#kpop took over my life for a minute

[maknaereality]

I shifted

I shifted to my nana dr for about six months (even though only six seconds have passed here, since I set the time so that one month in the dr equals one second in this reality). I'm still a little confused from coming back, but overall, I feel good.

This dr isn’t my main one but could become my main one. Before I share some details, I want to clarify that this DR doesn't follow the anime’s storyline. For example, that asshole Takumi will never meet Hachi. I'll try to keep it brief, as I don't like talking too much about my dr after all, it is real life .

I live about 15 minutes away from Hachi and Nana’s apartment, in a suburb of Tokyo. I work at a bakery and also do art. Living in Tokyo between 1998 and 1999 is a mix of nostalgia and surreal. It's hard to describe precisely. I’ve also learned to live without modern smartphones, using those old brick phones with buttons instead. This has taught me to live more in the moment, without the constant need to check social media or waste hours scrolling through TikTok, aimlessly losing time.

In this dr, I’m learning to be more independent. Thanks also to my experiences in my Kpop drs, I've learned to manage an apartment on my own here: I do the laundry, cook, manage my budget, pay bills, and work in the bakery. Oh, and I'm also studying to get my driver's license.

I’ve also started learning to play the guitar, especially thanks to Nana. Playing has always been a huge dream of mine, but I never had the chance to do it in this reality. Once, I even got emotional with joy while holding the guitar in my hands, because it’s something I’ve always loved doing.

My relationship with Hachi and Nana is really great.

Hachi is very close to me; she often texts to ask how I’m doing, how work is going, and invites me to hang out on weekends or go to the pub together. I love going out with her because she’s unashamed of anything or anyone, and with her, I never feel judged. She also has a great sense of style. Even though colorful clothes aren’t really my thing, she’s helped me find a style that suits me. I must admit, though, that she requires a lot of patience since she’s a bit naive.

As for Nana Osaki, I really love her a lot. She’s given me so much advice on some of my personal concerns, and she’s the kind of person who could listen to you for hours. She shows her affection through sarcastic jokes. We share the same taste in music. It took a little while for her to fully trust me and start confiding in me, but I understand her, and our bond has grown over time.

I’m still getting to know Shin and Nobu. Shin is very reserved, but I feel like we’ll become great friends. Nobu, on the other hand, has already opened up, and we’ve quickly become close.

Next time I shift, I’ll come back with a suitcase full of Vivienne Westwood clothes, necklaces, and rings!

[miabebe]

Camp Seventeen: Prologue

Seventeen as Greek Demigods Series

Pairing - Reader x ot13 (Yes, you read that right, I am insane and you are allowed to scream at me)

Word count - 2.7k

Genre - Greek Demigod AU! We’ve mainly got crack cause all of them are idiots, and obviously smut because they are thirteen lonely, horny men afterall (aka reverse harem) also throwing in some fluff and angst as well because I gotta let emotions run high for plot sake :)

A/n - Hello hello, this is a new seventeen series I am starting and boy oh boy is it gonna be a wild ride! A special thanks to @okiedokrie @whipped-for-kpop-fics @ourdawnishotterthanourday @multi-kpop-fanfics for all their amazing help and bearing with me through the discussions for this, I’m so grateful to you guys :)

I will have a taglist for this so please comment/ send an ask to be added!

“Over here!”

Wincing, you looked up from the disgusting heap of mud your foot had neatly landed in, ignoring the way your little piglet was ecstatically rolling in the same filth.

The man before you looked equally disturbed as he walked over, pulling out a bottle of water apparently from up his ass because you didn’t remember him holding it a second ago.

Sighing a thank you, you took it, emptying it onto your boots before grabbing your gremlin of a pet from its happy place, resulting in a series of loud, incessant whining.

In all that noise, you heard your shoe savior take your name with a voice that was as pretty as him.

“I’m Jisoo.” He put out his hand. “You can call me Joshua.”

You nodded, unable to shake his hand thanks to the problem trashing in your arms earning Joshua’s amusement.

“And who is this?”

“Natalie.” You muttered as he raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Natalie Porkman.”

Joshua burst out laughing, looking away as he covered up a snort, shoulders shaking. You smiled, truly taking in his beautiful features for the first time. Cute.

“This way.” He pointed at absolutely nothing yet you followed this complete stranger, survival skills be damned. “We’ve got a half mile trek ahead of us but it gets a little confusing from here so I thought I’d come pick you up.”

Cute and kind.

You filed it away under ‘to-learn-more-about-when-I-fiigure-out-what-the-fuck-is-going-on-in-my-life.’

The two of you walked side by side, footfall softly echoing in the lush green forest around. Though silence was all you had been craving after the last few days you’ve had, that did not seem like an option since one, Natalie hadn’t stopped whimpering in fifteen minutes and two, Joshua kept glancing at you like you were some sort of ancient artifact.

Not the good kinds.

“What is it?” You said finally, starting a conversation you didn’t want to have. “Never seen a mess of a human before?”

“Never such an old one.” Well, at least you got ancient right. Joshua quickly corrected himself. “I mean I’ve never heard of a demigod surviving undetected in the mortal world for this long.”

Oh but you got ‘human’ wrong. You forgot. Normalcy was never your defining factor but at least now you knew exactly what kind of freak you were.

Almost.

“I wouldn’t call it surviving, more like ‘barely made it’.”

“But you made it.”

“At the cost of what?” You sighed. “Everything is much more complicated now.”

“Don’t worry.” He stopped at a large boulder at the base of an abnormally large tree in the middle of seemingly nowhere. “We’ll all help you.”

“All?”

He nodded, looking at you over his shoulder. “All.”

Your eyes followed his hand as he placed it in the middle of the rock, and after all that you’ve learnt in the last few days, you’re not sure why you were so shocked when it rolled away at his touch. You expected it to lead you to a dark, suspicious cave but a bright light poured out, making you momentarily lose both your vision and your pet who jumped out of your arms and ran into the illuminance, squealing in delight.

“Welcome to Camp Seventeen.”

Joshua grinned, pointing at the scene before him and your jaw dropped in awe.

It was a large opening in the middle of a forest that looked very different from the one you were just trudging through. There were hills on one side, a large lake shimmering far away, fire torches lit everywhere, little cottages scattered here and there, strange symbols topping them all off. Looking at everything curiously, you walked down the cobbled path, only just noticing the two men who were standing at the end of it, both incredibly beautiful. The blonde one was playing with Natalie and the redhead was staring at you with his arms crossed, expression smug.

“Would you look at that, the prodigal babygirl is here at last.”

You frowned, taking an almost immediate dislike despite his pretty, pretty face.

“Jeonghan, play nice.” Joshua muttered, walking over to him.

“Don't patronise me Aphrodite's son, she was supposed to be here at 4-”

“It’s 4:10.”

“-yesterday.” He turned back to you. “You’re a day and 10 minutes late.”

“Well you’re not the one who’s relocating your whole life.” You spat back at him. “I had things to take care of - my dorms, my bills-”

“So much that you missed the meeting with your lawyer.”

“I did ask to reschedule. It’s not my fault he’s an unsympathetic prick.”

“Careful sweetheart.” Jeonghan cocked his head at you. “I’m unforgiving too.”

You stared at him for a whole maddening minute, realizing why his voice seemed so familiar. You had heard him on the phone over the last few days.

“You’re my lawyer.”

“And the best in the city.” Joshua interjected, sensing the rising tension. “Children of Athena tend to be big brained.”

“And hot headed apparently.”

“Natalie says ‘not more than you’.”

All three of you turned to the only other presence there, the man who was carrying your pig, silent as a statue all this while.

“Jun, son of demeter.” Joshua introduced, pulling him ahead. “He’s a natural with anything, well... natural? Mostly plants but he also happens to talk to animals.”

“Domestic ones.” Jun mumbled. “Hansol is better with the wild.”

You greeted him awkwardly, half smiling to be polite and half frowning at the way Natalie was looking up at him with literal heart eyes.

“How did you come across a fledgling?”

“A what now?”

Jun picked your pig up by the arms like a little baby. “She says she’s 10 years old, yet is the size of a toddler. Have you never wondered why your pig never grew?”

“I uh….assumed it was just the kind of breed that didn’t?”

“What an intellectual.” Jeonghan looked at you with faux amazement making you roll your eyes.

Jun, however, still hadn’t met your eye. “Fledglings are creatures of Olympus. Time moves differently there so they don’t really grow like the others in the human world. In that sense, technically, she’s still only a few months old-”

“So you’re telling me this thing, which has lived with me for 10 odd years, is….magical?”

Jun shook his head as Joshua spoke up, clarifying.

“Not magical, that’s a whole different branch of powers and abilities. Your pig is just….not a part of the human world.”

“You betrayer.” You narrowed your eyes at what you thought was your loyal companion. “We were friends. How could I not know?”

Natalie whined sadly in response earning a smile from Jun and of course, yet another snarky comment from Jeonghan. “I don’t speak pig and even I know she said you’re not very bright.”

“Understanding your native language is not particularly intelligent, you swine.” You glared at him, receiving a smirk in response.

“Ten minutes in camp and you’ve already made Jun’s ears red and picked a fight with Han.” You turned to see three men walk up to you, the one in the middle with an amused look and a powerful aura. “You’re gonna fit in quite well Newbie.”

“Seungcheol, son of Zeus and leader of the camp.” Joshua whispered as everyone bowed to him. You imitated them quickly.

“This is Seokmin, Son of Poseidon and Minghao, Son of Ares.” Seungcheol added, pulling out his armor as one of them shot you a cheery smile and the other continued to look at you cynically. “They are our training specialists. Seokmin should help you with your overall fitness and Minghao will train you for combat.”

“C-combat?” You stuttered looking around. “You mean like war?”

“The world of demigods is new to you, don’t try to understand everything in one day.” The Son of Ares sheathed his twin blades behind his back. “Take a few days to adjust to the camp first. You can start training next week.”

You nodded, a little thankful that despite his cold exterior, he seemed to be surprisingly sympathetic of your situation.

“He’s right.” Seokmin chimed. “You should settle here first, not to forget, deal with that lawsuit before you focus on everything else.”

You turned to Jeonghan expecting yet another snarky remark but he looked worried, lost in thought.

When you turned back to Seokmin though, you bit back a scream, your face inches away from a man who appeared soundlessly and seemingly from thin air.

He gave you a cheeky grin with a tilt of the head, “I’m Chan aka Dino, Son of Hermes, Camp cutie, camp hottie and camp leader- ow!”

He rubbed the back of his head vigorously when a small rock hit him with a dull thud. You looked over his shoulder to see Seungcheol aim another one with just a flick of the wrist.

This one Dino skillfully dodged, stepping away from you as Joshua laughed, “Chan is the camp messenger. He’s in charge of all sorts of delivery and transportation.”

“You were the one who picked up my things.” The realisation hit you at last as Dino nodded, pointing at a pile of your stacked bags and trunks beside the entrance.

“Guilty as charged.”

“You were supposed to arrive over an hour ago.” Seokmin narrowed his eyes at the younger man.

“I got held up with some uh distractions.” Chan laughed nervously, scratching the back of his ear. “I didn’t know where to keep her things though, considering you know, she doesn’t have a place yet.”

Seungcheol turned to you to clear your confusion. “Everyone on camp has their own residence but you came on too short a notice so we’re yet to build one of you. We could have housed you in the guest cabin except it was recently damaged in a fight,” He glared at all the boys around him. “So that would not be feasible. Until your own place is not ready you can stay at mine - it is the biggest so you should be comfortable.”

You pursed your lips unsure about his offer. Did you think you would be unsafe in his presence? No absolutely not, the opposite in fact.

You wondered how long you could hold yourself back before unsuspectingly jumping this man and his huge biceps and beefy thighs and manly voice-

“She’s thirsty.”

Taken aback you looked around, searching for the owner of the voice who unnecessarily accurately voiced your thoughts. Instead, you heard the snap of a twig and a low growling sound from the area the forest got more dense. You narrowed your eyes, trying to peer through the overgrown wilderness only to meet a pair of menacing red orbs.

Your adrenaline response barely had the time to kick in before ten, no fifteen, wild hounds ran out of their hiding place towards you, making you scream and hide behind Joshua.

The boys laughed as the dogs circled around you and you gripped onto Joshua’s shoulders terrified.

“Stand back lads.” A silver haired man walked over with a golden haired one beside him, both with a bow and quiver strung over their shoulders. The dogs immediately ran over, aligning themselves in an obedient, straight line behind them.

“Hansol, Son of Artemis and Jihoon, Son of Apollo.” Joshua looked at you over his shoulder. “They are in charge of daytime border patrol. There are all sorts of wild animals out here, hence the hounds, for protection.” As you shuddered, Joshua looked around curiously. “The Son of Hades, is in charge of nighttime patrol. He should be somewhere around here…”

Your eyes widened as the water canteen hanging on Jihoon’s belt flew towards you on its own, making you almost claw Joshua’s arm.

“Wonwoo don’t scare her.” Joshua chastised laughing as you literally see a tall, lean man materialize out of thin air, the canteen in his hand and a smirk on his face. “How long have you been here?”

“The whole time.” He mumbled, handing you the water. “Jihoon said you were thirsty.”

“Not for water.” The blonde man whispered in a way only you could hear, looking entertained at how flushed you were. Did he actually read your mind?

Coming out of Joshua’s shadow, you grabbed the canteen before anyone else noticed, thanking Wonwoo with a hard smile. Tilting your head back you drank up, not noticing how all 10 eyes were intently fixed on you and your throat moving with each gulp. They all took a gulp of their own.

As you wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, slowly looking around and noticing everyone’s gaze, the ground below began to shake, fazing no one but you.

Jeonghan pulled you out of the way of what seemed like a large mechanical bull charging towards you with an equally large man perched on top of it. A smaller man arrived right behind, riding a….. A leopard???

“You said you would win.” The muscled man slid off the mechanical creature, patting it. “My baby is faster.”

“I said a cheetah would win. My baby is a tiger.”

“It's a leopard.” You corrected, earning everyone's snickers and the not so threatening stare of its owner.

“It’s a big cat with an identity crisis.” Taking your hand in his, placing a soft kiss at the back of it, the muscle man gave you a fanged smile. “I’m Mingyu, Son of Hephaestus.”

The other man raised his hand. “Soonyoung, Son of Dionysis and that-” He turned to yet another one who was running over, looking frazzled.

“Seungkwan, Son of Hera, owner of a peacock that has yet again disappeared.” He bent over, grabbing his waist, panting and out of breath. “I don’t get why she keeps running away.”

“Maybe because you keep calling him a she.” Minghao nonchalantly glanced at his neatly filed nails.

“I can’t-” Seungkwan ran his fingers through his head, annoyed. “It’s confusing okay, who the fuck named him Patricia then?”

Behind you Jeonghan giggled.

“You coagulation of human evil,” Seungkwan threw his shoe, missing the target. “Now she- He won’t respond to any other name!”

The boys roared with laughter as Seungkwan unsuccessfully chased Jeonghan around, hands flailing everywhere.

Seungcheol walked over to you amidst all the mess, shooting you an understanding smile. “Your life has just undergone a major change, I get that it is intimidating but don’t worry. All thirteen of us are here to help you get through this.”

You nodded slowly, looking around at the boys, doing a quick, confirmatory headcount. “So there’s only thirteen of you?”

And why were all of them so gorgeous??

“Yeah, only.” Seungcheol chuckled, “Trust me thirteen is more than enough, I’ve got to run a very tight ship here.”

“I just assumed there would be seventeen people since, you know, Camp Seventeen.”

“The Oracle apparently told Woozi to name us Camp Seventeen.” He shrugged. “Not sure why.”

You hummed, as all of them gradually stopped behaving like toddlers and turned their attention to you.

“Wait,” The realization slowly dawned upon you. Actually, it hit you like a brick. “You’re all men.”

Seungcheol nodded carefully, like he didn’t know where you were going with this.

“Am I….Am I the only girl in the camp?”

Soft mutters went around as Seungcheol cleared his throat. “Yes and I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable but unfortunately, it was not a choice.”

“It’s not common for a girl to be assigned to an all boys camp,” Joshua stepped up. “But I believe since Jeonghan and Wonwoo are working on the lawsuit that landed you here, the authorities of Olympus must have thought it is better for you to be here.”

“But it’s not permanent.” Seungcheol added. “You can choose to change camps after Quest Season if you wish-”

“What is Quest season?”

Jeonghan let out a loud sigh. “You’ve been here for what, ten minutes? Don't overwork your brain. The world of demigods is complex, you’ll learn everything with time.”

“He’s right.” Seokmin leaned against the tree near him. “Why don’t we first move your things to Seungcheol’s cabin? We’ll let you get settled, then Joshua can show you around camp, walk you through the rules and assign a duty-”

“Except.” Soonyoung looked at you from bottom to top, like he was assessing you. “What kind of duty?”

“Exactly.” Mingyu threw his arm around his friend, his expression matching. “Daughter of Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home, what would you be good for in this camp?”

Minghao hummed, walking up to you, bending to meet your eyelevel. “Well, what can a woman be good for in a camp of thirteen men?”

A/n - next will be a detailed post about each member, their background and powers so it's less confusing for those who aren't so familiar with Greek mythology and the series will start after that so stay tuned!

[tonicandjins]

learning languages | lee donghyuck

pairing: lee donghyuck | nct haechan x reader word count: 18.5k genre: university au, getting together, smut, fluff, angst summary: in which you're an exchange student and donghyuck teaches you the essential korean phrases you need, and eventually how to fall in love with him tag list: @smwhrinthehaze @byungbyungbaek @sundamariis @thiccfullsun @yesohhsehun @haechoshi @najmnluvr @liz-zo @heyitsconysstuff @magicastle @novawon @gaeulswrld author’s note: I’m so sorry it took so long, but here it is! I imagine conversations with everyone in Korean, except for Mark! 😊 I imagine the conversations with Mark in English. I also have 0 knowledge with the Korean language except from the common phrases every Kpop fan knows lol. So please bare with me and feel free to correct me! ^^ Please also consider tipping me if you want to! NCT Dream is coming to my country this April and I’d love to see them if I could :) TIP ME HERE.

날씨가 추워 (nalssiga chuwo) – the weather is cold

The rain is pouring when you arrive in Incheon. 

It’s not as harsh as it is where you come from, but the February breeze still makes you shiver and curse under your breath, and while you’re wallowing and pouting over the fact that your first day in South Korea is not going as well as you wanted, Mark is chirpy—a little too happy for your liking. 

Of course, Mark is happy. Your bitterness over the weather is not going to spoil his energy, the exact same one—maybe stronger—he has had over the past couple of weeks, counting down the days he’d be back in Seoul, finally. Mark has told you that it had been over a decade since he last visited South Korea, and the Student Exchange Program from your university had been the best opportunity for him to come back after so long, too long. The stupid smile on his face somehow makes you feel better, especially when he jumps from his seat when he sees his childhood friend walk towards your area. 

Renjun is handsome like the picture that Mark sent you a week before your flight to South Korea, but it feels a little unfair that he’s even more attractive in person. His voice sounds like honey and the corner of his eyes crinkle when he smiles as he approaches you and Mark. 

They jump into a tight, dramatic hug that makes a few other people in the waiting area look, but the boys don’t care. Mark lifts Renjun up from the ground, it’s almost embarrassing. The sight makes you feel warm. You wonder how Mark feels. 

It must be amazing, you think, to finally meet someone you’ve been longing to see. Mark had always expressed his yearning for the place—the people, the friends he always had to leave behind when visiting during summer—and it makes you wonder how it feels like to have friends and family away from you. 

Evidently, this is your first time to be away from home. You live (or used to at this point) in a dormitory, a two-minute walk to the campus, a good hour away from home, but you always went home whenever you craved for your mother’s dishes. You’ve never considered living away from home. Sure, you had plans to move out eventually, but not in a different time zone, not in an entirely different culture. Mark, on the other hand, is frequently moving around, dragging his suitcase from place to place, leaving people behind and promising he’d come back when he can.

Born in Canada, Mark had been to more places that you could count, but he has told you many times that nowhere else feels like home, like Seoul. He’s told you many stories of the time his family lived there for a few years before going back to Canada, of his annual visits in the summer, and of his devastation when life had caught up with him that he had to stop visiting when he turned eleven. 

You remember his voice, its tone and emotion, when he called you a couple of months ago, informing you of the exchange program that the university’s administration had posted on the students’ corner, and how fucking amazing it would be if you could sign up with him. 

“It would be a good addition to your credentials,” he had told you. “It’s not going to be for a long time, a semester at least. And we have the option to stay the whole academic year if we wanted to! Plus, I already know a lot of people there. We’ll be fine!”

“I don’t know, Mark,” you had answered, feigning hesitation, even when you knew deep down that Mark had already convinced you by the tone of his voice when he revealed the news. “I’ve never been that far away from home. Remember when we went camping in ninth grade? I cried. For three whole days. I’m not going to survive a semester. Besides, I know not a single Korean word.”

“Come on, Y/N,” he had begged. “Think about it. You’ll be with me the entire time. If we pass the screening, the program will sign us up for free Hangul lessons—though, let’s be honest, I don’t really need it.”

“Why do you have to bring me anyway?” you had asked out of curiosity.

“Because I know you’ll love it there,” he had answered. “Your obsession with studying culture and languages will be satisfied because there is no better way to learn a culture than experiencing the whole thing with your best friend!”

You remember humming in response, as if you’re thinking deeply about it. Mark sighed on the other line, his words making you laugh and finally agree. 

“The chances of Mom letting me go is bigger when I tell her you’re coming with me,” he had admitted. Mark, upon hearing your agreement to his proposal, began listing out the places he would take you. The phone call lasted for three more hours and it had seemed like Mark already had an entire plan in his head before he even asked you if you would go with him. 

Passing the program had been easy and so was acquiring your visa. What was truly the pain in the ass, you admit, is learning the damn language. You salute Mark for being able to speak Korean so fluently, but he’s shit at teaching you and you had to rely on the free lessons you had taken every weekend and your favorite language mentor, Lee Minho in Legend of the Blue Sea. Your Korean is awful. Your tongue is a little too short, too stiff, for said language, and the situation almost makes you back out of the entire program and ditch Mark. 

But here you are, still shit at Korean, but standing among hustling people and waiting for your best friend to wrap up the moment he’s sharing with his long-time friend. Renjun finally catches your eyes as you awkwardly watch them on the side, your backpack becoming heavier each second you’re standing on the airport tiles. He pulls away from Mark, smiling, beaming towards you and offers a handshake. 

“Hwang Renjun,” he introduces. You remember their last names go first here. “Nice to meet you.”

It almost startles you when he speaks English. Mark forgot to mention his friend is fluent, you think. 

You tell him your name, voice smaller than it usually is, and express your relief that he speaks English. 

“I’m originally not from here either,” he explains. “I’m Chinese. My family had to move here before I could even properly pronounce words for my Dad’s work. Went to an international school, where I met Mark back in second grade.”

So, he’s cute and multilingual. How unfair.

“And I’d love to chat longer,” he says, switching to Korean now, before you can even respond. “But Hyuck is waiting in his car. We could talk on our way to your dormitory. For now, let’s go. Hyuck hates waiting.”

“Hyuck drove? What happened to your car?” Mark asks, helping you with your luggage and pushing the cart himself. Renjun insists to carry your backpack, and he had already gently pulled it from your shoulder before you could refuse.

Mark and Renjun talk about Hyuck, both switching to speaking Korean now, on their way out of the arrival area and it doesn’t take long for them to spot their friend’s car outside. The rain had stopped pouring by the time you’re settling yourselves inside their friend’s car. The second you settle yourself on the leather seat, you sigh in relief. Traveling is a lot more exhausting than you had initially thought. 

Renjun sits on the passenger seat, right beside Hyuck, you assume, and Mark settles himself beside you.

“Mark Lee,” Hyuck greets, looking at Mark through the rearview mirror. “A pleasure to finally meet you.”

It takes you a second to understand what he said. It’s only then that you realize you really are in Korea. 

“Lee Donghyuck,” Mark responds in the same tone. “You’re real. I’m happy to see you in person and not just through Facetime. I want to hug you.”

“Am I better looking in person?” Hyuck teases. “Hug me when we’re at your dormitory. I’ll even kiss you on the lips if you want to.”

“Disgusting,” Mark grimaces. “By the way—” He turns his attention to you the same time Hyuck begins driving. “This is Y/N.”

Hyuck only smiles, nodding a little to you through the rearview mirror, brushing his brown hair using his fingers to fix it up. Renjun begins to ask how the flight was and Mark replies. All three boys strike up a conversation in Korean and it was all too much, too fast, for you to catch up and understand anything, so you stay quiet on your seat, leaning against the window, and begin to wonder how things will go for the entire spring semester you’ll be spending in this foreign city. 

Mark never told you that the drive from Incheon to Seoul is long, so far that you didn’t even realize you had fallen asleep.  When you arrive at the dormitory, it’s past six in the afternoon and Mark’s friends ask kindly if you want to go out for dinner. Politely and quite incoherently, you tell them that you’d like to stay. Mark insists on staying home with you and unpacking your belongings, but you urge him to go, spend some time with his friends and walk around. Mark hesitates, but agrees nonetheless, promising he will come back in an hour.

The place the program had picked for you and Mark is not that bad. It’s nothing like home, but it’s not bad. It makes you wonder how Mark does it. You remember not being able to sleep on the first few nights on your dormitory’s bed when you were a freshman. Mark had never told you if he’s had trouble adapting to places he’s been. Maybe you could ask him in the morning. 

The exhaustion hits you again upon entering one of the rooms. Room assignment is yet to be decided, but Mark wouldn’t mind if you sleep on one of the beds while he’s out. And so, you sleep. 

You don’t remember what you dream of. And Mark wakes you at seven in the morning, reminding you that you had to unpack and go grocery shopping. Momentarily, you forget where you are. It hits you the same way it does in his friend’s car. You’re in a different country. A different language. A different time zone. 

It doesn’t feel like home at all even though it’s cold. But you guess you’ll have to make it work. At least until the semester ends. 

약속해요 (yagsoghaeyo) – I promise

When Mark told you he knew a lot of people in Seoul, you should’ve known he was bluffing because he literally knew only seven people.

Mark Lee’s friends are warm and loud and somehow you feel out of place when they all decide to hangout where you and Mark are. It’s the first week of the semester, and you have completed all the orientation and tour you need; Mark, on the other hand, is still catching up with everyone.

By everyone, he meant Kevin Moon, a senior who is also Mark’s cousin’s long-distance boyfriend who happens to be studying in SNU too, Hwang Renjun from Natural Sciences, Lee Donghyuck from Music, Lee Jeno and Na Jaemin from Engineering and Architecture, Zhong Chenle from Humanities, and Park Jisung from Business Administration. Which is why every day, for the past five days, you’re at a place called Arcade, with Mark and two or three people from their group.

It turns out Huang Renjun and Na Jaemin were Mark’s friends from childhood, the others are friends by extension.

Huang Renjun, you understand why Mark is closest to him among all. He’s soft all over but sharp in the mouth. Renjun, you learn, likes to talk about life and likes to give people advice when they need it. He’s reserved with other people but is the complete opposite when he’s with his friends.

Lee Jeno is shy. He normally joins the group after his internship at a construction corporation in the outskirts of Seoul, which is why you haven’t really seen him much—only twice. You haven’t had that many conversations with him yet, but he’s kind enough to pass you the ketchup when he sees you staring at it from the end of the table.

Zhong Chenle and Park Jisung are best friends. There’s not a day that you have not seen either without the other, kind of reminds you of how you and Mark are. They join whenever one is available—two peas in a pod.

Na Jaemin is the closest with Lee Donghyuck. You see them talking in their bubble more frequently than the others. Jaemin is mysterious and a little cold—the complete opposite of Lee Donghyuck.

Lee Donghyuck, well, you’ve got a lot to say about him.

It isn’t necessarily an uncomfortable feeling, because Mark’s friends are kind enough to slow down when they talk to you and are quite protective of you, especially when a random stranger bravely comes up to you to introduce themselves. Lee Donghyuck, in particular, who’s as warm as the sun touching your skin at nine in the morning and whose voice is careful and assuring, ensures that you’re never out of place—even when you feel it all the time. From the day the semester started, there hasn’t been a day when Donghyuck isn’t hanging out with you and Mark at Arcade.

Mark normally picks you up from class because thank God your schedules are aligned to each other despite having different majors. The College of Social Sciences is quiet, unlike the building right beside you, College of Music, and Mark usually takes five minutes to find you, because you can’t trust yourself to walk around on your own—at least not yet. But today, Mark asked if you could meet Kevin first because his girlfriend had something for him from Canada.

“Hyungseo!” You hear someone call, making you look up from your phone to see Kevin walking towards you. He stops and turns around, a girl you’ve seen around the college of social sciences once or twice running towards him.

“Don’t forget to bring the laminated cards we need for Friday!” the lady shouts. Kevin gives her a thumbs up and turns back to you.

“Y/N, right?” he asks in English. You nod. He offers a hand. “I’m sorry we haven’t met personally yet. But I’m Kevin.”

“She called you Hyungseo, though,” you trail off, accepting the handshake anyway. “I’ve seen your pictures from Giselle’s phone, so I knew it was you.”

He laughs. “Hyungseo’s my Korean name. You should’ve packed her with you.”

You reach for your bag and hand him the box that’s been sitting in your backpack all day. “Here,” you say. “No plans on visiting sometime soon?”

Kevin sighs. “I wish I could,” he answers. “It’s not as easy as we thought.”

“You guys sound okay though,” you comment. “I mean, Giselle always sounds so happy when she talks about you back home.”

This makes Kevin smile. “Oh, she does?”

“Why would she think of getting you a gift all the way from home if she’s not?” you ask, biting your tongue as soon as the words come out. “Sorry, I shouldn’t ask.”

“Let’s talk about this over some soju when you find a dude you want to spend the rest of your life with here,” he jokes. “Thanks for bringing this. You and Mark have been so busy; he’s been declining all my invitations to hangout.”

You sigh, “Yeah. It’s only the first week and there are lot of things we had to do. I’ll ask him if we can hang out on the weekend?”

Kevin agrees and hands his phone to you, asking to put your number so he could call you. You do and tell him you’re grateful you could talk to someone in English aside from Mark and bid him goodbye when he leaves. You shoot Mark a text, telling him you’ll be waiting for him and that Kevin’s dropped by to get his gift from Giselle.

Hence, you wait outside, busying yourself with your phone, trying to avoid any interaction as much as you can, and you don’t notice Donghyuck standing beside you until he taps your shoulder and gives you a warm smile.

