#seungkwansphd:writes

[seungkwansphd]

contusion confusion

pairing: seungcheol x afab reader word count: 4K synopsis: your clumsy lab partner left a bruise on you. seungcheol seems disproportionately upset by it, but it makes way more sense once you understand why. themes: college au, best friend seungcheol, double sided repressed feelings, possessive and jealous seungcheol. warnings: smut, mentions of bruising/marking, mention of reader being smaller than seungcheol.

a/n: i started this literally one year ago and lost steam. and then blonde.fucking.scoups comes along and truly does a number on me. anyways, bon appetit, LOL

“What the hell happened to you?” Seungcheol’s eyes widened as you stretched your legs across his lap on the sofa.

“What?” you blinked at him, taking your eyes off of the television momentarily.

“What’s this bruise from?” he asked, resisting the strong urge to touch the bluish purple mark just above your elbow.

“Ah, that!” you shrugged, “I almost tripped the other day in lab. Mingyu grabbed me, but he might as well have let me fall! Who knew someone could bruise you just from grabbing you! Like how strong is that dude even?” you rolled your eyes. Grumbling, you returned your attention to the screen.

Seungcheol stewed next to you. While he had no real claim or reason to be upset at your lab partner, every time you brought him up, it made him want to strangle someone.

Mingyu was so tall that you had to readjust the titration burette between replicates. Mingyu was all sweaty because he had come to lab right after the gym. Mingyu didn’t cover his face while sneezing.

Seungcheol eagerly awaited next semester when he wouldn’t have to hear about this man anymore.

Swallowing, your eyes flitted nervously to your best friend’s hands, which were stroking your calves absentmindedly as he watched the show. While just a mindless gesture on his part, you were struggling silently with the way it made your insides turn just slightly into jelly.

“Cheol, that tickles!” you finally pulled your legs away, curling into a ball against the armrest of the sofa.

“Oh, sorry,” he smiled sheepishly at you, seeming distracted. It almost seemed like your friend was sulking, but you couldn’t understand why. You were watching a sitcom!

…

“There you are!”

You looked up to see your lab partner standing over your table, clutching the straps of his backpack.

“Oh, hey Mingyu,” you furrowed your brows at him, “Did you need something?”

“I thought we were supposed to be working on our lab report today?” he cocked his head at you, wondering if he had gotten the time wrong.

“Oh shit!” you cursed, “I’m so sorry Gyu, I totally lost track of time!”

“That’s okay,” he laughed, “It’s not that big of a deal. You want to work on it now?”

“Sure!” you nodded, glancing at Seungcheol and Jeonghan, who were immersed in their computer programming assignments. “Do you mind if Mingyu joins us? We have a lab report.”

“Yes, we heard,” Jeonghan rolls his eyes at you, “Sure that’s fine.”

“Thanks,” Mingyu nods before taking the seat next to you.

“Did you start anything for it yet?” you asked, pulling your lab notebook out of your backpack.

“Whoa, did I really grab you that hard that day?” Mingyu exclaimed, seeing the purple bruise on your arm.

“Yes, it fuckin’ hurts too!” you squinted at him, annoyed.

“I didn’t think you could bruise someone just by grabbing them. I guess I’m just super strong, huh?” Mingyu preened.

“You’re so fucking annoying,” you threatened to punch him.

Jeonghan observed Seungcheol’s shift in mood with mild interest as you and Mingyu muddled your way through your lab report.

“I need some coffee or I’m going to rip my eyeballs out,” you announced after calculating mole fractions for far too long. You stood from the table to move towards the cafe in the library. You tapped your fingertips on your wallet mindlessly as you calculated how many shots of espresso you could consume without your heart bursting out of your chest.

“YN!” a familiar voice greeted you as they tapped your shoulder.

“Ah, hey!” you smiled at Bina, your lab partner from last year. “Ugh, I’m working on a lab report and it is giving me flashbacks to last semester!”

“Oh my god, please don’t remind me!” she rolled her eyes. You two had barely managed to scrape through that class. Unlike you, it had been her only chem requirement, so she was free of the horror of lab reports now. “Who’s your lab partner this semester?”

“Mingyu Kim,” you scrunched up your nose slightly, “God bless him, but he is such a klutz.”

“Wait, no. Mingyu? The Kim Mingyu?” Bina paled slightly.

“Why? Do you know him? Is there tea?” you looked at her with wide eyes.

“No, god I wish. He’s just so hot to me! I’m jealous, I would slog through another semester of chem to be his lab partner.”

“Would you?!” you gaped at her, thoroughly alarmed. “You’re sick in the head over this man,” you laughed heartily.

“No, probably not,” Bina chuckled after giving it some more serious consideration. “But I’d think long and hard about it.”

“We’re sitting over there if you wanna stop by and say hi. I’ll introduce y’all,” you offered before placing your order with the cashier.

“I might do that,” she craned her head to see exactly where your table was. “You’re sitting with Seungcheol too? My friend is infatuated with that man. They’re in Comp Sci together. Can she come say hi too?”

