#jeong junho fluff

[jensthwa]

mountebank chem: epilogue (JYH x reader).

part of the love's an uncharted path universe ★.

SUMMARY:

* 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤: 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐲. The first time you met Yunho, you knew he was going to be part of the biggest tragedy of your life: the loss of your freedom, of your free will. You didn't know why back then but what you did figure out is that you and Jeong Yunho were going to, eventually and very publicly, date each other at some point. Is that reason enough to hate his guts? Well, of course! Now, when the time comes to fulfill the prophecy, how the hell are you going to pull it off? And, most importantly, what do you need to do to not fall in love with him in the process?

PAIRING: rich!yunho x afab!rich!reader.

GENRE: enemies to friends to lovers.

WORD COUNT: 7.08k

WARNINGS & TAGS: attempt !!! at comedy, dual pov (both yunho's and reader's), use of fem pronouns for reader, the morning after and the day after that. reader and yunho are very in love is lowkey kind of gross everyone, kissing, fluff, dream-talk, yeosang talk too! a little bit of angst if you squint, decision making and finally standing up for yourself is hard and reader is doing their best, sukwon being a good brother and making reader cry, gyuri being a little shit, wooyoung being a little shit, seonghwa being a good friend, happy endings let's goooo.

NOTES: hi everyone! here's the epilogue i promised! like i've said in a few asks that i've gotten, there's a little bit of the next story here, just something so you all have context of it before going in. i don't know when that one is going to be up (i'm not really far along with it) but either way i want to thank all of you for the patience and the wait! i really loved writing mbc:'). this is 100% self indulgent, as all fics should be, and i think i've re-read it so many times that if you find a typo or something that just doesn't make sense, you can blame it on english not being my first language i guess lmao. i hope you enjoy it and if you do feel free to send to my askbox/reblog/type in any feedback or thoughts! <3

POSTED: february 20th 2025.

taglist: @kyunlov, @tinyelfperson, @0115degrees, @daniela-f-uwu, @ultrapinkvoidbouquet, @kyeomooniee, @fairylover68, @sushiinmidnight, @qveenbunni, @calmoistorm, @potatomountain, @svintsandghosts, @lemonkait00, @blue5ummer, @fancypeacepersona, @hyukssunflower, @i-love-ateez, @alsomimi, @e3ellie, @st3ft0n3s, @hotteokkay, @xylatox, @honeybeehorizon, @hwallazia, @mady-66.

masterlist - part one - part two. part three. part four.

When Yunho wakes up, rested and naked, the room is dark. 

He turns to the side and the curtains are, of course, down but the thing is that he doesn’t remember closing them the night before. 

When he turns to where you’re supposed to be, the bed is made on your side and you’re not there. 

Strangely enough, he doesn’t panic. He is sure of what you both have, he trusts you enough to know you didn’t run away from him, from you two, again. 

Also, he can smell a mix of coffee and the turpentine-like smell of paint as he gets dressed with his boxers and the slacks he was wearing the night before after picking them up off the floor and going to the bathroom to wash his face. 

He pokes his face out to the living space and there’s a make-shift tarp on the floor, the furniture is moved around to make space for you and an easel. You’re sitting down on a wooden stool, painting away and he wonders if he just missed that last night or if he genuinely just passed out and didn't notice this much change. 

He clears his throat “Good morning, princess.” 

You jump a little, turning your head to look at him and there’s paint on your face and your hand when you wave at him. 

“Hi, Jeong.” 

“Seriously?” 

“What?” 

He chuckles “No cute nickname? Just Jeong?” 

“Well, that is your name, isn’t it?” You turn back and he catches that you’re pretending to focus on your painting, but you’re repassing the same painstrokes as before. 

“We’re going to have to work on it,” he lets out a sigh that turns into a yawn. “Sorry that I slept in on you. What time is it?” 

“Around three.” 

“In the afternoon?!” Yunho looks around for his phone but he locates the clock in the wall first and he confirms your words. “Princess, why didn’t you wake me up? We could’ve spent the day together…” 

“I rather you rest,” you shrug and he takes a few steps until he’s behind you, his hands immediately reaching out to touch you. He can’t help it, he wants to physically fuse into you but he compromises with nature and just massages your shoulders. “You have sectionals in two weeks, right?” 

He frowns at the reminder, a tiny smile on his lips a second later. 

“How do you know that?”

You stop the brush on the canvas and then look at him again, eyelashes batting with fake innocence. 

“I kind of bribed my assistant so she could bribe yours and now your general schedule is on my phone…” 

He fakes a gasp and he marvels in the pout he gets in return. 

“I needed to know when you were leaving the dorm this week!” 

“So you could drop the gift?” 

“Mhm,” you say, puckering your lips to ask for a kiss. He pretends to go for it and he truly pats his back for having a little of self-restraint when he dodges you to pretend he just thought about something. 

“Oh! That reminds me…” 

You huff in annoyance and interrupt whatever he’s about to say. 

“How did you know my room number and who let you in?” 

“I paid the receptionist and showed him proof that we were together,” he explains like it’s nothing and you huff again, amused this time. “Told him I wanted to surprise you.” 

“That’s so irresponsible.” 

Yunho reaches the box he left on the coffee table last night, opens it and pulls the polaroids out. 

“You dropped this off without any explanation! What are these?” 

When he turns around, you’re already painting again and he gets a five second look in his direction before you return your attention to your art. 

“Oh.” there’s a smile on your lips Yunho loves, although he’s not sure if it’s because you’re doing what you love or if you got reminded of something. “I was hoping you asked me about it. I, um, stayed at a resort during New Years, in Gangwondo.”

“Is this the first time we spent Chrismtas and New Years away from each other?” 

“Not the first time,” you muse and then shrug, “but definitely the first time in a long time, huh?” 

“I didn't like it.” 

“Why?” You look at him again and he sits on his knees on the couch like a neglected child, looking your way. You seem to find it endearing, because you laugh. “Because you didn't have anyone to kick under the table this year?” 

“That has never happened.” 

“Liar. Anyway, they have this winter festival that goes all the way until mid January and they have this… Traditional and modern fusion media dance performance that made me think of you. So I took some pictures of the dancers.” 

“So you just put them in the box because you took them while thinking of me?” 

There’s shyness painting your tone when you reply “Yeah.” 

His heart thumps happily inside his chest and he gets off the couch. 

“I love you.” 

You laugh again “I love you too, Yunho,” and, as you shake your head a little, you look in the kitchenette direction with your lips pointed at it. “I ordered some breakfast that you can heat up or you can give me… Twenty minutes and I can change and we can—” 

Yunho revels in the squeak of surprise you let out when he closes the distance, leans in and catches your lips in a short but firm kiss. 

“We can stay in all day if you want to.” He says and you kiss his lips one more time. 

“Okay,” you seem happy to have that option so he sees the moment you make the decision to not push going out at all. “There’s some clothes for you in the walk-in closet. I ordered them when I ordered all of this,” you point at the mess on the tarp and the floor, “I figured you might need them.”

“Thank you, my love.” He whispers and he pecks your lips before reaching for your nearly empty coffee cup. 

“There’s also one for you in the—” 

“I want this one,” he says, a sly smile on his lips and one of his hands returns to your shoulders to massage them. 

He takes a look at the canvas for once and he notices that, what he thought was a solid background color and some structure, has actually started to look like the view in front of you both, with the Namsan Tower in the back. 

“What about the CD?” 

“Hm?”

“Your gift,” he reminds you, “there’s also a CD.” 

“A mixtape, with songs that make me think of us.”

Yunho blows some air and he doesn’t have to look down to see you’re frowning at the sound “You’re a romantic.” 

“Do you want to die?” 

He laughs but doesn’t address the threat at all. Instead, the focus is on your art “The painting of us and the kids is beautiful,” he can feel your skin under his palm heat up at the compliment and it makes him smile. “This one is too.” 

“It all just flows so much smoothly when I don’t have to think about work or being home,” you admit, your body relaxing into his when he takes a sip of the cup and brings it around for you to do the same. “I want to stay here, with you, forever.” 

“And we can,” he murmurs into your head, leaving a kiss on your temple a second later. “If that’s what you want.” 

“I want to move out,” you say, your tone full of wishfulness and Yunho takes in a breath at what that could mean for you, “I want to quit my job.” 

“And what do you want to do for work, then?” He asks, already supporting the decision. “You want to paint?” 

You shake your head, looking up at him, a wishful glint in your eye “I want to be an art teacher.” 

“Oh?” 

“Do you want to work for your father?” 

“Not in a million years, I— Princess, don’t get mad for what I’m about to tell you, okay?”

You turn in the stool, looking up at him with an inquisitorial brow until he crouches down on the floor to meet your eye. 

“My plan has always been to pretend to work and go along with him until I graduate college. Then, I want to move away. I want to… I don’t know, get disowned?” 

Eyes widening, you take in a sharp breath and then cough into your hand. 

He offers you the cup so you can take the final sip out of it. 

“It’s part of why I went along with the PR relationship in the first place.” 

You nod and he gulps, staring as you get lost in thought for a second. 

“Why would I be mad?” 

“Because I sort of planned to use you?” 

“Not really, though. You wanted to use the relationship they threw us into?” 

“Yeah.” 

“That’s understandable, then. I… I understand.” This time, you’re the one gulping and he opens his mouth to say something but you beat him to it. “I, um, I’m not sure if I actually can go against my parents wishes and never see my brother again, Yun.” 

He shakes his head. “If you think for a second that Sukwon is going to give a fuck about your parents feelings, you’re wrong. I… Me and Gunho are not as close as I want us to be, you know? But we talk about things.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Sometimes,” his laugh lasts a few seconds only and then he clears his throat. “If there’s something I'm sure of, princess, is that your brother loves you with all his heart. If you want to step away from the family business, from your parents, he… He’ll understand.” 

You nod again. 

“And I’m not saying any of this because I want you to do the same things I want to do but I—” 

You interrupt him “What do you want to do?” 

“Huh?”

“Do you want to work as an engineer?” 

“Yes,” he breathes out and you smile, “but I also want to dance. Have an academy, maybe, but I need money and experience and a name.” 

“You already have a name.” 

“I need to make a name for myself, princess,” he explains and you nod like you already knew, because you probably did. “Get a stage name, maybe.” 

“Ha!” you laugh and he raises his eyebrows, amused by your reaction. “Maybe… Yunho the rakehell? Yunho… Oh! Yunho the bitchl—” 

“Stop that!” 

It seems like that joke is never to die down and he’s glad, he’s glad that he doesn’t take genuine offense in it anymore and he’s glad it makes you laugh in a way he wants to record and play on repeat forever. 

Grabbing his face, your thumbs brush against his cheeks and he can swear he has never felt so at ease until now. This, waking up and going out of the room to find you doing what you love. You, looking at him with some much love, it's hard to believe it took you both so long to leave your pride behind and work it out. 

“You are worth it, Yunho,” you whisper and he knows right away you’re referring to the fight you both had at the office, “and I have no idea how we’re going to make it, but we are. Of that I’m sure, my love. I trust you,” you brush his hair back and off his forehead, “I trust us.” 

He holds your face as well, the pad of his finger passing over the dry paint on your cheek.

“I trust us, too.” 

Before he can react, you’re smooching his lips again and he melts into the encounter, the passion of last night bleeding into his movements once again and painting him red when he gets on his knees and pulls you into his lap in a smooth motion. You yelp and laugh and then you moan into his mouth when his hands find your ass and his fingers dig into it through the jeans you’re wearing. 

Huh. 

You’re wearing jeans. 

They look so natural and good on you that he didn’t even notice it’s the first time he seeing you in jeans. 

“Again?” You ask, already winded and clinging onto him for dear life in a way that makes him laugh. He pulls back and finds you shyly smiling at him but it doesn’t really help your care that he can see right through the act. 

“Can you blame me?” 

“Yes, actually.” 

“Y/N…” 

“It was a joke,” you grab his shoulders to shake him to no avail and then before getting up you lean in to kiss his cheek in a manner so sweet that makes him all giddy, like a fool in love. Maybe because that’s what he is. “Take a shower.” 

“Take it with me.” He says, without thinking about it but one hundred percent meaning it. 

“I already showered.” 

He makes sure to scrunch his nose and make a funny face “Did you really?” 

It’s not really a surprise when you turn around from your painting and swipe your brush across his mouth. 

“I smell amazing and you smell like shit. Go and shower, Jeong.” 

He enjoys ticking you off a bit too much. Either way he laughs, the taste of paint on his tongue when he does and, when he gets up and goes to the bathroom, he hears the soft sound of your giggle and his heart feels full.  

And then you get him back like ten minutes later, by turning off the light in the bathroom and almost giving him a heart attack at the sudden loss of it. He breathes out an exaggerated sigh and, when you turn them back on, he turns around and watches you through the glass divider. 

Unfortunately for you, the glass is frosted from his chest down, but you lean against the marble counter and eye him suggestively nonetheless. He continues with his shower as if this is the most normal scenario ever for the two of you. 

It feels like it, anyway. 

“Can I help you, princess?” 

“Tomorrow I’ll go home,” you start, not a question or a request, but a fact. “I’ll go home and I'm going to sit with them all at dinner and let them hear what I’m going to do from now on. They don’t need to know that I’m going to take classes—” 

“You are?” 

Humming, you nod once and then twice after a second of looking at the floor, determination in your stare when you look up at him again. “I’m going to get a bachelor’s in art education, maybe just art first. It’ll take time but…” You shrug. 

“But you’ll be doing what makes you happy.” He finishes for you. 

“Yeah,” you return softly, “and I'll be detached from my family’s hip eventually.” 

“One will argue,” he says, closing his eyes to avoid shampoo to get into them, “that you’re already pretty independent.” 

“While doing my work and my brother’s work, sure,” you smile, “but not when it comes to living on my own.” 

An idea crosses his mind and colors his cheeks, so he hums “You’ll be lonely.” 

“I already feel that way at home… But I do love the idea of having a space all for myself.” 

He hums again and then wipes the water from his eyes to send you a look. 

“How much do you love it?” 

“Jeong,” you say, laughing when you finally get what he’s suggesting, “we’re not moving in together.” 

He pouts. 

“Yet.” 

He smiles at you again. 

“Besides,” turning around, you let out a tired sigh when you catch the paint on your face and then you open the faucet to clean it off, “then Yeosang would miss you too much and he’ll blame me. I don’t want your friend to hate me.”

“He would never—” 

You don’t let him dismantle your excuses “What is he up to with that documentary, anyway?” 

He closes the shower and reaches for a towel the next second, not even bothering fully covering himself up when he gets out and you send him a look through the mirror, one he can’t decide if it’s in reproach or if it’s charged with something else. Probably both. 

But he plays coy and tries his best to answer your question as he secures the towel around his hips. 

“He’s doing this documentary about dance, he’s been working on it for a while. Obviously I’m the star of it,” he watches you roll your eyes and he bumps your arm with his in retaliation. “But my co-stars are taking all of his attention now. It’s kind of annoying.” 

“And he finds them— your co-stars I mean,” your eyes roll again, “at the club?” 

Yunho barely helps the laugh that spills out of his lips.

“No, um, that’s a completely different story. He keeps saying that he needs to film this one girl for the documentary but we all stopped believing him when he almost got beat up for filming her,” he explains, his hands brushing his wet hair back, “and he went back to do it again anyway.” 

Your hip connects to the countertop again, your back to the mirror “So he’s in love?” 

“I don’t think so. I think he’s… Intrigued.” 

“Is she an exotic dancer or something?” 

“What?” 

“What?” you return, shrugging, “nothing wrong with stripping for a living.”

“I know, that’s not what I meant—” 

“Do you have something against strippers, Yunho?” Your eyes narrow at him. 

“N-no, of course I—”

“Oh, you don’t?”

“Princess…” He breathes out another laugh, a nervous chuckle this time. “Stop teasing me.” 

Your frown slowly breaks into a smile and he shakes his head in disbelief. 

“But you look so cute when you’re flustered!”

He stops messing with his hair to grab your hips and make sure you have nowhere to go, trapped between his body and the cold marble behind you. 

“I’m not cute,” he says, low, almost in a whisper, “and I showered.” 

“Yunho… Are you not hungry at all? You have to eat something.” 

He wants to laugh again but he stops himself, his hands roaming your front and slipping to your legs when he kneels a little “Hm, I’m starving.” 

Gasping when he kisses your middle through your shirt, you push him away with feign distress written all over your expression. 

“Jeong!” 

He gets back up again “What?” 

“Are you going to be this much of a troublemaker when we live together? I have things to do!” 

He stops, his hands holding your hips still and then you gasp again when he tugs and presses you against his body. 

“You said when.” 

You gulp “I know what I said.” 

“You’re making plans for the future and I’m in them.” 

“Well,” you titter with a nervous glint in your eye, but your chin is up the next second, “you know what? Yeah. Yes, I am, because I love—” 

He presses his lips against yours before you finish your sentence and when he pulls away you push on his chest again. 

“Annoying.” You say but you don’t mean it and he laughs, his arms going around you before you melt into his embrace fully. 

“Do you want me to go with you?” 

“Tomorrow?” 

“Mhm.” 

You think about it, he can feel you thinking as he rocks you both from side to side “No,” you finally say, in a whisper and then your next words come out firmer. “No, I need to do this on my own. I would love to see you later tomorrow night, though.” 

“Hm, I have practice and then I promised to help Gyuri move in with Wooyoung but I can tell them that I’m in love and busy.” 

“No, no,” you pull back, smiling a little, “Can I… I mean, I can help.”

He smiles as well “You want to?” 

You nod. 

“She has a bunch of shit but San is moving most of the stuff because, partially, it’s his fault she has to move, so.” 

“Hm, how so?”

“Gyuri and his girlfriend live together, for years now, and now they want to move in with each other so Gyuri is forced to live with the embodiment of mischief while she finds an apartment she can afford.” 

You laugh “I don’t think it bothers her that much.” 

“Why?” He frowns and, at his question, you give him an incredulous look. “Why?” 

“Baby, oh my God.” 

He lets you go and you push him away fully, getting out of the bathroom. 

“Do you know something I don’t?” 

“Figure it out, dummy!” 

He’s truly, genuinely and utterly confused, but the smile on his face hardly goes down as he watches you sit down in front of your painting again, from the bathroom door’s threshold. 

And his heart aches for the pain you’re probably going to endure the next day. 

When you enter the code to your front door, bag in hand, it’s almost lunch time. You didn’t let them know you’ll be returning today but you’re sure the way your suitcase falls at the dining room’s entrance is enough to alert them. Sukwon jumps a little, your mother lets out a scream and your father looks up from his phone slowly, gives you a look, and then looks back down. 

“Oh, great, you’re back. Y/N, next time would you please let me know when you’re showing up so I can schedule your appointments accordingly— Kim Y/N!” 

Your mother's scandalized scream is not what surprises you. What surprises you is the hug Sukwon gets up to give you, a tight squeeze that you smile into and then make a face at when he pulls away. 

“You look beautiful,” he whispers to just you. “Don’t let her tell you otherwise.” 

Nodding, you finally face your mother whose jaw is almost hitting the floor by now. Your father, as usual, is unbothered and tapping his fingers against the glass of the table, impatiently waiting for his food. 

“Why do you mutilate yourself like this? And without notifying your team, nonetheless! We’ll have to… Get you some hair extensions for the shoot that you have—”

“No.”

She pauses, her jaw ticking and her eyebrow raising in warning. A few months ago, the mere thought of upsetting her would’ve sent you into a panic attack. Now, you stand your ground and curve your lips with pride, lift your chin up with courage and hold the handle of your suitcase a little tighter because you need it, because your hands tremble a little. 

“Excuse me?” 

“I said no,” you repeat yourself and your tone gains you your father's attention. “I’m sure the public can survive a haircut, mom. Can you?” 

“Kim Y/N do not talk to me like that!” 

She steps your way and your brother steps a side, giving you a wide eyed look that can only mean a here she goes again and you purse your lips to stop yourself from nervously laughing at it. 

“You cut your hair, you leave for three months and come back all… All chubby,” oh, my god, “and you dare to speak to me that way?!” 

The mention of your weight does send a little panic cruising through you. It has your father huffing from his seat and your brother snapping his head rapidly in your mother’s direction, a frown creasing his eyebrows and you can tell he’s about to say something but you stop him with a shake of your head.

And then you laugh. 

You taste something bitter in your mouth and you can see the exact moment she notices her words are not affecting you the way they usually do. 

“I think it’s time I move out,” you start, with a tiny, sardonic smile on your lips, “and I also think it is also time you think about the way you speak to me, mother. And I think you,” you turn to your father, “need to think about all the times you allowed her to talk to me that way.”

Your dad looks up, raises his eyebrows, hums and then looks back down again. 

“Sure thing.” He says. 

“What is happening right now?” your mother asks, a nervous chuckle coming out of her and after that she moves her hand, dismissing your point and turning to go to her seat again. “You’re talking nonsense. Go upstairs and wash. You’re obviously not having dinner, I hope.” 

She’s always doing it on purpose, bringing you down like that on purpose, but right now? Right now she craves vengeance. You notice it in the way she looks for your reaction when she looks up. 

“I am having dinner. Not here, not with you, not anymore.” 

Your mother sighs, rubs her forehead with her thumb and her index “Kim Y/N, I beg, stop terrorizing me and—” 

“She’s moving in with me.” 

You turn to Sukwon, he gives you a look to signal you to follow his lead. 

“She’s a little bit too grown up and independent to live under your roof still, mom. Dad?” He asks and your father looks up. “Don’t you agree?” 

“Well,” your father cleans his throat, his back hitting the back of his chair as he thinks it over, “she is capable of being on her own. Besides, her room can make a wonderful office for you, dear.” 

“Her room is staying hers because she’s not going anywhere!” Your mom stands up again, voice dark and tone painted over with something you’ve never even heard before. Not coming from her, at least: Fear. “Why do you suddenly want to move out? Is there…” She closes her mouth and then gulps, breathing out a laugh the next second. “Are you running away with someone, Y/N? Is that it? Did you fall in love on your little trip? You’re promised to someone!” 

“Promised? I am not promised because we’re in the twenty-first century, mom!” 

“To Yunho, Y/N! Don’t be stupid and tell your little fling to get lost!”

“Mom…” Sukwon warns but she laughs again, indignant. 

“What? She knows this already. How would the Jeong’s feel if—” 

“I don’t care what they feel!” 

Your voice resonates in the room, it shuts everyone up, it makes your mom take a step back and your father blocks his phone, finally interested in what’s going on. 

“I am with Yunho.” 

Your mother smiles a second too late at what you said and opens her mouth, but you interrupt whatever nonsense she’s about to spew out. 

“I am with him but not because you or his mother planned it. I’m not trying to fullfill your little fucked up fantasy—” 

“Y/N!” She gasps at the cursing but you continue nonetheless. 