“Mark is running late,” he says slowly. “Let’s go to Arcade together.”

You smile at Donghyuck’s attempt to pronounce Arcade how you would and nod at him. He leads the way out of the building, his backpack on one shoulder, and asks you how your classes are so far.

“It’s okay,” you answer because it’s all you can think of. “Thank God my professor in Psychology speaks English.”

Donghyuck hums. “It must be difficult for you.”

“It is,” you confess.

Among everyone you have met so far, Donghyuck gives you the feeling of comfort; you’re not exactly the most outgoing person nor the least—you were in between. You were okay with that. And you were okay that Donghyuck is okay with that, too. He doesn’t push you to speak more (probably because he knows you most likely do not know how to say whatever you had in mind), but can be very persuasive when there’s a hint that you’re relaxed.

Lee Donghyuck is bold and charming and amiable like nobody you’ve ever known. Normally, or at least with how you’re used to, people are a little more reserved around people they just met. And culturally speaking, you didn’t expect Donghyuck to be so forward and already so comfortable hanging out with you, what more with having conversations like this.

“Don’t worry, though,” he assures. “You’ll be fine. You’re here for about six months, anyway. I promise it’ll be the best six months of your college years.”

He’s also bright like this—optimistic and kind and assuring. You’re glad Mark is friends with people like him, with Donghyuck.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” you try to say, a phrase Mark taught you the other night. “Did I say that right?”

Donghyuck giggles, stopping and reaching up to ruffle your hair. “You’re absolutely adorable.”

“That, I am,” you joke back, more comfortable around him now.

“I promise,” he says. “It’ll be so good; you wouldn’t want to go back to Canada.”

한국말 잘 못해요 (hangugmal jal moshaeyo) – I don’t speak Korean well | 죽을래 (jug-eullae) – Do you want to die?

Donghyuck turns out to be a better teacher than Lee Minho and Mark Lee combined. He gifts you a small, pocket-friendly notebook, asking you to keep it for the rest of your stay, notably commenting that the material’s size will allow you to bring it everywhere you go. Hence, the tiny, brown faux leather notebook is safely tucked between your necessities inside your bag.

The first sentence he teaches you turns out to be the most essential: I don’t speak Korean well.

Donghyuck takes you to a café called 7 Days, an entirely different vibe compared to Arcade. You don’t question Donghyuck when he puts an arm on your shoulder as you walk together inside the café, but he asks you right away when he must have felt you stiffen from the touch: “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” you answer quietly.

Donghyuck smiles warmly at you. “Here, have a look around and I’ll get you something to drink before we decide what we want to eat. I have the perfect drink for you!”

He goes before you could say anything. You look and realize that the café is not so bad. Its aesthetic is the complete opposite of what Arcade’s going for—cozy, serene, almost like a good place to study or sleep in, whatever you need to survive the day—and the Biscoff latte is bomb, you don’t think you can drink latte differently now.

Conversations with Donghyuck could, well, unfortunately, go only where your limit is. He’s fun and likes to tell a lot of stories, but it’s always interrupted with you asking what a word means and him pulling up his phone and have his translation app say it for you. He makes jokes that you regrettably do not understand, but Donghyuck doesn’t take it to the heart and only says: “By the end of the term, you’ll be saying these jokes to Mark Lee.”

Donghyuck excuses himself to go to the toilet about an hour later and allows you a few minutes by yourself, which you happily spend taking pictures of the interior of the café. You sigh when you realize you didn’t take a picture of the Biscoff latte when it was full and pretty. Someone taps you on the shoulder, and it could only be Donghyuck, so you turn with a smile.

“I forgot to take a picture of the drink—Oh.” It’s not Donghyuck. “I’m sorry, how can I help you?” you ask politely.

The man towers over you and he smiles warmly. Your cheeks flush when he does, because you probably mispronounce each syllable from that sentence. “I’m Sanha.”

You bow courteously, still have 0 idea why the man is talking to you.

“I don’t see you around often,” he says. “And I’m here, like, almost all the time unless I have a class. My dad owns the place. How do you like it so far?”

“It’s… okay,” you say. Sanha chuckles, and your face is hot you probably look like a red potato now. “I mean, not just okay, I just can’t find the words to—”

He takes Donghyuck’s seat. “I can teach you,” he offers. “We can meet up here, and—”

Donghyuck calls your name, voice firm and monotonous like never before. “It’s getting late. Mark texted me to take you home early because Chenle’s making dinner at your place.”

You look at Sanha apologetically, still unable to reply properly so you only say, “I’m sorry.”

Donghyuck doesn’t give you the chance to say anything more because he’s already helping you out of your seat, turning you around so you could start walking towards the door, pushing you until you’re out of the café.

You hear him sigh as you walk away from the café, arm around your shoulder like how you entered the place.

“Y/N, my sweet pea,” he softly says. “Please don’t to talk strangers.”

You shrug, “It’s not like I could just ignore him when he was already taking you space.”

He scoffs. “When strangers start talking to you and being all brave and upfront, you tell them: I don’t speak Korean well. Then just start hitting them with English words and exaggerate your accent. That’s how Mark Lee tries to avoid conversations with girls sometimes because he’s a loser and women make him nervous.”

“I don’t speak Korean well,” you repeat, slowly pronouncing each syllable.

“Where’s the notebook I asked you to bring everywhere?” Donghyuck asks. “Write that down.”

You nod and tell him you’d do it later. Donghyuck leads the way towards the stop just in time for the bus that’s about to leave. You and him hop in, taking the seats in the back, giggling when Donghyuck almost topples over as soon as the bus starts to move. He lets you sit by the window and starts telling you about how his sister always fights him to get the window seat and he’s never won so he naturally just gives people the said seat.

You’re nearby the next stop when you ask him: “Donghyuck, what if I tell people I don’t speak Korean well and they wouldn’t stop bothering me?”

Donghyuck looks nice in his brown, fluffy jacket, face bare, his eyeglasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. He looks even nice whenever he smiles like this.

“Y/N, do you know how cute you are?” An answer you don’t expect. “You’re so cute when you ask questions like this. I want to put you in my pocket.”

“Donghyuck,” you sigh, expecting a serious answer.

He reaches up to pat your head. “You won’t have to worry because we won’t let you be on your own unless you ask us to stay away. Especially me. Not me. I’ll make sure to take care of you and Mark while the two of you are here.”

You nod, still not satisfied with the answer. The Sanha situation awhile ago makes you realize how helpless you’d be if you weren’t with Mark or any of his friends. Donghyuck probably notices your dissatisfaction when he feels like you’re sulking, which you definitely are, because he chuckles and pokes your cheek to get your attention again.

“If it makes you feel better,” he says. “You could always ask them if they want to die.”

“That’s mean!” you gasp.

“Or tell them to fuck off,” he shrugs.

“Donghyuck!”

“What?” he asks. “It’s not like I don’t hear you and Mark say ‘fuck you’ to each other every day.”

You laugh at that. “Saying it in Korean hits different.”

“Right!” Donghyuck agrees. “I’ve been telling people saying fuck you in Korean has more impact than in any other language. I can say the word fuck every day.”

“You kiss your mother with that mouth?” you joke.

Donghyuck coos. “Oh, I’m so proud of you. You’re cracking jokes now.”

The bus halts at your stop, and Donghyuck helps you up by taking your hand the way he’s helping you learn the language. It’s only when you’ve reached the street to the apartment you share with Mark that you realized you’ve been holding hands all the way from the bus stop.

저 알러지 있어요 (jeo alleoji iss-eoyo) – I’m allergic

“Do you not understand what you just did, Mark Lee?” you ask in disbelief.

It’s only a month into your stay in Seoul, and Mark does the dumbest thing ever. Mark Lee comes home with a pet cat.

There were three rules for the spring semester, three very specific and very easy rules: one, to always text each other’s location as soon as you step foot outside of the apartment (which you and him are constantly compliant about; you love Mark Lee for that); two, to never skip a class unless you’re sick (you’re only here until July; Mark decided he’s not wasting a single day in Seoul, even if it means going to classes on time and by schedule without fail); and lastly, don’t keep things you won’t be able to take back home.

Mark had said that these rules are specifically for you because rule number one ensures your safety, rule number ensures you get the real Korean education experience, and rule number three apparently ensures you’re not leaving anything important at the airport when you leave—which now you think is bullshit. The rules are more for him than you, but you love Mark Lee, and it’s not like the cat isn’t cute.

“But, Y/N,” Mark pouts. “She kept on staring at me with these eyes when Renjun was busy comparing brands of dog treats. It was like her eyes were calling me, asking me to take her home!”

The calico cat is a baby; Mark said it’s not even five months old yet. It’s the last from seven siblings, the last one to be adopted (and you think Mark is only telling you this to convince you this is a good idea. She jumps out from Mark’s lap and goes to you, staring at you first before settling herself on your lap.

“She loves you already!” Mark comments.

You sigh. “Mark. You know we can’t take her home, right? We’re leaving in like, five months.”

“Which means I have five months to convince our friends to adopt her while I’m in Canada!” he answers enthusiastically, his eyes almost sparkling with the way he’s talking. “I couldn’t just leave her there. My heart wouldn’t allow me to leave without her!”

“Fine,” you give up. “Don’t cry on me on the plane back home when we leave her.”

Mark chuckles. “I think I should be more worried about you crying on the plane back home.”

Someone knocks on your door before you can ask what he means by that. It’s Mark who stands and welcome the person, and of course, it’s Donghyuck.

It’s Saturday. Saturday means Donghyuck comes and hangs out at your place because he no longer has to work in the university library on the weekends. He’d quit, saying his big mouth isn’t fit for the library, and had asked the school administration to reassign him to another facility. Part of his scholarship is to work at least 16 hours a week in one of the university’s facilities. He’s paid, of course, but Donghyuck says he’s not paid enough to keep his mouth shut for 16 hours a week. The admin asked for a week to figure out where he’d be assigned next, so he had this entire weekend all to himself, which, to how it looks like now, he’d decided to spend with you and Mark.

Mark lets Donghyuck in. The latter’s smile falters when he sees you; he only gives you a curt nod. And it’s not like you’re expecting Donghyuck to cuddle you on the couch, alright? It’s just that, you’ve known each other for a month now, and have hung out together a handful of times—just the two of you—and he called you yesterday telling you he’d come hangout with you and Mark for the weekend, even said something about teaching you to play Apex if you have the energy for it. And it’s not like he’s obligated to come sit beside you as soon as he enters your apartment, but you’re confused when he sits on the single couch far away from you, stance uncomfortable and his face looking like he’d rather be elsewhere.

Mark’s voice fades away when he asks Donghyuck what their plans are, to which Donghyuck answers: “I’m actually just here to say hi. I’m leaving in a bit.”

“No way,” Mark protests.

“Or we could go out?” Donghyuck offers.

“Uh-uh,” Mark refuses. “Y/N has been excited all morning to see you. You’re not going to disappoint her today.”

“I didn’t say anything—” You try to say, but couldn’t translate what you want to say quick enough. “Donghyuck obviously doesn’t want to be here.”

Over the course of a month living in Seoul, you and Donghyuck had grown closer more than anyone. It would be ridiculous to deny Donghyuck’s seemingly unceasing affection towards you, and in the same manner, it would be a lie if you’d say you’re not enjoying all the attention he’s been giving you. Above the flirty and friendly advances he makes (but never crossing the line), Donghyuck has grown to be a good friend. During the first couple of weeks, you would refer to him as Mark’s friend; it’s safe you say you’re friends with him now.

Donghyuck’s decided to pick you up from the college of Social Sciences, convincing Mark that his building is literally next to yours and that a ten-minute walk to Arcade with you is not going to hurt him—Mark’s been walking with you for many years anyway, he would mumble under his breath, close enough for you to hear but distant enough for you to understand what he truly means. Hence, with the growing friendship you have with him, you wonder what you had done this time.

“It’s not like that,” Donghyuck answers the question you had in mind, both hands raised in defense. You raise an eyebrow. “That.”

Donghyuck points at your lap, Mark’s unnamed cat sleeping soundly now. Oh.

“I’m allergic,” he explains. “I can’t be around one within like a five-meter radius otherwise, I would, like, you know, die.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Mark comments. “Are you really?”

“Yeah,” Donghyuck confirms. “The allergens are getting to me. My throat is starting to close up. I have to leave now.”

This startles you and Mark, the latter quickly taking the calico cat from your lap and quickly taking it to his room. You reckon the cat’s allergens are all over you so you sit as far away as you can from Donghyuck.

“It’s fine,” he assures, but he already looks like he’s choking. “It’s not that serious. They usually just give me allergic rashes and kind of triggers my asthma. So, we’re good.”

“But you have a dog!” you remark. “You never told me you’re allergic to cats!”

He chuckles, “Well, you learn something every day.”

“There are some anti-histamine tablets from the cupboard,” you point out, still seated where you are. “I probably have allergens on my hands; please go get yourself one.”

Donghyuck does what he’s told, taking one and opening the fridge to get himself a bottle of water. You tell him you’re changing your clothes and ask him to wait up, offering to go out and have a meal with him instead.

Mark knocks on your door a couple of minutes later, finding you dressed up, a knowing smile playing on his lips. “Donghyuck said he’d wait outside. You look nice.”

“I know I look nice,” you say as you go back to your vanity to throw whatever you’d need for the day in your small dumpling bag, including a box of Benadryl. “You’re not coming with us because you have cat all over you.”

Mark chuckles, leaning against the doorframe. “Donghyuck literally told me the same thing. He’s growing on you,”

You only hum in response, checking your bag for the last time before walking towards the door where Mark Lee is still leaning on, the same smirk playing on his lips still plastered.

“What?” you ask.

Mark doesn’t say anything, but he raises and shows you his right hand, sticking three fingers up.

먹었습니다 (meog-eossseubnida) - The meal was good.

Seoul National University’s library is as quiet as it can be; it’s almost scary how the only sounds you’d only hear are the faint sounds of pages being flipped and pens gliding on notepads, and the eerie echoes of the tension coming from students who are either cramming on an assignment or jumping from one subject to another in hopes of getting everything they read retained in their head.

Donghyuck used to tell you this is the exact reason why he didn’t like working at the library. It’s too quiet but too loud at the same time. You chuckle at the memory of him telling you anecdotes of his short-lived employment in the library and wonder how different it is being the soccer team’s laundry guy. He’s probably pouting all the way from the beginning of his shift until the end.

“Here,” Jung Sungchan disrupts your thoughts, keeping his voice as quiet as possible. “I found these, maybe it could help bridge the gap we’re struggling on.”

You and Sungchan are paired up for a two-week long assignment for one of your major subjects. The objective was to present a summarized and substantial report on the welfare state, and you think Sungchan must have tripped on all the bad luck in his life to have been paired up with someone who couldn’t speak Korean that well, because, well, the books they had are mostly in Korean. If speaking and understanding Korean is a struggle for you, reading the damn language is hell.

“This is a good thing,” Sungchan assures. “There are resources online that are mostly in English. We can combine everything we find and construct the report from there!”

You nod and hand over the book you’re reading before he arrived, explaining that you found a chapter that could be very helpful. The boy fires up his laptop and starts accessing the website your professor had recommended you to use.

Sat side by side, you and Sungchan study in silence, except for when he asks you to read an article for him and explain what it means. The session lasts for hours, thank God you and him didn’t have classes for the rest of the day, and within those hours of studying with Sungchan, you can’t help but notice the looks you were getting anytime someone passes by the two of you.

It’s no secret that Jung Sungchan is probably one of the most attractive men in the university. He’s tall and has skin that’s as clear as a day in summer, smile that could swoon a lot of people off their feet, broad shoulders that’s probably carrying the entire hockey team for this year’s season—and yes, it doesn’t help the fact that Jung Sungchan is the most popular jock at the moment, apparently for hard carrying the team to win last year’s trophy, ending Seoul National University’s 10-year drought and awakening the school’s love for sports back. And you think it’s quite unfair that people like him exist. Because you would expect that he’s an asshole who doesn’t care about his grades because he’s essentially SNU’s hero at the moment, but he’s not. Jung Sungchan, you learn, takes his degree in Social Sciences very seriously.

And it’s evident with the way his eyebrows are furrowed as he reads the tenth book he found from the shelves.

“I think this part makes more sense now,” he points out, leaning closer so he could show you the article he’s reading. “In residual regimes, welfare-seeking units are primarily family and market. On the other hand, in the institutional welfare regime, the function of providing welfare belongs directly to the state.”

“But countries with different social conditions and lifestyles should have differed in terms of welfare states,” you argue. “We have to consider that the development of industrialization and production growth could be very different from one country to another.”

Sungchan hums. “Good point. Perhaps we can find more of that from Wilensky and Lebaux’s work. Do you have the book over there?”

You nod and hand him the book. Just as Sungchan flips the book open, Mark occupies the seat across you.

“We’ve been calling you,” Mark whispers to you, then turning to look at Sungchan. “Hey, man. Mark. Y/N’s best friend.”

Sungchan gives him a polite nod before going back to the book. You raise an eyebrow at Mark and slip your phone from the pocket of your backpack and find all the missed calls from him, Renjun, and Donghyuck.

“My phone’s been on silent for like, I don’t know, four hours,” you tell him, slipping your phone back to your back. “And I texted you I’d be at the library.”

“Yeah, like four hours ago,” he answers. “I didn’t think you’d really stay here for four hours. Anyway—” Mark pulls out a lunch bag and slides it across the table. “Donghyuck made this for you. He figured you’d be hungry.”

It’s only then that it hit you. The last meal you had was that bagel you had for breakfast on the way to school, which you had seven or eight hours ago.

“My sweet Donghyuckie,” you coo, thankful for his thoughtfulness. “Thanks, Mark. Sungchan and I will share because we’ll be here until we finish at least the structure of the report.”

“It’s getting late though,” Mark points out.

Sungchan clears his throat. “I can drive you home.”

“Great!” Mark exclaims, which earns him multiple shushes from the other students studying. “Sorry. Great!” he says again, in a whisper this time.

Mark bids goodbye to you and offers a handshake to Sungchan, telling him he’ll see him often in the next two weeks or for as long as you and him are paired-up on your major subjects. Sungchan gives him one last assurance you’ll be home safe.

You ask Sungchan to take a break and open the lunch bag. Inside it are two bento boxes full of food, too much for one person, and you don’t take another minute to wait. Sungchan must have been hungry too, because he doesn’t refuse when you offer the other half of your meal to him.

You’re not really sure how much longer you and Sungchan stay in the library, but as soon as you’ve finalized the structure of the report and have agreed on assigned topics, he suggests that you and him go home and meet up again on Friday so you can start assembling the presentation. And as promised, Sungchan drives you home, glad when he realized your apartment is only ten minutes away from his.

It’s already ten in the evening when you reach home. Mark’s probably already sleeping, you think when you don’t see any light peaking from smallest of the small space between his door and the floor. It’s late anyway, and you don’t really have much energy to tell him about your day like you always do. In fact, you don’t even have the energy to shower anymore, and because you don’t like sleeping on your bed with your outside clothes, you opt to sleep on the couch tonight.

The last thing you do is shoot Donghyuck a text message: “The meal was good.”

삼각관계 (sam-gak-kwan-gae) – love triangle

Jung Sungchan invites you watch to one of his preliminary games the day after you completed the report with him. Mark teasingly tells you that you have boys wrapped around your finger not even two months living in Seoul. You deny the claims, of course, because Sungchan is nothing but a good friend and you don’t see him as anything more.

Donghyuck is the first person you think of when Sungchan gives you two spare tickets for the game, and you like to think that it’s only because you don’t want Mark teasing you and accusing you of romance all afternoon, and also because Donghyuck has a car and Mark is a shit navigator so you can’t trust him to commute with you from the university to the indoor arena where the game is being held.

SNU’s team wins, of course, and you proudly cheer for Sungchan, which earns you a side eye from Donghyuck. You shrug it off and pretend that you didn’t see.

“Can we go now?” Donghyuck asks, bored, when people start leaving the arena.

You shake your head. “Sungchan asked me to wait for him after the game.”

“You know that barbecue place I told you we’d go to?” Donghyuck reminds. “We can go there—“

Your phone rings. It’s Sungchan. Donghyuck sighs.

“Congratulations, nerd!” is the first thing you tell him. Sungchan thanks you, laughing from the other end of the call, and apologizes that he can no longer meet you because the team’s been hogging him the second they won the round.

“It’s fine,” you assure. “I’m with Donghyuck, anyway. I’ll see you at school?”

“No, no,” Sungchan answers. “There’s a small celebration party at Shotaro’s house. It’s a twenty to thirty-minute drive from your apartment. I’ll send you the location. Go there.”

Sungchan hangs up, and not even a second later, you receive a text from him, a location pinned on the message. You show the message and pout at Donghyuck, and he’s looking at you all bored, rolling his eyes, before nodding and taking your hand so you and him could leave the arena.

The drive to the place takes about an hour from the arena, and you spend it singing along to Michael Jackson’s songs.

“You have a really nice voice,” you comment. Donghyuck laughs.

“Baby,” he says. “I wouldn’t be pursuing a career in music if I had a shitty voice.”

The nickname gives you a flush, and you could only hope Donghyuck wouldn’t notice.

Almost two months into meeting Lee Donghyuck, you find yourself unable to keep your heartbeat down whenever he does things like this—calling you nicknames, randomly showing up in places where you are just to say hi, holding your hand, texting and calling you every day, spending his weekends and times off with you, and doing simple and domestic things for you—and your heart tells you it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with a whirlwind romance in Seoul. Donghyuck doesn’t ever hesitate, and the fact that you’re holding back means you really like him. But the rational part of you says it’s not really a good idea to be in a situationship with someone who will most likely forget you as soon as you go back to Canada, and you can’t afford a heartache from miles away. Besides, Donghyuck probably isn’t that serious with whatever that’s going on.

Rumors say (by rumors, you mean Chenle and Jisung) that Donghyuck is the type of guy who dates one girl after another. Because he’s bold and charming and amiable and likes to expand his choices, and he finds that there’s nothing wrong with dating as long as he doesn’t date multiple women at the same time. You haven’t really seen him out on a date since you had met him. Rumor (Chenle) says that he’s been single since fall of last year and had committed to stay single this year because of the messy breakup and also because he’s on his last year of college, he’d need to focus on stepping up his game if he wants entertainment companies to fight over him as soon as he starts looking for agencies after graduation. Another rumor (Jisung) says he’s rejected many women who have tried to sleep with him since news broke that Lee Donghyuck is newly single. The rumor says he’s as popular as Jung Sungchan when it comes to women, which, if you’re being honest, gives you some kind of pedestal to walk hand-in-hand with him in the university grounds. You realize now that you get the same look from women when you’re with Donghyuck like the stares you got whenever you and Sungchan are stuck in the library for hours of studying.

The only difference is that, well, you like that people stare at you with a hint of jealousy whenever you’re with Donghyuck.

“Why haven’t you invited me to your gigs?” you ask before you could even think about it. “Sungchan’s only been friends with me for like three weeks and he already got me tickets to his game. You, on the other hand…”

The car halts to a slow stop, Donghyuck’s phone telling you that you’ve arrived at your location. Donghyuck doesn’t switch off the engine though. He chuckles licking his lips, then poking his tongue on his cheeks, fucking with your heart and hormones in the process. He keeps his hand on the steering wheel and turns to look at you, eyes hazed in attraction like he’s pulling you in.

“Baby,” he says in a whisper almost. “I don’t like love triangles.”

“Love… triangles?” you repeat.

“Love triangles,” he says in English. “I fucking hate it. And we’re not about to go through that trope in our love story here. So, let me make it clear before we go inside and before you even think about sticking to Sungchan all night.”

You gulp.

“There’s no Sungchan in the equation,” he states like a command and you find yourself nodding, agreeing. “It’s only you and me. Tonight, there will be a lot of people and none of them will be in the equation. Tonight, you’re sticking with me and we’ll talk about this tomorrow. Have fun with me and see if you want to take this to another level, because if you ask me, I’ve been dying to fucking kiss you since the semester began.”

This territory is new, and this Donghyuck is new, too. He’s always been affectionate and he’s never held back, but this new level of honesty is astonishing. Damn attractive if you’re being honest.

“Come here,” he says, ridding himself from his seatbelt. You do the same, leaning closer to him. Donghyuck holds your cheeks with both hands, smiling down at you before leaning in to kiss your forehead. “I’m not giving you mixed signals. This is me giving you a clear, direct sign that I like you and I like what we have, but I’d love to take another step. I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t really want someone to enter the equation while I’m trying to woo you.”

You giggle. “You already successfully wooed the romance out of me the second you started holding my hand, Lee Donghyuck. And no, there won’t be love triangles.”

Donghyuck’s honesty fires up some courage in you, and you like the feeling of watching him falter when you lean in, hand on the back of his neck, and kiss him for the first time. The man melts in your kiss and in your touch, but doesn’t wait for another heartbeat to kiss you back. And despite of the bottled-up and eagerness from both sides, the first kiss is soft the first time, featherlike and sweet. His lips are even softer than they look and his lips already look plump as it is, and when Donghyuck licks your lips and invites himself in, God, he makes sure you taste the sweetness from his mouth and in a minute you’re addicted and you kiss and kiss and kiss, lips locking, tongue gliding, breaths gasping.

It’s him who pulls away, leaving you with dazed eyes wanting, wanting, wanting more.

Donghyuck gives you one last kiss on the forehead. “Let’s go.”

이렇게? (ireoke) – Like this?

You don’t end up seeing Sungchan at all in the party, and you don’t mind because Donghyuck keeps you glued to his side. The party is fun, but you and Donghyuck decide not to drink a single drop of alcohol. To him, it’s because he has to drive. To you, it’s because you want to be entirely sober to remember whatever happens tonight.

Donghyuck makes out with you in the corner of the living room where people are crumpled, and you like that he doesn’t care that people see. He holds you by the waist and on your neck, and you get it now. You get why women are lining up to sleep with Donghyuck, because if he can kiss like this, what else can he do with his mouth?

You shoot a message to Sungchan with a selfie of you and Donghyuck, thanking him for inviting you to the party and telling him you’ll see him on your next class together (Donghyucks suggests you send Sungchan a picture of you and him making out.) and prompt to leave. Donghyuck says goodbye to a few people he knew, holding you by the waist all the way from the house to where his car is parked.

Donghyuck drives you to his apartment and tells you he’s told Mark you’d be sleeping at his place tonight. The drive itself was intense enough and Donghyuck’s doing an amazing job keeping his cool while you’re practically sweating from the passenger’s seat.

You don’t even get a good look at his apartment when you arrive, because Donghyuck’s already kissing you as he rids himself of his jacket. Donghyuck doesn’t kiss you softly this time; he kisses you like he’s leaving a mark on your mouth, almost like he wants to bruise his presence inside you. He helps you get slip out of your jacket, pulling away quickly to kick his shoes off, before carrying you bridal style and bringing you to his room, kicking the door behind.

Despite the roughness of his kisses, he puts you to bed gently, ridding himself of his shirt and kneeling on the floor so he could help you out of your socks. He leans up once he’s done, one hand on your jaw to pull you down for another kiss, the other caressing your thigh.

“Please tell me this is okay,” he whispers. You nod. “I need your words, baby.”

“Yes, Donghyuck,” you answer, breathless when he starts kissing your neck. “This is okay. Please touch me.”

Donghyuck pushes you a little so half of your body is lying on his bed, your feet flat on his carpeted floor, tugging the loops of your jeans, urging you to lift your hips so he can rid you out of the material. He pulls you back up to take your shirt off from your torso, then he’s helping you back up from the edge of the bed towards the headboard as he crawls on top of you.

“Donghyuck,” you gasp when he goes back to kissing you. You realize that Donghyuck like kissing with the way he’s using his mouth to imprint his presence in you, his tongue licking everywhere it can reach inside your mouth, and he tastes like mint and the soda he had at the party, and he’s everything that you want. “Touch me, please.”

“Like this?” Donghyuck reaches down to rub your clit through the material of your underwear. He rubs slow, teasingly, and kisses you on the mouth when you groan. He dips his head lower and kisses your neck; he bites and nips and sucks and you’re sure it’s leaving a mark you’d have to conceal the next day. “Want me to touch you like this, baby?”

A moan elicits from your throat, and Donghyuck doesn’t waste any more time. He slips his warm hand between your skin and your underwear, really touching you, rubbing your clit gently, his digits dragging itself on your slit slowly, gathering your wetness then going back to rub your clit again, more roughly with the pool of wetness his fingers have now.

“Like this?” he asks again, pushing a finger inside when he finds your hole, urging another moan from your lips.

“Oh my God, Donghyuck,” you gasp when he fingers you gently, your wetness making a sound when he adds another finger. Donghyuck takes his time, biting his lips as he watches you writhe underneath his touch.

“Pull your bra down,” he breathes out, and you do. When your breasts are out on the open, Donghyuck doesn’t waste time and locks lips with your nipple, sucking and licking as he fingers the sanity out of you. He alternates from fingering you with two digits and rubbing you using his thumb, and you’re all putty and messy under him, and you want more, more, more, more.

“Baby, please fuck me,” you beg. “Please, Donghyuck. Please fuck me”

Donghyuck hushes you. “I will, baby. I’ll fuck you so well, you’ll come running back to me tomorrow and the day after, and the day after.”

But he doesn’t. He pulls his fingers out, hold you by your jaw so you could lock eyes while he licks the proof of your attraction to him from his fingers, sucking and showing you just how well he could use his tongue. He doesn’t fuck you get but he rids you of the last garments from your body and does the fucking impossible.

Donghyuck eats you out like it’s the last meal he’ll ever have. He swirls his tongue on your clit as he pushes his digits back in your hole, fingering you like it’s all he’s ever wanted, and he’s got you chanting his name like a prayer when his tongue laps your sex, even more when he replaces his fingers with his tongue. You’re writhing and screaming and Donghyuck’s holding your legs apart while he pleasures you with his mouth and hands.

You don’t want to cum yet, but Donghyuck’s so, so good, and it looks like he’s not stopping anytime soon. He tongues you back to your clit and fingers you with three digits, fast and rough.

“Donghyuck, I’m going to—” You see white and stars and you stay still when Donghyuck continues fingering you, moving all three fingers in an upward motion, reaching where you want him the most, mouth sucking your clit as you ride the first orgasm you’ve had in months.

