He just make me feel so calmed, like... Like when we’re together there’s a pink bubble around us, and nothing can penetrate it.” A soft smile has taken on home on your friends face, one of his hands holding his heart as he pouts. It’s maddening how a moment like this with Jaehyun (or with any of your friends) makes you feels so different compared to a moment like this with Taeil. He’s just a boy like the others, but his hand on your thigh would make your head explode.

“That’s really sweet, (y/n). And it seems like he really likes you too.” You groan again, eliciting a warm laugh from your friend, “What? Why’s that bad?” You drag your hands down your face, pulling dramatically on your cheeks.

“Because! I’ve never liked anyone this much before, let alone someone like Taeil! He’s so hardworking, and sweet to everyone. I just don’t know if...” He leans into you, raising one eyebrow.

“You don’t know what?” A lump forms in your throat, you want to vomit.

“I don’t know if I’m good enough.” The words are breathy due to you uselessly fighting back tears. One slides down your cheek, Jaehyun passes you a tissue, “A-and it’s scary because I’m not used to not knowing that, I’m always good enough! But for him, f-for him? He deserves the entire world, and I can’t give him that! I can’t even drive!” Jaehyun laughs softly, pulling you into a comforting hug while patting your back softly.

“Well the driving thing isn’t your fault, or relevant,” A whimper escapes your lips as you cuddle into your friends chest, “And if you two are meant to be then you will be enough. No matter what you have to give physically, if you two really love each other you will always be enough. Now let’s get you home, can’t have Cosette showing up cranky on the first day of tech.” You laugh; it’s a depressing, watery noise. Sitting up, you wipe the tear tracks from your cheeks and inhale snottily.

“No, I guess we can’t. Would be a shame to have a sleepy Javert, too.” He laughs while standing in one swift motion, offering you a hand.

“Yes it would... (Y/n?)” You stand up, stealing one last hug from your kind friend.

“Yes?” You ask while nestled in his arms.

“I love you so much. You’re like my little sister, and I’m really really proud of you.” A sigh leaves your chest, your whole body feeling like a weight’s been lifted.

“Thank you, big bro.” He smiles brightly, “You’re gonna tell everyone about this, aren’t you?” He laughs again, head tilting back. You think of the way Taeil does that, and then you think of the way his laugh sounds (soft and high, almost like how a fairy would laugh.)

“Sweetie, we already knew. We were just waiting for you to admit it.”

*

1:27 am

Incoming text from; xiaojun <3

‘(Y/N) AND TAEIL SITTIN IN A TREE’

‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G’

*

1:49 am

Incoming text from; seecheeng

‘thank u for confessing jae owes me $30′

*

1:52 am

Incoming text from; luke ass

‘AYEEEEEEEEEE’

*

6:05 am

Incoming text from; donkey yuck <33

‘if u don’t make a move by the end of tech i’ll eat your toes :)’

*

There were four dressing rooms in your theater, usually divided between principle and ensemble due to the amount of costumes. While the boys and girls were separated, you would freely go between your dressing room and wherever all of your boys were. You were all so familiar that you could come in wearing nothing but a sweatshirt and your spanx. Which is exactly what you did, business as usual.

“Happy t-” Your voice leaves as soon as you see Taeil sitting in front of a mirror with an eyebrow pencil in his hand. He looks at you, and it’s almost comical how quickly his cheeks turn pink, “I’m gonna go put my pants back on.” 

(You can hear Hyuck laughing through the walls.)

“Welcome back!” Lucas calls out as you reenter the dressing room, “Happy to see your pants this time.” You shoot him a sleepy glare and plop into the seat next to Donghyuck. 

“Will you do my falsies for me?” You ask the boy, already knowing that he’ll agree.

“Yes, but I’m not tying your corset.” A laugh falls from your lips as you pump primer onto the back of your hand. It’s going pretty well until you notice Taeil watching you, eyes trained on your every move. It makes you blush.

“What?” You ask, remnants of laughter settling in your chest. The room is bustling, people arguing over where to put costume pieces, music blaring from Xiaojun’s speaker, Lucas screaming over... Something; but nonetheless you can feel a bubble form around you and Taeil. 

“Oh! Nothing, just... Your makeup looks so good. Mine always looks gross.” His eyes are sparkling, along with the teeth that poke from his small smile. You laugh lightly, pushing a stray piece of hair behind your ear.

“Do you want me to do your makeup?” His eyes immediately go wide, the small smile now spreading cheek to cheek. The way he nods like an energetic kid makes your heart clench, “Okay, just let me finish this really quick.” You pack powder onto your forehead, then slide up onto the counter in front of where he’s sitting, “Where’s your foundation?” He reaches behind you to grab the small glass bottle, hand lightly brushing your hip bone in the process. It would be a joke to say the two of you don’t develop blushes redder than a fire engine.

“Um, here!” He shoves the bottle into your hands, driving a wedge between your bodies. 

“Thanks.” You sigh, spreading the liquid goop onto the back of your hand, “How are you feeling about your first tech day so far?” The boy smirks, a giggle playing on his lips.

“It’s fun. My favorite part was when you came in without pants.” From across the room Hyuck cackles, causing both you and Taeil to turn and stare.

“Sorry, I agree!” You roll your eyes and return to the former position. The first thing you notice is how smooth Taeil’s skin is, then the solemn expression that it wears. Your eyebrows crinkle while spreading blending foundation into his cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” You ask while moving onto the boys forehead. He shakes his head dismissively, causing you to promptly slap him, “Don’t move your head... Or lie to me.”

“I’m fine!” The boys sighs, a smile finally verging on the edges of his lips, “And I wouldn’t lie to you.” Something clenches inside of your chest, something that let’s you know he’s still not okay. You’re about to push even harder when Xiaojun calls your name from across the room, shouting that it’s your turn to pick the song.

“Anything from Waitress!” You reply while lightly dabbing blush onto Taeil’s cheeks. The bubble is officially popped, but the weight of Taeil’s face in your hands is too comforting for it to matter.

*

“Five to places!” Hendery calls into the girls dressing room. You (and three ensemble girls) are currently trying to shove your gut into a corset while not damaging the curly blonde wig on top of your head. Yet still, you drone ‘Thank you five’ in response, as if you’re all actually going to be ready by then.

“I got it!” One girl shouts as she fastens the eye and hook on your back, “Okay, breathe in really hard.” You barely have a chance to breathe period before she fastens the ribbons so tight that you see stars. 

“Thank you.” You wheeze as she backs away, moving quickly to put on your first dress. It’s a gorgeous thing, with sleeves that puff like clouds and a huge violet silk skirt. The first time you pulled it over your head it felt like you were the same little girl who bounced and cheered in the seats of the Les Mis national tour, like thousands of wishes on stars had come true. You felt the same way now as you gazed into the mirror.

“Where’s your bonnet?” The girl playing Eponine asked, eliciting a curse from your perfectly painted lips.

“I left it in the boys room.” You drop your hands from where they’re adjusting the gown and head for the door. Rushing into the boys dressing room while wearing a dress shaped like a cupcake and character shoes is probably a sight for sore eyes. You actually know that it is, if Xiaojuns aching laughter is anything to judge by.

“Has anyone seen my bon-” The sight of Taeil standing alone in the center of the room with your bonnet twirling on his fingers makes your voice stop. You smile and walk towards him, reveling in the stars in his eyes, “Thank you, I was looking for that.” You say as you take it off the boys fingers. The room is a heavy kind of silent, one that waits for someone to say something, “So are you-”

“We have to stop this.” He states, turning to face you head on. Something clenches in your chest, causing confusion to rise up on your face.

“Stop what, I’m just getting my bonnet-” 

“Please don’t do that,” He groans as sadness settles into the lines of his face, “don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. It’ll just drag this out.” He moves to turn away, but you grab him by the shoulder and flip him back to you. There’s no way that he’s getting of this that easily.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, so tell me!” You’re begging, but there’s something snapping in your heart telling you to not care. He sighs deeply, running one hand over his face. It’s infuriating how hard his action makes your stomach flutter.

“This! Th-the feelings! The way that we talk a-and touch, it has to stop.” You feel a lump harden in your throat, but you swallow it down and grip him tighter.

“Why?” He groans, trying again to move away, “No, tell me why? If it’s because you don’t feel how I do then I at least deserve to know!” His eyes go sad, a single tear rolling down his cheek. You want to tell him that it’ll ruin his makeup if he cries now. You want to wipe it away.

“It’s not that, I-I do feel the same. But I can’t, and I shouldn’t, so we have to stop this.” Tears are flowing down his cheeks, you want to cry too. It’s actually becoming hard not to.

“Yes, but why?” Your voice sounds like a sob.

“Because! Because I don’t want to hurt anyone, least of all you, so we have to stop this.” Well, that wasn’t any less confusing than this outburst. You’re about to say something when the door swings open.

