#if you think this is bad jae got to listen to me ramble about the symbolism of shapes in the wonderland mv

[bunnakit]

one of the most difficult parts of navigating ATEEZ lore is you have to decide which avenue you're going to operate under -

are you operating under the assumption that they've traversed dimensions (A -> Z) with elements of time travel interspersed and the Halateez are tangible human beings they can interact with?

or are you operating under the theory that they've only time traveled "to a different world" (because the future is so bleak it feels like a new world entirely) and the Halateez are shadows of their future, no longer occupying that space-time because ATEEZ has taken their place and the Halateez are only reflections of their inner selves?*

and depending on your choice are you assuming Halazia is a third dimension where the events of the timeline occurred differently? or that it's instead even further into the future and what may be in store for society if ATEEZ cannot fix things in the Z era, the time of the Halateez?

this is why i think it's so difficult to say any one theory is correct when there is so much unconfirmed, so many elements to play with, and so many details to turn over in our head. it's an absolute blast to navigate and experiment with. i wonder if someday we'll have it all spelled out to us but part of me almost hopes it never is. (and i know some things have been 'confirmed' in interviews but we know KQ and HJ are known to be very tricky with the way they word and tease things.)

*i personally find it very curious that we only ever see interactions between the two through some form of reflective surface - aside from answer but even then they're lifting a glass to cheers and it could be said that they're viewing their reflections through that glass. (and we know reflective surfaces are banned in strictland for the sense of identity they can grant.)

there is also no direct dialogue between them in any of the diaries except a brief interaction between hongjoong and the version of him trapped in the glass on the prison island, when he adopts the black pirate costume for himself. we know the guardians can take people's voices, i don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for them to take and contain souls {no more, keep your soul} - especially of those they want to punish rather than dispose of - or for this to be some moment of self reflection and a realization of the path he wants to take moving forward

[boizandgurlzinthehouse]

𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐁*𝐓𝐂𝐇 ; 𝐆𝐔𝐍-𝐖𝐎𝐎 𝐗 𝐅𝐄𝐌!𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐕. 𝐍𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐄 '𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑.

summary: sometimes it's hard to deal with how fast the night changes... and how memories are used and coming back again and again.

wordcount: 5.096k (i got carried away, but it felt right to write this much uwu)

tw: swearing, angst (bad memories), crying, anxiety (attack?), badly written anxiety rambling, blood, otherwise than that it's fluff and comfort

author's note: nothing, just enjoy it girlies <3

part 1 part 2 part 3 playlist!!

on the way to the bookstore, the trio was silent. woo-jin sat beside gun-woo, y/n sat opposite them. whenever the girl looked at one of them, they looked away. fiddling with her fingers, she also looked out the bus’ window. were they really bad for intervening when yang jae-myeong and his gang beat that man? yeah, because they fucked up the plan. but at the same time… y/n didn’t feel actual guilt. everytime she got into danger when she was little, her father didn’t beat her and said that if she ever gets into trouble like that, he’ll beat her. he always said that it’s alright if someone’s alive. that’s what's important. they can think about the other problems later. 

tonight, they saved a man’s life. sure, the plan was blown, but they can always make new ones. 

otherwise, should they let the homeless man die? maybe hyeon-ju is good at stalking and good with the stuff she did until now, but she never got into this situation. 

getting off of the bus, they only looked at each other. before they could go down to the bookstore, y/n stopped them, taking off the mask. 

“listen, guys… maybe it wasn’t a good idea to do this. and since the two of you are in need of money, and i’m the new one, if hyeon-ju wants to kick you two out, i’m gonna say that this was my idea.”

“you can’t do this. this is your purpose just the same as ours!” woo-jin protested. y/n shrugged her shoulders. 

“i will find another way. it was too good to be true anyways. your jobs are more important.” 

“we’ll figure it out, don’t worry.” gun-woo replied, as they get in. 

before they stepped in on the door, y/n muttered. 

“let things be as they should be.” 

hyeon-ju was fuming, as she thought. she tried not to become pissed too fast, but she didn’t know what the other girl’s first words would be. as she sat on the couch, she didn’t even let them get into place. 

“don’t sit. this will be quick.” she said as woo-jin tried to pull out the chair. y/n gulped. “did you fight him?” 

“it was unavoidable.” woo-jin replied. 

“we can’t work together. what? isn’t it obvious?” she continued, when the three looked at each other. 

“we gave you a sincere apology.” 

“i don’t need an apology!” hyeon-ju snapped. 

“but that man needed an ambulance.” said y/n, leaning on one of the shelves. hyeon-ju looked at her, then at the boys again. she stood up. 

“yang jae-myeong saw your faces, didn’t he? my plan was to tail him and gather evidence quietly. now, that he knows someone is following his tail, he’ll lie low. therefore, my plan is ruined!” 

“we wore caps and masks, he couldn't have seen our faces.” 

“right, since you covered your face, there’s no way he’d recognize you.” hyeon-ju’s tone was sneaking higher and higher with malice. “since this shitty hair was covered, he wouldn't recognize you!” hyeon-ju touched woo-jin’s hair. okay, his hair was a little unruly, but it fitted him well. “and y/n’s unusual hair! fuck, i’d recognize you from a mile away!” 

y/n scratched her eyebrows, trying to smooth the wrinkles on her forehead. 

“what are you doing? get out.” 

hearing these words, she pushed herself away from the wood. “listen, hyeon-ju, it was my idea. you can kick me out, but not them.” 

“oh, so you’re protecting them now? or what the fuck?” 

“i’m saying… that when the gang was beating that guy, it was my idea that we should protect him. i was the one who said that we would go there, and i was the one who kicked out the knife from yang jae-myeong’s hand.” she pursued, as she walked in front of the girl. her expressions held no anger, no hatred. it just held simplicity. 

“and what should i do with this information?” hyeon-ju growled. 

“seriously, i don’t know. do what you want, i don’t want to tell you, because you probably wouldn’t listen to me. but you also can’t forget that this was our first mission. at every mission, mistakes are almost common. we can always make other plans. not to mention that gun-woo, woo-jin and i never did shit like this, and you weren’t there, so you can’t judge the situation just because you think we are losers.” 

there was silence for a couple of seconds. y/n tried to hope that she would think about what she said, but the response was simply cruel. 

“the loss of your father, or your hope for revenge did this with you to say this?” 

the air in her throat stopped. her pupils dilated, and felt like those words got her heart into a fist. licking her lips, she didn’t know what to say. this was her biggest secret, and this girl just bragged about it like it was some simple topic like the weather. she didn’t want to look at woo-jin, especially not gun-woo, and felt like the ceiling of the bookstore’s gonna fall on her. she tried not to breath heavily, tried not to get tears into her eyes. and she didn’t want anyone to know about this. hell, nobody even knows this except for sir choi and his father’s friends. breathing in, trying to calm herself, she didn’t want to be here anymore. she didn’t want to be in a place where the biggest loss of her life was turned against her. smiling sadly and in the way disgraced people did it, she bit her lip, then let it go. 

“you know what, hyeon-ju? you have no right to dig into my past, under any circumstances. i tried to be kind and helpful to you, but i’m not gonna mince words, so it’s good for you if you know that after this, you deserve everything if your plan doesn’t work out.” 

when she was done, she threw onto the couch the hat that was given to her. storming out, gun-woo tried to stop her, but she softly pulled his hand away. 

y/n walked out hurriedly, wiping the tears away, not giving them the chance to run out. how could she do this? how could she use this against her? her memories were coming back to her. blood. fear. slicing sounds through meat. through organs. through the heart. through the mattress she lied under, the edge of the sword stopped right above her chest. gathering wetness of the blood, dark red pools crossing each other, becoming one big puddle. some of the blood dropping on her nose, her face, her eyelids. 

“no… no, no, no, no…” she whispered, holding her face in the hope that there won’t be more and more new ones. she had no right to do this. she had no right. she was cruel, she was evil, she wanted to get under her skin and she let her! but how could she not? 

[ 𝐆𝐔𝐍-𝐖𝐎𝐎'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ]

after telling hyeon-ju what he wanted to say, he and woo-jin stepped out of the door. he worried about his job, the hundred million won loan that he took, and how he’s gonna pay it back, his mother, and the whole smile capital thing. he was tired and hungry, and y/n was there too beside his concerns. her words echoed in his head. 

“i’ll find some other place. don’t worry too much.” woo-jin’s words were loud in the silent hallway. 

“i’m sorry… i couldn’t hold back.” he said as woo-jin hugged him with one arm. 

“you held back better than i did. and how y/n did. nevertheless, maybe i'd have lashed out too if hyeon-ju pointed out the vulnerable parts of my life.” 

“i don’t know why she had to do this. y/n even assumed that she was the one who ruined the plan. she lied for us…”

“i don’t know man, i don’t understand girls. but y/n were harsh too. even if you can save our job, hyeon-ju is sure as hell won’t call y/n back.” 

“you think?” gun-woo asked. woo-jin tiredly sighed. 

“i guess so. are you hungry? let’s go to this hangover soup place i know. oh, wait a second” he took of his arm from gun-woo’s shoulder. “, it’s probably closed because of covid. it’s past ten.” 

gun-woo’s stomach churned. it hurt damn much. it was afternoon when they ate, but so much has happened since then. 

“that just made me more hungry.” he said, bending a little bit to ease the ache in his tummy. 

“i forgot.” 

“my stomach hurts,” he told woo-jin. 

“hey, it’s not my fault they’re closed because of covid.”

“but it’s your fault for bringing it up.” 

“you couldn’t hold yourself back with hyeon-ju just now!”

“you said that i did a good job.” gun-woo disagreed. 

“i said that because you were moping like a loser!” 

“i wasn't moping like a loser!” 

woo-jin’s expression began to crease. 

“i wasn’t moping like a loser”, he babbled. clearly wanted to imitate gun-woo. 

“what are you doing now?” 

i’m imitating you, loser.” woo-jin replied as he continued to babble. “man, i’m hungry. my stomach hurts.” it hurt gun-woo more than hunger. 

“wow… you’re so ugly.” 

“how could you joke like that?” 

“what? i wasn’t joking. i’m being serious.” 

before woo-jin could argue longer, they heard soft sniffles. 

“did you hear that too?” gun-woo asked. woo-jin nodded, as they tried to look into the direction of the noise. it was dark, and they saw nobody. “what if it’s y/n?” 

“let’s get a look.” woo-jin muttered, as they began to follow the sound. it was truly y/n, sitting on a bench, her shoulders shaking, hugging herself. every cry was louder than the other. gun-woo looked at woo-jin, and without a word, they understood each other. stepping slowly closer to her, when gun-woo was at the other end of the bench, he softly asked. 

“is everything okay, y/n?” 

“idiot, she just cries out her soul!” woo-jin scolded him, and y/n slowly shook her head. she seemed so vulnerable. nothing like he know before this. she wasn’t the girl who stood proudly, she wasn’t the cool bartender, she wasn’t the girl who wanted to punch woo-jin the first time they met. she was little and hurt. it was hard to miss that her whole body was quivering, her hands before her face. sitting beside her, he tried to touch her, but didn’t know where to do it. hands? she would be too scared. back? it’s pressed to the back of the bench. it was easier to hug her body. gun-woo gulped, and at a slow pace, he reached his arm around her, pulling her into his embrace. without a word, y/n leaned into his chest, laying her hands on his chest beside her face, trying to wipe her tears. she was warm, and her hair softly brushed to gun-woo’s chin. her soft, but fast breaths fanned against his jacket. 

“i’m… i’m so sorry, i’m sorry… i fucked up, i’m the cause of your failure… i, i didn’t want that, i’m so sorry, i didn’t want to mess up…” she hyperventilated, sometimes pressing her lips together to suppress the whines that escaped her mouth. 

“it’s okay, y/n. it’s okay. don’t worry.” 

“no, it’s not… it’s not okay… i’m sorry i got angry, i’m sorry for what i said and what i did… i…” y/n’s voice got hoarse, she was repeating the same sentences again. “...i just got scared that she knows about it, i was scared that she’s gonna use it against me… i just felt so horrible, i’m so sorry…” 

gun-woo peered at woo-jin. what to do now? 

“you don’t have to be sorry about anything. you said those things because… you felt like you had to say them. i don’t know what happened to you, but me and woo-jin gonna help you. right, woo-jin?” 

“yes, absolutely.” woo-jin seemed to be a little bit… scared? for a couple of minutes, they sat in silence. y/n’s fast breaths began to slow down, and her body wasn’t trembling that hard now.

“i’m sorry for everything i said… you just wanted to help.”

“y/n, don’t worry about this. really. we’re gonna figure out something. i am sure about it, and i know that you are too.”

the girl slowly breathed in, looking up at him. some tears were dried on her face, the mascara was running low to her lips; even down to her neck. her lips were chapped from the bites, some locks of her hair were sticking to her face. wiping her eyes to see clear, she nodded. 

“thank you, gun-woo. i’m sorry but i have to go now… work doesn’t make an exception for girls who chase criminals at night.” 

when she stood up, gun-woo knew that he didn’t want her to go home alone. sure she was a good fighter, but in this state, even a hit on the head could knock her out. not to say that they were far away from yeongsan. 

“can we escort you home? it’s dangerous to go alone, and you sure are hungry.” 

y/n nodded, and when she held gun-woo’s hand to pull him up, the boy’s stomach grumbled. 

“are you two hungry? we can go to mine, i have some instant noodles.” 

“no, we don’t… we wanted to eat somewhere anyway.”

looking at her phone, y/n huffed. 

“everything’s closed, gun-woo. it’s past ten.” 

“that’s what i was telling him too!” woo-jin said, y/n let out a little giggle. 

“let’s go to mine. come on, i’m hungry, you’re hungry, we’re all hungry.” 

[ 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐏 ]

arriving to y/n’s rent, it was peaceful. she lived on the eighth floor, the highest level of the row house. it had a little terrace, only to place some plants on the floor and to smoke a cigarette while standing. the living room was smaller than in gun-woo’s apartment, there was only two doors, one for the restroom, one for the bedroom. the walls were filled with photos and plants, and some weird clocks. 

“your house is very cool, y/n!” woo-jin said as y/n locked the door. 

“thanks. it was a pain in the ass to convince my landlord to have some plants here. sit down, watch some tv while i make the food, okay? make yourself comfortable!” she replied as she took off her shoes, going to the kitchen. picking out leftover kimchi from the fridge, she searched for the ramen in the lower drawer on the left. 

“can i help?” gun-woo asked from aside, while y/n picked out four packs of noodles. 

“only if you want. do you prefer not spicy, medium spicy or very spicy?” she asked, as she showed them the flavors. 

“it doesn’t matter. but i like medium spicy most.” he said, making y/n smile. 

“then medium spicy it is. can you give me the wooden spoon? it’s on the right side, above the bigger drawers.” 

“sure,” gun-woo said as he placed it on the counter. 

“do you want anything? go back and watch tv! it will be ready in minutes.” y/n said to him. gun-woo leaned to the counter. 

“i just want to help you. it’s you, inviting us dinner after all.”

“it’s nothing. i don’t have guests that often. it’s good to have someone here, to fill up the rooms with life. salt, please, above you.” 

“i don’t have many friends either. i mean, i don’t know how many friends you have… but i’m not a wordsmith.”

“you don’t have to talk much to have friends. friendships aren’t about talking. it’s about trust and the peaceful understanding of each other. it doesn’t have to be loud. my love for my parents wasn't loud either.” the girl replied as she began to stir the noodles. 

just as holding her hand, gun-woo found comfort in her words. only if she knew that he thinks the same way. maybe that’s why he wasn’t good with his ex-girlfriend. she always wanted loud confessions and high volume dates and occasions, and he couldn’t give it to her. for a long time, he thought that he was wrong for not stepping out from his shell. he already felt these things that y/n said, but never could form it into words so good like her. 

“you are too good with words.” he said, getting y/n knitted eyebrows. 

“me? how so?” 

“you don’t talk too much, but you always say something that has a meaning. of course i like woo-jin, he talks a lot and makes good jokes. i feel like he can speak on my behalf too, and this makes things easier.” 

“did you get to know him in the marine?” 

“no, after a championship. he lost against me, and i invited him to eat. then it turned out that we both served in the marine. it was before my mother assumed the loan.”

“i get it.” y/n said, then tilting her head, she leaned to the counter. “you don’t have to answer this question, but what is that band-aid on your face?” 

“oh, this?” gun-woo asked, and maybe, he blushed a little bit. “it’s… an injury that the boss of the smile capital gave me.” he began to uncover the scar. y/n’s lips tightened. 

“oh my sweet jesus… how did he do this?” she muttered as she looked at it.  

“at one night, i was talking to my mother on the phone. i wanted to help her close the coffee shop she owns, but when she called me, her voice was frightened and scared. she asked me where i am, and that some strange men were standing outside. when she tried to say something, the glass of the coffee shop was broken with a brick, and she began to scream. she was so scared… i’ve never seen her so scared. i ran to her, and fought the guys who destroyed the place. then… that man came, and another… he was stronger than anybody else i ever knew. he was like a mountain, stronger, taller. he beat me up real bad. and then, the president of smile capital crouched over me, and… well, he did this to my face. he has one, too.”

“one what?” 

“a scar like this.” 

“oh, yeah, i get it… it’s horrible. it’s so fucked up they beat up little men to get stronger. they should make a pass with the same weighted groups as them.” y/n whispered. “does it hurt?” she looked from closer, reaching out her fingers to imagine how it could feel under her touch. gun-woo gulped and shook his head. 

“no. only a little, when i touch it.” y/n pulled back her hand. the boiled water behind them almost ran out from the pot, making y/n jump back, turning around. “oh, shit, the noodles! okay, they’re not so spongy… woo-jin, come! dinner is ready!” 

after setting the table, during dinner, the trio barely talked to each other, mostly complimenting the food y/n made. she told them again and again that it’s just instant food, but the guys ate like they haven't been eating for three days. boys, y/n thought as she saw gun-woo pushing another big bite into his mouth. his cheeks puffed out as he chewed the noodle. y/n smiled, and got back to eating. after finishing the food, they helped to clean the table and packed the dirty bowls into the washing machine. 

gun-woo stepped to the door to put on his shoes. he looked on the clock, it was almost midnight. oh no… the buses weren’t working anymore today, the earliest time is three a.m. how could he ask y/n to sleep here? and woo-jin? they only agreed about dinner, not sleeping here! 

“oh, shit! look at the time!” thanks, woo-jin, he thought as he stepped beside him. “i live over the bridge, it’s at least an hour to get home…”

“woo-jin, we can’t take advantage of y/n’s hospitality. you’ll survive the little walk.” 

“but i’m soooo tired…” he yawned, and this time, he was right. gun-woo also had to suppress a yawn several times as he ate. 

“yeah, me too… but it’s not that we agreed on.” he whispered, as he continued to pick up his other shoe. when he wanted to open the door, y/n appeared beside the hallway wall. 

“what are you doing?” she asked, and she yawned too. 

“going home…?” gun-woo said, looking and woo-jin. y/n shook her head. 

“but the buses aren’t working today anymore… shit, it’s almost midnight?” she almost repeated woo-jin’s words. 

“yeah… but we’re gonna walk a little bit.” 

“if you walk home, you’re not gonna get home even at two in the morning.” y/n told them, scratching her neck. “i don’t want to tell you what to do, but… if you're just the same as me, then sleep here. i won’t mind.” 

woo-jin looked at gun-woo, smiling a little bit. 

“okay, then… we’re sleeping here, if you really, really don’t mind.” 

y/n shook her head. 

“i’ll get you two towels. i’m showering first!” 

getting out from his shoes again, gun-woo looked at woo-jin. 

“the couch is mine.” the other stated, making gun-woo protest immediately. 

“no, no! we’re both sleeping on the couch!” woo-jin sighed, and made gun-woo sit down on the couch. he looked like he’s gonna give a speech to him, like a proud father. 

“listen, gun-woo… i think you haven’t been in situations like these. when you get to know a girl, you gon dates with her, doing cute things, speaking about things she likes, or you just listen to her. because girls like to brag about anything! they love to hear their own voice.” 

“but y/n doesn’t brag. and she’s not into me, and… i don’t want to take advantage of her. she does it because she has a good heart. she could easily kick us out to the streets.” 

“no, no, no! you don’t get what i talk about! y/n wants us… wants you to stay because she likes you!” 

“okay, but that doesn’t mean that we gotta do anything. she’s also vulnerable, don’t you remember how she cried? i don’t want to disturb her feelings with this.”

“i didn’t say that you have to have sex with her! i just said, that… maybe if you said some reassuring words to her… and give her comfort… she’d feel that you are the one for him.” 

“i did this too earlier, without any secret motive.” gun-woo replied. he was confused, does anyone have to do this in the favor of getting something? gross. woo-jin rolled his eyes. 

“damn, you are too good with people. just don’t be a nice guy, but you have an awesome face, so it won’t be a problem. then just do the same things you did before, and everything will be fine. not to mention that it was so sloppy when you held hands, like in some movie!” 

“i don’t know why i did it! but i surely wouldn't hold your hand, if you sleep calmer with this information.” gun-woo replied. 

“okay, i’m relieved. but still, if things are going the right way… y/n sure has protection. and don’t do it too loud!” woo-jin laughed as he slapped gun-woo’s shoulder. 

“did i tell you that you are sloppy and cheeky sometimes? or do you already know it?” he asked with a bored face. 

“it hurt a little bit. but you were savage now! i liked it. keep it up! fighting!” 

yeah, fighting. fighting for not getting a heart attack from sleeping near to y/n. 

[ 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐏 ]

after showering, gun-woo wore the same clothes he wore today. he waited for y/n to turn up, and she did, with a headband on his hair. she jumped a little bit when she noticed him. 

“oh, gun-woo, you almost scared me! what’s up?” she asked as she hung her towel, picking out a tube from the top of her drawer. sitting to the mirror, she began to cream her face. 

“woo-jin… said that he doesn’t like to sleep with somebody else beside him. so… if you could give me some blankets, then i’d sleep on the floor in the living room.” 

y/n looked at him, half of her was white. gun-woo imagined that what if that’s what he could see every night… if they lived together. he slapped himself in his mind, don’t do this now! she’s just a good friend. and she’s still vulnerable. 

“are you crazy?” 

“no… i’m not. why?” 

“sleeping on the floor will give you sore muscles. uhm, i don’t know… maybe we could sleep together in my bed?” she offered. gun-woo hoped that his face wasn’t as red as a tomato. 

“no, i… i just sleep on the floor… don’t worry, you are already so kind for letting us sleep here.” 

“gun-woo, i don’t want to press you into anything, but after this day, i think we all deserve to sleep somewhere comfy. and look, my bed is big enough!” she said as she pointed to the bed. gun-woo looked around the room; there were pictures on the wall as in the hallway and the living room, and some personal stuff like her brush, some make-up stuff or a couple of little mirrors stood on the drawer. her bed was really big, it almost covered the rear side of the room, with a window on the side. it was lovely. 

“okay, if that’s really alright with you… but wake me up anytime at night if you don’t want me to sleep here.” 

y/n smiled and nodded. 

“okay.” 

getting into bed, gun-woo offered to sleep on the inner side, just in case if y/n wanted to get some water or anything else. as they laid down, y/n’s face was in front of him. his heart was hammering in his chest. he didn’t even remember when he was this close to somebody, and y/n was beautiful. simply beautiful, without makeup too. her face was calm, and she was softly breathing. in the dark, he only could make out the lines of her expressions. 

“y/n?” 

“yeah?” 

“i’m sorry for what hyeon-ju said today. and i hope that you are okay now.” 

“don’t worry, i’m fine. sometimes memories come back, but i’m kinda used to it. it was good when you hugged me. it calmed me down much earlier. thank you.” 

“you don’t need to thank me.” 

“but i have to. i’m glad that i’ve met you and woo-jin. it’s the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.” 

“seriously? you seemed so cool when we first saw you. like you didn’t need anybody to live your life.” 

“just because i don’t express emotions… well, i think i needed some new things. but that’s my problem, sometimes i don’t even know what i feel. it’s easier to feel nothing than to be overwhelmed by ignorance. but wait, what did you think about me when we first met?” 

“why do you ask that?” 

“i don’t know. it’s interesting to me what people think about me first.” 

“okay… well, you seemed to be the coolest girl i’ve ever known. you seemed powerful, and though. somebody who i wanted to know but if i didn’t have the motivation or the cause, i’ve never dared to accost. and you seemed mysterious. i don’t know why, but when you talked about the things you live through everyday, i knew that you know more than me or woo-jin, or anybody else in our generation about life. you see people wither, you see their pain… and you continue to work there. i know you surely could get another job if you wanted, but… i think you need this pain.” 

“for what?”

“to suppress another one. i’m sorry, i didn’t want to bring it up again. it’s just a guess.” 

“that’s fine, i won’t cry anymore tonight. it was just weird for me, to hear these things from a mere stranger.” 

“i know. it would be hard for anyone. and… what was i like when you first saw me?” 

“oh, so you’re curious now… i like this. well, well… where to begin… i thought you were loyal and brave. braver than anyone. and the way you talked or bent in front of me showed me that you had respect for everyone. and a good heart. the way you talked, it was calm, but on the other side, you seemed digressive and someone who was riddled with desire to act. to do something, to solve problems. you have a kind of fire in your heart, and that fire burns through everything. that makes you unstoppable. and i see these attributes in you now too.” 

gun-woo smiled with full lips, he hoped that y/n smiled too. the compliments shoot to his heart, overflowing it with something that was beyond happiness or wholeness. he heard how she delicately yawned, her soft breath fanning his neck. was she that close to him? he didn’t mind it anyway. he felt happy, happier than ever in the last few weeks and days. and thinking about the whole father-thing, maybe it was bizarre, however, they each lost their father… but they gained a new person in their lives. someone who could fill the gaping holes in their hearts. 

“i am very tired now, gun-woo. good night. and thanks for everything. i hope you sleep well.” 

“good night to you too, y/n.”

when he closed his eyes, he felt a little movement, and then heard a creak. what– something warm on his cheek. something warm and soft, feeling like… lips? 

did y/n just kiss his cheek? 

[ 𝐘/𝐍'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ]

maybe it was rash and random, and maybe that’s why she turned away from him. this day was so weird, and a lot of things happened… but having gun-woo here felt like she was at a safe place again. 

like she was at home again. in her mother’s embrace, under the blankets, with the heating bottle, in utter peace. 

she didn’t know why she did this. and she didn’t want to know what could be gun-woo’s reaction. she just wanted to sleep. 

and maybe it was too rushed, she only knew him for two days, and gun-woo was too good for her… but maybe she fell a little in love with him. 

𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐃.

author's note: on 8-9-10 of july I'll be on holiday (probably the only one in this sumer cdjksfnjks) so it's not so sure I'm gonna upload so fast, but this part is nearly twice as long as the previous ones so i hope you enjoyed uwu

taglist: @fairyhani @castleninja @littlebaby-bunbun @jaylans-stuff

(ask for tag in taglist in comment or here)

[nctsplug02]

[10:26pm]

genre: suggestive

the ask got deleted because i accidentally posted it and had to delete it :(

you wake jaehyun up when hearing a knock at the front door. “hun, someone’s knocking on the door.” jaehyun gets up and goes check, it was his daughter’s babysitter.

“jen?” the drunk teen stumbles inside the house. “mr jeong, i’ve had too much to drink.” she giggles. “i can see that. aren’t you a bit too young to be drinking alcohol? after all you are just seventeen.” jen looks up at the man and pushes her chest onto his.

she tilts her head to the side and pouts. “are you worried about me, mr jeong?” she lightly gasps when he nods.

she brings her hand up to his chest and starts to draw shapes on his chest. “mr jeong, have i been a bad girl tonight?” jaehyun doesn’t reply, he stays still while staring down at the drunk teen. “i think i’ve been really bad.. could you teach me a lesson?” she whispers in a hushed tone.

“kiss me, mr jeong.” she blurts out.

jen pokes her head to the side when she hears someone clearing their throat. “mrs jeong.” jen giggles and pushes herself off jaehyun, stumbling towards you.

“jen? what’re you doing here so late? are you drunk?” jen shushes you with a giggle. “shhh, im a little drunk but it’s a secret.” you nod, playing along with the teen.