Donghyuck lets you have your moment when it’s done, taking the time to lick the slick wetness from his fingers down to his wrist, kneeling between your legs. You push yourself up so that you’re sitting with your legs wide open, your palms flat on his sheets, head tilted for a kiss. Donghyuck leans over and kisses you again, and you never thought you’d like tasting yourself in his tongue. You guess everything tastes sweeter when it’s in Donghyuck’s mouth.

“Off, please,” you murmur, pulling the loops from his jeans. Donghyuck obeys, removing all pieces of clothing until he’s naked.

You marvel at his beauty, licking your lips when you finally see him bare and clean. His golden skin looks like honey and you want to kiss the fuck out of his collarbones and leave your mark for everyone to see. Your eyes travel from his chest down to the trail from his tummy down to his erect cock. He’s hard and red and you salivate from how big he looks and feel yourself getting even more wet at the thought of him fucking you. Before you know it, you’re reaching out, moving so you could kneel, and taking his hardness in your hand. Donghyuck moans for the first time tonight, and you plan to elicit that sound from him all night.

Stroking him slowly, you feel a rush of satisfaction when Donghyuck pants your name. “Oh my God,” he moans when you bend over, a palm flat on his sheets, your other hand stroking him as you take him to your mouth. He gathers your hair and watches you from above, and you purposely stick your ass up higher when you feel him twitch as you take more of his cock into your mouth. When you’re about halfway, you stroke the rest of what you can’t take and start sucking and licking, and Donghyuck makes the absolute best sound ever. You like his voice when he sings, but you don’t think anything could compare with how he’s whining your name as you suck his dick thoroughly, licking and jerking off whatever your mouth couldn’t fit. A part of you wants to ask Donghyuck to fuck your mouth, bruise your throat with his dick and cum straight down your fucking stomach if he wants to, but that could be arranged next time. This time, with his dick hard and wet from your mouth, you want him to fuck you.

You suck him one last time before you pull away, a string of your saliva following when you look up at Donghyuck. “Now, will you fuck me?”

Donghyuck looks fucked out, eyes dazed with lust, and you want nothing more than for him to ruin you. And Donghyuck doesn’t need to be asked twice.

He crawls back up until you’re lying on your back, legs wide open for him, and kneels between your legs. “Ready and sure?” he asks for the last time, stroking himself.

“Pull out when you cum,” is all you say and Donghyuck goes for it. He gives you a kiss and rests one of his forearms beside your arm, massaging the head of his cock on your opening until he’s stretching you out.

“Fuck,” Donghyuck groans when he feels your tightness. “God damn, Y/N, when was the last time you got fucked?”

“I—I can’t remember,” you say. “None of them were worth remembering.”

“And me?” Donghyuck asks as he pushes deeper until he’s fully stretched you and his pelvis is leaning against your clit. “Will you remember me?”

“Ask me next time,” you breathe out. “I think you’ll have to fuck me every day so I can remember.”

Donghyuck gives you some time, kissing you softly. “When was the last time you fucked anyone?” you ask in return.

“I can’t remember,” he parrots. “None of them were worth remembering. All I know is that this is the first time I’m feeling someone raw.” Then he bottoms out, gives you only half a second before he’s thrusting back and out and back and out and back and out, slowly but surely fucking you well.

Donghyuck fucks you like he means it. His hips snap roughly but makes sure you feel all of him before he thrusts out and he’s everywhere. His tongue is in your mouth, then on your neck, his free hand is caressing one of your breasts, playing with your nipples, and he’s making you feel so, so good and you’re not sure how you go back from here. You’re not sure how you could go on with life knowing how well Donghyuck can fuck you. He’s got you squirming and reaching your second orgasm only minutes into fucking the life out of you.

When you’re close, Donghyuck pushes himself up so that he’s kneeling again, and lifts both your legs, resting your calves on either side of his shoulders, hugging your legs so he can fuck you deeper in this angle. The precision makes you chant his name over and over again and he takes one of his hands down to rub your clit. You try your best to hold back from cumming because the way he’s fucking you now feels so damn good that you want it to last for a long time. He thrusts in and out quickly, his balls hitting the bottom of your ass again and again.

“Come for me, baby,” he says. “Let go.”

So, you do, and Donghyuck keeps on fucking you through it. Donghyuck lets you finish, before he’s pushing the back of your knees down so your thighs are pressed up against your stomach, chasing his own orgasm, and fucks you hard, without rhythm, until he is moaning your name like praise and he’s pulling out so he could release on your stomach. You reach up to caress his cheek as you watch him in awe as he finishes, his face contorted in pleasure, lips wet and eyes closed.

When it’s done, Donghyuck kisses you on the forehead and helps you clean up. He leaves to go to the bathroom for a minute to grab a warm, wet towel, cleaning your stomach, and carries you back to the bathroom with him. The shower is warm, and Donghyuck is gentle and sweet when he cleans you up, giving you kisses when he pats you dry once he’s gotten rid of the shampoo and body wash from your hair and skin. Donghyuck tells you there’s a spare toothbrush on behind the mirror and washes himself as you brush your teeth, naked but warm.

Donghyuck tells you to that the right side of his closet is where you can find the clothes he uses at home and you follow as he finishes cleaning himself up. You take the liberty to take one of his shirts that are still too big for you despite Donghyuck’s frame and slip a pair of cotton shorts.

Donghyuck finds you half-asleep when he’s done showering; he sleeps shirtless, you reckon, because he crawls to bed only in sweatpants. He cuddles you from behind, kissing the clothed shoulder, and the last thing you hear before you drift off to sleep is him humming a song your mind can’t recognize and a promise that you’ll talk about this the next day.

You wake up to the smell of Spam, an empty space beside yours, and the sound of Donghyuck singing a song from BOL4, which you learned is one of his favorite musicians.

Donghyuck smiles warmly at you when you find him in the kitchen, just about to finish pan-frying the last piece of sliced luncheon meat. He’s still shirtless, but is wearing a cute pink apron, and he gives you a quick kiss on the lips like it’s the most natural thing ever. The second his lips pull away from yours, you reach up and touch where he kissed, lips tingling—in disbelief that what happened last night is real.

“Good morning,” he hums. “Just in time for breakfast.”

“Donghyuck,” you trail off. “Can we talk first?”

Donghyuck nods, offering that you sit on the high stool across the small kitchen island. He sits next to you, turning the seat so that you’re face to face, knees touching. “What do we want to do?” he asks.

“You know I’m leaving in like, four months, right?” you start.

Donghyuck whistles. “We just started and you’re already breaking up with me?”

“No, no,” you say, exhaling. “This… this. I like. You. I like.”

“Baby, construct your sentences properly,” he laughs.

“I like you,” you confess. “And I like this. I like holding your hands. And kissing you. And what we did last night. I’m just worried because—”

“Because you’re leaving,” he finishes for you. “I know, but I also like you a lot. More than you probably think. And I don’t want to miss my chance getting to know you more just because you’re leaving in a few months. I don’t know what you want, but here’s what I want, you let me know if it works for you, if not, then I’ll still be a friend. Who might cry for two weeks straight if you reject me.”

You laugh but urge him to continue.

“I want to date you, and get to know you even more. Your quirks, the things that make you angry, your comfort food, the movies that give you the ick,” he continues. “Your family, how you were raised, if you like Marvel or DC more, what Hogwarts house you belong to, if you like pineapple in pizza or not, whether you pour milk or cereal first, if you ever kissed Mark Lee, if Mark Lee’s ever had a crush on you.”

“What does Mark have—”

“Shh,” he stops. “It’s my turn. Talk later. Anyway, I want this—” he gestures the space between you and him. “And I want you. I want to keep teaching you the language and I know what’s ahead of us is scary, and there’s only two things that could happen: this is going to be either the biggest heartbreak of my life or you’re going to be the greatest love of my life. It’s a fifty-fifty chance, Y/N. Let’s just say I’m willing to risk whatever if it means I have 50% the chances of having you as the greatest love of my life.”

Oh. You don’t realize you’re staring quietly until Donghyuck holds your hand.

“Now tell me,” he asks slowly. “What do you want?”

You don’t hesitate. “I want you, Lee Donghyuck.”

일어날 수 있는 최악의 상황은 무엇입니까? il-eonal su issneun choeag-ui sanghwang-eun mueos-ibnikka? What’s the worst that could happen?

It doesn’t come out as a surprise to anyone when you and Donghyuck arrive at Arcade holding hands, a shy smile playing on your lips, a proud one in Donghyuck’s. You were thankful that there were no teasing remarks coming from your friends—that they were taking this so well, like it’s normal. Like it’s meant to happen anyway. There’s a knowing smirk on Mark’s stupid face, but you love him and you can’t wait to tell him all about how you feel towards Donghyuck. “Okay, so my birthday falls on a weekend,” Jeno announces. “And I think it’s the best time to go to the amusement park. Will you have work then, Renjun-ah?”

“Most likely,” Renjun answers, mouth full of food as he chews on a bite of pizza. “But I can have Yerim cover for me. I’ll just return the favor if she needs me one day.”

“Sweet!” Jeno exclaims. “So, it’s decided then. We’ll go to the amusement park on my birthday.”

As you and Donghyuck play footsie under the table, Mark stands, turning to you. “I’m going to get another milkshake. Come with me?”

You nod, kicking Donghyuck one last time and standing to follow your best friend. Somehow, you feel bad for not saying anything about your growing feelings for Donghyuck, considering that Mark is your best friend in the entire universe and you’re his. If it were him, he would’ve told you the second he caught feelings to anyone. But Mark knows you’re not the kind to admit feelings like this as soon as it starts inflating in your chest; he knows you’re the type to hold it in until you can’t anymore. Having had terrible relationships in the past, Mark has always known that you’re the kind to be careful.

“I didn’t think you’d actually go for it,” Mark says as soon as you and him are out of earshot. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy for you. I just didn’t expect this to happen so quickly.”

“Me neither,” you mumble under your breath. “Sorry for not saying anything.”

Mark chuckles. “You didn’t have to. I mean, we all kinda always known this would happen. I just couldn’t imagine how you and Donghyuck sealed it so quickly, like considering how shy and quiet you always were whenever he was around.”

“I was shy and quiet with everyone around,” you remark. “Donghyuck taught me all these slangs and now I can’t stop talking.”

The woman in the counter asks you what she can help you with when you reach her. Mark tells his order alongside some sides Renjun had asked him to get. He leans on the counter, turning back to you. “Anyway.”

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re serious serious.” Mark clears his throat. “Like, I’ve known you for so long and you’ve always been hesitant to do shit. I’ve always been the spontaneous and reckless one between us, and you’re the careful one. The one who thinks everything through before deciding on it—this trip to Seoul included on the long list.”

“Your point is?” you ask, even though you know exactly where this is going.

Mark licks his lips before continuing: “What I’m saying is, you’ve never been this certain so quickly.”

That’s right. Not to be cliché or whatever, but this is normally how it goes for you. Relationships used to be difficult for you—from the pining to the confession to its climax to its end, until the bargaining and acceptance—and you’d never been the type to go through things so quickly and easily. With Donghyuck, you’d somehow done it backwards (and Mark doesn’t need to know that you slept with Donghyuck before you even sealed the damn relationship) but for some reason, you had forgotten how you’re supposed to act around people you like romantically. It scares the shit out of you, the connection between you and Donghyuck, but you’ve always been a firm believer that if it doesn’t scare you, it probably isn’t something worth doing. It feels like jumping from a cliff, to the bottom of the unknown, and it’s new, but it makes your heart pound like never before.

“I don’t want to get ahead and say something that’d make you change your mind somehow, because I also like you and Donghyuck together,” he explains when you only stare at him. “But, as your best friend, with the best intentions only, please don’t go breaking your heart before we leave, yeah?”

You nod, understanding and appreciating Mark’s sentiment. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Mark shrugs. “We won’t really know. Take care, yeah?”

You smile stepping closer to hug Mark. “I love you, you know that, right?” he asks. You nod, your face buried on his chest. “Good. I’ll beat Donghyuck’s ass if he hurts you in anyway.”

“I sure hope you do,” you reply, just in time for the staff to call Mark’s attention, the tray of his order ready for him.

Donghyuck is pouting when you return, asking why you and Mark took too long because the seat beside him is all cold now. You kiss him on the cheek and tell him Mark just told you he’s beating his ass if you’re hurt in anyway.

“Mark can’t hurt a fly,” Donghyuck remarks. “What makes you think he can hurt me, huh?”

Mark scoffs. “You’ll be the first.”

계절과 계절 사이 (gyejeolgwa gyejeol sai) – between seasons

When the seasons start to change—from the rainy, cold spring transition to a warm, sunny summer—you and Donghyuck change, too.

From the euphoric blooming of your relationship—the playful dates, the passionate moments in his bedroom (because ever since Mark adopted that cat, Donghyuck could never stay at your place for longer than an hour), the heart-warming feeling of seeing him waiting for your after your class—to the warm, comfortable attachment stage, you feel like you know Donghyuck in a deeper sense now.

The small notebook he’d given you at the beginning of the term is halfway full, its pages messily scribbled with phrase and sentences you had learned—likewise the memories those words carry—and soon enough you find yourself more comfortable with the language, and eventually with Seoul. You find yourself enjoying, and not in a way that makes you think you’d want to visit again soon.

The journey with Seoul was initially a play to learn the language and its beautiful culture: a detour. A diversion from your plans. A stop while you figure out what you want in life. Your last year in university is supposed to be the year you finally decide what to do next. Visiting Seoul was an opportunity for you to really get to know yourself beyond your comfort zone, to really challenge your capabilities, to learn beyond what your hometown had in store for you.

But these days do not feel like Seoul is a place to visit.

In a way, liberating albeit frightening, you find yourself thinking that perhaps Seoul is a place to build a home in. The home is built from arms that hold you on days when it’s extra cold, your nose red and hands frozen, and its shelter is made from Donghyuck’s warm smile and the assurance of him being there for you. And right now, while you sit closely together at the back of your friend’s car, their obnoxiously loud voices singing to some pop song along the radio, you feel it: home.

Jeno likes the phone case you had customized for him, and he gives you a big, bear hug as soon as he take a peek of what’s inside your present.

“I love you. I literally love you with all my being,” he dramatically says as he squishes you.

“That’s my girlfriend, you idiot,” Donghyuck complains, pulling Jeno’s arms away from you. With the way you three are seated at the back of Renjun’s car, you sitting in between them, it’s uncomfortable and Donghyuck insists on taking part of the little moment you’re having with Jeno.

Jeno whines, “Let me love her. This is the best gift ever!”

Donghyuck ends up puffing air out of his mouth, pouting and leaning back so Jeno could hug you. You’re laughing and Jeno whispers how easily they could make him sulk these days because you’re around.

Mark, who’s sitting on the passenger seat beside Renjun, announces you’ve arrived at the amusement park, just as Jaemin’s car halts to a slow stop behind you.

It’s the first time you’ve ever visited the famous amusement park in Seoul, and Mark looks excited with the way he’s jumping as you line up for the tickets. Donghyuck has his arm around you, taking pictures with his other hand. The rest are chattering, talking about the rides they’d love to try.

The secretly group decides to stick together for the entire day to celebrate Jeno’s day, despite the birthday boy himself telling everyone they can go wherever they want to. You could see how much they really care about one another and they all just hide it in their mean, vile jokes. For example, the man who has his arm wrapped around you likes teasing Jeno like it’s his full-time job, but is hiding a birthday present inside the trunk of Renjun’s car (and would most likely give it before you all head home, act like his best friend’s birthday isn’t that much of a big deal).

Most of the day is spent following Jeno around, whatever ride he wanted to try and your ears ringing because of how loud Donghyuck is screaming. The temperature has gone from freezing cold to warm, the humidity making it a little harder for everybody to move around under the warmth of the sun.

“I never realized how much of a scaredy cat you are, Donghyuckie,” you tease as soon as you walk out of the roller coaster ride. “Not much of a tough guy now, huh?”

Donghyuck whines, “I liked you better when the words you spoke were only yes and no.”

Mark laughs, slapping Donghyuck on the back. “Oh man, that was really good.”

“Yeah?” You rebut. “And I liked you better when you weren’t screaming like a kid.”

Donghyuck smirks, “And I like you better when you’re screaming my name.”

Renjun and Jisung cough in disgust, and Mark just straight up slapped the back of Donghyuck’s head. “You two are disgusting. I can’t believe I live with you, Y/N.”

Donghyuck laughs, turning to you. “It’s pretty hot. Want me to go grab you a can of soda? Ice cold water?”

“Water, please,” you say. Donghyuck nods and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling Chenle with him and walking to the opposite side where a small shop is. In the meantime, the rest of you occupy the benches under a shade, Jeno asking which ride to go next.

Donghyuck and Chenle return in a matter of time, bottles of drinks in their hands. They give everyone their preferred drinks, Donghyuck sitting beside Mark and extending an arm so he could hand you your drink from his side.

“Fucking summer,” Donghyuck curses. “I hate summer.”

Renjun raises an eyebrow. “Suddenly?”

“It’s not even summer yet,” Jaemin points out. “What happened to you? You’ve always been so excited about summer.”

“It’s so hot. I can’t stand this fucking temperature,” Donghyuck mumbles.

Renjun scoffs. “You start planning our summer getaway as early as March.”

“It’s already April and you have nothing yet,” Jisung points out.

“Yeah, what the hell, man. I hate your ridiculous ideas, but we can’t survive summer without you,” Jeno adds, then looks at Mark. “Yo, Mark, what about you? What are you doing this summer?”

You and Mark freeze, looking at each other for a second, before the latter speaks for you both: “We’re, uh, we’re supposed to go home.”

It seems like Jeno didn’t know the weight of his question because he apologizes as soon as he realizes it. The group falls into silence, no one says anything, or perhaps nobody could think of anything to say, not even you or Mark.

With your days in Seoul numbered, you realize now that you haven’t really talked about it—not you and Mark, not you and Donghyuck—and it never really felt real. You had always told yourself you’ll cross the bridge when you get there, and the bridge is nearby.

Donghyuck clears his throat. “The sun’s going to kill me. I think I saw a burger joint that has an air-conditioning system down the corner of that street. Shall we go there?”

Everybody agrees and stand to leave. Donghyuck holds your hand, pulling you close and steals a kiss on your cheek. The gesture makes your heart flutter. Donghyuck is warm, but not in the way the sun is hot right now—in a way that gets you thinking: can this warmth reach Vancouver?

Your skin hurts when the sunlight hits you. You hate summer.

 오해 하지마 (ohae hajima) – Don’t misunderstand

Donghyuck had a face that looked like what an artist would draw in a whim—spontaneously—like it was done in a rush, like a portrait from a park done by a street artist, something done with a pencil. Ink stains are harder to wash off, and anyway, figments aren’t mean to last—and he’s almost unrecognizable in this light.

You can’t recognize him on the night of his birthday.

His Mother had gone above and beyond and invited all of their closest relatives and family friends for his 23rd birthday, and it’s also your first time meeting them.

It’s nerve-wracking to say the least, but his Mother smiles at you kindly when she greets you from the entrance of the restaurant they rented for the evening. You could tell his family was wealthy, and it makes sense because Donghyuck got the most bare minimum job he could find, and it’s most likely because he doesn’t need to get one; he probably only got one so he could talk about work, too, just like the rest of his friends.

The birthday party is a surprise and it was Renjun who connected with everyone to make sure they attend here tonight. You had to make up some excuse to Donghyuck when he asked why you can’t join him for dinner with his family tonight and had promised to make it up to him the day after.

You’re sat in the same table as Mark, Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin, a bit far away from Donghyuck’s family’s table, as you wait for the birthday boy, your present sitting on top of the round table. Mark talks about his cat, letting Jaemin watch snippets of his pet from his phone, and Renjun is narrating a story about his “ridiculous and absurd encounter with Liu Yangyang (and you and Jeno can’t pass up the opportunity to tease him about it).

Then, someone comes sit beside Jaemin, the boys gasping when they see her.

Karina is beautiful, and even saying that isn’t enough to describe the woman’s beauty. Soft-spoken and brilliant, Karina naturally allows everyone to gravitate towards her. All, including yourself, are pulled like magnet when she arrived. Jeno introduces you and you allow yourself to throw a quick and inaudible “hello” when she reaches over and asks you how you are.

Donghyuck’s Mother almost screams when she sees Karina, excitement filling up the air as she hugs her and thanks her for attending.

“I wouldn’t miss Hyuckie’s birthday for the world, eommoni,” Karina answers, and before you could ask Renjun how she’s related to Donghyuck, Jisung, who’s seated in another table with Donghyuck’s younger siblings, announces that the birthday man himself has arrived.

Donghyuck enters the hall, surprised and happy when he sees everyone, a dramatic cry leaving his lips as everyone greets him happy birthday. He feigns complaint, whining that he’s no longer eight years old, but hugs his parents anyway.

His parents thank everyone for joining a precious day and celebrating their eldest son’s birthday with them. Donghyuck bows and starts to go around to thank people.

You don’t recognize Donghyuck when he finally reaches your table and he gives you small smile, hugging you quickly before moving on to the next person. You don’t recognize Donghyuck when he goes to Karina, lifting her as he hugs her tightly, and thanking her for being able to come. You don’t recognize Donghyuck when his Mother joins the little reunion and he laughs when his Mother jokes about them missing each other too much.

“She’s the one who left me all alone here in Seoul,” Donghyuck pouts. “We wouldn’t have missed each other this much if you had stayed!”

“Don’t be such a drama queen, Hyuckie,” Karina says, rolling her eyes. “You visited me in Tokyo literally six months ago.”

Six months ago, which means, it was right before you arrived in Seoul.

You want to be anywhere else but here, and you don’t want to listen any further, but the scenario runs like a comedy show and the punch line is you.

“You two better decide whatever the hell you want to do with your lives by the end of the year,” Donghyuck’s Mother comments. “I mean, no one’s stopping you from moving to Tokyo, Donghyuck. You and Karina can rekindle whatever light was burnt last year. I’m glad you stayed best of friends despite the long distance. You’ve always made a great couple.”

Your breath hitches like your lungs had just been punch. Donghyuck, it seems, finally remembers you’re watching this unfold. Mark holds you, and bless him because your legs feel like they’re about to give up. You and Donghyuck make eye contact, but you don’t recognize him at all.

“Eomma,” Donghyuck clears his throat. Everything else he’s said come out like a blur, and Mark is just holding you close.

“Don’t misunderstand,” Renjun whispers closely. “They’re just friends.”

You don’t recognize Donghyuck when he watches you leave.

천천히 말씀해 주세요 (chun-chun-hee mal-sseum-heh ju-seh-yo)  - Please speak slowly | 집 (jib) - home

Karina turns out to be the one that got away. The one true love. The greatest love. The childhood best friend who’s always been there. The leading woman. She turns out to be the protagonist in Donghyuck’s story.

You learn all of these from Renjun. Even when he refused to say a single word and had begged for you to talk to Donghyuck instead, you learn the truth by asking Mark to ask Renjun.

Donghyuck and Karina. Karina and Donghyuck. Two peas in a pod. A tight knit. Knowing each other like the back of their hands. A buy one, get one kind of deal. Where one is, the other would follow. And everyone and their moms know that it has always been like that, will always be like that.

Donghyuck and Karina, born on the same year, grew up in the same small village in Jeju island. Having been inseparable since, they ended up moving to Seoul together in high school. Donghyuck’s parents were supportive of Donghyuck pursuing a career in music, and they believed that moving to Seoul was the first step for their beloved son to find his spotlight. Karina’s parents, however, couldn’t afford moving alongside the Lee family despite wanting to support their daughter, too. Donghyuck begged his parents to have Karina move in with them so her parents would only worry about paying her tuition and allowances. The Lee family agreed, of course, because Donghyuck and Karina were fifteen, and they were the best team the world has ever known.

Karina is a talented dancer, and with a face like hers, it would be a shame to keep her in a small town in Jeju island. Her moving to Seoul had been the first step to her early success, because as soon as she reached puberty and had gained a butt and a pair of breasts, agencies were scouting her, creepily waiting for her outside of hers and Donghyuck’s high school. She’d declined, of course, with a promise to Donghyuck that they’d go to stardom together, but Donghyuck wanted to study and make music, and he felt as though he needed to go to college for that.

Karina eventually moved to another dormitory when she started training. Donghyuck moved downtown to start college. They were in different places, but they were still inseparable.

Pretty much every day Donghyuck would meet up with Karina when she started training; if not, then he’d be on Facetime with her during the hours when she’s not working. He had brought her to SNU many times, and they had started dating by the time Donghyuck is in his second year. All the other guys know Karina and her place in Donghyuck’s life. Somehow, a bitter part of you feels betrayed that none of them ever mentioned about Donghyuck’s great love, but you can’t really blame them for not saying anything.

They broke up on the latter months of last year because Karina had to move to Tokyo. There was no big fight apparently, just the decision that it’s most likely not going to work because—listen to this; this is the biggest punch line of this comedy show—Donghyuck can’t handle long distance.

You had answered one of Donghyuck’s calls by mistake. He’s mad for some reason, perhaps angry of the fact that you’re ignoring him and he doesn’t have much control like he normally does.

“Y/N, for fuck’s sake, why haven’t you answered?” he had cried out as soon as you answered.

“I was busy,” was all you could come up with. You brain had not been working good enough to translate things to Korean.

“What do you mean you were busy?” he had asked, voice loud and angry. “You literally disappeared on me! On my fucking birthday! And I’m done playing nice and cool because this is unfair. Whatever the fuck you’re doing is unfair you’re not letting me in. If you could just let me explain, things—”

“Please speak slowly.”

“—would be easier for the two of us. Whatever Karina and I had, it’s been over since last year. It’s over way before I met you. I never thought of her, not even for a goddamn second since we got together. I wouldn’t fucking betray you like that—”

“I can’t understand you.”

“—and I can’t believe you don’t trust me enough to let me at least tell you what happened! I never mentioned her because I never even thought about her! My Mother doesn’t know anything! I’ve wanted you to meet my Mother for a long time, but given our situation, a fucking time bomb ticking, I didn’t know if it was too early to go to that stage.”

“Time bomb?” you had asked, repeating the syllables slowly. “What’s that?”

Donghyuck sighed on the other line. “The thing that explodes at a predetermined time.”

“Oh, a time bomb,” you asked in English, chuckling. “That, we are.”

“Huh?”

“We’re a fucking time bomb,” you said, again in English, because if Donghyuck could keep talking in his mother tongue without considering if you’d understand a single word, so could you. “We’re ticking and we’re just waiting for this shit to explode. And I can’t wait and watch myself burn, Donghyuck. I can’t.”

“Please speak slowly,” he pleaded in Korean. You don’t.

“This isn’t going to work,” you responded, still in your mother tongue. “Maybe this is a clear sign for us, Donghyuck. Goodbye.”

Mark finds you crying on floor of your living, your back leaning on the feet of the couch, two weeks after Donghyuck’s birthday.

The first week, you had convinced your friends you were fine and that you just needed time. Donghyuck’s been reaching out to everybody, and Mark, being the best friend he is, lies regarding your whereabouts every time Donghyuck visits.

You don’t know how many calls Donghyuck had tried to make and how many text messages he’d left because you had completely abandoned your phone for the last couple of weeks and only relied on your computer to check any e-mails from your professors.

“I’m sorry,” Mark says, and you feel a rush of relief when he talks to you in English. You’ve had enough of Korean and Korean men these days. “It sucks, man. I don’t even know what to say. I’m so fucking disappointed with Donghyuck.”

“Shouldn’t you be more disappointed with me?” you sniffle. “I should have listened to you. We were moving too fast.”

Mark shakes his head, pulling you closer so that your head is resting on his shoulder. “I couldn’t blame you. Donghyuck’s charming, and I genuinely thought he was in love with you. I mean, I could say is, because I really think he’s sorry about everything.”

“We didn’t even get to properly break up,” you cry. “Our flight back home is in like, two weeks. I was supposed to talk to him and decide what we’d do with our relationship. For his birthday, I made a stupid mixtape that he could keep in his car and a very expensive and fucking cheesy set of touch lamps I found online for whenever he would miss me. And I keep making stupid letters like a fucking idiot so I could leave him with a bunch of poorly constructed letters just so he knows how much I’ll fucking miss him.”

Mark stays silent as you sob your heart out.

“And can you believe I actually thought it’d work?” you say, exasperated. “I’m so fucking sorry to myself. I’m just glad it’s over before I did shit I’d regret later on.””

“Shit like?” Mark asks.

You sigh, sniffling and screaming internally because the tears would stop. “I was already looking into internships here. For my last semester in college. I had already decided to decline the internship they were offering back home—thank God I haven’t sent that e-mail from my drafts—and I’ve found really good companies here. And if I’m lucky, I was thinking of moving here after college.”

Mark clicks his tongue. “All because of Donghyuck?”

“Because he feels like home, Mark,” you reason out. “He’s warm, and I can’t believe I’m admitting this now, but I love him. I love him so fucking much.”

“Oh, Y/N.”

“And we would have been happy. I would’ve done everything I could,” you confess. “And this fucking language barrier will be the death of me, but I would’ve learned more. I’d be an expert by the end of the year. And now, this whole Karina thing made me realize how much more I need to know about him.”

Mark holds you closer as though holding you would make things better. “When we were kids,” he starts. “Whenever I told you stories about how much I miss all the people I had to leave behind whenever we had to move from one country to another, one state to another, you’d always tell me to never build houses out of people.”

You remember. You always admired how Mark could move from one place to another, his suitcase and the ghost of the friendships he made following his trail, and he’s always told you about the loneliness it comes with.

“You used to tell me shelters aren’t supposed to be made of arms wrapped around you on a cold night, or hands that hold you when you’re feeling lonely,” he continues. “And I can’t blame you, because humans are known not to follow their own advice. But I hope you find home in things you’d never lose.”

You nod. “I’m sorry for breaking rule number three.”

“You’ll get over him,” he assures. “If you decide to really end things here, I mean. I’m sure you can get over him. It’s easier to get over people when you don’t see him.”

You nod, “Let’s go home, Mark.”

“Back home?”

You smile. “Yes. Back home.”

갈망 (galmang) - longing

It’s Giselle who picks you up from the airport.

You reunite like old friends, but Giselle really didn’t change that much. Even the weather didn’t change much. The same old. You wish you could say the same to yourself.

The flight to Vancouver was the most painful ten hours of your life, both literally and figuratively. It was hard watching your friends bid you goodbye, and you could tell they were dreading your departure as much as you and Mark were. Mark assures them you and him would save up to visit them again this year and as much as you’d wanted to stay, your student visa would allow you only six months. Mark promises he’d work on a tourist visa or whatever because despite being 100% ethnically Korean, but legally, he can’t just visit whenever he wants.