“I am with him because I love him. I love him and he loves me and we are together because, against all odds, we ended up bonding and finding comfort and solace in each other. We made the choice, we did,” you insist on it, to let her know that it doesn’t matter if you two being together is exactly what she wanted, the final say is on you and Yunho alone. “I have something you two could never have and that’s companionship and true understanding that’s not rutted in power or in money. He… He made me realize we’re so much more than this.” You move your hands in the space between you and the rest of the room and your father hums a bitter sound in return.

“This,” your father gets up from his seat, hands going in the pockets of his dress pants and eyebrows raised with a sardonic edge to them that pisses you off, “is your family.”

“I know and that makes it worse,” you nod and the slow anger showing in his expressions grows just a tad bit more, so you go on before anyone else can interrupt you again. “Here’s what’s going to happen from now on, dad; If you want me to, I’ll keep working at the company, but Sukwon's responsibilities are solely his from now on,”  you turn to your brother and he gives a fake pout but then he nods. “My job is simple, my job should allow me to focus on what I really want and, once I get what I really want, I'll make sure to find someone who can fit my spot so seemingly you won't even notice I'm gone.”

“I thought that what you wanted was to work for this company, Y/N.” Your father says.

“I thought so too,” you murmur back to him before shrugging, “but now I’m not so sure.” 

A bit of pregnant silence passes. The air feels thick now that you told them your terms, your plan or what you allowed them to hear of it anyways. Like you told your boyfriend, there’s no need for them to know that you want to take classes or teach. 

You’ll just do it. No need for their approval.  

But your mother still grasps at the control she had on you three months ago. She holds on to it, desperately and, if you were someone else and the situation was any different, you would probably admire the strength it takes to stay this egotistical and delusional until the end. 

She doesn’t seem to understand that her only daughter is running away from her. You’re not sure she cares, either and it hurts because, deep down, you expected to walk off with redemption on her side. 

Sometimes, there’s no redemption at all from the people who hurt you. 

And that’s also okay. 

“Are you done?” She asks, looking around. “Are you all done with this nonsense?” 

Taking in a breath, you try to tell her that what you said it’s what’s going to happen but she is not having it. 

“No,” her finger is up and you raise your eyebrow at it, which gains you a raise on hers in return. “No. You’re not looking for a replacement and no you’re not moving out. That’s insane, Kim Y/N, that’s—” 

“What’s my favorite color?” You interrupt to ask her and she stops, opening and closing her mouth while searching for an answer. “What’s my favorite sweet?” 

“You don’t have one.” 

“I do, I actually have two. What’s my favorite book? Movie? Song?” You turn to your dad this time. “What’s my favorite marketing strategy? Do you even know that one?” 

Silence. 

“You don’t know me enough to want to keep me here. I understand why you might think you do, but you don’t. Because, guess what? I’m an adult.”

Your mother opens her mouth and closes it again when you shake your head. 

And although you’re not speaking to her anymore, you keep looking at your mother straight in the eye and you’re able to catch the exact moment she realizes she lost. 

She lost. 

“I’m an adult with a paying job and savings you didn’t need to know anything about. So you either take it or leave it. Dad?” 

“You want me to decide now?” 

You let out a bitter laugh “You can do whatever you want. Just know that I’m not settling for anything else but what I told you. I can either train someone or you can fire me and I can look for a new job,” you explain, “but either way I’m out of here.” 

Your mother sighs and then mutters under her breath, but you catch it “What is everyone going to say?” 

“I don’t care,” you tell her again and at the response she looks up, startled, like she didn’t expect you to keep going. “Now, I hope you have a lovely lunchr.”

You’re positively shaking when you step into the hallway and through the front door again, with your suitcase in your hand still and no actual plan on where you want to go. Maybe back to the hotel?

Mind reeling, it finally registers the fact that your mother turned to your father and pleaded him to do something for the sake of the family's image just before you stepped foot outside of the house. It was a screech of don't let her go, do something! laced with clear selfish concern. 

You feel panic rising, closing your throat up and you feel lost, lost in what you just did, lost in what it actually means for you. 

“Hey, hey.” Sukwon catches up to you quickly, his keys in his hands, his breath jagged like he escaped your mother’s claws because that’s probably what happened. “Sell out! You needed to signal me when you wanted to leave, dumbass!” 

His eyes linger on your trembling hands when he takes the suitcase from you and you do your best to steady them. 

“You didn’t have anything to eat.” 

“I know. Where are you going?” 

“To… I don’t really know. Yunho’s dorm?” 

Sukwon laughs. 

“You have a house, you know.”

“I think I’m very much homeless right now. I’m getting trapped and probably thrown in a cell if I go back inside.” You swallow tightly as the realization washes over you. “She’s so mad.” 

“My house,” he clarifies, rolling his eyes. “I told them you’re moving in with me, didn’t I?” 

“Sukwon…” 

“I meant it,” there’s something soft in his eyes before he turns to open the main gate so you can both walk up to his car. “You can stay with me. Like you said, you’re grown and I won't have to look after you anymore.” 

“Pfft,” that brings out a genuine laugh out of you, “anymore.” 

“I remember running behind you in the garden because you couldn't keep still the second you learned how to walk!” 

You look at him with a pout as he opens the trunk, throwing your bag in it without any care in the world. 

Like an older brother would. 

If your eyes turn watery, you make sure to swallow back the emotion before he can figure out why. 

“Can I have my own room?” 

“You have a room there already,” he admits, shrugging. “I mean, I thought about you when buying the apartment. Guhno usually stays there but I’m sure he can take the couch when he comes over and— Aw, Y/N!” 

By the time he closes the trunk, you’re already crying. A little, enough for him to notice it. 

“I don’t want to hear it. Open the door.” 

“I’m so telling Yunho you cried!” 

“Leave him out of it!” You push his shoulder, quickly getting into the car when he unblocks the doors and he does the same. “He’s staying over whenever he wants, by the way.” 

Sukwon laughs, his eyes wide when he turns to you “Not a chance in hell, Kim Y/N.”

“Okay, then your boyfriend is not staying over either!” 

“I don’t have a boyfriend!” 

You muse, trying not to laugh “I’m telling Gunho oppa you’re denying your love to my face.”

Your brother lets out a sigh and then you squeak when he pulls your hair, playfully, before looking at you with the most sincere stare Kim Sukwon has probably given anyone ever. 

“I’m really proud of you, kid.” 

Pouting again, you look away and through the window as he pulls out of the curb and into the streets, the house you grew up in quickly fading into the background and your heart thumping hard against your ribs. 

“Are you crying again?” 

“Ugh,” you turn to him, tears running down your cheeks and a smile pulling at your lips, “you’re so annoying.” 

Your clothes are now in your room at Sukwon’s (and yours) apartment, in the walk-in closet. Your brother's taste is nothing short of luxurious and obnoxious and the room is decorated in a way you would never think of decorating it but he swears he has someone who can fix it for me if he wants to.

He forgets that you already know Seonghwa but it's okay, because when you show up at Gyuri’s old apartment, you make sure to find him to tell him just that. 

“I've literally told him that we both know Yunho and each other. Wasn't he the one who gave you my number?” Seonghwa asks, mouth hanging open a bit in surprise. 

“He did, yes.” 

Seonghwa huffs in amusement and you shrug a little “Well, do you want me to work in your room?” He asks after a few seconds and you smile, considering. 

“I think I’m going to do it myself, Hwa.” 

At the nickname, his smile widens and he nods. You think he’s about to say something else, however your attention drifts from your newfound friend and your eyes search for Yunho in the middle of the room, on the floor, as he takes a piece of furniture apart. 

He’s wearing a dark grey crewneck that makes him look so deliciously good you can’t barely help your staring. There’s not one ounce of shame on your body and you’re sure it shows on your face because Seonghwa laughs besides you. 

“So I didn’t paint over the tree,” he says and you frown, turning to him, “but I take you reconsidered my point anyway?” 

“Oh, shut up.” 

“It’s not going to happen,” the mockery in his tone while he tries to make an impression of you doesn’t offend you because you can see the intention behind it and it makes you laugh, roll your eyes and close your arms over your chest, like a child who just got caught. “It’s not going to happen, my ass. Look at you!” 

“So I was wrong, who cares?” 

“I do, I love being right.” 

“He does,” Wooyoung comes into view from the kitchen, a drop of sweet doing his temple and into his cheek that Seonghwa wipes away like it’s nothing. “But I can say I called it first, remember? I’m never wrong.”

“You most certainly are,” Hwa says and you laugh at the expression Wooyoung makes to his friend, offended. Seonghwa turns to you. “He’s wrong most of the time.” 

“Okay, that’s it, you’re helping me with the weird spice rack she insists on taking.” Wooyoung takes his elder arm and pulls, making you laugh and Seonghwa gasps. 

“You’ve been working on that all afternoon!”

“She installed it herself so it’s all wonky, Hwa.” 

Gyuri screams from behind a pile of clothes. You can't even see her even though you know she's standing up. “It is not wonky, Jung Wooyoung!” 

Pursing your lips so you don't laugh at her predicament, you watch as Wooyoung silently communicates to Seonghwa that the space rack is, in fact, wonky and then you jump a little when arms close around you from behind. 

“Stop complaining, Woo, you're going to have the pleasure to install it however you want later.” Yunho's voice is close to your ear and you hug the arms that hold you, melting into the embrace. 

Gyuri laughs sharply when she registers what he said and Wooyoung makes a face at your boyfriend “I hate it here.” 

“Sure you do, Wooyoung.” You nod at him, joking even though you don’t know him that well, and Seonghwa joins the tiny laugh you let out at the face Wooyoung gives you. 

“I truly did not need a new addition to the group if I was going to get bullied by them as well.” 

You fake offense, laughing a second later and Yunho swats a hand on his friend’s shoulder as he passes by you both and into the kitchen again. Seonghwa rolls his eyes before following Wooyoung into the kitchen as well. 

Yunho breathes out, his lips finding your cheek “How are you feeling?” 

Turning to him, you smile a little. You know he’s asking about what went a little earlier today. 

“I’m good, baby,” you whisper back, leaning in a little and kissing him tenderly on the lips. He reciprocates but when you pull away you can see the concern in his eyes. “I promise. I already knew how she was going to react.” 

“Me too but that doesn’t make it any less fucked up, Princess.” 

“I know,” letting out a sigh, you turn to the living room again and the corners of your lips lift at the mess. “But I’m out of the house and I’m alright now.” 

“My mom texted me to congratulate us.” 

“Oh?” You don’t turn to him again but your eyebrows raise in surprise. “Did you answer?” 

“No,” he breathes out a laugh, “but I should.”

“We can’t run from them forever, Yun,” you feel him nod against you and, finally, you turn around completely to face him. His hands find your waist, his lips curve as he watches you over and you do the same. “Also, you’re banned from my house.” 

His smile drops. 

“Huh?” 

“Sukwon doesn’t want you sleeping over.” 

“What did I do?” 

You hear someone laughing behind you and Gyuri comes into view a second later “You’re the official boyfriend now, Yunho, you lost your sleeping over privileges.” 

“I never had them to begin with!” 

“Well—” The sound of glass breaking stops her in her tracks and she goes a little pale at what it means. “Call the police, I’m committing a murder and then turning myself in.” 

And then she disappears into the kitchen as well. Faintly, you can hear Seonghwa laughing. You hold onto Yunho, fingers threading softly into the strands of hair on his neck. 

“They’re not helping us when we move in together.” 

Yunho laughs. 

“When we move in together we’re going to hire professionals.” 

“Exactly.” 

“And Seonghwa can do the interior design of the main part of the house but we can handle our room and studios by ourselves.” 

“Mhm.” 

There’s that slight glint of concern that crosses his expression again when you take in a deep breath, but you shake your head so he can let go of it. 

“We’ll be okay, Yun. We are okay.” 

You watch him swallow tightly but then he nods. There’s a lot you both should be concerned about right now but, as you hear Wooyoung scream from the kitchen and a loud smack against the wall nearest to you, you both silently decide to be in the moment. 

It doesn’t really matter what hardships you go through, as long as you’re together. 

“Against all odds,” you insist, “we’ll be alright.” 

I love them and I'm so sad to let them go but hey! that's life! If you read all the way down hear, thank you so, so much. Don't be afraid to go into my askbox to make comments, suggestions, etc! I will take everything into account for my other stories. Thank you!

© jensthwa, 2025.

[slytherinshua]

NOMAD AS ROMANCE TROPES

genre. fluff. angst. headcanons. warnings. toxic friends in doy's part. jiwon's is pretty angsty + alcohol mention. slightly angsty in rivr's?? playful bullying in junho's. junho's was written first so it's slightly different than the rest and i'm too lazy to rewrite it to match so just ignore that. not proofread. pairing. nomad x fem!reader (separate). wc. 3.3k. (600-700 per member). request. no. a/n. been cooking this up for a while and i'm pretty happy with how it game out hehe :D (literally just written for @eternalgyu basically cause who else is reading for nomad). net. @kstrucknet @chrimatanet

HONG DOEUI ﾐ ENEMIES TO LOVERS + CONTRACT RELATIONSHIP

“How much are you going to pay me to pretend to be your boyfriend?” Doeui asked with his arms crossed, teasing you with a lift of his eyebrow. He knew he was in the better position, and he revelled in seeing you embarrassed and having to beg for his help. 

Maybe you shouldn’t have lied saying you were dating a guy for over a year now to your friends. And maybe you should have found some other person to fill in, but the truth was, you didn’t know anyone you could ask other than Doeui. Sure, you hated the fact that he knew almost all your secrets, and there were no fond feelings you kept towards the guy. But he knew your boundaries and respected them, unlike other past ‘friends’. Whatever dirt he had on you, he had enough decency to make sure it never spilled past his lips.

“100,000 won per day. Every time you piss me off, a deduction of 20,000. Okay?”

The corner of his lip jumped up, a self-satisfied smirk taking over his features, “Make it 150,000.”

“Deal.”

God, what had you gotten yourself into?

Although you spent 3 days regretting and dreading your decision, on the first day of the contract, Doeui showed up right on time. Instead of his usual zip-up hoodies and beanies, he had adorned a simple cardigan and jeans. His earrings, rings, and chains were all gone, and even his hair was styled neatly. When you questioned him about it, he just gave you a shrug and a slight smile.

“Thought I could sell the act better if I didn’t look like a jerk.”

“Oh, so you admit that you did before?”

“You hated when I dressed like that, and that’s why I did it.” His eyes stared at you as the words fell from his mouth, and something twisted in your chest at the look he gave you.

Something about hearing that he thought about you enough to know about what would make you pissed and what you liked. As stupid as it sounded, no one had given you that much thought before. Even your friends who you got into this contractional mess for didn’t think about you that much. You knew they weren’t good people to hang around. You knew that deep down, they would drop you in half a second if they got tired of you. But you were scared of losing the only people you had in your life, even if they weren’t truly there for you. You didn’t want to be alone. You didn’t want to feel like an outcast again.  

The meeting with your friends went well. They seemed impressed that you could actually pull someone like Doeui. If they knew you were lying, they would definitely drop you in an instant. It took an uncomfortable amount of convincing for them to believe that he was actually in love with you. Kissing him in front of your friends was awkward. 

Not really the kissing part, but the watching. Something about Doeui’s lips felt right. You wished you didn’t have 5 pairs of watchful eyes on you the entire time. You couldn’t memorize the feeling of his skin when you were so aware of the gazes on you two.

A week went by and the same routine stayed. 150,000 left your bank per day, just as you had promised. Each day, you found yourself trying to delay meeting up with your friends, if only to spend just another few minutes alone with Doeui. It was becoming clearer that something had switched. The man who used to piss you off was the very same one who provided you with any comfort. 

He seemed to catch onto you although you had tried to hide it for a while. And when he asked you to tell him the truth, you found yourself spilling all your feelings without a second thought. Your fears, your doubts, your secrets. He knew them all by the end of it. But unlike your fake friends who would’ve surely laughed in your face, he soothed you with a kiss and promises that you knew held a weight you could rely on.

PARK SANGHA ﾐ CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS

“Remember our first day of middle school?” You ask while staring at the ceiling. The break between each sentence was so quiet you could hear every breath Sangha took. But it was comfortable. Everything felt like home when you were with him.

“Yeah?”

“I was so anxious that you wouldn’t be in the same class section as me. I almost cried looking at the list of names cause I missed yours the first time I looked at it.” You giggled, reminiscing about your childhood.

“You know I’d always find a way to be with you in class.” Sangha stated as a fact, rolling his eyes playfully. He shifted over to his side, cheek squished against the pillow. Your gaze fell to look at him, eyes meeting halfway. You both giggled.

It had been so long since you had a sleepover like this. They were almost every other night during elementary, and still at least once a week during middle school. You were always inseparable. High school was hard on you both, but you got through it together.

“Remember when you forced me to do a scary movie marathon with you on Halloween?” He smiled.

You grinned, “How could I ever forget that? You screamed like a teenage girl and hugged me the entire time.”

“It was scary!”

“It was literally Coraline.” 

“So?! I kept thinking about buttons getting sewn on my eyes.” He shuddered and you let out another laugh, wrapping the blanket tighter over your body. 

It was a bit chilly, and you were ever aware of the heat radiating off of Sangha’s body. It was just slightly too far away for you to benefit from, though. As Sangha continued rambling about horror films and his squeamishness towards the genre, you could only focus on the chill that ran up your spine and how you wish you were wrapped up in his arms instead of the blanket. 

That was weird. You had never wanted to cuddle with Sangha before. Sure, he was your best friend and you loved him, but you barely ever hugged him.

“Are you shivering? I told you to turn up the thermostat.” Sangha laughed, pulling on your arm. “Here, you can leech off of my warmth.”

Your eyes widened as he wrapped his arms around you, the chill immediately fading as you felt his body warmth. You shifted, head resting on his arm like a pillow. His face was close to you, and the blanket comfortably rested over both of you. 

You’d never been this close to him.

“Thanks.” You said quietly, gulping down a nervous lump in your throat. He was so pretty up close. Was he always this pretty?

He was your best friend— you shouldn’t be feeling nervous around him. You grew up with him. But you hadn’t been this close in years, and it was starting to affect you all too quickly. He brushed a strand of hair out of your face, and it had your heart racing a mile a minute.

“Still cold?” 

You shook your head slowly, feeling quite the opposite temperature you had a minute ago. You could feel heat creeping up your neck and spreading to your cheeks. 

“This feels… different.” You mustered your voice, although it still came out in a hesitant whisper.

“Do you not like it?” Sangha questioned, loosening his arms around you.

“No, I like it.” You caught his wrist before he could pull back from you completely, guiding it back to your waist. He breathed out, a smile growing on his lips. 

“I think I like you, you know.” His words were soft and sweet. You could feel the honesty in them. Of course, Sangha would never lie to you. You smiled, and despite your racing heart, you leaned in to press your lips to his. 

It definitely wasn’t what you had originally planned to happen on your first sleepover with your best friend in almost 2 years, but you couldn’t say you were disappointed with the results. He wasn’t just confined to that label anymore either, and now you could proudly call him your boyfriend. 

KIM JIWON ﾐ FALLBACK

Jiwon knew that he was your second choice. Someway or another, there always seemed to be a reason you wouldn’t choose him. He was tired of it. Tired of being thrown around and played with. Tired of being used when you needed it and discarded when you were done. He knew you were bad for him, but he couldn’t find a way to leave you for good.

His heart betrayed him, racing whenever he heard your voice, throwing all logic and sense out the window. He went through the same cycle, convincing himself that he needed to leave you, that you were no good for him. But he always failed. All you had to do was look into his eyes, ask him to stay, and he would. 

It was another one of those nights, where you had crashed at his place after another fight with your ex-boyfriend. You’d probably still choose your ex over him given the choice, wouldn’t you? He wished that he could say he wouldn’t choose staying with you over leaving, but that would be a lie. He was too hung up on the what if’s, dreaming about what could be instead of facing reality. 

He rinsed a washcloth under the sink in the bathroom, making sure the temperature was cold. Wringing it out, he shuffled back to the couch where you were passed out. You had shown up drunk, Jiwon could tell that much, and fell asleep as soon as your head hit the armrest. 

He placed the cool cloth on your forehead, adjusting a blanket over your frame with a sigh. What was he doing? Why was he caring for you so gently when you would just leave him when the morning came? He took a seat on the floor beside you, staring at your sleeping face as a million thoughts ran through his head. The answer to his questions stared right at him. He was still too in love with you to let you go. The pain you made him go through was incomparable to the pain of letting you go. He wasn’t strong enough to live his life without you in it.

God, he knew it sounded beyond pathetic. 

You woke up a few hours later. Your earlier headache from the alcohol had subsided. As you sat up slowly, taking in the sight of Jiwon’s apartment, you felt a pang in your chest. You always ended up here when something went wrong. Because you knew Jiwon would make things feel right again. Deep down, you knew it was wrong for you to keep relying on him. What was he even getting in return? 

“You’re awake.” 

Your eyes flicked up to his frame, standing in the kitchen, filling a glass with water. You forced the lump in your throat down as he walked over to you and gave you the glass.

“I’m sorry.” The words fell from your lips before Jiwon could say anything. You looked up to his face, eyes glossy with regret, “To make you have to work so much— I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to take care of me.”

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t.

“He’s not good for you.” Jiwon said, looking at your tired eyes.

“You don’t have to remind me of that.” You whispered quietly, guilt drowning your frame. You sipped the water, trying to ignore the uncomfortable tension that had settled in the room.

“Do you still love him?” 

“I don’t know how to stop loving him.” You said honestly. 

Jiwon's eyes fell. Everything made sense— he understood it all too well. How could he sit there and tell you what to do when he couldn’t even take his own advice? He didn’t know how to stop loving either.

SHIN KANGSU ﾐ RIGHT PERSON, WRONG TIME

You missed Kangsu. So badly. Every night you spent alone in your bed, surrounded by the empty walls that used to hold memories of him, you missed him more. Your breakup hadn’t ended on bad terms, which, ironically, made everything worse. 

You were just in different stages of life. A relationship wasn’t sustainable in the midst of graduating university and finding your dream career. While you were burdened with the stress of endless choices, Kangsu was struggling with rejection and finding himself. You knew that had you continued your relationship, the turbulence would’ve turned into countless fights and a worse breakup in the end.

But you still believed that Kangsu was the one for you. He felt so right. And you would give anything to have him back now that your life was more stable. You still had his number, although you were afraid to call. You had both promised to cut off contact so you could focus on yourselves. Were you in a good position to ask him to come back? What if he wasn’t ready? What if he didn’t want to? What if he had found someone else?

While you were busy overthinking it, staring at his contact with the old contact photo and heart that you had never deleted from his name, you accidentally pressed the call button. He picked up after the first 2 rings.

“Y/n?”

“Kangsu?” His name felt like deja vu on your tongue. You had repeated it so many times in your head, but saying it out loud brought you back to 3 years ago. 

“Why’d you call?”

You closed your eyes, hearing his soft voice root itself in your head, sure to not leave your mind for the next week. 

“I miss you.” There was no need to lie or pretend like you didn’t. You had always been honest with Kangsu. He never judged you, so there was never a need to conceal yourself or your feelings.

“Really?”