“okay— let’s get you to bed, yeah? you can sleep in the guest room, how’s that?” jen shakes her head. “really? i can? i think.. i think that’s a great idea, mrs jeong. you are so smart, mrs jeong. i love you.” she rambles which makes you grin.

“okay okay, let’s put you to sleep.” you say, dragging her to the guest room where you then tucked her in and left her to sleep on her own.

when you enter your room, jaehyun was already in bed, he was sat up with a slight grin. “what’s with the goofy grin, hm?” jaehyun sighs, rolling his shoulders back. “nothing, just.. nothing.” you join him in bed, climbing in next to him and cuddling with him.

“ugh, could you believe she really tired to throw herself on you? she clearly knew what she was saying when she told you to kiss her.” jaehyun doesn’t listen, he begins to become needy.

he starts pressing kisses everywhere on your face, your jaw, cheek, lips, forehead. “and she was drinking tonight? god lord, she’s only seventeen— can you stop kissing me for a second?” jaehyun chuckles and shakes his head, planting one more kiss before pulling away.

“need you so bad, baby.” he says, climbing over you. “jae—“ he pins your hands down besides your head which makes you melt. you felt small now that he had you pinned.

“cmon, baby.” he begs with a whiney tone. “i.. jen’s in the other room though, she’ll hear us.” you lift your face when jaehyun starts pressing more kisses onto your jaw and neck. “no, she won’t cause you’ll be quiet, won’t you?” he asks before sucking on your sweet spot. god, that took you out.

“y—yes, i’ll be quiet for you.“ you repeat, starting to get needy.

“of course you will cause why? cause you’re a good girl.” his voice getting deeper with each word as his hand trailed down to your throbbing heat. you begged that jen wasn’t awake to hear the interaction.

[jaehyunfirstlove]

Can you write smut for jaehyun where the reader is also an idol and jaehyun has had the biggest crush on her for a long time? He finally asks for her number backstage at inkigayo and they finally meet up at his dorm after texting for the longest time and things go from there 🤠

Pairing: idol!jaehyun x idol!f.reader

Genre: a bit of fluff?, smut (18+ only)

Warnings: nipple sucking, fingering, protected sex

Word count: 2k

A/N: haha i got carried away with this one :) hope you like it, anon, and thanks for sending it in!

“Don’t look, but it’s Y/N,” Jungwoo whispered, trying to appear casual. Despite Jungwoo’s fair warning, Jaehyun couldn’t help but turn his head in your direction. Whereupon he blushed to the tips of his ears when you caught him looking and smiled.

“Smooth, Jaehyun, real smooth,” Johnny laughed, while Jungwoo just sighed.

“I told you not to look!” Jungwoo elbowed Jaehyun, who just shook his head, scratching the back of his neck in frustration.

“I can’t help it, she’s like a magnet,” Jaehyun admitted, “I can’t help but look at her.”

“And think about her, and talk about her, and bore us all to death about how much you like her,” Haechan complained, while Mark laughed and scolded him playfully.

“You should just ask for her number,” Yuta commented matter-of-factly, and everyone just nodded in agreement.

“No harm in asking,” Taeil shrugged, grinning at Jaehyun.

“Of course there is!” Doyoung suddenly piped up, “she could say no, and then Jaehyun can never show his face at Inkigayo ever again!”

Everyone groaned, Haechan even rolling his eyes at Doyoung.

“Don’t listen to him,” Taeyong finally came over and wrapped an arm around Jaehyun’s shoulder, “I’m sure she’ll say yes. Just ask, yeah?”

Jaehyun nodded, rubbing his hands together nervously. He left the room, making his way over to your waiting room while the members cheered him on loudly.

---

“So what are you going to wear?” Dahyun asked you, trying to find a space on your bed to sit amongst the pile of clothes you were throwing onto it.

“Ugh! I don’t know!” you lamented, discarding every article of clothing you owned. Nothing seemed to work for you, and you were about to give up and tell Jaehyun you couldn’t meet up with him because your wardrobe was a disgusting mess, when you got a text.

JJ: hey we’re still on for today?

You groaned, while Dahyun started to meticulously go through your pile.

Me: yes of course!

JJ: great! change of plans though

JJ: can we meet at my dorm instead of the park?

JJ: my manager doesn’t want dispatch getting any pictures :(

Me: that’s fine

JJ: awesome! can’t wait to see you :)

Me: me too

Me: see you then

You tore at your hair in frustration, but Dahyun just looked at you triumphantly. “Ta-da!” she said dramatically, holding up an outfit that she had picked out from your pile. You had to admit, it looked good. “What do you think?”

“It’ll have to do,” you said quickly, grabbing the clothes from her hands and hastily getting dressed, “I’m already running late!”

---

“Where is everyone?” you asked, when you finally entered the tenth floor dorm. Jaehyun shrugged sheepishly as he led you through the hallway.

“They, uh, went to practice.”

“Don’t you have to practice too, then?” you questioned, noticing that the dorm was cleaner than you imagined it would be, and smelled nicer than you imagined too.

“Uh, unofficial practice,” he swallowed nervously, opening the door to his room and motioning for you to go in, “here’s my room.”

You walked in, noticing his bed and Jungwoo’s made up neatly. The furnishings were sparse, and any belongings and knick knacks were arranged neatly in their spaces. You wondered if he was really this tidy or if he did it just for you. You had to smile if it was the latter.

“This is nice,” you said, sitting on his bed and getting a whiff of fresh laundry detergent.

He threw his head back and laughed. “Don’t lie, it’s awful.”

You couldn’t help but laugh with him, knowing these dorms, even in the biggest companies, certainly weren’t five star lodgings.

“You’re right,” you agreed, and found yourself smiling from ear to ear at the endearing look on his face, the way his eyes seemed to dance in the light, and the way his dimples dented his beautifully bread-like cheeks. “Come sit with me,” you said, because you noticed he was still standing by the door.

Almost hesitantly he came over, sitting on the bed beside you but keeping a respectable distance. You could tell he was nervous, and that made him even more endearing to you. To further break the ice, you commented on the bracelet he was wearing.

“I like that bracelet,” you said, pointing to his wrist.

He fingered it, smiling. “This? It was something all of us in the ninety-seven line got together.”

“That’s sweet,” you commented, bending your head towards it to get a closer look. He brought it up closer to your face so you could see it better.

“See how it shines in the light if I turn it like this…” he moved his wrist and you had to admit it was beautiful, and you couldn’t help but touch it lightly with your fingers. At the contact he inhaled sharply, and you looked up at him, not even realizing that your faces were so close together.

“Y/N, I want to kiss you,” he said, his eyes roving to your lips. Unconsciously you bit your bottom lip, and that certainly made his heart beat faster, but still he waited for your consent.

“Yes, please,” you said softly, and he leaned in, capturing your bottom lip. His lips were soft and warm, and he kissed you gently, tentatively. You sighed into his mouth but still he went slowly, as if he were relishing every moment. You felt his hands move to your waist, then around to your back, and the way he was holding you and kissing you made the heat rise in your body. Your hands went up to his chest, feeling the hard lines of his pecs, and that made you feel even hotter, and you moaned softly into his mouth.

He kissed you harder, your reaction to his actions making him bolder, his hands now pulling you closer to him. You could feel the pressure he was applying to your back to press your body closer to his, and it made your core clench around nothing.

“Y/N,” he groaned softly, when you pulled away from his mouth for air, “I’ve wanted you for so long.” His hands roamed all over your body as he tucked his face into your neck, kissing softly until you inhaled sharply, gripping his arms when he found your sweet spot. His kisses became more urgent then, sucking the skin ever so lightly, careful not to leave marks.

“Jaehyun,” you whispered, already losing yourself to his touch, “I want you too, I want you right now.”

He groaned, deep in his chest, then laid you back down onto the bed. The feeling of his body on top of you, the weight of him, the heat of him, the hardness between his legs, made you so wet you knew your panties were probably soaked with your arousal.

“Are you sure?” he still asked, even as he started to peel your clothes off of you, “I just want to be inside you so bad.”

You stifled a whimper, he was making you so hot with his words, with the deep rumble of his voice, with the way he was stripping you leaving you naked underneath him.

“So beautiful,” he whispered, eyes drinking in your nude form. Before you could even be embarrassed with the way he was looking at you, he leaned in and sucked a nipple into his mouth, making your back arch off the bed.

“Jaehyun!” you cried out, fingers threading through his hair as he pleasured you, sucking on each nipple in turn, pressing his still clothed bulge against your core.

“Do you want me, Y/N,” he asked, his voice raspy against your chest, fingers slipping between your legs. “Do you want me here…”

A high-pitched cry escaped your lips when he slid his fingers into your sopping pussy, two fingers stretching you, scissoring inside you as he watched your face with hooded eyes.

“Oh Jae, oh fuck,” you moaned, your stomach tightening as he fucked you with his fingers, hitting you so deep you were seeing stars. You came without warning, just your body convulsing when he stimulated your clit with his other hand.

“That was sexy,” he said with a low whistle, licking his fingers, and finally pulling his shirt off over his head. You’d seen the pictures, seen the video of his bare chest, but nothing compared to the real thing. You reached up to touch it, running your palm over the hard planes of his chest, down to his abs.

“You’re sexy,” you said, with a low whistle of your own, which elicited that cute blush that spread to the tips of his ears. You pulled him down, kissing him deeply, your tongue in his mouth, your hands going to his pants and tugging the rest of his clothes off of him. When you felt his bare cock against the inside of your thigh you groaned into his mouth. He pulled away reluctantly, fumbling around on his headboard for a condom. You watched, mouth watering, as he slid it down his impressive length.

“You want it, baby?” he asked cockily, catching you staring.

You nodded, licking your lips and giving him your sultriest stare. He answered with a smirk, spreading your legs even further apart and teasing the tip at your entrance.

You threw your head back, he hadn’t even entered you and you were already losing it. He started to push in slowly, and you couldn’t help the whimpers that were tumbling out of your mouth.

“Oh fuck, oh shit, so good,” he moaned, “so fucking tight.” He was almost rambling, losing himself in the feeling of your pussy spreading to accommodate him. Suddenly he stopped, dropping his head to your chest.

“Jae?” you asked, when he didn’t move, “are you okay?”

“Sorry, I gotta stop for a moment,” you could hear him breathing heavily, “I’m gonna come too fast, you feel too good.” You clenched involuntarily at his words and he hissed. “Y/N,” he groaned, “that’s not helping.”

“Sorry,” you smiled, rubbing his back soothingly until he felt ready to continue. He made one slow thrust, and when you moaned at the feeling of it he kept going, starting a slow pace of fucking into you.

“Jaehyun,” you moaned, the way his cock was filling you up, the way it was dragging in and out of you, was building up your orgasm slowly but surely. “You feel so good inside me.”

He groaned at your words, picking up his pace, his muscles flexing as he started to pound you into the mattress. You were glad no one was home, because the headboard started to bang loudly against the wall, and you couldn’t help the loud moans coming out of your mouth.

“Fuck yeah,” he growled, “your pussy feels so good, so tight.” Sweat started to form on his face as he railed you, his features tense, hair falling into his eyes but he couldn’t spare a moment to do anything about it, his focus only on fucking you.

“Jaehyun!” you cried out, your orgasm washing over you. You had your hands wrapped around his biceps and you squeezed as you came, making him flex, which made your pussy clench around his cock even harder.

“Fuck, Y/N, you’re gonna make me come,” he pulled you flush against him as his orgasm hit, pressing your body against his as his hips stutttered, a loud groan escaping his throat as he came. He was breathing so hard, you could feel his chest heave, the thrum of his heart beating against yours.

You could only smile to yourself as he continued to hold you tightly to him, not caring how sweaty you both were, just wanting to hold you. When his breathing slowed down, he started to kiss along your collarbone and neck, just soft kisses on your skin, his lips warm.

“You feel so good, Y/N,” he murmured between kisses, “I hope that was good for you, because it was damn good for me.”

You smiled wider, holding him tightly to you. “Yes, Jae, that was really good for me.”

---

Thanks for 1.3k :)

[theirbbygirl]

Second Lead Syndrome

Word Count: ~8.7k words

liked this? there’s more on my masterlist!

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Comedy, Female reader insert

Description: Y/n and Minho have been friends for more than 2 years now, but suddenly she begins to see herself as the mere second lead in Minho’s story. Will she be the rare second lead who gets her own happy ending?

Warnings: some crying, themes of unrequited love (if there’s anything that I missed don’t hesitated to let me know!) 

I’d only ever encountered Second Lead Syndrome in the dramas I’d watched. Wanting the girl to end up with the second lead who was so obviously the better and healthier choice, but like every avid watcher of kdramas, it's more than likely for the main leads to end up with each other, that was just how it worked. What I never thought I’d encounter was seeing it happen before my own eyes and experience it firsthand.

Life was never supposed to be a kdrama. Life was supposed to be simple, a straight line, going from point A to B with no complications. But life never really went my way did it? It just had to throw in one variable, one man that had too much influence on my life. 

I couldn’t remember the first time I met Minho. It was probably sometime in the first grade when his family first moved in next to mine. But alas, we were both too young to remember exactly what sparked our friendship. One day we were strangers and the next we had given our parents a near heart attack when we both went after a stray cat on the way back home (my mom’s words, not ours).  From then my memories were filled with him, just us besties hanging out like anyone would with their best friend. First party, first mental breakdown, first drink, all with him. Soon enough we were in our final year of University, and ultimately, adults. 

The Minho I knew was laid back, not too extroverted but not too introverted either. While I completely contrasted him, always anxious about something, wanting perfection to the T, and completely and utterly introverted.  Our friendship, moving into University, sparked a lot of questions. You wouldn’t typically find the introverted straight-A student with the borderline badboy tsundere walking and laughing in the halls together, spending practically every waking moment together. But Minho didn’t care, and neither did I, so we moved through life pretty easily. 

One of the few things we had in common was our love for cats, and when we both foudn out there was a cat cafe just a few minutes walk from our campus, you best bet we spent too much of our time and money there. Studying, hanging out, anything you could imagine. If we weren’t in one of our dorms, we were more than likely to be in the cat cafe. 

Every day after class we’d go there and we’d complain about our least favorite professors and how lectures would seemingly last for longer than they should. Additionally, Minho had almost become akin to my own dormmate with how much time he spent in my dorm. He’d come in whenever he wished, stealing my frozen pizzas and sodas, using my Netflix account on my TV to watch weird National Geographic shows and make random comments like “that snake looks just like Kim Seungmin,” or “look its Hannie” whenever a squirrel came on screen. Minho was always there when I needed a drinking partner after bombing a test or assignment, pouring me shots of soju until I passed out and bringing me to my bed and tucking me in whiel he would sleep on the couch to make sure I wouldn’t do anything stupid in the middle of the night. 

Although, more people knew Minho’s name than mine, but that didn’t bother any of us. We continued on being friends as usual, and it felt like nothing would change that. Life was moving in a straight line like it should’ve always been.

At least, that’s what it felt like until February, just a few months before we graduated. 

I make my way to our usual spot in the courtyard after buying an iced coffee and a snickers bar from the vending machine next to my classroom, I walk up behind Minho sitting on a bench when I find him staring out in front of him instead of looking at cat videos on his phone like he usually does. Slowing my walk, I trail my eyes to the vague direction he’s facing and see that he’s looking at Kim Seungmin and a girl chatting outside the classroom. I ignore the thought, opting to think that Minho must’ve spaced out thinking about how he would irritate Seungmin next class. I plop down next to him when he still doesn’t take note of my arrival, so I get right next to his ear and blow cold air into it, snickering when he jolts in surprise. 

“What was that for?” He whines, fake annoyed.

“You got lost up in your thoughts for a certain Kim Seungmin there.” I snicker some more, opening my snickers (hehe) bar.

Just as I’m about to take the first bite of the sugary goodness, the chocolate bar gets snatched out of my hands and a certain Lee Minho takes an obnoxious bite out of it, not even giving it back but eating it like it was his. I pout, watching him devour my snack, knowing that I couldn’t do anything to get it back. 

“For your information, I was not thinking about Kim Seungmin.” He says pointedly, slightly muffled by the chocolate in his mouth.

I sigh, knowing I wasn’t going to get that chocolate bar back any time soon, and open my iced coffee. “So what were you thinking about then?” I ask before taking a sip.

“Don’t know, spaced out.” Is all the answer I get and I highly doubt him, but I brush it off anyways and don’t pry. 

Minho and I slide into our usual conversation about assignments, plans for the week, and everything under the sun. We talk about how he’s planning to visit home the next day and stay for a weekend and how excited he is to see his cats after a long time, I unknowingly smile at his ramble about how talkative Dori is, and just sit back and listen. I never took into account how healing it was to just watch and listen to him talk, the sultry of his voice and his little exclamations of frustration or excitement that came once in a while. I had to catch myself from staring when he turned to look at me, having asked me a question I didn’t catch.

“Sorry what was that?” I ask.

“Am I that beautiful for you to have lost your hearing to my handsome face?” I couldn’t just tell him that that was basically what had happened, it would inflate his ego by too much and reveal everything I’d hidden thus far.

“The heck? No, I was thinking about how great it would be to get some peace and quiet while you’re not around this weekend.” I lie, having Minho around is the only thing that brings me entertainment that isn’t endless sappy kdramas on my laptop, but he can never know that. 

Minho scoffs, says something under his breath that I don’t quite catch, then turns back to me. “You love me.” He says with a pout.

“Unfortunately I do.” 

That was the first of many inconspicuous confessions. 

It was nearing 3 or 4 am and I was about halfway done with another kdrama when several knocks resound through the small living space. Knowing exactly who it is, I only shout back “you know the code!” and moments later the door opens. 

I don’t bother to get up and greet Minho, this exact scene has happened too many times for either of us to care at this point, and it doesn’t surprise me that the moment he enters he shouts, “Honey I’m home!” like we’re in some cheesy romcom. 

“Mhmm, welcome home, leech.” I enunciate the last word purposely, but I know he won’t bat an eye at the term. I continue to chew my popcorn while he wanders through my cabinets, looking for snacks. “There’s chips in the cabinet next to the fridge and sprite in there too. If you want more food order Chinese takeout.” 

“I don’t have my wallet.” I can practically hear his pout from where I sat, eyes unmoving from the TV screen. 

“You know where mine is, but you have to pay me back.” A few seconds pass with no response until suddenly he’s next to me and kissing my cheek.

“I loveeee you!” He says too sweetly, retreating back to the mini-kitchen to order takeout.

“Mhmm, I love you too.” I say, not loud enough for him to hear the confidence missing from my tone. 

Continuing to watch the episode of in front of me, I remain in my comfortable position, only moving to lift my legs when Minho comes back to sit on the couch under my legs and the blanket. 

“Oh you’re watching this one?” He asks, reaching into the bowl of popcorn I offer him.

“Yeah, didn’t have anything else to watch so I put it on since everyone seems to like it so much.” 

“Mm,” he hums while also indulging himself into the scenes playing in front of him. “You’re probably team potato guy, right?” 

“What kind of question is that? Of course I am!” I scoff.

“I don’t know, I still think she should end up with Jae-eon.”

“Are you crazy? He literally leads her on like every playboy and is ruining her mentality by not defining their relationship.” 

“Yeah, but they’re so cute together, and you can totally tell he feels something for her.” He argues.

“Just cause they’re cute together doesn’t mean they’re good for each other, the entire guy is a walking red flag, I don’t understand why she doesn’t just walk away when she’s had experience with a shit boyfriend.” I sigh.

“You, have major second lead syndrome.” He points an accusing finger at me.

“So what? It’s for good reason, the main lead is toxic as fuck and you can’t change my mind.” I upturn my nose, turning back to the TV and continuing to watch the episode. 

The mentioning of the second lead sends a flurry of thoughts into my brain for a reason I can’t comprehend. Sometimes the main leads aren’t that bad but still we want the main character to end up with the second lead, maybe out of our own natural selfishness because we prefer the second lead more. I shake the thoughts away, trying to convince myself that kdramas were only works of fiction and too cheesy to be real, yet for whatever reason I always felt a connection with the second leads, like our emotions directed to our crushes were the same, because I knew that I would always be the second lead in Minho’s story. 

Minho’s name was always called out more times than mine was growing up, which I didn’t really mind until our hangout time would be seriously cut down because he had to hang out with other friends. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that he had friends, but there was a little bit of selfishness in me that wanted him to myself.

A new drama and a few episodes later, plus Chinese takeout, lead to our eventual demise. We both fall asleep on the couch in less than comfortable positions and wake up with stiff-neck, us groaning at the pain. 

We continue on with our usual morning routines, taking turns freshening up in the bathroom before heading out for breakfast at Paws and Pastries since we were both too lazy to make food ourselves. Besides, hot coffee in the morning plus good sandwiches AND cats? What more could you ask for?

When we enter the cat cafe I notice a familiar face behind the cashier, it was the same girl Seungmin was talking to on Friday, and the same girl I caught Minho staring at. We walk up to the cashier, I order my food first, a simple breakfast sandwich with a coffee to go with it and wait next to Minho to finish ordering. 

I made the mistake up glancing up at his face as he was telling his order to her, Ahra, her name tag read. There was something in his eyes that glinted that I had never seen before, not when he talked to Han and not when he talked to me. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of emotion in the middle of my chest before forcing myself to look back down, inserting my card and paying for everything. I sent the girl a thank you and a kind smile after she told us our food would be right over, and both me and Minho went over to our usual table in the back corner next to the cat’s jungle gym and right up next to the window. I get lost in my thoughts while we begin playing with the cats we were so accustomed to. 

Like most second leads, I knew exactly what my feelings were. I was practically an adult, how could I miss the fast beating of my heart or my clammy hands whenever I was around him? But again, like most second leads, I knew I’d never get a chance with him, not when everything we did together was purely platonic. It was painfully obvious that I’d be stuck with an unrequited love for who knows how long, and I couldn’t just detach myself from him all of a sudden to get over my feelings because a) he’d notice and force me to tell him what was wrong, ultimately leading me to tell him that I had feelings for him, and b) the moment I would come back or see him for even just a second I know I would develop those feelings all over again. Neither of which were choices I was willing to take so I suck it up and see him every day, ignoring everything my heart was telling me. 

I look up from the cat that I’m petting in my lap and look at Minho again, only to find him staring at Ahra who was taking people’s orders with a perfect pearly smile. It was in that moment that I knew, I had just found the female lead of Minho’s story.

3 weeks go by in a similar manner. Minho and I see Ahra around campus a few times and with some twisted fate, she’s on the clock every time we go to Paws and Pastries. Minho, being his smooth self, easily gets himself acquainted with her. They laugh and giggle so naturally and can slip into conversation so easily I’m almost envious of Minho and his non-introverted self. 

Not being one to try and stop fate, I watch it all happen. Telling Minho to ask her out already and teasing him about how lovesick he gets when he sees her nearby or at the cafe. I know Minho likes her when he blushes or gets defensive whenever I mention her in our conversations even though he’s never explicitly told me himself. I put on a face in front of him whenever these conversations come up, not wanting to get in the way of his happiness. 

One day some of our friends want to meet up outside of campus, we make plans to meet up at a bowling alley, ready to have fun until the late evening hours. Seungmin brought Ahra along with him, asking if it was okay to invite her since they were friends. Everyone agrees and we all meet up as planned. When everyone gets there, including Seungmin and Ahra, we introduce ourselves, Minho not having to introduce himself and easily speaking with her like they always did whenever running into each other. All the the boys have raised brows and mischievous smiles as they watch the interaction between the two, but only one looks at me in concern. 

A majority of the night passes by with laughter and teasing, how Chan was terrible at bowling this night and Minho easily beating him despite never doing too well on our previous adventures to the bowling alley. I spend the night with the rest of the boys, while Minho and Ahra spend time getting to know each other even more. There’s a point in the evening where I see Minho hold out his phone to Ahra to exchange numbers, I can hear her giggle when they take a selfie together, probably for her profile picture. I have to turn my head away quickly to ignore the cracking of my own heart when Minho puts his arm on the couch behind Ahra, he does it so naturally, yet he’s never done it with me. I will my thoughts to focus on the game and not on Minho, not noticing the same pair of concerned eyes until they speak up.

“Are you alright?” Hyunjin asks. 

“Hm? Of course I am, why wouldn’t I be?” My voice cracks halfway through and I try to hide my sad eyes, even though I was fully aware that Hyunjin had probably noticed that something was up.

“‘Cause you seem pretty affected by that scene over there.” He motions to Minho and Ahra with a nod of his head. 

“It’s nothing, Hyun, just nice seeing Minho talking to more people.”

“Y/n, you know he talks to people all the time, and you’re not nearly as affected then as you are now.” 

“Hyunjin, really, it’s fine.” I try to convince him but he says something that lets me know that he knows.

“You like Minho.”

“What? No that’s absurd I-“ He looks at me pointedly, and I sigh in defeat. “Yeah, okay, you got me.”

“Why don’t you say anything? Clearly it hurts you to see him like that.” He refers to Minho getting cozy with her.

“Hyunjin, it’s clear that everything we have is platonic, he even called me his sister several times. And who am I to get in the way of him getting into a relationship? That’s not my place to say anything, especially when his last girlfriend was 2 years ago.” 

“I get that, but shouldn’t he at least deserve to know? He says that he knows everything about you, but there’s one thing that he doesn't. You know practically everything about him, isn’t it a little unfair?” 

“We have choices as to what we share with each other and what we don’t, it’s his choice to tell me what he wants to and my choice to tell him what I want to tell him. Besides, he hasn’t even told me that he has a crush on Ahra yet.” 

“So maybe he doesn’t then.” 

“Hyunjin, just look at him, he’s a puppy in love.” I glance back over to Minho and Ahra sitting parallel to us. Minho is smiling brightly, more brightly than I had seen in a while and I can’t help but let my lips upturn at the corners just slightly in another sad smile. 

Hyunjin sighs next to me, and I look back to him. “I’m sorry y/n, I really wish he would end up with you instead of her, it doesn’t seem fair to you.”

“Hey, don’t say that, Ahra seems like a nice girl, she and Minho will get along great. And nothing in life is fair Hyunjin, that’s just something you come to accept.” I say, getting up. “I’m gonna get some drinks, does anyone want anything?” I ask everyone.

“Cola!” “Me too!” “Me three!” “A lemonade please.” A few of the boys shout back.

“Anything for you guys?” I turn to Minho and Ahra. They both shake their heads. “Okay then, I’ll be back in a minute guys.” I smile at the group before going to get the drinks. 

While walking away from the group I let a teardrop fall from my eye, wiping it away just before I order.

Life’s unfair, that’s just something I have to accept. 

A week goes by and Minho’s talking about how he and Ahra message often, how he thinks they get along well and he’s gonna ask her out.

Another week goes by and they’ve gone on their first date, he takes her to the beach and they have a picnic. 

Two weeks after that they’ve gone on several dates and are officially boyfriend and girlfriend, I don’t even find out separately at this point, I find out with the rest of the group over dinner.

A few days after that Minho calls off one of our late night binge watching sessions, texting me an apology and that Ahra needs him. I tell him it’s okay and to send my regards to her. 

It’s a week and half after and Minho regularly calls off our meetups at the cafe after school or at one another’s dorms to tend to Ahra. I tell him it’s fine each time and to not feel bad. He did the same today, and I sit alone at our usual table, mindlessly petting a cat in my lap while zoning out into in my mug of coffee. 

All while this happens, I watch, and I let it happen. I don’t fight for him because it didn’t feel right, sometimes second leads let their love fall for someone else, and that’s all it felt like I could do. 

Fighting for Minho felt selfish, especially when I knew I had no chance and he’d already fallen for Ahra. I couldn’t suddenly come out of the blue and tell him “hey, I have feelings for you,” when he’s already dating Ahra, I’d look like a major asshole if I did. All I could do was watch and see how we begun to drift farther and farther apart. 

With Minho being absent more often, I don’t get to tell him much. Like the internship offer I got to continue pursuing graphic design in Itaewon. I got the email almost a week ago, and I had two more weeks to decide if I was going to take the offer. With nobody to consult about it with I continue to push it to the back of my mind, not wanting to deal with more stress just yet. 

Just as I’m taking another sip of my coffee a familiar head of long blonde hair enters the cafe. My head tilts to the side in confusion as he scans the room for someone when he meets eyes with me, he makes his way over and sits in the seat in front of me and doesn’t say anything.

