#seoul city bus

[kyndaris]

Into the Breach

On 25 June 1950, after the creation of two separate governments in Korea following the end of World War II, North Korea (also known as the Democratic Republic of Korea) launched an attack on its neighbour in order to subsume it. After fighting the South Koreans (Republic of Korea) down to Busan, the South Korean army rallied with the help of the United States. Their counteroffensive nearly pushed North Korean troops into China. With the aid of weapons and artillery bequeathed by the Soviets, China entered the Korean War. Following intense fighting, the front was stablised close to the 38th parallel with the final two years of the war becoming a war of attrition. An armistice was later signed in 1953.

The signing of the armistice paused hostilities on the Korean peninsula and created the Korean Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ (pronounced Dee-Em-Zed) for short.

On our second proper day in Seoul, bleachpanda and I joined a Seoul City Bus tour (paid through Klook) to scope it out. Having prebooked the tour, we were contacted the day before by one of the organisers to arrange a hotel pick-up. By 9:30 AM, bleachpanda and I were in the hotel lobby, waiting for the bus to come pick us up. Except, instead of a bus, a nondescript black van showed up.

Into it we climbed until we arrived at another hotel before piling into the coach that pulled up, and which would take us to the DMZ.

Our first stop, after driving about an hour from Seoul, was the Peace Park. During the drive, our tour guide Yeoni, explained the history of Seoul - from the Joseon Dynasty to the modern reiteration we now know today. At Peace Park, Yeoni pointed out several important monuments including a bunker, a comfort women statue, the Iron Horse train engine, the Peace Bell and the infamous 'Cow Bridge'. Cow bridge is so named because a defector, and founder of Hyundai Groups, Chung Ju-yung sent over 1001 'unification' cows over the border as a gift.

After Peace Park, we headed back onto the coach and was taken to Dora Observatory. As we went through a security checkpoint, our passports were checked. My picture, of course, is horrendous as I didn't wear any make-up and the post office didn't retake my photo despite my fringe blocking a part of my face. After we had gone through the checkpoint, Yeoni told us of how visitors could take a train to visit the DMZ prior to COVID-19. This was run twice a day during the weekends with the train stopping at Dorasan station.

Once at Dora Observatory, Yeoni provided us some additional information about the relationship between North and South Korea. And as we peered through the binoculars, she was quick to point out key areas of interest. Bleachpanda and I even caught glimpses of a North Korean guard standing outside their outpost!

From Dora Observatory, we then headed to the 3rd tunnel. During the drive, Yeoni told us that there were about 1,000 defectors from North Korea annually. Often, defectors would flee first into China and find alternate means to enter South Korea. Once in South Korea, they would be assessed to see if they're spies sent from the north. If legitimate defectors, they are given free housing for a few years as well as a mentor to help them adjust to life outside of the communist state.

What was most telling to me was how these two nations, despite their differences, stilled hoped for unification and to once again be one people. Time will tell if it will come to pass but their stories of families being split apart reminded me of several other countries that endured such trauma including Partition and the ongoing challenges between China and Taiwan.

As for the 3rd tunnel, though reviews made it sound as if it was a claustrophobic spelunking crawl, it honestly felt like exploring a low-ceiling granite cave with sufficient space for two people to walk abreast. It certainly wasn't as impressive as investigating the twisting labyrinthine tunnels of Cappadocia last year.

The 3rd tunnel was simply a very long tunnel with a sharp incline at its entrance. Once in the tunnel proper, it was flat although there were patches of water here and there. While taller people might accidentally hit their hard hats on the ceiling, I was short enough to get through unscathed. At the end of the tunnel was a metal barricade and a monitor with four video feeds showing what lay beyond.

Bleachpanda, fearing the 3rd tunnel experience after reading reviews of it online, did not descend. Which, honestly, might have been a good idea as she would have needed copious breaks on the way out given how steep the incline was.

From the tunnel, our last stop on the DMZ tour was the Unification Village. It was here that bleachpanda treated me to a lemon tea. Something I desperately needed after the slog of a climb back up to the surface and running out of my pre-boiled water.

So ended our visit to the DMZ, with the Seoul City Bus dropping us all at City Hall. As bleachpanda and I wandered back to our hotel, we stopped to visit the now open Deoksugung Palace. What made it stand out to the two of us was its very modern western-style garden and fountain, known as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Pictures are as below:

And while the visit to the DMZ was an eye-opening experience (my grandparents on my father's side actually met during the conflict although neither were on the frontlines), I couldn't help but feel I had missed an opportunity to chat with a few fellow Australians on the trip.

Still, I want to end his blog post by thanking Seoul City Tour, and Yeoni in particular, for taking us around the DMZ and safely getting us back to Seoul in one piece! You may have thought I was bleachpanda and the start but you certainly warmed to Kyndaris as the day went by. Even acknowledged us when we nearly missed the coach at the Peace Park because I had to search for a bin in order to throw the remains of my soy fried chicken away because the bus driver wouldn't let bleachpanda and I bring it along.

[curiousdiversions]

[winterchimez]

Heart's Detour | Jeon Jungkook

SUMMARY: there has been a rise in kidnapping cases in town, and your brother feared for your safety and decided to send someone who would keep you safe in the meantime. what you least expected was that the biker gang's leader was the one your brother had gotten for you, thinking that this could probably be the biggest mistake you'll ever make in your life.

PAIRING: biker!Jungkook x afab!reader (feat. lieutenant!Seokjin)

GENRE: biker au, angst, crime, fluff, thriller, slight suggestive

WARNINGS: nc-17, flirty & delulu kookie 😃👍, slow-burn, pet names (sweetheart, princess, kitten), violence, action scenes (certain parts may contain slight bit of gory content), mentions of weaponary (guns), minor characters death, blood, betrayal, mentions of crime (kidnapping and human trafficking), slight mention about sex, traumatic backstories, mentions about mental well-being/health, Jungkook is shirtless at one point 👀, kissing, making out, yn also flirts back but it's only to keep Jungkook in place 🫡

WORD COUNT: 22,779

A/N: my very first bangtan fic!! if you thought this seems familiar, it's bcs i have written this originally for tbz Sunwoo which you can access here !! i just love this baby so much and somehow...kookie just fits the story too well. so here it is & i hope you'll enjoy!

“Oh my god, you look like my next big mistake.” 

That was the first thing that escaped right out of your mouth as the familiar figure pulled into the driveway. You already knew who it was—that black leather jacket, the black helmet that covered his breathtaking look (as much as you didn’t want to admit it), and the slightly worn-out boots he always wore. 

It was the moment he took his helmet off and shook his hair to clear his vision so that he would always look straight at you and smile before you decided to ruin the mood. 

“Now that’s just rude. I was nice enough to accept your brother’s request to come pick you up.” 

“What makes you think I’d go with you, Jungkook? You’re one of our district's most dangerous human beings,” you deadpanned. 

“Look sweetheart, it’s either you hop on, or I’ll leave you behind. For your information, I would still drag your ass to ride my baby because I would not want to be fed to the hound dogs by your brother.” 

With his reply, you quickly glanced around the area you were in to find that it was dead silent and empty and that it was already going to be midnight as you glanced at your watch. Knowing that you didn’t have a choice, you reluctantly grabbed the helmet Jungkook was extending to you and placed it over your head. 

He smirked at your reaction, knowing very well how he was the only option to get back home. Before he did the same, he hopped back into his vehicle. 

“Grab on.” That was the last thing he said before covering down his face shield as he started the engine. As you gently wrapped your arms around his wrist, he gave the throttle a few twists. Instantly, the bike propelled forward, and you were both on the road. 

It wasn’t unusual for your brother Seokjin to cancel on you and be unable to pick you up from your job location on the city's outskirts. You knew deep down that he was always busy with his job back at the station. He was one of the lieutenants of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department, after all. When duty calls, he has to stay behind and arrange transport for you instead.

You have repeatedly reassured him that you could take the bus back home or figure out how to deal with matters like this on your own. However, your brother insisted that you were not to take the public transport back as there has been a sudden rise in crimes in the city. 

Additionally, the town you resided in was infamous for the biker gangs, the one that the man in front of you was part of. Nobody dared to come close to them, fearing for their lives as they were capable of doing the worst possible things you could’ve imagined. But it was part of their persona that they always kept up with, as it helped them stay safe from potential dangers or threats against them. 

Hence, you have never understood why your brother, who was part of the police force, would associate with a man like Jeon Jungkook. As far as you and the public knew, he was the leader of the biker gang in Seoul. As soon as his name was mentioned, the public would keep a distance and fear the man himself. But because of how often you have interacted with the man, you find him to be the complete opposite of the image he painted towards the public. 

In reality, he was a goofy guy and not as terrifying nor harmful as the public had determined him to be. He was careless at times, getting all ahead of himself, which completely paints the picture of him being delusional. At times, you would tease him about something, and that was when you realised he gets scared easily. Talk to him about a ghost story, and you can guarantee that he was going to piss his pants even before you even reached the climax of your story. 

In other words, he always looked out for you in your brother’s absence, and he would lurk behind the shadows somewhere, ensuring you would be all alright. You were pretty sure that he probably signed some sort of deal or contract with your brother to do so because who were they to spend most of their life looking out for a young adult like you? 

You were definitely grateful for that, as much as you would never admit it straight up to Jungkook’s face; you just couldn’t understand why a biker leader like him would associate with you and your brother. 

As you both rode for a bit, you eventually found yourselves back in the heart of Seoul. There was something about riding a bike as you took in the breathtaking view as the wind rushed past your tousling hair, sending this thrilling sensation down your spine. 

If you were with a complete stranger, it would have set off so many alarms in your mind because of the multiple biker stories you have heard from the news and your brother. 

But somehow, for some reason, riding with Jungkook has always made you feel comfortable and safe. 

Perhaps it was why you decided to hop on with him in the first place. It was your first time riding his bike with him, yet you weren’t too mad about the idea. In fact, you were kind of grateful that your brother set up such arrangements. 

It didn’t take you both long enough before Jungkook eventually dropped you off right at your doorstep. You got off the bike with ease and handed the helmet back to him as you walked up to your front door porch. Right before you decided to turn the doorknob to open the door, you turned your head back to see that Jungkook was still there looking at you.

“You’re not going to kidnap me, aren’t you?” 

“Come on, you actually think that I’m a pervert? What makes you think so, sweetheart?” 

“Many reasons,” you spat.  

“Rude.” 

“I’ll take that.” 

“Well, now that you’re back home safe and sound, I’ll finally take my leave. Let your brother know about it.” 

With one final glance, he lifted his feet on the ground back up to his bike before twisting the throttle again to give his motorcycle an immediate surge of power, and he sped quickly out from your neighbourhood. 

As you got into the comforts of your home, you made yourself comfortable before sending your brother Seokjin a text to tell him that you were safe and sound before tucking yourself into bed. 

Throughout the night, you just couldn’t help but ponder why the biker’s leader would actually care or even listen to the law enforcement to escort you back home. He couldn’t have cared less and certainly had much more pressing matters than dealing with a young adult like you. 

As you tossed and turned in your bed, that question remained in your mind, keeping you wide awake all night. 

Jeon Jungkook, just who or what exactly are you?

“So you’re my personal babysitter now?” 

You were chilling at your local coffee shop, rushing up your remaining assignments due the following week. You were still a university student before your part-time job and had no choice but to sacrifice most of your sleep and free time to deal with pressing matters. 

Just as you were typing away on your laptop, a familiar figure suddenly approached you with two cups of iced macchiato in both hands before he plopped down on the seat right across you and handed you one of the drinks. You raised an eyebrow at him, making him stop sipping his coffee away. 

“Brother’s orders,” he replied.

You had no idea why exactly Seokjin was doing all of this. In fact, he hasn’t been coming home much for the past week as he had been caught up with work at his station, which is also where you assumed he was sleeping for the time being. During his absence, the infamous biker leader sitting in front of you has been personally coming to pick you up from work every single day. 

You thought that since you were off to focus on your studies this whole week, you would finally take a break from the delusional man himself. It turns out you were wrong, and he was here with you in the coffee shop you once called your comfort place. 

You didn’t entirely hate this guy, though; it was more of questioning why he was associating with you more often now as one of the town’s most feared individuals. Naturally, that also caused the people around you to give you the side-eye or just avoid you like the plague, all thanks to the one and only Jeon Jungkook.

There was a moment of silence between you two as you continued typing away on your laptop. It wasn’t long before the male bent over to peek at your laptop screen to see what you were working with. 

“Don’t even bother helping me," you replied bluntly. 

“You never know I might be an expert in your field of work.” 

You sighed. “Jeon Jungkook. It’s literature.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t be the biker gang leader for no reason. I’ve got great communication skills, after all.” 

“For your information, it’s about writing a 2000 essay review on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.” 

Upon hearing the novel's name, he immediately grinned widely before scooting his chair closer to you, giving you this puppy look that he was now very intrigued by your work. 

“Oh my god, Romeo and Juliet is my absolute favourite! Mark my words when I tell you I am a huge fan of romance novels or TV shows!” 

You sighed in defeat when he began reading the essay that you have written so far; you could tell that he was the type not to let go of something that piqued his interest. He was even reading it very diligently, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at that sight. 

“Hey, don’t look down on me. Just so you know, I aced all of my tests back in school and was a model student.” 

“Hmm, questionable, but I will take that.” 

Just like that, the time seemed to pass as quickly as possible, and you were even surprised by how much knowledge he had about the classic novella itself. It was intriguing to find out that he got invested in the topic and was able to help you brainstorm specific ideas that you could add on to make your essay much more sophisticated. 

Right when you were about to type away to finish up the final parts of your essay, you suddenly felt a little tap on your shoulders, which made you turn your head back to see who it was. Once you laid your eyes upon them, you quickly shot up from your chair and gave them a big hug. 

“Kisa! Where exactly have you been? Everyone at work has missed you so badly.” You hugged your former co-worker tightly, rubbing your cheeks together even as it had been months since you had last seen each other. 

“I know. Things have been rough recently, and I had no choice but to take a short leave.” 

“You could have at least told us what was going on, Kisa. Weren’t we all your closest buds around town?” 

She chuckled. “I guess.” 

There was a little awkward moment of silence between you two, which you thought was a bit odd as Kisa used to be an excellent talker who would always have a topic ready up her sleeves. You quickly examined the look in her eyes, and you could tell that something was off; it almost felt as if she was trying to tell you something, but she couldn’t for some reason.

Hence, you decided to ask her. “Hey Kisa, is everything alright—”

“You know, Y/N! There is this new cafe right towards the end of the street where we could go that serves your favourite croffles. It’s been a while, so why don’t we catch up for a bit?” Kisa asked rather hastily. 

You could sense that something was off from her tone of voice and speech, and you desperately wanted to find out at this point. 

“Yeah, of course! Let’s head off—”

“I’m sorry, but she won’t be able to join you today.” 

Immediately, Jungkook grabbed your wrist, pulled you back towards him and wrapped his hands around your shoulders. 

“You see, Y/N is actually on a date with me today. Perhaps the both of you could do it some other time? I apologise for that, Miss.” Jungkook replied with a smile on his face, and that immediately made Kisa back off. 

“Y-Yeah, of course! I’m so sorry to have bothered you, Y/N. I’ll see you sometime again soon!” 

Instantly, Kisa turned her heel and dashed towards the front door. Just like that, your co-worker you haven’t seen for months disappeared into thin air once again. You quickly darted your face back to Jungkook, trying to interrogate him as to why on earth he had done what he did. 

“Jeon Jungkook, I knew you were delusional, but that doesn’t mean you could do that to me—”

“Let’s get out of here.” 

Jungkook immediately cut you off and quickly helped take all your belongings for you as he pushed you towards the front door, right towards his bike. Once you both had strapped on, Jungkook immediately took speed and quickly drove away. During the entire ride home, it was obvious that he knew or saw something, as you felt his whole body was all tense up as you wrapped your arms around him. 

He was awfully quiet too, not even sparring a glance back at you during the journey, and that alone was weird enough for you since he would always joke around and shout aloud amidst the busy traffic to make sure that you were still able to converse with him. 

But no, not this time. 

Once he dropped you off at your front porch, he kept scanning the area around your house and wouldn’t even try to speak with you. When you finally removed the helmet and handed it back to him, he quickly grabbed your wrist again, and his grip tightened against yours. 

“Whatever you do, stay at home for now. Do not leave unless it is me or your brother who answers the door,” he spoke firmly, making sure you get that through your head before he finally let go of your grip.

This was the infamous biker leader you grew up listening to rumours about how he was cold in reality, and as to why so many people were terrified of him. There was this aura around this man, and that whatever came out from his mouth, he meant business, and he wasn’t the type to joke around when he set his mind on something. It was also the deathly cold stare he gave that scared so many people, including you right now as you witness them firsthand in person. 

Giving him a little nod, he lets go of your grip so you can finally head up to open your locked front door. Once you had turned the doorknob and taken your first step in, you glanced behind again to see that he was still giving you that cold death stare. To be honest, it terrified you a little, and you knew that you couldn’t ask what the whole fiasco happened back at the cafe, at least not for now. 

With that, you walked right into the comforts of your house and closed the door shut, eyes still glued towards that cold death stare from the biker leader. You tried your best to distract yourself by cleaning up the house a little and getting yourself all cosy and ready for bed while sparing a few glances at your windows to see that Jungkook was still there, staring directly at your house, or rather, at you. 

It wasn’t until the clock finally struck midnight that Jungkook decided it was time to leave you alone as he drove off and disappeared.

Whatever happened today was enough for you to finally conclude that something was up, and you needed to know. It surely must not have just been a pure coincidence that Jungkook has been popping up in your life just like that out of the blue, and how your brother actually trusted him and asked that he took care of you in his place, and with what happened today at the cafe with Kisa. 

Something was definitely up, and you needed answers. Immediately.

You couldn’t care less if you were to be scolded by your big brother. When you woke up this morning, you quickly called for a taxi to take you to your brother’s station. It took a while to convince the ones at the reception that your brother was one of the lieutenants, so they had to call Seokjin and make him personally come down to escort you. 

Seokjin's eyes widened upon seeing you, but the moment he saw your face, he knew that you came here for a good reason and that you weren’t just here for a visit. 

After passing through the multiple securities, you finally ended up in his office on one of the top floors. Luckily, things weren’t too busy, so your brother had some time to spare with you. 

“Hey sis, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come home lately nor pick you up from work. It’s just that I have had so many cases to deal with—”

“Seokjin, I need answers.” You cut him off. 

It was the look that you had in your eyes that made it absolutely clear to Seokjin that you weren’t leaving until you had the answers that you desperately wanted. It has always been like this for you, even when you were a child. You were persistent and would do anything to get whatever you wanted. With you seated on the couch in his office, you leaned back slightly and crossed your arms and legs, indirectly telling your brother to do the same.

Seokjin let out a deep sigh before he finally got himself comfortable and placed a hot cup of freshly brewed tea he had made just for you right onto the table, pushing it towards you before he finally sat down across the couch from you.

It took a moment for him to rub his palms together before lifting up his face to look directly at you. 

“Y/N, please know that I’m doing everything I can to keep you safe at all times—”

“Not that, Seokjin. Just cut to the chase, please.” 

“It’s…well, long story short, there have been multiple cases of young girls who have been going missing for the past couple of weeks. And we have been searching high and low for clues but to no avail.” He furrowed his eyebrows as he finally spat out what had been bugging him for weeks. 

“Okay? And what does that have to do with you sending the infamous Jeon Jungkook to care for me?” 

“You’ll be needing him, Y/N. I promise he will surely be looking out for you, no matter what.”

“Well, that’s reassuring to know. But why, Seokjin? Since when have you ever associated yourself with a dangerous man like him?” You questioned. 

This time, you could tell that your brother was slightly hesitant in his next words and struggled to come up with possible answers that would please your curiosity. 

“That’s…something I can’t say for now. But you will eventually find out yourself soon.” 

You scoffed before standing up and raising your voice towards your brother. “Seokjin, I came all the way out here to hear answers from you, my own brother. The fact that what happened at the cafe last night was odd enough, to the point that Jungkook even gave me this death stare warning me as if I may be in danger or something. I have no idea what exactly you both are planning, but you better tell me everything from the beginning for God’s sake, right this second.” 

There was this apologetic look in his eyes as he stared right back at your now-turning-red face, standing up and placing both hands on your shoulders, trying to calm you down. It was then, all of a sudden, that there was a knock on his door, and he instructed whoever it was to come in. It was one of his subordinates, and he was summoned to the chief’s office to discuss the missing cases further. 

Before Seokjin left the room, he turned back to grab his jacket quickly and hastily put it on while speaking to you for one last time. 

“Stay here, Y/N. I’ll drop you back home after I’m done with this meeting. I’ll try my best to return as soon as possible.” 

Within seconds, Seokjin and his subordinate rushed out of the room and closed the door shut. Now that your brother was gone, there was no way that you would just sit back and relax, knowing that there have been cases of young girls going missing around town. You needed to learn more about this, even if your brother isn’t willing to tell you anything more about it. 

You decided to salvage through his work desk, opening up each cabinet to see if you could find anything useful regarding the case. Scanning through the multiple files that he had kept away nicely, it seemed as if your brother might have taken the file that contained potential evidence or information about the missing girls, so you were left with nothing that could give you a bit of an insight to what exactly was going around in town.

That was until you discovered a little slip of paper peeking through one of the files. 

You quickly took it out from the folder, and a smirk began to form on your face as you read through the information on that little piece of paper. 

“If you’re not going to tell me, Seokjin, I’ll figure all this out myself then.” 

With the last remaining pocket money you had, you managed to hail a taxi to bring you to the specified location that was written on that little piece of paper. However, you gave the driver a slightly different route than the one from the paper, for you knew that no ordinary citizen would ever step foot within the infamous territory.

The moment you stepped out of the vehicle, you assumed that you would be walking for about a good ten minutes before you were able to arrive at the exact location. You didn’t mind that in the slightest bit—you just needed to find the right person to ask the questions that have been gruelling in the back of your mind. 

The walk towards the location wasn’t exactly smooth as you had to pass through the woods to get there undetected. It was already dark out then, so you had to rely on your handy-dandy torchlight from your phone to guide you through the woods. It felt eerie, and the crackling sounds as you stepped on the branches scattered across the ground didn’t help in the slightest bit.

But you had to remind yourself that you came here constantly for a purpose: no matter what, you weren’t going home empty-handed. With the best of your abilities, you pushed through and eventually, arrived after almost an hour of walking, where, in reality, it would’ve taken you ten minutes if you didn’t spend most of the time getting lost in the woods. 

What mattered was that you were finally at the location, and upon first inspection, it was a vast empty parking lot filled with motorcycles from one end to another. Thankfully, there were multiple huge metal transport boxes that filled the area, so you sneakily stepped out from the woods and ran to the closest one to hide. 

You decided to sneak your head out a little and peek through the corners of the box, and as expected, you were able to spot several individuals towards the far end of the parking lot. Some of them were leaning against their bikes as they drank to their heart’s content while chatting away, while others were ultimately passed out and fast asleep in the empty garage at the centre. 

Judging from the location you were at now, it was nearly impossible to hear precisely what those individuals were talking about. If you want to get your hands on concrete evidence, you have got to move closer. 

With a quick dash, you ran towards box by box while trying your best to be undetected. Each time you managed to get from one box to another, you always gave yourself a quiet sigh of relief and tried your best to calm your beating heart down. 

Okay, just a few more boxes to go. I can do this—

Instantly, someone came up from behind to cup your mouth with their hands while the other was wrapped around your chest, trying to calm your muffling sounds down. 

“What in God’s mind were you even thinking of stepping foot in this place?”

That voice. It belonged to the person you have been longing to find in the first place. 

“J-Jungkook,” you muffled as his hands still cupped your mouth. 

At that moment, both of you heard footsteps coming closer to where you were and knew you were about to be cornered. There was no reason for an outsider like you to be present in the biker gang’s territory, and you would pretty much be skinned alive if you were to be found.

Time was ticking, and you needed to think of a way to get out of here undetected. 

But thankfully, it seemed as if Jungkook had everything under control. 

Or so you thought. 

Just when the few bikers came around the corner, a loud gasp came from them as they witnessed the sight beyond them. Never in a million years would they have caught their boss making out with some random stranger in their base.

“U-Uh, boss? What exactly is going on?” One of the bikers stammered, hoping that the question asked wouldn’t get him into trouble. 

It took a few seconds for Jungkook to turn his head to look at them with his face looking like a mess as if he had just had a steamy kissing session with whoever he was with, as he was also trying his best to protect your identity by pushing your head down towards the crook of his neck. 

The bikers gulped at the sight, but Jungkook quickly gave them a plausible answer for now. 

“You see, this little one has gotten some valuable information from us, and I’m just doing a favour to get them cough up whatever shit that they know and to ruin them a little bit for some fun.” He smirked. 

That was enough to shut the bikers up, and then they quickly brushed it off, telling their boss that they would get a quick smoke to loosen up a bit. As they finally walked away and the coast was clear, Jungkook immediately lifted your head to get you to face him directly. He could tell you were beyond speechless and there was this unreadable emotion on your face. 

Confused? Mad? Upset? Maybe all of it at once. 

But that didn’t stop him from dragging you out of that place as he quickly brought you back into the woods, going through the dark passageway once again until you both ended up back on the road you originally came from. 

That was when you finally freed yourself from his grasp, and you began raising your voice at him, even if you didn’t mean to. 

You didn’t know what you were feeling at this point either—one thing for sure is that you definitely felt overwhelmed by everything that was happening. As much as you tried to open your mouth, the words wouldn’t come straight out. With that, Jungkook decided to help you finish your sentence instead.

“Admit it, you liked my kiss.” 

Your eyes widened. “What the actual bullshit, Jeon Jungkook.”

“So now you can talk.” 

God, this was starting to get to your head badly, and there was just so much vulgar language that you wanted to throw at the man in front of you. But it seems that Jungkook was once a step ahead of you. 

“You’re up to no good, princess.” 

“What do you even know, Jungkook-”

“I have a pretty good guess that you came without telling your brother, or rather, against his orders.” 

You absolutely hated that Jungkook knew precisely what was going on in your mind and how he could read you perfectly. It was as if you were just plain as day—your discreet movements or actions you’ve tried to keep secret will always be revealed quickly against your own will. 

Eventually, you decided to give in. “Fine. I did.” 

“Now, someone is not being a good sibling, aren’t they? Might have to report back to big brother Seokjin, and someone’s going to get some timeout—”

Before Jungkook could finish his sentence, you quickly stomped towards him and grabbed his collar, seemingly shutting him up for a moment.

“You’re going to tell me everything. Every single detail, Jeon Jungkook.” 

Jungkook already had a good guess as to why you were here in the first place. You came to find him and took the risk of visiting his hideout written on the piece of paper you found in Seokjin’s office. Mentally, he was throwing curses at your brother for not spilling the details because now he was the one who was going to do it instead. 

Kim Seokjin, I sincerely hope that your microwave is going to break down so that you will be having cold meals for a period of time and that you will get your ass kicked by your CEO for not having much progress in the missing cases. 

From your not-so-nice friend, Jeon Jungkook. 

As much as you almost exerted this fiery aura, Jungkook did not flinch in the slightest. He was used to things like this anyway; he was the biker gang’s leader after all. Instead, he grinned back at you.

“You clearly have lost your mind thinking that you can manipulate the biker leader to spill out the deeds for you. It seems that you have not experienced why exactly the public fear about us, Y/N.” 

This time, he slowly takes a step forward little by little, and you slowly begin to back off while your hands remain on the collar of his shirt. 

“Let me tell you a little something, Y/N. The moment when you stepped within our territory, you were just as good as dead meat.” Jungkook continued. 

Another step forward.

“Do you know why the public fear us, Y/N? We are predators. And predators hunt for prey who messes with us.” 

Another step forward. 

“And you little innocent citizens of Seoul have officially become our prey because no one messes with us. I mean, no one. You have chosen death when you decided even to come close to us.” 

Another step forward. 

“So you might as well say your last words before I devour you up, hmm?” Jungkook then stops at his track as he leans forward so that both of your faces are mere inches away, and he closes his eyes while giving you the biggest smile you have seen just yet. 

That alone was enough to shake you to your core. 

It was just as portrayed in books and TV shows, on how smiles make the villains ten times worse than they are. When a villain smiles, you drop everything and run for it. 

If only that were what exactly you did. 

You straighten your posture before you spit back at him. “You won’t have the guts to do that to me, Jeon Jungkook.” 

“And what makes you think that, sweetheart?” 

“Because you love me,” you spat. 

Upon hearing those words, the smile immediately fell from his face, and a shocked expression replaced it. Jungkook quickly backed off and took a few steps back away from you. 

Bingo. 

“N-No, I don’t.” Jungkook chuckled. 

“Jokes on you, young man—you were literally head over heels for me, that’s why you agreed to babysit me in the first place.” 

You instantly noticed how flushed his face was getting as he quickly cupped both sides of his face with his hands, trying to calm the heat down. But that did not stop you from moving towards him now as you continued taunting him. 

“You know, I think your fellow bikers would be delighted to hear that their boss was in love with a commoner like me, don’t you think? I’m sure the biker community loves to hear romance since you boys have been angsty all year.” 

“No no no! Not the biker community! I’m supposed to be a cool leader everyone looks up to and worship goddamit!” He was now covering his ears like a little child. 

Oh, Jeon Jungkook, you indeed are such a sucker for romance. 

Finally, you took the final steps and stood before him, placing both hands upon his shoulders, and you returned a devilish smile. 

“I think someone’s got a good explanation to do before I feed him to my brother’s hound dogs back at the station.”

“Kim Y/N, I absolutely would love to ruin your makeup right now.” 

“Jeon Jungkook, I absolutely would love to throw you straight into the river right now.” 

After that confrontation on the empty road, you both decided to take this whole conversation elsewhere before any of the bikers made their way out to confront you two again. 

So you hopped back onto Jungkook’s bike and drove a little to the well-known spot in Seoul, Han River. 

Since Jungkook had barely recovered from your counterattack before, he was clearly distracted as he droved through the city, constantly putting out this pout and sulky expression on his face, making you want to tease him more.

Occasionally, you would purposely snake your hands up to his abdomen to his chest, which made the male squirm and his body tense upon the contact, making him cry out loud, for God’s sake, and somehow apologise throughout the entire ride. 

The moment you both got to the river, Jungkook immediately asked you to get out of his vehicle while trying to calm his pounding chest down. Unfortunately, you were nowhere near done wrecking the bike leader, so you snaked your arms around him as you dragged him out from his bike, taking them down to one of the stairs facing the river. 

Jungkook was not in the right mind and was trying his best to counterattack, which at one point he did. But thanks to the taekwondo classes you took back in the day, you quickly turned the tables around.

So now Jeon Jungkook was the one pinned to the ground while you were hovering above him, pinning both his hands above his head while your legs kept his in place, leaving him no room to move around. 

“If only being delusional wasn’t my weakness, I swear Y/N…”

“Tell that to the ones who created you. They were the ones to cast this spell upon you.” 

“What do I get if I tell you the truth?”

You paused for a moment. What were you going to repay him exactly? 

But since you were already keeping up with this facade a couple of hours ago, you might as well continue the seeds that you have planted.

“A kiss from me to you.” 

Upon hearing those words, the male smirked before finally closing his eyes and let loose his body slightly. 

“Fine, Y/N. You win.” 

With that, you also did the same by slowly releasing your grip on his arms, knowing well how he wouldn’t be counterattacking you soon. 

“What I am about to tell you, Y/N… I’m not exactly sure if you’re able to stomach it all, to be honest.” 

“Nothing as bad as the cases that my brother has done, I bet.” 

“Fair. Your brother deals with brutal homicide cases, after all.” 

Jungkook then propped himself up, and you decided to give him some space by getting off him and sitting cross-legged at his side. It took Jungkook a moment to gather his thoughts before finally telling you the whole story. 

“Y/N, did you realise why I dragged you away on that day you met that co-worker of yours?” 

“You meant Kisa?” 

“Did you notice anything strange about her?”

“Well, yeah I kind of did. Her demeanour was setting off many red flags in my mind for sure,” you replied. The thought about Kisa once again made you frown; you have been constantly worrying about her since that day.

“I’ll tell you right now that she is one of the girls who had gone missing for the past couple of months.” 

Missing? Is she related to the missing person cases that your brother was dealing with then? 

“The fact that she has reappeared all of a sudden was strange enough, and luckily, I noticed a barcode tattooed right behind her ear.” 

Barcode? What exactly was going on? 

Jungkook noticed how perplexed you were with the whole situation and sighed before continuing with his words. 

“Y/N, I think you do know what happens when someone is tattooed with a barcode on different parts of their body, don’t you?” 

No. It can’t be. You knew exactly what it meant, but you wouldn’t have expected it to happen to someone close to you, let alone to one who has suddenly disappeared from your radar, only for them to reappear out of the blue. 

“No, you don’t mean it.” 

“Come on, Y/N. You know exactly how crime works in Seoul, especially in our district—it’s corrupted, and plenty of cases like this go unnoticed because the culprits can often get away undetected.” 

That can’t be true—you absolutely can’t accept the fact that Kisa was a victim of human trafficking. 

You slowly began to stammer in your speech. “S-So, you basically saved my life back there and then.” 

“If you want to put it that way, I guess I did.” 

This time, Jungkook decided to scooch a little bit closer to you, and the tone in his voice dropped as if he was now whispering what crucial detail he was about to say next. 

“Y/N, why did you think your brother made a deal with me to follow you wherever you go?” 

You decided to break the tension in the air slightly by making a little joke. “I’d like to think it was your idea instead because you have committed to being my stalker.” 

“Calling me a stalker is flat-out rude, Y/N. Especially after all that I have done for you,” he sulked.

You were glad Jungkook could still joke around with you slightly to ease the tension. 

“Fine, to keep me safe then.” 

“That’s one for sure, but also because we made a pact to crack these cold cases together without the superiors in the station knowing a thing about this.” 

Huh. “So you’re a biker detective now?” 

“Yeah, a very cool one at that too. I saved your life not once but twice. Seokjin should give me a pay raise, let’s be honest.” 

“What do you mean you actually suck at your job. You have to have someone’s consent first before you start making out with them, especially in public.” You slightly blushed at that comment. You certainly weren't going to tell him that he took your first kiss away, and you hoped that your surroundings were dark enough so that Jungkook wasn’t able to see clearly that your ears were beginning to look bright red as a tomato right now.

Unfortunately for you, he was a romance fanatic, so obviously, he could tell that you were embarrassed to say all of that. It was his sign to strike back now.

“Oh honey, that kiss was a little extra from your care package that your brother signed you up for. You should be grateful that you get an extra treatment from me.” He took a string of your hair and started twirling around his fingers. 

“….shut up.” You muttered.

Oh god, how much he was enjoying this whole moment right there.

The next thing that happened was that he moved closer again and cupped both of your cheeks with his hands before leaning his forhead against yours. 

“What in the world are you even thinking of doing—”

“Y/N, listen to me closely about what I am about to say next, and I will only say it once.” 

That made all of the embarrassment from earlier die down. Judging from the look in his eyes, you knew things were about to get serious next.

“Another reason why your brother personally asked for me to care for you for the time being was because he knew that something bad was going to happen real soon.” 

“Something bad?” 

“You see, we have been working together on this case for months now. With our thorough investigations, it’s clear that whoever was the mastermind behind all of this may actually be someone we are acquainted with.” 

“Someone much closer to us, that is.”

Your eyes widened upon that last sentence, and you knew this case was far worse than you thought. It was a life-and-death situation if either of you let your guard down. If that was the case, it also meant that you weren’t the only one in danger. 

Bracing yourself, you slowly and reluctantly asked Jungkook something that you hoped it was just yourself thinking way further ahead than you should. 

“S-Seokjin isn't going to die, isn’t he?”

Jungkook didn’t reply, but he stared straight into your eyes. With that, your eyes became teary, and you were on the verge of crying out silently. You knew that Seokjin’s job always evolved around dangerous criminals, and there’s no guarantee that he might come home each day in one piece; he had accepted his fate ever since he took on the badge in the first place. 

But now, with the recent events and how he had placed you under Jungkook’s care, you knew that this was far worse than any of you had encountered before. 

Tears began dripping down your face, and Jungkook lightly brushed his fingers against your cheek to wipe them away. 

“Y/N, from now on, I’m afraid you should stay as far away from your brother as possible. In other words, you’ll be stuck with me for now.” 

“That doesn’t mean that I won’t be seeing him anymore, isn’t it?” You sobbed. 

Jungkook smiled. “Of course not. It is so that both of us can conduct our investigation much more smoothly without outsiders intruding on our plan. I promise you, I won’t let your brother die. That would also mean that the lives of both you siblings are at my outermost top priority now.”

“Why Jungkook? Why would a biker leader like you even associate with us law enforcement? Didn’t you and your people hate us for decades?”

He chuckled before placing a kiss on the top of your forehead. 

“Kim Seokjin saved me and gave me another chance at life. And I am going to return the favour.” 

It has been ten minutes since the both of you were back on the road again. You were trying to take in all of Seoul’s beautiful night views, as you might not see them for a while. 

After calming yourself down at Han River, Jungkook filled you in with everything you needed to know before you both took off back on the road. Based on what your brother and Jungkook have been able to investigate so far, they decided that it was safe to conclude that the mastermind was either someone within the biker community or one of the higher-ups from the police agency. That was precisely why your brother was in a tight situation and was at risk of falling into the hands of the enemy since he was one of the lieutenants and had no control over his superiors. 

It was precisely why Seokjin decided it was best for you to keep a distance from him at the moment, for the fear that you might fall into the hands of the enemy. Hence, giving you to Jungkook for now would mean that you had a higher chance of survival—being a biker meant that Jungkook was able to move around much more freely compared to a detective who was bound by rules that he had to abide by at all times. 

In the meantime, Jungkook has also been on the go trying to figure out who the traitor within the biker’s community was who started all of this. According to the male, he guessed that someone from the detective agency was manipulating and might even be paying the traitor within the biker gang a large sum of money to traffick these young ladies out of the country. Since the bikers usually hunt out late at night, there was no doubt that the victims would have been vulnerable against them and quickly fell into their hands. 

In order to keep you safe, and since Jungkook has practically told you the entire plan, he has no choice but to bring you along on his investigations; as much as he hated that idea and he would much prefer locking you away somewhere where you could lay down low until the whole crime spree is over. 

However, he knew that you would be much safer if you were within his sight range, and he would feel much more comfortable knowing that you were always near him.

He has learnt it the hard way before anyway. 

As you both ride through the night and out away from Seoul, there is this anxious feeling rotten deep within your gut—you are terrified, knowing now that you have finally fallen victim to the dark, corrupted crime world in Seoul. 

With that, your arms wrapped around Jungkook’s waist tightened, and you gently laid your cheeks against his back. You just wished this ride with Jungkook could have happened at a much better time and under better circumstances.

“Damn, Jeon Jungkook. Who knew you’d have a hideout in the middle of nowhere?” 

You were astounded with the entire place. It was located outside of town, and it took the both of you about a two-hour ride to get to this place, which was eventually in the middle of the wilderness. You thought building a simple cabin here was a genius idea because chances of survival were much higher, especially for Jungkook, who lives a dangerous life each day. 

As Jungkook guided and led you up to the steps of his front door, he inserted a key and unlocked the front door within seconds, and your jaw dropped the moment he turned on the lights that lit up the entire cabin. 

“Welcome to my safe space, Y/N.” 

Upon further inspection, you could tell that the entire cabin was built meticulously—from the sturdy timber that formed the walls, the simple yet captivating decor that filled the entire place, and the cosy fireplace that stood right at one of the corners of the living space. The entire place just felt comforting; even a stranger would agree when they stepped into this place in the woods. 

Jungkook noticed you had been slowly moving around the cabin, taking in all its glory. He decided that he wouldn’t be ruining this little moment you have and went straight into the pantry to whip up some hot cocoa for the two of you. 

It all felt too good to be true. You have only seen or read places like this in books or films; never in a million years would you have thought that you would get a chance to reside, let alone step into a place like this at all. It was as if you were living in a dream, and you just wished you could shut off the outside world for a while and relax in this place for as long as possible. 

As you slowly reach the fireplace, you notice how a picture frame sits at the top, depicting a young boy and a girl riding a swing at a park. You could immediately tell how it was Jungkook in that picture, but you had no idea if the young female was his sibling or, perhaps, his past lover, if he ever had one. 

Before you could examine further, you heard a little thump from behind you, and you turned to see Jungkook was back with two warm mugs of freshly made hot cocoa topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. He gently placed them onto the round wooden table he had before moving to the fireplace and threw some chopped wood in before lighting it up with the lighter he kept behind his back pocket. 

You slowly sit on the couch to make yourself comfortable, take one of the mugs, and sip the freshly made drink. It didn’t take long for Jungkook to join you as he sat on the couch on your left.

“I’d like to think I’m such a great host, don’t you think? I expect you to be writing a five-star review of this Airbnb on booking.com after your stay,” he smugged before bringing his mug to his lips. 

“I never knew a biker gang leader like you would have a soft spot for ambience like this.” 

“Hey, bikers aren’t all angsty and dark. You’d think I live for the colour black and own everything in that specific colour?” 

“Don’t look at me like that. Blame the media for painting you guys exactly the way you are.” 

Well, you had a point there. Ever since you met Jungkook, you realised that not all of them seemed as terrible as the public had painted them to be. Even the biker leader is the same as many young adults: desperate to find love and obsessed with shoujo mangas. 

As you took another sip of the cocoa, you gulped the liquid down slowly before enjoying your little silence, listening to the crackling sound from the fireplace as you slowly started to feel your eyelids become heavy. 

It has been a long day; after all, you started by storming into Seokjin’s office at the beginning of the day, trekking through the woods and finding out about the biker’s hideout, going to Han River and eventually here in Jungkook’s cabin. 

From the corners of your eyes, you could see how it would be early morning now—the first tendrils of light painting the sky in hues of a mixture of lavender and indigo, indicating that it would be dawn now. It was probably about five to six in the morning, and that was the last thing you could think of before you eventually fell to your slumber. 

It took Jungkook a few seconds to realise you had fallen asleep as he admired the skies from his cabin window just like you were. When he finally turned to look at your head, bending down with your eyes closed, the mug of now warm cocoa still nestled within your grasp. 

Jungkook smiled at the sight of you resting comfortably like that. It reminded him so much about her. It almost felt bittersweet then, but Jungkook tried his best to get rid of those feelings before things started to get too deep again.

He slowly got up, gently opened up your fingers surrounding the mug, and took it off your hands to place it on the table. He then swooped his hands around your shoulders and under your legs before picking you up bridal style. Trying his best not to make a noise, he slowly brought you into his only bedroom in the cabin, gently laying you down on the comforts of his bed and tucking you into bed with his cosy duvet. 

When he was about to get up from the bed, he felt something wrapping around his pinky before turning to see that it was from you. He couldn’t tell if you had a dream or if it was just by reflex as you wrapped your fingers around his pinky and tugged them close to you. 

Jungkook smiled at the sight of you doing so, and he sat down on the bed again, gently caressing your hair as you fell deeper into your dreamland. 

Y/N. I promise I will protect you at all costs and avoid making the same mistake as before.

The chirping noises were what woke you up from your slumber. You squint your eyes as you slowly open them to reveal the sunlight shining directly into the cabin. You also heard clanking noises coming beyond the closed doors, and you decided it was time to get up to check out whatever it was. 

As you opened the door, your eyes widened, and your jaw dropped as you approached the dining table. It seemed as if Jungkook had made you an entire breakfast meal that looked identical to what you would get from the local diners in town. The man even took the extra step to brew you some hot coffee and placed two little jars filled with white and brown sugar so you could adjust your drink to your desired taste. 

You slowly pulled the chair and sat down before Jungkook turned around from the stovetop, placing a freshly made fried sunny-side egg onto your plate, and that was when you took in what Jungkook was wearing before you eventually burst out into laughter. 

“What was that about? I went the extra mile to make you breakfast.” Jungkook pouted. 

“N-No, it’s not that. I never thought you were a frilly pink floral aprons type of guy.” You had to cover your mouth and fan yourself because you were laughing so hard that breathing was hard by the second. 

“You stop it right there. Someone special made this apron; I will not let you disrespect it.” Jungkook was now pointing at you with his spatula, threatening that he would take your breakfast and eat it himself. 

As you calmed yourself down and apologised, he finally sat beside you while still sulking because of your comment before and started cutting up his bread and sausages on the plate. When Jungkook saw that you had taken your first bite, he couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark to lighten the mood once again.

“Hurry up and tell me that my cooking skills are top-notch.” He lifted his head high as if he was already praising himself before you even said anything. 

Frankly, it tasted much better than what you had in mind. Who would’ve thought the most feared person in town was also a good cook? The fact that he was able to build this cabin on his own, cared for you, and made you a delicious meal was a bummer that he was still single at this point. 

But since you have teased Jungkook since the beginning, there was no way you would tell him that and continue feeding his delusions. 

“I’m surprised that I did not puke nor have an upset stomach with the initial first bite, to be honest.” 

He narrowed his eyes at you. “You ungrateful little brat.” 

“Thank you, I’ll take that.” You grinned widely at him, making him return you with disgust. 

Surprisingly, breakfast then went by reasonably quickly, and you offered to help clean up the kitchen even when the male insisted that you were his guest and weren’t supposed to do anything while you were there. 

After a little bit of squabbling about cleaning the cabin up, Jungkook heads out the front door, signalling for you to come with him. 

“There’s this place that I think you’ll love, Y/N. Care to hop on for another ride with me?”

“Jeon Jungkook, give me your keys to your cabin right now I’m officially moving in.” 

He giggled as you said that hurriedly before running down to the designated spot he brought you to. As you hopped back onto Jungkook’s bike, he took you along for another drive that only took about five minutes away from his cabin. As you both parked the bike somewhere safe, he guided you to take a step deeper into the woods, where, eventually, you both ended up at a beautiful creek.

A crystal-clear stream burbles along the riverbed, bubbling over the surrounding rocks and branches. There were a couple of stepping stones that scattered across the stream, giving whoever chose to visit to have the opportunity to walk across from one end to the other. A couple of flowers blossomed at the sides of the river, giving the creek a little pop of colour. 

It was a sight to behold. Who would have thought that there was such a place near where Jungkook lived? At this point, you swore that you would label this entire outskirt as paradise, and you wouldn’t mind spending the rest of your life here, away from the capital's bustling streets. 

You slowly made your way to the river, where you stuck one of your hands into the waters, letting the streams of water hit the back of your hand. Jungkook then made his way towards you before bending down to pick up one of the pebbles on the ground, before tossing it across the waters to see it bounce on top of the surface before eventually sinking into the waters. 

“Is there anything that you can’t do, Jeon Jungkook?” You asked as you saw how he was a master at skipping stones, way better than most people could do. 

“I’ve been doing this for decades, Y/N. Of course, I am the master of stone skipping.” He proudly acclaimed before picking another pebble and tossing it across the waters again. 

You couldn’t help but smile at that remark. “So that means you come here often, then?” 

“Used to.” He corrected you. “I haven’t been here in a very long time.” 

“Well, then, I’m grateful that you decided not to gatekeep such a place from me,” you replied, sincerely thanking the man for taking you out of the cabin to come to such a place to relax.

“You’re going to be staying with me for a while; obviously, I have to keep you occupied before you start complaining out of boredom in the cabin.” He stuck out his tongue at you before tossing another pebble. 

“I’m not a kid, Jungkook. I know how to keep myself occupied.” This time, it was your turn to give him a pout. 

“I’m gonna bet on 10,000 korean won that you will be screaming out of frustration by the third day if you were stuck all day in that cabin of mine.” 

“Then I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I can literally find anything to do to keep myself occupied at all places.” You were now standing up and stood right in front of the man, staring at him as if you were going to start a battle of who would be the first to back down from their words. 

Jungkook smirked at that sight, and it turns him on whenever you get all worked up because of his words. He wasn’t going to back down quickly, so he straightened his posture before firing back at you. 

“Princess, you better buckle up because you have just turned me on, and I want to ruin your ego right now.” 

“Try me then, Jeon Jungkook,” you huffed. 

“Say, can you swim?” 

You snorted. “Of course I can swim, what the hell—”

Before you could even finish your sentence, Jungkook pushed you on your shoulders, and you fell straight into the waters. It took a few seconds before you eventually returned to the surface, wiping off the excess water dripping down your face. 

“Jeon Jungkook! What the actual—”

You were screaming at the top of your lungs, ready to yell and curse your heart out towards the male before you eventually stopped. Your eyes widened at the sight of him taking off his shirt that he was wearing, revealing a well-toned body and rock-solid abs as well as an arm completely filled with tattoos from top to bottom.

He grinned before jumping into the waters and swam right up to you. 

“I knew you would like what you saw with your eyes. I have been waiting for the right time to do it anyway,” he smirked before moving his fingers close to you to pinch your cheeks. 