“S-sure,” you answered blankly. You had no stake or claim, but something in you wanted to scream ‘NO!’ when you heard Bina ask that question.

“You’re the best, we’ll be over in a bit,” Bina smiled brightly at you, giving you a squeeze.

“Okay, I’m ready to resume crying,” you announced when you returned to the table with your beverage.

“Okay, good, cause I’m ready to take a break from crying,” Mingyu looked up at you pitifully. “I think I figured out 4. So then if we can figure out 5, then we just need to pull together some nonsense for the discussion.”

“Okay, okay,” you nodded determinedly. By some miracle, question 5 was just some simple dilution practice, so before long you and Mingyu were typing furiously, chipping away at the remainder of the lab report.

“Hey YN!” Bina’s voice pulled you out of a sentence about how (DUH) important it was to switch pipettes between samples.

“Oh, hey Bina! What’s up?” you waved excitedly at your friend, eager to do some meddling for her.

“Not much, how are you? Long time no see!”

“Yes, luckily you’re done with your chem requirements, otherwise you’d be here crying with us,” you laughed as Mingyu and Seungcheol looked on at you with interest. Jeonghan had long ago put on a pair of noise canceling headphones and was ignoring everybody. “Mingyu, Bina was my lab partner last semester. And she was a lot better than you are,” you couldn’t help but tease.

“Hey!” Mingyu pouted.

“I mean at the very least she’s my height, so I didn’t have to readjust the biuret every time we titrated,” you rolled your eyes playfully at Bina.

“It’s not my fault you’re both short,” Mingyu protested, eyes flickering to Bina for some support.

“If it makes you feel better, I was terrible in lab too,” she offered up sympathetically, “YN is my patron saint of chemistry. Did she ever tell you about how I exploded two crucibles one time?”

“No!” Mingyu looked at her with interest, “Was YN also very mean to you and made you finish your work way ahead of time?”

“Yes!” Bina giggled excitedly, “Like why can’t we pull all nighters like normal people?”

“Hell no, I’m not disrupting my sleep schedule for y’all. No thanks,” you shook your head stalwartly. “Anyways, you two should exchange numbers so you can complain about me on your own time,” you chuckled. Bina and Mingyu seemed to agree and set about that task enthusiastically.

“Ah, sorry I’m being rude, this is my friend Hayoung! We’re in a writing foundations class together so we were working on that.”

“Hi,” she waved at everyone shyly.

“Hayoung, what’s your major?” you asked.

“Computer science, focusing on human & computer interactions.”

“Ooh?! Love me a girly in STEM! These two are comp sci as well! Do you all know each other?” you asked, mostly Seungcheol as Jeonghan was still intent on ignoring you.

“Maybe? You look kind of familiar, but I don’t talk to many people in class,” he chuckled honestly.

“I think we might have a class together?” Hayoung smiled.

“Oh wonderful! You two should exchange numbers too! Maybe you can work on comp sci stuff together,” you suggested. They weren’t really giving you too much to work with, if you were being honest.

“I’d actually love that,” Hayoung’s eyes creased into a smile, “I don’t know that many people in the major.”

“Is it because they’re being sexist?” your eyes widened and you raised a fist theatrically, “I’ll fight them all for you. Cheol, you will too, right? Jeonghan’s not much use in a fight, if I’m being honest,” you commented quietly, glancing at the target of your teasing.

“Sure,” Seungcheol’s face creased into a real smile as he watched you whisper about Jeonghan animatedly.

Hayoung and Seungcheol exchanged phone numbers as you watched on excitedly. Hayoung was clearly pleased, but Seungcheol was making a face as if he had tasted something odd, but was too polite to say anything about it.

“Bina is so cute!” Mingyu remarked happily after they both left, “Lucky you with your cute lab partners!”

“Yeah,” you rolled your eyes at him, “I love doing unpaid babysitting in the lab.”

…

“Cheol, can I crash on your couch?” you spoke after he picked up your call.

“Yeah, of course! Are you okay?” Seungcheol’s brow furrowed, worried.

“Yeah, I’ve just been sexiled,” you grumbled, starting your walk towards Seungcheol’s apartment. He met you about halfway and the two of you caught up on the walk back.

“How are things with Hayoung?” you asked, not quite making eye contact.

“What?” his hand slipped as he was moving to turn the doorknob.

“Hayoung, did you guys ever meet up to work on comp sci together?” you asked, lips pursed as you followed him into his apartment.

“Oh, no, she texted me but I forgot to text her back,” Seungcheol shrugged.

“Text her back, you jerk!” you poked Seungcheol insistently, “Hayoung’s cute! And she likes you.”

“That’s good for her,” Seungcheol grumbled, irritated at your attempt to push him towards someone else. Maybe his cause was truly hopeless.

“You’re acting weird,” you glanced at him oddly before flopping down on the couch.

“No, you take the bed,” Seungcheol ignored your statement and plopped down near your feet, tapping your legs lightly.

“No! I’m not gonna kick you out of your bed!” you protested.

“No, seriously, sleep on the bed. I always wake up before you anyways. I’ll end up waking you up if you sleep out here.”