“You’re rarely on this side of town, why are you here?” I ask Hyunjin first.

“I heard something from Ms. Kim in our art class and needed to know if it was true.” He says seriously.

“What…” I feel like I know what he’s going to say, but I ask anyways. “What did you hear?” 

“That you were offered an internship in Itaewon.” 

“Hyunjin I-“

“Is it really true? She said you had two more weeks to decide, how come you haven’t told anybody? Does Minho know? Are you gonna leave? What about-” He begins to spurt out question after question and it’s almost too much for me to handle.

“Hyunjin!” I raise my voice just slightly to get him to stop but I have to turn it down again when the volume of my voice makes a few of the other customers’ heads turn. “Calm down, yes it’s true, yes I have two more weeks to decide if I’m going or not, I didn’t know how I would tell any of you, no, Minho doesn’t know and I don’t plan on telling him.” 

“Are you… Are you gonna take the offer?” He asks slowly.

I prop my elbows onto the table as the cat leaves my lap and my head drops into my hands as I sigh in exasperation. “I don’t know.” Tears are gathering in my eyes as I think about it. 

“Y/n, have you thought about the offer at all?” 

“Yes and no.” I don’t need to lift my head to sense Hyunjin’s confusion. “It’s hard to think about it when you’re watching your crush of 2 years date someone else while you’re also trying to finish up your senior year. But it’s also all I can think about when I’m alone, which I find myself a lot, thinking about having to find a place to live in Itaewon and transfer and mentally prepare to leave you all here, but if I don’t take it then it’ll be even harder to find an offer like this. It’s all I can think about and also something that I can’t bring myself to think about, Hyunjin.” I lift my head and my teary eyes meet his own. 

“Y/n…” His voice breaks saying my name.

“I think I’m going to take it.” I pause. “Once I finish all of my final assignments the only thing I have left to really worry about is graduating and finding a job, and I don’t think I can take watching Minho and Ahra anymore Hyun, I don’t think I can stomach it. I’m happy for them, I truly am, but it’s also affecting me and I don’t think I should ignore that anymore. If I’m in Itaewon I have a job and I won’t have to worry about feelings anymore, two birds with one stone.” 

I see the hesitancy in Hyunjin’s facial expressions before he speaks. “If that’s what you think you should do, then I’ll support you all the way. But shouldn’t you tell Minho about this?” 

“I’m not, because if I do, Minho is gonna find some way to get me to stay and I’ll crumble and stay because he affects me the most.” Hyunjin merely nods in response. “Hyunjin, you are the only one that can know about this, okay? I can’t have everyone else know this, especially Minho, okay?”

Hesitation again, and then, “Okay.” 

Hyunjin keeps his promise, he keeps the secret of me leaving from everyone. Even as graduation inches closer and our group begins to talk more about job searching, what comes next, and similar topics, the two of us keep it a secret. Whenever they asked me what I was thinking of doing next I always just told them “oh probably looking for internships nearby,” and no more questions are asked. 

Minho and Ahra were still very much in love, even more than before, if the growing absence of Minho’s presence was anything to go by. I barely saw Minho anymore, maybe catching him at the end of the hall every once in awhile, but he was always walking with Ahra so all I could say was “hello” and “goodbye.” 

Each goodbye begun to hold more and more weight as the days passed. Even the short ones I would tell Minho after passing him in the halls. I couldn’t even conjure how I would tell everyone, maybe send a letter to each of their places? A text message? Tell them after the graduation ceremony just before I left for the train station? I thought about how I would say goodbye as I begun to pack up my dorm. Graduation was nearing, I had already turned in all of my final assignments, and all there was left was to pack. I would leave after the ceremony ended, sometime in the afternoon. I wouldn’t even get the chance to properly celebrate being graduates with my friends because I was leaving in the afternoon. I’d get situated in my new apartment in Itaewon and get accustomed to new life outside of Gimpo. 

The thought of leaving panged my heart harshly, I had never left Gimpo permanently before. Sure, I had gone on trips to the US and Singapore and Seoul before, but I had never moved from Gimpo. I was born and raised in Gimpo, met Minho and all of our friends here, so the thought of moving for the first time did something to my heart. I attended all of our group hangouts with a nostalgic mindset, remembering the first time we all met, when we all got wasted one time on a Friday night after some big exam week. I look around our table of friends and think about how much I’ll miss all of this when I leave for Itaewon. 

Another thing that panged my heart, Minho and I distancing. I knew it was coming, Minho and I didn’t text or talk about hanging out anymore. He walked Ahra to her classes now, and had dates with her after class instead of meeting me at our cafe. Eventually I stopped getting apology messages, and stopped expecting him at the cafe anymore. I couldn’t blame him, Ahra was his girlfriend and I accepted that long ago. Instead I just played the supportive friend on the sidelines, and I’d continue to play that role for as long as I had to. 

It came to be the night before we graduated, and all of us minus Minho and Ahra were sat around a table in one of the restaurants we frequented, it wasn’t too late in the evening, and we all just sat in silence after finishing our food with bottles and glasses of soju now sitting in front of us. A majority of our meal was full of reminiscing, talking about memories that crack everyone up and left smiles on our faces. 

“So, we really graduate tomorrow, huh?” Changbin says when the table quiets down.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” Chan says quietly. 

My eyes tear up and I begin to sniff without control, the weight of my department tomorrow weighing heavily on my shoulders. Hyunjin puts an arm around my shoulders and gives me a tissue, whispering “it’s okay, it’s okay” to me while I try to calm down.

Everyone looks at me in confusion before Chan speaks first. “Y/n are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I just…” I trail off, not sure what to say.

“Do you want to tell them?” Hyunjin asks softly.

“Tell us what?” Seungmin says this time.

Hyunjin looks to me first before nodding, and I begin to spill my secret. “I got an internship offer.” 

The table erupts in cheers and I get congratulations thrown back at me before I can even continue.

“But…” Immediately everyone silences and looks to me in expectation. “It’s in Itaewon.” 

There’s a tense air that falls around us. “What?” Felix says in disbelief.

“You’re not leaving us, right Noona?” Jeongin asks from another part of the table. 

I look to Jeongin with sad eyes, smiling sadly. “I leave tomorrow, after our graduation ceremony.” There’s some gasps around the table.

“What?! Y/n, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Changbin blows up and Chan has to place a hand on his shoulder to restrain him.

“I didn’t want every time we met leading up to graduation to feel like a goodbye, Bin, I couldn’t handle that. So I kept it from you all so there wasn’t this tension every time we met.” I explained.

“Does Minho know?” Seungmin asks this time, and I shake my head.

“Y/n…” Han says worriedly.

“Guys, I know I’m not the only one that’s noticed that me and Minho aren’t that close anymore, so I haven’t really gotten the chance to tell him. But I told Hyunjin this a long time ago, that I wouldn’t tell Minho specifically, because there’s some things that I need to figure out and if I told him he’d find some way to keep me from going, or even worse, follow me. At least with Ahra by his side he won’t follow me to Itaewon.” There’s nods all around the table, understanding where I’m coming from.

“We’re gonna miss you a lot.” Felix sniffs and I coo, getting up from my seat to wrap my arms around him from behind. 

“I’m gonna miss you all too.” I sniff with him, a few tears escaping my eyes. 

Chan comes to join our hug, then Han, then Jeongin, and soon enough everyone has joined the group hug with me in the middle. All of us are crying, and I had never felt more loved than that moment. 

Eventually we break away from the hug and return to our seats, everyone dabbing at their eyes with tissues and sniffing. 

“Let’s all stop crying, tonight is a night to celebrate, all of us graduate tomorrow, and our dear Y/n got an internship offer in a big city!” Han holds up a drink and we all do the same, cheering and clinking our glasses together and celebrating the night away. 

The next morning I get ready for graduation early, putting on my makeup and doing my hair, and sending a message. 

to: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

hey, can you meet me at p&p in thirty?

My heart picks up the pace as I send the message, I didn’t expect him to answer so quickly yet his message pings my phone within 2 minutes. 

from: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

sure, i can be there

to: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

sweet, i’ll see you there

I turn my phone off and take a deep breath, we still had a few hours before we had to be at the school for our graduation ceremony, I’d have to leave just a few minutes after the ceremony ended which wouldn’t give me enough time to tell Minho, so, I made the painful decision the night before to tell him in the morning. I’d do it in our favorite spot in the corner of our favorite cat cafe, tell him the news slowly and hope that he takes it well. 

I leave my house and 15 minutes later I’m in our usual booth, my coffee order sitting in front of me and the cats all wandering around as there weren’t too many people since it was relatively early in the morning. I already bought Minho his typical Iced Americano and it sat in front of me, awaiting it’s owner. 

10 minutes later Minho arrives and makes his way to the table, sitting in front of me, smiling, unknowing of what’s about to happen. 

“Hey.” I smile at him.

“Hey you.” He smiles back brightly. “Sorry I couldn’t see you guys last night, I took Ahra out for dinner last night on a date.”

“It’s completely alright, how are you guys?” 

“Pretty good, things are going okay right now.” He answers.

“That’s good.” Nervously I take a sip of my macchiato in front of me, my leg bouncing in anxiety. 

“Y/n? Is everything alright? Your leg’s bouncing pretty fast right now.” Curse Minho and the fact that he knows so much about me, he reaches out for my wrist and checks my pulse, quickly noticing how fast it’s beating as his brows furrow in confusion. 

“Minho, there’s something I need to tell you.” I say, retracting my wrist from his grip. He doesn’t answer me but instead tilts his head like a cat does when it looks at its owner questionably. “I’m leaving.” 

“What?” He asks.

How could one look so endearing, head tilted and eyes full of emotion as I break the news to him? I ask myself. “I got an internship offer for a company in Itaewon, I accepted it and I’m leaving for Itaewon, today.” 

“You’re leaving today?” He says in disbelief, sounding out of breath.

I nod and continue. “After the graduation today I have to catch my bus. I didn’t have any other time to tell you so I had to tell you now.” 

“You’re… You’re just telling me now? Do the others know about this?” 

“I only told them last night.”

“You couldn’t have thought of telling me sooner?” He starts to get angry.

“Minho I-“

“What happened to telling me everything, huh? What happened to when we used to know everything about each other?”

“Minho, those days are long behind us, you have bigger priorities now, like putting your focus on your girlfriend, Minho. I couldn’t tell you because I knew you’d do something rash, and I didn’t even tell the others until last night because I knew every time we’d see each other it would be like preparing for the day I leave. You and Ahra have something so great going on for the two of you right now and telling you that I was leaving would take you away from that, and I can’t do that to you or her. Ahra is an amazing girl, and you have her now.”

“Will you at least visit?” His eyes are full of tears, some of the first I’ve seen in years and I hate that I’m the cause of it. 

“I don’t know yet, there’s some things I need to figure out myself first, before I can visit. But at some point maybe I will, when I’ve figured things out I’ll try visiting from time to time.” I offer him a sad smile. 

After a few moments of silence I get up from my seat. 

“We still have a graduation left, Min, I’ll still see you then.” I ruffle his hair and walk out of the cafe, no more secrets but one weighing down on my chest. 

The Graduation ceremony passes by in a blur. One moment we were listening to the speeches of each of the professors and the next we were tossing our caps into the air, cheering as we became alumni of our university. 

Our friend group met up in the front of the school, taking pictures with our parents and congratulating each other. Eventually, the time comes and I have to go. 

Our group stands in a circle, unmoving, as we all look at each other. 

“I’m gonna miss all of you so much.” I say in tears as my voice breaks.

“We’re gonna miss you too, Y/n.” Hyunjin says. At his words everyone gathers into a group hug full of tears and the weight of a goodbye on our shoulders. 

“You better promise to visit us, okay?” Felix holds me by the shoulders and makes a point to look me in the eye. Not trusting my voice, I nod and he brings me into one more hug. 

I hug each of them individually, saying a few words, before I reach the last person. 

I hug Minho and look into his eyes for the last time for a while.

“I’ll miss you.” He whispers.

“Me too.” And that’s all I can say. 

I leave the campus for the last time, hopping in my car to head to the station and start anew.

Second leads always leave in the end, they leave and let the two main leads have a happy ending. That’s what it felt like I was doing, and I couldn’t tell if I was content with my choice or not. 

Two and a half months in Itaewon passes quickly. 

The move into my new apartment was smooth, and it was odd to be in a bigger space than a small dorm room. It felt like I had more space than I knew what to do with. 

My internship was moving along smoothly as well, everyone I had met so far were really kind and taught me a lot. I was worried about feeling out of place but I had met a few other girls not much older than me who helped me feel at home. 

Being alone in a big city was unnerving, but what made it so much more comfortable was the addition of a cat that my parents had bought me as my graduation gift. She was a chartreux cat who I named Luna because I had always dreamed of naming my first cat that. My parents covered most of the costs of basic things like cat toys, a scratch post, her bed, and similar things. I thanked my parents endlessly when they came over to my apartment a week after I had moved in and gave me Luna. I wasn’t gone for too long during the day and always left food for her, she was great company when I came home and worked on projects late into the evening, curling up into my lap like the cats at the old cafe used to. She was my best friend in a city I was still getting accustomed to. 

I hadn’t talked to the guys much, I’d talked with them a few times in the group chat about how their job searches were going and trips they were planning to take soon. It was nice talking with them every so often but all of us were still pretty busy moving onto the next chapter of our lives. 

I hadn’t talked to Minho since I left, I’d assumed that he and Ahra were doing well, but that’s all that was, assumption. None of the boys talked about him and I couldn’t understand why, but I never asked since I was supposed to be moving on from my feelings in the first place. I thought I had been doing pretty well until something would come up that reminded me of him, like his favorite song would play in the cafe I bought my morning coffee in and spent my breaks at, or snapchat would send me “Today, 1 year ago” memories of him and me fooling around at Paws and Pastries. Whenever that would happen I’d be sent back to square one, and it felt like I’d never move on from Minho. 

I was on my way out to grab a coffee and spend my off day walking around, maybe looking into a few shops when I got a call from Hyunjin.

“Y/n! My favorite girl, how are you?”

“Hyunjin? What’s with the call?”

“What? Can I not call my friends from time to time?”

“Not when you’re notorious for calling your ‘friends’ after you’ve done something wrong.” I sigh.

“That was one time! Besides, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You dragged Jeongin to a party! And got him wasted!” 

“One. Time. Y/n. It was one time.”

“One time is enough for you to be in trouble for life, Hyun.”

“Okay, whatever, but I was meaning to ask you, what’re your plans for today?” 

“Me? I was just planning to go out, today’s my day off so I was gonna visit this one cafe and see some shops, why?” 

“No reason, what time do you think you’ll be home?” 

“Maybe five?”

“Great, okay, I have to go now, Han’s calling me, bye!” Hyunjin hangs up before I can ask him what’s with the weird questions.

“Hyunjin- Oh great he hung up.” I put my phone in my pocket before looking down at Luna who’s stretching near my legs. “Your uncle Hyunjin is quite the odd one, isn’t he Luna, hm?” I ask her and she meows back in response. “Weird indeed, but that’s just how he is. Mommy’s gonna spend her day out and then she’ll come home and we can watch the TV together, okay? I’ll be home soon.” I pick up Luna and set her on her little bed before ensuring everything is safe and make my way out the door. 

I spend the day eating at a large cat cafe that actually had an assortment of books with little reading areas while the cats roamed around everywhere. It was much bigger than the cafe in Gimpo, but I would always correlate that one with home. 

After I spent a bit of time reading there I went out and explored the shops for a few hours, bought some new jeans and a few blouses plus some makeup things. I got Subway for lunch and explored just a little bit more before heading home. Instead of going straight home, I decided to take the long way, going through the streets not minding the extra weight the few shopping bags I was holding in my hands gave me. The sun was just barely beginning to set as I walked into my apartment complex, getting into the elevator and pressing the button for my floor. 

I walk down the hallway to my door and am surprised when a familiar figure greets me there. 

“Minho?” I say as I walk closer. 

“Y/n!” He says happily, bringing me into a hug. 

“What are you doing here? Actually- Wait- Don’t answer that, do you wanna come inside?” I ask him.

“Sure.” He responds. 

I unlock the door and bring my bags in, setting them by the door. “Luna! Mommy’s home!” I call out automatically.

Luna meows and comes out of the bedroom, walking her way up to me before I pick her up. 

“You got a cat?” Minho asks.

“Yeah, parents brought her to me about a week after I moved in.” I put Luna back down and she moves to sit on the arm of the couch, her favorite spot to sit when the sun goes down.

“And you named her Luna,” He smiles fondly. “You always wanted to name your cat Luna.” 

“I’m surprised you remember that.” I chuckle. “Do you want some coffee?” 

“Sure.” 

“I’ll get that brewing, just give me a few minutes, you can take a seat on the couch and make yourself at home!” I tell him as I quickly retreat to the kitchen.

I have to take a few breaths when I’m far away enough from Minho, my heart beating just as fast as it would when I was around him back then. It was clear I hadn’t moved on at all. 

I brew the coffee as promised and wait next to the coffee machine with two mugs ready. A voice chimes in behind me.

“Your place is much bigger than the dorms.” He chuckles.

“Tell me about it, it was so weird buying more furniture than I was used to.” I laugh with him. 

The machine finishes brewing the coffee and I pour it into the two mugs, putting it on a tray with creamer and sugar before bringing it all to the coffee table in front of the couch. 

Minho and I take seats on the couch, separated by a bit of space between us while we sip on our respective mugs.

“So,” I start the conversation. “How’s home?” 

“Not too bad, same old same old, the guys being annoying as usual, you know?” He says.

“Sounds fun.” I chuckle. “And work, have you found anything yet?” 

“Not yet, I’ve got a few applications out, but I’m still waiting on some answers.”

“I’m sure you’ll get them soon.” I respond. 

An uncomfortable silence sets over the both of us, and I run my free hand through Luna’s fur who’s situated herself in my lap this time. I take a long sip of my coffee before asking another question.

“How’s… How are you and Ahra?” 

“Oh…” He trails off. “We broke up a few weeks ago.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that…” I had no idea that he and Ahra had broken up, in fact that was the completely opposite of what I thought had happened since they seemed to work together so well. 

“Yeah, it was a mutual thing. We didn’t really feel that kind of connection anymore, you know? So we just, broke it off.” 

“Are you okay?” I ask Minho.

“Me? Yeah, I’m actually not as affected as I thought I’d be, I don’t know if that makes me a cruel person or not but I was only sad for the first week or two. Nothing too bad.” 

“I see.” Another silence settles between us. This one is longer, more tense, there was something Minho wanted to ask but he wasn’t sure, and I couldn’t depict what question he was going to ask.

“Actually, I came her for a reason.” He says.

“And what reason is that?” I ask hesitantly.

“For answers.” My brows furrow, answers for what? “There’s something Hyunjin told me recently and it got me thinking, and I wanted to hear it from you if it was true.”  

I finish my coffee and place it down delicately on the coffee table, trying not to show how nervous I was with how badly my hands were shaking. “I’ll see if I have answers for you then.” 

“When you told me you were leaving, you said you had some, things, to figure out on your own. What was it that you had to figure out?” 

I take a moment to decide exactly how I was going to answer his question. Did I want to expose my feelings to him just yet? “Just, feelings.” I say vaguely.

“For?”

“Just feelings for somebody.”

“Is it Hyunjin?”

“No.”

“Chan?”

“Nope.”

“Changbin?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Me?”

I pause for just a half second, and apparently that was all Minho needed. “I guess Hyunjin’s big mouth was right after all.”

“Wait- What? What are you talking about?” 

Minho takes a long sip of his coffee before finishing letting out a sigh after swallowing, he slowly sets the mug on the table before making direct eye contact with me and silently killing me with the suspense. “Minho please just say something you’re killing me here.”

He only chuckles in response. “Hyunjin told me not too long ago that you took up the offer to work here because you were going to sort out your feelings, for me.” He says sweetly as I suck in a breath at his last words. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Minho-“

“Now now, Y/n, we shouldn’t hide things from each other anymore, should we?” His sweet, sultry voice was affecting me greatly as he leaned closer to me on the couch. I gulp and silently curse when Luna, the only thing keeping me sane, leaves the comfort of my lap for her scratch-post. 

“Minho…” I let out quietly.

“Tell me, Kitten, is it true?” He asks once again. 

“I-“ My voice catches in my throat when Minho leans in ever nearer, still making direct eye-contact with me. “Yes, it is.” I sigh out and Minho backs away. 

“He was right.” Minho whispers while my gaze drops to my hands that I fiddle with in my lap at the secret that’s let out. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry.” I whisper.

“Why are you sorry darling?” He asks softly and uses his thumb and forefinger to tilt my head up by my chin. 

“I couldn’t tell you because I knew you didn’t feel the same, and then when you got together with Ahra we drifted apart because it hurt me to see you with her. Then I left and told you about me leaving so last minute. I made you cry, Minho, and I hate that I did. But I couldn’t see any other way out of it. I hurt you because I was cowardly and didn’t want to be selfish by telling you and having your attention move off of Ahra, when I was really being selfish by not telling you and hurting you in the end.” More tears escape my eyes as we look at each other.

“Princess, no…” He cups my face with his hands and uses his thumbs to wipe away my tears. “I’ll admit, it did hurt when you told me that you were leaving the day of, but I understood where you were coming from. Because you were right, I would have done something crazy to keep you by my side. Do you know why?” He asks, and I shake my head, still crying. “Because I need you by my side, kitten, even when I was dating Ahra I felt off but just didn’t pay any mind to it because I had her. But now I know it’s because you and I were drifting apart, I found out when after you left and me and Ahra broke up because I felt empty. I couldn’t text you to just come over anymore because you’re farther away from me now. I lied earlier, I said that I sent out some applications for jobs but didn’t get any answers yet, right?” I nod. “I got offered a job as a software engineer, here, in Itaewon, and I said yes.” 

“Why?” I whisper.

“Because I want to be near you, I need to be by your side Y/n, because I love you.” I let out a sob at his confession and he coos, bringing me to rest my head on his chest and rubbing his hands on my back and running them through my hair. 

“I love you too.” I say after a few minutes. 

Minho brings me out of his hold, and cups my face again. For the first time, he kisses me. His lips brush over mine before deepening the kiss, taking full charge of it yet somehow still being soft with me. His kisses were nothing short of addicting, and I knew I’d be in love with him for a long time. 

In that moment, kissing the man of my dreams, I remember that it may be rare that a second lead gets their own happy ending, but it’s not unheard of. Sometimes the main lead and second lead do end up with their own happily ever after. 

Notes from the author: I have FINALLY posted something y’all 😂 took a few months but she’s here, and she’s dishing out something at least. I don’t know how often I’ll be posting again, esp with school and whatnot, but I do know I need to drain out my drafts because phew, it’s getting a little full in there. 

But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this fic! I’m pretty sure it’s one of the longest I’ve written if not the longest. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad, I’m probably a little rusty but we can fix that (i think)

if you want more I still have my old stuff up on my masterlist on my account! hope to see you around :))

-nyx

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

Invisible Chapter 9

Summary: YN YLN has always been third in Class 2-5, right behind Lee Su Ho and Kang Soo Jin but with both of them having left Saebom Highschool, this is her time to shine. That is until Han Seosangnim asks her to tutor Han Seo Jun. A guy who doesn’t even know she existed.

Ship: Han Seo Jun x Female Reader.

Word Count: 2011 words.

Likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated with any reactions or whatever you want to say. Again I really don't know where I am going with this.

Taglist: @thealexalcala @hayateotaku

Anyone interested in being added to the tag list, just let me know 😊.

True Beauty Masterlist

Chapter 8.

Chapter 9:

Sitting in the Ice Cream shop, opposite you and watching you laugh and joke with Hyun Ji and Cho Rong. This is something Seo Jun could get used to, he could imagine it now, going on dates with you and just enjoying his time with you. Granted before that happened. He had to ask you out to begin with, but imagining your dating life together wasn’t that bad. If Su Ho had been here, he would have whacked Seo Jun and told him to ask YN out already.

Feeling a poke in his side, Seo Jun looked to his side. Ju Kyung was smiling at him. Sighing, he knew she wanted him to admit his feelings for YN to her. It was too much fun to annoy Ju Kyung by keeping the information from her.

“You look her with heart eyes and yet don’t tell me about your feelings for her,” Ju Kyung whispered. Just this whole outing had revealed just how soft Seo Jun was for YN. Not just that, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he asked her out.

Without a doubt, YN would say yes, while Seo Jun was going soft for her. YN was smiling and laughing more around Seo Jun and she could calm him down in a second. He could make her laugh and get her out of her head. They were just well-matched and Ju Kyung like the rest of the class, Si Woo, and Cho Rong were waiting for them to get together.

“My feelings for YN are none of your business Lim Ju Kyung” Seo Jun sneered quietly to Ju Kyung. He knew how much Ju Kyung wanted him to admit his feelings for YN to her. But he wasn’t going to give her that. Annoying her by refusing to tell her was too funny. He thought that Su Ho would’ve spilt the beans. However, Su Ho proved that his loyalty to Seo Jun by not telling Ju Kyung.

Although with how much Seo Jun had been rambling about YN to Su Ho. The guy was losing his patience and Seo Jun could tell from Su Ho’s replies that if Seo Jun didn’t do something soon, Lee Su Ho would tell Ju Kyung and let Seo Jun deals with Ju Kyung’s reaction.

Ju Kyung smirked at Seo Jun. She hadn’t said a name, Seo Jun was just admitting his feelings without actually telling her. Even now, he wasn’t even paying attention to anyone else on the table. All his attention was on YN and he wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it. YN’s blushing cheeks were evidence that she could feel Seo Jun looking at her even if she didn’t look at him.

As the group left, the six of you were walking in pairs. Cho Rong and Ju Kyung at the front, Si Woo and Hyun Ji then you and Seo Jun were walking behind them. Seo Jun was holding your bag. Even though you insisted that he didn’t need to, Seo Jun just smirked at you and picked up your bag anyway. While the rest of the group were talking about school. You and Seo Jun were talking about your next study session that would be at your house. Your mum was quite fond of Seo Jun and had been asking you to bring him around again.

While walking, you heard someone calling your name. You turn around to see who is calling you. You smile and stop where you are, to let the person catch up to you. You hadn’t seen Cha Sun Lee since you’d graduated from Shinhwa Middle School. You hadn’t meant to lose contact with her, but it had happened anyway.

Seo Jun, looked confused as you waited for this random girl to come to you. The other 4 had walked ahead not knowing that you and Seo Jun had stopped. The two of you had been walking at a much slower pace than the others. As this girl got to you both of you hugged and started talking to each other. Feeling quite ignored, Seo Jun cleared his throat. That brought you and Sun Lee out of your reminiscing bubble. You smiled sheepishly at Seo Jun.

“Sorry about that Seo Jun, this is Cha Sun Lee, we went to Shinhwa Middle School together. Sun Lee this is Han Seo Jun” you explained, introducing the two people to each other. Sun Lee laughed and whacked your arm.

“Yah, YLN YN, we didn’t just go to Middle School together, I was also the one who got you and Gong Jae Yi together,” Sun Lee said laughing when you blushed. Nodding your head when Seo Jun looked at you confused.

“Yes yes, sorry forgot Sun Lee’s biggest achievement was being the matchmaker for Jae Yi and me,” you said rolling your eyes as Sun Lee fans herself acting like she is so important. There was no denying that Sun Lee played a big role in you and Jae Yi getting together. But it had been a few years and it was awkward talking about your ex-boyfriend with the guy you had a massive crush on being around there.

“Now that you mention it, Jae Yi is back and there’s a whole reunion happening. So gimme your number and I'll tell you, you can get Si Woo and Hyun Ji to come as well, we all lost contact with you 3 when you went to Saebom rather than Shinhwa High,” Sun Lee told you. You wanted to clarify that she had mentioned Jae Yi first but that would lead to a whole other conversation with Sun Lee. And quite frankly, you were still processing that she had just told you that Gong Jae Yi was back.

You smiled and gave her your number. She immediately called and you saved her number. You smiled at her, hugged her, and then said goodbye to her. Waiting for her to walk out of view, you turned to Seo Jun. He smiled at you, putting his arm around you, and carried on walking.