“Places!” Hendery calls into the room. Your stomach goes cold at the realization that you still have to do the show.

“Thank you places.” Taeil calls back as you drop his shoulder. He wipes the tears from his cheeks, you want to tell him that he’s going to get foundation on his sleeve. Before he leaves he casts you one last glance with watery eyes, it almost looks like he’s going to apologize. He doesn’t, leaving you standing alone in the middle of the room. 

The silence settles heavy again, enveloping you entirely. There’s no sound as you sob, no sound as the overhead microphone turns on, no sound as Hyuck and Lucas enter the room to envelope you in a bone crushing. No sound except for the boiling anger that turns your ears red and the erratic thumping of your heart that leaps into your throat.

*

You do your makeup and put on your wig in the boys dressing room everyday, yet still manage to avoid talking to Taeil until final dress. It was challenging to say the least, but Hyuck’s terrible jokes and watching Lucas try to do his stage makeup was the perfect distraction from the brick that Taeil left in your gut. Unfortunately, neither of them were here now. Just Xiaojun (who was sitting in the cushy chair by the door with earbuds in,) Taeil (who was buttoning the collar of his ruffled shirt,) and you (who’s shoving all of the hair on your head into a wig cap.)

“You were really good yesterday.” He says, mocha brown eyes moving to where you sit. It’s frustrating how quickly you blush, “Not that you’re not always really good, you are! It’s just-” 

“Why are you doing this?” You ask, hands dropping from your head and onto the makeup counter, “First you say that you won’t... Whatever for god knows why, and that’s fine! I’m trying to let that be fine, even though I have to kiss you but it’s not like I’m actually kissing you. It’s fine, it’s fine! Until you start trying to make small talk, that’s just cruel.” You can only imagine how non-threatening you look with all of your hair shoved into a lump on your head, yet he still looks like he’s been scolded.

“Oh, um... I’m sorry.” You turn back to the mirror and pull the wig onto your head, securing it with a huge clump of bobby pins.

“I have to go and get my costume on, I’ll see on stage.” You exit quickly, with something angry, sad, and ugly forming in your stomach.

*

The feeling of opening night is one that eludes a description. It’s like there’s a pit in your stomach, but the pit is lined with glitter and fireworks. Wonderful and happy and relived, but still anxious. 

“Happy opening!” You sing while waltzing into the boys room, wearing a pair of sweatpants over your already fastened corset.

“Happy opening!” They chorus in response. The room is already in perfect chaos, with Hyuck and Lucas doing full fledged reenactments of whatever song comes on shuffle while Jaehyun stands between them and struggles to brush on mascara. You laugh at the scene while settling into a makeup chair.

“How are you feeling?” Xiaojun asks from his seat next to yours. A smile spreads on your face at the question, causing your hands to hiccup while they unpack your makeup bag.

“Excited... Nervous. Happy, but also a little bit sad. Everything, I guess.” He laughs in a way that let’s you know he feels the same, and that he also has no idea how to describe an opening night.

“Everything about sums it up.” He responds with a short laugh, turning in his chair to face the mirror, “I’m really proud of us, you know? Like... You make me cry every night, (y/n), we used to not even be able to get through the death scene without cracking up.” The memory of your wig sliding away from your scalp like a fried egg makes you giggle while you cast a soft smile towards your onstage father. The bright feeling in your stomach turns sour as you see Taeil’s reflection, but you swallow it whole.

“I’m proud of us too, dad.” Your friend visibly cringes, a hearty laugh escaping his smiling lips.

“Nope, nope absolutely hated that!” He whines, pushing you back towards the mirror.

“Aw come on-” You stop talking when Hendery pokes his head into the dressing room, already knowing the exact words he’s about to say.

“Mic check in five!” He calls, the words feeling different than they did the day before.

“Thank you five!” Everyone answers.

*

It had never been a problem that Taeil’s mic check was done right before yours. Sure, you both had to go back to the dressing room at almost the same time, but it usually never mattered. Xiaojun, Lucas, and Jaehyun were always done far before you and you could find them in the dressing room finishing up their makeup and starting to get in costume. It had never been a problem, until today that is.

You enter the dressing room hoping to immediately jump into a Lucas led dance party. Instead the room is empty except for Taeil, who’s quietly singing while patting blush onto his smooth cheeks. His back goes pin straight when he hears you pick up your makeup bag, moving towards you quickly. His hand comes to rest on your shoulder, it’s frustrating how right it feels.

“(y/n), please just-” 

“Taeil, I already told you. I can’t do this.” The expression on his face is one of soft determination, small creases forming next to his pretty eyes.

“I know, I know. I just want you to know that... I love you, (y/n), and I have to tell you why. Can I tell you why?” You can feel him looking at you with a gaze that weighs a thousand pounds, so you nod, “I love you because every time I pass a Taco Bell now I think of your sweet laugh in the back of my car. I love you because whenever I drop you off at your house my car still smells like your perfume for hours. I love you because when you blush it goes up to your ears. I love you because every time that we sing together I think of New Years Eve with my mom, when we’d sing around the piano after dinner. And I know, I shouldn’t do this because you have a boyfriend and that’s just... Wrong, but if I didn’t say this-” Your eyebrows furrow hard at his comment, a boyfriend?

“Who’s my boyfriend?” You ask, causing confusion to rise on the boys face, “Taeil, who’s my boyfriend?” 

“I-I thought- Donghyuck?” A hodgepodge of emotions bubbles in your chest. It’s like an elation and confusion sundae, topped with disgust sauce and a cherry.

“Taeil, you beautiful, beautiful idiot! Donghyuck’s not my boyfriend, he’s just my friend!” You exclaim as the boys eyes go wide. You grab his face by the cheeks, then remember that he’s wearing a full face and settle for his shoulders.

“He is?!” You nod excitedly as his confused expression is replaced with realization.

“I’d rather eat my own toes than date Hyuck, he’s an asshole!” 

“Yea see you’d say stuff like that and I’d get really confused-”

“Taeil, we’re going to kiss now. Okay?” He nods, bringing his hands to curve around your neck.

“Oh, okay. More than okay-” 

The first thing you notice is that his breath tastes like cinnamon. He tastes like cinnamon and clover honey, and you think that you could get addicted to it. You think you are addicted to it. The way that his hands hold your face like it’s a diamond, the way that his soft lips engulf yours, the way that the taste of him has you subconsciously following him while he pulls away. You think that kissing Taeil is one of those things that only takes a taste to make someone addicted.

“I love you, so, so much,” He breathes, foreheads resting against one another. You’ve never felt more in a bubble than you do right now, “I don’t know what to say...” 

“So don’t.” You sigh while moving forward, securing his lips in a second kiss. His lips are moving with yours within seconds, his tongue briefly slipping into your mouth. It takes every ounce of your self control to not melt in his hands.

He’s moving his hands down to your waist when the door opens. You don’t even notice, too lost in the weight of Taeil’s mouth and the motion of his hands. You two are completely lost in each other, until Lucas let’s out a high pitched scream.

“Damn it! Hyuck, you won!” He shouts, causing you and Taeil to jump away from each other (and for Taeil to hit his tailbone on the makeup counter. You jokingly offered to ‘kiss it better.’)

“Finally!” Hyuck says, entering the dressing room with an arm slung around Xiaojun’s shoulder.

“It’s only been a week!” You cry defensively, settling into Taeil’s side. You take in his warmth and think to yourself, ‘I could get used to this.’

“We’ve been betting on this since the read through.” Jaehyun states blankly while grabbing his costume from the rack.

“Yea, we were starting to think Sicheng was gonna win with ‘after the show.’” Xiaojun jokes, holding his hand out to silently ask Jaehyun to pass him his first costume, “I’ve already lost, act one sing through.” You laugh brightly, slapping Taeil’s chest with one hand. He’s staring at you like you’re made out of a million dollars, for the first time you can notice it.

“I think after you explain this I might have to dig your grave.” He laughs, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. You decide that you like it when his kisses are gentle, too.

“Yea, probably. Now go get your wig on, cutie.” Your friends gag loudly as you give him a short peck and bounce away over to where your wig sits on the other side of the dressing room. You don’t want it to be any other way.

*

“You know, the wig actually looks kinda pretty with the whole costume.” Taeil says, pushing an artificial ringlet off of your face. You laugh while rolling your eyes and grabbing his hand.

“Just like how you don’t look stupid in that ruffle shirt?” He smiles in a way that makes his eyes crinkle, you add the sight to a list of things you never want to forget.

“Exactly!” You’re going to kiss him again, but sadly you’re interrupted by Hendery poking his head into the dressing room.

“Places in five!” You suddenly remember that it’s opening night, then you think of how easy it’ll be to portray Cosette’s story tonight.

“Thank you five!” You both respond, Taeil bringing a hand to cradle your jaw.