The small lilt in his tone made a flurry of butterflies rush to your stomach. A need to know everything that had happened in his life over the past years invaded your entire body. Before you knew it, you were standing up from your bed and shuffling to put your shoes on.

“Really.”

“Are you free?”

You hummed in affirmation. 

“30 minutes, our spot… Okay?”

“Okay.” You slipped on your coat and opened the front door, hearing similar shuffling from the other side of the phone. You hesitated for a moment, wondering if it would sound too desperate, but in the end you decided you didn’t care. “I need to see you.” 

There was a pause on Kangsu’s end, as he took in the yearning of your voice. “You’ll see me. I’ll be there, I promise.”

The 30 minutes spent getting to the park that you used to spend every evening at with Kangsu was both fast and slow at the same time. Impatient, anxious, worried, bittersweet; you couldn’t place exactly what you were feeling. You wanted to be back in his arms, the place you craved for years after you broke up. 

You found him sitting on the bench you always sat at, staring at the little bridge running over a small pond. When he saw you, he stood up instantly, eyes glued to your figure. 

He looked different. A good different. You could see the confidence in his face and more wisdom in his eyes. He seemed sure of himself just by the way he held his head on his shoulders. You could tell from just a look that the years apart had been well worth it. He had needed it, and now an even better version of him was facing you.

He pulled you into his arms before you could even run to them, and it all felt the same. His arms wrapped around your body, squeezing you gently. Your perfume hitting his nose, intoxicating his brain with everything he missed about you.

“I missed you.” His earnest words flooded your heart and you buried your head into his chest. Right person, right time.

JEONG JUNHO ﾐ ANNOYANCES TO LOVERS

Junho was always like a splinter in your finger, a pebble in your shoe, or a stitch in your side. Annoying, but never harmful enough to do any real damage. You both messed with each other for your own entertainment, only because he was the oldest friend you knew.

He was easy to play bully when you were younger. He was always shorter than you, with a wimpier frame and a squeakier voice. As six year olds, your harmless bickering and teasing never cut too deep. You’d make fun of each other’s toys in elementary school, or your outfits in middle. You groaned in annoyance whenever you were paired together for projects, spending the whole time bickering and ending up getting a low grade for it. 

By high school, you teased each other for getting a low score on a test, competing to see who would place lower in the class ranking (not that either of you were in the running for the top spots). But you both still ended up sitting together in the canteen when you found yourself friendless the first week. Junho was the only familiar person around you, despite the less than friendly dynamic you shared. While you certainly still bickered and annoyed each other, you could barely throw the low blows you used to. 

Puberty had hit Junho like a truck, gracing him with a tall muscular figure, and a much deeper voice. You could truthfully only admire how he had come into his own. But that didn’t mean you would stop getting a reaction out of him, although you couldn’t ignore how a certain fondness was starting to grow in your heart for him.

When you joined the soccer team, he showed up to practice to laugh whenever you tripped over your own two feet, only for him to be the same person to walk you to the nurse’s office. When he joined musical theater, you made fun of him whenever he was off-key, only to bring him flowers after his first show as the lead role. 

Your quick comebacks to his every teasing remark was a sense of familiarity that he didn’t want to lose. When feelings got into the mix with your regular banter was something neither you or Junho could pinpoint. What you did know is at some point, your eye rolls held all the fondness in the world and your playful smacks on the shoulder were a bit softer than usual. At some point, a sense of pride flooded your body when you looked at Junho and his accomplishments, and you started to voice how proud you were of him.

Whether small pats on the shoulder or tousling his hair (if you could reach), the message seemed to get across to him. The boy you had known since you were little had grown into the man you wanted to be beside you for the rest of your life. Him asking you out officially one late night on a walk surprised neither of you. You knew the feelings had been mutual for a while.

The shift to dating was natural as well. Maybe you were both a bit more caring and attentive than before. You were no longer too shy to hold his hand whenever you wanted (nor did you dismiss the thought whenever it came up, under the delusion that you could never like someone as annoying as Junho). He no longer debated whether bending down to kiss you was overstepping the boundaries of friendship (he had long since lost the war of fighting how much he adored you). But poking fun at each other would always be your love language, and that was a reality you were both more than content with. 

↳ nomad taglist: @eternalgyu,, @hursheys

[eternalgyu]

bf texts with nomad !!

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ genre: fluff, crack ig a little suggestive if u squint

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ notes: guys I love nomad sm AAAAA LIKE MY BABIES also these r for @slytherinshua BCUZ zanna has been feeding my brainrot to the max.

hong doeui

park sangha

kim jiwon

shin kangsu

jeong junho

[badtitude]

≡ YOUR SONG !! JEONG JUNHO

(in which you’re most beautiful melody in his life ๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) : 1218 words : fluff + gf!reader : this is literally just me working on my writing, i like how it came out but im open to advice/feedback + reblogs are always appreciated!!

Words sometimes feel so bland when they’re not accompanied by a melody. In many ways, he came to find that that was what you brought to the relationship, a sweet entrancing melody.

It wasn’t imposing, just a subtle sequence of the most beautiful notes. It felt like being lost in a dream, every time he’d set his eyes on you he’d find himself back in that musical paradise. Perhaps it was a spell you had cast on him, one that made everything synthesize with you.

It was always there, from the first time you met on that seemingly unfortunate Sunday morning. The day had yet to begin but it was already going against your favor.

An early morning after an eventful night, making your way home at the peak of the day hoping to stay in your bed for the rest of the day after a good shower. You had it all planned out in your head, but you just had to loose your keys. So you stood there in front of your dorm apartment, head resting against the door, trying to think of a solution but all you could do was doze off.

Once you put yourself to it, it was easy to find the keys. However it wasn’t easy walking all the way back to your friends’ place in the late October rain.

By the time you arrived you were drenched from head to toe, shivering from the autumn chills. You probably couldn’t remember his face when he opened the door to you, a mix of surprise and wonder. “How did you get into such a drastic situation?” was written on his face as he let you into the house, eyes lingering even though he was initially headed out.

Without thinking further about it he followed you in, shutting the door behind him. Your friends must have still been asleep for a stranger to be the one handing you a towel, taking your wet jacket off your body. You tried racking your brain for any memory of his eyes, as yours met his, for less than a second surely but it felt like a moment beyond time. You thought maybe you could remember his hands, that held gently onto you as he sat you down but he was entirely new to you.

Despite the fact that he was unknown to you, every move he made seemed so familiar. There was something so delicate in his allure, you couldn’t help but stare at him as he patted down your wet skin, from your face to your palms.

The feeling was mutual, from the moment he saw you he felt drawn towards you, at first it may have been a friendly gesture but as he got closer the feelings also evolved.

“I feel like you’re going to get sick if you stay in those. I’ll get you some dry clothes from Sangha.” He pulled the corners of the towel on your shoulder, wrapping you in the slight warmth it brought. A smile creeped up on your lips as he turned away walking off to your friend’s room.

It was funny in some way, it felt like he wasn’t supposed to be a stranger to you and yet he was. The more you got to know him the more you hated that he was ever just that.

In that day alone you felt something you had rarely ever felt, even less with a stranger. As you cleaned the house from the damages of the party with the goal of finding your lost keys, you got to know more about him.

“How come we’ve never met?” you looked up at him as you sat on the couch, holding onto the found keys you had been searching for together for the past thirty minutes. He walked over taking a seat beside you, resting his head on the backrest.

“It’s funny right?” He turned over to you with a smile, you felt your heart skip a beat at the sight. Your eyes fluttered as you looked anywhere away from him, you couldn’t even hide your flustered expression as his gaze followed.

Eventually you remembered you needed to get home since you had your keys and so you got up from the couch, blurting out words to excuse yourself without showing that he was the reason you couldn’t stay put.

“I’ll drive you, I have to head out as well.”

So you ended up stuck with him in a car this time, with no emergency exits. He, unlike you enjoyed the feeling you brought him even with the short time you knew each other.

Sitting there in the car with you through the damp roads cleared up the dulled out sound that had been resounding from the moment he opened the door.

It wasn’t a long drive to your place but for some reason it felt longer than walking earlier. You tried to keep your eyes forward towards to road but you never realized when your eyes ended back on him.

In the same way he watched you rest your head on the window, glancing from the road to his side where you were rested. The thought of placing his hand between the glass and your head through the slightly bumpy roads came up often but instead he tightened his grip on the wheel.

Eventually you got to your place, but it was harder to just walk away as you imagined you would do. You sat there for a couple seconds in silence before he spoke up for you.

While you saw the thundering in your heart as a warning sign, he felt it was a song that brought him closer to you, the louder it became the better.

Every step you took together from that morning lead you to this moment where your love for each other exceeds words. Without the melodies those words came with, there was a sort of vacancy waiting to be filled.

It just so happened that every moment spent in your company was the lost symphony that came to fill up all the words spoken. In every glimpse of a wrinkle that came with the bright smile that you wore, a string was plucked resounding an echo of a melodic sequence of notes. Just in that recurring sound he could feel a small buildup, like every fragment of love he had ever felt for you was brought back into his heart.

It always made you laugh, the way your smiles always resulted in a soft kiss. You couldn’t help smiling whenever you were with him, he was one of the only things that felt right in the mess of your life so you’d giggle, grimace, grin, unconsciously waiting for his lips.

The subtle curve that followed the sight of your own, watching him get closer to your face, letting his hands cup your cheeks as he watched your shyness resurface. Shaky eye contact the closer he got till the flutter as your eyes shut close, letting his lips press against yours.

Kissing you was like piecing the puzzle together, maybe that why he did it so often. Pulling you close enough to feel every inch of your body, tasting you delicately making sure to savor every flavor you brought with your beautiful song playing, the complete experience.

[ao3feed-ateez]

A Monstrous Semester

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/fcmZJHv by popcultureruinedmylife Hidden within a mystical realm buried beneath Earth, creatures of folklore and myth come to hone their extraordinary abilities at Eungyeol Supernatural University, a top-ranked college for monsters. The story unfolds through the eyes of eight distinct beings, each grappling with their own unique challenges as they navigate the complexities of both academics and personal relationships... Hongjoong comes to terms with his identity. Seonghwa is a perfectionist. Yunho hides from everyone around him. Yeosang struggles to fend for himself. San isn't supposed to be here. Mingi would rather be anyone else. Wooyoung makes a big mistake. Jongho just wants to do the right thing. Words: 3866, Chapters: 1/31, Language: English Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M, Multi Characters: Jung Wooyoung (ATEEZ), Choi Yeonjun, Seo Changbin, Song Mingi (ATEEZ), Kim Hongjoong, Park Seonghwa, Kim Younghoon (The Boyz), Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo, Park Serim (Cravity), Goo Junhoe | Ju-ne, Bang Chan (Stray Kids), Kang Yeosang, Choi San (ATEEZ), Kim Mingyu (SEVENTEEN), Jeong Yuno | Jaehyun, Jeong Yunho (ATEEZ), Choi Jongho (ATEEZ), Han Jisung | Han, BamBam Kunpimook Bhuwakul, Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Choi Yewon | Arin, Kang Seokhwa, Lee Juyeon (The Boyz), Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Eunbi | SinB, Kim Dahyun, Kim Yerim | Yeri, Goo Gunil, Allen Ma, Jeon Jungkook, Minnie Nicha Yontararak, Kim Geonhak | Leedo, Lee Chan | Dino Relationships: Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi (ATEEZ), Choi San/Jung Wooyoung (ATEEZ), Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Monsters, Alternate Universe - College/University, Interspecies Romance, College, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Ghost Kim Hongjoong, Siren Park Seonghwa, Changeling Jeong Yunho (ATEEZ), Vampire Kang Yeosang, Demon Choi San (ATEEZ), Werewolf Song Mingi (ATEEZ), Warlock Jung Wooyoung (ATEEZ), Frankenstein Choi Jongho (ATEEZ), Past Character Death, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mutual Pining, Strangers to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, First Kiss, Boys Kissing, Blood Drinking, Demon Summoning, Eventual Romance, Slow Burn, Crush at First Sight, Love Confessions, Boys In Love, Falling In Love read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/fcmZJHv

[yunhowhoitiss]

𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩

𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫!𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨 𝐱 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 (𝐟𝐞𝐦)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1.4k+

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fluff, student au(?), strangers to lovers sorta

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: after a particularly mediocre routine for the past two years, all it took was a sweet, pink haired boy to brighten your day. every day.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: a teeny tiny bit of swearing 

𝐚/𝐧: I just hit 100 followers!! I didn’t know how to celebate so here’s a fic I wrote in a couple of hours (-_-;) i hope you enjoy it!

masterlist

You woke up to a room full of sunshine, and the early autumn air left drops of moisture outside your window. Upon hearing your roommate already out and about in the living room, you dragged yourself out of bed, flinching when your toes hit the cold floor tiles. Trudging out of your bedroom, you gravitated towards the apartment kitchenette. You sleepily scanned the living room to find that your roomie had moved all the furniture around to make space.

“Bobbi, I don’t mind you doing yoga every morning, but if you forget to put everything back one more time I’m cutting your mat to pieces,” you muttered as you poured yourself a cup of coffee.

“Well hello sunshine,” she laughed, “I made juice this morning, it’s in the fridge.” You hummed in response.

“Sure. Could you put some in a tumbler? I have to leave in 10 minutes and I’m not even dressed yet. I’ll miss my train if I diddle-daddle.”

“Of course!”

You and Bobbi had been roommates for a little over a year now after you decided to move off-campus. She was a friend of a friend who was looking for a roommate to split the rent, so figured you’d give it a chance. There are plenty of benefits to living off-campus: it saves money, you have more living space, you can gain some life experience, and Bobbi is a sweetheart– even if she refuses to be more than half-dressed around the house and never puts all the furniture back after her morning yoga. Your only issue when you first started renting the cosy two-bedroom apartment was finding a way to class without a car. Your best choice was to buy yourself a metro card and stick to taking the subway. The apartment wasn’t that far from campus, but you could afford to pay for the card and you had little-to-no motivation to walk or cycle to school nearly every day. At this point, you valued your time spent on the train listening to nothing but your favourite playlist as your me-time; every other minute of your day was spent studying, working, or sleeping. Somehow, this year didn’t feel significantly different from your first two years of school except for different classes, even more fees to pay, and an impossibly alluring boy that sat across from you on the subway.

You don’t remember the day the boy started taking the same train, but it wasn’t hard for you to start noticing him. He always sat idly in the seat across from you, backpack in his lap, head gently bouncing to whatever tunes played through his earphones and smiling when a good song came up on shuffle. Cute. When you first spotted him stepping off the platform into the train you couldn’t help but observe his relaxed style, soft features, and an aura that radiated kindness and comfort. On chilly mornings he even had the reddest of ears, matching your own ruby-kissed cheeks; but you weren’t cold at all. It quickly became a habit of yours to throw shy glances at him when he wasn’t looking, hoping that he’d remain oblivious to you very obviously checking him out. Jokes on you, he’d noticed you eyeing him long before you ever noticed yourself doing so.

You were so intrigued by his presence that you even started to consider putting away your headphones and sparking up a conversation, but he just looked so peaceful humming along contently to an unfamiliar song that you couldn’t find it in yourself to interrupt. You found yourself simply exploring his features, your eyes flitting from his slender fingers to the soft slope of his nose, to his chestnut irises who always seemed to sparkle like– wait. His eyes. They’re looking back at me. He’s looking back at me. In a panic, you whipped your head back towards the phone settled in your lap, feeling your cheeks, nose, and ears heat up out of embarrassment. Nice one, y/n. Despite your mortification, a shy smile swept over your face.

After multiple futile attempts to drown out the sound of Bobbi’s horrendous singing blaring from the kitchen, you groaned into your pillow one last time before tiredly swinging your legs over the side of the bed and checking your phone. Your eyes widened almost comically when the screen read 7:30 am.

“I slept through my alarm?” you muttered to yourself and let it sink in, “I slept through my alarm!” You dashed towards your closet, grateful that you’d prepared an outfit the night before. You hopped towards the bathroom while simultaneously wrestling with the zipper of your skirt. After half-assedly brushing your teeth and not even bothering with your hair, you darted through the living room searching for your bookbag. “G'morning, Ms I’ve-been-hit-by-a-tornado!” you winced at your roommate’s unbearably cheerful tone, “Want some eggs?”

“I’m late, Bobs, no time!”

“Well, I have some slightly burnt bacon if you want it,” she suggested, “and a couple of Eggo waffles…”

On your way out of the door, Bobbi stuffed something in your bag and sent you out with a friendly pat on your butt. You couldn’t help but smile at her kindness and made a mental note to repay it. Just a couple minutes later you were already running to your train in hopes you wouldn’t miss it. Reducing your pace to a speed-walk, you dug through every one of your pockets to pull out your phone which read 7:53 am. “Shit, I have two minutes!”

You slammed your card into the scanning machine– not that it helped you go any faster– and scuttled towards the train who’s doors were slowly sliding shut. Sprinting your way to the doors, you managed to slip through just before they closed, and looked around. Every seat was taken, and an abundance of people stood around, leaving nearly no space for you to situate yourself. With a heavy sigh, you tried to make your way through the mess of arms and shoulders, only to find yourself stuck between even more people. You figured you shouldn’t let your chaotic morning ruin your day and some good music would lift your spirits, so you searched your bag for your earphones; to no avail. I must’ve left them in my bedroom. Another defeated sigh escaped your already chapped lips, and you just dropped your gaze to your feet, lazily tracing shapes on the ground. You were unaware of the sympathetic gaze resting on you trying working out what had you so frustrated. You were still watching your feet when a large hand interrupted your focus, holding a white earbud. You lifted your head to be met with gentle eyes and a kind smile. Pretty boy?

“You look- uh, do you- I thought-” he muttered. You struggled to contain an amused smile. He looked like a lost puppy. The boy paused and bit his lip, “you wanna share?” He looked a lot taller from where you stood in front of him, much less than arms-length away. Thoughts of him flooded your mind, and you stared blankly into his eyes. He tilted his head in confusion, and you noticed his hand still holding the earbud in front of you. As you broke out of your daze a swirl of excitement and relief set off butterflies in your chest. You smiled giddily, unconscious to how obvious your excitement was.

“I’d love to!” You blurted loudly. The deep chuckle that followed your exclamation nearly sent your brain into overdrive. The boy lifted his hand and gently settled the earbud in your ear. Your shoulders visibly relaxed as soon as an unfamiliar song played in your ear, and you nearly forgot you were on the subway. The train must’ve stopped at a station because you were suddenly jerked forward and lost your balance; only to be met with a hard chest. You looked up at the pretty boy’s face, and he seemed just as surprised you were. You wanted the ground to swallow you whole, but being in his arms was just so comfortable you didn’t really care anymore. A giggle erupted from his smiling lips. A giggle. You spent so much time thinking about how comfy the boy was that you hadn’t stepped back; you were still resting up against him. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” You took a small step back and bit the inside of your cheek in embarrassment. The young man remained frozen in his spot, and his eyes danced over your features, as if deep in thought. He offered you a boyish half-smile then proceeded to do what you had hoped he would do for months.

“My name’s Yunho, it’s nice to meet you…” he trailed off, realizing he hadn’t asked you for your name.

“Y/n.” You answered.

“Y/n…” he mumbled, “that’s a pretty name.” His half-smile turned even further upwards, forming a comforting grin that turned his eyes to half-moons.

He couldn’t be any more beautiful.

[kazooms]

ᗰᗩᔕTEᖇᒪIᔕT

♧ fluff

☆ angst

♡ suggestive

♤ MTL/MLT

◇ Reactions

◡̈ Headcanons

⁂ Oneshots

⇱ Drabbles

⩥ Timestamps

See more works here

The Boyz

Lee Sangyeon

Bae Jacob

Kim Younghoon

⁂ rain ♧

Lee Jaehyun

Lee Juyeon

◡̈ jealous ♧

Moon Kevin

⩥ [7:36pm] ♧♡

Choi Chanhee

Ji Changmin

Ju Haknyeon

Heo Hyunjun

Kim Sunwoo

⩥ [3:22pm] ♧

◡̈ Him as your boyfriend ♧

Son Youngjae

The Boyz

◡̈ "Kissing my Best Friend" Tiktok trend gone right (Part 1/3) ♧♡

Oneus

Kim Youngjo

⩥ [02:03am] ♧

Lee Seoho

Kim Geonhak

Lee Keonhee

Yeo Hwanwoong

Son Dongju

Oneus

MCND

Son Seongjun

Nam Seungmin

Song Minjae

No Huijun

Bang Junhyuk

MCND

iKON

Kim Jinhwan

Song Yunhyeong

Kim Jiwon

Kim Donghyuk

Koo Junhoe

Jung Chanwoo

iKON

Monsta X

Son Hyunwoo

Lee Hoseok

Lee Minhyuk

Yoo Kihyun

Chae Hyungwon

Lee Jooheon

Im Changkyun

Monsta X

NCT

Moon Taeil

Seo Johnny

Lee Taeyong

Nakamoto Yuta

Qian Kun

Kim Dongyoung

Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul

Jeong Yoonoh

Dong Sicheng

Kim Jungwoo

Huang Xuxi / Wong Yukhei

Lee Mark

Xiao Dejun

Wong Kunhang / Huang Guanheng

Huang Renjun

Lee Jeno

Lee Donghyuck

Na Jaemin

Liu Yangyang

Osaki Shotaro

Jung Sungchan

Zhong Chenle

Park Jisung

NCT 127

NCT DREAM

WayV

Seventeen

Choi Seungcheol

Yoon Jeonghan

Hong Joshua

Wen Junhui

Kwon Soonyoung

Jeon Wonwoo

Lee Jihoon

Lee Seokmin

Kim Mingyu

Xu Minghao

Boo Seungkwan

Choi Hansol / Vernon

Lee Chan

Hip-Hop Team

Vocal Team

Performance Team

P1Harmony

Choi Taeyang

Yoon Keeho

Choi Jiung

Hwang Intak

Haku Shota

Kim Jongseob

P1Harmony

GIFs

The Boyz - Drink It Teaser 1

The Boyz - Drink It Teaser 2

The Boyz - Drink It MV 1

The Boyz - Drink It MV 2

The Boyz - Drink It MV 3

[jeongyunhoed]

8 Stories, 8 Movies from the Golden Age (1930s to 1960s).

It’s the golden age and 8 men are the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Ateez, but make them Old Hollywood, basically. Lights, camera, action!

Member: Yunho

Genre: Murder mystery, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of romance and fluff

Warnings: Murder (as it is a murder mystery), mentions of it including suicide, death, blackmail, alcohol drinking

Things to note: Set in the 1930s, established marriage

Will have OCs

As with the rest of the stories in the AU, there will be other idols mentioned, most likely NCT but may have some of my other faves (EXO, etc.)

A/N: The third story of this whole series is Yunho’s! Just like Jongho’s it’s a murder mystery, but it’s also based on my most favorite classic film. I’ll make a separate post for that once I’m halfway done. But I hope you all enjoy this too.  