This shocked you. He didn’t ask any questions, even before he didn’t question you when he heard about Gong Jae Yi. You appreciated that Seo Jun didn’t ask or pester you until you caved and talked to him. No matter the situation, he would wait until you were ready to talk and then just listen to you. Then, he would just let you get all your unfiltered feelings out. Then would give his thoughts, calmly but never invalidating what you had told you.

It wasn’t new for Seo Jun to put his arm around your shoulders. He had been doing it a lot in the last few weeks. It was nice, you were used to Cho Rong, Si Woo or Hae Sung putting their arms around your shoulders. But it was different with Seo Jun, you didn’t have feelings for any of the other guys. When Seo Jun put his arm around your shoulders, you could pretend that you were his girlfriend. It was a little bit heaven, pretending that Seo Jun had feelings for you and that you were together. Sure, you knew it would never happen. Still, you liked the small bit of happiness this little gesture gave you.

It wasn’t until you and Seo Jun were at your home, washing the dishes. That you finally told Seo Jun about Jae Yi, this wasn’t the first time the 2 of you were washing the dishes. Whenever you were at Seo Jun’s house, you insisted on doing the dishes. Especially since Seo Jun’s mum was against you helping her cook and so you had to insist on doing something.

“So, Gong Jae Yi and I got together in the summer before my last year of Middle School and we broke up, a few months into us starting High School,” you told Seo Jun. You knew you had shocked Seo Jun, you’d both been washing and drying the dishes in silence until you broke that by bringing Jae Yi up. Seo Jun stopped wiping the bowl he had been holding. He turned to you and looked at you. You could feel Seo Jun staring at you. However, you avoided looking at him. On a good day, you couldn’t take looking at Seo Jun’s eyes without falling into those deep depths. Now, when you wanted to just get all of this out, you knew looking at Seo Jun wouldn’t help.

“You don’t have to tell me, Princess, I didn’t ask the first time and I’m not going to ask this time either” Seo Jun never asked that first time because it didn’t seem like the right time. So many things were happening in that week that Seo Jun had even forgotten. Well, he hadn’t forgotten but thinking about your ex-boyfriend was the last thing he wanted to do. It helped that, the first time he heard the name had been a busy week in itself. He just let the name go from one ear to another. Happily pretending to be ignorant about the fact that you had an ex-boyfriend named Gong Jae Yi.

“I know, but I want to tell you. Only Hyun Ji, Si Woo and Hae Sung know about us and what happened. We were happy, he didn’t go to Shinhwa Middle School, but we still made our relationship work. Well, that is until he was chosen to go on a High School exchange for the rest of his High School education.” Even though Seo Jun had stopped drying the dishes. You were still washing and just putting them to the side. Though you were over Jae Yi, obviously your feelings for Seo Jun were at a different level. There would always be a small part of you that still loved Jae Yi. Though it had been your idea to break up, that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

Seo Jun, made you put the dished in your hand down. He turned you to face him. Lifted your chin and gently wiped your tears. You didn’t even know you were crying. Guess that break up still hurt a lot. Seo Jun hugged you tightly, holding you close as you sobbed in his arms. Soe Jun hated that you were crying, yet he was happy to be there for you. He always wanted to be the one holding you. Helping you work through your feelings. As you pulled away, you apologised for getting his shirt wet, Seo Jun just laughed and told you it was nothing. Before you went back to doing the dishes, Seo Jun pulled you closer and kissed your forehead. You didn’t know why but you appreciated the gesture.

“Moving on from that sob fest, I need a favour,” you say, going back to washing the dishes. Trying not to think about how you had just sobbed in Seo Jun’s arms about Gong Jae Yi. You were such an embarrassment at times. What weirdo cries about her ex, in the arms of the guy she currently has feelings for. Well, you are that weirdo and now here you are asking Seo Jun for a favour.

“Well, if I can do it, I’ll do it, Princess,” Seo Jun said calmly. Already in his head, he had agreed to whatever you asked of him. Short of something illegal, there was nothing you asked of him that he wouldn’t do.

“I know, there’s a class outing planned for Saturday and I can’t go. I don’t want to be the one to tell the class” before you could finish.

“You want me to tell the class about you missing out on the class outing, sure I’ll do that tomorrow,” Seo Jun said interrupting you. You nodded your head and smiled at him. Not being able to go to the class outing. Having to tell the class about that was making you nervous enough. It was a weight off of your shoulders, that Seo Jun was going to tell the class for you.

Chapter 10.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Oh great, McGonagall’s back to being a bitch again in this new TLSQ 🙄

Is anyone ready for another rant? Because I've got another rant.

My friend messaged me after this quest came out and simply said "Tell me this quest pissed you off too." I hadn't seen it yet, so I went to watch the footage. Having just finished...oh god.

Going into the quest, I wasn't angry. At first, I was mostly bewildered. Unlike the Torvus TLSQ, this one doesn't really beat you over the head with mean-spirited guilt-tripping. But it does follow the interpretation that MC is to blame for the chaos. And that idea is so ludicrous that I was genuinely laughing. To hear McGonagall say "Be that as it may, your actions have caused this." Was unintentionally hilarious. What actions? MC was a bystander. They were just hanging out with their friends. Badeea is the one who painted the Portrait, and it was painted for Jae. MC didn't do anything. But the rest of this quest will send them on a wild goose chase to appease everyone else.

Here's a question. Why does Badeea all but disappear from the plot when she arguably had the most agency in this problem? Why do Jae and MC get threatened with detention...and not Badeea? She literally painted the offending Portrait. That's not even getting into how silly it is to blame the students for this fiasco in the first place, but as long as you're going to...why hold Jae and MC accountable, but not Badeea? Why does MC have to paint the portrait that will be used to distract Sir Cadogan? Badeea says that it's because her paintings are what started this mess, and she's afraid of causing more trouble. Fair enough, but that doesn't really change the fact that she is the only character who knows how to paint enchanted portraits. She is the only one with any skill in this. That said, I wouldn't change this for the world because the fanged puffskein is adorable. Let me hug him. Let me hug him! He reminds me of my kitty.

The Portraits are to blame for this mess. That much is as clear as day. And yet no one is willing to hold them accountable. No one voices the idea that maybe this is their fault, and that maybe we shouldn't be prioritizing their wishes. This is the Peeves Arc of Year 5 all over again, and people didn't just hate that arc for being filler. Why is the Fat Lady not chastised for leaving her post? Why must we cater to her demands? Why must we go on a scavenger hunt that takes all day, why do we have to play by their rules? Pick up the damn portrait and shake it until the Fat Lady and the others take the hint. Hold the damn thing over a fire if you want to really scare them. (Ruthless? Perhaps, but Gail would do that. She wouldn't actually burn the Portrait but the Fat Lady doesn't know that.) Better yet, McGonagall could solve this pretty easily by invoking teacher authority. Even if that failed, at least she couldn't very well expect two students to solve the problem that she couldn't solve...which uh, why were MC and Jae expected to solve this again?

There are countless Portraits in t his castle. Why did the Fat Lady and others decide out of the blue to leave their posts for Badeea's latest painting? This is far from the first time she's made one. This can't be the first time a painting of the Three Broomsticks has crossed Hogwarts' halls. The Three Broomsticks also isn't that exciting considering that you can paint just about anything. Why is Gryffindor Tower sealed like a Cursed Vault without the Fat Lady? Can't Dumbledore open it with magic? Can't they get another Portrait to stand in? Y'know, like they did in POA when the Fat Lady left her post? There are obvious solutions here, and unlike POA, the Fat Lady isn't exactly fearing for her safety. She's just throwing a tantrum. Couldn't McGonagall dismiss her, or at least threaten to, over something like this? The question that burns in my throat again and again is "Why is this our problem?" The quest tries to create a justification, but mostly it doesn't really care to. The reason we have to help isn't because it's our fault, it's because McGonagall will punish us if we don't.

The Portraits are whiny and entitled in this quest, but that's not even the worst part. Holy uncanny valley, Batman, what in god's name was up with that art style? Violet and the Fat Lady look genuinely disturbing, like they came out of a horror game. And you have to spend extended periods of time talking to them. I won't lie, I got uncomfortable. At least it was a distraction from the madness that was this plot. Once it got to the part where MC had to recite a poem to "Percival the Prat" I just kind of put my tea down and had a moment of reflection on how far this quest had taken us, and all of the stupid nonsense that MC was doing to appease these portraits. And all because they were threatened with detention if they didn't sort all this out, even though it wasn't their problem...deep sigh. There's a theme in this quest about listening to your friends and respecting their wishes...but this is not realized well at all. MC tried to do a nice thing for Jae and had no way of knowing it would all collapse. This situation did not arise because they failed to specifically ask Jae if he wanted their help. (He kind of hinted that he did, in the first place.)

Jae. Oh Jae. You were pretty whiny in this quest, yourself. Moping about at the start and then blaming everything on the person who checked in on you. Look, on one hand, I felt genuinely bad for him. McGonagall threatening him with detention on his damn birthday when he's always in detention and specifically opened up about how this was the one day of the year that he didn't want to be stuck there...and what he do, exactly? Not what did he do that was wrong, what did he do, at all? He was given a present. He didn't ask for it. He was simply given a present, that happened to go extremely wrong. McGonagall, what on earth are you playing at? Jae literally did not do anything, and he's a Gryffindor, so he's just as screwed by the Fat Lady's desertion as the others. I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but wouldn't it have made far more sense for the teacher in this quest to be Snape? Might have taken a bit of tweaking, but it would have been worth it. Speaking of, they had the nerve to reference not only the Dragon Club quest, but the Torvus quest. Trying my patience, game...

But even though I felt bad for Jae at first, my sympathy evaporated when he was passive aggressive, and later directly aggressive toward MC. As if any of this was their fault. Okay, so they had the idea to try and help Jae on his birthday. So? What does that have to do with the Fat Lady abandoning her post, or the other Portraits refusing to play ball? What does that have to do with the obscenely unreasonable terms that McGonagall issued? She didn't just stick this task on Jae's shoulders, MC was roped in as well. They're in this boat together and Jae blaming MC, even in the low-energy way he goes about it...just rubbed me the wrong way. I know this day was important to him...and maybe my personal opinions are shining through, but...it's only a birthday. You can celebrate your traditions tomorrow, or the next day, just as easily.

Wasn't a fan of the ending either. I couldn't believe my eyes when McGonagall asked MC to describe "what they had learned" and that she would listen, and then "decide their fate." I beg your pardon but what?! That was not the deal we made. At all. By this point MC has been running about the castle, working their ass off, just to fix this problem that has nothing to do with them. They did everything McGonagall demanded of them. They actually succeeded at this fool's task. After all of that, McGonagall is still considering detention? I could ramble about how unreasonable that is, but I think that's pretty obvious. So instead I'll just ask...aren't Gryffindors supposed to be honorable? Isn't McGonagall the Head of Gryffindor? She's still claiming the moral high-ground as she breaks her word?

Beyond that, I hate this. I hate being told to kneel and kiss the ring. Might be taking this a bit too seriously, but it's the same nonsense as the Torvus TLSQ. The same final insult, where MC is forced to write up an essay about what they learned, about why they were in the wrong, and the asshole who started all this was in the right. Not only did MC have to put up with this endless nonsense, they have to show that they "learned their lesson" and agree that what they went through was right. Or it's off to detention with them. This is why I couldn't enjoy the final party. I wasn't invested in Jae's happiness, or in saving his birthday traditions. I didn't care. I don't even imagine Luca going, I think they'd just wish Jae happy birthday and head back to their dormitory.

Y'know, I'm not sure what they're trying to do with McGonagall. I've always said that Luca's character involves them eventually growing to distrust and dislike the Hogwarts staff, minus Flitwick. And I've always struggled to justify including McGonagall in that group. Because if you've the read the books, you know she's fucking awesome. But as of recent quests...I don't think it's going to be hard for me to justify it anymore. HPHM has given me plenty of ammo, plenty of reason for Luca to dislike her. After this, and the Dragon Club quest...The Teacher Appreciation TLSQ feels pretty sour.

[a-bts-world]

Chapter I

Mariposa was at her dorm when Jaemin called her. Four days ago he told her about his life and what he does for a living, they haven’t talked since. Which is pretty rare, because normally they talk to each other every day. So it has been pretty hard on Mariposa, together with an exam coming up next week she has been getting way to little sleep and getting more stressed every day.  So when Jaemin calls her, she is excited to talk to him again. Almost forgetting what happened a few days back. ‘Hey!’ she answers with a smile on her face, getting ready to leave the dorm to go to her morning class.

‘Hello, how are you? Are you on your way to class?’ Jaemin asks her through the phone. Mariposa tells him she is indeed getting ready to leave. ‘Well I have something to ask before you leave. You know about what I told you four days ago? I don’t know the answers to everything I asked you. However, that doesn’t matter because the other girls want to get to know you better and they have some kind of stupid group meeting they want you to join. So what I am asking is, if you are willing to meet my brothers and their girlfriends after class?’ Jaemin rambles on without pausing, which ends up in him being completely out of breath for a minute. Which gives Mariposa time to think about his question.

‘Well, I guess meeting them isn’t that bad. I mean you always spoke very highly about them, so it can’t be horrible. However, this doesn’t mean that I know the answer to your question from before,’ Mariposa answers her boyfriend’s question. Four days ago he told her about his life, turns out he is part of the a mafia group called Neocity or NCT for short. He also asked her a few questions regarding their relationship. Four days ago Marisposa could only answer one of those questions, but now she can answer a few more, but still not all of them.

‘So now that you know what I do, do you still want to be my girlfriend?’ Jaemin asks looking at the floor, after telling his story. This was the one question Mariposa knew she could answer, so she did. She gave Jaemin a kiss on his cheek and then nodded. He was always so attentive to her, asking her opinion on all most everything. It seems weird that Jaemin of all people is part of the mafia. ‘I also have a few other questions regarding all this. Like how much do you want to be involved? Do you wanne move into the base or do you want to stay at your own dorm? What about self-defense, do you know anything about that? Are you aware of all the risks this bring along? Is there anything else you want to know about this all?’

Mariposa couldn’t answer all of his questions. ‘I don’t know the answer of any of this yet. Can I get some time to let it all sink in and answer you after a while? There is one thing I do know for sure and that is that I like you very much Jaemin. So I still want you to be my boyfriend.’ She tries to ease Jaemin his mind. While at the same time, her mind is running hundred miles an hour trying to process everything.

‘I understand, no problem. I am happy you are even willing to meet everyone. Thank you so much Mari, see you in class!’ Jaemin happily answers her and then hangs up the phone. On the other side of Seoul Mariposa crosses the street and arrives at campus. There are about ten minutes left before class, so Mariposa decides to get a coffee before heading to class. In line for coffee she sees her friends, Serenity and Precious.

‘Hey Mari! You are on time for once. Do you want a coffee as well, I am paying?’ Serenity questions her as she saw Mariposa first. Precious just waves and then makes a gesture to Mariposa to get closer.

‘A coffee sounds like a great idea Ser, thanks for paying. You are the best,’ Mariposa answers and hugs her friends as a greeting. After hugging it is time to order. So the three girls order their own drink and then Serenity pays for the drinks. After paying there are only 3 minutes left before class, so the girls need to hurry to be on time. Luckily the lecture hall isn’t far away, so they arrive just in time. Out of breath the three of them sit down somewhere in the middle of the room. Then the teacher comes into the room and closes the door, a sign that the lecture has started. After two hours the door opens again and the girls are able to leave for another drink and a little snack.

When Mariposa leaves the lecture hall she is greeted by Jaemin holding a drink and a plastic bag with lunch. ‘Hey Mari, do maybe want to join me for lunch?’ Jaemin asks his girlfriend with a smile on his face. Mariposa nods and waves goodbye to her friends. The moment Mariposa nods her head Jaemin’s smile gets even bigger if that is possible. He hands her the drink and grabs her other hand with his now free hand. They walk towards the courtyard while holding hands and catching up with each other. It almost feels like the conversation from four days ago didn’t happen. Which makes Jaemin hopeful, maybe she indeed doesn’t care about what he does.

‘So who am I going to meet after class?’ Mariposa curiously asks Jaemin as they sit down on a bench. Before Jaemin answers he places the plastic bag with the lunch in between them on the bench. He gets the two lunch packages and hands one to Mariposa.

‘Well, since you are coming after class you will meet most of the older boys who don’t have university or college to attend, but just before dinner you will have met all my brothers. And during dinner you will meet all the important girls in the house. However, I got to warn you. Today is girls dinner or something stupid, so we aren’t allowed to eat dinner with you all. They want you to join them for girls dinner, but you aren’t obliged to. If you don’t want to, you can just eat dinner with me.’ Jaemin explains while Mariposa quietly eats her food listening to the information that is being told.

‘Okay, but can I get to know more about what you do and how everything works?’ Mariposa asks before she realizes and quickly places her hand over her mouth. ‘I wasn’t planning on asking that, it just happened,’ she apologizes.

Jaemin just shakes his head with a smile on his face. She has always been someone who acted before she thought about the consequences. ‘I will tell you everything you want to know, the moment we enter the house. However, for somethings I need to know the answer to a few of the questions I asked four days ago. But if you don’t know the answer yet, I will wait. I will tell you everything I can.’

‘Thanks Jae,’ Mariposa answers with her mouthful of food. Jaemin laughs at her cheeks who look like they are going to burst open. Then he notices a bit of the food left on her lips, so his hand moves towards Mariposa her lips and he brushes off the food.

‘Hi lovebirds! it’s time to go to class,’ Serenity shouts to the two as she walks towards them.

Class just ended and Jaemin and Mariposa are leaving. When they arrive at the parking lot a car honks at them and Jaemin waves towards the car, then almost skipping to it instead of walking. He is very excited for Mariposa to meet his family, even though she doesn’t seem to appreciate his job. ‘Hey Jeamin! How are you?’ the man behind the steering wheel asks while ruffling through Jaemin’s hair.

‘I am good, Mari decide to join us tonight. Which I am grateful for,’ Jaemin answers the question and then looks at Mariposa who watches the scene unfold from a distance. Jaemin walks over to her and grabs her hand. ‘I know it is scary to meet them, but Kun is driving and he is our medic, meaning he doesn’t hurt people. So will you please get in the car with me?’ Jaemin asks her, he sees her doubt so he decided to add his puppy eyes into the game and that is all what is needed to win Mariposa over. So she slightly nods and Jaemin grabs her hand pulling her towards the car. ‘Kun, this is Mariposa. Mari, this is Kun. Now can we get the others please?’ Jaemin asks while getting inside the car with Mariposa shyly sitting down next to him.

‘Hey Mariposa, I am Kun, how are you? How was class?’ Kun asks trying to put the girl at ease. However, Mariposa doesn’t answer, Jaemin does.

‘Class was so boring, I knew everything already.’

‘Really Jaemin? Well did you learn something new Mariposa, or was it boring for you aswell?’ Kun then again asks her a question trying to put her at ease. Kun drives away when he notices Jaemin wants to answer for her again. After driving for half an hour, picking up 2 other boys. The five of them are back at what Jaemin calls home. The moment Kun takes the keys out of the car, the other two boys run inside. ‘Please know that if you ever need something you can always come to me,’ Kun tells Mariposa seriously and then looks at Jaemin. ‘I will tell Taeyong about this, but you have to face Mark yourself.’ Is all he says before he leaves.

‘Okay, so just to prepare you I think around 11 of my brothers are home right now, however at the end of the day we will be with 22. So if you don’t want to do this, we can still go back,’ Jaemin tells her and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. Mariposa just answers that she wants to do this, hoping she will get answers to the questions. ‘Okay, then let’s go inside.’ Jaemin says and opens the car door and walks towards the front door. When he opens the front door another man is waiting on the other side, not looking all to happy.

‘Jaemin.’

‘Mark! I know, I am sorry. Please just let me explain,’ Jaemin pleads as he hopes that he won’t be punished for bringing in someone unannounced. Mark only shakes his head and walks up the big staircase to your right. ‘okay baby, I have to go. You can find Kun in the kitchen, he will explain everything to you,’ Jaemin then tells Mariposa, kisses her forehead and the sprints away, following the other man named Mark. However, what he forgot to tell Mariposa, was where the kitchen exactly was.

So Mariposa walked further into the big hallway, expecting the kitchen to be on the first floor she doesn’t walk up the big staircase. On her left an archway leads to something that looks like the living room, but is occupied with four big sofas. Mariposa notices that it isn’t the kitchen, so she continues her way to the back of the house. There are two doors to her right, both of them have a name on them so once again probably not the kitchen. As Mariposa reaches the end of the hallway there is another door on her left. With nothing on it, she doesn’t know what it is so she opens it. She found the kitchen, but she didn’t find Kun, she found two other man.

‘hello?’ the man with brown hair asked. While the other man with black hair looked at her with question.

‘Hey, I am looking for Kun? Jae said he would be in the kitchen,’ Mariposa shyly explained and the man with black hair nodded his head, like he now understanded the question. However the brown haired man didn’t, he asked Mariposa which Jae told her that. ‘You have multiple people named Jaemin?’ she asked in disbelieve and both men started laughing.

‘no honey, we have a Jaehyun and a Jaemin, so we didn’t understand who you were. But we know now, I am Johnny and this is Doyoung. Kun however is still in Taeyong’s office. So why were you looking for him?’ the man with brown hair that introduced himself as Johnny answered, while the other man, Doyoung was still laughing.

‘Kun was supposed to tell me everything about what is going on. Well, actually Jaemin was supposed to but he followed some boy named Mark,’ Mariposa answered the question and Johnny suddenly pushed his elbow into Doyoung’s side.

‘dude this is serious,’ he then said to Doyoung and looked back at Mariposa. ‘Okay, Well I don’t know what you already now. But I will answer all the questions you have,’ he told and pulled a chair back for Mariposa to sit on. ‘Do you want anything to drink before we start?’ He asks as he walks towards the kitchen counter, but Mariposa shakes her head. ‘Okay, I will start telling you everything from the beginning. Assuming you don’t know anything. If you have any question or you already know something please let me know,’ Johnny let’s her know while making a coffee. Mariposa only nods, being a bit intimidated by the tall man. Doyoung sits down on the other side of the table and looks at her reassuringly, trying to calm her down. ‘So we start with who we are. We are a mafia organization by the name of Neocity, but most people know us as NCT. We have different units working on different things. We will start with the Neos, we are the oldest members and we mostly handle the confrontation part about all of this. Then we have the Dreamies, those are our youngest, which Jaemin is a part of. They mostly handle stuff that can be done from a distance, not really coming in contact with the gruesome stuff. We also have Wayv, they handle the Chinese relations. And lastly we have the United unit, which is the unit that change according to mission. Taeyong, our leader picks the members that he thinks fit the job the most.’ Johnny tells Mariposa.

‘Do you have any questions already?’ Doyoung asks as Mariposa stays quiet for a bit.

‘I don’t think so. It is pretty clear what you told me. I’m just curious what does everyone do? Because Jaemin told me Kun was the medic, but that is all I know.’

‘Okay, so since we are with 23 in total, I think it’s best for you if you just learn what everyone does when you meet them. That way you can pair the name and function to a face. So we will start with me. I am Doyoung, I am part of the Neos and I am the gun specialist. Johnny is also part of the Neos, he is a hand to hand combat soldier and he trains any new members,’ Doyoung answers your question and gestures towards Johnny when he talks about him. ‘You have met Kun already, he is the leader of wayv and also the medic of our group. He also cooks most of the dinners, so if you need him look in the kitchen first. Then Jaemin, your boyfriend is part of the Dreamies. He is an undercover agent, like we said the dreamies don’t really do anything too illegal,’ Doyoung continued his story. After this, Johnny asked if she wanted to meet all the others, so they did and Mariposa met everyone who was at the house. Most of the dreamies weren’t home yet, but the Neos and the older Wayv boys were mostly at the base so she got to know around half of the members. After meeting everyone Doyoung and Mariposa went back to the living room there she found Jaemin.

‘Hey, how are you? Everything okay?’ Jaemin asked curiously, but mostly curious about Doyoung and what he was doing with you beside him.

‘I am good, I couldn’t find Kun so Doyoung and Johnny showed me around. It was fun getting to know all your brothers.’

‘Really? That is good to hear. Now do you want to go upstairs and rest a bit?’ Jaemin asked her. Mariposa wanted to argue, but she could feel how tired she was from all the new impressions, so she just nodded. Jaemin also noticed her tiredness and stood up from the couch, putting his arm over her shoulder and walking towards the staircase, so they can go to his room. Arriving at his room, Mariposa sits down on his bed and then falls back on the pillows. The moment she closes her eyes she falls asleep. After her little nap Mariposa is ready to meet the other boys and most definitely ready for dinner.

 ‘Hey, you are awake!’ Jaemin excitedly says as he notice his girlfriend waking up. ‘ready for dinner with the girls?’ He then asks pointing to the clock in his room.

‘I slept for so long? You were supposed to wake me up Jae,’ She mumbles disappointed. Jaemin then explains to her that the other boys didn’t mind that they haven’t met you yet. They understood it must have been pretty tiring for you. However they do hope to meet Mariposa later tonight. They are all very excited to welcome someone new. ‘Okay, then it is all good. I am ready to have dinner with the girls. However I have no idea how I can get back to the kitchen,’ Mariposa smiles at Jaemin while getting up and combing her fingers through her hair. With a quick look in the mirror she notices her make-up isn’t too messed up from sleeping. So she doesn’t feel the need to touch up her make-up.

‘I already thought about that, I am allowed to bring you to the kitchen, but after that I have to leave because it’s girls night as they say. So if you need me, you can text me,’ Jaemin explains and opens the door of his room. Mariposa stand up, adjusts her clothes and grabs his hand. They intertwine their fingers while Jaemin explains how the house is layed out and walk towards the kitchen. There is the ground level, there is the kitchen, living room, dining room, library and Taeyong and Taeil their rooms. Also the meeting room can be found on the ground level. First level is for the younger members, which means Lucas and everyone younger than him sleep on this level, that is also where Jaemin’s room is. The second level of the house is for the older members, so everyone above Yukhei, with exception of Kun he lives with his girlfriend most of the time. Mariposa tries to remember it all, but when they arrive in front of the kitchen door she knows that she didn’t remember anything. However, there is no time for that now. ‘Have fun, they are really nice,’ Jaemin encourages her and gives Mariposa a quick peck on the lips. ‘I love you Mari, see you in a bit.’

Mariposa nervously opens the door. ‘hi?’ she asks quietly while opening the door, not knowing who she will meet. Once she fully opened the door and let her eyes scan the room, she notices 5 girls in the room. 2 of them are making the dinner, while another one is getting a drink and the other two are sitting at the table, waiting for the food to be done. For a moment it looks like all five of the girls are frozen in time.

‘Hi! I am Sun,’ says one of the dark haired girls who is cooking dinner. ‘You must be Mariposa? How are you?’ Sun asks as she steers in the pan a bit more. Mariposa answers, telling her she is good only a bit nervous. ‘Oh! No problem, we were all nervous at first as well. Now let me introduce the other girls to you. This is Honey, she is Taeil’s wife,’ Sun explains while pointing towards the short girl who is the other half of the duo that was making dinner. ‘Daisy, Jaehyun’s best friend and Jewel, Ten’s girlfriend. And last but not least, Baby! Our best hacker and also Yangyang’s girlfriend.’ With every introduction Sun pointed towards one of the other girls in the room. Mariposa is mentally taking notes. Honey is the short one, Daisy is the darker skinned best friend and Baby is the girl looking the same age as Mariposa, but she has purple hair. Jewel is the taller girl, with an nose piercing and short hair. Sun is the older female with blonde hair.

‘Dinner is ready! Now let’s go eat,’ Honey screams excitedly and puts the pans on the table, while everyone takes a seat. It’s time to eat.

a/n: here we go! I’m so nervous posting this! hope you guys like it! please let me know how you feel about it. Hopefully I get my motivation and inspiration back by posting this. Please also note that I will try to post atleat once a week, but I am not sure if this is even possible, so please be patient.

taglist: @yutahoes @bvbyxuxi​

[noona-clock]

False Hope

Genre: AU, Friends to Lovers

Pairing: Jae x You

Warnings: Anxiety

Words: 3,835

You let out what could only be described as a combination of a sigh and a whine as you, yet again, opened your eyes to glare at your bedroom ceiling.

Your mind was racing, as it was wont to do -- this was nothing new whatsoever, and thinking about all the work you needed to get done for your job tomorrow and the day after was preventing you from getting any sort of rest.