“I’ve never dreaded leaving a dressing room more.” You whine, giving your boyfriend a sad glance. He smiles in a way that makes your whole body feel warm. 

“Don’t worry,” Taeil whispers before pressing a quick kiss to your lips, “we’ll have plenty of time to do this after the show. Now go to your dressing room, I’ll see you onstage.” 

Later, during notes, your director says that the first glance between Marius and Cosette was the best one yet. You know it’s because the entire time while cooped up in your dressing room you thought of nothing other than Moon Taeil’s lips on yours.

*

When the cast list for Grease was posted you were checking out at Sheetz with Taeil. Jaehyun, Xiaojun, Lucas, Sicheng, Hendery, and Donghyuck  were quietly waiting for you two at a table, speaking anxiously amongst themselves. Well, until everyone’s phones went off at the same time. The only thing you could make out was someone yelling ‘cast list!’ and Xiaojun dropping his phone face first onto the tile. Along with people harassing Hendery for information.

(”Don’t act like you don’t know!” Lucas accused while offering a hand to Xiaojun who was assessing the damage on his phone. While on the floor.

“I’m telling you, I’m just the five guy!”)

“Here’s your receipt, have a great day!” The cashier chirped while handing  the receipt to your boyfriend. There was a knot forming in your stomach as you walked over to your friends table with three bagfuls of snacks, but it released as Taeil put a hand on your shoulder.

“Relax, Sandy.” He whispered into your ear. The words made you blush all the way up to your ears.

“We haven’t seen the list yet Danny!” You quip back, hoping desperately that he didn’t notice your red cheeks. (He noticed, your cheeks got a firm kiss along with a boyish giggle.) 

“(y/n)!” Haechan squeals while running over and grabbing you by the shoulders, “Look at the list!” A nervous giggle slips past your lips as you move to grab your phone. You stop when you notice that Taeil’s already on it, turning to face him while inhaling deeply.

“Give it to me straight, Doc.” You deadpan, causing him to let out a breathy laugh.

“Cute.” The way he says it makes you want to explode, “Okay, we’re looking.” 

As always, you bit your cheek and nodded along while he read out everyone’s roles. For the next three minutes, the only words that your brain could conjure were ‘mhm’, ‘oh, that’s great!’, and ‘that’ll be fun!’ Other words don’t exist until Taeil gasps dramatically.

“What is it? Is it good, is it bad. You know what? If it’s bad I want Jaehyun tell me, because-”

“It’s good!” He interjects, effectively cutting off your rabbit tail, “We are the cool couple at a made up high school in the fifties!”

“Oh,” You say, heart rate slowing, “that’s good. We’re good!”

“We were already good though, right?” 

“No, yes! I just meant like... Good at theatre!” The eclectic bubbling in your  chest is making it hard to talk, but the way that your sweet boyfriend is smiling makes it okay.

“Oh, yea. I guess we are.” He smiles a goofy smile, and your stomach does back flips. In that moment it doesn’t matter that you’re in a Sheetz dining room while surrounded by all of your screaming friends, you want to kiss Taeil more than you want to breathe. So you do, effectively forming a perfect and pink bubble around you two. You’re about to pull away for air when Hyuck screams.

(“Get a room!” )

You were all now sitting at the table, everyone talking excitedly about the show and their parts. It was a happy conversation, filled with laughter and remembering Les Mis.

“Remember that terrible wig you had?” Donghyuck starts while shoving a potato chip into his mouth,  “You looked like a poodle.”

“I think she looked pretty.” Taeil comments quietly, wrapping an arm around you.

“Aww,” You coo, nestling into the boys side, “thank you honey.” You’re about to kiss his cheek, but then Donghyuck gags dramatically. 

“Hey, who do you think’s gonna fall in love this time around?” Sicheng teases while budding into the conversation.

You think that sitting there with everyone is the way that life was intended to be lived.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Hey! Could you do an NCT 127 reaction to their s/o whos really clumsy/ falls down and gets hurt easily. Thanks!

Indeed you can, anon! And as someone who is clumsy to a fault, I think I’ll know how to answer this one well!

NCT 127 Reacts to their S/O Being Really Clumsy

TW: Minor injuries from falling, other minor accidents too.

Genre: Fluff

[Main Masterlist]

Word Count: 1.0K

Lee Taeyong

He’s definitely concerned, but not concerned, know what I mean? Like he worries for his s/o constantly and is quick to move when they so much as slip slightly. He’s also quick to catch anything that they might have knocked over on accident, which is a skill that he’s picked up, no pun intended, since dating them. He doesn’t mind it, actually, if anything I think he’d find it endearing. Usually he can be pretty clumsy too though so you both have to watch out for each other.

“Careful there, (Y/N), you might hurt yourself if you’re not paying attention!”

Moon Taeil

He’s a bit understanding of it, I think, if that makes any sense. Like he gets it, some people are just clumsy and even he has his slip ups, but with his s/o he can’t help but worry. He’s paying extra mind to where he’s leaving things too, making sure they’re not somewhere that can lead to an accident of any kind. He’s even fixed his messy habits that he developed from the 10th floor to make sure you don’t accidentally slip and fall down the stairs, which may or may not have happened once.

“Watch out! Sorry, I don’t know how I missed that shirt there, are you alright?” 

Suh Johnny

Oh you know he’s a little shit about it. He’d probable tease you to no end about it to the point where even you tried to fix it but nope here you are bumping into the coffee table for a third time today and now in comes Johnny with his snarky, but expected, “oh my god, is the table okay?” But it’s all fun and games until he called you outside once but then you walked into the glass sliding door and started tearing up, that’s when Johnny really got concerned.

“Sorry, maybe I should be paying a little more attention, babe.”

Nakamoto Yuta 

Oh he loves it. He genuinely finds it cute when you drop a small thing here and there. Or at least, that’s what he thought at first, but as the relationship continued your clumsiness started to put you in more precarious situations and Yuta became hyperaware of things that could possibly be a danger. He’s developed something of a sixth sense for it, as soon as something drops he catches it faster than you can notice it falling, even when you’re about to bump into something he’ll already hold his hand out in front of you so you bump into that instead.

“Careful, (Y/N). There’s a sharp corner there.”

Kim Doyoung 

After years of living with 127, to say he’s prepared is an understatement. Honestly the first time you knocked something over he was shocked, but he got over it rather quickly, helping you clean up the mess without a word. And he thought that was it until one day you tripped over, well, something and jabbed your side on the corner of the kitchen counter then he got concerned because you looked like you were used to it? He asked you why and you just told him it happens to you more often than you’d like, then you had to stop him from buying foam corners to put around your apartment.

“It’s for your safety! I had no idea you were this clumsy! Please, I lived with Taeyong, I know what I’m doing.”

Jung Jaehyun 

The first time you tripped and fell in front of him this man had he audacity to laugh. It started out as a small chuckle and some how it became a loud laugh by the time you got up and that was that. Then while you were walking down the stairs that same day and slipped, sending you sliding down the flight and landing rather harshly on the ground and, after the initial fit of laughter, again he helped you up and sighed, realizing that maybe that first time wasn’t a coincidence.

“I get that I’m handsome, but you don’t have to fall for me twice in a day, babe, you know I love you.”

Kim Jungwoo 

The second you tripped on the shirt he had accidentally left on the ground he was already rushing to catch you. Sadly, he was a second too late and you had already fallen on the ground, mistakenly placing your hand on, you guessed it, another shirt and just falling harshly onto the wood. But what really surprised him is that you weren’t fazed at all, and when you explained to him that it was a usual occurrence for you to have such horrible luck he promised himself that he’d actually clean at least a little bit before you came over.

“What? This happens every day for you?! I don’t know how you can handle it, I’d cry all the time...”

Lee Mark 

Honestly I think a mix between Johnny and Jaehyun. Like he’d laugh about it and tease you but in the end you’d probably see a text from him saying that he saw some cute kneepads that he thinks you’d look good in and then he’d realize how wrong that sounded and try to make up for it by sending memes to you which would somehow lead to you hitting your shoulder against a wall and then he’d feel even more bad and it’s just a mess with this kid I swear to god...

“Oh god, forget I said that, are you okay? Wait! Stop laughing! You should be concerned that you’re hurt not because of my... you know what, forget it.”

Lee Donghyuck

This boy would laugh too but he’d lowkey blow it out of proportion and never let you live it down. He’s bringing it up every chance he gets for the next twenty plus years. But he really is concerned about you, and he does pay more attention when you could get into a dangerous situation, but trust me when I say he’d probably make fun of you while he’s tugging you away from steep stair cases and he really got more concerned when you almost tripped and fell onto the street and, to make it worse, with incoming traffic.

“Hey, watch out! I’d rather be dating you than a pancake, you know?”

[timextoxhajima]

Chapter poster by @/lovehyuck on Instagram

NCT One Shot Collection

Member: Taeil

Genre: Fluff, alot of it 

Word Count: 3.2k 

A/N: I’m not an avid writer of fluff, so when I worked on this awhile back, I was extremely skeptical about how it would turn out. Do hit me with feedback if you’ve given it a read!