Masterlist

Former private detective-turned-society man Jeong Yunho is brought back to sleuthing when an inventor goes missing and his mistress is murdered. With a little help from his wife, and from a martini or two.

The Thin Man

tag list: @minervaaaaaaaa , @closer-stars

Part 1

Christmas eve. 

Crowds of people filled the fashionable Charles cafe, dancing to their hearts’ content or watching everyone else dance while a band played a mix of Christmas carols and old favorites at the nearest stage. A line of waiters were standing at the bar, watching a tall, suited man by the name of Jeong Yunho shake a martini shaker rhythmically. “It’s all in how much you shake this, a martini you always shake to the waltz,” He said, pouring out the contents into a small cocktail glass. 

He stopped when he saw a woman approach him. “Excuse me, aren’t you Mr. Jeong Yunho?” She asked. 

Yunho drank everything in one shot. “Yes, I’m Jeong Yunho, who’s asking?” He smiled. 

“You probably don’t remember me,” She said in almost a teasing manner. “I’m Park Sungyoung. Park Junho’s daughter.” 

His eyes widened. “Wait a minute, the scrawny little…My goodness you’ve grown. That or I’ve gotten old since the last time we met.” 

“Yes,” She chuckled, but her expression immediately changed into that of concern. 

“How did you even remember me?” Yunho raised a brow, gesturing for the bartender to hand him what seemed like his fifth martini of the night. He barely felt a thing, and he figured he must’ve gotten immune since the prohibition was lifted. 

“Well, I was fascinated by you, you were a real detective and you used to tell me really wonderful stories. Were they really true?” She asked. 

“Maybe, maybe not,” Yunho shrugged before taking another swig of his martini. 

A man immediately walked up to Sungyoung. He was also looking worried. “Yunho, I’d like to introduce my fiance, Park Seonghwa. Seonghwa, this is Jeong Yunho. He worked on a case for my father.” 

“How do you do?” Yunho shook his hand. “Oh yes. Your father was having trouble with one of his inventions a few years ago. Some nut wanted to kill him. How is he?” 

“That’s what I came to you for when I saw you earlier. He’s disappeared,” Sungyoung held on to her fiance’s arm. Yunho looked a little surprised. 

“Now don’t say that, Sungyoung,” Seonghwa shook his head at her. “He’s probably just somewhere working,” He glanced at Yunho as well in an effort to assure her. 

“Well I can’t find him, I’ve tried everything. He promised he’d be there for us on our wedding in six days and I thought you might know something, Mr. Jeong,” She said. 

“Unfortunately I’m not practicing anymore, Ms. Park. You see I’ve retired,” Yunho emptied his glass. “I don’t know anything either. I’ve been somewhere else for four years now. I personally wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. He’s an inventor, when he gets an idea he wants to work on, it’s only natural that he’d want to hide away somewhere, he’s done it before.” 

“Yes, but never for three months,” Sungyoung said. 

“What about his lawyer? What’s his name again? Quite young to be his personal attorney, Hong something.” 

“Kim Hongjoong,” Sungyoung replied and he nodded. “He’s the only one my father’s spoken to. Well, Hongjoong and Woo Jaekyung, she’s dad’s secretary.” 

“Jaekyung? Oh yeah, I think I met her before,” Yunho agreed. “His lawyer and his secretary both speak to him before he leaves, but no one knows where he went-” 

“He wouldn’t tell them.” 

“What about your mother? He wouldn’t tell her either?” 

“No,” She shook her head. “Well, mother and dad haven’t been seeing each other for a while now.”��

“Oh, oh, I see,” He nodded in understanding. “I’m not sure what else I can do for you. Why don’t you try Hongjoong again? Maybe he’s heard from your father and probably forgot to tell you.” 

“Here, some won,” Seonghwa handed her a few coins and with a hopeful expression, she walked off. “She’s got me worrying too.” 

“I really wouldn’t worry. Her father’s a great guy, but a little screwy, absent-minded if you will,” Yunho took another martini cocktail from the waiter. 

There was a commotion coming from the entrance hall. Sounds of chatter mixed with a white bichon frise barking that made Seonghwa and Yunho look over to see what was going on. “I’m not taking him, he’s taking me!” Yunho nodded, immediately knowing who it was. It was his wife, Choi Juhyun, stumbling onto the floor after she lost control of the leash belonging to their dog named Asta. The Christmas presents she had in her arms falling to the floor while several waiters helped her up. 

“Madame, you can’t bring that dog in here and you dropped your packages,” One of them, the doorman, spoke. 

“I didn’t bring him, he brought me,” Juhyun replied, fixing her hat that had gone askew. “Asta!” She commanded the dog, who immediately went to Yunho. “Oh, so it was you he was after!” 

“Hello, my darling” Yunho immediately wrapped an arm around her to kiss her on the cheek. 

“He’s dragged me to every gin joint on the block,” Juhyun looked down at the dog. Yunho looked amused, as did Seonghwa. 

“I had him out this morning.” 

“I thought so, he even tried to drag me into the gentlemen’s club.” 

“Oh yes, this is Park Seonghwa,” Yunho paused to introduce them and they nodded in greeting. 

“Pardon me Seonghwa, I don’t usually look like this, I’ve been Christmas shopping,” Juhyun took out a compact from her purse to check her hat. 

“It’s alright, gentlemen,” Yunho turned to the doorman and the head waiter. “That’s my dog, and,” He turned to her. “My wife.” 

Juhyun gave him a look. “You might have mentioned me first on the billing.” 

“He’s well-trained, don’t worry, he’ll behave himself,” Yunho assured them, looking down at the dog. “Sit, Asta, sit,” He commanded, but the dog stayed still. Seonghwa looked amused. “He’s alright, he only bites me.” 

“Yes, he’s fussy about what he eats,” Juhyun added. 

The attendants walked off, and she was still staring at her husband. “You see? You realize what an influential husband you have?” He beamed, almost looking tipsy. 

“You do have a certain standing with doormen,” Nora quipped, wrinkling her nose at him before putting her compact back in her purse. 

Yunho spotted Sungyoung return, immediately going up to her fiance. “Any luck?” Seonghwa asked. 

“Yes, he’s just around the corner,” Sungyoung replied. 

“Your father?” 

“No, no, Hongjoong. I’m going to see him.” 

“Oh right, my wife,” Yunho gestured to Juhyun. “This is Park Sungyoung. Seonghwa’s fiance.” 

They exchanged greetings. “How do you do? I’m sorry we have to rush, but you’ll excuse us, Mrs. Jeong?” Sungyoung said, and Juhyun nodded. 

“We’re at the Hammett for a few weeks, you’re free to drop by,” Yunho suggested. 

“Thanks, we will. Goodbye Mr. Jeong, Mrs. Jeong,” Sungyoung pulled Seonghwa away as they hurried out of the cafe. 

Juhyun turned to her husband and they sat down at the table in front of them. “Pretty girl,” She said. 

“If you like blondes.” 

“You got a type?” She grinned. 

“Only you, darling, brunettes with wicked jaws,” Yunho lightly pinched her cheek. 

“Who is she?” 

Yunho looked defeated. “Oh, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you. Sungyoung is really my daughter. You see, it was spring in Venice, and I was so young. We’re all like that on my father’s side.” 

Juhyun looked amused. “By the way, how is your father’s side?” 

“Oh it’s much better, thank you dear,” He reached for her hand. 

“So who really is she, Yuyu?” 

“Park Sungyoung, daughter of Park Junho. I used to work on a case for her father.” 

“Charming, what happened now?” Juhyun asked. 

“Junho has disappeared. Sungyoung’s afraid something might’ve happened to him.” 

“Has anything happened to him?” 

“My darling wife, how would I know? Funny, that secretary of his might know something,” Yunho replied. 

“Secretaries usually do. Who is she?” 

“Woo Jaekyung. Smart girl, Jaekyung. I always suspected she had some kind of hold on Junho. That’s why he kept her on.” 

“Maybe you should call her,” She suggested. 

“What for?” 

“Nothing, just to say hello. Do you need some money?” Juhyun was about to reach into her purse when he shook his head. “Well, while we’re here, how many martinis have you had?” She asked. 

“Before you came in, I had six martinis.” 

Juhyun waved the waiter over. “Could you bring me five more martinis? Line them up right here,” She said, and the waiter nodded before walking off. 

~ 

“Hello? Hello, yes, Woo Jaekyung speaking,” She said. “Who? Oh, hello, Mr. Jeong. What was it you wanted to- Oh no, he didn’t tell me, not a word. I’m sorry. That’s alright, goodbye,” and she hung up. 

Jaekyung looked around the living room and then towards her boyfriend, Choi Jongho, who was busy looking through a women’s lingerie catalog. “You women sure take a lot of punishment,” He said, putting the catalog down when he saw her expression. “Who was that?” 

“Jeong Yunho.” 

“The detective?” 

“He wanted to know where Junho was,” Jaekyung replied. 

Jongho looked slightly flustered. “Oh yeah? Why?” 

“He didn’t say.” 

“Did anyone see Junho come here that night? That night you and him had a fight?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Oh no? Well I guess I’ll take off,” Jongho stood up straight to head towards the coat rack. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Oh, just going on a little stroll. If Jeong Yunho is going to pop up around here, I want to be far away when he does-” 

“Oh don’t be a fool, Jongho,” Jaekyung shot him a look. “...You need money, right?” 

“Sure, what about it? You got some?” 

“Plenty. I’m Junho’s secretary,” Jaekyung boasted. 

“Oh yeah? What do you mean by that?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” 

~ 

That afternoon, Yunho returned to the bedroom in their apartment, holding an ice bag for his wife, who was lying on one side of their shared bed. “What hit me?” She mumbled, Asta immediately jumping onto the space next to her. 

“The last martini,” He grinned, bending down to peck her lips and place the ice bag on her head. 

“What did- What did Woo Jaekyung have to say? You didn’t tell me when we went out,” She slowly sat up, the dog climbing onto her lap. 

“Nothing, she didn’t know where he was,” He drank his cocktail in one shot. 

“Oh, I can’t stay lying down, I’ve got to get up and trim that darned Christmas tree,” She leaned forward, one hand still on the ice bag. 

The doorbell rang and Yunho went out of the room to answer the door, Asta following close behind. To his surprise, Kim Hongjoong was standing right outside. “Hello, Mr. Jeong, how are you?” He greeted. 

“Hello, Mr. Kim, come in, come in,” Yunho stepped aside, making way for the smaller to go in, who didn’t bother removing his coat. 

“Sungyoung told me you were here, I was going to call you but-” 

“That’s alright. Want anything from the bar?” He gestured to the cocktail shaker close by. Hongjoong waved a hand dismissively as he sat down on the couch. 

“I wanted to see you so I took the liberty of coming here anyway. Yunho, what’s Hyomin up to?” Hongjoong asked directly. 

Yunho paused drinking as he tried to remember. “Oh, right, Sungyoung’s mother. Does she have to be up to something?” He asked. 

“She usually is, trying one way or another to get money out of Junho,” Hongjoong chuckled. “I wanted to know if you were doing some sleuthing for her.” 

“I haven’t been a detective for four years,” Yunho poured some more of the contents of the shaker into his glass. At Hongjoong’s intrigued expression, he drank his cocktail in one shot again. “My wife’s father died and left her a whole load of businesses, a narrow gauge railroad too, I’m looking after them at her request.” 

“I see.” 

“What’s all this fuss about? Is Junho in hiding?” 

“You know as much about it as I do. I haven’t seen him in three months,” Hongjoong shrugged. “He sends word through Jaekyung when he wants money. I give it to her, and she gives it to him.” 

The telephone rings but it stops after a moment. “So that’s still on, huh?” Yunho asked. “That’s probably for you.” 

Juhyun suddenly came in, and he bit his lip to stifle a laugh at the sight of her. She tied the ice bag around her head as she approached them. “Is there a Mr. Kim Hongjoong in the house?- Oh,” She stopped when she saw him already pick up the receiver. 

“My wife,” Yunho wrapped an arm around her, nearly tickling her waist in an attempt to tease. Juhyun giggled and nudged him in response as they watched Hongjoong talk on the phone, nodding at them in acknowledgment. Juhyun pulled away from him to go to the Christmas tree, looking through the ornaments she bought to hang on parts of the trees, keeping the tinsel out of reach from the dog, who followed her. 

Hongjoong hung up. “He’s back in town, Junho. Thank goodness, he’s waiting for me now,” He stood up. Forgive me, Mrs. Jeong,” He glanced over at Juhyun, who looked over her shoulder at him. “It’s no joke working for a man like that. I have to be off now. Goodbye Mr. Jeong, Mrs. Jeong.” 

“Goodbye!” Yunho waved at him as he saw himself out. 

“Oh, and Merry Christmas!” Hongjoong called out before closing the door. 

“The next person that says merry christmas to me, I’ll kill them,” She mumbled. “Asta!” She saw the dog sniffing around the foot of the tree. 

“I better call Sungyoung and tell her that everything’s alright,” Yunho sat down by the telephone. 

~ 

Yang Hyomin rushed inside the Horizon building that night, where she knew Jaekyung lived with her ex-husband whom she hadn’t heard from in a while, not that she often contacted him. Out of her son Sungmin’s insistence and against Sungyoung’s wishes, she bulked up the courage to face the woman her ex-husband was now seeing, knowing that she had the money. The settlement she had from the divorce had been long gone, and she couldn’t bring herself to ask her new husband, Jung Wooyoung, to provide the money as he was also determined to make his startup nightclub work. 

“Apartment 9-T. Miss Woo is expecting me,” She immediately told the clerk at the front desk before getting on the elevator up to the ninth floor. 

As Hyomin got out, she sensed an odd feeling coming from the floor, as if something happened that made the place unusually quieter than normal. Still determined to meet with Jaekyung, she pressed on, only to see that the door to her apartment was slightly open. Hyomin paused and carefully looked inside, scanning the room in case someone was around. There was none. 

She stepped inside, noticing how extravagant her ex-husband furnished the place. It almost made her want to scoff, yet that feeling was overtaken by a sense of dread as she approached the bedroom, the door also slightly open. As Hyomin opened the door fully, she nearly dropped her bag and screamed in horror. 

Jaekyung was lying face down against her dresser and some blood had seeped onto the white rug underneath. She had been shot. Hyomin ran to the phone beside the bed to call the front desk. “Quick! Quick! Send somebody up here right away. Something terrible has happened!” 

~ 

Yunho and Juhyun were in bed later that night, both of them dressed to go to sleep while Asta was curled up in the corner. She looked over at the clock. “11:30, it’s almost Christmas, Yuyu.” 

“If that’s a hint, you can drop it. You will get your present at breakfast, not a minute before,” Yunho lay back down on his side of the bed and she watched him. 

“Cheat,” She gently poked his side, making him flinch. “You know, I’ve been thinking. It’s funny how Junho popped up all of a sudden.” 

“Yes, wasn’t it?” He mumbled, closing his eyes as he tried to sleep.

“Do you think there’s anything behind it?” 

“Why should there be?” He opened one eye. 

“I don’t know, it just strikes me as funny, that’s all,” She replied, watching him. The phone rang. “Phone’s on your side, Yuyu, you better answer it,” and she lay down with a satisfied grin upon seeing his reaction. 

Yunho groaned and lazily picked up the phone. “Hello? This is he. Hello Sungyoung- What?” He sat up, making Juhyun look up at him. “Oh I see. Of course, of course, I’ll be there,” And he hung up, looking surprised. 

“What is it?” Juhyun noticed his expression. 

“Woo Jaekyung’s been murdered.”  

[jistays]

masterlist

(f) - fluff, (a) - angst

Stray Kids

Bang Chan

- promise (a), (f)

Lee Minho

- your tomorrow, your today (f)

Seo Changbin

- gone (a)

Hwang Hyunjin

- young and free (f)

Han Jisung

- i think im in too deep (because of you) (f)

Lee Felix

- love you like a heartbreak (a) | part 1, part 2

Kim Seungmin

- nothing yet

Yang Jeongin

- nothing yet

Ateez

Kim Hongjoong

- know you’re my destiny (a), (f) | part 1, part 2, part 3

Park Seonghwa

- beautiful night right now (f)

Jeong Yunho

- always wanna be with you (f)

Kang Yeosang

- nothing yet

Choi San

- nothing yet

Song Mingi

- nothing yet

Jung Wooyoung

- nothing yet

Choi Jongho

- nothing yet

X1

- dear x1

Han Seungwoo

- nothing yet

Cho Seungyoun

- nothing yet

Kim Wooseok

- for you, i’d risk the world (a)

Kim Yohan

- you're sweet, like a caramel macchiato (f)

Lee Hangyul

- late nights (f)

Cha Junho

- home (f), (a)

Son Dongpyo

- cheese popcorn and white chocolate chips (f)

Kang Minhee

- to study or not to study (f)

Lee Eunsang

- it’ll always be you (a) (f)

Song Hyeongjun

- nothing yet

Nam Dohyon

- nothing yet

[killjoy-loveit]

Spooky Season Stories- 2019

A/N: As always everything that I write is purely fiction and isn’t to be taken as a true portrayal of reality. This is a list of all the stories [and the links] written for the Spooky Season of 2019. It will include post dates and small descriptors (aka whatever is written in the summary/excerpt portion of the actual piece). I’ll also put a link to my masterlist guide and the masterlist for each individual group at the very bottom. 

Danger of Truth- Jeong Sewoon, Supernatural AU, October 1st

“But if you must know, I’ll tell you. However, you should be aware that your life won’t be able to go back to the way it was; when all you noticed was the way the leaves change color, or how the air gives off a different scent as the seasons change.”

A Priceless Reaction- Chan (A.C.E), Fluff/Comedy, October 2nd 

Horror movie marathon.

Cider Candles & Mistakes- Astro, Comedy/Semi-Angst, October 3rd

Summoning ritual gone wrong- hilariously.

The Hidden Snack That Was a Step Too Far- Youngjae (B.A.P), Comedy/Semi-Angst, October 4th

Youngjae took his pranks a tad too far.

Reckless Decisions & Being Saved by a Stranger- Chanyeol (EXO), Angst/Post-Apocalyptic AU, October 5th

Sometimes everyone can make the worst choices, which is exactly what you did.

“Help” Is Not the Correct Word- Yugyeom (GOT7), Comedy/Fluff, October 6th

Baking for a friend’s Halloween party becomes more entertaining than productive. Also extremely messy.

A Bleak Future- DK/Donghyuk (iKON), Angst/Time Travel AU, October 7th

The future is at risk and it must be saved.

Instant Karma- Ungjae (Imfact), Comedy, October 8th

Walking to the car alone at night can be quite frightening.

With Us- Hyungwon (Monsta X), Horror, October 9th

Sometimes interesting things are dangerous. Sometimes, it’s better to stick to the mundane and less interesting parts of life.

From the Prophecy- JR/Jonghyun (NU’EST), Fantasy AU, October 10th

Something in shimmering tones of periwinkle and turquoise was off in the distance, partially hidden behind two particularly tall trees and a boulder. Climbing down from the rock I’d been standing on, I cautiously walked through the underbrush of the forest towards the enchanting object.

Uncalled For- Keonhee (Oneus), Comedy/Fluff, October 11th

Lost in the woods, you need someone to lead you back.

Something to Make Me Smile- Taeyang (SF9), Fluff, October 12th

Drinking wine and painting can result in delightful failed creations.

A Lifetime With You (1)- Mingyu (SVT), Angst/Fluff/Soulmate AU, October 13th

Morning came slowly, the sun taking it’s time in rising. You had managed to get a few hours of rest once he had fallen asleep. One day turned into two, then into three, and so on until close to a week had passed.

Stitch Me Back Together (1)- Vixx, Supernatural/Fantasy AU, October 21st

Currently I was seated in front of my tv, a hot cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of me- being completely ignored. Some reruns of an older show were playing but I couldn’t focus on the scenes of characters bickering about some insignificant problem they had. My mind was too busy running through the events of last night for the millionth time.

Fated to the Past- Ren/Minki (NU’EST), Soulmate & Time Travel AU, October 22nd

With Panicked breathing I had to carefully but quickly maneuver through the building- over piles of rubble from the ceiling, under fallen pillars and branches that dangled through the ceiling.

Run- Sunyoul (Up10tion), Horror, October 23rd

Everything is capable of leading to ruin.

Costume Problems- Bambam (GOT7), Comedy, October 24th

Maybe you should’ve chosen your own costume.

Need to Let Go- Chunji (Teen Top), Angst, October 25th

Tragedies occur and leave devastation in their wake. Devastation that one must recover from.

Don’t Tell the Guard- Onew/Jinki (Shinee), Comedy/Historical/Pirate AU, October 26th

Some habits die hard.

Almost Like a Song (Listen Closer)- Ravi/Wonshik (Vixx), Fluff/Thought Piece, October 27th

“It’s only when you think to listen for the things that might be missing that you can find them.”

Breathless & Electrified- Hanse (Victon), Supernatural AU, October 28th

Going to a club after a long day is not your leisure activity of choice, yet and still that’s where you end up.

Creations of Gullveig- Seoho (Oneus), Magical AU, October 29th

A new shop opens on the busy street, but it doesn’t sell your typical wares.

A Royal Escape- Zuho (SF9), Fluff, October 30th

A lost cat is spotted in the halls.

The Hardest Part- Non-kpop, Angst w/Hopeful Ending, October 31st

“Become your own champion, because no one will ever fight harder for you than yourself.”

Aftermath- Key/Kibum (Shinee), Fluff, November 1st

Aftermath of a Halloween party.

Sometimes Quiet is Violent- Changjo (Teen Top), November 2nd

Relationships aren’t easy. And sometimes it’s better to end them than keep something so mangled and ruined around.

Untitled- Xiao/Dongyeol (Up10tion), Space/Sci-Fi AU,Post Date Delayed (Timeframe Unknown)

Untitled- Seungsik (Victon), Fluff, Post Date Delayed (Timeframe Unknown)

Untitled- Jinwoo (Winner), Fluff, Post Date Delayed (Timeframe Unknown)

Untitled- Xiumin/Minseok (EXO), Post Date Delayed (Timeframe Unknown)

Untitled- June/Junhoe (iKON), Post Date Delayed (Timeframe Unknown)

Masterlist Guide | A.C.E Masterlist | Astro Masterlist | B.A.P Masterlist | Exo Masterlist | GOT7 Masterlist | iKON Masterlist | Imfact Masterlist | Monsta X Masterlist | Nu’est Masterlist | Oneus Masterlist | Seventeen Masterlist | SF9 Masterlist | Shinee Masterlist | Teen Top Masterlist | Up10tion Masterlist | Victon Masterlist | Vixx Masterlist | Winner Masterlist | Soloist Masterlist | Series Masterlist

[prettywordsyouleft]

Various Idols Masterlist

Here are all my fictions, drabbles, scenarios and requested pieces I’ve written so far for idols who don’t yet have enough content for a separate masterlist/are soloists. All drabbles are 500 words or less. All fictions are first under each name.

[Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

Key: [M] mature content - [D] Drabble - [Sc] Scenarios - ☆ Author’s Favourite

2pm; 

The Cure - Junho office au / romance

ace;

You Shouldn’t Have [D] - Wow/Sehyoon

Quickfire [D] - Donghun

Non-Believers [D] - Donghun

b1a4;

Risky Visions -  Jinyoung demon au / angst / dark ☆

Birthday Kiss - Jinyoung fluff

Gift Wrapping [D] - Sandeul

big bang;

Next Christmas [D] - G-Dragon

Santa’s Knee [D] - TOP

btob;

Reassurance - Hyunsik fluff ☆

I Wished For You - Hyunsik fluff

Christmas Movies [D] - Ilhoon

Universe [D] - Hyunsik

Close Call [D] - Sungjae

Fluffy Socks [D] - Changsub

eric nam;

Dating Tiles - fluff

ft island;

Impossible [D] - Hongki

highlight;

Different Kisses with Yoseob [Sc]

infinite;

Last Minute Emergency [D] - Woohyun

jeong sewoon;

Incantation - fluff / witchcraft au ☆

All the Way To Your Soul [D]

kard; 

Christmas Has Arrived [D] - BM

n.flying;

A Big Reaction [D] - Jaehyun

pentagon;

Not Another One! [D] - Hui

Premonitions [D] - Kino

sf9;

Wavelength - Rowoon office au / enemies to lovers

Change In Traditions [D] - Chani

Decorating Payment [D] - Rowoon

Is It The Eggnog? [D] - Youngbin

the boyz;

Ulterior Motive - Changmin fluff

Christmas Foresight - Changmin angst-fluff / friends to lovers / christmas au

Unbridled - Juyeon university au / enemies to lovers

Atrocious [D] - Kevin

the rose;

Wrapping Confessions [D] - Woosung

x1;

Risky Christmas [D] - Seungyoun

yu seungwoo;

His Little Helper [D]

[slytherinshua]

　　　nomad masterlist ⟡₊ ⊹

⋆˙⟡ = author's pick !

　　　　sangha

birthday girl

genre: fluff. | wc: 422.

soft thoughts !

one

　　　　doeui

california love

genre: fluff. | wc: 663.

in the zone ⋆˙⟡

genre: fluff. | wc: 514.

late night kisses (req) ⋆˙⟡

genre: fluff. | wc: 806.

　　　　jiwon

pearls (req)

genre: fluff. | wc: 709.

　　　　kangsu

i'm yours (req) ⋆˙⟡

genre: fluff. friends to lovers. | wc: 938.

　　　　junho

nothing yet . . .

　　　　other

nomad as romance tropes ⋆˙⟡

starring: ot5 nomad. | genre: fluff. angst. headcanons. | wc: 3.3k.

cat scratches (req)

↳ your boyfriend is tasked with petsitting your cat while you're gone. starring: ot5 nomad. | genre: fluff. crack. fake texts.

[xylatox]

The Epilogue of Mountebank Chem 😭😭 its so bittersweet but this was such a lovely series. Everyone should definitely check out the other parts of the Love's an uncharted path universe because it's actually amazing!!!

Strangely enough, he doesn’t panic. He is sure of what you both have, he trusts you enough to know you didn’t run away from him, from you two, again. — I am so glad that after so much backvand forth between the 2 we finally reach peace I could cry.

I love that both of them paid/bribed someone just to get to this point, the rich really are different, but I love them so much. I missed reader's personality so much😭😭

I'm so happy that they're finally taking control of their own lives and being to pursue what they want

“No, um, that’s a completely different story. He keeps saying that he needs to film this one girl for the documentary but we all stopped believing him when he almost got beat up for filming her,” he explains, his hands brushing his wet hair back, “and he went back to do it again anyway.” — if this is a hint to what Yeosang's story will be about I'm so excited😭

Again, I love how much reader takes control of herself, how Soohyun hugs her and their relationship just makes me soft. I love her speaking up again both her parents??? you go girl :(

“Hey, hey.” Soohyun catches up to you quickly, his keys in his hands, his breath jagged like he escaped your mother’s claws because that’s probably what happened. “Sell out! You needed to signal me when you wanted to leave, dumbass!”  — I love their relationship:(( and the fact that he has a room for her :((((( I'd cry too

I love how easily reader fits with Yunhos friends like, I could cry.

“Against all odds,” you insist, “we’ll be alright.” — I'm going to sob, I can't believe it's over :(( I love them and I love this entire series so much.

mountebank chem: epilogue (JYH x reader).

part of the love's an uncharted path universe ★.

SUMMARY:

* 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤: 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐲. The first time you met Yunho, you knew he was going to be part of the biggest tragedy of your life: the loss of your freedom, of your free will. You didn't know why back then but what you did figure out is that you and Jeong Yunho were going to, eventually and very publicly, date each other at some point. Is that reason enough to hate his guts? Well, of course! Now, when the time comes to fulfill the prophecy, how the hell are you going to pull it off? And, most importantly, what do you need to do to not fall in love with him in the process?

PAIRING: rich!yunho x afab!rich!reader.

GENRE: enemies to friends to lovers.

WORD COUNT: 7.08k

WARNINGS & TAGS: attempt !!! at comedy, dual pov (both yunho's and reader's), use of fem pronouns for reader, the morning after and the day after that. reader and yunho are very in love is lowkey kind of gross everyone, kissing, fluff, dream-talk, yeosang talk too! a little bit of angst if you squint, decision making and finally standing up for yourself is hard and reader is doing their best, soohyun being a good brother and making reader cry, gyuri being a little shit, wooyoung being a little shit, seonghwa being a good friend, happy endings let's goooo.

NOTES: hi everyone! here's the epilogue i promised! like i've said in a few asks that i've gotten, there's a little bit of the next story here, just something so you all have context of it before going in. i don't know when that one is going to be up (i'm not really far along with it) but either way i want to thank all of you for the patience and the wait! i really loved writing mbc:'). this is 100% self indulgent, as all fics should be, and i think i've re-read it so many times that if you find a typo or something that just doesn't make sense, you can blame it on english not being my first language i guess lmao. i hope you enjoy it and if you do feel free to send to my askbox/reblog/type in any feedback or thoughts! <3

POSTED: february 20th 2025.

taglist: @kyunlov, @tinyelfperson, @0115degrees, @daniela-f-uwu, @ultrapinkvoidbouquet, @kyeomooniee, @fairylover68, @sushiinmidnight, @qveenbunni, @calmoistorm, @potatomountain, @svintsandghosts, @lemonkait00, @blue5ummer, @fancypeacepersona, @hyukssunflower, @i-love-ateez, @alsomimi, @e3ellie, @st3ft0n3s, @hotteokkay, @xylatox, @honeybeehorizon, @hwallazia, @mady-66.

masterlist - part one - part two. part three. part four.

When Yunho wakes up, rested and naked, the room is dark. 

He turns to the side and the curtains are, of course, down but the thing is that he doesn’t remember closing them the night before. 

When he turns to where you’re supposed to be, the bed is made on your side and you’re not there. 

Strangely enough, he doesn’t panic. He is sure of what you both have, he trusts you enough to know you didn’t run away from him, from you two, again. 

Also, he can smell a mix of coffee and the turpentine-like smell of paint as he gets dressed with his boxers and the slacks he was wearing the night before after picking them up off the floor and going to the bathroom to wash his face. 

He pokes his face out to the living space and there’s a make-shift tarp on the floor, the furniture is moved around to make space for you and an easel. You’re sitting down on a wooden stool, painting away and he wonders if he just missed that last night or if he genuinely just passed out and didn't notice this much change. 

He clears his throat “Good morning, princess.” 

You jump a little, turning your head to look at him and there’s paint on your face and your hand when you wave at him. 

“Hi, Jeong.” 

“Seriously?” 

“What?” 

He chuckles “No cute nickname? Just Jeong?” 

“Well, that is your name, isn’t it?” You turn back and he catches that you’re pretending to focus on your painting, but you’re repassing the same painstrokes as before. 

“We’re going to have to work on it,” he lets out a sigh that turns into a yawn. “Sorry that I slept in on you. What time is it?” 

“Around three.” 

“In the afternoon?!” Yunho looks around for his phone but he locates the clock in the wall first and he confirms your words. “Princess, why didn’t you wake me up? We could’ve spent the day together…” 

“I rather you rest,” you shrug and he takes a few steps until he’s behind you, his hands immediately reaching out to touch you. He can’t help it, he wants to physically fuse into you but he compromises with nature and just massages your shoulders. “You have sectionals in two weeks, right?” 

He frowns at the reminder, a tiny smile on his lips a second later. 

“How do you know that?”

You stop the brush on the canvas and then look at him again, eyelashes batting with fake innocence. 

“I kind of bribed my assistant so she could bribe yours and now your general schedule is on my phone…” 

He fakes a gasp and he marvels in the pout he gets in return. 

“I needed to know when you were leaving the dorm this week!” 

“So you could drop the gift?” 

“Mhm,” you say, puckering your lips to ask for a kiss. He pretends to go for it and he truly pats his back for having a little of self-restraint when he dodges you to pretend he just thought about something. 

“Oh! That reminds me…” 

You huff in annoyance and interrupt whatever he’s about to say. 

“How did you know my room number and who let you in?” 

“I paid the receptionist and showed him proof that we were together,” he explains like it’s nothing and you huff again, amused this time. “Told him I wanted to surprise you.” 

“That’s so irresponsible.” 

Yunho reaches the box he left on the coffee table last night, opens it and pulls the polaroids out. 

“You dropped this off without any explanation! What are these?” 

When he turns around, you’re already painting again and he gets a five second look in his direction before you return your attention to your art. 

“Oh.” there’s a smile on your lips Yunho loves, although he’s not sure if it’s because you’re doing what you love or if you got reminded of something. “I was hoping you asked me about it. I, um, stayed at a resort during New Years, in Gangwondo.”

“Is this the first time we spent Chrismtas and New Years away from each other?” 

“Not the first time,” you muse and then shrug, “but definitely the first time in a long time, huh?” 

“I didn't like it.” 

“Why?” You look at him again and he sits on his knees on the couch like a neglected child, looking your way. You seem to find it endearing, because you laugh. “Because you didn't have anyone to kick under the table this year?” 

“That has never happened.” 

“Liar. Anyway, they have this winter festival that goes all the way until mid January and they have this… Traditional and modern fusion media dance performance that made me think of you. So I took some pictures of the dancers.” 

“So you just put them in the box because you took them while thinking of me?” 

There’s shyness painting your tone when you reply “Yeah.” 

His heart thumps happily inside his chest and he gets off the couch. 

“I love you.” 

You laugh again “I love you too, Yunho,” and, as you shake your head a little, you look in the kitchenette direction with your lips pointed at it. “I ordered some breakfast that you can heat up or you can give me… Twenty minutes and I can change and we can—” 

Yunho revels in the squeak of surprise you let out when he closes the distance, leans in and catches your lips in a short but firm kiss. 

“We can stay in all day if you want to.” He says and you kiss his lips one more time. 

“Okay,” you seem happy to have that option so he sees the moment you make the decision to not push going out at all. “There’s some clothes for you in the walk-in closet. I ordered them when I ordered all of this,” you point at the mess on the tarp and the floor, “I figured you might need them.”

“Thank you, my love.” He whispers and he pecks your lips before reaching for your nearly empty coffee cup. 

“There’s also one for you in the—” 

“I want this one,” he says, a sly smile on his lips and one of his hands returns to your shoulders to massage them. 

He takes a look at the canvas for once and he notices that, what he thought was a solid background color and some structure, has actually started to look like the view in front of you both, with the Namsan Tower in the back. 

“What about the CD?” 

“Hm?”

“Your gift,” he reminds you, “there’s also a CD.” 

“A mixtape, with songs that make me think of us.”

Yunho blows some air and he doesn’t have to look down to see you’re frowning at the sound “You’re a romantic.” 

“Do you want to die?” 

He laughs but doesn’t address the threat at all. Instead, the focus is on your art “The painting of us and the kids is beautiful,” he can feel your skin under his palm heat up at the compliment and it makes him smile. “This one is too.” 

“It all just flows so much smoothly when I don’t have to think about work or being home,” you admit, your body relaxing into his when he takes a sip of the cup and brings it around for you to do the same. “I want to stay here, with you, forever.” 

“And we can,” he murmurs into your head, leaving a kiss on your temple a second later. “If that’s what you want.” 

“I want to move out,” you say, your tone full of wishfulness and Yunho takes in a breath at what that could mean for you, “I want to quit my job.” 

“And what do you want to do for work, then?” He asks, already supporting the decision. “You want to paint?” 

You shake your head, looking up at him, a wishful glint in your eye “I want to be an art teacher.” 

“Oh?” 

“Do you want to work for your father?” 

“Not in a million years, I— Princess, don’t get mad for what I’m about to tell you, okay?”

You turn in the stool, looking up at him with an inquisitorial brow until he crouches down on the floor to meet your eye. 

“My plan has always been to pretend to work and go along with him until I graduate college. Then, I want to move away. I want to… I don’t know, get disowned?” 

Eyes widening, you take in a sharp breath and then cough into your hand. 

He offers you the cup so you can take the final sip out of it. 

“It’s part of why I went along with the PR relationship in the first place.” 

You nod and he gulps, staring as you get lost in thought for a second. 

“Why would I be mad?” 

“Because I sort of planned to use you?” 

“Not really, though. You wanted to use the relationship they threw us into?” 

“Yeah.” 

“That’s understandable, then. I… I understand.” This time, you’re the one gulping and he opens his mouth to say something but you beat him to it. “I, um, I’m not sure if I actually can go against my parents wishes and never see my brother again, Yun.” 

He shakes his head. “If you think for a second that Soohyun is going to give a fuck about your parents feelings, you’re wrong. I… Me and Gunho are not as close as I want us to be, you know? But we talk about things.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Sometimes,” his laugh lasts a few seconds only and then he clears his throat. “If there’s something I'm sure of, princess, is that your brother loves you with all his heart. If you want to step away from the family business, from your parents, he… He’ll understand.” 

You nod again. 

“And I’m not saying any of this because I want you to do the same things I want to do but I—” 

You interrupt him “What do you want to do?” 

“Huh?”

“Do you want to work as an engineer?” 

“Yes,” he breathes out and you smile, “but I also want to dance. Have an academy, maybe, but I need money and experience and a name.” 

“You already have a name.” 

“I need to make a name for myself, princess,” he explains and you nod like you already knew, because you probably did. “Get a stage name, maybe.” 

“Ha!” you laugh and he raises his eyebrows, amused by your reaction. “Maybe… Yunho the rakehell? Yunho… Oh! Yunho the bitchl—” 

“Stop that!” 

It seems like that joke is never to die down and he’s glad, he’s glad that he doesn’t take genuine offense in it anymore and he’s glad it makes you laugh in a way he wants to record and play on repeat forever. 

Grabbing his face, your thumbs brush against his cheeks and he can swear he has never felt so at ease until now. This, waking up and going out of the room to find you doing what you love. You, looking at him with some much love, it's hard to believe it took you both so long to leave your pride behind and work it out. 

“You are worth it, Yunho,” you whisper and he knows right away you’re referring to the fight you both had at the office, “and I have no idea how we’re going to make it, but we are. Of that I’m sure, my love. I trust you,” you brush his hair back and off his forehead, “I trust us.” 

He holds your face as well, the pad of his finger passing over the dry paint on your cheek.

“I trust us, too.” 

Before he can react, you’re smooching his lips again and he melts into the encounter, the passion of last night bleeding into his movements once again and painting him red when he gets on his knees and pulls you into his lap in a smooth motion. You yelp and laugh and then you moan into his mouth when his hands find your ass and his fingers dig into it through the jeans you’re wearing. 

Huh. 

You’re wearing jeans. 

They look so natural and good on you that he didn’t even notice it’s the first time he seeing you in jeans. 

“Again?” You ask, already winded and clinging onto him for dear life in a way that makes him laugh. He pulls back and finds you shyly smiling at him but it doesn’t really help your care that he can see right through the act. 

“Can you blame me?” 

“Yes, actually.” 

“Y/N…” 

“It was a joke,” you grab his shoulders to shake him to no avail and then before getting up you lean in to kiss his cheek in a manner so sweet that makes him all giddy, like a fool in love. Maybe because that’s what he is. “Take a shower.” 

“Take it with me.” He says, without thinking about it but one hundred percent meaning it. 

“I already showered.” 

He makes sure to scrunch his nose and make a funny face “Did you really?” 

It’s not really a surprise when you turn around from your painting and swipe your brush across his mouth. 

“I smell amazing and you smell like shit. Go and shower, Jeong.” 

He enjoys ticking you off a bit too much. Either way he laughs, the taste of paint on his tongue when he does and, when he gets up and goes to the bathroom, he hears the soft sound of your giggle and his heart feels full.  

And then you get him back like ten minutes later, by turning off the light in the bathroom and almost giving him a heart attack at the sudden loss of it. He breathes out an exaggerated sigh and, when you turn them back on, he turns around and watches you through the glass divider. 

Unfortunately for you, the glass is frosted from his chest down, but you lean against the marble counter and eye him suggestively nonetheless. He continues with his shower as if this is the most normal scenario ever for the two of you. 

It feels like it, anyway. 

“Can I help you, princess?” 

“Tomorrow I’ll go home,” you start, not a question or a request, but a fact. “I’ll go home and I'm going to sit with them all at dinner and let them hear what I’m going to do from now on. They don’t need to know that I’m going to take classes—” 

“You are?” 

Humming, you nod once and then twice after a second of looking at the floor, determination in your stare when you look up at him again. “I’m going to get a bachelor’s in art education, maybe just art first. It’ll take time but…” You shrug. 

“But you’ll be doing what makes you happy.” He finishes for you. 

“Yeah,” you return softly, “and I'll be detached from my family’s hip eventually.” 

“One will argue,” he says, closing his eyes to avoid shampoo to get into them, “that you’re already pretty independent.” 

“While doing my work and my brother’s work, sure,” you smile, “but not when it comes to living on my own.” 

An idea crosses his mind and colors his cheeks, so he hums “You’ll be lonely.” 

“I already feel that way at home… But I do love the idea of having a space all for myself.” 

He hums again and then wipes the water from his eyes to send you a look. 

“How much do you love it?” 

“Jeong,” you say, laughing when you finally get what he’s suggesting, “we’re not moving in together.” 

He pouts. 

“Yet.” 

He smiles at you again. 

“Besides,” turning around, you let out a tired sigh when you catch the paint on your face and then you open the faucet to clean it off, “then Yeosang would miss you too much and he’ll blame me. I don’t want your friend to hate me.”

“He would never—” 

You don’t let him dismantle your excuses “What is he up to with that documentary, anyway?” 

He closes the shower and reaches for a towel the next second, not even bothering fully covering himself up when he gets out and you send him a look through the mirror, one he can’t decide if it’s in reproach or if it’s charged with something else. Probably both. 

But he plays coy and tries his best to answer your question as he secures the towel around his hips. 

“He’s doing this documentary about dance, he’s been working on it for a while. Obviously I’m the star of it,” he watches you roll your eyes and he bumps your arm with his in retaliation. “But my co-stars are taking all of his attention now. It’s kind of annoying.” 

“And he finds them— your co-stars I mean,” your eyes roll again, “at the club?” 

Yunho barely helps the laugh that spills out of his lips.

“No, um, that’s a completely different story. He keeps saying that he needs to film this one girl for the documentary but we all stopped believing him when he almost got beat up for filming her,” he explains, his hands brushing his wet hair back, “and he went back to do it again anyway.” 

Your hip connects to the countertop again, your back to the mirror “So he’s in love?” 

“I don’t think so. I think he’s… Intrigued.” 

“Is she an exotic dancer or something?” 

“What?” 

“What?” you return, shrugging, “nothing wrong with stripping for a living.”

“I know, that’s not what I meant—” 

“Do you have something against strippers, Yunho?” Your eyes narrow at him. 

“N-no, of course I—”

“Oh, you don’t?”

“Princess…” He breathes out another laugh, a nervous chuckle this time. “Stop teasing me.” 

Your frown slowly breaks into a smile and he shakes his head in disbelief. 

“But you look so cute when you’re flustered!”

He stops messing with his hair to grab your hips and make sure you have nowhere to go, trapped between his body and the cold marble behind you. 

“I’m not cute,” he says, low, almost in a whisper, “and I showered.” 

“Yunho… Are you not hungry at all? You have to eat something.” 

He wants to laugh again but he stops himself, his hands roaming your front and slipping to your legs when he kneels a little “Hm, I’m starving.” 

Gasping when he kisses your middle through your shirt, you push him away with feign distress written all over your expression. 

“Jeong!” 

He gets back up again “What?” 

“Are you going to be this much of a troublemaker when we live together? I have things to do!” 

He stops, his hands holding your hips still and then you gasp again when he tugs and presses you against his body. 

“You said when.” 

You gulp “I know what I said.” 

“You’re making plans for the future and I’m in them.” 

“Well,” you titter with a nervous glint in your eye, but your chin is up the next second, “you know what? Yeah. Yes, I am, because I love—” 

He presses his lips against yours before you finish your sentence and when he pulls away you push on his chest again. 

“Annoying.” You say but you don’t mean it and he laughs, his arms going around you before you melt into his embrace fully. 

“Do you want me to go with you?” 

“Tomorrow?” 

“Mhm.” 

You think about it, he can feel you thinking as he rocks you both from side to side “No,” you finally say, in a whisper and then your next words come out firmer. “No, I need to do this on my own. I would love to see you later tomorrow night, though.” 

“Hm, I have practice and then I promised to help Gyuri move in with Wooyoung but I can tell them that I’m in love and busy.” 

“No, no,” you pull back, smiling a little, “Can I… I mean, I can help.”

He smiles as well “You want to?” 

You nod. 

“She has a bunch of shit but San is moving most of the stuff because, partially, it’s his fault she has to move, so.” 

“Hm, how so?”

“Gyuri and his girlfriend live together, for years now, and now they want to move in with each other so Gyuri is forced to live with the embodiment of mischief while she finds an apartment she can afford.” 

You laugh “I don’t think it bothers her that much.” 

“Why?” He frowns and, at his question, you give him an incredulous look. “Why?” 

“Baby, oh my God.” 

He lets you go and you push him away fully, getting out of the bathroom. 

“Do you know something I don’t?” 

“Figure it out, dummy!” 

He’s truly, genuinely and utterly confused, but the smile on his face hardly goes down as he watches you sit down in front of your painting again, from the bathroom door’s threshold. 

And his heart aches for the pain you’re probably going to endure the next day. 

When you enter the code to your front door, bag in hand, it’s almost lunch time. You didn’t let them know you’ll be returning today but you’re sure the way your suitcase falls at the dining room’s entrance is enough to alert them. Soohyun jumps a little, your mother lets out a scream and your father looks up from his phone slowly, gives you a look, and then looks back down. 

“Oh, great, you’re back. Y/N, next time would you please let me know when you’re showing up so I can schedule your appointments accordingly— Kim Y/N!” 

