#like with wooyoung i think ill get used to the red. but this????????????

[juustokaku]

Confidentiality - Chapter 5. - yandere!ATEEZ OT8 x f!reader

Introduction: Joining a peer support group for mentally ill was a good idea for the last two times you were there. Then it's only natural for the third time to go well too, right?

Pairings: yandere!Hongjoong x reader, yandere!Seonghwa x reader, yandere!Yunho x reader, yandere!Yeosang x reader, yandere!San x reader, yandere!Mingi x reader, yandere!Wooyoung x reader, yandere!Jongho x reader

T/W: This story will include talk about mental health struggles such as body dysmorphia, paranoid thoughts and more. Possessive and obsessive behavior, stalking. Dark themes are to be expected.

A/N: Forgive me; this chapter is absolute shit! Publishing this makes me feel very ashamed and disappointed in myself. I hate this so much, but it's probably the best what I can do right now. I hope I didn't let you down and hope you won't lose your interest for this story because of this chapter. Also, this chapter has only Mingi (finally), Jongho, and the stalker, whoever that might be. I swear the story won't be about Jongho all the time although he's been in a lot of chapters, since he is important at the beginning. I hope I'm not wasting your time with this, and that at least someone will find this enjoyable :,) Thank you for reading!

Word count: 4 641

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“Is this really necessary?” 

“Just take my hand. How do you think the stalker is going to notice we’re in a relationship otherwise?” 

At Jongho’s question, you began to ponder. The stalker would notice anyway that there was something supposedly between you and Jongho, so why did you have to hold hands with him? 

Nonetheless, you grabbed Jongho’s warm hand, intertwining your fingers together. It was supposed to look romantic and make everyone think you were two lovebirds flying on cloud 9, but it looked most likely awkward. That’d work too, you supposed. After all, the first stages of relationships sometimes felt embarrassing. 

“Fake relationship, remember.” 

Jongho scoffed, “Do you think I’d be in a real relationship with you?” 

That hurt. You had been rejected before by romantic and platonic interests, but none of them had talked to you like you were a repulsive, filthy animal looming in the sewers. 

“No...” 

He just glanced at you as you gave your dejected reply. It was clearly not in his interest to make you feel loved, but it was probably better for him to be brutally honest, than fool you into thinking the act of being a couple wasn’t just pretending. 

“I hope the performance won’t be a waste of our time,” Jongho murmured. 

It had been his idea to go together to a Valentine’s Day event the city had arranged. What could be more romantic than holding hands and watching awful music performances by unknown wannabe artists while freezing to death? 

The stage in front of you was decorated with red paper hearts and white balloons in a bad taste, being a shameful insult to art. Maybe it was supposed to get people on festive mood yet it only gave everyone who looked at it a headache. You were already feeling anxious to have so many people around you in the audience, but you had to endure it; Jongho had demanded you to stay with him for your own safety. The moment you’d leave his sight, the stalker could strike.  

Just then, you saw a familiar person step on the stage with overflowing confidence. 

“Is that... Mingi?” you murmured in shock, more to yourself than Jongho. 

The man holding your hand couldn’t answer to you. Jongho was usually so calm and collected, so it amused you greatly to see him, lips parted and eyes wide, trying to make sense out of the sight in front of him. 

“Mingus Dingus in the house! Fix on!” 

A couple people from the crowd cheered at his arrival. The rest of the audience, at least 70 people, were whispering to each other and wondering who Mingi was. 

“Apparently, this poor excuse of a city doesn’t have enough money to use on events anymore.” 

“Yeah. I have no idea who this is. Possibly some homeless man, that they found from the streets and promised to give dinner money to if he performed.” 

You heard a couple men next to you talk poorly about Mingi, which made your heart ache. Mingi didn’t seem like a bad person, completely opposite actually. He was passionate about his music and had both courage and energy to keep doing what he loved. That was admirable. 

Tensing up as the music started playing, you squeezed Jongho’s hand tighter without even noticing. This performance would turn out to be a catastrophe, a total fiasco, and a hit on your already fragile mental health. You couldn’t handle seeing people fail, it just made you want to bury yourself so you would never have to see something like that again. 

But as Mingi opened his mouth and his self-written lyrics started flowing out, you found yourself flabbergasted. Even impressed. 

“Sent it off in the wind, every photo, every piece of my heart...” 

Jongho seemed to listen to Mingi’s performance as well with perked up ears. 

“It was tough for me to see a single letter, so I sent it all away...” 

Mingi’s voice made you feel all kinds of things. It was impossible to pinpoint the exact names for them, but the emotions in his voice and the lyrics hit you deep in the heart. It was something unexplainable. 

You watched the performance and the way Mingi’s eyes shined with flames of passion that could not be put out. It was something that nobody could fake; only people who truly loved what they were doing would be able to captivate like that. It was so vulnerable, like he was opening up to everyone who listened. 

Unfortunately, a lot of people didn’t bother to listen. They were leaving little by little, and by the end of the song, only about 30 people were still listening to what Mingi wanted to express through his music. 

“Come on, Y/N. Let’s leave.” 

Before you could control your reactions, you answered Jongho firmly, “No. I want to listen.” 

You would have never dared to speak like that to anyone, let alone to Jongho, but Mingi’s song had woken up both your emotions and loyalty to him as his new fan. 

It went unnoticed by you how Jongho’s expression darkened at your refusal. His grip tightened on your hand but all you cared about in that moment was Mingi. 

As the performance continued, the rest of the audience left as well. It even made you angry. Of course, people had the right to leave if a performance didn’t interest them, but how could they be so deaf to the art Mingi had created? 

It was the most freezing day of February, but you couldn’t care less about your shivering body or the cold wind that almost pushed you down. It was like even the wind didn’t care about Mingi’s songs and wanted to push you away from the stage. The way his performance set the stage on fire warmed your body and soul in the cold. 

At last, the performance ended. Mingi had given his whole soul to it, to reach people’s ears and hearts, but you were the only one whose heart he had successfully won over. 

Only two people, you and Jongho, had stayed the whole time. As the last chords of the song played, you stared at Mingi in awe, head empty and heart full. He looked at the audience he had left, and despite the lack of people, bowed deep and respectfully. He was thankful that he hadn’t been left completely alone, to perform for the emptiness. 

“Fix off.” 

Jongho tried to hold onto your hand tightly, but you ripped it away from his grip to applaud Mingi. Your lonely yet sincere claps reached Mingi’s ears, and he casted a smile for you. Then he left the stage. 

“Y/N, don’t-” 

You didn’t care about Jongho’s demand. Only thing you needed to do now was to run to Mingi and tell him how much his performance meant for you. How amazing he was. How he had managed to touch your heart. Unlike usually, you weren’t interested in the possibility of embarrassing yourself. 

Your hurried steps reached Mingi fast, although the headwind was slightly slowing you down. He was facing another direction, head turned downwards. 

“Mingi! Your performance was amazing! I never could have guessed you were that talented,” you spoke, sounding a bit too excited. 

Hopefully Mingi wouldn’t think of you as some deranged fan. 

But you hadn’t expected to see tears on his face as he turned around to look into your eyes. 

“Don’t lie to me. I know no-one liked it.” 

Speechless, you looked at Mingi’s heartbreaking expression. Warm tears were glistening in his eyes and streaming down his face. Lips pressed in a tight line, he looked somehow offended at your comment, trying to hold onto his dignity. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking, coming here. I have no talent.” 

You frowned at Mingi’s words, “Do you think I would have stayed here and rushed to compliment you, if I hadn’t liked your performance?” 

Jongho had walked up to you silently and was standing next to you, hands in the pockets of his jacket. The look on his face directed at you was even colder than the air, as he listened you praise Mingi. 

“I would have left with the other people if your performance hadn’t been good.” 

At your words, even more tears welled up in Mingi’s eyes. He looked away from you, probably feeling embarrassed to show such vulnerability in front of you and Jongho. 

“I just want you to know that your lyrics, songs and voice impressed me. They made me feel... things,” you rambled on before starting to realize you were way too passionate. 

A hopeful expression crossed Mingi’s face, before disappearing like he was afraid to get his hopes up and heart broken, “What kind of things?” 

You were getting shy under Mingi and Jongho’s eyes. It was too late to act coy now; you had already revealed your overwhelming emotions Mingi’s songs had managed to bring up to the surface. 

On top of everything, you could relate to him. He worked so hard to be seen and appreciated, but got only ridiculing snorts and ignorance as a response. Some people were born to be insignificant in others’ eyes while the rest were born lucky to be acknowledged. To be seen wasn’t something to take for granted. 

“I could relate to your songs. The emotions you showed in your performance uncovered something in me that I have tried to forget.” 

It was almost a magical moment to see Mingi’s eyes sparkle. Could have been the tears that made it look like his eyes shined, but there was more to it. All of his dreams had been accomplished when he heard that his songs finally managed to reach someone’s ears. That he had been seen at last. 

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I will never forget what you said!” Mingi suddenly grabbed both of your hands in his, holding tightly to them like you were his salvation. 

“That’s enough,” Jongho ripped your hands forcefully out of the taller man’s grip. 

Sure, Jongho had to act like you were a couple, but was it really fair to treat Mingi like that? You had already lost your confidence that had emerged from nowhere before, so you had no courage to say anything. You had to remember, Jongho was still a man and much stronger than you; it would be hard to fight back if he decided he had had enough of your attitude. 

“I can hold her hands if I want to. What are you, her boyfriend?” 

“In fact, I am. So, keep your hands to yourself,” Jongho warned Mingi. 

Mingi looked suddenly devastated, which surprised you. His mouth was agape, trying to say something. He didn’t manage to let anything past his lips other than his silent breathing. He was left behind as Jongho led you away. 

Later on, you arrived at a park. To your luck, the park still had people wandering around although the sky was already turning dark. Although Jongho had promised to protect you, you didn’t want to be left alone with any man after the sun had set. String lights set to hang from the leafless trees lit up your way as you walked hand in hand with him. 

“Look at that! An ice rink!” you gasped, pointing at an ice rink in the park, not being able to hide your excitement. You hadn’t been ice skating since forever. 

Jongho gave you a judging side-eye, “Too expensive. Let’s go drink hot chocolate.” 

You had no courage to fight back his idea, so you let him lead you to a stall selling all kinds of drinks and treats. To be honest, you felt like this was actually romantic and fit the Valentine’s Day although you were spending it with a fake boyfriend. With a man who had implied he would never date you. 

“Two hot chocolates. Sizes small and large,” Jongho said to the man keeping the stall. 

Well honestly, he was more like a boy. He looked the age of 17 and extremely bored. You couldn’t blame him since he had been holding the stall probably for hours already, trying to earn some pathetic amount of pocket money. 

You dug for your wallet, prepared to pay for the small sized drink, since Jongho most likely had ordered the large one for himself. He could have at least asked which size you wanted; the small one would not be enough to quench your thirst. 

“I’ll pay,” Jongho said and pushed a carton mug full of hot chocolate into your hands. 

The fact that he promised to pay surprised you already, but you noticed that the mug he had given you was the size large. 

“Thank you...” you mumbled, looking up in Jongho’s eyes. 

His blank stare made you uncomfortable. Why did he never smile at you? It wasn’t very convincing to never crack a smile at you, when you were supposed to act like a couple in love. 

You two found a bench to sit on under a tree. It was a beautiful spot, the perfect place for you to sit next to each other, huddle for warmth and share tender kisses – that was if you two had been actually dating. There was just one problem: the bench was covered in thick layer of snow after last night’s storm. 

“Are you really suggesting this spot? I’d look like I had wet myself after sitting on that.” 

“You can sit on my lap. That way your ass won’t get wet.” 

Jongho’s proposal made your eyes widen. He was truly shameless. 

And finally, it happened. He smiled at you – although it was a mischievous one, it was the first smile you had ever seen on his face. The emotionless man was forgotten as you watched how his cheeks, slightly red because of the cold air, rounded out and made him look like a teddy bear. 

“You’re always so closed off, trying to hide your emotions,” Jongho said. 

Look who’s talking. He wasn’t exactly the most open person in the world either. 

“I’m not closed off. Both you and Mingi saw how emotional I got over his songs.” 

Ever so slightly, Jongho’s expression darkened. His smile was long gone and he sighed in frustration. 

“I’m musical too, you know? I may not rap as well as Mingi but I can sing.” 

“Really? Prove it,” you challenged him. 

“No. You don’t deserve to hear my singing,” Jongho took a sip of his drink. 

“Fine. Then I’ll assume Mingi is better.” 

It was a risky game to play with Jongho. His reaction could be anything, but you couldn’t stop yourself before teasing him. You were getting way too comfortable. You knew it was dangerous, but you had been craving to have a friend for so long. Now that someone was actually willingly wasting their time on you, it felt like a chance to a new start. 

“I’ll sing for you one day but first, I want to give you something.” 

You raised a brow at Jongho’s statement, and your heartbeat quickened as he pulled something out of his bag. 

Could it be a Valentine’s Day gift? Maybe a flower or a heart-shaped chocolate box? 

But it had been a mistake to let your guard slightly down around Jongho. He proved to you right at that moment that he shouldn’t have been trusted. That you should have run away and hid from him when you had the chance. 

The object in his hand was unrecognizable in the dark at first. You could only see the gleam of the yard lights reflected on the object, making you finally realize what it was. 

Jongho tossed his hot chocolate cup away, symbolizing how all of his sweet gestures had been a skillful play thrown away as well, just like your whole relationship. Now his other hand was completely free to use, while the other one held a pocket knife. 

You wanted to scream or try to convince him to spare your life, but you were speechless. Only thing you managed to do was take a few, shaky steps away from him, the monster in front of you. 

He didn’t let you get further away as he followed you with a gleam in his eyes that screamed insanity. 

“Do you fear death or me?” Jongho asked calmy. 

You glanced at the park. It was like everyone had suddenly disappeared. There was no savior for you if Jongho attacked. You would lose your life alone in the darkness before anyone could have come to your rescue. 

“A-Aren’t they the same thing?” 

Jongho shook his head with a chuckle, “Death sets you free. I will never do that.” 

His words rang in your ears for a split second before you dashed. Time was running out. 

“Y/N! Stop!” 

You didn’t even hear Jongho’s shout. No matter how loud he could have screamed at you, there was no chance you’d stop. You had to run out of the park and reach other people before Jongho could catch you and brutally pierce and cut your body, until you were unrecognizable to the police. Maybe even Yunho would be the one to find you. Yunho who wasn’t the stalker despite all your baseless suspicions. 

But one of the worst things, that was possible in that moment, happened. The ground under your feet was on ice and betrayed you ultimately. Your heart almost stopped as you lost your balance. 

Your cry of pain echoed in the park as your head smashed onto the ground, although your back had received the worst impact of falling on ice. It hurt like hell, but even in all your suffering, you couldn’t think of anything else than about the fact that this was the end. You had tried to trust other people and this was the result. In your intense pain and on the brink of unconsciousness, you didn’t even notice as Jongho got on his knees next to you on the ground. 

Tears ran down your cheeks, but you couldn’t even beg for your life. It was futile. 

Last thing your mind registered before fainting was Jongho’s warm hand petting your head. 

It felt like you had been unconscious for eternity when in reality it had been only 20 minutes or so. When you finally opened your eyes, you found your surroundings familiar. The person next to you was familiar as well. 

“You fainted.” 

No words left your lips, but your eyes told everything. You were terrified and confused. 

“I brought you here after you lost your consciousness.” 

You glanced at the room. It was your own apartment, everything in their own places, but it still seemed so wrong and unsafe, because of the man in front of you. The couch you found comfortable every other day, felt way too stiff in that moment, making the pain in your back worse. 

“That doesn’t explain why I’m alive. What do you want from me?” you managed to utter out, but the wavering in your voice didn’t go unnoticed. 

Jongho turned his face away with a guilty look. It was clear he regretted something. 

“It was all just a really bad joke. I didn’t mean to scare you that much.” 

The mix of anger and relief felt odd; you didn’t know whether to scream at him or cry in happiness that you didn’t get murdered. But you were too scared of him to show any reactions. Even if it had been just a joke, only a deranged person would scare others like that for their own entertainment. 

That’s why you forced yourself to forgive him. 

“...I forgive you” you gritted through your teeth. 

“I didn’t apologize though.” 

Your anger only flared up at Jongho’s arrogant response. First, he had seemed guilty for scaring you to death, but any ounce of regret you thought he had, was out of the window. Soon, Jongho would be out of the window as well; you didn’t want to see his remorseless face at that moment. 

“Get out of my house.” 

You had turned to look away from him, because you were afraid, you’d lash out at him. 

Jongho looked even slightly hurt at your words. The frown on his face was an indication of his growing agitation and refusal to leave that easily. 

“Do you want me to say sorry then?” 

“No,” you murmured, “It’s too late for that.” 

“Exactly. And I’m not sorry anyways,” Jongho scoffed, “I had to see how you’d react if the stalker was about to kill you. Think of it as practice. It was for your own good.” 

Taking in a deep breath, you tried to stay calm. It could be dangerous to anger the man even more, although you were the only one who had the right to be angry at that moment. And God, you were furious. 

“For my own good? I got a concussion and nearly broke my back!” 

“If you don’t appreciate me looking out for you, we can end this fake relationship.” 

Looking out for you? You couldn’t believe the audacity that man had. 

“Then let’s end this.” 

Jongho seemed to be stunned by your words – as stunned as a man that stoic and cold could be. You even felt a sense of glee at the tiny look of panic on his face. 

“No. I wasn’t serious. I just felt irritated because you don’t see how I want to protect you.” 

But you didn’t fall for that. You had no intention to be a victim of his manipulation. 

As you attempted to stand up from the couch, you whimpered in agony. The pain on your back was unbearable, but you were more concerned about the piercing headache, feeling like your head was being squished by a hydraulic press. 

“Let me-” Jongho started, getting up and trying to help you. 

“Don’t touch me.” 

You stepped away from him, feeling afraid once again. Could you be blamed for that, when just a half an hour ago you feared for your life because of that man? Even though it had been supposedly a joke, you couldn’t shake off the sense of panic at Jongho walking closer. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Get out,” you sighed, “Please.” 

The bright lights in your apartment hurt your head even more, and you barely stayed on your feet. Although your eyes were getting blurry, you managed to see Jongho’s sad face and him walking towards your front door. 

The apartment was silent as you sat down again, rubbing your temples and trying to ease the pain. The heavy tension hadn’t left although Jongho had. You didn’t know how to meet him again at the therapy session in a few days. 

That Valentine’s Day had seemed successful at first, and you had enjoyed Mingi’s performance despite the heartbreak you felt at seeing his anguish. Even conversing with Jongho had been nice until his poor attempt of a joke. What was supposed to be a day of friendship and romance – even fake kind – ended up in being horrifying. 

You really needed rest, some way to forget the headache for a while, so you fell asleep on the couch. Maybe the dizziness and Jongho’s “joke” would be just distant memories after a good nap, although you doubted that you’d ever forget Jongho’s face as he had creeped closer to you at the park.  

It might have been 30 minutes or so when the sound of a doorbell woke you up. If it was Jongho, you wouldn’t even open the door, not prepared to hear his excuses. 

Reluctantly, you dragged yourself to the door, wincing in pain every step you took. One look from the peephole revealed, that instead of Jongho, there was a man with flowers. He looked serious and exhausted but his silly little cap made him look less scary. 

“Flowers for miss Y/N L/N,” the man forced a smile on his face as you opened the door. 

Your heart fluttered. Someone had remembered you and sent you flowers. It could have been your family who sent the beautiful, bright yellow roses, since they wanted to remind you that they loved you despite all of the things they had done to you. 

Or maybe it could have been from the stalker. 

Nonetheless, you had to accept the roses, no matter how much their thorns could hurt you. They could prickle you with longing or draw blood from your fingers with promises of terror, but your curiosity got the best of you. 

You set the roses down on your dinner table when you noticed that they had a little letter tied to them with a pink ribbon. 

“Your pathetic boyfriend didn’t even give you a gift. Look what I brought.” 

Your blood ran cold. It was no doubt of who had sent you this. Still, you wanted to believe it could have been Mingi instead, even though he didn’t even know where you lived. Anything but the indisputable truth that the sender was indeed the stalker. 

But it wasn’t the end of your shock. You wanted to cry when you noticed another thing as well – a pink envelope that had come with the rose, inviting you to open it. There were heart stickers on it, one of them being a shiny teddy bear holding a heart. The envelope wanted to cast a spell on you and make you so scared yet curious, that you couldn’t stop yourself from seeing what it contained. 

And it definitely succeeded in that, although you tried your best to ignore it, to leave it unopened for the sake of your own sanity. 

Seven pieces of paper were revealed to be inside of it. 

You hated these envelopes so much. You despised the drawings, pictures and letters you had to see because you were just too curious to stay in blissful ignorance. 

Six out of seven of the pieces of paper had drawings on them. They were drawings of parts of a human body. Two pieces of arms, two of legs, one torso and one head. It had been clearly one whole drawing, one whole body of a woman, before having been cut into six pieces. The head even had a pout on it and hair similarly styled as yours. 

Confused about the drawing, you prepped yourself to take a look at the 7th piece of paper. The drawing was definitely a threat, there was no doubt of that, but you craved to understand it deeper. Although the whole thing made you feel nauseous, you needed to know what kind of and level of peril you were in – and to do that, you had to bite the bullet. 

There were words on the paper, written by a hand, whose writing style you recognized. 

“I’ll cut off your arms if you try to fight back,” the first sentence said. 

“I’ll cut off your legs if you try to escape,” the second sentence informed. 

“I’ll cut off your head if your eyes wander on or lips kiss someone else.” 

After you had read the final threat on the paper, you leaned on your chair, everything seemed to have slowed down. Your heartbeat was lazy and quiet, not overwhelmingly loud like in other moments of fear like this. It was so silent both in your head and the apartment, except for the rustling somewhere close. Right now, you needed Jongho. You didn’t have anyone else; only he could help, protect, and save you. He was the only person that wanted to hear your cries and see what he could do to stop you from hurting. Cursing yourself for kicking him out of your apartment, you wondered if he’d even agree to help you anymore. Maybe he’d still hug you and find the stalker to beat him up, and maybe, hopefully, he’d know where the quiet, almost inconspicuous, rustling noise in your apartment was coming from. 

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<- Chapter 4.

Chapter 6. ->

Masterlist

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Taglist: @devilzliaison

[f9clementine]

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enchanted to meet you ⋙ 09. pick up the phone.

⋙ written part included 『••✎••』

The ringing was unapologetically loud. 

You groaned, reluctantly reaching out from your cocoon of blankets to grab your phone off the nightstand. You squinted at the screen, seeing Binnie’s name flashing at you before you swiped to answer the call. “Changbin, someone better be dead or so help me.”

He chuckled, completely unfazed by your threat. “Well, I was worried you were, to be honest. No one’s heard from you since yesterday morning.”

You frowned, pulling your duvet over your head. “I could’ve sworn one of you was here yesterday?” You mumbled, thinking back to the distinctly male figure that had been standing over you at some point. “Or was that a fever dream?”

“Definitely wasn’t any of us, unfortunately. Maybe San stopped by to check on you?”

You shook your head, then winced as a it throbbed. “No, he’s away on a work trip. Maybe he asked Wooyoung to stop by?” You asked yourself before sighing, “Well, whatever. I’m not dead.”

“I have class until 3 today but I can come by and bring you some soup and gatorade, if you’d like?” Changbin suggested.

“I never got to the store yesterday, so that would be amazing if you can.” 

“Bet. I’ll see you in a few hours, Y/n. Get some rest, yeah?”

You nodded, stifling a yawn. “Trust me, the minute you hang up, I’m going right back to sleep.”

Changbin laughed, “Bye Y/n.”

“Bye,” You couldn’t help but smile as you pulled the phone away, seeing Changbin had already disconnected the call. You put your phone down and retreated further back into your sheets. 

You could already feel your eyes getting heavier, the lingering illness making your senses feel fuzzy and dull. But a slight stretch connected your foot with something heavy next to you. “Kitty? Did you come to give me ‘get well’ cuddles?” You whispered, excited to think that the feline is trusting you more and more.

Slowly, as to not possibly scare him off, you re-emerged from the blanket pile, turning over and expecting to see the cute little gray cat curled up next to you.

You were definitely not expecting to see a full grown man asleep instead. 

You screamed, throwing yourself out of the bed as he jerked up, eyes wide with surprise. You fell to the floor, scrambling back as you made eye contact. 

“What- who- why-“ you sputtered out, unable to form a coherent sentence, looking from him to your phone on the nightstand. “Cops- I’m calling the-“

“No, wait!” He shouted, lunging forward the same time you did. He reached your phone before you did and held it out of your reach. “Y/n, please, just listen to me, okay?”

“You’re in my fucking bed!” 

He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair and you frowned, “wait a minute. Aren’t you-“ you blink then gasp, realization dawning on you. “You’re Chan’s roommate!”

He nodded, “Right, I’m Minho. We’ve met a few times?”

“But you’re in my bed!” You repeated, gobsmacked,

"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" He paused, cheeks flushing red as he turned his head, clearly embarrassed.

"How did you get in my apartment?"

"Technically, you brought me here." He mumbled, still unable to look at you. "It's a long story but my bonehead roommate turned me into a..." He sighed, finally turning to look at you again. "He turned me into a cat."

"A cat?" You blinked, frowning. "You're not telling me... you're Kitty?"

He nodded, "That's exactly what I'm telling you."

"But why are you in my apartment then?!"

"... We’re going to need to call Chan.”

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tag list: @mal-lunar-28 , @kpopsstuffs @cassidymb121 @brooklynie @owotalks @honey-pop @hanniemylovelyquokka @chlodavids @abbiestearsricochet @maexc @seungmyynie @brinnalaine @kalopsian-thoughts @jiisungllvr @asherthehimbo @pinxeajin @vampcharxter @jluvselandabs @bettybeako @borahae-reads

*red means I can't tag you D:*

[rems-writing]

Hot cat - I mean hot guy summer

Pairing: cursed!Wooyoung × witch amab!reader

Summary: You and Regina needed to find a cure for a sick Robin Hood. Whilst on your journey, you find a black cat. Thinking nothing of it, you take care of it for a little while. Little did you know that your care would end up impacting this cat's life

Warning(s): Cursing, mentions of a dagger being used, their enemy is lowkey stupid lol, a little bit of violence using magic, mentions of a dangerous flower being used, reader is a highkey damn simp for Woo lol, rough translations for Ateez's cover of Black Cat Nero. Original is by a duo named Turbo. Song is derived from an Italian children's song/lullaby

Genre: Adventurous fluff. Idk if that's a thing lol

Nets: @mirohs-aurora-society

You still felt bad for the kid but at least he moved on. 

Thank you to @ja3hwa and @bunnliix for proofreading

“Come on! We’re going to be late! Get your ass down here!” You heard Regina shout to you as you were just finishing up gathering the necessary materials for this quest. Robin had fallen ill due to being struck by a living plant in the Enchanted Forest and you were going with her to strike it down and get a sample of its leaves so you can create an antidote. Like how you guys used a tear from Henry when he got heartbroken in Camelot so you could free Merlin.

As you guys poofed yourselves into the forest, you immediately set off to find the plant. According to her, the plant wasn’t actually living. Rather, it came alive due to a random witch’s work. They were most likely a follower of Gothel or a wannabe Gothel and you were slightly annoyed by that. She was annoying when she was still alive and you were so glad that Alice got rid of her. 

There was one downside though. This witch always moved around. They never had a set location. You figured it was smart of them. The more you move, the more likely your tracks will be covered. If you did it correctly of course. If you move yet you leave something behind, you are bound to be found. In this case, this witch was smart. There were almost little to no traces of them left behind, which made this mission a lot more difficult than usual. 

Three hours into the search, you and Regina were tired. You decided to make camp somewhere and settle down. You decided to take first watch. Regina nodded and placed a protection spell around your little camp in case someone decided to ambush you. After Regina fell asleep, you kept your eyes out for anything suspicious. 

Another hour passes and you feel yourself getting sleepy. You told yourself that you’ll wake up your sister so she can take the next watch. However, that plan went down the drain when you heard a twig snap. Your ears perked up due to the sound and they perked up even more when another sound, albeit a faint one, rang out through the air. It sounded animal-like. 

Perhaps a cat?

Your instincts were right when you saw a small black cat approach you. 

Its big shiny eyes that glinted a soft yellow in the dim lighting of your fire stared up at you as it walked right up to you. Its fur was a mess, its body was covered in scratches, and its tail was shaking slightly. Its ears were drooped downwards and its mouth opened to let out a quiet mewling sound. You cooed at the sight and bent down to pet the little critter. 

“You scared me, buddy! Don’t go doing that alright?” You exclaimed quietly and jokingly in hopes of calming it down. It meowed quietly and got closer to you before bumping its head against your knuckles. You obliged and kept petting the small creature, scratching at the base behind its ears before moving to scratch under its chin. 

“You are my cute black cat

A red ribbon will look great on you. 

But if you get mad

You will scratch and hurt others.”

You mindlessly sang this song until the end and it looked like the lullaby worked. You looked down and you saw the black cat curled up in your arms, sleeping soundly. You cooed at the endearing sight before bending down to kiss the top of its head. 

The second hour had passed and you unfortunately had to go to bed since you felt the fatigue taking over. Setting the cat down for a second, you walked over to Regina and gently nudged her awake. She was up in seconds and quickly made her way to her post while you sneakily grabbed the cat and laid it beside you before you laid down and drifted off to sleep. 

—-------------------------------------------------

The next morning, you stretched and looked around. The fire was out, the camp looked the same as it was before, and there was a random person’s bare feet staring straight at you in the face - 

Wait a second…

Immediately, you got up and faced the person but you froze the moment you saw Regina with a knife against her throat. You then looked down and saw the leather cuff that was on her wrist. 

You nor her put it on there. 

“Move and her throat will be sliced open.” A raspy voice was heard. You finally looked at the person that was holding Regina captive. Your eyes widened and your annoyance grew even more. 

You found the witch. 

And she was looking raggedy as hell. 

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms. You raised an eyebrow at her in suspicion before gesturing to her to say what the fuck she needed. She pointed the tip of her dagger at you then back at Regina’s throat. You didn’t flinch one bit since you were used to weapons being pointed at you. Your patience was wearing thin and you felt your powers heat your palms. However, you remained calm and stared her down menacingly, smirking subtly when you saw the fear in the witch’s eyes. She was afraid. 

Good. 

“What do you want?” Your voice got deeper and you felt your eyes be tinted with a shade of blue, indicating that you will not hesitate to attack if she tried something. She scoffed and pressed the tip of the dagger against Regina’s throat a bit harder, which pissed you off. 

“Where’s my cat?” 

You had to scoff. She didn’t ask who you guys were, if you’re following her, or anything else a smart or a beginner bad guy would ask. 

She asked about her fucking cat. 

Feeling your patience run out, you flicked your wrist and the witch was sent flying back against a nearby tree. Roots sprang up and wrapped around her tightly. She tried to use her powers to free herself, but you were faster. You got the cuff off Regina’s wrist and slapped it on her own wrist. Now she was useless. As your midnight blue irises stared down at her, she cowered in fear. Clearly, she had no idea who you were. 

“I don’t give a shit about your cat. It probably ran away due to how fucking stupid you are. But you were definitely smart enough to send that damn aconitum plant after one of our own. You’re extremely lucky the illness hasn’t gotten serious yet. However, you’re still going to help us create a cure.” 

“And if I don’t? What are you going to do, loser?” 

Oof. She was seriously getting on your nerves. A root wrapped itself around her neck and a slight choking sound emitted from her throat. All cockiness and pride were washed away as she realized the severity of the situation. 

Not only did she piss off the Good Queen’s and Wicked Witch’s little brother, she also pissed off the deadliest and most powerful wizard known throughout all of the kingdoms hidden in Storybrooke. 

The Demonic Ace. 

She gulped nervously and tried to apologize, but the root was constricting her voice so you loosened the root a little bit so she can apologize and cooperate. Once you deemed her apology decent enough, you let her go yet also kept her in place at the same time. She got the memo and led you and Regina to where she was hidden before guiding you guys on how to properly create an antidote for the effects of the illness. 