With the arm closest to your side table, you reached over and felt around the surface for your phone. The last time you had checked the clock, it had been about half past one in the morning; what time was it now? You’d been lying here trying -- and failing, obviously -- to go to sleep for what seemed like quite a while now... maybe it was two? Quarter past?

When you brought your phone up to your face and saw what time it actually was, another sigh-whine escaped from your lips.

2:45 AM.

So, you’d been attempting sleep for over an hour since the last time you’d looked at your phone. And for quite a few hours before that, too. Since 10 PM, to be exact.

...Yeah, you weren’t getting any sleep tonight.

As you turned over onto your side, you unplugged your phone and typed in your passcode to bring up your text messages. There was only one thing you could do at a time like this: text Jae.

You weren’t sure why you were surprised when you saw him read your message almost instantly.

More often than not, when you couldn’t sleep, Jae was also experiencing the same trouble. You imagined that if the two of you shared a room, you would have many -- many -- late night/early morning conversations because neither of you could sleep.

But... you weren’t sure why you would share a room with Jae because he was your friend. One of your very good, very close friends, but not the type to share a room with.

When you saw his typing bubble pop up, you shook your head a little, dismissing the thoughts of being in the same bedroom as Jae.

...What did he mean ‘what’s up’? It was almost three in the morning. Did he think you would be texting him about something important?

Since both of you currently lived alone, you had no qualms about talking on the phone in the middle of the night; nobody else was around for you to disturb, and usually talking to Jae helped ease your mind -- at least enough for you to be able to actually go to sleep.

As soon as you saw his call come through, you accepted it and put him on speakerphone.

“Yo,” he said, his voice groggy and quieter than normal.

“Hey,” you sighed.

“Why can’t you sleep?”

With a groan, you replied, “I just have so much to get done in the next couple of days for work, and I can’t stop thinking about how I’m going to do it all. Trying to schedule out each task and what I need to do if I don’t finish something because then I would have to work on it next week but I have meetings and a big presentation next week so I really can’t afford to add something else to my workload and my dad called me earlier and said my mom is starting to get headaches again but they can’t afford any more treatments especially if she has to stop working so what if I have to move back in with my parents again to help them out and what would I do with all of my furniture and stuff I mean I can’t just sell everything because I’ll need it eventually but I can’t take it with me because there’s no room and I guess I could find a storage place but I don’t know how long I would have to live with them and --”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jae interrupted gently.

You were honestly glad he did, though. You hadn’t any idea you were going to ramble like that when you’d started talking. Apparently, you were more anxious about things than you even realized.

“Sor -- sorry,” you breathed, your chest heaving slightly from having said so much in so little amount of time.

“No, you don’t need to be sorry,” he told you. “I just wanted to stop you before you hyperventilated.”

A soft, self-deprecating chuckle escaped your lips, and you murmured, “Thanks.”

You heard Jae take a breath and then there was a pause during which you could clearly imagine him pressing his lips together in thought. And then he said, “I’m sorry all this is happening to you right now. If there’s anything I can do, you know you can come to me, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” you replied. Jae was just that kind of friend. He may not always remember your birthday or remember to text you back (really, the only time he was good about that was when he was lying in bed having trouble sleeping), but he was reliable as hell when you needed a listening ear or some advice about something. You could trust him -- and you did, with every fiber of your being.

“You’ll get everything done you need to get done,” he assured you. “I know you, and I know how hard you work. It may seem daunting, but you got it. And if you don’t finish, call me over and I’ll help.”

“Okay,” you chuckled, a soft grin tugging at the corners of your lips. “I will.”

“And... about your family. I know it’s easier said than done, but try not to think about all the things that could happen. Doing that never sends you down a pleasant road. If you focus too much on the future, you’ll forget about the present.”

“Ah, yes, you are an expert at focusing on the present, aren’t you?” you replied teasingly -- because he really, really wasn’t. He was just as bad, if not worse, than you when it came to worrying about tomorrow or the next day or the day after that.

“Dude, shut up,” he scoffed. “I’m trying to help you.”

“I know, I know,” you grinned. “Thank you, really. And I know when the sun rises, everything will seem a lot better.”

“Except for the fact you have to go work on barely any sleep.”

“Very true.”

You let out yet another sigh and rolled onto your back before remembering that it was almost three in the morning, and Jae was up for a reason, too.

“What about you?” you asked. “Why can’t you sleep?”

Unexpectedly, there was a slightly awkward pause after you asked that.

You furrowed your brow gently and opened your mouth to ask Jae if he was all right, but he answered before you got the chance.

“Nothing -- just general -- y’know, same old same old.”

You immediately narrowed your eyes in suspicion.

“Jae,” you chided. “Come on. You can tell me.”

Never in your several years of friendship had Jae ever not told you why he couldn’t sleep. The two of you had crossed that threshold so long ago; you were comfortable telling each other anything.

At least... you thought you were comfortable telling each other anything.

“I... I don’t think I can,” he murmured.

“Of course you can! You know I’ll never judge you, and if it’s something you don’t want anyone else to know --”

“No, it’s not -- it’s not that, Y/N --”

“Then what? Please -- Jae, I just want to help --”

“I can’t sleep because I can’t stop thinking about you,” he blurted out.

You immediately froze, your mouth hanging open mid-sentence but emitting no sound whatsoever. Every single part of you just froze, including your heart.

In your mind, you said ‘Excuse me, what? What do you mean you can’t stop thinking about me? Do you mean in a romantic way?’ But, for some reason, you could find absolutely no way to say that out loud.

As if Jae could actually hear your inner thoughts, though, he said, “I can’t stop thinking about you. I... think I’m falling for you.”

All right, that answered your question, then.

...Jae had feelings for you? For you? Feelings? Jae? You?

“You --” you began, but the next words got lodged in your throat and you couldn’t continue.

Jae let out a very disappointed sigh, and to be honest, it kind of broke your heart. “It’s okay,” he muttered. “I didn’t expect... Things won’t get weird between us, I promise. You can still text me when you can’t sleep.”

You nodded, forcing yourself to choke out an “Okay.”

“Is... there... anything else you want to talk about?” he asked. It was very obvious he was trying his best to be normal, trying his best to push away all the awkwardness his confession had created.

And if he was trying his best, then so should you.

“If you could clone anyone -- person or animal -- who would it be?” you asked.

Jae didn’t answer right away, and you knew -- hoped -- that meant his lips were curving into one of his adorable little grins.

“My --”

“Don’t say ‘myself,’” you interrupted with a laugh.

“Why not?! I could make my clone do all the boring stuff so I can just game and eat and maybe actually get some sleep!”

“You can’t say yourself, that’s just the rule of the game!”

“It’s not a game! You just asked me a question!”

“Well, I’m making it a rule,” you retorted.

“Questions don’t have rules!” Jae argued.

“Mine do.”

“Who would you clone?” he asked.

A grin immediately appeared on your lips, and you said, “I would clone you.”

“Wha -- me? Why me?”

“So I could make you do all my boring stuff so I could just eat and watch TV and sleep.”

Jae burst out laughing, and the sound of it made your heart feel so warm and fluffy. “What? No, no, no, dude,” he protested. “You can’t clone me so I can be your servant, that’s messed up!”

“I can! And I would!” you giggled.

“Okay, so then, I would clone you and do the exact same thing.”

“That’s fair!” you assured him. “But if the clone was actually a carbon copy of me, you know I would never do all the work and let you just sit on your ass, right?”

“Wait, but I thought the clones were more like robots,” he pointed out.

“Who said they were like robots?”

“I don’t know, I just assumed!”

“So, you would make robot me do all your chores while you just sit around and watch?” you asked, hoping the playful smile on your lips wasn’t showing through in your voice.

“You would, too! You brought it up first!” Jae accused, but you could hear the laughter behind his words, and it made your smile grow wider.

“Wow, what a great friend you are,” you replied with teasing sarcasm.

“What the hell, man,” Jae chuckled. “Be quiet.”

This was exactly what you loved about having Jae as a friend. The two of you could go from talking about serious issues one minute to laughing and teasing each other about robot clones the next. He could comfort you and distract you. Help you and amuse you. You truly valued your friendship with him -- more than anything, really.

...Were his romantic feelings going to put a wrench in that? Even though he promised it wouldn’t?

Surprisingly, after you hung up with Jae, you did manage to get some sleep. Only a few hours, but it was enough to have a dream.

And... what a dream it had been.

While some parts had been kinda weird -- as dreams usually were -- the main plot had been that...

Well.

Jae had been your boyfriend.

Holding hands, cuddling, hugging, kissing... the whole deal.

You knew you’d had a dream like this because Jae had admitted he was starting to develop feelings for you, so the idea of being in a romantic relationship with him had been introduced into your brain.

But... did that explain the fact that you woke up feeling... really... nice? That you didn’t want the dream to end? That you wanted to go back to sleep and continue on living that scenario of Jae being your boyfriend?

And did it explain the fact that you spent basically the entire workday thinking about it? And basically the entire rest of the week? And most likely the upcoming weekend?

Well, at least you hadn’t been overthinking and worrying about all the work you needed to get done (which you did get done, by the way). And your dad had called you on Friday afternoon after your mom’s doctor’s appointment, saying she was just fine, so there was that, too.

But as you left work on Friday evening, you found that finishing your workload and receiving good news about your mom’s health only freed up your mind to think even more about your Jae Boyfriend dream.

This was not good.

And it was not good mainly because Fridays were your “Hang out with Jae in the evening” days. It had become tradition sometime last year, and since then, you’d hardly ever missed a week. If you told him you couldn’t make it tonight -- just a few days after he’d confessed his developing feelings for you -- wouldn’t that be just a bit too obvious? Even though your reason for skipping would actually be... not that?

No, you had to hang out with him tonight as you usually did. You had to pretend like everything was as it usually was.

So, when your phone started vibrating as you headed toward the bus stop, a small smile tugged at your lips and you answered without hesitating.

“What are we ordering tonight?” you asked in lieu of a greeting.

“I was thinking chicken,” Jae answered. “Sound good?”

“Absolutely. Just make sure I get my potato wedges this time,” you warned, only half-teasing. The restaurant had forgotten them last time, and while you thoroughly enjoyed the chicken itself, your meal would have been that much better with potato wedges.

Jae chuckled softly, and the sound made your heart do this weird little flippy thing. And the thought of his smile made it flip even more.

“Don’t worry, I will make sure they include your potato wedges -- on penalty of death.”

“Much appreciated. I’m almost to the bus stop, and the bus is pulling up, so I gotta go. See you soon?”

“Yeh,” he murmured. “Safe travels.”

“Bye!” you chirped before quickly hanging up and picking up the pace so you could make it to the stop on time.

As soon as you sat down on the bus after scanning your card, you got out your phone again and pulled up your favorite game. If you simply sat on the bus all the way to Jae’s place with nothing to distract you, you would start thinking about your dream again. And you had to do everything you possibly could to not think about your dream right before you saw him. If you, in any way, held the image of Jae being your boyfriend in your mind when you arrived for your weekly hangout, you felt like you would be giving him false hope.

Jae was too precious to you to do that.

But... even though you focused all of your energy on your phone game the entire bus ride... as soon as Jae opened the door and grinned at you, the imagery from your dream -- your warm, glorious, wonderful dream -- came rushing back to you.

You remembered what it had felt like to hug him. To hold his hand. To kiss him.

“Y/N, you okay?” Jae asked with a slightly furrowed brow.

You jumped a little, not realizing you had been standing there staring as everything about your dream had filled your mind.

“Y--yeah,” you breathed. “Yeah, sorry. Just... long week.”

Jae opened the door wider, and you stepped through, hanging your bag and jacket up on the hooks by his door.

“Have you heard from your parents yet?” he asked as he gently closed the door behind you.

“Oh! Yes, my -- my dad called me just before I left work,” you told him. “All her tests came back fine, so the doctor said there’s nothing to worry about.”

Jae left out a soft sigh of relief, and your heart clenched at the sound of it -- in a good way. He was just such a sweet person to care so much about your mom. How had you never realized how sweet he was?

“The chicken will be here soon,” he told you, once again interrupting your thoughts. “Wanna game while we wait?”

You raised your eyebrows slightly and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, sure.”

Jae headed over to his couch then, and you followed suit, perching on the cushion next to him and reaching for your favorite game controller on the coffee table.

He barely even got to the start menu of your collectively favorite game before he stopped and turned toward you.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

You jerked a little with surprise and glanced over at him.

“...What do you mean?”

“Something’s wrong, I can tell. It’s not your mom... is it work?”

“No -- no, everything’s fine,” you assured him.

Jae let out another sigh -- this one not of relief but of minor annoyance -- and set down his controller, leaving the start menu playing over and over again on the television screen.

“Come on,” he urged. “I know something’s bothering you. And we tell each other everything. I told you something I would’ve rather not told you... You can trust me, and I want to help.”

You furrowed your brow down at the controller in your hands, your fingers gently running over the buttons without actually pressing them.

He had a point. A pretty good one.

So, just like he had a few days ago, you blurted out your answer. “I had a dream the other night where we were dating and it felt really nice and I’m sure it was just because of what you told me but it still felt really nice and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and now I just kind of want to kiss you to see what it actually feels like but I don’t want to give you false hope or anything because I really don’t know --”

“It’s okay,” Jae interjected, though his tone was far more casual than you would’ve expected.

You paused, furrowing your brow even more and turning your head to look over at him. “...What’s okay?”

“You can totally kiss me,” he replied with a shrug. “I don’t mind, and I won’t automatically think we’re together. I’m an adult! I know how these things work!”

“...Are you sure?” you asked warily.

“Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, nothing more.”

Well, this was something you never knew about Jae -- though it wasn’t surprising considering the two of you had never discussed kissing before.

You stared at him for a few moments more, and then... before you lost your nerve... you went for it.

You leaned in and swiftly captured his lips, moving your hands to cradle his face.

At first, you thought you didn’t really feel anything. Your lips were on his, gently pulling and sucking on them, but... that was it. But then you felt his arms slide around your waist. He pulled you just a little bit closer. He clutched at the back of your shirt. He delicately caressed the small of your back with his thumb.

And your heart and stomach and lungs and basically everything in your body went wild. There was fluttering and somersaulting and leaping. You couldn’t tell if your heart was up in your throat or down in your stomach. You couldn’t tell if there were a billion small butterflies flying around in there or if it was just one giant dragon. You couldn’t tell if you wanted him to stop immediately or keep kissing you forever.

...Okay, that was a total lie. You definitely wanted him to keep kissing you forever.

And that thought, ironically enough, made you pull away. You searched his face as you continued to cradle it in your palms, trying to both catch your breath and think of something to say.

Luckily, Jae beat you to it.

“...Did it feel as nice as in your dream?” he murmured.

You nodded.

“So... what do you wanna do?”

That was a very good question.

What did you want to do?

Slowly, you let your hands fall from his face, but your eyes never left his for even a millisecond. It was like you were hoping the answer to that question was somewhere in his eyes, and if you just kept looking, eventually you would find it.

But, of course, you didn’t. So, you simply responded with a question of your own.

“You really do... have feelings for me?”

A very attractive smirk tugged at one corner of Jae’s lips before he said, “Yeah. I do.”

“Like -- really and truly? Because the last thing I want is to eventually ruin our friendship --”

Jae interrupted you by ducking in and briefly pressing his lips to yours.

“Really and truly,” he whispered. “Trust me.”

And... for some reason, that was all you needed to hear. Trust me. Because you did trust him. You knew you could because he had always been there for you. He had always been by your side whether or not you needed him to be.

So, you nodded. You tipped your chin in a very tiny nod, and when the loveliest smile spread across Jae’s mouth, you couldn’t stop yourself from indulging in yet another kiss.

Except a knock on his front door cut through the air before you had the chance to actually kiss him, and Jae sprung off the couch to go answer it.

You knew it had to be the chicken delivery, so you called out after him. “Make sure they brought my potato wedges!”

“On penalty of death!” he replied just before he opened the door.

You bit your lip to keep from smiling, and a thought rushed into your mind -- the thought that your late night, can’t sleep phone conversations would probably be pretty different from now on.

I mean... you would probably still talk about robot clones and dinosaurs and the Mandela Effect and soulmates and all that. You would still tell each other everything. You would still listen to each other and be there for each other.

So... never mind. Your conversations wouldn’t be all that different. Just everything else would.

And you knew now it wasn’t false hope. It was very real, and... it was perfect.

[btssmutficslovingfan01]

Friendly Encounters- Chapter One

𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎: A friend challenges you to go out of your comfort zone and talk to one of the cute boys at the café. However, after attempting to flirt with one of them, they reveal that they are in a relationship with each other. It’s fine, though, because you’re all friends now!

𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒: Romance

𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔: Fluff

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Domestic Yoonmin, fluff, Jimin is literally too good for this world, barista boys, swearing, mild language, lots of character development, realistic insecurities, Jungkook makes a bad decision.

𝒲𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈: 6k+

𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔(𝓈): Jimin x Yoongi x Reader

Masterlist

Author Note: This story is available on my archiveofourown as well so go check it out!

⇤Prev | Next⇥

                             ______________________________

“Do it.” Your friend pushes you towards the incredibly adorable busboy as he passes by your table.

“No, it’s stupid.”

“Y/N, I dared you. Now you have to do it.” You roll your eyes.

“That’s not even how dares work.” You lay back in your chair, eyes drifting over to the two handsome men who now stand talking at the cash register.

“Okay, fine, if you can’t have a conversation, at least get his number! I’ll go for that cute barista over there with the sleepy eyes.” How can eyes be sleepy? You shrug as she confidently strides to the counter to order another drink. Jasmine has always been the type of girl to tell people what she’s feeling in the heat of the moment. You had no idea where she got her confidence from, it just happened one fine summer day in sixth grade. 

You’ve been best friends ever since you moved into the house across the street, along with Jaehyun and Jungkook. They are the non-identical twins that go to your school and the four of you were a group all through middle school. Things changed after highschool, Jae started hanging out with the wrong crowd and he moved out after saving up some drug money. 

Jungkook, on the other hand, is still a sweetheart, protecting you and Jasmine as if you were his sisters. Sometimes you wonder how you even became friends with this meth-head of a girl, but then you realize you’re the same, you both are crackheads and that’s why you’re best friends. You sometimes doubt your friendship when she tries to push you out of your comfort zone. You hate opening up to people, and Jasmine knows it. 

Yet, she still tries pushing you towards trying new things and being more extroverted. Your mind is already buzzing with a million different ways this can go wrong, but you’re surprised when the waiter approaches you with a smile on his face. I wonder if he’s truly happy or putting on a fake smile for the customers. You think to yourself. Sometimes you like to look at people and try putting together a life story for them. It helps your creative juices flow, as an amateur writer. 

“Can I get you anything else?” He asks with a refreshingly soft voice for a man. You’re a bit taken aback by his melodic tone, and how freaking adorable he sounds with his Korean accent. You can’t tell what dialect it is, because his English flows very well.

“Actually…” You look over at Jasmine, who gives you a thumbs up as she sips her Pink Drink. “Can I have your number?” The man’s eyes widen momentarily and his gaze flickers up to the barista at the counter.

“Oh...Miss I’m very flattered but...see that man over there?” You turn around and face the barista who is busy on his phone at the moment.

“The sleepy-eyed one?” You ask, knowing full well where this is going.

“Yeah, him. Um, that’s my boyfriend.” Your smile falters for a moment but you feel a sudden sense of relief. You were afraid he would actually flirt back and possibly be a douchebag but he is exactly what you hoped he would be. A decent person who won’t cheat on his partner.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Your reaction makes him raise his eyebrows. Normally girls would sigh or be sad that he’s taken/gay, but you’re the first one who’s ever reacted like that. “I mean, sorry. My friend just forced me to ask for your number because she wants me to make friends and step out of my comfort zone, and now I’m...sorry just nevermind.” You trail off, cutting off your pointless rambling as the busboy wipes your table slightly.

“Hm, you’re interesting. You know what, just for that attempt, I am going to give you my number.” He winks at you, sliding you a piece of paper. Did he always have that paper with him? You laugh as he walks away and Jasmine bolts back to your table, excited to hear the juicy details.

“You did it!” She screeches, making half of the people whip their heads around to stare at you. You blush and sink in your seat when you see the adorable busboy speaking to his boyfriend. Just when you’re about to tell Jasmine what happened, you see the sleepy-eyed man look at you with a glare. You bite your teeth and suck in your cheeks as Jasmine starts talking about her encounter. 

“Too bad, though. The sleepy dude just waved me away saying he already has a boyfriend.” She folds her arms. You stretch your legs, yawning a bit as you listen to your friend. “What? Am I boring you? Anyways, tell me what happened with the cute blue haired dude!” You giggle to yourself as your friend expected something more out of the interaction.

“Jasmine, he’s gay. And they’re-” You gesture to the two men talking behind the counter. “Together.” Jasmine sighs. You simply shake your head, flipping your hair to one side.

“Well, I guess my luck with men hasn’t changed. But at least they’re cute.” You giggle as your best friend sighs dramatically and then you move onto discussing other topics, like school. 

Just as you’re about to exit the café, you realize that you didn’t ask the cute busboy for his name. During the whole five minutes that you talked to him, you didn’t even introduce yourself?! Great job, Y/N. You turn around, reaching for the piece of paper in your pocket to find that he indeed did write his name down for you. Jimin. What a beautiful name for a beautiful boy. 

As you climb into the jeep that Jasmine’s parents bought for her 16th birthday, her phone rings, and she turns to you, puffing out her chest. You wiggle your eyebrows at her and then you both laugh after the awkward moment.

“It’s Jungkook.” She throws her phone at you, switching back to her “serious” persona.

“Whoa, what happened between you two for you to act this way?” You give Jasmine the stink eye as she caves under your pressure. She’s acting weird—weirder than usual. 

“Nothing, just...ugh.” She clicks her seatbelt in and starts backing out of the parking lot. 

“Jasmine, if you don’t tell me I’m gonna jump out the window. And we both know I’m not bluffing because I’m actually really short and this window is huge.” Her eyes widen in panic and her hands start shaking on the steering wheel.

“You see…..um ....Jungkook and I may or may not have gone all the way after a deep conversation about relationships.” I gawk at her, unable to process her words. 

Sure JK is a flirt, but he never would’ve moved past touching, seeing how he’s practically scared of girls. There was even a point in your middle school lives where Jasmine believed he was gay and started calling him her “gbf.” Yeah, that wasn’t greatly received by your homophobic class of 2020.

“Bitch, you did not.” You slap the dashboard, shaking your head in disbelief. You can see guilt written all over her face but what’s worse is the fact that you had a crush on him for the longest time and she had no clue about it. 

It’s not her fault, but sex can change a lot of things for different people. And you know despite whatever bullshit Jasmine tells you about it being a ‘one-time thing no feelings involved’ type deal, you know things are going to change between you, Jasmine, and Jungkook. 

You don’t know how anyone will react, since you’ve never been in this situation before. You just know that your best friend, without even knowing it, broke your heart in two. Including Jungkook’s, who is probably crying by himself at the moment.

Your silence is enough to shut her up, as she stops talking mid-sentence and plays an EXO song on her phone, hooked up to the lavish quality stereo system which is connected to her fancy Jeep Wrangler, the vibrations sending shivers down your spine but you assume that’s from your gut, twisting in disgust planning for revenge with Jasmine. She has no regard for feelings when it comes to sex, and you’re more worried about your other best friend at the moment.

“Drop me off at JK’s place.” Your command makes her flinch, and then her eyes widen when she digests what you said.

“You aren’t going to tell him that I told you, are you?” 

“Of course I’m gonna talk to him about it! While you’re over here thinking about how to end your friendship, that boy is probably breaking down in tears right now, or worse, binge eating and watching soapy K-dramas all alone!” 

You slam her car door shut, stepping out with your red converse basking in the sunlight. It’s so bright out today, a little bit chilly but otherwise nice. Too bad Jungkook’s having a rainy day. You knock on his door, and his brother opens the door.

“Hey baby. Wanna join me and my buddie-”

“Yeah, nice to see you too Jaehyun, is Jungkook home?” You ask, pushing past him and his stoner pals on the couch.

“He’s upstairs.” There’s not much that needs to be said when you walk into his room.

As expected, he’s lying in his bed, blankets wrapped around his entire body, forming a cocoon of some sort as he distracts himself from the real world, again. It’s like every breakup ever, as you have seen him do all sorts of crazy shit while being heartbroken. He’s dated so many people, but none of them were his close friends. This time, it’s different, and you can tell he’s hurting more.

“Did you see Jasmine?” Is the first thing he asks when he sees you.

“I was with her earlier and she told me some stuff happened between you guys. And now I’m here for you. Tell me what you need.” Jungkook slowly rises, and you can see his hair standing straight up from the static, and his normally bright eyes are colored red from crying, his cheeks are red and puffy, and he looks exhausted. Drained, in fact.

“I made a mistake. I started kissing her first, it was like the time after my breakup with Madi-” He cuts himself off. You shiver, beginning to remember his touch. You hadn’t slept with him, not in a sexual context, anyway. He only kissed you, and his hands slid down the small of your back, tracing circles with his thumbs. You can feel the strange sensation creeping up on you, and then it hits you like a wave. 

Jungkook is no longer the little boy that you once knew. He’s a grown man, and he can take care of you if you let him. But, you’re not that type of person. You would never take advantage of him, especially when he’s so vulnerable. “I promised myself I wouldn’t let it get in the way of our friendship, but after that night I knew we could never be just friends.” You take his clammy hands in your soft ones, kissing his fingers gently as tears threaten to spill from his eyes again.

“It’s okay, let it out.” You spend a good chunk of your time cuddling with him, and for a moment you imagine what life would be like if you actually started dating, but alas, he is too in love with your best friend. That’s how life is for you, you’ll always be a side character in a love story, and when it comes to love, guys always pick Jasmine. Guys talk to you because they see that you are friends with Jasmine. Girls invite you to sleepovers to ask you what you know about Jasmine, and worst of all, she stole multiple crushes from under your nose. But they were never truly yours to begin with. 

After arriving at your house after a long day spent consoling Jungkook, youlop down on your bed, scrolling through some texts. 

                   ༻• The Next Day, at Your Local Highschool •༺

“Jungkookie, are you feeling any better?” You make your way to your best friend but then you overhear him speaking to some people.

“Oh yeah, she was the best in bed, don’t let her tough smart-girl act fool you, she was amazing, so submissive for me.” You hoped they were talking about someone else, but when you stick your head past the lockers, checking for a split second, you see that it was none other than your sensitive friend who was speaking to a group of younger males.

“Wow, you’re so cool, Hyung. I thought Y/N was the hardest girl to pin down.” Wait, what?! You resist the urge to storm out, eavesdropping a bit longer to see if you misheard things.

“Yeah boys, she came to me while I was playing Overwatch in my room and then she offered. Just straight up asked if I could fuck her.” You slam your fist against a locker and then you clench your teeth, about to confront him when the bell rings. 

It’s 5th period. You don’t have a class because you have a release period. You instinctively check your phone, making sure you didn’t miss any important texts or calls before running out. You don’t know who to trust, or who to go to, as you lost your two best friends within the span of less than 24 hours. People suck.

Then you get a text, as you park your car in front of the coffee shop.

You don’t text back, hoping to surprise him. You forgot to ask him about his work hours but you assumed he worked part-time everyday or something. As you walk up to the counter, you see him standing there, with a bright smile on his lips and crescent-shaped eyes.

“Ah, what a surprise! Hello, valued customer.” His playful attitude is enough to light up your day. 

“Hey Jimin. Sorry for dropping in but I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go, c-can we talk?” You stutter, not realizing you were slurring your words together. Jimin nods, obviously worried about his new friend.

“What happened yesterday?” He takes you to the back of the café, an area where there are less people and you have more privacy. 

“You know the friend that was here with me yesterday?” He nods, allowing you to grip his hand and squeeze it for comfort. He’s a really kind person, letting you open up to him without judgement. “She slept with another good friend of mine and ghosted him. And yesterday I went to his house and we talked about it and he cried on my shoulder, but today…” 

You feel tears threatening to spill from your eyes. “...He was talking about what a good lay I was, lying about sleeping with me to a group of underclassmen.” 