Your mother's scandalized scream is not what surprises you. What surprises you is the hug Soohyun gets up to give you, a tight squeeze that you smile into and then make a face at when he pulls away. 

“You look beautiful,” he whispers to just you. “Don’t let her tell you otherwise.” 

Nodding, you finally face your mother whose jaw is almost hitting the floor by now. Your father, as usual, is unbothered and tapping his fingers against the glass of the table, impatiently waiting for his food. 

“Why do you mutilate yourself like this? And without notifying your team, nonetheless! We’ll have to… Get you some hair extensions for the shoot that you have—”

“No.”

She pauses, her jaw ticking and her eyebrow raising in warning. A few months ago, the mere thought of upsetting her would’ve sent you into a panic attack. Now, you stand your ground and curve your lips with pride, lift your chin up with courage and hold the handle of your suitcase a little tighter because you need it, because your hands tremble a little. 

“Excuse me?” 

“I said no,” you repeat yourself and your tone gains you your father's attention. “I’m sure the public can survive a haircut, mom. Can you?” 

“Kim Y/N do not talk to me like that!” 

She steps your way and your brother steps a side, giving you a wide eyed look that can only mean a here she goes again and you purse your lips to stop yourself from nervously laughing at it. 

“You cut your hair, you leave for three months and come back all… All chubby,” oh, my god, “and you dare to speak to me that way?!” 

The mention of your weight does send a little panic cruising through you. It has your father huffing from his seat and your brother snapping his head rapidly in your mother’s direction, a frown creasing his eyebrows and you can tell he’s about to say something but you stop him with a shake of your head.

And then you laugh. 

You taste something bitter in your mouth and you can see the exact moment she notices her words are not affecting you the way they usually do. 

“I think it’s time I move out,” you start, with a tiny, sardonic smile on your lips, “and I also think it is also time you think about the way you speak to me, mother. And I think you,” you turn to your father, “need to think about all the times you allowed her to talk to me that way.”

Your dad looks up, raises his eyebrows, hums and then looks back down again. 

“Sure thing.” He says. 

“What is happening right now?” your mother asks, a nervous chuckle coming out of her and after that she moves her hand, dismissing your point and turning to go to her seat again. “You’re talking nonsense. Go upstairs and wash. You’re obviously not having dinner, I hope.” 

She’s always doing it on purpose, bringing you down like that on purpose, but right now? Right now she craves vengeance. You notice it in the way she looks for your reaction when she looks up. 

“I am having dinner. Not here, not with you, not anymore.” 

Your mother sighs, rubs her forehead with her thumb and her index “Kim Y/N, I beg, stop terrorizing me and—” 

“She’s moving in with me.” 

You turn to Soohyun, he gives you a look to signal you to follow his lead. 

“She’s a little bit too grown up and independent to live under your roof still, mom. Dad?” He asks and your father looks up. “Don’t you agree?” 

“Well,” your father cleans his throat, his back hitting the back of his chair as he thinks it over, “she is capable of being on her own. Besides, her room can make a wonderful office for you, dear.” 

“Her room is staying hers because she’s not going anywhere!” Your mom stands up again, voice dark and tone painted over with something you’ve never even heard before. Not coming from her, at least: Fear. “Why do you suddenly want to move out? Is there…” She closes her mouth and then gulps, breathing out a laugh the next second. “Are you running away with someone, Y/N? Is that it? Did you fall in love on your little trip? You’re promised to someone!” 

“Promised? I am not promised because we’re in the twenty-first century, mom!” 

“To Yunho, Y/N! Don’t be stupid and tell your little fling to get lost!”

“Mom…” Soohyun warns but she laughs again, indignant. 

“What? She knows this already. How would the Jeong’s feel if—” 

“I don’t care what they feel!” 

Your voice resonates in the room, it shuts everyone up, it makes your mom take a step back and your father blocks his phone, finally interested in what’s going on. 

“I am with Yunho.” 

Your mother smiles a second too late at what you said and opens her mouth, but you interrupt whatever nonsense she’s about to spew out. 

“I am with him but not because you or his mother planned it. I’m not trying to fullfill your little fucked up fantasy—” 

“Y/N!” She gasps at the cursing but you continue nonetheless. 

“I am with him because I love him. I love him and he loves me and we are together because, against all odds, we ended up bonding and finding comfort and solace in each other. We made the choice, we did,” you insist on it, to let her know that it doesn’t matter if you two being together is exactly what she wanted, the final say is on you and Yunho alone. “I have something you two could never have and that’s companionship and true understanding that’s not rutted in power or in money. He… He made me realize we’re so much more than this.” You move your hands in the space between you and the rest of the room and your father hums a bitter sound in return.

“This,” your father gets up from his seat, hands going in the pockets of his dress pants and eyebrows raised with a sardonic edge to them that pisses you off, “is your family.”

“I know and that makes it worse,” you nod and the slow anger showing in his expressions grows just a tad bit more, so you go on before anyone else can interrupt you again. “Here’s what’s going to happen from now on, dad; If you want me to, I’ll keep working at the company, but Soohyun's responsibilities are solely his from now on,”  you turn to your brother and he gives a fake pout but then he nods. “My job is simple, my job should allow me to focus on what I really want and, once I get what I really want, I'll make sure to find someone who can fit my spot so seemingly you won't even notice I'm gone.”

“I thought that what you wanted was to work for this company, Y/N.” Your father says.

“I thought so too,” you murmur back to him before shrugging, “but now I’m not so sure.” 

A bit of pregnant silence passes. The air feels thick now that you told them your terms, your plan or what you allowed them to hear of it anyways. Like you told your boyfriend, there’s no need for them to know that you want to take classes or teach. 

You’ll just do it. No need for their approval.  

But your mother still grasps at the control she had on you three months ago. She holds on to it, desperately and, if you were someone else and the situation was any different, you would probably admire the strength it takes to stay this egotistical and delusional until the end. 

She doesn’t seem to understand that her only daughter is running away from her. You’re not sure she cares, either and it hurts because, deep down, you expected to walk off with redemption on her side. 

Sometimes, there’s no redemption at all from the people who hurt you. 

And that’s also okay. 

“Are you done?” She asks, looking around. “Are you all done with this nonsense?” 

Taking in a breath, you try to tell her that what you said it’s what’s going to happen but she is not having it. 

“No,” her finger is up and you raise your eyebrow at it, which gains you a raise on hers in return. “No. You’re not looking for a replacement and no you’re not moving out. That’s insane, Kim Y/N, that’s—” 

“What’s my favorite color?” You interrupt to ask her and she stops, opening and closing her mouth while searching for an answer. “What’s my favorite sweet?” 

“You don’t have one.” 

“I do, I actually have two. What’s my favorite book? Movie? Song?” You turn to your dad this time. “What’s my favorite marketing strategy? Do you even know that one?” 

Silence. 

“You don’t know me enough to want to keep me here. I understand why you might think you do, but you don’t. Because, guess what? I’m an adult.”

Your mother opens her mouth and closes it again when you shake your head. 

And although you’re not speaking to her anymore, you keep looking at your mother straight in the eye and you’re able to catch the exact moment she realizes she lost. 

She lost. 

“I’m an adult with a paying job and savings you didn’t need to know anything about. So you either take it or leave it. Dad?” 

“You want me to decide now?” 

You let out a bitter laugh “You can do whatever you want. Just know that I’m not settling for anything else but what I told you. I can either train someone or you can fire me and I can look for a new job,” you explain, “but either way I’m out of here.” 

Your mother sighs and then mutters under her breath, but you catch it “What is everyone going to say?” 

“I don’t care,” you tell her again and at the response she looks up, startled, like she didn’t expect you to keep going. “Now, I hope you have a lovely lunchr.”

You’re positively shaking when you step into the hallway and through the front door again, with your suitcase in your hand still and no actual plan on where you want to go. Maybe back to the hotel?

Mind reeling, it finally registers the fact that your mother turned to your father and pleaded him to do something for the sake of the family's image just before you stepped foot outside of the house. It was a screech of don't let her go, do something! laced with clear selfish concern. 

You feel panic rising, closing your throat up and you feel lost, lost in what you just did, lost in what it actually means for you. 

“Hey, hey.” Soohyun catches up to you quickly, his keys in his hands, his breath jagged like he escaped your mother’s claws because that’s probably what happened. “Sell out! You needed to signal me when you wanted to leave, dumbass!” 

His eyes linger on your trembling hands when he takes the suitcase from you and you do your best to steady them. 

“You didn’t have anything to eat.” 

“I know. Where are you going?” 

“To… I don’t really know. Yunho’s dorm?” 

Soohyun laughs. 

“You have a house, you know.”

“I think I’m very much homeless right now. I’m getting trapped and probably thrown in a cell if I go back inside.” You swallow tightly as the realization washes over you. “She’s so mad.” 

“My house,” he clarifies, rolling his eyes. “I told them you’re moving in with me, didn’t I?” 

“Soohyun…” 

“I meant it,” there’s something soft in his eyes before he turns to open the main gate so you can both walk up to his car. “You can stay with me. Like you said, you’re grown and I won't have to look after you anymore.” 

“Pfft,” that brings out a genuine laugh out of you, “anymore.” 

“I remember running behind you in the garden because you couldn't keep still the second you learned how to walk!” 

You look at him with a pout as he opens the trunk, throwing your bag in it without any care in the world. 

Like an older brother would. 

If your eyes turn watery, you make sure to swallow back the emotion before he can figure out why. 

“Can I have my own room?” 

“You have a room there already,” he admits, shrugging. “I mean, I thought about you when buying the apartment. Guhno usually stays there but I’m sure he can take the couch when he comes over and— Aw, Y/N!” 

By the time he closes the trunk, you’re already crying. A little, enough for him to notice it. 

“I don’t want to hear it. Open the door.” 

“I’m so telling Yunho you cried!” 

“Leave him out of it!” You push his shoulder, quickly getting into the car when he unblocks the doors and he does the same. “He’s staying over whenever he wants, by the way.” 

Soohyun laughs, his eyes wide when he turns to you “Not a chance in hell, Kim Y/N.”

“Okay, then your boyfriend is not staying over either!” 

“I don’t have a boyfriend!” 

You muse, trying not to laugh “I’m telling Gunho oppa you’re denying your love to my face.”

Your brother lets out a sigh and then you squeak when he pulls your hair, playfully, before looking at you with the most sincere stare Kim Soohyun has probably given anyone ever. 

“I’m really proud of you, kid.” 

Pouting again, you look away and through the window as he pulls out of the curb and into the streets, the house you grew up in quickly fading into the background and your heart thumping hard against your ribs. 

“Are you crying again?” 

“Ugh,” you turn to him, tears running down your cheeks and a smile pulling at your lips, “you’re so annoying.” 

Your clothes are now in your room at Soohyun’s (and yours) apartment, in the walk-in closet. Your brother's taste is nothing short of luxurious and obnoxious and the room is decorated in a way you would never think of decorating it but he swears he has someone who can fix it for me if he wants to.

He forgets that you already know Seonghwa but it's okay, because when you show up at Gyuri’s old apartment, you make sure to find him to tell him just that. 

“I've literally told him that we both know Yunho and each other. Wasn't he the one who gave you my number?” Seonghwa asks, mouth hanging open a bit in surprise. 

“He did, yes.” 

Seonghwa huffs in amusement and you shrug a little “Well, do you want me to work in your room?” He asks after a few seconds and you smile, considering. 

“I think I’m going to do it myself, Hwa.” 

At the nickname, his smile widens and he nods. You think he’s about to say something else, however your attention drifts from your newfound friend and your eyes search for Yunho in the middle of the room, on the floor, as he takes a piece of furniture apart. 

He’s wearing a dark grey crewneck that makes him look so deliciously good you can’t barely help your staring. There’s not one ounce of shame on your body and you’re sure it shows on your face because Seonghwa laughs besides you. 

“So I didn’t paint over the tree,” he says and you frown, turning to him, “but I take you reconsidered my point anyway?” 

“Oh, shut up.” 

“It’s not going to happen,” the mockery in his tone while he tries to make an impression of you doesn’t offend you because you can see the intention behind it and it makes you laugh, roll your eyes and close your arms over your chest, like a child who just got caught. “It’s not going to happen, my ass. Look at you!” 

“So I was wrong, who cares?” 

“I do, I love being right.” 

“He does,” Wooyoung comes into view from the kitchen, a drop of sweet doing his temple and into his cheek that Seonghwa wipes away like it’s nothing. “But I can say I called it first, remember? I’m never wrong.”

“You most certainly are,” Hwa says and you laugh at the expression Wooyoung makes to his friend, offended. Seonghwa turns to you. “He’s wrong most of the time.” 

“Okay, that’s it, you’re helping me with the weird spice rack she insists on taking.” Wooyoung takes his elder arm and pulls, making you laugh and Seonghwa gasps. 

“You’ve been working on that all afternoon!”

“She installed it herself so it’s all wonky, Hwa.” 

Gyuri screams from behind a pile of clothes. You can't even see her even though you know she's standing up. “It is not wonky, Jung Wooyoung!” 

Pursing your lips so you don't laugh at her predicament, you watch as Wooyoung silently communicates to Seonghwa that the space rack is, in fact, wonky and then you jump a little when arms close around you from behind. 

“Stop complaining, Woo, you're going to have the pleasure to install it however you want later.” Yunho's voice is close to your ear and you hug the arms that hold you, melting into the embrace. 

Gyuri laughs sharply when she registers what he said and Wooyoung makes a face at your boyfriend “I hate it here.” 

“Sure you do, Wooyoung.” You nod at him, joking even though you don’t know him that well, and Seonghwa joins the tiny laugh you let out at the face Wooyoung gives you. 

“I truly did not need a new addition to the group if I was going to get bullied by them as well.” 

You fake offense, laughing a second later and Yunho swats a hand on his friend’s shoulder as he passes by you both and into the kitchen again. Seonghwa rolls his eyes before following Wooyoung into the kitchen as well. 

Yunho breathes out, his lips finding your cheek “How are you feeling?” 

Turning to him, you smile a little. You know he’s asking about what went a little earlier today. 

“I’m good, baby,” you whisper back, leaning in a little and kissing him tenderly on the lips. He reciprocates but when you pull away you can see the concern in his eyes. “I promise. I already knew how she was going to react.” 

“Me too but that doesn’t make it any less fucked up, Princess.” 

“I know,” letting out a sigh, you turn to the living room again and the corners of your lips lift at the mess. “But I’m out of the house and I’m alright now.” 

“My mom texted me to congratulate us.” 

“Oh?” You don’t turn to him again but your eyebrows raise in surprise. “Did you answer?” 

“No,” he breathes out a laugh, “but I should.”

“We can’t run from them forever, Yun,” you feel him nod against you and, finally, you turn around completely to face him. His hands find your waist, his lips curve as he watches you over and you do the same. “Also, you’re banned from my house.” 

His smile drops. 

“Huh?” 

“Soohyun doesn’t want you sleeping over.” 

“What did I do?” 

You hear someone laughing behind you and Gyuri comes into view a second later “You’re the official boyfriend now, Yunho, you lost your sleeping over privileges.” 

“I never had them to begin with!” 

“Well—” The sound of glass breaking stops her in her tracks and she goes a little pale at what it means. “Call the police, I’m committing a murder and then turning myself in.” 

And then she disappears into the kitchen as well. Faintly, you can hear Seonghwa laughing. You hold onto Yunho, fingers threading softly into the strands of hair on his neck. 

“They’re not helping us when we move in together.” 

Yunho laughs. 

“When we move in together we’re going to hire professionals.” 

“Exactly.” 

“And Seonghwa can do the interior design of the main part of the house but we can handle our room and studios by ourselves.” 

“Mhm.” 

There’s that slight glint of concern that crosses his expression again when you take in a deep breath, but you shake your head so he can let go of it. 

“We’ll be okay, Yun. We are okay.” 

You watch him swallow tightly but then he nods. There’s a lot you both should be concerned about right now but, as you hear Wooyoung scream from the kitchen and a loud smack against the wall nearest to you, you both silently decide to be in the moment. 

It doesn’t really matter what hardships you go through, as long as you’re together. 

“Against all odds,” you insist, “we’ll be alright.” 

I love them and I'm so sad to let them go but hey! that's life! If you read all the way down hear, thank you so, so much. Don't be afraid to go into my askbox to make comments, suggestions, etc! I will take everything into account for my other stories. Thank you!

© jensthwa, 2025.

[badtitude]

— MASTERlist

angst (a) : fluff (f) : suggestive (s) : smut (mdni)

POW;

- i don’t like your boyfriend, ot5 (f)

82MAJOR;

- diamonds or them pearls, ot6 (f)

YOON YECHAN

- as your boyfriend, dating habits (f) (s)

NOMAD;

JEONG JUNHO

- your song, established relationship (f)

EVNNE;

LEE JEONGHYEON

- love spell, first date (f)

AMPERSANDONE;

CHOI JIHO

- body heat, (f)

ONE PACT;

YOON JONGWOO

- orbit, second chance (f) (a)

LUN8;

- after a long day, ot8 (f)

[jeongyunhoed]

8 Stories, 8 Movies from the Golden Age (1930s to 1960s).

It’s the golden age and 8 men are the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Ateez, but make them Old Hollywood, basically. Lights, camera, action!

Member: Yunho

Genre: Murder mystery, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of romance and fluff

Warnings: Murder (as it is a murder mystery), mentions of it including suicide, death, blackmail, alcohol drinking

Things to note: Set in the 1930s, established marriage

Will have OCs

As with the rest of the stories in the AU, there will be other idols mentioned, most likely NCT but may have some of my other faves (EXO, etc.)

Masterlist

Former private detective-turned-society man Jeong Yunho is brought back to sleuthing when an inventor goes missing and his mistress is murdered. With a little help from his wife, and from a martini or two.

The Thin Man

tag list: @minervaaaaaaaa , @closer-stars

Part 2

An hour since Sungyoung’s call and Yunho and Juhyun were at the living room, listening to the radio where the news of the murder was already being reported. Asta was curled up in the corner by the bed as Yunho made his way to the bar, mixing a cocktail again. 

“And here’s the latest news in the Woo Jaekyung murder! The police have found out that the beautiful secretary was a gangster’s girl and is spreading the dragnet for one Choi Jongho said to be hiding out somewhere in the city. In Paris today the chamber of deputies-” 

“Never mind the chamber of deputies. Choi Jongho, that’s what I want to know about,” Juhyun turned the radio off and sat by the phone. “I’m suddenly hungry, I’ll order some food,” She picked up the receiver. “That sounds like an interesting case. Wouldn’t you like to take it?” She glanced at her husband. 

“I haven’t the time. I’m busy seeing that you don’t lose any of the money I married you for,” Yunho hiccuped, making her laugh. 

Juhyun was watching him take another drink, ordering food right away when room service picked up on the other line. “Did you get any more information out of headquarters?” 

“I know as much as they do,” Yunho replied. “Woo Jaekyung was shot and killed about nine or nine-thirty. Body discovered on the floor of the bedroom a little after eleven-” 

“Who discovered it?” Juhyun asked. 

“That would surprise you. Yang Hyomin.” 

“Park Sungyoung’s mother, right? What was she doing there?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Where’s Park Junho?” 

“Still missing,” Yunho mumbled, putting the shaker away. 

“Missing? But Hongjoong was going to see him, didn’t he?” He had an appointment,” Juhyun looked surprised. 

“I spoke to Hongjoong. Junho never showed up. No one knows where he is.” 

“That sounds like a good case. Girl mysteriously murdered. No one knows who did it. They haven’t found any clues yet. No gun, no fingerprints,” Juhyun eyed him knowingly. 

Yunho paused and gently pinched her cheek. “I don’t want to know anything else about it.” 

Juhyun wrinkled her nose and laughed as she hung up, sighing. “It’s going to be pretty tough on Sungyoung, isn’t it?” 

“Mm? Why?” He sat down next to her. 

“It very nearly looks as if Park Junho skipped one appointment to keep another, with Woo Jaekyung,” Juhyun leaned on him. 

“You think he killed her?” 

“Oh, it’s just a guess. You’re the detective around here, Yuyu,” She pinched his cheek. They looked up when the doorbell suddenly rang. 

“That must be Sungyoung. She said she wanted to see me,” Yunho got up from the couch and padded to the door, Asta following him close behind. As he had expected, Sungyoung was standing behind the door, looking shaken. “Come in, Sungyoung,” He stepped aside right away to let her in. 

“Thank you, is anyone else here?” She was wary. 

“Just Juhyun and the dog if you don’t mind,” Yunho gestured to the two of them. 

“Hello Sungyoung,” Juhyun greeted her before excusing herself back into their bedroom. 

“I’m sorry for breaking in on you like this at this time,” Sungyoung turned to him once Juhyun left. 

“It’s alright, we’re used to it,” Yunho waved a hand dismissively. “What’s wrong?” 

“Just that Woo Jaekyung is dead, and here’s the gun she was shot with,” Sungyoung took out a revolver from her purse and placed it on the coffee table. 

Yunho stared at her, and then glanced at the weapon. “What are you trying to tell me, that you did it?” 

“Yes,” Sungyoung replied right away. “I hated her. She-she kept me from seeing my father. I went down there to ask her where he was. She wouldn’t tell me, and I shot her.” 

“Where did you shoot her?” 

“I- I shot her in the heart.” 

“You’re a pretty good shooter,” Yunho raised a brow. “What did she do?” 

“She fell down,” Sungyoung’s eyes were welling with tears and she was finding it hard to speak. 

“Did she make any sound? Didn’t scream?” 

“I-I don’t know.” 

“Which way did she fall?” 

“She-she fell over backwards,” Sungyoung was more shaken with every question. 

“Oh yeah? People fall toward a shot, you know, not back from it,” Yunho stared at her. “I knew you were lying,” He wrapped an arm around Sungyoung as she broke into sobs. “Where did you get the gun?” 

“I bought it in a pawnshop.” 

“Is that the truth?” 

“That’s the truth,” she sobbed. 

Juhyun suddenly stepped out of her room. Yunho made a face upon seeing her, and she wrinkled her nose at him in return. She poured some water in a glass as she approached them, Sungyoung pulling away when she saw her. “I’m so sorry, I’m making a fool out of myself.” 

“Don’t be silly, here, have some water,” Juhyun handed her the glass. “Yunho’s trying to help you, you know. You should help him too. You were trying to shield your mother, weren’t you?” She asked. 

“No,” Sungyoung put the glass down, tears still streaming down her face. 

“Your father?” 

“Y-yes. My father.” 

“Why do you think he did it?” 

“Mother was the first person to find Woo Jaekyung. She found something in Jaekyung’s hand and she took it,” Sungyoung wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. 

“What did she find?” Juhyun asked curiously. 

“A watch chain. It was my father’s.” 

“So you think your father did it.” 

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Sungyoung looked down, wiping her face. 

“Did your mother turn the chain over to the police?” Juhyun asked. 

“No-no she kept it. She didn’t tell them anything about it.” 

“But she showed it to you?” 

 Sungyoung nodded. “Why did your mother go up to Jaekyung’s apartment in the first place?” Yunho spoke this time. 