—-------------------------------------------------

That was almost three months ago. Robin got better, the stupid witch was detained, and you were back home playing video games. Until Zelena poofed in, grabbed your arm, and poofed out with you dragged along. Once you arrived at Granny’s Diner, you were glaring at her, indicating why she interrupted your gaming session. When she pointed in a different direction, you followed your eyes to where she was pointing. 

And boy were you glad. 

Sitting with your other sister, the Savior, and Henry was a gorgeous man. He had an equally gorgeous face with a pretty nose, pretty lips, piercing eyes, a piercing underneath his right eyebrow that had a slit on it, a sharp jawline, and black hair that was parted in a way. 

You were a sucker for undercuts and piercings. You also couldn’t help but find the mole under his eye very endearing. You then looked down at his outfit. 

You almost fell to your knees. 

He had on an all black fit that contrasted very fucking well with his honey colored skin. A black tank top, a silver cuban link, faded black skinny jeans, and black shiny boots. 

Regina said that black is her color, but in all honesty, you were ready to fight in order to defend your opinion. Because in this moment right now

Black was his color. 

Zelena pushed you to the table and as if they timed it, Regina, Emma, and Henry all moved out of the way before you fell into your seat. You sat up straight and you looked the man in the eyes, apologizing for being a klutz. He smiled brightly and shook his head. 

“It’s ok, babe.” 

HUH?!

BABE?!

WAIT DID THEY SET YOU UP ON ANOTHER DATE?!

As if he read your mind, he took your hand and kissed the back of it before setting it down and holding it gently in his own. 

“Let me explain. My name is Jung Wooyoung. I’m a new resident of Storybrooke. Before that though, I was under an animagus curse and roamed the streets as a black cat for three years. You broke that curse.” 

EVERYTHING MADE SO MUCH SENSE NOW! 

You blushed and shyly grinned at him before shaking your own head.

“It was nothing. And I’m sorry you got cursed. I totally understand if you don’t want to talk about it. Curses cast by witches and wizards fucking suck. But I’m glad I was able to free you!” You rambled nervously and he chuckled.

His voice was smooth and a bit higher than a normal guy’s, yet it was still airy. He leaned over the table and kissed your cheek. Your blush got worse after that. A smirk painted his face as he spoke. 

“Since I’m new, can you show me around?”

[tinyidle]

this or that: ateez smut edition

first of all, thanks my lovely @ilykhj for tagging me to be a part of this, and thanks to @sanspuppet for making such an amazzing "would you rather". it had me at the edge of my seat :) second of all, because im special *flips braids* ill give my answer + explanations for why i choose what i chose in bold small text, i.e. like this

WARNING: descriptions of filth because it's 10 pm and im a filthy beast at night so bear with me okayy? okayy, smut, female anatomy because i have that, fiction ofcofc

san tease you in your parents presence or tease wooyoung when with the other members? im a private person, but id rather get woo worked up in front of his friends instead of my parents seeing me get flustered 😵‍💫

vanilla sex with yeosang or hard sex with hongjoong? both are in my bias list lewnocwno but if id be real id prefer vanilla sex because rough/hard sex hurts afterwards (im assuming)

tease yunho with toys or jongho controlling the vibrator inside you for an entire day? i liked being controlled... end of story lol. but no, im a sub at heart, so jongho please

tie up mingi or bdsm with seonghwa? if the bdsm is light, then id choose seonghwa. i trust him blindfolding me and having him use me however

get spanked by san or be the dom with hongjoong? even though im scared of getting smacked by san because he slaps the damn air so hard, ill choose him

recieve nudes from jongho everyday or have a sex call every week with yeosang? i feel like jongho would have such aesthetic and slick nudes... ill choose him all the way

sub wooyoung or dom mingi? dom mingi because im weak for dom men

make seonghwa cum inside you or yunho cumming inside your mouth? idk about somebody else's fluids inside me, but since i have a slight breeding kink ill choose hwa 🤭

give a handjob to jongho or a blowjob to san? again, dont truly like the thought of someone else's fluids in my mouth, so handjob all the way

shower sex with mingi or kitchen sex with hongjoong? i have this reoccuring day vision of laying stomach-flat on the kitchen table while hj holds my hips still as he rams me full of his thick co- anyway, ill choose kitchen sex :)

one night stand with yeosang or morning sex with seonghwa? one night stands sound so horrible and unsafe, but with morning sex i know he's mine 🫶🏽 so morning sex it is

threesome with yungi while woosan is watching or threesome with seongjoong while jongsang is filming you? the latter are my bias and top two bias wrecker list, so yes. no but i want everyone to do things, not just watch me get wrecked

have san choking you while riding his orgasm or deny yunho’s orgasm? even though im a sub, irdk about choking, plus i kind of like the way yunho looks when he cries (tears of joy). so i would love to be the reason why he cries from pleasure

anal sex with mingi or receive oral from wooyoung? both sound so lovely, but i have a thing for the thought of a thick cock being eased into my ass, so anal with mingi it is

roleplay with hongjoong or unprotected sex with jongho? im conflicted with this, but id choose roleplay because safety first ;)

lick ice cream off of yunho’s dick or seonghwa lick chocolate off your breasts? imagine this man licking some hershey's or ferrero rocher's chocolate off your boobs, then top it all off by sucking on your nipples.. im choosing seonghwa

wooyoung pulls your hair or jongho spanks your ass while making out? i currently have box braids that are over a month old, so in no way am i letting anyone pulls my hair off lmao. jongho's hands are heavy (i bet), but i love the thought of him making me red while were simply kissing

be hongjoong’s cockslut or mingi be your fuckboy? i would get on my knees and kiss this man's everything if he so breathes the command

skype sex with yunho or sexting with yeosang? i think sexting is easier for me, since ive actually done that before. with yeosang tho i would love it a whole lot better than the last time i did it

send a dirty video to yeosang or receive a moaning audio from mingi? because he was such a great bf and sexter, id treat him with a nice video :)

sex in the dance studio with san or sex with jongho in the recording studio? i may be cliche but i think he and i would make a great duo with our sounds lmaoo..

missionary with seonghwa or doggystyle with mingi? im in love with my own ass, so i bet my man would love it too lol

cowgirl with yunho or wooyoung? is both an option? ill choose both. i love them sm

get fingered by san or eaten out by seonghwa? can i get both? PLSS. i would really love to get swallowed out by hwa's serpent tho so

sex with all of the members or fivesome with your top four members? im an ot8 in the depths to my soul to the point that im a homie hopper til i D I E

this was extremely fun for me, if you couldn't tell already hehe

anyone else who's a hornytiny like myself who follow me can join

[seokmatthewz]

my fav mingi stan, what do u hv to say abt this hair of his....

i absolutely hate it HSJDNDJDNND i don't think they've done a good job w it at all it doesn't suit him dnfkfnfmfm mingi baby im so sorry they did tht to u dnkffngm

[justaaveragereader]

I’m Not The Only One // WY

You’ve been attached to the hip since the age 10 and got married at the age of 20. Three years into marriage you realize that your husband has his eyes on another woman. You and a close friend of his hatch a plan to get even.

“You say I’m crazy. Cause you don’t think I know what you’ve done.” - Sam Smith

🌹Pair: Wooyoung x Reader, Hints of Yunho

🌹Genre: Angst, Slight Thriller

🌹Word Count: 2.7k

🌹Warnings: Cheating, Emotional Breakdown

🌹Authors Note: This is my first EVER fic, so I’m nervous! I love me some Ateez they are definitely my #1 group (multi stan) but they are for sure my favorite! I’m going to make this a two parter. Both parts will be based off of a song. I HIGHLY recommend listening to Sam Smith - Not The Only One while reading as this fic is what it is based off of. I really really hope you enjoy it! Part 2 is now up💗🌹!

There you stood..tears slowly pouring into the cupcake mix. Curious as to how this even all started between them, yesterday was just extra confirmation. The way he looked at her..he used to look at you like that. So much care and love in his eyes, laughing at every joke she said even when it was not funny. You couldn’t help but feel envious, heartbroken and slightly amused for what was yet to come. You gave Wooyoung the best years of your life. You both had met when you were ten years of age. Thick as thieves, No one was shocked when he kneeled down and proposed at the age of twenty and here you were, three years later..in your big house that constantly felt empty. He said she met her at the gaming lounge with Sannie. “Just gaming friends babe” is what he constantly told you. Naive at first you believed it. You ignored all those red flags. Until Yunho was tired of watching from the sidelines, the constant flirting between the two in front of him constantly made him physically ill. You will forever be grateful to Yunho for making you take your rose colored glasses off and showing you what was truly happening. Woo always shook it off denying anything going on between the two of them, calling you crazy but he couldn’t make it anymore obvious.

Tilting your head back to swallow the tears you had been pouring out the last hour and a half. Forcing a smile on your face. “Hello!” you answered cheerfully like you had not just been crying so hard your chest had hurt. “Baby! I am going to be a bit late! San decided to stop and get flowers for his mom.” You know he was with her. You weren’t dumb.. Once upon a time you were hopelessly in love but not dumb. His voice spewing out lie after lie was driving you up the wall, physically making you ill. You let out a soft chuckle, amused by the lies he constantly loved to tell you. “That's no problem. I am just baking.” you replied while leaning on the kitchen counter, exhaling and rubbing your hand over your forehead. “You are the best gorgeous. I love you.” “I love y-” He had hung up before you could even finish your sentence which you were happy that he had. You couldn’t possibly choke down another fake i love you to him. It was emotionally draining , you tightly gripped your phone, taking a deep breath in. Staring ahead to the living room remembering all of yesterday, the sparks between the two, anyone could feel it. Yesterday was just extra clarification to let you know what you truly needed to do.

“San grab the damn platter!” Woo yelled. While trying to balance board games in his hands. “No one told you to grab twister and Yahtzee! No one likes Yahtzee Woo!”  With a smack of his lips San grabs the meat platter and trails behind Woo. Y/N looked up from the current conversation she was holding with Yunho and her eyes trailed over to Woo who walked in sporting the biggest smile, like always. Yunho looked down at Y/N and his eyes flickered over to Woo. Everyone but Mingi knew what Woo was doing to Y/N but yet no one but Yunho had the nerve to even attempt to save her. Yunhos smiled faded once he realized Woo wasn’t even glancing your way. His eyes trailed over to Mila the girl Woo was now head over heels for. Yunho saw your armor cracking day by day while your armor was cracking his heart was breaking for you. Gritting his teeth, he tapped your shoulder “Should we join everyone on the floor?” He said while flashing his pearly teeth. You drew your attention back to Yunho..”Oh..of course!” You tried to put on a genuine smile but it was so hard you had watched your husband fall for another girl right in front of your own eyes, getting the extra clarification was just the stamp of approval for everything. Plopping on the floor next to Yunho..trying to muster up the best smile you could.

 “And that’s when I said! You can’t swim with sharks Woo!” Mila barked out gripping her stomach laughing. Woo doubling over letting out his squawk of a laugh. While everyone looked at you, letting a pity smile through, San letting out an awkward chuckle. While Yeosang played with the string on his sweatpants, Hwa was layering cheese on his crackers, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Hongjoong looked back and forth between Woo and Mila, slowly his gaze fell upon his slightly chipped painted nails. Jongho nervously flashed his gummy smile..”That's my Hyung thinking he can swim with sharks.” He chuckled nervously. Yunho looked down at you, stone cold dissociating from the current events taking place right in front of you. It’s like Yunho could see the wheels turning in your head. “Y/n Y/n...? Y/N!” You faded back into reality, looking up and smiling at Mingi. “Yea Mingles?”. “I just wanted to see if you were going to be going to the gaming lounge with us tomorrow?” It got deadly quiet...you were positive you could hear everyone's heart beating at how quiet it was. Your eyes flickered to Woos and Milas..they both stared at you so intensely. You flashed your eyes over to Yunho who was staring Woo down, he let out a small chuckle. You put on the biggest fake smile you could.

 “No sorry Mingles. I have loads of chores to do around the house.”  He frowned..”I have an idea! Why don’t we help out! That way you can come!” He smiled so big his eyes shut. You noticed Milas hands had shook like she was nervous hearing Mingi confirming whether or not you would be coming along. “NO!” Woo shouted. Everyone turned their heads, staring at him. Woo slightly coughed, desperately trying not to look suspicious but failing miserably, clearing his throat. “You know how OCD she is about her cleaning! She knows she can always catch up with us another day. Right baby?” He flashed his smile at you. Milas jaw tensed up at hearing him call you baby. Mustering up the best smile you could..you looked him in the eyes, slightly tilting your head to the right “Of course Woo.” Mingi slightly nudged you with this elbow “Please?” He said with such a sad look on his face. His eyes flashed up to Yunho then back down at you. “It's been so long since we’ve all hung out..it's been six months now..you are my friend too.” Yunho let his eyes roam over Woo staring what felt like straight into his soul “Y/n is a friend to everyone here. No one could replace her. If she doesn’t attend I might not even go. Hate to have someone in our friend group not come.” He spoke with a passive aggressive tone. Mingi looked up at Yunho, following where his eyes were occupied. Mustering up a smile, you patted Mingi on the back “I promise next time.” Sticking your pinky out and smiling genuinely at Mingi. He started pouting and held up his pinky to lock with yours. “Next time! You promised, so don’t forget or I will cry.” “He means that too!” Yeosang spoke up, flashing a half smile your way.

 “A promise is a promise..I would never break one.” You silently whispered to Mingi. “Aww that sucks! I was really hoping us girls could be closer!” Mila suddenly spoke up with a fake sad pout on her face. Woo smiled as soon as she spoke, instant reaction. If anyone told you that you would be sitting in the same room as your husband's not so secret, very obvious mistress, you would’ve told them that they obviously don’t know your husband well enough..but as those thoughts clouded your brain you realized you didn’t even know your own husband well enough.

  You slightly tilted your head to the side smiling at her “Anyone need something out of the kitchen? I’m a little thirsty.” Y/N said while getting up and dusting off their pants. Everyone quietly refused. Yunho watched you walk away with your head held high and even though he knew you were cracked on the inside, not broken, you would never let anyone notice. As soon as you were out of earshot. Yeosangs hand swiftly came up, thumping Woo in the back of the head. Wincing slightly Woo rubbed his head shooting daggers at Yeosang. Yunho's face shriveled up, shooting daggers at Woo, while Hongjoong rubbed his hands over his face. Jongho looking down and picking at his nails, Hwa stuffing a cracker in his mouth while looking between Woo and Yeosang, San looking anywhere but his members. Mingi looked at his group of friends folding his legs up to his chest, feeling the shift in the air, making himself feel small. He could feel that something was going to change within their group dynamic..but he couldn’t exactly place his finger on what it was. He knew something was brewing, now he was just waiting for everything to boil over.

The pre heated oven beeping had brung you out of your thoughts. Blinking rapidly..you let a small smile creep on your face while wiping your tears. Only if Woo knew that you knew not only did Yunho and Mingi not attend the gaming lounge after yesterday's events, none of the boys did. You knew he was with her, the long nights of him coming home, you could smell her on him. Did he really think you were that blind...naive at times? Yes, stupid? Not in the slightest. You let out a small laugh which turned into you hysterically laughing, laughing so hard tears were pouring out of your eyes..you don’t know if they are tears of laughter or tears of pure heartbreak and realization. You let your hands run over your hair. Looking into the glass on the oven door...looking at your current state..eyeliner running down your cheeks, mascara smudged, your wicked smile painted on your face, truly looking like a scorned lover, insane. While continuing to look in the reflection. You decide you are in the mood for a much needed drink you waltz to your liquor cabinet. Sipping straight from the tequila bottle. Slowly the liquor was doing wonders on your body and giving you liquid courage. You push yourself off your kitchen counter...eyeing your and Woos wine glasses, the ones you sipped from on your wedding night, the ones you vowed over, promised over. A blind rage mixing with the liquor pumping in your veins. You grab your wine glass and pour Tequila in it. “For better or for worse! Sickness and health! For rich or for poor! You yell while raising the glass in the air, pouring the liquor from your glass in your mouth, suddenly you throw your wine glass at the wall screaming, letting out the pent up anger in your body surface. You shove all glasses from the cabinet, hearing them crash at your feet, sounding like the most beautiful music. Smiling wickedly, you open more cabinets as you throw all your wedding glass dishware that you saved from that special day on the kitchen floor. Letting out screams of frustrations, screams of being heartbroken, screams of defeat because you dedicated so many years to him.

 Opening every cabinet, you can in the kitchen and throwing the glass on the floor. Tears are pouring down your face, while you laugh menacingly. The glass crashing, while letting out heart wrenching sobs, You saved his wine glass for last..reaching up to grab it. Looking at an object with so much hate and disgust, you drop it hearing the glass shatter sends shivers up your spine. It's all sounding like the most beautiful symphony you have ever heard. The sweet symphony is cut short when you hear your phone ring. Pulling your head out of the current events you answer without even noticing who was calling. “Hello?” you answer, trying to catch your breath. “Baby! I will be home in about 30 minutes. While I was coming back from picking up dinner I got a flat. Don’t worry though, it's fixed! Also I picked up dinner!” He says with a slight laugh in his tone. Woo goes on talking in that loving voice which you have grown to realize that you hate. Your eyes flash to the clock on the oven realizing that almost two hours have passed by. You smile “Oh how generous of you Woo.” you say while rolling your eyes. First it was San who was getting flowers. Now it’s coming back from picking up dinner? “Well love, I will see you in 30 minutes.” you quickly hang up. Looking at the glass on the floor...you wickedly smile again. Waltzing over to grab the broom you start cleaning with the biggest smile plastered on your face. This was it you thought, your armor has finally cracked, your mental state is now in shambles, you’ve officially lost your mind you think while a smile continues to break across your face. You spin the broom around like it is a person while silently laughing. Catching another glimpse of yourself in the oven door. You realize you have to clean up your face, quickly you rush off to the bathroom and fix your makeup, reapply your perfume, while taking a long swig from the tequila bottle, and brush your teeth to get rid of the liquor smell that was heavy on your breath. Just as you were making your way to the kitchen while adjusting your shirt.

You hear Woo pull into the driveway. Putting up the tequila and grabbing your mixing bowl and whisk which you had neglected for hours. You make your way to the front door, flicking on your front porch light to greet Woo. Opening the door slowly with a huge smile on his face “Hello baby!” He greets you with open arms, bags of take out in one hand and his bag in the other. You forcefully smile “Welcome home my love.” you place down the mixing bowl full of cupcake batter, slowly lifting your arms to put around his neck. While leaning in you notice the slight foundation smudge on his collar, rolling your eyes you hug him back. “I’ve had the longest day!” Woo says while placing his bag down and carrying the takeout to the kitchen. Hearing his voice get smaller and smaller as he walks away. You walk up to the front door, looking across the street, locking eyes with Yunho who is sitting in his car. You give him a thumbs up. He throws his head back on his headrest and lets out a chuckle, eyes dragging back over to you slowly. 

The eye contact between the two of you darkens and you both let a wicked smile grow on each other's faces, smiles so big it resembles the Cheshire cat. “Honey, are you coming?” Wooyoung says while walking towards you, he puts his hands on your waist. You throw him a simple and breathless yes, while smiling and staring at where Yunho was parked. Wooyoung looks down and notices your big bright smile. 'What's got you smiling so big baby?’ he questions while internally you want to vomit. “I’m just happy is all.” You say while letting out a soft sigh, dropping the smile you were giving Yunho and settling for a more subtle smile. “Come on, let's go eat.” He says with a small tug to your waist retreating to the kitchen again. You step back in the house, before flicking off your porch light. Yunho starts his car, before he drives off he throws a wink your way. Flicking off the porch light..you can still make out his eyes in the darkness that are staring straight at you. He starts to pull off, while he’s driving off down the street you hear his menacing laugh in your ears echoing down the dark street, resembling the laugh you were letting out earlier in your kitchen. You step back in your house silently humming to yourself while walking to the kitchen with a wicked grin on your face.

“You say I'm crazy

'Cause you don't think I know what you've done

But when you call me baby

I know I'm not the only one.”

I love the thriller vibe of Yunho😭💗! I swear I can see him playing a villain/bad guy in a drama! So what are we thinking, what are our thoughts? Who do you think in Ateez would be the perfect villain/bad guy in a drama?

Thank you so much for reading🫶! Part 2 is now up and posted!

👇 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

I’m Not The Only One // YH Part 2

DO NOT REPOST OR MODIFY.

[glilboy]

ATEEZ Reactions to finding you reading smut about them: Maknae Line

i tried so hard to finish this afterworo and before bed lol. the first part did, so well? im genuinely shocked ill be honest. hope this one is just as good.

requests are open btw!!

tws below the cut

Warning! This work of fiction contains mentions of quirofilia, strength kink, dom/sub dynamics implications and general explicit topics

San:

"Baby just let me play it I just want to get us to the same level," San whined at you about a game you both played. He practically coaxed you into playing but now you genuinely enjoyed it, being hesitent to let him get you farther.

"I want to experience it myself though Sannie," you pouted back at him leaning your head on his shoulder.

"I just want to do the things you've been avoiding! It'll give you enough experience to be the same level, please," his voice became higher pitched which was your call to just let him do it.

"Whatever," you said in a fake angry voice, instantly giggling, "you do that, I'm gonna go grab a snack." You hopped up and off the bed, leaving your phone for him to mess with.

Picking up your phone, happy he got his way, he went to open the app but one was already open.

Humming he read a bit and when he read his name he twitched a little. So this was what you liked. San made you extremely nervous which caused you to be a bit hesitant to share what you liked in bed. You planned to tell him one day but he hurried that process up.

Hearing you coming back he quickly opened the right app even though he now had no actual intention to progress you.

"I am back!" you smiled plopping down with some cut fruit.

"No shit," he mused causing you to roll your eyes with a smile. His brain itching to do something now, an idea popped in seeing you eat the fruit.

Taking a piece of strawberry he held it up to your lips, you unknowingly smiled and took the fruit into your mouth. His breathing accelerated. Waiting a few minutes before he took another piece, he at first popped a piece into his mouth then grabbing another to hold it up again. You took the piece but a muffled sound of surprise came out with it when san shoved his fingers inside a bit.

Looking at him wide eyed and confused you met his which looked at you intensely. You didn't even have a chance to stop yourself before you started to suck his fingers.

"Fuck," he mumbled his gaze going a bit hazy at seeing you like this.

After sucking on his fingers for a moment you let go with a pop.

"You should really let me read more of those stories Y/N," him saying that is what made it all hit.

"Wait- oh shit," you mumbled before he took your jaw in one of his hands squishing your mouth open. The other holding another piece and pressing it to your tongue.

"I would've known sooner just how pretty you think my hands are dear."

Mingi:

Mingi could feel his face turn red, not suspecting is seemingly soft tasted girlfriend to read stuff like this. He was just trying to help! You were busy cooking dinner and asked him to send a text back to your friend, forgetting what you were last doing.

He gulped and set down your phone once sending the message. He wanted to talk about it but he had no clue how to bring it up. Once seated eating dinner you could feel the energy was off since earlier he was in such a great mood. You chose to ask about it after the meal not wanting to have an awkward dinner.

Washing the dishes you didn't feel Mingi approach from behind until he wrapped his hands around your waist.

"Hm? What's up baby?" You hummed softly with a smile.

"Can you do the dishes later...I need to talk to you about something," He set his chin on your shoulder and you could just hear a slight pout in his voice.

Drying off your hands you turned around to look at him, "what's up Mingi?"

He leaned up and took a deep breathe making you a bit worried.

"I- um fuck- Y/N I saw whats on your phone," he hesitated before just ripping off the bandaid.

Your face instantly dropped mumbling a small "ah fuck"

You stayed silent with his hands sitting on your waist. You looked at him before speaking, "Gi, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Do you want to talk about how you feel about seeing it? I'm sure you're pissed."

He tilted his head questioningly at the end, "What no- I mean, like yeah it could be weird but you're reading about me so I don't see an issue, at least as of now."

You we're now pretty puzzled, a bit tongue tied. If you remembered right, the work you had been reading was well pretty aggressive so you were sure Mingi would be weirded out. He was a soft guy and you guys experimented occasionally but nothing that far.

Being able to tell you got in your head he spoke again, "I liked it. I...liked it Y/N."

Looking back at him, his hands tightened on your waist and he moved closer so your lips brushed each others.

"Please- Fuck, can we try it?"

wooyoung:

"Y/N! Can I use your phone for a second?" Wooyoung whined laying on the bed while you we're folding laundry. He wanted attention but you had chores to do.

"Why?" You looked at him weird, knowing he was up to something.

"You'll see," he smiled, just wanting to take selfies on your phone but opened it to a book of sorts.

Curiosity got the best of him as he skimmed the page, a faint blush creeping up his neck. You guys had done a lot but something in him was set off, a smile creeping up his lips.

"Pervert," He spoke deadpanned up at you making you frown before it clicked.

"Wooyoung."

"Y/N."

A moment passed before suddenly he popped up, grabbing your hair and forcing your face into the bed. A giggle sounded from behind you as he leaned down to talk into your ear, "You read stuff like that? You're that horny for just me that you read that kind of shit? Lord your fucking head over heels for me."

"Shut the fuck up-" Your voice got cut off as he lifted you up by your hair, a hand wrapping around your throat making your mind flutter.

"Say that one more time and I'll fuck your face until you pass out like that little book dear."

Jongho:

It was supposed to be a night filled with movies, snacks, giggles and cuddles but your bladder decided to change the trajectory of the night. Excusing yourself to the bathroom you left your phone on the table faced up, not remembering that you left your tumblr notifications on around someone. The phone pinged three times in a row, making Jongho curious to which he glanced over at it.

'c. j 10:15

strength kink'

"What," he said outloud.

Clicking on the notification he began to read the work, blushing at it and embarrassed that he..liked it. Licking his lips he looked around a bit flustered.

When he heard the bathroom door shut he quickly set your phone back down, trying to not awkwardly sit there. You came back like nothing was wrong, cuddling into his side continuing to watch the film.

This is where a few days passed, each day driving Jongho more and more up the wall. Hiding in the bathroom at the studio just to get off without the chance of being caught, at least by you. Scenarios spinning in his head constantly making him want to do anything and everything at once.

When he got home that day you weren't there, his need skyrocketing to the moon. He quickly made it to your bed room and moved to the bed taking off his shirt in the process. He searched around frantically for anything of yours, spotting a t-shirt a few feet away. He pulled down his sweats letting his member spring free, bringing the shirt up to his face to inhale your scent and began to jerk off.

You on the other hand just had your friend drop you off, you jumping up the stairs excited to bring home some pastries to your boyfriend. Coming inside you quickly slipped off your shoes and looked around for him. Seeing he wasn't in the living room you headed towards your bedroom asumming he was there. Opening the door to a sight to see, Jongho jerking himself off while smelling your shirt.

You stood there silent until he opened his eyes, him now being in such a deep mindspace he didn't even seem phased. Slipping his pants back up he waltzed over to you and stood there staring at you.

"I've been going fucking insane, Y/N," he spoke getting closer, shutting the door behind you.

"What do you mean baby?" You asked softly at him. He smiled a bit and lifted a hand to your shoulder making you inhale.

"Your little fucking stories Y/N."

You looked at him wide eyed, thinking you might know which one he saw. "Jo- Fuck I'm sorry, oh god," you began to frantically apologize.

That was when he picked you up and held you up against the wall with one arm, the other hand sitting lazily around your neck.

"No. No. You've been driving me crazy in a good way. Now let me fuck you against this wall unless you want me cumming in your t-shirt."

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝚂𝚎𝚡 𝚃𝚊𝚙𝚎 (𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐 & 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚒 𝚂𝚊𝚗) 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍

𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐 (𝙰𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚣) × 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎) × 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚒 𝚂𝚊𝚗 (𝙰𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚣)

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝚂𝚖𝚞𝚝, 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏.

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝚆𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐'𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 𝟻𝙺+

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝚅𝚘��𝚎𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚖, 𝚜𝚎𝚡 𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝), 𝚎𝚡𝚑𝚒𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚖, 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕 (𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐), 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚙*𝚜𝚜𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚞𝚗𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚡 (𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗), 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚎, 𝚅𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚞𝚛! 𝙳𝚘𝚖! 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐 × 𝙳𝚘𝚖! 𝚂𝚊𝚗 × 𝚂𝚞𝚋! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝: @seacottons @multidreams-and-desires @yunhofingers @yunhoiseyecandy @little-precious-baby @galaxteez @deja-vux @brie02 @couchpotatoaniki @rvse-miingi @daniblogs164 @a-soft-hornytiny

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The young female looked at the male in front of her in an appalled manner.

"Umm.....what?" She could not believe the words that just came out of his mouth.

Her boyfriend however didn't seem bothered by her reaction nor did the overly enthusiastic smile on his face brush off.

"How do you feel about helping me make a sex tape?" He repeated his previous request.

The girl raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if perhaps he was still drunk from the previous night in which he and some of the other members decided to act like dumb teens and got wasted in their dorm, resulting in him drunk calling his girlfriend and her coming over to help out the oldest and the tallest member control the other 6 men who were going berserk.

"When did you even get an idea like that?" She questioned him.

"Last night actually."

She threw her hands up and huffed.

"That's it. I'm not letting you anywhere near any alchohol for the next year." She swore to herself.

"Awww Y/N, baby, come on, don't be like that. Hear me out."

Taking one of her arms, he pressed her body against his, both of them still warm given it hadn't been long since they got out of the comfort of the bed. With one hand caressing her lower back and the other running itself through her hair, Hongjoong began to lazily press kiss across her jaw, knowing fully well it was a weakness to get her to give in.

"Think about how pretty you'll look. I'll edit it so you look even more beautiful. It'll be like one of those romantic adult films we watch together, and I know for a fact you like watching the explicit scenes."

Y/N let out a soft and shy giggle at being called out like that. She had often wondered, even out loud, how actors could actually go forth with such erotic scenes. She had to admit she admired their courage for doing them so effortlessly.

"Are you sure it's not something you wanna film to take with you whenever you're oversea? Watch a replay of you fucking me dumb?"

Now it was Hongjoong's turn to blush red. Y/N noticed how he swallowed hard, meaning there was something else.

"Hongjoong..... you were suggesting that you film us having sex...right?"

Hongjoong's eyes began to waver nervously.

"Well um...I was actually thinking more along the lines of....... someone else.....fucking you.." He stammered the last parts out.

"Are you serious?!" Y/N pushed him off her in a horrified manner, her hands fanning her face as she felt herself getting hot all of a sudden.

"Come on. You're acting like it's illegal or something. No one else besides us, and I guess the third person, will know about it." He tried to convince her.

"It's not illegal but it is insane. Who did you even think would agree to something like this?" She crossed her arms, waiting to hear what brilliant idea he came up with.

"I was hoping one of the guys would be a willing-"

"No way! That'd be even more embarrassing! It already gets awkward whenever one of them accidentally walks around with no shirt on around me, how could I possibly look at them in the face after we fuck?"

Not willing to listen to her crazy boyfriend, Y/N picked up her bag and reminded him to drink lots of water before sauntering out of his room, waving goodbye to Seonghwa who was in the kitchen and leaving before Hongjoong made things more embarrassing for her. Slumping down on the kitchen table, Hongjoong had a huge pout on his face.

"Lover's quarrels?" His same age friend asked as he began rinsing the dishes.

"Something like that." Hongjoong sighed.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you two will figure it out. One of you ends up giving in sooner or later." He assured him.

Seonghwa was indeed right. Even if either one of you said no at first, you'd always, always, end up giving in just to try something new. That thought made Hongjoong lighten up and he began to think more about how to put his plan in motion. Firstly, he needed to pick one of the members who not only would be comfortable doing something like that, but would match the needed sex appeal.

"Jongho is out of the question. He's never even dated anyone." Hongjoong began thinking, evaluating in his head all his possible candidates.

"Mingi isn't a good choice either, he already has a lot to deal with so I'm not even going to bother with him."

Hongjoong then thought about Yeosang. He was good looking, but the problem was Yeosang was extremely reserved, not to mention he and Y/N weren't very close to each other. It would be bad chemistry. And his roommate and best friend Wooyoung was a strict no.