Your breathing is uneven as Jimin stares directly at you, keeping his gaze strictly on you. You feel naked, exposed, and vulnerable. But his reassuring smile makes you feel a little bit better. Just a little bit.

“Hey, break’s over, get out there.” You see the same man from yesterday, the guy who Jimin claimed was his boyfriend. He looks like the polar opposite of your mellow friend, with a darker aura radiating from him. 

You feel like a deer under a lion’s gaze, as he closes in on you, backing you into your corner, making you feel even more vulnerable than before.

You only hoped he wouldn’t try to chase you away, as yesterday he gave you a very uncouth glare, displaying his annoyance with your friendship with Jimin.

You hope with time he will be able to accept you and possibly become a friend of yours as well, but for now, you can only run with your tail tucked between your legs. Just as you’d been running away from your so-called best friends in school. 

You were even considering running to Jaehyun and trying one of his edibles, since he had offered a generous amount of times; it would only be courteous of you to finally accept and try it, as you’d been hearing “don’t try it, don’t try it,” your whole life. 

You don’t care anymore, and hopefully under Jimin’s wing you will be able to learn about true friendship. 

“Aren’t you the girl who asked for Jimin’s number yesterday?” His surprisingly solemn tone catches you off guard, as his eyes tell another story. Maybe that’s just the way he is, physically a very intimidating person but on the inside he might be a fluffy kitten! Okay, maybe not a total kitten, but still squishy. Why else would Jimin date him? He has to be a decent person, unlike all the people you called your friends.

“I am, thanks for noticing. Is there anything you wanted to tell me?” You try to sound as non-threatening as possible, holding your breath, waiting for an answer. You hoped Yoongi didn’t see you as a boyfriend-stealer, nor a generally annoying person.

“No, just wanted to ask you if you need anything else, an iced coffee, some tea...pink lemonade?” His lame attempt at cheering you up makes you crack a smile after a while. 

“Maybe some water? I’m a little bit thirsty.” 

“Coming right up,” After filling up a glass with water, he slides into the seat across from you, whipping out his phone and humming a tune of a familiar song you recognized from the radio. “I’m on break. This time of the day, things get a bit slow.” You nod in understanding, respectfully keeping your legs crossed and your arms folded in your lap, not wanting to show any sign of weakness.

“What song are you listening to?” You ask, hoping to make some small talk.

“Uncomfortable by Chase Atlantic. It’s my go-to after a stressful day.” You shift in your seat when you hear that name. You absolutely adore that band, and the lead singer’s vocals are absolutely heavenly. You could go on for hours, but you don’t want him to know that yet.

“Oh, that’s...cool I guess.” You try not to jump

up and down in joy as that’s a lesser known band and not very many people know about them.

“Do you know this song?” He leans forward, sliding you his phone and showing you the cover of an old album, one you recognize to be “Don’t Try This,” and the song is GREENGREENGREEN. Their song titles are a bit questionable, but they are true works of art, so you can let it pass.

“I suppose I’ve heard it once or twice…” You trail off, watching how the curve of his smooth lips turn upwards, and carefully, you watch how he mouths the words.

“All I see is green yuh

Moving on your seat yuh yuh yuh

All I see is green, All I see is green, All I see is green.” You smirk, slowly singing the next part.

“It's green where the grass grows

Let the cash flow

You can keep your head high, keep that ass low,” You laugh, the man across from you grinning at how weirdly you sang the lyrics.

You and Yoongi continue listening to Chase Atlantic songs together late into the evening hours. It’s around seven in the evening and the air is cool and humid.

“You have amazing taste in music, I’ve never met anyone else who listens to Chase Atlantic with such passion! Jimin’s an Alec Benjamin person but I always tell him they have similar music styles…” He trails off suddenly, worrying you with the pace of his cutoff. “Listen, I had a lot of fun talking to you. And at first I really didn’t get why Jimin wanted to get to know you better but now I see what he saw. You’re cool, Y/N.” You’re more surprised he remembered your name.

“Thanks Yoongi.” You share a moment of silence, just smiling at each other as Jimin makes his way back to your table.

“It’s time for me to clock out, we’re closing soon.” He slides into the seat across from you, next to Yoongi, and you watch as Yoongi expertly sneaks his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulder, and you feel small fireworks bursting in your heart. It’s not a weird feeling of jealousy, per say, but rather you feel mellow. You like seeing them together. You like this. 

“Feels like just yesterday I walked in here and you gave me black coffee instead of an iced vanilla mocha because you were distracted by my sexiness.” Jimin girlishly flips his hair, and the three of you share a laugh before the lights start flickering. 

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like there’s something wrong with the power. Jin!!! Did you mess with the electrical again?!” Yoongi runs back inside the kitchen, making sure everything is fine.

“We’re good, just a minor fix,” you hear the voice of another man from inside. You and Jimin exchange worried looks as the lights stay on for a total of 1.032342352 seconds and then they just turn off completely.

“Dammit, stupid thunderstorm outside caused a power outage through town.” You heard Yoongi cursing from the kitchen before he opened the door and stumbled outside back to you.

“Well, when are the lights gonna come back on?” You ask, clutching onto the table as you sink back on the wooden surface.

“News reports say power lines are under service and will be back in function in an hour.” Jimin shows you the article, making you shiver from the thought of spending the night at the café. You most probably won’t have to do that, since your car is right outside and you can just drive home. But do you really want to face your neighbors after a really tough day of school? No. Your bets are that they will probably try to infiltrate your home, failing are trying to “make it up to you.” You’ve lost any trust you had in them before, Jungkook and Jasmine really screwed up this time.

“It’s cold, isn’t it?” Jimin sounds steady, but you can faintly see the outline of his striped shirt and how his muscles contract as he shivers right in front of you. You admire him for putting up the dauntless act, but it doesn’t help as the sound of his teeth clashing give it all away.

“Here, take my jacket. I’m not that cold.” You offer him your coat and he hesitantly slips it over his shoulders. He doesn’t wear it, afraid of stretching out the expensive material and risking threat or wearing it out. 

“Thanks.” 

“Hey guys, can you come in here please? We need help with the door.” You and Jimin carefully make your way to the pantry, which is at a door at the end of the kitchen. You’d never been inside one in a restaurant, but you assumed it was the same as your school. The kitchen was the darkest room, but thanks to the dim lighting from Jimin’s phone, you safely arrived at the end of the path.

“What are you doing now?” You see a second man, taller than Yoongi and Jimin combined, holding a large box.

“We’re just taking this inside. This stuff is smelly, so we make sure they stay sealed in the pantry until we need them,” The older man has a charming smile, and you can already tell he is a gentleman. He looks a little bit older than you, but you can tell by his mannerisms that he’s a bit older. “And hi, I’m Jin.” He introduces himself, winking at you as he walks past, with Yoongi rolling his eyes at the lame flirting attempt. You thought it was cute.

“Coming through! Move over babe.” Yoongi warns Jimin, who holds the door open while you watch over his shoulder, making sure he doesn’t fall back. Not that you will be of any help.

“Oh crap, I think I forgot something in the kitchen!” You and Jimin make your way into the pantry, shrugging at the way Jin quickly left his post.

“So...what’s exactly in the box?” Your curiosity seems to know no limits as you keep asking questions, over and over again. Yoongi and Jimin, however, find it amusing.

“Vinaigrette. All the same type, same brand.” Yoongi dusts his hands and walks back to the closed door, wrapping his fingers around the cool metal knob before turning it….to find that it doesn’t open. 

“What’s wrong, hyung?” Jimin asks, wrapping your jacket around him more tightly. You sigh at his adorable pout. But of course, you try to ignore their moment, focusing on your phone instead. Your battery is at 8% already, and you need to save as much power as you can. However, you also need to distract yourself.

“It won’t open.” You stand up. You’ve hated small spaces since you were a little girl and you refuse to get stuck in a food pantry with two insanely attractive men. What if you run out of oxygen? It’s not them, it’s you.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Yoongi notices your mini panic attack, as you pant heavily, now looking for some sort of opening to crawl through. You need to escape.

“I need to get out!” You shudder as the dim lighting of your phone suddenly disappears. Your phone just died. What the fuck are you going to do now?!

“We’re fine, we just need to call Jin,” Yoongi knocks on the door, and you all stay quiet to hear any feedback. What you didn’t know was that Jin had gone out to run errands and he wouldn’t be back until much later.

“Let me text him.” Luckily, Jimin’s phone has enough power to send one text. Jin replies quickly, telling Jimin that he’ll be back in half an hour, maybe even later because of the horrible weather.

“Looks like we’ll be stuck here for awhile.” Yoongi sits down on the floor first, making himself comfortable between two flour bags. You and Jimin make yourselves comfortable on the floor, shrugging as you snuggle into some things but the lights are off so you have no idea where you’re sitting. Your eyes are adjusted to the darkness, so you can see the faint outlines in the pitch darkness. 

Then you think of all the things that happened today. How you overheard Jungkook telling people lies, and how heartlessly Jasmine let go of him (even though he partially deserved it), and all of the lies and betrayal. Jasmine has cheated on a lot of her past boyfriends, but for some reason you thought she would treat Jungkook differently. And Jungkook just cares about fitting in. You wish you could forget it all and go back to being friends, but you are just so, so sad. They broke your heart. You don’t know if you can trust anyone else ever again. You silently sob, hoping they wouldn’t notice.

But your stupid sniffles give you away. 

“Are you..crying?” Jimin asks after a long silence.

“No…” You wipe your tears and turn to his voice.

“Tell us what’s wrong.” Yoongi’s warmth creates an almost suffocating feeling in the air as your breathing falters and you feel very disconnected from your environment. You can’t even tell if your eyes are open or not because of how long you’ve been trapped. It’s driving you mad. The only thing keeping you sane are the two men sitting in front of you...or behind you. You can’t tell anymore.

“I just want my friends back. And I want to believe that everything will be alright but lately...everything’s been horrible! Life just keeps throwing one obstacle after another and I just want to believe that everything will be okay but it isn’t! My best friend slept with my other best friend and now everything’s weird between the three of us, and my other friend decided to tell everyone that we’re screwing. I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! Everything is spiraling out of control and I can’t do shit,” You breathe heavily and silence follows, as the boys allow you to catch your breath, not inputting anything just yet. “Thanks for letting me rant. I just needed to let that out, I guess.” You bite your bottom lip, and you can smell the anticipation in the air as the boys wait for their turn to speak.

Oh wow, now you’ve robbed them of their words. Aren’t you the best friend ever.

“Can I say something?” Jimin waits for a moment before dictating his thoughts, “It sounds like you were just thrown into a random mess that had nothing to do with you directly.” He says, earning a cough from Yoongi. Luckily, the sleepy-eyed man is kind enough to cough in his sleeve (ugh corona) and he says, “I agree with Jimin. And that guy sounds like a bitch boy. I’m pretty sure he’s one of those coconut headed e-boy wannabes. Or just a plain fuckboy.” You scrunch your nose. “Jungkook isn’t like that.” 

“Oh, with a name like that he’s bound to have a talent. Maybe he dances really well? Lemme guess, he’s a really good singer but is as shy as a goat.” You didn’t know goats were shy. Yoongi seems knowledgeable, so you don’t question him.

“He’s a good singer, alright, but he wants to be a progamer when he graduates.” You reveal it to them, all of a sudden going off on a tangent about your childhood crush and best friend.

“It sounds like you guys are close,” Jimin whispers in a hushed voice, so quietly that you almost miss him. “And from what I can tell, he’s insecure and wants people to think he’s cool. So he used you, as stupid as it was, I think he’s worth fighting for.” You feel a sudden lightness in your chest, like you just confessed something you felt guilty about. It’s as if he’s in your head, and he understands exactly what you’re going through.

“Jimin and I actually got together because of a misunderstanding in the first place, if he hadn’t fought for us, who knows where he might’ve ended up?” You can’t see what Jimin does exactly, but you assume that his face is scrunched up into a cute cringe of sorts, anything that man does is adorable.

“My parents would’ve forced me to become a pastor. They aren’t exactly the most open-minded people...coming out to them was the hardest thing I ever did. And luckily, Yoongi was with me all through the process after they disowned me and threw me out of the house. I guess I lost my biological family but I ended up with something even better.” You feel your lips turn upward, the first feeling you’ve experienced since sadness. You feel hopeful, and happy that the two men can freely be together without judgement from those around them. 

You feel slightly jealous as well, since their relationship worked out and yours with Jungkook are in shambles. Maybe it’s not too late to fix this, but seeing as he hadn’t even sent you as much as a “Good morning” text, you decided it was better to leave him alone for now. The darkness is not only making you blind; it’s making you unempathetic. You do feel a bit of fear though, as the sense of not knowing what else might be in here with you is overwhelming and you literally want to curl into a ball and cry. “Your breathing is heavy again...are you okay?” Yoongi’s voice soothes you as you slowly recover from the mini-panic attack. You don’t know if you can take it anymore.

“Sorry, I’m just a little claustrophobic.” You hear some shifting as Yoongi makes himself more comfortable.

“Oh shit, I forgot about Jin,” Jimin pulls out his phone, as it vibrates with a text. Your vision is blurry, but you can see his face with the help of the dim light from his device. “Jin said he’s running late in traffic. We might be stuck for a little longer.” You snap, reaching for the closest thing to you, standing up on your two wobbly legs.

“I can’t do this! I’m going crazy, I need to get out! Anything...away….can’t breathe!” You start taking deep breaths, slightly embarrassed at showing the two boys you barely know your weak side. Of course, they are absolute sweethearts about it.

“Honja jjujeo anja

Saenggag man keojyeoga

Eonjebuteo neon nal apeuge haessdeonga

Neo jochado moreujanha,” He slowly makes his way behind you, snaking his arms around your shoulders in a very intimate manner.

“Neodo apeujanha 'cause you’re mine

I just want to blow your mind

Ireohge neon tto meoleojyeo man ganeunde,” You close your eyes and sink into his embrace, swaying in a movement that could only be described as heaven. His voice is heaven. 

“I want you to be your light, baby

You should be your light

Deoneun apeuji anhge

Nega useul su issge

I want you to be your night, baby

You could be your night

Ibami neoege soljighal su issge…” He trails off, leaving you feeling speechless from listening to his honey-like voice. The song is also new, something you’ve never heard. You clap, astounded by his vocals.

“That was amazing!!! Thank you so much for doing that.” You can almost picture the cute blush on his cheeks as you praise him, but you aren’t going to let him know that.

“No problem.” As you both share a moment, Yoongi finds a supposed way out.

“Look, there’s a duct back here. Should one of us go through and see if they can let the others out?” You and Jimin share a look of suspicion but you volunteer anyways. 

“I guess I’ll do it. Seems logical.” You get to your hands and feet, and Jimin gives you his phone, tenderly. There’s a gentleness in his eyes and through the blinding light of the flashlight on his phone, you could see his pupils dilate slightly. For a moment, it’s just you and him, as the rest of the world fades to black. You snap out of your daze when Yoongi coughs into his arm again, and you prepare to crawl into a dusty duct that’s been closed for decades.

You eventually find an exit, and you’re surprised at how long Jimin’s battery life was. It was only at 49%, despite him using his phone for half the time you were together. He must’ve charged it to the full 100%. You find a screw loose on another duct, opening it with ease and slipping into the kitchen. And then when you shine your flashlight, you realize your location. 

You quickly run to the locked door and find that opening it from the outside is a piece of cake. The two men are thankful, but they still complain about the power. Jimin texts Jin that all of you got out, and he just tells you to go home.

The time is about 9:41, 2 hours later than you’d hoped to go home. Nonetheless, you had fun spilling your heart to these two wonderful men. You’ve never felt so close with a pair of strangers, but you can tell these two will become an important part of your life very soon.

                                     ༻• At your House •༺

“Where were you?” Your mother yells as you walk through the door, and you put your bag on the floor, flopping face down on the couch.

“I was at a café but then there was a power outage and I got stuck in a food pantry.” You nonchalantly tilt your head upwards at your mom, as her look of anger changes into one of worry.

“How did you get out?” She asks, bringing you a cheese sandwich. You plug in your phone upside down, but it’s okay because you can see the logo pop up after a minute.

“I crawled through a duct. It was fun but dusty. Oh, sorry for not texting you. My phone died.” She raises an eyebrow.

“Y/N...is there something you’re not telling me?” You fold your arms, whining like a baby. “Was there someone else with you?” You nod, not wanting to tell your mom in detail. “Okay, I’m not gonna ask any more questions. But earlier Jungkook came by, he wanted to talk to you in person. After he left, Jasmine dropped by an hour ago, saying she wanted to see you too. Did something happen between the three of you?” You sigh, turning right-side up on the couch, resting your head on your mother’s shoulder.

“Mom, can I please just go to bed? I don’t feel so good.” Instead of pestering you to tell her, she complies with your wishes, leaving you alone to go into the kitchen.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, I started renting the top floor of our house to two nice young men. They’ll stay with us, and we can get money.” You raise your eyebrows at her, not believing her fully. Your mom was never the type of person to do that. You had suggested it in the past, but she had never fully gone through with plans before. Especially big ones.

“And why did you agree to it?”

“Because they are so charming, Y/N, when I put the ad up, they immediately responded, saying that they’d do all the housework and help cook, and take care of the house as if it was theirs, even though they are paying to stay in one room.” You grab your backpack and make your way upstairs. After finishing your nighttime routine, you tuck yourself in and retire for the night.

You wake up with the sudden urge to pee. So, you run to the bathroom only to find a very unexpected sight. The same man with the crescent shaped eyes when he smiles is standing in your bathroom, brushing his teeth.

“J-Jimin?” He turns his head, looking at you with wide eyes.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” 

“I live here!”

“Me too!” Dear God, what has your mother done?

[jtrbluv]

“F 2020!” - TXT

it’s 3:30am and i’m 2 lazy to make a header so here’s yoongi, i promise i have nicer handwriting

wow, i literally have no idea where to start. it’s almost my three year anniversary of being on this hellsite, but i think i can definitely say that 2020 has probably been one of my favorite years by far, and i am really grateful for it. i think 2020 was a year i was able to improve a lot in my writing despite not producing and releasing a lot of content. quarantine finally allowed me to actually sit down and focus on writing more than i ever have before, and shit, it felt good! it finally felt like i was able to write for myself and not just to please others, and it felt so rewarding rawr (•̀ᴗ•́)و

to all my followers, thank you all so so much. each and every single one of you are a huge reason as to why i’m still here and continue to write. all the likes, reblogs, comments, asks, and more mean the absolute world to me and other writers as well. i think as content creators we can all say that we all go back and scroll through all your messages. thank you for continuing to support me and hopefully i can manage to gift more fics to you this year! luv u all so much <33

to all my mutuals, whether we’ve talked once, twice, never, or a lot, thank you so much for letting me into your world! i really appreciate and luv each and every one of you and always enjoy seeing you all around my dash, we love 2 see it!! i wish you all the best and pls never hesitate to talk to me, i’ll always be here through but especially to support you and hype you all up!! >:) <33

i was going to tag people, but i don’t wanna risk missing anyone T-T. hopefully, you all know who you are :)) just know i luv u fr

lastly, here are some sappy ass luv letters to some of you in particular, sry in advance 🥶🥶

@koushiningg - yeah, of course your ass is going first. hey jae bae, bestie 4L, partner-in-crime, the one person who’s read every, and i mean EVERY single one of my fics. it irks me how much you’re always able to write out your feelings towards the people you care about, bc i SUCK at it! so yes, thank you so much for just being you, i’ll write u a sappy long letter for ur grad email but for now, thank u so much for putting up with my dumbass, listening to me ramble abt the ideas i get at the asscrack of dawn, reading my fics, supporting me in everything that i do. i love u sm fr. here is to the year that we’ve been waiting for, 2021. let’s make it our year.

@taehyungieskith - mika bae........ to think that you were still a local this year is so silly to think abt, i still remember us in the 400s and me giving u song recs in the band room GAHAHDHAJ. i love the little book club type shit we be doing, i always love ur recs duh wtf. thank u twin for always hyping up my stuff and thank god u arent on wattpad anymore mhm love u twin jumi #2 fr

@viopera - VIO!!! we’ve met recently but it feels like i’ve known u for awhile now. literally i’m so happy cuz i remember telling u to write fics and u were straight up like “no.” and now here we are RAWR! u should know this by now and u probably do but i will always be ur #1 supporter and eternal beta-reader. i hope you’re feeling better and ily my fav corpse stan and bad bitch!!!!

@bangtans-peaceful-piegon - AHH PIDGE!!! if i can remember correctly, you were one of the first people i actually talked to on the fic hub server and wow you are just the cutest and literal sweetest thing. we clicked so easily and the vibes u give off are just absolutely impeccable. i love u and i’m always here for u !!! <33

@sugacouture - AYO MEI!!! istg we literally just started talking frfr like a couple days ago but it’s like i’ve known u for years, like wtf. we literally have the same humor and vibes and it’s been rly swag talking to u. i am also more than happy to be ur eternal beta-reader and header helper if that wasn’t already clear duh <3 yeah you are so cute and you write so well that it’s unfair. mhm. unfair. *inserts that one taekook photo* love u, i’ll kidnap u and we’ll get boba and pho <3

@dreamystuffers - RACH!!!!!! rach you truly mesmerize me bc you are so freaking multi-talented, it leaves me in awe. i’m so happy you’ve continued to do what you do luv!! i will always be here and supporting u thru whatever u do!!! luv u sm!! <33

@tatastaetae - marria bby! hi!! ik we don’t talk that much but when we do you’re always such a joy to talk to! the range in ur fics is insane and i always love 2 see it! love u sm and i’m always here for u luv (i swear i’ll be more active on servers wjdjsjjds)

@pjmsdior - bella!!! we haven’t talked for that long either but i always love meeting fil moots!!! you are the sweetest thing and just know that i’ll always be here for u if u need anyone to talk to!!! if i was rich, i’d buy us both new phones in a heartbeat bc our phone literally hate us and for WHAT. kk luv u bella mwah <3

@suhdays - MO! oh my i rly do mean it when i say that u have got to be one of the sweetest and most genuine ppl i’ve met so far this year on this hellsite. ty for making me feel so welcome on the discord servers and networks despite me not being super active on there. when i do get money, i do wish to buy from your etsy shop T-T ,, you are literally the best and deserve the world mo, love u !

@jinpanman - mai! hiii!!! i know we don’t talk much but i’d just like to thank u for the sheer kindness and sweetness you’ve always treated me with! on the occasions that we do talk, you are such a sweetheart omg. ur fics are absolutely to die for and ilysm bby <3

@softguks - AHHDHJE LAUR! when i save u best 4 last <3. we’ve honestly barely interacted at all but you are the most sweetest thing ever, you make my heart full!!! i hope we’re able to interact more in the future and that u come back soon!

- ur local laur luvbot

my secret admirer, hi! i’m not sure if you’ll see this or not since i obviously can’t tag u, but i rly do appreciate u and all the messages u send 🥺🥺 sometimes i go back to them and read them over bc they’re actually so sweet and this is my first actual anon interaction rawr ;w; like always, i wish u nothing but the best and pls take care ☀️ anon!!! <3

sending luv and good vibes to all of u for the new year, always <3

— love, jumi (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃

[nctwd127]

Last time you cry.

Not my best, I’m sorry 

You felt like an idiot knocking on Jaehyun’s door this late at night but you needed your best friend.  

Jaehyun told you over and over that your boyfriend, well now ex, was bad news but you didn’t want to listen. Now here you are crying at his doorstep and waiting for him to tell you, ‘I told you so.’

“Hey, why didn’t- whoa, what happened?” Jaehyun asked opening the door and seeing the state you were in. He pulled you inside and gave you a bear hug. His hugs were so calming you cried harder into his chest.

“It’s about him, isn’t? What did he do?” He asked, his tone more serious now. You didn’t want to tell him because you knew he’d get mad and want to beat up you ex.

You’ve been friends with Jaehyun for a while now, maybe since you were eighteen or so. And during the time from then to now, you have ended up in this same exact situation more times than you count. Much to the both of your dismays.

Now sitting in his bedroom, you explained what happened with your cheating ex, obviously your best friend was less than happy to hear what you told him. But you kind of got the feeling he was angry for more reason than what you told him.

“Jae, are you okay? You seem a little too angry right now.” You cautioned because you didn’t want to overstep and have him pop.

He ran his hands through his hair and tugged on it. He let out a loud breath, “I am angry.” He walked over to where you sat on his bed and hovered you. Your body tensed at having him like this, you weren’t sure what you were supposed to do.

You leaned back on your arms to make some between your face and his pelvic area, which you noticed was bulging out more than usual. Was he that mad?

This probably wasn’t the time either but you were getting kind of turned on too. He was your best friend yes and you don’t know if you had any other feelings for him but you’d have to be stupid to not be attracted to him.

It’s Jung Jaehyun, the freaking walking sculpture God himself made.

“Do you really not have any idea how I feel about you, you moron?” Jaehyun started lowering himself on you so that you were laying under him now. His hands were on either side of your head and he was in between your legs.

You held your breath for his next move when his face came down to whisper in your ear, “I like you. I have for a long time.” He kissed your cheek and down to your neck. His tongue came out to lick your hot skin before he sucked on it.

“Jae.” You moaned when he found your weak spot. He started to roll his hips against your crotch and you corresponded by moving your hips to his rhythm.

Jaehyun detached from your neck and brought his face to yours so you were looking at each other. He had a look in his eyes you haven’t seen before or maybe you have but never connected it to what he felt for you.

And now you felt like a bigger idiot because who knows how many things he has done because he liked you and you never even thought twice about it. And oh god, the amount of times he actually sat there watching you cry over these ‘boys’ and you telling him the stupid shit you did.

“Let me have you tonight (Y/N).”

With no hesitation in your body, you answered with the words he’d been wanting to hear for what seemed forever now.

“Have me tonight Jae.”

It all happened so fast, clothes were taken off and thrown to the side. Kisses were given and spread, marks were left on skin. It almost blew your mind how much you could feel at once.

Jaehyun’s fingers were buried deep within you, stretching you enough so it wouldn’t hurt when he went in. Your mouths were connected and tongues were battling for dominance. Hearts were flying high together.

“I think you’re ready.” He pulled his fingers out when he felt your walls clenching around him. He didn’t want the first time you came to be because of his fingers, he’d have other times for that. He wanted you to let go around him.

He lined himself up with your entrance, teasing and spreading your juices around till he pushed in but just the tip. He wanted to feel you tighten around him, almost sucking him in whole.

You lost your breath for a moment when he pushed all the way in. Never have you felt so full, “Fuck, wait. Please wait.” You groaned, your nails digging into his shoulders. The stretch was a little painful and uncomfortable.

Jaehyun’s body froze above yours, “Did I hurt you? Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?” He rambled feeling guilty to think he might have done something wrong. You kissed his neck and then his cheek.

“No baby, I just need a moment.” Your hands got tangled in his hair and pulled his face to yours. Your lips met his and they moved in sync, like they were meant too.

“You can move now.”

And just like that he did, you expected him to ram into you. But you were surprised that he took his time, he wanted to feel every little bit of you. He kissed every bit of skin he could reach.

His hands danced around your skin, groping and burning wherever he touched. He dragged out his thrust and moaned praises into your ear, against you lips. He saw the stars in your eyes as he felt you release around him.

The way you screamed his name and your teeth sunk into his shoulder had him finally plowing into you. He wanted nothing more than to release into you, to fill you and let everyone know that you belonged to him now. Your legs wrapped his waist, pushing him deeper and he couldn’t hold it anymore.

Your name left his lips in groans and moans that sounded like pure music. And from that moment forward, you knew that you wouldn’t come crying to him about any other guys anymore.

[emotionalgirl101]

Question | Chapter 8

Words:  Genre: college au, angst, fluff Pairing: SKZ x reader Summary: Your best friend, Minho, had been refusing to introduce you to his other group of best friends for months now, with no explanation as to why. One night after getting drunk after work together, he gave in to your pleas. Oops. Warning: Contains mature content (such as coarse language, violent themes, etc). A/N: Finally, being the new longest chapter to date and tedious as hell to edit, chapter 8 is up! Fun fact: this was originally still part of chapter 7, but I felt like it was dragging on too long and it was right to end where it did. This was saved as ‘Chapter 7.5′ even afterwards. There is also still more of this that I really want to flesh out, too, so what was originally written as chapter 8 is now chapter 10! Anyways, please enjoy and I love you guys! Question Masterlist

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You made it back to your apartment by about 5:10pm. The walk seemed faster than usual. Maybe it was just the upbeat music you chose to play that caused you to walk a little faster. Fiddling with your keys, you entered your apartment. Props to your past self because everything was pretty much ready to go. Except for you, obviously.