You quickly slapped his hands away before turning your back towards him, trying to calm your fast heart beating chest down. Instantly, you felt a surge of warmth slowly crawling up to your ears and cheeks, and you quickly rested both your palms on your cheeks, knowing very well that you were now blushing hard.

What is wrong with you, Y/N? 

Before you could even process your thoughts further, you felt a pair of hands resting on your waist before turning your back towards the opposite direction. You have now come face-to-face with the man you were dreading to see, and you quickly turn your head towards the side and face the streaming waters instead. 

You could clearly hear Jungkook’s low chuckle before he rested his fingers underneath your chin, gently turning your face back towards his direction. 

“I found your weakness, princess.”

“Shut up.” 

Your now red-flushed face was making Jungkook laugh while you were slowly losing your mind. All you could think of at the moment was how exactly you would get yourself out of this situation you were in. 

Suddenly, you were brought back to reality as you felt Jungkook’s thumb swipe past your lips slowly, his eyes now focusing on your smudged lips as if he was hungry for it, wanting so desperately to press his lips onto them as he slowly leaned down towards them.

Oh no. Oh no. 

You started to panic; you had no idea what you were supposed to do. Sure, it wasn’t the first time you kissed Jungkook, but your situation was much more different than the first. 

Brace yourselves, Y/N. Just do it. 

That was all that you could think of before closing your eyes tightly. It was now or never, and you surely have no escape. As you slowly waited for his warm, plump lips to land on yours again, it never came as you expected. When you slowly opened your eyelids, you saw Jungkook paused exactly an inch before both lips met. 

Was he in a dilemma? Whether he should do it or not? 

In the end, Jungkook broke off the tension and gave in to wrap his arms around you instead, giving you a tight hug as he rested his head under the crook of your neck. 

What was going on? 

“J-Jungkook…what are you—”

“Let me just stay like this for a while, Y/N.”

As he took in a couple of seconds to relax his body over yours, you slowly snaked your arms around his back and caressed his back slowly, as if that was the right thing that you thought you could do at the moment.

With your touch, he tugged you tighter before eventually speaking his first words since he turned you around to face him. 

“Thank you, Y/N, for trusting me. I promise that I won’t let you down. We’ll catch whoever this mastermind is and place him behind bars for good.” 

You felt reassured, knowing that you will be in good hands for now before reuniting with your brother once the cases have been resolved. 

“Thank you too, Jungkook, for looking out for me and making me feel safe.”

“You slept in an upright position on the couch throughout the whole night?” You questioned the male, thinking that you might have heard something wrong. 

“For the hundredth time, yes I did, Kim Y/N. I have no idea why you are making such a big fuss out of this,” Jungkook rubbed the back of his neck as he closed his eyes in annoyance as if he was tired of going through this whole topic with you again. 

“Well then, I suggest we swap for tonight then. It’s not fair that you have to make yourself suffer especially when you’re the owner of this cabin,” you stated clearly. 

“Have you ever heard of hospitality, Y/N? There’s no way I’m letting my guests sleep uncomfortably while they’re here. I might get a rotten review on booking.com the next day, that’s for sure.” 

However, you weren’t backing down so quickly. “Fine then. Why don't we share the bed for tonight, then?” 

That question made Jungkook spit out the glass of water that he was drinking. He had to cough a few times to ensure the liquid flowed smoothly into his throat. 

“Are you insane? There’s no way I’m sleeping with someone that’s the opposite sex,” he muttered as he continued to pound his chest while seemingly trying to stop the cough.

“Well unfortunately, I insist. I would drag you onto the bed myself if I had to. It’s not like I’m asking you to try anything funny; if you are, you wouldn’t be seeing the light of day anyways,” you stated clearly before pointing into the bedroom.

Jungkook could only let out a deep sigh before caving into your words, knowing that if you both went on and on about this, the sun would rise before any of you would get a proper good night's rest. 

As you both cleaned up and got ready for bed, Jungkook watched as you climbed into the sheets and got yourself comfy before turning towards your left to sleep on your side and face the cabin wall. When he sees that you have stopped squirming, he gently lifts the sheets before doing the same, but facing towards his right so that he is facing the door instead. 

It took him a while to fall asleep, unlike you, who fell into a deep slumber within seconds. He was not used to this after all, having to share a bed with someone; it has been a long time since he has done so, especially when the last person he did this was years ago with her. 

Additionally, what happened down at the creek earlier in the day? Jungkook had no idea why exactly he decided to do what he did, and eventually, he couldn’t bring himself to plant a kiss on your lips and went in for a hug instead. 

Deep down, Jungkook knew something was happening between you two, but he was afraid to commit or even think about the possibilities. After what happened years ago, he promised that he wouldn’t get too close to anyone unless they were the ones who saved his life big time; in this case, it was your brother, Seokjin. 

But now, it seems that Seokjin’s little sibling was also slowly marking a spot in that enclosed heart of his. 

Before Jungkook could even think of anything further, Jungkook slowly drifted off into his own dreamland and fell into a deep sleep like you did. 

Hours had passed, and you both were sleeping peacefully until Jungkook began hearing voices in his head. 

Big brother…big brother…please save me… save me from all of this…please don’t let them take me away…

Big brother…Jungkook…JUNGKOOK OPPA!!

Immediately, Jungkook shot up from his deep slumber and broke out in sweats. Sure, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to get nightmares from the past; it was something he was still working on anyway. But it has been a long time since he had the exact scenario played in his mind; it was a curse to him now. 

Jungkook then brought up his fingers to rub his temples, trying his best to calm himself down without waking you, who was still peacefully sleeping on the side. 

All of a sudden, Jungkook’s phone lit up from the nightstand, and he grabbed it lazily while rubbing his eyes to adjust his vision so that he could see clearly what exactly the notification that he had just gotten.

It was as if the nightmare wasn’t enough to ruin his night; the notification was far worse than whatever he had just dreamt of. 

Something that he dreaded would even occur at all throughout this whole investigation process. 

Kim Seokjin: This will be the last time I will be able to contact you for now. Please keep Y/N safe at all costs, and we’ll be in touch as soon as I can.

Seokjin’s POV

It had been two days since you had left the building without Seokjin’s permission. Unfortunately, the meeting lasted way longer than expected, five hours to be exact. Hence, by the time he got back into his dark office where the only source of light was the one ray of moonlight shining through the windows, his heart dropped when he noticed how you were nowhere to be seen. 

Frantically, he skimmed through his entire office to see if you had left any clues behind, for the fear that you had been kidnapped, especially since you were considered to be vulnerable in the mastermind’s eyes, and how both Seokjin and Jungkook suspected that it could be someone from the biker gang or the law enforcement themselves. 

After minutes of scouring the entire room, he eventually made his way to his cabinet beneath his desk, where he could tell that one of them was pulled open and the little note that he stuck out slightly on purpose every time was gone. 

With that, he knew it could only mean one thing: you found the details of Jungkook’s biker gang’s hideout and went there personally to confront the biker leader himself. Swiftly, he took his phone out before hastily sending Jungkook a text. 

Kim Seokjin: My sibling is headed towards your biker’s hideout. Please get there and make sure Y/N is safe at all costs. 

The moment he saw that Jungkook had read his message, he finally fell back onto his chair, letting out a deep sigh of relief. As much as he was afraid that you had ventured into the predators' lair, he knew that as long as you were with Jungkook, you would be safe from any harm or danger, even if he was the biker gang leader himself. 

Hence, while you were under Jungkook’s care for the time being, Seokjin was able to focus on his job and tried cracking all of the clues and codes he had received so far for the missing person’s cases, all while he tried his best maintaining contact with Jungkook to keep each other updated on the case as well as your safety through texting one another. 

Things were going fairly smoothly until another missing person’s case was reported to the station just the night before. When he got to the registered location along with his subordinates, his stomach sank when he realised who had gone missing: your neighbour. 

Seokjin began to panic as it only meant one thing: there was a high possibility that you would be the next target. 

Since that day, Seokjin had worked tirelessly for hours without sleep or proper food. Your life is at stake right now, and he was determined that he was done playing this cat-and-mouse game with the mastermind. With that, Seokjin tried searching for as many clues as possible, even the tiniest detail possible, and he went back to the crime scene himself to thoroughly search through the area once again on his own. 

As if it was a miracle, he eventually discovered a strand of hair near one of the flowerpots on your neighbour’s front porch. He quickly took the evidence he had found and ran straight back towards the lab to get the designated ones in charge to do a quick DNA test from the database to find out who it might be.

After hours of extracting the possible information, it had been concluded that it was impossible to narrow it down to a single person as too many chemicals were found on that single strand of hair follicle. But that did not stop Seokjin from finding the exact match for who it might be. 

Hence, Seokjin went through all of the case files once again, starting from the first case to the most recent, as he laid all of the details out onto his board in his office, writing down all of the necessary information paired along with red strings to help him connect the dots better. He was also going back and forth towards his desktop located on his desk, trying his best to find the right person from the database.

That was when he realised he had limited access to the station’s database. He had never had such issues before, so why had he been blocked? 

At that moment, he knew that his instinct was right and that the law enforcement was hiding something dark from the detectives themselves; perhaps that was why they had an excruciating time trying to gather practically limited information.

Unfortunately for the mastermind who did all of this, Seokjin was actually an expert in computer hacking. Before being promoted to lieutenant, he was a renowned hacker in his division before rising to where he is now. The codes were a little harder to crack, but that doesn't mean it was nearly impossible. 

It took Seokjin about ten minutes to finally hack into the actual database, and he wasted no time trying to match the hair follicle to a concrete DNA from the database itself. Once the system concluded that there was a match, he wasted no time clicking the download button to get the information down and reveal who it was.

Sadly, he wasn’t able to record down who it was as one of the detectives came barging into his office, pointing his loaded gun at him. Seokjin was cornered, and he couldn’t do anything before the detective came over to completely shut off his desktop by pulling out the cords. Instantly, he shoved his gun towards Seokjin’s back and guided him out of his office, guiding him to the actual mastermind of this whole crime spree. 

Before this happened, Seokjin had typed out a message scheduled to be sent to Jungkook if anything were to happen to him. It turns out his instinct was right, and he was slowly counting down the seconds in his heart before the time was up, and he felt his mobile vibrate in his back pocket, signalling that the message had been sent. 

As he stepped into the elevator with the detective, still pointing his gun at his back, he turned around before smiling. 

It’s up to you now, Jungkook.

Jungkook’s POV 

“Report what exactly you have found so far, lads.” 

“Certainly, boss!” The young man cleared his throat before setting up the live footage on the laptop and turning it towards his boss’s directions. “It was pretty faint, but you could see the unknown person in the camera drugging the female worker before bagging her up and dragging her body away and out from the factory.” 

Jungkook narrowed his eyes as he leaned forward to try his best to make out who was on the screen, but since the crime occurred late at night. There wasn’t enough light penetrating through the facility; it was merely impossible to identify clearly who the hooded criminal was. 

But Jungkook wouldn’t give up quickly, so he leaned backwards on his chair before clasping his hands and bringing them close to his face. 

“Judging from the victims from the recent cases, it seemed as if they have been targeting this specific factory more often as of late. There has to be a pattern going on here,” Jungkook suggested. 

Upon hearing those words from the biker’s leader, the gang member scratched his head before responding. “With that, boss, what are you trying to propose…?” 

“I’m saying that they will strike there again, that’s for sure.” 

“O-Oh, of course! Well, I will go get the rest of the lads ready—”

“No, you stay put till I give you boys further instructions,” Jungkook firmly decided. 

“B-But, boss, what are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to check the place on my own first before letting any of you step in there. I’m not going to risk all of your lives like that.” 

The young lad knew how dangerous the whole situation was at hand. Quite frankly, he was one of the lads who often kept Jungkook updated with all of the security footage that was happening around town since he was one of the bikers who had a talent for hacking into all of Seoul’s security systems without having the law enforcement notice his doing, of course. 

But he knew that the boss was risking his own life by heading towards the location alone. In the worst-case scenario, Jungkook could even get seriously injured or worse. Furthermore, he knew that Jungkook’s words were absolute, and no one had ever been able to change his mind once he made a decision. 

With that, the hacker placed his hands together in front of him, slightly bending his head down before obeying Jungkook’s orders.

“Very well, boss. We will await your next instructions then.”

As Jungkook picked up his speed and rode his bike back to the cabin, the only thing that lingered in his mind was how he would explain the change of plans to you. He would’ve never thought that he might have to intervene and head towards the location himself to gather information this soon, or rather, he was hoping that Seokjin could do it since he was a detective, after all. 

But now that Seokjin is out of reach, Jungkook had no choice but to take up the job to prevent anyone, especially his comrades, from getting hurt or potentially losing their lives in that targetted location without getting a green flag from someone higher up first. 

Another reason that he was a bit stressed out about the current situation was that it was time for him to talk to you about it; it was time for you both to make a move, and he knew that he couldn’t keep you in the dark forever, as much as he just wanted to tuck you away in this cabin of his and just stayed put and safe there while he and your brother resolved all of this messed up crime spree that was happening in the district. 

It was also because that was the exact factory that you worked at. That could only mean that the chances that you may or may not be the next target were higher than they had expected. 

After those train of thoughts, he finally arrived back at the cabin, and he tried his best to maintain his composure before turning the doorknob to open up the doors and calling out loud for you. 

That was only until you didn’t respond that he began to panic. 

“Y/N? Y/N, are you there?”

Jungkook tried his best to maintain his calm while going from room to room, calling out for you. When he had finally searched the entire cabin and that you were nowhere to be found, that was when he felt a sink in his stomach, and he was about to go insane any moment now. 

He was now screaming at the top of his lungs for you while running around frantically, even as he stepped out of the cabin and walked down the steps to circle the woods nearby. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Please respond to me! Where are you?!”

His heartbeat was pounding much louder and faster with each second, and he was close to shitting his pants at the moment. An instant regret filled his guts, and he wished he could’ve turned by time so that it would’ve knocked some sense into him that he shouldn’t have left you alone in the cabin, especially when both of your lives were at stake. 

He wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake as he had done before. There was no way he would let history repeat itself, not under his watch.

Y/N! Y/N! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!

Suddenly, he heard a faint grunt from a distance, a little bit towards his left. An unexpected fog clouded the air, making it hard for him to see whoever was slowly coming in his direction. 

With his instinct, Jungkook quickly pulled out his handgun that he tucked away beneath his leather jacket, quickly loaded the gun and aimed it towards the shadow approaching him. 

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the shadow emerged from the fog, and that was when he finally made out that it was the person he had been longing to find. 

“Jungkook! You’re back!” You smiled while carrying a box filled with freshly picked fruits in your arms. 

Jungkook then slowly lowered down the gun and stared at you blankly. To ease the tension and awkwardness, you decided to speak up whatever was on your mind for now.

“O-Oh! Sorry, I know I should’ve stayed put, but like I said, I know how to keep myself occupied. I decided to go for a little walk around, and that’s when I saw this little peach tree growing near the little creak you brought me to the other day. I just so remembered this one peach dessert I used to make when I was a kid, and I thought we could use some desserts—”

Before you could finish your sentence, Jungkook wrapped his arms around you tightly, making you drop the box of fruits towards the ground. You were stunned by his sudden actions as he said nothing, and you could hear him sobbing for once as he buried his neck into the crook of your neck. 

Jungkook knew that things were starting to get into his head, and he needed to tell you the truth now, especially with the events that have happened within the past 24 hours, and how he needed to tell you about his recent findings. 

And also about the nightmare he had last night.

There was no point in hiding anymore. Eventually, you would have to know anyways. 

Y/N’s POV

“You look like a stray rabbit, Mr Jeon,” you teased half-jokingly, but the other half was also concerned about his appearance. It was how he sat across from you, slumped onto his couch, and looked defeated. It was obvious that something had been bothering him, especially when you knew he had a nightmare last night, but you weren’t going to say anything unless he would tell you all about it himself. 

But given the current situation, the way he looked for you so frantically, and hell, even aimed a gun at you (not on purpose, of course), something has gone wrong, and you needed to know. 

You gently stood up and walked over to sit cross-legged on the ground, gently placing one of your hands onto his that was resting on his thigh, slowly caressing them to help ease the frown on his face. 

“Jungkook, talk to me about it. I promise your secrets are safe with me,” you gently reassured him, hoping he would finally speak out about whatever had been hindering his mind since the day before. 

With that, he slowly opened his eyes to look down at you; he could tell that you were desperate to get answers, and this time, you wouldn’t take a single loophole in your books. Slowly, he sat back up and leaned forward as he stared at you, giving you his full attention.

“There have been some major updates in the missing person cases, Y/N.” 

“Okay, so we’ll go from there—”

“But before that, I think you need to know about my past, especially why I said your brother has given me another chance in life and why I took on this offer in the first place.” 

You gulped upon hearing that. It was finally time for you to know precisely what the pact they made behind your back was, and you could finally learn more about Jungkook and your brother's secret life. 

“Remember when you walked into my cabin on the first day? You went straight ahead to the fireplace and had a little good look at the picture frame situated above it?”

“Y-Yeah? Was that your childhood friend or something?” 

“That was…” He paused for a moment before finishing up his sentence. “My little sister.” 

Now, that was something new to you. Nobody has ever heard that the biker gang leader would have a younger sibling or sibling. Most people have assumed that he had only been an only child and was probably abandoned from a young age due to his upbringing and reputation in the district. 

But Jungkook was here to tell you the truth and to turn those assumptions down. “Regardless of how the public sees who I am, I had a pretty happy childhood. We were a family of four; our days were filled with happiness as we resided in a small village out of town. It wasn’t until my father received a promotion at his job that he decided to bring all of us up to Seoul, hoping for a better life.” 

Jungkook cleared his throat before he continued with his story. “It was a miracle when my father came home one day telling us he was offered a job at the local police station; neither of us could’ve believed it then. It started off simple: he was just an ordinary security guard at the huge facility until he showed his superiors that he was far more capable than that, and he eventually rose to the ranks of becoming an actual detective.” 

“In other words, your father was my brother’s senior then,” you added, making Jungkook return to you with a smile.

“Precisely. Years passed, and my sister followed his footsteps, eventually joining the academy and becoming a rookie detective under my father’s supervision. Meanwhile, I’ve decided to stay back and help my mother at her local pastry shop down the road from the station since she needed some assistance anyway. At the same time, I started building this wooden cabin, with the thought of creating a little place where we family could escape to during our free time.” 

You scooched closer, and your hands around his tightened slightly, trying to find the right words to ask the main question. “W-What happened then?” 

His eyes immediately fell to the floor, and his tone suddenly went down an octave, indicating that whatever he would say next would be pretty heavy to register. “My father was sent abroad on a mission, but he unfortunately lost his life in the line. Upon hearing that, my mother died with a broken heart.” 

“Jungkook, my deepest condolences…” you mumbled. 

“You want to know what’s even crazier, Y/N? That wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had to go through. It was my sister.” 

You could see that his eyes began to water, and he was trying his best to hold back any outburst of emotions that he might have. Naturally, his hands found yours and held them tight, and you return the favour by placing another hand of yours on top of his. 

“There’s only a sole purpose for me in joining the biker gang: to keep my family safe.”

“In what way, Jungkook?” You questioned, not really linking on how a biker member could help the detectives when both occupations are the total opposite. 

“I’m pretty sure you know by now about how dark and corrupted the crimes in Seoul are behind the scenes, and there are certain places that are off-limits no matter how far up the ranks you are.” 

“So that’s when you come in then.” 

“Exactly. Even if it’s the smallest thing I can do for them, I would take it.”

“Huh. Very contradicting to your biker image that the public is aware of.” 

“Hey, I need to look good for everyone okay. You never know. I’m pretty sure I have a fanbase somewhere in town admiring my good looks,” he smugged while lifting his head up high. You were glad he could still joke around and was still the Jungkook you had known despite all the recent hardships. 

“God, I hope your fanbase will have enough to fund themselves. Supporting someone when they do not get anything in return is sad.” 

Jungkook was annoyed at your teasing and immediately pinched your cheeks and pulled them slightly. “You take that back, I will have you know that I am one of the most good-looking people the district has ever seen in years.” 

“I will have you know that you are wrong because my brother Seokjin is a hundred times better than you!” You spat back while holding his hand, almost breaking your cheeks apart. 

The pinching then slowly died down as Jungkook slowly regained his composure. “Speaking about Seokjin, that’s where the next story comes in.”  

As Jungkook slowly pulled his hand away, you cupped that side of your cheek with your hands, mentally cursing the guy and saying that you would surely get back to him once this whole storytelling session was over. 

“I’m sure you are aware of the infamous case that one of the detectives from the station was the mastermind behind a series of kidnapping cases that happened in our district five years ago?” 

Oh, that. 

It was one of the cases that truly shook the nation down to its core; who would’ve thought that one of the detectives, especially from the elite squad, would have been monitoring and kidnapping young children around the area? What was more unpleasant about the case was that he had a few subordinates to help fulfill his fantasies, and they so happened to be a handful of the detectives themselves as well; some even used to be close buddies with your brother. 

It truly was a traumatising event that happened in your district’s history, and nobody wished such a case would ever happen again. 

“Y-Yeah…it was something my brother wished he could erase from his memory for good. It has impacted him in the worst way possible. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to see him go through such times ever again,” you commented. 

“Well, Y/N. I feel the same way, too. Just like how badly it has played a part in your brother’s life, it also did for me.” 

“How exactly did you even drag yourself into the situation?” 

He sighed. “Not by my own will, Y/N. It was because of my sister,” he squeezed your hands, and he chose his words carefully next, perhaps needing a bit of your strength to finally touch on the topic he has been avoiding for the longest time. 

“My sister was part of the cold case squad at the time, and it just so happened that she was the only female detective in the team. She would work tirelessly day and night, trying her best to dig through each possible available data, even the ones that were off-limits to most detectives. Little did she know that the mastermind himself was closely monitoring every movement that she had made, and she became a victim herself.” 

“Jungkook…” you slowly caressed his hand, wanting to take him into your embrace right now. 

“Fast forward to the day when she finally emerged from the shadows, Seokjin and I found ourselves in a standoff against the mastermind, holding my sister hostage on the rooftops of the police station. And god, Y/N. No words could describe how I felt the moment I laid my eyes upon my sister then, of how dishevelled and disoriented she had become.” 

A single tear drop fell from the corners of his eyes unto your hands, and your heart broke at that sight. Jungkook had always portrayed how tough he was as if nothing in this world could ruin him to the point of breaking down, at least not in front of someone. He must’ve carried on this trauma for a long time, one that would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life. 

“Your brother did not have the guts to shoot at his supervisor, so I did the favour for him instead. The bullet penetrated through his skull, and it was an instant death for him. My sister then lay on the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs, pushing and kicking everyone that came close to her. Not even I could do anything to help save her then,” he sobbed and choked on his own words. 

“So, my brother came to your rescue then?” You quietly asked. 

He sniffled. “He did. Killing a police officer is a huge crime, and naturally, I was placed behind bars. But your brother fought relentlessly, and I was pardoned and eventually released from prison.” 

“That’s my brother for you.” You smiled, thankful he was still the same brother you had grown to love and admire despite the recent events between you two. 

“But it came with a price, Y/N.” 

“And what was it?” 

“In return for getting me out of prison, Seokjin would take my sister’s wellbeing into his own hands. So he placed her under a facility that would care and possibly help her recover, but I was not to know about the location and to ever meet with her ever again.” 

Your heart sank upon hearing that. It would kill you to know that you have to be separated from your sibling for good, and you don’t think you could ever live the same way as you’ve done before knowing that. 

Immediately, you jumped into Jungkook’s arms, giving him a tight embrace while tears streamed down your face. 

“I’m so sorry, Jungkook. I’m so sorry that we detectives have failed you. We should’ve been the ones protecting the civilians, not breaking them apart physically and mentally.” You sunk your cheek into his neck; you wished there was something that you could’ve done to ease his pain or even bring his only happiness back to him. 

Jungkook said nothing but return the embrace to you. He did the same by resting his chin upon your shoulders, slowly moving to the point you felt his lips slightly brushed against your neck as he took in all of your scent. 

Neither of you said anything for at least a good ten minutes, and you both were fine staying that way. You knew that it had taken a massive leap of faith for Jungkook to address his biggest and darkest nightmare finally, and you were grateful that he had decided to trust you enough to talk to you about all of this. 

Eventually, you found yourselves both snuggled on the couch, just admiring the fireplace while cuddling one another. Jungkook lay gently on your chest while you constantly ran your fingers through his soft black hair, making him slowly drift off into dreamland. It was obvious that Jungkook hadn’t had the best of sleep lately because he easily slept within your arms for a couple of hours, not to be awakened so easily. 

And that was fine by you. You have begun to feel that you both were more than just acquaintances. However, you weren’t sure if Jungkook returned the same feelings for you, but your subconsciousness tells you that whatever happened back at the creek, he must’ve felt something, too. It doesn’t matter if it was the same way as you did; you were more than glad that you had found a place within him.

As you slowly admired his sleeping face, you were now more than determined to put an end to this nightmare the district had been struggling with for months. 

This time, let me return the favour, Jungkook.

The strong wind was constantly hitting your face as you grabbed Jungkook tightly while he sped on his bike. It had been a few days since, and you finally had Jungkook to fill you in with the latest news he had when he finally regained himself. 

To say that you were beyond shock was an understatement when you found out that the mastermind was targeting the young ladies at the factory you worked at, and that was how Kisa disappeared and became a pawn in their twisted games. 

But that also meant one thing: you’re the next target, and they have had their eyes on you for a while now. 

You were terrified, that was for sure, but you decided that you wouldn’t tell them to do as they please anymore. As long as you both stick together, you know that you will crack the case open and put a stop to this spree of kidnappings. 

It’s all for the victims and Seokjin.

Even for you, Jeon Jungkook. 

As you finally made your way towards the factory, you quickly armed yourselves before stepping into the facility, all while Jungkook held you close next to him.

It was eerily quiet, and no sign of a human being was in sight. It was unusual how abnormal the whole situation felt; it was as if the entire building had been abandoned. 

Or was it?

In the distance, you quietly alerted Jungkook of how a faint light had caught your attention, and you could tell it had led to the systems room. Someone was in there, and you have a good guess that they might have been using the building to communicate for a while now. 

Giving each other a nod, you both slowly crept towards the room; that was when you felt a metal object pressed onto your skull. You finally came to a halt while Jungkook slowly disappeared down the hallway, not noticing that you had left his side.

“Now that’s a good little kitten, don’t you think? You have saved me the trouble of looking for you, Kim Y/N.” 

God, he knew your name. 

You chuckled. “What do you want from us? What do you possibly gain from kidnapping these young ladies?” 

“Oh sweetheart, don’t you know that money is everything in this day and age? Given how we have lived in poverty for so long, it wouldn’t hurt to earn that extra cash and big bucks, no matter how dangerous the situation can be, don’t you think?” 

“You have no sense of morals, then. Treating these young ladies as objects and pawns to your games,” you fired back. 

The man then slowly pushed the metal object that was situated on your skull further deeper as he slowly loaded it, to which you knew that you were now held at gunpoint. 

“Now sweetheart, let me tell you a little something about us. We are predators, and we hunt for prey like you.” 

Now, this seems awfully familiar. 

“I’m afraid that once predators have gotten our eyes on a target, we will not let them go that easily. We are slowly going to devour you up, leaving no traces behind. If you think you could stop us, then I’m afraid you’re wrong, princess. We’re experts in our field of work; we are not to be found that easily even if you were the best of the best detectives in town because that is our nature.” 

That phrase, it’s similar to Jungkook’s—

“Never in a million years would I have known that you’ve stooped so low, Seunghak.” 

That voice! 

Immediately, the both of you noticed how a badly beaten up individual was thrown in front of you, and your eyes widened upon what you have seen. Slowly, an individual emerged from the shadows, and it was Jungkook, walking towards you both while aiming the gun at the person behind you.

“Why, hello, dear boss. Or should I say, former boss,” he taunted, smacking his lips as if things had just gotten far more interesting now. 

“Damn, Seunghak. I didn’t know you were the type to switch lanes that quickly. It seems like the biker life wasn’t good enough for you, then,” Jungkook smiled dauntingly, and you gulped upon that sight. He was back to being the biker gang leader that the entire district was afraid of; you could even tell how the man behind you flinched a little as he began to shiver slightly with the gun still placed on your skull. 

“Can you blame me, though? When you get a plate full of gold in front of you, I’ll do whatever it takes if that means I will have more than enough to spend the rest of my life at ease,” he fired back while beginning to laugh menacingly.

“Besides, what do we do with these ladies in captivity? Oh god, I have been having the best of my life rather than being stuck in the biker's den.”

Instantly, Jungkook's face darkened upon hearing what Seunghak said, and you could feel as if he was shooting daggers through his eyes at his former comrade.

“You are absolutely sick in the head.” 

“And what if I am? I am living the best life possible, and there’s nothing you can do to convince me to return!” He screamed before pushing the gun to the point that you felt that the metal was going to pierce through your skull any moment now. 

Slowly, Jungkook started taking a few steps closer while he elicited a low chuckle. “You think you have a place left in my biker gang? You are much better off dead rather than coming back, Seunghak.” 

Immediately, a loud clatter was heard coming from both sides, accompanied by a volume of grunts, before the male began panicking. 

“W-What’s going on?” 

Finally, Jungkook stopped right merely inched away from you both, and he aimed the gun towards his former comrade’s face. 

“If you think I’ve come unprepared, then that means you are a hundred years too early even to accept the dirty ass pot of gold that was placed so easily in front of your plate.”

Instantly, Jungkook pulled the trigger, and the bullet penetrated the man’s abdomen, causing him to let out an ear-splitting scream as he tumbled and fell onto the ground, pressing onto his wound to ease the bleeding. 

Unfortunately, Jungkook wasn’t going to let him off so quickly, as he fired another bullet into his arms, causing the male to lay down helplessly. At the same time, Jungkook hovered above him, resting his gun upon Seunghak’s cheeks. 

“You’re going to be a dear and tell me who exactly employed you and your boys before I shoot another bullet into your skull, which would kill you off instantly, young man.”

It seemed that the male wouldn’t give up easily as he spat back onto Jungkook’s face. 

“As if I would tell you easily who is the mastermind behind all of this…no matter what happens to us…not of us are going to tell a single soul about it…our lips are sealed shut—”

A loud bang was heard throughout the entire facility, and you slowly opened your eyes to see that the male was long gone now, having a bullet penetrated his skull. 

Jungkook slowly got up from the male, dusting his knees while he was at it. 

“You scumbags have no reason to live in this world then.” 

As he turned to face you again, you couldn’t help but slowly take a few steps back, as if you weren’t sure if you would want to deal with the current state Jungkook was in. Sure, you trusted him, but it was truly the first time you had seen him like this.

Far worse than how he confronted you back at his base. 

This was the true so-called “devil” that people were terrified of, and this was what Jungkook was truly capable of. 

Jungkook didn’t say a word as he walked towards you before muttering a few words. 

“Let’s get going and continue to search the place for clues.” 

“O-Okay…” you replied. 

As you both made your way down past the hallways, Jungkook occasionally stopped giving his subordinates further orders or even asking about the current situation throughout the facility. He had given them instructions way beforehand, and the whole place was now under the bikers' control. 

Since you knew it probably wouldn’t be a good time to disturb nor provoke Jungkook in his current state, you figured it would’ve been a good time to check out the control room situated just a little bit towards your right. 

You slowly turned your head to see that Jungkook was engaged in the conversation before you slowly crept away and headed straight towards the room while leaving the door open so that that was an indirect way of letting him know that you were here and doing fine on your own. 

You quickly took in the sight upon you as you took in the dozens of computer screens that hovered above you and how multiple files and USB drives were plugged into the systems, meaning that whoever was here before had been lurking in this place for a while. 

Since your brother was an expert hacker, you naturally followed his footsteps as you got him to teach you all about computers when you were young. In other words, you could consider yourself a little computer geek, and you knew your way around the codes and the systems. 

As you sat down on the chair and began typing away, you could easily hack into the system to find out the dozens of confidential information stored there. Sure enough, you were able to dig through the files and find valuable information about the kidnappings—who the victims were, their way of communication to pass around information, and who was the sole mastermind that commanded Seunghak and his team. 

However, it seemed that it wouldn’t be as easy to determine who exactly was the accurate mastermind as they used an untraceable ID and alias; or rather, they actually communicated through ciphertexts. 

You mentally cursed at yourself for not taking an interest in this particular method of communication back then when your brother taught you briefly. You have always brushed it off, saying you were not made to understand this specific method and always preferred a more accessible way out. 

You were then back to square one again. To find out who was behind that so-called alias and ID, you needed to crack the algorithm and ciphertext to move on. 

Just as all hope is lost, a new message suddenly appears on the screen, and you squint your eyes as you try to read what exactly it holds. When you finally understood what was written, your eyes widened, leaving you stunned for a minute. 

This…this is—

“Y/N!!! GET OUT OF THERE!!!”

Before you were able to make sense of the whole situation, Jungkook immediately jumped in front of you before you eventually heard a gunshot resonate in the air and eventually a siren followed as you tried your best to catch hold of Jungkook in your arms, followed by a swarm of bikers filling the control room.

Jungkook had no idea how long he had been passed out since then, and he was slowly trying his best to open up his eyelids tightly glued shut together as the light shone through his vision. 

When he finally did, he realised that he was back in this cabin and was lying down on the couch he tried his best to sit up before he felt an excruciating pain that sent shockwaves throughout his whole body.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” 

Jungkook jerked his head to the side to see that you had returned with a first aid box and a bowl of water with a cloth draped before you slowly sat on the couch with him. You took the fabric into your hands before dipping it into the bowl of water, squeezing off the excess liquid before you started wiping off any dirt or blood that was left on his bare chest. 

Neither of you said a word, or rather, none of you knew the right words to say at the moment. Jungkook noticed how red and puffy your eyes were, and he knew immediately that you must’ve been crying for god knows how long. 

He definitely felt partly guilty for that, but another part of him didn’t know why he did just that, jumping in front of you to save you from the henchmen instead of taking him out with his gun from behind. 

His thoughts were a mess; he no longer knew what he felt. As he quietly observed the way you took care of him, his heart began to ache, and he couldn’t help but gently place one of his hands on your cheeks, rubbing the little area where he saw that there was a slit mark; you probably have gotten injured yourself while he was out. 

That gesture stopped you as you lifted your head to look at him straight in the eyes. Unlike back at the factory, his eyes were filled with mystery again, not the dark, scary one he portrayed as the biker’s gang leader. It felt as if the scene back during the creak was repeating itself. 

“J-Jungkook…I…” you stammered before you eventually felt his soft lips against yours. 

The kiss was gentle and bittersweet, and Jungkook did not hesitate to slowly move his lips against yours, showering you with plenty of kisses and savouring the taste of your lips. Your body immediately shut down from that, and you finally eased yourself to return the favour, moving yours against his as you both kissed each other breathlessly. 

His kiss sent shockwaves to your entire body, making you want this moment to last for as long as possible. He gently lifted your face slightly with the hand resting on your cheek, intending to kiss you deeper. That was when you decided to close your eyes and let him take full control of the situation. 

As you both finally broke apart to take a few deep breaths, Jungkook rested his forehead against yours, just like he did before at the creak. 

It was time, you figured, to finally ask him what you both truly are. 

“Jungkook…what…what made you finally do it?” You panted. 

He paused briefly before giving you an answer you did not expect. “Do I have you say more than that? I’m pretty sure it’s what you have in mind, Y/N.” 

You were now trying your best to hold back the tears forming at the corners of your eyes. “W-What made you finally feel that way, Jungkook?”

“I…I don’t even know myself, Y/N. In the beginning, I’ve only seen you as a younger sibling that I would protect at all costs because I do not want to repeat the same mistake as I have done to my biological sister. But as we spent more time together, there was just something that I felt within me that made me realise that maybe you’re more than just a sibling to me n5ow.” 

Jungkook gently lifted your head once more before giving you a little peck on the lips again. “One thing is for sure now: I would protect you at all costs, even if it means I must sacrifice myself. I’m not doing this as a favour to your brother anymore; I’m doing this because you mean a lot to me.” 

With those words, you couldn’t help but smile for the first time in a while before responding to the man himself. “Well, you’re going to have to do a lot of explaining to my brother, then.” 

“Yeah. Frankly, I hate the thought of having to go through that phase. But if it’s you, I’d do anything to get that approval from Mr Kim himself.” He winked. 

“Ew. Gross.” 

“Admit it, you like the thought of us being together and a thing in the near future.” 

“You better hold your horses before I shove this fabric down your throat.” 

“Wow, aren’t you a scary one?” 

You both broke into laughter with that conversation. It has been a while since you both have bickered like that, and you missed this mischievous side of him.

“Well, mister. We’ll have to wait a couple of days for you to be completed healed before we hit the road again.” You announced as you finally stood up from the couch.

“Give me a day to rest up, and then we’ll leave.” 

“Jeon Jungkook, there’s no way you’re healing up within a day with that bullet wound in your abdomen.” 

“If I say one day, it means one day,” he deadpanned. 

“You can’t be serious,” you argued back. 

“One day.”

“No.”

“Yes.” 

You sighed. “We will determine that after 24 hours, then.” 

Jungkook smiled as he laid back down on the couch. “Well, now that’s settled, we could go through the strategy planning tomorrow. For now, I think it’s time for us to get into bed together—”

“You’re not touching me in my sleep.”

“Oh come on, we kissed, so what’s the matter?” He pouted. 

“We’re not at that stage yet.” 

“Pretty please with a cherry on top?” He begged.

“Absolutely not.”

Miraculously, it took only a day for Jungkook to be entirely healed as he drove down the streets, heading back to the capital. You swore that this man was built differently from all of you, and he was a monster at that, able to heal so quickly with a wound that would typically take at least a week or two. 

He was definitely feeling a lot better after a good night's rest, and you guided him into the fireplace before telling him the details you had found back in the systems room. Jungkook’s eyes widened as he heard about your findings, and never would he have thought that you both would be able to receive that critical information to finally pinpoint who was the exact mastermind behind all of this. 

After hearing your thoughts and suggestions, the both of you quickly took off to one of his nearest hideouts, where he would often meet up with his closer subordinates to inform them about the current plan. After a whole night of planning, all of you were now on the road heading back into the city.

When you finally catch a glimpse of the police station from afar, bittersweet feelings immediately form within you as you know that there would be the last destination to be able to crack the cold case open. You hope that Seokjin is somewhere hidden within the facility since you last saw him. 

As all the bikes began pulling up nearby, Jungkook gave the lads further instructions on infiltrating the building without being detected by the guards. Their mission was to find out where exactly the victims were kept away and to avoid conflict with any detectives that came their way. 

Based on the information you found at the factory, you insisted that it would be best to confront the mastermind since you have gotten a pretty good hunch on who they are and where they might be residing too. But Jungkook insisted that he was going to stay close to you as much as he could, and he was not going to risk your life once more. 

It took a bit of convincing back and forth, but you finally managed to persuade him to stay nearby but undetected, fearing that the mastermind might flee if they had a sense that you did not come alone to meet them.

So here you were, pressing the exact button that would eventually lead you to the top floor of the building, staring straight into the screen above the lift that indicated that you were slowly going up each second. Your hands began shaking against your own will, fearing that you were finally going to meet your worst nightmare, one that has kept you awake and separated from your own family and friends for weeks. 

As you shut your eyes to take a deep breath, you were instantly cut off from your train of thoughts when you felt someone grab onto your hands and intertwine their fingers with yours. When you opened your eyes and turned your head to the side, you could see that Jungkook was just as nervous as you were, linking his hands with yours. 

It must’ve been hard for Jungkook as well; he was also dealing with his struggles when he was with you. But he has never failed to let it get to them to the point that it made him lose all hope and sanity. Perhaps it must have been fate that you were there with him, and you were able to give him a bit of strength and company to deal with all of this. 

Your grip tightened against his, and you looked into his eyes. “Jungkook…”

“It’ll be over soon, Y/N. I’m sure of it. No civilians should ever experience this nightmare ever again. We’re going to break the chain of history and not let it repeat itself once again,” Jungkook said confidently, and he was determined that it was time to make a change in Seoul’s dark history of crimes and corruption. 

As the doors to the lift opened, you slowly stepped out of the lift and let go of Jungkook’s grip and looked at him once more before walking to where you were supposed to be headed. For the last time, you both communicated by looking into each other’s eyes; Jungkook promised you that he would be nearby and that you didn’t have to worry as he would keep you safe. 

With a nod from you, the doors to the lift eventually began to close, and you constantly kept your eyes glued on Jungkook before the doors were glued shut. 

Turning your heel towards the opposite direction, you slowly walked along the corridors, passing by multiple rooms before reaching the one at the furthest end. You read the door sign carefully before confirming that you were at the right place. 

Slowly, you lifted up your hands to gently knock on the door before it slowly opened on its own. With a gulp, you stepped in and peered your head through the room. It was dark, and the only light shining into the room was the moonlight from the windows. 

When you were fully physically in the room, the doors behind you suddenly slammed shut again, sending a sense of nervousness throughout your entire body. You had to remind yourself constantly that as long as you can get through this last spurt, everything will finally be revealed, and it will be a chapter closed. 

You could sense that you weren’t alone in this room and that someone was lurking in the shadows. Taking this as your chance to confront them, you finally gathered the courage to speak up to whoever was in here with you. 

“It seems that your time of reign has abruptly ended. It wasn’t easy trying to track you down for months; given your position, it must’ve been really easy to get hold of the young ladies into your care. You surely are a brave individual who was willing to take the risk,” you announced aloud but were again met with silence. 

But you didn’t come here to give up quickly, so you decided to press on. “Say, haven’t you stooped down so low, using your detective position to claim these young women for your benefit? Wasn’t your wife good enough for you? Why resort to kidnapping and eventually trafficking these young ladies for your good?”

Come on, Y/N. Just a little bit more. 

“You even went to seek help from the biker gang. Are you that desperate? Especially when you have sworn that you hate them to the core and would never associate with the likes of them.” 

“Don’t you think so, Uncle Kim?” 

With that last sentence, the room felt much more silent than it already was before you eventually heard footsteps coming before you, finally revealing to the man that you have been trying your best to get him out of the shadows. 

“I’m beyond impressed, Y/N. You are just as smart as your brother; you could easily pull off as a detective for the station.” 

It has been a while since you have seen your uncle. He was the deputy chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department and was often away to deal with heavy and pressing matters requiring him to stay stuck in this office all day or even fly out of the country to do so.

He also took your brother in and gave him a chance as a detective after seeing his extraordinary talent with computers and hacking. After your parents passed, he was the one who has been raising you both just as his children, and he was finally able to let loose a bit once you both entered adulthood. 

He often visits during celebrations as much as he can despite his busy schedule, and you both have always admired him for what he has done to serve the country. He was considered the nation’s hero, after all.

But it seems that not all good things last for long, especially when you receive that concrete evidence and message back in the systems room from your very own brother, revealing who the mastermind is.

Why exactly did he choose to do all of this? Your very own uncle, the nation’s hero, to be behind all of the kidnappings that have happened for the past several months. It would be impossible to convince the public that this was the reality that everyone has been living in; that is why it is up to you now to publicly reveal and gain concrete evidence to stop his spree of crimes.

“My dear little Y/N, how exactly did you even crack the code? I was certain that you couldn’t decrypt ciphertexts.” 

So, that was why he used it as a primary method of communicating with the bikers. 

“Well, I’m afraid you have made a fatal mistake. I may not be able to read ciphertexts, but I sure can read morse code.” 

“What?” 

You chuckled. “You may have kept my brother hidden away somewhere, but so long as he is within the facility and was one of the top hackers in the station, he would certainly find a way to hack through the systems throughout the district and even out of town, keeping in a close contact with us.” 

“Just as expected from my niece, I shouldn’t have underestimated what you both were capable of,” he laughed. 

Unbeknownst to you, you eventually balled your fists up, and you were on the verge of wanting to throw a punch straight into his face despite being family by blood. However, you tried your best to hold yourself back, you have to get concrete evidence first and foremost. 

“Why, Uncle Kim? Why would a successful detective like you do such a thing? Why live a double life?” You asked and pleaded a little to see if he had any sense of remorse left in him. 

But your efforts were wasted. 

“Oh, Y/N. You have no idea how cruel our world can truly be. It doesn’t matter how high your status can be; the city of Seoul will forever remain dark and corrupt behind the scenes, whether you like it or not. In this world that we will live in, it’s like a tug-of-war, Y/N. If you don’t take a step further, then the younger and weaklings will eventually catch up, and we don’t want that to happen, do we?” 

Your uncle then stepped closer to you and began slowly circling around you. 

“There are only two groups of people in the world; either you choose to be strong or stay behind with the weak. It’s a cruel world that we live in, Y/N. When the opportunity comes, take it even if there’s the slightest opening to becoming the strong elite. Take it and do not spare a glance back, even if it means you must ditch your old life behind. You might even need to sacrifice some things or people to realise those goals.” 

“B-But that doesn’t imply why you would turn to crime to achieve those goals, Uncle Kim,” you commented. 

He sighed. “I’m afraid you are still too young to realise it then. Those girls should be lucky that they are still alive. I haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.” 

Your blood was now boiling, and you were on the verge of genuinely slapping or hitting some sense into your uncle, even though you knew that it would probably be effortless. You just needed to hurt him, make him suffer for all that he has done to all of those young women, even to your friend, Kisa. 

Before you finally shut your eyes, you had to ask him one last question before you were going to reach behind your back pocket for the knife that you had stored away.

“Let me then ask you this, Uncle Kim. What happened five years ago when a detective was responsible for kidnapping young children across the district. Was that your doing as well?” 

In your gut, you already knew what the actual answer would be. But at least you still needed to hear it directly from his mouth. 

“Ah, Minhwan? It was truly a tragedy that he lost his life easily then. He was just a step closer to kidnapping his tenth victim.” 

God, you felt sick to the stomach. He truly was a heartless individual; all of the years of putting up a favourable face in front of his family eventually broke down, revealing who he truly is in front of you now. 

You couldn’t care less if he was your uncle anymore; all you knew was that he was going to hell, and you so desperately wanted to end his life here and then—

“So it was you who made my sister suffer the way she did.” 

That voice! Jungkook!

You quickly jerked your head behind to see that Jungkook was now aiming his gun directly at your uncle, but before you could even process further, you were immediately pulled into your uncle’s embrace. He immediately took out his gun from his holster and rested it on your temple. 

“My, if it isn’t the biker gang leader himself! You surely have grown since the last time I’ve seen you.” 

“Never in a million years would I have thought that the chief detective would have been monitoring and guiding the underworld for several years. It would surely be a huge hit in the newspapers and eventually across the globe,” Jungkook taunted. 

“That would be nice, but I’m afraid you both won’t live through the next sunrise to see it happen because I will be eliminating you both right here and now, starting with Y/N,” he pushed the gun further to the point that it began to hurt. You could tell that one wrong move from either of you would result in a bullet within the two of you. 

You both have to think quickly and strategically before executing the next move. 

“What makes you think you can outsmart me, young man? You’re from the biker gang, for goodness sake!” Your uncle began raising his voice and was now engaged in the conversation with Jungkook. 

That was when you looked into Jungkook’s eyes, and you could tell he was trying to tell you something. 

It was as if he meant…

Trust me, Y/N. 

“It is because I’m the biker gang’s leader, Mr Chief. Hence, I can and will outsmart you here right now.” 

With that one last word, Jungkook loaded his gun and pulled the trigger, aiming straight at your legs. The bullet barely grazed through your skin, and you immediately fell onto your knees, which made your uncle stunned. 

“Hey! Hey! Y/N! Get up! Get up now!”

In the midst of his panic, Jungkook quickly stepped in and took his hand onto his back before propelling his body forward, slamming him onto the ground. He quickly used his knee to keep him in place. He used his hands to push the chief’s head to the ground while the other held both hands towards his back. 

“Y-You think you’re going to get away with this? You’re a hundred years too fast…” the chief grunted. 

“Actually, I think you might as well start digging your grave now, dear uncle.” 

Immediately, all of you looked towards the front door entrance where the voice was coming from, and your eyes widened upon who you had just seen. 

“Seokjin!!!” You screamed out loud; tears might even start falling from the corners of your eyes. 

“Hello, uncle. Missed me?” 

“H-How did you get out from there? There’s absolutely no way—”

“Well, I have my ways. And unfortunately for you, I hacked into the station system, so your computer right there on your desk was recording everything that you said towards both my sibling and the biker gang’s leader; I may have also shared the recording with the local radio stations, so everyone heard it live and in real timing too,” Seokjin announced as he was twirling the USB drive in his hands. 

“Why you little scumbag!!” He screamed before Jungkook gathered his strength to push him down again. 

“I think the scumbag here is you, dear uncle. I’m sure the FBI would be delighted to interrogate the heck out of you and give you the rightful punishment you need.”

“What? The FBI?” He questioned. 

“You actually think I came here unprepared? The FBI has officially raided the entire building, taking the hostages to safety and caught your little gremlins, escorting them to prison at this very moment as we speak.” 