"I already know that little brat has a little crush on my girlfriend. If anything letting him fuck her would be like giving a little kid a candy shop all to themselves. I need someone who has absolutely no romantic inclinations so afterwards everything can go back to normal."

Turning his head, Hongjoong scanned Seonghwa up and down. He seemed like a possible choice. He was tall, very handsome, he and Y/N got along very well, in fact he was the one closest to her besides him. He knew for a fact Seonghwa was not innocent or pure in the slightest bit. And he'd be very professional about it. It seemed there was no question about Seonghwa being the best candidate.

"Wait! But they're close. What if this plan backfires and I accidentally ruin their friendship?"

Hongjoong groaned as he realized this was proving to be a lot harder than he thought. His mind then thought about Yunho. Yunho would be perfect in the more erotic sense given his size. He was tall, lean but well built and with defined muscles. And it'd be pretty interesting to watch and see if his girlfriend would be able to take a monster cock like that cause Yunho was definitely packing a lot.

Getting up, Hongjoong seemed decided as he walked down the hallway to have a little chat with his favorite donsaeng. Just before he could knock on the door to his room, it actually opened by itself, or more like, someone else came out right at that moment. It was none other than San, whose recently dyed blonde hair was messy. His skin had somewhat of a glow to it even if he was suffering from a major hangover. He was completely shirtless, his honey abs looking amazing as usual. The sweatpants he was wearing were hanging low on him, the V line near his pelvis poking out. And to top off the visual, his nipples were sticking out due to the piercings that he had recently gotten, a naughty secret that he had kept well hidden for a while til Wooyoung ratted him out. Hongjoong had never actually seen them, but now that he did, a light bulb went off in his head.

"Hyung.....my head is killing me." San groaned loudly, one arm weakly holding him steady against the doorframe.

That tiny sound that came out of the younger male's mouth sealed the deal for Hongjoong. San was absolutely perfect.

"Sannie....... when you're feeling better, Hyung wants to talk to you about something."

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"You're looking especially lovely tonight my dear." Hongjoong looked at his girlfriend who was sitting patiently on her bed, wearing a cute off white two piece lingerie set.

"You always say things like that whenever I'm going to suck your dick." She pointed out, although it wasn't meant to be ill intended.

Hongjoong simply continued to have that suspicious smirk plastered on as he finished setting up the last camera, having placed several ones on different parts of the room to capture different angles of the scene that was about to take place in those 4 walls. On a small stand, he had already installed his laptop so he could monitor more closely all the shots being taken and to start or pause anything if needed. Glancing at the time, he knew it was only a matter of time before their guest arrived.

"You're taking awfully long for someone who was aching to get their dick wet." She snorted, wondering how on earth could Hongjoong be so calm and collected.

Hearing a knock on the door, Y/N raised an eyebrow as she was not expecting anyone, but it seemed Hongjoong wasn't fazed at all. He actually sprinted out of his seat in lighting speed to open the door.

"Yeah but it's not my dick that's getting wet." He sent her a wink.

Before she could even ask him what he meant, San was already being dragged inside the room. He too looked puzzled when he saw his older friend's girlfriend on the bed wearing something so daring.

"Wow! Ok! I take it I got here too early?" San asked as he covered up his face with his hands.

"No San, you're not early. You're right on time actually."

Slumping an arm around him, Hongjoong pulled him into the center of the room.

"He's the one getting his dick wet."

Once she realized what was happening, Y/N grabbed a pillow and chucked it at her scheming boyfriend.

"Kim Hongjoong! You liar! You told me that we were going to be filming a sex tape between ourselves!" She exclaimed.

"A what?!" A confused San shouted, now more embarrased than ever.

"I knew that if I told you both what I really wanted you here for neither of you would agree and would probably think I'm weird or something." Hongjoong tried to explain himself.

"Oh I don't think, I know you're weird, wanting one of your members and your girlfriend to fuck each other just so you could make a porn out of it."

San reddened furiously at her words, eyes looking everywhere but at Hongjoong or Y/N. By now he had already opted for just staying quiet as he listened to the couple banter back and forth amongst themselves.

"What made you think San, out of all people, would want to even touch me?"

That caught said man's attention.

"Wait, hold on. What's that supposed to mean?" He squinted at her, eyes narrowing into slits. Y/N could feel the immediate change in his demeanor.

"Well you know just that.....it's you we're talking about San. Do you know how many girls thirst over you? Why would you even bother looking at someone like me when you look like that?" She gestured at his body and face, trying to get her point across.

San felt somewhat offended by her statement. She made it out to be like he was superficial or that he only cared about looks. Moreover, he didn't like hearing her talk about herself in that way. Brushing past his Hyung, San came to stand in front Y/N, eyes peering down at her. Feeling the intensity of his stare bear down on her, especially given her state of near undress contrasting his full dressed self made her feel self conscious. When she tried to cross her arms to cover herself, San was having none of that as he suddenly gripped her wrists and held them in front of her face.

"And do you have any idea how many of us have checked you out even though we know that you belong to Hongjoong? Do you think some of us didn't feel bad when we found out he decided to take you for himself?"

His admittance not only shocked her but her boyfriend behind them, who had thought only one member had been disappointed when they announced that they were dating. Noticing her shocked expression, San leaned in and smiled at her innocently.

"Don't worry too much about me though, I was mostly disappointed at the fact that I might never get a chance to tap that cute ass of yours." He expressed with no hint of shame whatsoever. San drew his gaze down to fully look at her, admire her silhouette for the first time ever since he walked in the room.

"But now that I know Hyung wants someone to fuck his girlfriend...well.... it'd be my pleasure." He let out a low chuckle before pulling her against him, hands caressing the sides of her torso. Taking one of her hands, he brought it up to his face to place kisses on her palm. Turning to the man that was forgotten for a minute, San raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me right now if there's anything you definitely don't want me to do, otherwise I'm going to have my way with her as I like."

Hongjoong thought about it for a second, wondering if there was something he did not want.

"You're absolutely not allowed to leave hickeys on her. I don't mind you leaving red hand prints or even cumming inside her since that can be cleaned up or will fade in a coupe's hours."

Moving back to go sit on the chair next to the laptop, Hongjoong leaned back and stared at San with a warning glare.

"But I want absolutely nothing that will last for days. That's only for me to do."

San scoffed at how silly Hongjoong sounded, but nodded nonetheless. Meanwhile Y/N looked back and forth at their exchange with fascination. It was arousing hearing them talk about her as if she was nothing more than a mere sex object, and she was loving it.

"Oh and San? Remember I'm going to film this. Try to make it as interested as possible. I mean... if you can that is." Hongjoong smiled slyly, sending challenge to the younger member.

"Oh trust me. I'll fuck her like she's famous." San bragged.

Y/N watched as San began pulling his shirt over his head. Raking her eyes over his arms, abs and chest, they widened considerably when they saw the metal piercings on his nipples. One hand actually came to clasp around her open mouth, she was that surprised.

"Remember I told you not to baby him too much cause he's not actually a baby?" Hongjoong snickered at her reaction, actually finding it funny.

"Hey if it diverts attention from you, I don't care."

Pushing her back until they were right next to the bed, San cupped her face and leaned in, lips nearly kissing hers.

"Are you all right with this?" He wanted to get her consent before anything else.

Letting out a hum, Y/N wrapped her hands on the base of his neck.

"Fuck me like I'm famous." She repeated what he said before.

"Ok."

As soon as their bodies and mouths connected, Hongjoong's finger pressed record so as to not miss anything. Sitting back, he decided to enjoy the show, a satisfied smile on his face after seeing that everything had gone according to plan. Their lips molded perfectly against each other's, their makeout session rivaling those of some of the biggest and steamy ones they'd see on tv. Tracing the outline of his lips with her tongue, Y/N successfully managed to get San to allow her access into his mouth. Her tongue settled against his and vice versa, muffled humming adding to the intensity of their kiss. San couldn't keep his hands off her lower back, eventually placing them right on her ass. Hongjoong inwardly patted himself on the back as he had deduced before that San was more of an ass man and now he was getting confirmation of it as he watched his hands cup and harshly squeeze his girlfriend's cheeks.

Not wanting only him to have his fun, Y/N thought it would be a good idea to test just how sensitive his nipples were. Sliding a hand up his torso, it pressed itself onto one of his pecs. She grinned when San emitted a whimper in her mouth when she pinched on his nipple, making sure to twist some of the piercing around.

"Oh my-" San groaned when her mouth detached itself from his in order to give attention to his nipples. He was whining and whimpering each time her tongue flicked around his buds and letting out choked gasps when her teeth would softly tug at them.

"Enjoying your new toy?" Hongjoong piped up, reminding them both that they were being watched.

"Just as much as you're enjoying me wreck your girl." San spat back at him, hissing when he suddenly felt Y/N sucked onto one of his nipples.

"Please. I've barely seen any action yet."

Hearing his taunting words, San pushed Y/N onto her knees, bringing her face close to the tent in his pants. Tilting her chin up, he rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip.

"You have really pretty lips. All plump and pink.... I wonder how they'll look like if they're red, swollen and stuffed with my cock."

Making a quick work of his zipper, San pulled his jeans down along with his underwear, letting out his cock that was thick and well above average in length. Y/N licked her lips when she saw that the tip was glistening with precum that had dripped out when it was freed from its confinement. San was definitely bigger than Hongjoong, she wasn't going to deny that. She began to wonder if she could even fit that entire thing in her mouth, but she for sure wanted to try.

"I think the little cockslut is eager to suck you off San." Hongjoong sat up straighter in his seat, eyes focused on every detail in front of him.

"Is that right?"

Y/N exhaled softly when she felt San slap his cock against her cheek, running the tip on her cupid's bow.

"Go ahead. Just try and see if you can take me." He shot her a cocky grin.

Wanting to wipe that grin off his face, Y/N inserted the tip inside her mouth, keeping eye contact with San the entire time. She first tested the waters by slurping his head, indeed getting a reaction out of him since his thighs involuntarily shuddered. Feeling motivated, she slowly took more of him into her mouth, inch by inch he was slowly stuffing her full. Her cheeks hollowed out to help her fit him better, but still she gagged slightly when she felt him hit the back of her throat. Nevertheless she was proud of herself at being able to stuff his cock in her.

"Holy crap Y/N, are you trying to prove something?" Hongjoong stared in shock and arousal at seeing his significant other with another man's cock down her throat.

"Yeah, prove that she likes my cock better than yours." San gloated as he pulled her off his length only to stuff it back in and causing the female under him to let out a choked out gasp followed by a line of drool spilling onto the floor.

Grabbing her hair and pulling it up into a makeshift ponytail, San used it to keep her head up as he began a pattern of pulling out slowly only to force himself back inside her. He loved watching the messy scene in between his legs. Spit running down Y/N's chin, the corners of her eyes stained with tears, her muffled whines that were muted every time his shaft filled her mouth, the way his leader was sitting just a few feet away watching as his precious girlfriend was getting face fucked by someone else, San was enjoying it too much. His head was thrown back as he kept forcing his cock deep in her mouth, the loud slurping sounds of her swallowing around him complimenting the hisses and groans that were being exuded from his lips.

"Fuck! Oh my- are you ok with me cumming in your mouth?"

Judging by the way Y/N moaned around his organ and her hand cupped his balls to fondle them, San was taking that as a green light. Releasing her hair, he held onto the back of her head and pushed himself forcefully to and fro in her wet cavern, using it as leverage to help him reach his climax. Through shattered breath and clenched teeth, San's cum poured down her throat, hips stuttering and bucking further up to help him ride out his orgasm. When he pulled out, Y/N immediately gasped for air, her hair in complete disarray, lips darkened and wet with saliva.

"If that isn't one of the hottest images I've ever seen." Hongjoong added his input. He always did love seeing what a mess Y/N turned into after getting her pretty and delicate face fucked and abused.

Y/N smiled over at her boyfriend, looking at the tent in his pants before sending him a flirty wink accompanied by a swipe of tongue across her lips.

"You can suck him off after I'm done with you baby, but right now, I want you focused on me." San made her turn her attention back to him as he lifted her off the floor and set her on the edge of the bed. He showed no hesitation as he practically ripped her underwear off her body before tossing it behind him, making sure it landed on Hongjoong's lap.

"Jerk yourself off with that in the meantime cause you're not getting her back for a while."

Toying with the fabric in his hand, Hongjoong sneered at the younger male.

"Trust me, I have more self control than you'd think." He assured him.

"Let's see about that."

Getting down on his knees to be at eye level with her wet and shining folds, San dived in and began consuming her taste. His tongue moved languidly around her slit, savoring her taste on his tongue. Y/N's hands gripped and clutched the blanket underneath her, causing it to wrinkle up from how hard she was tugging at them. Her breath hitched whenever San gave all of his attention to her clit, sucking on the sensitive flesh until it began developing a slightly reddish tint. Her lips were also becoming engorged as San continued his assault on her mound, face practically buried inside her thighs. All throughout it, Hongjoong just took in every sharp intake of breath and every scrunched up expression Y/N made. It gave him joy to know she was definitely enjoying herself, her pleasure always been something he took into consideration.

"Good to see you know how to eat a girl out Sannie. I was afraid I was going to have to step in and show you why rapper are superior." He couldn't help himself but boast, after all, he had pride in being able to get a girl to cum multiple times with just his tongue.

Ignoring the older man's words, San gripped her thighs to hold her down. His tongue sped up as it slurped and slithered all over her heat, applying just enough pressure with his broad strokes across her labia folds. The girl on top of him tried to move his face away from her body as she felt the blood rushing down to her legs, face becoming heated as she knew she would burst any moment. She blamed Hongjoong for this, having spoiled and played around so much with her pussy that she was overly sensitive whenever she received oral sex. The fire pooling in her lower abdomen was about to explode.

"Ah! San- please!"

Muscles tightening and her upper body writhing, Y/N couldn't hold back as she began pumping out her orgasmic juices, her back falling back on the mattress while her mind blocked out anything that wasn't the immense feeling that was taking over her senses at the moment. San lapped up her juices generously, feeling smug about getting her to cum, although he knew it wouldn't be the only time she would be doing that. Sitting up, he allowed her to catch her breath and regain her senses before he continued with what he had in store.

Hongjoong looked with curiosity as San made Y/N sit back up and turned her over on all fours. Hongjoong couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips.

"You're gonna fuck her doggy style? Can't you be more creative?"

San didn't let his words deter him, he simply unclipped Y/N's bra and removed it from her body.

"I told you I was gonna fuck her like she's famous and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

His hands roamed across her body, caressing the curves and dips of her hips as he pressed his erection in between her ass cheeks. Y/N pushed her ass further back, impatient at the thought of having her hole filled up by him.

"See? Even she wants to be fucked like a little bitch in heat."

Y/N couldn't suppress the moan escaping her lips at being degraded like that.

"Wow, you're such a whore." Hongjoong mused when he heard her reaction.

"You offered this whore to your friend now suck it up and watch him pound my pussy." She giggled softly.

"Oh baby, I'm not just going to pound this pussy. I'm aiming to destroy it."

Lining himself against her hole, San slowly sunk his length deep into her walls. He felt as if he was being swallowed by her warmth that it took everything in him not to start fucking her right then. He made sure to give her time to adjust to his size.

"Hyung do you not fuck her enough? She's unbelievably tight and she feels too good." San grunted, dick twitching inside her as it ached for any sort of movement.

Hongjoong did not hide his displeased face.

"I fuck her quite often thank you very much."

San clicked his tongue in a cocky way.

"Whatever you say."

Y/N cried out in a high pitched tone when San suddenly pulled out only to plunge himself back into her. He set a merciless rhythm as his cock tore her walls open, stretching them as far as they could go, a stinging yet delicious burn heating her up. Strangled noises proceeded to spill forward from her throat mixing in perfectly with the sound of their skin smacking against each other. Shifting angles so his dick could hit against her g-spot every time it was shoved inside her, San's skin was already emitting that after sex glow, sweat beads forming on his temples. He looked completely focused, eyes trained on her ass cheeks that bounced with each of his thrusts. Unable to resist the urge, he brought one hand up so it could slap her skin.

"Oh s-shit!" She exclaimed, the force and unexpected smack on her bum nearly had her upper body collapsing on the bed.

"Can you smack her a little harder?" If Y/N wasn't so caught up with San fucking her so harshly, she would have noted the nearly sadistic tone in her boyfriend's voice.

"Just tell me if I can't take it baby." San caressed the patch of skin he had just slapped.

"Trust me, she can. She enjoys a little pain every now and then." Her boyfriend dished on that dirty little secret.

One slap was soon followed by several more. San made sure to alternate between each of her butt cheeks. Y/N's wailing began to get increasingly louder and frantic, her ass stinging every time San's hand smacked it, making a majority of it turn a deep red color. But he made sure that it wouldn't leave any bruising or anything of that sort remembering Hongjoong's previous rule.

"Damn you're so fucking loud."

The shocked gasp coming out her mouth was half muffled when San pushed her head against one of the pillows, effectively burying her loud mouth into the sheets.

"San didn't you said you'd fuck her like she's famous? Then why cover up her screaming?" Hongjoong pondered, one hand rubbing at the top of his thigh.

"Scream? You wanna really hear her scream?"

Yanking her back up from her hair, Y/N only managed to catch her breath for one second before she felt herself flipped onto her back. The intrusion of San's large cock was just as seering as the first one but it was welcomed nonetheless by her walls fluttering around his cock. One of her legs was thrown over his shoulder, his brutal pace heightening the build up in her stomach. Her fleshy mound was extremely swollen and had a pinkish red tint to it. Knowing how vulnerable she was, San licked his fingers before taking them out of his mouth only to have them come down on her clit.

"Oh-oh fuck!" Y/N threw her head back on the pillow, eyes shut tight with tears staining the corners of them as she felt slap after slap on her throbbing and pulsating pussy.

"You like that you little whore? Yes you do, you clench around me every time I do this." San smirked when he placed one final blow on her tender flesh that was responsive to any of his touches.

Y/N was starting to see white flashes of light in her vision, unable to hear or feel anything that wasn't the grazing inside her wetness. With whimpered crying, her arms and upper body writhed uncontrollably as San's hips continued jolting up into her, shaky breaths and pants keeping her from forming any coherent words as her juices poured out of her body. Feeling her heat cover him completely, San trailed not far behind her as his cock twitched and his seed painted her insides.

"Ah fuck!"

He jerked himself until he made sure to fill her to the brim, not satisfied until he had spurted out the last drop of cum he had in him to release. When he pulled out of her hole, he let out a groan of accomplishment as the white and milky like secretion seeped out of her hole, some of it glistening against her folds.

"You capturing that well Hyung?" San turned to Hongjoong.

"Oh trust me, it's all coming out beautifully." He answered as he looked at the computer screen, fingers working unbelievably quick to make sure to save the raw video in his files.

Getting up to go clean himself up on the bathroom, San picked up his clothes that were discarded on the floor. Before he could walk out the door, he was about to ask Y/N if she wanted to join him but she was already busying herself by kneeling in front of her boyfriend.

"Aren't you going to get cleaned up?"

Humming softly as she began undoing Hongjoong's belt, Y/N replied with a mischievous smile.

"Maybe later. Right now I gotta take care of my handsome man, after all, he's been sitting here with a hard ass boner." She chuckled as his dick sprang free.

"God, I love you so much baby."

[leejungchans]

— juliet on kingdom (episode 7).

juliet’s masterlist

from may 13’s episode

note: read the tweets from the bottom up 💕 keep in mind that this contains spoilers in case you want to watch the episode first :3 more under the cut bc this gets LONG ahjdhwjd 😔

— juliet’s outfit;

disclaimer: the blurring of faces in my outfit collages is in no way meant as a form of disrespect, the sole purpose is to put the focus on the hairstyle and there is absolutely no ill intent. thank you for understanding!!

so everyone really kinda freaked out last episode

bc they didn’t see juliet in the previews for the unit stages

she wasn’t with jongho, eunkwang and seungmin

nor was she with 3racha and joong

so that would leave the performance unit right??

atinys were desperately zooming into screenshots of the performance unit stage for any sign of our girl

and found nothing :(

even in the preview that came after the first one, she was nowhere to be seen 😔

eventually some people started theorising if it was bc mnet didn’t let her participate for whatever reason

and the truth is...drumroll please 🥁

SURPRISE

the boys sent her to be in the rap unit with joong 😋😋

mnet just didn’t show her scenes in the first two previews (like they did with minhyuk)

but she was in the previews where they went to jyp 🥺🥺

she was paired up with jisung for the 120-second interview :3

just two shy besties uwu

“why? why are you laughing?” jisung whines, “and right after you looked at my face too!”

juliet continues to laugh, hiding the lower half of her face behind her hands. “sorry, sorry, i’m not laughing at you, i promise!” she says between giggles, “i just didn’t expect us to be so nervous.”

“ah, i get shy around new people, more than what people would expect. so that’s kinda why i’m a bit awkward right now.”

“i’m like that too, but i thought we became closer friends during the sports day filming! i’m hurt!” she says, placing a hand over her heart.

“no, no, no!” jisung defends, waving his hands frantically, “we did! i’m still shy, i guess.”

“not shy, not me!” juliet sings in response, doing the hand movement in the choreography of itzy’s song.

stunned into silence by the sudden reference of his label-mates, jisung blinks at her owlishly before a loud ‘pft’ sound emits from both of them, and they dissolve into giggles once more.

“okay, okay,” she says, sobering up a little after a few seconds. “we need to do this seriously. no more being awkward! awkward is just a mindset.”

jisung’s eyes widen. “woah, you’re right. we won’t feel awkward if we just tell ourselves that we’re being cool.”

she nods approvingly. “exactly. we are cool.”

“okay then, let’s go!” he shouts enthusiastically, earning muffled snickers from the other members who are sitting off-screen.

juliet and jisung go quiet again from his outburst. she even tried to bite the inside of her cheek to stifle any laughter, but her efforts are futile as they both promptly collapse to the ground in a fit of giggles.

“i-i don’t think we can do this,” juliet wheezes to the cameras, clutching her stomach as tears gather in the corners of her eyes. beside her, jisung isn’t faring any better as he attempts to catch his breath.

off-screen, changbin playfully complains, “yah! what are you two doing? you’re supposed to be doing an interview!”

when she entered the jyp café with joong and minhyuk 3racha was like omg hiiiiiii

no one was happier than chan to see her 🥺

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI

3racha made her, joong and minhyuk sing their orders 💀💀

minhyuk: juliet your ears are so red lmao

juliet: [quickly untucks her hair so it covers her ears] do i really have to do this? 😭😭

chan: yes you do bestie 🤩

“[sighs] americanoooo~ joha joha~”

hongjoong: [cringes but also uwu bc she’s his baby]

3racha: kqjejwjdnsj awwww

minhyuk: ohhhhh~ cuteeee

smh juliet stop (unintentionally) collecting men 😔

okay but changbin treated them all with his jyp artist points 🥺🥺🥺 changbin best boy

juliet, to chan: i’ll come next time to use up your points 😼

minhyuk: me too!! juliet let’s go together!!!

yeah she malfunctioned for a second bc The™️ lee minhyuk just said that and he was her celebrity crush for the longest time pls

she is the most successful melody 😔

she was so excited when they all went to chan’s studio

“ohhhHhh so this is the famous chan’s room 😼 honoured to be here mate”

pls they named themselves 6racha and were literally just having a blast in the studio 😭😭😭

minhyuk: your voice sounds so different when you rap!!

juliet: really? 😅😅 i didn’t really notice

minhyuk: yeah it’s cool :]

okay but when they went to jypbob for lunch

she was so amazed by all the food

“😮😮😮 THIS ALL LOOKS SO GOOD WTF”

the Jeekies™️ making their debut on national tv

yes both jisung’s and juliet’s 🥰🥰

she was so shy when the others in mayfly came to watch rap unit’s rehearsal 😭😭😭

also everyone in the mayfly vocal and dance units went ❓❓❓ where is juliet????? shouldn’t she be here??????

felix: where’s my bestie :(

no lixliet for the unit stages 💔

wooyoung/jongho: oh she’s in the rap unit :D

“WDYM SHE’S IN THE RAP UNIT??????”

okay but as much of a power move this is, she was also so so so nervous

like, the most nervous she’s ever been on kingdom

bc she’s going to be performing with so many incredible rappers, juliet knows that she really has to give it her all to keep up with them

so she was Big Stressed™️ and not in a fun way

it was more of a “oh god what if i’m way too far behind and the difference in skill is so obvious that i cost our groups points????” way

but in true queen fashion, she definitely killed it during rehearsals and everyone in the unit reassured her that she had nothing to worry about 🥺🥺

move over round 2 juliet bc if you thought that was the last we’d see of rapper juliet, you have a big storm coming 😼😼

she rapped with hongjoong before he joined changbin, then rejoined the performance to rap with chan!!

aussie line stans are well fed ✨✨

girlie was collecting everyone in the audience 😼

pls but ateez was so proud of her bc they knew how stressed she was about this performance 😭😭😭

she was so relieved when mayfly won that she teared up before being pulled into the group hug :(((

“i’m so relieved by the results,” juliet says to the cameras during their backstage interview, the other members in the rap unit nodding in agreement. “we all had a lot of fun preparing for this performance, and i’m just really proud of us.”

“wait,” minhyuk says, tone laced with concern, “are you tearing up? why? we did well!”

hongjoong, sitting in the back row, reaches forward to pat juliet on the shoulder comfortingly as she goes silent to suppress the tears. “she was really stressed preparing for this performance, so she’s a bit overwhelmed right now,” he explains for her.

juliet inhales deeply before saying, “because our unit has so many great rappers, i felt burdened because i was scared that my rapping wouldn’t be up to par with everyone else’s. but everyone was so encouraging and kind, and it really helped me push through the pressure, so i’m very thankful.”

“ey, you did so well,” jisung says enthusiastically. “we never worried about your performance!”

now that their rap unit finished performing she could sit back and enjoy the other performances!!

she was mesmerised by it’s one’s dance unit bc their performance was so beautiful

she said :OOOOOO

then came mayfly’s dance unit!!!!

“MAYFLY LET’S GOOOOOOOO”

pls she was their biggest hypewoman 😭😭😭😭

literally screamed during san and felix’s part

then when wooyoung and felix did the stunt????

she lost her SHIT

the way mnet cut from chan’s worried “felix?” to juliet’s “FELIXXXXXX :D” 😭

“YEAHHHHHHHHH MAYFLYYYYY!!!!”

pls she was so so proud 😭😭😭😭😭😭

in conclusion mayfly are besties now ❤️❤️

— fan reactions;

a/n: hello is everyone okay because I AM NOT 💔💔 all the stages from today were so so good and i’m so proud of all the units 🤧🤧💗 i NEED the studio versions of all the songs from today <//3 (and from round 2 too 😭) also lemme know if you’d like to see the full version of jisung and juliet’s 120 sec interview!! 😋 (though i’m prolly gonna write it anyways whdjwhs) your feedback and support means a lot to me so tysm!! 🥺❤️

[songmingisthighs]

Project Jekyll and Hyde | ch. I

Group : ATEEZ

Pairing : ATEEZ x Reader

Genre : Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Word count : 3.5k

Warning : inaccurate science, talks of mental health/condition, mental illness (DID), mafia life, illegal activities, weapons

a/n : Okayy so I'm posting this as a 100 follower gift which is amazing because never would I have thought that I'd be able to score more than 100 followers within a week of launching my blog. Everyone just had been so supportive and so sweet and it makes me feel like I owe you guys something so I'm giving this my best.

It was madness.

Pandemonium.

People running around everywhere to hide from the monsters that ran free from their room.

"Wooyoung! Get-" Hongjoong got cut off as one of them pounced on him, using its advantage of having a bigger body against him. Fortunately, Hongjoong managed to get his gun out in time. He shot the creature on its shoulder, which only seemed to make the creature happy as a wide grin stretch on its face, the face he got so familiar with and would have been happy to see if it weren't for the fact that it's not really him.

Pushing the creature off him, he looked back at Wooyoung, "go get Yeosang and the doctor! Make sure that they bring her!" he yelled.

Wooyoung nodded and dashed off to get the people his leader had told him to get.

Hongjoong took a step back to see the destruction in the lab.

"How the fuck did this happen?"

Kim Hongjoong, Park Seonghwa, Jung Yunho, Kang Yeosang, Choi San, Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung, and Choi Jongho.

Roughly two months or more ago, eight men gathered to commence a project with the help of a psychiatrist who handled all of them.

Every single one of them is influential on their own way. Each and every one of them has an empire of their own in the dark world. To put it simply, they are all mafias working in different sectors.

They are who the doctor called his miracle cases, all have Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID, also known as multiple personality disorder before DSM-V changed the term) that was unable to be treated by anyone else. Well, except him.

They all previously had multiple alters (personalities), but now they all have but one. The doctor proposed that he has a way of ridding their alters once and for all, a crazy idea that came out of nowhere.

But the idea was crazy and enticing enough to lure all eight men into funding the project and go through with it.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Jongho asked from his place on the couch. For a while, they had occupied Seonghwa's ridonkulous, swanky mansion. The man loves luxury.

Jongho's question got the attention of everyone. Yunho walked into the living area with Yeosang, "what do you mean?" he asked, not sure what the youngest is so worried about.

The youngest sighed, looking around the room at everyone, "I-I know that this project is supposed to help us rid of our alters, but I don't know if transferring it to a living, breathing thing is the right thing to do," he sighed, leaning his body back to rest on the couch, "I know what Apple can do when he's in the light, and I just don't think an innocent being should bear it,"

Mingi walked past behind him and smack the back of his head, "you know, for a guy with a hitman empire behind him, you're awfully soft," he mocked, scoffing at Jongho.

Jongho was about to retaliate on Mingi, but Hongjoong sat next to him and pat his thigh, "I get it, and I feel you, Jongho," he sighed, "sometimes I'm scared of Red so much that on bad days, I'd just lock myself in the basement and let him run amok," he laughed bitterly, "and I wouldn't wish Red upon any other living things, but sometimes we gotta be selfish,"

Yeosang then piped in, "and besides, technically it's not a living thing so much as it's a fertilized egg that's been through some process to trick our alters into thinking it's a living thing so they'd settle," his words made Mingi raised an eyebrow at him, "wait, egg egg like human egg or chicken egg?" he asked, to which Yeosang just rolled his eyes at him, "they could use a lizard's egg for all I care as long as they'd take Doc away,"

"Still don't get why your alter introduced himself as one of Snow White's dwarfs, like, what are the odds?" Yunho asked as he plops down next to Mingi.

Yeosang glared at the tall guy, "how many times do I have to tell you dingbats that his name is not from Snow White!? Did you even remember my introduction!?"

Wooyoung scoffed from his spot on the floor, "pfft, who wouldn't? 'I'm Yeosang, I used to have four alters and the predominating one is called Doc, he's a mad scientist and he likes to torture his subjects' like whatever man, that doesn't make you or your alter any less soft," he mocked, trying to copy Yeosang when he had first introduced himself to the other boys roughly 2 months ago.

Hearing his business partner/best friend mock him, Yeosang kicked him just enough so that Wooyoung toppled to the side, "as if Knives is better, what? Frying pan and toaster oven were taken?" Wooyoung scoffed, "you know damn well that that's not his real name, and you think Knives is stupid? What about Song freaking Mingi with fucking Pluto over there?" he said as he averted his attention at Mingi, "don't look at me, my alter is one insatiable fancy-ass bitch and his name is derived from the gods," he grumbled, "besides, dumb alter name hall of fame winner is Jung Yunho with Peach,"

The jab at him only made Yunho rolled his eyes, "oh, come on, you're seriously gonna blame her? I was 7 and it's Princess Peach to you, commoner," he said bitterly, knowing that deep down he misses the dissipated alter, only having Cyril left.

A laugh suddenly broke through and all heads turn towards the stairs where the owner of the mansion stood at the top, "you guys are fun, I don't know why Seonghwa seem to grumble a lot when you guys are around - oh! He's grumbling again!" he giggled.

Giggled.