The pain from your breakup with Donghyuck is nothing compared to seeing Mark leave his friends again. You know how much they mean to him, and by extension, how much they mean to you regardless of what happened before your departure.

The head of student exchange program sends you warm greetings through text, followed by a series of messages from your friends and family. You’re glad Giselle had decided to pick you up from the airport, because you don’t think you’re in a good state to pretend like you’re okay, and Giselle knows.

Of course, she knows.

Giselle’s been your anchor during your last weeks in Seoul. Mark reckons that if anyone would understand you best during this time, it would be Giselle. After all, she’d gone through the same thing.

Like Mark, Giselle moved to Seoul with her parents for a few years. She had a similar experience with Mark, considering that her parents are constantly moving around—from Japan to South Korea then to Vancouver. Giselle was only in Seoul for two years before her parents moved back to Vancouver again, and in between those years she had met Kevin Moon, the love of her life.

They have been dating for almost four years now, two of those years, they dated long distance.

“How’d you make it work?” you had asked Giselle over Facetime once.

“It wasn’t perfect,” she admitted. “We broke up a couple of time because it was really difficult. And neither of us were willing to move for each other. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Kevin and I, we love each other. Truly we do. But I wouldn’t want to plant my entire life in Seoul for him. In the same manner, I don’t want him to move from Seoul to Vancouver for me when we both know for a fact that he’d be more successful in Korea than here. I guess, I don’t know, I don’t have an advice I could give you.”

“I’m not asking for advice,” you denied. “I mean. Donghyuck and I have only been dating for like, two weeks. I wouldn’t think that far at this time.”

Giselle had laughed at the other end of the line. “Let me tell you one thing, though.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s all a matter of choice,” she had said slowly, like she wanted to imprint the words to your brain. “Your heart isn’t made of diamonds. Your lungs aren’t made of steel. Somehow, inevitably, you’d grow tired—tired of timezones and how you never get the timing right, tired of not having someone to hug when you need it, tired of having to compromise—and it’s not an easy game.”

Giselle was smiling when she’d said the rest: “But Kevin is so worth it. I’ll grow tired of the baggage long distance comes with, but I don’t think I could live without him, you know? And it’s exaggerated, I know, and neither of us know what the future holds, but we’re choosing us. We chose to stay.”

It would have been beautiful, you think, if things worked out between you and Donghyuck. You would have written poems and prose in places about how you chose to stay. You would have learned about time zones and the best time to call, could have learned how to purchase the cheapest flight tickets to see each other, would have learned love and compromise together.

But you’re here, back in Vancouver, the voices of Mark and Giselle all blurred out from the backseat, and all you could think of is how much you miss Donghyuck.

예기치 않은 (yegichi anh-eun) - unexpected

The head of the student exchange program asks you to write an article about your experience in Seoul and gives you until the fall semester begins, just in time for the university’s own publishing house to produce this year’s school paper. You’re stuck at two hundred words and a stupid title Mark came up with: “Learning Languages”—and you’re thinking about withdrawing from that spot in the newspaper but Mark keeps calling you a heartbroken loser and you’re not about to let Mark Lee get the last word.

You’re eating cereal and watching an episode of Suits to prepare to write again (yes, a 30-minute preparation time is needed for such task) when someone knocks at your door.

You know how, in movies, the main character would see things in slow motion as soon as the love of their life enters the scene? That’s exactly what happens when you open the door and find Lee Donghyuck standing outside your dorm room, a too-large for his body backpack on one shoulder and his heart upon his sleeve.

미안해 (mianhae) – I’m sorry | 사랑해 (saranghae) – I love you

“I’m sorry,” are the first words that Lee Donghyuck comes up with, and truthfully are the words you needed to hear from him. He says it in his mother tongue and you feel his heart in his voice.

“Mark?” you ask, knowing full well it’s Mark who helped him.

“Yes but no,” he answers. “He said he’d only give me your address but he’s not picking me up or helping me. My flight landed literally six hours ago and I’ve been looking for you since.”

Donghyuck sits across you on the small table you own inside your small room. His backpack is sitting on his feet and his shoulders are slumped. Donghyuck allows himself to look small compared to all the times you were with him.

“Y-you look good,” he comments, eyes glued on you. “I’m glad you’re healthy, at least.”

“You, too,” you mumble. “Tea? Coffee?”

“Water would be fine, please and thank you.” You reach over to hand him a bottle. “And who are you kidding? I look awful.”

He does. He looks exactly what he said he had done to get here. Look for you for six hours after a ten-hour flight from Incheon. Donghyuck downs the bottle of water. Poor guy probably hasn’t eaten.

“Why are you here, Donghyuck?” you ask as soon as he’s done drinking.

Donghyuck clears his throat. “I don’t really know what I want out of this trip.”

You keep your arms crossed over your chest.

“And I’m not about to beg you to take me back,” he continues. “I just wanted to explain. I just want you to know what happened. I can live without you, but I can’t live with you thinking I had betrayed you.”

“Donghyuck, there’s really no need to explain. Renjun has told Mark all I needed to know.”

“No, let me say it please. I spent a fortune to come here, and I’m going to make you listen if it’s the last thing I’d do. After this, I’ll leave. I have a ticket back home tomorrow, and I’ll leave.”

Ridiculous. Who would spend a fortune on a set of roundtrip tickets only to leave a day after? Of course, only Lee Donghyuck.

“Karina and I go way back,” he says. “We’ve known each other since we were kids. And she’s not someone I could just get rid of just because our relationship didn’t work out. We’re better off as friends, and that’s a fact we had come to learn when we tried dating. And it was painful, but I couldn’t lose her just because we didn’t know how to date, how to play boyfriend and girlfriend to each other. That’s the first thing I need you to understand.”

“Like I don’t know that already?” you remark sarcastically.

“Karina is a part of me.” Shit’s painful.

“But now like how you are a part of me.”

Oh.

“She’s my best friend, almost like a sister now, and my parents care about her,” he continues. “It was a mistake that we even tried to date just so we could relate to everyone dating everybody. It almost ruined us, and Karina and I, we can’t afford to lose each other just because of that. The person who I am now, part of it is because of Karina. But Y/N, the person I’m about to become, I want it to be because of you.”

He clears his throat again. You look at the bottle of water he finished drinking because you really can’t look at Donghyuck now. Not when he’s vulnerable and out in the open. Not when he’s exactly the way he was when you fell in love with him.

“And I had plans. For the long run,” he says like a promise. “I had started looking up how to get a tourist visa to Canada and how to get you a tourist visa to Korea. I’ve been saving all my allowances and the money I’ve been earning from work so I could book a ticket to Vancouver for the summer and spend it with you. And I was supposed to tell Mom, but I haven’t had the chance yet—that one I have no excuse for. But the timing was off and she met you before I could tell her. She had no idea and she’s genuinely sorry she made it seem like she wanted me to end up with Karina. If she had known I was already in love with someone else, she wouldn’t have said that in front of you. She would have loved you.”

Donghyuck pauses. You look up to see him wiping his tears from his cheeks. “And I’m sorry that the timing didn’t go well for us, but I promise you I had plans. I just didn’t want to spend the rest of your weeks in Seoul thinking about you being gone as soon as the semester is over. I wanted to seize the moments with you and make you—I wanted to make you feel that I love you.”

Your breath hitches. Donghyuck locks eyes with you.

“I love you. I love you and I’m so sorry that I made you feel like I didn’t,” he confesses, bursting into tears and you do, too. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t try hard enough to make you stay. I’m so sorry that I talked to fast that time I finally got you to answer my call; I should’ve explained more calmly. I’m so sorry that we’re here, in Vancouver, hearts broken. But I love you, and I wish I could say all of these in English if that’s what would make you believe it’s real and it’s true.”

But he doesn’t have to.

“I love you,” you say in your mother tongue before switching to Korean. “I love you. And I know you love me. And I’m so sorry for jumping to conclusions and not trying hard enough. Just like you, I had plans to. For the long run. And I can live without you, too, but I can’t live without you knowing how much I love you.”

Donghyuck giggles through his tears and reaches out both hands to wipe off yours. “Let’s not live without each other.”

It’s him to moves, standing a little, so he could kiss you.

The kiss says everything the language barrier can’t. I love you. I missed you. I’m sorry. This is everything I’ve ever wanted. You are everything I’ve ever wanted.

Donghyuck spends the night tracing your body with his mouth like he’s writing a love song and he needs to taste you first before he could write the first melody. You spend the night underneath Donghyuck’s love, whispering his name like praise, taking, taking, taking everything he’s giving you.

You wake up to arms around you and the love of your life kissing the back of your neck. You and him spend the entire day (or at least, the seven hours he had until he had to take the flight back home) talking about your plans and making a list of thing you have to talk about over the phone, but today, you’re taking him out on a date under the warm, sunny skies of Vancouver.

And you do. You and Donghyuck have the best day ever together. Donghyuck gives you the other pair of the touch lamp you’d given to him as a birthday present—you’d forgotten you left it when you ran off; you were supposed to watch him open it so you could show him how it works—and makes you promise to touch the lamp whenever you missed him. He thanks you for the mixtape and confesses he cries whenever he plays it inside his car. He also gives you your small notebook of learning languages back (because you had dramatically left it to Renjun before you boarded the plane), saying you’d need it again.

Mark refused to come because he wants you and Donghyuck to talk and spend the day creating a game plan to make your relationship work. At the end of the hours you had with him, you don’t come up with a solid game plan.

Because Giselle was right, after all, it all comes down to the choices you make. There was no formula on how a long-distance relationship would work. Neither you nor Donghyuck had survived one, but you knew one thing:

Today, you and Donghyuck choose each other.

It’s only the beginning, it seems.

The sun is out and bright when Donghyuck boards the plane.

It’s a lot warmer than the rest of the year, but you don’t really mind.

[jazzmasternot]

Hazbin hotel college AU head cannons

Note: decided to write these out after reading @sprainedwriting’s fanfic about Adam being a frat boy and I took that concept and ran with it.

Obviously this is based off of my own university experience where I attend a really big public university in the southern US. so that’s where my takes are coming from.

This is also my first time writing anything on here so there’s that aswell.

Charlie

Majors in musical theatre, but not performance education. She wants to be the unhinged theatre teacher that everyone loves. Lives in one of those really fancy student apartment lofts with keke. And is part of the cat club where she feeds the cats on campus

Vaggie

She probably does something super hard like biomedical engineering (let’s go women in stem!) which takes up allot of her time already. Is also an RA for one of the dorms on campus which is good for her bc free housing and gets paid to do her homework at the front desk. Met Charlie in an English class and have been together ever since. When she’s not on call she’s spending the night at Charlie’s and Charlie’s almost always sitting at the front desk with vaggie even tho she doesn’t work or live at the dorm and no one says anything bc it’s just not that deep.

Alastor

Majors in audio engineering and runs the campus radio station that people definitely still listen too. He went to community college first then transferred to a four year (to save money ofc) and is a commuter where he still lives with his mom. Does work study where he works the front desk of the library where he does his homework and works on his scripts for his radio show. Has no interest in working with Vox since he runs the tv channel simply bc he doesn’t want all that extra work. Still takes his notes on pen and paper and still has a nightmare of a time figuring out to electronically submit all his assignments and take his tests.

Angel dust

Okay so hear me out he majors in math ikik it sounds crazy but every gay math major I’ve ever met acts just like Angel dust. Goes to raves and frat parties even tho the guys don’t want him there but he always brings girls with him so the kinda have to let him in. Does nude modeling for extra cash at the art school so he’s kinda a celeb over there even tho he’s not in anyway related to that major.

Husk

Majors in Restaurant and hotel management and is one of those college students that are in their late twenties so already has more life experience than most other ppl here so he doesn’t do allot of the stupid college that allot of other ppl do. Lives in some off campus apartment that’s just a large house rented out to students made to look like a apartment (yk the ones in talking abt) works at the dive bar located just off campus that everyone goes to atleast once in their four years.

Sir pentious

Majors in mechanical engineering or industrial design I can’t really decided. Definitely uses the 3D printer all the time and is on the robotics team, which wins every competition they go to.

Nifty

She’s changed her major so many times nobody knows anymore. Is part of the kpop club and has biases complete with intricately decorated covers, like she has so many photo cards. Also runs the campus hotties account where it’s just a bunch of candids of cute guys taken from far away. Will also get really pissed if you don’t wash your dishes bc it will attract bugs so if ur her roommate you better do the dam dishes.

Cherry bomb

Art major and is the one who got Angel the nude modeling gig. Is always pulling all nighters bc she kept postponing the assimgment till the last minute. Has probably vandalized a couple buildings surrounding the university but hasn’t been caught. Goes to raves and the aforementioned frat parties with Angel. Also has a traffic cone in her dorm room for no other reason than just bc.

Vox

Majors in multi media marketing, runs the campus tv and YouTube channel. Definitely the president of a frat that inflates his ego more than it already is. Always at sporting events at the front row with all the frat guys giving everyone the inside scoop and game commentary. Is very pissed that alastor won’t work with him. Treats himself like a campus celebrity even tho ppl could care less and are just trying to get their degree.

Valentino

majors in film and media productions yeah he’s one of those. Always asking if you’ve seen pulp fiction and telling you that you need to watch some random black and white movie that’s only in French. Will definitely invite you over to watch something with you but we all know that’s not the case. Also all his film projects has allot of unnecessary nudity and sex under the guise of artistic expression, even when it’s so not relevant to the plot. Unless it’s a film that he’s making for the university in which case Vox is controlling every aspect of it which in this case is a good thing. Smokes in his dorm room without a care in the world and has really loud inconsiderate sex at any random point in the 24 hour day cycle.

Velvette

Majors in public relations and runs the university’s Instagram account. She’s always walking up to ppl with a lil microphone to ask you to tell us what you’re wearing. Speaking off she always comes to class dressed up (like the international students) no leggings and tennis shoes for her. Also is definitely in a divine nine sorority, and runs their insta too.

Carmilla

She’s a professor for the aerospace engineering dept and shes here bc she got sick of making rockets for Lockheed Martin and reatheon. Hella smart and ppl are baffled that she chose to give up a seven figure job to teach a bunch of college kids but she’s so chill abt it tho.

Zestial

Definitely English lit professor, makes you read the books no one’s heard of and not the classics. Always brings his own open regular coffee mug from his house to sip his tea from instead of a thermos, everyone asks how he doesn’t spill it on his ride to work. Also just straight up has an electric kettle in his office so he can have tea whenever he wants. Takes turns with carmilla eating lunch in each other’s offices.

Rosie

Studies agriculture sciences and food processing. Will probably run a slaughter house when she’s done with her degree. Hangs out with Alastor in his radio booth from time to time just to gossip about whatever drama is going around lately. Wears long skirts and a tote bag all the time. Is always sweet to Charlie and Emily, also loathes Vox just as much as Alastor she just finds him annoying.

Lucifer

Is probably a religion professor that’s not religious at all and is super laid back in his class like one easy discussion board post a week. The kinda guy to be like “it’s so nice out let’s have class outside today guys” or “if I make this shot ur all getting extra credit on the quiz this week”.

Adam

Definitely majors in finance and is a frat boy. And his band plays at all the said frat parties. Is very insufferable to talk to at parties will try tell you how crypto is the currency of the future and how wolf of Wall Street is his favorite movie. Has a Saturdays are for the boys flag in his room and navy blue sheets. Oh did I mention he vapes he definitely vapes those Mike Tyson ones that taste awful and look like bricks yeah those. Always gets drunk at the tailgate way before the game is even started.

Lute

Yeah she’s in premed and wants everyone to know she’s better than you bc of it. Everyone else’s major is easy compared to hers so don’t you dare complain about all your assignments in her vicinity. She’s basically made it her whole identity like she’s in the premed honors society, future doctors of America. Types her notes on her laptop and then rewrites them with all her gel pens and fancy highlighters, like thee be so colorfull and pretty then the title would be something like blood clots. Still friends with Adam bc they went to the same highschool together and always helping him with his homework in turn he gets her into the tailgate tents and frat parties so she always gets free alcohol.

Emily

Majors in Elementary education and looks like it too, with the Stanley cup, James Avery charm bracelet, and all. She also takes super pretty notes but she does them in class which is super power all in itself, like her desk is scattered with gel pens and highlighters of every color and swears by her bullet journal. She also feeds the cats on campus with Charlie and runs the arts and crafts club on campus where they always host events like tote bag painting in the grass area of the university. Also doesn’t drink bc she’s not twenty one yet even tho she’s in college and definitely won’t smoke even tho most of the ppl that show up to her events are total potheads

Sera

She’s like the university president who doesn’t actually GAF abt the students and just fund’s athletics and raises tuition every year under miscellaneous fees. She tries to come off as supportive when she’s out in public but no one’s buying it.

[koishiro]

𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑶𝒅𝒅𝒔 | Choi San

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ — 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 : two former high school rivals, now attending the same college, unexpectedly reunite. Football player San is trying to win your heart, but you’re hell-bent on never talking to him again. After many trials and tribulations, will you open your heart?

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ — 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 : jock!san x quiet!reader

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ — 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄 : fluff

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ — 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 : swearing

=͟͟͞͞ ⌧ 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒍 : this starts off in San’s pov :)

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Complete opposites yet I couldn’t help but be enamoured by you.

Especially now, when the light shining in through the tall windows of the building surrounded you with a glimmer only you could hold, even while stood in the middle of a run down college hallway.

The hallway we stood in, made from yellowing lime bricks, was wide and lined with arched windows that stretch from the ceiling to the worn carpet beneath our feet. There were few people here, only a handful lingering in doorways or sitting atop hard wooden benches built into alcoves in the wall. It feels like a long forgotten hallaway filled with secrets just waiting to be discovered if one should take it upon themselves to explore its hidden depths and abandoned regions of study.

The only modern attributes were the bright blue lockers lining the corridor’s walls and the tall glass cases encasing the college’s trophies.

And then there was you, who looked just like you had in school. Your hair that I used to pull was still long, the large framed glasses that I would hold above your head still enhanced your doe eyes, those freckles that I would stupidly call acne scars decorated your cheeks, and the hatred that continued to lace your eyes.

Except now you wore a nicely fitted suit — the buttons on your shirt were holding on for dear life, your hair brushed behind your ears, pin-striped skirt to your knees, short black heels and holding your books to your chest while the other held what looked to be a briefcase.

I remember overhearing you wanting to study law.

Other than your appearance you hadn’t changed in the slightest and neither had my heart which still raced a mile a minute when I looked into your eyes and saw the mix of emotions there — a combination of anger and confusion, but also curiosity and oddity.

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?” It was expected of me to go on to a scholarship but everyone was left surprised when I’d told them that I’d be staying and going to a community college not too far from the school, you included.

It had been seconds which felt like minutes since you uttered those words, I knew I had to say something as I stood there looking like a complete fool playing with the straps of my bag, so with trembling lips, I spoke,

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨?” I titled my head, voice laced with my usual cockiness - only for you.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭”

That’s all it took for my words to slip out like second nature, “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭”

I hadn’t expected much of a reaction considering you were used to my antics from school where I wouldn’t miss a chance to flirt and fluster you although this time I caught sight of the faint flush on your cheeks causing my grin to widen.

Trying, and failing, to cover your reddened cheeks, you looked at me in annoyance before rolling your eyes where they landed on the books I held “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥? 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩?”

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯’ “ it felt just like before, when we were both back in school, arguing over anything and everything.

How I missed those years. The days when I’d ask you for a pen only to leave teeth marks on the end just to see what reaction you’d give me that day or the times where I’d sit behind you in class and plait your hair without your knowledge only for you to storm your way towards me at the end of the day and scream at me for making you look like an idiot. Even though to me, it made you look prettier, impossibly so.

“𝘗𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰?” You spat out, venom in your tone as you brushed past me, presumably walking towards your class.

“𝘐’𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶!” I turned my head and raised my voice causing an echo to bounce from the walls. We both knew I meant what I said but for two different reasons. You probably thought I just wanted to get in your pants, oh how wrong you’d be.

The next few weeks went by just like that, with San religiously keeping to his routine of annoying you or in his eyes; flirting.

After all those years of having to put up with his relentless bullying and confusing actions you thought you finally escaped. You thought he’d gone with that scholarship he was offered, anyone would take that chance — it was a free ticket out of this crap neighbourhood.

And now not just was he no longer taking that stupid scholarship but he’d also chosen to attend the exact same college you had — which was your ticket away from him.

He’d take any opportunity to make your life hell with his burning stare, looming figure and overpowering confidence, his head was stuck up his own ass more than half the time, always thinking he could get any girl he wanted with just one compliment — granted, you never physically saw him with any other girl but oh could you imagine and the rumours weren’t much help either.

And to hell if you reject his advances, which in this case — you had, suffering years worth of teasing and hair pulling. Even going as far as to ‘accidentally’ kick a multitude of footballs your way on more than one occasion — it was safe to say you never used that path as a shortcut ever again.

But what made it more infuriating was his inhuman good looks. As much as you wanted to hate him, you couldn’t. Not when he looked at you with those puppy dog eyes that begged for forgiveness, that he didn’t mean what he said.

But it didn’t matter, he’ll never know. You just have to get through 3 years of college and you’ll be free — again.

Although that apparently seems too much to ask for when the Choi San made it a constant habit to follow you around like an attention deprived dog with his constant snarky comments and confusing actions.

As soon as you stepped foot out of your lecture there he was in all his damn glory, Choi San, waiting for you.

He claimed he waited for you so he could walk you to class which baffled you at first but then came the comments. You came to the conclusion that he only followed you to taunt you. Whether that be on your outfit, hair, makeup or attitude that day.

“𝘠/𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱!” When you finally thought you caught a break, your hopes came crashing down once more. San was nowhere to be found when you left the lecture hall and seeing an opportunity, you quickly skipped in the opposite direction hoping you’d somehow avoid him.

Clearly you were given false hope when you saw a dark haired figure barrelling his way through the crowd of students. You probably would’ve looked the other way had he not been screaming your name the entire way.

Maybe if you slowly turned around and faced the lockers he wouldn’t see you.

Another hopeful thought crashing down when you felt the weight of an arm on your shoulder.

“𝘠/𝘯~ 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘩? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?” San said with a clear pout on his face causing your own to turn away.

“𝘠𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵” that’s all it took for San’s pout to grow deeper, almost making you feel bad.

Almost.

“𝘈𝘩𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦! 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘶𝘩?” The answer was plain and simple, no. You had no intentions of opening your heart, no less to San of all people. Why would you?

Even after the many confessions you received from San, you took them with a pinch of salt, pinning it down to his usual taunting.

Taking my silence as an answer, San continues, “𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵~”

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘌𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦?” Sure a cat cafe sounded nice and all but with the person I despise the most?

“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘰” this almost made me chuckle at the absurdity. Did he honestly think that you two were friends?

Was that what this was to him? Friendly banter?

Turning your head towards him, prepared to reject his ‘kind’ offer when you were faced with those puppy dog eyes of his,

“. . . 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦”

Which led to where you were now, sat in a cafe opposite Choi San surrounded by cats — granted that was the sole purpose of the cafe.

Every detail in the room was meticulously attended to, and every item seemed just so. The furniture had been placed exactly where it needed to be for maximum efficiency and aesthetic beauty, the many shades of pink offsetting each other perfectly while never vying for the same attention from customers. Even the rugs were stylishly arranged in a geometric pattern that made them appear as if they had always belonged there.

Calico kittens scampered across tabletops as others lounged lazily over armchairs, basking in streams of sunlight that shone through wide windows looking out onto city streets below. It was truly an oasis from everyday life.

While San sat with a smile stretched across his cheeks as he swayed side to side with a cat balancing on his lap, you were sat there with a looming cloud over your head and dark expression plastered on your face.

“𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰!” He was practically jumping in his seat with excitement, the poor cat was hanging on for dear life.

Seeing how happy he was, was almost contagious. I nearly let a smile slip at the mix of expressions on his face, it was kind of — cute.

The Cat Cafe was a bright and airy establishment, with high ceilings and tall windows to let in as much natural light as possible. A wall of shelves held toys, treats, and supplies for the cats that roamed freely throughout the cafe. There were cozy couches dotted around where visitors could cuddle up with friendly felines or watch them play from afar. Soft music wafted through the air along with faint smells of coffee brewing behind rigid plexiglass barriers meant to keep both customers and cats safe during their interactions.

The boy, usually so cocksure and self-assured, seemed to have taken a step back into himself. His confident manner had vanished as if someone flipped a switch; his shoulders hunched inward with shyness, and he glanced away from me frequently.

There was something hesitant in the way he spoke now that we were alone – almost like whatever impenetrable armor of arrogance that usually surrounded him had unexpectedly dissolved away in my presence.

“𝘞𝘩𝘺’𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺?” I said, cutting the silence.

“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘯𝘰?” How in the world did Choi San come to the conclusion that we were friends?

Baffled, I stared at him for a second or two, “𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸?” This seemed to make San nervous, confusing me even more.

This reminded me of school again, where he would pick on me but then follow it up by pulling out my chair for me or lend me a pencil when I miss-placed mine. Choi San was confusing, that’s for sure.

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. . . 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 — 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺” really?

“𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺?” I voiced out loud, followed by a blank expression.

San just sat there, his eyes locked onto the cat on his lap as he mindlessly twirled it’s fur around his finger and a nervous look on his face, “𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 — 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘥”

We were abruptly jolted out of conversation, as we saw the waitress standing in front of us with our orders – two plates laden with French toast and maple syrup. She carefully placed them on the table between us before giving a polite nod and turning to leave.

As she disappeared from view, I turned my attention back towards my thoughts.

I knew who he was talking about — Kang Yeosang, the perfect schoolboy, or at least as close to perfection as one could get. His grades were exemplary, never less than an A on a report card, and he had mastered every lesson within minutes of it being taught.

But it wasn’t just his intelligence that made him so admired — he was also blessed with the face of a model and stature unlike any other boy in class. Friendly and well liked by all who encountered him, he could do no wrong in anyone’s eyes; even teachers seemed to favor him above others when discussing matters relating to academics or conduct.

That’s what made me like him so much.

I remember San starting a fight with Yeosang — over what I don’t know. But it was big enough to grab nearly the entire school’s attention.

That fight made me hate San even more after Yeosang took it upon himself to avoid me at all costs, as if I had the plague. What could San have told him to cause him to avoid me like that?

Allowing my curiosity to take over, I voiced my thoughts, “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺?”

As if what I said offended him, he quickly whipped his head up, “𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮? 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱, 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦”

I could practically see the steam seething from his reddened ears before he continued, “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮” he grumbled.

San was a walking mass of contradictions—the kind each and every one of us has tucked away somewhere. On the outside there was an air of confidence, but on the inside lay a rich vein of jealous insecurity.

His intense eyes glimmered as he talked about Yeosang, even as his furtive glances betrayed him. There is never comfort in knowing that someone desires what we cannot have; watching San I felt like it had been magnified to its fullest potential for him.

“𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨-“

“𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘐’𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 ����𝘰𝘶, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥”

His chocolate-brown eyes were blazing with unspoken emotion, a heat that seemed to penetrate my skin from across the room. His jaw was set firmly in a line of anger and he clenched one hand into an angry fist at his side as if it had suddenly become unbearable for him not to be involved or acknowledged. “𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦”

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦”

It was almost as if he’d been living two lives in parallel; the version I saw and the one of hidden jealousies. Jealousy that he had kept tightly locked away, like a closet full of secrets. Until now. The rage in him seethed with such force it felt sudden yet inevitable, at once both foreign and all too familiar.

His expression was open and vulnerable, like he was afraid to lay himself bare before me.

San’s hand tightened around the cat’s fur which he quickly moved to the drink he had in front of him as if it became all too real, his feelings and emotions now in the open for me to see.

So caught up with my thoughts, I barely caught the whisper that left San’s mouth, “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦? 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦. . .”

The guilt was like a leaden weight on my heart. For once in my life, I felt something other than anger and resentment — remorse for someone who had treated me badly. It felt strange but strangely liberating to accept that he was now sat in front of me, shifting in his seat as he released his pent up anger he kept hidden for all those years.

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺,” San’s head shot up from looking at his mug, clearly surprised by my apology, “𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺”

Now shifting in my own seat , the pounding in my chest was relentless, and with each pulse I felt like it would burst.

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘦 “

If I was told that I’d be sat in a cat cafe in front Choi San while we apologised to each other for all those years, I’d laugh and walk off.

All I could do was stare at him. The Choi San, the star of the football team and my biggest rival, apologising to me.

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺-“

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶”

That’s all it took for us to waste what was left of the day talking about anything and everything followed by the occasional apology while we moved to the floor to entertain the cats.

He watched me with an inscrutable expression, his gaze trained on me as if transfixed. It felt strange, almost alien to have him watching like that without any verbal judgements or harsh criticisms accompanying it.

I fiddled with the cats’ ears and nuzzled their heads for a few moments before glancing up at him again; he hadn't moved an inch from his position – still sat next to me studying my movements as if he couldn’t believe this was how we were interacting: civil and non-combative.

He reached forward to stop me from petting the cat, taking my hand firmly in his. Then, gently turning me towards him, he looked deeply into my eyes with an intensity I hadn't felt before and quietly said “I meant what I said before,” his words hung in the air between us like a challenge: An unspoken conversation that needed no further input or explanation; only acknowledgment of something greater than ourselves. “𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶”

“𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘠/𝘕. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵”

© KOISHIRO 2023 do not repost/edit/copy/translate my works.

↳ a/n: idk where I was going with this —

— 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘰 𝘹𝘰

𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵

[itzsana-kiddingmenow]

in the new skz code where jisung taunts chan and wins the tug of war after

imagine that ler chan lee Jisung for revenge

thank you

bye <3

𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧:

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨: 1k

𝙖/𝙣: my random raspberry obsession 🥰

𝙩/𝙬: raspberries, raspberries, rough tickles

𝒍𝒆𝒆: han

𝙡𝙚𝙧: chan

𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕: @someone-who-loves-kpop-saranghae @jeonginsdiary @leeknowstan33 @v--143 @wereallgonnadieonedaybutnottoday @inkytornpagess @lajanaa @a-wild-seungberry @channieissocute125 @soap143 @seungsluvv @skznccmlee @moony-9 @sunny-117

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞? 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐛s🖤

Jisung braced himself. Chan was definitely way stronger than him and certainly had an advantage over his small frame. 

It was life or death. Jisung knew about the bet Minho had placed with Channie before-hand and he really did not want to be caught by the kitty cat’s claws. 