Seokjin took a few steps closer before eventually bending down to face his uncle.

“I’m sorry, but your reign of terror ends here and now.”

It had been a year since that fateful incident. Getting things back to normal surely took a lot of time and effort. 

Thanks to Seokjin and the FBI, they have taken your uncle away and placed him behind bars, even at a high security one at that. Throughout the gruelling interrogation that they have had, it seems that your uncle was part of more twisted crimes than what the public was aware of, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment at that, with no chance of parole. 

As for the victims, they were all returned safely to their own families after recovering at the hospital for a while. Thanks to the staff's generosity, the victims were given more than enough care and treatment for them to eventually return to their usual selves.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Department needed some time to regain the public's trust. To tackle that issue, the officials elected your brother Jacob to take over the chief position and oversee the whole process of rebuilding the entire police department. It definitely wasn’t an easy task and was undoubtedly a huge burden for Seokjin, but he did not complain and rather took on the role easily. 

The factory that you used to work in was abolished as the police themselves continued to dig through more uncovered dark secrets that lay below the factory grounds. For the safety and well-being of the public, all authorities have agreed that it would be best to tear the place down, leaving behind a chapter. 

But that did not mean that all workers there met a bad fate. Through the help from the public and the authorities, everyone was given a chance to work at a much better and safer workplace. 

As weeks passed, you scored through all your exams and eventually graduated from university. You were now on the road to becoming a full-fledged journalist, currently undergoing probation under the famous company The Seoul Daily Magazine. You have been enjoying your time here, meeting amazing colleagues and having a healthier work-life balance. 

As for Jungkook, he decided to return to his biker gang, further leading the upcoming lads to take over the higher positions within their hierarchy. However, it was thanks to the latest kidnapping cases that the public realised that the bikers themselves weren’t rebellious nor posed a threat to society. They have begun to put their trust in the bikers themselves, and they would often be seen hanging out together in town daily. 

Seokjin has granted a special position for Jungkook in the police department, encouraging the male to join forces as their previous one worked out splendidly. According to your brother, Jungkook just smiled and turned down the offer, saying that the bikers are one big family and would stick by them until the end. 

You smiled as you remembered all of those moments of how Jungkook had always shared about his lads from the gang, and naturally, you decided to visit them often whenever you got to hop onto Jungkook’s bike; you both were finally a couple now anyway. 

It wasn’t until the digital clock that was situated right on your table started to go off that you realised that it was finally time for you to get off work. You quickly jumped up from your chair, giving yourself a little stretch before packing your things away hurriedly. 

“Oh, someone’s leaving early today, huh?” One of your co-workers peeked through your cubicle and teased. 

“Someone’s got a dinner date tonight, a very romantic one at that, too,” another one chimed in. 

“It’s nothing, you guys, we’re just having a normal dinner,” you reassured, but clearly your co-workers didn’t believe you in the slightest bit. 

“I bet they’re going to finally do it tonight.”

“What?! How can you say that?! I bet they’re going to propose instead.” 

“Nothing is going to happen, okay? Now, I’m off. I’ll see you next Monday!” 

You quickly clocked out before running down the steps down to the lobby. You were too excited and couldn’t wait for the elevator to reach your floor. Once you finally saw your boyfriend leaning against one of the pillars outside your company, you quickly dashed towards the automatic doors before finally stopping right in front of him.

He was in his usual black leather jacket and cargo pants, but his hair was much longer now, so it covered his eyes if he decided not to part them. But you loved this new look on him, much better when his hair was shorter a year ago.

“Like what you see, sweetheart?” 

“Hmph, don’t get too full of yourself. You barely did just the minimum,” you commented before linking your arms with his as you both walked towards the restaurant that Jungkook had booked for the night. 

“Come on, I styled myself just for tonight. You might as well give me some compliments,” he whined. 

“I’ll consider it if you order something that I have been craving to eat for a while,” you stuck your tongue out at him. 

“How should I know what you’re craving for the day?” 

“You’re the boyfriend; you should’ve done your research.” 

“Mean.” 

“I spit the facts.” 

You both burst out into laughter after that; you truly enjoyed every moment with this guy, even if you were just bickering over the tiniest detail possible. It was when you both went silent for a while, admiring the Christmas lights and decorations that lit up the entire city. You both finally stopped at the huge Christmas tree in the middle of town, admiring its beauty for a while before heading to the restaurant just a little bit behind the decor. 

“Say, didn’t you mention that I would be your biggest mistake when I first picked you up back at the factory?” 

“Oh…that.” 

“Yeah, that. What am I to you now, princess?” He looked at you with pleading eyes; he was back at trying to get your compliments since he failed the last one.

You sighed before tilting your head towards his direction before planting a soft peck on his lips. 

“You were the best mistake that has ever happened to me.”

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Old Bloodhounds

P50 | screw the rebellious teenage phase

TW : violence, suicide scene, and slight gore

Mark was jumping in his seat, and Yuno couldn't stop laughing at Mark's display of unadulterated joy and excitement. It was kind of cute, seeing how happy he was on Yuno's behalf, now that he's officially a music artist now. Geonwoo and Woojin were beaming at the front seats too, glad that Yuno is finally achieving his lifelong dream.

"You've been dreaming about this ever since we were kids, Jae. Oh my god, you're a singer now. A full-fledged singer, with a record deal under one of the biggest labels in our country!" Mark exclaimed, slamming his head back with a big smile on his face.

"Thanks, dude. I owe it to you guys—I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for your work in managing the MNA Week." Yuno laughed, ruffling the younger man's hair.

"My mom said your highschool friends just arrived at the café—everyone is just waiting for us to arrive now." Geonwoo showed the text messages he exchanged with his mom, and Soyeon even sent a picture of Yuta, Doyoung and Jungwoo posing with Yuno's dad under the café lights.

Yuno nodded, feeling good with himself that he opted for an intimate party among close family and friends only. Well, family with the exception of you. Yuno wasn't that surprised when Mark told him that you declined the invitation, because you already made plans with Junyoung for tonight, but the disappointment was still there, palpable and aching.

He rested his head against the car window, looking at the city lights shining in the nighttime. He wondered if you and Junyoung were among the crowd of people moving along on the sidewalk, and he wondered if you were truly happy after pushing everyone else away. He hoped you were—no matter where you were and who you were with—but he can't help and feel bitter that him, Mark, Geonwoo and Woojin weren't part of your current happy life now.

If you were so happy with Junyoung, then so be it.

"We're here!" Woojin exclaimed, and Mark practically hopped out of the car.

Jaehyun's smile returned.

At least he could be happy with the people you had left behind.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sure, you had left your phone and wallet at the apartment, but he didn't specify that you should have left all of your phones—so you had tucked Yuno's old phone under your bra on your back, confident that Yoonsu wouldn't notice it since you were also wearing a thick leather blazer that you had stolen from Yuno's wardrobe (so you at least had another thing of him with you while living with Yoonsu).

You made sure to block Detective Do's number and turned the phone off beforehand, knowing Detective Do was driving himself crazy in trying to reach you—but you promised you would turn it on once you had the chance, so they could track down your location. It was the least you could for Detective Do's sake, to ease his job. For now, however, you wanted the detectives to be several steps behind before you could get Yoonsu to tell where Junyoung was buried.

"This is our stop." Yoonsu muttered stiffly. The stop was in downtown Seoul, streets littered with old and underdeveloped buildings.

He stood up and roughly pulled on your arm, it even caught the attention of the other passengers. You smiled stiffly at them while Yoonsu practically dragged you out of the bus, his face all stoic and icy. It was uncharacteristic of him. Yoonsu would always taunt you with an ugly smile on his face, always taking the opportunity to insult you and rub salt into your wounds—but he had been quiet for the whole bus ride.

And you've always been aware just how angry he was with you, but he's never displayed his anger in such a raw manner before. You gulped, now fully convinced he did notice that the blackmail file he had over you was wiped out of his phone. That's why he was extra pissed.

He dragged you all the way to the destination, walking ahead with his hand gripping on your arm as you walked behind him. The more you walked, the more you understood that he was definitely dragging you to that one abandoned building at the very end of the street.

However, because he was so busy 'guiding' you to your intended destination, and as you got near the abandoned building, you took the opportunity to reach behind you from under your shirt and turned on the phone, pulling it out of your bra and discreetly throwing it into the unattended bushes so the impact wouldn't make a sound.

Yoonsu didn't notice a thing.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Kyungsoo, we got something!" Chanyeol—who works for Gangnam PD's Cyber Crimes Unit—yelled through the phone.

He cringed at the oaf's deep ass voice yelling into his ear, but decided to ignore it, because he was busy trying to find you. Just why did you have to follow Yoonsu? That was your chance to escape—you could've finally been free of him!

No, you just had to go off on your own again—still stuck in your rebellious teenage phase. Screw the rebellious teenage phase, Kyungsoo mentally cursed.

"We suddenly got a signal from her alternate phone—it's pinging in downtown Seoul, near an abandoned factory. It was shut down years ago because it got busted as a drug production base. I'm confident this is where Yoonsu took her." Chanyeol explained carefully and efficiently, fingers slamming on the keycaps of his keyboard before continuing, "It's 25 minutes away by car from where you are right now—but if you floor the pedal and take some totally illegal shortcuts—"

"15 minutes?" Kyungsoo spoke hopefully, already getting inside the car with Taeyong driving.

"10 minutes."

"Send me the location."

Taeyong took out the revolving red light and stamped it on the roof of the car before flooring the gas pedal. Now that they also got to ignore red lights and make other cars on the road get out of their way, they can reach you sooner than 10 minutes.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It took forever to reach the underground level of this building, and it didn't help that the limited light almost had you tumbling down the stairs if it weren't for Yoonsu guiding you so confidently through the dark.

Once you felt that your feet were on solid floor, Yoonsu swung at you, managing to land a punch hard enough that it had you lying on the floor. You tasted blood, and your right cheek ached like a bitch. The fucker just broke your nose. You groaned at the pain, holding on to your nose as Yoonsu went down to straddle you, pulling on the lapels of your leather blazer.

"How did you do it?" He gritted out.

"Do what?" You bit out, the blood that dripped into your lips sputtered out as you talked.

He gave you a harsh slap on your face, that had your teeth tearing the inside of your cheek. What a mean piece of shit, for slapping you where he had just landed a punch on you. Your right cheek was going to swell up into a puff.

"How did you wipe away the file without me noticing, you slimy bitch."

You spit out the blood and began to laugh, wheezing and cackling like a hyena. Oh, you had the sense that he had decided to kill you tonight. Landing blows on your face without a care of the consequences—he was crashing out, and it was a hilarious sight to behold.

Not as smart as he thought he was, huh?

When you saw his arm rising to land another blow on you, you quickly caught it, twisting it as hard as you could, giving yourself the chance to slip your leg up from under him and kicked him in the stomach to get him off of you. The kick had him wheezing, holding on to his stomach as he lied on his back.

Thank god for the self defense lessons Geonwoo and Woojin had put you through. In fact, you were just thankful for Geonwoo and Woojin in general.

"I stole my brother's old phone and sim card, used it to contact Detective Do. You didn't even notice it—because you're not as smart as you think you are, bastard." Your voice sounded guttural, like an animal growling.

When you went to kick him while he was down, he caught your ankle and pulled on it, causing you to fall on your back, the back of your head making an impact on the floor. That wasn't good. That was going to hinder you. You can already feel your world spinning.

Well, at least you didn't black out—so that counts as something, right?

He stood up and pulled you along as you tried to focus, trying to will away the spontaneous major headache. He punched you in the stomach, and that was a low move on his part—because he had kicked you in the stomach a week ago. It was cheap shit. Him calling you a slimy bitch? He was the slimy one.

But all those years of wasting away, not able to afford the luxurious lifestyle anymore, losing access to top notch personal trainers and private gyms—he's gotten skinny, his combat skills turned rusty. He's gotten significantly weak, that's why cheap shots and blackmail were all that could do now.

When you realised it, you laughed again, even as you held your stomach because laughing was making it hurt, but you didn't give a shit. God, he's gotten so pathetic. It's fucking hilarious.

"You think you're slick? You think you're smart, princess? You knew the blackmail was gone, but you followed me here anyway like some kind of idiot—for what? Have you gotten used to me pulling on you by your leash, bitch?" He was practically frothing at the mouth, spit flying out as he spoke to you, pulling on your hair so you could face him directly.

"No," You muttered out, gripping on his collar and pushing him into an emergency box containing a fire extinguisher, and the glass shattered when his head made impact with it, "I knew that if I let Detective Do take me away from you, you'd just kill yourself, because you'd realise you've lost everything at that point."

Pulling away from him, you returned the favor and landed a cheap shot on him too—a kick to his groin, hard enough it had him kneeling on the floor at the pain, sputtering out insanely vile curses at you. You stood above him, wiping away the blood that dripped down your chin.

"And I want to know where you buried Junyoung. Since I already told you how I wiped out your blackmail file, it's only fair—" You paused, feeling a sick sense of satisfaction rush through your veins when you actually managed to kick him in the stomach this time as he writhed on the floor, "—you tell me what I want to know now. I played your game, Yoonsu, but I also got to win it too—so give me my prize, you fucker."

Then you gave him another kick, this time harder than before, as it sent him sliding on the tiled floor.

He mumbled out something you can't quite hear.

"What?"

He mumbled again.

You crouched next to his writhing form, pulling his head up by the hairs of his scalp, making him wince. He didn't realise you could be this violent. He wanted to laugh when he realised the psychological torture he put you through was what pushed you to the brink like this.

"Oh, sweetie—I buried him at your highschool, at that abandoned plant nursery your students stopped working on. I gave those poor neglected plants some good fertilizer."

You let go of his head at his answer. Yoonsu wheezed some more, until he suddenly stopped.

"I'll bury you there too. Since you love him so much, I'll let you rot away alongside him."

You instinctively tried to distance yourself from him at his sudden change of air, but he was faster. He sat up, and you suddenly felt a sharp pain in your mid torso.

As you glanced down, you saw that he had stabbed you with a big glass shard of the broken emergency box you shoved him into. You gasped when he pulled it out of you, only for him to stab you again, in a lower spot than the previous stab wound. He watched as you fell on your back, hands frantically trying to cover where he had just stabbed you.

The stairs rumbled, and Yoonsu glanced up to see it was that pesky Detective Do at the top of the stairs along with a man Yoonsu didn't recognize—he deducted it was probably Kyungsoo's newest partner.

When Kyungsoo saw you lying on the ground, blood seeping through your white shirt as you desperately tried to cover your wounds up with your hands, he felt his heart stop. Right next to you, Junyoung—no, Yoonsu—Yoonsu was sitting next to you, holding on a big glass shard that was slathered in blood.

He had stabbed you.

Yoonsu stabbed you.

Then Yoonsu pointed the glass shard to himself.

"NO—"

He stabbed himself in the throat.

Kyungsoo and Taeyong ran to you both. The older detective went to the criminal while the younger one went to you, pressing on your wounds to hamper the blood loss. Kyungsoo observed the glass shard in Yoonsu's throat. Judging from how much blood he was losing in a rapid rate, there was nothing he could do. Yoonsu hit his own artery. Nothing could save him, but you however—

Kyungsoo took out his walkie talkie, requesting an ambulance for you. He let out a loud 'THANK FUCK' when the nearest ambulance was just close by since this part of downtown Seoul needed constant assistance from emergency responders anyway.

He turned to you. Kyungsoo focused on pressing one stab wound while Taeyong on the other, both men didn't care that your blood was staining their clothes.

"Kid, don't go to sleep, okay? Fuck—just—you just—" Kyungsoo can feel his heart dropping as the seconds went by, and suddenly 5 minutes felt like too long for the ambulance to come by.

"...hold on?" You let out weakly.

Kyungsoo nodded, feeling his tears welling up in his eyes. By no means was he still a rookie, to still get so emotionally worked up over a case and its victims—but you were different. You were already one of Yoonsu's victims when you had to work as a stripper for him all those years ago, but here you were again. You had been tormented by Yoonsu again. You got hurt again.

And you were still too young to be going through this.

"Old plant nursery, Cheongdaebi Highschool..." You whispered.

"What about that place?" Kyungsoo spoke through the tears, straining his ears to listen to you better. He recognized Cheongdaebi High—it had been the high school you attended.

"Junyoung's body...please find him this time..." Your hand went to his, weakly gripping on his wrist, as Kyungsoo whispered out his promise to you to uncover Junyoung's body, his tears landing on your body.

Then your hand also went to Taeyong's.

"Remember the note I gave you, Detective Lee..." You turned your head to look at Taeyong next.

"T-The note?" Taeyong choked out, momentarily confused, then finally remembered that day in the café when you suddenly popped up, "Yes! The note! I'll let them know, Y/N. I promise I will."

You smiled, the corner of your lips barely moving, and your eyes began to flutter open and shut rapidly, making the two men panic.

"Fuck—Y/N! Kid! DON'T—"

"Detective Do, we've arrived at the abandoned factory! Where are you and the victim?" A voice from Kyungsoo's walkie talkie cut through his yelling.

Taeyong sprinted to the stairs, yelling from the top of his lungs to grab the paramedics' attention and letting them know they needed to bring the stretcher down with them.

When you were getting wheeled into the bus, Taeyong urged Kyungsoo to accompany you to the hospital, as they watched the paramedic zip up the body bag over Yoonsu's body. The younger detective could see Kyungsoo had an emotional tie to you, so it should ease his mind for a bit if he got to ride with you in the ambulance.

"What about you?" Kyungsoo asked hurriedly.

Taeyong took out a piece of folded up paper from his jacket's inner pocket.

"I need to inform her family."

prev | masterlist | next

A/N : WARRRR ISSSS OVERRRRRR 😫 YOONSU'S FUCKING DEAD BITCHES

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

• taglist • [CLOSED]

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[seoulzie]

moonlit walks

WHEREIN: you and soobin find yourselves bored on a quiet night, leading to a spontaneous walk that turns into an adventure

pairing: bf!soobin x reader genre: fluffiest fluff >< warnings: none!

SEUL SPEAKS: ngl i didn't expect much from this but i was giggling while proofreading this

it was one of those evenings where the world seemed to move slower, the minutes dragged on as boredom settled in. you and soobin had been lounging in the living room, flipping through channels, none of which held your interest for more than a few seconds.

with a sigh, you stretched your arms above your head. "i can't believe we're this bored on a saturday night," you groaned.

soobin, lying on the opposite end of the couch, turned his head to look at you. his eyes sparkled with a mix of mischief and curiosity. "wanna go for a walk?" he suggested, a small smile playing on his lips.

you raised an eyebrow but couldn't help but smile back. "a walk? now?"

"yeah, why not? it's a nice night," he said, already pushing himself off the couch. "come on, it'll be fun."

his enthusiasm was contagious. you quickly grabbed your jacket, and within minutes, you were both stepping out into the cool, crisp air of seoul. the streets were quiet, the usual hustle and bustle of the city subdued in the late hour. the streetlights cast a warm, golden glow, creating an almost magical atmosphere.

as you walked, the conversation flowed easily. soobin told you about a funny incident that happened during his last practice, and you shared a story from work that had you both laughing. the city seemed to embrace your laughter, echoing it back to you.

"you know," soobin said after a while, "i heard there's a bus that goes to the beach from here. it runs late at night."

your eyes widened in surprise. "really?"

soobin's grin widened. "wanna go? we could catch the night bus and be at the beach in no time."

you hesitated for only a moment before nodding eagerly. "let's do it."

the spontaneity of the plan added a thrill to the adventure. you both found the bus stop and, after a short wait, climbed aboard the nearly empty bus. the city lights flickered past the windows as the bus made its way to the coast. you and soobin continued talking, sharing stories and dreams, the conversation flowing as smoothly as the bus along the quiet roads.

when the bus finally reached the beach, you stepped off and felt the cool sand beneath your feet. the ocean stretched out before you, the moonlight reflecting off the waves, creating a shimmering path across the water. the air was crisp and salty, a refreshing change from the city’s confines.

"this is beautiful," you whispered, taking in the serene scene.

"yeah, it is," soobin agreed, but when you turned to look at him, you realized his eyes were on you, not the beach.

a blush crept up your cheeks, and you quickly looked away, focusing on the waves. you walked closer to the water's edge, the gentle waves lapping at your feet. soobin followed, and the two of you stood there in comfortable silence, listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean.

the beach was a world of its own at night. the distant lights of the city were faint glows on the horizon, and above, the stars twinkled in the clear sky. the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing gently against the shore was a soothing lullaby, calming your thoughts.

you both sat down on the sand, your shoulders brushing against each other. the sand was cool and soft, and you leaned back, supporting yourself with your hands. the ocean spread out before you, a vast, dark expanse, its surface shimmering with moonlight.

soobin spoke softly, his voice blending seamlessly with the sound of the waves. "i've always loved the beach at night. it's so peaceful. it makes you feel like you're the only two people in the world."

you nodded, feeling the same sense of tranquility wash over you. "it's like time stops here. all the worries and stress just fade away."

soobin smiled, his gaze fixed on you. "yeah, exactly."

after a while, the conversation faded into a comfortable silence. you leaned your head on soobin's shoulder, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breath. the sound of the waves, the cool breeze, and the warmth of soobin beside you created a perfect moment of serenity.

the moon cast a silvery glow on the water, and the stars above seemed to dance in the night sky. you closed your eyes for a moment, soaking in the peaceful atmosphere. when you opened them again, you found soobin looking at you, his expression soft and sincere.

"hey," soobin said softly, breaking the silence. "you know what i've realized?"

"hmm?" you murmured, your eyes half-closed as you enjoyed the peaceful moment.

"i realized that the view is amazing, but it's even better when i'm with you."

you lifted your head to look at him, your heart skipping a beat at the sincerity in his eyes.

he smiled, a hint of shyness in his expression. "being here with you makes everything more special."

your heart swelled with affection, and you reached out to take his hand, intertwining your fingers. "i love you."

soobin's eyes softened with emotion. he gently squeezed your hand and leaned in, his lips meeting yours in a sweet, tender kiss under the moonlight. the world around you seemed to disappear, leaving just the two of you in that perfect moment of love and serenity.

for the rest of the night, you stayed by the water, talking about everything and nothing, sharing dreams and secrets under the starry sky. as the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, you both reluctantly stood up, knowing it was time to head back.

walking back to the bus stop, you felt a sense of contentment settle over you. the night had been magical, filled with laughter, meaningful conversations, and moments of silence that spoke volumes.

as you boarded the bus and headed back to the city, soobin held your hand, his thumb gently tracing patterns on your skin. you leaned against him, feeling closer to him than ever before.

the city was waking up as you returned, but you felt like you were in a bubble of your own, a shared experience that had brought you even closer together. and as you walked back to your apartment, you knew that this night would be a memory you'd cherish forever, a testament to the magic of spontaneity and the beauty of being together.

⋆˚࿔ taglist! @flowzel , @izzyy-stuff , @inkigayocamman , @vicurious28 → want to get notified? click here!

© 2024 seoulzie

[authorhjk1]

Two Rings

(Kim Minji X Male Reader)

@mintwithchoco thank you for the prompt and hosting.

You walk up to her from behind. Minji is sitting on a bench, taking pictures of the beautiful scenery. With two cups of coffee in your hands, you lean over her.

"Here you go, birthday girl."

Minji looks up at you. Her generous, loving smile makes your heart melt. You are lucky, since you get to see this smile almost every day. And yet, you can't stop looking at it. It makes you feel warm.

"Thank you, young man."

Her cheeky comment makes you chuckle. Minji doesn't ever waste a single opportunity to remind you that you're younger than her.

"Are you ready to go back?"

Your girlfriend nods and you offer her your free hand. The two of you turn your backs on the beautiful mountain range and start to walk back down on the path you came on earlier. Minji takes a sip of her warm beverage, a blissful smile on her face.

"How did you get here anyways? Isn't your car at the workshop?"

You smile, still happy that you were able to surprise her earlier.

Busily preparing for their comeback, the Dreamcatcher girls filmed their MV near here today. After their last trilogy ended, their new one will evolve around nature and climate change. Similar to their Apocalypse trilogy. That's why their filming site was outside.

"It is. I came on my bike."

"Your motorcycle?"

You don't have to look at her to know that Minji is sending a disapproving glance in your direction.

"Yeah."

"You know that I'd prefer it if you'd take the bus, instead of the bike. Especially in Seoul."

You silently walk next to her, while Minji keeps going. You can't blame her. Actually, it feels nice to know that she cares so much for your safety.

"...especially other drivers. And also-"

You shut her up with a kiss. Minji's lips taste like the coffee she is drinking. Sweet, a hint of bitterness. The two of you close your eyes. Within a second, the whole world has disappeared. The only people that exist are the two of you.

Once you and Minji finally reach the street, you walk towards your bike. It's an older model, but you already own it for years. You first bought it right after you got your license. But you don't drive often. Minji is right. A car is much safer in the city than a motorcycle.

"Here you go."

Minji's face lights up once more, when you pull out her helmet. It's all fury, decorated with bunny ears. You bought it for her two years ago, when she asked if you could take her for a ride for the first time.

The two of you both put your helmets on after throwing the empty cups into a trashcan nearby. Minji's appearance makes you laugh. Her beautiful, elegant white dress and that bunny helmet. A perfect combination.

Starting the engine, you feel her hands wrap around you.

"Where are we going by the way?"

You barely hear her as you drive off.

"Surprise."

Minji smiles into her helmet. Every birthday with you is special. No. Every single day with you is special. She loves it when you plan things like this for her. Taking her mind off work, just so she can relax a little.

It has already gotten a little darker, once the two of you reach the road at the coast you were looking for. You point to your right. You feel Minji move her head and you glance in the rear mirror on your left. Her white dress is flapping in the wind.

"Wow."

You made it just in time. Minji's appreciative gasp makes you smile. She watches the sundown with big eyes. The sun kisses the sea, disappearing in the orange sky behind her.

Ten minutes later, the two of you walk along the beach. Minji's fingers are locked with yours, her head resting against your biceps. Your leather jacket is draped over her shoulders.

Checking your watch, you make the two of you face the ocean.

"Twenty seconds."

"Huh?"

Minji looks up at you.

"This is already beautiful enough. You don't have to do more."

You can see a hint of guilt in her eyes.

"Trust me, you'll love it."

You squeeze her hand, pretending to be calm. Just like you did the whole day. But in reality, your heart has been pounding since you surprised her earlier. This is gonna be the highlight of the day. You hope.

A moment later, you hear the fireworks go off. You and Minji look up at the night sky. Slowly, red letters start to form. They sparkle in the night. You glance at Minji.

"I love you."

She whispers, reading out the text you've written. Your heart beats faster than never before. Your hands become sweaty. Taking a deep breath, you kneel. Minji is still staring at the fireworks with a wide open mouth.

"Oh my gosh, baby."

A huge smile appears on her face. You can literally feel how happy she is right now as you reach for the ring inside your pocket.

Finally, Minji turns towards you.

"Oh my dear god!"

Your girlfriend covers her mouth with her hand in surprise. She sees you kneeling in front of her. The ring in your hand.

"Yes! Yes, I will!"

You burst out laughing.

"That's not how this works. I have to ask you first."

"Right, sorry."

You see Minji pressing her lips together, her eyes beaming with love.

"Kim Minji. Will you marry me?"

"Yes, I will."

Your fiance leans down, cupping your cheeks and rests her forehead against yours.

"I love you."

You kiss her back, when her lips meet yours. The two of you lose yourselves in the moment once more. It feels like you've already accomplished everything you've ever dreamed off, now that Minji said yes. The realisation slowly catches up with you. You're engaged. Kim Minji is going to be your wife.

Once you calm down, you start to put the ring on her finger. It's not a big one, but it fits her perfectly. You push it along her finger, until it rests against the ring you bought her, when you asked her to be your girlfriend.

"Now I've got two rings."

Minji smiles down at you.

"Give me a kiss, Mr. fiance."

You get off the sand and hold Minji by her waist as you lift her up. Her giggles get silenced by your lips. Her hands go through your hair, giving it playful tugs as the two of you engage in another deep kiss.

You have to admit that you were a little scared. The possibility of her saying no was slim, but you never know. And the ring too. You're still wondering, if you shouldn't have bought her a bigger one. But then again, Minji didn't even look at it clearly. She seemed way too happy to care what type of ring you got her.

[herrscherofinsanity]

Bound by Darkness

Minjeong's journey to insanity with her loyal companion Venom.

Fluff and angst? Maybe.

Kim Minjeong (Winter) x fem!reader

Word count: 5.3k

Of course I had to bring Spider!Jimin into this.

____________________

The night hung heavy over the city of Seoul, casting long shadows that seemed to dance in the flickering light of the streetlamps. In the heart of the bustling metropolis, Kim Minjeong walked alone, her thoughts a tangled web of worries and fears.

Lost in her own world, Minjeong barely noticed the eerie silence that had fallen over the streets, the usual cacophony of sound replaced by an oppressive stillness that sent shivers down her spine. It was then that she saw it—a strange, pulsating light emanating from a darkened alleyway, beckoning her closer with an otherworldly allure.

Curiosity piqued, Minjeong approached cautiously, her heart pounding in her chest as she stepped into the shadows. And there, amidst the darkness, she found it—a creature unlike anything she had ever seen before.

It was black as night, its form shifting and undulating like liquid darkness given shape. And as Minjeong gazed into its glowing crimson eyes, she felt a chill run down her spine—a primal fear that threatened to consume her from within.

But as the creature drew closer, something inside Minjeong stirred—a flicker of defiance that refused to be extinguished. "Who are you?" she demanded, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands.

The creature regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and amusement, its voice echoing in her mind like a whisper on the wind. "I am Venom," it replied, its tone dripping with malice and mischief. "And you, Kim Minjeong, are the one I have been searching for."

As the weight of its words settled over her, Minjeong felt a surge of power coursing through her veins—a power unlike anything she had ever known. And in that moment, she knew that her life would never be the same again.

----

As Minjeong stumbled through the door of her apartment, her heart pounding in her chest, she knew that nothing would ever be the same again. The encounter with Venom had left her shaken and disoriented, her mind reeling with a thousand questions and fears.

But as she tried to catch her breath and steady her trembling hands, Minjeong felt a strange sensation coursing through her veins—a sensation unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was as if something was stirring inside her, something dark and primal, waiting to be unleashed.

With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Minjeong realized that she was not alone. The symbiote that had bonded with her in the alleyway was still with her, its presence looming over her like a shadow in the darkness.

"Venom, what have you done to me?" Minjeong whispered, her voice barely above a whisper. But there was no reply, only the eerie silence of the empty apartment.

As Minjeong stumbled towards the bathroom, her reflection in the mirror seemed to blur and distort before her eyes. With a gasp of horror, she watched as tendrils of blackness snaked their way across her skin, wrapping her in a suffocating embrace.

"No, this can't be happening," Minjeong cried, her voice tinged with panic. But the symbiote's hold on her was relentless, its dark influence seeping into every corner of her mind.

With a desperate surge of strength, Minjeong fought against the symbiote's control, struggling to regain her sense of self. But the more she resisted, the stronger the symbiote's grip became, threatening to consume her from within.

In that moment of desperation, Minjeong realized that she was facing a battle unlike anything she had ever known—a battle for control of her own body and soul.

____________________

Alone in her apartment, Minjeong sat huddled on the floor, her back pressed against the cold concrete wall. Every breath felt like a struggle, the weight of Venom's presence pressing down on her like a suffocating blanket. She shivered, not from the chill in the air, but from the fear that gripped her heart like a vice.

Her hands trembled as she reached out to touch the symbiote, its inky black tendrils writhing and pulsating in response to her touch. "Please, Venom," she whispered, her voice barely a whisper in the darkness. "I can't... I can't do this alone."

But there was no response, no comforting words of reassurance or solace. Only silence, broken only by the sound of Minjeong's ragged breathing and the pounding of her own heart. She felt like she was drowning, suffocating beneath the weight of Venom's influence, the darkness threatening to consume her from within.

Desperation clawed at her chest as she struggled to maintain her grip on reality, to hold onto the fragments of herself that threatened to slip away like grains of sand through her fingers. But no matter how hard she fought, she could feel herself slipping further and further into the abyss, the darkness closing in around her like a living, breathing entity.

Maybe if I just close my eyes for a second, I’ll feel better…

----

As Minjeong drifted into a fitful slumber, her mind a whirlwind of confusion and doubt, she was suddenly jolted awake by the cacophony of the city—the blaring horns of passing cars, the distant hum of traffic, the rush of wind against her skin.

Blinking blearily, Minjeong found herself sprawled atop a towering skyscraper, the cold steel beneath her fingers sending a shiver down her spine. As she struggled to make sense of her surroundings, her eyes fell upon her reflection in the shimmering glass of the building's facade.

And there, staring back at her, was a sight that took her breath away—a sleek, black suit that clung to her form like a second skin, its surface pulsating with an otherworldly energy that seemed to hum with life.

"What... what is this?" Minjeong murmured aloud, her voice barely above a whisper as she reached out to touch the inky black material, her fingers trembling with a mixture of fear and awe.

But before she could ponder the question further, Venom's voice echoed in her mind, his presence a comforting presence in the darkness. "This is who you are now, Minjeong," the symbiote assured her, its tone laced with a mixture of pride and anticipation. "Embrace it."

Minjeong's brow furrowed in confusion, her skepticism warring with her curiosity as she struggled to come to terms with her newfound identity. But as she felt the power coursing through her veins, the exhilaration of possibility coursing through her like wildfire, she knew that she couldn't resist the call of destiny.

With a newfound sense of determination, Minjeong rose to her feet, her eyes alight with a fierce determination as she prepared to test the limits of her newfound powers; so she leaped from the rooftop into the darkness below.

With a surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins, Minjeong embraced the exhilarating rush of freedom that came with her newfound abilities. As she soared through the night sky, her senses heightened and her movements fluid and effortless, she felt a sense of liberation unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

With each leap and bound, she pushed herself to the limit, testing the boundaries of her newfound strength and agility. She scaled buildings with ease, her fingers finding purchase on even the most precarious ledges. She swung effortlessly from one rooftop to the next, the wind whipping through her hair as she danced through the darkness with grace and precision.

But it wasn't just her physical abilities that had been enhanced—it was her senses, too. She could hear the faintest whispers of conversation from blocks away, could see with crystal clarity even in the darkest corners of the city. And with each passing moment, she felt herself growing more attuned to the ebb and flow of the world around her, as if she were a part of something greater than herself.

As she landed gracefully on the edge of a towering skyscraper, Minjeong couldn't help but marvel at the vast expanse of the city spread out before her—a sprawling metropolis teeming with life and possibility.

It was all exciting, almost too exciting. Minjeong wanted—needed to see what else she was capable of, she needed to test her limits, use her powers to the fullest; and so, when she heard screaming from across the city, she knew exactly what to do.

With a smirk on her face, Minjeong made her way to her target.

____________________

So hungry…

What her new partner failed to mention was just how hungry she would be now, all thanks to him. Minjeong cursed Venom internally as she made her way to the kitchen.

As Minjeong rummaged through the cabinets in search of something to satisfy her newfound appetite, she couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance at Venom's silence. "You could at least give me a heads up about this hunger thing," she muttered under her breath, her frustration mounting with each passing moment.

But to her surprise, Venom's response was swift—and unexpected. "I'm sorry, Minjeong," the symbiote chimed in, his voice echoing in her mind with a hint of contrition. "I didn't realize you would be affected like this. I'm still getting used to this whole... human thing."

Minjeong couldn't help but chuckle at Venom's admission, a sense of camaraderie blossoming between them despite the strangeness of their bond. "Well, you better get used to it fast," she teased, her lips quirking into a playful smile. "Otherwise, I might have to find myself a new partner."

Venom's response was immediate—a playful growl that reverberated through Minjeong's mind like a distant thunderstorm. "Don't even think about it, Minjeong," the symbiote warned, his tone teasing and light-hearted. "You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not."

And as Minjeong chuckled softly to herself, the tension that had hung between them dissipating like mist in the morning sun, she knew that despite the challenges that lay ahead, she wouldn't have it any other way.

For in Venom, she had found not just a partner, but a friend—a companion to share in the trials and triumphs of her newfound life.

____________________

As Minjeong's bond with Venom deepened, so too did her descent into darkness. No longer content to tread the line between hero and villain, she embraced her newfound power with reckless abandon, heedless of the consequences of her actions.

One night, as she prowled the streets of Seoul in search of justice, she encountered a group of criminals preying on innocent civilians. Without hesitation, she unleashed the full force of Venom's power, striking fear into the hearts of the criminals and leaving them in a state of shock.

But as Minjeong stood victorious amidst the chaos, a sense of unease settled over her—a nagging doubt that gnawed at her conscience like a relentless beast. Was this truly the path she wanted to walk? To be feared rather than admired, to embrace the darkness rather than the light?

With a heavy heart, Minjeong turned and made her way back to her apartment, the weight of her actions bearing down on her like a crushing burden. But even as she struggled to reconcile the darkness within her, she clung to the hope that with Venom by her side, she could find a way to harness its power for good.

____________________

One day, Minjeong's solitary existence was interrupted by an unexpected visitor—y/n, her ex-girlfriend, accompanied by their beloved dog, Lennon. As y/n entered the apartment, a sense of unease settled over her, a gut feeling that something was amiss.

"Minjeong," y/n greeted her, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "I... I brought Lennon. I thought you might want to see him."

Minjeong's gaze flickered to the dog, a pang of longing tugging at her heartstrings. Despite everything, the sight of their furry companion brought a flicker of warmth to her cold, hardened heart.

But before Minjeong could respond, Jimin, who had accompanied y/n, spoke up, her voice filled with concern. "There's something different about you, Minjeong," she observed, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Something’s... off."

Minjeong's blood ran cold at Jimin's words, a sense of dread settling over her like a suffocating blanket. She knew she had to tread carefully—after all, she couldn't afford to let anyone discover the truth about her symbiotic bond with Venom.

With a forced smile, Minjeong brushed off Jimin's concerns, masking her inner turmoil with false bravado. "You worry too much, Jimin," she replied, her voice tinged with false cheer. "I'm fine, really."

But even as she spoke the words, Minjeong couldn't shake the feeling that her carefully constructed facade was beginning to crumble, revealing the darkness that lurked beneath.

____________________

(“There’s something seriously wrong with that girl, y/n…”

“Trust me, Jimin, I’m well aware”)

____________________

As y/n and Jimin departed, leaving Minjeong alone with Venom and their faithful canine companion, Lennon, a heavy silence settled over the apartment. Minjeong could feel Venom's inquisitive gaze boring into her, the symbiote's curiosity piqued by the unexpected visitors.

"So, who were those girls?" Venom's voice echoed in Minjeong's mind, its tone laced with curiosity and intrigue.

Minjeong sighed, a pang of regret tugging at her heart as she thought of y/n and the life they had once shared together. "y/n is my ex-girlfriend," she admitted, her voice tinged with sorrow. "And Jimin is her best friend." At least I’m hoping they’re just friends…

Venom's response was unexpected—a low, rumbling chuckle that reverberated through Minjeong's mind like distant thunder. "Ah, I see," the symbiote mused, its tone lighthearted despite the dark mood that hung over the apartment. "A tale as old as time, perhaps? Love lost, regrets abound…"

Minjeong couldn't help but smile at Venom's attempt at humor, a flicker of warmth spreading through her despite the darkness that threatened to consume her. "Something like that," she conceded, her voice tinged with wistful nostalgia. "I… I regret breaking up with her, you know? She was… she is special."

Venom's response was surprisingly tender—a gentle caress of darkness that enveloped Minjeong in a comforting embrace. "You are special too, Minjeong," the symbiote assured her, its voice filled with warmth and compassion. "And you are not alone. We will find a way through this, together."

----

As the night wore on and the apartment grew quiet, Minjeong found herself drawn to a familiar sight—a framed photograph of her and y/n, captured in a moment of happiness and love. With a heavy heart, she reached out to trace the contours of their smiling faces, her mind flooded with memories of the time they had spent together.

Beside her, Venom stirred, his curiosity piqued by the sight of the photograph. "Tell me more about her, Minjeong," the symbiote urged, his voice a low whisper in the darkness. "About y/n. What was she like?"

Minjeong sighed, her gaze lingering on the photograph as she struggled to find the words to describe the girl who still held her heart. "y/n... she was kind, and caring," she began, her voice tinged with nostalgia. "She had this way of making me feel... alive, you know? Like I could be myself around her."

Venom listened intently, his presence a comforting presence in the darkness as Minjeong poured out her heart. And then, unexpectedly, he spoke again—a suggestion that caught Minjeong off guard.

"You should try to win her back, Minjeong," Venom urged, his tone surprisingly earnest. "Life is too short for regrets. You deserve to be happy."

Minjeong considered Venom's words, a flicker of hope stirring within her chest. Could it be possible? Could she find a way to mend the broken pieces of her heart and reclaim the love she had lost?

Before she could ponder the question further, a soft whimper broke the silence, drawing Minjeong's attention to the door where Lennon stood, his eyes filled with longing. With a heavy heart, Minjeong opened the door, allowing the dog to enter the room and curl up at her feet.

But as she watched Lennon settle in for the night, a sudden chill ran down Minjeong's spine—a sense of unease settling over her like a suffocating shroud. For as much as she had grown to care for the loyal creature, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.

And then, to her horror, Venom spoke again.

"Can I eat the dog, Minjeong?"

Minjeong's eyes widened in disbelief, her heart pounding in her chest as she struggled to comprehend what she had just heard. "What?" she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. "No, Venom. Absolutely not."

____________________

As the city slept, Minjeong found herself drawn once again to the call of the night—the irresistible urge to don the mantle of the vigilante, to seek out justice in the shadows where darkness lurked. With Venom by her side, she prowled the streets of Seoul, her senses heightened and her instincts sharpened by the symbiote's presence.

But as the night wore on and the hour grew late, Minjeong's solitary vigil was interrupted by an unexpected encounter—a figure clad in red and blue, swinging through the darkness with an agility and grace that seemed almost otherworldly.

Spiderwoman.

For a moment, Minjeong hesitated, her heart pounding in her chest as she faced off against the legendary hero. But as Spiderwoman drew nearer, her eyes narrowed with suspicion, Minjeong knew that she had no choice but to stand her ground.

"Who... or what are you?" Spiderwoman demanded, her voice echoing in the stillness of the night.

Minjeong's gaze hardened, her companion remained silent, his presence a reassuring presence in the darkness. "My name is Venom," she replied, her voice steady despite the tremor of uncertainty that raced through her veins. "And I'm here to protect this city."

Spiderwoman's expression darkened at Minjeong's words, her senses tingling with a sense of foreboding. "Venom," she repeated, her voice laced with skepticism. "I've heard stories about you. You're not exactly... friendly."

Minjeong bristled at Spiderwoman's accusation, her pride wounded by the hero's insinuation. "I'm not the enemy here," she insisted, her voice tinged with defiance. "I'm just trying to make a difference, in my own way."

But even as she spoke the words, Minjeong couldn't shake the feeling that Spiderwoman was right—that perhaps, in her quest for justice, she had become the very thing she had sworn to fight against.

And as the two adversaries stood locked in a tense standoff, the darkness of the night closing in around them, Minjeong knew that their paths were destined to cross again—and that when they did, the stakes would be higher than ever before.

___________________

As the time came for Minjeong to return the faithful canine companion, Lennon, to y/n, she couldn't help but feel a nervous flutter in her stomach. Dressed in the tightest dress she could find, she made her way to y/n's apartment, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts and emotions.

Knocking on the door, Minjeong waited anxiously, her heart pounding in her chest as she prepared to face the girl she had once loved with all her heart; when the door finally swung open, revealing y/n's familiar face, Minjeong's breath caught in her throat.

"Hey," y/n greeted her, her voice tinged with uncertainty as she glanced down at the dog at Minjeong's side. "You brought Lennon back?"

Minjeong nodded, her gaze meeting y/n's as she summoned the courage to speak. "Yeah, I thought it was about time," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper as she fought to keep her emotions in check.

But as she looked into y/n's eyes, Minjeong couldn't help but feel a surge of longing wash over her—a longing to reach out and take y/n in her arms, to hold her close and never let her go.

And so, emboldened by the warmth of y/n's presence, Minjeong took a step forward, her heart racing as she prepared to lay her feelings bare. "y/n, I... I've missed you," she confessed, her voice trembling with emotion. "I know things haven't been easy between us, but... but I still care about you, more than anything."

y/n's expression softened at Minjeong's words, a flicker of warmth sparking in her eyes as she met Minjeong's gaze. "I've missed you too," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "But... but things are different now, Minjeong. We can't just pick up where we left off."

Minjeong felt a pang of sadness at y/n's words, a sense of loss threatening to overwhelm her as she struggled to come to terms with the reality of their situation. But even as her heart ached with longing, she knew that she couldn't give up—not without a fight.

And so, with a determined glint in her eye, Minjeong leaned in closer, her heart pounding in her chest as she prepared to make one last desperate attempt to win y/n back.

But just as she was about to speak, the door swung open behind y/n, revealing Jimin standing in the doorway, her eyes wide with surprise as she took in the scene before her.

Ugh, Jimin…

"Uh, am I interrupting something?" Jimin asked, her voice tinged with confusion as she glanced between Minjeong and y/n.

Minjeong felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment at being caught in such a vulnerable moment, her heart pounding in her chest as she struggled to find the words to explain herself.

But before she could speak, y/n stepped forward, a gentle smile playing on her lips as she addressed Jimin. "No, not at all," she assured the newcomer, her voice warm. "Minjeong was just returning Lennon."

And as Minjeong watched y/n and Jimin exchange a knowing glance, a sense of unease blossomed in her heart. There really was no way that there was more to Jimin and y/n’s relationship. Right?

____________________

(“Oooh you were cock-blocked by none other than your love rival”

“Shut up, Venom”)

____________________

The inevitable happened, sooner than it was expected.

High above the bustling streets of Seoul, two figures stood locked in a fierce battle—one cloaked in shadows, the other adorned in red and blue.

Spiderwoman, her eyes narrowed with determination, leapt into action, her web-shooters firing with precision as she swung through the darkness with the grace and agility of a seasoned warrior. And standing before her, a dark silhouette against the backdrop of the night sky, was Venom—a fearsome presence, her every movement fueled by a hunger for power and dominance.

With a roar of fury, Venom lunged forward, her claws extended and her teeth bared in a primal snarl as she sought to overwhelm her adversary with sheer brute force. But Spiderwoman was no stranger to combat, her reflexes honed through years of training and experience, and she met Venom's onslaught with a ferocity of her own.

Blows were exchanged with lightning speed, the sound of fists meeting flesh echoing through the night as the two combatants danced a deadly dance of death and destruction. Venom's symbiote writhed and twisted, its tendrils lashing out with deadly precision, while Spiderwoman's webbing ensnared her opponent with unyielding strength and tenacity.

For what felt like an eternity, the battle raged on—a symphony of violence and chaos that threatened to tear the very fabric of reality asunder. And as the dust settled and the echoes of their clash faded into the night, both Venom and Spiderwoman found themselves battered and bruised, their bodies battered but their spirits unbroken.

With a weary sigh, Venom retreated into the darkness, her wounds a painful reminder of the price of victory. And as Spiderwoman watched her vanishing form with a mixture of exhaustion and relief, she knew that their conflict was far from over—that their destinies were intertwined in ways that neither of them could fully comprehend.

----

Minjeong’s head was spinning. The unexpected encounter she had with Spiderwoman left her seeing stars, her mind felt like a whirlwind, the only thing she could fully focus on happened to be her ex girlfriend.

“y/n…” Minjeong growled, “I need y/n”.

Minjeong's pulse raced as she navigated the labyrinthine streets of Seoul, her thoughts consumed by the singular desire burning within her—to be reunited with y/n, the one person who had ever truly mattered to her.

With each step, the distance between them grew smaller, until at last, Minjeong found herself standing outside y/n's apartment building, her heart pounding in her chest as she hesitated at the threshold.

Summoning every ounce of courage she possessed, Minjeong pushed open the door and stepped into the dimly lit hallway, the scent of y/n's perfume lingering in the air like a tantalizing promise.

"y/n..." Minjeong whispered, her voice barely above a murmur as she made her way up the stairs, her footsteps echoing in the silence of the night. "I need y/n."

And as she reached the familiar door at the end of the hall, Minjeong's resolve solidified, her determination unshakable as she raised her hand to knock.

But before she could make contact, the door swung open, revealing y/n standing before her—a vision of beauty and grace, her eyes alight with an intensity that matched Minjeong's own.

"Minjeong..." y/n breathed, her voice barely above a whisper as she took in the sight of her former lover standing before her. "What are you doing here?"

Minjeong's heart soared at the sound of y/n's voice, her resolve strengthened by the warmth of y/n's presence. "I needed to see you," she confessed, her voice trembling with emotion. "I couldn't stay away any longer."

And as she reached out to touch y/n's face, her fingers trembling with longing, she felt a surge of electricity pass between them—a connection that transcended time and space, binding them together in a love that was as powerful as it was undeniable.