The rest of the boys looked at each other, nodding in agreement, "Astra," they called.

'Astra' walked down the stairs but as he stopped at the bottom, he zoned, indicating that the light is switching back to Seonghwa.

Shaking his head a little, Seonghwa showed that he was back by furrowing his eyebrows at his friends, "What are you all still doing here? Aren't we supposed to meet the doctor in 10?"

"Oh shit," one of them mutters, probably Wooyoung, before they were all scrambling out of the house.

Meanwhile, in the lab Yeosang provided (he owns a pharmaceutical company which is a beard for his drug factory), the doctor had just finished giving you a tour.

You're a new recruit for this project, having just finished your bachelor's in psychology, you were granted a permit to participate in the project. By no means were you a mad scientist, but the prospect of this particular work, even though it's a little bit closed off with how vague it was introduced to people, entices you deeply. Along with the fact that IRB and APA approved this, who wouldn't want to participate?

"You know, I personally chose you to be in this project," the doctor said as he pushed the door to the lab open. You caught up behind him and cocked your head to the side, "really? Why? I'm just a fresh graduate, I imagine there would have been much more qualified people wanting to be in this project," you asked.

He walked to his desk and grab a book which you immediately recognize as the thesis paper you made. "This," he said as he waved the glossy navy-covered book in his hand, "is impressive, I can't say I've encountered many bachelor's graduate who is able to thoroughly analyze and conduct a research relating human's basic nature to dominate with animal instincts, I figure it took a lot for you to be able to get the permit to observe animals,"

His words reminded you of the seconds you spent doing your thesis paper which was hell. But you did it so you could get a master's degree and participate in interesting works such as this.

"Like you wouldn't believe, but thankfully a professor from the biology department is close to a vet who works in the Seoul zoo, she agreed to let me tag along with her provided I do some work for her," you explained.

You both talked for a bit, him trying to get to know you better to build a better rapport as you two will be working closely from now on until the project is over, and you being curious on why this project is quite covert.

Soon, the door of the lab was opened and eight men walked in, all looking sharply dressed and very handsome with a particular aura surrounding them.

The doctor smiled at their entrance, "ah! My subjects! Finally, I've been wondering when you'd all drop in! I was beginning to think that you'd all bail on me at the very last second," he joked.

You recognize them all because the doctor had emailed you their profiles and made you remember their specifications, diagnosis, and other important details. But seeing them in person sure feels weird.

The man at the very front, the shortest with chopped blonde hair, the man you recognize as the king of the illegal arms trade, Kim Hongjoong, chuckled at the doctor, "no way doc, though, Red has been freaking out knowing about what's probably gonna happen to him," the doctor raised an eyebrow at the man, "well, Mr. Kim, I assume you've been following your psychologist's coping strategies?" he asked, to which the man nodded.

"Good!" the doctor smiled before turning to you, "before we commence, I would like to introduce you to my new intern, Ms. (Y/N) (Y/L/N), she will be joining us for this project moving forward," you stepped forward and bowed slightly, "Hello, you can all just call me (Y/N), if there is anything you need help with, just let me know," you smiled at the.

Most smiled back, except one guy who is deceptively muscular with white skin and sharp eyes, Kang Yeosang. He then spoke up, "why the sudden addition of staff? We're gonna start doing the experiment in 3 days, isn't she too unaware of the situation?"

You'd probably be offended if you were someone normal, but given that you've read all of their files thoroughly, you knew that it was only normal for him to be sceptical and cautious of new people.

So before the doctor could chime in, you had spoken up for yourself, "Mr. Kang, you don't have anything to be worried about, I might be new but I have been thoroughly reading all the materials given and I have kept up with new developments, I assure you I will not be of nuisance," you smiled kindly at him.

The guy next to him who had half black half blonde hair smirked while nudging another guy next to him, you recognize them as drug cartel leaders, Jung Wooyoung and Choi San, "I like this girl, she's got a bite to her," Wooyoung said.

"Alright, you all play nice, you all trust me and I trust her hence you should all trust her too," the doctor said, "now everyone, (Y/N) will lead you all to the procedure room for basic testing so we can check sample compatibilities while I make sure that everything else is in order," he said before leaving the room.

The boys looked at each other for a bit before averting their gaze towards you who had already stood by the other door that leads further into the facility, smiling brightly at them, "shall we proceed?"

You walked at the front with Wooyoung and San next to you, they were eager to get to know you, unlike Yeosang. So far, the rest of them were neutral. Probably a little bit apprehensive since they don't know you and it is in their nature to not show any signs of weakness.

"So... Why work with the doc? No offence, totally pumped to have a sweet thing like you working for us, but you must've seen our profiles and know our background," Wooyoung asked. You look at him and raised an eyebrow as an amused smirk appears on your face, "first of all, Mr. Jung, I will not be working FOR you, I will be working WITH you, I am directly under the doctor's orders and you're all his test subjects," you answered.

From your other side, you can hear San growl, "damn, baby, rather than be under the doctor, I'd rather you be under me," he said as he snaked an arm to your waist.

Before you could react, however, Hongjoong who was right behind you had taken a death grip on the arm that was around your waist, "Nero, no, you'll scare her away" he said sternly with both eyebrows raised.

That was when you realized that San's alter had taken over the light.

Reading from his file and some therapy notes from his psychologist, you found out that San is actually a pretty chill guy, known to have good morale (line of work aside), and is very respectful towards people around him. Nero, on the other hand, is a bit handsy and hot-headed, you remembered that the psychologist wrote that Nero once believed that he's an incubus which is a whole different level of absurdity and a whole lot of work on the psychologist. It took her a whole year to shoot the notion down and finally convince Nero that he's nothing of the sort, sexual desires aside.

'Nero' scoffed at Hongjoong, "seriously? Her too? You know, San might tolerate your restricting crap because he's a spineless softie, but not me, I do whatever the heck I want, anytime I want," he yanked his arm away from Hongjoong's grip and put them back around your waist to pull you flush against him, "and if I want her, I'm gonna get her, isn't that right, sweetheart?" he asked, looking down to you.

You scrunch your nose at him, "sorry, Nero, but I'm still new here and I'd rather not be treated as an item, so..." you proceed to push his hand from around you carefully, "if you don't mind I'd like Choi San to come back to the light, please?" surprisingly, Nero laughed at you. Not in a condescending way, but more in an amused way.

Nero had his head thrown back as he clapped his hands slowly, "I gotta hand it to you, little lady, you know what you want and how to ask for them," he said before taking your chin in between his fingers, "I can tell that we're gonna have a lot of fun together,"

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, zoning out for a bit before blinking a couple of times, then shaking his head from side to side.

As he looked at you, he realized that he was still holding your chin. He immediately let go and coughed, "I-I'm sorry, that wasn't me, I swear, it was-" you cut him off before he could ramble even further, "Nero? Yeah, I know about him so you don't have to worry," you smiled reassuringly at him.

The walk to the procedure room was close, but you all did walk past the huge laboratory and see lab workers working all around, looking busy.

"So, are we finally gonna be introduced to the contraption today and to what our alters will be transferred to?" Mingi asked, cringing slightly when he saw a lab worker walked past the window with a particularly large needle.

You shrugged at him, "not quite yet, the doctor is making final arrangements and alterations whereas the vessels will be delivered tomorrow," you answered him.

Soon enough you arrived at the procedure room. It was a simple large room with 2 couches and 2 loveseats in the far left corner, a couple of hospital beds with several machines near it in the far right corner, and two refrigerators by the door, one is a medical refrigerator while the other is a regular one.

As all 8 men take a seat on the couch, you went to the intercom by the door, "medical personnel, please come to room 401 for a medical checkup on the subjects, thank you,"

Not long after that, 3 people wearing hazmat suits with two cases in each hand came in and immediately work on the boys. You just stood on the sideline, keeping a close watch on them.

The first one to be done was Yunho. He walked over to you and leaned on the wall next to you, "I don't think we've been properly introduced, I'm Yunho, Jung Yunho," he introduced himself while extending a hand out to you which you immediately accept, "I know who you are, Mr. Jung, quite a fan of your lavish parties, actually," Yunho widened his eyes at you, "is that so? Have you ever been? Have we actually met before? I'd honestly remember a pretty face like you," he said.

You laugh at him, "no, no, thankfully not, my old roommates and I would actually make a bet when you hold your parties on who'd get their asses handed to the police or what kind of drugs would be found or even which problematic rich kid behaviour would cause the cops to come and put a stop to the party, I won like 50 bucks on that last one with the whole gun shenanigans," you told him.

Yunho laughed and snap his fingers, "was it the Hwang Hyunjin vs ex-girlfriend one? Or was it the accidental shooting?" your eyes widened at his carefree way of saying things like that, "there were two incidents?? And how does an accidental shooting happen?" he shrugged, "someone forgot to unload all the bullets from my dad's machine gun,"

Jung Yunho is the son of a very important conglomerate, Pablo Escobar type of guy. While his family's wealth came from dirty deeds and dealings, they always seem to give A LOT back to the community, which is why the government couldn't really do anything about it since the people protected them and the government was bribed by them.

Suddenly, Mingi walk to you both, an eyebrow raised, "thought the whole Hwang Hyunjin thing was covered up? You know, the governor's son shall not be indicted with ridiculous charges bullshit," he chimed in.

Song Mingi is the guy you call if you ever need to get off the grid. He's really good at what he does, he could make a person appear and disappear out of thin air with alibis that are impossible to break which is why he charges a lot. Other than that, he does forgery and deals a lot in property investment.

The tall guy shoved his right hand at you, smirking, "Song Mingi, but I think you knew that," his flirtatious twinkle doesn't go unnoticed and though you are required to stay professional, there should be no harm in 'building a better rapport'. So you take his hand and shook it, "yes, I am quite familiar with your works and your trope," you poked at his flirtatious tendencies.

He was about to answer you when suddenly Seonghwa yelled into his phone, "I don't care what you do, find out who tried to infiltrate the safe and bring them in! That Vermeer is known to be stolen at it will remain as such," he barked before hanging up his phone and shoving the device back into his pocket.

Yunho nodded at him, "you good, hyung? What was that all about?" he asked, curious about what might cause his usually calm and composed friend to burst.

Seonghwa groaned as he walked closer to his friend, "Someone found out about the Vermeer painting I told you about and tried to steal it from the vault, my security team's a joke, remind me to just hang that painting to the wall of my bedroom," Seonghwa complained to which Yunho and Mingi nodded and replied 'yeah, sure'.

At his words though you furrowed your eyebrows, "Vermeer? Are you perhaps implying that Vermeer's The Concert is in your hands?" when he heard you say it, a flash of shock was evident on his face before it turned to an amused smirk. He proceed to lean on the wall next to you, "so you know your art, impressive," you shrugged nonchalantly, despite being proud of yourself, "I heard about it from when I visited Geumho Museum of Arts, they said the art community's still mourning over that painting,"

Hearing you mention something that he's passionate about ignited something in him. Even Astra was starting to blab about you in his head which he'd usually be annoyed about, but hearing that he's in the same page as his alter made him somewhat... settled.

"You know, if you like arts, I'd be more than happy to drop an invite to my biannual art auction, figure you'd love to see... arts... that no one has ever seen," he smirked, hinting something else.

But before you could retort anything back, Jongho, who was seated on the couch chuckled, "is my eyes making me seeing things? Is the great Park Seonghwa flirting with a project intern? Could the world be any more twisted?" he joked, making Yunho, Mingi, and Hongjoong laugh.

Seonghwa was less than amused, though. He was about to say something to Jongho but the door to the room was opened and in comes the doctor with a great, big smile on his face.

"Who's ready to meet the vessel?"

[heyitsmerose]

Ateez Reaction to their s/o having pmdd (Hyung Line)

PMDD - (Premenstrual dysphoric disorder) Is a menstrual disorder that many women have that causes extremely painful period cramps, nauseousness, sever mood swings and is overall quite frustrating to deal with. I am writing this imagine from my experience of pmdd, however remember everyone’s body is different, and in no way do I want to generalise any illness. Okay thank you, happy reading! :)

Word Count: 2.5k

Mature Language*

Smut content

Hongjoong: 

It was Friday night, and that meant movie night for you and Hongjoong. It was something you suggested, and although Hongjoong refused initially, you know how much he secretly loves it. Probably more than you in fact. This week, it was your turn to pick a movie, and you had picked a simple rom-com, one that you’ve watched hundreds of times and one that both you and Hongjoong absolutely loved. You sat on either side of the couch with a bowl of popcorn in the middle. 

About halfway through the movie, you noticed Hongjoong staring at you, you looked back up at him and shrugged, asking him what was wrong only for him to sigh and shake his hand. You were confused to say the least, however when you looked back up the movie, you realised why he was acting the way he was. You saw the lead actors cuddling up together on the couch, it was one of your favourite scenes, as the characters finally realised their love for eachother. In your case however, you realised Hongjoong wanted to cuddle you too, but was too shy to admit it. You sneakily took that as a sign, and scooted closer to him. The second he saw you scooting closer, a wide smile erupted on his face, and he took you in his arms. It was small moments like this that made you realise how much you loved him. You scooted closer to him and buried you head in his chest, while he rested his chin on your head. He wrapped both his arms around your waist and nuzzled your neck. 

“I love you so much” He whispered

“I love you more” You whispered back taking his knuckles and kissing them

Another 20 minutes later, you started to find the position you were in a little uncomfortable. You were on your period anyways and your chest was starting to feel really sore. You tried moving Hongjoong’s arms away from you subtly, but he noticed and looked at you. You just smiled and shook your head while watching the movie again. A few minutes later, your chest started feeling really sore, and you decided to just massage it to relieve the pain. This didn’t go unnoticed by Hongjoong however.

“Um babe, what are you doing?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“Nothing sorry, my chest feels a little sore” you croaked out, already feeling the strain in your back too.

“Ahh, you’re on your period, it’s the 17th” He realised all of a sudden

“Wait you- how did you know?”

“I just remember” He shrugged a blush growing on his cheeks

“Anyways, do you want me to help?” He asked sincerely 

“Sure” You responded chuckling, thinking he was joking. Instead he just moved your hand aside and slid his hands under your thin white top.

“Wait, you’re being serious” You asked genuinely surprised. You hadn’t done anything intimate yet, despite making out a few times, this was definitely a first.

“Yeah” He said nonchalantly, unhooking your bra. He let your bra fall to your stomach, before taking it out and throwing it to the side. He then put his hands back under your shirt, not touching you yet.

“May I?” He asked lovingly, looking you straight in the eyes. You nodded, and his hands gently made contact with your stomach. You immediately got chills and he kissed the back of your neck, giggling. 

He then proceeded to slowly glide his hands up, cupping both breasts in his hands. Instantly, you sighed in relief and comfort. He started kneading them slightly, skilfully using his fingers to ease the tension. He kissed the nape of your neck and squeezed you breasts tighter. You gasped and sighed, feeling like you were in heaven. He then trailed his hands further up towards your shoulders and back using his fingers to put pressure on certain points and relieve the tension. You sighed in response, assuring him that you felt better. He trailed his fingers back to the front, and took his hands out of your tshirt. You turned around in his lap, and kissed him on the jaw.

“Thank you” You said sincerely looking at him with nothing but love in your eyes.

“Any time babe” he responded kissing your nose. 

This became a regular occurrence, and he often gave you massages during that time of the month.

Seonghwa:

You and Seonghwa rarely got time together due to his busy schedule, however after a lot of begging the KQ staff, all the boys had gotten the weekend and a few days off. You and Seonghwa particularly were overjoyed, and he quickly booked a weekend getaway for the both of you. It had been so long since you last got to spend time together like that, so you were excited to say the least. 

Once you both arrived at the location, you were thrilled to see mountains and a river just from your balcony. You couldn’t have asked for more. You wanted to simply lounge around in your hotel room all day, since it was the first day of your period. Knowing you had pmdd, you knew the best option would to be to stay at the room for just a night, and to just let it pass. You changed into some black thin leggings and one of Seonghwa’s hoodies and made yourself comfortable on the big bed and fell asleep. A few hours later you were awoken by Seonghwa’s honey like voice.

“Baby, it’s time to get up, I’ve made a reservation for the both of us at a restaurant nearby.” 

Not wanting to disappoint him, and feeling very grateful, you changed into a simple above the knee, bodycon dress and did your makeup quickly. The second you stepped out, a bright red blush spread across Seonghwa’s face, only for him to come closer and lovingly kiss your on your temple.

“I love you” He whispered

“Me too” you whispered back into his chest

While walking down to the restaurant, you kept pausing while walking due to dizziness. This was common during your cycle. Due to heavy bleeding, you often felt dizzy, however you tried hiding it so Seonghwa would not get worried. After a while however, he realised how you kept falling behind, and he decided to ask you what was wrong. As he approached you though, you swayed forwards and fell into him. 

“Hey, hey, hey, Y/N what’s wrong? Is everything alright?” He asked, putting his hand around your waist to hold you up. You tried looking back up to him, but your eyes kept drooping and your legs felt wobbly. 

“No, it’s just, I’m on my period, and I feel a little dizzy, nothing too much though” Seonghwa tilted your chin up to look at your face and without a word, bent down with his back facing you. 

“Hop on” He said. You were too dazed to respond, and simply obliged. He turned in the opposite direction and began walking home.

“No, no, no wait where are we going, the restaurant is the other way” You told him as sternly as you could.

“Hun, did you expect me to take us to the restaurant, when you’re obviously in pain? Besides you’re more important, so please don’t ever hide stuff like this. I know how bad your periods can get.” He said softly, only for you to hear. 

“But the reservation-”

Nevermind that, I love you, okay, and you come first, besides I packed some ramen too, and I’m kind of in the mood for that.” He said and you chuckled at him. 

The rest of the way you both sang songs while walking home, and once you did reach home, he babied you to no end. 

Yunho:

You and Yunho were out with the rest of Ateez for lunch just to enjoy yourselves and take a break from their busy schedules. You were all out at this new cafe/restaurant, and it was not too far from the dorms. Your period wasn’t going to come for another 3-4 days at least, but the cramps had started and you tried your best to power through it. You didn’t want to bother Yunho, and so you agreed to lunch with a smile on your face. Anyways, going out with everyone could technically distract you from the pain so why not. 

You both had arrived last, and the rest of Ateez and their significant others were already there. Everyone welcomed the both of you, and after you said your greetings, you both sat down. Being the talkative outgoing person Yunho was, he was having fun while laughing loudly and talking to his friends. You adored this side of him. He was acting like such a child and you were reminded of why you fell in love with him. Everyone decided to play a game of truth or dare, and you simply agreed. 

At this point however, your cramps had begun to set in, and every once in a while you let out a pained whine or sigh. You played for a few rounds, but nothing too serious happened. Except for you having to scarf down an entire lemon, and Wooyoung and San having to kiss eachother on the cheek. After a few rounds, everyone decided it was time to order. While going through the menu however, you felt a sharp pain shoot through your abdomen, and you banged your head down on the table. The rest of the members were talking loudly so they didn’t seem to notice. Yunho however, did. In fact, the second he heard the clanking of the forks and spoons, on the table after you head had hit it, he went into panic mode. 

“Y/N?!” He whisper yelled.

“yeah” you groaned out

“What’s wrong are you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just I have really bad period cramps and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to bear them.” You sighed out, your voice cracking at the end. 

“Hey, you should have told me before we left, you’re more important than this lunch meet up, we can always reschedule”

“I know, I just don’t know what to do now, I’m sorry for ruining lunch” You said, your head still against the table.

“It’s alright sweetheart, we can leave” He said. He gave you the cap he was wearing to cover your face, and proceeded to fake a call.

“Hello? OH MY GOODNESS, NO WAY!” he yelled into the phone.

Everyone looked at him weirdly, while you simply chuckled at is funny antics. 

“Okay everyone, my pet parrot just gave birth, we gotta go! bye everyone!” He yelled as he pulled your hand and left the cafe. You heard a few laughs and giggles from the rest of the members and a “he doesn’t even have a pet parrot”, while the both of you just giggled and walked home. 

Upon reaching home, he got you a heating pad and offered to give you a nice massage to ease the pain. It was safe to say, all pain was soon forgotten.

Yeosang:

You and Yeosang were quite the couple. Yeosang, despite being known to dislike skin ship, loved initiating it with you. Quite ironically, he was always the clingier one, in need of affection. You didn’t mind thought, obviously. It was a normal night, and you were both cuddling. One of his arms around your waist and the other in your hair, playing with it, with your head in his chest, inhaling his musky scent. It was not abnormal to cuddle for hours as it was a way for the both of you to take a break and spend some time together, in a relaxing way. Noticing it getting quite late, the both of you decided to sleep and so he picked you up, with your legs around his waist and tucked you to bed. He soon crawled under the blanket too, and put his arm under your head. You snuggled into his neck and kissed it lightly before falling asleep. 

About a few hours later, it was around 2 or 3 in the morning and you felt slightly nauseous. You were on your period anyways, so this wasn’t anything new. Slightly groaning in your sleep, you tried to ignore it to no avail. Soon, the pain and nausea got so unbearable you couldn't help but cry. You didn’t want to wake Yeosang up, so you just silently cried into his shirt, while whimpering softly. You soon felt his hand trail up under your shirt and rub circles on your skin.

“Baby, I can hear you, is everything alright? Why are you crying” He said huskily. Swearing at yourself for waking him up, you tried turning to the other side to avoid him, only for him to sit up and take you in his lap.

“Y/N please tell me what’s wrong, I want to try to help you, please” He said softly into your hair. 

“I don’t know, I feel nauseous and my stomach hurts, it’s probably just my period cramps” You said sighing. The second you did however, you felt bile rise up in your throat so you ran to the washroom. You threw up whatever you had into the toilet, and painfully clutched your stomach.

At this point, Yeosang was also wide awake and was up and by your side as instantly. Tears were flowing out your eyes due to the frustration and pain. 

“I’m sorry Yeo, I just I don’t know why this is happening to me” you sighed, frustratedly. You clutched your stomach again and let more out, while he held back your hair and pat your back. He gently kissed your temple, and decided to get meds for you.

“Don’t apologise hun” he said while walking back to you. He wiped your lips and helped you brush your teeth, after which you took the meds. Despite feeling a little better now, you still sat on the ground in the washroom, feeling guilty.

“Hey Y/N, are you still feeling nauseous?” Yeosang asked carefully, crouching down to take your chin in his hands.

“No, it’s just I can’t help but feel guilty for waking you up late in the night, every month, I must seem so burdensome. You cried, looking at him with watery eyes. 

“You have no reason to feel like that hun, I love you and I’ll be there for you no matter what” He said, wiping your tears with both his thumbs and holding you close. 

He held you close for the rest of the night, humming you songs and rubbing your stomach.

[nonclassyparty]

ur really good at breaking hearts aren’t you ;-;

the series was so good, def a recommend. THE WAY YOU PORTRAYED EACH RELATIONSHIP WAS TOP NOTCH CUS LIKE THE WRITING WAS CHEFS KISS

ranting time :D

even if yunho apologized, i won’t forgive him for literally rebounding w y/n. like, your first LOVE??? a REBOUND??? WTF MAN. that’s fucked up, and i’m not taking any apologies cus that’s just not right. although at first they were like my otp for this series, that little illusion of a fantasy faded away so quickly after the rebound sex.

next up is yeosang. first of all, although he was a fuckboy, my bby didn’t get enough appearances throughout the story ;-;. i really wanted to see how he contributed to y/n throughout her life, but tbh he just seemed like a good fuck to her and she just left him cus y/n just didn’t want to become attached, which is understandable, but still, no mentions of yeo further on in the story??? :(

HONGJOONG. MY BOY. caught up in the classic at the grocery store. ILL GIVE YOU THE LOVE YOU NEED BBY ;-; honestly i felt bad cus of what he went through, and i felt like he genuinely liked y/n, but was a bit of a pussy to actually tell her, since it seemed like a fling if you think abt it. uk, going on a trip w friends, hooking up, developing some sort of an affectionate relationship only to come back and realize it was just a trip where it all happened. if hongjoong made a move, then i feel like they would’ve been a cute couple, since y/n did show some mixed signals at that time tbh.

seonghwa, you may be my ultimate bias, but never have i ever hated you so much in a fanfiction. AND AUTHOR I CANT BELIEVE YOU MADE ME HATE ON THE PARK SEONGHWA. ofc, that rich boy aura is what i mainly hated, but the fact that he went so shallow to degrade her like that?? man wtf. who r u to think that she’s just some basic bitch. maybe if you were genuinely interested and wanted to get to know her better, then you would’ve acc fuckin done things that she likes. she obviously said she doesn’t like the parties, so wHY TF R U FORCING HER TO GO. IN THAT MEANTIME YOU COULD LIKE WATCH HER FAVOURITE MOVIE TOGETHER OR SUCH IDK CUDDLE AND BE A COUPLE. But NOOOOOOOO MY FRIENDS THIS MY FRIENDS THAT 🙃. like man shut the actual fuck up cus i don’t give a flying fuck abt your rich snobby friends. but at least she got humbled so ig thanks for that…🤷‍♀️

WOOYOUNG. my GOD wooyoung. another otp, and i STILL stand by that. wooyoung did not deserve that, and ik you all agree. he gave her all she wanted, and so did she to him. and i get that the past events that happened to her might’ve made her paranoid. but i feel like the more mature thing to have done was like talk it out w him. she could’ve just told him that she feels like she’s boring to him or smth idk. remember y’all, the most important thing in a relationship is COMMUNICATION. if she actually VOICED OUT what she felt, then wooyoung would’ve definitely been a sweetheart and helped her out with her worries, and i feel like he would’ve been the best husband to her. but, life goes on, and i’m happy that he found another girl after y/n broke up with him. still salty abt it though >:(

choi jongho. definition: deeeefinitely a parasite in this series. don’t get me wrong, i love him sm, but like using y/n for grades n shit? (ignoring the fact that i’m lowkey forgetting what happened in the part). seokjin, my man, if i were in this story, i would’ve kissed you so many times. this man killed it, and i love how even the fuckin therapist couldn’t take y/n’s ‘but he’s my friend’ bullshit. so what? he’s your friend? fuck that shit i’d drop him the moment i realized he’s using me for notes. right then and there.

if i were to be honest, my toxic trait is loving someone too much to even have the strength to leave them, and if i were in y/n’s position, i would’ve stayed with mingi. which i know, is such a BIG red flag flying around IN MY FACE. mingi was such a sweetheart, and truly actually loved y/n, but the fact that he still went behind her back for NINE FUCKING MONTHS to FUCK HIS EX??? that’s a bit…ugh. moving on…

i would never rant abt choi san in this series, so i’m gonna praise him. but like imagine, the man who offered your first crush a blunt would be the very man you marry and have kids with. i find that so funny and sweet. i had a feeling from the beginning of the story that san would somehow play a major role in this series, and when he encouraged y/n to confess to yunho, i had a bit of a hunch, since he did seem a bit more playful and like kinda weird from then. when he yelled at jongho for talking shit abt y/n, i knew right then and there, yep he’s the one. he’s the one that y/n will marry.

but anyways in conclusion, i’m convinced that if y/n went lesbian, then this bullshit wouldn’t have happened. /j

woah, this message was a read thank you for the ranting time, i loved reading it but the part with san being the guy who offered her first crush a blunt ending up the guy she marries made me bust out in laughter bc i completely forgot about that 😭 😭

[madmansan]

28 days

Fantasy au - Demon!San x F!Reader

Trigger Warnings

Blades, scars, gore, violence, blood, swearing, death, murder, kidnapping, slight mentions of suicide.

Day 2

.

Your eyes slowly opened as the blazing sun rises above the walls of the Labyrinth. You shuffled slightly, trying to stretch out your limbs, when you heard voices behind you, and instantly retracted them, hoping it just seemed like you were moving in your sleep.

"The child you took yesterday. The one from Aldbarrow. That's her sister." That was San's voice, but the other was completely unfamiliar.

"You're going against your duty, San." The other voice belonged to someone more soft-spoken. It was cold, sinister and, despite the aggravation in their words, very calm.

"I'm aware of that, your majesty." San responded. Your majesty? You stayed completely still. You thanked the Gods that they hadn't realised you were awake. "She was so confident I almost felt bad for her, so I gave her a chance, but she most likely won't make it."

"I think it's a dumb idea." Another voice piped up. This one was slightly higher, and a lot closer to you. "You could have just stuck to your job, but you can't even do that, can you?" He let out a gentle laugh, his voice a lot closer than before. Slowly, you opened one of your eyes to see him leaning against the tree in front of you. He was just as beautiful as San, with a jawline so sharp you were sure it could do some lethal damage. "Although," he laughed to himself, "it's not like we haven't seen you do it before."

"Shut it, Wooyoung! Not everyone's job is as simple as kissing the ass of the king." San said, the more vicious tone he took completely paralleled his usual teasing one. The demon against the tree, the one you assumed was Wooyoung, laughed loudly at San, and flicked his longer black hair out of his face.

"That's enough." The Demon King took control of the two bickering boys, masterfully, yet his calm tone never strayed. "San. If she's yours and you want to play this little game with her then go ahead. But don't you dare let her step foot near the castle. Do everything you can to prevent it."

"I will, your majesty." San said, his voice a lot lower than before.

They weren't going to kill you. Not now anyway. You could only assume it was because of the demon's etiquette San had told you about. However, if he was going to start trying even harder to stop you from getting to the castle, you were going to have to be more resilient.

Footsteps moved towards you, and you watched as Wooyoung turned to join the Demon King. The two of them walked ahead of you, towards the wall and you could only catch a glimpse of the King's huge hooded robe before he disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke, followed swiftly by Wooyoung. It gently floated to the ground before fading away, leaving you and San alone in the clearing once more.

                                      ❁

You lay "asleep" for a little while longer, making your act more believable.

After slowly opening your eyes, you stretched your limbs and sighed satisfactorily. San sat against the tree trunk by your legs, staring blankly at the wall. You wanted to tell him you heard everything, but you didn't know what he would do if you did. You decided not to risk it.

You sat up and shuffled next to him. "Encounter many demons last night?" You asked, leaning forward to face him. Of course you knew he had met the king and the other one, but he surely had to have seen more whilst you were asleep. You didn't ask this just out of curiosity, you may just find out what you're up against in here.

He didn't take his eyes off the wall, but he did respond. "No. There was a mob of humans at the entrance, so they were all gathered there. Being the main guard, I did have to leave you for a moment to go and see what was going on. I saw a huge crowd with torches, guns and daggers. One called out for you and Roslyn." Your eyes widened. It was stupid of you to think they wouldn't come for you.

You moved yourself across the floor so that you were now facing him. His gaze only drifted to you for a moment before returning to the wall. "She said she was your mother." He let out a muffled giggle that eventually turned into hysterical laughter. "And here I was thinking no one cared about you! Your whole village came out to find you!" His laughter continued when he noticed how quiet you had become.

The whole village had come out to look for you. The. Whole. Village.

The whole village that said you were the reason for Roslyn's disappearance. The friend that stopped you from saving her. The mother that blamed you, hated you, and didn't want to believe you even existed. They all came for you.

You couldn't help but wonder if Hongjoong had joined them.

"She was looking for Roslyn not me." You said, bluntly. You knew she wasn't looking for you. She may have tried to stop you from entering the Labyrinth before, but after her outburst you could hardly say she still cared about you.

His laughter began to fade being replaced with confusion. "You seem so sure of that? Do you not like her or something?"

You didn't know how to answer. You hated her for blaming you, for ripping up your work and ignoring your grief. But you didn't hate her, you couldn't hate her. She was still your mother.

"It's complicated." You mumbled, looking away from him.

"How so?" San's tone was less condescending. He sounded genuinely interested.

"She blamed me for Roslyn's disappearance. She blamed me for it when it wasn't my fault at all. I was just as heartbroken as her but she didn't care."

"Aha!" San cheered, a smirk crawling onto his face. "So that's why you're here! You're trying to prove her wrong! Die a hero and she'll respect you again." He sighed with a triumphant smile, "I knew no one in their right mind would enter here just to save someone they thought was dead."