“Honey, he’s here, get up and change into something else,“ Your mother shook you awake and gently pushed your hair out of your face. You frowned and sniffled, stretching your mouth and realised you had dried drool lining from your bottom lip to your chin.  

“Ugh–” Groaning, you sat up in your bed, a simple peach shade blanket twisted about your legs and your shorts pulling up way higher than your thighs. “What? Who’s here?” You closed your eyes and refused to get out of bed. 

"Your boyfriend, who else?” Your mother snickered and picked up a pillow from the ground you most likely kicked off. Frowning and completely in confusion, you instinctively looked at the clock next to your bed. It was 9am on a Saturday, and he was here? 

“What the– what for?! Yah! Moon Taeil!” You screamed from your bed, annoyed that his presence had woken you up. Your mother shot you an inappropriate look when the sound of some heavy footsteps ran up the stairs of your home. Soon enough, the brown haired 25 year old gently pushed through your door and blinked at your mother, then at you. He awkwardly scanned you, noticing that you were in a fitting long sleeved top and shorts that were rolled up near your butt. Taeil instantaneously shifted his eyes away and looked at your mother instead.

“I left the muffins in the oven, so just heat ‘em up when you’re hungry,” Taeil grinned and placed his hands over each other infront of him.

“Aw,” Your mother melted as she turned to you. “Thank you. Such a thoughtful young man,” She chuckled and headed out. The man knew your mother was a sucker for muffins. Toasted, hot, muffins.

“9am on a Sunday? Really?” You rubbed your eyes and fell back into your bed, pulling the sheets up and covering your face. 

"Awh, come on, sugar. It’s our 6th anniversary. Don’t you want to do something fun? I mean, other than university, we’re both working and we barely have the time,“ You felt the side of your bed next to your legs sink. 

"Exactly. We should just stay home and watch movies or something,” You mumbled through your lips, your eyes groggy and slowly closing back up. 

"No, we did that the last two years. Come on, sugar. Six is a lucky number,“ He leaned over and lied down on your legs. You snorted and pushed the blanket off your face, looking down at those familiar pair of puppy eyes.

"Yeah? Says who? Satan?” You raise a brow.

“No, me.” Taeil sat up and quickly kissed your forehead. “I have a whole day planned out, sugar. You’ll have fun, trust me.” He got off the bed and headed for the wardrobe.

“Last I checked, sweet pea, we rarely enjoy the same things,” You sat up and watched him rummage through your wardrobe. “You like karaoke and chill days in the park and I’m… well, sports and the hot sun," 

"Well, news flash, we are doing both today,” Taeil smiled as he pulled out a sundress in one hand and held up a pair of your favourite black converse sneakers. 

"What about the red one–”

"No, it shows your back.”

“But–”

“No.”

Sometimes, being Taeil’s girlfriend means being a daughter a second round. Every single thing in her bag had been packed for her, a bottle, an umbrella, some mosquito repellent patches and plasters. Everything else you needed to survive on mars was in a separate backpack that Taeil would be carrying the rest of the day. 

“Enjoy yourself today, honey,” Your mom kissed you goodbye as Taeil threw his bag in the backseat of his car and got round to the passenger’s seat. Your mother let you go after a hug, gently pushing you towards the man who awkwardly leaned over the hood of the car to clean a patch of bird poop strategically located in a spot where it was tough for him to reach.

“He’s not what we both expected, but he’s a truckload better than any guy I’ve seen on the street,” Your mother whispered under her breath, loud enough for you to hear. You whirl around and watched him wince as he stretch for the spot. The corners of your lips curled upwards, nodding unconsciously as you realised both how long and how short 6 years was. 

Dating him was like dating another mother. Nights passed in his arms that were never rock hard, but soft and gentle. He could sing until you fell asleep, and you’d wake up to the same voice. Though he was the moon who loved music and soothing winds and you were the sun who loved the heat on your skin and the sound of yelling when you scored a point and nobody could see the two of you dating, it still happened. Every single time you fought, he was the first to apologise but he’d have the patience to walk through the entire period of argument with you so that it wouldn’t happen again in the future. 

"Hold on to him. He’ll be quickly fished up by someone else if you don’t,“ Your mother said again as you continued watching him finish up the cleaning job. He whirled around in about 3 or 4 circles, looking for a bin, before throwing the tissue away in a bin a considerable distance away from the car.

"I will,” Giving your mom a peck on the cheek, you head off into your boyfriend’s arms. He waved to her and opened the car door for you.

“So, event-planner,” You pulled the seat belt across your chest. “What’s today’s itinerary?” 

Taeil gave a small laugh and started up the engine, refusing to say anything as he pressed a finger to his lips. You opened your mouth in feigned shock, honestly not the least bit surprised. 

Taeil was one for planning small surprises, ranging from a single flower stalk to a grand dinner overlooking the city’s skyline. Of course, you didn’t mind the scale – being with him was enough. 

As you predicted, the first stop was an amusement park. You loved everything there, the rollercoasters, the aggressive viking ride, walk-through horror houses, but you were a little taken-aback. Why? Because none of it was Taeil’s cup of tea. 

You could tell from the way he nervously fiddled with the straps from his backpack and constantly shoving his hair out of his face that he was uncomfortable, almost like he was forcing himself through the ordeal.

“Pea, you don’t need to do this for me, you know? I know you’re scared of roller coasters and you don’t do horror walkthroughs, we can always come back another day whenever you’re ready,” He had his arms wrapped around your neck and you were leaning back onto him, waiting for the line to enter the amusement park to shift forward. He shook his head again, pressing his lips onto your temple and gently brushed the small, isolated strands of hair out of your face.

“I’ll have to get it over with, someday. Especially if it’s going to be with you for the rest of my life,” Taeil smiled and pecked your head. 

You swore Taeil’s vocal chords would’ve been destroyed by the amount of screaming he did through all the rides. For awhile, you worried if you were ever going to be able to listen to his sweet, honey-like voice that sent you to dreamland or woke you up into a beautiful reality, but him being the person he was, he had small packets of honey and throat soothing sweets packed in his backpack to make sure his voice wasn’t going to be damaged. But what did get damaged were your eardrums when you walked through the horror house with him standing right behind you. He insisted on hugging you from behind and going through the horror house, and to make things even worse, the amusement park was rather empty for a Saturday. So the only target the scare actors had were the two of you, and who else to scare but the one who reacts the most and the loudest?

“You know, for a 25 year old who’s terrified of horror houses, I think you were pretty brave in there,” You sipped on your drink and reached for the burger.

“Oh, come on. He came at me from behind! Be prepared for that!” Taeil pressed out the remaining chilli sauce into a small sauce tray and placed it next to your fries.

“I was definitely not prepared for that note you belched out because of him,” You snickered with a full mouth. Taeil rolled his eyes and unwrapped his burger. 

“Keep quiet and eat your food,”

Lunch went past with fries nearly being hurled at one another and people staring at you, and the next stop was at a dog cafe. The only things the both of you wanted if you guys ever got married were dogs, because children seemed too tiresome and too expensive. Unlike normal people who loved Pomeranians and golden retrievers, you were trash for German Sheppards. And there was a particular chocolate coated one with still folded ears and seemed reluctant to leave his spot in the corner of the room, it drawn you towards him more. The puppy nuzzled against your finger before carefully crawling into your lap, licking your fingertips as you fed him some dog treats Taeil had gotten you. 

Taeil wasn’t interested in any other the other dogs, all his eyes could focus on were you, your patience with the puppy and how much you were obviously in love with him. 

The puppy began licking the metal ring on your finger, then began trying to bite on it. 

“Oh, no, no,” You removed your hand from the puppy’s reach, wiping the ring and finger on the side of your dress. The ring was given to you for your 3rd anniversary, from Taeil. A promise ring, and on it embedded the date of which he asked you to go out with him and it became official. On yours had a carving of the word “Moon” and his, “Stars”. 

Oh, how fun it would be if I could bring you home. You smile at the puppy.

"How come we’re back at my house? The sun’s not even beginning to set yet–“ You looked over to Taeil as he slowed to a halt. He reached to the back and grabbed your purse, handing it to you and stroking your hand, along with the ring on it.

"I got us a nice table at that restaurant you always wanted to go to. So, you’re gonna go back in, change and dress up into something you make look pretty, and I’ll see you back out here at 7pm.” Taeil’s eyes folded into little crescents as he spoke.

“Awh, really?” Your heart died on the spot. “Doesn’t that mean I’m going to get to see you in a suit?” You raised a brow. 

Taeil wasn’t one for suits, but he sure as Hell looked good in them. He laughed and sucked on his upper row of teeth.“Yes, yes you will,” Taeil nodded and looked at you straight in the eye. 