Lucky for Minjeong, y/n's eyes sparkled with the same desire, her lips curling into a knowing smile as she closed the distance between them, her arms wrapping around Minjeong in a tender embrace.

"I've missed you," y/n whispered, her voice filled with longing as she pressed her lips to Minjeong's, sealing their reunion with a kiss that spoke of promises yet to be fulfilled.

Their lips met in a fervent embrace, their kiss a symphony of longing and desire—a testament to the unspoken yearning that had lingered between them for far too long. Their bodies pressed together in a fervent embrace, the heat of their passion igniting like wildfire, Minjeong felt herself consumed by a hunger unlike anything she had ever known.

With a primal growl, Minjeong's hands roamed over y/n's body, her touch possessive and demanding as she sought to claim her lover as her own; y/n responded in kind, her own hands tracing patterns of fire across Minjeong's skin, their connection deepened—a bond forged in the crucible of desire and longing.

Their movements were rough, urgent, fueled by a need that transcended mere physicality. And as they surrendered to the intoxicating rhythm of their desire, their bodies entwined in a passionate embrace, they lost themselves in the ecstasy of the moment—a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity, yet was over all too soon.

As they lay tangled together in the aftermath, their breaths ragged and their hearts pounding in unison, Minjeong felt a sense of peace wash over her—a sense of completeness that she had never known before. And as she looked into y/n's eyes, she knew that she had finally found her place in the world—a place by y/n's side, where she belonged.

-----

As the soft glow of dawn filtered through the curtains, Minjeong and y/n lay tangled together in the aftermath of their passionate reunion, their bodies entwined in a tender embrace as they basked in the afterglow.

But as the tranquility of the moment enveloped them, y/n's phone suddenly rang, shattering the silence with its shrill tone. With a reluctant sigh, y/n reached for her phone, her heart sinking as she saw the caller ID—Jimin.

"Hey, Jimin," y/n answered, her voice tinged with concern as she listened to the urgency in her friend's voice. "What's wrong?"

And as Jimin explained that she had been injured and needed help, y/n's heart went out to her friend, her mind racing with worry and fear. "Of course, Jimin," she replied, her voice steady despite the turmoil within. "Come over to my place, I'll take care of you."

But as she hung up the phone and turned to Minjeong, she couldn't shake the feeling of unease that gnawed at her heart, a feeling that only grew stronger as the minutes ticked by, each one stretching on for an eternity as they awaited Jimin's arrival.

And then, with a soft knock on the door, Jimin appeared, a vision of vulnerability and strength as she stood before them, her eyes clouded with pain yet filled with determination.

"Hey, y/n," Jimin greeted her, her voice barely above a whisper as she glanced between y/n and Minjeong. "I hope I'm not intruding."

But as she stepped further into the room, her gaze fell upon Minjeong—and in that instant, the world seemed to stand still as their eyes locked in a silent exchange of recognition and understanding.

For in that moment, Jimin realized the truth—that Minjeong was Venom, the dark presence that had haunted the streets of Seoul in recent weeks. And as the weight of that realization settled upon her, she felt a surge of fear and uncertainty wash over her—a fear of the unknown, and of the darkness that lurked within Minjeong's soul.

But even as Jimin struggled to come to terms with the truth, Minjeong's own revelation dawned upon her—a realization that sent a shiver of fear down her spine, and left her trembling with uncertainty.

For in that moment, Minjeong knew the truth—that Jimin was Spiderwoman, the heroic figure who had dedicated her life to protecting the innocent and upholding justice. And as the implications of that revelation sank in, she felt a sense of dread and foreboding settle upon her—a fear of what the future might hold, and of the inevitable clash that lay ahead.

As y/n's concerned gaze flickered between Minjeong and Jimin, she couldn't help but sense the palpable tension that hung heavy in the air—a tension born of secrets and revelations, of hidden truths and unspoken desires.

"What's wrong?" y/n asked, her voice filled with genuine concern as she searched their faces for answers.

But both Minjeong and Jimin quickly schooled their expressions into masks of indifference, their eyes betraying the storm of emotions that raged within.

"Nothing," Minjeong replied smoothly, her voice laced with an undercurrent of defiance as she reached out to caress y/n's cheek, her touch gentle yet possessive. "Just a little misunderstanding, that's all."

And as she pressed a tender kiss to y/n's forehead, she couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction wash over her at the sight of Jimin's simmering rage—a satisfaction born of knowing that she had succeeded in getting under her rival's skin.

"Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on," Minjeong remarked, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she glanced at Jimin, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips. "Now that y/n and I are back together."

Jimin's gaze darkened at the taunt, her jaw clenched with barely suppressed anger as she met Minjeong's mocking stare with a steely glare of her own. But despite the fury that burned within her, she remained silent—a silent promise to herself, and to the world, that she would stop at nothing to bring an end to Minjeong's reign of terror.

And as the tension in the room thickened, the air crackling with the promise of conflict yet to come, Minjeong and Jimin locked eyes in a silent battle of wills—a battle that would shape the destiny of Seoul, and of all who called it home.

____________________

A/N: And it's finally here! I rewrote this like a million times, but oh well. I hope it was worth the wait, I hope you guys enjoy it. I start a new class this week and it seems it will take much more of my free time than the past one. Feel free to request something but keep in mind that I will take my time with it.

Spider!Jimin will be back on her own, there's also a wife!Jimin reuqest that I got that I want to get to.

[onlyjaeyun]

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 – 𝟐𝟏

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄: 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲

↬ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

↬ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬!𝐀𝐔, 𝐂𝐄𝐎!𝐉𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

↬ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟒𝐤

↬ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐥'𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐄𝐎.

"Are you sure we're at the right address, Sir?"

His chauffeur's question barely makes its way to his consciousness, as Jongseong allows his gaze to nervously and curiously roam the parts of Seoul he's never been to before.

As a business man he's definitely seen most of his favorite and most important capital, yet it genuinely feels like stepping foot into a whole new city.

All of a sudden and for the first time in his life, Jongseong simply can't recognize the place he was born and raised in, the capital he's always loved and appreciated. All of a sudden and for the first time in his life he genuinely feels out of place.

"Yes, it's the apartment complex right here", is the only thing he manages to say before the car comes to a halt and he finds himself in the midsts of Seoul's other kind of night life.

Despite the time being quite late, there are children and teenagers out on the street, laughing and playing together, a group of old man comfortably seated in front of a random little restaurant as the old women are slowly starting to close their shops.

Jongseong doesn't know what he expected when he had spontaneously decided to join his driver to pick you up, especially since you had already told him about where your apartment is located, yet it absolutely didn't prepare him for the reality of it.

It's not like he's never been to the less wealthy parts of Seoul, but for some reason he can't help but doubt the safety of it.

The thought of his pretty girl having to take the bus at late times with all these possible dangers lingering around has his head spinning with worry.

There's absolutely no way he'll let you go home by yourself ever again after this.

With a harsh gulp, Jongseong gets out of the car, the boys' and young men's attention quickly shifting to him as he shoots his body guard a firm gaze to stop him from following the way he'd usually do it. Because for some reason, Jay feels like he doesn't need him in his back in this particular situation.

"Oh, damn", one of the boys yells as soon as his eyes meet Jongseong's, his face quickly giving away just how young he is, however his height as well as the proportions of his body making him seem like they're the same age, "seems like Y/N's finally getting over that stupid asshole!"

His words leave the young CEO speechless.

Why does he know you? And why the fuck is he all up in your business to the point where he actually knows things about your personal life in such great detail?

Jongseong can't help but wonder if you've managed to create bonds to these young men, and as he thinks about the possibility of it, he knows it's nothing too unrealistic, as you usually tend to treat every single human being the exact same way, no matter who they are or where they come from.

"I like him the most so far", another boy yells, a little older than the other ones yet still young enough to be in school, "he actually looks like he'll treat her well."

For a short moment, Jay tries his best to understand whether or not this is actually happening because despite how overwhelmed he is, he feels way more comfortable than he would have ever expected to.

"Y/N and I are just – friends", Jay suddenly says, a soft smile on his lips and the way all boys are quick to reciprocate the sweet gesture melts his heart on the spot, "I'm here to pick her up."

"Nah, you guys aren't friends", the first boy chuckles, "you like her more than that, am I right?"

This time he simply can't hold back a little chuckle in response to the boy's playful words and yet all he does is shrug his comment off.

"What's your name? Might as well let us know since you'll obviously come around a lot more from now on."

For a moment, Jongseong hesitates. Not because he doesn't trust the boys but rather because for the first time in his life, he doesn't want people to know what reputation his name comes with.

"Jay", is what he decides on, "I'll make sure to get to know you all as well next time, but for now I gotta pick her up. The host of tonight's dinner we're invited to is incredibly stingy when it comes to being on time."

The boys nod, some of them shoot Jongseong another row of smiles whereas the older ones seem suspicious and mischievous. And as Jay comes to stand in front of the apartment building's front door, he carefully looks for your name on one of the tags before ringing your bell and silently praying that you won't speak to him through the speaker bur rather just buzz him in instead.

To his luck you're way too stressed and in a rush to actually care about who you're letting into the apartment complex. After almost two three of living here, you've grown used to the random ringings on your doorbell because one of the kids has forgotten their keys again or a random neighbor asking you for leftovers, especially towards the end of the month when the money situation gets a little critical for everyone.

Ever since you've started working for The Park Company, you've been earning way more than most people in your complex and since you have nobody but yourself to take care of, you love giving the rest to the people in your community.

To some people it might be too much but these exact people were the ones who took great care of you throughout the few times you spent jobless and on the actual edge of poverty, barely making ends meet.

It's a great privilege and honor to finally give back to them and there's nobody in this neighborhood you're not genuinely grateful for.

It takes Jay a little longer than five minutes to find his way to your door, the middle aged lady at the end of the hallway quickly letting out an amused laugh upon seeing the tall CEO desperately looking for the right way to go before finally helping him.

And as soon as he lifts his hand to knock on your door, he feels his heartbeat picking up its pace in no time, thrumming in his throat as the blood rushes in his ears and easily blends out every single other noise.

You can't help but be a little surprised as soon as you realise that there's actually someone on the other side of your door since you weren't really expecting anyone and are pretty sure Mr. Park's driver didn't feel the need to come all the way up to your apartment.

With only one boot on your feet and your lips half way lined, you swing the door open and find yourself standing in front of none other than your boss.

The sight of Park Jongseong in your complex hallway feels surreal, like it's nothing but a mentally created image and the longer you stare at him, the more intimated you feel. This block, this part of the city, your life – none of these things are made for people who were fed with silver spoons the second they came to this world and even if you don't feel ashamed or embarrassed, you definitely feel a little shy and yet defensive about it.

If it wasn't for the initial shock, you would have easily missed the way his eyes widen just the tiniest bit and for a moment you're not sure if he actually just gasped for air, but with him you usually tend to read too much into his behavior, so without giving it another thought you take a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry for making you wait, Sir", you say and start fumbling with the little belt of your rather small black dress, too nervous to make eye contact as you feel his dark eyes roaming your body almsot shamelessly.

"I didn't know you would be the one to pick me up."

"Don't worry about it", Jongseong says and clears his throat, every single drop of blood finding its way into his cock, "I wanted to make it a surprise."

His words leave you flabbergasted.

And from the sudden nervousness grazing his features you're pretty sure you haven't done a good job at hiding your reaction.

Jongseong doesn't want to make you uncomfortable, yet he simply has no idea what to say.

You look like you came straight out of his biggest fantasies, your whole demeanor is what he's been dreaming about for the past few weeks and besides that one night at Heeseung's new club he's never been in your presence outside of work.

For some reason he kind of expected this to be a little easier, but at the end of the day all of his worries and doubts have become reality.

"Call me Jay, please", he suddenly blurts and looks at you with his pretty eyes roaming your face, "I think we're past the point of you constantly addressing me as 'Sir' and by my last name."

"But...you're my boss", you whisper and start playing with your favorite necklace, but still too shy to look him kn the eyes, "I don't want to be unprofessional or inappropriate."

"Y/N, I–", but Jongseong doesn't get the opportunity to finish his sentence as his phone starts ringing and the custom ringtone lets him know exactly who it is.

"It's Hoonie", he sighs and pulls the device out of his pocket, not yet picking up the call, "I'll be here waiting for you to get ready. No need to rush yourself."

All you do is nod before turning around and quickly looking for your second shoe as well as finishing the last touch ups on your make up.

For a single second you actually consider inviting him inside but you're not ready for your boss to see your tiny little apartment. This time it is a little bit of shema which kind of hoods you back because compared to his big penthouse, your place is as big as his home office.

Once you've finally finished getting yourself ready and actually presentable, you try your best not to stare at your boss who's currently talking to his best friend, leaning against the wall and looking absolutely out of place and yet like he actually fits into the whole picture perfectly.

With a soft sigh you throw away all of those little thoughts and glimpses of hope before locking your door and waiting for Jongseong to join you.

You're too nervous, too anxious and excited to actually hear what he's saying to Hoonie on the phone and as soon as he pulls it away from his ear, you find yourself gasping for air at the mesmerizing sight of Park Jongseong.

He's not wearing his usual three piece but the casual version of his daily outfit. Few of the buttons on the top of his white dress shirt unbuttoned, revealing just the right amount of chest as the blazer hugs his strong biceps in just the right places. You don't let your eyes find their way to his legs because you know the sight of his thick thighs in those black slacks are going to drive you insane. Riding and using them for your own pleasure being one of your personal favorite fantasies.

Neither one of you says a single word as you make your way to the car, the cold November air hitting you a lot harder than expected and now you're absolutely regretting your choice of jacket.

You quickly check up on your boys, who have obviously been waiting for you two to come downstairs, before they all shoot Jay a knowing look and an appreciative nod of acknowledgment, which you would have missed if you hadn't been attentively watching your boss's reaction to the kids of your block.

With a soft smile, Jay opens the door to his car, making sure you're comfortably seated before making his way to the other side.

You're quick to start a conversation with his bodyguard, since the two of you have been spending just as much time with each as you have with Jay himself and for some reason he can't help but feel a sense of relief hit him.

You're here with him. You're in his car and he finally gets to take the tiniest bit of care of you, something he's been daydreaming about for so long.

You can feel his eyes burning through your skin and you can't even deny how much you're enjoying it. Knowing he actually seems to like what he sees has the butterflies in your tummy go absolutely crazy, despite your many attempts to kill them off completely. There's just something about Park Jongseong which seems to turn the easiest things into the biggest challenges.

"Y/N, I've thought a little about the rules I've set up for you in my office and have decided to abandon most of them", Jongseong suddenly says and when you turn your head to meet his strong gaze, you're surprised to see that he genuinely seems nervous.

"Oh?" You look at him with raised eyebrows, your hands neatly folded in your lap and all of a sudden you feel a lot less anxious than just a few seconds ago.

There's just something about him, which never fails to esse your mind, yet you still struggle to put a name on it.

"I've talked to Yeonie and the boys about this quite a lot and have realised that most of these rules were rather ridiculous. You can wear whatever you want and personalise your desk however you see fit. Please also don't hesitate to call or text me whenever you need something, anything, really. I want you to see how much I appreciate your hard work and you've never done anything to make me doubt your abilities, which is why those rules are kind of nonsense."

You can't help but be a little iverwhelmed because not only has he never been this casual and smiley around you before but the fact he actually gave these things another thought to the point where he felt the need to talk to his friends about makes you feel incredibly seen and appreciated.

"That is really, really thoughtful of you, Sir, thank you so much", you say calmly and are surprised just how well you're hiding the excitement currently rushing through your body.

"I'm also going to organise a company car for you because I don't feel comfortable having you take the bus every single day after working so hard", this one Jongseong was the most nervous about. His urge to lay the world to your feet has been absolutely overwhelming and after quite a little bit of arguing back and forth with Sunghoon, the lawyer had managed to put the company car idea into the CEO's head instead of his initial idea of letting you live rent free in one of Seoul's most expensive apartments.

"That is not–", but Jongseong is determined and as soon as he cuts your words, you know there's no room for discussion left.

"It is necessary. Please, Y/N, let me do this for you. You work so hard snd you try your very best, at all times. Allow me to take care of you, it's the least I can do to show you my appreciation."

Fucking Park Jongseong.

Why the fuck did he have to pull the 'taking-care-of-you' card when literally every other explanation would have been the better choice? Because now that little voice you've been suppressing for the past few days, telling you that your boss isn't as neutral about you as he claims to be, has basically gotten a freeway ticket to freedom and you know it's going to be the only one up there for the next who knows how long.

"Thank you, Sir, I really appreciate this", you whisper and look away, whereas Jay refuses to look anywhere but you. He's been forcing himself to avoid you in any way possible for the past three months, he would never let an opportunity like this go to waste.

"Please, Y/N, let's try and be a little less formal with each other, yeah? I know I've been super keen on keeping everything strictly business but realising how much time we actually spend with each other has changed my mind", he says calmly, this time obviously a little hesitant. Jongseong doesn't want to let his intentions be known right away but rather ease you into it.

He rejected just a few weeks ago, no matter how badly he wants to dive head first into this and just tell you how crazy you've been driving him, he knows he has to slow it down for the sake of your mental and emotional well-being.

"I'll try my best to use your first name but I am afraid I won't get rid of the 'Sir' as easily", you chuckle nervously and carefully watch his reaction, only to regret your decision because the way he oh so obviously lets his eyes fall to your lips and back up has your blood boiling with arousal.

"That's okay", Jay replies calmly, "I like to hear that one from you anyway."

As if destiny heard the sirens in your head going off in response to his flirty little comment, the car comes to a stop and before you can actually think of a verbal answer, Jay's bodyguard has already opened your door.

The following hour is filled withw ay too many hugs and handshakes as Hoonie makes sure to introduce you to everyone you're not familiar with and by the time you finally get the opportunity to sit down, your friends are already all over you.

You don't tell them about your conversation with your boss, too shy and embarassed but also a little scared someone might hear and for some reason their lack of knowledge eases your nerves and soothes your anxiety in the best way possible.

It's a rather small gathering with about twenty people, most of whom you know, which makes the evening so much more bearable than you had initially expected.

The fact that your boss can barely keep his eyes off of you doesn't help much with your nervousness but you can't even deny how much you're liking it.

Every time one of his or your own boys comes a little too close to you, Jay physically tenses up to the point where you can actually watch the way his knuckles start turning white from his tight grip on the table when Jungwon pulls you into a silly little bear hug.

For a while, you completely forget about your actual relation to Park Jongseong. In this moment, you're just two adults with way too much chemistry and sexual tension and it feels like neither one of you is trying to suppress or run away from it.

You can't help but feel a little bit silly for gaining hope yet again but for some reason tonight feels different. Jay's never been this relaxed and casual around you, seeing him interact with his friends in such an environment is something you've honestly daydreamed about and to see it become reality seems surreal.

To your surprise, you find yourself seated next to none other than the man who's been messing with your head for the past three months and as the official dining part of Sunghoon's birthday dinner is about to start, Jongseong casually pulls your chair out for you to sit.

Nothing but a whispered thank you falls past your lips as you try your very best to stay calm but as soon as your gaze meets your group of friends, you know exactly how well that attempt went.

You don't let the girls' wide eyes and smiles as well as the boys shocked facial expressions get to you, the only person you allow yourself to indulge in is your boss, who's been more than just adamant about having a proper conversation with you.

It doesn't take long for his boys to chime in this time and even if he can hide his annoyance very well, he knows their actual intentions. With a soft sigh, Jay decides to pull himself out of your argument about which kind of stew is the best and why, his eyes never once averting from you as they take in your breathtaking beauty.

Maybe it's because he hasn't allowed himself to actually look at you in person or maybe it's because he wanted to maintain the mental and emotional distance to you, but regardless of the reasoning, Jongseong realises that up until tonight he's never fully comprehend just how beautiful you are.

Everything about your facial expressions, from the way you raise your eyebrows or scrunch your nose, as well as your brsathtaking smile and your incredibly adorable laughter simply blows him away.

He dowsn't even realise that Jake as well as Heeseung have gone back to their seats until you tilt your head to the side and meet his curious gaze.

"Hoonie's gonna hold a speech, Jay", you say softly and never once in his life has he loved the sound of someone saying his first name as much as this.

"Oh, right, sorry", he replies quickly and clears his throat, his cheeks filling with blood as embarassmenr overwhelms him, so to avoid an even worse moment, he simply turns around to face his best friend, who's just a single shot away from being absolutely drunk, yet makes sure to hold his yearly birthday dinner speech.

And as the waiters serve the appetizers and side dishes, you finally have a moment of absolute peace, only for the constant vibration of your phone to disturb you.

For some "unknown" reason you're so not in the mood to talk to Jiwoong. It's not line you're going to cancel the date over a simple conversation you probably misinterpreted yet again but talking to him on a night where your boss gives you his actual attention just doesn't feel right.

And on top of that you really don't feel like being on your phone all the time.

With a soft sigh you put your phone right between your own plate and Jay's, knowing he might notice the unnecessary high amount of messages you're receiving and all you can do is hope that he won't actually comment on it.

"Someone seems to really need your attention right now", Jongseong suddenly says and he has no idea why he actually decided to say anything because as soon as he got a single glimpse of the contact name a few minutes ago, his blood has been boiling with rage and jealousy.

It's not like he has the right to feel the way he does but the mere thought of you with that loser of a man makes him want to take you back to his place and claim you in the most intimate way possible.

You're his and he'll make sure to let every single fucker on this planet know about it as soon as possible.

However, until he's made sure he's won you over again, Jay has no choice but to accept your decisions.

And for now, Jong doesn't mind. He's known to be a patient man. He knows exactly when and how he has to handle these things, if he didn't he would have never made it this far.

He'll just make sure to have you forget about every single one of your little boy toys once you let him back into your heart.

"Well, I've got great company here and it'd be a shame if I wasted a night like this by staring at my phone the whole time, right?"

Your response it witty and slightly sassy, your smile actually cheeky and even if Jay knows it's the few glasses of champagne talking, he can't hold back the little chuckle regardlessly.

"Exactly", he says calmly and holds his whiskey glass up, waiting for you to react to his offer and as soon as you xlink your own against his, that heaviness on his chest seems to get just light enough for him to take a deep breath.

And as he watches you burst into loud laughter because of Sunghoon's random childhood story, he knows he has to have you. There's no way he's going to back away ever again until you're his and his only.

← 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 — 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 — 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 →

(A/N: I know this one's a little boring BUT it's super important because from now on Jay's finally about to act on those feelings and not just write them down and be all grumpy about the whole situation. I just wanted to thank you all for the love and support, you guys never fail to make me feel so loved and appreciated and it's everything to me. Sending everyone the fattest kiss! Feedback and reblogs are always appreciated!!!!🤍🧸)

TAGLIST CLOSED: @soonigiri @xrr-s4sha @kwiwin @heelcvr @deobitifull @kpoprhia @doodlelibrary @abrazosolorcereza @certifiedmoa @sleeping-demons @heerinnie @ohmy-moonlightx @heeswif3y @hoonieluv @fakeuwus @jjaeyuns @cheybabey @ineedsomezzz @super-amberlynn @kshoshi @tinie03 @soiimo @mimikittysblog @primroselover @heebrry @jebetwo @donghyckl @07myonlylove @enhamysunshines @quemirasboboandapaya @lostwonderwall @seuomo @enhaz1 @teawithbucky @beomgyusonlywife @dammit-jjk @lhsvibez @azurez @boutyouwonu @finchyyy @ocyeanicc @jaylaxies @glitterssim @in-somnias-world @zerasari @spookyauthorspopmusictrash @capri-cuntz @fluerz @3amstarlight

[thejakeslayla]

╰─▸ ❝ three am ❞ - ,, jake sim

pairing bf!jake x gn! reader ୨୧ genre fluff ୨୧ warnings kissing, making out ୨୧ wc 1,4k ୨୧ just a little bit of beta, writer is sleep deprived req; prompt 19; (both waking up in the middle of the night and going on an adventure to find the perfect snack) prompt 9 (taking a photo of them smiling or in their element); prompt 14 (brushing strands of hair away)

as the clock struck 3 a.m., you made the decision to change into more comfortable clothes and head to bed, or at least attempt to do so. it was weekend, nothing to for the following day, yet you couldn't shake the guilt of staying up late. it’s like ruining your sleep schedule on purpose. you had already swapped your jeans for sweatpants, considering that you still needed to eat, and you didn't want to accidentally stain your pjamas.

you had been texting jake an hour ago, but he had stopped responding, leading you to assume he had gone to sleep. as you left your bedroom, a knock on your front door startled you. your eyes widened in fear; it was so late, and you wondered who could be knocking on your door at this hour.

your instinctive reaction was to message jake. you were already holding your phone, so you unlocked it and opened the chat with him. 

your messages filled with panic; "oh my god," "someone is knocking at my door," "what do i do," "jake, oh my god, i'm about to lose it. help."

to your surprise, you received a response, making you think that perhaps jake hadn't gone to bed yet. "just open the door," you gasped at his message.

‘ARE YOU INSANE THIS PERSON WILL PROBABLY KIDNAP ME OR KILL ME I WONT,’ you replied anxiously.

‘y/n.’ ‘open. the. door.’

you didn't understand, but a glimmer of hope made you consider that maybe, just maybe, it was jake. you cautiously approached the door, still fearing the person on the other side, and slowly opened it slightly, allowing you to peek at the intruder. 

the weight on your heart lifted, and the fear disappeared when you saw jake’s silly smile. you loudly groaned and finally opened the door.

"i'm also happy to see you!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around you as soon as he could enter your apartment. "i missed you," he added as you hugged him.

"you're insane, and i hate you. you scared me half to death," you said, pretending to be offended.

“you loooooove me,” he teased, swaying your bodies left and right. “anyways, i’m taking you on a date.” 

“a date? it’s late, jake.”

“don’t care, didn’t ask. put your shoes on, please.” 

you sighed, unable to say no to your adorable, puppy-like boyfriend. he was your soft spot, and he knew it, often abusing it, albeit in a loving way. jake was a pure soul, never even considering hurting you in any way. you quickly put on your shoes, and minutes later, you were outside on the quiet streets of seoul. as the world grew quieter, the streets came alive in a different way. the distant traffic hum became a soothing melody, and the cool breeze on your face, jake’s hand holding yours being the only source of warmth.

feeling the chilly air, jake pulled you closer, his body warming yours. soon, you entered a busier street, with neon signs flickering like distant stars, hurting your eyes if you stared too long. some music from nearby clubs revealed cities nightlife.

you walked in silence until jake pulled a pair of airpods out of his pocket and handed one to you. the music was already playing when you comfortably placed it in your ear. it took just one song for jake to start moving in rhythm with the music. taking advantage of the nearly empty street, he turned to you.

"y/n, let's dance," he said, making you chuckle, almost causing your airpod to fall out, which you had to readjust.

“dance?” you answered too late, as he had already moved away and spun you around. you couldn't help but laugh even more. you couldn't refuse; the melody forced you to dance on its own. for the entire song, you danced around, still moving forward. you didn't know where jake was leading you, but you didn't complain.

another song played, and jake began singing and even rapping loudly. you laughed heartily, enjoying the moment as much as you could. when the chorus rolled in, you both sang along, still somehow dancing. jake enthusiastically gestured while singing the lyrics, which only made you laugh even more.

at some point he even let go out of your hand to focus more on the song, soon after you were recording him and taking pictures, you were basically his hypeman, somehow shouting the adlibs. 

at some point, he let go of your hand to focus more on the song. soon, you were recording him and taking pictures, essentially becoming his hype person, enthusiastically shouting the adlibs. his moves were smooth and pleasant to watch, and you weren't laughing at his dancing skills; you were genuinely impressed. but when he suddenly twerked, you couldn't hold back your laughter and had to stop, nearly collapsing from laughter. 

he laughed alongside you. "please, don't tell me you got that on video," jake said after a minute or two of both of you laughing.

“i got it perfectly, don’t worry.” 

from an outside perspective, you probably looked like two idiots, dancing and singing to songs no one else could hear, laughing as if it were the funniest thing on earth. however, you couldn't be bothered to think about other people; it felt like it was just you, jake, and the music, creating cherished memories together.

you both gradually calmed down, still swaying to the beats as you walked. then, jake pulled you into a 7-eleven, mentioning that he was hungry.

“what are we feeling like eating?” he asked as you strolled through the instant noodles aisle. you quickly grabbed a pack for yourself, and jake followed suit. the argument at the self-checkout couldn't be avoided, but your boyfriend eventually won, claiming that he was the one treating you on this date and that he was the best boyfriend who needed to pay.

soon, you were sitting outside, near the microwaves and the self-cook ramen station. jake had you fill your cup with water first, and you didn't argue against his "best boyfriend" claims because, after all, they were true. as you waited for your cups to be filled, you swayed your hips to the music still playing in your airpods. jake quickly noticed and flashed you a bright smile.

the lyrics expressed a mutual desire in a singer's relationship, willing to do anything for their significant other. it was slow and perfect for the moment. you looked into jake's eyes, focusing more on the song's meaning. in the meantime, he placed his hands on your hips, swaying with you. you felt incredibly safe and loved in this precious moment between the two of you. a romantic song played, and you both gazed at each other with overwhelming love surrounding you. 

you couldn't resist leaning in and asking for a kiss. the tenderness in it felt different, and as his lips met yours, you were instantly flooded with butterflies in your stomach. it felt intimate and more passionate than your previous kisses. unconsciously, you wrapped your hands around his neck as you continued to sway gently, the loud beep from the machine preventing you from having a full-on make-out session in front of the store and the unfortunate cashier who could witness it all.

as you pulled away, you smiled at jake, feeling an abundance of happiness and love that seemed boundless and uncontrollable. both of you turned your attention to your cups, mixing the noodles. soon, you were seated, both slurping on the ramen.

“‘so good,” jake said, with his mouth full. “it hits different during nights like this.” he added after swallowing. 

you nodded, your cheeks full of noodles. he laughed at your adorable appearance, and you responded with a puzzled head tilt. "nothing, you're just cute," he said, perfectly understanding you without the need for words.

you swallowed your noodles, not responding verbally. instead, you reached out and brushed strands of his hair away as you saw him struggling to keep them out of his eyes, his hands occupied.

you both continued to eat as if nothing had happened, but jake's heart was undoubtedly racing from your swift action, his cheeks reddened, and his eyes widen. both of you were certain that this wasn't a fleeting relationship. this late-night date had made you both realise that this was something more, that you both loved each other unconditionally, and that you were both serious about your relationship, wanting to be together until the end.

requests: open; prompt list © 2023 — all rights reserved to user thejakeslayla, please do not steal, plagiarise or translate any of my work !

[peachesyeo]

youth - yungi

💌 parings: idol!childhoodfriends!yungi x lawstudent!gn!reader 💌 genre: slice of life 💌 contains: mentions of alcohol consumption, mention of mingi's hiatus 💌 word count: 1k

:̗̀➛ 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 + 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 :̗̀➛ 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭? :̗̀➛ 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞? :̗̀➛ 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭? (for all works)

You opened the can of beer, sitting by the bench of the Han River.

Today was shit. Rushing orders, unhappy customers, the yells of your manager as you tried to fix everything. You are beyond tired, physically and mentally. The light from your illuminated watch told you it was almost midnight as you took a mouthful of canned beer.

It sucks. You left your hometown, coming towards the big city of Seoul to study. You thought you could achieve your dreams of becoming a lawyer here, but reality smacked you out of it. You had no money, no power. You could even barely afford your monthly rent for your apartment. You had a part-time job at a chicken restaurant, frying chicken as your life depended on it.

The cold breeze along the Han River caressed your heating face gently as you took another mouthful of beer. Even down to alcohol, you have to opt for the cheapest one. Heck, after this one, you are not even sure whether you have enough money to buy food for tomorrow. You laughed at your pathetic situation, standing up. You would have to walk home now; there are barely any buses around midnight.

As you stuffed the empty can of beer into your pocket, you slowly made your way towards the direction of your rented apartment. Sometimes, just sometimes, you want to give up.

You thought of what your parents had told you. "Y/n, you're still young. You have to go out, make friends, create memories. Youth is everything, yet time is cruel." They have said, before sending you on the bus to the city. "You're still young. When you become an adult, you'll understand what we mean."

Easier said than done. Go out? You were either studying or working, trying to lessen the financial burden on your parents. Make friends? Your class has its cliques, and you just don't fit in. Create memories? That's just a waste of time.

You sighed, fishing out your phone. There are zero notifications, not even a reminder. Your phone is as good as a decoration, you thought, stuffing them back into your pocket.

"Y/n?" You paused, stopping in your tracks. Turning to the sound of the voice, you were surprised to see two familiar faces sitting by the bench. One of them had their hair dyed blond, wearing a brown hoodie. The other wore a mask on his face and a dark flannel shirt with a white tee underneath. "Yunho? Mingi?"

The blond one stood up. "It's you. I thought I was seeing things." Yunho said as you approached them. The smell of alcohol is strong, and you glance at the empty beer bottles littered around them. "Tough night?"

"You bet." Mingi's voice was gruff. He eyed you as Yunho gave you a clap on your back in greeting. "Since when did you come into the city? And not tell me or Yun."

You gave him a sad smile. "I didn't want to bother you guys. I know how hard being an idol must be." You gestured towards the bottles. Mingi laughed at your words, his eyes downcasted. Yunho shook his head, sitting back down as he spoke, his voice gentle. "You won't bother us. We're friends, remember?"

True. Yunho, Mingi and you were once close friends back in your hometown, with the three of you being neighbours at one point. However, Yunho and Mingi left to pursue their dreams of becoming an idol when they were in high school. You nodded. "I know, but…"

"Join us?" Mingi offered a still-full bottle. You took it gratefully, sitting down beside him. The three of you stayed in silence as you watched the Han River.

"By the way, I received your congratulatory gift when we debuted." Yunho broke the silence. You turned towards him, and Yunho was fiddling with the bottle. "Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't send a text or anything; I didn't have your Kakao."

"D'you want to exchange now?" Mingi put his bottle down, taking out his phone. You exchanged your Kakao IDs with them and leaned back on the bench. "It's very different here, isn't it?" You asked as Mingi hummed in approval. "Yeah…"

"I heard from Auntie that you took a law course," Yunho said. You nodded, sighing. "Yeah. I did."

"Is it tiring? Learning to be a lawyer?" Mingi asked. You shrugged, gulping a mouthful of alcohol. "Learning to be a lawyer isn't a problem, but my fucked up social circle and time management is. I have no connections, and I could barely fit into any of the cliques in my class. Every day, I study, work, eat, sleep and repeat them." You looked down at the calm waters. "Every time Eomma calls me to ask about my well-being, I don't even have the heart to tell her how tired I am."

Mingi clapped your thigh lightly. Yunho sighed loudly, leaning his head against the bench. "We're not exactly having a smooth life here, either. Performances, concerts, dance practices. So many expectations to uphold, especially from our fans…" He looked up into the dark sky. "Mingi's thinking about going on a hiatus."

You looked at Mingi. The usually happy-go-lucky male seemed miserable. "Yeah. Back injury and I couldn't get it together. Mentally."

It's your turn to encourage him. "If you're going on hiatus, d'you want to come out and drink sometime?" You suggested. "That'll be nice. You get to hang out with Y/n." Yunho sounded delighted. Mingi seemed a little unsure. "But you said that you barely have enough time t-"

"I can always make some time for you, big guy." You interrupted. "You know when the old folks say enjoy life as it is? Even if I might not have enough money to eat tomorrow, I still bought this can." You took out the empty can in your pocket and threw it towards the pile of empty beer bottles.

Mingi snorted. "I don't understand how that works. 'Play now, work later'?" He said as Yunho chuckled. You shrugged, turning towards him. "I wish we're still kids, man. Adulthood sucks."

"True. Adulthood sucks." Yunho said. The three of you looked at each other and laughed.

'While looking up at the starlights, I want to lean on you. I want you to smile my way.' ⎯⎯ youth, yunho & mingi

[chimcum]

The Enigma [I]

Synopsis: Two different worlds collide together, his and yours, resulting in something entirely unexpected. He had been living his life, walking through the pre-planned path. But what happens when a simple strawberry cheesecake navigates his course of life in a completely different direction. One that needs him to live, breathe, love, kill. Genre: college!au, strangers to lovers!au Characters: foreigner readerx native jk

Raindrops trickled down the glass window, blurring the vibrant tapestry of Seoul's cityscape. You sipped your lukewarm coffee, the air-conditioning's gentle hum a counterpoint to the pitter-patter symphony outside.

A comfortable chill settled over the apartment, a welcome change from the summer's relentless heat. Autumn, your favorite season, was finally whispering its arrival.

Being a foreigner in Korea wasn't easy. The initial months had been a whirlwind of adjustments. Navigating cultural nuances, enduring the occasional microaggression – these were all part of the experience. Yet, there was a strange sense of liberation in this solitude.

With a sigh, you pushed yourself off the couch. The call of duty, in the form of your architecture class, beckoned. You were a master's student at Seoul National University, a prestigious institution that had beckoned you across continents.

Your journey here was paved with academic excellence – straight A's throughout your undergraduate studies in Italy, a testament to your unwavering dedication. But that very success, you often felt, had come at a cost. Friendships felt transactional, laced with a hint of self-interest. Was it any wonder you craved solitude?

Another sigh escaped your lips, the umpteenth since you'd dragged yourself out of bed that morning. The city lights, usually a source of comfort and inspiration, seemed muted through the rain-streaked window.

Autumn, with its crisp air and promise of fiery foliage, was finally making its presence known. A welcome change, you thought, pulling the collar of your thick turtleneck higher.

The previous day's downpour had left a chill in the air, prompting you to ditch your usual summer attire for a more practical ensemble. Today, a black turtleneck and a pair of straight-leg jeans were your armor against the unexpected cold.

Stepping out of your compact apartment, you locked the door with a practiced flick of your wrist and headed towards the elevator.

The hallway echoed with the distant hum of activity from neighboring apartments. A faint aroma of kimchi stew wafted through the air, a reminder of the vibrant tapestry of life that pulsed just beyond your door.

You reached the elevator, its stainless-steel surface reflecting the soft glow of the emergency exit sign. With a gentle press of the button, you waited patiently, the anticipation of a new day stirring within you.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing a glimpse of the bustling lobby below. You stepped inside, joining a group of students huddled together for warmth.

A quick exchange of greetings – a polite nod here, a mumbled "good morning" there – and the elevator continued its ascent. Reaching your floor, you exited with a final, purposeful sigh, ready to face the day.

The bus deposited you at the university gates, its doors hissing open with a pneumatic sigh. Rain slicked the pavement, and you hurried across the quadrangle, the damp air clinging to your skin.

Today, an unexpected stroke of luck – the bus driver had taken a shorter route, granting you a precious twenty minutes of reprieve. Your stomach, however, wasn't cooperating. A dull ache pulsed beneath your ribs, a persistent enemy threatening to disrupt your day.

Reaching the familiar edifice of the architecture building, you practically stumbled through the entrance. The hallways were deserted, a stark contrast to the usual pre-class bustle.

Relief washed over you. A few stolen moments of shut-eye in the quiet solitude of the lecture hall seemed like a divine intervention.

Pushing open the heavy oak door, you were greeted by a scene of hushed reverence. The vast room was bathed in a soft morning light filtering through high windows.

Empty chairs sat in neat rows, their burgundy upholstery gleaming. You sank gratefully into one, the cool leather a welcome comfort against your heated skin.

Professor Kim's voice, a measured cadence, echoed through the chamber. "At these connection points, we often see a shift from high-resistance insulation materials to lower-resistance framing members. This creates a pathway for heat to bypass the insulation, significantly increasing the U-factor of the entire assembly" The technical jargon of building science swirled around you.

You were a master's student at Seoul National University, a pinnacle of academic achievement you'd scaled with unwavering determination. Your bachelor's degree, a testament to your relentless pursuit of excellence, had come from the top university in your native Italy. But success, you'd discovered, often came with a price.

The classroom door clicked shut behind you, a welcome punctuation mark to the day's academic marathon. Tomorrow was a blessed Saturday, a day for much-needed rest and rejuvenation. But first, there was the matter of your evening shift at the cafe.

Financial constraints weren't a concern for you. Hailing from a prominent business family, you were fortunate to have financial security and the freedom to pursue your passion for architecture.

You could have easily opted for a more leisurely life, yet a curious draw to the cafe's ambience kept you coming back for more. It wasn't just the intoxicating aroma of freshly brewed coffee; it was the energy of the place, the constant hum of conversation, the comfortable anonymity it offered.

Truth be told, you were the cafe's resident coffee maestro. Your meticulous latte art and flawless cappuccinos were legendary. The owner, a kind-hearted woman named Aunt Byul, and Nenny, your equally passionate co-worker, held you in high regard.

Your professionalism and graceful demeanor earned you the trust of serving the cafe's most discerning clientele. You possessed a certain aura, an effortless elegance that captivated everyone you interacted with. Perhaps it was the undeniable allure of being an "exotic beauty" in a foreign land, or maybe it was simply the confidence that stemmed from your inner strength and self-assuredness

The tinkling of the cafe's entrance bell pierced the comfortable pre-shift quiet, drawing Nenny's attention from the intricate knot she was fashioning in her apron strings. With a swift glance in your direction, she chirped, "Hey Y/N!"

A smile bloomed on your face as you replied, "Hey Nenny, how's it going?"

"Significantly better now that my shift partner has finally graced us with her presence," she quipped playfully.

"So, only valuable as a coworker, not a friend?" you countered, a teasing lilt in your voice. "Just remember that the next time you need one of my 'friendly favors,'" you continued, earning a mock glare that sent you into a fit of laughter.

"Alright, alright," she conceded with a playful roll of her eyes. "Truce declared."

Nenny, a fellow business student at your university and a senior by a year, shared your passion for the rich aroma and nuanced flavors of coffee. Like you, however, she wasn't driven by a desire for financial independence.

Her bi-weekly shifts, dictated by the cafe's ever-changing needs, were a labor of love – a way to support her beloved aunt, the cafe's owner, who was struggling to keep the business afloat.

A year ago, Nenny had joined the staff, and through sheer determination and hard work, the cafe had begun to flourish. It was Nenny, in fact, who had introduced you to this haven when you'd first arrived at the university four months ago, practically dragging you through the doors upon hearing your inquiry about good local eateries.

To say you'd been captivated by the cafe's vintage charm would be an understatement. It was then and there, amidst the warm glow of antique lamps and the intoxicating aroma of freshly brewed coffee, that you knew you had to be a part of this unique space. Your offer to join the team had been met with open arms.

Now, with your apron and barista cap retrieved, you were ready to embrace your role as the cafe's star employee.

You donned your barista uniform with practiced ease, the crisp apron and matching cap transforming you into a soldier ready for coffee service. A warm smile bloomed on your face as Aunt Byul, the cafe owner, greeted you and Nenny, your fellow barista. "Hello beautiful young ladies!" she chirped, her voice seasoned with a hint of mischievousness.

"Hello my sweet lady," you countered, your grin outshining even hers. There was a genuine fondness between you and Aunt Byul, a bond forged over shared laughter and a mutual love for the aromatic world of coffee.

"Ready to work?" Aunt Byul's eyes twinkled with a knowing glint.

"Absolutely," you both replied in unison, your voices brimming with practiced enthusiasm.

"Let's get to work then soldiers," she declared playfully. "Looks like yesterday's rain is bringing out the drama queens in droves. Be prepared for a flurry of caffeinated tears and existential angst."

"Yes, Ma'am!" you and Nenny chorused, saluting her mock-seriously. The shared camaraderie was a comforting constant in the bustling cafe environment.

A melodic chime from the door shattered the pre-service lull. All three of you swiveled in unison, your gazes converging on the entrance. And then you saw him.

Jungkook

The aroma of roasted coffee beans and sugary pastries hung heavy in the air as I entered the cafe. The ambience screamed "old-school diner," a stark contrast to my usual preferences.

Why was I here, you ask? Because my best friend, Taehyung, had dragged me all the way across town – a forty-minute trek just for a slice of strawberry cake, a dessert readily available anywhere else. Yet, here I was.

The kick this guy gets by annoying me was beyond my understanding. Even though he is my best friend but the number of times he has gotten me into trouble always spoke otherwise, the urge to rearrange his handsome face with my fist flared up, but affection held me back.

With a sigh, I sank into the chair he'd pushed towards me. "Alright, bro, what are you having?" If murder weren't frowned upon, I might have been tempted to test the legal system on him.

"This is your supposed 'favorite strawberry cheesecake,'" I deadpanned, pointing a finger at him. "So why don't you order it? Let's see if this mythical dessert lives up to the hype. Because if it doesn't taste like the eighth wonder of the world, as you've bragged, I'm gonna make you taste my fist."

Taehyung, unfazed by my threat, merely shrugged. "Chill, dude. Trust me, it's good. Like, 'really good' good."

"We'll see about that," I muttered.

A chipper "Excuse me!" announced the arrival of our server. The sound of approaching footsteps clued me in, and I glanced away from the window, my gaze landing on a woman with a deep, feminine voice.

A beautiful tanned woman with a professional smile gracing Taehyung's side. She was tall and statuesque, with a European air about her. Dressed in a black turtleneck and blue denims, she exuded elegance and an undeniable beauty.

"Good evening! What would you like to have?" she inquired in a smooth voice.

"Two strawberry cheesecakes with extra syrup, and two medium Americanos," Taehyung rattled off.

"Certainly, sir. Anything else you'd like with that?"

"Yeah, five strawberry macarons – but later, please."

"Of course. It'll be about ten minutes," she replied, jotting down the order before bowing slightly and retreating to the counter. Her rose scent lingered in the air around, advocating for her presence near me.

"Do you like her?" Taehyung teased, his voice a low murmur in my ear. I whipped my head towards him, expression schooled into a blank slate. This guy.

He had a knack for getting under my skin, despite my affection for him. "I am just admiring god's creation. That's it" I blurted out.

"Seriously? Because your expressions say otherwise. You look like you've been starstuck."

"Maybe, may not be. By the way, you are regular here right?"

"Yeah, why?" came his curt reply.

"Do you know her?" I muttered under my breath.

"Nope"

The entire cafe visit was a blur of stolen glances in the waitress' direction. While Taehyung and I chatted, my attention kept drifting towards her.

Accelerating the car engine with ease, moving through the bustling streets of the city was a practiced and very usual adventure for both of us. Munching on the sugary treats, Taehyung easefully sat beside me in the passenger seat.

Saying a thing or two in between his bites, he extended his left arm infront of me, hands holding onto the macaroon, signaling me to take a bite.

"You know? Miss foreigner made these. Maybe you should try it."

The revelation only made me turn my head into his direction, an attempt to look at his face and make out if the information was actually real or whether he was just bluffing.

But the expression on his face, devoid of any mischief or fun emotion only fueled my curiosity.

"What do you mean- like for real"? hearing my own voice coming out with a bit of amazement even surprised me.

Turning my head back, my gaze focusing on the roads infront while my mind still lingered on the sweets and the their creator.

"Yeah dude... why would I lie? Are you for real right now? Like seriously? Why are you so bothered about the fact that she didn't treat you the way "you are supposed to be" huh? What is wrong with you?"

Taehyung retrieved his hands back , possibly irritated by my reaction towards the incident earlier.

Yeah I was pissed off by the fact that I was not given the "supposed special treatment" but it was not like he was starting to get annoyed now. I had only mentioned my displease for a couple of times.

"You know what? You are such a bogus, you hate when people treat you specially and also get mad when they don't. What do you even want you sick fuck. Stick to one side for god damn sake."

Feeling myself tightening my grip on the steering wheel, I could feel myself getting speechless with each second passing, not because of the foul words coming out of my best friend's mouth directed towards me, but because he was right.

"I thought that you like the cake but oh my mother how could I forget that Mr. Prince has a habit of being treated like the god he is and doesn't tolerate not being singled out."

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Zhiying Zeng’s eyes begin to sparkle and her gestures become more animated as she recounts the day her lifelong Olympic dream came true.

She had to wait longer than most athletes, too: At 58 years old, Zeng will be one of the oldest Olympians at Paris 2024.

But for Zeng, whose Olympic journey began in China in the 1970s and culminated in qualification for Chile’s table tennis team earlier this year, it was worth the wait.

She had even retired from professional table tennis aged 20 – something which allowed her the opportunity to uproot her life in Asia and move across the Pacific Ocean to Chile – and at one stage went almost 20 years without playing.

“It was the biggest dream of my life,” she tells CNN Sport with a thick, unmistakable Chilean lilt.

“Even when I was a little girl and they would ask me what my dream was, I would say: ‘Become an Olympian.’”

Chile has now been Zeng’s home for 35 years and she is as Chilean as they come.

She is known in her adopted country as ‘Tania’ – because Chileans struggle pronouncing the Z in her name – and her favorite dish is pantruca, a kind of dumpling soup.

She also eats beans, a staple of the Chilean diet, every week.