"That's not true!" You said in protest. "I was going to enter the Labyrinth whether Roslyn had gone in or not! I always wanted to see what it was like. I'm writing a book, remember?" Fury bubbled inside you at his cockiness. "And, by the way, if I was so keen to die, do you think I would have made this deal?! Do you think I would have come this far?!" San nodded his head in thought, contemplating your argument. You took a deep breath in an attempt to calm your rage, "I know no one in their right mind would do this. But I'm not in my right mind, I never have been. I was desperate to enter the Labyrinth, my mother called me crazy. I wanted to save Roslyn and my best friend told me to give up; to stop being an idiot." You sighed, "I'm here because I felt guilty and I was confident enough in myself to save Roslyn. I'm not giving up. Not now. Not ever. It's all for her sake."

Your shoulders slumped, your eyes suddenly finding the floor the most interesting thing to stare at as they filled with tears. A gentle hand was placed on top of yours and you looked up to be met with the softened gaze of San.

"Wow.", he said, "You really are bat-shit crazy." He smiled at you, but it wasn't teasing or evil, it was tender and comforting.

He stood up abruptly and pulled you up at the same time with complete ease. "Alright then, my lovely heroine, you lead the way."

His grin had returned to his usual flirty one, but the memory of that moment you shared didn't fade. His gentle hand on yours, the sympathy in his dark eyes and the welcoming smile all remained inside your head as a symbol of hope in the death trap that you had found yourself in.

                                       ❁

You prepared yourself for the next leg of your journey, the image of San smiling genuinely through your tear-blurred vision not leaving your head for a second.

He stood at the entrance to the clearing, as you searched through your bag, making sure he hadn't stolen anything from you. Especially your dagger.

Several impatient huffs left him. "Oh look! Is that the blood moon rising!"

You rolled your eyes at his petty sarcasm. "You can't be too sure." You smiled to yourself, "Especially when it comes to you." You lifted your gaze to see his sharp glare before returning it to your bag, a proud smirk on your face.

That's when you spotted the food you gathered before leaving for the Labyrinth. "Huh?" Eating hadn't crossed your mind since you entered, you hadn't even felt hungry. "San." he looked over at you, "Why don't I feel hungry?"

He closed his eyes with a sigh, resting his head against the wall, "Haven't I told you enough about demons? Are you not satisfied?"

You shook your head with a wide smile, "A few random facts aren't going to make a very informative book."

He sighed again, "Without your knowledge, and without even sensing it, you are already under my control." You raised a brow and cocked your head, prompting him to explain further. "No matter how much you say you're not interested in me or how much you think you're in control, you're lying. It's human nature to be completely and utterly submissive to us, to the point where we are the only thing that can nourish you." Your cheeks started to heat up with embarrassment, which, much to your disdain, made San grin from ear-to-ear. "I take away your hunger, I take away your thirst, I stop you from getting ill. I stop you from dying from anything that isn't me. Remarkable, don't you think?" It was his turn to cock his head, waiting for your answer.

"Remarkable indeed, if not slightly disturbing." You said, suddenly very uncomfortable with not being able to feel normal human feelings.

San gently laughed, "I think it's rather romantic."

You looked at him like he was crazy, but he only smirked, his eyes half-open and still managing to stare right into your soul.

You sighed heavily, turning around to find the tree gone and in its place two doors. You walked up to them to inspect their intricate details. One was a deep red, with spirals that curved around the golden door handle and around the edges. The other was made out of a rotting wood, the mossy green paint hardly there as most of it had chipped off.

You tried the handle of the red door but it wouldn't open. You tried again with the green door but it had the same result. "What?! They must be here for a reason? Why can't I open them?" You tried to use the handles of both doors again but neither of them opened.

"Aaah! Those doors? You have to knock to open them." San said over your shoulder. You whipped you head around at him with a questioning glance before returning your focus to the doors. You knocked gently on the red one but it didn't open. You turned back to San as you gestured to the door with a face that said 'See? Didn't work.' "Well, you have to knock harder than that! You think demons are that polite? No. We command doors open with our knocks."

You huffed, turning back to the doors once more. You made a tight fist and slammed it down on the door three times, before it flung up, a freezing cold wind rushing from behind you and down the long, dark corridor in front of you. You placed your hands up to the door frame to stop yourself from being pulled into its depths.

The wind faded as it wailed further down the hall, leaving you breathless and shivering. You swallowed hard and turned to the other door, knocking harshly and then leaping to the side to avoid another onslaught of wind. However, you were surprisingly met by welcoming birdsong.

You looked up to San who looked at you slightly bored and you cleared your throat, moving back in front of the doors.

On the other side of the red door was a dark, thin hallway, with a leaking roof. The small broken windows on the one side reflected a white light onto the wooden floorboards below. The cold chill returned as you stared into its unending passageway.

You slowly pulled your eyes away and looked into the other door. It opened to a beautiful forest, the trees taller than the Labyrinth walls, a stream gently running through them, the calming birdsong. It all felt too inviting. Far too inviting.

You looked back to San, "It's a trick, isn't it?" You asked.

He shrugged, "All I know is that if you enter through one of the door ways, you won't be able to come out again."

You looked back to the doors, eyeing each one cautiously. "But, I'm guessing both lead to the castle, right?"

San was silent for a moment before he piped up. "Depends on how you look at it. For example, one way could lead you straight to the castle and the other could throw you off track for a bit but then it's up to you to get to the castle. But if what you're trying to say is that they both lead somewhere in the Labyrinth then, yes, they're both still within the Labyrinth walls, and will most likely, I suppose, lead you to the castle."

You sighed, "You made that far more complicated then it needed to be." You didn't have to look at him to know he wore a prideful smirk. "Okay, so it's a battle of wits. That's fine. I can do that."

San scoffed, but you paid him no mind. "Okay. The spooky corridor seems to be the one that people would most likely avoid, but then that would surely seem too obvious, so that means that the spooky corridor would be the right choice, but then again that could be a double bluff....ugh!!! This is so irritating!" You groaned, giving up quicker than you had hoped.

San started laughing at you as you slumped to the floor. "Y/n, you're overthinking it."

You stood up again and looked at both doors, "Can you give me a hint?"

San rubbed his chin, humming in thought. He walked up to you and placed an arm over your shoulder, "What will I get from helping you?"

Now, it was your turn to think. "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

San laughed, taking his arm off your shoulder and walking up to the doors. He leaned against the wall inbetween, "Take a look at them, and decide which one you think is safer. As simple as that."

"As simple as that?"

"As simple as that."

You thought for a moment. If he was trying to stop you from getting to the castle before, he would be trying a lot harder now. After his run in with the king he is going to try and throw you off track at every chance he can get. You were sure of it.

Nevertheless, he did say that both ways would inevitably lead to the castle, one taking a lot longer than the other, but that wasn't really that big of a concern. You were only on day two after all.

"Very well." You strode up to the green door, looking into the gentle forest environment that lay beyond it. "I'm going in here."

Before you could step inside, San grabbed your wrist. "Are you sure you want to choose this one?" He leaned in closer to your ear and whispered, "You might just regret it."

You shoved him away with your free arm, "I'm going. This is the door I have chosen. Feel free to follow me. I won't be bothered if you don't."

He let out a small frustrated huff, as he followed in behind you.

You admired your surroundings, it was just as beautiful as it seemed from the other side of the door. Your happiness soon faded when you turned around to see that the door had disappeared. Leaving San laughing to himself so hard it echoed through the surrounding trees and off into the wilderness that lay ahead.

"I can't believe you actually chose this door!" His statement was followed by more laughing, "The other way would have taken you straight to the castle in under two hours! Now look who's the idiot!"

Were you annoyed? Yes. Extremely so. Were you going to let him know that? Not a chance.

You smiled, "Oh well, we'll have to go this way then. Come on." You started to walk away, humming to yourself, but it was soon interrupted.

"What?!" San roared from behind you. You let out a small laugh to yourself. "Are you seriously not annoyed?!" He yelled at your back.

"Should I be?" You shouted back over your shoulder.

"Of course you should be!" He stomped up next you and stared you right in the eyes. "I tricked you! Outsmarted you! Why are you not angry?"

"You didn't trick me. I made the decision. That was my bad. I'm not gonna be angry at you. Besides, I'll still get to the castle. Might take me a bit longer, but it's best not to dwell on it." His jaw dropped in utter disbelief, and, with a slight surge of confidence, you placed your finger under his chin and closed his mouth for him.

You walked away giggling to yourself, as he swiftly followed behind you, mumbling curses and mimicking your previous comments.

                                       ❁

You had been walking in the forest for a couple hours, whenever you tried to ask San something he just ignored you. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If anything it was quite relaxing.

The stream rushed passed as a gentle breeze rustled the branches above. Little balls of light with lacy wings darted passed you, and inbetween the trees. You longed to know what they were, but you knew San wouldn't tell you in his tantrum state.

You looked over your shoulder at him, and he quickly looked away from you, rather flustered. You smirked and looked back in front of you, catching the shimmering stream in the corner of your eye. You knew it would be best if you didn't irritate him further, but there was something so entertaining about it.

You placed your bag down on the ground by the stream and sat against a tree close by. You reached into your bag and grabbed some of the food, unwrapping the cloth and taking a bite. You weren't hungry, you actually felt very full, but you still forced yourself to eat it. You were rejecting San's power over you.

"What the hell are you doing?" San finally said, glaring down at you with deadly eyes. You only saw it through the corner of yours, refusing to give the attention he seeks.

"Finally talking, are we?" You replied calmly.

San sat down in front of you and you further craned your neck to watch the stream instead of him. "I'm eating whilst admiring the stream. Is that such a problem?"

"No. But why are you eating?" He muttered, trying to cover the rage that was building up inside.

"A girl has to eat, has she not?"

Suddenly your eyes were pulled away from the stream by San's forceful grip on your jaw.

"Spit it out." He said, punctuating every word. His eyes were darker than you had ever seen them, "Spit it out!" He yelled, but you unconsciously swallowed it, no one had ever yelled at you like that and your heart beat started to race.

He threw you to the floor, leaving you a shaking, spluttering mess. He breathed deeply, "How dare you mock my power?" He crouched down by your head, before grabbing a fistful of hair and pulling your face up to meet his. "Why won't you just submit to me?!" He moved closer, "Huh?!"

You had to get to the castle, that's why you couldn't submit. Wait, why am I going to the castle again? Your eyes widened, and you only managed to slip out a small 'Roslyn' before he dropped you to the floor again. You clutched at the grass underneath your palms at the thought of her. She was slaving away to a powerful demon, whilst you were just messing with one. You hated to admit it but you were having fun and getting him angry was making you feel certain feelings for him that you had only felt briefly with Hongjoong, except this time it was in overdrive. You had submitted to San but not in the way he expected. It had happened again. You had forgotten about Roslyn, but you weren't even in a trance this time.

No more games. Roslyn was all that mattered, and you had forgotten about her all because you wanted to tease a demon. You should have been at the castle straight away. You shouldn't have played San's pathetic games. You shouldn't have forgotten that all he sees you as is food, and not a potential love interest. You were appalled, but only with yourself. Fighting against his demon nature and his starvation must be so hard. Where has your compassion gone, you fool.

"I'm sorry, San." You whimpered from the floor, as tears started to roll down your cheeks. "I'm really sorry. I forgot all about Roslyn. I just wanted to mess with you since it was so fun seeing you get worked up. Yet, you still held back from eating me even when you could have." You clutched your hair desperately trying to cope with your realisation. "I never even thanked you for making this deal! I'm just as weak as all the other humans. I'm sorry for thinking I was better than you. I'm really not. Not at all."

"No. You're not." San replied calmly. You unclenched your hands and steadied your sobbing slightly, looking up at him the same time he looked down at you. He sat on the grass next to you and motioned for you to get up with his head. Your arms pushed you enough to sit up without the support of the them, but your shame made it hard to look at him. "However, you're not like other humans. Not at all." Your eyes widened and you cautiously raised them to his. "The amount of people that come to the gates from other villages and instantly submit to me is practically uncountable. They don't try to strike up a deal or fight back. Sure, it's nice, but it does get boring. Y/n," he placed a hand on your jaw and gently caressed the new bruises with his thumb, "I haven't met anyone who has made me feel so angry and threatened before. You were so determined, and no matter how much it pissed me off that you stabbed me, I couldn't deny that I was impressed." He took his hand from your face. "That's why I made this deal. I gave you this chance and best be sure that I'm gonna keep my end of it, having been starved and all. So, don't you dare give up now."

"Thank you, San. And, once again, I'm sorry." He nodded his head, but he wasn't being rude. It was more of a "no problem" nod than an "as you should" nod.

You sat in a heavy silence for a moment, the air so tense, it was almost suffocating. You felt the need to break it, but San's hand flying up into the air stopped you. He caught one of the little flying orbs by the wings.

"Heal her." He commanded, letting go of the wings and letting it flutter around your head. The pain in your jaw eased as you watched it zoom off into the woods once more. "Don't think I did that because I like you. I just knew you wouldn't stop complaining about it if I didn't heal it."

"What was that?" You ignored him, eyes trained on the pathway it left on, and mouth wide open.

San followed where you looked before returning his gaze to you. "One of the many types of forest sprites. Those ones heal." He laughed gently, "Let me guess? Remarkable?"

"Quite so." You said, in awe of the lack of pain you felt.

In the reflection of the stream, you saw a red blob surfacing. You looked up to see that the moon was entering the sky.

You stood up immediately, "What?! How can that be possible?!"

San joined you, squinting at the new blood moon growing larger over the tree line. "Huh. Looks like it's becoming night."

How could the day have gone by so fast? You looked at him completely perplexed but your face soon dropped when you saw how scared San looked like he had just seen some sort of untold horror. You grabbed his shoulders and made him face you. "San. Why is it night?"

He looked up at you, "I-I think we should find you somewhere to stay." He started heading off and you quickly caught up.

"San, you can't just say that. You have to tell me why the day has just vanished." You yelled, but it didn't seize his walking. "San!"

"The Demon King knows you're here. Of course he does. But he doesn't want that. So he's pushing forward the days so that you have less time to get to the castle. Or ... at least that's what I think."

You sighed, still pushing your legs to their limit to catch up with his pace. "Surely that would be a good thing for you?-"

"No." He sharply cut you off, stopping in his tracks. "If the King knows where you are then all the other demons are going to know where you are, and that means that we're gonna have quite a few guests tonight and I'm not dealing with that. So you better start moving your ass or I'm gonna start dragging you."

You quickened your pace rushing after him.

                                       ❁

It wasn't long before you stumbled upon a small wooden cabin in the middle of some larger trees. The sun was setting fast and you instinctively ran up the creaky staircase to get to the door.

San almost materialized in front of you. "No. Not this one." He whispered.

You stared at him in utter bewilderment, "You have to be the most confusing person I have ever met!" He shushed you with a finger on your lips.

"Quiet. She'll hear you." He said quietly, but this time with more emphasis.

You slapped his hand away, "So first you wanted me to find a place to stay. No. To hide. And now you're telling me I can't when there is a perfectly good place right here."

"No, y/n, you can't go in there! I won't be able to protect you!"

"That's enough. This my best shot at surviving right now. So, I'm entering!" You gestured to the right with your head, "Move." He did.

You knocked on the door, the shrill of the night time bugs echoing through the trees. It was darker than the first night, only a few beams of deep red penetrating the canopy.

You looked out in to the black wilderness. Demons could be watching you right now and you would have no idea.

The door opened gently. On the other side stood a small old woman, her long messy hair was tied in a loose ponytail that draped down her back, which was clad in a tattered knitted cloak.

"Good evening, ma'am. I'm ever so sorry to intrude, but me and my fri-" you looked over to see that San had gone and you quickly looked back to the old woman, "uh ... I need somewhere to stay for the night." She eyed you with caution and you knew you would have to find a way to convince her. "I have demons after me and need to escape."

She opened the door a bit more and stood slightly taller, "And how do you know that I am not a demon?"

"Hope, ma'am." you said, "Only hope."

"Very well," she said, "And how am I to trust you?"

"You are just going to have to, ma'am. I have no way to prove myself, so if you don't trust me I won't force you."

She smiled, and opened the door fully allowing you to enter.

Inside the room was a bed with ragged sheets, a wooden table with a single chair, and a large expanse of cupboards hanging open on broken hinges.

Inside them were varying bottles full of different coloured liquids and other types of herbs and spices. There was no sign of real food, which meant that she was still affected by the demons within the forest. That, or she fed off humans. No. She wouldn't have questioned me intensely if she was. She's obviously scared. Best make a good impression.

"So, how long have you been in the Labyrinth." You asked her as she fumbled with some of the things in her cupboards.

"About seventy years." She said, quickly turning around to face you. "What about you?"

"Two days. How on Earth did you survive all that time here?" She looked worried, and she went back to fixing the jars and bottles. "Why did the demons not kill you?"

She was silent, you thought you had pried too far, when she slowly looked over her left shoulder. The shoulder that held a bite mark that you hadn't noticed before.

"There are many weird wonders in this world, and I have been subject to many. But the worst has been that boy."

Your interest was definitely peaked, but you tried hard to suppress it, and covered it with a more sympathetic look.

She continued, "I entered the Labyrinth in hopes of dying. I had no friends, and my family hated me. There was more to it than just that, but I'll keep it short. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of that suffering. But that boy ... he knew. He knew I wanted to die and so he ... "

You placed a hand on top of hers, "Take your time. You don't have to tell me if you don't wan-"

"No!" She yelled, slapping your hand off of hers. "That boy took a bite out of my soul that I will never retrieve. He took my humanity and my small chance of happiness. This-" she pointed to the bite mark, "This converted me into one of them. However, I did not obtain their abilities, only their thirst. He banished me to the woods, knowing that no human would ever get this far, for me to quench that thirst, or-" she pulled the dagger from your bag, "to end my suffering."

She placed the handle of the dagger in your hand and the blade to her neck. You looked at her horrified. You couldn't kill someone, not even if they were begging for it.

"No way! I can't just kill you!" You yelled, trying to pull the blade away.

She held your arm firmly, causing you to stumble back into the cupboards and a jar to fall down and smash on top of your hand that lay on the desk below. You pulled your hand away and fell to the floor. There were shards of glass sticking out at jagged angles from your skin, your blood covering the rest of it.

You looked up at the old woman to see her staring at your hand, her eyes turning from her warm hazel to a bright red.

She pounced on to you, pinning you to the floor. Panic rushed through you body as she tried to reach for your bleeding hand, her jaw dislocating so she could gape her mouth even wider.

You stared into her eyes and saw her plee, her desire to die, and the pain she was going through by not having control over her actions. It was unbearable.

You grabbed the dagger and stabbed it right into her neck, watching as she fell backward choking and spluttering on the blood that gargled in her throat. Tears fell from her eyes as a peacful smile graced her face. She dropped to the floor, completely lifeless, but the joy she felt was still present in her eyes.

"What have I done?" You whispered, completely horrified. "Please, forgive me."

A slow clap sounded from behind you, and you swiftly turned to see the demon from the clearing. Wooyoung.

"What a spectacle! I think I might just shed a tear." His laugh echoed around the small cabin and you stiffened with fear.

Your breaths quickened as he took slow steps towards you, crouching down and taking a good look at your face.

"You're such a pretty thing, I'm so annoyed San got to you first."

San. Where was he?

You swallowed, "Where is he?" You asked, pulling your face away from Wooyoung's as he inched closer.

"He ran away as soon as you entered the cabin. Couldn't bare to face her again." Your heart started racing. Was San the boy that made her suffer like this? "Or should I say isn't allowed to."

You took a heavy breath, the whole situation hurtling you into an almost unbearable state of fear.

"You know, if I knew any better, I'd say you actually like him." He teased, his body never stopping from following you along the floor, trying to get as close as possible, only to have you shuffle away.

"Well, do you?" You asked, feeling quite perturbed by his baseless assumption.

"Do I what, baby?"

"Know better?" He laughed at that, moving in closer and smirking when you tried to move back and were met with the wall.

"I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a human attracted to me by my demon charm. However, since I hardly ever get to see any, save the children the Demon King enslaves, I've never got to experience it."

He moved in closer to your face, his lips grazing yours. You looked away, "Why don't you see them often? Don't you work at the gates?" You knew he didn't from the conversation he had with San in the clearing, but he couldn't know that.

"I did, but the King was so impressed by the state I put that old hag in that he invited me to join his royal guard." He said, grabbing your chin, making him face you again. You were oddly relieved that San wasn't the one that ruined the lady's life. "Come on, baby. San is a weak guy. I'm so much better than him."

His lips came in contact with yours for only a second before a familar voice, and one you have been waiting for, piped up from the doorway.

"Wooyoung." His head whipped around and you could only move your eyes to see San as your jaw was still in his grip. "I don't remember giving you permission to have a taste of my girl." Wooyoung laughed, standing up and walking over to him.

San stood only slightly taller than Wooyoung, his demeanour powerful and raging. "I'm glad you could join us, Sannie!" He grabbed his cheek and San quickly slapped it away.

"I'm sure you wouldn't like the King to find out that you forgot about our little demon rule?" San said, his eyes narrowing with a sharpness you hadn't seen before.

"The etiquette? It's more of a guideline, don't you think?"

"No, I don't. I don't think the King does either." San's voice lowered, "I also don't think he'd like the fact that you said that."

Wooyoung laughed again but it soon faded when he noticed that San's seriousness was unchanging. "He wouldn't believe you, San." He teased him, but he remained unphased.

"Of course. Why would the King believe the all seeing guardian of the gates, hmm?" Wooyoung's confidence started to falter and San's teasing smirk disappeared, "Get out."

He didn't need to be told twice, as he barged past San's broad shoulder to leave the cabin.

You sat in silence, watching as San crouched down to the old lady's body. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "May you rest in peace, you will suffer no more."

You moved your body up next to his, "Wooyoung said you knew her." San didn't take his eyes off of the body.

"I lost my job in the royal guard because of her. I said that Wooyoung should have just eaten her, and let her die. I suppose I thought it was too cruel. But my opinion went against the King's and I was forced into Wooyoung's previous job. I'm sorry I left you, there was a charm placed on this cabin that made sure I couldn't enter. They knew I would go and kill her. Didn't mean that I couldn't see her, of course. All the pain, the teasing of other demons. I even tried to bring her parts of my kills to try and nourish her, but they always faded to nothing outside. But, hey I tried, right?" He let out a sad laugh, before looking at you. "You probably think I'm soft now, and you would be right." He looked at the ground shamefully.

"Don't say it like it's a bad thing. I think that's a beautiful trait. I love people like that."

You took his hand and placed it in yours. You didn't know what you were doing, but comforting him just felt right in that moment. "You did the right thing, San."

"So did you. Thank you, y/n."

He looked down and noticed the blood still dripping from your hands. "I'll heal that. Then, I'll clean this up and you should rest."

Your eyes followed him as he went into the cupboard and grabbed one of the bottles, opening it and pouring it onto your hand. The blood cleared up and the glass came loose falling to the floor. The scars, however, still remained.

San took your hands in his and lifted you from the ground. Your legs felt slightly weak and you took hold of his arms firmly.

He placed you gently down on the bed before heading to the lady on the floor. He picked her up and left the room, only to return later without her. He looked different though, his skin wasn't as pale, his eyes less dark. He looked almost human.

When he went to go and clean the blood and glass off the floor, he had returned back to his normal look.

Whether it was just your mind tricking you or not. San definitely wasn't as evil as you thought. His personality shifts so drastically, yet his softer side seems more genuine. You couldn't wrap your head around it.

"Let's not make it a habit to stare at me before you go to sleep. It makes me feel too exposed." He said, stoically, turning back to his work.

You managed a small apology, relaxing back into the bed more.

You let your eyelids fall closed, but sleep didn't seem to take you as quickly this time. There was far too much to recover from. Physically and mentally. You don't understand anything well enough to overcome it. However, there is one thing you know for certain.

This Labyrinth is going to make you lose your mind.

.

To be continued

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Author's note: HOLY LORD! This chapter is very long, so thanks for sticking with it to get here! Thank you very much for reading! ❤❤

[alicanta77]

Finale: All or Nothing

Pairing: y/n x Haechan

Themes: angst, fluff, suspense(?)

Warnings: swearing, zombies, blood, violence, death, virus, illness, anxiety, mentions of abusive family, needles (one injection)

Words: 12.4k

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Finale

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The inspiration for this story came from my amazing friend @2-cute-4-school and her story called ‘Evanescent’. Her work is so brilliant and she is such an under-appreciated writer. I can’t recommend or praise her enough. Thank you to the ends of the earth for letting me use it as a starting point.

I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read post mortem. This is my first series and it so special to me so it means so much to receive likes, comments and tags saying that you enjoyed it. It has brought me brilliant friends such as @in-my-neofeelings and @honei-n and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. It’s been a wild ride so far and I hope you enjoy the finale!

Felix xox

——————————————————————————

Jeno walked swiftly down the hallway. He had holding a single piece of paper, folded in half to hide what was on it and his feet were almost silent as he made his way to your room. He turned a quick corner, knocking on your door three times, pausing for a second, then knocking again twice, before letting himself in.

He closed the door behind him, twisting the lock so that it clicked, before turning around and facing the rest of you. He held up the paper in his hands.

‘I’ve mapped out the blueprint of the army base.’

I.N. spoke next, running a hand through his hair to hide the fact that it was shaking slightly.

‘I’ve figured out how to override the system.’

Wooyoung joined in, swallowing before talking.

‘I’ve sorted our weapons.’

You spoke last. 

‘I’ve planned our route.’

The four of you looked around at each other, your obvious nerves making the tension levels rise.

I.N. took a deep breath.

‘Ok, so we’re all set for going back into the simulation.’

You nodded, determination taking over your mind as you shared a look with the boys in front of you.

‘Let’s blow this thing up.’

It hadn’t been easy to get organised. Especially not without drawing any attention to yourselves. Jeno had managed to draw up a map of the army base, marking the easiest route to the kill switch. He still remembered the ins and outs of that place from his summer camp, therefore was nominated the best person for the job. I.N. had spent his few days in the tech lab. He worked alongside a few other technicians, supporting people in the simulation. He quickly realised however, that they weren’t supporting them, but instead were directing packs of zombies towards them, trying to get as many people as possible to turn. It was in mindless conversations with these people that I.N. managed to ask a few questions about the system and get a vague understanding of how it worked. Wooyoung had been the one to realise that you would need weapons. Once the people here figured out that you had gone, they were going to come after you with everything they had. You knew too much. You were going to have to protect yourself, and Wooyoung managed to figure out how. And your job was to plan the way to the army base. You were hoping that I.N. could find a way to place you at the army base but, just in case, you had planned seven other routes. You had also spoken to Donghyuck’s sister, begging her to stay safe and keep her head down for the time you were away. You didn’t tell her much, only that you were going to get Donghyuck. She seemed to understand a lot more than you thought she did, as she gently held on to you while you hugged goodbye, taking the chance to whisper “do what you have to” in your ear. You had no idea if she had figured out what was really going on, but you knew you would never underestimate the girl again.

Tomorrow was the big day. Tomorrow was when it mattered. Tomorrow you went back into the simulation.

---

You were lying in bed that night, Jeno next to you as you chatted with each other about random things, trying to ease your nerves. You were glad that he hadn’t left you alone, instead claiming that he would wait for you to fall asleep before heading back to his own room.

‘What do you think will happen to us in there?’ He asked, changing the subject from whether starfish have feelings to the task ahead of you.

‘I don’t know.’ You answered honestly. ‘Probably what happened before, except harder. There are more zombies and we have to be careful not to get bitten. I mean, we always were careful but... everything relies on us now.’

‘As long as one of us makes it we’ll be okay.’ He reasoned, keeping his eyes on the ceiling above him. ‘We’re gonna get to see everyone again too.’

‘Yeah.’ You breathed out, your mind filled with the memories of Hyuck and you couldn’t begin to imagine what it would feel like to see him again. ‘It feels like it’s been a lifetime since I saw them last.’

‘I know.’ Jeno replied. And he really did. Since you both got your real memories back, your friendship had gone right back to normal. It was such a relief to have someone who understood the situation you were both put in, especially as it was so hard to explain.

A silence fell over the two of you for a second.

‘Are you thinking about Hyuck?’ He asked, turning his head to look at you.

‘Yeah.’ You said honestly, keeping your eyes on the ceiling and blinking back the tears that were gathering. ‘I miss him.’

‘I know you do... I also know that he misses you too, if not more. I still can’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that they actually think that we’re dead.’ Jeno looked back at the ceiling, blinking back tears of his own before you saw them. ‘Do you think they’ll believe us when we tell them about the simulation?’

‘I mean, we’ll be alive. Surely that must be proof enough?’ You wondered. ‘Although, it almost doesn’t matter whether they believe us or not. We actually don’t need them to, we just need to hit that button.’

Jeno nodded.

‘You’re right. We need to focus on shutting it down and we can properly reunite and explain everything to them once we’ve woken up again.’

You hummed in agreement, your eyes shutting slightly as tiredness began to take over you.

---

Tomorrow had arrived.

You woke up to an empty room, Jeno fulfilling his promise and heading back to his once you had fallen asleep. You looked over at the alarm clock on your bedside table, the red numbers staring back at you. 

9:37am

You were meeting the boys in Wooyoung’s room at 10am, as per I.N.’s request, meaning you had 20 minutes. You lay in bed for a short while, the thought of what you were preparing to do occupying your mind, before climbing out and heading towards the shower.

After a quick shower, you dried off and pulled on some more clothes. All the clothes supplied here were the same, tracksuit bottoms and a t shirt, the colours just varied every day. Today you had white bottoms and a white t shirt as well. You pulled them on before walking towards your door. You opened it, stepped into the hallway and began making your way to Wooyoung’s room.

---

By the time you arrived, the other boys were already there. There was a heavy silence in the air, it was clear that they’d been discussing something before you’d arrived.

‘What wrong?’ You asked, afraid of what they were about to tell you.

‘Dr Kim is in the pod room. He booked it last night and apparently won’t be leaving for the rest of the week.’ Jeno explained.

Your brows furrowed slightly in confusion.

‘Ok, that’s not good, not at all. Is Dr Kim-’

‘The one you overheard with Jeno? Yes.’ I.N. cut you off. ‘Look, we can’t waste any time. I say that, as soon as he leaves the room, we go in, lock the door, and get into that simulation.’

The three of you nodded in agreement.

‘I.N’s right.’ Wooyoung said. ‘We don’t have time to wait for an opening, we’re gonna need to create one. We can hear the door opening from here so, as long as we are near, we can make sure to take that gap.’

‘There’s something else.’ I.N. abruptly mentioned. You and the two other boys turning to look at him quizzically. ‘The three of you are going in alone.’

‘What? I.N. wait-’

‘No, let me explain.’ I.N. interrupted Wooyoung’s protest. You didn’t know how to feel, you had been prepared for all of you going in, you weren’t sure how you were going to leave him behind. ‘The three of you are going in alone because you have to. Firstly, in order to get into the simulation, someone else has to “authorise” it, for lack of a better word. You are going to be lying in a pod, and I’m going to “authorise” you going in. No matter what we try and do, one of us would always have to stay behind. And it has to be me. The three of you are much more suited for the challenge ahead, I’m just the brains of the operation. Plus, I’ve got to make sure that no one can follow you in or pull you out, therefore I need to stay here. Besides, from out here I can throw them off your scent, hack into the camera system to make sure that the cameras don’t follow you, and other things like that.’

He looked around at you, easily telling from your faces that you clearly weren’t okay with this development.

‘I.N. we need all four of us. We can do this if we’re together.’ Jeno pleaded, but I.N. simply shook his head.

‘You can do this alone.’

‘No I.N. we need you. Like you said you’re the brains of this and what if we come across a problem that you know how to solve but we don’t? You have to come with us.’ You begged him, but he didn’t change his opinion.

‘You have to trust me on this. You need to leave me behind.’

Wooyoung was the only one who hadn’t said anything, just staring at his friend sadly.

‘You know they’ll punish you for us going in right? You’re going to pay for the consequences of our actions.’ Wooyoung whispered, obviously scared for what would happen once you leave.