Either he wins and escapes, or he loses and dies to Minho’s torturous wrecking methods. 

Hannie bit his lip, holding onto the rope tightly and watching as Chan did the same, steadying himself and smirking at the poor, defenceless quokka. 

Jisung gripped. And then tugged sharply. 

He watched in surprise as Chan slipped, tumbling straight into the water. 

“Ha!” Jisung cheered, smiling in glee as Chan’s jaw dropped. 

“Aaand even with his tiny waist and weak arms, Jisung manages to send Christopher’s ass into the waterrrr!!” Felix announced, Minho crawling over to the eldest and slapping his ass hard. 

Chan yelped, Felix letting out a slew of giggles. 

Jisung stuck his tongue out at Chan, regretting it almost immediately when Chan gave him a dangerous look. A look that told Hannie that he probably wouldn’t survive through the afternoon. 

—————————

“Jisung!~” Chan sang, closing the door behind him as Jisung peeled his swimming clothes off, only putting on his sweatpants before Channie grabbed his arms and threw him onto the bed. 

“Wahait wait hyung hyung let’s talk this out.” Jisung pleaded, squealing when Chna slid a leg over his hip, grabbing his arms and pressing them against his chest. 

“Now, do you apologize for making me lose?” Chan scoffed, Jisung’s eyes widening in disbelief. 

“No way! I won fair and square and I had a thriller doing it!” Jisung retorted sassily. 

Channie only shrugged. “Your loss.” 

Hannie kicked out immediately with a high pitched scream when Chan ducked his head, attaching his lips to his bare waist and blowing raspberries onto the warm skin. “YOUHUHU CAHANT STAHAHAHART WIHITH RAHAHASPBERRIES?!” He shrieked. 

“I can start with whatever I like.” Channie retorted, taking another deep breath and blowing another raspberry onto the quokka’s  ribs, shaking his head to spread his hair over the area. 

Jisung couldn’t remember the last time a simple raspberry had tickled him so much. 

“I CAHAHAHAHANT TAHAKE THAHAHAHAT!!” He screamed within a minute, drumming his legs desperately along the mattress as the raspberries only continued. 

Chan said nothing, likely because he was taking long breaths and blowing them hard into Hannie’s upper torso. 

The eldest kissed the tummy gently, intending to keep going until Jisung’s laughter had gone pin drop silent and the sweet belly he was torturing turned a shade of pink, as it always did when he wrecked it. 

Poor Jisung panted, jolting and letting out small giggles every time another kiss was placed to his waist. 

Chan pinned his hands again, this time pressing them below Jisung’s tummy to stretch it out. 

“Wahahait…wait hyung please—NOO!!” Jisung screamed when Channie took another deep breath, and yet again, the quokka was thrown into hysterics. 

“AHAHAHAHAGH CHRIHIHISTOHOPHEHER YOUHU AHAHAHAHAHASSS!!” Jisung screamed, throwing his head back in ticklish agony. 

“Oh?”  Chan came up for air. “I’m an ass? You’re gonna regret that, baby.” He shook his head. 

Jisung jerked to the left with a raw howl when Channie pulled his pant-line down slightly and blew one of the longest raspberries known to mankind onto the younger’s v-line. 

Hannie was begging, kicking out like a crazed person and screaming until his throat turned raw. “OKAHAHAY OKAY IHIHIM SOHOHOHOHOHORRYYYY!! CHAHAHAHAHAHAN!!”

A few members rushed in, worried, just to relax with a smile as tears slipped down Jisung’s cheeks. 

Chan didn’t even say anything, gasping for air and blowing raspberry after raspberry, driving poor Hannie absolutely ballistic. 

“AHAHHAAAHAHAHAA!! PLEHEHEHHAHAHAHAHA!!” Jisung’s words weren’t even coherent anymore, everything he tried to say dissolved into messy laughter when Chan only blew another unbearably ticklish raspberry. 

He threw his head side to side when Chan grabbed his waist to keep him steady, kneading into the space. 

“Now, did I win, or no?” Chan aksed, an eyebrow raised.

“No!!” Jisung retorted. “You suck!”

Chan scoffed in disbelief. So this quokka really wanted to die.

He bunched the boy’s shirt above his head, finding the spot of his first kid, an area right on his upper ribs. “You ready, Hannie?”

Jisung bit his lip, giving Channie a pleading look.

“Have fun~” And with that. Chan took a deep breath, stretching out the area before blowing as hard as he could, knowing he would drive the poor boy beneath him crazy.

“WAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAIT!!” Jisung screamed, hysterically laughing as Chan continued, and he was rendered immobile.

Helpless cackles poured from the quokka. He really couldn’t take raspberries.

Channie relished in having his first kid screaming in his arms, only continuing to blow nonchalantly.

Jisung squealed and twisted, the tingles building up more and more until he was crying, tears of mirth streaming down his face as he twisted his head desperately side to side.

”OKAHAHAHAAAAYYY!! YOUHU WIHIHIHIHINNNN!! NOHOHOW STOHOHOP I CAHAHAHANT FUCKING BREHEHEEHEATHEEE!!!”

Chan blew one more, just wanting to see the quokka’s reaction.

Hannie’s heels dug into the mattress, socked feet skidding along the cloth as he arched his back, wheezing out a loud “PLEHEASE!!” before his laughter went silent. So silent that only gasps for air were heard. 

Satisfied with this outcome, Channie let up, rubbing his first kid’s waist gently. Jisung’s arched back trembled and crashed to the bed. 

“You okay, Sungie?” The leader asked kindly, wiping away the dazed boy’s tears. 

“Sleeheepyy…” Jisung whined, and Channie giggled when the ace pulled him down to rest with him. 

“Soooo…does this still mean that I won?”

“Don’t push it.”

[kimbappykidding]

Imagine starting a job at Hybe and catching the attention of none other than Mingyu himself but this isn't the first time you've met...

You'd always dreamed of becoming a professional dancer and you finally achieved that when you were offered a place a Hybe as a dancer. You moved to Seoul for the role and were ready to start your new life. You had some friends already in the city, and on your first night, they took you out for a welcome meal and drinks. While you were in a bar your friends noticed a good-looking man a few tables away looking at you but you didn't really care. When you came out with friends that was the only thing on your mind so he could be the hottest guy in the world but you wouldn't talk to him. This was pretty accurate considering the man was none other than Seventeen's Mingyu.

The man continued to watch you but you just ignored him. Then when you were walking to the bar the man called out to you. "Miss I think you forgot this" he called holding out a tissue to you and you paused "that's not mine". The boy hesitated before saying "are you sure because I'm certain it is. Do you want to check?". You shook your head "no it's definitely not" and went to walk away when he laughed. "Okay so it's not but I wrote my phone number on it and was trying to do a whole bit...basically I think you're really pretty and promised my friends I'd ask you out". You looked behind him and sure enough, his friends were watching. You smiled "that's nice of you but I'm not looking to date anyone at the moment, plus I'm out with my friends and so guys are the last thing on my mind". The man nodded "of course sorry for bothering you". You shook your head "no problem have a nice night" and walked away. When you got back to your table your friends asked why you didn't take the number and you shrugged "he was a stranger". "But a hot one!" your friend cried and you looked at her "and?". Your friends laughed "so you haven't become a huge softie when it comes to love and romance huh?" your friend asked and you shook your head "nope. That's just not who I am and nothing will make me that way".

You had a lovely rest of your night and enjoyed a peaceful weekend before your first week at work. You arrived on the first day and were given a tour. They told you you'd be working with a mix of Hybe groups but in particular you'd be with Enhypen, Le Sserafim and Seventeen. You didn't know tons about kpop, mainly just the iconic dances but knew Hybe had great dancers so we're excited. The tour took you to the groups' different floors and the final stop was Seventeen's. They weren't rehearsing and all appeared to be messing around which the tour guide didn't seem to like but you got a good glimpse at the guys and spotted one familiar face.

The guy from the bar! He was in there! You couldn't believe it and wanted to stay to make sure but were hurried along. The second you had a break, you pulled out your phone and searched the Seventeen members and got a name. Mingyu. One of the main visuals of Seventeen who you'd now be working...whose offer of a date you'd rejected. Luckily he had a reputation for being a nice guy so you figured he'd just pretend nothing happened or hell he might not even recognise you. The more you read about him the more you figured he was a guy who got tons of romantic attention. He probably found another girl 5 minutes after you so you thought he might not remember it and you weren't going to remind him. However, when you were introduced he dropped his water bottle loudly and suddenly, so you guessed he remembered you.

Mingyu planned to act like he didn't know you but he was pretty sure he'd blown his cover so just decided to come over to you. "Hi" he said nervously and you smiled back "Hey". "So last weekend?" he asked and you chuckled "I wasn't sure if you'd remember me". "Of course I would" Mingyu said "I obviously had no idea who you were and my timing is wonderful as always. I'm sorry if I made this uncomfortable". You shook your head "no not at all, it's fine". Mingyu smiled "good well welcome and I promise to be nothing but professional" saluting awkwardly and you could see the regret going through his eyes as he did i. You laughed slightly and smiled back "that sounds great and thanks for welcoming me" and did a mini salute back. Mingyu laughed and nodded "no worries" and walked away.

Some of the members had seen you talking but when they asked Mingyu what you were discussing he just shrugged "nothing I was just welcoming her". Scoups shook his head "of course you're flirting with the new dancer on our first meeting with her". Mingyu shook his head denying it but the boys didn’t let him drop it. “She’s totally your type as well” Jeonghan said and Hoshi nodded “yeah she looks like that other girl Mingyu liked!” and the others all nodded. “It must be fate” Dk smiled at him but Mingyu thought fate was too kind a word for you turning up at his work suddenly.

However the good news was nobody knew what had happened between you. The friends Mingyu had been with at the bar were kpop idols from different groups so his members had no idea what was going on. You weren’t going to tell them and were acting pretty chill so Mingyu knew you’d keep the secret safe…but that didn’t mean Mingyu forgot about the encounter. He found it hard to move on especially seeing you every day. He of course still thought you were pretty as he had that night in the bar but his attraction to you exploded the second he saw you dance. You were an extremely skilled dancer, your body could perform any style effortlessly and you picked up choreo easily. You looked very good when you danced and Mingyu felt even more impressed and attracted to you. Then as he spent more time with you he realised you were also very funny and he loved your cool blunt personality. You were very honest and a lot of fun to be around...which made everything so much harder for Mingyu. He was the type of person who couldn't hide his feelings well. His emotions were displayed clearly on his face and so he couldn't help acting a little differently with you and his members began to say he was "whipped" for you.

Whenever you entered a room Mingyu sat up straighter or stood taller which considering his height was very noticeable but Mingyu would pretend he hadn't seen you. He tried to act very blasé, leaning back casually on whatever was behind him or striking a pose which the members found hilarious. They also noticed how his wardrobe seemed to have lost material and now his arms were regularly out and his abs whenever he fanned his face with his t-shirt which was every few minutes. He claimed it was just the weather but considering he stretched right in front of you they didn't believe him. Then whenever Mingyu spoke to you he also adopted this cool guy routine and basically fell over himself to agree with you and seem macho. One day you said you didn't eat meat much and could easily go without it. Mingyu agreed with you making all the members nearly explode. He was full of smiles whenever you talked to him but pretended afterwards that he didn't really care.

After one such occasion, Woozi decided to say something. "So should we address the elephant in room...or well giraffe?" he asked looking at Mingyu. Several members guessed what this was about and began laughing but Mingyu was clueless. "What?" he asked when several people stared at him and Jeonghan smiled at him "Y/n". Mingyu froze, worried they'd heard he asked you out. "What about her?" he said in an unconvincing attempt to be casual. "Oh come on!" Seungkwan said "it's so obvious you're into her". "No I'm not!" Mingyu tried but Scoups laughed "yes you are! You're a mess anytime she walks near you". "Not to mention the sucking up, you agree to anything she says!" The8 pointed out. Mingyu tried to keep up his argument but they just didn't believe him and stopped listening to him.

"You should ask her out" Jeonghan said and Wonwoo nodded "yeah you'd have a good shot". "No no no" Mingyu said and The8 began to ask why. "I think she already has a boyfriend" he said and Seungkwan shook his head "no she doesn't I asked her". "Oh...are you sure because I swear I saw her with a guy the other day...". "He's scared" Scoups said laughing and the others joined in. "No I'm not!” Mingyu said which only made the guys tease him more. “You totally are” Jun said and Mingyu sighed “she’s only been here 2 weeks, why would I pounce on her like that?”. “Pounce on who like that?” a voice asked and Mingyu’s life flashed before his eyes as he realised the dancers had re-entered the room…but luckily you still weren’t here yet. It was a group of 3 dancers who had been with the company for ages and that meant they knew exactly what was going on. “Is this about Mingyu drooling over Y/n?” one of them, a girl called Mina, asked and all 12 boys exploded in laughter. They had luckily calmed down when you did re-enter but Mingyu was still on edge. He found himself watching you to see if any of the dancers whispered anything to you and you noticed. You looked up, saw him watching you and smiled. Mingyu smiled back trying to act casual but could feel how pink his cheeks were and could hear the giggles across the room.

The teasing continued all week and Mingyu was worried it was becoming more noticeable. At dinner Seungkwan insisted you sit with them and positioned you right next to Mingyu with a huge smile on his face. One day your car was being fixed and when Dino found out he insisted you get a lift home with them and the guys made sure Mingyu and you ended up with a car all to yourself. Then whenever the two of you were talking in practice Mingyu would feel the guys' eyes on him and it would make him flustered and blush. It was building and building until one day it was undeniable.

Mingyu was stretching before dance practice and you came in and saw him. You smiled and put your water bottle down on a table. Mingyu realised the table was probably a way better place than the floor so he came over and put his down too. "Copying me again?" you asked and Mingyu smiled "I can't help it if you just have a way more logical brain than me okay?". You smiled "it's okay you can borrow my brain power anytime" and patted his arm. DK, Hoshi and Scoups entered while your hand was on Mingyu's arm and DK let out a loud screech before Scoups grabbed him. They dragged him to the other side of the room but were all grinning and started whispering as soon as there was some distance.

There was no hiding what had happened and you turned your back to them before steping closer to Mingyu. “Do they know?” you whispered and Mingyu blinked “about what happened with us? No of course not”. You paused “then what happened there? They've been giggly for a while, has something happened?”. Mingyu’s mind went to panic mode and he shook his head and as Mina entered he just took the first excuse that came to him. “No don’t worry it’s not you they’re laughing at it’s me, see I asked Mina out”. “Mina?” you asked looking to her across the room and Mingyu nodded “yeah and they’re teasing me senselessly about it”. “Ow that makes sense” and then after a pause you smiled “congratulations!”. “Thanks” Mingyu smiled and he answered your polite questions about where he was taking her, how he asked her out etc the best he could. When he got away his first thought was he’d been really smart and dodged a bullet…but then he realised you worked with Mina and could ask her about it anytime, exposing his lie. So panic mode came back.

Mingyu wasn’t sure how he survived dance practice. He spent the whole time trying to catch Min for a talk and tensing anytime the two of you were near each other. You spoke for a little bit in between moves and Mingyu was sweating so bad! Luckily you didn’t discuss him and Mingyu had time to grab Mina and explain his lie.

"So you told Y/n we're going out instead of telling her you like her?" Mina asked and Mingyu nodded "yes". "Okay" she said laughing at how unashamed Mingyu was of that "so when will you tell her?". "I have no idea!" Mingyu said and she laughed again. "So what's your plan? We just pretend to date from now on?". "Well not forever!" Mingyu said and Mina relaxed thinking he'd regained his sanity but she thought too soon. "Just for a few months and then we'll stage a breakup but we don't have to act too differently". Mina blinked "Mingyu that is crazy!". "No it's not, I promise it won't be too much work". "But what if the guys think we are dating?" she asked "The8 knows my actual girlfriend!". "Well Y/n has no reason to mention it to them, I think she'll keep it on the down low". Mina shook her head "Mingyu you need to tell her you can't create such an elaborate scheme like this! It could ruin your chances in the long run". Mingyu sighed "okay okay fine just give me a week?". "A week?" Mina asked and Mingyu nodded "please and I'll have worked something out by then". "You'll tell her?" Mina asked and Mingyu nodded "sure" but what he really meant was he'd find some other way out of it. Mina was placated though and nodded "fine you get to pretend to date me for one week and that's it!" making Mingyu smile "thanks Mina".

So Mingyu had dodged a huge bullet and luckily, you never mentioned he was "dating" Mina to the guys. You kept it to yourself and ignored the members behaviour figuring it wasn't towards you. Mingyu thought his luck was finally changing and then he got a huge curveball.

Mingyu had dodged you as a dancer partner for a while now despite you being the second tallest dancer but no more. The choreographer finally paired you two together and Mingyu's head snapped up when he heard your name. You came to stand beside him, making sure not to look at him at all to show this wasn't a big deal. Mingyu was noticeably awkward around you and hesitant. In the dance, he had to grab your arm and pull you towards him but he was acting all cautious and you worried the choreographer would point it out and then all the guys would see it. "It's okay you can pull me properly" you whispered to him discreetly and he nodded "okay" and did it better. Your worries were for nothing as the choreographer actually really liked your pairing and used you as an example for the others. "See how rigid Mingyu's back is and how Y/n doesn't even look at him? That's the energy we want. You two have the song down naturally". "Thank you" you said and Mingyu smiled pretending it was acting.

You were partners all week because the choreographer liked you together so much so by Friday Mingyu was ready to burst. Mina said this was a good thing because his time was up and Mingyu agreed and planned to tell you that they'd at least broken up on Monday when you showed up at his house.

Seungkwan was throwing a party for his birthday and Mingyu had no idea he'd befriended you quickly enough to invite you to his birthday party. Then again Seungkwan made friends wherever he went so Mingyu expected a big turnout for his 3rd youngest member's party. Mingyu rationalised it wouldn’t be the end of the world and figured he'd just have a fun night with his friends and avoid you but everywhere he seemed to go there you were! Dancing and looking amazing or laughing with his members. He was going to get a drink and stepped into the kitchen to see the fridge open. He walked up to the door and saw it was you, he was going to walk away when he figured that'd be awkward so he stayed. You however hadn't even seen him and jumped when you turned and saw him, spilling your drink all over yourself. "Jesus Chris!" you said and Mingyu grabbed a towel "omg Y/n I'm so sorry". "It's okay" you said dabbing yourself but your top was white and it showed the stain easily. "But your poor top" Mingyu said now realising was becoming see-through and shot his eyes away. You noticed too and panicked holding the tea tower up to it. "It's okay I'll just erm...wait for it to dry". "I can give you something if you want?" Mingyu asked "and then you can swap back at the end of the night".

You agreed so headed upstairs together passing several of his members which didn't help his blush. They didn't dare say anything in front of you but it was so easy to see what they were thinking. Finally, they were out of sight and you paused at the top of the stairs making Mingyu almost crash into you. "Why did you stop?" he asked and you looked at him "I don't know which one is your room". "Of course why would you?" Mingyu asked and slid past you to lead you into his room at the end of the hall.

"Okay so let me find something for you...I'll try and get something white so it's similar" and he rooted through his drawers. Mingyu brought out a few options for you and you went into his ensuite to change. All his tops were big on you and Mingyu tried not to react to how cute it was or how it made him feel to see you in his clothes. Finally, there was one crop top that worked and you looked really good in it. You tucked it into your jeans and looked so cool in it which Mingyu never did. "Does it look okay?" you asked and he agreed it did. "You look really nice" he said before going to spread your t-shirt out on the drying rack.

"You know I have to say your bathroom is the cleanest one I've ever seen" you said and he smiled "yeah I like things nice and tidy". "I noticed and that's a wonderful quality, very impressive". Now Mingyu was blushing "thank you...you're impressive too. You just seem to pick up choreo so quickly. I know being paired with you has made me a better dancer". "That's so sweet!" you smiled "thank you but you're a great performer anyway. I've seen you in past music videos and I'm nothing to do with it". "You've watched my old videos?" Mingyu asked and you paused before nodding. "When I got the job and started I looked into you all and you were on the first one I looked at". "Because of what happened?' Mingyu asked and you shrugged "that was part of it but not all of it. You're very different from what I expected and I guess I just wanted to see more of that. I was trying to work you out so to speak". "Ohh" Mingyu said unsure what else to say "and what did you find?".

You paused unsure why you were feeling so flustered. It probably had something to do with being in a dimly light room with an attractive guy while you were wearing a top that smelt like him. "I found you very confusing" you admitted "just guys like you aren't usually so kind to your members and aren't so good at cooking and stereotypically feminine things". Mingyu smiled "me being able to cook confused you?". "Yes! Young guys, in general, tend not to know how to cook but especially the good-looking ones!" you said before realising you'd called Mingyu good-looking. Surely it wouldn't be a big deal? He knew he was good looking right?

"Thank you" Mingyu said blushing "I often get misconceptions because of how I look". "Pretty people problems" you said sighing sarcastically and Mingyu laughed "oh come on like you don't know! You probably have people asking you out all the time, especially when they see you dance". Now it was your turn to blush "sometimes but not often no...". "Really?" Mingyu asked stunned "that's crazy! Who wouldn't want you? I mean some people have no taste!" before realising he'd gone a little overboard. You were both blushing and neither of you knew what to say. "Thanks for not holding what happened against me I guess" Mingyu said and you chuckled "Mingyu, a good-looking guy asking you out is in no way offensive. You were sweet and respectful and even if everyone knew you'd have nothing to be ashamed of. I was with my friends that's why I said no". Mingyu sat up straighter and his eyes shot to you "really? That was why you said no?". You nodded "yeah that was the main reason...I think if I'd started work the week before I might've said something different though".

Mingyu had goosebumps all over his arms and he was staring at you in disbelief. He couldn't believe what you'd just told him and was cursing his past self for his bad timing. "So if I'd had asked you out at a different time you might've said...". "Yeah I think I would've" you nodded and Mingyu thought his head was going to explode. You could've been his but now...well right now all he could think of was you. You may as well be the only person in the world at this moment and he was overwhelmed with how good you looked and how much he wanted you. Mingyu moved closer to you and laid a hand on your arm. "Mingyu" you whispered seeing his expression and he nodded "what?". "I..." you started when a loud bang on the landing made you both jump and shoot apart.

"Mingyu?" you heard Jeonghan call "are you up here? I need your help". Mingyu rushed to the door and they saw Hoshi on the floor clearly a little drunk. "Help me get him into bed will you?" Jeonghan asked Mingyu before spotting you behind him "if you're not busy...". "No of course not" you and Mingyu both rushed to say, blushing like crazy. "Okay..." Jeonghan said, very much aware he'd interrupted something but you both rushed away from one another and he had more important things to worry about, like a drunk Hoshi at his ankles.

You rushed downstairs and Mingyu busied himself with helping Hoshi. You felt all warm and flustered and had no idea what had just happened upstairs or what else might've happened had Jeonghan not interrupted. Mingyu came back downstairs a little while later and the two of you stayed on opposite sides of the room. Mingyu told himself he’d catch you to talk to but he kept putting it off and then the next thing he knew you’d gone!

This made him very worried because you still thought he was dating Mina so must’ve thought he was going to cheat on her with you. You must be so disappointed in him and weirdly that made Mingyu the most upset. He didn’t want you of all people thinking he was a bad person and so he had to find you! He texted Mina and she said she knew where you lived because she’d dropped you off the other day. She gave Mingyu your address and minutes later he was on his way to yours. Woozi drove him because he hadn’t drunk tonight and Mingyu had. He sat in the passenger seat anxious drumming his hands on his legs and finally after what felt like an eternity of driving for both Woozi and Mingyu, they arrived.

You'd gotten home a little earlier and has just gotten in your pyjamas after washing your face when the door went. You opened it to find a very panicked-looking Mingyu. "Hi" he smiled "can I come in?". You froze thinking back to the last time you were alone together "erm do you think that's a good idea?" you asked. Mingyu's smile fell "please, I really need to talk to you" and you couldn't resist those eyes so you opened your door and he followed you inside.

"So..."Mingyu started "are you okay? After what happened?" he started but that seemed to open the floodgates. "Of course I'm not okay!" you criied and Mingyu blinked "because of what happened at the house? When we..." and you nodded. "But we didn't" Mingyu said "plus it's okay" he said getting ready to explain but you heard those words and got triggered. "Mingyu it is not okay! I like you but just because our thing in the bar happened before you asked Mina out doesn’t mean we get precedence”. Mingyu nodded “Y/n I know” but you kept talking. “And what we almost did was so bad! I can’t think of why we got so close! My best friend was cheated on so I know how horrible it is but I almost did with you and that’s worrying, to think you have the effect on me”. “No Y/n I don’t” Mingyu said but again you carried on “but you do! I was going to kiss you just because I wanted to so badly” you said “but I had my shot with you and I’ve just got to realise that and back off”. “No you don’t!” Mingyu said “I don’t want you to back off or go anywhere!”. “Mingyu that’s sweet but…” you started but Mingyu knew better than to let you start ranting again. “Y/n I’m not with Mina!” he said suddenly making you jump. Mingyu realised and patted your arm “sorry for saying it so loudly but it’s true and that’s what I came here to tell you! We didn’t do anything wrong because I’m not with Mina”. “You’re not?” you asked “but you told me you asked her out”. “Yeah I said that because I didn’t want to tell you the guys were laughing about us! Or well me”. “Wait so they do know about us?” you asked and Mingyu shook his head “no they could just tell I had a crush on you and teased me about it constantly…they still do” he admitted “because they could all see I was super into you without even knowing what happened in the bar”. You blinked “wow…you must’ve been really obvious then huh?” and Mingyu chuckled. “Yeah I wasn’t too good at disguising how I felt and that’s why I panicked when you asked”. You nodded “but just to clarify, you’re not dating Mina?” you asked and Mingyu shook his head “no”. “Good” you smiled “because now I can do this without feeling guilty” and you shifted onto your tiptoes and leaned up to kiss him.

After you separated Mingyu was so dazed he missed what you said and had to ask you to repeat yourself. "I said...did you tell the guys you were dating Mina too?". "No just you" he said blushing and you nodded "ah okay so I don't have to claim my territory or anything around them?". Mingyu shook his head "no but I mean if you want to that's more than fine with me". You smiled "I'll see what I can do" and that was music to Mingyu's ears. "I've never been so excited for work before!" he cried and you laughed.

"You know, I wasn't sure if I was going to go to Seungkwan's party tonight but I'm really glad I did". Mingyu nodded "I'm glad you did too...but I'm sorry I made you leave early. How about we go out and celebrate or something?". You nodded "and I've got the perfect place how about where it all began but this time, my mind is only on you".

"It's a date" Mingyu smiled.

[horanghaejamjam]

Raspberry Kisses - {JJK}

↪ Summary: You never believed in demons until a game gone wrong left you stuck with one. Though a Halloween party and failed baking experiment may have you realizing being bonded to Jungkook isn’t as bad as you thought. 

↪ Pairings: Demon!Jungkook x Female reader ft brief cameos from Namjoon and Yoongi. 

↪ Rating: M 18+

↪ Genre: Demon Au / Enemies to Lovers / College/University AU / Smut / Some Angst 

↪ Word Count: 10.5k

↪ Warnings/Contents: Smut (Minors DNI), Possessive and Flirty Jungkook,  Unprotected sex, Dom Jungkook, Sub Reader, Brat Reader, Religious Undertones, Mentions of blood/blood pact (nonsexual), Degradation, Slight Food Play, Marking, Praise, Rough sex, Growling, Oral (female receiving), Multiple positions, Orgasm control.

↪ This is so late because of everything that happened and I am so sorry but this story was meant to be a part of the horrorwood event hosted by the former @btswritingcafe network​ for my spooky friend @jeonspub​. I am so unbelievably sorry that this took so long but I still wanted to get it posted for you even if it’s late. I had a lot of fun writing this for you so I hope you like it and it was worth the wait. 

↪ Click here to see my other BTS stories

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The harsh screech of your alarm was what pulled you from your slumber, making you groan as you rolled over to hit the snooze button on your phone. A few deep breaths and another groan left you as you buried yourself under the covers, hiding from the bright light in your room. You knew you had to be up for class in about an hour but you didn’t care enough to get out of bed and get ready. Surely you could sleep for just a few more minutes and still be up in time to get to class, that was the thought anyways as you closed your eyes and tried drifting off again. Just as you were about to be pulled back into your dream world and even more annoying sound jolted you out of your rest yet again. 

“Rise and shine gorgeous!” Feeling a sudden weight pinning you to the bed, you ripped the covers off your head to glare up at the intruder. Bright red eyes gazed right back at you, accompanied by pale skin, short black hair, and a very sharp grin as he took in your form. Anyone else likely would have thought waking up in this position was a dream come true, but to you it was a living nightmare. 

“Jungkook get off of me,” you groaned, trying to roll over under his weight, “can’t you let me sleep for like 5 more minutes?” Jungkook didn’t even budge despite your struggling under him, merely smirking down at your pathetic attempt to move him. 

“You and I both know if you go back to sleep you won’t wake up again and you’ll be late to class, I’m just trying to help,” he mused, “and as much as I love watching you squirm under me like this we also know you can’t afford to miss any more class.” You stopped your movements and huffed as you glared up at him, clearly unimpressed by his little game.

“Get off of me you pervert!” you exclaimed as you reached up to hit at his chest. Jungkook merely shook his head with a dry chuckle before slowly crawling off of you to stand at the end of your bed. Your new freedom allowed you to finally sit up, crossing your arms and yawning softly as you tried to properly wake up. “Since when do you care about my life anyways?” you asked as you forced yourself out of bed, “I didn’t think you were capable of caring about anyone other than yourself.”

“Oh I don’t care,” Jungkook corrected, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed so he could watch you, “but I know you’ll keep whining about your grade and whatever else and I don’t want to deal with that so I’m making you go.” His eyes trailed your figure as you wandered around looking for something to wear, making you huff and throw a pair of socks at him. The offending article didn’t come close to hitting him, merely falling to the ground a few feet in front of him which made Jungkook scoff. 

“You know you are more than welcome to leave whenever you want!” you called out as you went into the bathroom to change, making sure to slam and lock the door so he wouldn’t follow you. Not that it mattered because Jungkook seemed to have the ability to appear wherever he pleased whenever. 

“Actually I can’t,” you heard his voice from the otherside of the door, tuning him out as you quickly got changed and brushed your teeth. 