Zeng loves empanadas, too, but doesn’t indulge too much now that she’s an elite athlete again. “Too many calories,” she laughs.

From China to Chile

Zeng was born in Guangzhou in 1966 and picked up a paddle almost as soon as she was physically able.

Her mother was a table tennis coach, which meant the then-government housed the family next to a sports complex, allowing Zeng to train every day and surround herself with professional players.

She was trained by her mother until the age of nine when, Zeng says, she became a typical grumpy child that didn’t want to be coached by a parent.

So her mother enrolled her in a school that employed a table tennis coach and after nearly two years, aged 11, she entered an elite sports academy.

Even in China, by far the world’s most dominant table tennis nation, Zeng’s talents were evident from an early age.

She became a national junior champion and won several regional tournaments before turning professional at the age of 12.

When she was 16, she was called up to the Chinese table tennis team for the first time.

“So many players in China have that dream because it’s so hard to achieve,” she says.

However, in 1986, two years before table tennis made its Olympic debut at the Games in Seoul, the “two color rule” was introduced, meaning the two sides of the paddle now had to be different colors instead of both black.

Zeng explains that the two faces of the paddle produce different types of effects on the ball and she would regularly rotate it in her hand to confuse opponents.

The different colored faces meant opponents could better predict her shots.

“The change of rules affected my game a lot,” she recalls. “That’s when I had a big downturn and left the national team.”

It was a painful moment for Zeng, who says she idolized players who were not much older than her that had already become Asian or world champions, and she was desperate to follow in their footsteps.

But the rule change paved the way for the next chapter in Zeng’s remarkable story.

In 1989, she received an invitation to coach schoolchildren in Arica, a city in northernmost Chile.

It was a job she adored, but it wasn’t until 2003 that she picked up the paddle to play competitive table tennis again.

She wanted to introduce her son, who was 13 at the time, to the sport in order to drag him away from playing too many video games and watching too much television.

In 2004 and 2005, Zeng comfortably won two national tournaments but once again stopped playing when her son was old enough to go to training on his own and travel with the team’s coach.

Third time’s a charm

Zeng only picked up a paddle again when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

“More than anything, just to exercise because we weren’t doing anything locked down in the house except eating!” she laughs.

“I got the bug and, once we were able to leave, I immediately wanted to play against someone to see what level I was at – and see if I could I still run or not.”

She contacted the federation in Iquique, where she lives today and owns a furniture business, and was soon playing – and winning – regional tournaments against mostly men given there were few female players.

“That gave me a lot of confidence,” she says.

“I had no problems with running, with fatigue or anything. I wanted to know how much more I could do.”

In 2022, the Chilean Table Tennis Federation sent an announcement to the regional associations that it was hosting a tournament to put together a team for the 2023 South American Table Tennis Championships.

Despite her success, Zeng was skeptical about going.

All of the best players in the country would be there and she doubted that she would be able to keep up.

In the end, she only went because a friend managed to convince her.

“‘Go and find out if you can compete or not. If not, at least you’ll be left with no doubts,’” she recalls her friend telling her. “I thought she had a point.”

Zeng qualified for the team, of course, and led Chile to first place in the team tournament, while also coming second in the singles and women’s doubles.

“I forgot what I was afraid of and what I was worried about,” she says.

But it wasn’t until the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago that her life really changed.

After her first appearance at the tournament, Zeng became a national icon overnight.

After losing the first two sets in her opening match, Zeng rattled off four straight to win 4-2 in front of her new adoring fans.

Chileans gave her the nickname ‘Tia Tania’ – Auntie Tania – and the AP reported that one young fan said he had gone just to watch the “table tennis grandma.”

Even Chilean President Gabriel Boric became a fan and congratulated her on a “tremendous” victory.

Zeng, who will play Lebanon’s Mariana Sahakian in the preliminary rounds of Paris 2024 on Saturday, says being in Santiago as an athlete during the Pan Am Games was a surreal experience.

She spent much of her time with other athletes, going out to dinner and taking photos.

“I lived like that when I was 15,” she says, recalling her time as a professional in China.

“It had been a long time since I experienced something like this. I was like an excited teenager again. I forgot I was 56!”

It proved to be a successful tournament on the table, too, as Zeng won team bronze for Chile alongside Daniela Ortega and Paulina Vega.

Zeng’s sons also noticed that her Instagram following had grown by almost 10,000 in a matter of days and had to teach her how to use social media, so she could keep her hordes of new fans updated.

Finally, 38 years after she gave up on her Olympic dream, Zeng qualified for Paris 2024 at a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Lima, Peru, in May this year.

Zeng says she didn’t sleep at all the night before the deciding game as she played out every imaginable scenario in her head.

On match point, when she went to collect the ball, her mind again began to run wild.

“Calm, calm,” Zeng, who says mental fortitude is her biggest asset in table tennis, repeated to herself. “You’ve got one more point.”

After winning match point, the emotion of everything she had experienced in the sport came flooding out.

Her father, who is 92 and regularly visits her in Chile, and her brother stayed up until 5 a.m. in China to watch the match, while her husband and friends were in Lima to celebrate the moment with her.

“My dad was able to see his daughter qualify for the Olympics,” she says, visibly emotional.

“He used to take me to training and to matches when I was a girl and now at 57, I made it. I made it.”

[zh-lele]

Oasis Part 1

In a hostile environment or in a sequence of unpleasant situations, an oasis provides pleasure.

▪︎Pairing: vampire!Doyoung x club dancer!fem reader x vampire!Johnny

▪︎Genres: supernatural, horror, smut, romance if you want to call it like that (it's not).

▪︎Warnings: mature themes; explicit sexual content, drugs and alcohol involved, guns, violence, death scenes and mentions of it, and some gore scenes. MINORS PLEASE DO NOT INTERACT!

▪︎Wordcount for Part 1: ~16.8k words.

Author's note: hey everyone 👀 it's been ages. Writing this fic got out of hand lol so I split it into parts. This is all plot building 😭 more is coming. Also, the characters are sick to their heads so none of this is alright ofc and it's a twisted fic so if you are uncomfy don't read it! I rlly don't wanna bother anyone. Read pairings, genre and warnings before proceeding. And enjoy this first part! More is coming your way. Here's a playlist to kinda set the mood if you'd like. Tysm!!! 🖤

Who sees them walking around the city if they are all blind? They hold hands; something speaks between their fingers, sweet tongues lick the moist palm, run through the phalanges, and above is the night full of eyes.

01: words that will satisfy me

Lightning split the sky as the rain lashed the roof of the old bus, the drops seeping through the leaks, wetting the worn leather of its seats and spreading on the floor. You were lucky that public transportation was running that night and under those conditions, even more so considering that you had to be on time for your show at the casino—you couldn't afford to lose another night of work to torrential rains, even if it meant walking for forty minutes under the water from your house to the luxurious building.

The dirty streets of Seoul were already empty by the time you got off the bus, except for the old man you couldn't escape from even a single night arriving at the casino. While he wasn't inside, spending what was probably his last life savings on alcohol, drugs, and women (like most of the men you saw every night), he was living on the outskirts; under the big billboard of neon lights and on the fine and cold marble of the entrance serving as his refuge, along with a bed made of cardboard and an old, dirty mattress. Yuta kicked him out every night, especially the moment you arrived and he remembered the old man's presence due to the nasty comments he would give you, as you started up the stairs and toward the big golden doors.

Tonight was no different. Yuta left his position at the entrance as fast as he saw you coming and felt the old man open his mouth—although he didn't have a chance to say anything. As if Yuta could guess his intentions, he was in charge of throwing him in the hands of two high-security guards to the street and under that torrential rain; the homeless man's few belongings getting completely drenched, and causing the man to wail as he wandered off in search of a different place to spend the night. Only a series of what you assumed were complaints and curses came out of Yuta's mouth, in his native tongue.

Yuta lit a cigarette and didn't bother to return to his position. A quick wave of his hands was enough to have another man replace him, while he smoked under the cover of the water, resting momentarily from another night enriching his pockets in the largest casino in the city.

The look he gave you as you waited for this other man to read your work card was hostile as if Yuta could guess your intentions too. And he put you on alert for a moment.

He opened his mouth to speak. A cold ran through your whole body at the same time that lightning struck right on the building across the street, highlighting the silhouette of the Japanese above the violent discharge. He squeezed then opened his eyes, already too irritated by all the interruption, to continue:

"Go upstairs. Dry yourself up and put on some other clothes. Doyoung wants to see you."

"But my show starts at two o'clock."

"Just do as I say."

When the man at the entrance returned your card indicating that you could now enter, you hurried to walk on the red carpet, passing between round tables and banquettes padded with burgundy velvet. The smell of alcohol mingled with that of fine perfumes and that of the money, scattered on each table among glasses, cards, and chips, and also kept in the pockets and wallets of the rich.

The back pocket of your black imitation of leather pants buzzed, so you reached for an old phone, its broken screen showing a message from Soyeon where she attached a picture of a ladder; the red neon lights of a "V.I.P." sign shone above it. You wondered why she was at the entrance to the third floor—an exclusive place that humans like you and Soyeon rarely frequented. So you quickly typed a message questioning what that photo meant before going downstairs.

The club was located below the casino and just above the parking lot. The stairs were marked with neon green arrows indicating floor -1 if you went down—your designated place of work. It was a very different world from the casino. While above the gold metal-edged bars gleamed in the warm light of huge chandeliers, below the place could barely be defined; cigarette smoke obscured what little vision the red lights dangling from the ceiling provided, and the confines of the club were lost in darkness, making it easy to get lost in that dive for hours.

The floor was slippery from the amount of alcohol that had already been spilled throughout the night, and you had to be careful not to trip or injure yourself on a dropped glass bottle. It was hard to move through the bodies that wouldn't stop dancing and pushing and gasping for breath as the club got more and more crowded. But still, you made it backstage and to the dressing rooms where you and the dancers were getting ready for the shows every night.

You got inside in a hurry, making one of the boys that shared the stage with you get up from an old black leather couch and offer his help. "Girl, you need me to do something for you?"

"Please," you begged while looking at him through the mirror. "Can you get my suit and my boots?"

Without wasting a second, you started working on your makeup. Red and black eyeshadow that accentuated your gaze, and a lipstick that was about to run out after so many nights of shared use—bloody red is what said on the side of its cover.

The boy returned shortly after with your clothes in one hand and a glass of liquor in the other. He lit a cigarette inside the small space while you changed, his eyes following your every move. Only the music coming from the club filled your ears until you opened the door ready to go out and he questioned you.

"Where are you going? There's still five until the show starts."

"Yeah, I know but…" you hesitated on telling him. It wasn't a secret amongst the human workers that you and Doyoung kind of had a thing—they knew you fucked from time to time, but you had no clue why he wanted to see you at that moment.

Doyoung managed everything and everyone at the club and knew your schedule like the palm of his hand. Work had always been his top priority as well, so you knew for sure he wasn't going to make you show up late on stage. Still, you didn't want to raise suspicions about anything, didn't want people to talk too much.

The boy—that was named Ten and was the second nicest person you knew as soon as you started working at the club—raised his brows at you, growing impatient, making gestures with both his hands for you to keep talking.

"Doyoung wants to see me," you finally concluded. "I don't know what he wants, but it'll be quick."

Ten only hummed and reached inside of his platforms, taking out a small blade and putting it in front of your face. His breath, which smelled like mint and whiskey, brushed your face while he talked. "Be careful." And he hid the blade inside one of your boots.

Ten had been working at the club for years and knew vampires very well. Even though none of the vamps in charge had ever harmed him, he couldn't say the same for the customers who came from the outside. For this reason, he didn't trust them, and he always reminded you to handle yourself with special care, especially when he found out about you and Doyoung.

You gave him a nod along with a sympathetic smile and closed the door behind you on your way to Doyoung's office.

A long corridor connected the backstage dressing room to a mezzanine at the other end of the club. Suspended in the air from one side to the other, its tinted glass walls stretched to the roof of the club. Doyoung kept his office lit to a minimum, and the red lights outside it blocked all vision through the glass and into his office. This allowed him to have absolute control of everything that happened in his club, and to give orders without even having to get up from his chair.

You knocked on his door and looked above, at the corner of the corridor, letting the camera focus on your face. The door buzzed, indicating you were good to come inside.

Doyoung was sitting in his green velvet upholstered chair, facing the glass walls. A suit almost as pale as his skin accentuated his defined figure, even in that position. He turned to you, a welcoming smile adorning his face, and extended his left hand, the one not occupied with a glass feeding his vampire tendencies, inviting you to get closer.

He called your name before holding your hand and bringing it to his lips. A soft kiss on your knuckles, which left them stained with a slightly thick red liquid. "I'll be brief since I don't want to delay us in our tasks, but I had to tell you this in person."

He set his glass down on his desk and moved you even closer, positioning yourself between his legs. He looked over your body with his gaze and dared to open the fine, shiny cloth robe that covered it. He caressed the curves of your hip and passed the palms of his hands over the micro tulle that covered your abdomen until he stopped below your breasts.

"You will dance on the third-floor stage tonight, along with Soyeon," he finally said, his clear eyes piercing your dark gaze. "Whatever happens there, you must tell me. Don't forget who you work for."

You swallowed dry. So Soyeon was at the entrance to the third floor because the two of you would be working there that night. Dancing for the vampires. Anxiety quickly took over your body, and you felt your hands and feet start to sweat. You were lucky Doyoung couldn't notice that temperature change, or he would have given you away.

"Won't you be there with the rest of them?"

This was not going according to your plan.

He denied it with his head. His hands began to move again, caressing your back and reaching the edge of your see-through dress. He lifted it, you felt the cold on your skin, and he squeezed both buttcheeks, awakening the lust within you.

He took a breath of air that inflated his chest, causing the emeralds that hung rimmed in gold around his neck to rise and fall. He moved you at his will until you were sitting on top of him, your sex barely covered by a thong that resembled black leather in contact with his bulge, and you had to make an enormous effort not to forget the plan and take him right then and there. Getting rid of Doyoung would be much more difficult than you had imagined.

"Don't forget who you must be loyal to."

02: this is not a threat

It is important to create eye contact with the audience when you are performing. That was never a problem at the club, with its stage right in front of Doyoung's office. And while you couldn't see him from your place, you knew that he was always watching you from above, so your gaze was directed most of the time towards his tinted windows. He helped your concentration and allowed you to focus on the dance. On the third floor stage, however, you felt quite lost; too many things happened there.

In the club, just a large group of mortals huddled under the smoke and red lights, paying little attention to what was happening onstage. In the vampires' cave, distractions were everywhere. The white lights that illuminated the stage blinded you from time to time but still allowed you to make out the scenes. Vampires sipping drinks at the bars, smoking around a game of poker, passing through heavy velvet curtains, going in and out of small cabins with humans who had a job other than yours. Some came staggering out of there, like drunk on something and wiping their lips, while others just came out arranging their clothes to resume their activities around a table or on the small dance floor.

But despite everything that was distracting, you were forced to make eye contact. You felt a presence, someone's gaze heavy on your figure, hidden in a dark corner of that exclusive area. The lights spun illuminating him for a split second, but it was long enough for his amber eyes to finally find yours. From that moment on, you felt attracted to the man as if you were magnets. You went down the stairs of the stage and walked between the chairs and tables, making some of the vampires who hadn't paid attention to you yet turn to look at you. Not for a second could you lower your gaze from his or focus on anything other than dancing for that man.

He was sitting in the middle of the round table smoking a cigarette, looking a little too relaxed for your liking. His white shirt was slightly ripped, revealing a barbed wire tattoo that stretched from clavicle to clavicle on his chest; below, on his right pectoral, a spider tattoo. Resting the weight of his body on a semi-extended arm holding a cane, looking too vampire-like under your eyes. His tattoos seemed to end on his hands: a floral engraving on the back that contrasted with the phrase on his fingers: be afraid.

You got on that rounded table on your hands and knees, not caring about whatever game was going on between the rest of the men and the women who sat with him. You wanted to seduce him, that you knew. And he didn't seem to mind, because when a tall, blonde guy got up to protest, this man silenced him with a simple gesture of his hand. You thought it had to be a common thing amongst these vampires—they held so much power they didn't even need to use many words. So you danced the rest of your choreography for him, felt and touched your body as if your hands were his until the music ended and the lights turned on again.

Reality came down to you as if you were descending from the sky at miles per hour, and you landed on the ground in your black platforms after getting off the table. You felt incredibly out of place, yet an incessant throbbing between your naked legs and this man's gaze on you was sending your mind into a spiral. You had no idea what just had happened.

His deep voice cut through the air in that cave—like lightning from the storm outside the casino. A chill ran down your back for the second time that night.

"No one tells Doyoung about this."

But he didn't mean it for the rest of the people seated with him—he knew they would remain silent.

He meant it for you.

Soyeon appeared next to you with her hands full of bills, and she began to push you in the opposite direction while addressing this man very politely.

"Please excuse us, sir." But it sounded highly strange to you, she didn't talk like that to any of the vampires, not even to Doyoung. "Thank you very much, sir. Ladies, gentlemen." She bowed and you followed automatically before the two of you started walking behind the stage.

"Who was that?" you asked once the two of you were alone, inside the luxurious dressing room of the third floor.

"Are you out of your mind?"

You saw her undress hurriedly and change into her regular clothes, leaving the little dress–the same one you were wearing—inside her backpack, then starting whipping out all her makeup to re-do it into something different, more relaxed.

"I kinda felt like it, yeah," you finally replied, after processing how you unashamedly danced in front of that man and all of his friends, being so evident that you wanted him—as if you didn't have a thing with Doyoung. As if you weren't the little dumb human fucking the man in charge and everyone knew about it. "Who was that man?" you insisted.

"Seo Youngho," she hissed and looked at you with narrowed eyes as if it weren't obvious. "He owns the casino. He owns like, ninety percent of the clubs left in Seoul, actually. Friends call him Johnny."

Your plan was to become one of them, then kill them all and keep the fortune. Survive the fate that seemed inevitable. Defeat the decay of the world and humanity through that eternal immortality, as the vampires had done through each of the crises in history.

You were shocked, your face losing all color and your legs almost giving out when you realized that all this time you were after the wrong man.

When Doyoung hired you, he made it seem like he was the real leader. And everything seemed to indicate that he was. Because you knew Yuta, you knew how the rest treated that vampire—but it wasn't half the respect they had for Doyoung. From the countless nights you'd spent with him and been woken by his phone at any hour of the morning, you knew that most of the responsibilities fell on him as well. The fact that it was the first time you were hearing about this Seo Youngho after almost half a year working at the casino only made the situation more unbelievable.

"And you danced for him," Soyeon continued, her expression between a mixture of shock and amusement. "Holy shit. You literally felt all of yourself in front of his eyes."

"I know," you recognized with difficulty, taking your head in your hands while you sat in the chair; soft and padded compared to the garbage where you sat every night, in the dressing room on floor -1 "Please stop reminding me, it was embarrassing."

"It wasn't embarrassing!" she contradicted, "It was fucking hot. You never do that shit when we dance at the club."

"Of course not!" You straightened your back to look at her and denied with a disgusted face. "I don't want to seduce any of the bodies that frequent the club. Those are disgusting."

"Right, you want to seduce vampires." She pointed one of her makeup brushes at you, and golden dust flew across the room. A complicit smile adorned her face. "You want to seduce handsome, sexy, and rich vampires. You'll be collecting them? I know you have one already."

There wasn't any malice in her voice, none that you could notice. She left it there and went back to stand in front of the mirror to apply a clear lip gloss that made her face even more attractive. She wasn't looking for an explicit answer. Even if she only wanted to mess with you, you still weren't convinced you could trust her—or anyone inside that casino.

And that's why you were scared. Scared to death that she or anyone else could tell Doyoung what happened earlier. Because yes, he wasn't the most powerful of them, yet he could still do whatever he wanted to you and no one would even go looking after you. That's how the dynamic worked. That's why it could be a vampire's world.

Youngho's words resonated inside your head as if he was whispering in your ear.

"Youngho said something when our number ended," you decided to confess. Maybe out of fear, to test your luck and try moving in this new direction, or to risk your plan along with your life. Soyeon turned around and raised his brows at you, expectant of your next words. "He said not to tell Doyoung."

A knock on the door exalted the both of you. Soyeon looked in the direction of the sound, then down at you, same spot on the couch. She smiled with her lips sealed together, the tips of her thumb and forefinger joined and moving from left to right over her smile. She winked at you after walking to open the dressing room's door.

A rather young man leaned out from the other side, a bottle of champagne in a cooler and two glasses in hand. His bright red eyes quickly scanned the room and settled on your figure. "Youngho wants you at his table," he said. "Both of you." And he moved his eyes to Soyeon, who quickly looked at you with an excited smile, then turned back to the boy. "He also sends this. Says to enjoy yourself and get there whenever you feel ready."

The young vampire left the champagne and the glasses in Soyeon's hands after she greeted him with a polite 'thank you', and closed the door.

"Very good," she turned to you, ready to open the bottle. "I also want to go hunting for some handsome, sexy, and rich vampires."

—

Sitting on the velvety cushions and sharing a table with the vampires you learned that everything you thought you knew about them was actually nothing. Only two of them were the most talkative: Donghyuck, the young vampire they sent with the champagne bottle to get you and your friend, and Taeyong, a slightly older-looking vampire you often saw with Yuta or Doyoung. While Donghyuck concentrated mostly in annoying his superiors and catching Soyeon's attention, Taeyong was surprisingly kind to you, trying to engage conversation about various topics.

"I was studying in Tokyo to be a designer when I met Yuta," Taeyong said while pouring himself another glass of blood. "We met at a fashion exhibition. I remember he was wearing a three piece suit that looked very expensive. He introduced himself, Nakamoto Yuta," Taeyong made his own impression of the Japanese vampire you knew from greeting him every day at the casino's entrance. And it was on point, his deep voice and accent rolling out of Taeyong's lips as if he had been observing the vampire for an eternity now. "He liked my work and said he wanted to support me financially. You can imagine what I thought it was about."

"Thought he was offering to be some kind of sugar daddy?" You asked him, taking a drag from a joint and passing it back to Taeyong.

Taeyong nodded his head. "I thought I had to sacrifice my body for it," he said, then paused for a moment to reflect on his words. "I mean, it's not like I didn't like him. He was actually really hot," he finished in a whisper meant for your human ears only.

The white haired vampire laughed it off, looking a bit nervous after such a confession. Yet Taeyong's laugh was adorable and contagious, much so that it distracted you from his red-stained lips and teeth every time you saw his mouth open to a big smile.

"But I was really, really wrong about him–"

"I could hear you talking shit about me all the way from the first floor."

That deep voice characteristic of Yuta cut off Taeyong's story. His eyes found the Japanese approaching the vampire table, behind your field of vision. However, his presence sent a shiver down your spine—the idea that any of them could be listening to what you were talking about when you least expected it horrified you, and it was enough to bring you back to reality.

You weren't there because they were nice and wanted you to know more about them, to become close. They must have been using you somehow, and you had to find out their true intentions as quickly as possible so that they couldn't take advantage of you, but you could take advantage of them.

"Yuta, you're so nosy!" Taeyong accused him, pointing his index finger at him and then crossing his arms, half indignant. "I was just telling my new friend the story of how I met you and the guys."

The Japanese vampire collapsed into the free space on Taeyong's other side. He sighed heavily and ran his hand through his long red hair before fixing his gaze on you: his brow furrowed, and his eyes full of judgment on your figure at the table. "Doyoung's human?" he asked, sounding slightly confused.

Taeyong opened his mouth to reply, yet it wasn't his voice that gave the answer to Yuta's question.

"She's my new favorite."

It was Youngho's.

He got up from his place and walked around the table until he was positioned next to your figure. He bent down until he could whisper in your ear—a proposition to come back with him, to his apartment, right in front of everyone but especially in front of Yuta, who was still judging you from afar with those furrowed brows.

You feared Yuta didn't trust you like the rest of the vampires seemed to do. You feared he could smell your true intentions, somehow get in your head and know you were doubting every move, every decision. You were ashamed because you knew he could definitely hear your conversation with your boss and his leader even if you were whispering to each other. And you were expecting he wouldn't tell Doyoung you actually said yes to Youngho, that you'd love to go back to his apartment that night.

The night at the vampires cave seemed to come to an end when you found yourself in the passenger seat of Youngho's luxury car. Since your friend Soyeon and Donghyuck left in his own car seconds before, it was only you and Taeyong in the private parking lot, waiting for his boyfriend, for Yuta, and Youngho to get in.

Contrary to your experience with Doyoung or even with Yuta, you never had the pleasure of getting to know Taeyong in depth, and that was because you didn't really have a chance to interact despite a formal greeting when you passed him in the casino. But you were left both alone and drunk on many substances in the car, and you found out you definitely enjoyed his presence way more when he's not wearing a serious and intimidating expression, and when his huge eyes turn bright and he laughs at everything you say.

Taeyong made you feel like, if you were given the chance, you could form a beautiful friendship.

"You don't seem like the other girls."

"What do you mean?" You asked Taeyong, who was sitting behind and across from the passenger seat, stretching your neck to the side and resting it on the headrest so you could face him more comfortably.

"Every girl Johnny has been with has only wanted one thing," Taeyong answered. He took a deep breath and there was again, the serious, almost scary expression on his face that you knew him from. You gulped dryly, hoping it could go unnoticed before he continued. "To take advantage of him and what he owns. And my friend is a good guy, he really just wants to love someone before the end of this fucking cursed world, so he just lets them in, you know?"

The sensation of being exposed drained your face from all its blood, probably making you look pale even under a thick layer of makeup. You felt embarrassed thinking Taeyong had read you and figured you out perfectly, so much that you couldn't look him in the eye anymore. Nonetheless, Taeyong kept telling you how good he felt around you while you tried to believe that he was being honest with you, and not actually trying to induce you in some sort of manipulative game.

When fighting against an organized group, you don't need to attack them nor defeat them all at once. It will take one of the parts—only one of them to be the weakest and the beginning of their own downfall.

You wanted to believe Taeyong was the weakness.

Beneath all the beauty and luxuries that Taeyong carried around, his hard expressions but also his sparkling eyes, and most importantly all the substances that were dancing inside his body that night, your drunken mind considered there could be a soft heart that spoke the truth. And you didn't want to get carried away with that sweet, biased best friend talk and forget about what you really planned to do tonight—which was for sure not to fall for any vampire.

So as much as he would let you get closer to them, you would let him believe your connection was genuine.

"I don’t want you to do the same to my friend." He smiled at you.

You were about to reply, to reassure him you're not like the rest of the girls, when he turned his head to the window at the sight of a tall and very handsome guy walking in your direction, followed by Yuta and Youngho. Taeyong's smile didn't fade. In fact, it only grew bigger when the tall boy opened the door, ready to climb into the back of the car.

"Please don't get scared if you see my boyfriend or any of my friends snorting a line in front of you," Taeyong turned to warn you.  "They're just weird like that."

"Tae, we don't do that in Johnny's car," the guy scolded him as the car was getting crowded. He held a bottle of vodka in his hand that he hurriedly wanted to finish before you got on the road and to Youngho's place. A long drink and he tossed it to Taeyong, who took a sip, squeezing his eyes shut at the burning feeling down his throat and then he handed it to you.

"It's fine with me, anyway," you inform Taeyong, accepting the bottle with a subtle smile. "It's what I usually see around the club…"

"Yeah, of course she's fine with it." The tall guy laughed and gave Taeyong a knowing look that you caught through the rear view mirror. "Stop putting on an act, Tae."

"Shut up, Jaehyun! You're the one acting. I just don't want to scare her away, I like her!"

"You won't like her more than you like me, though." The tall guy—who's name you learned was Jaehyun—got a serious expression sending Taeyong that warning, with only a small hint of mischief in his tone, very hard to catch if you didn't pay enough attention.

But Taeyong must have known him very well, because he laughed awkwardly at Jaehyun's comment which made him smile pretty lovingly, dimples showing and eyes going into the shape of two crescent moons in Taeyong's direction.

"You two make me want to throw up," Yuta said as he closed the door, squeezing Taeyong, Jaehyun, and himself up in the backseat and only confirming Jaehyun had to be the boyfriend Taeyong was talking about earlier.

"It's not us what makes you want to throw up, Yuta." You heard Jaehyun's voice while he spoke facing the windshield. "It's all the blood you mixed up and drank tonight."

The bottle of vodka was almost empty in your hands when Youngho arrived, occupying the last empty space behind the steering wheel. One second he was turning on the engines, and the other you were tasting the iron of a quick, chaste kiss he planted on your lips and in front of everyone inside the car. He bit your lip before breaking the contact, and your blood mixed with the remains of what Youngho had been sipping all night that managed to transfer to your mouth. Then he turned around to ask, "Are we all continuing this at mine?"

"Drop me near my place on your way," Yuta was the only one to speak, his tone colder than his looks and the lack of temperature around the vampires. "I don't want to be part of any of this."

03: chaos

Soyeon and Donghyuck didn't waste a second from the moment they walked through the front door of that luxurious apartment. Kissing violently and obstructing their way into what seemed like a room, they moved without separating from each other to breathe, attached as if they were feeding on each other. In contrast, Taeyong and Jaehyun walked in completely relaxed; Taeyong with his arm around Jaehyun's shoulders, and intertwining their fingers in a way that almost moved you. You remembered Taeyong's words in the parking lot and wondered if love could really exist inside such cursed creatures.

Youngho looked tired after collapsing into the big leather couch in the living room, bottle of whiskey in hand. He opened it and poured four glasses, which you took as an invitation to join him and circle around the small table, along with the other couple.

There was a golden tray covered in white dust that looked ready to be used at any time. The first was Taeyong. He set up the line, brought his face close to the tray, and you heard him inhale the cocaine. After that, it didn't take more than a split second for him to finish his glass of whiskey in one gulp. And even though you knew it took a lot to intoxicate a vampire or alter their senses with some mundane substance made for human consumption, you were surprised how Taeyong didn't even flinch; not a sign of a slight dizziness, nothing. Jaehyun asked Youngho for a refill for his glass, and when he finished it, he and Taeyong said a hearty goodbye before retiring to the second floor.

Youngho was a man of few words, you had learned in the hours you had spent with him that night—even though you had already lost track of time. Your old cell phone had been left behind in the dressing room at the club, long before you saw Doyoung, and long before you met Youngho and your whole plan was completely ruined. Looking outside couldn't give you any clues as to what time it was either, since the sun hadn't shone in weeks.

The sound of the incessant storm was barely drowned out by the music from a vinyl that Youngho had just put on. He returned to your side on the couch and, again, he didn't need to say much: the vampire handed you the tray of cocaine, you inhaled a line, and he finished the whiskey straight from the bottle. That tired expression he wore before was suddenly gone; as he watched you recover from the dizziness, it had been replaced by one that could be mistaken for euphoria, or maybe desire.

Your head felt extremely light, and your body was on the verge of losing control and letting yourself be carried away by the melody playing in the common area of that huge, cold, and dark apartment.

As if Youngho had been reading your thoughts, he asked:

"Dance for me."

His throat, probably irritated by all the alcohol consumed, made his voice reach your ears deep and attractive, awakening chills throughout all your skin. And you obeyed, of course—it was your job, and he was your actual boss. On top of all that, there was the possibility of desperately wanting to dance for Youngho once again.

Youngho pushed the small wooden table away, moving it with his leather boot on it without a care, making room for you to dance right in front of where he was sitting. Arms and legs outstretched as if he were in paradise, Youngho made you feel that if looks could kill you would probably already be dead—eaten alive, drained from all your blood. And in some twisted way, you couldn't help but enjoying it: the feeling that even though they could have whoever they wanted, there were two the vampires who continued to choose you over the others—who had you as the object of their desires. Doyoung did it regularly. And you had to find a way to make Youngho want to do it too without getting killed.

You could hear the sound of the fire burning the paper that wraps the tobacco, and the room quickly filled with its white smoke coming out of Youngho's lungs. The music that was making you dance wasn't particularly sensual—the melody and the sounds made the situation of being in the vampire's house even more macabre. Still, you tried your best to impress Youngho, who was huffing and running his hand through his hair restlessly, as he watched you with the same eyes that had mesmerized you in the casino. They looked brown, normal one second, and bloodshot red the next. You thought it was a consequence of your drunken state that it altered your perception of things, or of the desire that you felt existed between you.

Your outfit that night left nothing to the imagination. You were still wearing your performing clothes—a see-through dress and the set of faux-leather underwear that you assumed had been tempting the vampire in front of you all night. He wasn't leaving much to the imagination either. The tent on his dressing pants were giving you enough confidence to take it a step further.

You turned around, trying to follow the beat of the music. The hem of your dress rolled up the curve of your ass when you squatted down in front of him. You heard him groan over the music, and the sound of ruffling against the black leather couch. It made you smile when you turned your head to the side and saw him out of the corner of your eye, struggling a little with his hard-on. So you got your knees and the side of your head to touch the cold, white marbled floor, while maintaining that eye contact that was so mesmerizing to you. You opened your knees and broke your back to have your ass moving up and down in front of Youngho a couple of times, then straightened your back to finally get rid of the thin and shiny tulle that caressed your skin.

It was when Youngho lost it, grabbing you by the arm and turning your body around to sit you on his lap. "Keep dancing," his voice came out raspy and desperate.

The tension, the strange beat of the music and all the smoke accumulated in the room squeezed your chest, making it difficult for you to breathe, and if something didn't happen in the next few seconds you felt like your heart might explode. Even when you tried to remind yourself to not fully give in to him and lose control, you couldn't really concentrate on what you were actually there for. You felt like you had accepted leaving with Youngho for a different reason, far, very far away from fucking him. Nonetheless, that seemed like the only thing you could really think of at that moment.

A whine came out from your mouth when you felt his hands touching you for the first time and pushing you even closer to him. And when he squeezed your ass to place your clothed sex right above his bulge you gasped, your lungs purified with clean air, as if something had been restricting them all this time.

It was that feeling again—a downforce pulling your body down, feeling as if you were descending from the sky at miles per hour, and your brain processing reality way too fast for your drunken state. An incessant throbbing between your legs, extremely turned on by the vampire under you, and you having no clue of how you actually ended up in that position.

Because yes, of course you remember what happened that night. You remember going to talk to them at their table, then getting into one of their cars and talking with Taeyong, accepting the drugs from Youngho and wanting to dance for him… But you didn't work like this. You've never worked like this. Every move and interaction had to be absolutely thought out and premeditated and this—it just felt totally wild, like you were out of it when you were in front of Youngho. Just the way you felt when you saw him at the vampires cave, back at the casino.

Despite looking the most young and fresh above the majority of them, given his position amongst the vampires at the club, you assumed Youngho was probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest of them all. You wondered if he was really that powerful; there was the possibility that he was messing with your head, you'd read older vampires were able to do so even to humans.

You thought he was absolutely insane when you felt the cold air hit your nipples and then his warm mouth attached to them. He let you grind on top of him, while you tried to contain your moans and to concentrate on what you actually had to do, that was getting out of there before you were food for vampires.

Your plan was screwed. Youngho being the leader of them changed everything you had been working on for months, even before you got your job at the strip club. You thought you had him, but there was a high chance that he was just using you to benefit from you somehow. Either it was getting on Doyoung's nerves, feeding from you, or just to get his dick wet—this wasn't about you. You needed to make it about you.

You needed to have control over the situation again. Change the plan and keep moving as soon as possible, without being suspicious. But Doyoung was already too involved and, fuck—he wasn't the vampire you had to get with, and you knew he was already kind of attached. You could said he had feelings, you knew that was possible for immature vampires, so you had to deal with that too and–

"Care to explain what this is for?"

You felt the blade pressing into the skin of your neck, threatening to cut just above your jugular if you made even the slightest movement. Youngho shook your head and tightened his grip on the nape of your neck even more, the force he exerted there beginning to ache and the sharpness of the weapon demanding a response from you more than the fear and adrenaline you knew were giving you away, no matter how hard you tried to stay calm.

You closed your eyes and silently cursed Ten for giving you the stupid razor, and yourself for accepting it even when you knew a little blade would be a waste of time when it came to vampires. You cursed yourself for being so careless after months working to get to this point—not in the way you really wanted, though.

"Five seconds to explain yourself before I kill you," he talked from under you once again.

Your eyes met his, no longer changing from brown to red but fully bloodshot now, and looking more scary than ever. You gulped one time and decided to speak—it's not like you had another choice anyway.

"It's because I work at the club," you managed to get your voice out. "I'm not sure if you know, but most of the men there are nasty." The words came out as fast as you could, but the anger on his face was telling you he wasn't having any of your bullshit. You concluded your lie struggling to maintain eye contact. "Wouldn't be the first time someone has to defend themselves from them."

Youngho loosened his grip on the back of your head and lowered the razor from your neck, only to caress your body with its sharp tip, tickling your skin as he ran it across your chest, the curve of your breasts, and your abdomen.

"Nobody dares to enter my house with weapons, you know that?" He applied more force to the blade against your skin. "Who the fuck you think you are?"

"It wasn't to hurt you," you dared to say, chest breathing heavy under the movement of the blade. "I swear I'd never think of using it on anyone. It's just to scare the guys from the club away if things get ugly."

The blade stopped on the flesh above your left clavicle, right besides where a scar was placed. Doyoung wasn't used to feeding on you, saying he didn't like it and that it wasn't what your relationship was about. But sometimes you would let him, when the moment would get too intense and you noticed that he was fighting too hard to control his tendencies. He was happy getting drunk on your blood from time to time, and he rewarded you with amazing sex and aftercare. All that was left was a little scar in that spot. Youngho laughed looking at it, and you felt the sting of the edge cutting the skin, then his tongue licking the blood that emanated from the superficial cut.

He hummed satisfied after getting a taste from you, and his fangs rubbled the zone before he spoke.

"I don't believe shit you're saying, my darling."

Even though you had imagined a moment like this before, with the most important vampire of all making you his in every way, you prepared yourself for the worst outcome. There was no chance you were getting out of there the way you wanted it.

Yet the surprise of a door being opened violently interrupted Youngho, who was about to open your chest in two, and his gaze focused on a scene behind you. His face deformed rapidly, and his expressions were no longer covered with desire and hunger but full of fury and anger. Even though you had no idea what was going on at your back, you were internally grateful that you weren't the cause of the sudden outburst of the vampire.

"Johnny, I think I messed up."

Donghyuck's voice managed to get to your ears when Youngho got you off his lap and shoved you to the other side of the couch. He got up in a rage, and you took care of calming your breathing in silence before he could remember that he was literally about to kill you. You heard Youngho start to mutter to Donghyuck, but you were too busy checking the small cut on your skin that kept bleeding, staining your fingertips every time you touched it.

"The fuck have you done?!" You heard the older vampire scream this time, and when you looked up he was pushing a Donghyuck completely covered in red back, causing the boy to hit the wall and become unbalanced. "You know we don't do this here, it's strictly forbidden."

Donghyuck stood outside the room he locked himself up earlier. Barefoot, only wearing a pair of briefs and the blood dripping from his mouth, painting his neck and chest a deep red. He was trying to explain something to Youngho, yet your mind couldn't concentrate on anything different than the scene inside of the bedroom.

Soyeon's body was on the bed. Her neck hanging off the edge with her eyes open, a terrified look penetrating right into yours. She must have been full of fear, is what you thought as you saw the fresh blood covering her neck and the champagne-colored bed sheets—now stained in red. An open wound on its left side that had stopped bleeding. Donghyuck must have sucked her dry.

"I damn Mia for turning you, Donghyuck, I really do. You're nothing more than a pain in the ass," Youngho said, and you watched him start to dial a phone number from your place on the couch.

Donghyuck seemed like he didn't care much as he started heading towards where you were sitting. You tried to move back even further in place by drawing your legs to your chest, clearly scared of what he might do to you. This was not the way you thought you'd die. But he simply stopped at the small wooden table and took out a cigarette.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you," his mouth barely opened to speak, as he tried to hold the cigarette between his lips. He lit it up, inhaled all the tobacco smoke, then let it out to mix with the heavy, tense atmosphere. His lips left the filter painted with your co-worker's blood. "Yet." He finished talking with a macabre smile, and even dared to wink at you.

He quickly scanned you up and down, suddenly reminding you of the situation you were in with Youngho before he showed up and making you feel utterly exposed, so you crossed your arms over your chest in the best attempt to shield yourself from the hungry eyes of the young vampire.

"You're not doing shit more than taking care of this mess," Youngho spoke to Donghyuck as approached the scene. "I called Mia, you'll do it together. And be fucking reasonable while doing it. I don't want to see her on the news tomorrow because she was found laying in an alley."

"And what do we do about her?" Donghyuck asked while pointing at you with the cigarette. "Can't you make her forget? 'Cause I doubt you really wanna deal with another dead body."

Youngho stared at your body for a few seconds, thinking. Donghyuck waited for an answer, shifting his gaze from his boss to you, and you could feel Soyeon's eyes, dead but full of fear on you all the way from inside the bedroom. The smell of blood emanating from there and from Donghyuck's dripping mouth was beginning to be nauseating and the music playing from the vinyl threatened to drive you crazy.

"She doesn't need to forget," he finally said. Then he pulled your blade out of the back pocket of his pants and threw it forward, the little weapon landing on the couch right next to you. "You don't fuck with vampires. Consider this a lesson."

04: through the storm

Check the window. Watch the raindrops fall. Take your hand out and feel the water in your skin. Wipe the humidity with your clothes. Check the time—it's been twenty-six hours and thirteen minutes since you left Youngho's house; twenty-five hours and two minutes since you left Kun's apartment with your hands stained with blood. And try not to lose your mind. Check the time only one more time just to make sure you're not disconnecting from reality.

Not even a minute had passed since the last time you unlocked your phone to do that.

The wind from the storm that had been going on for days suddenly became more violent, whipping your face and forcing you to close the windows of the house, leaving you in the dark after the candles have gone out. The dim firelight between your trembling hands lighting cigarette after cigarette was the only tangible evidence of your emotions at that moment. The room quickly filled with smoke as the wax burned back onto the table, and that poor light allowed you to summarize what you were doing.

Your eyes scanned the thick paper, reading the information that had been kept from you over and over again. National Intelligence Service, printed in blue ink, and a 'classified' red stamp just below it.

Serial 090295-127. Name: Seo Youngho - Alias "Johnny".

A voice resonated inside your head, almost torturing you, and you feared closing your eyes in case you'd be reminded of the events of the past hours.

"Did you really think you'd be able to do this alone? Are you that naive?"

Address: Unknown. Jurisdiction: Seoul. Additional info/scars/tattoos/weapons/etc.: tattoos of a barbed wire on his chest; hummingbird, beast, and wild leaves on his left shoulder (colored), spider on his right pectoral, flower arrangement in his right hand, letters on his fingers. Master hand-to-hand combatant. Masters various supernatural powers (includes supernatural strength, speed, super bionic hearing and vision, telekinesis, mind control.)

Two checked boxes under that information:

Suspect. Previously arrested.

The rage would make you tremble and break a cold sweat that dropped down the sides of your body. You closed the blue folder violently and you piled it on top of the rest of the documents carelessly. Yuta's, Taeyong's, Jaehyun's, Doyoung's—all of them—and tossed them across the room to somehow deal with the irritation. The papers that keep track of the vampire organization's crimes up to a year ago, before Qian Kun was fired for not agreeing to stop investigating them, flew through the air and landed next to the pile of clothes you took off just a couple of hours ago. The candlelight hardly reached that area of the house. Still, it was enough to illuminate the red stains on your white fur coat, and remind you of the scene you left behind at the retired cop's house.

You can't really say that it was premeditated, although you can't really say that you simply acted out of a violent impulse, or a nervous one, or whatever. You wanted to finish off the bastard, just not under those circumstances. After finding out that he had only been lying to you and using you to catch the vampires first, and that by hiding information as important as who their true leader is, he ruined the whole damn plan you were carrying out. You thought the bastard deserved nothing more than to die right away.

Kun's apartment, in a crumbling building just a couple of streets from the casino, had become an exact replica of the Seoul police investigation office after he was kicked out. Target pictures pasted on the walls, phone numbers, bank account aliases, contacts from all around the world, photos from outside and inside the casino—you name it. The man studied the vampires who ruled the casino day and night.

When Kun arrived in Korea from China, he was a newly recruited police officer hungry for justice in a dirty, corrupt, and dying world. He had followed the vampires who had their illegal businesses in China and, frustrated by all the obstacles the authorities put to judge them, he decided to go in search of the root of the problem. Kim Doyoung, was what he told you the night you met him in the old bar where you worked and where Kun often went to drown his sorrows.

Kim Doyoung was supposedly the man in charge of the biggest chain of clubs and casinos in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, Tokyo and, of course, Seoul. Kim Doyoung, a rich, powerful, attractive, timeless man. A vampire. Someone who would survive the supposed last of humanity's crises, filling his pockets exponentially and living peacefully for all eternity. Absolutely everything you were looking for. 

You were going to kill Kun after you had become what you wanted and rid yourself of the vampires, but that evening he left you no choice.

The morning after the night you met Youngho and your life suddenly got upside down, you went to Kun's apartment for explanations.

You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to keep the memory from creeping into your mind.

"I didn't lie to you," he had the nerve to say. "I just kept information from you, for your own safety."

"Bullshit!" you almost spit in his face. All the anger generated by the situation you found yourself in with Youngho, Soyeon's unnecessary death, and Doyoung's strange attitudes, you were unloading on the police officer. If your plan took a one hundred and eighty degrees turn it was his fault, and you were going to let him know. "If you cared about my safety you would've told me the truth from the start. And I would've been dealing with the right vampire from the beginning. Wouldn't have gotten my mind fucked, maybe my co-worker wouldn't be fucking dead!"

"You could never have dealt with the situation on your own."

"I would have planned it differently! I thought I had Doyoung eating from the palm of my hand."

"You have Doyoung eating from your hands, though," he shot back, maintaining an incredibly calm composure even though you had been yelling at him for about ten minutes.

"But he's not the right guy, for fuck's sake!"

Kun left the room leaving you shaken, your chest rising and falling rapidly, and your throat closing more and more in response to all your accumulated anger. After a couple of seconds he returned with a file box in his hands and begun to search inside it, until he pulled out a blue folder and opened it with the intention of reading its contents to you.

"Okay, listen. This is how we're going to proceed."

"Hell no. I'm not doing this with you anymore." Your face contorted in disgust as you looked at him, and you pointed an accusing finger at him to speak, "You think I can trust you after you lied like this to me?"

"Did you really think you'd be able to do this alone?" Kun asked once more, but this time with a much more incredulous tone, his eyes narrowed and a nasty smirk on his lips. "Are you that naive? Look at you."

He motioned to you with his head and you followed his gaze all the way down to your own self. You were still wearing your outfit of the previous night—your performance clothes, only covered by a fur coat you managed to take before leaving the casino that barely reached your thighs. You hadn't had the energy to shower nor change clothes since you came back from Youngho's apartment, so your makeup from the previous night was trying to survive the water from the bathroom sink and the rain, almost completely smudged off your face now. To be quite honest, you were a disaster.

"You're nothing more than a whore who makes men horny for fucking money, and you're going to die as that, nothing else," he stated disgustingly. "There's no chance you can fool Youngho and run away with his money. It's not happening. Be fucking realistic."

You felt your eyes burn and fill with tears. A lump settled in your throat, and you couldn't warn him at all. When Kun turned around and had his back to you, you just saw the perfect opportunity to vent all your pent up rage.

The knife you were hiding in your boots felt incredibly heavy in your right hand. Kun's hair was soft to the touch as you took hold of him to angle his neck to the edge of the blade. A clean cut from left to right was all it took for your skin to feel the heat of his blood, and the floor began to turn red—a dark and stinking red, like the one you often see Doyoung drink from his fine glass bottles.

You let out a cry of exhaustion watching the body fall limp to the wooden floor and hearing the retired officer struggle to maintain his life.

"¡Fuuuuuck! ¡Fuck, fuck, fucking shit!"

The pool of blood didn't manage to reach the sole of your shoes, as you walked away and busied yourself with taking the file box that Kun had just revealed to you, along with some other photographs and bank account numbers. You didn't take all the items that were hanging on his walls, because whoever entered, found his lifeless dead body, and then saw how he had been following the vampires for years, would only think that the crime was their own doing—that they discovered him and wanted him out of the way. Nobody would ever suspect you, because you always made sure there were no traces left of your relationship with Kun that could incriminate you. There was a high chance that the case wouldn't even get investigated, as no one dared to touch the vampire organization and Kun didn't have family in Seoul that could worry about him, anyway.

The old plan to get to the vampires was completely screwed, so you needed to think about a new one as soon as possible.

You opened your eyes and you found yourself sitting at home again, by candlelight, this time with a joint in your hands. You turned it on, took a puff, checked the time through the broken screen of your phone. Only a minute had passed since you last did the same, but in your head it felt like an hour. 

Nothing coherent would emerge under that state of mind, so finally, after approximately more than thirty-five hours awake, you went to sleep trying to convince yourself that you were not losing your sanity.