“I’ll see you tonight, sugar. I love you so much. I just want you to be happy, especially with me,” Taeil leaned towards you and kissed your forehead, staying there for a few seconds. 

"I am. I always am,” You pulled his chin down and kissed him on the lips. "I’ll see you later,” You pushed yourself out the car and dashed for the door, not even bothering to wave goodbye to him since you were going to see him again in less than 3 hours.

“Mom! Help me pick out a dress, please. Taeil got a table that amazing place we had for dad’s dinner a few years back and I want to look my best for him,” You kicked off your converse shoes and bolted up the stairs, yelling at your mom who was in the kitchen. 

"What? He’s got a table there? That’s amazing!“ She laughed from the kitchen.

"I know! And I need help with picking out a dress!” You were already pulling out the pins from your hair and taking off the light makeup you had on. Your mother had come into your room. 

"Calm down, honey,” Your mom pulled you away from the mirror, one eye cleaned and the other not. "You go into the bath and freshen yourself, and I will pull out all your good dresses and your color pallets,”

You were the luckiest daughter on earth. 

“Oh my God, thank you mom. I love you to bits,” You kissed her on the cheek and gave her a tight hug before being pushed into the bathroom by her.

The dress was laid flat and pressed for you on your bed, with the most beautiful pair of silver heels to match the silver details on your dress. 

You don’t remember getting that dress. 

Nonetheless, on your skin it went and so did some makeup, definitely not forgetting your favourite ring. A silver purse along with the outfit and you felt excited, not only because it was at the best restaurant with the best food you had ever had in your entire life overlooking the city, but it was also with Taeil, the only person you’d rather be with besides your family.

“Mom?” You walked down the stairs and headed for the door. “Where did you get the dress from? I seriously don’t remember–”

“You look beautiful, my baby girl,” She appeared from the living room, a bright smile plastered on her face. 

“Oh my, it’s like 5 minutes past 7, he’s already outside waiting for you, better not be late,” She opened the door for you. “Have fun,” Pulling you into the tightest hug in awhile, she brushed away the small strands that framed your face prettily, looking at the gorgeous earrings and necklace you had put on as well.

Taeil was looking like the most gorgeous man on earth, and for a moment, you refused to believe the man in a bow tie and a suit, leaning back on his car with his hands in his pockets was the same man who had trouble looking for a dustbin this morning.

A smile spread across your face unknowingly, carefully walking down the steps of the porch and towards him. His hair was done up and as he straightened himself, you saw the glitter from the ring he had on his finger as well. 

"Well, you look handsome,“ You teased, walking up to him and realising that the heels brought your eyes up to his nose. 

"And you made the dress look really pretty. Come on, we could flirt the rest of the night but our table would be given up if we don’t get there by 8,” Taeil wrapped his arm around your shoulders and turned you around to the passenger’s seat, opening the door for you. 

As your mother watched from the window of her room, she couldn’t help but to tear up and smile to herself. 

She knew.

A table by the window with the city lights as your view? Unbelievable. 

But this moment with Taeil? This was everything.

It felt like it had been 6 seconds, the entire 6 years you had been with him. His heart was made of gold and he was more clumsy than careful, but he was patient and had the most considerate soul you had ever met. You must’ve saved a country in your past life, because you were sure you hadn’t done anything in this life to deserve him. The way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed, his pretty teeth that made his smile the most handsome one out of all the other guys you had dated before him, his calm and gentle voice when he spoke… he was perfect for you, and nothing could ever change it. 

"Sugar,“ He called. 

"Mmm?” You hummed in response, realising that your eyes were starting to notice the couple at the table behind him was now gone, the dessert in your plate was no longer and the wine glass was only filled with about a spoon’s worth of champagne. 

"You okay? You’re zoning out,“ He laughed and finished his champagne.

"Oh, no, I’m good. Really good. Food’s amazing as ever, the city is beautiful and my view is to die for,” You smirked and raised a brow at him. He scoffed and shook his head, dabbing the corners of his mouth with the napkin.

“Isn’t the guy supposed to do most of the pick up lines? Why are you stealing my role?”

“Well, modern times call for… unconventional roles,” You shrugged and finish your drink. Taeil smiled and looked at you.

“Come on, we’ve done everything you love today, time to head to somewhere I love," 

Thank the gods your heels were surprisingly comfortable, though you also couldn’t remember how you got them. Taeil had brought you to his favourite park, one where you could see the river and the city lights on the opposite side. 

The wind was chilly, but comfortable after he had wrapped his blazer around you and hugged your waist under the coat. There were two or three joggers every few minutes, but otherwise, a rather peaceful and quiet night, unlike the amusement park this morning. 

"Sugar,” He said, only loud enough for you to hear.

“Yeah,” You put your forehead on his shoulder. 

"Give me your hand,” He slowly pulled away and stretched out his palm. You looked at him weird, smiling a bit in confusion. 

"The one with our ring on it,” Taeil nodded his head toward your right hand. You looked down at both his hands and noticed he wasn’t wearing the ring anymore. 

You frowned, genuinely confused. 

Why was he not wearing the ring anymore? Was it over? Did you piss this angel off? 

He gently took your hand and pulled off the ring, and before you could process the action, he had knelt down and pulled out a velvet blue box.

“You’ve worn that ring for three years now, I thought it’ll be nice to have it… upgraded,” Taeil’s eyes were sparkling as he looked up at you. He pulled open the box and in it sat the prettiest thing you had ever seen in your life. 

"I know it’s not the most common wedding ring you’d expect to see but–“ You knelt down and kissed him, shutting him up and feeling your nose turn sour and your eyes burn a little.

"You can fulfill your role now. The guy and his pick up lines,” You whisper, barely pulling away.

“Will you marry me?” Taeil smiled, already pulling out the ring from the box.

“Yes,” You nod aggressively and hugged him tightly, before he slid the ring on your finger again after 3 years.

“You’re welcome for the shoes and dress,” He smiled, admiring the ring on that fateful finger. “And also the puppy you’ll find at home later.”

[sheeple]

The intern | 9: Birthday parties

GIFS NOT MINE. THIS IS ALL FICTION. Genre(s): intern!au / fluff / mild angst Group(s): NCT / Red Velvet Pairing(s): Moon Taeil x fem!reader Summary: The new Elysion Publishings intern is the youngest they ever had. It’s not a problem until she grabs the attention of the IT guy. Warning(s): Age-gap of five years [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist]

The moment I set a foot into the office on my birthday, I knew that this isn’t a day I would forget anytime soon. 

As I walk into my department, I get scooped up by Johnny and set on a chair, as he and Taeyong roll me around the office. 

I laugh loudly as they push me in a conference room and set me at the far end of the table, a big cup of tea shoved under my nose by Wendy as she gives me a kiss on my cheek, whispering ‘happy birthday’. 

My colleagues from the D&D department start to come in, all giving me a bright smile and a birthday card written by all. 

“Firstly, we want to wish our youngest intern in like ever a very happy birthday as today, is the day she finally turns twenty!”, announces Johnny and everyone cheers. 

“That’s why”, continues Taeyong, going to stand next to Johnny, “we’ve prepared something special for you.”

They both step aside and Wendy presses a button on her laptop. The screen behind them lits up and their faces appear on the screen.

“To our dear dongsaeng, happy birthday and may there follow up many more!”, says Wendy cheerful, throwing confetti in the air. 

Taeyong coughs and sticks his tongue out, fishing a piece of paper from it. 

“Your big, strong oppa here. Don’t worry little one, you are so you and are already so wise! You probably have more brain cells than all of us combined.” Taeyong joke earns him a hit from both Wendy and Johnny as he pouts. 

“As the nitwit was saying”, butts Johnny in. “We want to wish you a happy birthday. May you receive many presents and positivity today and don’t let anyone tell you you aren’t the most badass for moving across the world.”

They end with a loud ‘Fighting!’ before the two guys begin to scream loudly and Wendy ends the video. 

I laugh loudly while whipping away a couple of tears.

Other of my colleagues follow up with all positive messages about how they wish me the best, even when I’m going back home. 

Mark and Lucas appear next with loud screams. I can understand only a little part of it since both of them are hyper and giggling all the way. 

Next, are Yuta, Doyoung, and Winwin. They all wish me a very happy birthday and tell me to hang out with them soon. 

As the video switches, we see Team Leader Byun appear on the screen and we all cheer, Mr Byun giving us a shy smile.

“Dear (Y/n), I am truly happy that Kim placed you under my supervision because I never had a better intern then you. You radiate that you enjoy what you do and it shows, giving some of the best work. And I─”

Just as Byun wants to say something, the door bursts open and Team Leader Shin storms in. He grabs the camera and runs away with it. 

We all laugh loudly and I clutch my stomach, the whole sight of two grown men chasing each other amuses me immensely.