“Because I accidentally signed a blood pact and now you are bond to me until I die or pass it out to someone else yeah yeah I know,” you muttered out, already knowing what he would say next. Jungkook didn’t say anything but you could tell he was grinning like a madman on the other side of the door. “Honestly, can’t I like do an exorcism or something to get rid of you instead?” you asked rhetorically as you brushed your hair out. The question wasn’t directed at him but he evidently still heard you as the door suddenly sprung open to reveal the frowning male. 

“You think some sellout priest with a generic biblical chant would be able to get rid of a being as powerful as I am?” he asked with a hand over his chest, “honestly Y/N I’m offended you would undermine me like that.”

“You were accidentally summoned by some college girls playing a stupid game and all you’ve done since is pop up randomly to scare me and stalk me like the creep you are. I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound like the work of a powerful demon to me,” you taunted. 

“Anyone can summon a demon with the right tools so that’s on you and not me,” he reminded, “not my fault you decided to try an online ritual without reading the warnings.” 

“Whatever,” you hissed under your breath as you pushed past him, leaving your room to walk out into your living area. You paid no mind to the looming presence behind you as you grabbed your bag and walked into the kitchen to grab a protein bar, knowing you were going to be late if you stayed to humor your unwanted roommate any longer. “I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late. Stay here and try not to create too much of a mess while I’m gone,” you pleaded as you put your shoes on. 

“You know if you’re so worried about me causing trouble I can just come to school with you,” Jungkook suggested.

“Hell no!” you all but shouted, “dealing with school is hard enough I don’t need a demon following me around to make my life more of a living hell.”

“Suit yourself,” Jungkook shrugged, “have fun at school!” His tone and nonchalant expression was rather off-putting and made you nervous as you turned to finally leave. 

“I’m serious Jungkook, do not follow me and do not try anything funny!” you warned with one last glance back at him before rushing out the door. 

ღ ღ ღ ღ ღ

It had been almost a month since you ended up stuck with Jungkook and yet it already felt like an eternity. The memory was still fresh in your brain as well, replaying over and over like a cursed nightmare you couldn’t escape from. It all started when you and a few friends decided to meet up at your place for a horror movie marathon to celebrate the start of the spooky season. You loved Halloween more than anyone and so the second October came around you were more than ready to celebrate. It also helped that you lived alone and your apartment was close to campus so it was the perfect place for your little get together. A bunch of candy, every horror movie you could get your hands on, even more snacks and a few drinks and you were set to go. At least, that was the plan until you guys got bored three movies in and decided to spice things up a bit. 

“I have an idea!” your friend, Daeun said as she pulled up something on her phone, “I was researching rituals and summons for a project and I came across one that looked pretty interesting. It’s a ritual for eternal love and the supplies are things you should have laying around the house. We should try it!”

“You want to try a random ritual you found online with no experience?” you questioned. 

“Well yeah, it’s said to create an everlasting bond and it’s supposed to be super easy to execute,” she argued.

“If a ritual is that easily accessible it probably doesn’t work and we’ll just be wasting our time.” You definitely were not a skeptic by any means, in fact you had dealt with your fair share of paranormal experiences in the past, but this seemed like a scenario that was too good to be true. 

“Come on Y/N,” one of your other friends, Aiko piped in, “what’s the worst that could happen? If it is a dud we can say we tried and clean everything up but you won’t know unless we try.”

“Besides,” your last friend, Soyeon spoke up, “you’ve been single since you moved here a few years ago, lord knows you need all the help with love you can get.” All three girls started giggling after that while you merely rolled your eyes. You couldn’t help but think that their antics were a bit childish and that the ritual was a terrible idea but you were outnumbered so you hesitantly agreed. What followed was an hour of rearranging your apartment living room, working around a poorly drawn pentagram and you pricking your finger one too many times to get enough blood for the ritual to work. All four of you recited the incantation from Daeuns phone and then waited, feeling the room grow slightly cold but, much to your relief, nothing happened. 

“Damn,” Daeun muttered, “guess it was too good to be true.”

“Well we don’t know that yet!” Soyeon argued, “we don’t actually know what the ritual does, maybe it takes time for something to happen?” 

“What is Y/N going to walk into class next week and just be an attraction magnet?” Aiko teased. 

“God I hope not,” you groaned, “this was not a good idea.”

“Hey relax, nothing happened so I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Daeun tried to comfort you.

“Come on let’s get everything cleaned up and we can go back to watching the movies.” Still, even as you guys put everything back the way it was and continued your movie marathon with IT Chapter 2, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was extremely wrong. The feeling of dread you get when you’re out late and feel like you’re being followed but there’s no one there when you turn around. In fact, you could have sworn you saw a figure standing in the corner at one point though it disappeared the second you turned around. The feeling sent shivers down your spine and had you curling in on yourself as you once again peeked behind you to see if someone was there. 

“Hey Y/N, are you doing okay?” Aiko asked after a minute. 

“Huh? Oh yeah I’m fine, just a little cold that’s all,” you tried playing off your anxiety knowing that if they caught on you would be teased. 

“Don’t tell me this movie is scaring you,” Soyeon teased, “I thought it was your favorite?”

“I’m not scared!” you scoffed, “I told you I’m just cold. In fact, I’m going to go grab an extra blanket so you guys will stop bugging me about it.” With that you pushed yourself up to your feet and made your way to your room to grab the extra throw blanket you had on your bed. That same chill ran down your spine the second you were alone and you froze, taking a deep breath as you glanced around the room. “Relax Y/N, nothings there you’re fine,” you whispered to yourself as you walked over to the bed. 

“Oh? I thought you said you weren’t scared?” a deep voice coming from right behind you made you jump, falling back onto the bed with a soft shout. Quickly turning around, you gasped as you saw a man standing above you right where you had just been. His body was rather large and practically engulfed your frame in his shadow as he stood above you, bright red eyes peeking from under jet black bangs. His skin was pale but you couldn’t see much of it as his body was almost completely covered in black. A tight black turtle neck that looked like it would rip if he even tried to move his arms, tight black leather pants, even the black metal that decorated his fingers, ears, and one of his eyebrows. All things considered, he was a very attractive man and likely would have passed as human had it not been for the large ram like horns above his ears or the large black wings protruding from his back. You stared up at him like a deer caught in the headlights while he seemed to take his time drinking you in, licking his lips as his eyes raked your form.  “You’re a cute one aren’t you?” he finally spoke again after a moment, “not a bad choice for a companion, at all. Though I highly doubt someone as pretty as you struggles to find love so what’s the catch hm?” He leaned over to get a better look at you, only to have you crawl back as a result. 

“Woah woah hold up, who are you? And an even better question, what the hell are you doing in my apartment?” you questioned. He paused for a moment before sighing and running his hand through his hair. 

“There’s the catch,” he muttered under his breath, “I take it you didn’t fully read the instructions on that ritual you performed then, huh? Well let me explain it to you then so we are on the same page.” He paused for a moment to take a seat on the bed, crossing his legs and facing you. He looked much less intimidating looking up at you with an almost childlike innocence but you knew better than to let your guard down with him. “Well Y/N,” he said as he reached into his collar and pulled out an amulet, holding up a finger when you tried speaking again, “yes I know your name, I know everything about you and more. My name is Jungkook, and as of today I will be your own little demonic companion. This little vial holds the blood you offered to me, and as long as it stays intact we are bond together, I am yours for life.” He swayed the vial in question and you could briefly see the red liquid sloshing around inside the little gem. You glanced at him as if in a trance, still confused and just as scared as you were before. Because of the little game you decided to play you were now eternally stuck with a demon?

“Exactly,” Jungkook answered as if he was reading your mind, “you really didn’t read ahead did you? When done successfully the blood pact bonds you to an immortal lover and eternal devotion. The only way for you to get rid of me now is to pass me on to someone else, or die but don’t think I’ll let you leave me that easily. You’re clearly special to attach yourself to someone like me and I’m a selfish man so I don’t like giving up my toys that quickly.” He was about to say something else when a knock at the door startled the both of you out of your little moment. 

“Y/N? Are you okay in there?” You turned to Jungkook who held his finger to his lips in response. 

“Yeah sorry, I tripped over my shoes,” you lied with a soft chuckle, glancing back and forth between the door and the demon in front of you.

“Clumsy as ever I see, hurry up we paused the movie for you!” you heard your friends footsteps slowly disappear, leaving you alone with Jungkook yet again. 

“Well better get out there, don’t want to keep your friends waiting now do we?” he mused with a chuckle, “don’t worry though, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other later, until then.” With that he was gone, leaving you staring up at the space he once occupied. Part of you wanted to lay there and figure out what the hell just happened but you could hear your friends calling for you out in the living room. With a heavy sigh, you got up and grabbed your blanket, wrapping it around yourself as you waddled back out into the living room. The only trace of Jungkook was the brief scent left in the blanket from where he had been, still strong enough to invade your senses and distract you from what was going on. 

“Y/N.”

“Y/N?”

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“Y/N!” the sound of Aiko shouting broke you out of your memory induced trance, glancing around to realize you two were the only ones left in class. You had been so trapped in your head that you completely missed what was talked about during your lecture. “You seem really out of it today, are you okay?” she asked as she grabbed her things and stood up, you doing the same so you could walk to your next class together. 

“Yeah I’m fine, just haven’t been sleeping well I guess,” you brushed off her concerns knowing you couldn’t tell her the real reason. As if having Jungkook around couldn’t be any more annoying, you weren’t even allowed to let other people know of his existence. He was nothing more than a twisted hallucination, appearing only when no one else was looking and making you feel like you were going crazy. Actually, you probably were going crazy with all the stress you were under.

“You’re focusing too much on work and it’s stressing you out,” Aiko noted, “maybe relaxing and getting out a bit would do you some good? Halloween is this weekend after all.”

“Don’t remind me,” you groaned, “it’s my favorite holiday and I haven’t even been able to do anything to celebrate because I’ve been so busy.” You had to resist the urge to slam your head into your textbook as you thought about that and the fact your Halloween would likely be spent alone studying. 

“Hey hey come on now,” Aiko tried cheering you up, “relax we still have time to celebrate. You know Yoongi invited some of us to a Halloween get together at his place, you should join us! We can go after school and get you a costume and it’ll be fun.” You appreciated that she was trying to help and cheer you up, but a party really wasn’t your idea of fun. 

“I don’t know, parties aren’t really my thing,” you countered.

“Don’t think of it like a party think of it like a friendly hangout. You, me, Daeun, Soyeon, Yoongi, Namjoon, and possibly a few other friends, nothing crazy.” You still weren’t convinced which had her groaning and pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“Fine fine I’ll think about it okay?” you gave in just to prevent an argument, which seemed to do the trick. 

“Awesome! Let me know before lunch though so I can plan if we’re going out tonight or not! See you soon Y/N!” she exclaimed with a pat on your shoulder before making her way down the hall to her class. You shook your head and turned to make your way to your own class when you felt a familiar shiver run down your back. 

‘You have got to be kidding me,’ you thought to yourself as you glanced around for the all familiar black figure you knew was following you. You didn’t see him at first, but you definitely felt him when he crept up behind you. 

“Your friend has a point you know, going out would be a nice change for you,” he mused with a smug grin as he saw you jump. 

“What are you doing here?!” you hissed as you turned to face him, “I told you not to follow me.”

“Yeah you did make that pretty clear,” he teased, “but all that did was make me curious and it was boring staying at home all day so here I am. Besides you don’t get around so I figured you could enjoy my company.” 

“No I do not enjoy your company!” you argued, “and how are you even here anyways? I thought no one was supposed to know you existed.”

“You’re really not that observant are you?” he questioned, “do you really think I would get away with just wandering around in my normal form? I have my ways of blending in.” It was then that you took a step back and finally registered the change in his appearance, more specifically how human he was. His wings and horns were missing, once red eyes now replaced with a deep brown, and even his fangs were replaced by almost cute bunny like teeth. He also wasn’t dressed in his normal black attire, instead wearing a simple brown shirt and cargo pants to fit in with your classmates. With the short sleeves of his shirt, you were also able to take note of all the tattoos covering his arms and even his hand, had those always been there? “Yes I’ve always had these, seems you just never cared enough to notice them,” he answered your question with a smirk. You rolled your eyes and groaned for what felt like the millionth time that day. 

“You’re telling me you could do this the entire time and you only decide to spring it on me now?” you whisper yelled. 

“You never let me leave the house so there’s no point in hiding myself,” he explained casually, “also this takes a surprising amount of effort to maintain so I don’t like doing it often.” 

‘So much for powerful demon’ you thought. “If it requires that much effort why not just go home so you don’t have to?” 

“You know I went through all of this effort to come and see you and your only response is to shut me out? That really hurts you know,” you whined. You honestly couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not and you honestly didn’t care, especially not when you were about to be late to class. 

“Fine whatever just stay quiet and try not to ruin anything,” you gave in, rushing to class with a very giddy demon trailing behind you. 

Save for the stares you kept getting, being at school with Jungkook went surprisingly well. He stayed quiet most of the time unless it was to talk to you and was even able to help you cheat with some assignments. It was only when your lunch period came around that you realized you would have another problem to deal with, explaining Jungkook to your friends. In fact you were half tempted to just skip and drag him off somewhere else before Daeun noticed you both and ran over, the rest of your friend group following. 

“Hey Y/N, who���s your friend?” she questioned as she looked over at Jungkook. 

“Oh umm this is Jungkook, he uh...” you stuttered trying to think of a reasonable excuse for how you met when he suddenly cut you off. 

“I’m a transfer student here from Busan, it’s actually my first day so Y/N has been showing me around,” he explained. 

“Oh that’s cool, though I’ve never actually heard of someone transferring in the middle of a term,” Soyeon commented. 

“I wasn’t supposed to start until next term but there were a few classes still open so I can at least get started.”

“What’s your major then?”

“Musical arts, I’m undecided about a specific focus though.” You couldn’t help but blink up at him in confusion, wondering how he was able to brush off their questions so easily. In fact it baffled you that he even knew anything about college to begin with. Didn’t demons have other priorities rather than learning about basic human life? 

"I’ve been around for centuries if not more,” you suddenly heard his voice in your head, “do you really think I wouldn’t know about how these things work? Let’s also not forget that I have an eye on you at all times.”

‘Great so now you can get in my head?’ you thought. 

“I’ve always been in your head gorgeous, again you just don’t pay attention.”

“Umm Y/N? We’re going to go sit down now,” you heard Soyeons voice which made you sigh. 

“Sorry guys I’m still pretty tired, yeah let’s go sit,” you agreed. 

“Jungkook would you like to come sit with us?” Daeun offered which made you want to sigh. 

“No”

“I would love to,” Jungkook agreed, smirking in your direction as he walked with the rest of your friends. All you could do was slouch over in protest as you followed them anyways, hoping things wouldn’t get any worse. 

“Hey Namjoon, Yoongi, over here!” just your luck that things were about to get a million times worse. Glancing up from the table you watched as the two males walked over to join you guys. Yoongi was an upperclassman and your mentor for one of your final projects so naturally you had grown pretty close to him. He was the one who introduced you to Namjoon, a business major in the same year as you were. The two of you had immediately clicked and became best friends, and you had even started to develop a little bit of a crush on him. All your friends knew about it and were trying to play matchmaker, getting you two near each other whenever possible. It seemed that Jungkook was also quick to catch onto this little crush, the room suddenly feeling colder as he glared daggers at Namjoon. Without directing any attention to the already obvious mood shift, you hit at Jungkooks leg under the table to snap him out of it, mouthing a quick “relax” before your friends noticed. 

“Hey Jungkook are you okay?” you heard Aiko ask, clearly noticing the shift in his mood.

“He’s just shy,” you spoke up before he could ruin anything, feeling his gaze from beside you, “a lot of new people to get to know.”

“Oh right sorry about that,” Aiko apologized, “Namjoon, Yoongi, this is Jungkook and he’s apparently a new student here. Jungkook this is Yoongi and Namjoon, Yoongi is also a music major so I’m sure you guys will get along well!” The two older males perked up at the introduction whereas Jungkook sunk into his seat a bit with a very forced smile. 

“Oh a new transfer, how are you enjoying it so far?” Namjoon asked.

“Just fine,” Jungkook muttered through grit teeth, resulting in you hitting his leg. 

“It’s his first day so he’s still getting used to it,” you clarified.

“Ah I see, well if you ever need people to hang out with feel free to come find us,” Namjoon said, “in fact, we’re having a bit of a get together this weekend for Halloween, you should join us!” You were pretty sure you felt your eyes bulging out of your head a little bit when he mentioned the party.

“Oh yeah that reminds me,” Aiko piped up, “Y/N have you decided if you’re coming or not?” 

“Oh umm I don’t know,” you muttered, looking around for any way out of this conversation. Jungkook noticed this and couldn’t help but smirk a bit at your discomfort. 

“Weren’t you just ranting to me about how Halloween was your favorite holiday?” he teased. 

‘I hate you so much Jungkook’ you thought to yourself, “Well yeah but-”

“Come on Y/N, it will be fun,” Namjoon encouraged. His signature dimpled smile had always been a weakness of yours and you found yourself relaxing if even the slightest bit. 

“Alright fine, I guess I have nothing better to do,” you agreed, much to the delight of the others and the distaste of your demonic companion. 

“Well if Y/N is going I suppose I’ll go as well,” Jungkook piped up, making you slouch back to your original position. 

“Awesome we’ll see you guys there then!”

ღ ღ ღ ღ ღ

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“You are not wearing that!” you rolled your eyes and pushed your way past Jungkook into your bathroom so you could do your makeup, the male trailing right behind you. His arms were crossed and his eyes narrowed as he took in your outfit. The last minute costume that you and Aiko had agreed on was a witch, though a bit of a more sexy witch at that. The costume was a long black velvet dress with purple lace accents all over it, a low cut neckline with lace you could use to either loosen or tighten it and a slit at the bottom that exposed your leg. The witch hat had the same purple lace accents with a curtain that partially covered your eyes and gave a very mysterious look. To top off the outfit you were also wearing fishnet thigh highs and just a slight heel to make yourself taller. You thought the outfit looked adorable on you, but Jungkook clearly had other ideas. “Seriously Y/N there is no way in hell I am letting you go anywhere in that,” he whined as he watched you do your makeup. 

“Oh shut up, what are you my father?” you hissed as you focused on your eyeshadow, “who are you to tell me what I can and can’t wear?” From your view in the mirror, you could see his eyes darken which concerned you just a bit. In all the time you had been together you had never seen Jungkook genuinely upset and you had to admit you were a bit worried of what would happen if you pushed him. Still, he was the one who pushed this stupid get together on you and now he was whining because he didn’t like your outfit which kind of pissed you off. What right did this man have to control anything about you?

“In case you’ve forgotten you are bonded to me!” he reminded through grit teeth, “you belong to me and yet you won’t even give me the time of day half the damn time! Yet here you are now dressing up in a teasing outfit and showing off to other guys, it’s like you want to mess with me.” You groaned and slammed your makeup brush down as you turned to face him. 

“So what if I’m bonded to you huh? I made it very clear from the beginning that I do not like you or this arrangement and you chose to stick around anyways. Stop acting like you own me or that I owe anything to you when we both know the ritual that night was an accident!” you snapped, walking up to Jungkook and poking his chest to emphasize your point. 

Jungkook didn’t even flinch as you yelled at him, giving you no reaction despite the evident shift in his aura. His stiffness intimidated you more than you were willing to admit and you suddenly felt unsure of yourself. Before you could move away though his hand was reaching up to grab your outstretched wrist, not hard enough to hurt but firm enough that you could feel it. He took a deep breath and leaned down so the two of you were eye level, making you stiffen as you could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. “Do you know how hard I have tried to be patient with you?” he muttered. His voice was monotone but you could briefly hear an echo to it, a growl almost that was a giveaway to the calm facade he was showing. You tried to say something but found you were frozen in your spot, unable to even open your mouth. “No no you’ve said enough, it’s my turn now,” he taunted as he read your thoughts again, “accident or not you made the blood pact that brought me here you know? You can’t pretend you didn’t do it on your own free will either because you and I both know that you weren’t forced to participate. You sold yourself to receive eternal love and partnership and that’s what I’m here for, you gave yourself to me and you also refuse to give yourself to me and I don’t get it.” He finally let go of you but you still remained in your spot as he walked back a few steps, not looking at you as he reached under his collar and grabbed the amulet. With a firm tug the chain snapped and hung around his hand as he inspected the vial for a moment, almost in disgust. It was then that you seemed to find your voice as you weakly called out to him. 

“Jungkook I-” he cut you off with a motion of his hand, dangling the necklace in front of his face before turning back to you. 

“If you really want me gone so bad then fine, all you have to do is find a way to destroy or pass on the bond and you’ll never see me again. Choose wisely though, a broken bond can never be repaired no matter how hard you try, and the consequences will follow you to the grave,” he stated, grabbing your hand and dropping the necklace onto it. You looked down at the red gem in your hand, staring at it like a foreign object before looking back up to see the space Jungkook occupied was now empty. Your thumb ran across the gem with a saddened sigh, refusing to look back down at your hand as you slipped it into a little pocket on your dress. You would deal with this whole situation later, but for now you had a party to get to. 

“Hey Y/N you look great!” Daeun greeted you once you finally got to Yoongi's house and located your friend group. The first thing you immediately noticed was that there were a lot more people than you were expecting for what was supposed to be a friends only party. 

“Yeah you look great too,” you said nervously as you glanced around, “but I thought this was supposed to be a small get together?” 

“Yeah we thought so too,” Soyeon agreed, “apparently Yoongi's roommate is pretty popular on campus and wanted to invite his friends so it quickly turned into an actual party.” 

“I see,” you muttered, suddenly feeling very self conscious about being here with all these strangers, “speaking of Yoongi, where is he?” 

“Him and Namjoon ran off to hang out with some of their club buddies, they should hopefully join us soon though, if you plan on staying?” Aiko asked as she could sense your discomfort. 

“I’ll try to stay long enough to at least see them but I don’t know if I can bring myself to stay the whole time,” you admitted. Not only were parties not really your thing but your mind also kept going back to your fight with Jungkook earlier, if you could even call it that. 

“Oh yeah, have you heard from Jungkook by any chance? We haven’t seen him here yet,” Soyeon asked, which made you sigh. 

“No I haven’t, I assumed if anyone knew it would probably be Yoongi or Namjoon since they’re the ones that invited him,” you lied, hoping they wouldn’t pry into why you acted so strange at the mention of Jungkook. Yeah you never really liked him because you were just kind of stuck with him, but the more you thought about it the more you realized he never actually gave you a reason to dislike him. Other than the constant teasing to rile you up and the occasional moment of appearing out of nowhere he acted like any normal roommate would. You had wanted nothing more than to get rid of him but now that you had the chance you were hesitant on actually letting him go. Pulling the amulet out of your pocket, you once again found yourself admiring the gem that bonded you two together as you tried to get your thoughts straight. Perhaps you should just leave the party and go apologize to him?

“Ah Y/N you made it!” turning around you saw an obviously tipsy Namjoon make his way over to your group. He was dressed as a makeshift werewolf, with the cheap fuzzy ears and paws one would find at the dollar store, he even had a tail clipped onto the back of his shirt that swayed as he stumbled his way over to you. You quickly closed your hand to hide the necklace and hid it behind your back as you smiled up at him. 

“Hey Namjoon, looks like you’ve been having fun,” you greeted with a slight smile. He chuckled softly as he moved to sit next to you, almost tripping in the process. 

“Yeah sorry, I didn’t expect this many people to show up but you know we felt bad about turning them away,” he explained, “I’m glad you still came though, you look beautiful.” You felt your face start to heat up and quickly looked away so he wouldn’t see you blushing. 

“Thank you, you don’t look so bad yourself,” you practically whispered so he almost didn’t hear you. 

“Thanks,” Namjoon replied with a chuckle, “this is actually pretty last minute as I may or may not have completely torn my original costume when trying to get it on.” Now it was your turn to laugh as the image ran through your head. 

“I swear you’re more clumsy than I am,” you mused to which he merely shrugged in response. There was a moment of silence between you two, simply staring at the floor as the crowd around you grew louder. Your friends had run off at this point to do who knows what meaning you and Namjoon were basically abandoned in the crowd. It only ended when Namjoon cleared his throat to get your attention. 

“So I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” he began, waiting for your signal to continue, “I mean we’ve been close for a while now and I’m pretty sure you feel the same way I do but, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go get dinner with me one night after class?” It felt like time had frozen as you looked at Namjoon in shock. This was a moment you had been waiting for since as long as you could remember and yet, your heart didn’t flutter like you felt it would. In fact, you were more focused on the way the amulet in your hand suddenly felt so hot you were worried it would burn into your skin yet you couldn’t move. 

“Wow Namjoon I don’t know what to say,” you stuttered out, “I mean…” 

“What’s wrong?” Namjoon asked, “do you not feel the same way?”

“Yes I mean no I mean, I don’t know,” you groaned, “I thought I did but…I don’t know I’m really confused right now and…”

“There’s someone else isn't there?” Namjoon asked, and trying as hard as he was to hide it you could hear the hurt in his voice. You honestly didn’t know how to respond, part of you wanted to say that there was but the other part of you that still wasn’t sure. Not even an hour ago you hated Jungkook's existence and suddenly now he was the only person you could think of? Honestly you should have been locked up in a mental hospital for how quickly you changed your mind on these things.

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” the voice of the very man you were just thinking of spoke up for you. You almost thought your mind was playing tricks on you until you turned around and saw Jungkook standing behind you. He was still in his demon form but since it was a Halloween party no one seemed to bat an eye at his appearance. 

“Jungkook?” you questioned, “when did you get here?”

“I’ve been looking for you all night, looks like I came just in time though,” Jungkook mumbled as he glared daggers at Namjoon. The man in question seemed to get the hint and quickly excused himself, standing and dusting off his pants with a nervous cough.

“Right sorry I’ll leave you guys too it, I’ll see you in class Y/N,” he stuttered out, tripping over himself in his haste to leave the conversation. Jungkook merely scoffed and flipped his hair out of his eye before taking the seat next to you that had been previously occupied, though he refused to look at you. You blinked a few times in shock before awkwardly clearing your throat. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were mad at me?” you asked. 

“You called me here,” Jungkook replied, “or are you going to tell me that was also an accident?” You were about to ask what he meant when you remembered you were still holding the amulet behind you back. Pulling your hand back to rest in your lap, you opened your palm to see it looked the same but it was still warm. Is that why it heated up when Namjoon was talking to you? “You were thinking about me, I can sense it from a million miles away, just like how I can feel your emotions so I know when you’re hurt or uncomfortable,” Jungkook explained, finally turning to look at you. You nodded silently as you tossed the necklace around in your palm before reaching out to hand it to him. 

“Here, take it back,” you clearly caught him off guard as he stared at you in shock, making you shrug, “I think I owe you an apology, I judged you too quickly instead of trying to open up to you. This doesn’t mean I accept being bound to you but I don’t want to get rid of you.” Jungkook chuckled softly before reaching out and grabbing the amulet from you, securing it back around his neck with a satisfied smile.

“It’s a start in the right direction so I’ll accept it for now,” he mused with another chuckle, “but I won’t settle on that for long.”

“If you say so,” you brushed him off while looking around, “can we go home though? I don’t think I want to stay at this party any longer.” 

“I thought you would never ask,” Jungkook said with a smirk, “here take my hand, we’ll take a shortcut.” You looked at him confused but grabbed his hand anyways, the party slowly faded away in an odd blur before returning back to show you sitting in your apartment living room. “I told you I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve,” Jungkook hummed when he saw how confused you were. 

“Noted,” you whispered in a daze as you slowly stood up and looked around the living room. It was then that you noticed a very odd and sweet scent coming from the kitchen. Turning your head, you began to make your way over there, only to be stopped by a frantic Jungkook appearing in front of you. 

“Uhh hey let’s not go into the kitchen right now,” he urged.

“What? Why not?” you asked as you tried to peek around him.

“Trust me, just don’t!” now you were even more curious, dashing around Jungkook and running into the kitchen before he had a chance to react, “Y/N wait!” You slid to a stop and gasped as you realized where the smell was coming from. Your counter and small dining table were covered in a mess of baking ingredients and what looked to be tossed out batters for something. The sweet smell you quickly realized was chocolate as evident by the cocoa powder and color of the batters. It was a complete disaster but you couldn’t bring yourself to focus on that as you turned to look at Jungkook.

“What’s all this?” you asked. You swore you almost saw the demon blush as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well I wanted to try to cheer you up after what happened earlier and I remember you raving about this stupid chocolate raspberry candy or something like that so I thought why not try to make a cake for you,” he explained, “granted I don’t know how baking works so I didn’t realize it would be this hard, but I think I at least got one right.” He walked past you and over to the counter where there was a singular cake laying on a cooling rack, not even iced yet and it looked like it hadn’t been there long. From the looks of things Jungkook had been doing this for a while and dropped what he was doing when you summoned him. “I have no idea how it tastes so you can’t judge me too hard for this but here,” Jungkook said, pulling off a little chunk of the cake and offering it to you. You cocked your head to the side briefly before moving closer and taking a bite, groaning softly as the flavor flooded your mouth. It was a bit more sour than you were expecting so he probably used a bit too much raspberry but it was still really good for a first try. 

“It’s really good, but really you mean to tell me you’ve never baked before?” you questioned, still with some of the cake in your mouth. Jungkook wasn’t really paying attention to that though, hyper focused on the way you had groaned at the taste and the way your lips wrapped around his finger briefly. It was such a simple thing you probably didn’t notice, but it had the demon reacting in ways he wasn’t sure he wanted. 

“Is it really that good?” he asked after a moment, grabbing a piece for himself with a shrug, “I mean it’s okay I guess, better than the other ones for sure.” 

“They can’t be that bad,” you replied obliviously as you walked over to one of the bowls, dipping your finger in the batter and sucking it off, “this one is pretty good.” Jungkook felt his eye twitch as your actions continued, watching you dip your finger into the batter again and repeat the process. It was then that you took notice of his little shift, noticing the way his eyes darkened and his tongue ran over his lips as he watched you. Normally that kind of look would have you running the opposite direction but something about it on Jungkook was rather attractive. It gave you a mini confidence boost and before you could think you found yourself reaching for another bowl, this time making a show of loudly sucking on your fingers and moaning at the taste of chocolate. “I think I like this one even better though, it’s nice and sweet,” you teased with a wink. Jungkook quickly caught on to your little game and smirked at you as he leaned against the counter. 

“You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?” he challenged, the tone of his voice causing you to shudder involuntarily. There was a new rough edge to it you never heard before, almost like he was growling as he spoke to you. 