‘I know.’ I.N. replied, his voice quiet but surprisingly calm. ‘But that should buy you guys some time. And you’re going to need all the time you can get.’

The three of you nodded, finally understanding that, even if I.N. wanted to, he couldn’t join you in the simulation. He needed to protect you from the outside.

‘Just... promise me one favour?’ I.N. asked.

‘Anything.’ Wooyoung guaranteed.

‘Let them know that I’m okay. Especially Chan... please just make sure he’s not blaming himself.’ He whispered.

You felt yourself nodding. You couldn’t help but let your mind drift off to the boys who were in there, waiting for you. You thought of how Renjun had argued with you not to become a raider in the first place, claiming that he just wanted you to be safe. You thought of how Jaemin had only ever asked one thing of you, and that was for you to stay alive. You thought of how desperate San had been to stay with you when you had told him to leave you behind. And you thought of how Donghyuck had looked when you told him you were going on that final run. You thought of how you could see every part of him want to tell you “no”. You thought of how many times he had pulled you in for a hug and begged to stay with him. And you thought of how he had looked when he sat by your grave. They needed to know that you were okay. They needed to know that you didn’t blame them. They needed to know that you loved them.

The sound of a door opening and harsh footsteps treading down the hallway next to you interrupted your thoughts. The four of you froze, listening to the muttering voice of Dr Kim disappearing down the corridor as he muttered about being interrupted.

‘The room’s empty.’ I.N. stated.

Jeno stood up, quietly opening the door and checking that it was clear before turning back to the rest of you.

‘Let’s go.’

---

‘This better be important.’ Dr Kim stormed into his office. ‘I have other business to attend to.’

‘Sir, you’re going to want to see this.’

The head doctor, Dr Kim, turned his head towards the voice of his assistant. On their computer screen was a video, a video of your conversation from last night. Dr Kim leaned on the desk in front of him as he listened to the four of you talk.

‘Ok, so we’re all set for going back into the simulation.’

‘Yes. Let’s blow this thing up.’ 

Dr Kim took a deep breath as he tried to make sense of this development. 

‘How did they find out?’ He asked, his voice quiet but the anger clear.

‘We don’t know.’ His assistant replied. ‘But they’re planning to head back into the simulation and shut it down. They’ve... they’ve found the kill switch.’

Dr Kim’s eyes shot to his assistant, who once again shrugged, answering the question he hadn’t yet asked.

‘Then the answer is simple. We need to stop them. Shut down the pod room, no one goes in and I want to be alerted if there is any attempt to override the system. And you-’ Dr Kim clicked at the bodyguard on his right side. ‘Let’s go pay our little heroes a visit. I think they’re in need of a few new memories, don’t you?’

---

You watched as I.N. shut the door tight behind him, making sure to twist the lock. He stopped briefly, taking a quick look around before beginning his instructions.

‘Ok, Wooyoung, go into that cupboard and grab the solution that’s there, y/n, find me a syringe and Jeno, go and open three of those pods.’

You all nodded, quickly scrambling to fulfil your orders. You were pulling open random drawers, desperately looking for a syringe for I.N. to use. You were on your seventh when you finally found it. You turned around triumphantly, holding it out for I.N. to take when the lights surrounding the door went red and a low electronic groan echoed out.

‘What was that?’ Jeno asked to no one in particular.

‘We don’t have time to wait around and find out.’ I.N. grabbed the syringe out of you hand while uttering those words. The tension was unbearable, all of you knowing that you had a very short amount of time before you were caught.

What none of you knew was that, you had already run out of time.

---

Dr Kim threw open Wooyoung’s door, a shout of frustration leaving his mouth as he found it empty. He had been to all of your rooms in an attempt to find you. He stormed into the corridor again, his eyes drifting to the pod room down the hall. He walked up towards the door, pressed his ear against the wood, and listened.

His guard behind him had a hand on his gun as he watched Dr Kim’s face transform into an expression of absolute rage.

‘They’re in there.’ He forced through gritted teeth. He turned around and looked at his guard before shouting. ‘Get this door open!’

The guard moved forwards immediately, putting the gun back in its holster and attempting to kick down the door. After a few tries he turned around.

‘It won’t budge. It needs to be opened from the control room.’ He informed the doctor in front of him.

Dr Kim let out a strangled scream and lunged forward to grab the radio off the guard’s waist. He lifted it up to his mouth and spoke into it, shouting instructions at the people in the control room.

‘I want the door to the pod room open right now!’

‘But Dr Kim, if that-’ A static voice came through from the other side, giving him some excuse as to why he needed to wait.

‘I don’t care! Open the door now!’ Dr Kim threw the radio back at the guard in front of him and watched as the lights around the door changed from a red to white, signalling that it was unlocked.

He threw the door open and burst into the room.

---

‘Get this door open!’

Dr Kim’s voice travelled through the door separating you and the four of you inside looked at each other in fear.

‘Jeno, quick! Come here.’ I.N. instructed, moving the syringe so that it was close to his neck. He had already given you and Wooyoung injections, only Jeno’s was left. He pulled the syringe out, ready to send you back into the simulation. ‘Go and lie in a pod and close the door on top of you.’

His voice was sharp and clear, not a single trace of fear in it, the only thing betraying him were his slightly shaking hands. You could hear a loud bang come from the door as you ran towards the closest pod. You turned back towards I.N. as a thought crossed your mind.

‘I.N.!’ You called out, only getting a hum in response. ‘Can you do me a favour?’

I.N. looked up at you for a split second, his expression conveying all he needed to say.

Now is not the time to ask questions but yes, what do you need?

‘Please, look after Hyuck’s sister for me? Make sure that she’s okay.’

I.N. nodded.

‘I promise.’

You felt a small amount of relief flow through you. You were leaving without speaking to her so you were glad to know that she would be protected. You quickly lay down in your open pod, pulled the door down over you, and, as the door clicked shut, you were encased in a pale blue light.

A few seconds passed before I.N’s voice came through.

‘Ok, I can’t seem to put you straight into the army base for some reason, the location is locked on here and I don’t have time to figure out how to hack it, but I’m going to drop you as close as I can. It’s in the nearby city and looks like it’s just under half a day’s walk away.’

You took a deep breath as you mentally pictured the maps you had drawn up. You knew you had planned some routes that went through nearby cities, you just weren’t sure which on you were going to be dropped in.

‘If I remember correctly from when we went in, you’re going to get very drowsy in a minute, just relax into it. Let the simulation take you okay? Don’t panic.’

He paused for a minute, leaving you in silence, your own breathing being the only thing you could hear. You could feel your eyes begin to relax and the tiredness swept through your veins. You could feel your heart rate begin to rise, all the memories from the simulation flooding back through your mind. Your father’s death, Jeno’s death, Donghyuck’s sister’s death, the first girl you killed. But you forced those pictures out of your mind. This time wasn’t going to be like that. You were prepared. You weren’t going in there to just fight for your life, you were going in there to save everyone. I.N.’s voice came back over the speakers, just as you lost consciousness completely.

‘Good luck.’

---

You opened your eyes.

You were surprised to find yourself standing up. You were stood in the middle of a road, clearly on an abandoned high street. The shops up and down the pavement were empty, some even having been looted. You turned to look around you, spotting Wooyoung and Jeno a little further down.

You took an experimental step, relieved when you didn’t go crashing to the ground, and took off in a jog. Both of the boys saw you moving towards them and came forwards to meet you halfway.

You came to a halt when you reached them, the three of you standing in silence.

‘Well...’ Wooyoung spoke, his eyes constantly darting around your surroundings. ‘We made it.’

‘Yeah, I guess we did.’ You mumbled, your eyes looking down at the ground. It was only when you did this, did you realise the clothes that you were wearing. ‘Oh my god! I’m in the clothes I died in.’ You realised, both Jeno and Wooyoung’s eyes darting to their bodies as well.

You recognised Jeno’s outfit from the final day at Mark, the sight of him running through the infested house on the monitors was not one that you would easily forget, and judging from Wooyoung’s shocked face, he was also wearing what he had been killed in.

‘Wow. Yeah, thankfully the clothes from just before we died. Cause, you know, there wouldn’t be much left of mine otherwise.’ Jeno’s shot a smile at the two of you. 

You stared at him in disbelief, a laugh leaving you despite the circumstances.

‘Only you could joke about blowing yourself up like that.’ You chuckled.

But Wooyoung whirled around to stare at Jeno.

‘You blew yourself up?’ He asked, as Jeno nodded in confirmation.

‘Yeah, just pulled the pin on a grenade and ran into a group of zombies.’ He shrugged like it was no big deal, causing Wooyoung to stare at you.

‘It’s true.’ You informed him. ‘We were in the floor above. The blast knocked us off our feet.’ Your voice got quieter towards the end. Even though Jeno was very much alive, listening to the blast and coming down to the wreckage of Mark’s kitchen wasn’t an easy thing to forget.

Jeno placed a hand on your shoulder, sending you a comforting smile. You sent one back before turning to Wooyoung again.

‘But what about you? San told me all about your heroics, sacrificing yourself so that they could get into the army base.’ You grinned at him, watching as Wooyoung blushed slightly.

‘I’m not the only one though, who sacrificed myself for San am I?’ He asked, looking you directly in the eye.

Your smile shrunk slightly, leaving only a sad one on your lips.

‘We weren’t both making it out of that alive.’

You all fell into silence after you spoke those words, all replaying the scenes of your own deaths in your minds. It wasn’t something you ever expected to be haunted with, but here you were, stumbling back through this wasted version of the world, being stalked by your own ghost.

‘Let’s just get our weapons and move on?’ You suggested, breaking the tension as both boys nodded in agreement.

‘If I remember correctly...’ Wooyoung muttered, mainly to himself as he walked through a broken shop window. He disappeared for a while, making yours and Jeno’s hearts race in fear. You had forgotten the terror that came along with losing sight of someone for a few seconds in this climate. 

His head popped up again, a childish smile on his face. 

‘Found it.’ He informed you, even though neither you nor Jeno had any clue as to what “it” was.

‘You know,’ Wooyoung continued. ‘I.N. actually couldn’t have dropped us in a better place, I grew up around here and I know that the owner of this store was very paranoid about people stealing his things. So he had a secret compartment put in, and filled it with these.’

Wooyoung appeared over the top again, this time holding a gun in each hand. They were large guns, similar to the kind that you had used at Mark’s. He handed one to each of you and then grabbed one more for himself. He also pulled a box out that was filled with cases of spare bullets.

‘I thought we might need these too.’ He said as he unzipped a backpack on the floor, emptying the contents and filling it again with the cases of bullets and a few spare pistols. He also made sure to hand both you and Jeno a handgun. 

‘How do you know all of this?’ Jeno asked, his eyes wide at the sight in front of him.

‘Hmmm? Oh I worked here part time. It paid quite well actually. He only ever took on three students a year so it was really competitive.’ Wooyoung replied.

‘So he told all his employees about this? How come no one else took these?’ You wondered aloud.

‘Oh no. He didn’t tell all of his employees. Only me.’ Wooyoung corrected you.

‘Well, please don’t take this the wrong way, but why you?’

Wooyoung looked up at Jeno’s question, diverting his eyes from the gun in front of him.

‘Simple. He liked me.’

Another large smile broke out across the boy’s face, one that made you smile with him, without realising it. Wooyoung was such a happy virus, someone who could make people happy or brighten their day without even trying. Your mind drifted to Donghyuck. The only boy who could make you smile even in the worst of circumstances. You missed him. You missed him so much that it physically hurt. It sometimes felt like he was the only thing keeping you going.

‘Right.’ Wooyoung’s voice cut through your train of thought. ‘Shall we go?’

You opened your mouth to answer but before you got a chance to, a low groan sounded through the high street. It was a noise that you hadn’t heard for a while, but nevertheless, still managed to send a chill of terror down your spine.

You turned slowly and made eye contact with the zombie staring at you through the broken store window.

---

‘Where are they?’ The Dr Kim bellowed as he burst into the camera room. ‘I want eyes on the three of them right now!’

All he got in response were frantic nods from the staff as they combed through every camera that they possibly could to find the four of you.

‘Doctor! I found them.’ A voice from the far left called out.

‘Put them up on the screen.’ Dr Kim instructed, watching as the main screen on the wall lit up with a picture of you all walking through the empty high street.

‘That street... I know that street.’ Dr Kim mused. He turned to the guard on his left and barked an instruction. ‘You, go to y/n’s room and grab the papers on her bed.’

The guard left immediately, running down the corridor.

‘Send a zombie their way.’

The staff nodded in response to his request and watched as you turned to look at the zombie now watching you through the window. Dr Kim focused as Wooyoung pulled the gun up and shot it through the head immediately, not wasting a second.

‘They’re not afraid to kill anymore. They know that they’ll only wake the person up. I want them out of there as soon as possible.’

‘Do you want us to organise for them to die? Or to pull their pods out?’ One of the crew asked.

‘No.’ Dr Kim muttered. ‘They know too much, and there’s no guarantee that they won’t figure it out again. Fake memories are hard to create and even harder to make last, our best chance was putting the two of them into a relationship. If that didn’t work before it’s not worth wasting the time and resources to try and do it again.’

‘So, what should we do doctor?’ The same person questioned.

‘There’s only one answer really, they can’t leave. We have to make sure they turn. Push forwards the mutation of the virus. What stage are we at currently?’

‘Stage 3 out of 5.’ Another voice appeared from somewhere in the room, Dr Kim didn’t know and didn’t care where.

‘Mutate it. I want stage 5. Enable the virus to be transmitted through insects. If they get bitten by an infected mosquito, I want them infected, if they eat a vegetable grown near infected bugs in the soil, I want the disease to travel to the food, if they smell a flower pollinated by a bee, I want that bee to be infected and I want the virus to transmit to them. Understand?’

He looked around at the staff behind him, all of them shouting agreement with his plan and turning towards their computers to put it into action. 

The guard appeared again,  holding out the papers towards Dr Kim. The doctor practically ripped them out of his hands, rolling them out on the table in front of him. He pointed to one drawing in particular.

‘Look, they’ve planned their route.’ He could now see exactly the journey you were planning to take to reach the army base. He checked the screen and saw the mutated virus already starting to have effects. He smiled and turned to the staff in front of him. ‘What do you say we send a few old friends to break up the party?’

---

Wooyoung reacted before either you or Jeno could, pulling the gun into position and shooting a bullet straight into the zombie’s forehead. You watched as its body hit the ground with a dull thud.

‘Jesus.’ Wooyoung breathed. ‘I forgot how terrifying seeing one of those was.’

Jeno turned around where he was and sent Wooyoung a nod.

‘Yeah me too, thanks.’

Wooyoung shrugged it off.

‘Probably better for them right? I mean, they’re gonna wake up now.’

‘Yeah, you’re right’ You piped up. ‘We can’t be afraid to pull the trigger anymore. We know nothing bad is going to happen so just, aim for the head so that it’s quick and doesn’t leave them in pain.’

Jeno and Wooyoung nodded slowly. As well as the three of you knew what was waiting for you on the outside of the simulation, and that dying here was nothing to be afraid of, it was still difficult to pull that trigger.

‘We seriously need to move, we don’t want to stop if we can help it.’ Wooyoung said, hoisting the bag over his shoulder.

Jeno turned to you expectantly, waiting to see what direction you were going in.

‘Ok, from the routes I created, we need to head West from here. Luckily for us, there’s an almost direct path from where we are now, to the army base.’

You pointed in the direction you needed to head as you spoke, Wooyoung nodding in agreement. Having someone around who knew these areas would be incredibly useful.

The three of you set off, your hands firmly on your weapons as you began your trek to the army base. You walked all the way down the high street, crossing the empty roads to take other paths. You ensured that you always took the largest street possible, not wanting to meet a group of zombies in a tight alleyway.

All the minutes seemed to blur into one as you walked. Your mind began to wander and you thought of I.N. You wondered if he had gotten into trouble when they had found him alone in the pod room. You were scared that they were going to wipe his memories again, but you were even more afraid that they were going to hurt him. You hoped that he had stayed true to his word and that he was looking after Donghyuck’s sister. You were praying that she would be okay.

The tall buildings gradually began to shrink as you left the centre of the town you were dropped in. Jeno was a few steps ahead of the rest of you and Wooyoung, naturally walking at a faster pace. The silence between the three of you was getting louder with every step when suddenly, the low groan that you had not missed in the slightest, cut through. Your heart sank, out of annoyance rather than fear.

That annoyance quickly evolved into fear when you recognised the zombie leading the silent pack walking towards you.

It was Hongjoon.

Someone who had run the army base when you were there. He had offered you support before and after every run, he had been there to listen anytime you needed to talk. You knew he was someone who could be trusted.

But here he was. In front of you, stumbling forward as though he had no idea who you were.

Wooyoung didn’t move, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to talk.

‘Hyung?’

Hongjoon’s eyes shot towards his younger friend, opening slightly wider for a second, as if in recognition, before they turned back to you, narrowed, and he shot forwards. He moved like lightening, you only had a second to shout out before you were on the ground, underneath Hongjoon who was biting at you with everything he had.

Wooyoung pulled his gun into position and aimed at his friend’s head. He could hear your shouts as you pushed against the infected boy with all your might, yet he didn’t pull the trigger.

‘Wooyoung, shoot!’ You screamed. ‘It’s not real! Shoot!’

A shot rang out and Hongjoon collapsed on top of you. You rolled him off you and on to the ground and looked up. It wasn’t Wooyoung who had fired, it was Jeno. Jeno grabbed you by the hand and pulled you up. He turned to shoot an accusing look at Wooyoung, preparing to say something, but he was interrupted by the rest of the crowd of zombies breaking out into a run behind you. 

The three of you took off. You tried leading the boys on your planned route to the army base but more zombies just appeared from that direction.

‘How are there so many all of a sudden?’ Jeno asked in between breaths.

‘I don’t know!’ You said, frustration bubbling up inside you. ‘It’s almost as if they’re spawning here.’ Then a sudden realisation dawned on you. ‘The lab must have found our plans. They know our route, we have to find another way.’

Jeno’s eyes widened in desperation, the both of you wracking your brains in an attempt to think of an escape plan. You hadn’t noticed that in an attempt to escape the undead hoard chasing you, you had circled back and were heading back into the main city. 

Suddenly, Wooyoung’s voice rang out.

‘I know a way. Follow me.’

He sped up as he ran back into the streets of the city he knew. You and Jeno both followed, piling on the extra speed in order to keep up. You turned a sharp corner a few seconds after Wooyoung and found him attempting to open a manhole cover. Jeno crouched down next to him to help and, together, they lifted the metal cover off. It was on hinges so it should be easy to close after you.

‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ You groaned.

‘It’s either down here with a few rats, or out there with them.’ Wooyoung nodded in the direction of the zombies. Their footsteps getting dangerously loud.

You sighed, nodding in agreement. Wooyoung climbed in first and then Jeno held out a hand to offer you help.

‘No.’ You bluntly refused.

‘No? y/n I thought you said you were ok going in? We don’t have-’

‘Not that kind of no.’ You cut him off. ‘I’m going in, I’m just going in last.’

You could see Jeno was confused so you explained hurriedly, trying to keep your voice as steady and as hard as possible. But you didn’t quite manage to stop it form shaking.

‘The last time you offered to go last was at Mark’s and the next think I knew, I was watching you die. I don’t care if this is a simulation, I’m not risking it again.’

Jeno’s expression completely changed. He looked like he wanted to say something but Wooyoung voice travelled up from below before he could.

‘What the hell is taking you two so long? Don’t worry, I know these tunnels.’

Jeno swung his legs into the manhole, climbing down the ladder quickly. You waited until he was a few rungs down before lower yourself in too. You had just got your lower body in and you were reaching for the lid when the first zombie skidded around the corner. It let out a sort of yell, almost in triumph, and you slamming the cover shut over you. You bent yourself in half slightly, not being far enough down the ladder to close the top and stand up straight.

You thought that would be okay but the lid started to move up again and you got a glimpse of the zombie trying to open it.

‘Wooyoung! How do I shut this?’ You screamed down.

‘The wheel on the inside. Turn it!’ Wooyoung yelled back, the panic clear in his voice.

If you didn’t get this wheel locked it would be game over.

You tried to step down slightly, not being able to pull the door down with force at the angle you were standing. However, it was incredibly difficult as you had both your hands on the wheel above you. You placed another foot down, but this time you misjudged where the step was and slipped. You went down about two rungs, a yelp escaping you as you did so.

‘Y/n!’ Wooyoung screamed from the floor.

You felt a strong hand come up and grab the back of your thigh, steadying you.

‘You’re okay. Now, close it.’ Jeno’s words brought you right back down to earth and filled you with the strength you needed.

You gave the cover a powerful tug, yanking the wheel to the right as you did so. You kept both hands there, turning the wheel until you couldn’t physically turn it anymore. Eventually you stilled, your hands stopping their frantic movements.

You stood where you were, pausing just to catch your breath.

‘We’ve gotta keep moving.’ Wooyoung’s voice echoed up through the tunnel and you nodded.

You released the metal wheel above you, instead grabbing the ladder and lowering yourself down onto the floor.

‘Let’s go. I know a path into the woods, I’m pretty sure that it has an exit close to the army base.’

Wooyoung made to move off but Jeno’s hand shot out, grabbing him by the shoulder, stilling his movements.

‘Not so fast kiddo.’ He said, staring the shorter male down.

‘I’m older than you.’ Wooyoung muttered, his eyes facing the floor. Despite the fact that Wooyoung was older, it was obvious who had the power in this verbal exchange.

‘You didn’t take the shot.’ Jeno said, watching as Wooyoung swallowed. ‘You had a clear shot, you wouldn’t have hit y/n, but you didn’t take the shot. Instead you put her in danger, and in turn, endangering everything that we’re trying to do here. You know it’s not going harm them. Why didn’t you take the shot?’

‘I tried to. But he was still my friend. I was staring at the face of my friend. I know that he’s going to wake up, and that he’s probably better off dead than as one of those, but... I just didn’t think it would be that hard to pull the trigger. I’ve done it plenty of times. Hell, I even did it earlier today, but when I was looking into the eyes of someone I knew... I couldn’t do it.’

Jeno sighed deeply. You could tell that he understood where Wooyoung was coming from.

‘Ok.’ He said, Wooyoung looking up in shock at how fast Jeno moved on from it. ‘No one got hurt, and hopefully by taking this route we shouldn’t have to see anyone else.’

Wooyoung smiled thankfully, turning around and pointing down the tunnel.

‘It’s this way.’

And once again, you set off.

---

Your throat was dry, your legs ached and you were tired. You had been walking for hours and you were worried that it was going to be dark when you left the safety of these tunnels. Wooyoung wasn’t lying when he said that he knew them well, from the easy way he was guiding you through them, he had clearly spent a lot of time in them when he was younger. You had to admit that Wooyoung had made himself an invaluable member of your team. You really had no idea how you could have gotten this far without him.

As thankful as you were to everything Wooyoung had done so far, you had never loved him more than when he told you that you could stop walking. He approached the ladder in front of him, gently placing his hands on either side and whispering.

‘This is it.’

He climbed first, turning the wheel to unlock it at the top and wincing as it creaked loudly as he pushed it open. Wooyoung paused with it open slightly, listening for the tell tale noises of the undead, and then continued to open it completely.

You climbed out of the top, savouring the fresh air, pausing to listen for a guttural groan or ominous footsteps but, instead, you were greeted with a blissful silence. 

Well, almost blissful.

‘Careful!’

A voice echoed through woods, a voice strangely familiar that caused both yours and Jeno’s head shoot up.

‘That sounded like Renjun.’ You whispered breathlessly, the thought of seeing your longest friend after what had felt like an eternity was almost alien to you.

‘I know. But it can’t have been him, he’s at the base.’ Jeno reasoned.

‘Jaemin, you ridiculously stupid moron.’ The voice appeared again, causing you and Jeno to share a smile.

‘No.’ Jeno’s eyes curved up into crescents. ‘That’s Renjun.’

‘Renjun!’ You shouted out, starting to jog towards where you had heard him before.

You didn’t get a reply, causing to you panic as an indescribable feeling of sadness took over you. 

‘Renjun, it’s the grief. It can cause you to hear people when they’re not there.’

‘I’m not an idiot, San. I know my best friend’s voice.’

Your heart sped up again, warmth spreading throughout your entire body as you called out.

‘Renjun?’

This time you got a reply.

‘Y/n?’ You heard footsteps speed up, getting louder as they got closer to you. ‘Oh please be real, please be real, please be-’

Renjun turned into your line of vision, his words and movements stopping suddenly as he laid eyes on you. You smiled at him, tears starting to blur your vision.

‘Hi.’ You said.

That was all it took. Renjun threw himself forwards, pulling you in for the tightest hug you had ever felt in your life. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and hugged him back, feeling his tears begin to wet your neck.

‘You’re real. I knew it, you’re real.’

His words got lost in a haze of disbelief and shock at the sight of you standing in front of him, alive.

He pulled away, cupping your hands with his face, wiping away the tears that had fallen. He just stared at you, utter amazement gracing his features. Then, finally, a smile broke out. The largest smile you had ever seen. He wrapped his arms back around your waist, pulling you around in a circle as he screamed happily into the air.

‘I was right!’

It was at this moment that Jeno, Jaemin and San also found their way to where you were. You pulled away from Renjun, staring at the two boys behind him as Renjun’s eyes locked on to Jeno. You stroked Renjun’s face one last time as you moved away. Renjun hit Jeno at full force, hugging him tight and bursting into tears again. You didn’t move, looking only at Jaemin. He was staring back at you, clearly not knowing what to say.

So you smiled.

‘Miss me?’ You asked, watching as Jaemin’s face broke out into a smile matching yours and he laughed with glee as he ran towards you. He picked you up in a hug, his laughter never stopping. You couldn’t help but laugh back. He put you down, finally managing to get some words out.

‘Oh god I missed you so much. You’re alive!’

You nodded, the smile on your face was starting to hurt but you couldn’t make it smaller even if you wanted to. You pulled away from him after a short while, allowing him to greet Jeno and you were left facing San.

San didn’t meet your eyes, instead choosing to stare at his feet.

‘San?’ You asked, hoping that he would at least look at you.

You could see the boy blinking rapidly, chewing on his bottom lip at the same time. Eventually you couldn’t take it anymore. You walked towards him and pulled him in for a hug. The second your hand made contact with his shoulder, San broke down, hugging you as tight as the others and whispering about how sorry he was.

‘Shhhhh, it wasn’t your fault. You did exactly what you should have done.’ You comforted him.

You pulled away sooner than you wanted to, but you knew he had to see Wooyoung.

‘I have a surprise for you.’ You said, smiling at him.

San sent you a teary but confused smile back, and you wordlessly grabbed his hand and turned him around.

Upon seeing Wooyoung, San moved faster than you had ever seen him move before. He shot towards the boy, Wooyoung moving forwards too as they reunited. Renjun appeared back at your shoulder, keeping an arm around you, as if to remind himself that you were really there.

‘I’m so happy you’re okay, but I have to ask, how?’

You shared a look with Jeno and called out to Wooyoung and San.

‘We’ll tell you on the way. It’s not an easy story.’

‘On the way? Wait where are you going?’ Jaemin asked, placing a hand on your chest to stop you moving.

‘Back to the army base.’ Jeno explained. ‘There’s something there that we need to do.’

Renjun and Jaemin shared a nervous look.

‘What’s happened?’ You asked, your hope diminishing by the second.

‘We’ve lost the army base.’ Renjun said bluntly. ‘People started turning from the inside, with no scratch, bite, or even contact with a zombie. It was as if it was in the air. Anyone who could abandoned the building immediately. Within under two hours it wasn’t safe anymore.’

‘Are you three the only ones who made it out?’ Wooyoung voiced the question you were too afraid to ask.

‘We don’t know.’ San chimed in. ‘The three of us left within a few seconds of each other. All we know is that we were the first out. If anyone got out after us, they can’t be far away.’

‘This isn’t part of the plan.’ You whispered, bringing your hand up to your head to rub your forehead.

‘What plan?’ Renjun asked, his eyes flickering between you and Jeno.

‘The plan. The plan that’s going to save us, to end this all.’ You rambled, not even fully sure of what you were saying.

‘End this all? Wait do you know how to stop the apocalypse?’ Jaemin asked.

‘There is no apocalypse!’ You exploded. ‘None of this is fucking real! It’s a damn simulation.’

‘A simulation...’ Renjun repeated.

‘Yes, a simulation. Aren’t the three of us proof enough that this can’t be real life. Jaemin, you shot me. In the head. How the fuck would I recover from that?’

Jaemin flinched at the reminder of your death. Jeno, noticing how your distressed state was unsettling others, tried to calm you down.

‘y/n, just breath for a minute ok?’

You whirled around.

‘No! Not okay. I’m so fucking done with this. How much hell have we been put through. I have killed people, and watched them been killed. I have lost friends, lost memories, left people behind, fought for my life and it still isn’t enough. When is this shit going to end? What more can they put me through?’

You turned towards the sky and screamed.

‘Fuck you! You hear that Dr Kim? Fuck you and your little experiment. I’m still finding a way to shut you down. Because you know what? I’m getting that happy ending. Cause after all the shit you’ve put me through, I fucking deserve it!’

You sat down, trying to catch your breath after your meltdown. You stared at the grass in front of you, ignoring the five sets of eyes watching your every move.

‘You went through something pretty rough on the outside didn’t you?’ Jaemin asked, assuming there was something more to your anger than what you had just learnt.

‘Yeah. It wasn’t easy.’ Jeno clarified. You were glad he didn’t go into more detail and even more glad that the boys didn’t ask for more.

You stood up, pulling your gun around to your front and took off.

‘Uhhh, y/n? Where are you going?’ Renjun asked.

‘To the army base.’ You declared. ‘I’m still shutting this thing down. Even if I had to do it alone.’

‘Who the hell said you were going to be doing it alone?’ Jeno’s words caused you to stop and turn around.

‘You’re coming with me?’

Jaemin shrugged, grabbing the pistol that Jeno offered him and beginning to walk towards you, the other boys all following.

‘Well, we started this together. Might as well end it that way to.’

---

The doors to the army base were open when you arrived. The wide gates were oddly unnerving, open gates were normally a symbol of welcoming, but this only reminded you of the gates to hell.

‘Remember, just get to the button and press it. That’s all we need to do so just focus on that.’ Jeno reminded you all. His voice was clear and steady, not a hint of fear in it. It was the voice of a true leader.

You stepped forward, ready to face whatever came at you.

---

You don’t know where it went so wrong.

Only you and Jeno were left alive and unbitten. The rest of you had been picked off one by one. They appeared out of nowhere, moved quickly and silently and were almost impossible to find. You had no idea what had made the zombies so dangerous all of a sudden. They had lost the slow paces of the previous kind, the fast bursts only maintained for a few seconds, and now had the agility of 20 year olds. It was as if they had retained the characteristics of the people they used to be. It was even harder to know that it was you friends picking you off just predators pick off the weakest member of the herd.

The two of you moved silently, aware of the moving shadows that signified the walking ghosts of your friends. You had only seen a few faces yet. You’d seen Chan, Changbin and Jongho as well as Mark and Chenle. It was seeing Mark and Chenle that was the most difficult, and in that minute you understood better than ever before, why Wooyoung couldn’t pull the trigger on Hongjoon. 

A scream came from your left and you turned and blindly fired. You missed and watched as a figure you recognised to be Jaemin’s slunk back down the corridor.

You were only a few minutes away from the button, but at the pace you were moving, it would take you ages. You had to speed up. There was a door up ahead, one that was already open, as if it was awaiting the two of you. It only took one short shared look for the plan to be formed. You counted to three under your breath.

One

Two

Three

You threw yourself forwards, sprinting towards the open door as fast as you could, Jeno doing the same. Jeno reached the doorway before you did, and, as you cleared the distance, he slammed the door shut behind you.

You whirled around as you heard another loud bang on the door and saw Jeno pushing himself up against it to hold it in place. All of a sudden it made perfect sense as to why the door had been open.

It had no hinges.

The zombified bodies of your friends were pushing against it, clawing desperately to try and reach Jeno.