After Shin lost Byun, he turns towards the camera with a half-smirk. “Well, happy birthday miss (L/n). I wish you much luck and happiness for the remainder of your life. Also, know that a spot on my team is always open”, he says with a wink before we hear Byun scream high-pitched ‘Shin Youngmin!’. The video ends at that and we all laugh at them.

Next thing is my family and friends from back home. My tears fill with eyes as they all tell me they miss me and ask me to come home quick. 

My mom sends me lots of love and my dad... he told me he’s proud of me. A smile creeps on my face and I wipe away a tear with the back of my hand. Wendy gives me a napkin and I take it gratefully. 

The last one starts pitch black before a voice says, “Is this thing even on?”

I freeze in my chair as I realize it’s Taeil. We hear some rustling before there is a sight; Taeil stands extremely close to the camera with a concentrated look on his face. It’s cute.

“How does this thing even work? Ah, there! He... hey, (Y/n), it’s me. Well, that’s something you already figured out I guess.” Taeil scratches the back of his neck while looking down.

A couple of people snicker as I am concentrated on what he’s going to say next. 

“First of all, happy birthday. Second, thank you for coming in my life. It has been so much brighter thanks to you and I just... seem a lot happier than first. That’s what my friends tell me though...”

He flips his hair, that has fallen before his eyes, back while licking his lips. The simple action makes my heart flutter. 

“Let’s hang out a lot and”, he coughs awkwardly, “be great friends. Bye-bye!” He quickly waves goodbye before turning the camera off.

I look speechless at the now black screen. That was really something else. My heart in my chest beats rapidly and a swarm of butterflies rage like a hurricane through my body. 

Johnny and Taeyong roll me back to my desk and help me settle for the day, not letting me walk towards the coffee machine to grab tea or sugar or anything.

And that’s how it’s going the whole day; the two dorks trailing behind me like a bunch of puppies and every time I want to do something other than my work, they do it for me. 

At lunch, I finally manage to shake the two off by rushing into the stairway and walking slowly up a level before taking an elevator to the roof.

I let myself fall onto one of the Fatboys that are scattered around the rooftop, mostly in pairs of two and three, sometimes four. 

I close my eyes and breath deeply in and out, ignoring the chiming of my phone as I know it’s either Taeyong or Johnny. 

A shadow is cast over me and I frown, sad that someone found me. I groan and open my eyes, surprised to see it’s Taeil.

He stands tall over me with his head cocked to the side and hands in his dark jeans, jeans jacket over a bright orange sweater. He looks effortlessly handsome just standing there, but he always does that.

I sit up and scoot over a bit, making some room for him to sit next to me. And he does so. 

He places himself next to me, grabbing my legs and placing them over his own. Once he’s content with the position we’re in, he turns towards me with a smile. 

“How’s the birthday girl doing?”

I see the genuine smile on his lips and in his eyes, which makes my lips form into a bright smile.

“Pretty great. The day is more hectic than normal since Tae and John won’t stop babying me.” I pout and lean my head on his shoulder, cuddling closer to his body heath.

I don’t know why, but it feels right, cuddling with Taeil. It’s like everything falls in place and it’s just him and me. As if we’re two jigsaw puzzle pieces that fit snugly together.

“Is that why you came here?”, he questions while brushing away a strand of hair from my cheek with a small smile. 

I nod. “To escape everyone, even just for a moment.” 

Taeil frowns. “Oh, well, then I’ll leave you alone. I imagine that you wouldn’t want to see me too.”

I grab his arm before he can move and pull him closer towards me. “You are going nowhere. You are... the only person That can’t disturb me, ever.” A blush spread on my face as I admit it. I squeal softly and hide my face against his arm. 

He chuckles before petting my head. “And I would never dare to leave you.”

I look up shocked at his words and we lock eyes. He leans slowly towards me and I do the same. Our lips are just mere centimetres away from each other before touching.

But just they do that, the doors of the terrace burst open and Taeyong and Johnny burst in.

I let out a small yell and push him away, my own force pushing me off the Fatboy. I fall backwards and land on my back with a huff of air escaping my lungs. 

“Are you okay?” Johnny rushes towards me with concern in his eyes as he helps me off the ground, brushing the dust off my back. 

My cheeks are heated as Taeil and I look away from each other, his eyes focused on one of the bushes and mine on the sky. 

“I eh... I’m going now. See you tonight”, says Taeil before he quickly rushes away. 

“Fucking jerk”, I curse while kicking against Taeyongs ass. Johnny laughs but stops as soon as he sees my glare. 

“What even are you doing here?”, I question with folded arms as I walk towards the elevators. 

“We came to get you since Team Leader Byun needed you. But it seems like we interrupted something far more important”, grins Taeyong slyly. 

I glare at him. “Nothing happened. And don’t you two dare to say anything about this to Wendy.”

The tallest of the two frowns. “But... why? This is good, right? It means that your silly little crush is─”

I point my finger cautionary at the two guys. “Not. A. Word. She won’t let me live if she knows we... just zip it.”

The two guys smirk and look at each other, the look at in their eyes raises questions in me.

[yeosanqtuary]

with u - pt. 9

☆ - list of chapters

☆ - all content are fictional.

“yeah, night,”

--

that morning, the four friends all left the house together under the constant nagging of seonghwa who had insisted that they go to school together on their ‘first day’ as roommates. 

yeosang hadn’t came to greet him yet, so he was expecting some kind of a surprise. something that would make san mentally shout, “stop scaring the heck out of me!”.

he wasn’t really looking forward to that. the only thing he was looking forward to was to perhaps have another wave of pain so he could finally find his soulmate. 

he decided to start now, on the streets as they were walking to school. 

“hey, hongjoong hyung. can you say yunho?” he nudged hongjoong. who was just standing beside him. “yunho? why?”

“nothing, just trying to see something,” he waited for a few seconds, then it was up to a minute, two minutes, three minutes... did he have a condition too? or maybe it’s not yunho. yes, that must be it. if he had a condition, yeosang would tell him in the first place, right?

“hyung, can you say mingi now?” he nudged hongjoong again and this time he answered without asking. kids these days... trying to find your soulmate like this...

san waited again and did not give up after waiting for five minutes. 

“who else is there...” he pondered, knitting his brows together. 

“don’t you have other friends?” seonghwa asked.

“um...” san treid his best to recall the other names he had seen from the virtual information board. he could’ve pulled it up right now and asked either of them to say out their names, but sadly he didn’t know how. he blames this on yeosang for not telling him the essentials.

information board!

virtual screen!

open seseame!

none of those worked, unfortunately. 

“you really have no friends?” seonghwa asked again. 

“a-ah, no, i’m just thinking of who would be more suitable for me, haha,” san replied awkwardly, his hand going up to rub his nape. he racked his brain again, trying to recall a random name.

“ah! moon taeil! from that, that uh...” he shut his eyes tight, gathering all of his concentration to remember which hecking class this moon taeil guy was from. 

“he’s a senior, class 3A,” hongjoong finished his sentence and patted san’s back. “you don’t have to search like this. what’s the rush? just sit back and enjoy single life before it ends,” he casually said, all this while holding onto seonghwa’s pinky. 

“what? hearing you say this... are you already tired of me?” seonghwa had leaned into his side, intertwined their hands and looked deeply into his eyes. hongjoong was embarrassed and was quick to explain himself. “i-i’m not! i just t-think that san would be someone who cherishes single life,”

wooyoung covered his mouth and giggled sneakily, but san had seen all of it. he smiled at the couple and placed his arm around him, the other tucked away into his pocket. wooyoung flinched a little from the sudden contact and kept his eyes on the ground. 

“how about you? do you want to find your soulmate soon?”

“mhm, i-i do, but...” he started to fiddle with his thumbs–something he would do when he was nervous or uncertain. “b-but i think they wouldn’t like me very much. i d-don’t think i deserve one,”

“wooyoung-ah, you’ve done nothing wrong! you most certainly deserve someone’s love and attention. if i must say, your soulmate doesn’t deserve you,” san comforted, moving his arm down to pat his back. “cheer up, woo,” he raised his other arm up from the warmth of his pocket and gently pinched wooyoung’s cheeks, warming up his fingers once again. and his heart too, maybe. 

wooyoung’s heart started to race. this contact was a little... too close? no one had ever done this to him, since he was always alone most of the time, or surrounded with people who were just using him to climb the reputation ladder. 

a certain someone who was standing a meter away from the two was snickering in his mind. it was just too funny to hear that last sentence from san. that, “your soulmate doesn’t deserve you,” sentence. as someone who can predict soulmates as accurate as the bus arrival timing system, this is kinda entertaining, but at the same time agonising to watch. 

imagine having to watch the pining of two oblivious sooulmates...