05: every splendid thing gathered as if to tempt me

You weren't asked to go to the vampire's cave again after what happened with Soyeon. When you went back to work at the club alone though, Ten was the first to suspect something had happened either when you were there or after. He asked if you knew the reason why she was absent, but you weren't gonna tell him the truth–you couldn't imagine what would happen if your coworkers found out their bosses didn't mind killing his employees only because they couldn't control their thirst for human blood. You were afraid that, if you said a word, they'd find out and get you killed too.

Your answer did not convince Ten at all, who questioned you, crossing his arms and frowning.

"You think she's sick?"

You just shrugged, looking at him through the reflection in the mirror of the club's dressing room.

"It's been a week since she's absent," he remarked. "You think she's gonna miss a week of work, considering how shitty the pay is, just because she's sick? She doesn't have any more income."

You swallowed dryly and couldn't stand his gaze any longer. If Ten noticed how guilt took over your senses, he chose not to say anything about it. Only his footsteps could be heard, the sole of his white platforms sinking into the wood as he walked away from you to collapse on the old leather couch.

Your phone vibrated and the screen turned on, showing a text indicating to be at the private parking lot in five minutes. Doyoung explained he had a busy week and that he couldn't make much time to contact you, but that he admired you from his office every night that you were dancing at the club's stage, and it made him miss you even more. He wanted to compensate you for all the time you couldn't be together.

"Doyoung might know something," you finally tried to reassure Ten, even though you knew Doyoung wouldn't have a clue . "I could ask him about her."

His long, thin legs crossed while he lit a cigarette up and drank whiskey as if it were water. "Please do," he said, exhaling a large cloud of smoke. "I'm worried sick about her."

—

You thought it would be easier to deal with the situation, however the image of Soyeon dead in Youngho's bed haunted you day and night, just like the tail of your lies. The sound of the flush filled the bathroom right after the conversation with Ten made your stomach turn. You opened the sink, rinsed your mouth, touched up the red color of your lipstick and bit into a mint.

Five minutes later, you found Doyoung waiting for you at the side of his white sports car. He was busy on his phone, a frown on his brows as he discussed with someone in a low tone you couldn't catch anything of what he was saying. Even though he looked frustrated, his eyes relaxed as soon as he saw you approaching his spot. He did that characteristic gesture of him, extending his arm to you to get you closer, and you intertwined your fingers as he ended his call on the phone.

"I'll have an answer tonight, Johnny."

Your stomach flipped for the second time that day as soon as you heard the name leave Doyoung's lips. He frowned once again, maybe sensing a change in your mood, but only smiled at you and caressed the back of your palm with his thumb. You thought Doyoung might not have known what happened, but somehow he could've been trying to comfort you.

"Alright, see you tomorrow." Doyoung ended the call.

He cupped your face with his hands locking eyes with you. He had a tender look, and it made you wonder if Doyoung might see it through you—all the sleepless hours, the crying, the fear, the stains of blood, the lies. Yet he only pushed your head closer to his, locking your mouths with a soft kiss. His lips were cold to the touch, but after what felt like the most chaotic and stressful days of your entire life, you found some kind of comfort in them. His gentle manners disconnected you from reality, so you stuck to that kiss like your life depended on it, deepening it more and more as time passed.

You tugged Doyoung closer, his perfectly white shirt wrinkling in your fists while you felt his body adapt perfectly to yours and his expensive cologne filled your senses. It reminded you of the reason why you started seeing Doyoung in the first place—you liked him. You liked his body, you liked his face and the way it seemed like he only had eyes for you. You loved how he smelled, how he always kissed your cheeks, how his silk shirts felt on your skin after he got you naked. Then you got used to the rides on his expensive cars, the delicious meals and the comfort of the king sized beds he would fuck you over everytime you were together.

Maybe you liked all that a little too much, got ambitious, wanted it all only for you. And you wanted it forever.

He broke the kiss and laughed when he saw you chasing his lips for more. His hands moved up to hug your waist and you opened your eyes to find his slightly bloodshot red, his irises slowly going back to its normal yellowish as you both struggled with your breath.

A lopsided smile was plastered on his face.

"Let's go home."

And maybe, only this last time, you didn't want to think of following plans, of keeping secrets and fearing betrayals. Maybe you wanted to have a moment with Doyoung, only a moment, like it was when it all started.

After weeks of torrential rains, all that was left in Seoul was empty streets under an eternal starry night. The wind that entered through the apartment’s open windows made the black curtains dance around a king-sized bed where Doyoung laid naked. Through the gold-ornamented mirror he observed you fix your hair, then put your panties on and add some more lipstick after it transferred all to your lover’s skin.

Against popular belief, you were able to catch his silhouette through the reflection coming close to you. His body was illuminated by the moonlight only, yet it was enough to admire all the muscle and the ink that adorned his body. It was just as they described it on the documents you got from Kun’s house, each tattoo placed in the exact place, and it made you wonder if those previous investigators had gotten the information the same way. How many lovers could Doyoung and the rest of the vampires possibly have had that were not their lovers, but some desperate humans trying to make something out of this miserable world? How many other girls have touched Doyoung’s velvety skin under the moonlight, over those same sheets, and how many more would if you’re not the last one?

His touch was cold over your shoulders, even when he placed his soft lips on your naked skin it felt terribly cold. From behind you, his right hand traveled past your navel until it reached the only trace of fabric you were wearing. The other hand over your neck applied the right amount of pressure to get your entire body pressed to his, and he whispered in your ear.

“There’s something you need to understand very clearly, my dear.”

The coldness reached your insides. Doyoung started rubbing on your sex very gently, enough for you to pay attention to what he was saying.

“Even if you start dancing occasionally for other vampires at the cave, you’re my human.”

He added a finger as he finished the sentence, making you throw your head back over his shoulder.

“You can’t be with anyone else.” When he sensed you were ready, a second finger came in alongside a tight grip on your neck. “Understood?”

But a moan got caught in your throat. You had to open your eyes to check your reflection in the mirror because you couldn’t believe what your ears heard.

That wasn’t Doyoung’s voice asking the question, nor was it his figure behind you and with his hand between your pussy.

It was Johnny’s.

The older vampire let go of the grip on your neck before putting your panties down in one go. The contact on your skin no longer felt cold, but it was incredibly hot, almost burning the places he was grabbing you from. With both hands behind your back locked between his, he started fucking you. You looked for Doyoung around the room, wondering where had he gone and if he was okay with it. It was hard to understand how one second he was telling you you’re his, and the other he was letting his superior have his way with you.

“What are you doing?!” You asked the vampire behind you, while he was restlessly going in and out of you and you were fighting not to scream his name.

“This is lesson number two,” Johnny said between breaths. “You can’t play both ends.”

It’s hard to explain what truly happened that night, because you couldn’t decipher it yourself.

When you started to fight the pleasure, he seemed to have no other option than to let you go. After quickly putting all your clothes on and apparently coming down from the high, you ran out of Doyoung’s room, full of embarrassment and in fear of encountering him and got him questioning your state.

But you couldn’t avoid him.

His hand on your forearm stopped you from getting through the front door.

“What happened?” He asked a little out of breath, only wearing a pair of briefs and a confused expression.

“Where is he?”

“Where’s who?” Doyoung returned the question.

“Sorry, I'm sorry,” you apologized as you fought to get rid of his grip, rotating your gaze wildly between his body and the bedroom door, hoping that Johnny would simply disappear from there. “I just need to go.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, no.”

“Did you not like it?”

And what were you supposed to say? You couldn’t quite wrap your head around the idea of Doyoung letting Johnny fuck you. In his own house, right after himself. It just wasn’t part of Doyoung’s nature, you knew that. So, to say you were extremely confused once again, was an understatement. Doyoung was still looking at you expecting an answer.

The problem was, you liked what Johnny did to you a little too much.

“Are you scared of me?” Doyoung asked after not getting a word from you. “Is this because of Soyeon?”

“No.” You furrowed your brows. Doyoung knew something and was clearly keeping it from you. But how much did he know was the real problem; he better not have an idea you were with Johnny the night she died, or it would be all screwed. Doyoung simply couldn’t know you saw his boss, or you would lose your job and contact with the casino, completely. That’s why you got a little defensive and started questioning him, even when you already got all the answers. “What does she have to do with this?”

“Uhm, no, it doesn't have to do anything–”

“What do you know, Doyoung?” You demanded with a firmer tone. He remained silent, perhaps debating whether to confess or not. So you feigned a little more concern.

“She’s missing! Don’t act all dumb Doyoung, I know something happened to her!”

“One of the vampires of the cave, Donghyuck,” he finally started. “Well, he can’t control his impulses too well.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“He’s young! Like, very recently turned and… Apparently he impulsively sucked all the blood out of her–”

But it was impossible for him to finish the sentence because you started gagging. Not because of what he was saying, but because of the mental image you had of Soyeon’s dead body, and Donghyuck all covered in her blood in front of you. You even remember the nauseous smell, and your eyes filled up with tears because of the disgust.

“I know she was your friend. I’m sorry for not telling you, I just didn’t want to scare you.” His voice came out desperate as his touch sought to comfort you, through caresses on your arms and your cheeks. “I know I get possesive sometimes telling you you’re just mine, but it’s because I’m afraid you might get involved with them and end up like that.”

“I already got involved with you. What makes you different?” You countered a little defensively, dodging his hands.

Doyoung had always been very respectful of your boundaries and your emotions, so you weren't surprised when he brought his hands to his chest, guarding himself against the desire to come into contact with you after you avoided it. His murmur still echoed in that huge, dark living room of his apartment.

“That I… I really care for you. You’re more than a good fuck to me. You know that, right?”

The empty look of a defeated body was all you gave back to him, as if you no longer had the strength to deal with the situation.

He approached you very slowly, still in a state of alert that you could feel. “I care for you.” He repeated. “A lot.”

“You vampires can’t develop feelings and shit,” you finally spoke. “Don’t try to lie to me.”

The vampire shrugged with his head down, an attitude you have never witnessed before. That level of vulnerability he was showing was completely new; deeper than the sex, even deeper than sharing your blood with him.

“I can,” he confessed, looking back into your eyes. “I’m not that old, you know? To completely dissociate myself from my feelings.”

While you remained silent, you let him close the space between the two of you once again. Doyoung’s fingertips were soft caressing your cheeks, yet his lips felt even softer. He wore yellow clear eyes full of worry, far from those arrogant or lustful looks he gave you most of the time. On his naked chest, right above where his heart should’ve been beating, a perfect shape of your lips in the color of red.

The gears were turning inside your head trying to think of how to use this to your advantage and put the plan into motion with Johnny.

“I need some time alone to process all this.”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Doyoung was quick to reassure you. “Whatever you need, you know I’m just one call away.”

You nodded your head yes and were out of the vampire’s place.

Once on the street, you searched your small bag for the cigarettes you had taken from Doyoung's nightstand and lit one. In a reflex act, you looked up in the direction of his balcony, where its black curtains still fluttered due to the unusual wind and blended with the darkness of the night in a decaying Seoul. Suddenly, the windows closed. You exhaled the smoke from your cigarette smiling.

"Stupid vampires."

And you stopped the bus that would take you back to the Oasis.

06: tell me how you want to keep me for eternity

Multiple murmurs from came to your ears as you opened the doors to the red room. The waitresses opened bottles of champagne and filled the mortals’ glasses as the vampires sucked on their blood cocktails. There was some jazz playing in the back while you were opening your way to that particular table that caught your attention so much on the first day you were at the vampire’s cave.

That night, however, you noticed there were a few missing faces as you performed on the stage.

When you encountered Yuta at the casino’s main entrance and he told you you were back at the third floor, of course you were expecting to dance for Johnny. Yet he was nowhere to be seen. You didn’t even feel his presence like you did the first time you were there, and you thought it was strange. Why would he call you to dance if he wasn’t going to be watching? And why would you bother dancing if you were going to do it for other people?

The call of your name startled you, making you realize you had already walked by the vampire’s designated table during your train of thought. Taeyong's friendly tone made it quite difficult to hide the reality that you weren't interested in stopping at the table unless Johnny was there.

“Come have a drink with us.” 

You nodded your head politely and sat down at the rounded table. Taeyong and his boyfriend were attached at the hips as in every situation you had shared with them. On their side, a rather young looking man with a perfectly defined nose and plump lips with an unnatural red. The remains on his glass made you think you couldn't make up his age based on his looks because he was also drinking from the blood cocktail. Between him and Yuta, some girls you had never seen before. Lastly, Donghyuck was sitting on your side with a cocky smile that you started to think was characteristic of him.

“You and the dancers were amazing tonight,” Taeyong said as he offered you a bubbly glass that you drowned in one go.

“It was a new show,” you responded with a smile. “A different one we haven’t presented in the club, so we didn’t have much rehearsal before this.”

“You work at the club?” One of the girls asked, arching a brow and getting a laugh out of her friend.

You confirmed with a nod of your head and a slightly embarrassed smile, yet the rage was already bubbling up inside you. She only added, “Must be hard dealing with all the shit that goes down there.”

That made both of them laugh and you scoffed in response.

“Why don’t you go down there and see if you can deal with it,” your face frowned as you challenged them with the same impudence. “I’m sure you won’t act all tough once you’re outside your little privileged bubble.”

Yuta was the only one that dared to show a reaction to your response. He laughed and poured another glass of champagne before handing it to you as some kind of reward. “You won’t want to mess with this one, girls,” the japanese said and he got up in his place, not looking them in the eyes even once but rather concentrated in the rest of the cave, as if looking for someone.

“Yeah, I can see,” the girl that remained silent and only laughing until then, spoke. “You can’t hide where you come from. It always shows.”

And with that they left the table, leaving you alone with the vampires.

“I think you’re one of our best dancers,” Jaehyun said. “But not the best.”

As the sensual tone of an electric guitar came to your senses, he stood up and asked his boyfriend for his hand. “Would the best dancer in the building give me the honour of sharing this piece?”

Taeyong laughed out of nervousness, asking ‘what?’ as he laced his fingers between his lover’s. But his expression turned quickly as he recognized the song. “Wait, is this our song?” He asked getting up.

“I paid the musicians to play it for us.”

Jaehyun dragged his partner to the center of the dance floor, attracting everyone's attention except for one person. It seemed like Yuta had finally found what he was looking for, and you saw him smile for what you think was the first time in your life. A genuine smile formed on his lips and forced him to leave the table in search of an infernal woman who was entering the cave. He kissed her knuckles almost hidden by a huge fur coat, and the tip of her stilettos echoed across the floor as they both left through the red curtains she had just entered.

A few seconds passed by with Jaehyun and Taeyong swinging to the music, before you were startled by the last person setting at the table with you.

“Just you and me, huh?” Donghyuck asked and you hummed. “Should we go dance too?”

“No, thanks.”

“What?” He laughed, sounding like he was a little shocked by the quick denial. “I thought you enjoyed dancing for the vampires a little too much,” he added with a disgusting tone eyeing you up and down.

His wandering looks you caught from the corner of your eye obliged you to cover up a little, uncomfortable. But it wasn't enough for Donghyuck to catch the signal, or maybe he decided he couldn't care less, hence the young vampire moved his right hand to your knee and started squeezing there, feeling your skin through the red stockings you were wearing.

“Red’s my favorite colour,” he whispered getting closer to your side.

Your trembly hands tried to pour another glass of champagne but failed once you noticed the bottle was empty. Beyond Donghyuck’s spot on the table there was a bottle of whiskey, so you tried to reach for it but couldn’t when you felt his hand go further up your knee.

You stopped him right there and looked him in his blood-shot eyes. A wicked smile took over his features and he licked his lips after squeezing your thight once more. “What?” He asked after your silence.

From his being emanated a mix of whiskey and that nauseating smell that reminded you of the night Donghyuck had appeared before you covered in blood, and of the floor of Kun's apartment covered in the same red.

“You scared of me?” Donghyuck whispers once again. “Scared you might end up like that pretty friend of yours?”

You held your breath, trying to endure the nausea that the young man caused you. You knew he meant you were scared of ending up dead.

“Trying to be fucked by you?” A laugh made your entire body shake. “Not even in your wildest dreams,” you finished to get his hand off your skin and up from the table.

As the loverboys still danced slowly at the center of the floor and in front of the musicians, you fixed your clothes and went a little over him to finally reach for the bottle of Black Label.

“I need to go see your boss.”

—

“Ten,” you called his name as soon as you heard the boy on the other side of the phone.

Since Soyeon wasn’t around anymore, you decided you had to trust someone else. You had been working at the casino for a few months only, so it was needed to keep in contact with someone who knew the interns and could give you quick information.

Ten showed himself trustworthy since the very first moment you met. He was the nicest coworker you had too, along with Soyeon. During your first rehearsal at the club it was only him and you; he spent hours teaching you all the choreographies and showing you around so you wouldn’t feel so lost on your first day of shows. Later that same day, after he drowned glass of whiskey after glass of whiskey, the confessions came to you while you two sat on the rusty couch of the changing room.

“I fell for them too,” he said, head thrown back on the couch, getting his eyes lost on the dirt of the ceiling.

You rolled the tobacco between your fingers with some difficulty and passed it to Ten. “How did that happen?”

“Honestly,” the boy lit the tobacco up and it struggled to burn due to your poor arming skills, but he didn’t seem to mind. “They’re intriguing, I don’t know. And they’re handsome and hot despite all that coldness they carry around. But there was this particularly nice vampire that came to the club one night,” he confessed while pouring another two glasses of liquor and passing one to you. “That’s unusual. You’ll never see them around here, not even Doyoung, he’s always observing but only up from his office.

But this one was there. He came to see the show and then I encountered him in the bathroom.”

“In the bathroom?” 

“He was doing coke,” Ten laughed in disbelief. “But he was so nice,” a sigh came out of him remembering the moment. “The most defined jaw I’ve seen in my life, nose and lips carved by the Gods, a soft pastel pink hair that reminded me of how the beautiful afternoon sky looked before all this world went to shit.”

That made you wonder. Ten looked ratherly young, maybe around your age or just a couple of years older, yet you had no memories of how the initial world was. You had only lived during the beginning of the end. “How long have you been around here, Ten?”

“Many years,” he said, calling your name. He stood up from his place and went to look in front of the changing room’s mirror. “I got beside him like this, only looking at him through the mirror but I could see him eyeing me up and down with a dopey smile.”

It looked like nostalgia took over his body, a sad smile adorning his face when he turned around to finish his sentence.

“Taeyong has always been easy like that.”

“You fell in love with one of them?”

“Mhm.” Ten walked on his platforms until he was sitting on your side once again. He put the tobacco down in the ashtray and took the black, thick choker he was wearing around his neck. “We got close like this.”

A slightly visible scar of what looked like a pair of fangs was there on his skin.

“I think it can happen to most of us.” Ten searched for something in between his tight clothes until he took out a tiny bag of powder. “I do wish to feel that high again, everyday of my life.” Opened it, collected a little on the inside of his long nails and inhaled. “But I don’t wish for anyone else to experience it at the same time.”

“Girl,” he said through the line. “You good? Are you done with your number?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” you replied and hesitated for a moment on asking what you really wanted to know. “Do you know where I can find Johnny?”

A moment of silence, then Ten’s voice finally came back to your ears. “Last floor. His office is the only room you’ll find there.”

—

A gold painted door read Seo Youngho in front of your eyes. Under your black platforms, a petrol-colored carpet that combined perfectly with the dark walls of the hallway. You knocked on the door and checked above it and around the corners of the hallway to see if there were any cameras announcing your arrival, but opposite what you were used to in Doyoung’s office, there wasn’t a single one. You only heard a disturbed ‘come in’ from inside, and the voice made your stomach turn upside down.

The room behind the golden door was giant, covered in dark wood and black-out windows that reached the meters-long ceiling. Adorned in a typical gothic style, the office of your boss was what you would call a vampire's refuge, with thick blue curtains, and ornate armchairs sporting matching velvet. To your left, shelves that covered the walls full of books and boxes with files. To the right, a giant frame holding the most horrible canvas you've ever seen of Saturn devouring his son.

The voice of the boss himself made you turn your head to the center of the room.

Far from where you were, towards the end of the room and sitting behind a huge wooden desk covered in papers and candle wax was Johnny. He called your name a little surprised and made you feel stupid with a half empty whiskey bottle in your hand.

“Seems like you finally made a choice,” he said standing up from his place and coming in front of the desk.

You smiled with your lips sealed and started walking towards him. It was only a few steps, yet it felt like eternity. The room was incredibly cold, so much so that it gave you goosebumps and you had to fight a shiver once you were in front of the vampire. He looked down at you and laughed, taking the bottle out of your hand to pour two glasses of the liquor.

“The right one,” Johnny finished clinking his glass with yours.

The vampire went back to his place behind the desk, placing himself on his big wooden chair and inviting you to sit in front of him. “What brings you here?”

He was acting extremely weird, as if he wasn’t moved by your presence despite the initial surprise, not even after he fucked you in Doyoung’s bedroom what felt like hours ago. And when you saw him manspread as he lit up a cigarette, all you could think of was those same furrowed brows while he took you from behind in front of the mirror. You couldn't take him off of your mind. But he was unfazed.

“I expected to see you at the cave today.”

“I had a lot of work to do, as you can see.” He extended a hand showing you all the papers on his desk. “But luckily for you, I'm almost done.” That sparkled something inside you. A little bit of interest shown, enough for you to squeeze your legs together in excitement. Johnny looked down to your red stockings and lace and gifted you a lopsided smile. “I suppose you're still interested in seeing me?”

He took out another cigarette and lit it up, its black end burning while he handed the golden filter in your direction. When you put it between your lips, it was slightly humid.

“Yeah. Yes, of course.”

“Good then. I just need to go run some errands. It's gonna be quick. You can come with and then we’ll be heading home.”

It made you smile inevitably. You let the smoke come out of your mouth before agreeing to the plan. “Sounds perfect to me.”

Johnny stopped the car in front of a building you were too familiar with. It wasn’t your apartment, nor it was too far the casino to be Doyoung’s place. It was the entrance to Kun’s rusty apartment what made your blood run cold. He didn’t come out of the car immediately, only looking through the driver's window until two figures appeared through the front door. It was Yuta and that stunning female you saw him leave with earlier in the cave.

“What are we doing here?” You tried not to show the desperation in your voice.

“You stay in the car.”

The harsh sound of the closing door surprised you as Johnny went out to his encounter with Yuta and the female. You didn’t want to look suspicious, but you were dying to know what they were talking about and what they were doing in front of the building where the man you killed days ago used to live. So you tried your best to at least read the lips of the vampires and make out a little of what they were talking about. But it was all in vain, with Johnny showing his back to you and covering the figure of this intriguing female.

Shortly after, an old man came through the front door and greeted the vampires. His black suit and the police ID hanging from his neck left you frozen. They exchanged a few more words, an incredibly serious expression never leaving Yuta's face–the only one you could really see from your angle–, and then they parted ways.

Yuta and the female in the fur coat walked right in front of Johnny's car, and the japanese didn't miss the chance to suck the soul out of your body with his look. It took you back to what he said to the people sitting in the cave with you. You won't want to mess with this one.

What did he mean by that? What did Yuta know about you and how much did Johnny?

The closing of the driver’s door catched your attention and Johnny was sitting behind the steering wheel once again. Like a habit, the vampire caught your lips in a quick kiss after starting the car engine.

He looked at you fondly through his red irises. “Pretty little girls like you shouldn’t be playin’ with dead things, huh?” He asked with a smile. “Yet here we are.”

—

Johnny’s place looked nothing like the first and last time you were here, not with the curtains open and the dim lights of the streets finding their way through the windows. You checked the time on your phone screen and it was almost six in the morning. The sun was supposed to be showing behind the horizon already and warming up the world, but that was a scenario that didn’t take place anymore, and you had grown accustomed to it, to the darkness and the cold that surrounded and followed you every step since you had use of reason. You also noticed on top of your screen there was no service inside there.

You thought, in case something happened to you, at least Ten knew Johnny was the last person you were meant to see from that call you had with him earlier.

It was incredibly warm inside Johnny's house, and all the previous hours you had spent sleep deprived began to hit you one by one. You let out a big yawn as your arms relaxed on each side of your body, surrendered and exhausted.

A pair of lips came in contact with your cheek as your view got completely blocked by a tall and defined figure. Johnny kissed your skin softly while he caressed your arms up and down.

You couldn't help but think about how similar it felt to Doyoung's touch, and you avoided closing your eyes in fear that something strange would happen again. At that moment, you were suspicious of your desires, which seemed to confuse you to the point of imagining things.

“You’re pretty tired,” he noticed. “The boys told me you did really great today.”

“I really wanted you to see the new show.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be there.”

You nodded with a smile yet chased for his lips, what made Johnny laugh a little. “I’ll run a bath for the both of us.” Then he took your hand in his and started dragging you towards the bathroom.

Unsurprisingly, the room was painted in all dark colors and adorned in gold pieces. A wall decorated with what looked like figures of religious hearts was what caught the most attention. At its feet, a magnificent bathtub that could definitely fit more than two people, which Johnny quickly set about filling with hot water, and the image of the bathroom began to dissipate due to the steam. Among all that cloud, his hands invited you to take off his clothes, and he did the same to you with delicacy.

Johnny's body was incredible, even more toned than Doyoung's. Soft to the touch but firm under your grab, it made you want to tangle yourself between his arms and legs forever. And as if he was reading your mind, he put a foot inside the bathtub and extended a hand to you, inviting you in. The vampire laid his back to the end of it and placed your body between his long legs. You got so close to him that you were sure that, if he happened to be alive, you’d feel his heartbeat through his chest.

You allowed yourself to relax into his caresses as you fought to keep sleep from completely taking over you.

He massaged your scalp with shampoo, then moved his hands to release some of the tension in your shoulders. A sigh escaped your lips out of the satisfaction, and Johnny’s laugh resonated throughout your entire body due to the contact. His touch was quick but careful to explore the rest of your body, and when you felt it reaching the end of your stomach you had to make a confession.

“Johnny.”

He hummed at your call, so you continued talking.

“I don’t think I can fight it any more.”

“Fight what?” A curious tone reached your ears.

Then you felt his right hand traveling further down, and further down. The sensation of his fingers between your lips made you spread your legs wider and lay even more on his chest. And he started rubbing there, carefully, with no rush in his movements.

The stimulation of your clit made you moan out in pleasure and you heard him ask again.

“Fight what?”

You were wet and warm just like all the bathwater that surrounded you two, so it wasn’t difficult when he introduced one of his fingers to you. In fact, it felt so good you were no longer fighting the sleep that was taking over you a minute ago. What you actually meant earlier was that you couldn’t keep awake anymore, the bath becoming too relaxing for your exhausted self. But as you felt Johnny grow hard against your back you also felt all the sleepiness going away.

“Johnny,” you said once again between agitated breaths. Not once did he stop his finger from going in and out of you and from making you moan along with his movements.

“What?” He laughed as you kept calling his name and telling nothing to him. “Want another one?”

So he did introduce another finger without waiting for an answer. The steam from the water combined with the heat your body was radiating started to suffocate you, but it wasn’t enough for you to get out of there. You were finally having what you wanted, after all. Johnny grabbed one of your tits to alternate between squeezing and pinching on your nipple, as his fingers kept stimulating you all the way from your clit to deep inside your hole.

You clenched around his fingers as you felt the pleasure build up every second it passed. His long strands of hair, humid in your hand when you brought one of your arms up to pull on them. And you couldn’t wait to finally have Johnny inside of you once again. At that point, after experiencing how good he was with his hands only, you were dying to sit on top of him and to be under his body for hours and hours.

As your hand reached for him behind your back and you felt all the worries leave your mind, you finally spoke to him. “I want you, hurry up.”

“Hey, no need to rush,” he said while leaving sweet kisses on your neck and getting your hand out of the way. You were getting closer and closer, feeling like you were either about to explode or pass out once you were done.

All worries gone, except one.

The problem was that you felt like you had your days counted before something bad happened to you. You needed a vampire to turn you, to get the fuck out of Seoul with a ton of money as soon as possible, and you had been expecting that vampire to be Johnny. But once again, he didn’t seem to mind.

Johnny ignored your plea as he whispered in your ear:

“I have all the time in the world.”

Taglist: @doiefy @neonc1tylights @hoshitaro

[winterchimez]

Heart's Detour | Kim Sunwoo

SUMMARY: there has been a rise in kidnapping cases in town, and your brother feared for your safety and decided to send someone who would keep you safe in the meantime. what you least expected was that the biker gang's leader was the one your brother had gotten for you, thinking that this could probably be the biggest mistake you'll ever make in your life.

PAIRING: biker!Sunwoo x afab!reader (feat. lieutenant!Jacob)

GENRE: biker au, angst, crime, fluff, thriller, slight suggestive

WARNINGS: nc-17, first and foremost Sunwoo is very flirty and delulu here 😃👍, slow-burn, pet names (sweetheart, princess, kitten), violence, action scenes (certain parts may contain slight bit of gory content), mentions of weaponary (guns), minor characters death, blood, betrayal, mentions of crime (kidnapping and human trafficking), slight mention about sex, traumatic backstories, mentions about mental well-being/health, Sunwoo is shirtless at one point 👀, kissing, making out, yn also flirts back but it's only to keep Sunwoo in place 🫡

WORD COUNT: 22,779 (what in the world.)

A/N: 1/3 of the fics for this christmas season is out!! @itsbeeble @kimsohn for the both of you 😚 maya consider this my early birthday gift to you ❤️ also a huge shoutout to @justalildumpling @from-izzy for beta reading this whole chunk of bad boy ily both sm i appreciate you always 💕💕💕

“Oh my god, you look like my next big mistake.” 

That was the first thing that escaped right out of your mouth as the familiar figure pulled into the driveway. You already knew who it was—that black leather jacket, the black helmet that covered his breathtaking look (as much as you didn’t want to admit it), and the slightly worn-out boots he always wore. 

It was the moment he took his helmet off and shook his hair to clear his vision so that he would always look straight at you and smile before you decided to ruin the mood. 

“Now that’s just rude. I was nice enough to accept your brother’s request to come pick you up.” 

“What makes you think I’d go with you, Sunwoo? You’re one of our district's most dangerous human beings,” you deadpanned. 

“Look sweetheart, it’s either you hop on, or I’ll leave you behind. For your information, I would still drag your ass to ride my baby because I would not want to be fed to the hound dogs by your brother.” 

With his reply, you quickly glanced around the area you were in to find that it was dead silent and empty and that it was already going to be midnight as you glanced at your watch. Knowing that you didn’t have a choice, you reluctantly grabbed the helmet Sunwoo was extending to you and placed it over your head. 

He smirked at your reaction, knowing very well how he was the only option to get back home. Before he did the same, he hopped back into his vehicle. 

“Grab on.” That was the last thing he said before covering down his face shield as he started the engine. As you gently wrapped your arms around his wrist, he gave the throttle a few twists. Instantly, the bike propelled forward, and you were both on the road. 

It wasn’t unusual for your brother Jacob to cancel on you and be unable to pick you up from your job location on the city's outskirts. You knew deep down that he was always busy with his job back at the station. He was one of the lieutenants of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department, after all. When duty calls, he has to stay behind and arrange transport for you instead.

You have repeatedly reassured him that you could take the bus back home or figure out how to deal with matters like this on your own. However, your brother insisted that you were not to take the public transport back as there has been a sudden rise in crimes in the city. 

Additionally, the town you resided in was infamous for the biker gangs, the one that the man in front of you was part of. Nobody dared to come close to them, fearing for their lives as they were capable of doing the worst possible things you could’ve imagined. But it was part of their persona that they always kept up with, as it helped them stay safe from potential dangers or threats against them. 

Hence, you have never understood why your brother, who is part of the police force, would associate with a man like Kim Sunwoo. As far as you and the public knew, he was the leader of the biker gang in Seoul. As soon as his name was mentioned, the public would keep a distance and fear the man himself. But because of how often you have interacted with the man, you find him to be the complete opposite of the image he painted towards the public. 

In reality, he was a goofy guy and not as terrifying nor harmful as the public had determined him to be. He was careless at times, getting all ahead of himself, which completely paints the picture of him being delusional. At times, you would tease him about something, and that was when you realised he gets scared easily. Talk to him about a ghost story, and you can guarantee that he was going to piss his pants even before you even reached the climax of your story. 

In other words, he always looked out for you in your brother’s absence, and he would lurk behind the shadows somewhere, ensuring you would be all alright. You were pretty sure that he probably signed some sort of deal or contract with your brother to do so because who were they to spend most of their life looking out for a young adult like you? 

You were definitely grateful for that, as much as you would never admit it straight up to Sunwoo’s face; you just couldn’t understand why a biker leader like him would associate with you and your brother. 

As you both rode for a bit, you eventually found yourselves back in the heart of Seoul. There was something about riding a bike as you took in the breathtaking view as the wind rushed past your tousling hair, sending this thrilling sensation down your spine. 

If you were with a complete stranger, it would have set off so many alarms in your mind because of the multiple biker stories you have heard from the news and your brother. 

But somehow, for some reason, riding with Sunwoo has always made you feel comfortable and safe. 

Perhaps it was why you decided to hop on with him in the first place. It was your first time riding his bike with him, yet you weren’t too mad about the idea. In fact, you were kind of grateful that your brother set up such arrangements. 

It didn’t take you both long enough before Sunwoo eventually dropped you off right at your doorstep. You got off the bike with ease and handed the helmet back to him as you walked up to your front door porch. Right before you decided to turn the doorknob to open the door, you turned your head back to see that Sunwoo was still there looking at you.

“You’re not going to kidnap me, aren’t you?” 

“Come on, you actually think that I’m a pervert? What makes you think so, sweetheart?” 

“Many reasons,” you spat.  

“Rude.” 

“I’ll take that.” 

“Well, now that you’re back home safe and sound, I’ll finally take my leave. Let your brother know about it.” 

With one final glance, he lifted his feet on the ground back up to his bike before twisting the throttle again to give his motorcycle an immediate surge of power, and he sped quickly out from your neighbourhood. 

As you got into the comforts of your home, you made yourself comfortable before sending your brother Jacob a text to tell him that you were safe and sound before tucking yourself into bed. 

Throughout the night, you just couldn’t help but ponder why the biker’s leader would actually care or even listen to the law enforcement to escort you back home. He couldn’t have cared less and certainly had much more pressing matters than dealing with a young adult like you. 

As you tossed and turned in your bed, that question remained in your mind, keeping you wide awake all night. 

Kim Sunwoo, just who or what exactly are you?

“So you’re my personal babysitter now?” 

You were chilling at your local coffee shop, rushing up your remaining assignments due the following week. You were still a university student before your part-time job, and had no choice but to sacrifice most of your sleep and free time to deal with pressing matters. 

Just as you were typing away on your laptop, a familiar figure suddenly approached you with two cups of iced macchiato in both hands before he plopped down on the seat right across you and handed you one of the drinks. You raised an eyebrow at him, making him stop sipping his coffee away. 

“Brother’s orders,” he replied.

You had no idea why exactly Jacob was doing all of this. In fact, he hasn’t been coming home much for the past week as he had been caught up with work at his station, which is also where you assumed he was sleeping for the time being. During his absence, the infamous biker leader who was sitting in front of you has been personally coming to pick you up from work every single day. 

You thought that since you were off to focus on your studies this whole week, you would finally take a break from the delusional man himself. It turns out you were wrong, and he was here with you in the coffee shop you once called your comfort place. 

You didn’t entirely hate this guy, though; it was more of questioning why he was associating with you more often now as one of the town’s most feared individuals. Naturally, that also caused the people around you to give you the side-eye or just avoid you like the plague, all thanks to the one and only Kim Sunwoo. 

There was a moment of silence between you two as you continued typing away on your laptop. It wasn’t long before the male bent over to peek at your laptop screen to see what you were working with. 

“Don’t even bother helping me.” You replied bluntly. 

“You never know I might be an expert in your field of work.” 

You sighed. “Kim Sunwoo. It’s literature.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t be the biker gang leader for no reason. I’ve got great communication skills, after all.” 

“For your information, it’s about writing a 2000 essay review on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.” 

Upon hearing the novel's name, he immediately grinned widely before scooting his chair closer to you, giving you this puppy look that he was now very intrigued by your work. 

“Oh my god, Romeo and Juliet is my absolute favourite! Mark my words when I tell you I am a huge fan of romance novels or TV shows!” 

You sighed in defeat when he began reading the essay that you have written so far; you could tell that he was the type not to let go of something that piqued his interest. He was even reading it very diligently, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at that sight. 

“Hey, don’t look down on me. Just so you know, I aced all of my tests back in school and was a model student.” 

“Hmm, questionable, but I will take that.” 

Just like that, the time seemed to pass as quickly as possible, and you were even surprised by how much knowledge he had about the classic novella itself. It was intriguing to find out that he got invested in the topic and was able to help you brainstorm specific ideas that you could add on to make your essay much more sophisticated. 

Right when you were about to type away to finish up the final parts of your essay, you suddenly felt a little tap on your shoulders, which made you turn your head back to see who it was. Once you laid your eyes upon them, you quickly shot up from your chair and gave them a big hug. 

“Kisa! Where exactly have you been? Everyone at work has missed you so badly.” You hugged your former co-worker tightly, rubbing your cheeks together even as it had been months since you had last seen each other. 

“I know. Things have been rough recently, and I had no choice but to take a short leave.” 

“You could have at least told us what was going on, Kisa. Weren’t we all your closest buds around town?” 

She chuckled. “I guess.” 

There was a little awkward moment of silence between you two, which you thought was a bit odd as Kisa used to be an excellent talker who would always have a topic ready up her sleeves. You quickly examined the look in her eyes, and you could tell that something was off; it almost felt as if she was trying to tell you something, but she couldn’t for some reason.

Hence, you decided to ask her. ���Hey Kisa, is everything alright—”

“You know, Y/N! There is this new cafe right towards the end of the street where we could go that serves your favourite croffles. It’s been a while, so why don’t we catch up for a bit?” Kisa asked rather hastily. 

You could sense that something was off from her tone of voice and speech, and you desperately wanted to find out at this point. 

“Yeah, of course! Let’s head off—”

“I’m sorry, but she won’t be able to join you today.” 

Immediately, Sunwoo grabbed your wrist, pulled you back towards him and wrapped his hands around your shoulders. 

“You see, Y/N is actually on a date with me today. Perhaps the both of you could do it some other time? I apologise for that, miss.” Sunwoo replied with a smile on his face, and that immediately made Kisa back off. 

“Y-Yeah, of course! I’m so sorry to have bothered you, Y/N. I’ll see you sometime again soon!” 

Instantly, Kisa turned her heel and dashed towards the front door. Just like that, your co-worker you haven’t seen for months disappeared into thin air once again. You quickly darted your face back to Sunwoo, trying to interrogate him as to why on earth he had done what he did. 

“Kim Sunwoo, I knew you were delusional, but that doesn’t mean you could do that to me—”

“Let’s get out of here.” 

Sunwoo immediately cut you off and quickly helped take all your belongings for you as he pushed you towards the front door, right towards his bike. Once you both had strapped on, Sunwoo immediately took speed and quickly drove away. During the entire ride home, it was obvious that he knew or saw something, as you felt his whole body was all tense up as you wrapped your arms around him. 

He was awfully quiet too, not even sparring a glance back at you during the journey, and that alone was weird enough for you since he would always joke around and shout aloud amidst the busy traffic to make sure that you were still able to converse with him. 

But no, not this time. 

Once he dropped you off at your front porch, he kept scanning the area around your house and wouldn’t even try to speak with you. When you finally removed the helmet and handed it back to him, he quickly grabbed your wrist again, and his grip tightened against yours. 

“Whatever you do, stay at home for now. Do not leave unless it is me or your brother who answers the door,” he spoke firmly, making sure you get that through your head before he finally let go of your grip.

This was the infamous biker leader you grew up listening to rumours about how he was cold in reality, and as to why so many people were terrified of him. There was this aura around this man, and that whatever came out from his mouth, he meant business, and he wasn’t the type to joke around when he set his mind on something. It was also the deathly cold stare he gave that scared so many people, including you right now as you witness them firsthand in person. 

Giving him a little nod, he lets go of your grip so you can finally head up to open your locked front door. Once you had turned the doorknob and taken your first step in, you glanced behind again to see that he was still giving you that cold death stare. To be honest, it terrified you a little, and you knew that you couldn’t ask what the whole fiasco happened back at the cafe, at least not for now. 

With that, you walked right into the comforts of your house and closed the door shut, eyes still glued towards that cold death stare from the biker leader. You tried your best to distract yourself by cleaning up the house a little and getting yourself all cosy and ready for bed while sparing a few glances at your windows to see that Sunwoo was still there, staring directly at your house, or rather, at you. 

It wasn’t until the clock finally struck midnight that Sunwoo decided it was time to leave you alone as he drove off and disappeared.

Whatever happened today was enough for you to finally conclude that something was up, and you needed to know. It surely must not have just been a pure coincidence that Sunwoo has been popping up in your life just like that out of the blue, and how your brother actually trusted him and asked that he took care of you in his place, and with what happened today at the cafe with Kisa. 

Something was definitely up, and you needed answers. 

Immediately.

You couldn’t care less if you were to be scolded by your big brother. When you woke up this morning, you quickly called for a taxi to take you to your brother’s station. It took a while to convince the ones at the reception that your brother was one of the lieutenants, so they had to call Jacob and make him personally come down to escort you. 

Jacob's eyes widened upon seeing you, but the moment he saw your face, he knew that you came here for a good reason and that you weren’t just here for a visit. 

After passing through the multiple securities, you finally ended up in his office on one of the top floors. Luckily, things weren’t too busy, so your brother had some time to spare with you. 

“Hey sis, I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come home lately nor pick you up from work. It’s just that I have had so many cases to deal with—”

“Jacob, I need answers.” You cut him off. 

It was the look that you had in your eyes that made it absolutely clear to Jacob that you weren’t leaving until you had the answers that you desperately wanted. It has always been like this for you, even when you were a child. You were persistent and would do anything to get whatever you wanted. With you seated on the couch in his office, you leaned back slightly and crossed your arms and legs, indirectly telling your brother to do the same.

Jacob let out a deep sigh before he finally got himself comfortable and placed a hot cup of freshly brewed tea he had made just for you right onto the table, pushing it towards you before he finally sat down across the couch from you.

It took a moment for him to rub his palms together before lifting up his face to look directly at you. 

“Y/N, please know that I’m doing everything I can to keep you safe at all times—”

“Not that, Jacob. Just cut to the chase, please.” 

“It’s…well, long story short, there have been multiple cases of young girls who have been going missing for the past couple of weeks. And we have been searching high and low for clues but to no avail.” He furrowed his eyebrows as he finally spat out what had been bugging him for weeks. 

“Okay? And what does that have to do with you sending the infamous Kim Sunwoo to care for me?” 

“You’ll be needing him, Y/N. I promise he will surely be looking out for you, no matter what.”

“Well, that’s reassuring to know. But why, Jacob? Since when have you ever associated yourself with a dangerous man like him?” You questioned. 

This time, you could tell that your brother was slightly hesitant in his next words and struggled to come up with possible answers that would please your curiosity. 

“That’s…something I can’t say for now. But you will eventually find out yourself soon.” 

You scoffed before standing up and raising your voice towards your brother. “Jacob, I came all the way out here to hear answers from you, my own brother. The fact that what happened at the cafe last night was odd enough, to the point that Sunwoo even gave me this death stare warning me as if I may be in danger or something. I have no idea what exactly you both are planning, but you better tell me everything from the beginning for God’s sake, right this second.” 

There was this apologetic look in his eyes as he stared right back at your now-turning-red face, standing up and placing both hands on your shoulders, trying to calm you down. It was then, all of a sudden, that there was a knock on his door, and he instructed whoever it was to come in. It was one of his subordinates, and he was summoned to the chief’s office to discuss the missing cases further. 

Before Jacob left the room, he turned back to grab his jacket quickly and hastily put it on while speaking to you for one last time. 

“Stay here, Y/N. I’ll drop you back home after I’m done with this meeting. I’ll try my best to return as soon as possible.” 

Within seconds, Jacob and his subordinate rushed out of the room and closed the door shut. Now that your brother was gone, there was no way that you would just sit back and relax, knowing that there have been cases of young girls going missing around town. You needed to learn more about this, even if your brother isn’t willing to tell you anything more about it. 

You decided to salvage through his work desk, opening up each cabinet to see if you could find anything useful regarding the case. Scanning through the multiple files that he had kept away nicely, it seemed as if your brother might have taken the file that contained potential evidence or information about the missing girls, so you were left with nothing that could give you a bit of an insight to what exactly was going around in town.

That was until you discovered a little slip of paper peeking through one of the files. 

You quickly took it out from the folder, and a smirk began to form on your face as you read through the information on that little piece of paper. 

“If you’re not going to tell me, Jacob, I’ll figure all this out myself then.”

With the last remaining pocket money you had , you managed to hail a taxi to bring you to the specified location that was written on that little piece of paper. However, you gave the driver a slightly different route than the one from the paper, for you knew that no ordinary citizen would ever step foot within the infamous territory.

The moment you stepped out of the vehicle, you assumed that you would be walking for about a good ten minutes before you were able to arrive at the exact location. You didn’t mind that in the slightest bit; you just needed to find the right person to ask the questions that have been gruelling in the back of your mind. 

The walk towards the location wasn’t exactly smooth as you had to pass through the woods to get there undetected. It was already dark out then, so you had to rely on your handy-dandy torchlight from your phone to guide you through the woods. It felt eerie, and the crackling sounds as you stepped on the branches scattered across the ground didn’t help in the slightest bit.

But you had to remind yourself that you came here constantly for a purpose: no matter what, you weren’t going home empty-handed. With the best of your abilities, you pushed through and eventually, arrived after almost an hour of walking, where, in reality, it would’ve taken you ten minutes if you didn’t spend most of the time getting lost in the woods. 

What mattered was that you were finally at the location, and upon first inspection, it was a vast empty parking lot filled with motorcycles from one end to another. Thankfully, there were multiple huge metal transport boxes that filled the area, so you sneakily stepped out from the woods and ran to the closest one to hide. 

You decided to sneak your head out a little and peek through the corners of the box, and as expected, you were able to spot several individuals towards the far end of the parking lot. Some of them were leaning against their bikes as they drank to their heart’s content while chatting away, while others were ultimately passed out and fast asleep in the empty garage at the centre. 

Judging from the location you were at now, it was nearly impossible to hear precisely what those individuals were talking about. If you want to get your hands on concrete evidence, you have got to move closer. 

With a quick dash, you ran towards box by box while trying your best to be undetected. Each time you managed to get from one box to another, you always gave yourself a quiet sigh of relief and tried your best to calm your beating heart down. 

Okay, just a few more boxes to go. I can do this—

Instantly, someone came up from behind to cup your mouth with their hands while the other was wrapped around your chest, trying to calm your muffling sounds down. 

“What in God’s mind were you even thinking of stepping foot in this place?”

That voice. It belonged to the person you have been longing to find in the first place. 

“S-Sunwoo,” you muffled as his hands still cupped your mouth. 

At that moment, both of you heard footsteps coming closer to where you were and knew you were about to be cornered. There was no reason for an outsider like you to be present in the biker gang’s territory, and you would pretty much be skinned alive if you were to be found.

Time was ticking, and you needed to think of a way to get out of here undetected. 

But thankfully, it seemed as if Sunwoo had everything under control. 

Or so you thought. 

Just when the few bikers came around the corner, a loud gasp came from them as they witnessed the sight beyond them. Never in a million years would they have caught their boss making out with some random stranger in their base.

“U-Uh, boss? What exactly is going on?” One of the bikers stammered, hoping that the question asked wouldn’t get him into trouble. 

It took a few seconds for Sunwoo to turn his head to look at them with his face looking like a mess as if he had just had a steamy kissing session with whoever he was with, as he was also trying his best to protect your identity by pushing your head down towards the crook of his neck. 

The bikers gulped at the sight, but Sunwoo quickly gave them a plausible answer for now. 

“You see, this little one has gotten some valuable information from us, and I’m just doing a favour to get them cough up whatever shit that they know and to ruin them a little bit for some fun.” He smirked. 

That was enough to shut the bikers up, and then they quickly brushed it off, telling their boss that they would get a quick smoke to loosen up a bit. As they finally walked away and the coast was clear, Sunwoo immediately lifted your head to get you to face him directly. He could tell you were beyond speechless and there was this unreadable emotion on your face. 

Confused? Mad? Upset? Maybe all of it at once. 

But that didn’t stop him from dragging you out of that place as he quickly brought you back into the woods, going through the dark passageway once again until you both ended up back on the road you originally came from. 

That was when you finally freed yourself from his grasp, and you began raising your voice at him, even if you didn’t mean to. 

You didn’t know what you were feeling at this point either; one thing for sure is that you definitely felt overwhelmed by everything that was happening. As much as you tried to open your mouth, the words wouldn’t come straight out. With that, Sunwoo decided to help you finish your sentence instead.

“Admit it, you liked my kiss.” 