‘y/n, you have to go! Run now and find that button.’ Jeno’s voce was strained, all his energy being used to keep the door in place.

‘No, Jeno you have to go. You know the base better than I do.’ You reasoned.

‘Do you think I can go anywhere right now?’ He asked, pushing back on the door again as it began to budge. ‘Don’t be an idiot y/n, just go! I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.’

So you ran, you turned on your tail and sprinted down the hallway. You were pretty sure that you only had to get down this hallway, one set of stairs and one last door before you were at the button.

You were so close. Surely nothing could stop you now. All the zombies were upstairs, you had a free run.

You had just turned the second last corner of the corridor when you felt two hands grab your arm tightly and teeth quickly sank into the skin.

You let out a scream in pain, the zombie releasing your arm and stepping back from you, its work now done. You spun around and came face to face with the zombie who bit you.

Donghyuck.

Your heart stopped as you looked at the boy you loved. He stared back at you with no recognition, his eyes dull and his skin coloured with a sickening grey tine. You didn’t have time to mourn him. Your only hope was now getting to that button before you turned and forgot who you were. If you turned, all hope was lost and this would all have been for nothing. You knew from the last time you were bitten that you only had a few minutes, probably less if the doctors at the lab had mutated the virus. The pain in your upper arm was excruciating.

You stumbled forward, trying desperately to remember Jeno’s drawing of the army base layout. You turned a corner and came across a set of stairs, taking you down into the basement.

You took the first one, you vision starting to disappear as dark spots danced across the scene in front of you.

You took the fourth one. Focusing only on that button you had to do something with.

You landed at the bottom.

You stood there, not moving, confused beyond belief as to what you were doing. Why were you here? You had no reason to be at this level. You should be upstairs so that you could leave the base soon. 

You turned around, away from the door in front of you. You looked up the stairs and saw Jeno. His eyes a cloudy white colour, and the veins across his arms and neck running black. Your eyes focused on a small black object behind him, however, something that was built into the wall, you had never noticed it before.

A camera.

You swung yourself around so that you were facing towards the door again. You knew what you were doing. You knew who you were. You knew what was behind that door.

You turned the handle, throwing yourself against it when it didn’t open. You banged the door with your shoulder, screaming in frustration when it refused to open.

You took a step back and lifted your foot. You kicked the door with all your force, relief flooding your system when it swung open. However, the momentum of the kick carried you through and you didn’t have the balance to keep yourself upright. You landed on your back, a sickening crack echoing off the walls as your head came in contact with the concrete floor.

You groaned in pain, recognising how your voice was sounding more and more like the undead’s. You summoned every bit of strength that you had and pulled yourself up so that you were on all fours.

You tucked your legs under you and pushed yourself up from the floor.

This was the room that Jeno was talking about. You vaguely registered a tunnel to the left, one that you assumed led out into the forest. And in front of you, only a few steps away, was an almost empty control panel with only one small button on it.

The entire room was spinning and your vision was getting darker by the second. You didn’t know if you had any strength left to continue forwards, holding on to the door to keep yourself upright. You head was pounding, your arm was throbbing and your heart was aching.

Your body was screaming at you with everything it had for you to stop, to give up, to rest. But you couldn’t. You couldn’t give up now. Not when you were so close.

You stepped forwards. You thought of Renjun. The boy who had never left your side since the day he met you. He was fiercely loyal, always prepared to do everything he could to protect the ones he loved. To protect you.

You stepped again. You thought of Jaemin. The boy who had saved your life more times than you cared to admit. He had diligently watched over you, cared for you and loved you when you couldn’t do it yourself. He wouldn’t hesitate to keep going. To rescue you.

You stepped once more, collapsing on the counter in front of you, the button in sight. You thought of Jeno. The boy who had been through exactly what you had and was the only one to know the true pain of it. He had protected you from more than you knew and you knew he would never stop protecting you. To shield you.

You pulled yourself up, the button within your reach. You thought of Donghyuck. The boy who you loved more than anything else in this world. The boy who you would do anything for. He was sunshine personified, always finding any way he could to make you happy and always ready to fight anything that had made you sad. There wasn’t a thing that he would not do for you. He would volunteer to go through hell and back a million times without even thinking about it. To save you.

You threw yourself forwards, the last thing you saw being the button spinning with the room as your vision disappeared completely. You brought your hand down in a final attempt to hit the kill switch, your brain only managing to register one final sound as your legs gave out completely and you blacked out.

Click.

---

The dull pain at the back of your head was the first thing you noticed. You tried opening your eyes, but your eyelids felt so heavy it was impossible. You gave up, trying instead to listen to the movement around you. You managed to register a woman’s voice somewhere in the haze.

You tried again to open your eyes, this time succeeding slightly. This prompted the woman watching over you to call for a nurse. You couldn’t see the nurse through the blurred slit of vision you had, but she had a soothing voice, one that radiated comfort.

‘Don’t overwork yourself y/n. You’ve been through quite an ordeal. Just take your time and you’ll be able to wake up.’

You took a deep breath, relaxing your eyelids so that they were fully shut, and tried again. Finally, you managed to open them all the way. The room gradually came into focus, and you saw that you were lying on your bed in your room at the lab. You saw the nurse next to you and your eyes widened.

‘This place- it’s not safe. It’s not what you think. We need to-’

The nurse put a hand on your shoulder, pushing your body back into the bed.

‘Calm down y/n, it’s okay. We know. A Yang Jeong-In called and explained the situation to us. At first, we were skeptical, but we sent an investigation over anyway. We owe you a great deal y/n. You’ve saved a lot of people.’

She smiled at you as you fell back into the pillows.

‘I didn’t do it alone.’ You insisted. ‘Wait, how long have I been asleep? How long was I in the simulation for.’

The nurse chuckled.

‘Don’t worry sweetheart. You haven’t lost a year of your life. In fact, it’s only just been around 30 hours since you went back in. You saved us in a day.’

‘Wait... it worked? We did it?’ You whispered, not quite believing that it was finally over.

‘You did it y/n. You’re safe now. In fact, your friends are also all awake. When you’re ready, you can come and see them.’

The nurse smile at you as you nodded. You began to sit up, but fell back immediately when the pain in your head flared up again. The nurse grabbed a pill and some water from your bedside table and handed them to you.

‘Here, take this. You took a nasty fall in the simulation and your body is convinced that it has concussion. Now since it didn’t really happen, you don’t, but it may hurt for a short while. This should help.’

You nodded absentmindedly as she spoke, purely obsessed with the thought of seeing your friends again.

You attempted to sit up again, this time with much more ease.

‘Wow, that worked fast.’ You commented, causing a light laugh from the nurse at your side.

She gave you a supporting hand as you climbed out of bed and stood up. You walked shakily over to the door, leaning on the frame slightly for support as the nurse opened it.

You headed outside, amazed by what you were greeted with. There were police, detectives and special investigators all over the scene. Dr Kim was sat in the lobby when you passed, in handcuffs and being read his rights. He looked up as you walked by, and if looks could kill, you would have been a pile of ash on the floor. But they couldn’t. So instead, you paused, held eye contact for a second and smiled before moving on.

You were finished with that.

Your nurse led you to the room that you recognised as the test centre. It was where all your skills had been testing once you left the simulation the first time.

‘The room has been cleared out and turned into a relaxing space. At the moment, we’re just using if for your group. We thought that since you saved all of us you deserved your own area.’

The genuine smile on the nurse’s face made you laugh in happiness. She turned the handle and pushed the door open.

‘I’ll leave you be.’ She whispered from behind, pulling it shut gently as you walked it.

The sight in front of you brought tears to your eyes. Jeno and Jaemin were collapsed next to each other of a sofa, looking at something on a phone in front of them, Chenle and Jisung were attempting to teach Renjun a sort of clapping game, Chan and I.N. were standing in the far corner chatting with Mark and a few others and San and Wooyoung were laughing at something over a box of pizza.

But the best sight of all, was right in front of you.

There, sat on the floor, his little sister curled up in his lap as he peppered little kisses all over her face, was Donghyuck. Alive and happy. He held he close, treasuring the fact that he got to have her back. He laughed at something she said, the sound reaching your heart immediately and you realised just how much you had missed him.

Renjun noticed you first. He had given up on learning whatever game Chenle and Jisung were trying to teach him and turned around, coming face to face with your smiling figure. 

‘Look who it is!’ He announced, easily gaining the attention of the rest of the room. They all turned around to look at you, smiles breaking across all of their faces as they did so. ‘Our saving grace.’

‘Lets hear it for our hero!’ Jeno called out, causing the room to erupt in cheers, screams and claps as you stood there slightly awkwardly. 

You looked at Hyuck again, this time finding him staring right back at you. His sister moved off his lap, allowing him to stand. The entire room was watching as he made his way towards you. He didn’t break stride, instead choosing to pull you in towards him for a hug. His arms wrapped tightly around your waist as he pressed you against his chest. Your arms moved up by themselves, finding their place behind his neck and holding on for dear life.

The hug got tighter and more desperate the longer it went on, Donghyuck holding onto you as if you slip away if he let go. Little did he know, you weren’t going anywhere. He mumbled out a few words, you only just managing to catch them because of how his face was buried into your neck.

‘I missed you.’

‘I missed you too.’ You whispered back, relieved to finally be back with him.

‘Don’t you guys think that you two are slightly beyond hugging?’ Renjun’s voice interrupted your moment, causing you both to turn and stare at him incredulously. ‘Come on! If this experience has taught us anything, surely it’s that time is precious and we shouldn’t waste it dancing around our feelings.’

As much as you loved Renjun, you had never wanted to hit him more than you did at that moment. You wanted to talk to Hyuck about your feelings but not in front of everyone and, now that the reality of that conversation was dawning on you, you were nervous for it.

Hyuck, on the other hand, seemed to ponder Renjun words before turning back to you.

‘You know, he has a point.’ He mused a cheeky smile on his face.

‘Hmmm?’ You hummed, not sure where he was going with this.

Donghyuck simply took a small breath before pulling you in again. He used his hands, that were still resting on your waist, you pull you in closer, and then moved on up to cup your face as he leaned it. You had about half a second to understand what was happening before his lips were on yours.

Donghyuck kissed you.

Finally, after all these years and struggles, you finally got to kiss the boy you loved. You kissed him back, shyly at first but, as with the hug, the emotions grew. Before you knew it you were pouring all the love you had for the boy into your kiss, praying that he would be able to feel it.

When you finally pulled away you stared into his eyes. You ignored the cheers and shouts of “finally” coming from your friends, only focusing on the boy in front of you. He gently tilted his head forwards, so that his forehead was pressed to yours.

‘I love you.’ He whispered.

‘I love you too.’ You replied, your voice as quiet as his, but your words just as powerful.

---

After a couple of hours, you and Hyuck eventually excused yourself from the rest of your friends, choosing to instead go back to your room and spend some time alone together. Hyuck’s sister had headed back to her room earlier, leaving just the two of you wandering the halls side by side.

‘You know.’ Hyuck grabbed your hand, lacing your fingers with his as he talked. ‘i always knew that, if any of us was gonna save the world, it would be you.’

You blushed.

‘I didn’t save the world... Besides, I don’t know why I’m getting all the credit! Without everyone in that room, we wouldn’t have done it.’

‘I know.’ Hyuck giggled. ‘But you’re still the one who pressed that button. And according to Jeno, you’re the one who figured out the truth as well. Let me just compliment you! I like being able to say that my girlfriend saved the world.’

You looked at him out of the corner of your eye, unable to stop the smile from spreading across your face.

‘Girlfriend?’ You questioned, watching as Hyuck began to get flustered.

‘Uhhh- I mean... we haven’t really had a chance to talk about it yet but... hopefully?’ He questioned, looking shyly at you.

‘Sounds perfect.’ You grinned, squeezing his hand that was in yours.

And for a minute, all was right with the world. Until two words cause Donghyuck to freeze where he was, terror consuming him.

‘You bastard!’ Donghyuck’s father came storming up to the two of you. ‘What gives you the right to act that way? Thinking you can treat me like that? I don’t care if it was in a simulation, you’re going to pay for that.’

Donghyuck’s father lifted up a fist, in an attempt to hit him, but Hyuck was faster. He pushed on the opposite shoulder on his father’s body and stepped back, watching as the momentum of his father’s punch threw his body around in a full circle. Donghyuck pushed you behind him slightly, wanting to protect you.

This action did not go unnoticed by his father, who tilted his head to the side, observing how you gripped his arm and how Donghyuck was shielding you.

‘Ohhhh.’ He realised, a wicked smile taking over his features. ‘So the two of you fell in love.’ The smile dropped off him completely. ‘How sweet. Maybe, if Donghyuck refuses to face the consequences of his actions, someone else could take the punishment for him.’

‘Back off!’ Donghyuck barked, moving you properly behind him. ‘You don’t touch her.’

‘Protective are we?’ His father teased but Hyuck didn’t reply. ‘What would you do to protect her? How far would you go? Would you shout at me? Would you threaten me? Would you hit me?’

His father had been circling Donghyuck all this time, trying to find the right moment to pounce. Only when you arm appeared around Donghyuck’s waist did he make his move. He lashed out with a harsh punch to Donghyuck’s shoulder, causing the boy to fall to the floor, and grabbed you holding you by the wrist with one hand and around the neck with the other.

‘I’ll kill you!’ Donghyuck screamed, losing his mind at the thought of his father hurting yet another person he loved. He stood up, preparing to charge at his father.

‘Take one step closer and I’ll cut off her air supply.’ His dad’s voice was quiet, no more theatrics or teases, just a pure, cold-blooded threat. Then his voice changed again, back into the taunting manner it was previously. ‘Or maybe I’ll just do it now.’ He began to push down slightly, making you swallow out of discomfort. He gradually pushed down more, making it increasingly difficult for you to breathe. ‘Maybe that will finally get you to throw a punch.’

Down the end of the corridor you recognised the police uniform, meaning that Donghyuck’s father had run out of time. You swung your foot underneath you, taking him by surprise and effectively ruining his balance. Hyuck took his chance while his father was out of it and pulled you back into the safety on his arms. He stroked the hair out of your face.

‘Are you okay?’ He asked, concern and guilt prominent on his features.

‘I’m okay.’ You reassured, falling back into his embrace.

‘You bitch!’ Donghyuck’s father roared and he prepared to throw himself at the two of you again. But this time he was met with the police. One officer tackled him immediately, forcing him to the ground as another secured his arms behind his back with a pair of handcuffs around his wrists.

You and Hyuck watched as he was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Donghyuck’s mother and multiple account of domestic, physical and verbal abuse. Just as he was being pulled up he look at Donghyuck one last time.

‘When will you be a man and learn how to throw a punch.’ He spat.

Hyuck stood up calmly, pulling you with him and keeping an arm around you at all times, but he never took his eyes off his father.

‘Being a man isn’t about being able to throw a punch. It’s about what you would take a punch for. I will never throw a punch, because I will never be like you. Goodbye father.’

You watched as Donghyuck’s father was dragged away in handcuffs. Only once he had disappeared around the corner did you turn to Hyuck.

‘I’m proud of you.’ You smiled slightly.

‘Thank you.’ Hyuck whispered, smiling back and placing a kiss on your forehead. ‘I have one favour to ask you though.’

‘Yeah?’ You looked up at him.

‘Can we go to bed? I’m exhausted.’ He said, watching as you burst into laughter at his mundane request.

‘Sure we can.’ You agreed, your body starting to agree with Hyuck.

---

You lay in your bed, your head on Donghyuck’s chest, his arms around you and your legs entwined. You’d been mindlessly chatting for the last few minutes but the conversation had since then drifted off into a comfortable silence.

‘I figured it out you know.’ Donghyuck informed you suddenly, causing you to look up at him from where you were laying.

‘What did you figure out?’ You asked, entertaining his antics.

‘That it wasn’t a real virus and that there were higher powers responsible for it. I figured it out first.’ His slightly smug yet still teasing voice brought a smile to your lips.

‘How did you do that?’ You were genuinely curious as to how he had come to this conclusion.

‘Remember? At the beginning, as soon as the virus broke out, I told you it was government created.’ Now the smugness was really coming through on his voice, showing how he was clearly enjoying this.

‘Go to sleep Hyuck.’ You chuckled.

‘I’m just saying.’ He whined, pulling his arms around you tighter.

You didn’t reply to that one, choosing instead to smile. You nuzzled further into Hyuck’s chest, relishing in the fact that you finally get to be close to him. 

And that’s how you spent your first night of freedom. Curled up next to the boy you loved, with him whispering sweet nothings into your ear, all thoughts and dangers of the simulation far behind you.

Turns out you finally did get your happy ever after.

[songsoomin]

Begin Again Part 2 (A,F)

Word count: Around 6k

Idol! Jongho x Fem Reader, Best friend! Hongjoong. Reader has serious body confidence issues due to a past relationship but Jongho will help her through it. First two chapters will be angst with some fluff but a little smut will appear in chapter 3.

Warnings: Mentions of abuse, both emotional and psychological, body shaming, anxiety issues. 

Author’s note: Reader is overweight but not as massive as she thinks she is. She has been conditioned through psychological abuse to believe she is very fat and unattractive. This is not intended to be the kind of story where reader becomes thin and is then happy and gets male attention (although, due to reader’s warped sense of self she does equate being thin with being happy). Even after losing some weight (for her own health and happiness) she is still somewhat overweight and curvy but the more important part is that she gets her confidence back and that is what makes her happier and more attractive. 

Part 1 Part 3

Posted 18th December 2020

@boss-baby-jongho​ Sorry it took so long

It had been a few months now since you and Jongho had been training together and you were much closer. You got on well with all the boys but Jongho was the closest to you now aside from Hongjoong. You still saw Hongjoong alone quite often - he would come over to your apartment and you'd watch movies and talk but you also spent plenty of time with all of them together.

This evening you had just come into the boys' dorm with Jongho after another gym session to the smell of cooking. You looked into the kitchen to find Seonghwa and Wooyoung cooking while Woo pestered the older boy like usual, telling him he was doing it all wrong. Hwa had his usual patient look on his face, completely used to Wooyoung's nonsense.

"Y/N!" Yunho called out in greeting . You could see he wanted to hug you like he usually would to others; he was such a warm, affectionate person but he knew it would make you uncomfortable. He settled for stroking your arm instead. You were getting much better at accepting physical affection from them these days. Hongjoong gave you your usual hug and Yunho looked sulkily at you.

"She'll get there, Yunho, just be patient. You'll get hugs soon." Hongjoong told the tall blue-haired boy and you had to laugh at how hopeful his face suddenly turned. You often referred to them as 'boys' but they were all grown men. You wouldn't think it sometimes, though, with how sulky they could get. Yunho and Mingi could appear intimidating with how big they were but really just loved cuddles, no matter who from. San loved his plushies and Woo was so playful and teasing that sometimes they seemed younger than they were. Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Yeosang seemed like the more mature of the group. Jongho was a bit of a mixture; he seemed mature despite being the youngest but he could be pouty sometimes. You were sure, however, that he just used that to get what he wanted. It usually worked, though, you could never deny him anything when he unleashed the full power of his pout.

Seonghwa had made tteokboki - your favourite - and you were all just eating and chatting happily but Mingi seemed quieter than usual and you could feel him watching you during dinner. The drinks had been flowing as none of you had to get up the next day and you felt comfortable enough now to ask him why on earth he'd been watching you so much.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't think you'd noticed."

"You weren't being that subtle, Mingi." You said, amused by his sheepish reply.

"I was just thinking...you always wear such baggy clothes but working out with Jongho must be working because they seem so much bigger on you now."

"You are looking smaller, Y/N." Hongjoong agreed.

"You think?" You asked, you had thought so but with wearing baggy clothes already it wasn't so easy to notice when they got baggier - at least to you...Mingi seemed to see it.

"Definitely." Jongho added, "There's no way my master-level instruction isn't working." You giggled while the others all groaned at his smug evaluation of his talents.

"Well, thanks, I guess...but why do you say so?" You asked Mingi uncertainly, naturally worrying it was something bad that caused him to bring it up. Did you still look that bad? You were hoping all your hard work would make you look better.

"There's nothing wrong if that's what you're comfortable in but I was just thinking it's a shame to hide all the hard work you've been doing."

"What do you mean?"

"Baggy clothes hide your real shape. Some people wear them because they are uncomfortable with their size but they tend to make a person look bigger than they are."

"Oh god, he's on about clothes again." Yeosang muttered.

Ignoring Yeosang's comment you felt your heart drop. Mingi could see exactly what you were doing and - worse - was calling you out on it in front of everyone. You looked down at your food not wanting to look anyone if them in the eye. You felt exposed having your size become the topic of discussion at the dinner table.

"You've made her feel bad, you moron!" Jongho said, glaring at Mingi.

"Calm down, Jongho, we all know you like - "

"Shut up!" Jongho warned, uncharacteristically ill-tempered.

"Well, as I was going to say...don't take it out on Mingi. You know he wouldn't have meant to upset Y/N."

"No! Of course not!" Mingi exclaimed, looking apologetic.

You were certainly confused. You'd never seen Jongho get worked up like that and couldn't see how it linked to what Mingi had said. Maybe what Yeosang was trying to say would've explained it but it was obviously something Jongho didn't want him to say.

"It's okay, Mingi. It's not your fault I'm so sensitive about it. Please continue with what you were saying."

"What I wanted to say is that you should let me take you out to get some clothes that would work much better on you." The brown-haired boy looked excited at the thought but to you even the thought was causing worry to rise in your chest.

"Oh, no. No. I'm no good at clothes shopping. Everything looks bad on me and I just end up crying."

"But..." Mingi continued, "I am very good at clothes shopping and I know exactly what will make you look good."

"You do?" You were still very uncertain about this but the alcohol was making you more suggestible.

"Excuse me? Have you ever seen me in a bad outfit?"

"Here it comes..." Mumbled Yeosang.

"I have never chosen a bad outfit in my whole life. I was born with amazing fashion sense." Mingi declared as the others all rolled their eyes at his overexaggerated claim.

"Uh...I don't know."

"Go on, Y/N... it'll be fun. As modest as he is..." Wooyoung stopped to shake his head at Mingi, "...he does actually know what he's doing when it comes to clothes."

"Okay. As long as I don't end up crying, though." You were already anxious and not really sure why you'd agreed to it.

"If you do it looks like Mingi will have Jongho to deal with." Wooyoung snorted.

In response Jongho stood quickly from the table and stalked down the hall to the room he shared with Mingi. You looked after him sadly. It was horrible seeing him upset. You had no idea what this was all about but it seemed like they were teasing him about something. You looked at the other boys with questioning eyes.

It was Seonghwa who answered your look, "Don't worry, Y/N. He'll be fine, he usually calms down quickly."

Later on when you and Hongjoong were alone in the kitchen doing the dishes you decided to ask your red-haired best friend about it.

"Joong?"

"Yeah?"

"What was Jongho so upset about?"

"Oh...uh...well, I probably shouldn't say anything...but I'm not sure if he ever will."

Hongjoong pondered his statement as he washed another plate. This was not clearing anything up at all.

"I'm not following."

"He likes you." Hongjoong said putting the plate on the drainer for you to dry up.

"I like him, too. He's really fun to be around."

"No, I mean he likes you." Hongjoong emphasised, looking you dead in the eye.

You were stunned. Why would Joongie think that?

"Don't be ridiculous." You scolded him lightly.

"I mean it!" He defended.

"It's not that. He's probably just feeling protective as we've got closer now. No one likes their friends being upset." You nodded to yourself at your more correct assessment of the situation. Anything else was simply unbelievable to you. No one ever thought of you like that. Least of all someone as perfect as Jongho.

                                                     ********

The next morning you woke up feeling just slightly hungover as you'd all continued drinking further into the evening. All except Jongho, of course. He didn't come back out and that really put a damper on your evening. However, you weren't feeling too bad until you remember that you'd agreed to let Mingi take you shopping. You groaned loudly and tried to work out how to get out of it before deciding you'd have to go because you really didn't like flaking out on people.

Noticing the time you quickly had breakfast and showered before dressing as you always did - baggy to hide your shape and size. You couldn't see how it was possible to look better in clothes that actually showed your figure but hoped Woo was right when he said Mingi knew his stuff when it came to clothes.

You were pretty much done when you heard a knock on your apartment door. You rushed over to open it and found Mingi on the other side, smiling brightly at you.

"Ready?" he asked, voice as deep as ever.

"No." Truthfully you were dreading it.

"Well we're still doing it so come on." Unceremoniously, he grabbed your wrist with his big hand and pulled you out the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." You laughed, "Just let me lock my door before we go."

                                                  ********

"Y/N...are you ever going to come out?"

"I'm really not sure about this, Mingi."

You were standing in front of the full-length mirror in the changing room, uncomfortable with what was reflected back at you.

"I picked out the perfect outfits for you so I can't imagine what you're not sure of." The tall brunette said matter-of-factly.

"It's just so...tight."

"Exactly. It will show off your figure perfectly."

"Mingi!" You yelled as he suddenly whipped the dressing room curtain back.

"See? You look amazing."

You looked at him skeptically as he smiled widely, appreciating his work.

"You're lying."

Mingi's smile faded and he sighed. "Y/N, you're not seeing yourself clearly at all. You have a great figure...amazing curves." He added, looking you up and down.

"Mingi, are you checking me out?" You joked, "I'm going to have to watch you."

"What?" He said defensively, "You look good."

Embarrassment came over you as you were only joking so you didn't expect Mingi's response. He, however, was not embarrassed and continued on a little more seriously.

"I know you don't think so but it's true."

The change in atmosphere caught you off guard. You'd only ever seen Mingi in a playful mood so to see him turn serious and caring was different.

"Thank you, Mingi."

The brunette smiled in response and you could see that he meant it even if you had trouble believing it. You thanks were sincere, though, because, aside from Hongjoong, you weren't used to anyone offering praise to you.

"You definitely need to get this outfit. It's looks great and makes you look a lot smaller than those awful baggy clothes you wear. Next outfit!"

Mingi pulled the curtain shut while you reluctantly did as ordered and started changing in to the next set of clothes. In truth, though, part of you was excited and enjoying the shopping trip with Mingi. The confidence you once had was buried deep down but you knew it was still there and maybe this could help you find it again. You used to love all the attention you got from boys when you got dressed up and you wanted that feeling back. That was why you let Mingi talk you into getting all the clothes he'd picked out for you.

                                                   ********

A low whistle sounded as you entered the boys' dorm with Mingi pushing you through the door as you'd felt too nervous to go in looking so different to usual. You had tried to turn and run away but Mingi was too big and strong.

You were in the first outfit he'd picked out for you which was a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a top cut lower than you were used to but not too revealing. You weren't used to the way the clothes hugged your curves and felt self-conscious because you were so used to hiding underneath baggy clothes but you could see what Mingi had been trying to tell you. You did look a lot better in fitted clothes than the shapeless ones you usually wore. You looked like a girl again.

You looked up to see that the whistle had come from Wooyoung, who was now appreciating your newly revealed figure.

"It's really nice," the darker-haired male said, "...Mingi, you chose well."

"Don't I always?" Mingi said in response, clearly proud of his work.

Just as you were trying to extract yourself from this new attention a sharp slap on your behind made you gasp and spin around.

"San!" You shreiked at the blonde, who didn't look the least bit sorry.

"Looking good, Y/N."

You really should've scolded him for smacking you but he always looked so cheeky and cute you couldn't really bring yourself to.

"Thanks, San...but don't do that again."

"Why not? In those jeans it looks too good not to." He said, motioning to your bum with both hands.

"She's not a piece of meat, San." Jongho said, annoyance lacing his tone. "And you can't just touch someone like that without their permission."

You and San both turned, neither of you having noticed the youngest's silent entrance.

San looked at Jongho with one eyebrow raised as if he wanted to say something snarky but instead turned to you and said,

'We're friends...it's fine, isn't it Y/N?"

"It's fine but I meant it when I said don't do it again - it really hurt." You gave San a look so he would know you meant it but you really didn't mind that much. You appreciated the sentiment, just didn't like the pain.

Jongho, on the other hand, was not convinced. He looked at San for a moment longer, huffed unhappily, then left the room.

It made you a little unhappy to see Jongho like that. He'd been a little weird lately. Distant. When you were at the gym together he was just the same as always but around the other boys he wasn't the same. He seemed sulky and spent more time in his room. What really hurt most was that he didn't talk to you as much in front of the others.

It's true that with them there, there wasn't as much chance to talk together but after your coffee 'date' he had made more effort to be closer to you - so what had changed now?

Thinking back you remembered the others teasing him and Hongjoong saying  Jongho liked you. Could that be it? You didn't see how; what Hongjoong said couldn't have been true so you had just ignored it. At the gym it hadn't made it awkward between you but was that why Jongho was distancing himself around the others...to stop them from teasing him? Maybe you could try talking to him; he had become a really good friend to you and you didn't want a simple misunderstanding to get in the way of that.

The chance to talk to Jongho didn't come that evening as he had come back out of his room to eat with everyone but there were so many of you that it was impossible to talk alone. You could have gone somewhere private to talk but you didn't want to give Yeosang and Wooyoung even more reason to tease him.

Although you were still worrying about Jongho, you still had a great evening. It had made you a little self-conscious but you had to admit that you liked  being told you looked good and feeling like your hard work was paying off.

Well...the evening was great until Mingi made a horrifying suggestion.

"Hey! Y/N has some really nice clothes now - courtesy of my incredible fashion sense, of course - so we should all go out and celebrate her hard work."

A communal groan was heard around the room at his less than modest statement but, for the most part, everyone agreed.

"What do you have in mind, Mingi?" Seonghwa enquired, ready to put a stop to any plans that sounded too crazy.

"Let's go to a club!" The excitement was clear on Mingi's face but anxiety was creeping on to yours.

"No." You said firmly as they all turned to you to see what you thought. "No clubs."

"What?

"Why not?"

San and Wooyoung complained in unison, obviously not happy with your opinion.

"Y/N..." Mingi looked at you with a pout, "we got you such nice clothes, why do you not want to show them off?"

You shifted on the couch, uncomfortably.

"It's nothing to do with the clothes...it's the people. Too many people. I just don't like clubs."

"Well," Hongjoong interjected, "strictly speaking it's not the clubs you dislike. I remember you used to love going out and dancing so if we chose a club that's less crowded then you should be okay."

You shot your supposed best friend a look of betrayal.

"Then we should do that!" Mingi cried, excitement flaring up again.

"Please Y/N?" San pouted at you.

"Don't worry about all the other people; we'll all be there to look after you."

Wooyoung added on and with all three of them looking at you with such hope, you found yourself giving in again.

"Fine...but I'm not going to enjoy it." You declared sulkily, slumping back into the couch cushions while the three boys cheered. You didn't miss Hongjoong quietly looking pleased with himself for his latest victory in 'getting you out there again'.

He was right, though you hated to admit it, you did used to love dancing but over the years your enjoyment of clubs diminished along with your confidence. Your dislike of them now was based on the assumption that people would judge you. Laugh at you for getting dressed up and trying to look nice when really you were just a fat mess. Laugh at you trying to dance. You had never been what anyone would call graceful - clumsiness and a poor sense of balance making that impossible. You didn't used to care about that but with no self-confidence you started to focus on every bad aspect of yourself.

While you were inside your own head worrying about all this, the others were busy making plans.

"Y/N!" Wooyoung called out, breaking you out of your thoughts.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said I know just the right club for you. It's got great music but it's a little more expensive so all the kids go elsewhere. It's never uncomfortably packed and doesn't get as rowdy."

You nodded and smiled but it had done little to relax you. Honestly you missed the old days you used to go out dancing confidently. When you looked in the mirror and thought you looked nice and didn't worry about if other people agreed or not. Now that you'd agreed, all you could do was make the best of it. You knew the eight boys would look after you and you'd never not enjoyed a night with them. Maybe it would be fun.

                                                     ********

Club night came and you were feeling strangely calm about it. A little nervous but mostly excited to spend another night with the best eight friends you'd ever had.

They had all arrived at your apartment unannounced - Mingi citing his concerns about what clothes you would chose, as if only he knew how to put an outfit together. He said he'd have to approve your outfit before he could let you out; you merely answered him with a roll of your eyes and let him get on with it.