“She went to ask for money.” 

“Ah, money again, hmm?” Yunho and Juhyun exchanged looks. The phone rang and he picked it up. “Yes? Oh, uh, have them come up, thank you,” and he hung up. 

“Who is it?” Juhyun raised a brow. 

Yunho turned to Sungyoung. “I wonder if you don’t mind waiting in the bedroom?” 

“Of course,” Sungyoung got up. 

“There’s powder and stuff over at the dresser so you can put yourself together,” Juhyun gestured towards the door and Sungyoung went inside. Closing the door behind her, she saw the gun on the table. “Where did you get that, Yuyu?” 

“She brought it in,” Yunho pointed to the door. “Trying to make me believe she did it,” He placed the gun behind the cocktail shakers. 

“What are you doing to do with it?” 

“Nothing. Until I find out if it’s the gun Woo Jaekyung was killed with.” 

“Who’s going up here?” 

“Yang Hyomin.” 

“Alone?” 

“She’s never alone,” Yunho shook his head in between drinking the last of the cocktail he had. “Sungyoung’s brother is with her. Screwy college kid, and some guy by the name of Jung Wooyoung.” 

“Jung Wooyoung? Who’s he?” She said. 

“Hongjoong told me about him. He’s a “hanger-on” type. Anyway, he’s supposedly married to Hyomin now, and I think he’s also after Hyomin’s dough-” 

“But she doesn’t have any,” Juhyun looked confused. 

“Maybe that’s why she wanted to get some from Jaekyung” Yunho eyed her knowingly this time. His mind was now racing about the case whether he wanted to or not, and she knew it. The doorbell rang and he approached to answer it. “Hello, Hyomin!” He greeted in an attempt to sound cheerful. 

“Yunho, how are you?” Hyomin greeted him just as cheerfully as she stepped inside, followed by her son, and Wooyoung, both of whom exchanged greetings with him. Juhyun noticed that Wooyoung was looking especially wary about being here. 

“Just fine, sit down, sit down, this is my wife, Juhyun, Juhyun this is everyone,” Yunho gestured to her as the three of them sat down, Wooyoung choosing to stay standing behind the couch. “So, Hyomin-” 

“Yunho, I’ve never been in such a state in my life! You know of course that I was the one who found Woo Jaekyung,” Hyomin looked flustered upon recalling the events. 

“So we’ve heard,” Juhyun replied. 

“Oh my dear! It was terrible! When I saw the bedroom door open, there she was, lying dead on the floor.” 

“I meant to ask you, mother,” Sungmin spoke. “Was there a lot of blood?” 

“Sungmin, don’t be so morbid-” Hyomin shushed him. 

“But I’m interested in murders,” He sat up and turned to Yunho. “You know, Mr. Jeong, I have a theory about this one already.” 

“Oh really?” Yunho glanced at him. 

“In my opinion, the man who did it must be a sadist or have some sort of paranoia. I’ve been studying criminology-” 

“Oh, hush, Sungmin” Hyomin said dismissively. 

“So, you were saying, Mrs. Park?” 

“I’m Mrs. Jung now, Yunho,” Hyomin smiled. “Anyway, about finding Woo Jaekyung, I was simply petrified! Park Junho’s crazy! Absolutely crazy to stay away at a time like this. No wonder the police think he has something to do with it.” 

“What do you think?” 

“Oh I know he didn’t. But I wish I could find him,” Hyomin frowned. “I have something very important to tell him, and Hongjoong won’t help at all. He thinks I just want money.” 

“Well don’t you?” Yunho smiled. 

“Oh Yunho, you’re always teasing,” Hyomin giggled. 

“Mrs. Jung, were you alone when you found Woo Jaekyung?” Juhyun asked this time. 

She looked flustered. “Why- Of course I was.” 

“Were you with her, Mr. Jung?” She turned to Wooyoung. 

“Me? Certainly not. I don’t know anything about it. The first word I had that Woo Jaekyung was dead was when Hyomin called me at my club-” 

“Oh let’s not talk about that. The thing to do is to find Junho and that’s why I came to Yunho. You will help me find Junho, won’t you?” Hyomin asked. 

“Now, Hyomin, there are a thousand detectives in this city. You can hire one of them.” 

“But Junho knows you. All you have to do is get in touch with him, and tell him that Hyomin says that everything is all right, but that I’ve got to see him,” She pleaded. 

“I can tell you again, I don’t want any part of it,” Yunho shook his head and gestured to the bedroom door. “Now, you can take Sungyoung home and-” 

Hyomin, Sungmin, and Wooyoung all looked surprised. “Sungyoung! Is she here?” She got up. 

Yunho stared at her, immediately containing his surprise. “Yes…” 

Hyomin stormed past both of them, the two males staying behind as Yunho and Juhyun caught up. She opened the door, slapping her daughter. “What did you tell him?! What did you tell him?!” 

Yunho pulled Hyomin away while Juhyun stood  by as if blocking Hyomin from getting any closer. Sungyoung was glaring at her. “She didn’t tell me anything,” He assured her.

“Too bad you didn’t bring your whip,” Juhyun was in disbelief at what she saw. 

Hyomin looked flustered. “Oh-oh my, I was so excited, I didn’t know what I was doing. Come on Sungyoung, let’s go home, your brother and Wooyoung are waiting,” She said. 

“She doesn’t have to go if she doesn’t want to,” Juhyun said. “You can stay here, there’s plenty of room and we’d love to have you,” She turned to Sungyoung. 

“Thank you Mrs. Jeong, but I’ll go home,” Sungyoung replied. 

~ 

“Hello? Is this the Hammett hotel? I want to speak with Mr. Jeong. Yes, Jeong Yunho,” A man said quietly, as if trying not to be heard by anyone around him. “Hello? Mr. Jeong? Sorry to have woken you up, but Mr. Jeong, I’d like to lay out a little proposition for you, it’s about the murder of Woo Jaekyung...What’s the difference who I am? Wait, wait, alright, I’ll tell you who I am, but you have to keep it under your hat! I’m… Kang Yeosang. Yeah, Kang Yeosang. Now listen, I know who murdered Woo Jaekyung, and I’ll spill it to you for a few million won. I’ll tell you how I know. I was outside of her apartment when she was shot. And I saw the one who did it! I’ll spill it to you- Wait, I can’t talk anymore, but I’ll call you again!” He whispered. 

Yunho raised a brow. “Hello? Hello?” He put down the phone. They were back in bed, preparing to go back to sleep. 

“Now what, Yuyu?” She asked. 

“I don’t know, some crank I guess. He hung up. Now you better get some sleep, good night, my dear,” He tugged on her arm to make her lie down. 

~ 

“Yunho,” Juhyun called out in a whisper. She still couldn’t sleep after what they found out in a matter of a few hours. “Yunho, are you asleep?” She said. 

“Yes,” He replied, covering his face with the pillow. 

“Good. I want to talk to you,” She said. 

He sighed and opened his eyes, still lying down and facing her. “That’s swell.” 

“Don’t you think you’d like to go back to detecting once in a while? You know, just for the fun of it?” Juhyun asked, stroking his hair. 

“Can’t you get to sleep?” 

“No,” She was still stroking his hair. 

Yunho sat up. “Maybe a drink would help you.” 

“No thanks.” 

“Maybe it would if I took it,” He got out of bed and made his way to the bureau at the side where he poured himself a glass of gin. 

Juhyun was watching him. “Everyone says you’re a good detective, Yuyu.” 

“They were just kidding you,” Yunho quipped as he drank. 

“I’d like to see you work,” She said. 

“Tomorrow, I’ll buy you a lot of detective stories.” 

Juhyun frowned. “Oh, that poor girl is in an awful spot,” She said quietly, partly in the hopes of convincing him. 

Yunho returned, climbing back into the bed. “There’s nothing I can do to help her,” He moved a little when Asta jumped on the bed and curled up at their feet. 

“She thinks you can. It wouldn’t hurt you to find out if you could, wouldn’t it?” 

“Darling, my guess is that Junho killed Jaekyung and Sungyoung knows it. The police will catch him without any help from me,” Yunho kissed her cheek. 

“You know, I think I’d like that drink,” Juhyun gave him a look. Yunho sighed and got back out of bed. “I’ll give you your Christmas present now if you give me mine.” 

Yunho poured her another glass of gin. “At breakfast.” 

“But it’s Christmas now, Yuyu.” 

“Breakfast,” He pointed out, returning to bed and handing her the glass. 

“What are you going to give me? I hope I don’t like it,” She teased. 

“You’ll have to keep it anyway. The man at the aquarium said he wouldn’t take them back,” Yunho lay back down and closed his eyes to try and fall back asleep. 

“Oh alright, but I’m mad at you,” She gently smacked his thigh and placed the glass down, laying back down to face him and turning off the light only to turn it back on again when there was a knock on the door. She paused, sitting up a little when the knocking continued. “Yuyu, there’s someone at the door. Shush, Asta,” she glanced at the whining dog. 

“Let them knock.” 

“I’ll answer it,” Juhyun got out of bed and put her bedroom slippers on as she padded out of the room and toward the door. She stopped upon opening it. 

“Mr. Jeong here?” He asked. 

“Yes.” 

“I have to talk to him, that’s all. I have to do that,” He said, sounding rushed. 

Juhyun looked him up and down. “Alright, wait here, I’ll tell him,” She said, walking back to the bedroom. “Yunho, Yunho, there’s someone to see you.” 

Yunho sighed and sat up. “That’s great, I was afraid I’d have to go back to sleep,” He said, suddenly at attention as Juhyun moved to go back to her side of the bed. 

“You have the funniest look on your face,” She chuckled, only to stop when she sees what he’s seeing. 

“Stay where you are, both of you,” He had a revolver pointed at Yunho. “I have to talk to you, and I want you to give it to me straight. Get me?” 

“Would you mind putting that gun away? My wife doesn’t care but I’m a very nervous person,” Yunho looked unfazed. 

“Idiot,” Juhyun mumbled, nudging him but appreciating his joke all the same. 

“Alright, shoot- I mean, what’s on your mind?” Yunho asked. 

“You don’t need to tell me you’re tough. I’ve heard about you, I’m Choi Jongho,” He said. 

Juhyun looked intrigued. “I’ve never heard about you,” Yunho said. 

“I didn’t knock Jaekyung off.” 

“Alright you didn’t.” 

“I haven’t seen her in three months. We were all washed up.” 

“Why are you telling me this?” 

“I wouldn’t have any reason to hurt her. She was always on the level with me, but that dirty little rat Yeosang - he got sore because I clicked and he didn’t. So he put the finger on me!” Jongho revealed.

“That’s all swell, only you’re peddling your fish in the wrong market. I’ve got nothing to do with it,” Yunho said. 

“Listen, the boys used to say that you were ok, that’s why I’m here. Listen, what’s the law doing to me? Do they think I did it? Or is it something else to pin on me?!” Jongho kept his gun pointed at Yunho. 

“I’d you if I knew, but I’m not in this. Ask the police.” 

“That’d be very smart, that’d be the smartest thing I ever did. Me, that a police captain’s been in a hospital three weeks on account we had an argument. The boys would like to have me come in and ask questions, they’d like it right down to the end of their blackjacks!” Jongho glared at him. “Now I come to you on the level, the boys say you’re on the level why don’t you be on the level!” 

“I am on the level, if I knew anything I’d-” 

Loud knocks were coming from the front door. Asta sat up barking, Juhyun shushing the dog again. “What’s that?” Jongho asked. 

“I don’t know, this is your party,” Yunho shrugged. 

They heard the loud knocks again. “Open up! It’s the police!” A booming voice was heard from the other side. 

“The police! You dirty, two-timing-” Jongho was about to fire. Yunho knocked Juhyun out of the way, making her fall off the bed while he tackled the smaller male to the ground, accidentally setting off a few shots as Asta kept barking. 

In came the hotel manager and a group of police officers led by a tall man, Lieutenant Song Mingi, who immediately pulled the two men apart while an officer caught the gun that fell to the side. Yunho got back up on his feet. “Juhyun… Juhyun!” He rushed over to his wife, who was on one side of the room. “Juhyun my darling, are you alright?” He patted her cheeks. 

“What knocked her out?” Mingi asked. 

“I did. She was in the line of fire,” Yunho reached for her untouched glass, trying to get her to drink. 

“Who’s she?” 

“My wife.” 

“Did this guy shoot her?” Mingi gestured to Jongho, whose hands were now cuffed. 

“No, he tried to shoot me. I had to sock her in the jaw to get her out, I must’ve hit her too hard,” Yunho explained, still patting her cheek. “Juhyun,” Her eyes were starting to open and she was beginning to stir. “Juhyun, look at me.” 

“You darn fool, you didn’t have to knock me out,” Juhyun rubbed her jaw. “I knew you’d take him but I wanted to see you do it!” 

“There’s a gal with hair on her chest,” Mingi chuckled, amused at the reaction. 

Yunho pulled her up to her feet, Juhyun letting go. “Yunho! You’re bleeding! You’re hurt!” She said, noticing the blood on his thigh. 

“It just grazed me, it didn’t hit me,” Yunho tried to pull her close but she sat him down. 

“Someone get a doctor!” Juhyun rushed to the bathroom while the hotel manager went on his way. 

“I don’t even feel it, Juhyun,” He called out. “How did you people have to pop in, Lieutenant?” 

“We hear this is getting to be sort of a meeting place for the Park family, so we figure we’ll stick around in case the old man himself shows up. Then we see Jongho sneak in and we decided to come up, and pretty lucky for you-” 

“Yes, I might not have been shot,” Yunho looked at his wound. 

“That little rat Yeosang!” Jongho struggled in his place. 

“Is Jongho a friend of yours?” Mingi asked. 

“I never saw him before.” 

“What does he want of you?” 

“He wanted to tell me he didn’t kill Woo Jaekyung.” 

“What’s that to you?” 

“Nothing.” 

“What did he think it was to you?” 

“Ask him, I don’t know,” Yunho gestured to the smaller male. 

“I’m asking you,” Mingi said pointedly. 

“Keep on asking,” Yunho shrugged. 

“Alright, you’re going to keep mum huh?” The lieutenant raised a brow. “Alright, Mr. Jeong. I won’t bother you tonight, but I’ll be in tomorrow morning, and I’ll have plenty of things to ask. Good night! Boys, bring him out of here” Mingi turned to the officers, who escorted Jongho, who was still struggling in their grip as they left the room. 

“Where’s Asta? Asta!” Yunho called out for the dog, who crawled out of the bureau. “You’re a fine watchdog.” 

“He’s got more sense than you have. I’m glad you’re not on this case,” Juhyun returned from the bathroom with a small towel soaked in warm water to tend to his wound. 

“On it? I’m in it...they think I did it,” Yunho watched her wipe the blood stains away. 

“Well, didn’t you?” Juhyun teased. 

Yunho laughed and pulled her towards him, tickling her side. 

~ 

Yunho and Juhyun slept in, with Juhyun waking up to see that it was already noon. Yunho had gotten out of bed as well, the two of them exchanging Christmas greetings as they went out to the living room to open their presents. Asta followed them, running around them in circles. “How’s your thigh?” She asked. 

“Much better, I can barely feel a thing, I told you it was alright since last night,” He pointed out, slumping down on the couch. 

Juhyun saw a piece of paper by the mini-bar. “Yuyu, there’s a telegram for you,” She said, picking up the paper. 

“Open it.” 

Juhyun sat down next to him, Yunho placing her legs over his. “Yuyu! This is from Park Junho!” She gaped. “Will you take charge of the investigation on Woo Jaekyung’s murder. Communicate with Kim Hongjoong. Park Junho,” She read out. Yunho looked unfazed. 

“Where did it come from?” 

“Out of the city. But then he didn’t do it,” Juhyun deduced. 

“I don’t know. Communicate with Hongjoong, huh? Alright, we’ll ask him up here today,” Yunho sat back. 

Juhyun picked up the day’s newspapers on the table, figuring that the manager had them delivered personally so as not to wake them. “Your story’s all over the papers. They said you were shot five times, at least it says here in the tabloids.” 

“That’s not true, he never came near my tabloids,” Yunho joked. “That’s one thing I always protect… my tabloids,” He picked up the phone when it rang. “Hello? Oh yes, send him up and tell him to let himself in,” And he hung up. “It’s Hongjoong.” 

A moment later the door opened and in came the smaller male. “Good afternoon, I’m afraid this isn’t exactly a very merry Christmas for both of you,” Hongjoong noticed them. “Or I must have been mistaken,” He chuckled, making them sit up. 

“Just the man we’ve been looking for, here you are,” Yunho showed him the telegram. “What do you think?” 

“Hmm, so he wants you to handle the case? Well, what are the chances of you getting to do what he wants?” 

“Slim.” 

“Slim? Oh please, Yunho-”

“Shush,” He put a finger to her lips and she playfully bit him. 

“Well I wish you would, Mr. Jeong. Would it help at all if I could persuade him to meet with you?” Hongjoong looked a little hopeful. “I got word from Junho myself last night. It was some kind of code message to insert in the papers in case I wanted to get in touch with him.” 

“It wouldn’t hurt to put it in,” Yunho nodded. 

“I’m sure you could clear this up. He should appear, you know, it really doesn’t look good, him staying away at a time like this,” Hongjoong said. 

The phone rang and Juhyun picked it up. “Hello? Oh, yes, he’s here, hold on,” She turned to them. “It’s for you, Mr. Kim, it’s the police department,” She handed him the receiver. 

“Hello?” Hongjoong moved closer. “Hello? Yes… Where? Oh, when is the next train? Right, I’ll get that,” and he hung up. “Park Junho’s trying to commit suicide. They want me to come down and identify him. I guess this changes the whole story, doesn’t it? That looks like an admission of guilt, and I had such hopes too...I thought if you got on the case, you’d be able to clear him. I thought that Hyomin...the way she acted...I was sure that…” He sighed. Oh well, it’s no use thinking of that now. I’m so sorry to have troubled you, wasted your time. You’ll excuse me, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Yunho nodded and Juhyun got up to see him out. “What’s the matter with you?” He saw her crestfallen expression. 

“Oh then that’s that. The mystery’s all gone, and I wanted you to find out who did it,” She frowned. 

“Maybe I will.” 

“But Park Junho-”

“I don’t believe he did it,” Yunho shook his head, eyeing her. “I have a hunch, but I’m going to find out. Come on, Watson, we’re going places and I want to talk to Lieutenant Song Mingi,” He got up, the two of them going back into the bedroom. 

~ 

With Asta on a leash, Yunho and Juhyun stepped out of the building, where the lieutenant was waiting for them. “You really shouldn’t try to play tricks on me. Running out when I was giving you time to rest before I asked any more questions,” Mingi said, immediately catching up to them in a walk. “Man to man, Mr. Jeong, are you working on this case?” 

“Man to man, I’m not.” 

“But he’s interested,” Juhyun spoke. 

“Well, I don’t mind telling you. I’d rather have you working with us than against us,” Mingi said. 

“So would I.” 

“It’s a bargain then. Anything you want to know?” 

“What about the suicide?” Yunho asked. 

“Oh that’s all fake. The men didn’t even have to go down,” Mingi frowned. 

“I thought it might be. From now on, they’re going to think that every thin man over six feet with white hair is Park Junho,” Yunho said. 

“Do you think Park Junho did it?” Juhyun asked the officer this time. 

“Looks like he planned something. He shut up his apartment and his shop, but there’s nothing yet to cinch it,” Mingi shrugged. 

“I’ll bet you a hundred thousand won that Park Junho didn’t do it,” Yunho grinned. 

“Who’s your candidate?” Mingi was curious. 

“I haven’t got that far yet. But I don’t think everything points to Park Junho. What about the alibis?” 

“Oh, they’re all okay. Mrs. Jung, the boy, Sungyoung, Hongjoong, even Jongho, we had to let him go.” 

“What about Jung Wooyoung?” 

“I’ll check on that,” Mingi said. “I’m afraid this is quite dull for you, Mrs. Jeong,” He turned to Juhyun. 

“Dull? I’m on the edge of my chair!” Juhyun beamed. 

“Well, honestly, I’m stumped. I don’t know what to do next. What about you, Mr. Jeong?” 

“Me? No, I don’t know, but I do have a hunch. I got a call last night, I thought it was from a crank but I’ve changed my mind. Whoever he was, he knew something and I have a feeling I’ll hear from him again,” Yunho revealed. 

~ 

“Are you still waiting to hear from the crank?” Juhyun asked him that evening at their room. 

“Hello? Hello, yes, this is Jeong Yunho,” Yunho grabbed the receiver. “I can’t hear you, you’ll have to speak louder.” 

“I can’t speak any louder, this is Kang Yeosang again, remember me?” He said on the other line, sounding a little fearful. “Still interested in that proposition? You are? Yeah, okay, so here’s the dope, and get this straight. The man who killed Woo Jaekyung-” 

The sound of a gunshot boomed and he fell to the floor. 

~ 

“So you think Park Junho killed Woo Jaekyung and Kang Yeosang,” Yunho asked Mingi when he dropped by shortly after the news got out the next morning. “Why?” 

“Two reasons. First, Yang Hyomin, Mrs. Jung came across the watch chain she got from Woo Jaekyung’s body,” Mingi recalled. “It belonged to Park Junho. The second reason? The bullet that killed Kang Yeosang came from the same gun that killed Woo Jaekyung.” 

“Well, isn’t that alright, lieutenant,” Yunho looked impressed. 

“Alright? It’s perfect! Park Junho is guilty of both of those murders!” Mingi grinned. 

“Well, maybe. My offer still stands. A hundred thousand won. I still think Park Junho’s innocent,” Yunho said. 

Mingi waved a hand dismissively. “You can say what you want, Mr. Jeong. I’m spreading the dragnet for that guy over every town in the country!” 

~ 

“You think they’ll find him, Yunho?” Juhyun looked over at her husband, who was pacing back and forth in the living room that evening. “He must be in another city by now. Oh, I wish they’d stop with all these sirens, it’s making me fidgety.” 

“He probably is,” Yunho stopped. 

“Oh this is getting me down, I saw Sungyoung today,” Juhyun frowned. “She’s broken off her engagement with Seonghwa. She was a little hysterical, something about not wanting to ruin his life, being the daughter of a murderer and all that. Seonghwa didn’t care. He loves her despite it all.” 

“Poor kid, well, I’ll see you later, darling,” Yunho slipped on his coat and put on his hat, quickly getting Asta on a leash. 

Juhyun strode towards him. “Where do you think you’re going? And at this hour of the night?” Her hands were on her hips. 

“I’m going to take Asta for a walk.” 

“But he’s just been for a walk.” 

“Well, we’re going sightseeing, aren’t we, Asta?” Yunho looked down at the dog, making faces. 

Juhyun gave him a look. “What are you up to?” She looked into his pockets, finding a set of keys and the revolver she remembered Sungyoung bringing in. 

“Hey! I told you, I’ve got a hunch. I’m going to look into Park Junho’s shop. I want to find out why it’s closed,” Yunho replied, taking the revolver back. 