Your eyes widened. “What the actual bullshit, Kim Sunwoo.”

“So now you can talk.” 

God, this was starting to get to your head badly, and there was just so much vulgar language that you wanted to throw at the man in front of you. But it seems that Sunwoo was once a step ahead of you. 

“You’re up to no good, princess.” 

“What do you even know, Sunwoo-”

“I have a pretty good guess that you came without telling your brother, or rather, against his orders.” 

You absolutely hated that Sunwoo knew precisely what was going on in your mind and how he could read you perfectly. It was as if you were just plain as day; your discreet movements or actions you’ve tried to keep secret will always be revealed quickly against your own will. 

Eventually, you decided to give in. “Fine. I did.” 

“Now, someone is not being a good sibling, aren’t they? Might have to report back to big brother Jacob, and someone’s going to get some timeout—”

Before Sunwoo could finish his sentence, you quickly stomped towards him and grabbed his collar, seemingly shutting him up for a moment.

“You’re going to tell me everything. Every single detail, Kim Sunwoo.” 

Sunwoo already had a good guess as to why you were here in the first place. You came to find him and took the risk of visiting his hideout written on the piece of paper you found in Jacob’s office. Mentally, he was throwing curses at your brother for not spilling the details because now he was the one who was going to do it instead. 

Jacob Bae, I sincerely hope that your microwave is going to break down so that you will be having cold meals for a period of time and that you will get your ass kicked by your CEO for not having much progress in the missing cases. 

From your not-so-nice friend, Kim Sunwoo. 

As much as you almost exerted this fiery aura, Sunwoo did not flinch in the slightest. He was used to things like this anyway; he was the biker gang’s leader after all. Instead, he grinned back at you.

“You clearly have lost your mind thinking that you can manipulate the biker leader to spill out the deeds for you. It seems that you have not experienced why exactly the public fear about us, Y/N.” 

This time, he slowly takes a step forward little by little, and you slowly begin to back off while your hands remain on the collar of his shirt. 

“Let me tell you a little something, Y/N. The moment when you stepped within our territory, you were just as good as dead meat.” Sunwoo continued. 

Another step forward.

“Do you know why the public fear us, Y/N? We are predators. And predators hunt for prey who messes with us.” 

Another step forward. 

“And you little innocent citizens of Seoul have officially become our prey because no one messes with us. I mean, no one. You have chosen death when you decided even to come close to us.” 

Another step forward. 

“So you might as well say your last words before I devour you up, hmm?” Sunwoo then stops at his track as he leans forward so that both of your faces are mere inches away, and he closes his eyes while giving you the biggest smile you have seen just yet. 

That alone was enough to shake you to your core. 

It was just as portrayed in books and TV shows, on how smiles make the villains ten times worse than they are. When a villain smiles, you drop everything and run for it. 

If only that were what exactly you did. 

You straighten your posture before you spit back at him. “You won’t have the guts to do that to me, Kim Sunwoo.” 

“And what makes you think that, sweetheart?” 

“Because you love me,” you spat. 

Upon hearing those words, the smile immediately fell from his face, and a shocked expression replaced it. Sunwoo quickly backed off and took a few steps back away from you. 

Bingo. 

“N-No, I don’t.” Sunwoo chuckled. 

“Jokes on you, young man; you were literally head over heels for me, that’s why you agreed to babysit me in the first place.” 

You instantly noticed how flushed his face was getting as he quickly cupped both sides of his face with his hands, trying to calm the heat down. But that did not stop you from moving towards him now as you continued taunting him. 

“You know, I think your fellow bikers would be delighted to hear that their boss was in love with a commoner like me, don’t you think? I’m sure the biker community loves to hear romance since you boys have been angsty all year.” 

“No no no! Not the biker community! I’m supposed to be a cool leader everyone looks up to and worship goddamit!” He was now covering his ears like a little child. 

Oh, Kim Sunwoo, you indeed are such a sucker for romance. 

Finally, you took the final steps and stood before him, placing both hands upon his shoulders, and you returned a devilish smile. 

“I think someone’s got a good explanation to do before I feed him to my brother’s hound dogs back at the station.”

“Y/N Bae, I absolutely would love to ruin your makeup right now.” 

“Kim Sunwoo, I absolutely would love to throw you straight into the river right now.” 

After that confrontation on the empty road, you both decided to take this whole conversation elsewhere before any of the bikers made their way out to confront you two again. 

So you hopped back onto Sunwoo’s bike and drove a little to the well-known spot in Seoul, Han River. 

Since Sunwoo had barely recovered from your counterattack before, he was clearly distracted as he droved through the city, constantly putting out this pout and sulky expression on his face, making you want to tease him more. Occasionally, you would purposely snake your hands up to his abdomen to his chest, which made the male squirm and his body tense upon the contact, making him cry out loud, for God’s sake, and somehow apologise throughout the entire ride. 

The moment you both got to the river, Sunwoo immediately asked you to get out of his vehicle while trying to calm his pounding chest down. Unfortunately, you were nowhere near done wrecking the bike leader, so you snaked your arms around him as you dragged him out from his bike, taking them down to one of the stairs facing the river. 

Sunwoo was not in the right mind and was trying his best to counterattack, which at one point he did. But thanks to the taekwondo classes you took back in the day, you quickly turned the tables around.

So now Kim Sunwoo was the one pinned to the ground while you were hovering above him, pinning both his hands above his head while your legs kept his in place, leaving him no room to move around. 

“If only being delusional wasn’t my weakness, I swear Y/N…”

“Tell that to the ones who created you.they were the ones to cast this spell upon you.” 

“What do I get if I tell you the truth?”

You paused for a moment. What were you going to repay him exactly? 

But since you were already keeping up with this facade a couple of hours ago, you might as well continue the seeds that you have planted.

“A kiss from me to you.” 

Upon hearing those words, the male smirked before finally closing his eyes and let loose his body slightly. 

“Fine, Y/N. You win.” 

With that, you also did the same by slowly releasing your grip on his arms, knowing well how he wouldn’t be counterattacking you soon. 

“What I am about to tell you, Y/N… I’m not exactly sure if you’re able to stomach it all, to be honest.” 

“Nothing as bad as the cases that my brother has done, I bet.” 

“Fair. Your brother deals with brutal homicide cases, after all.” 

Sunwoo then propped himself up, and you decided to give him some space by getting off him and sitting crossed-legged at his side. It took Sunwoo a moment to gather his thoughts before finally telling you the whole story. 

“Y/N, did you realise why I dragged you away on that day you met that co-worker of yours?” 

“You meant Kisa?” 

“Did you notice anything strange about her?”

“Well, yeah I kind of did. Her demeanour was setting off many red flags in my mind for sure,” you replied. The thought about Kisa once again made you frown; you have been constantly worrying about her since that day.

“I’ll tell you right now that she is one of the girls who had gone missing for the past couple of months.” 

Missing? Is she related to the missing person cases that your brother was dealing with then? 

“The fact that she has reappeared all of a sudden was strange enough, and luckily, I noticed a barcode tattooed right behind her ear.” 

Barcode? What exactly was going on? 

Sunwoo noticed how perplexed you were with the whole situation and sighed before continuing with his words. 

“Y/N, I think you do know what happens when someone is tattooed with a barcode on different parts of their body, don’t you?” 

No. It can’t be. You knew exactly what it meant, but you wouldn’t have expected it to happen to someone close to you, let alone to one who has suddenly disappeared from your radar, only for them to reappear out of the blue. 

“No, you don’t mean it.” 

“Come on, Y/N. You know exactly how crime works in Seoul, especially in our district; it’s corrupted, and plenty of cases like this go unnoticed because the culprits can often get away undetected.” 

That can’t be true; you absolutely can’t accept the fact that Kisa was a victim of human trafficking. 

You slowly began to stammer in your speech. “S-So, you basically saved my life back there and then.” 

“If you want to put it that way, I guess I did.” 

This time, Sunwoo decided to scooch a little bit closer to you, and the tone in his voice dropped as if he was now whispering what crucial detail he was about to say next. 

“Y/N, why did you think your brother made a deal with me to follow you wherever you go?” 

You decided to break the tension in the air slightly by making a little joke. “I’d like to think it was your idea instead because you have committed to being my stalker.” 

“Calling me a stalker is flat-out rude, Y/N. Especially after all that I have done for you,” he sulked.

You were glad Sunwoo could still joke around with you slightly to ease the tension. 

“Fine, to keep me safe then.” 

“That’s one for sure, but also because we made a pact to crack these cold cases together without the superiors in the station knowing a thing about this.” 

Huh. “So you’re a biker detective now?” 

“Yeah, a very cool one at that too. I saved your life not once but twice. Jacob should give me a pay raise, let’s be honest.” 

“What do you mean you actually suck at your job. You have to have someone’s consent first before you start making out with them, especially in public.” You slightly blushed at that comment. You certainly weren't going to tell him that he took your first kiss away, and you hoped that your surroundings were dark enough so that Sunwoo wasn’t able to see clearly that your ears were beginning to look bright red as a tomato right now.

Unfortunately for you, he was a romance fanatic, so obviously, he could tell that you were embarrassed to say all of that. It was his sign to strike back now.

“Oh honey, that kiss was a little extra from your care package that your brother signed you up for. You should be grateful that you get an extra treatment from me.” He took a string of your hair and started twirling around his fingers. 

“….shut up.” You muttered.

Oh god, how much he was enjoying this whole moment right there.

The next thing that happened was that he moved closer again and cupped both of your cheeks with his hands before leaning his forward against yours. 

“What in the world are you even thinking of doing—”

“Y/N, listen to me closely about what I am about to say next, and I will only say it once.” 

That made all of the embarrassment from earlier die down. Judging from the look in his eyes, you knew things were about to get serious next.

“Another reason why your brother personally asked for me to care for you for the time being was because he knew that something bad was going to happen real soon.” 

“Something bad?” 

“You see, we have been working together on this case for months now. With our thorough investigations, it’s clear that whoever was the mastermind behind all of this may actually be someone we are acquainted with.” 

“Someone much closer to us, that is.”

Your eyes widened upon that last sentence, and you knew this case was far worse than you thought. It was a life-and-death situation if either of you let your guard down. If that was the case, it also meant that you weren’t the only one in danger. 

Bracing yourself, you slowly and reluctantly asked Sunwoo something that you hoped it was just yourself thinking way further ahead than you should. 

“J-Jacob isn't going to die, isn’t he?”

Sunwoo didn’t reply, but he stared straight into your eyes. With that, your eyes became teary, and you were on the verge of crying out silently. You knew that Jacob’s job always evolved around dangerous criminals, and there’s no guarantee that he might come home each day in one piece; he had accepted his fate ever since he took on the badge in the first place. 

But now, with the recent events and how he had placed you under Sunwoo’s care, you knew that this was far worse than any of you had encountered before. 

Tears began dripping down your face, and Sunwoo lightly brushed his fingers against your cheek to wipe them away. 

“Y/N, from now on, I’m afraid you should stay as far away from your brother as possible. In other words, you’ll be stuck with me for now.” 

“That doesn’t mean that I won’t be seeing him anymore, isn’t it?” You sobbed. 

Sunwoo smiled. “Of course not. It is so that both of us can conduct our investigation much more smoothly without outsiders intruding on our plan. I promise you, I won’t let your brother die. That would also mean that the lives of both you siblings are at my outermost top priority now.”

“Why Sunwoo? Why would a biker leader like you even associate with us law enforcement? Didn’t you and your people hate us for decades?”

He chuckled before placing a kiss on the top of your forehead. 

“Jacob Bae saved me and gave me another chance at life. And I am going to return the favour.”

It has been ten minutes since the both of you were back on the road again. You were trying to take in all of Seoul’s beautiful night views, as you might not see them for a while. 

After calming yourself down at Han River, Sunwoo filled you in with everything you needed to know before you both took off back on the road. Based on what your brother and Sunwoo have been able to investigate so far, they decided that it was safe to conclude that the mastermind was either someone within the biker community or one of the higher-ups from the police agency. That was precisely why your brother was in a tight situation and was at risk of falling into the hands of the enemy since he was one of the lieutenants and had no control over his superiors. 

It was precisely why Jacob decided it was best for you to keep a distance from him at the moment, for the fear that you might fall into the hands of the enemy. Hence, giving you to Sunwoo for now would mean that you had a higher chance of survival—being a biker meant that Sunwoo was able to move around much more freely compared to a detective who was bound by rules that he had to abide by at all times. 

In the meantime, Sunwoo has also been on the go trying to figure out who the traitor within the biker’s community was who started all of this. According to the male, he guessed that someone from the detective agency was manipulating and might even be paying the traitor within the biker gang a large sum of money to traffick these young ladies out of the country. Since the bikers usually hunt out late at night, there was no doubt that the victims would have been vulnerable against them and quickly fell into their hands. 

In order to keep you safe, and since Sunwoo has practically told you the entire plan, he has no choice but to bring you along on his investigations; as much as he hated that idea and he would much prefer locking you away somewhere where you could lay down low until the whole crime spree is over. 

However, he knew that you would be much safer if you were within his sight range, and he would feel much more comfortable knowing that you were always near him.

He has learnt it the hard way before anyway. 

As you both ride through the night and out away from Seoul, there is this anxious feeling rotten deep within your gut—you are terrified, knowing now that you have finally fallen victim to the dark, corrupted crime world in Seoul. 

With that, your arms wrapped around Sunwoo’s waist tightened, and you gently laid your cheeks against his back. You just wished this ride with Sunwoo could have happened at a much better time and under better circumstances.

“Damn, Kim Sunwoo. Who knew you’d have a hideout in the middle of nowhere?” 

You were astounded with the entire place. It was located outside of town, and it took the both of you about a two-hour ride to get to this place, which was eventually in the middle of the wilderness. You thought building a simple cabin here was a genius idea because chances of survival were much higher, especially for Sunwoo, who lives a dangerous life each day. 

As Sunwoo guided and led you up to the steps of his front door, he inserted a key and unlocked the front door within seconds, and your jaw dropped the moment he turned on the lights that lit up the entire cabin. 

“Welcome to my safe space, Y/N.” 

Upon further inspection, you could tell that the entire cabin was built meticulously—from the sturdy timber that formed the walls, the simple yet captivating decor that filled the entire place, and the cosy fireplace that stood right at one of the corners of the living space. The entire place just felt comforting; even a stranger would agree when they stepped into this place in the woods. 

Sunwoo noticed you had been slowly moving around the cabin, taking in all its glory. He decided that he wouldn’t be ruining this little moment you have and went straight into the pantry to whip up some hot cocoa for the two of you. 

It all felt too good to be true. You have only seen or read places like this in books or films; never in a million years would you have thought that you would get a chance to reside, let alone step into a place like this at all. It was as if you were living in a dream, and you just wished you could shut off the outside world for a while and relax in this place for as long as possible. 

As you slowly reach the fireplace, you notice how a picture frame sits at the top, depicting a young boy and a girl riding a swing at a park. You could immediately tell how it was Sunwoo in that picture, but you had no idea if the young female was his sibling or, perhaps, his past lover, if he ever had one. 

Before you could examine further, you heard a little thump from behind you, and you turned to see Sunwoo was back with two warm mugs of freshly made hot cocoa topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. He gently placed them onto the round wooden table he had before moving to the fireplace and threw some chopped wood in before lighting it up with the lighter he kept behind his back pocket. 

You slowly sit on the couch to make yourself comfortable, take one of the mugs, and sip the freshly made drink. It didn’t take long for Sunwoo to join you as he sat on the couch on your left.

“I’d like to think I’m such a great host, don’t you think? I expect you to be writing a five-star review of this Airbnb on booking.com after your stay,” he smugged before bringing his mug to his lips. 

“I never knew a biker gang leader like you would have a soft spot for ambience like this.” 

“Hey, bikers aren’t all angsty and dark. You’d think I live for the colour black and own everything in that specific colour?” 

“Don’t look at me like that. Blame the media for painting you guys exactly the way you are.” 

Well, you had a point there. Ever since you met Sunwoo, you realised that not all of them seemed as terrible as the public had painted them to be. Even the biker leader is the same as many young adults: desperate to find love and obsessed with shoujo mangas. 

As you took another sip of the cocoa, you gulped the liquid down slowly before enjoying your little silence, listening to the crackling sound from the fireplace as you slowly started to feel your eyelids become heavy. 

It has been a long day; after all, you started by storming into Jacob’s office at the beginning of the day, trekking through the woods and finding out about the biker’s hideout, going to Han River and eventually here in Sunwoo’s cabin. 

From the corners of your eyes, you could see how it would be early morning now—the first tendrils of light painting the sky in hues of a mixture of lavender and indigo, indicating that it would be dawn now. It was probably about five to six in the morning, and that was the last thing you could think of before you eventually fell to your slumber. 

It took Sunwoo a few seconds to realise you had fallen asleep as he admired the skies from his cabin window just like you were. When he finally turned to look at your head, bending down with your eyes closed, the mug of now warm cocoa still nestled within your grasp. 

Sunwoo smiled at the sight of you resting comfortably like that. It reminded him so much about her. It almost felt bittersweet then, but Sunwoo tried his best to get rid of those feelings before things started to get too deep again.

He slowly got up, gently opened up your fingers surrounding the mug, and took it off your hands to place it on the table. He then swooped his hands around your shoulders and under your legs before picking you up bridal style. Trying his best not to make a noise, he slowly brought you into his only bedroom in the cabin, gently laying you down on the comforts of his bed and tucking you into bed with his cosy duvet. 

When he was about to get up from the bed, he felt something wrapping around his pinky before turning to see that it was from you. He couldn’t tell if you had a dream or if it was just by reflex as you wrapped your fingers around his pinky and tugged them close to you. 

Sunwoo smiled at the sight of you doing so, and he sat down on the bed again, gently caressing your hair as you fell deeper into your dreamland. 

Y/N. I promise I will protect you at all costs and avoid making the same mistake as before.

The chirping noises were what woke you up from your slumber. You squint your eyes as you slowly open them to reveal the sunlight shining directly into the cabin. You also heard clanking noises coming beyond the closed doors, and you decided it was time to get up to check out whatever it was. 

As you opened the door, your eyes widened, and your jaw dropped as you approached the dining table. It seemed as if Sunwoo had made you an entire breakfast meal that looked identical to what you would get from the local diners in town. The man even took the extra step to brew you some hot coffee and placed two little jars filled with white and brown sugar so you could adjust your drink to your desired taste. 

You slowly pulled the chair and sat down before Sunwoo turned around from the stovetop, placing a freshly made fried sunny-side egg onto your plate, and that was when you took in what Sunwoo was wearing before you eventually burst out into laughter. 

“What was that about? I went the extra mile to make you breakfast.” Sunwoo pouted. 

“N-No, it’s not that. I never thought you were a frilly pink floral aprons type of guy.” You had to cover your mouth and fan yourself because you were laughing so hard that breathing was hard by the second. 

“You stop it right there. Someone special made this apron; I will not let you disrespect it.” Sunwoo was now pointing at you with his spatula, threatening that he would take your breakfast and eat it himself. 

As you calmed yourself down and apologised, he finally sat beside you while still sulking because of your comment before and started cutting up his bread and sausages on the plate. When Sunwoo saw that you had taken your first bite, he couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark to lighten the mood once again.

“Hurry up and tell me that my cooking skills are top-notch.” He lifted his head high as if he was already praising himself before you even said anything. 

Frankly, it tasted much better than what you had in mind. Who would’ve thought the most feared person in town was also a good cook? The fact that he was able to build this cabin on his own, cared for you, and made you a delicious meal was a bummer that he was still single at this point. 

But since you have teased Sunwoo since the beginning, there was no way you would tell him that and continue feeding his delusions. 

“I’m surprised that I did not puke nor have an upset stomach with the initial first bite, to be honest.” 

He narrowed his eyes at you. “You ungrateful little brat.” 

“Thank you, I’ll take that.” You grinned widely at him, making him return you with disgust. 

Surprisingly, breakfast then went by reasonably quickly, and you offered to help clean up the kitchen even when the male insisted that you were his guest and weren’t supposed to do anything while you were there. 

After a little bit of squabbling about cleaning the cabin up, Sunwoo heads out the front door, signalling for you to come with him. 

“There’s this place that I think you’ll love, Y/N. Care to hop on for another ride with me?”

“Kim Sunwoo, give me your keys to your cabin right now I’m officially moving in.” 

He giggled as you said that hurriedly before running down to the designated spot he brought you to. As you hopped back onto Sunwoo’s bike, he took you along for another drive that only took about five minutes away from his cabin. As you both parked the bike somewhere safe, he guided you to take a step deeper into the woods, where, eventually, you both ended up at a beautiful creek.

A crystal-clear stream burbles along the riverbed, bubbling over the surrounding rocks and branches. There were a couple of stepping stones that scattered across the stream, giving whoever chose to visit to have the opportunity to walk across from one end to the other. A couple of flowers blossomed at the sides of the river, giving the creek a little pop of colour. 

It was a sight to behold. Who would have thought that there was such a place near where Sunwoo lived? At this point, you swore that you would label this entire outskirt as paradise, and you wouldn’t mind spending the rest of your life here, away from the capital's bustling streets. 

You slowly made your way to the river, where you stuck one of your hands into the waters, letting the streams of water hit the back of your hand. Sunwoo then made his way towards you before bending down to pick up one of the pebbles on the ground, before tossing it across the waters to see it bounce on top of the surface before eventually sinking into the waters. 

“Is there anything that you can’t do, Kim Sunwoo?” You asked as you saw how he was a master at skipping stones, way better than most people could do. 

“I’ve been doing this for decades, Y/N. Of course, I am the master of stone skipping.” He proudly acclaimed before picking another pebble and tossing it across the waters again. 

You couldn’t help but smile at that remark. “So that means you come here often, then?” 

“Used to.” He corrected you. “I haven’t been here in a very long time.” 

“Well, then, I’m grateful that you decided not to gatekeep such a place from me,” you replied, sincerely thanking the man for taking you out of the cabin to come to such a place to relax.

“You’re going to be staying with me for a while; obviously, I have to keep you occupied before you start complaining out of boredom in the cabin.” He stuck out his tongue at you before tossing another pebble. 

“I’m not a kid, Sunwoo. I know how to keep myself occupied.” This time, it was your turn to give him a pout. 

“I’m gonna bet on 10,000 korean won that you will be screaming out of frustration by the third day if you were stuck all day in that cabin of mine.” 

“Then I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I can literally find anything to do to keep myself occupied at all places.” You were now standing up and stood right in front of the man, staring at him as if you were going to start a battle of who would be the first to back down from their words. 

Sunwoo smirked at that sight, and it turns him on whenever you get all worked up because of his words. He wasn’t going to back down quickly, so he straightened his posture before firing back at you. 

“Princess, you better buckle up because you have just turned me on, and I want to ruin your ego right now.” 

“Try me then, Kim Sunwoo,” you huffed. 

“Say, can you swim?” 

You snorted. “Of course I can swim, what the hell—”

Before you could even finish your sentence, Sunwoo pushed you on your shoulders, and you fell straight into the waters. It took a few seconds before you eventually returned to the surface, wiping off the excess water dripping down your face. 

“Kim Sunwoo! What the actual—”

You were screaming at the top of your lungs, ready to yell and curse your heart out towards the male before you eventually stopped. Your eyes widened at the sight of him taking off his shirt that he was wearing, revealing a well-toned body and rock-solid abs as well as a tattoo that was situated right above his ribcage on his left. 

He grinned before jumping into the waters and swam right up to you. 

“I knew you would like what you saw with your eyes. I have been waiting for the right time to do it anyway,” he smirked before moving his fingers close to you to pinch your cheeks. 

You quickly slapped his hands away before turning your back towards him, trying to calm your fast heart beating chest down. Instantly, you felt a surge of warmth slowly crawling up to your ears and cheeks, and you quickly rested both your palms on your cheeks, knowing very well that you were now blushing hard.

What is wrong with you, Y/N? 

Before you could even process your thoughts further, you felt a pair of hands resting on your waist before turning your back towards the opposite direction. You have now come face-to-face with the man you were dreading to see, and you quickly turn your head towards the side and face the streaming waters instead. 

You could clearly hear Sunwoo’s low chuckle before he rested his fingers underneath your chin, gently turning your face back towards his direction. 

“I found your weakness, princess.”

“Shut up.” 

Your now red-flushed face was making Sunwoo laugh while you were slowly losing your mind. All you could think of at the moment was how exactly you would get yourself out of this situation you were in. 

Suddenly, you were brought back to reality as you felt Sunwoo’s thumb swipe past your lips slowly, his eyes now focusing on your smudged lips as if he was hungry for it, wanting so desperately to press his lips onto them as he slowly leaned down towards them.

Oh no. Oh no. 

You started to panic; you had no idea what you were supposed to do. Sure, it wasn’t the first time you kissed Sunwoo, but your situation was much more different than the first. 

Brace yourselves, Y/N. Just do it. 

That was all that you could think of before closing your eyes tightly. It was now or never, and you surely have no escape. As you slowly waited for his warm, plump lips to land on yours again, it never came as you expected. When you slowly opened your eyelids, you saw Sunwoo paused exactly an inch before both lips met. 

Was he in a dilemma? Whether he should do it or not? 

In the end, Sunwoo broke off the tension and gave in to wrap his arms around you instead, giving you a tight hug as he rested his head under the crook of your neck. 

What was going on? 

“S-Sunwoo…what are you—”

“Let me just stay like this for a while, Y/N.”

As he took in a couple of seconds to relax his body over yours, you slowly snaked your arms around his back and caressed his back slowly, as if that was the right thing that you thought you could do at the moment.

With your touch, he tugged you tighter before eventually speaking his first words since he turned you around to face him. 

“Thank you, Y/N, for trusting me. I promise that I won’t let you down. We’ll catch whoever this mastermind is and place him behind bars for good.” 

You felt reassured, knowing that you will be in good hands for now before reuniting with your brother once the cases have been resolved. 

“Thank you too, Sunwoo, for looking out for me and making me feel safe.” 

“You slept in an upright position on the couch throughout the whole night?” You questioned the male, thinking that you might have heard something wrong. 

“For the hundredth time, yes I did, Y/N Bae. I have no idea why you are making such a big fuss out of this,” Sunwoo rubbed the back of his neck as he closed his eyes in annoyance as if he was tired of going through this whole topic with you again. 

“Well then, I suggest we swap for tonight then. It’s not fair that you have to make yourself suffer especially when you’re the owner of this cabin,” you stated clearly. 

“Have you ever heard of hospitality, Y/N? There’s no way I’m letting my guests sleep uncomfortably while they’re here. I might get a rotten review on booking.com the next day, that’s for sure.” 

However, you weren’t backing down so quickly. “Fine then. Why don't we share the bed for tonight, then?” 

That question made Sunwoo spit out the glass of water that he was drinking. He had to cough a few times to ensure the liquid flowed smoothly into his throat. 

“Are you insane? There’s no way I’m sleeping with someone that’s the opposite sex,” he muttered as he continued to pound his chest while seemingly trying to stop the cough.

“Well unfortunately, I insist. I would drag you onto the bed myself if I had to. It’s not like I’m asking you to try anything funny; if you are, you wouldn’t be seeing the light of day anyways,” you stated clearly before pointing into the bedroom.

Sunwoo could only let out a deep sigh before caving into your words, knowing that if you both went on and on about this, the sun would rise before any of you would get a proper good night's rest. 

As you both cleaned up and got ready for bed, Sunwoo watched as you climbed into the sheets and got yourself comfy before turning towards your left to sleep on your side and face the cabin wall. When he sees that you have stopped squirming, he gently lifts the sheets before doing the same, but facing towards his right so that he is facing the door instead. 

It took him a while to fall asleep, unlike you, who fell into a deep slumber within seconds. He was not used to this after all, having to share a bed with someone; it has been a long time since he has done so, especially when the last person he did this was years ago with her. 

Additionally, what happened down at the creek earlier in the day? Sunwoo had no idea why exactly he decided to do what he did, and eventually, he couldn’t bring himself to plant a kiss on your lips and went in for a hug instead. 

Deep down, Sunwoo knew something was happening between you two, but he was afraid to commit or even think about the possibilities. After what happened years ago, he promised that he wouldn’t get too close to anyone unless they were the ones who saved his life big time; in this case, it was your brother, Jacob. 

But now, it seems that Jacob’s little sibling was also slowly marking a spot in that enclosed heart of his. 

Before Sunwoo could even think of anything further, Sunwoo slowly drifted off into his own dreamland and fell into a deep sleep like you did. 

Hours had passed, and you both were sleeping peacefully until Sunwoo began hearing voices in his head. 

Big brother…big brother…please save me… save me from all of this…please don’t let them take me away…

Big brother…Sunwoo…SUNWOO OPPA!!

Immediately, Sunwoo shot up from his deep slumber and broke out in sweats. Sure, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to get nightmares from the past; it was something he was still working on anyway. But it has been a long time since he had the exact scenario played in his mind; it was a curse to him now. 

Sunwoo then brought up his fingers to rub his temples, trying his best to calm himself down without waking you, who was still peacefully sleeping on the side. 

All of a sudden, Sunwoo’s phone lit up from the nightstand, and he grabbed it lazily while rubbing his eyes to adjust his vision so that he could see clearly what exactly the notification that he had just gotten.

It was as if the nightmare wasn’t enough to ruin his night; the notification was far worse than whatever he had just dreamt of. 

Something that he dreaded would even occur at all throughout this whole investigation process. 

Jacob Bae: This will be the last time I will be able to contact you for now. Please keep Y/N safe at all costs, and we’ll be in touch as soon as I can.

Jacob’s POV

It had been two days since you had left the building without Jacob’s permission. Unfortunately, the meeting lasted way longer than expected, five hours to be exact. Hence, by the time he got back into his dark office where the only source of light was the one ray of moonlight shining through the windows, his heart dropped when he noticed how you were nowhere to be seen. 

Frantically, he skimmed through his entire office to see if you had left any clues behind, for the fear that you had been kidnapped, especially since you were considered to be vulnerable in the mastermind’s eyes, and how both Jacob and Sunwoo suspected that it could be someone from the biker gang or the law enforcement themselves. 

After minutes of scouring the entire room, he eventually made his way to his cabinet beneath his desk, where he could tell that one of them was pulled open and the little note that he stuck out slightly on purpose every time was gone. 

With that, he knew it could only mean one thing: you found the details of Sunwoo’s biker gang’s hideout and went there personally to confront the biker leader himself. Swiftly, he took his phone out before hastily sending Sunwoo a text. 

Jacob Bae: My sibling is headed towards your biker’s hideout. Please get there and make sure Y/N is safe at all costs. 

The moment he saw that Sunwoo had read his message, he finally fell back onto his chair, letting out a deep sigh of relief. As much as he was afraid that you had ventured into the predators' lair, he knew that as long as you were with Sunwoo, you would be safe from any harm or danger, even if he was the biker gang leader himself. 

Hence, while you were under Sunwoo’s care for the time being, Jacob was able to focus on his job and tried cracking all of the clues and codes he had received so far for the missing person’s cases, all while he tried his best maintaining contact with Sunwoo to keep each other updated on the case as well as your safety through texting one another. 

Things were going fairly smoothly until another missing person’s case was reported to the station just the night before. When he got to the registered location along with his subordinates, his stomach sank when he realised who had gone missing: your neighbour. 

Jacob began to panic as it only meant one thing: there was a high possibility that you would be the next target. 

Since that day, Jacob had worked tirelessly for hours without sleep or proper food. Your life is at stake right now, and he was determined that he was done playing this cat-and-mouse game with the mastermind. With that, Jacob tried searching for as many clues as possible, even the tiniest detail possible, and he went back to the crime scene himself to thoroughly search through the area once again on his own. 

As if it was a miracle, he eventually discovered a strand of hair near one of the flowerpots on your neighbour’s front porch. He quickly took the evidence he had found and ran straight back towards the lab to get the designated ones in charge to do a quick DNA test from the database to find out who it might be.

After hours of extracting the possible information, it had been concluded that it was impossible to narrow it down to a single person as too many chemicals were found on that single strand of hair follicle. But that did not stop Jacob from finding the exact match for who it might be. 

Hence, Jacob went through all of the case files once again, starting from the first case to the most recent, as he laid all of the details out onto his board in his office, writing down all of the necessary information paired along with red strings to help him connect the dots better. He was also going back and forth towards his desktop located on his desk, trying his best to find the right person from the database.

That was when he realised he had limited access to the station’s database. He had never had such issues before, so why had he been blocked? 

At that moment, he knew that his instinct was right and that the law enforcement was hiding something dark from the detectives themselves; perhaps that was why they had an excruciating time trying to gather practically limited information.

Unfortunately for the mastermind who did all of this, Jacob was actually an expert in computer hacking. Before being promoted to lieutenant, he was a renowned hacker in his division before rising to where he is now. The codes were a little harder to crack, but that doesn't mean it was nearly impossible. 

It took Jacob about ten minutes to finally hack into the actual database, and he wasted no time trying to match the hair follicle to a concrete DNA from the database itself. Once the system concluded that there was a match, he wasted no time clicking the download button to get the information down and reveal who it was.

Sadly, he wasn’t able to record down who it was as one of the detectives came barging into his office, pointing his loaded gun at him. Jacob was cornered, and he couldn’t do anything before the detective came over to completely shut off his desktop by pulling out the cords. Instantly, he shoved his gun towards Jacob’s back and guided him out of his office, guiding him to the actual mastermind of this whole crime spree. 

Before this happened, Jacob had typed out a message scheduled to be sent to Sunwoo if anything were to happen to him. It turns out his instinct was right, and he was slowly counting down the seconds in his heart before the time was up, and he felt his mobile vibrate in his back pocket, signalling that the message had been sent. 

As he stepped into the elevator with the detective, still pointing his gun at his back, he turned around before smiling. 

It’s up to you now, Sunwoo.

Sunwoo’s POV 

“Report what exactly you have found so far, lads.” 

“Certainly, boss!” The young man cleared his throat before setting up the live footage on the laptop and turning it towards his boss’s directions. “It was pretty faint, but you could see the unknown person in the camera drugging the female worker before bagging her up and dragging her body away and out from the factory.” 

Sunwoo narrowed his eyes as he leaned forward to try his best to make out who was on the screen, but since the crime occurred late at night. There wasn’t enough light penetrating through the facility; it was merely impossible to identify clearly who the hooded criminal was. 

But Sunwoo wouldn’t give up quickly, so he leaned backwards on his chair before clasping his hands and bringing them close to his face. 

“Judging from the victims from the recent cases, it seemed as if they have been targeting this specific factory more often as of late. There has to be a pattern going on here,” Sunwoo suggested. 

Upon hearing those words from the biker’s leader, the gang member scratched his head before responding. “With that, boss, what are you trying to propose…?” 

“I’m saying that they will strike there again, that’s for sure.” 

“O-Oh, of course! Well, I will go get the rest of the lads ready—”

“No, you stay put till I give you boys further instructions,” Sunwoo firmly decided. 

“B-But, boss, what are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to check the place on my own first before letting any of you step in there. I’m not going to risk all of your lives like that.” 

The young lad knew how dangerous the whole situation was at hand. Quite frankly, he was one of the lads who often kept Sunwoo updated with all of the security footage that was happening around town since he was one of the bikers who had a talent for hacking into all of Seoul’s security systems without having the law enforcement notice his doing, of course. 

But he knew that the boss was risking his own life by heading towards the location alone. In the worst-case scenario, Sunwoo could even get seriously injured or worse. But he knew that Sunwoo’s words were absolute, and no one had ever been able to change his mind once he made a decision. 

With that, the hacker placed his hands together in front of him, slightly bending his head down before obeying Sunwoo’s orders. “Very well, boss. We will await your next instructions then.”

As Sunwoo picked up his speed and rode his bike back to the cabin, the only thing that lingered in his mind was how he would explain the change of plans to you. He would’ve never thought that he might have to intervene and head towards the location himself to gather information this soon, or rather, he was hoping that Jacob could do it since he was a detective, after all. 

But now that Jacob is out of reach, Sunwoo had no choice but to take up the job to prevent anyone, especially his comrades, from getting hurt or potentially losing their lives in that targetted location without getting a green flag from someone higher up first. 

Another reason that he was a bit stressed out about the current situation was that it was time for him to talk to you about it; it was time for you both to make a move, and he knew that he couldn’t keep you in the dark forever, as much as he just wanted to tuck you away in this cabin of his and just stayed put and safe there while he and your brother resolved all of this messed up crime spree that was happening in the district. 

It was also because that was the exact factory that you worked at. That could only mean that the chances that you may or may not be the next target were higher than they had expected. 

After those train of thoughts, he finally arrived back at the cabin, and he tried his best to maintain his composure before turning the doorknob to open up the doors and calling out loud for you. 

That was only until you didn’t respond that he began to panic. 

“Y/N? Y/N, are you there?”

Sunwoo tried his best to maintain his calm while going from room to room, calling out for you. When he had finally searched the entire cabin and that you were nowhere to be found, that was when he felt a sink in his stomach, and he was about to go insane any moment now. 

He was now screaming at the top of his lungs for you while running around frantically, even as he stepped out of the cabin and walked down the steps to circle the woods nearby. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Please respond to me! Where are you?!”

His heartbeat was pounding much louder and faster with each second, and he was close to shitting his pants at the moment. An instant regret filled his guts, and he wished he could’ve turned by time so that it would’ve knocked some sense into him that he shouldn’t have left you alone in the cabin, especially when both of your lives were at stake. 

He wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake as he had done before. There was no way he would let history repeat itself, not under his watch.

Y/N! Y/N! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!

Suddenly, he heard a faint grunt from a distance, a little bit towards his left. An unexpected fog clouded the air, making it hard for him to see whoever was slowly coming in his direction. 

With his instinct, Sunwoo quickly pulled out his handgun that he tucked away beneath his leather jacket, quickly loaded the gun and aimed it towards the shadow approaching him. 

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the shadow emerged from the fog, and that was when he finally made out that it was the person he had been longing to find. 

“Sunwoo! You’re back!” You smiled while carrying a box filled with freshly picked fruits in your arms. 

Sunwoo then slowly lowered down the gun and stared at you blankly. To ease the tension and awkwardness, you decided to speak up whatever was on your mind for now.

“O-Oh! Sorry, I know I should’ve stayed put, but like I said, I know how to keep myself occupied. I decided to go for a little walk around, and that’s when I saw this little peach tree growing near the little creak you brought me to the other day. I just so remembered this one peach dessert I used to make when I was a kid, and I thought we could use some desserts—”

Before you could finish your sentence, Sunwoo wrapped his arms around you tightly, making you drop the box of fruits towards the ground. You were stunned by his sudden actions as he said nothing, and you could hear him sobbing for once as he buried his neck into the crook of your neck. 

Sunwoo knew that things were starting to get into his head, and he needed to tell you the truth now, especially with the events that have happened within the past 24 hours, and how he needed to tell you about his recent findings. 

And also about the nightmare he had last night.

There was no point in hiding anymore. Eventually, you would have to know anyways.

Y/N’s POV

“You look like a stray raccoon, Mr Kim,” you teased half-jokingly, but the other half was also concerned about his appearance. It was how he sat across from you, slumped onto his couch, and looked defeated. It was obvious that something had been bothering him, especially when you knew he had a nightmare last night, but you weren’t going to say anything unless he would tell you all about it himself. 

But given the current situation, the way he looked for you so frantically, and hell, even aimed a gun at you (not on purpose, of course), something has gone wrong, and you needed to know. 

You gently stood up and walked over to sit cross-legged on the ground, gently placing one of your hands onto his that was resting on his thigh, slowly caressing them to help ease the frown on his face. 

“Sunwoo, talk to me about it. I promise your secrets are safe with me,” you gently reassured him, hoping he would finally speak out about whatever had been hindering his mind since the day before. 

With that, he slowly opened his eyes to look down at you; he could tell that you were desperate to get answers, and this time, you wouldn’t take a single loophole in your books. Slowly, he sat back up and leaned forward as he stared at you, giving you his full attention.

“There have been some major updates in the missing person cases, Y/N.” 

“Okay, so we’ll go from there—”

“But before that, I think you need to know about my past, especially why I said your brother has given me another chance in life and why I took on this offer in the first place.” 

You gulped upon hearing that. It was finally time for you to know precisely what the pact they made behind your back was, and you could finally learn more about Sunwoo and your brother's secret life. 

“Remember when you walked into my cabin on the first day? You went straight ahead to the fireplace and had a little good look at the picture frame situated above it?”

“Y-Yeah? Was that your childhood friend or something?” 

“That was…” He paused for a moment before finishing up his sentence. “My little sister.” 

Now, that was something new to you. Nobody has ever heard that the biker gang leader would have a younger sibling or sibling. Most people have assumed that he had only been an only child and was probably abandoned from a young age due to his upbringing and reputation in the district. 

But Sunwoo was here to tell you the truth and to turn those assumptions down. “Regardless of how the public sees who I am, I had a pretty happy childhood. We were a family of four; our days were filled with happiness as we resided in a small village out of town. It wasn’t until my father received a promotion at his job that he decided to bring all of us up to Seoul, hoping for a better life.” 

Sunwoo cleared his throat before he continued with his story. “It was a miracle when my father came home one day telling us he was offered a job at the local police station; neither of us could’ve believed it then. It started off simple: he was just an ordinary security guard at the huge facility until he showed his superiors that he was far more capable than that, and he eventually rose to the ranks of becoming an actual detective.” 

“In other words, your father was my brother’s senior then,” you added, making Sunwoo return to you with a smile.

“Precisely. Years passed, and my sister followed his footsteps, eventually joining the academy and becoming a rookie detective under my father’s supervision. Meanwhile, I’ve decided to stay back and help my mother at her local pastry shop down the road from the station since she needed some assistance anyway. At the same time, I started building this wooden cabin, with the thought of creating a little place where we family could escape to during our free time.” 

You scooched closer, and your hands around his tightened slightly, trying to find the right words to ask the main question. “W-What happened then?” 

His eyes immediately fell to the floor, and his tone suddenly went down an octave, indicating that whatever he would say next would be pretty heavy to register. “My father was sent abroad on a mission, but he unfortunately lost his life in the line. Upon hearing that, my mother died with a broken heart.” 

“Sunwoo, my deepest condolences…” you mumbled. 

“You want to know what’s even crazier, Y/N? That wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had to go through. It was my sister.” 

You could see that his eyes began to water, and he was trying his best to hold back any outburst of emotions that he might have. Naturally, his hands found yours and held them tight, and you return the favour by placing another hand of yours on top of his. 

“There’s only a sole purpose for me in joining the biker gang: to keep my family safe.”

“In what way, Sunwoo?” You questioned, not really linking on how a biker member could help the detectives when both occupations are the total opposite. 

“I’m pretty sure you know by now about how dark and corrupted the crimes in Seoul are behind the scenes, and there are certain places that are off-limits no matter how far up the ranks you are.” 

“So that’s when you come in then.” 

“Exactly. Even if it’s the smallest thing I can do for them, I would take it.”

“Huh. Very contradicting to your biker image that the public is aware of.” 

“Hey, I need to look good for everyone okay. You never know. I’m pretty sure I have a fanbase somewhere in town admiring my good looks,” he smugged while lifting his head up high. You were glad he could still joke around and was still the Sunwoo you had known despite all the recent hardships. 

“God, I hope your fanbase will have enough to fund themselves. Supporting someone when they do not get anything in return is sad.” 

Sunwoo was annoyed at your teasing and immediately pinched your cheeks and pulled them slightly. “You take that back, I will have you know that I am one of the most good-looking people the district has ever seen in years.” 

“I will have you know that you are wrong because my brother Jacob is a hundred times better than you!” You spat back while holding the hand, almost breaking your cheeks apart. 

The pinching then slowly died down as Sunwoo slowly regained his composure. “Speaking about Jacob, that’s where the next story comes in.”  

As Sunwoo slowly pulled his hand away, you cupped that side of your cheek with your hands, mentally cursing the guy and saying that you would surely get back to him once this whole storytelling session was over. 

“I’m sure you are aware of the infamous case that one of the detectives from the station was the mastermind behind a series of kidnapping cases that happened in our district five years ago?” 

Oh, that. 

It was one of the cases that truly shook the nation down to its core; who would’ve thought that one of the detectives, especially from the elite squad, would have been monitoring and kidnapping young children around the area? What was more unpleasant about the case was that he had a few subordinates to help fulfill his fantasies, and they so happened to be a handful of the detectives themselves as well; some even used to be close buddies with your brother. 

It truly was a traumatising event that happened in your district’s history, and nobody wished such a case would ever happen again. 

“Y-Yeah…it was something my brother wished he could erase from his memory for good. It has impacted him in the worst way possible. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to see him go through such times ever again,” you commented. 

“Well, Y/N. I feel the same way, too. Just like how badly it has played a part in your brother’s life, it also did for me.” 

“How exactly did you even drag yourself into the situation?” 

He sighed. “Not by my own will, Y/N. It was because of my sister,” he squeezed your hands, and he chose his words carefully next, perhaps needing a bit of your strength to finally touch on the topic he has been avoiding for the longest time. 

“My sister was part of the cold case squad at the time, and it just so happened that she was the only female detective in the team. She would work tirelessly day and night, trying her best to dig through each possible available data, even the ones that were off-limits to most detectives. Little did she know that the mastermind himself was closely monitoring every movement that she had made, and she became a victim herself.” 

“Sunwoo…” you slowly caressed his hand, wanting to take him into your embrace right now. 

“Fast forward to the day when she finally emerged from the shadows, Jacob and I found ourselves in a standoff against the mastermind, holding my sister hostage on the rooftops of the police station. And god, Y/N. No words could describe how I felt the moment I laid my eyes upon my sister then, of how dishevelled and disoriented she had become.” 

A single tear drop fell from the corners of his eyes unto your hands, and your heart broke at that sight. Sunwoo had always portrayed how tough he was as if nothing in this world could ruin him to the point of breaking down, at least not in front of someone. He must’ve carried on this trauma for a long time, one that would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life. 

“Your brother did not have the guts to shoot at his supervisor, so I did the favour for him instead. The bullet penetrated through his skull, and it was an instant death for him. My sister then lay on the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs, pushing and kicking everyone that came close to her. Not even I could do anything to help save her then,” he sobbed and choked on his own words. 

“So, my brother came to your rescue then?” You quietly asked. 

He sniffled. “He did. Killing a police officer is a huge crime, and naturally, I was placed behind bars. But your brother fought relentlessly, and I was pardoned and eventually released from prison.” 

“That’s my brother for you.” You smiled, thankful he was still the same brother you had grown to love and admire despite the recent events between you two. 

“But it came with a price, Y/N.” 

“And what was it?” 

“In return for getting me out of prison, Jacob would take my sister’s wellbeing into his own hands. So he placed her under a facility that would care and possibly help her recover, but I was not to know about the location and to ever meet with her ever again.” 

Your heart sank upon hearing that. It would kill you to know that you have to be separated from your sibling for good, and you don’t think you could ever live the same way as you’ve done before knowing that. 

Immediately, you jumped into Sunwoo’s arms, giving him a tight embrace while tears streamed down your face. 

“I’m so sorry, Sunwoo. I’m so sorry that we detectives have failed you. We should’ve been the ones protecting the civilians, not breaking them apart physically and mentally.” You sunk your cheek into his neck; you wished there was something that you could’ve done to ease his pain or even bring his only happiness back to him. 

Sunwoo said nothing but return the embrace to you. He did the same by resting his chin upon your shoulders, slowly moving to the point you felt his lips slightly brushed against your neck as he took in all of your scent. 

Neither of you said anything for at least a good ten minutes, and you both were fine staying that way. You knew that it had taken a massive leap of faith for Sunwoo to address his biggest and darkest nightmare finally, and you were grateful that he had decided to trust you enough to talk to you about all of this. 

Eventually, you found yourselves both snuggled on the couch, just admiring the fireplace while cuddling one another. Sunwoo lay gently on your chest while you constantly ran your fingers through his soft black hair, making him slowly drift off into dreamland. It was obvious that Sunwoo hadn’t had the best of sleep lately because he easily slept within your arms for a couple of hours, not to be awakened so easily. 

And that was fine by you. You have begun to feel that you both were more than just acquaintances. However, you weren’t sure if Sunwoo returned the same feelings for you, but your subconsciousness tells you that whatever happened back at the creek, he must’ve felt something, too. It doesn’t matter if it was the same way as you did; you were more than glad that you had found a place within him.

As you slowly admired his sleeping face, you were now more than determined to put an end to this nightmare the district had been struggling with for months. 

This time, let me return the favour, Sunwoo. 

The strong wind was constantly hitting your face as you grabbed Sunwoo tightly while he sped on his bike. It had been a few days since, and you finally had Sunwoo to fill you in with the latest news he had when he finally regained himself. 

To say that you were beyond shock was an understatement when you found out that the mastermind was targeting the young ladies at the factory you worked at, and that was how Kisa disappeared and became a pawn in their twisted games. 

But that also meant one thing: you’re the next target, and they have had their eyes on you for a while now. 