You ditched your phone, keys and purse on the counter top of your kitchen bench, moving into your bedroom to find some comfy, yet presentable clothes. You wanted to be prepared for the possibility of having to leave the house at some point in the night. You and Eunwoo have gone for a late night walk before, so it could happen again. You heard your phone buzz from in the kitchen.

A pair of activewear leggings and an oversized tee was good enough for you. You'd probably throw a hoodie over it all, anyway. All that was left to do was brush your teeth, pack what remained of your toiletries, make sure your chargers were all in the bag, then grab everything you needed to bring from the kitchen before you headed through the door. It sounded like a lot, but considering you were driving to Eunwoo's, you had enough time and a little extra.

You were staring at your reflection in the mirror as you brushed your teeth, considering doing something with your hair when you heard something from the kitchen. You moved into the main area of the apartment, realising it was you phone notifying you that you still hadn't responded to it when it initially sounded off.

You picked it up off of the counter and made your way back to the bathroom sink. You were kind of surprised to see a text message from Jae. Less about it being from Jae,  more so what it was about.

Jae: Hey are you going to Chan's party on Friday.

No. You weren't invited. That didn't particularly bother you, but the question opened up a whole new stream of thought for you to process while you finished brushing your teeth. At it wasn’t exactly positive.

You could understand not being invited by Chan for multiple reasons. You'd only met once, well, twice. That was accidental though, and it was with Jae. Was that why Jae asked in the first place? Chan is a mutual friend, but you barely knew him. You only knew him through Minho. The thing is, Chan is such a genuinely nice guy and has seemed to enjoy your company, so part of you thinks he probably would’ve invited you. Then again, it might be just a small thing at his place, so he doesn't want too many people because of his housemates. Yet, would Jae ask if you were going if it was a small, private thing? How close were Jae and Chan anyway?

Wait. Chan lives with Minho. That realisation sent you into another tailspin. Jae knows that you’re close with Minho. That’s probably why Jae asked. Maybe he assumed you would been invited by Minho... but you hadn't heard anything from him other than memes and pictures of his cats. Does Minho not want you to go? Why?

You rinsed your mouth, letting the messy jumble of speculations gurgle down the drain with it, trying to snap out of all of that negative you’d dragged up. You were overthinking. Again. You dried your face and took in a calming breath. You replied to Jae before you began to sort out what skin care, make up and other bits and pieces you'd need. That's when Jae called.

"Why aren't you going?" Jae was genuinely confused.

"I wasn't invited." You shrugged, not quite remembering he couldn't see your action. From his next words, it was obvious that fact hadn't even crossed his mind.

"That makes no sense. Chan likes you and it's Minho's house, too. That kind of means it’s his party, too. By default. As if your not invited."

"Honestly, I had no clue there was anything on until you texted me." That's when it clicked. This was the same party Felix was shopping for today. Felix probably would've invited you. Maybe he didn't know?… maybe he did…

"Jae, this is going to sound pretty dumb, but… what if Minho purposefully didn't invite me?"

The line stayed quiet for a few beats, then crackled to life, "Okay... but why?"

"Well," You sighed, trying to figure out how to phrase your theory properly, "Felix, one of the boys’ other housemates, came into work today. He was looking for something to wear to a party.

Jae hummed, waiting for you to continue. You took in a breath.

"From the limited experience I've had with him, as well as Minho's other housemates, I feel like he would've invited me to the party since it's their place - joint hosts by default, like you said - but he barely talked about the party in our conversation. It would've been natural to since that's what he was shopping for..." You trailed off, worried you weren't making any sense.

"So, you think that Minho might've told the boys not to mention anything to you?" Jae somehow made sense of your rambling, which had you half-surprised.

“Well, yeah... I mean, it does sound crazy and make me look like I’m a bit self-obsessed to think that there's a whole conspiracy around me not being invited-"

"Kind of, but I get it." Jae interjected, teasingly. He missed out on seeing the roll of your eyes.

"- but the way Minho has been acting lately doesn't exactly help me to think other wise..."

"What do you mean?"

"The way he acts when I bring up the boys is a bit... i'm not quite sure how to describe it. He just seems a bit cold when I bring them up." You sighed. Jae was silent, prompting you to keep going.

"You know how we saw Chan? I mentioned it to him, and he went from teasing and bubbly to stoic and monotonous in an instant."

"We get it, you know big words."

"Shut up~" you whined.

He chuckled into the receiver. "Continue."

You remembered something that helped to strengthen your case, "Like the day he and I went out to lunch. We bumped into Changbin and Jisung, more roommates,” you clarified, “and he barely acknowledged their presence. THEY LIVE TOGETHER!" The exasperation in your voice could not be missed.

"Dude, he's jealous." Jae uttered nonchalantly.

"Can't be. Why would he be?" You took your belongings from the bathroom and into the living area. The zip of your overnight bag signalling that you'd finished packing.

"That, I can't tell you exactly," you rolled you eyes, phone changing hands, but continued to listen, "It could be that he feels weird about his two friendship groups colliding. It could because he wants to protect you-"

“He doesn’t need to protect me-“

"He might be trying to protect them-"

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Look, there could be reasons that you have no idea about.” He was right, not that you'd admit that to the lanky boy, but it still hurt a little. "Well, I kind of feel bad since I brought this up."

"Seriously, it's fine. You didn't know."

"Well, I was actually gonna suggest I plus one you. I'll ask Chan and then we'll know for sure."

You contemplated the offer. Did you really want to know if you purposely weren't invited? Then again, you need to know what was going on with Minho.

"If you're both okay with it, then yeah."

"Okay, cool. I'll message Chan."

You hadn't realised the silence until Jae spoke again, this time, softly, "If it means anything, I think Minho probably just forgot. He's not used to you having any mutual friends. He wouldn't usually invite you before you met the boys, right?"

True. Minho probably didn't think about inviting you because he wouldn't usually have to. You were well aware you ran in different circles, and you were both okay with that. You felt a wave of relieve and assurance wash over you. "Thanks, Jae."

"Don't sweat it." His teasing tone returning.

Your eyes flicked up to the clock on the wall. Shit, you completely forgot about keeping track of time. You knew Eunwoo wouldn't be too stressed if you were a bit late, but you were trying to work on your time management skills. You still had enough time if you left now.

"Sorry, Jae. I lost track of time and I have to be at Eunwoo's in 10."

"All good. I'll talk to you soon. See ya."

You were grateful for Jae. You weren't as close to him as you were to Minho, but you really loved how he just got you sometimes. That, and he was also a lot of fun to be around. You double checked you had everything, miraculously, only having to make one trip to the car. You locked up, packed everything in safely and left. You knew the way to Eunwoo's like the back of your hand, from all the late night drives and emergency trips. You let the sunset wash over you as you made your way down the familiar road.

-

"FINALLY!" Eunwoo greeted after swinging the door wide open. She enveloped you in a big hug. You forgot how strong she was sometimes, even with her deceivingly tiny arms. "I missed you!"

"It hasn't even been a week!" You laughed, letting her help. She stole the bag of supplies from your abundance of bags. Of course she would take the snacks. "Exactly! Waaaaay too long~" She winked back.

Eunwoo's apartment was the uni student level of lavish. Is was spacious and decorated beautifully, with thought put into every detail. The fixtures in the kitchen matched beautifully with the ones in the bathroom, the rich, jewel blue curtains had gold piping that matched the accents on the wall trimmings, and all the door handles matched.

Eunwoo had a roommate, Nayoung. She was only a few years older than the two of you. She wasn't around too often, being busy with work almost every day. When she was around, she'd hang out and join in on whatever fun you and Eunwoo had planned. You thought she worked too hard and should take more time for herself once in a while.

Eunwoo greedily unpacked the contents of the bag, examining the snacks thoughtfully and deciding which she wanted to start with. You took that as a cue to go put your belongings in her room, for when you'd need them later that night. You returned to the living area to find her standing in the kitchen, absent-mindedly munching on the gummy worms. You fell into the warm embrace of her oversized couch. The movement snapped Eunwoo out of her trance, following in your footsteps. She made herself comfortable next to you, gummy worms still in hand, legs crossed, facing you. You grabbed one of the glasses of water she had already put out prior, ready to get the rundown of tonight's schedule.

"Okay, so," She began, "I was thinking we go all out tonight. Take-out, face masks, movies, ice cream, text Jaemin, paint nails-" The sound of you choking on water interrupted her.

"Sorry, what? Text Jaemin? You seriously thought you could get away with just slipping that in casually?" You chided, all the while noticing her cheeky grin.

"Come on, Y/n! You promised you'd do it today." Her smile softened before she went on. Her voice dropped the teasing undertone, emphasising how genuine she felt about this. "You're really going to let a cute boy get away because of what? He made the first move, obviously at that, so there's no way he doesn't have some level of interest in you."

Your empty stare was fixated on the coffee table. You were scared. Who wouldn't be. The couch shifted. You felt Eunwoo put an arm around your shoulder. You allowed yourself to rest into her, and you just sat like that for a few minutes. You had your head on her shoulder, just mulling over the whole situation. You knew she was right. Were you really going to let irrational fear hold you back?

"What do I say?" You deadpanned, still in place in Eunwoo's grasp. Your free hand reaching lazily in the general direction of where you'd left your phone. You positioned it in front of both of your faces, your head still on Eunwoo's shoulder, meaning she didn't have to crane her neck to see. You carelessly pulled up the boy's contact. It was still left open from the last time you stared at it.

"It's been days since I saw him. What if he doesn't even remember me?" Your worries were met with an exasperated sigh and a gentle yet firm hit to your forehead. "I told you before, stupid. He wouldn't be giving his number to every girl that he meets at work. Trust me, he'll remember you." She then gently pat where she had struck you  before you both straightened up. You bit your lip and tried to find the right words. Eunwoo stroked your hair. A subtle form of support or a passive aggressive move implying 'I'm watching you to make sure you actually follow through', you weren't sure.

"Don't overthink it. Keep it simple.' She hummed. You heeded her advice. It's like whenever you get the number of a new friend, right? Except this friend was one of the most attractive men you'd ever seen and was hardly given the chance to exchange more than a few words with you. You were overthinking. Snap out of it.

Tapping sounds were expelled from the small speakers of your phone, peaking your friend's interest. You held the phone towards her for approval. The screen was still blank with 'Hey Jaemin, you gave me your number a few days ago at the bubble tea place?' written in the text bar. She seemed to mull it over before giving a short nod, responding "Good, but you're missing something that's kind of important."

You furrowed your brow, reading over the text twice more before turning back to see the biggest smile one her face. "Maybe your name?" In any other instance you'd be over her teasing tone, but considering how obvious it was, you decided it was warranted. "True..." you muttered, adding it into the text as you wondered if he'd remember your name.

"Wait," you looked back to Eunwoo, "Did your name come up at all?" It was scary when she read your mind like that. You nodded, telling her that he had asked during your brief exchange. The evil grin return, and now you were genuinely confused. What kind of plan was she concocting in that brain of hers? "On second thoughts, don't mention your name. See if he remembers." She winked at you before jumping up and heading back over to the kitchen. You read your message again, breathing slowly as you tried to make sure it sounded as natural and casual as possible. "Just press send, Y/n!" Eunwoo cried from across the room. Fine.

Y/n: Hey Jaemin, you gave me your number a few days ago at the bubble tea place?

You locked your phone and through it into the corner of the couch, then got up and met Eunwoo in the kitchen. You released the breathe you'd been unconsciously holding, letting the nerves fade away to the back of your mind. It was future you’s problem now, and you weren’t going to let the small sense of anxiety that the situation stirred within you ruin what could be a perfectly good girls’ night. You weren't exactly sure what Eunwoo was doing in the kitchen, but she was making herself busy. You asked if you could help anyway, but you were hushed and forced to retake your seat. She struck up the next topic of conversation. "How was your day?"

She had no clue how much of a loaded question that was. The whole ‘party’ thing became the centre of the storyline, as you rehashed the highlights of the day’s events. You then dove into the phone call and theories you discussed with Jae. "So, the question is, why doesn't he want me to go?" Eunwoo was so invested that she stopped midway through the task to lean over the bench and dive into the bag of popcorn with you.

"Maybe he likes you." She said with ease, finishing by popping two pieces of popcorn into her mouth, her eyes never leaving yours.

"As if" you scoffed. "Why would he be so casual about the whole Jaemin thing? We could've teased me or grilled me to see if I'd actually do anything about it."

"Or he would just rather not know…” she sing-songed softly.

You hated that her point was justified, but you could never see Minho being interested in you. How could you? It just- "I don't see it."

She rolled her eyes at you in place of further dialogue.

"It makes no sense, though. He was way too supportive about Jaemin, at least in his own ~special~ way."

What you neglected to mention was how he’d been acting when you brought up his housemates or all the times he'd talked about girls in front of you. You just knew she'd have a field day with that.

"Well, at least we know why he wouldn't invite you. He's jealous." Your friend sighed and straightened up, proceeding to get a bowl for the popcorn so you were somewhat civilised in your snacking affairs. "I mean, Jae's right. It's classic jealous behaviour. The real question we should be asking is why is he jealous." She moved to sit with you.

You both sat at the island bench in silent contemplation, running through a mental list of scenarios that would make sense in justifying his behaviour. After awhile, you and Eunwoo exchanged a look. Neither of you could think of anything noteworthy. Minho was really hard to read in general. Even as his proclaimed best friend, you had trouble understanding some of the things he did. You couldn't imagine how confusing he would be to Eunwoo. She broke you away from the thought, picking up on where the conversation left off.

"Maybe its just general friend envy," with a tilt of the head, your gaze urged her to continue, "You know, when your jealous because you think that someone new is gonna steal your best friend away from you." All you did was nod, no longer holding her gaze. It was plausible. You wouldn't put it past him. You wouldn't put it past most people. However, to really get to the bottom of this, you had to play devil's advocate.

"Though, he's fine with you."

"he had to be. he's dumb sometimes but he's smart enough to know not to fight a battle he would lose."

"True."

You both burst into laughter. This is why you loved this girl. She was everything you could want in a close female friend. As girls, you were always raised to see each other as competition to some degree. It was something that was part of the social structure. Even if it was never at the forefront of your mind, you would always end up feeling uncomfortable or jealous around other girls, constantly comparing yourself to them. If you didn’t, others would. After a while, you would just accept where you stood in the 'hierarchy', but that was high school. Honestly, uni wasn't that much better if you compared certain experiences side by side. The difference was you didn't have to force anything. Unlike high school, you could escape. You didn't see the same people every day and could cut the toxic ones out of your life. Uni gave you more freedom.

Regardless, you loved Eunwoo because you never felt 'threatened' by her. She listened and was compassionate, and once you let it all out she would both try to fix it and then take your mind off of things. The order of the two varied depending on the situation. She knew you'd do the same for her, without hesitation. She was your first, true friend.

"Enough about problematic men. Wanna go find something to eat?" She stood up, grabbing her keys, dangling them so their jingle would entice you to rise to your feet. You smiled and did just that, following her out the door.

-

You went to Hirai. Japanese takeaway was the easiest to agree on and you could both attest to how good it was. Even after all your efforts to supply your every need, snack wise, Eunwoo was adamant on picking up a tub of ice cream for a real gelato place for dessert. If you were going to eat you feelings, it may as well taste delicious, right? She dragged you to a place she found nearby with the help of her phone.

You knew the place. You walked past it a few times. You'd never gone inside, though. You just never had the desire since your go-to was close to home. That, and after a while, you forgot it was there. The shop front had a classical vibe, blending in with the other parchment coloured buildings either side. If you didn't bother to read the cursive writing, you could've easily mistaken it for an antique shop. You appreciated that they kept all the trimmings when restoring the building.

The line was almost out the door, which didn't really bother either of you. They provided paper menus at the door so you could browse ahead of time. It seemed that they anticipated the problem and prepared accordingly. Credits to them.

Eunwoo reached ahead to grab a menu for you both. You read through the interesting flavours, eyeing them quizzically. The first few minutes were spent pointing out interesting names like ‘ink bottle' and trying to decipher what they could be. It took you awhile before it dawned on you that they had simplistic descriptions beneath each title. ‘Ink bottle’ was actually sesame with liquorice notes.

You sort of zoned out after awhile, not being able to help, thinking back to the whole Minho situation instead. You just didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just say something.

The more you analysed, the more it seemed like he was purposely keeping it a secret. If your friends hadn't agreed with you, you would've talked yourself out of the speculations you’d made, but they kind of agreed with you. It made sense. That's the thing. Why else would Felix be so hesitant to mention it? If it was Chan's party, why wouldn't he bring it as a general topic of conversation? You had asked about what had been going on back at the house. He spent a solid 5 minutes trying to think of something to update you on. You gave him the opportunity on a silver platter. It’s not like he could say he didn't know. Chan definitely would've given all the other boys a heads up. Hell, he probably let them invite some of their friends, too, or mutual friends. Coincidentally, you fit into both categories, so-

"Snap out of it. Pick ice cream." You looked back at Eunwoo, who's eyes were still trained on the menu. She could read you like a book. She sighed a moment later, following up with "You get one sentence to explain what you're thinking, then we go back to ice cream time and save the rest of the conversation for home. Deal?" The idea being you rid yourself of the thought temporarily, so you can focus on having fun. You exhaled before you spoke.

"I don't understand why he's gone to such lengths to kept some party a secret, because we don't keep secrets, especially about something so insignificant. So pointless…” You muttered the last part, since you went over your one-sentence limit. With the word you huffed out, the hint of frustration not as subtle as you’d hoped. Eunwoo nodded, "He's dumb. What ice cream were you thinking? because I was leaning towards the chiv-"

"Hello, hello." Eunwoo was cut off by a familiar voice standing behind you. You exchanged a glance, Eunwoo looking confused, annoyed and slightly alarmed all at once. She was clueless as to who it was, but your suspicions were confirmed when you turned around, eyes landing on Chan. Changbin was to his left. "Fancy meeting you here." He beamed. You smiled back instantly, Eunwoo's questioning expression visible in your peripheral vision.

"Ah-I-Hi Chan. Hey Changbin. This is Eunwoo," She waved on cue, "and we could say the same to you." The initial shock wore off the more you spoke, replaced with confidence as you felt more comfortable. You turned to Eunwoo, finally being able to 'clue' her in on who the handsome strangers were. She was well aware, since you'd talked about both boys before, but they didn't need to know that. "They're Minho's housemates." She faked an expression of realisation, giving a slight nod. "We're just grabbing some ice cream." She played dumb, realising something that took awhile to dawn on you.

What if they heard you?

Shit.

"So, how's girls’ night going?" Chan asked, earnestly. You were both taken aback. "How did you-" You were tugged to the side by Eunwoo. Having been side-tracked by the sudden reunion, you didn't realise the line had moved a fair bit. You were already in front of the ice cream flavours. You turned to face the flavours and try to at least help Eunwoo with the decision, yet still continued talking to the boys. Chan was the one that kept the conversation going.

"A hunch. You two are out with a bag of takeaway food and in line to get ice cream. We just put two and two together."

You nodded. It made sense.

"That and Minho told us." Changbin chimed in.

Of course he did. You told him random, insignificant things he didn’t necessarily need to know. Why didn’t he do the same with you? He used to… The annoyance towards your best friend increasing.

"I'm going to kill him, I swear-"

"Don't worry, princess. I'll take care of him for you." Changbin whispered in your ear from behind you. There was something underlying in his words that caused your breath to catch in your throat. He was so close all of a sudden. You heard him chuckle darkly, his breath beating down on your neck. He moved away. You stepped forward. Trying to recover, your eyes never lost contact with the ice cream labels when you spoke, "Thanks, but I'd like the satisfaction." The confidence you feigned seeming believable in the strength of your words.

You finally looked up at the boys. Chan was just nodding, also looking into the glass cabinets. He was oblivious to the intimacy of the interaction between you and Changbin. Though, the latter didn't seem to quite believe your words. Changbin was smirking at how flustered you were. You quickly looked away to peer of Eunwoo’s shoulder, only making him feel more proud of himself. He discovered he had a little bit of power over you now. Well, fuck.

Eunwoo gave a quizzical stare, switching from you to the boy, then abruptly moved on. "So, do you want ~chivalrous dalmatian~?" waiting to see if you were alright with the option she put to you, she eyed you a bit more than was necessary. “Cookies & cream.” She simplified. Her gaze flickered to Changbin just before you agreed with her pick. His attention was already back on Chan by the time you’d turned away from him. She just rolled her eyes at the boy, attention returning to the present conversation. "Perfect."

'Perfect' was a good term to use, since a server had just approached both of you as you finalised your choice. Regardless of the flavour, you just needed some space to breathe. You loved the two boys to your left, but since you were low-key having a mini crisis over why your best friend was acting weird, you just wanted to get out and back to Eunwoo's as soon as possible. Changbin kind of ‘flirting’ - for the lack of a better word - with you didn't exactly help either.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling, you forced yourself to focus on the present. By ‘the present’, you meant your best friend, since she always put up with you, even when you were like this. Yeah, Minho did too, but since he was the cause of said crisis, he wasn’t getting a free pass today.

“My shout!” You announced overly cheerfully. Eunwoo didn’t bat an eye. The boys did. Your demeanour did a full 180 right in front of there eyes, but then again, they probably had no clue where your head was at. If anything, it just startled them. You weren’t even that loud.

You both moved to the cashier point, fishing out your purse. Just after you pulled your card out, a hand weaved between the two of you, tapped a card and removed itself once again. You almost went to scold Eunwoo but stopped for two reasons; firstly, she looked as surprised as you, and secondly, no way was her hand that veiny.

You then looked to find Chan standing right behind you both, grinning like an idiot. With pure sincerity, he finished with “Your welcome!”

You both just stood their for a second, confused. Grateful, but confused. Chan was way too kind. He had already moved back to Changbin. Your gaze focusing in on them ordering for themselves. Only Eunwoo noticed the slightly peeved sales person waving the tub of ice cream in front of you guys.

You made your way out, but not before you gave Chan a huge thank you. You didn’t hug the boys, because not only did you feel off tonight but it was also for Eunwoo’s sake, to not put her in an awkward position. You didn’t escape without a wink from Changbin, and you bet Eunwoo noticed it, too. With a wave and ‘see you soon’ exchanged, you both walked out of the ice cream parlour and headed for the car, arm in arm.

“I— I’m just - what even just-“

“Same.”

You both walked in contemplative silence. The late night discussions were going to be on a whole other level tonight.

[animeniacss]

A Palette of Emotions - Artist!Taehyung x Teacher!Reader - Chapter 8 - Invitations and Standing Ovations

Synopsis: Taehyung dreams of being a professional and famous artist one day, but finds that the sea of creativity can be lurking with blood hungry sharks, as well as bland, motionless starfish. Swimming through the sea of opportunities somehow washed him up onto the shore of Bright Star Preschool, as an art teacher. This wasn’t where he expected to be 4 years into his career, but anything to get his big break though, right?

Feat. BTS, TXT, ITZY, Jisoo (BlackPink), Taeyong (NCT)

Genre: Romance, Slow Burn, Love Triangle, Drama, School Setting, Working!AU

Length: approx. 4.6k words

Chapter 8 - Invitations and Standing Ovations 

           Taehyung stared at Jimin for what felt like forever. He wasn’t sure what to say in response to his friend, who just sat there with a wide grin on his face. Taehyung had to try to process it, but he couldn’t. With a shake of his head, he took Jimin’s shoulders.

            “What did you say?” He asked curiously.

            “I said that I was able to get you a vendor permit for the Annual Ilsan Art Fair at the end of the month,” Jimin repeated, chuckling. Taehyung blinked. “I saw you watching the news last night at the bar, and it took almost all of my strength not to say anything then. I was waiting for the right moment.” Taehyung blinked. “Does that help your hangover?”

            “What hangover?!  I can focus on a hangover; I need to start preparing and deciding which of my pieces I am going to bring.” Taehyung practically leaped out of his seat, only to see his vision go black momentarily. His fast-paced movements along with his headache caused him to lose balance for a moment, and he stumbled back on the couch. Jimin couldn’t help back laugh. “Fuck…” Taehyung huffed.

            “Don’t worry, you have more than enough time to focus on all of that.” He said. “And don’t get too overzealous, I was only able to snag you a smaller part of the venue. “

            “Any place is fine with me. That means that even more people are going to see my work and maybe I can finally start selling stuff and…you know, making a name for myself.” Jimin watched as Taehyung leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at his walls that were still covered in his paintings. He sipped his ginger ale. “How did you even manage it?”

            “Well, Mr. Kim had a business meeting with one of the men who appraises some of the art. I managed to catch him as he was walking out, we got on the same elevator, and we started talking. He talked about the show and I brought you up. He gave me all of the information and even waived our vending fee for me.” He grinned. “He was so nice; older guy. Nothing like your best friend, Mr. Oh Min-Jae.” Taehyung rolled his eyes as the mere mention of that man’s name. However, honestly, he could care less. Taehyung quickly embraced Jimin in a tight hug, which stunned an unexpecting Jimin for a moment. However, he almost immediately hugged him back.

            “Thank you so much, this is crazy.”

            “Of course. What kind of manager would I be if I didn’t try to support you however I could by totally taking advantage of my position at work?” The duo laughed, and Taehyung pulled from the hug, laying his head on the back of the couch. Jimin did the same thing, grabbing his ginger ale to drink. The duo sat in silence for a moment, before Jimin rolled his head over to look at his friend. “…What are you thinking about now?” he asked curiously.

            “I want to invite my coworkers to come and see me.” He said.

            “That’s a good idea,” Jimin said.

            “I know my Hyung’s will all come, but-.”

            “But you don’t think the teacher will, right?” Jimin asked curiously. Taehyung nodded.

            “I want her to see my real work and how serious and professional I can be.”

 “Just ask anyway. The worst thing that she can say is she can’t come.” Taehyung pouted a bit. “Or maybe ask one of the others to invite her along, if you think that she’ll say yes that way.” Taehyung nodded. “As I said though, don’t worry too much right now because you should probably go inside and sleep so that you can function at work tomorrow.”

“Ugh, I hate when you’re right.”

“I don’t,” Jimin said smugly as he finally lifted himself from the couch. Taehyung got up as well, carefully this time, and set his now empty ginger ale can on the coffee table. “I’ll see you this weekend, alright?” Jimin hummed as he gave his friend a supportive pat on the back. Taehyung nodded.

“Right, see you then,” Taehyung said. He walked Jimin to the door, the duo sharing a final goodbye before Jimin took his leave, and Taehyung shut the door, clicking the lock shut. He stood there for a moment, silently waiting for something to happen on the other side of the door. When he didn’t hear the sound of footprints, he slowly unlocked and opened the door. Upon opening it, Taehyung saw Jimin still standing at his front door, crossing his arms. A sheepishly adorable boxy smile appeared on Taehyung’s face as he stared at his short, unamused friend.

“…Go to sleep. Do not stay up working or you’ll feel worse tomorrow than you do now.” Taehyung groaned.

“But-.”

“Tae.” Jimin huffed, pouting Taehyung groaned.

“Fiiiiiine.” He said. Jimin nodded, finally turning on his heel and heading down the hallway to the elevator at the end. Halfway down the hall, Taehyung waved him off and finally closed the front door. Almost immediately, as if he didn’t hear a word his friend said, Taehyung turned back to his work desk and the paintings that surrounded the top and bottom of it. He huffed. “There’s no way I can sleep now.” He mumbled to himself, walking towards the work desk. He plopped himself down and began shuffling through some recent doodles he had been doing. “I need to get some work done.”

As Taehyung began to skim and doodle, he found himself extremely lost in thought. He was so focused on making sure that he had something new and exciting ready for the end of the month. He was so busy in thought that he had blocked out the rest of the world as soon as he sat himself down in that seat. It was a trait that caused many nights where he would stay up to meet the sun. However, back then, he was unemployed or working part-time, and could afford to go to sleep at his desk for ten hours at a time. This was no longer the case. And Jimin knew that as well, probably even better than Taehyung did.