“Why shouldn’t he close it? He went away, didn’t he?” 

“Yes, he went away lots of times when I knew him, but he never closed up his shop. I’ve got a hunch something’s up.” 

“You mean he might be hiding here?”

“I don’t know, but this thing’s giving me the itch. I have to find out,” Yunho said. 

“Yuyu, I won’t have you going down there,” She said. 

“Hey! You’re the one who got me into this!” He looked amused. 

“I know, but this is different! He’s a crazy man! He might kill you!” 

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got Asta to protect me” Yunho gestured to the dog, whose tail was wagging. 

“Fine, fine, go on, go on, see if I care,” She frowned, almost pouting. “But I think it’s a dirty trick to bring me all the way here just to make a widow of me.” 

“You wouldn’t be widow long,” He wrapped his arms around her. 

“You bet I wouldn’t.” 

“Not with all your money.” 

“You dog.” 

Yunho kissed her on the cheek. “Goodbye, sugar” He winked before leaving the bedroom and toward the front door.

Juhyun caught up to him again. “Yunho, take care of yourself out there, will you?” She said. 

“Sure I will.” 

“Don’t say it like that, say it as if you meant it!” Juhyun was still frowning. 

Yunho couldn’t help but smile. “Why I believe my wife cares.” 

“I don’t care! I’m just used to you, that’s all” Juhyun’s expression remained that of concern. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. Juhyun pulled away to hug him tightly, glancing down at the dog. “Asta, if you let anything happen to him, you’ll never wag that tail again!”

[jeongyunhoed]

8 Stories, 8 Movies from the Golden Age (1930s to 1960s).

It’s the golden age and 8 men are the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Ateez, but make them Old Hollywood, basically. Lights, camera, action!

Member: Yunho

Genre: Murder mystery, a little bit of comedy, a little bit of romance and fluff

Warnings: Murder (as it is a murder mystery), mentions of it including suicide, death, blackmail, alcohol drinking

Things to note: Set in the 1930s, established marriage

Will have OCs

As with the rest of the stories in the AU, there will be other idols mentioned, most likely NCT but may have some of my other faves (EXO, etc.)

A/N: This is the third and final part of Yunho’s story. Coincidentally, this is also the last of the murder mystery-genre in this au. We’re going screwball comedy next with Wooyoung’s!  

Masterlist

Former private detective-turned-society man Jeong Yunho is brought back to sleuthing when an inventor goes missing and his mistress is murdered. With a little help from his wife, and from a martini or two.

The Thin Man

tag list: @minervaaaaaaaa , @closer-stars

Part 3 (final)

The taxi pulled up in front of a dark and deserted laboratory that Yunho knew was Park Junho’s shop that he closed down. With Asta on a leash, he got down the car and paid the driver, the driver being a little too eager to leave as the place gave him the creeps. Yunho couldn’t blame him, it was late at night. “Come on,” Yunho whispered to the dog, who seemed hesitant to follow him as they approached the building, the two of them skidding to a halt when he saw that a familiar figure was waiting for them. 

“Hey darling,” Juhyun waved them over, her voice low. She looked excited yet concerned at the same time. 

“Juhyun! What are you doing here?” He pulled Asta along up to her. 

“I beat you down here, I decided to come with you after you left so I got dressed and went to where you said” She said with an air of confidence. 

Yunho gave his wife a look. “Now listen, Juju-” 

“No,” She cut him off, placing a finger to his lips. “You’re not going in this place alone and that’s that. Get that skeleton key out of your pocket and open the door.” 

“Alright, alright, as you wish, my darling,” Yunho opened the doors of the place and they stepped inside. 

“It’s a nice neighborhood Park Junho’s picked out for his shop. I can almost hear the chains rattling in the distance,” Juhyun said quietly as they crept inside, careful not to make any noise. “Do you believe in ghosts, Yuyu?” 

“I don’t, but shh,” Yunho whispered as they walked. 

“It’s so dark in here,” Juhyun mumbled, her arm tightly linked with her husband’s. 

“I’ll get a flashlight on, let me get my arm back, my darling,” Yunho pulled his arm back and closed the door behind them, taking the flashlight out of his coat pocket. The sudden light made Asta whimper. “Shh, Asta,” He whispered as they walked on, Juhyun being extra careful, noticing how her heels would catch onto some cracks in the floor here and there. 

“This place looks awfully big,” She whispered. “You can’t even see the corners.” 

“Don’t let the shadows frighten you, Juju,” He said, pointing to a silhouette that was of a machine. 

“Who’s frightened?” Juhyun asked, glancing at him only to bump into something hard. “What’s this?” 

“It looks like Park Junho’s work table,” Yunho shone the flashlight over the entire surface in front of them. 

“Looks like a slab in the morgue to me,” Juhyun muttered, seeing more details of the space they were in illuminated. By the light clicking her heels made, she realized that she was standing on cement. “Cement.” 

“Come on, dear,” Yunho beckoned her to come closer while he approached what he realized was the work desk. The two of them froze when they heard a creaking. “It’s just us in here, Juju, it must be a loose floorboard or something.” 

The two of them stopped again when they heard something scratching. “What’s that now?” Juhyun asked. 

“It’s Asta, he’s scratching at the cement, shh! Asta! Shh!” Yunho tried to yank on the leash but to no avail. “Stop it, Asta! Stop!” 

Juhyun observed the way the dog was frantically scratching at the cement. “Yunho, he’s after something! I’ve seen him scratch the ground like that when he was looking for-” 

“Asta! Shh! Look over here!” Yunho tapped his foot on another cemented part of the floor. He paused upon hearing the sound and tapped his foot on the floor again. “Wait a minute, this is hollow, I wonder if there’s something around here I could use to dig this up.” 

“I saw an iron bar over there, it might be a shovel,” Juhyun pointed to the other side of the room. 

“Good, good,” Yunho shone a light over the shovel and quickly picked it up. He handed Juhyun the flashlight. “If I can dig a hole in one corner of this part of the floor, we can find out what’s buried under here.” 

“Yunho, I’m getting scared,” Juhyun said as she watched him. “Asta! Come here!” She called out to the dog, who was now watching them. 

Yunho broke through the cement and started digging through the corner he broke into, coming into a layer of dirt. “Asta! Shh! Get back!” He tried to push the dog away, who was also trying to dig into the dirt. 

“What is he after?” Juhyun asked, keeping the light on them. 

Yunho carried the dog off the ground, realizing why Asta was so determined to dig into the cement. There was a skeleton and some clothes buried. “There’s a body. It must have been here for weeks. We have to get Lt. Song over here right away.” 

~ 

The lieutenant and his group of police officers arrived shortly after they discovered the body, some taking photos of the skeleton including the clothes that it was buried with. The building was also surrounded by reporters looking to get information on what they found. 

“These reporters are enough to drive a guy insane,” Mingi huffed as they examined the clothes and the skeleton on the workdesk. “Well, you were right, Yunho. It was a body, a skeleton rather, buried in limestone. I wonder what Park Junho had against this one.” 

“What about the clothes?” 

“Well there’s that too, the clothes aren’t touched but there’s hardly any identification on them. Just a silver belt buckle with the initials CS on them.” 

Yunho looked up in thought. “CS? Who was that?” 

One of the police officers stopped to hand him a cane. “Here’s something else that was found in there. There’s a rubber tip, the guy must have been walking lame or something,” Mingi said. He turned back to the belt buckle. “Wait a minute, that case you worked on, with the guy that threatened to kill Park Junho, what was his name?” 

“Choi San,” Yunho replied. 

“Could this be him? Didn’t Choi San say Park Junho tried to steal one of his inventions?” 

“I never saw him. I don’t think anyone saw him,” Yunho shrugged. “But at the time we figured it was just blackmail.” 

“It’s just the same, Park Junho wouldn’t mind having him out of the way, would he? And according to the medical examiner, the body’s been here at least a couple of months.” 

“That’s just around the time Park Junho closed the shop,” Yunho pointed out. 

“Right!” Mingi said. “The way I figure it is, he kills this guy and plants him here. Woo Jaekyung knew about it so he killed her. Kang Yeosang caught him at that so he had to bump him off too. Well, I think we’ll get going now. You wouldn’t like to pay me that hundred thousand won now, would you?” He grinned. 

“Just wait until you catch Park Junho. Did you put the skeleton through the fluoroscope yet?” 

“Yeah, half an hour ago, we did. We found the bullet he was killed with and there was something in the leg bone too, an old piece of shrapnel-” 

Yunho stared at him. “Shrapnel.” 

“Yeah, why?” 

“He must have limped, which explains why he used a walking stick,” Yunho said. 

Mingi looked confused. “What do you mean?” 

“Oh nothing, nothing. So long, Lieutenant, I’m going to pick up my wife and take her home. It’s been a long night,” Yunho waved at the officer. 

“Good night! Give my regards to the wife!” 

~ 

Their discovery at Park Junho’s shop made headlines in all the newspapers the next morning, and soon enough their suite was filled with reporters and photographers, holding cameras and asking them to stop and pose for photos. “Have the police any idea where Park Junho is?” One reporter asked. 

“No,” Yunho replied. 

“Do you think they’ll find him?” Another reporter spoke. 

“Oh I know they will.” 

“Anything else to say about the case?” Said a third reporter. 

“Yes, it’s put me behind my drinking,” Yunho padded towards the mini-bar to pour himself a glass of gin. 

“What about this Choi San?” Said the first reporter. 

“Sorry, I don’t know anything else,” Yunho took a long drink. 

“What’s your next step, Yunho?” They asked this time. 

“Right back home where we will rest from this vacation that we’ve had,” Yunho took another drink. The reporters bid the two of them goodbye, closing the door behind them. Juhyun put Asta down, the dog running towards one of the rooms. 

“Back home, hmm?” Juhyun raised a brow at him, sitting down on the couch. 

Yunho put his glass down and playfully sat on her lap. “If you insist-” 

“I don’t insist-” Juhyun groaned, pushing him off, making him sit down on the floor in front of her. 

“My soul, woman, I give you three murders and you still aren’t satisfied” Yunho rested his chin on her knee. 

“I want you to stay and find Park Junho!” She ruffled his hair. 

“I did find him.” 

She stared at him. “What do you mean by that, Yuyu?” 

“He was down in his shop!” 

“Yunho.” 

“It was his body that was buried down there.” 

“Yunho, you better lay off the liquor-” 

“That’s a fact,” He pointed out. 

“Park Junho’s body?” She asked. “But they all said it was Choi San’s-” 

“That’s what they think. Mingi and...all of them. They take it for granted that it’s just another one of Park Junho’s victims. Mingi’s hot footing it around now, looking for Park Junho. That’s all that troubles him,” Yunho mumbled. 

“What makes you so sure it was Park Junho’s body?” She raised a brow. 

“Several things.” 

Juhyun rolled her eyes. “Yunho, you’re driving me crazy with all the suspense. What things? What things made you so sure?” 

“Well, the clothes for one. They were carefully preserved and the body was just as carefully destroyed. The person who killed him counted on one thing...the skeletons all look alike.” 

“Well don’t they?” 

“Sure, but then I remembered that Park Junho had some shrapnel in his shin, it bothered him. They found it under the fluoroscope,” Yunho recalled. 

“How long has he been dead?” 

“A couple of months?” 

“If that’s the case, then he couldn’t have committed those murders,” Juhyun deduced. 

Yunho smiled. “Smart gal.” 

“Park Junho dead. Does Sungyoung know?” 

“No. Nobody but you knows. I didn’t even tell Mingi.” 

“Why not? Why won’t you tell Sungyoung what you know?” 

“Because I want to lie low until I get the whole dope,” Yunho knelt down, arms on both sides of her legs. “I don’t want to go off half-cocked.” 

“Then what are you planning to do?” 

“I’m going to get the real murderer, and I’ve got an idea. Do you want to see me take him?” Yunho leaned closer. 

“Yes!” 

“Do you have a nice evening gown?” Yunho asked. 

“Yunho, what’s that got to do with-” 

“I said do you have a nice evening gown?” He repeated. 

“Yes, I’ve got a Lulu! Why?” 

“I’m going to throw a party and invite all of the suspects.” 

“The suspects? They won’t come.” 

“Oh they will. I’ll get Lt. Song to issue the invitations.” 

“Who do you think did it?” 

“Yang Hyomin…” 

“Hyomin!” 

“Yang Hyomin, Jung Wooyoung, Choi Jongho,...” Yunho picked up the phone. “What were you doing on the ninth of June?” He grinned. 

~ 

They reserved a private dining room later that night. A string quartet was playing in one corner of the room that was almost as big as a small ballroom. Some of Mingi’s police officers were disguised as waiters serving cocktails, with the lieutenant himself dressed for the occasion along with them. Yunho and Juhyun were placing name cards on the table. “Let’s see, you at the head,” She placed his name card on the setting. 

“And you on my right,” Yunho placed her name card down. “Hongjoong on my left, Seonghwa, Sungyoung’s brother Sungmin, next to Jongho. Mingi will sit on the other end of the table and on the other side, is Jung Wooyoung.” 

“Hyomin’s next to Wooyoung-” 

“No, let’s leave that seat vacant. I have a feeling he won’t come alone,” Yunho said. “Put Hyomin next to Hongjoong instead.” 

Juhyun followed suit and once she was done, she approached the lieutenant. “They’re going to come here, aren’t they?” 

“Yeah, some of them are already here, I got my guys to bring them up.” 

“I wish I have you at all my parties,” Juhyun chuckled. 

The doors opened and in came Seonghwa, just as dressed yet looking worried. “Is Sungyoung here yet?” He asked. 

“You can put your hat and coat in the room and we can talk about it,” Yunho assured him and he walked off. 

“What is the meaning of this?!” They heard Hyomin say as she was escorted inside, with her son. “Yunho! What’s this about? I said we were busy and we were going to the theater!” 

“We just wanted to make sure you’d attend, Mrs. Jung,” Juhyun said. “Ah, Mr. Jung, you’re here,” She gestured to Wooyoung, who was with another woman. 

“Wooyoung, I swear I had no idea what this was-” Hyomin grabbed his arm. 

“Hey, take your hands off him,” said the woman with a stern expression. “...Do you hear me?” 

Hyomin stared at her, and then at Wooyoung. “I-Wooyoung-What does this mean- Wooyoung-Wooyoung!” She looked taken aback as they were brought to the table to be seated at their places. “Yunho, why are we being brought here like common criminals?” She skidded to a halt when she saw the woman sit next to Wooyoung at the table. “But I’m Mrs. Jung.” 

“Put it over there, sister. I was Mrs. Jung before you were,” The woman replied dryly. 

“Your name card is there, on my right,” Yunho gestured for the seat next to the woman. Hyomin huffed as she sat down, glaring at the woman from time to time. 

“You give such charming parties, Mr. Jeong,” Juhyun eyed him as all of them sat down. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Jeong,” Yunho smiled. “Now we’re all ready to begin-” 

“Good, you can tell us why we’re here in the first place,” Hyomin spoke. 

“I’ve invited you all here because I’ve got some very important news,” Yunho looked at all of them. “I’ve seen Park Junho.” 

All of them gaped at him. “Wait a minute, you saw Park Junho?!” Mingi asked, almost indignantly. 

“That’s nothing, I saw him myself” Hyomin scoffed, looking down at the appetizers that were being served to them. 

Yunho and Juhyun exchanged looks. “You did? Where did you see him?” He asked. 

“Last night, he came to see me at my apartment.” 

“Oh did he? What did he say?” 

“Oh nothing much, he wanted to know how I was and how the children were.” 

Yunho shook his head. “I’m afraid you’re lying, Hyomin. You see, I really did see Park Junho last night.” 

“Are you kidding?!” Mingi remained bewildered. 

“No.” 

“Then what’s the idea of holding out on me?” the lieutenant asked. 

“Because I found out for certain that he didn’t commit the murders,” Yunho said. 

Sungyoung stared at him. “Yunho- He didn’t do it?” 

“What do you mean?” Hongjoong looked confused. 

“Jongho,” Yunho said, making him jump in surprise. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You knew Woo Jaekyung, right? Was she...swindling Park Junho?” He asked. 

“She didn’t say she is but I figured she is,” Jongho sounded relieved. 

“Why do you say that?” 

“Once I wanted five million won, she gave it to me in cash.” 

“Thank you, now I’ll tell you why I know Park Junho didn’t commit those murders,” Yunho gestured for the servers to go ahead with the main course. “Three months ago, Park Junho found out that Woo Jaekyung was cheating him and was splitting with some man. That man was... Sungmin,” He stopped, noticing that he nearly spilled his water over. “Oh, I’m so sorry, don’t you want some wine?” 

“No, no, Mr. Jeong, no thank you,” Sungmin shook his head. 

Juhyun rolled her eyes at her husband. “You’re driving me crazy!” 

“Anyway, Park Junho went to find the man and he did. That man was desperate. He knew he was caught dead to rights, and with prison staring him at the face he took the only way out -- He killed Park Junho,” Yunho recalled. 

“Yunho, you mean- My father-” Sungyoung stared at him in shock. 

“Yes, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Sungyoung, but your father is dead, he’s been dead for three months.” 

Sungyoung broke down in tears in her seat. Seonghwa leaned over, wrapping an arm around her. “Darling, don’t cry. Please, I know it’s terrible, but isn’t it really better this way?” He whispered. 

Juhyun approached them. “You’d better take her home, Seonghwa. Back to your home,” She said to him, and he nodded, arm still around his fiance as he brought her out, Mingi quietly signaling the officers at the door to open it. 

“But this is absurd! How can Junho be dead! You said yourself you saw him last night!” Hyomin turned back to Yunho. 

“So I did. I saw him lying buried in his shop,” Yunho replied nonchalantly. 

“You mean that body-” Mingi caught on. 

“Was Park Junho, yeah.” 

“Perfectly absurd,” Hyomin shook her head. 

“And the murderer is right here in this room, sitting here at this table,” Yunho looked at all of their expressions. 

“You’re not going to keep us all in the dark aren’t you? Who is it?” Sungmin asked. 

“You’re not going to pin this one on me!” Jongho slammed his spoon on the table. One of the officers approached him. “What am I the fall guy?!” He was pushed back down on his seat. 

“This is the best dinner I’ve ever listened to,” Juhyun side-eyed Yunho. 

“Well, I have no idea who it is, but I thought if we had a little get-together we might be able to find out. I’ll tell you as much as I know. This murderer is a very clever man. He studied this thing out very carefully. You’d understand that, wouldn’t you, Sungmin?-” Yunho turned to him. 

“Yes...no!” He shook his head profusely, everyone else beginning to look at him suspiciously. 

“He planned this thing out beautifully. After he killed Park Junho, he wired Hongjoong, using Park Junho’s name and told him to close up the shop. He destroyed all of Park Junho’s clothes except his watch chain because he figured that someday that might come in handy. Then he took Park Junho’s body and buried him in the shop with another man’s clothes to throw us off the track. He even put a belt buckle with a “CS” on it, hoping that we’d think it was Choi San, an old enemy of Park Junho’s who dropped out of sight years ago,” Yunho explained. “Jongho, would you mind holding your chopsticks the other way, you’re worrying Sungmin.” 

Jongho looked down at his hand and put his chopsticks down. Sungmin stared at him and at the utensils in his place. “If those chopsticks are missing, I’ll look for it somewhere on you” Juhyun nudged her husband. 

“After our hero killed Park Junho, he had an idea. He realized that he and Woo Jaekyung could still collect money. Park Junho was supposed to be on a trip, no one knew where -- so our hero wrote letters to Hongjoong, signing Junho’s name, so that Hongjoong would continue to send the money to Jaekyung. He even telephoned Hongjoong, do you remember?” Yunho turned to him this time. 

“But it must have been Junho. I should have known if it wasn’t his voice,” Hongjoong replied. 

“Oh he was clever about that too. He called when you were out,” Yunho explained. “That same afternoon, Jaekyung called him. She said that you were coming, Hyomin, to ask about Junho. So he got terrified. He was afraid that Jaekyung would break down and tell, so he went to Jaekyung...and killed her. He left Junho’s watch chain in her hand too.” 

Juhyun stared at him. “Is that true?” She whispered. 

“I don’t know.” 

“Then why are you saying it?” 

“It’s the only way it makes sense,” Yunho muttered to her. “His plan was still working beautifully. Junho was established as being in town, the watch chain was handed over, but with slight delay, to the police. The only snag was a man named Kang Yeosang, who found out something. He was there at Jaekyung’s apartment. He heard the shots, he saw the murderer leave. He knew who did it,” He said to everyone. 

“Our hero paid Yeosang once to keep his mouth shut, but when Yeosang threatened him again, he bumped him off. But our hero had just one weak link in his chain. The telegrams, the letters, the calls were all very well, but no one had actually seen Park Junho, so our hero picked on poor Hyomin here to strengthen his case. Hyomin is the only one at this table who can tell us who the real murderer is,” Yunho turned to Hyomin. “Hyomin, who was it that told you to say you saw Junho?” 

“Nobody told me, I did see him!” Hyomin replied, evidently getting flustered. 

“What did he pay you, Hyomin, to stick to that story?” 

“It isn’t a story, it’s true. I did see Junho, he isn’t dead!” Hyomin was picking at her food. 

Yunho watched her reaction as he pressed on. “You’re lying, Hyomin, of course you’d do anything for money. You’re getting a good price for saying that you saw Junho and you figure you won’t get anything if he’s dead.” 

“I’m not going to stay here to be insulted!” Hyomin was about to leave, only to be pushed back down to her seat by a nearby server. 

“Hongjoong, you drew up Junho’s will. Hyomin was cut off, wasn’t she, if she remarried?” Yunho turned to him this time. 

“I have no right to answer that.” 

Yunho rounded on her again, Hyomin looking more and more horrified. “You shouldn’t let that keep you from telling the truth, Hyomin. Mrs. Jung,” He turned to the woman next to her. “Were you ever divorced from Jung Wooyoung?” 

“No,” the woman replied. 

“So you see? Under the law, you haven’t remarried, Hyomin. You’re still one of the heirs!” Yunho stared at her. “So what are you holding out for? A few crummy thousand won that the man gave you when you can get the whole estate? Remember the other two that were with him on this, Jaekyung and Yeosang. When he thought they might spill something, he bumped them off. You ought to know damn well he’s not going to take any chances on you. What do you want to do? Be next on his list?” 

Hyomin glared at Hongjoong. “Why you dirty-” 

Yunho was quick to punch Hongjoong in time, a shot firing to the floor as he was knocked unconscious. Mingi got out of his seat as everyone was gaping at what just happened. “There you go, Lieutenant. Kim Hongjoong is the murderer.” 

“Yuyu!” Juhyun wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. “I was scared you would’ve gotten shot! But you took him! I knew you would-” 

“Yeah, another case like this, and I’d have thought I was in a prize fight,” Yunho wrapped his arms around her. 

“Aww, Yunho, you’re swell, darling,” Juhyun beamed. 

“I bet you say that to all the boys,” Yunho smiled as he kissed her.