You were terrified, that was for sure, but you decided that you wouldn’t tell them to do as they please anymore. As long as you both stick together, you know that you will crack the case open and put a stop to this spree of kidnappings. 

It’s all for the victims and Jacob.

Even for you, Kim Sunwoo. 

As you finally made your way towards the factory, you quickly armed yourselves before stepping into the facility, all while Sunwoo held you close next to him.

It was eerily quiet, and no sign of a human being was in sight. It was unusual how abnormal the whole situation felt; it was as if the entire building had been abandoned. 

Or was it?

In the distance, you quietly alerted Sunwoo of how a faint light had caught your attention, and you could tell it had led to the systems room. Someone was in there, and you have a good guess that they might have been using the building to communicate for a while now. 

Giving each other a nod, you both slowly crept towards the room; that was when you felt a metal object pressed onto your skull. You finally came to a halt while Sunwoo slowly disappeared down the hallway, not noticing that you had left his side.

“Now that’s a good little kitten, don’t you think? You have saved me the trouble of looking for you, Y/N Bae.” 

God, he knew your name. 

You chuckled. “What do you want from us? What do you possibly gain from kidnapping these young ladies?” 

“Oh sweetheart, don’t you know that money is everything in this day and age? Given how we have lived in poverty for so long, it wouldn’t hurt to earn that extra cash and big bucks, no matter how dangerous the situation can be, don’t you think?” 

“You have no sense of morals, then. Treating these young ladies as objects and pawns to your games,” you fired back. 

The man then slowly pushed the metal object that was situated on your skull further deeper as he slowly loaded it, to which you knew that you were now held at gunpoint. 

“Now sweetheart, let me tell you a little something about us. We are predators, and we hunt for prey like you.” 

Now, this seems awfully familiar. 

“I’m afraid that once predators have gotten our eyes on a target, we will not let them go that easily. We are slowly going to devour you up, leaving no traces behind. If you think you could stop us, then I’m afraid you’re wrong, princess. We’re experts in our field of work; we are not to be found that easily even if you were the best of the best detectives in town because that is our nature.” 

That phrase, it’s similar to Sunwoo’s—

“Never in a million years would I have known that you’ve stooped so low, Seunghak.” 

That voice! 

Immediately, the both of you noticed how a badly beaten up individual was thrown in front of you, and your eyes widened upon what you have seen. Slowly, an individual emerged from the shadows, and it was Sunwoo, walking towards you both while aiming the gun at the person behind you.

“Why, hello, dear boss. Or should I say, former boss,” he taunted, smacking his lips as if things had just gotten far more interesting now. 

“Damn, Seunghak. I didn’t know you were the type to switch lanes that quickly. It seems like the biker life wasn’t good enough for you, then,” Sunwoo smiled dauntingly, and you gulped upon that sight. He was back to being the biker gang leader that the entire district was afraid of; you could even tell how the man behind you flinched a little as he began to shiver slightly with the gun still placed on your skull. 

“Can you blame me, though? When you get a plate full of gold in front of you, I’ll do whatever it takes if that means I will have more than enough to spend the rest of my life at ease,” he fired back while beginning to laugh menacingly.

“Besides, what do we do with these ladies in captivity? Oh god, I have been having the best of my life rather than being stuck in the biker's den.”

Instantly, Sunwoo's face darkened upon hearing what Seunghak said, and you could feel as if he was shooting daggers through his eyes at his former comrade.

“You are absolutely sick in the head.” 

“And what if I am? I am living the best life possible, and there’s nothing you can do to convince me to return!” He screamed before pushing the gun to the point that you felt that the metal was going to pierce through your skull any moment now. 

Slowly, Sunwoo started taking a few steps closer while he elicited a low chuckle. “You think you have a place left in my biker gang? You are much better off dead rather than coming back, Seunghak.” 

Immediately, a loud clatter was heard coming from both sides, accompanied by a volume of grunts, before the male began panicking. 

“W-What’s going on?” 

Finally, Sunwoo stopped right merely inched away from you both, and he aimed the gun towards his former comrade’s face. 

“If you think I’ve come unprepared, then that means you are a hundred years too early even to accept the dirty ass pot of gold that was placed so easily in front of your plate.”

Instantly, Sunwoo pulled the trigger, and the bullet penetrated the man’s abdomen, causing him to let out an ear-splitting scream as he tumbled and fell onto the ground, pressing onto his wound to ease the bleeding. 

Unfortunately, Sunwoo wasn’t going to let him off so quickly, as he fired another bullet into his arms, causing the male to lay down helplessly. At the same time, Sunwoo hovered above him, resting his gun upon Seunghak’s cheeks. 

“You’re going to be a dear and tell me who exactly employed you and your boys before I shoot another bullet into your skull, which would kill you off instantly, young man.”

It seemed that the male wouldn’t give up easily as he spat back onto Sunwoo’s face. 

“As if I would tell you easily who is the mastermind behind all of this…no matter what happens to us…not of us are going to tell a single soul about it…our lips are sealed shut—”

A loud bang was heard throughout the entire facility, and you slowly opened your eyes to see that the male was long gone now, having a bullet penetrated his skull. 

Sunwoo slowly got up from the male, dusting his knees while he was at it. 

“You scumbags have no reason to live in this world then.” 

As he turned to face you again, you couldn’t help but slowly take a few steps back, as if you weren’t sure if you would want to deal with the current state Sunwoo was in. Sure, you trusted him, but it was truly the first time you had seen him like this.

Far worse than how he confronted you back at his base. 

This was the true so-called “devil” that people were terrified of, and this was what Sunwoo was truly capable of. 

Sunwoo didn’t say a word as he walked towards you before muttering a few words. 

“Let’s get going and continue to search the place for clues.” 

“O-Okay…” you replied. 

As you both made your way down past the hallways, Sunwoo occasionally stopped giving his subordinates further orders or even asking about the current situation throughout the facility. He had given them instructions way beforehand, and the whole place was now under the bikers' control. 

Since you knew it probably wouldn’t be a good time to disturb nor provoke Sunwoo in his current state, you figured it would’ve been a good time to check out the control room situated just a little bit towards your right. 

You slowly turned your head to see that Sunwoo was engaged in the conversation before you slowly crept away and headed straight towards the room while leaving the door open so that that was an indirect way of letting him know that you were here and doing fine on your own. 

You quickly took in the sight upon you as you took in the dozens of computer screens that hovered above you and how multiple files and USB drives were plugged into the systems, meaning that whoever was here before had been lurking in this place for a while. 

Since your brother was an expert hacker, you naturally followed his footsteps as you got him to teach you all about computers when you were young. In other words, you could consider yourself a little computer geek, and you knew your way around the codes and the systems. 

As you sat down on the chair and began typing away, you could easily hack into the system to find out the dozens of confidential information stored there. Sure enough, you were able to dig through the files and find valuable information about the kidnappings—who the victims were, their way of communication to pass around information, and who was the sole mastermind that commanded Seunghak and his team. 

However, it seemed that it wouldn’t be as easy to determine who exactly was the accurate mastermind as they used an untraceable ID and alias; or rather, they actually communicated through ciphertexts. 

You mentally cursed at yourself for not taking an interest in this particular method of communication back then when your brother taught you briefly. You have always brushed it off, saying you were not made to understand this specific method and always preferred a more accessible way out. 

You were then back to square one again. To find out who was behind that so-called alias and ID, you needed to crack the algorithm and ciphertext to move on. 

Just as all hope is lost, a new message suddenly appears on the screen, and you squint your eyes as you try to read what exactly it holds. When you finally understood what was written, your eyes widened, leaving you stunned for a minute. 

This…this is—

“Y/N!!! GET OUT OF THERE!!!”

Before you were able to make sense of the whole situation, Sunwoo immediately jumped in front of you before you eventually heard a gunshot resonate in the air and eventually a siren followed as you tried your best to catch hold of Sunwoo in your arms, followed by a swarm of bikers filling the control room.

Sunwoo had no idea how long he had been passed out since then, and he was slowly trying his best to open up his eyelids tightly glued shut together as the light shone through his vision. 

When he finally did, he realised that he was back in this cabin and was lying down on the couch he tried his best to sit up before he felt an excruciating pain that sent shockwaves throughout his whole body.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” 

Sunwoo jerked his head to the side to see that you had returned with a first aid box and a bowl of water with a cloth draped before you slowly sat on the couch with him. You took the fabric into your hands before dipping it into the bowl of water, squeezing off the excess liquid before you started wiping off any dirt or blood that was left on his bare chest. 

Neither of you said a word, or rather, none of you knew the right words to say at the moment. Sunwoo noticed how red and puffy your eyes were, and he knew immediately that you must’ve been crying for god knows how long. 

He definitely felt partly guilty for that, but another part of him didn’t know why he did just that, jumping in front of you to save you from the henchmen instead of taking him out with his gun from behind. 

His thoughts were a mess; he no longer knew what he felt. As he quietly observed the way you took care of him, his heart began to ache, and he couldn’t help but gently place one of his hands on your cheeks, rubbing the little area where he saw that there was a slit mark; you probably have gotten injured yourself while he was out. 

That gesture stopped you as you lifted your head to look at him straight in the eyes. Unlike back at the factory, his eyes were filled with mystery again, not the dark, scary one he portrayed as the biker’s gang leader. It felt as if the scene back during the creak was repeating itself. 

“S-Sunwoo…I…” you stammered before you eventually felt his soft lips against yours. 

The kiss was gentle and bittersweet, and Sunwoo did not hesitate to slowly move his lips against yours, showering you with plenty of kisses and savouring the taste of your lips. Your body immediately shut down from that, and you finally eased yourself to return the favour, moving yours against his as you both kissed each other breathlessly. 

His kiss sent shockwaves to your entire body, making you want this moment to last for as long as possible. He gently lifted your face slightly with the hand resting on your cheek, intending to kiss you deeper. That was when you decided to close your eyes and let him take full control of the situation. 

As you both finally broke apart to take a few deep breaths, Sunwoo rested his forehead against yours, just like he did before at the creak. 

It was time, you figured, to finally ask him what you both truly are. 

“Sunwoo…what…what made you finally do it?” You panted. 

He paused briefly before giving you an answer you did not expect. “Do I have you say more than that? I’m pretty sure it’s what you have in mind, Y/N.” 

You were now trying your best to hold back the tears forming at the corners of your eyes. “W-What made you finally feel that way, Sunwoo?”

“I…I don’t even know myself, Y/N. In the beginning, I’ve only seen you as a little sibling that I would protect at all costs because I do not want to repeat the same mistake as I have done to my biological sister. But as we spent more time together, there was just something that I felt within me that made me realise that maybe you’re more than just a sibling to me now.” 

Sunwoo gently lifted your head once more before giving you a little peck on the lips again. “One thing is for sure now: I would protect you at all costs, even if it means I must sacrifice myself. I’m not doing this as a favour to your brother anymore; I’m doing this because you mean a lot to me.” 

With those words, you couldn’t help but smile for the first time in a while before responding to the man himself. “Well, you’re going to have to do a lot of explaining to my brother, then.” 

“Yeah. Frankly, I hate the thought of having to go through that phase. But if it’s you, I’d do anything to get that approval from Mr Bae himself.” He winked. 

“Ew. Gross.” 

“Admit it, you like the thought of us being together and a thing in the near future.” 

“You better hold your horses before I shove this fabric down your throat.” 

“Wow, aren’t you a scary one?” 

You both broke into laughter with that conversation. It has been a while since you both have bickered like that, and you missed this mischievous side of him.

“Well, mister. We’ll have to wait a couple of days for you to be completed healed before we hit the road again.” You announced as you finally stood up from the couch.

“Give me a day to rest up, and then we’ll leave.” 

“Kim Sunwoo, there’s no way you’re healing up within a day with that bullet wound in your abdomen.” 

“If I say one day, it means one day,” he deadpanned. 

“You can’t be serious,” you argued back. 

“One day.”

“No.”

“Yes.” 

You sighed. “We will determine that after 24 hours, then.” 

Sunwoo smiled as he laid back down on the couch. “Well, now that’s settled, we could go through the strategy planning tomorrow. For now, I think it’s time for us to get into bed together—”

“You’re not touching me in my sleep.”

“Oh come on, we kissed, so what’s the matter?” He pouted. 

“We’re not at that stage yet.” 

“Pretty please with a cherry on top?” He begged.

“Absolutely not.”

Miraculously, it took only a day for Sunwoo to be entirely healed as he drove down the streets, heading back to the capital. You swore that this man was built differently from all of you, and he was a monster at that, able to heal so quickly with a wound that would typically take at least a week or two. 

He was definitely feeling a lot better after a good night's rest, and you guided him into the fireplace before telling him the details you had found back in the systems room. Sunwoo’s eyes widened as he heard about your findings, and never would he have thought that you both would be able to receive that critical information to finally pinpoint who was the exact mastermind behind all of this. 

After hearing your thoughts and suggestions, the both of you quickly took off to one of his nearest hideouts, where he would often meet up with his closer subordinates to inform them about the current plan. After a whole night of planning, all of you were now on the road heading back into the city.

When you finally catch a glimpse of the police station from afar, bittersweet feelings immediately form within you as you know that there would be the last destination to be able to crack the cold case open. You hope that Jacob is somewhere hidden within the facility since you last saw him. 

As all the bikes began pulling up nearby, Sunwoo gave the lads further instructions on infiltrating the building without being detected by the guards. Their mission was to find out where exactly the victims were kept away and to avoid conflict with any detectives that came their way. 

Based on the information you found at the factory, you insisted that it would be best to confront the mastermind since you have gotten a pretty good hunch on who they are and where they might be residing too. But Sunwoo insisted that he was going to stay close to you as much as he could, and he was not going to risk your life once more. 

It took a bit of convincing back and forth, but you finally managed to persuade him to stay nearby but undetected, fearing that the mastermind might flee if they had a sense that you did not come alone to meet them.

So here you were, pressing the exact button that would eventually lead you to the top floor of the building, staring straight into the screen above the lift that indicated that you were slowly going up each second. Your hands began shaking against your own will, fearing that you were finally going to meet your worst nightmare, one that has kept you awake and separated from your own family and friends for weeks. 

As you shut your eyes to take a deep breath, you were instantly cut off from your train of thoughts when you felt someone grab onto your hands and intertwine their fingers with yours. When you opened your eyes and turned your head to the side, you could see that Sunwoo was just as nervous as you were, linking his hands with yours. 

It must’ve been hard for Sunwoo as well; he was also dealing with his struggles when he was with you. But he has never failed to let it get to them to the point that it made him lose all hope and sanity. Perhaps it must have been fate that you were there with him, and you were able to give him a bit of strength and company to deal with all of this. 

Your grip tightened against his, and you looked into his eyes. “Sunwoo…”

“It’ll be over soon, Y/N. I’m sure of it. No civilians should ever experience this nightmare ever again. We’re going to break the chain of history and not let it repeat itself once again,” Sunwoo said confidently, and he was determined that it was time to make a change in Seoul’s dark history of crimes and corruption. 

As the doors to the lift opened, you slowly stepped out of the lift and let go of Sunwoo’s grip and looked at him once more before walking to where you were supposed to be headed. For the last time, you both communicated by looking into each other’s eyes; Sunwoo promised you that he would be nearby and that you didn’t have to worry as he would keep you safe. 

With a nod from you, the doors to the lift eventually began to close, and you constantly kept your eyes glued on Sunwoo before the doors were glued shut. 

Turning your heel towards the opposite direction, you slowly walked along the corridors, passing by multiple rooms before reaching the one at the furthest end. You read the door sign carefully before confirming that you were at the right place. 

Slowly, you lifted up your hands to gently knock on the door before it slowly opened on its own. With a gulp, you stepped in and peered your head through the room. It was dark, and the only light shining into the room was the moonlight from the windows. 

When you were fully physically in the room, the doors behind you suddenly slammed shut again, sending a sense of nervousness throughout your entire body. You had to remind yourself constantly that as long as you can get through this last spurt, everything will finally be revealed, and it will be a chapter closed. 

You could sense that you weren’t alone in this room and that someone was lurking in the shadows. Taking this as your chance to confront them, you finally gathered the courage to speak up to whoever was in here with you. 

“It seems that your time of reign has abruptly ended. It wasn’t easy trying to track you down for months; given your position, it must’ve been really easy to get hold of the young ladies into your care. You surely are a brave individual who was willing to take the risk,” you announced aloud but were again met with silence. 

But you didn’t come here to give up quickly, so you decided to press on. “Say, haven’t you stooped down so low, using your detective position to claim these young women for your benefit? Wasn’t your wife good enough for you? Why resort to kidnapping and eventually trafficking these young ladies for your good?”

Come on, Y/N. Just a little bit more. 

“You even went to seek help from the biker gang. Are you that desperate? Especially when you have sworn that you hate them to the core and would never associate with the likes of them.” 

“Don’t you think so, Uncle Bae?” 

With that last sentence, the room felt much more silent than it already was before you eventually heard footsteps coming before you, finally revealing to the man that you have been trying your best to get him out of the shadows. 

“I’m beyond impressed, Y/N. You are just as smart as your brother; you could easily pull off as a detective for the station.” 

It has been a while since you have seen your uncle. He was the deputy chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department and was often away to deal with heavy and pressing matters requiring him to stay stuck in this office all day or even fly out of the country to do so.

He also took your brother in and gave him a chance as a detective after seeing his extraordinary talent with computers and hacking. After your parents passed, he was the one who has been raising you both just as his children, and he was finally able to let loose a bit once you both entered adulthood. 

He often visits during celebrations as much as he can despite his busy schedule, and you both have always admired him for what he has done to serve the country. He was considered the nation’s hero, after all.

But it seems that not all good things last for long, especially when you receive that concrete evidence and message back in the systems room from your very own brother, revealing who the mastermind is. Why exactly did he choose to do all of this? Your very own uncle, the nation’s hero, to be behind all of the kidnappings that have happened for the past several months. It would be impossible to convince the public that this was the reality that everyone has been living in; that is why it is up to you now to publicly reveal and gain concrete evidence to stop his spree of crimes.

“My dear little Y/N, how exactly did you even crack the code? I was certain that you couldn’t decrypt ciphertexts.” 

So, that was why he used it as a primary method of communicating with the bikers. 

“Well, I’m afraid you have made a fatal mistake. I may not be able to read ciphertexts, but I sure can read morse code.” 

“What?” 

You chuckled. “You may have kept my brother hidden away somewhere, but so long as he is within the facility and was one of the top hackers in the station, he would certainly find a way to hack through the systems throughout the district and even out of town, keeping in a close contact with us.” 

“Just as expected from my nephew, I shouldn’t have underestimated what you both were capable of,” he laughed. 

Unbeknownst to you, you eventually balled your fists up, and you were on the verge of wanting to throw a punch straight into his face despite being family by blood. However, you tried your best to hold yourself back, you have to get concrete evidence first and foremost. 

“Why, Uncle Bae? Why would a successful detective like you do such a thing? Why live a double life?” You asked and pleaded a little to see if he had any sense of remorse left in him. 

But your efforts were wasted. 

“Oh, Y/N. You have no idea how cruel our world can truly be. It doesn’t matter how high your status can be; the city of Seoul will forever remain dark and corrupt behind the scenes, whether you like it or not. In this world that we will live in, it’s like a tug-of-war, Y/N. If you don’t take a step further, then the younger and weaklings will eventually catch up, and we don’t want that to happen, do we?” 

Your uncle then stepped closer to you and began slowly circling around you. 

“There are only two groups of people in the world; either you choose to be strong or stay behind with the weak. It’s a cruel world that we live in, Y/N. When the opportunity comes, take it even if there’s the slightest opening to becoming the strong elite. Take it and do not spare a glance back, even if it means you must ditch your old life behind. You might even need to sacrifice some things or people to realise those goals.” 

“B-But that doesn’t imply why you would turn to crime to achieve those goals, Uncle Bae,” you commented. 

He sighed. “I’m afraid you are still too young to realise it then. Those girls should be lucky that they are still alive. I haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.” 

Your blood was now boiling, and you were on the verge of genuinely slapping or hitting some sense into your uncle, even though you knew that it would probably be effortless. You just needed to hurt him, make him suffer for all that he has done to all of those young women, even to your friend, Kisa. 

Before you finally shut your eyes, you had to ask him one last question before you were going to reach behind your back pocket for the knife that you had stored away.

“Let me then ask you this, Uncle Bae. What happened five years ago when a detective was responsible for kidnapping young children across the district. Was that your doing as well?” 

In your gut, you already knew what the actual answer would be. But at least you still needed to hear it directly from his mouth. 

“Ah, Minhwan? It was truly a tragedy that he lost his life easily then. He was just a step closer to kidnapping his tenth victim.” 

God, you felt sick to the stomach. He truly was a heartless individual; all of the years of putting up a favourable face in front of his family eventually broke down, revealing who he truly is in front of you now. 

You couldn’t care less if he was your uncle anymore; all you knew was that he was going to hell, and you so desperately wanted to end his life here and then—

“So it was you who made my sister suffer the way she did.” 

That voice! Sunwoo!

You quickly jerked your head behind to see that Sunwoo was now aiming his gun directly at your uncle, but before you could even process further, you were immediately pulled into your uncle’s embrace. He immediately took out his gun from his holster and rested it on your temple. 

“My, if it isn’t the biker gang leader himself! You surely have grown since the last time I’ve seen you.” 

“Never in a million years would I have thought that the chief detective would have been monitoring and guiding the underworld for several years. It would surely be a huge hit in the newspapers and eventually across the globe,” Sunwoo taunted. 

“That would be nice, but I’m afraid you both won’t live through the next sunrise to see it happen because I will be eliminating you both right here and now, starting with Y/N,” he pushed the gun further to the point that it began to hurt. You could tell that one wrong move from either of you would result in a bullet within the two of you. 

You both have to think quickly and strategically before executing the next move. 

“What makes you think you can outsmart me, young man? You’re from the biker gang, for goodness sake!” Your uncle began raising his voice and was now engaged in the conversation with Sunwoo. 

That was when you looked into Sunwoo’s eyes, and you could tell he was trying to tell you something. 

It was as if he meant…

Trust me, Y/N. 

“It is because I’m the biker gang’s leader, Mr Chief. Hence, I can and will outsmart you here right now.” 

With that one last word, Sunwoo loaded his gun and pulled the trigger, aiming straight at your legs. The bullet barely grazed through your skin, and you immediately fell onto your knees, which made your uncle stunned. 

“Hey! Hey! Y/N! Get up! Get up now!”

In the midst of his panic, Sunwoo quickly stepped in and took his hand onto his back before propelling his body forward, slamming him onto the ground. He quickly used his knee to keep him in place. He used his hands to push the chief’s head to the ground while the other held both hands towards his back. 

“Y-You think you’re going to get away with this? You’re a hundred years too fast…” the chief grunted. 

“Actually, I think you might as well start digging your grave now, dear uncle.” 

Immediately, all of you looked towards the front door entrance where the voice was coming from, and your eyes widened upon who you had just seen. 

“Jacob!!!” You screamed out loud; tears might even start falling from the corners of your eyes. 

“Hello, uncle. Missed me?” 

“H-How did you get out from there? There’s absolutely no way—”

“Well, I have my ways. And unfortunately for you, I hacked into the station system, so your computer right there on your desk was recording everything that you said towards both my sibling and the biker gang’s leader; I may have also shared the recording with the local radio stations, so everyone heard it live and in real timing too,” Jacob announced as he was twirling the USB drive in his hands. 

“Why you little scumbag!!” He screamed before Sunwoo gathered his strength to push him down again. 

“I think the scumbag here is you, dear uncle. I’m sure the FBI would be delighted to interrogate the heck out of you and give you the rightful punishment you need.”

“What? The FBI?” He questioned. 

“You actually think I came here unprepared? The FBI has officially raided the entire building, taking the hostages to safety and caught your little gremlins, escorting them to prison at this very moment as we speak.” 

Jacob took a few steps closer before eventually bending down to face his uncle.

“I’m sorry, but your reign of terror ends here and now.”

It had been a year since that fateful incident. Getting things back to normal surely took a lot of time and effort. 

Thanks to Jacob and the FBI, they have taken your uncle away and placed him behind bars, even at a high security one at that. Throughout the gruelling interrogation that they have had, it seems that your uncle was part of more twisted crimes than what the public was aware of, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment at that, with no chance of parole. 

As for the victims, they were all returned safely to their own families after recovering at the hospital for a while. Thanks to the staff's generosity, the victims were given more than enough care and treatment for them to eventually return to their usual selves.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Department needed some time to regain the public's trust. To tackle that issue, the officials elected your brother Jacob to take over the chief position and oversee the whole process of rebuilding the entire police department. It definitely wasn’t an easy task and was undoubtedly a huge burden for Jacob, but he did not complain and rather took on the role easily. 

The factory that you used to work in was abolished as the police themselves continued to dig through more uncovered dark secrets that lay below the factory grounds. For the safety and well-being of the public, all authorities have agreed that it would be best to tear the place down, leaving behind a chapter. 

But that did not mean that all workers there met a bad fate. Through the help from the public and the authorities, everyone was given a chance to work at a much better and safer workplace. 

As weeks passed, you scored through all your exams and eventually graduated from university. You were now on the road to becoming a full-fledged journalist, currently undergoing probation under the famous company The Seoul Daily Magazine. You have been enjoying your time here, meeting amazing colleagues and having a healthier work-life balance. 

As for Sunwoo, he decided to return to his biker gang, further leading the upcoming lads to take over the higher positions within their hierarchy. However, it was thanks to the latest kidnapping cases that the public realised that the bikers themselves weren’t rebellious nor posed a threat to society. They have begun to put their trust in the bikers themselves, and they would often be seen hanging out together in town daily. 

Jacob has granted a special position for Sunwoo in the police department, encouraging the male to join forces as their previous one worked out splendidly. According to your brother, Sunwoo just smiled and turned down the offer, saying that the bikers are one big family and would stick by them until the end. 

You smiled as you remembered all of those moments of how Sunwoo had always shared about his lads from the gang, and naturally, you decided to visit them often whenever you got to hop onto Sunwoo’s bike; you both were finally a couple now anyway. 

It wasn’t until the digital clock that was situated right on your table started to go off that you realised that it was finally time for you to get off work. You quickly jumped up from your chair, giving yourself a little stretch before packing your things away hurriedly. 

“Oh, someone’s leaving early today, huh?” One of your co-workers peeked through your cubicle and teased. 

“Someone’s got a dinner date tonight, a very romantic one at that, too,” another one chimed in. 

“It’s nothing, you guys, we’re just having a normal dinner,” you reassured, but clearly your co-workers didn’t believe you in the slightest bit. 

“I bet they’re going to finally do it tonight.”

“What?! How can you say that?! I bet they’re going to propose instead.” 

“Nothing is going to happen, okay? Now, I’m off. I’ll see you next Monday!” 

You quickly clocked out before running down the steps down to the lobby. You were too excited and couldn’t wait for the elevator to reach your floor. Once you finally saw your boyfriend leaning against one of the pillars outside your company, you quickly dashed towards the automatic doors before finally stopping right in front of him.

He was in his usual black leather jacket and cargo pants, but his hair was much longer now, so it covered his eyes if he decided not to part them. But you loved this new look on him, much better when his hair was shorter a year ago.

“Like what you see, sweetheart?” 

“Hmph, don’t get too full of yourself. You barely did just the minimum,” you commented before linking your arms with his as you both walked towards the restaurant that Sunwoo had booked for the night. 

“Come on, I styled myself just for tonight. You might as well give me some compliments,” he whined. 

“I’ll consider it if you order something that I have been craving to eat for a while,” you stuck your tongue out at him. 

“How should I know what you’re craving for the day?” 

“You’re the boyfriend; you should’ve done your research.” 

“Mean.” 

“I spit the facts.” 

You both burst out into laughter after that; you truly enjoyed every moment with this guy, even if you were just bickering over the tiniest detail possible. It was when you both went silent for a while, admiring the Christmas lights and decorations that lit up the entire city. You both finally stopped at the huge Christmas tree in the middle of town, admiring its beauty for a while before heading to the restaurant just a little bit behind the decor. 

“Say, didn’t you mention that I would be your biggest mistake when I first picked you up back at the factory?” 

“Oh…that.” 

“Yeah, that. What am I to you now, princess?” He looked at you with pleading eyes; he was back at trying to get your compliments since he failed the last one.

You sighed before tilting your head towards his direction before planting a soft peck on his lips. 

“You were the best mistake that has ever happened to me.”

A/N: this was not supposed to be 20k+ i swear i have no idea what in God's name happened. 🤓

masterlist

taglist: @deoboyznet @kflixnet @k-films @flwoie @zzoguri @kyusqult @tinkerbell460 @cheonsafics @sulkygyu @jaerisdiction @lngwayup @itsbeeble @kimsohn (join my permanent taglist here!)

[ohmygawdyoufoundnemo]

She Plays Bass

Bangchan x reader

•Part 1•

(Brief mention of 'noona', which means older female sibling or older sister in Korean, only because I am a couple of years older than Chan. If you're not a noona, don't worry too much. I just hope you enjoy this read while you're chilling🙏🏻)

EDIT: I made a few changes to this part, especially when I messed up with the whole start of the DominATE tour thing.

Y/N has hit the jackpot when passing her audition and joins Stray Kids on their world tour. But what happens when the leader meets the new girl?

✨

With the adrenaline still pumping through my veins from this whole morning, my leg starts to jiggle up and down waiting impatiently for my mum to pick up her phone. I could scream right now.

“Hello, darling. Are you on your way home?”

“Hi. Yeah I’m on the bus now.”

“Well, how did it go? Did they like you? Did you get it? Actually, tell me when you get back, ok? I’m just shopping at the moment.” I honestly feel like I could burst into tears, one: because I’ve just been running, which I never do, and two: the best news I could get after trying so hard to discover myself and where I want to be. I’m going on tour! Little old me is going to be playing to thousands of people worldwide!

“Ok. I’ll be home soon. Love you ma.”

“Love you too sweetheart.” We hang up and I could literally scream the roof of the bus apart. It seems too surreal to be true. After stressing so much this whole week about this audition, not being able to sleep and wondering what to play, it’s finally come fruition and a weight has just been lifted from my shoulders. The company came to London from South Korea for the auditions for new touring musicians for their groups, and now I’m going to be one of them! But the thing is, I have no idea what band I’ll be playing for or even when.

Later on that night over dinner, I tell mum of the events and some mishaps of everything that happened. She almost broke a rib or two pulling me into a hug when I told her that I would be officially touring with a band once I hear back from my agent.

“That is so exciting! My baby going into the world. I’m so happy for you!” She gives another big squeeze, swaying us from side to side just as my phone vibrates in my back pocket. “Oh! Who is it?” she asks before pulling away and cleaning up the dining table.

“I think it’s them. I’ll be right back. Hello?”

"Hello Y/N, it's Anna." My agent’s voice rang through the phone, easing the butterflies in my stomach for a moment.

“Hi Anna, how are you?”

“I’m very good! I also wanted to congratulate you on your audition today, they absolutely loved you! And we have a position lined up for you.”

“That’s great!” Already? That was quick!

“I just want to give you some more information about the success of your audition and going forward, within the company all travel and accommodation expenses are paid for so you don’t have to worry about anything. And, of course, if you have any insurance with your equipment we can help with that as well.“ This really is too good to be true! “With that being said, we would like to join us in Seoul for the start of the tour.”

Wait. What? SEOUL?!

“When? Is there a date when I would have to be there for rehearsals? Sorry, I’m a bit jittery.”

“That is ok. Rehearsals will be on the twenty-third of this month but we would like you to spend some time with us and the rest of the band around the fifteenth.” My feet instantly carry me to my room where they stop in front of my calendar. That’s in six days! “You will have time to explore a little bit of Seoul with one of our guides, you will also have your own hotel room set up, you will of course have the choice to explore the city on your own but in regards to security it would be...” I think I blanked out everything else Anna was saying. My ears were ringing, I was getting light headed looking around at all of my stuff in my bedroom. I’m going to South Korea to start a world tour with a band I don’t even know. Six days. Six days until I leave my home to bed hop in hotel rooms around the world for god knows how long! “So, what do you say?”

Before I can even think about my answer, my mouth opens, “Absolutely!” Shit! How much stuff should I pack?!

“That’s great news! Before I go, do you have any questions you would like to ask?”

“Is it alright to ask, the band that I’ll be playing with or for...”

“Ah, yes! I thought you’d might ask. Usually we don’t disclose this information until closer to the time but since you signed a contract with the company and will be joining us very soon there are no issues. So you will be rehearsing and being a touring musician for Stray Kids.”

~

Six days came and went so quickly that I could barely focus on anything. I nearly forgot my carry-on luggage, headphones and even my iPad which has all the bass and synthesiser recordings on it. Luckily my mum helped me with the checklist, knowing very well that I will forget something, before leaving me at the airport with Anna. Speaking of whom, after a very long journey, we are on our way to the hotel. Each part of this experience is so fast-paced with no time to take in the huge shift this has made to my life that I almost cocoon myself in my hoodie in the backseat of the car, yet the sight of the KSPO Dome won’t allow me to stay slumped for too long as Anna points out the venue from where we’ve stopped at the traffic lights.

“It’s huge!” I say to her in Korean, turning to Anna like an excited child seeing Christmas lights for the first time. She laughs at me. The thing about Anna is she’s also my agent as I was struggling to find any gigs in the past three years. The audition was like a big break for me to finally do something I love. She had also been the one to encourage me to learn Korean, when we first started talking while I attended college she had only learned the basics in English not too long before. So to save her more hardship and to learn something new, I took up a side quest to learn her language and she’s just embraced me and shares her culture with me.

“Wait until we get inside in a couple of days.” She says just as she goes to answer her phone. As we get closer, I pull on my Dr. Martens trying my best not to get dirt on the seat as well as getting concussed by the front passenger seat.

The butterflies are throwing up in my stomach.

~

I couldn’t close my mouth as I gawked out the window overlooking the city lights of Seoul. Every day since I’ve been here, I’ve done the same thing, wake up early to gawk at the sunrise, have breakfast, message my mum for a little while, stare out the window whilst getting dressed or brushing my teeth for my scheduled day with Anna, taking picture after picture of the tourist attractions. My legs hurt so much but it’s so worth it!

How am I here? Well, I know how but it’s like an out-of-body experience standing here in a hotel room, in a dream, on the same floor as Stray Kids. Rehearsals are tomorrow and my stomach is doing somersaults.

~

I’m still rubbing the sleep from my eyes, my body is too tired from the adventures I've had so far in the past three days to lug around my bass guitar on my back. I’m being lead through the maze of a hallway in the arena by a member of staff. Plus I hadn’t slept too well last night, I miss my mum, my cat, now I miss Anna but she’s a busy woman but I’m now left to my own sleepy devises at rehearsals and meeting everyone. I had already met the rest of my band the other night over dinner. They’re so cool and so welcoming! I also met the stylists for tonight which woke me up a little bit more after seeing my outfits for the next week. Chef’s kiss!

The engineers help me with setting up my equipment and my ear pieces that there's no time to really take in the gargantuan size of the dome. I hear the drums, guitar and keyboard echoing throughout the stadium, the sound of the music reverberating against the walls finally made the realisation hit me. I am but one small person which by tonight will be playing to thousands of people.

As reality sinks in, the cluster of instruments being tested in my ear pieces seems soothing the moment I lock them in.

~

The members were getting ready to go to the stage, the stylists getting everything prepared for later on tonight, their manager rushing about making sure everything is all good to go for rehearsals, Bangchan was writing little messages to STAYS on Bubble with some comments making him smile and blush when out of nowhere, Han makes a noise in surprise which causes the others to look up at what he’s pointing to. Chan looks up to see Han gesturing to the TV that was switched on for background noise, it was filming live footage from the stage. Chan gulped down some saliva when he saw a new band member setting up, which didn't go unnoticed by other members of staff either.

Is it warm in here?

“Who’s that? Is that a new bass player NMixx?” I.N. asks while glancing between his phone and the TV. Chan knew the question was to no one in particular but he was taken back to respond. She was pretty, really pretty. The breeze flowing through her hair pushes some strands over her shoulder as the band plays a random tune, the boys stare in wonder only for a few seconds before the camera shot changes to a scope of the venue.

“She was pretty!” Han exclaims as he’s being set up with equipment for soundcheck and being handed a microphone.

“Stop staring!" Minho gently swats at Han, "You’re getting drool all over the carpet!” scuffing up Han’s bed hair, the member of staff helping Han adjust his monitor waiting patiently for them to stop slapping each other.

“Hyung,” Chan finally looks away from the TV too to see Felix holding his spare t-shirt. “Can I borrow this?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Who was she? He asks himself just as she comes up on the screen again. She looks over at the cameraman, shyly waving and smiling. Chan couldn’t help but notice the colour of her big round eyes. Uh oh.

“Wow! Never seen Chan-hyung with big heart eyes before.” Changbin says getting the boys attention, pumping his chest at his leader. Chan just glares at him, trying to keep him at arms length but ends up breaking into a red-faced laugh while chasing him around the room.

~

“If you need help with anything, give us a signal.” He says, making the gestures of signals but I get distracted when I feel eyes on me. I glance over the soundman’s shoulder to see the group of guy’s looking over at me. Through my ear piece just as one speaks into their microphone, I hear, “Hey! Hello.” One waves at me, followed by the others. I wave back as he walks closer with a huge smile. “I’m Han." They each wave again. "What’s your name?” I introduce myself in Korean which surprises them and makes me laugh. “WOW! Oh, are you our new bass player?”

I nod, just as a song starts he jogs away.

"Let's get it!" We start with S-Class and go into Superbowl. The flow is so good! Me and the boys are really happy with it. I sort out my bass synthesiser for the next song just as another member comes into my peripheral.

“Hi.” I feel my cheeks grow warm as he smiles at me.

“Hello.”

“That was really good but I can’t hear the bass so well in my ...”

“Oh, yeah. They said they’ve been having minor technical issues with it but it should be better for tonight.”

“Cool! Err.... I’m Chris, by the way.”

“Y/N. It’s nice to meet you.” Is it really that warm out here?

“Hyung! Stop flirting with our new girl and get back here!” Minho yells away from the microphone causing Chan to shy away but ultimately wave at me with a ‘see you later’. Bangchan tackles Lee Know into a back hug with much retaliation.

This is going to be fun!

~

It’s been a couple of weeks since starting tour and it’s been amazing! Crazy busy with non-stop moving and airport travels and hotel bed hopping but other than that I can’t knock this experience. Especially since Stray Kids have taken me in. Almost every night we play, either Changbin, Han or mainly Felix come over and rock out with the band, hyping us up and wordlessly letting us know we were doing a great job.

Almost a month ago, I never would have thought I would be hanging with any of them, but usually Han comes over to play guitar with me playing songs before or after rehearsals. The chaos is real and it’s heart-warming to have so many people around who are so supportive and bring out the best chaos in you.

“Y/N noona?!” I glance up from my iPad taking out one of my airpods, I’m sat on the carpeted floor adjusting bass tones for the songs for the set to see Changbin sitting across from me, all dressed up for later on, which only reminds me that it’ll be my turn soon. Restless, full of bounding energy which he’s been told to save for tonight.

“Dwaeki?”

“Noona! I’m bored.”

“Where are the others?” I’ve only just noticed it’s just me, Changbin, I.N. and a couple of stylists in here. “How long have I been working?”

“Too long! Pay attention!” his whining makes me chuckle, I try to hide it to not upset him but he notices and starts getting irritable. “Stop laughing at me. I’m serious.” He starts smiling, not taking himself seriously.

“What do you want from me? What do you want to do?” he ponders for a moment.

“I don’t know. Help me!” while slumping his head on the table, he quickly retracts it with a small yet dramatic yelp in pain. I reach over to rub his forehead. He slaps the table as if offended which makes me laugh harder.

“Be careful Changbin! You want to be able to remember lyrics tonight.”

“Ah!” he pulls away with a sneaky look on his face. “NMixx.” He points to the live footage of NMixx on stage.

“What?” I ask as he quickly gets up and dances to the start of ‘Love Me Like This’. “I saw the video. You know it. Come on!”

“Absolutely not.” How did he know about that video?

“Noona! Noona! Noona!" I.N. starts chanting. Changbin pulls me up and before I know it, he’s filming us both dancing to the song, all while I.N. sits and watches. The others walk in just as me and Changbin finally finish. I must have gone red in the face when I saw Han and Bangchan just grinning.

“What’s going on?” Chan asks as I quickly go back to what I was doing before.

~

Changbin shows them the video of him and Y/N dancing along to NMixx. Bangchan sneaks a glance over at Y/N who’s too caught up in the new bass system that she’s been obsessed with for days now.

There’s a niggling feeling he just can’t shake off when he’s around her. He likes her a lot! She’s cool, amazing bass player and has a great flow with the band, she gets along really well the Kid's too. It’s like they just clicked, she takes care of them when he's too busy which gives him time to work or gives him a breather even just for a moment. She has a cool sense of style, right now she’s wearing her classic pink beanie, crop hoodie and black denim shorts and barefoot while sitting cross-legged at the table bobbing her head along to what she’s listening to whilst taking notes, there’s just something warm and natural about her. Even when she’s playing to thousands of STAYS, he’s always noticed that glow in her eyes while looking out at them, and her personality never changes. He recently saw a video shared around on TikTok of fans who had been watching our opening acts in quite an unbearable heat and while our set was being put together, she handed out extra water bottles for STAYS.

“Hyung?” Chan pulls his gaze away, not realising he’s probably been gawking at her for a bit, hoping that she didn't catch him doing it. He helps Felix adjust his necklace. “Hyung.” Chan hums in response to Felix as Y/N brings Seungmin his water bottle as he does his vocal warm-up just as Hyunjin tackles her in a side hug. “You’ve been quiet all day. Everything good?”

“Yeah. Really good.”

“You sure?” Felix asks peering over his shoulder with a little smirk, Chan couldn’t help but glance over at Y/N again to see her taking selfies with Hyunjin and Changbin. His heart flutters a little as she smiles at whatever Lee Know said about their poses which gets more of a response out of Changbin. “Why don’t you just tell her you like her?”

This brings Chan back to reality like a smack in the face.

“What are you talking about?” Felix gives him a knowing look. “I can’t just...do that. It’s complicated.”

“It doesn’t have to be complicated." Felix turns around to see Y/N giggling at Changbin and Lee Know bickering, nearly breaking out into a play fight. "She won’t break your heart, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Of course Felix would say that. The Kids practically adore her.

Lee Know keeps her at arms length but respects her and is fond of her, and her comebacks to his playful insults catch him off guard most of the time, they're not mean but just as good. Changbin see’s her like a sibling, and now a dance partner or someone he challenges when he tries to tease her because she’s our noona which sometimes makes her feel bad yet they have a special bond. Hyunjin has shown her more of his artwork, he even made her a picture for her birthday which she adores and she’s shown him how to create his own music. Han adores her because she works hard to help us sound better on stage and how caring she is to us. Felix, well he isn’t shy to the fact that they’ve become close friends and dotes on her. Seungmin, like Lee Know, shows a lot of respect for noona. And I.N., if any one of them follows her like a lost puppy, apart from Felix or Changbin when he’s in the mood to bother her or simply wants her attention, it’s him.

But where does that leave him? Chan breathes out a sigh. They get along really well but something feels stagnant. He isn’t worried about her breaking his heart though, he’s more worried he’ll explode with professions of adoration and scare her away.

~

“Where are you going?!” Chan calls out as Y/N hurriedly takes out her earpieces and takes off her equipment. The Kid’s keeping a distance from the firing line.

“Out for a walk! Is that ok with you?! God!” Y/N storms off stage, snatching her jacket from it's place on the bass holder on the way out. The others stare cautiously between the two, seven pairs of eyes following Y/N as she disappears around the side stage, then over to their leader who is almost red in the face. Rehearsals just finished but throughout the set, things just kept going wrong which ended up with the soundcheck taking longer than usual. If Chan were to name a few, the boys were more chaotic as usual but for some reason it just got to him today, then the sound system kept messing up which messed up their queues and they had to restart the song, Han and Seungmin’s microphones kept glitching, then Y/N said she had forgotten her iPad backstage which has all pre-adjusted bass tones on it, that was the final straw in the span of the two hours since the minor late start to rehearsals, that’s when Chan snapped. Not at everyone or anything, but at Y/N.

This confused the Kid’s so much after the new revelation they had witnessed over the past few months between their leader and their new bassist.

The air was thick with tension and it wasn’t great to be around. The members were silent, waiting for Chan to make the first move. He took a few breaths before turning around as he removed his ear piece from under his beanie.

“Sorry hyung.” Some of them mumble as he takes off as well.

✨

*So that was Part 1, I hope you enjoyed it! I know it's looooong but I haven't written anything like this in 3 years so I may have gotten a little excited or enthusiastic to get this out of my system*

[forbebeandjam]

Without You | Bada Lee/BEBE x Fem Reader | MINI SERIES

Summary: Ready to go to your dance competition there is a sudden outbreak and you are left in a difficult situation…

Word count: 843

A/N: sorry for taking so long on this. I like to plan out my stories. Hope you enjoy and this is of your liking🩵

•THE OUTBREAK•

It was a cloudy day in the city of Seoul. BEBE was getting ready for competitions. 

"Why are Bada and Y/N late again? We only have two hours to practice," Kyma said as she threw her back in frustration. 

"You know how they are. Always looking for a place to make out," Lusher answered causing Cheche to roll her eyes. After a few minutes, the rain started pouring down when you and Bada came through the door laughing with damp clothes. 

"We're here!" you shouted. 

"Finally! Why are you guys wet?" Tatter said as she handed you her jacket. 

"Yeah, what place did you guys decide to make out today?" Lusher said with a tilted head. 

"Under the weeping willow tree," Bada said earning a hit from your fist. 

"What!?"

"You're not supposed to tell them that!" 

"Oh, please! They already know!" 

"One day the teachers will catch you and you will be in huge trouble," 

"You two are just stupid and nasty!"

"Okay! that's enough. Let's practice," Kyma said breaking you all apart and starting practice. 

-

"We need to be on the bus at three. For the love of all good things, do not be late!" Tatter said as she waved at you and Bada. 

They walked into Bada's house and looked through clothes and outfits for the competition. you were all packed up and watched your girlfriend run around as she threw clothes into a duffle bag.

"What would I do without you?" you asked making Bada come to a halt. 

"Babe, you're fine. I promised I would look out for you and I will. Always," she said as she placed a kiss on your forehead. 

You now lived with her and her parents After your parents died in a car crash. Bada's parents were usually not home but they were close to your parents so they didn't have a problem with you living with them and caring for you.

"Come here," You said as you pulled her on top of you. She lowered herself to kiss your lips and that was when the make-out session began. 

"Wait... what time is it?" she said when the realization hit her. 

"Shit! We're going to be late again," you said as you saw the time on your phone. So you both stood up and walked to the school. 

"Wow! They are early!" Sowoen said as she ran to hug Bada. 

"It's truly a miracle. Let's go on the bus. The driver went to use the bathroom and he will be right back," Kyma said and you all nodded. 

Bada got situated next to you, resting her head on your shoulder and the girls talked with usual chatter. You looked out of the window and saw how the kids were getting out of school but something was odd. 

"Guys... why aren't there many people walking out?" you asked making everyone turn. 

"Oh, many of them got picked up and went home. Like... a lot of them. It was actually kinda scary how the parents were all panicked and screaming at the teachers," Cheche said as she scrolled through her phone. 

"What do you think is going on?" Lusher asked. 

"I have no clue. I'll ask one of my friends to see," Cheche replied. 

And they waited. Hours passed by with no response. They made it to the competition locations but to their surprise, the was a very small amount of people. 

Bada started growing worried so she approached one of the judges. 

"Do you have any idea of what is going on? Why are there so many people missing?" Bada said. 

"We haven't gotten a clear answer since this morning but apparently there is a virus going around. We have been crazy busy planning all of this but I think it's best if we cancel and you girls should go back home," he said. 

Bada was in awe. She couldn't believe she didn't know of this sooner and she put her girls in danger. 

"Grab your things. We are leaving," Bada said as she rushed to you and grabbed your bags. 

"What? Why?" Lusher said. 

"Yeah, unnie. We struggled to make it in and now you want to leave?" Cheche added in annoyance. 

"Listen, the judges are canceling the competition. We have to go now," Bada said. 

"But that's not fair! What are we going to-"

"Cheche stop it! There are bigger things going on and I have to look out for all of you. Now, let's go," Bada shouted losing her cool. 

"What do you mean?" Tatter said. 

"Apparently there is a virus going around and let's be real. If it wasn't that bad, people wouldn't be running around like crazy. Now, please let's get back home where we can be safe. Please?" the girls didn't say anything but you could see worry painted all over their faces," especially Sowoen and Cheche. 

"Okay. Let's go," Minah said and started walking toward the exit but the bus was long gone. 

"Shit... now what?" Bada gripped her head. 

"HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!" 

⋆.˚✮TBC✮˚.⋆