--

“h-hello, everyone. my name is kang yeosang. please take care of me,” angel boy has finally showed himself, standiong at the front of homeroom class, but looking like... a girl?

is this yeosang or nah?

yeosang, do you copy? am i looking at you in class right now? or am i just trppin’ and should’ve heard kang yeoja or ???

choi san, i’m gonna drop your ass right now.

ah, okay –. so this is really yeosang!

“okay, let’s see, who had an empty seat?” 

“i do! here, yeosang!” an entirely enthusiastic mingi waved his hands around violently, trying to get yeosang’s attention. san snickered, whilst yeosang looked over to observe yunho’s reaction. it was... bland. lack of taste. too unexciting. 

was he really unbothered? listening to jongho’s rants, he was quite active in flirting with mingi. perhaps he was just holding back?

“okay! mingi it is. would you also please show yeosang around?”

“yes-”

“sorry sir, but can he bring me instead?” he asked politely, also politely pointing to san. 

“a-ah, if that’s what you want. are you okay with it, san?”

“totally. absolutely. would gladly show him around,” he replied, smirking at yeosang and earning a few curses back. meanwhile mingi was frozen, holding his hand and face in the same position and expression until yeosang came to his seat. 

“san’s gonna bully you for sure! no kidding! he’s like a two-faced smelly, poopy demon!” mingi whined, stomping his foot on the floor. 

“shut up, mingi! you’re better off with me during lunch,” yunho retaliated, shouting across the class.

“hmph! meanie yunho,” he crossed his arms and puffed up his cheeks, trying to act cute. ah, this is the bullshit you have to deal with everyday in homeroom. welcome to school, yeosang!

thank you, kind sir.

yeosang didn’t forget to observe yunho’s reactions all this while. he was smiling now and didn’t look as uninteresting as before. his cheeks had more colour this time, too. maybe he was blushing. great! they just need a little push. 

after homeroom was another two periods before lunch–history and chemistry. san would get to see wooyoung in both classes! he went up a level to wooyoung’s homeroom class, where history was held. 

wooyoung was speaking to his homeroom teacher, so his back was faced to the entrance, where san was standing. 

his indicator isn’t brown. he did a mental @ to yeosang. 

[whispering to @/choisan] and?

...and it means his soulmate isn’t near. it might really be one of the neighbours...

[whispering to @/dumbchoisan] lol. u’ll jst hafta wait n c

can you stop with this bullshit? just speak normally, stop sending those pop-up texts like we’re in a pc game!

okay, okay, sorry san. geez. 

san sighed, deciding to indulge himself in his sad thoughts. 

he knows he shouldn’t completely trust wooyoung’s faulty indicator, but he just can’t help but think of the unimagineable. what if, that night they return home and the first thing he sees is his indicator turning brown?

san would really cry. 

no, but... it isn’t like he’s attached to him or something. he just finds him cute, that’s all. nothing else. it’s not like he likes him...

“hey, san. jungwoo asked me to switch places with him,” it was wooyoung, who was currently setting his things on the table beside san’s. he settled down after arranging his things, 

“i-i’ve never said you can sit,” 

“then where else should i sit?”

san looked around the crowded room. there were a few empty desks right at the back of the class, but they were dusty as heck. not good. 

“here, then,” he sighed and got out his books for the lesson. 

the teacher hadn’t arrived and wooyoung laid his head on the table, maybe deciding to take a short nap. he didn’t really get enough sleep last night in the new environment. plus, san had constantly invaded his thoughts, making it harder to fall asleep.

seeing that wooyoung had laid down, a playful idea slipped into his mind. 

he laid his head on the table too and faced wooyoung, staring at his head. more specifically, observing the way his hair was wavy and shiny. it looked super silky and smooth that one wouldn’t even need to touch it to know that it’s smooth. 

he kept on observing for what seemed like forever, but was actually a few minutes before wooyoung had turned his head to the left, facing san. 

wooyoung’s eyes were still closed. san silently wowed at the length of his eyelashes, pushing down the urge to touch them.

a few strands of hair on the crown of his head had rose due to the wind, making it look like there was a small weed growing on the top of his head. his cheeks were squished together, making his lips look plumper(?) and more attractive than usual, as if it was inviting san to place a kiss on it. 

“alright, class! sorry for the delay! i was held up by...”

san ignored every other voice and continued observing–no, admiring–wooyoung’s face. 

wooyoung, on the other hand, had started to stir in his sleep. 

san smiled and watched as wooyoung’s eyes fluttered open slowly. they made eye contact, but he didn’t really seem shocked that he was greeted by san’s gaze immediately. or rather, it felt like he had expected for it to happen and was anticipating for it. 

“our lovely choi san and wooyoung, good morning, both of you!” the teacher’s loud, gruff voice brought the both of them back into reality. san had raised his head and looked around, cracking his stiff neck in the process. everyone had their eyes on them and he couldn’t help but blush. 

he stood up awkwardly, rubbing his nape. he turned sideways slightly to observe wooyoung’s reaction and coincidently, wooyoung was facing him, too. he immediatey turned away in panic, feeling dumb, embarrassed and awkward. 

what have i done???

next ->

[markleesthighs]

Black Mamba | Chapter 4

Pairings: Reader x Mark Lee, Reader x Hendery, Reader x Jaehyun, feat. ot21

Genre: NCT mafia!au, angst, fluff, light smut (suggestive), comical

Warnings: flashbacks, mentions of blood

Words: 2.91k

【 ❶ ❷ ❸ ➃ ❺ ❻ ❼】

Chapter 4 - Behind the Mask

Seoul, Korea, 2023

That night when you fell asleep, you noticed your phone kept buzzing, and it kept waking you up. You rubbed your eyes and blinded yourself with your phone while trying to see who was trying to text you at this hour. It was Taeyong. Apparently, there is an emergency assassination and could only be executed tonight.

Taeyong explained that you would be offered ₩4,700,000,000 for killing their main rivals in the area. Taeyong found out and noticed you were doing more assassinations recently and figured you would be up for it. You grabbed some death wish coffee, and accepted the offer, got your assassination suit along with your required weapons needed for killing, distracting, and escaping. You tucked your hair into your suit and took the elevator down into the garage. You got on your motorbike and drove to the other mansion on the opposite side of the city.

You had turned on the invisibility feature on your motorbike and put on your mask with high tech glasses built-in for optimal safety. You had shut down their security and cautiously avoid traps and mines scattered on their yard. You had to kill Jinyoung, a right-hand man of the rival gang GOT7, who had recently stolen drug deals and cargo from our suppliers. Knowing he is a right-hand man, it would not be a shock to your he didn’t have the second-best defenses in the entire mansion.

You broke in through the skylight in their living room and cascaded down on a rope, landing like a feather on the ground. You had shut down their security cameras and blended in with the dark shadows. You had forgotten to ask Taeyong the location of Jinyoung, so you had to figure it out quickly before their tech team blasts the alarm, send emergency spotlights, and guard dogs along your way. Luckily, your suit also had an invisibility feature and trapped your smell within the suit, finding no way to track you. It also did not track or allow finger and footprints, and all of your weapons could not be traced since they were all custom made.

You remembered a memory of your when you were little, your dad or your brother would always find you when playing hide and seek. When you got older you noticed it was one of the poems in the book he gave you, it was how you can track down anyone in an area when they are hiding. You mumbled it to yourself.

They will hide, but I will seek

Find them without a little squeak

Draw a path to their location

And follow it without frustration

Reveal to me where they lie

Shoot my desire into my eye

You felt your eyes glow and you saw a path of footsteps light up a light red, and you followed it through the mansion. You stopped at the door and used your x-ray goggles to see that he was in the shower, the optimal time to sneak in. You opened and lightly closed the door and hid in his closet, preparing your attack. You heard footsteps towards the closet, and you jumped out and muffled his voice while you held him tight when he was struggling to get you off of him. You shot his chest, and blood started to go everywhere.

Your suit cleaned itself with blood and sprayed itself with hydrogen peroxide. It also was invincible to liquid of any kind including blood. You were used to seeing this and have seen worse. You suddenly saw your payment loaded into your account and you left him in his towel with blood spewing out of his chest. You walked out of the bedroom and climbed up your rope, and when you reached the top of the skylight, the alarm went off, meaning you had about a 5-10 minute time frame to escape.

You jumped from roof to roof on their mansion and dived into the garden fountain near where you hid your bike. You ran through the trees and bushes to find your bike. You revved up the engine and stunt jumped over their gate while you saw a bunch of guards and dogs chasing you. You drove off and was never to be caught by them for the rest of the night.

You parked your bike in the garage and was about to go to bed when you heard a voice talking in the living room.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why do you care?”

It was a/n and Mark, it sounded like they were having an argument, hey, eavesdropping wouldn’t hurt.

“Why don’t you trust me?”

“I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You look at her every time she laughs, and it looks like you want her instead of me!”

“This is ridiculous! What crazy person put that idea in your head?!”

“I’m not THAT dumb Mark.”

“We are JUST FRIENDS how many times do I have to tell you?”