Taehyung was so focused, he didn’t hear the click of his front door or the slow creaking of it opening up behind him. He didn’t hear footsteps step into the front entrance or the door close behind him. However, he did hear a loud, and extremely annoyed-.

“BEDTIME, KIM TAEHYUNG!” The high-pitched voice startled Taehyung right out of his seat, and he practically darted to his room like a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Jimin watched him scurry to his room with his tail between his legs, and he huffed, quickly following after him. “I swear to God, I’ll burn your vendors permit if I find out you fucking stayed up all night.”

“Okay, Mom,” Taehyung shouted from under the covers of his bed. Jimin sighed, crossing his arms. “Telling me about the biggest opportunity of my career is going to keep me up anyways, you know.”

“Yeah, you said that about the last art show I managed to get you into,” Jimin said. “You’ll thank me when you wake up tomorrow with no bags under your eyes.” Taehyung snorted.

“That’s funny. Those bastards live under there now, rent-free and I can’t kick them out because each one has two kids.” Jimin chuckled a bit.

“Goodnight, Tae,” Jimin said. Taehyung only groaned, keeping his head under his pillow as he heard his friend make his exit and close the front door behind him. Once Taehyung was alone, he poked his head out from the covers and stared up at the ceiling. He wanted to get up, he wanted to get up so bad and start to work, his fingers were itchy and eager to draw or paint or something. He gripped the sheets, however, because he knew Jimin was right. He needed to sleep and get ready for the next day. He couldn’t have another mess up like he did today. Not if he could help it.

--------------------------------------

Taehyung found himself scratching his head as he headed into the building early the next morning. He couldn’t stop thinking about the night before. He was so excited, then anxious, then excited again that he had to get up and pace the room a few times when sleep wouldn’t overtake his body. When the sun came up, he managed to squeeze in about 6 hours of sleep, which when paired with two cups of coffee, was perfect for him. Taehyung put his hands in his pockets as he headed down the hallway, passing Seokjin’s office. As he passed by, he heard voices talking inside. As he got closer, he could hear the voices even clearer. And neither of them seemed happy.

Inside, you were pacing Seokjin’s desk, hands behind your back. Seokjin was sitting at his desk, eyebrow raised in confusion as he watched you.

“Will you stop pacing?” Seokjin asked. “How about you finally tell me what’s on your mind instead of rambling to yourself.” When you finally stopped, you turned to him.

“Do you think your lecture yesterday got to him?” You asked curiously. Seokjin groaned, his head lolling back in his chair to stare up at the ceiling. “Sir, I’m just asking-.”

“I know it did. He looked upset. Now can you stop with all childish behavior please?” Seokjin sounded extremely annoyed. You blinked, the sound of the more annoyed President Kim making its way into the room over the jovial and upbeat Kim Seokjin. You stopped pacing and turned to him. “Seriously, it’s getting old and I’m getting frustrated.”

“N-no, listen. I’m not trying to give him a hard time here-.”

“Yes, you are,” Seokjin said simply. Taehyung blinked, now finding himself pressed up against the door to get a better listen. “It’s enough now. I spoke to him; he knows what is expected from him and now you need to stop.”

“But President-.” You tried to continue but Seokjin stood up. He was much taller than you now, and as you tilted your head up to look at him, you could see how annoyed he was, the fire burning in his eyes. That scary demeanor only made him seem ten times taller, and you a million times smaller. It sent a shiver up your spine.

“I swear to God if you keep this up, I will send you home and have Hoseok run the class himself. You’re not doing any favors to yourself or the kids by acting this way.” Your heart immediately sank into your chest.

Inside, you had your arms crossed and your eyes cast down to the floor, chewing the inside of your lip. Seokjin groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, that was too far.” He said.

“You’re probably right though.” You said softly. “I just want to make sure that the kids are safe no matter what. It’s nothing against him.”

“It seems that way,” Seokjin said. “You were in there; did anything looks out of place yesterday other than him looking a bit tired?”

“No.” You said.

“The kids are fine. If it happens again, it’s for me to worry about, not you. But I trust that it won’t.” Seokjin walked over to you, placing a hand in your hair. “You feel this upset about his hiring?” You shook your head.

“No, not anymore. I know the kids like him and I know in my soul that him working here eases my workload a bit and I should be happy but I don’t know. I want to do it all; I’d teach the physical education if I was athletic at all.” Seokjin laughed a bit. “I can’t describe it.”

“But that’s not Taehyung’s fault.”

“I know.” You admitted. Seokjin grinned a bit.

“So, what do we say when we know we do something wrong?” Seokjin hummed, a mocking tone in his voice. You grimaced as he began to laugh once more, feeling even worse hearing this being said to you instead of saying it to a misbehaving child. You pouted.

“President, please-.”

“What do we do~?” he repeated. You groaned.

“Say sorry.” You mumbled, huffing. Seokjin laughed once again, and you couldn’t help but grin a bit too.

“Then shall we? He must be here by now.” Seokjin spun you around and began leading you towards the door.

The sound of footsteps heading towards the door made Taehyung’s eyes widen. He didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping! His eyes scanned the left, right, and even the ceiling, hoping that a magical hiding spot would appear. However, just as he was about to hide, the door opened and he saw Seokjin and you walk into the hall. He stood at attention; eyes cast to the floor.

“Uh…Good morning…” he said after a long silence rang through the hallway. When he looked up, he saw Seokjin grinning ear to ear.

“Good morning, Taehyung. Do you feel better?”

“Yes. It won’t happen again.” He quickly assured. Seokjin nodded his head. Suddenly, he patted your shoulders quickly, and your eyes shot up from the floor as well, coming in direct contact with Taehyung. You felt your stomach do a flip.

This must be what the kids feel like when I do this whole speech to them. You thought to yourself.

“She has something to say to you,” Seokjin said. Taehyung looked at you, and you forced out a deep breath, crossing your arms. Taehyung put his hands in his pockets as you stayed silent. However, after a slight shake of your shoulders, and the sound of Seokjin’s annoyed voice behind you uttering your name, you huffed. Your heart was pounding

“I’m sorry, okay?” you said. “I shouldn’t take my insecure anger out on you and it was rude and unprofessional….” Taehyung blinked a bit. Unprofessional, hm? It hit Taehyung differently hearing the word directed towards someone else. Taehyung nodded his head after a moment when he realized you had stopped.

“Oh, uh-.” Taehyung stuffed his hands in his pockets, pursing his lips as he tried to think of what to respond with. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I just want us to work…you know…well. So, let’s just have a clean slate?” Pulling one of his hands out of his pocket, he stuck it in your direction. You looked down at it, before glancing back up at him. You huffed, smiling a bit as you stuck your hand out and shook it firmly. Taehyung grinned a bit, and you noticed for the first time how boxy and warm his smile was. Just as you took a moment to admire it, a voice was heard behind you.

“I didn’t buy it, should I have you do a deep bow to him and apologize that way?” Seokjin asked. You immediately turned in the direction of your grinning President, who began laughing as you playfully punched him in the shoulder. “Ow!” He gasped as he continued to laugh.

“Would you stop causing trouble at every turn?” You asked, pouting. Taehyung blinked, unable to hold back an amused chuckle. You looked over at him, a pout still stuck on your face, along with a few tints of blush. “What’s so funny?!”

“….I would really accept your apology if you do a deep bow,” Taehyung added. You huffed.

“I’m going to my classroom.” You said, storming away as the boys continued to chuckle behind you. Suddenly, Taehyung stopped laughing, eyes wide as he remembered what he was planning to stop them about in the first place.

“Ah, w-wait a second.” Taehyung began, turning in your direction.

“NO! I don’t want to hear it, bullies.” You huffed, closing your door with a playful force that shook some of the wall posters nearby. Seokjin snickered as he saw Taehyung push his lips together in annoyance.

“What did you have to tell her?” Seokjin asked curiously. Taehyung looked over at his boss, before sighing.

“Well…” Taehyung pushed his fingers together. “My manager got me a vendor’s permit at the Ilsan Arts Festival this month.” He began. “And well…I wanted to ask if you guys were able to come and see me….” Taehyung waited for a response. He had never really asked anyone to see his work at a show before, as a lot of them were smaller and pretty intimate, only containing the managers, a few family members, and some art critics. Occasionally, the public would come, but in small droves due to low capacity. However, this was now a huge art festival that could hold tons of people. And he wanted his coworkers to be there. For a moment, there was no response from Seokjin, and Taehyung got a bit discouraged. He most likely has plans. Taehyung thought to himself. Taehyung looked at him. “I was going to ask her, and Hobi-Hyung and Yoongi-Hyung too…” Taehyung added.

“Hmm, you’re going to show your art?” Seokjin asked. Taehyung nodded. “…Consider us all there, then.” Taehyung blinked.

“Really?” Taehyung asked, eyes lighting up in excitement. Seokjin nodded.

“I think it’s a great way to promote comradery between everyone here once and for all.” Seokjin clapped his hands together. “I’ll call Yoongi, you tell Hoseok when he gets here.” Taehyung nodded and Seokjin patted his shoulders, a grin on his face. “This is exciting. I finally get to see your work in person.” Taehyung nodded.

“Y-yeah. I’m excited too.” He admitted. “It’s one of the biggest art shows I’ve gotten to show my work at.” Seokjin nodded.

“We’ll talk more later, so get ready for the day.” Taehyung nodded as the duo parted ways. As he passed your room, he peeked into one of the windows beside the door. He could barely see inside from behind the construction paper rocket ship on the door, or the multitude of big stars and a moon on the wall. He had to poke his head in the ‘O’ of the phrase “Lift Off to Pre-School!” that was plastered on top, and he accidentally knocked down a cut-out astronaut with Lia’s name written on it, which he had to sneakily put back in its place. However, when he finally got a good look, he saw you standing by the board. Your back was toward the door, a marker in your hand as you began writing and drawing on the board. Taehyung couldn’t see the entire thing, since your body covered most of it. However, when you looked to your right, he saw the profile of your face and pursed his lips. The look of absolute focus on your face was a vast contrast to the puffy cheeked, childish pout that was on your face only minutes before. He couldn’t stop staring as you tugged your hair into a scrunchie ponytail, before walking over to one of the cabinets and opening it, now completely hiding from his view behind the door, only your feet poking out. Taehyung, realizing he should probably step back, went to do so, when he heard a high-pitched voice.

“Your classroom is down the hall, Taehyungieeee~.” The voice made Taehyung jump, and he spun around to see Hoseok, standing behind him with a grin. “Are you spying?”

“Yes! I mean no.” Taehyung said quickly, cheeks flushed. Hoseok immediately covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. “…I just wanted to see what she was doing. I wanted to ask her a question but-.”

“She’s probably lost in thought right now, there’s almost no getting to her while she’s in prep mode,” Hoseok assured. “Want me to pass a message along?” Taehyung looked back into the room for a moment, seeing you close the closet and walk over to one of the desks, squatting down to its level and spreading out materials.

“Well, I have an art show at the end of the month, and I want everyone to come and see my work,” Taehyung said simply. “She just apologized to me for the ways she’s acting, but Seokjin-Hyung kind of forced her so I don’t know if we made up or not, and I don’t want to be a bother.” Hoseok sighed a bit, fixing his bag.

“I’ll tell her. She’ll come if I force her.” Taehyung looked at his Hyung, who was now smiling with a finger pressed against one of his dimples.

“I guess she can’t say no to that face, huh?” Taehyung mumbled, amused a bit by his childish Hyung. Hoseok laughed a bit.

“You’d be surprised, but I can be pretty convincing when I want to be.” Hoseok patted Taehyung’s back. “I’ll suggest it. See you later.” He grinned. Taehyung nodded, finally heading to his room as Hoseok entered the classroom. He took another glance into the classroom, watching as Hoseok approached you, a spring in his step. When you turned to face him, Taehyung took that as his time to leave and make his way to his classroom. As he sat down at his desk, his eyes scanned the walls, the off-white paint slowly being covered up in all directions by scattered collections of the student’s dried artwork. All he could see as he scanned the room was his childhood bedroom, which looked extremely familiar visually. Scribbles and sketches covered all of his carefully placed wallpaper, crumpled up paper took up more of the floor than any number of toys ever could. He felt as if he was eight years old again, kicking his legs at the desk in his room as he continued to draw on a sheet of slightly crumpled printer paper. He could even hear the footsteps of his mother approach him from the door.

“Taehyung, have you even finished your homework?” She asked. Taehyung looked up, his pencil gripped tightly in his hands.

“No.” He said, much to his mother’s disdain. “But I don’t need homework, Mom. I’m going to be a great artist one day, just like Vincent Van Gogh!” A deep, frustrated groan escaped his mother’s lips as she hit him over the head just slightly, making the boy pout. “Ow!”

“Enough with that nonsense. No son of mine is going to struggle his way through life. Art is a fine hobby, but be practical.” Taehyung watched his mother yank the paper from in front of him, crumpling it up in her hands. “Now get your homework done, and don’t even think about coming out of this room until it’s all finished.” She demanded. Taehyung watched her storm out, slamming the door and ending the conversation right then and there.  

Taehyung’s memory was pulled away by the sound of his phone vibrating. When he looked over, he saw Jimin’s face showing up on it. Quickly he answered it.

“Uh, hello?”

“Hello, future Van Gogh~.” Jimin cooed happily. “Just calling to tell you that I found out exactly where our vendor spot is going to be for the festival. I sent it to you over text but was shocked to not receive a reply right away. Are you working on lessons or something?”

“Oh uh, no,” Taehyung assured. “I just kind of zoned out. Took a trip down memory lane, I guess…” Jimin hummed. “I’ll check the text message right now, though. Thanks.”

“So, what’s the status with your coworkers?” He asked curiously.

“Well, President Seokjin said he can get everyone to come, but Hoseok-Hyung is going to sweeten the pot for her to say yes,” Taehyung said. “So…yeah.” Jimin grinned.

“That’s great.” He said. “Okay, well if you’re not dead, I need to get back to work before Namjoon finds me and beats me up for sneaking off. I’m supposed to be getting him important documents.”

“Enjoy…” Taehyung said. Jimin laughed a bit, saying his goodbyes before the two of them hung up. Taehyung set his phone down and looked at the desks before him. The materials for the day needed to be pulled out, and Taehyung needed to get an example or two prepared for the children to use as a guide for the craft. He stood up, cracking his back as he strolled over to the cabinet, pulling out a bunch of dollar store mirrors and setting them down. He also collected a stack of paper and a box of markers and crayons. He had planned to have the students pair up and draw each other. His example was done, not forcibly of course, with Jimin before today. He was curious to see what such young minds could see when doing this, and how they were able to put that into a visual art on paper. It was bound to have a few laughs. Taehyung looked up at the clock, knowing that he had more than enough time, and he could probably go outside and greet the kids with you and Hoseok, so that was exactly what he planned to do. Strolling out of his room, he saw you and Hoseok already heading down the hall towards the door, talking to one another. As he watched you, he glanced back inside of his class, seeing the two weeks’ worth of artwork that scattered his walls. As he stared now, he was no longer being brought to the past, but instead was being shown the future. The pictures on the walls morphed from cute and amateur children’s work to abstract, stunning canvases of magnificent artwork. Taehyung could recognize some of the portraits as his own, but some he couldn’t recognize visually, but he could identify them deep in his soul as if they were his, he just didn’t know it yet. He could see the vendor spot perfectly in his mind, though he had no idea what it looked like for real. All he knew was that every day that passed, every hour that passed, every minute that passed, he was closer to it. As he closed the door, he hurried towards his coworkers, hoping to catch up with them in time.

He just couldn’t wait for it.

“Hey, guys.” He said when he approached. You and Hoseok turned your heads, only Hoseok offering a smile to Taehyung. “I wanted to come to say good morning to the kids today.”

“…Okay.” You said simply, turning back around. “Hoseok told me you’re showing art at the Ilsan Art Festival this month.” You said simply. Taehyung nodded.

“Uh yeah.” He glanced in Hoseok’s direction, who offered his friend a smile and a thumbs up. “My manager got me the spot through work. I was hoping you guys could come and see my real art.”

“What? Do your paper plate goldfish with glitter not count as real art?” You teased, smirking. When you didn’t get a reply, you turned over your shoulder to see Taehyung, and Hoseok did not look amused. “…What? I was joking.” You had to clarify, though it didn’t seem to help. You sighed.

“Anyway, are you coming? President Kim said everyone was going to, but-.”

“I uh, I mean I guess.” You looked over at him once again. “The way I’ve treated you…and you still want me to come?” Taehyung nodded.

“Well, yeah of course.” He said simply, putting his hands in his pockets. “I want you all to see my art. Besides, I think we’ve already realized as a group that I’m the nicer coworker out of us.” Hoseok snickered as your eyes widened. Taehyung couldn’t help but grin his little boxy grin. “What? I was joking.” Now, Hoseok began to laugh, and you turned to him.

“Oh, but you laugh at that!?” You asked, which only made Hoseok laugh harder. “It’s not funny!” Taehyung watched you shove Hoseok, and despite the annoyance etched on your face, a smile found its way on there as well. Taehyung smiled as he stared at the scene before him, and he could only imagine one thing.

He could only imagine how stunning your face would look sketched out on a beautiful, white canvas.

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[nctzendreamz]

NCT 127: First Argument With Their S/O

// Making Up

The Fight

Taeil:

The minute he walked out the door, he regretted everything he said. He knew he was wrong for snapping at you like that, and although he was tired, there was no one he would rather be with than you. His mind was telling him to leave, but his heart forced him walk back inside, where he found you still sitting with your face in your hands.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, sitting across from you on the coffee table. “Look at me, please.”

“I know you’re tired, and I’m sorry if you feel like I’m burdening you but-

“You’re not.” He sighed, closing his eyes in shame. “You’re perfect all the time and the only reason I snapped was because I know you’re right. I know I didn’t have to come, but I did because I missed you and I know how hard it’s been for us lately.”

“Instead of talking, let’s just sleep. Maybe then you won’t be so mean.” You joked, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards your bedroom.

Taeyong:

For the next week after your argument, Taeyong was strong. He didn’t care about the state of your relationship, and he didn’t feel bad about it. If one of the members asked about you, his answer would always be the same.

I don’t care about what they’re doing.

When the next week came by, he was finally understanding that he couldn’t live without you like he thought. Every time a problem came up, he would go to text you, only to realize he couldn’t. And he knew you better than anyone...you weren’t hitting him up first. He knew he had to not only apologize, but woo you back over completely. He fucked up.

You don’t want to see me, or talk to me, but I’m so sorry. I spazzed on you for nothing, only because I was so stressed about work. I know this message isn’t going to do anything, but that’s why I got us a spot near the river for a picnic, and if you’ll let me, I want to pick you up. Please let me fix this. I love you.

He would hang up the phone, praying you got his voicemail because he was coming to your house regardless.

Johnny:

As he drove the car down the road, his knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

“Are you actually mad at me?” You questioned in a shaky voice. You hated to act like such a child, but you couldn’t believe this. You also realized you hated the feeling of him being angry at you.

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m fucking jealous.”

“Jealous for what, Johnny? You know I’m all yours.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. You know that!”

He took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm down. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said. I trust you, and I know you only have eyes for me. I just don’t think you know how special you are and how many guys want my spot. Guys who can be there for you so much more.”

“Here’s the thing, baby.” You reached over, placing a hang on his lap. “I don’t want them. They’re not the man I love. They’re not you. And you don’t have to worry about what goes on when you’re not here. All I do is wait for you to come back.”

“I’m sorry.” He breathed out again, reaching over quickly to give you a kiss.

Yuta:

The truth behind Yuta’s words were from the advice he recieved earlier. You were the love of his life, but SM never supported your relationship. In the beginning, it was really easy for him to ignore their concerns, but when they warned that your relationship could potentially hurt you in the long run, he realized maybe he was being selfish. Maybe this wasn’t right. That’s why he acted the way he did.

Now it was the next day, and the thought of not having you in his life, as his love, was unbearable. It was 3am, but he didn’t care. He had to call you.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I have to tell you something.” He would explain his whole day to you, crying by the end of it.

“I’m coming over.” You cried as well, speeding down the road to get your man.

Doyoung:

You were so embarrassed about everything that went down, you had to leave. You ran out the studio, looking for anywhere to go and ease your mind. Just as quick, Doyoung ran out and began to follow you. Just when you thought you escaped him, there he was.

“I’m s-

“Don’t. Just go back in there and keep recording until your throat falls off.”

“Please just let me apologize.”

You stayed silent, letting him speak.

“That was so disrespectful of me, Y/N. And I am so sorry. I’m just extremely frustrated because I can’t hit the note and I took it out on you. Let’s go home.”

“You don’t have to. I know that you want to stay.”

“No. I want to be with you. That always makes me feel better.”

Jaehyun:

You did indeed ask Wonho, who was quick to inform you he had no idea what you were talking about.

You didn’t see or hear from Jaehyun until the next award show coming up, and you didn’t hesitate to pull him away from his members.

“So what did Wonho tell you? Because he says nothing.”

“He said you two got real friendly the last time I was gone.” Jaehyun said simply.

“You know what? You’re real simple, Jaehyun. The fact that you think that low of me, proves you don’t deserve to be my boyfriend. I’m done.”

“What?” He questioned in a shocked tone.

“Did you really think you were allowed to disrespect me like that and I would just let it go? Fuck you.”

(Y’all didn’t get a happy ending I’m sorry... but never let anyone talk to you like he did 😴 I love you though Jae baby lmaooooo)

Winwin:

“I don’t like this.” Winwin said, sitting beside you on the couch. “Us not speaking.”

You were silent, staring at the wall.

“You trust me, right?”

You nodded your head.

“Then talk to me. Tell me why you don’t want to meet my family.”

“I’m scared.” You said in a raspy voice.

“Scared?” He grabbed your hand, “Scared of what?”

“That they’ll hate me. I always mess up when it matters, and I don’t want them to get in your head, Sicheng. I know how much they mean to you and I don’t want them to make you hate me too.”

“Baby, I love you. I don’t just say it because that’s what couples do. I say it because I mean it with every bone in my body. There’s no one that could take me away from you. No one. I promise.”

“You don’t know that.” You cried suddenly, tears rolling down your cheek.

“Oh baby.” He whispered, pulling you into his chest. “You are perfect, and everyone else knows it. You have to know that.”

Jungwoo:

He knew everything would pass over very soon, and ignoring the offense he still felt towards you, he was over it. He knew you were just jealous. When he saw you calling, he answered right away.

“Can I come over?”

“Of course.”

When you finally arrived, the two of you would just stare at eachother.

“I owe you a huge apology.” You finally spoke, fiddling with your shirt.

“I’m listening.”

“I was just jealous. I know that you only do it to take the attention off of us. I just hate this. The fact that we have to hide. I want to show you off to the world and I can’t and it bothers me.” You rambled, walking closer to him and grabbing his hands. “But that doesn’t excuse how I acted. I love you and I won’t act like that again. I’m sorry.”

Your apology made Jungwoo’s heart skip a beat, and he knew he could show you that he forgave you without words. He kissed you softly, leading you to his room.

Mark:

When Mark woke up, the first thing on his mind was you. Guilt weighed on him like a ton of bricks, and he had to call you. When you didn’t answer, he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t come to you, since he didn’t drive, so he decided to text you a long apology instead. When he saw you read it, he was so afraid of what you would say.

It’s okay. My feelings are still really hurt, but I know you feel bad and thank you for texting me.

I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but it’s not an excuse. Please let me do something to make it up to you.

Come over so we can talk.

He meant it every time he said he would do anything for you, which is why he stood over Johnny’s bed like a child. “Hyung, I need you to take me to Y/N’s. It’s an emergency.”

A/N: I’m so sorry this is so late. I honestly think I was discouraged because the Dream version did so well compared to this one, so I thought you guys didn’t like it. But when I saw your messages asking for it, I realized I’m stupid lmao. I love you guys.

[jos-corner-of-the-world]

Amnesia - 4

(3)

“Wait. Don't go. Please don't walk out the door like this. We'll help you.” 

“You can't help me. No one can help me. Just...let me go.” 

“No. No! I won't do that. You're not alone in this. Please. Please just stop.”

“I can't. You can't help me. I can't help me. Just stop. You're pushing me and I hate it. I need help. I need help that no one here can give me. Please just stop. Please.”

“Erin. Don't go. Erin, stop!”

The woman woke up in a cold sweat.

She was surprised to see Yongguk standing in the doorway, illuminated by the hallway light.

“Are you okay?” He asked her as soon as her breathing returned to normal. He never left the entryway.

“I had a dream. But...but it felt like a memory.” She said.

“Did it make any sense?” Yongguk asked her.

She thought about how to answer the question. She wasn't sure if it were a memory, or just a dream. But it felt so...real. The context also had her anxious. Was she sick? Was she dangerous? The only thing the dream did was make her have more questions.

Well, except for one.

“Erin.” She said.

“What?”

“I think my name is Erin.”

“Okay. Well that's a start. I'll talk to Jongup in the morning and let him know. It'll be nice for you to at least have your name back.” He said quietly.

Erin just nodded her head numbly.

“Why are you standing in the doorway?” She asked him before he left.

“Oh. I was in brushing my teeth and I heard you talking in your sleep. You sounded... distressed. I was making sure you were okay. your door was open already or I wouldn't have opened it myself. I would have knocked weather it was locked or not.” he knew he was rambling, but he didn't want Erin to think he'd just walk into her room anytime.

“Well, I appreciate that.” She said as she laid back down.

“Would you like me to close the door?” Yongguk asked.

“No, please don’t! I don't like the dark.”

Yongguk just nodded his head and walked away, letting the hall light illuminate the room even more, giving Erin a calmer sense of peace.

The next morning she woke up, not having dreamt again the rest of the night. She walked into the hallway and saw a lamp sitting beside her door with a note attached.

“To chase the darkness away.”

-----

Erin had gone back into her room for a while to try to wake up more, and plug the lamp in on the dresser. She put the post it note that had been attached to the lamp safely in a drawer, intending to keep it.

She was surprised to hear a raised voice floating up from downstairs.  Curiosity got the best of her as she walked to the top of the staircase to listen.

“This is a totally different situation!” An unknown voice yelled.

“How?” Yongguk asked, his calm demeanor the opposite of the second voice. “Nat and Himchan took me in when I didn't have anyone, they didn't know me either.” 

“You knew your name! And the problems that you were dealing with. You knew you needed help and they offered that. This girl doesn't know anything. She could even be pretending not to know anything. We don't know her name or her past. We don't know anything!” The other guy yelled.

“Her name is Erin.” Yongguk told him.

“That's convenient. She remembers it now. Couldn't have told you that yesterday?”

“She remembered during what I’m assuming was a particularly bad dream last night. Either way it's none of your business. I'm not asking you for help. I can't just let this woman walk away and possibly be lost forever. That's not right. Why are you even so mad about this?” Yongguk asked.

“Because you're just getting back on your feet! It's only been a year since your recovery really started taking effect. I'm worried what this is going to do to you. To your health, both physically and mentally. I'm worried Guk, I really am.”

“Youngjae. You don't have to worry. I wouldn't do this if I thought I wasn't stable enough to. I'm keeping all my appointments and taking all my medication. Nat and Himchan took me in once I'd already started getting better and admitting I needed help. What I needed was someone to help me when I was lost, when I was alone. I know it's not the same situation, but I can help her. I know how she feels, I can both empathize and sympathize with what she's feeling. I'm sorry you're so frustrated and I appreciate you worrying about me, but you don't need to. No amount of your anger or worry is going to make me send her away. That's not who I am and you know that.” 

“Damnit Guk I know that. I just...I don't trust her. It's nothing against her at all, I just…” 

“I'm not asking you to trust her, Jae. I'm asking you to trust me.”

Erin couldn't listen anymore. She felt an immense sense of guilt as she listened to his friend speaking. He had gone through something bad, still going through it. Yet here he was, helping her when he could be worrying more about himself.

She sat on the bed and weighed her options. She could start heading east now and hopefully hitchhike to where she needed to go, that would get her there sooner.  But yongguk's words rang in her ears about not getting the help she really needs. 

It was selfish of her to stay here, to take Yongguk up on his offer to help, but she didn't know what else she could do.

“I'll wait it out.” She said to herself quietly. “Yongguk said time heals things, so maybe time will give me the answers I'm looking for with this too.”

------

(5)