“No idea what you’re talking about, I’m just enjoying a little treat,” you continued with your teasing. He raised an eyebrow at you before humming and grabbing the last bowl, swirling the batter around with the tip of his finger before dipping two in and walking over to you. 

“Surely you need to be fair and try them all then, right?” he mused as he lifted his fingers to your lips. One of his fingers brushed your bottom lip just enough to smear some of the cake batter onto it before you were eagerly opening your mouth and sucking both in. Jungkook could barely hold back from groaning as he felt your tongue wrap around his fingers, keeping a straight face as you glanced up at him. “There you go, good girl,” he teased as he pulled his fingers out, purposefully dragging them against your lips so that the remaining batter smeared against them. “Opps,” he teased with a dark chuckle, “guess I left a bit of a mess huh? Why don’t you let me get that for you.” Before you could respond you found yourself pinned against the wall as he crashed his lips against yours. Jungkook was demanding from the beginning, keeping you pinned with his body, one hand tangled in your hair while the other gripped your thigh. You tried weakly to fight for dominance for a few seconds before giving in and letting him have complete control, sighing into the kiss and grabbing onto his arms desperately. 

ღ ღ ღ ღ ღ

As badly as he wanted this to escalate, Jungkook stayed like that for a few moments, merely kissing you while playing with your hair and keeping you pinned. It was teasing and you both knew it, but Jungkook needed you to want him just as much as he did you. This was the moment he had been wanting the past month so he knew he could be patient. Even when the faint taste of the chocolate raspberry dessert faded, you two remained in that position, only pulling away when he felt you needed to breathe. You panted as you looked up at him, still desperately gripping onto you as you felt like you would lose your balance if you let him go. 

“Wow,” you whispered out of breath, making him chuckle a bit. 

“What do you think Y/N?” he asked, stroking your cheek playfully, “ready for an even better treat?” Instead of responding verbally, you answered him by pulling him back down into another kiss, catching him off guard momentarily. You took advantage of your power to explore him more, biting at his bottom lip and running your hands across his body. Jungkook groaned softly and let you do what you wanted for a minute before grabbing your thighs and lifting you up, not breaking the kiss as he carried you into your bedroom. You gasped softly as he laid you down as softly as possible, hovering over you as his kisses trailed from your lips to your neck. You moaned softly and tossed your head back as he began softly nibbling at your neck, occasionally sucking harder to leave a mark. His fingers ghosted across your body, barely touching you as he trailed his hand down your thigh. His touch was burning and left you desperate for more of him, quickly getting irritated by the slow and gentle movements. 

“Jungkook, more please,” you breathed out, feeling him smirk against your neck.

“Be patient my little witch,” he cooed, “I want to take things slow for our first time.” You groaned in annoyance, reaching up to tug at his hair. Jungkook hissed at the action which made you giggle as he moved to look up at you. 

“What if I don’t want you to take things slow huh?” you challenged, “you do want me, right?”

“More than you will ever know, which is why I want to savor this,” Jungkook muttered as he reached up to remove your hand from him. He readjusted so he was pinning both your hands to your side, straddling your hips as he gazed down at you. His new position had you squirming a bit to escape his eyes but he didn’t even budge, easily holding you down. “Now are you going to behave or are we going to be doing this the hard way?” he asked. You paused for a moment before giggling and as you finally looked up at him. 

“What a powerful love demon like you wanting to take things slow? What I’m hearing is that you just can’t handle it.” You watched his eyes darken and his lips curl into what almost looked like a snarl, making you bite your lip and look away again. 

“Oh no no you don’t get to be shy now you brat,” Jungkook hissed as he let go of one of your hands to grab your chin, forcing you to look up at him. You locked eyes with Jungkook and gasped as his hand went from your chin to your throat, squeezing just hard enough for you to feel the pressure. “You asked for it so you can’t take it back now,” he whispered, leaning down so your lips were almost touching, “your safeword is raspberry, if you say or think that word I will stop okay?” You did your best to nod despite his hands on your throat which made him shake his head, “Words Y/N, I need to hear you.”

“Yes!” you gasped out, making Jungkook smile and peck your lips softly. 

“Oh and one more thing,” he continued, letting go of your throat to trail his finger down to the neckline of your dress, “if you even think about cumming without my permission you will regret it doll.” With that he wasted no time in ripping the dress off of you, the force pulling you off the bed a bit before his strength shredded the fabric, exposing your body to him. Because of the way the dress fit you, you had decided not to wear a bra so you were left in just your panties and fishnets. You almost swore you heard Jungkook purr as he took in the sight of your body. “Wow no bra? You are a dirty girl aren’t you?” he hummed. 

“I just bought that dress,” you whined, trying to ignore the warmth spreading in your body from his gaze. Jungkook clicked his tongue in mock annoyance, moving his hands to roughly fondle your breasts. You gasped and arched your back into his hands which made him smirk. 

“I’ll buy you a new one if you’re that worried about it,” he mumbled, “but for now I’m much more interested in exploring my new territory.” You opened your mouth to bite back that you weren’t his but he beat you to it by squeezing your breasts again, two of his fingers teasingly pinching your nipple and making you gasp. 

“If I were you I’d lose the attitude,” he warned, “that is, if you want any chance of walking right tomorrow.” You moaned softly as he lowered his head, trailing kisses down your neck and chest before taking your nipple into his mouth. Jungkook started out with gentle sucks before slowly rolling the sensitive bud between his teeth. He repeated this process for a moment then switched to the other one, chuckling as he heard you gasp softly. 

“I,” you tried speaking, pausing for a moment as you felt his hand grip your thigh again, “I can handle it, do your worst?” He paused his actions to look up at you questioningly, huffing when you returned his gaze with a look of defiance. 

“If you say so,” he hummed, releasing your nipple with a soft pop, “don’t say I didn’t warn you though.” You didn’t have time to react before he was grabbing your hips and pulling you down, adjusting so his head was between your thighs. You squirmed a bit as you felt his breath on your core, warm and teasing as he exhaled sharply. “I’ve barely even touched you and I can already tell you’re soaked,” he teased, running a finger up to the waistline of your fishnets. You squirmed more and whimpered as he leaned forward to place kisses against you through your panties, poking his tongue out just enough for you to feel it. “These tights are super sexy also,” he mused, “I may just have to keep them on you.” 

“Will you stop teasing and just do something already?” you whined. One of your hands reached down to tug at his horn as you bucked your hips, desperate for any kind of friction. Jungkook growed lowly, slapping your thigh just hard enough for you to feel it. 

“So impatient,” he hissed, “I shouldn’t be touching you at all until you behave.” You pouted for a moment, worried he was going to leave you there, until you felt his finger hook under your tights and panties. “It’s a shame I have to ruin these but oh well, since I’m so nice I’ll give you what you want.” With a quick tug the thin fabric was ripping and joining the remains of your dress, exposing your core to the cold air. Jungkook hummed softly before leaning down and licking at your slit, giving a few kitten licks before diving in and sucking at your clit. You moaned loudly and tightened your grip on his horn, grabbing the sheets with your free hand as you rocked your hips against his face. Jungkook responded by moaning against you, sucking harder and pinning your leg back with one of his hands. Your thighs shook and threatened to close around him but he kept you pinned with his weight, moving one hand and slipping a finger into you slowly. He slowly pumped his finger inside of you for a few moments before adding another, quickening the pace and curling his fingers. You gasped and jolted as his fingers brushed against that soft spot inside of you, Jungkook smirking and angling his fingers to abuse that spot. All you could do was throw your head back and grip onto him tighter as endless moans fell from your mouth, struggling to catch your breath as you felt your orgasm rapidly approaching. Before you could tell Jungkook you were close however, he was pulling away and looking up at you with a devilish grin. 

“Remember what I said sweetheart,” he mused, pressing his fingers to your lips and humming as you took them into your mouth, “you don’t get to finish until I say so.” He let you suck on his fingers for a second, letting you taste yourself as your orgasm faded away. Only when he saw you relax did he move, wiping his fingers on his pants, “The only way you are cumming tonight is on my dick like a good girl, think you can do that?” You were too out of breath to respond so you simply nodded, though it seemed to be enough of a response for him. Jungkook leaned back and, with a snap of his fingers, stripped himself of his clothing and exposed himself to you for the first time. Your eyes widened as you sat up to get a better look at the gorgeous man in front of you. You knew Jungkook was built but you never realized just how defined his muscles really were, the tattoos on his arms trailed all the way up and across his toned chest which was otherwise unmarked. Your eyes moved down until they landed on his erection, surprisingly human for what you imagined if not longer than average. Still, it was beautiful and you bit your lip at the sight of him. “Like what you see?” Jungkook teased, chuckling when you dumbly nodded, “good, because you don’t get to see it much longer. Now be a good girl and present yourself to me, on your hands and knees.” You quickly obliged, getting on your knees and lowering your top half to expose yourself to him. Jungkook hummed in approval and positioned himself behind you, gripping your hips and lining himself up with your entrance. 

“You’re not a virgin right?” he asked suddenly, making you giggle as you shook your head no, “good.” With that he leaned forward and buried himself into you, groaning and stilling as he bottomed out. You moaned at the stretch and buried your head into the sheets, trying to catch your breath and adjust to the feeling of him inside of you. Jungkook gave you a moment to adjust, starting to thrust slowly as he felt you relax. “You are so tight you’re practically swallowing me,” he groaned as his pace increased. You could only moan and grip at the sheets to keep you grounded, the position hiding your face and muffling your moans which he didn’t seem to like very much. A low growl left him and you felt him tug roughly at your hair, pulling your head up and exposing your neck to him. “Don’t you dare hide from me, let me hear you,” he whispered, going even faster and burying his head into your neck. You moaned louder at the pace and the feeling of him sucking at your neck hard enough that you knew there would be marks in the morning. You couldn’t bring yourself to care though, enjoying the feeling of him fucking into you like his life depended on it. His position also meant you heard every animalistic growl and groan that left him, not normally something you would enjoy but from him it was undeniably sexy. “You’re mine you know,” he groaned, “you belong to me, and only me, all mine. No one will get in between us ever again after tonight, everyone will know that you are mine, I’ll make sure of it.” He bit at a sensitive spot under your ear which made you gasp and close your eyes, knowing you wouldn’t be able to last much longer. 

“Jungkook I,” you tried to speak up but found you were unable to finish your sentence. 

“I know baby I know,” he murmured, “go ahead and cum for me.” His command was all you needed, letting out a silent cry as you finally reached your release. Jungkook was not far behind, stilling inside of you and growling as he finished inside of you. 

ღ ღ ღ ღ ღ

Jungkook quickly but carefully pulled out of you and flipped your position so you were both laying down with you on his chest. His finger traced delicate patterns on your arm as you snuggled up against him, trying to catch your breath. 

“I wasn’t too rough right?” he asked after a moment. 

“Not at all,” you assured with a soft smile, “it was actually really hot seeing you all possessive.” You felt his chest rumble beneath you as he chuckled. 

“Good to know, I’ll remember that for next time, if you want there to be a next time that is?” you stayed silent for a moment as you thought about it, trying to process how quickly everything seemed to change in the span of a night. Hell, not even a few hours before you were loathing Jungkook's existence and now you were here naked and curled up against him. The more you thought about it, the more you realized you really needed to assess your current relationship with the demon beside you. 

“You’ll be bound to me for a while so I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” you said, realizing you had been quiet for too long. It probably wasn’t the answer he wanted, but he didn’t oppose it either. Instead you felt him pull you closer and place a gentle kiss on your head. 

“I’ll clean everything up in a minute, you go ahead and rest and we’ll talk about everything in the morning, deal?” You didn’t need to be told twice, closing your eyes and letting his warmth lull you to sleep. You still had a lot to think about, but maybe being bonded to Jungkook wasn’t so bad after all.

This is one of three promised fics that will be uploaded within the next week as I do my best to catch up! 

Any and all interaction and feedback on this work is greatly appreciated! 

[arosesstorm]

purple lips ; kim taehyung , jeon jungkook

words count: short scenario

fem reader! x taehyung ; fem reader! x jungkook

warning: love triangle and alcohol

summary: Kim Taehyung realized he loved you, maybe it was too late?

English is not my first language loves, just trying my best, always, enjoy ;

There had been a moment, an intangible second in which the earth had slowed its motion, the stars had denied to shine and the loud music of the club’s speakers had stopped pumping in his ears.

Kim Taehyung had been on an infinite number of positions in his life: he had been the son of a farmer, the rookie with a dream, the visual of his kpop boyband, a drama actor, a good son, a bad man, a world pop star, a loyal friend.

He was things, he had roles, he played with them, sometimes he hated them, sometimes he took pride in them.

Kim Taehyung had lived a hundred lives, yet, looking at her, her dress too short on her, her red lipstick too bold for her, her fingers tangled in his hair, her eyes shining in pure devotion, her lips close to his neck.

When Kim Taehyung saw her that night wrapped in Jungkook’s arms, he suddenly felt faceless.

He didn’t know who he was, what role he was playing, what party he was attending.

There was nothing, of what taehyung had felt in his life, that was close to this new feeling, not a name with which he could call it.

No, it was 4 months deep into knowing you, under the old neon lights of a club, in the chaos of bodies dancing, that he knew, as clear as the night sky, he was in love with you.

"Did you see them?" Namjoon smiled by his right, taking his cup to his lips as he chuckled, after a sip he spoke again "looks like something’s going on".

And Taehyung felt the sudden urge to deny.

Nothing was happening, nothing was going on.

The man knew her, and she was just the right match for him.

Her and Jungkook on the other hand…too look-alike to make it work.

Taehyung was there and he was staring at her, so why was she over there, smiling at his best friend, her lips quivering in anticipation.

No, "Jungkook’s not right for her" he felt the need to spoke aloud, to which no one answered, so he just stared, he stared, he stared.

"Let’s go get a drink" jimin suddenly spoke, his body covering Taehyung’s view.

But taehyung didn’t move, not until he saw her laugh and leave Jungkook’s side, not until he saw jungkook fallowing her outside.

"Tae" jimin spoke, but his best friend dismissed the man quickly, aiming he himself for the exit.

Once taehyung reached out of the club, the night air meeting his skin, the darkness eating his up, he saw them.

Standing a feet away from jungkook, she was sweetly smiling looking up, like a little girl waiting to be rewarded.

Jungkooks hands were on her face, softly caressing her jawline, then her cheeks when taehyung finally stepped forward, "y/n" he spoke, in a tone so automotive she jumped, like a deer in the light.

"God" she chuckled then "you scared me" she had said, but taehyung couldn’t concentrate on nothing more than Jungkook's hands still on you.

"Jungkook, Jimin needs you inside, Hope got drunk again" he had said.

"Pretty urgent" he added, the need to see his friend off now a necessity.

the youngest softly breathed nodding his head, his hands finally leaving her face, at which taehyung took a breath of relief.

"See you later" the boy smiled, kissing her head and leaving her side.

"Coming to help, hyung?" He had asked, brushing by Taehyung’s side, when the man spoke "give me a minute".

Jungkook nod his head and left.

Taehyung’s eyes had never left her frame, not even as she stepped closer, her face one of joy, as she breathed "your timing is terrible".

It was a joke, but one Taehyung didn’t like at the moment.

"I’m sorry" he had said and then he had looked at her, like he never did before, like he despised her, like he pitied her and left.

Leaving y/n alone in the cold of the parking lot, under the clearest sky of the season, leaving her wondering why she was not so euphoric anymore.

© 2023 of Mia (arosesstorm). All Rights Reserved.

[fellominaarcher]

GOT MARRIED - YOO JIMIN; KARINA

1, An Agreement

word count: approx. 1.5k

SM CONFERENCE ROOM

"WHAT?!"

That cry caused the entire building to tremble, ranging in magnitude from 2.5 to 5.4, which was enough to cause some minor damage.

The girls and the other room staff members clung to each other for dear life.

Karina's mind was spinning with a moment of scepticism.

The producer bowed his head. "Yes, Karina, as I just said," he said again.

"We chose Jang Y/N as your spouse in this new WGM show, and our staffs also discussed it with her group," the conversation continued.

The girls' expressions of disbelief remain unchanged.

Winter let out a sigh. "But this is also good because it will bring Aespa to the forefront because her girl group is a little older than ours," the lead vocalist suggested.

Another member of staff stepped in. "If Jimin refuses, we may have to choose other girls," the staff informed.

The staff and the producer exchanged glances as they raised their shoulders.

Only the girls and Jimin knew why she sighed in frustration.

"That's all for today; hopefully your management will call us once we've reached an agreement," the producer spoke as he stood up.

The crews from We Got Married had already left, leaving only the girls and their staffs in the room.

Ningning looked at her leader "So, how's now unnie?" she queried.

"I believe MYs are supportive," Karina responded, her hand was massaging the bridge of her nose.

Giselle caressed her back. "We should talk more with our management because we know this industry," the Japanese girl suggested.

"We definitely don't have options," Giselle concluded.

In the same conference room

Unfortunately for Aespa, today is the last discussion before they meet YN's group, DayDream.

The subject of death or whatever else. This is the type of discussion where the final decision will be made.

Aespa's leader sat cautiously in her chair, but her heart was racing the entire time.

The surface simply does not meet.

After a few minutes of waiting for the crews to arrive with DayDream, they're finally here.

Maybe that's a good thing?

Minjeong said to Karina, "Hey, look at there," and she alerted the older one.

Karina's gaze was drawn to DayDream, where she hoped to find the previously discussed Jang Y/N.

The first impression.

Mr. Producer presented DayDream excitedly, and the girl group bowed and introduced themselves.

Aespa got to their feet, bent down, and introduced themselves as well on Karina's cue.

DayDream took their seats, which were opposite Aespa's.

The producer began, glancing at Y/N. "So, DayDream, do you want to change the participant?" Y/N sat across from Minjeong.

They exchanged a few whispers before nodding in agreement.

"We haven't yet decided about changing the participant," Yurim, DayDream's leader, stated.

"But, we agreed for Y/N to appear on the show," the DayDream leader stated.

"Because she's one of our most popular members, so that's the decision." Oh Yurim concluded.

DayDream nodded in agreement, Jang Y/N, the group's second visual and lead vocalist.

"So we thought she'd be perfect with any of the Aespa members, because they're all incredibly gorgeous and talented," the leader continued.

The producer, Mr Seung Sik, nodded as he listened to them.

He exhaled deeply. "I completely agree on this one," he said, looking around.

"Since Aespa hasn't decided which member they'd send over," appears to be a continuation.

While reading the page in his notepad, he swirled his pen.

The man in his mid-forties coughed asked, "Why not, either Karina or Winter?" while pointing at those two.

When this happens, they usually choose the most beautiful and popular members of a kpop group.

Giselle sighed, remembering how difficult it was for the chosen members.

She held hands with Winter; strangely, the four girls appeared nervous and tense.

"I'll do it," Winter offered, raising her hand to volunteer.

Y/N was taken aback, but she nodded in agreement.

Karina grabbed Winter's hand. "No, let's give it some thought first!" She quickly stepped in.

Her face was flushed with worries. "Give us until 11:59 p.m., and I'll call you personally," the girl spoke as she stood up.

She sighed and walked out of there as quickly as she could.

Everyone was taken aback by the unexpected mini-outburst.

Aespa was excused by Giselle as they all exited the room simultaneously.

NIGHT TIME

Aespa's dorm

Ningning shook her head and looked at Karina. "Geez, understandable girl," she muttered as she chewed.

Winter nodded as well.

Karina groaned in frustration as she buried her head in her arms.

Giselle rolled her eyes and walked over to Karina.

She knelt down. "I understand you're still struggling with your sexuality, which is why you're acting this way," she patted the girl's shoulder.

Everyone nodded and agreed silently, knowing that their leader is a young woman struggling with her sexuality.

WGM was completely responsible for her agitation.

"It's fine, unnie. Perhaps this show will allow you to dive deep." Minjeong stated her point of view.

Karina's head jerked up, startling Giselle as she stood up and fished her phone from her back pocket.

"This girl, tch..." Giselle reprimanded in hushed tones.

Later that night...

She typed the name of the person she wanted to call while her hands trembled. Her breath does as well.

Fuck it. She thought to herself.

She pressed the button and held the phone to her ear, waiting for it to ring.

The PD finally answered the phone after about 7 seconds of waiting.

"Oh Karina!" he exclaimed, laughing.

"Hello..." she sighed from the other side.

"I decided that I would be in the show," Jimin said of her desire to appear on the TV show.

A second of silence "Wow- this really surprised me!" he exclaimed.

The man laughed happily, "This is really great, I'll inform SM and the other related staffs," he explained the process to her.

"I hope I don't come to regret my decision," the beautiful woman said.

"Don't worry, I promise you won't regret it!" he sighed, still pleased with Karina's decision.

"We'll get started next week, as scheduled," the PD said.

To acknowledge him, she simply nodded and hummed.

That's it, see you," she said hastily, her tone turning icy.

Her mood completely changed, and she abruptly ended the call, while three mouseketeers eavesdropped behind her.

They immediately rushed to her and gave her a group hug when she turned around and stared at them with a defeated expression.

Hours later

12:38am

DINGG!!

The girl was alerted by her phone, causing her to awaken from her somnolent state of slumber.

She grunted, realising she had forgotten to turn off her phone before going to bed.

The girl took her phone from the nightstand, which caused her eyes to widen.

There will be no more sleepyheads.

She stared at the text for a moment, not knowing who it was from.

typing...

Woah, who is this and why is Yoo Jimin being referred to as a goddess?

She took a deep breath and tapped out her reply.

When she realised who she was speaking to, she groaned loudly while rolling her eyes.

But the girl also feels terrible about acting like this to her supposed future wife.

For the sake of the fans, this is the person who will engage in all of the romantic activities with her.

Can't be helped because Karina has a rather rocky past and fell in love with a former close friend from school.

She quickly falls in love.

That is Karina's issue; as a result, her friend have traumatised her.

The read receipt that Y/N had left on the screen caused Jimin to pause for a moment as she gave it some thought.

Is it possible that I offended her?

She was still staring at the unsaved number as she went to edit and save it in her phone.

Jang Y/N?

She saved her phone number with a question mark at the end of her name.

The girl exited their chatroom; Y/N is still active, but she hasn't responded.

Jimin was literally left on read.

She let out a sigh. "Perhaps I did that," she murmured, referring to the fact that she had offended Y/N.

She decided not to care, as much as she wanted to.

The girl muted her phone and set it back on the nightstand.

She closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

Got Married chapters

[kanmom51]

JK Seven MV making sketch BTB

Yay, the subs are back on. And I got to watch it and even understand what he was saying, lol.

Loved it.

I was just sitting here for the 12 minutes with a huge smile on my face.

Because JK is just so adorable. So genuine. So real.

He had the time of his life, and seeing that just made me happy.

Now let's talk about a few thing I took from the BTB, why don't we?

I think I'll start from the fun and make my way to the more serious.

Not too much went on really. It's mostly him enjoying himself.

Being his own chaotic loveable self.

Trying to keep his eye open with the water pouring down on him, lol.

Can you imagine just how much fun this all was for him, our daredevil?

Funny, just thought about it, but they didn't even talk to Hun Sohee. Not a word. She might as well not have been there. Now I understand that JK is the focus, it's his song, BTBs are about the members, but at the same time, she's a well known and loved Korean actress acting in his MV and not only don't we get to hear from her even once, we also don't really get to see interactions between him and her in the BTB. In a way it feels like they are trying to keep this distance - this is JK, he's singing Seven, he's shooting a MV, but he's disconnected from it. I'm not sure I'm being clear enough here.

Ok, so for example JK explains what the scenes are and says the word girlfriend, god forbid. We know y/ns went into a frenzy over this stupidity. JK explaining the concept of the scene in which he's fighting with his gf, cause that's what the MV is about, and she's his gf in the bloody MV.

But maybe, knowing this fandom, they wanted to keep the delusion to a minimum, not to mention keep Sohee away from the crazy ass fans that are already harassing her by just keeping her off camera as much as possible. Idk, just found it interesting.

JK tells us a little about his acting, lol.

To all those that are still riding the scripted fanservice bandwagon, time to fucking get off it.

Omg, the way he disses Yoongi, he just LOVES to do that with Yoongi. Now I can kind of understand the "even at 60 years old jeon jungkook will be freaking annoying".🤣🤣

JK is wearing THE brand again. I'm telling you folks, JM made a huge online order for the two of them!!

He's just so precious, with this thing he has of checking out his hands, every single time it feels like it's the first time he's seen them, lol. The fascination he had from his water wrinkled fingers. So endearing.

Looks at them in amazement, shows everyone, then back to looking at them again all fascinated.

You'd think the man has never in his lifetime taken a long shower or had a bath or been in the damn swimming pool. Nah, lol. It's just one of those cute loveable oddities of his.

Did we notice the ASSets?

And I thought JM was in charge of that body part in the family.

Well, apparently the competition is on.

Has JK surpASSed JM?

Should we progrASS? Oopsy...progress?

And now I will take a moment to breathe.

I went looking for more pics from the BTB and came across this:

I don't know enough about the movie but do we know of any kind of connection to Jikook? Or this could be the directors tribute to the movie too. In any case it's a fun tribute.

Now for the heavy stuff, or not so heavy just a little more on the serious side.

I wrote a long ass brain fart of a post yesterday. And some of it is very relevant here too.

JK clearly sees the song as a love song. Period.

He did the explicit version for the fun of it (well and also probably because the America market loves a song with profanities in it). But for him it's the fun of not being restricted by the Kpop rules of engagement, the "don't swear because the song will be censored" and "don't swear because it's too adult" or whatever other reasons for it. He's having fun feeling more freedom, and that he's all grown up and can say fucking multiple times out loud.

But when it comes down to it, when asked about it directly, his answer was that he prefers the clean version. Because to him Seven is a love song, not one about the physical act alone. Yes, of course sex is part of it (the song lyrics are kind of loud), but sex is not even half of what loving someone is all about.

We saw JK talking about the love of his life while explaining about the song.

Him in the BTB about the death scene:

And at the end of the BTB explaining more:

And we also have what he said in the interview aired earlier today on Z100 radio.

The more we get of JK talking about the song the clearer and louder it becomes. I just wish people would only be listening to him.

Anyway, the man is beautiful.

Love him.

Not as much as the love of his life does though.

No competition there!!

[lustbile]

hi :)

-

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I’m typing this all at like. Almost 11 at night so excuse me please if it’s at all rambling or weird idk. I just felt like since it’s been over a year since I genuinely posted anything I need to say some stuff about me just going ghost.

So hi :) to old and the somehow new followers I’ve accumulated. How are all of you? I missed you all and this account a lot and I feel really shitty just kind of abandoning it the way I did so I think it’s time I give some explanations? Or like… I don’t know, life updates? Which feels weird to say considering I’ve always been very anonymous on this account, which I will continue to do in this so. Please enjoy some basic info about my life

1) I graduated college :) Which I think was a huge part of why I had to abandon this account for a minute. Those of you who are unaware, I was a studio art major, and if you think that studio art is an “easy” major you’d be wrong! That shit kicked my ass like no other. “Art school” just used to be old rich dudes giving a little freak some money and told him to paint or sculpt some dicks and god do I wish that was how it still was. I had to like, come up with concepts and reason behind my work, and create a shit ton of it to. I put my entire soul into that shit, defend the hell out of it in critiques, and my final work means so much to me. If I wasn’t anonymous on here I’d without a doubt post it because. It truly feels like I ripped out my little dumb heart and put it on paper/canvas

But with that, I’ve had to become real adult :( I’m doing what I can to make money off my work (which is going better than imagined) while also doing some part time work. It’s great, but very tiring.

Also 2) (this part will be short I swear) I have a long term partner now. I won’t say exactly how long we’ve been together, but I do live with them. And as weird as it may sound, I’ve never told them about this account or my writing. They know I like kpop, but not this side of it. And I think part of me is still weighing my emotions towards writing smut about kpop idols while being in a committed/monogamous relationship. But I digress.

3) With how busy I became around the time that my posting schedule really took a hit, I’ve also just fallen away from kpop :/ I still listen to the music and watch music videos and stuff. But the fandom side and the non music related videos, I completely lost on that now. And I don’t like that. Being into kpop made me really happy and I liked watching boys be silly. But it just feels like I’ve missed so much now. I like a lot of groups, but more than anything, I miss nct so much :( I don’t even know what they’re really doing now. I know some of them will be entering the military soon so I feel like maybe the fandom will slow down, and as someone who used to run a 5sos account, I know what it’s like to just feel like a fandom is dying. And idk. I doubt kpop fandoms are like that but. Okay yeah now im rambling anyways!

This is all to say, I miss this part of my life a lot. Keeping up to date with music, watching funny videos of my boys, talking to you guys, and writing. I still have so many stories half finished. So many ideas that im just so disappointed didn’t see the light of day. Maybe I’ll get around to it again, but im not exactly sure if/when I’ll be in the headspace to write smut. Which I know, I can write without involving smut. But some of my ideas kind of needs it I think? And if im being honest, would anyone read my stuff if there wasn’t smut in it? Idk and I don’t know if I want to know.

Anyways if you’ve read this, thank you but like also. Im so sorry about how much there is lmao. If you want to send me a message please do. I don’t know if I’ll respond to what’s in my inbox now, since I just feel like I waited to long and I’d feel like a dick responding now. But I promise to keep an eye out. If you just want to say hi or just update me on what been going on in nct (please I want to get back into nct even if it’s not for my writing). If you have any questions for me I’m here :) and just as dumb as I was when I left. And I would recommend the inbox more than anything. I get really anxious with dms and I’m horrible about keeping conversations going there, so my inbox is really the best. I won’t promise I’ll get to it like, the second you send it, as, awhile ago I turned off my notifications for tumblr. 1) because sometimes the notifications were cringe lmao. Like I’m very liberal with who sees/handles my phone and some of those notifications were clearly for fanfiction and I don’t need to be exposed like that lmao. But also because I started getting very, very anxious about how many notes/likes a fic got and how quickly and it just was so bad for my mental health. But that’s not the point.

The point is, I’d love to hear from any of you guys again, be able to talk about kpop and just shoot the shit. Which if I’m not writing (for now, we’ll see about the future because those old ideas are still gnawing at my brain) I understand if the traction and interest in my account has worn off. But either way.

Hi :)

[sushis-wild-imagination]

New Years With You (SeungCheol x reader)

Part of the Over a Decade Series.

Summary: Its New Years and Y/N is wasted.

Seventeen Masterlist &lt;3

“Yah, y/n’s knocked out, how are we gonna get her home?” 