“Fine, then answer my question. Have you ever loved her?”

You realized they were talking about you and was awaiting Mark’s response to the question.

“…no. I never loved her. I only love you.”

a/n sighed and sat next to Mark

“Really?”

“Really.”

They then kissed and started to make out. Your eyes were getting foggy, and the tears were starting to build up. Did he ever love you? Was this all just a game and a mistake? You couldn’t take it anymore. You ran back down into the garage and got on your motorbike and drove to Incheon. You drove and drove until the tears stopped, but they kept coming.

You finally made it to Eurwangni beach, and you took off your boots and walked on the sand. It hugged your feet softly as you walked on it. It was cold, not hot, it was quiet, not loud, and it was peaceful, not chaotic. You walked and sat on a big lifeguard seat and watched the waves as they came in and out of the sand. When you needed to be alone, you went to be one with the elements, in the forest, beach, or even a pond in the park. The stars and moon reflected in the water, as you wondered how you are still not over Mark.

You and Mark used to come here after long days of work, or if you both got lucky, came here on vacation. Mark called it a retreat for you two, so you could come up with new ideas with Mark without being distracted by the others, You remember him chasing the seagulls and trying to impress you at the beach. There was one time he tried to build you a sandcastle, only for it to be washed away by the water.

He asked you to bury him in the sand, and once he was buried you left him there, and he started to scream for an eternity before he gave up and begged you to dig him out. He also spun you around in the water, letting the salty droplets fall on each other’s skin.

Mark complained about the sea a lot how it was cold and dirty when five minutes later, he was running into the sea chasing a tiny fish. You also both cuddled on the beach while reading or in your rented beach house you both would watch the sunset until you fell asleep and he would have to carry you into the bed and tuck you in. You felt like crying, even more, remembering how happy you were here, and now you can’t get any of it back.

Taeyong came down the staircase to notice Mark and a/n still making out and coughed in their presence. They both stopped and blushed as they sat on the couch in embarrassment.

“You haven’t seen y/n, have you?” Taeyong asked

“No, why?” Mark answered

“I sent her on a mission about an hour ago, and she hasn’t come back?”

“That’s odd she’s usually done around 30-45 minutes.”

“A maid checked her room and said she wasn’t in there.”

“Maybe she’s in the bathhouses?”

“No, I sent a maid and other members to search the mansion, and she’s not here.”

Everyone started looking for you and called you, but you didn’t answer, and your tracking device was off. Another hour passed, and you still did not come back. Panic started to settle in, and members were getting freaked out. Mark also sent members to search for you in the area, but they did not find you.

People working undercover for NCT also reported nothing, all the other members started to freak out. Hendery was rapidly spamming your phone, and Jaehyun looked like he wanted to cry. Donghyuck was already crying about how he would not be able to test your weapons anymore, and Taeil was getting ready to write your obituary.

Taeyong was acting calm and strategic when really he was blaming himself for letting you go on such a dangerous mission. A/n looked mildly concerned, mainly focusing on how Mark is reacting, who is silently thinking about where you could be, and debating the possibility that you did fail your mission. You have a 100% success rate, so Mark knew you were alive and not kidnapped to be held for ransom.

“I know where she is.”

Mark immediately got up and ran to the garage before a/n or anyone could ask or stop him. He got his motorbike and rode all the way to Eurwangni beach to go find you. Mark parked his bike and saw you, in your usual spot, on the lifeguard chair. He took off his shoes and walked towards you. He found you still in your assassination suit looking into the distance, with no emotion.

“Hey, what are you doing up there?”

Mark snapped you out of your trance as you looked at him and looked back into the distance. Mark climbed up and sat next to you looking at your face trying to figure things out.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah I just needed some fresh air after my assassination.”

“Did everything go, okay?”

“Yeah, i-its just been a while.”

Then there was an awkward silence. Mark knew you were lying, and you knew Mark came here out of panic and guilt, not because of any feelings towards you. You both looked into the dark ocean with the moon and stars reflecting in its water. You finally decided to break the silence, mainly because you wanted to go home, and you were cold.

“Are you happy?”

Mark looked at you suddenly and was confused by what you meant by that. You looked away in embarrassment and started to fiddle with your fingers while still talking.

“a/n. Are you happy with her?”

Mark scratched the back of his neck and looked embarrassed.

“Yeah, she…makes me very happy, I…”

You waited for Mark to finish, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to. There were guilt and sadness in his eyes.

“I…love…”

“her.”

To you, it hurt, but to Mark, it was something forced out of his mouth. It didn’t seem as genuine as he thought it was. He didn’t know why, but in front of you, he couldn’t say it as heartfelt as usual. Little did he know in his head, he wanted to say you instead of her so much, but for some reason, he had to choke it out of him to say “her.” You could burst into tears right now, you didn’t want to confront him if he said if he loved you, because you knew the answer. It wasn’t something to be worried about anymore. He’s moved on and happy, that’s all you had hoped for him. You didn’t care if he didn’t like her all you wanted was for him to be happy. You just wanted her to treat her as well as you did, or heck maybe even better than you. At this point, you just wanted to go home. It was starting to get cold, and you wanted to curl up in your bed watching dramas until you fall asleep. 

“Let’s go home.”

Mark and you started to climb down when you touched the sand, your hands started to rub your shoulders and arms, you were freezing. Mark saw this and nonchalantly put his jacket over your shoulders revealing a black tank top he hands underneath, showing his NCT tattoo underneath his rib.

You put on his jacket that still smelled like cigarettes and his musk. You missed that smell, but you know you would never keep it forever. The burn marks and blood stains on it were still evident, and the zipper was broken as usual. Mark’s clothes were always bigger on you, and it was quite baggy. The pockets still fit your hands and felt warm, as the smooth leather touched your hands. You both got on your motorbikes and rode as you felt Mark’s jacket to flutter in the wind, as the moon shone brighter than it ever did.

You both arrived in the garage and parked your bikes, you and Mark walked up the stairs to see everyone awaiting your arrival in the living room. They all turned hearing your boots clicking, and they all screamed and ran to hug you, except a/n. Mark walked towards her, and she instantly smiled while everyone else was hugging you and slapping your back. Once they all cleared, a/n looked at you, seeing that you still had Mark’s jacket on and the room fell silent. A stalemate had occurred, and everyone was looking. You just calmly took off Mark’s jacket and gave it back to him saying a simple ‘thank you’ and left to go back upstairs to your room.

After a long shower, you heard a knock on your door.

“One minute!”

You quickly got dressed in a t-shirt and shorts as you opened the door to see Hendery.

“y/n! are you okay?!”

“Yeah, why?”

You both sat down on your bed, looking out the balcony window.

“I-I was just worried about you.”

“Why would you be worried about me?”

“I was afraid you were going to run away and find another group to be with.”

“I would never trade you idiots for anyone else.”

Hendery laughed, missing your humor, you both haven’t talked in a while.

“I was wondering if you wanted to attend the ball with me.”

“Really?”

“Y-yeah as f-friends?”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Y-ea-“

Before he could be finished, you pecked him on the cheek.

“I’ll go as your date stupid.”

He blushed and touched his cheek. He smiled and hugged you, which felt warm and comforting. You fell asleep feeling giddy as ever. You haven’t felt good to go to bed to be excited for tomorrow in a long time. You were ready to run the world tomorrow. You fell asleep with dreams no one could imagine they were no longer nightmares in your head. They were not dark anymore. You were in flower fields instead of caves, running through the daisies, watching butterflies fly around you.

The next morning you woke up feeling fantastic, you danced around while cooking breakfast, and none of the guys knew why you were such in a good mood. You let Donghyuck test out all of your latest weapons and gadgets for the ball tonight, and you bought lunch for all the trainees.

Soon time flew, and you were done with the workday. It was cut short due to the ball, so everyone could prepare to get changed. You dashed up to your bedroom to find your dress, maids, makeup artists, fashion designer assistants, and butlers. You walked in to get your makeup done, complementing your outfit. At the same time, they also braided and curled your hair. Once you were done, you were led onto a platform with a mirror, and everyone was helping you get the dress on, since it was heavy, and had a tight catsuit underneath it. You had a corset as well, and you felt the maids pulling to make your waist smaller.

They finally finished with your corset tying it with a bow and putting finishing touches on your dress. Then you had to accessorize, you had earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings all adorned on you with the finest jewels. You got on your heels, gloves, and fur coat on as a butler walked you down the staircase to where you met your eyes with Hendery waiting for you. He smiled as you delicately walked down the marble stairs until Hendery took your hand.

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“You didn’t need all of this, you would still look beautiful.”

You blushed at his words as you both walked to the door opened by the maids. He held and helped you down the stairs again and held your dress up so you would not trip and it would not get dirty. A butler opened the door for you, and you looked a little nervous, but Hendery rubbed the top of your hand, giving you some reassurance.

“Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

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