Rather than falling back into your old habit of hiding yourself in baggy clothes, you had actually decided to go for it in terms of dressing up - after all, if you were going out, you might as well make the effort. It had also occurred to you that maybe people were more likely to look at you if you looked out of place, one person in shapeless, baggy clothes in a whole club full of well-dressed people.

Mingi looked you up and down, appraising your outfit. You had chosen a short(ish) black skirt and a sparkly top which showed a nice amount of cleavage but not too much. You'd even broken out your push-up bra for added effect. The outfit was finished with a pair of black heels because if there was one thing you knew, it was that heels made your legs look slimmer. You'd even done the kind of make up you used to with eyeliner and subtle false eyelashes. Why not go all out? you thought; you'd forgotten how nice it felt to get dressed up.

Mingi smiled and gave you the nod so you were good to go. Hongjoong, knowing you would be nervous, made sure to tell you how good he thought you looked and the others all agreed in their own ways. Seonghwa, Yunho and Yeosang nodding in quiet agreement while Mingi, San and Wooyoung  were more vocal about it. The only one who didn't say anything was Jongho - publicly, at least. It was only when the others were out of earshot that he quietly came closer,

"You look really nice tonight."

The blonde boy you'd grown so close to looked quite awkward but you still assumed it was because he didn't want the other boys to tease him again. Why else would he wait until the others couldn't hear him.

"Thank you, Jongho." You replied, feeling as awkward as he looked. "You look really good, yourself."

You looked at Jongho, dressed in black jeans and a dark blue button up shirt with his dark blonde hair parted to show his forehead, making his beautiful dark eyes looking bigger than usual because they were more on show. He looked amazing. He was so handsome it almost hurt.

You felt more awkward with Jongho's compliment...maybe because it meant more to you. You'd had a sneaking suspicion for the last few weeks that you were starting to like him as more than a friend but you'd tried to ignore it because you couldn't imagine it going anywhere. You'd witnessed him get angry when the others teased him about liking you and the only logical reason for that was that the thought of liking you was an unwelcome one.

It was true that Joong had said Jongho liked you but you were sure he was mistaken because of the distance he was keeping from you as well as his general moodiness recently. None of it mattered anyway because, as far as you could see, there was such a vast difference between Jongho and yourself that he couldn't possibly like you.

At best you were ordinary, nothing special at all but Jongho...he was ethereal. His smile was so cute that you couldn't help but smile back when you saw it and his eyes shone so brightly. Yet despite the cuteness he still had a maturity some of the older boys didn't. He was so strong, too and, to be honest, you found that really, really hot.

It wasn't just how he looked, though, Jongho was a wonderful person. He was clever and funny and he'd given you so much help and asked nothing in return. What would someone like that want with someone like you?

                                                 ********

Clubs were as hot, sweaty and loud as you remembered. It had been some time since you'd gone to one - preferring to hide away  at home than go out and be surrounded by people. That's depression's survival instinct...to cut you off from the world so you won't seek help. To keep you away from friends who could help you. Thank goodness for Hongjoong because he wasn't letting you get away with that and without him you'd still be hiding away. Miserable. Clubs might not be the most comfortable place for you due to the overcrowding but you knew that you'd be ok with Hongjoong by your side - as well as the other seven boys you'd now come to think of as 'yours'.

Maybe it was the fun of being out with them all but you'd found it easier than you'd thought to relax and enjoy yourself. You'd even managed to keep away from thoughts that anyone looking at you was judging you...until you noticed a guy at the bar had been looking for a bit too long. You were waiting for the bartender to get your drink and hoping he would do it more quickly so you could get back to the others but luck was not on your side and the guy started to approach.

"Hi."

You looked at the guy for a second. Tall, fairly good looking and he seemed friendly from his tone as he greeted you but you felt a little panicked, nonetheless.

"Umm...Hi." You managed nervously.

He smiled, "You looked really good dancing just now."

You waited for the smirk or laugh to reveal he was being sarcastic but it didn't come. You hadn't yet got to a place where you trusted people meant what they said but when nothing else was said and he appeared to have meant it you quickly thanked him. You'd left a longer gap than was normal before replying and now your worry was that he thought you were slow-witted.

"Are you with all those guys over there?"

"Yeah...they're my friends." You told him, glancing over and smiling.

"You're not going out with any of them?" He pressed on.

"No, we're just friends." You said, shaking your head.

"Ah. Well one of them is really glaring at me right now. I'd say he doesn't like me talking to you."

You looked in the same direction as the guy and, sure enough, saw Jongho looking very much less than friendly.

"Oh, we're quite close so he's probably just worrying about me. You are a stranger, after all." An awkward laugh left you - small talk was not your forte.

The man smiled back and looked about to say something more but the bartender finally returned with your drink.

"Well, it was nice meeting you." You said as you started backing away. You really wanted to be back with your boys; you were still far too socially inept to be in this kind of situation without back up.

"What did that guy want?" Jongho demanded as soon as you were back.

"Dunno...just being friendly, I guess."

The dark blonde scoffed while San jumped in to tease, "Ooh, Y/N's on the pull!"

"Don't be ridiculous, San!" You squealed in horror.

"I'm just saying..." the blonde continued, "...guys don't approach women in clubs because they want to be 'friends'." He emphasised that last word so you'd have no problem undersanding what he meant.

"I'm getting another drink." Jongho grunted before stalking off in the direction of the bar. You sighed. He still didn't seem himself.

"I'm sure he was just being nice." You said naively. It wasn't that you didn't know what men were usually after in clubs but you honestly didn't imagine anyone wanting that from you.

"Suuure he was." A deep voice cut in.

"Don't you start, Mingi!" Your new fashion adviser laughed as you scolded him. "All of you manage to be friends with me without wanting anything more so why can't he?"

Smiling smugly, you felt you'd won the argument until the tall brunette leaned in closer,

"We're all still men, though. I might be your friend but if you asked, I'd fuck you right now and I'm pretty sure one or two of the other guys would, too."

The only way to describe the look on your face was dumbfounded. That was absolutely not something you would've expected to hear from any of them.

"Whatever, I'm going to dance again."

It can't have been possible for you to look any more flustered as you headed back to the others on the dance floor, with Mingi's deep chuckle following behing you.

As the night wore on you really were enjoying yourself much more than you expected but that could have a lot to do with the amount of alcohol you had consumed so far. You were even relaxed to the point that you didn't notice the guy from the bar dancing next to you, getting closer and closer. Soon he was dancing with you but you didn't mind too much as long as he didn't start getting touchy. The attention was nice, at least. You vaguely thought back to what San had said and sighed internally because you didn't want him to have been right but you had to acknowledge it now. Maybe between Jongho's training and Mingi's outfits, they really had managed to make you look alright.

But men were disappointingly typical and, not long after getting close, the guy started to get handsy. You barely had time to turn around and tell him to stop before you felt his hands disappear suddenly. When you had turned you saw said man looking confused - and slightly pained - as one of his wrists was being held aloft by a very pissed off looking Jongho.

The guy looked at Jongho cautiously before saying, "Hey, I'm sorry man...I didn't realise she was your girl."

You could see why the guy was looking worried - Jongho looked pretty scary and you wondered just how tightly he was gripping the man's wrist.

Jongho let go but didn't stop glaring and the man backed away a little.

"She's not but don't you think you should still ask her before you start feeling her up?"

"Sorry...I didn't mean any harm." The guy answered, looking between Jongho's hard face and your quite confused one before walking away quickly. You turned back to Jongho; you really appreciated him looking out for you but couldn't understand why he was so angry.

"Jongho...what -"

"You shouldn't let random guys touch you like that, Y/N!"

You stared at him for a few seconds, a bit stunned until his sharp tone set off your own anger at being chided like that.

"I was turning around to stop him but, to be honest, it's not really any of your business who I let touch me!"

Jongho's eyes widened a little, taken aback by your reaction. You'd always had a temper but none of the boys except Hongjoong had ever seen you get angry. They only knew your milder, more timid side and the quickness in which you turned had taken them all by surprise. In your peripheral vision you could see the rest of them watching the exchange between the two of you.

The dark blonde collected himself and continued with a slightly less angry tone.

"These guys aren't good enough for you. It's just like San said, they only want one thing."

From the corner of your eye you saw San bristle slightly as if he really didn't want to be brought into this now.

"That's my decision to make, though, isn't it Jongho?" You hadn't softened much towards him - now you were free you didn't need another man telling you what to do.

"I know, I'm sorry..." He continued, more softly now, "...but you shouldn't be with guys like that."

"And you know exactly who I should be with?" You asked, sarcasm in your tone. "By all means tell me because I can't see men lining up to date me."

"Me."

"What?"

"You should be with me. I really like you, Y/N."

You stood in silence, trying to make sense of what he just said. Your mind recalled all the things you had previously dismissed as nonsense. Hongjoong telling you outright that Jongho liked you. Yeosang and Wooyoung teasing him about you. Had it not just been baseless teasing? He actually liked you?

Of course he doesn't like you. Who would want you?

"You don't like me." You said shaking your head. You didn't want to believe it because you couldn't trust it.

"I do. Let me show you." Jongho took a step closer and out of habit you fliched away from the closeness.

"What are you doing?" Slight alarm laced your tone.

"I'm going to kiss you." His tone added the silent 'of course'.

You froze at the words and Jongho noticed. It was out of surprise but he must've thought you didn't want him to as he started to look unsure of himself.

"If you don't want me to, all you have to do is say."

He paused, waiting for a 'no' that was never going to come. As much as you feared this was all some elaborate joke, you really did want this.

Hearing no protests, Jongho lifted his hands and placed them gently on the sides of your neck, his thumbs resting on your cheeks. Slowly he leaned down and pulled you closer. As you closed your eyes you prayed this was real and you weren't going to hear them all burst into laughter at any minute but before your fears could be realised, you felt Jongho's lips touch yours.

They were softer than you had imagined - and you had imagined it - and for someone so strong, he was remarkably gently. You could feel that he was being cautious as he didn't try to deepen the kiss, he just pulled back ever so slightly then reconnected, his lips moving softly against yours. When he did pull back to end the kiss, you kept your eyes closed a moment longer, not wanting it to end.

When you did open them you looked up at Jongho to find him looking back at you. He was searching your face for any sign that that wasn't what you had wanted and after a few moments  he was satisfied he could see nothing and gave you a small, somewhat shy smile. Obviously having heard something behind him over the music, his smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of annoyance. Following where he looked you saw the seven other boys all looking at the two of you with varied emotions on their faces, ranging fron happiness and surprise to approval. They had all known he liked you while you had stubbornly refused to see it - even when you were told outright.

Jongho turned back to you with a softer look, "You wanna go somewhere quieter - away from everyone else?"

"Yeah...that'd be nice."

Jongho took your hand in his larger one and led you out of the club. He had touched you before, of course, but only when correcting your stance during workouts. This felt different. It made your heard beat faster and gave you butterflies..

You briefly looked behind you to the others, noting that they looked slightly disappointed that you were both going but they'd get over it.

You and Jongho ended up back in the same coffee shop that first time. It was late, though, so you had the whole place to yourselves. Despite that being the first time you had properly talked alone with him, this was much more nerve-wracking. This wasn't a situation you'd have thought would ever happen. Despite what had just happened in the club you still couldn't let go of your fear. It was as instinctive reaction for you now, to just assume the worst about everything and everybody no matter how good they seemed to be. Just like right now you were quite aware that the both of you had been drinking - had that played a part for him? Would he have kissed you if he hadn't been? And would he think it was a mistake tomorrow?

The butterflies flew around wildly as the dark blonde boy made his way back to the table with the drinks. As he placed the tray down on the table you saw he had also bought a slice of red velvet cake like last time and he smiled as he placed it down. You wondered if he was trying to recreate it that first 'date' of sorts. It had felt special to you - maybe he had felt the same.

Your thoughts were flying as wildly as the butterflies in your stomach, going from hopeful that Jongho really did like you to fear that he was going to say it was just because he had been drinking and he'd got carried away.

Sitting there you'd realised the full extent of your feelings for Jongho...did he feel the same? The look in his eyes was soft as he looked at you and smiled. God, you hoped this meant what you wanted it to. Either way, it looked like you were about to find out as he opened his mouth to speak...

[hereisleo]

NEON JUNCTION

w/ k.ys & j.wy

g/ cyberpunk!au, friendship, mild angst

w.c/ 3.8k

a.n/ @moonchildsaurora, here it is finally. from your birthday through christmas, new years and now our one year of friendshipvery, this is long overdue and thank you so much for you patience. ah, time flown hasn’t it. i will forever be grateful of your friendship and reaching out to me first, my lovely 🌹 anon. the incredible talent you have in creativity, you have me absolutely smitten over world building (multiples now) in our convos. you’re such a vibrant person, Sunray, and i adore you dearly from the bottom of my heart. seeing your messages first thing in the morning and at the end of the night is a good way to start and end the day. cheers to more years to come and who knows our dynamics might shift akin to woosang. i love you to pluto and back! here’s to friendship and to our first pieces of the year! (excuse the mistakes you find here pretend they don’t exists).

t.w/ expletives, character death (not the mains)

playlists/ cyberworld | k.ys skates & drones

An illegal virtual world. A damaged psyche.

How far is Yeosang willing to go to find the answers to his questions? Will he put his friendship on the line? Just as how his life is beginning to near its end. The DarkNet is not a place for weaklings and its the only place where he perhaps will get his answers.

A treacherous journey is afoot.

Yeosang knows the DarkNet better than he knows his world, the real world where his body is still on the chair in the attic of his friend’s humble abode. In the net, it’s only his mind and light particles forming his appearance. Dangerous but thrilling. He has come to love the rushing adrenaline, an outlet for him to rid of his pent up frustration. Is he properly armed? Is his supply stocked well? In the old world, this is all a video game played on television. In the current world, the world he lives in, the post-apocalyptic environment, this is his reality. The DarkNet, everything illegal happens here. Credit, fame, information, it doesn’t matter what or who you are in the real world but the DarkNet requires you to build a name for yourself. It has taken so much from him. He’s sore, tired, most definitely overworked although the last is self-imposed for many reasons. He can’t rest until he has answers and the credits needed.

A virus slams his wall of codes, dragging him into a fight, vision blurring slightly from the impact and red lights of warning. His monitor reads a huge output of energy from the wild AI that strikes him. The resounding sound of ‘FIGHT’ reverberates in his ears and his light particle fingers flew across the screen, mind racing and the heartbeat bar on the top right corner shines yellow in warning with how fast his heart is hammering in this ribcage. Not being able to code is akin to a death sentence in his line of work. Talons slam on to his screen, vicious orange lines of codes burning into his memory, a phoenix avatar. He hasn’t seen one in so long after- No, now is not the time, Yeosang. A little character waving a sign appears, the nervous bouncing and worried expression have him refocusing. ‘STAY ALIVE.’ He will and with it comes forth his avatar, roaring at the wild phoenix AI. A sophisticated dragon in black codes emerges, wrestling the phoenix on to the virtual dirt ground. If there’s one thing Yeosang has that is his own, it’ll be willpower. His friend calls it being stubborn but he’ll take stubborn too.

The virtual cheering falls deaf to his ears, the colosseum is a mere replica of past time, almost real, he could almost touch it. Almost. Alas, what’s long gone can never be rebuilt the same way. Yeosang simply doesn’t have the clearance or importance to enter the colosseum in the real world. No, those are for the governmental scums. The reason why he resorts to the DarkNet. Another swipe recalibrates his mind that he’s still in the middle of a deathmatch. He hates phoenix, they’re hard to kill. His neon green French nails dance under the black light of his screen, the pads of his fingers typing codes after codes. ‘TERMINATE’ and his dragon glows from within, orange light peeking between the scales, rumbling with brewing fire. The dragon pins the phoenix to the ground by its neck, the angry screeching of the bird makes Yeosang ground his teeth. Too close to home, the similarity of the screams of survival from that night comes crashing to the forefront of his mind. “End it, Mars!” He yells and his dragon obeys, jaws unhinging and relentless waterfall of flames burn the phoenix to its ashes. ‘VICTORY’ flashes on his screen. He doesn’t stick around for long, his vitals are yellow, caution. It’s time to log out, he taps the green box of ���EXIT’ on the corner. The tugging sensation of his mind being dragged back into reality has him closing his eyes to diminish the dull ache. Yeosang doesn’t see the ashes trembling as his light apparition disappears from the illegal virtual world.

Disengaging from the DarkNet is proving to be difficult for Yeosang, his consciousness ebbs and flows, brainwaves tangled up in what’s real and what’s not. Wooyoung stands stiffly next to the Meta, feeling sick in his stomach, chest constricting with worry. He’s not averse to the virtual world but it doesn’t mean he likes it the same. He watches the Meta shut down, Yeosang’s vitals and brain activity updated on the glass screen mounted on the wall. The little character Yeosang crafted into the AI system jumps up and down with happy chirps, ‘STABLE.’ Hehetmon, it’s called, a moniker after the old TV show from the gone world. He and Yeosang would binge-watch together occasionally when he’s not swamped from juggling two jobs. Three. Watching over Yeosang is a job in itself. A job he’s willing to sacrifice everything else for.

A groan has Wooyoung almost throwing himself to his friend but he digs his heels and instead he kneels beside the blasted chair and hands reaching to disconnect all the wires attached to Yeosang’s body. He doesn’t know all the names of the cables but he does know the two most important, the EKG and the digital implant. Hehetmon on the screen highlights the different wires that need to be detached first. The cables slither itself back to its ports within the chair. He gingerly touches the base of Yeosang’s neck, the wire attached to the neural digital implant gives into his fingers without a fight. He thinks it’s muscle memory, he does this often enough Hehetmon keeps a record on how fast he could bring Yeosang out of the Meta. (Less than a minute when push comes to shove but usually under two.) They have come so far.

14-year-old Wooyoung was putting his younger brother to sleep, a worn-out storybook clutched between his hand as his brother rested against his chest, the strong thumping of his heart and his voice lulling the younger. He could have used the tablet, everything was in it but they only had one and he didn’t want to take it from his parents. They needed it more and they couldn’t afford another one, they couldn’t afford many things. His parents splurged on a book when they first had him, a treasure for their little treasure. He had read the compiled fairytales from cover to cover, the make-believe of the olden freedom, a taste he can only experience between the pages and in his mind when the house was still. A dream far from reality.

The door creaked open and Wooyoung stiffened. It was the newcomer. “How’s Kyungmin?” Timid. The new addition- Yeosang, his parents scolded him for being impolite by not referring to the other boy by his name. Exhausted, malnourished and was most definitely ill. His parents were apprehensive about Yeosang's sudden appearance but took him in regardless. Wooyoung was reluctant to have a new addition in the place. As if they need another mouth to feed. They were struggling to meet ends. He glanced at the barely one-year-old sleeping on his chest, the high temperature took a toll on the small body. “The fever broke.” He left it at that and Yeosang was understanding enough to let the matter rest. He put the book aside and cradled Kyungmin securely before standing up. Yeosang was shifting from foot to foot by the door, Wooyoung sighed exasperatedly, he was tired enough, “Just lie down somewhere already.” The blonde let out an awkward thanks and shuffled to the bottom bunk bed on the other side of the room. Wooyoung didn’t have the energy to tell him the bed Yeosang occupied was his. He left the room and laid Kyungmin back in his crib in his parents' room.

“What are you doing?” Wooyoung didn’t expect Yeosang to flinch at the question nor did he expect to find the other boy to be curled up on the floor and reading the fairy tales book. Yeosang stood up, the book slipping from his hands and both of them winced when it hit the ground. He picked it up hastily and hung his head, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” Wooyoung waved him off, “It’s fine.” Thick silence blanketed the room and neither moved to ease it. Yeosang opened his mouth before closing it again. He managed to string out a sentence after a while, “There were never any books back there.” Back there? Did he mean home? “Do your parents never read you to sleep?” Wooyoung almost apologised, Yeosang flinched at the mention of parents. The blonde shook his head and Wooyoung felt his stomach twist. “Mum used to sing me to sleep.” His chest tightened.

“How did you end up out here, Yeosang?” Wooyoung thought he was a bastard for not calling Yeosang by his name sooner. He never witnessed someone look so surprised by hearing their name. He walked up to his bed and sat down, patting the space next to him. Yeosang hesitated before giving in and sat next to him, posture tense and ready to bolt. “I ran away.”

Yeosang rouses from his ‘sleep’, the warm dark yellow light welcoming him into reality and so does the familiar voice next to him. Wooyoung is reading to him and he recognises the old story immediately. The Ugly Duckling. “It’s getting worse lately.” The pages flutter and Wooyoung keeps reading line after line in soft tandem. The book closes inaudibly. “You slept through dinner.” Yeosang steps into the Meta in the afternoon and for him to wake up at night, it’s getting worse indeed. He’s grateful that he hasn’t started hallucinating though he knows it wouldn’t be far if he keeps going at the pace he’s been putting his psyche through.

“Woo-”

“I know.”

“Wooyoung, I-”

“I know, Yeosang!”

“I know you can’t stop going into the Meta. I know I can’t stop you from fighting in the DarkNet. I know you need answers. But would you please take care of yourself for once!” Wooyoung runs an aggravated hand through his hair, he slumps forward in his seat, elbows digging to his knees and face hidden in his palms. Yeosang falls silent, letting his best friend, who is as close as a brother, gather his bearing. He stands up and his legs give out under him, muscles convulsing, sending him tumbling back to the Meta chair. He feels like puking yet his throat is also closing up, his head spinning and there is ringing in his ears, Wooyoung’s voice sounds so distant even though he is being held against the ravenette. He could make out flashing blue lights through his blurry vision, the health scanner kept handy beeps but he could barely hear it.

It could have been a minute or ten or an hour before Yeosang takes a hold of reality. His heart slams furiously within his ribcage and he’s once again reminded of the sped-up mortality rate of a DarkNet gladiator. The effects the Meta has on a person is damaging and he started to show the symptoms of what they called the bleeding effect. He currently renders more physical than mental and it won’t be long until the latter catches up. For how long he’s been exposed to the Meta, it’ll be sooner than he expects.

He blindly searches for Wooyoung’s hand, grasping it in a vice-like grip. He’s not the only one who’s scared. Yeosang doesn’t want to lose his sanity. He’s exhausted enough but there’s no rest for the wicked. He can’t rest, he can’t sleep with both eyes closed knowing there are answers for him out there and he needs to find it. He’s quite willing to put his psyche on the line even if it means him being thrown into the loony bin. Wooyoung loops his arms around Yeosang, tight enough for the blonde to feel how fast Wooyoung’s heart is racing. There’s a hole of emptiness in his stomach. “Can you stay with me tonight?” His voice is too raspy for either’s liking. There’s not a peep of sound coming from Wooyoung. Action speaks louder than words, especially when it’s Wooyoung. Wooyoung has a lot of words to use and yet he chooses not to, Yeosang knows better than to question it. He trusts the other with his life, his psyche and all that he is. There’s nothing that would err Yeosang to turn his back against Wooyoung. He owes Wooyoung way too much. All the credits in his account couldn’t repay what the other has done for him. It’s never enough and never will be. The seven years that they have known each other and the experiences they go through, Yeosang thinks he could never not trust Wooyoung. His life in reality and the Meta is in Wooyoung’s hands. Others would say their relationship isn’t healthy, that they are too dependent on one another and maybe that’s true. He knows he can’t function in the real world without the other.

“Promise me one thing, Yeosang. Don’t go into the Meta without me.”

Yeosang nuzzles his head into the space between Wooyoung’s shoulder and neck, his hands bunching the fabric of his friend’s shirt. The emptiness settles deeper. It’s not an answer because he knows he can’t keep such a promise. Wooyoung knows it too.

The DarkNet has shifted again. No two places look the same after each login. It changes constantly to avoid detection from the government’s pesky security. The lines of codes forming his apparition in the Net walk on the edge of a skyscraper. Mars languidly flew around the building ready to catch him if he slips. He won’t die necessarily, forcibly exited from the Net with some repercussions but not dead or just as good as dead. He has heard of those who were in comatose or worse. Mars huffs out a flaming breath, a rumbling growl thickening in its throat and Yeosang halts on his track. A stray orange feather twirls into his vision and his hands involuntarily shake, mind racing hundreds of miles an hour and he almost could feel the phantom cold sweat. He sees Mars’s wing slides between him and the feather, the thick lines of codes that formed the dragon burst into a pixelated mess and his ears ring from the explosion and the angry roar of his avatar. In the distance, Yeosang sights a phoenix emerging amongst the skyscrapers.

He sinks to his knees, hands covering his ears trying to block the screaming in his head or maybe he’s the one who is screaming. Mars knocks him into safety, away from the ledge and under its wing. No! No! No! His nails dig into his scalp.

The screeching of a phoenix avatar was the last warning he heard. The last sound to be ingrained to his memory with his mentor, with his brother, with his only friend in the blasted tech conglomerate. Yeosang could make out the silent words of the man across from him, trapped under locking codes and rubbles. Damages sustained in the Meta transferred over to the real world. The red warning signs ‘LOW HEALTH’ flashed before his eyes. His screen lit up with white words and Hehetmon skipped across the coded lines in loading.

- AVATAR TRANSFER IN PROGRESS -

URL: ORTECH://psh.MARS.980403

PREDECESSOR: [loading…]

Yeosang reached out futilely. The orange feathers fluttered around them, singing with heat as they glowed and sparked. Through his heavily cracked screen, he saw a small content yet the regretful smile of his friend. His eyes prickled with tears, dread, no, acceptance of the inevitable sank into him. Why is it always the best one to go first? One of the feathers zinged, a chain reaction of explosions rained upon them and Yeosang couldn’t hear his scream.

“Seonghwa!”

Take care of him, Mars.

- AVATAR TRANSFER COMPLETED -

“Kang Yeosang, get a grip of yourself!”

Yeosang stills at the call of his name. His battle screen is already up and the rectangular box of the communication line is open. Since when? Hehetmon spins in cheers when his eyes locked onto the pair of brown eyes he’s never tired of seeing. The beauty mark under the right eye puts a soothing balm into his mind. Wooyoung. His nails ease from its abuse against his scalp. Fuck, he must look so pathetic right now.

“You little bastard, I told you not to go into the Meta without me!” Guilt tinges in his chest. Yeosang opens his mouth, apology ready at the tip of his tongue. “Keep your ‘sorry’, we got a bird to cook.” Wooyoung never fails to reassure him but he knows it’s merely the calm before the storm. He’ll get his scolding later. Mummy never forgets.

He does what he does best even in trouble, “I’m still taller than you.” There’s still a quiver in his voice but the incredulous look on Wooyoung’s face makes him feel better. “Strip it off its feathers already, dammit! There’s milk on fire here!” Yeosang exhales and rises to his feet, his screen following his movement. The French manicure is chipped but the neon green is still vibrant in contrast to the black light emitting in front of him. He types in a series of battle commands, Mars flies higher and higher into the virtual light blue sky. Blades like armour materialise over the avatar’s claws and thick orange light peeks through between its scales. The phoenix is still far but his screen picks up the avatar’s image, the damages from their previous encounter aren’t fully repaired. What kind of a gladiator does that? Even Wooyoung can do better.

From Yeosang’s view, Mars appears to be a crow, so small up so high. Of course, he never sees the real bird, far extinct in the old world but there’s nothing that couldn’t be found on the Net. His avatar reaches right below the height barrier and takes a sharp nosedive, its weight falling at terminal velocity. Mars jaws unhinged and the fire stokes in the depths of its belly slowly rise to its throat. The screech emitting from the bird is as irritating as he remembers and his fingers tremble. He can’t tell if it’s fear or physical exertion but his head is in the game and mind is surprisingly clear despite the fireballs of feathers that are about to burst. Mars is partly hidden from his eyes with the myriad of singing explosives surrounding the dragon. Yeosang learns the hard way and he’s a learned man as Wooyoung puts it. He activates the defence codes just as the first fireball of many rains upon the black scales. He smirks from his perch, he didn’t spend many sleepless nights perfecting the codes for nothing, the tautness in his shoulders and back are good reminders too. The enraged squawk from the phoenix AI lifts his mood. The crosshair locks into place and the ‘TERMINATE’ sign appears. “Give it a good roast, Mars.” His finger taps the sign and an eruption of fire falls on the ugly big bird. His avatars claws sink into the phoenix broken pixels and glitches are visible around the broken codes. The storm of fire doesn’t relent, damages blooming across the sky and buildings. Surely the surge of energy catches the attention of fellow DarkNet users and government security. Mars doesn’t let up until each code is destroyed beyond repair, its claws tearing the wings apart by the joints. Yeosang slams his fists against the screen and yells when ‘VICTORY’ pops up in vibrant gold. Wooyoung’s cheers fall deaf to his ears over Mars roaring.

He slumps against the ledge, laughing like tomorrow won't come. He can’t believe it. He’s still alive and he supposes revenge is exacted. It feels empty somehow, he doesn’t know how to process the emotions in him at the moment. The event hasn’t hit him yet. “You’re so melodramatic, Yeosang,” Wooyoung chirps from the corner of his screen, “Give it a good roast, Mars!” His friend mimics his words earlier and Yeosang rolls his eyes but he can’t help the smile creeping on his face. Mars lets out a proud huff beside him, the dragon gives him an affectionate nudge and its ember eyes shine with much familiarity. His breath hitches but the avatar disappear with a sharp toothy grin. “Yeosang?” He makes a noise of acknowledgement. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He might have, “I’m alright, Woo. I’m going back now.” Even now you still look after me. Messages and clips of the fight start to spread in the forum. Data from the scrimmage is filed away, he’ll deal with them later. Hehetmon is skipping over the green box of ‘EXIT’ and he lets the mini AI jump on the button. He closes his eyes as the pull on the base of his neck erases his condensed light form from the DarkNet.

“Six months?!”

Wooyoung clicks his tongue as he inspects the nonexistent dirt under his fingernails, “Do you want one year instead? Okay. I’m completely fine with it.” Yeosang frantically refuses the added length, “Six months! Six months! Deal!” He never wants to wipe the shit-eating smirk off his friend's face so much. “Get scrubbing then.” Mummy never forgets indeed. Wooyoung not only scolds him but also gives his ear a good pinch and twist as soon as he is fit to walk around. Now he’s stuck on dishwashing duty under ‘consider it your retribution for breaking your promise.’ Yeosang sighs, he picks up a dirty dish and squirts the washing liquid on the plate. He’ll count himself lucky Wooyoung didn’t put him out there as hall staff.

“Did you process the data from last time?” His hand stops moving at the inquiry. Hell, he didn’t like what he saw on the files and Wooyoung most certainly wouldn’t either. God, he hates this so much. He doesn’t like it when the past comes biting back. “The phoenix URL traces back to ORBIT Tech.” A utensil clatters to the floor and Wooyoung curses like his seventeen-year-old self. “ORBIT Tech? Please tell me it’s a different conglomerate and not the piece of ‘the future is virtual science’ shit of your lunatic father’s!”

Yeosang nods, lips thinning, “Unfortunately, it is. That’s not the worst.” Wooyoung sucks in a breath, the come hither motion gestures him to go on. “I thought the phoenix was a wild AI or someone from the DarkNet was bribed,” he pauses, eyes searching for the dark browns of his friend’s, “It was under Seonghwa’s name.”

“Seonghwa’s dead! He couldn’t possibly-” Wooyoung halts his rant when he notices the unflinching gaze of his seven years companion. It clicks in his mind the inevitable of many other inevitables are descending rapidly on them. At some point, there will be a time where he couldn’t protect Yeosang. There will be a time where his friend has to return from where he comes from. He would be lying if he didn’t lose sleep thinking of this day. The twinkling skyscraper at the centre of the city mocks him. Yeosang doesn’t belong in the nest infested with lies. He’ll be damned, he much rather have Yeosang fights in the DarkNet instead. He’ll take the repercussions. But the chills running down his spine, the pressure in his chest and the unnerving hollowness in his stomach douse him in the harsh reality they live in. The finality of it grips his marrows.

“It’s time for me to stop running.”