“I can get home” you slurred and almost passed out.

“We’re screwed”

One of your friends puts her head in her hand. You were drunk as hell laying on the floor of one of her friends' empty house. It was New Years and you and your friends were drinking, you were too excited you ended up drinking even before it was 12 and you were also out before it was 12.

They were pacing around while suddenly one of them clicked on one of your friends. 

“Choi Seungcheol is in town”

On the other side of the neighborhood, Choi Seunghcheol, who came back from uni to celebrate Christmas and new years with his family, receives a distress call from your friends about you being completely wasted. It was one of your first times getting drunk. You didn’t even know your capacity.

The girls greeted Seungcheol as he was their senior in school. He squats down to your level and you sit up.

“Yah Who is this?” You ask, you weren't even sure who that was because your vision was so blurry. You poke his cheek with your index finger to feel his dimples.

“He’s handsome” you say and this bring sone giggles in the room.

“Y/N calling me handsome? Oh, You’re a goner” he sighs.

“Let’s get you home” he pulls you by the arm and up on your feet.

He ends up helping you out of the house. It was a small neighborhood you could just walk home it was that close.

You were singing some random kpop song really loudly and could hear him say “we’re screwed” under his breath. You stumbled while he helps you not face plant into the concrete.

“Is it 12 yet?” You ask suddenly and you stop singing.

“Not yet, 5 minutes more” he looks at his wrist watch.

“Quick make a wish” your drunk self says.

Your drunk self joins your hands as you try not to wobble and lose balance. You start a monologue.

“I pray for eomma, I hope she’s healthy and happy, I hope she gets a million customers for her restaurant”

Cheol giggles at that.

“Appa... don’t have one”

His heart sinks listening to what you had just said. He was not sure if you were sentimental or just straight up stating facts.

“Next is..... the number one friend in my entire life” she does a little twirl when she says the ‘entire.’

“Choi SeungCheol, my best friend of more than 10 years, I wish him happiness and success, but we fought, a few months ago” you say, tearing up a little. Boy, Alcohol really did a number on you.

“I miss him”

His heart melts hearing it. He puts his hand under your chin to lift it up to see your eyes. “Yah, you're crying?!” He asks you chuckling and fixing your jacket that was almost falling off, it was freezing outside.

“He’s so nice and kind, I’m so thankful that he’s constantly looking out for me, I wish allllllll his problems go away and he’s always happy,” you continued covering your face with your hands.

"Wait" Confusion took over your face.

“Would being happy all the time drive him insane?” You ask the air. 

“Ah whatever” You brush it off and that makes Cheol laugh out loud. “He’s my best friend” you drunk cried.

Seungcheol found this adorable. He pats your hair saying ‘aigoo aigoo aigoo’ while you hold on to his bicep trying not to trip on your feet, it felt like the road beneath you was floating away, like you were on a treadmill. He had gotten a lot more buff since he started going to uni. A lot more manly. He became a lot more attractive than he already was.

The sudden fireworks really scared the shit out of you and you jumped.

“Is it 12 now?” You ask confused. “I guess so”

Your drunk self pulls Cheols by his jacket to press your lips against his. Seungcheol froze under your touch but snaps back to his senses like a second later. You could hear the fireworks behind you. He pulls away not knowing if this is something you want or you were just being drunk. 

“You have to kiss someone at 12, its a rule! You don’t know the rules?” You say after you pull back but still close.

Seungcheol was frozen, he never fully realised these feelings that come and go. It drove him nuts that he could never figure out how he felt about you. His eyes don't leave yours.

"I don't, I don't know" he responds softly.

[transuncletaylor]

Gather around, it's time for my Christmas/Holiday story or how I got very lost in Seoul cause I'm a dumbass. (I'm gonna use she/her when referring to myself cause I was identifying as a woman then)

Picture it, it's December 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. Ya girl Taylor has been in the city for about two weeks at this point and the first time I had been to Korea. My sister was an English teacher at a hagwon (after school program) and I largely spent the afternoon and evenings exploring the city while she was at work.

Now before we delve into the meat of the story, there are a few things we need to establish. One, I can read the Korean alphabet and speak a little, just enough to get around. Two, I did not have a smartphone because it's 2009 and they weren't really a thing yet. Three, my sister had written down in my notebook her address, her phone number, her work number, all sorts of important info and key phrases.

So skip to December 24th, it's Christmas Eve and it's cold as fuck and it snowed a little that day. I had lunch with my sister, I think we had gone to a sushi buffet place I think. One of things I had planned to do that day was go to this live taping at a radio station that a few members of Super Junior were going to be at. I told my sister where I was going and what time to expect me back that evening.

We part ways and I go about doing who knows what because the radio show wasn't until like 9pm. Before we continue, I think we'll need a map real quick. My sister lived in Mapo-gu, worked in I can't remember but towards the west, and the radio station was at KBS On at Yeouido Island. Note the Han River cuts the city in half.

My 20 year old self did not have a cellphone actually either, well I had one but I just couldn't use it in Korea. I go on my way and that evening I head over to KBS. I get there, got a little lost where the viewing area was and saw a kpop star, from Beast/Highlight in the wild. But I find the viewing area and I'm just living my best kpop girlie life. (In another post we'll talk about how I had dinner with Yesung from Super Junior's parents)

After a while it's getting late and I know I need to head back because the buses and subways were shutting down early. I head back to the main bus area on the island and find the bus number I needed and hop on, grateful for the warmth. The bus starts going and I just have my headphones on listening to my iPod nano.

So my sister lives on the other side of the river right? I have to cross the river which is wide as fuck and I notice after maybe 30 minutes that we haven't crossed the river yet. At first I thought I might have just zoned out and started paying attention more. But none of the stops sounded familiar to me and nothing was looking like Hongdae, which is where I was going to get off.

Dumbass moment number one was I waited about another 15 minutes before I realized I might have made a mistake. I go up to the bus driver and ask about my stop and he slaps his hands on the wheels and curses a bit. But other than that, I couldn't understand what he was saying. A kind older gentleman rider came up and translated for me and that's when I found out I had the correct bus number but instead of inbound, I went outbound.

Just stay on the bus right? It'll head in the other direction? No. That was the last bus of the night.

The kind gentleman took me to his stop and I followed like a lost duckling and luckily for me he brought me to a police station. So just imagine me, a dumb 20 year old white girl in South Korean police station, there's limited communication and I'm scared and feeling like a giant idiot for getting lost and now bothering these two police officers with my dumbassery.

Surely it can't get worse, Taylor. You have your sister's number, you can just call her and probably get a cab.

Yeah, you would think, but this is me we're talking about, my dumbassery is limitless. I was born a himbo before I even knew it. So you remember that notebook I had with all of that contact information and address? Yeah, I left that at the apartment. I didn't know what her number was much less her street address. I could point it out on a map though so that was close enough.

That's not all though, I didn't have any cash on me and there wasn't Venmo or cashapp these days and debt cards/credit cards didn't often work at a lot of places abroad. I had already spent the cash I had on me that day and so the police officer takes me next door to pull cash at the ATM in the 7-11. Except that ATM doesn't accept my card.

We go back to the police station and they call a taxi company to see if they would take me but without cash and an exact address or a phone number, they say no. They think I will just run out on the tab and the drive was going to be far.

At this point, I have no money, no prospects, and scared. Oh and no way to contact my sister to let her know where I was and that I was okay. What am I going to do now? Take a nap on the leather couch in the police station, of course. I am given a Krispy Kreme donut and a space heater and I just knock out a few hours until 6am when the buses start running again.

The police wave down the bus and explain to the bus driver about the dumb dumb foreigner who got lost and how she needs to get to Hongdae. Actually, I don't even think I had enough money on my bus card but uhhhh, yeah I think people were tired of my shit at this point. So I'm seated on the bus, nice and cozy and... I fall asleep.

I'm woken up later by someone nudging me and everyone on the bus staring at me because the bus driver is trying to get my attention over the intercom. We had made it to Hongdae and goddamn, I feel so bad for the people involved in this because I was such a fucking idiot. Thank you to everyone who had helped me that night and I hope each of them are doing well now.

I get off the bus and start walking back to my sister's apartment and it's about a 30 minute walk. I get back to her place, punch in the numbers into the keypad on her front door and walk in. And it goes like:

Leah, out of sight in her loft bed area: ...Taylor?

Me, at the front door: ...hiiiiiiiiiiiii sister

She comes running down and nearly squeezed me in half from the tightest hug I had ever received. There are tears going down both of our faces and yeah, like she's a 24 year old whose little sister was missing in a big city in a country far far from home. After making sure I was real and not hurt, I told her about my wild adventure and where I was and why I didn't call.

Now what was she up to while I was a toasty little cinnamon roll fast asleep on a couch in a police station? She had gotten home around 11pm from work and waited until midnight for me to return. When I wasn't back by then, she started to get nervous and around 1am she called our mother to say that she thinks I'm missing.

They both then go into action. My sister calls the police and through her tears explains that her little sister hasn't come home and she doesn't know where I am. She gives them my description and two of them show up at her apartment to get a photo of me. From what I was told, that was sent around to police stations and the hospitals were alerted to be on the look out for a white girl with my description.

So end of story right? I'm back home, the police and embassy are told about my return and cancelled the alert. Everything is fine and it's Christmas Day, so let's open presents and eat some tasty food and be merry. Taylor, what else could happen that day? Taylor... Taylor, why aren't you saying the end? Taylor, please. Please, how far does your dumbassery go?

My mother had called the US embassy and told them about my disappearance and so like, plenty of people are looking for my lost dumb ass. But Taylor, weren't you in a police station? Wouldn't they have gotten the alert and replied back that they had you? Good point, but you see, I was not in Seoul at this point. I had sat my ass on that bus long enough that I ended up in Anyang. I tried putting a second map to this post, but Tumblr keeps fucking up and not saving it, so please look at your map app for Anyang.

My mother also thinks I've been kidnapped and sent to North Korea and is just blasting all over Facebook about me missing.

Leah still has to go to work that day, so she gets a short nap in, we'll do presents when she gets home that evening. She's not having to work a whole day, so she'll be home early. I plan on staying at the apartment, though I do venture out to the store to get some groceries for Christmas dinner. An ajumma gave me a wrapped gift on the way back and it was a cute pair of socks and an info slip about the local neighborhood church. I think I still have those socks.

While she was at work, I started cooking which is never a good idea because I have made the fire alarm go off by boiling water. In my luggage, I brought a toaster oven that was my mother's Christmas gift to Leah and a plug converter. I plugged it in, but my dumbass did it wrong cause when I turned it on, I blew a fuse in her apartment. However, I made dinner and she came home and we opened gifts and watched movies.

The End.

[englishstrawbie]

song prompt: "You, you are my universe, and I just want to put you first, And you, you are my universe, And you make my world light up inside, My universe" - My Universe - Coldplay for Maya/Carina please :)

Thank you for this prompt, I loved writing such a soft moment for them. ❤️ The only version of this song I could find was Coldplay X BTS, so I guess I've listened to my first Kpop song now!

A link to the song

>>>>>

It is just after midday when Maya wakes, a busy shift sending her to bed as soon as she had stepped through the front door to catch up on the little sleep she’d had overnight. After quick kiss on the cheek for Carina, who was up and making breakfast when she got home, she had fallen into bed and was asleep within minutes of her head resting on the pillow, her mind and body exhausted from the numerous fires and disasters they had tackled during their twenty-four hours on shift.

She rolls onto her back and stretches out her limbs, shuffling down the bed until her feet hang over the edge so that she can reach her hands over her head. She groans as her muscles wake up, then flings the covers to one side and steps out of bed. The air is chilly and she grabs a hoodie, pulling it over her head as she walks into the apartment.

Her footsteps are quiet and she goes unnoticed to Carina, who is sat on the couch, stretched out along the cushions with a blanket over her legs. Her laptop is open on her lap and she is typing away – probably working on another research project. Her head sways from time to time, which tells Maya that she listening to music as she works, opting for earphones instead of the Bluetooth speakers so as not to disturb her.

Maya loves to watch her work – the way her brow crinkles as she concentrates and her lips twist as she reads another medical report; the way her eyes sparkle with passion as she talks about her latest ideas and her voice raises by an octave when she goes off on another rant about how there is so much more funding for research projects aimed at men than there is for women. She can’t see her face, but Maya can picture her biting into her bottom lip as she writes.

Leaning against the wall, a wave of contentment washes over her. It is a familiar feeling and one that took her by surprise the first time she had experienced it. It was the night that Carina had moved in and they were curled up on the couch together, Carina’s head on her chest as they rested after a busy day of unpacking and sorting. Maya had sighed happily, feeling as if life couldn’t get any better than it was in that moment.

And yet it had got better. With every day that passes, they learn more about each and fall deeper in love, and Maya grows happier.

For most of her life, she has strived for more; taught to demand the best, to always aim for the next goal. And sure, she still has plans to climb the ranks and become Battalion Chief one day, but life has shown her that she doesn’t have sacrifice anything to get there – not herself or her happiness or her relationships. Everything she has achieved lately, as she excels in her captaincy, is made so much better with Carina by her side – her best supporter and her biggest cheerleader.

Maya wanders through the apartment, taking Carina by surprise as she slips her hands around her neck and leans down, pressing her lips to her cheek and kissing her softly.

“Hey you.”

“Hmm hello,” Carina purrs, pulling out her earphones and turning her head. Her hand snakes its way into Maya’s hair and she pulls her closer for a proper kiss, capturing her lips with her own.

She tastes of coffee – as always; an empty espresso cup nearby.

“Did you sleep?”

“I did,” Maya says with a nod. She sits down, perching on the edge of the couch next to Carina’s hips, her hand resting at the top of Carina’s thigh. “What are you working on?”

“An article,” Carina says. “A journal contacted me yesterday, they heard about my orgasm study and asked me to write about it. I thought I’d get started while you rested.”

“That’s amazing!” Maya gushes, her eyes full of love as she looks at her girlfriend fondly. “You’re amazing.”

Carina smiles and closes her laptop, reaching over and placing it onto the coffee table before sitting up straight and sliding her hands around Maya’s waist. Her fingers play with the top of Maya’s shorts, her fingers tucking into them and tickling the soft skin of her belly.

“Do you have paperwork to do today?”

It is not unusual for Maya to spend her days off catching up on incident reports and fire safety records, especially after such a busy shift. She knows that her inbox is full of emails waiting for her reply and she will be inundated when she gets back to her desk tomorrow. Usually it would encourage her to spend a few hours at the table with her laptop – but not today.

She shakes her head.

“Nope.” She curls her finger under Carina’s chin and leans in for another kiss. “The only thing I wanna do today is you.”

[bteezxyewriter12]

Soulmate/ 5

Pairing- Hobi x Named Reader

Word count- 3.6k

Includes- Angst, sex, riding, oral, pussy eating, cum eating, missionary, multiple orgasms, somewhat fluff

Tag List- @mingtina @jaxxmine @yeosayang @delightfulmoonbanana @tannie13 @y00nzin0 @marsstarxhwa

@borntowalkaway @soulseobi05 @kpop-bambi @seokwoosmole

Masterlists- check out for more fics

📝Series Masterlist 📝Masterlists

📝BTS Masterlist 📝Hobi Masterlist

Hobi POV

It's been nine months since she left

I miss her so much, every day

I still love her

People tell me I should get over her

How can I get over the love of my life?

My best friend?

How can I forget her?

I can't

And these past months have been torture

I work so much so I don't have to think about her

But anytime I have a free minute or when I'm trying to sleep all I think about is her

My album did really well and the collab song with Dam-Bi worked

Joanne was right

The song blew up and I got more fans every day

I'm a popular sought after idol

And I don't care at all

The song wasn't worth it, the popularity isn't worth it

I had lost the one thing I care about most in the world

Her

And if I don't have her to share it with then I really don't care

I went on the stupid tour

It was my first one and thank god it was short- only a month around Korea

It took all my energy doing those performances, forcing myself to be the cheery J-Hope everyone knows

When I was backstage getting ready all I thought about was how much I wished she was here

When I was walking to the stage all I wanted was to go out there and see her in the crowd

But I knew that wouldn't happen

After those performances I was dead

I just went back to the hotel and slept

My manager is planning another tour this time in Korea and Japan

I really don't want to go

My manager also wants me to do another collab with Dam-Bi, which I shot down immediately

"That's not funny", I tell him

"I'm not being funny", he says

"You really think I would agree to do another collab with her after everything?", I ask, so pissed off

Is he for real?

"Your personal life has nothing to do with your music", he says

I glare at him, "Well professionally, she's impossible to work with. And personally I don't like her and I don't want to see her again."

"Be reasonable Hoseok."

"Reasonable?", I shout, "She's the reason my life is shit. She's the reason why I lost everything."

"You didn't lose everything Hoseok. You have your career"

"I lost the one girl I ever loved and still love. My endgame. My forever. My soulmate. Because of Dam-Bi", I snap

He knows what happened so what the fuck?

"Hoseok please. She's just a girl."

"What the fuck did you just say?", I growl at him

If I could kill with my eyes he'd be dead

"I said she's just a girl. Joanne is just one girl out of millions. You can find another one to be with."

"Get the fuck out of my face right now.", I say my voice dangerous

It's taking all I have to not punch him in the face.

"What did you say?"

"I'm going to say this once. Don't you ever talk about Joanne. Ever. She's not just some girl. She's the love of my life. Yea I may date another girl later on but no one could ever compare to her.

I am not doing this collab with Dam-Bi. Not now, not ever. I don't care how mad you get, what you threaten me with. I'll leave here and never come back. There's plenty of other companies who'd want me signed under them", I snarl at him, "Now get the fuck out of my face"

I guess it's my tone and my words but my manager looks scared and he doesn't argue

He just nods, turns and leaves

However my problems with the suggested collab don't end there

Dam-Bi keeps calling the studio asking about the collab

I asked my manager if he told her no about it and he said he did but she's not taking no for an answer

Then she actually shows up at BigHit, in my studio

I look up as she walks in

'Wtf is this now', I ask myself

"What do you want?", I say my tone unfriendly

"I want to know why you don't want to do another collab?", she asks innocently

"Are you serious?", I roll my eyes

"Yes. Your manager told mine you said no but you didn't give a reason."

"Um how about you're an impossible, selfish person who wants everything her way?"

She actually looks shocked and I almost laugh but I go on

"How about you came on to me even though I told you I had a girlfriend and there was zero chance I'd ever be with you. How about you're the reason that the girl I love and was going to marry left me. Because you couldn't take no for an answer."

She stares at me with her mouth hanging open.

"No? Not good enough? Ok, how about I just don't fucking want to?", I finish

"You kissed me back", she says

"Yea for like a second and then I pushed you off me.", I snort

"You held my hand", she shoots back

"Because I didn't want to be rude. I thought you did it by accident or didn't realize what you were doing. But when you didn't move, I let go of you."

"C'mon Hoseok. I know you liked it" She really has the audacity to say that to me

Is she for real?

How the fuck can she know what I was feeling

"No I didn't. You're not her and it meant nothing to me. All I felt was disgust at your pathetic attempts to try to get me to cheat. You're not worth losing her. No one is."

She looks hurt at that but I really don't care

"What I want to know", I continue, "Is how Joanne got those pictures in the first place. And why it said Yoongi sent them when he didn't. And why there are even pictures in the first place."

She doesn't answer, standing in front of my desk like a complete moron

"It's funny because the pictures are all taken right in the seconds that you kissed me before I pushed you away. There's no pictures of me doing that."

Again silence

"Look don't bullshit me. Because I know you had something to do with it. I want to know why."

"Because I wanted you and you said no.", she says

"What?", I repeat, not believing this is the petty reason why she did this

"I've liked you for a long time, since you debuted. I liked your style and personality."

"You don't even know me! My idol personality and my personal personality are different."

"You say that but they're almost the same. And I liked that. I liked you. You should be with an idol not with some random girl who has to rely on you for everything and who is not even Korean. You should be with someone who can share your lifestyle."

And I explode, "She's not some random girl. She's my best friend since we were 15. She was there for me for everything, supporting me, encouraging me, helping me. She has her own career and doesn't need to rely on me. I don't give a fuck that she's not Korean. Who cares about shit like that except shallow people?"

She opens her mouth to say something but I'm not done

I'm so enraged

This bitch comes into my professional life and completely destroys my personal life because she has some convoluted notion that idols need to be together?

Fuck that

"You know nothing about my lifestyle. She was the most important thing in my life and she shared in everything I did. I not only lost the girl I love, I lost my best friend too. And all you could say was you fucked up my life because I said no to you? Are you for real?"

She just shrugs and I get more infuriated

"Get out. Don't come back here. I never want to see you again. Go ruin someone else's life"

She looks pissed but she turns to leave

Stopping at the door, she says, "You're right. It was me. I had one of my security guys take the pictures in case you didn't give me what I wanted. Nobody has said no to me, girlfriend or not. So I kissed you again and held your hand and had my security take those pictures too. I gave you more chances to change your mind but you didn't. So I sent them to her. It's easy to use a website where you can type anybody's name to a number. "

Then she walks out and I'm left there in shock and fury.

🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️

J POV

After a year and a half without Hobi you'd think I'd be over him

After all I got over Jimin fairly quickly

But I guess it's different when you truly are in love

Because I miss him so much

Everyday

He's constantly on my mind

I'm wondering where he is, what he's doing, if he's ok

I'm doing better than before though so that's something

I went to a doctor about the depression I thought I had and he confirmed it

I went on some anti depression medication for a little while to regulate my mood

Then as I changed the way I was living, I got better and the doctor weaned me off the meds

As long as I keep following the changes I made, I'm ok

Not good but ok

I go out more, just to get out of the apartment

To the park, to stores, to the bookstore or just to window shop so I'm not inside all the time

Reading is my favorite thing to do so I slowly started doing that again

I take my book to the park or to a cafe to just be outside

I also started to hang out more with friends

Mainly Namjoon and Yoongi

It's not that often but it's more than before

They became close friends after the break up

Namjoon became a popular rap idol in the last two years and was busy a lot too

But Namjoon was worried about me and a few months ago he asked if I wanted to meet him at one of the cafes

This was like the 10th time he asked so I figured I'd go

It was nice to talk to someone else and laugh a little

Namjoon is so nice and caring, always making sure I'm ok

When we go out we always go to the bookstore and the cafe

I found out he was a book nerd too

Yoongi came with us sometimes too

When he came we usually went to the park or a cafe

Yoongi likes manga but he doesn't really have time for it

But I still thought about Hobi

Always thinking about Hobi, wishing he was there

---------------------------

Namjoon texted to hang out earlier today so I agreed and he came to my apartment

We're watching the new Spiderman movie when My phone buzzes

Picking it up, I see a text from my friend Sarah, "I'm sorry Jo. I don't want to upset you but I think you should know."

And there's a link

A feeling of dread takes over my body but I clicked the link anyway

And my heart disintegrates into dust

"Big Hit confirms rap idol J-Hope's relationship with idol Park, Hae"

There is a picture of the two of them together at an award show

I stopped watching award shows when I left Hobi

He's smiling with an arm around this girl and he looks happy

I feel like such a pathetic loser

I'm still here completely in love with him, still thinking about him and he's moved on

"Jo. What's wrong?", Namjoon asks

I look up at him and he looks blurry

I realize I'm crying

"Why didn't you tell me?", I ask

"Tell you what?", he says confused

I wordlessly hand him my phone

He looks at it and takes a sharp breath

"I didn't know Joanne, I swear.", he looks up at me, "I don't see Hobi so much anymore and when I do we don't talk about personal things. It's usually about music or me asking for help. I didn't know about this. I don't even think Yoongi knows.", he explains

"I feel like such an idiot", I say quietly

"C'mon Jo, you're not"

"Yes I am. Here I am still pining over him and he's clearly moved on. Look how happy he looks."

"Yea he seems that way but you don't know if he really is."

I just look down in my lap, wanting to be alone

"Namjoon, look I'm not really in the mood to watch this movie right now. I think I'm just gonna go to bed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's fine", he answers

He says good bye and leaves

And me, I go to my bed, collapse on it and cry

--------------------------

Namjoon came by today to check on me

I didn't want to hang out but I didn't want to be rude to him since he came all the way to my apartment

I decided I had to start getting over Hobi

He moved on

So I have to

I can't just shut myself away like I did a year ago

Namjoon and I decided to go to the park a block from my apartment to go on a walk and we stopped to sit on a bench

I stare at the field in front of us, at the kids playing soccer

"Are you ok?", he asks quietly

I shrug

Not really but he knows this

"Look Jo, maybe you should do what Hobi is doing", he says quietly

"And what's that?", I sigh

"Date someone else. Try being with someone else. See how it is."

I snort, "With who? I don't know many people and I'm not going to go up to a random stranger and be like "hey wanna date?""

"With me", he says

I turn to look at him, surprised

"You?", I ask

Is he serious?

"Yea me", he confirms then leans in closer and kisses me

It's a sweet gentle quick kiss

I'm flabbergasted and don't know what to say

Or do

"What do you think? Can you give me a chance?", he asks shyly

Should I?

Namjoon is such a nice, sweet guy and he's been there for me when I had no one

He has a personality that I like so much

He's also extremely good looking which is a plus

And his dimples are to die for

But should I date him?

Maybe I can try and see how it goes

I have nothing else to lose

"Ok", I whisper

"Really?", he smiles, dimples on display

"Yeah. We can try and see what happens.", I say and give him a small smile

He pulls me to him and kisses me again

This time it's a real kiss

His arms move around my waist, pulling me closer to him while my arms move around his neck

He licks my lip and I open my mouth, his tongue pushing against mine

Good god he's a good kisser

I move my fingers in his blonde hair, kissing him, listening to him moan softly

And that sound turns me on

Holy shit, I haven't felt turn on in over a year

Pulling away from him, I look at him as he breathes hard

"Wow", he murmurs

"My apartment. Now", I tell him, standing up and taking his hand

"Yeah ok", he answers, following me

We get back to my apartment in record time

Once the door is closed, he pulls me to him, crashing his mouth against mine in a searing kiss

Jesus, I want him right now

He bends down, lifting me up, my legs wrapping around his waist

He moves, getting to my room, both of us crashing to the bed

We rip each other's clothes as fast as we can and I get him on his back, looking at his cock and holy shit it's big

Not Hobi big, but still big

And right now, I want to be on it

Climbing on him, he holds his dick as I sink down on him

His hands move to my hips, pushing me down on him, helping me bottom him out

When I sit fully on his cock, I close my eyes, liking the feeling of being on a cock again

I clench around his length, listening to his moans

"God fuck, you're so tight", he moans, his eyes on me, "Your body is so hot Jo. Fuck I had no idea"

I take the time to look at him, getting turned on by his body

Broad chest, muscles under his skin, slight abs poking through

He's hot

Images of Hobi's body hit my mind but I shove them back

I'm not thinking about him

I'm with Namjoon now

My boyfriend

And I want to fuck him

Leaning on his chest, I slide up his dick, then slam back down hard

"Oh god!", he yells as I moan

I start bouncing on him, feeling him open me wide so pleasurably

I keep a tight hold on him, grinding my spot on his head when I come down on his cock

He's moaning loudly, watching me ride him, pleasure all over his face

And he looks so hot

Sitting up straighter, I lean on his legs, bouncing as hard as I can, bottoming him out over and over

"Fuck you're so beautiful", he murmurs, his hands running all over my body, his touch making me shiver

I don't know where I'm getting this stamina from

I haven't ridden anyone for over a year, my legs should be burning

They're not

Or maybe I'm too into it to notice

Switching things, I rock on his dick, grinding down on him, rubbing his head against my spot

"Yes baby, fuck so good", he pants, "Cum on me"

I'm close, I just need to move a few more times

The pleasure gets overwhelming, a I lose it, coming around his cock, body in bliss as I moan his name

"Namjoon. Oh yes Namjoon!"

"Oh fucking hell. Fuck, you feel so good. Holy shit"

When I finish, I'm sweating so much, breathing hard

Namjoon's arms move around me, holding me to him as he flips us over

My back hits the mattress, Namjoon on top of me

He holds my legs wide open, he moves down my body, his tongue flying all over my pussy

"Oh my god!", I cry, pleasure slapping my body hard

"Fuck, you have no idea how much I wanted to taste you", he moans, his tongue running up and down rapidly

He what?

"Huh?", I ask, not able to think or get words out

"I wanted you the second I saw you", he confesses, "Wanted to eat your cunt, fuck you, be with you. I couldn't keep quiet anymore. I want you so much"

Oh my god

I honestly had no idea

None at all

But of course at the time I had Hobi and all I saw was him

I would of never noticed any feelings Namjoon had for me

If he even showed it

I don't think he did

His mouth moves so fast, building up another orgasm

His mouth moves around my clit, sucking so hard and fast, catapulting me into an intense orgasm

"Namjoon!", I cry, my body shaking hard, my hand plunging in his hair, pulling hard

His tongue moves to my hole, licking furiously, moaning loudly that I taste so good

When I finish, he moves on top of me, moving my legs around him, his cock slipping right inside me so easily

I whimper, clenching him hard

"You're mine now, right?", he asks, his pretty brown eyes on me

I nod, "Yes. I am. You're mine"

He smiles, his dimples on display

He kisses me, my arms around his neck and he begins thrusting into me

He moves in so deeply, hitting my spot, starts blasting in my eyes

"You feel so good baby", he whispers, kissing my neck, his hand around my boob

His hips keep moving, snapping into my cunt, making me feel so good

His constant thrusts bring me closer

"Cum for me", he asks, his cock hitting my spot and I shiver under him, coming

"Namjoon", I whimper

"Fuck, so beautiful", he murmurs, fucking me through my orgasm, "I'm gonna cum baby. Can I cum in your pussy?"

I nod, "Yeah Joonie"

He thrusts on more time, burying himself inside, cock throbbing and warm cum filling me

I wrap my arms around him, holding him tightly, liking the feeling of being filled again

When he finishes, he pulls out, lifting his head, smiling at me

I touch his dimples, smiling back at him

"Can I stay for awhile?"

I nod and he gives me a quick kiss, laying next to me and pulling me into his arms

I lay my head on his chest as his arms surround me, holding me, fingers running in my hair

I relax into him and allow myself to be a little happy

I'm going to give Namjoon a real chance

Give my all to him like I did for Hobi

I'm not going to sabotage our relationship, I'm going to be a good girlfriend for him

Maybe I can fall in love again

I don't know but I'm not going to close myself off to it

Hobi is gone and Namjoon is here

Namjoon wants me and I hope everything works out with us