“I-,” you tried to think of another excuse, but he wasn’t your best friend for no reason. He knew you just as well as you knew yourself. “Okay,” you acquiesced, hopping up from the couch to walk into his room, “Do you need anything from here before bed?” you turned to ask him, hand on the doorframe.

“Nope, I don’t think so.”

“Okay, thanks again for letting me crash,” you smiled at him before pulling the door not quite closed behind you.

Once inside, you dropped your bag and helped yourself to a t-shirt and pair of shorts from Seungcheol’s drawers. You laughed at the way you were swimming in the shirt.

“I look ridiculous,” you laughed, walking back out into the living room. “Cheol, look,” you spread your arms out to your sides, showing Seungcheol the way that his t-shirt just swallowed you.

“I-,” his brain stopped for a few moments. He wouldn’t say anything, but he could in fact see your nipples as you tried to show him whatever you were showing him. “What?”

“Your shirt is too big on me,” you folded your arms over your chest, irritated that he had been listening.

“Oh yeah, well I’m bigger than you,” he replied curtly.

“Well, yeah,” you glanced away from him. He was in such an odd mood today! You grumbled just a little bit before flopping down on the bed. You were tired.

Tossing and turning, you fought for a long time to push down the arousal that was building in your gut. Being enveloped by Seungcheol’s scent was making your brain go haywire. You could feel yourself throbbing and you bit down on your fist in an effort to try and distract yourself, but that hadn’t worked. Glancing nervously at the door, you contemplated seeking some relief, but the idea of doing it in Seungcheol’s bed while he was just outside the door inspired guilt, worry, and worst of all, excitement. 

You managed to ignore yourself for about ten minutes before your left hand snuck down between your thighs, stroking them softly. Sinking deeper into Seungcheol’s pillows, you closed your eyes and imagined your best friend’s hands softly caressing and spreading your legs apart. You were embarrassed to hear the wet sounds of yourself opening up, but not embarrassed enough to stop. Your right hand came to tease the sensitive undersides of your breasts as your fingertips stroked languidly through your folds.

In the living room, Cheol wrestled with whether to disturb you or not. Several minutes ago, he had noticed that one of his textbooks was still in his room. He’d been planning to get ahead on a problem set, so it wasn’t as if he needed to disturb you, but he also didn’t see himself falling asleep anytime soon. Chewing his lip, he noticed that the door was still slightly ajar and decided to retrieve the book as you must not have gone to bed just yet.

When his eyes first landed on your face, your brows were knit up in utter concentration as your hands worked feverishly under the covers. Your front teeth had your lower lip pinned down as you bit back the loudest of your desperate noises. Seungcheol’s pupils dilated as he registered what was happening. Frantically, he tried to back out of the room, but his sweater caught the edge of a pamphlet that had been hanging off the bookshelf, sending a handful of items clattering to the floor.

“Fuck!” your eyes shot open, panicked as you met Cheol’s gaze, “I’m, you-, help!” you squeaked, pulling the covers over your face as you wished to vanish off the face of the earth.

Seungcheol’s mind went blank as he walked towards you, placing his hands over yours to pull down the covers. You peered up at him through your eyelashes, so overcome with embarrassment that you failed to register the look of hunger in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry Cheol, I didn’t, I shouldn’t have done that here!”

“What?” he cocked his head to the side, brain not really functioning.

“It’s your bed!” you looked at him as if he was crazy, “I just-, you smell so good,” you spoke without thinking.

“I…,” he looked you up and down, “You’re telling me I inspired this?”

“Shit, I shouldn’t have said that, oh my god!” you groaned, trying to shrug under the covers again. Seungcheol’s large hands held you still and you watched in disbelief as he brought your left hand up to inspect it. The shine of moisture on your fingers was mortifyingly telling, but he surprised you to your core when he brought your hand to his mouth and sucked your wet fingers inside.

“Huh?!” you choked out, eyes fluttering shut as he tongue stroked between your digits, tasting you thoroughly.

“You should’ve told me about this sooner,” he told you, voice gravely with desire, “I’ve been torturing myself trying to ignore how much I think about you.”

“Oh?” you blinked at him in disbelief.

“Yes, oh,”  Seungcheol rolled his eyes at you, “Now let me help, as you requested.”

His fingers wandered. His eyes widened slightly when he felt just how wet you were. The rumble that emitted from his chest almost sounded like a purr and you found yourself quickly breathless at his ministrations.

“Cheol,” you moaned, melting slightly as his substantially larger fingers swirled dizzyingly through your folds. He smirked down at you, more than pleased to hear your saying his name in that manner.

“So needy,” he chuckled, eyes flicking over you.

“Well I was halfway there when you walked in,” you teased him and his eyes flashed at you, a subtle warning.

He raised one eyebrow at you before sliding his fingers inside of you. You choked on your breath at the intrusion, though your legs parted asking for more.

“You-, your fingers!”

“Mm, how do they feel?” he smirked at you, confident.

“I knew they’d stretch me out, bigger than mine,” you panted and his eyes widened at the realization that this wasn’t the first time you’d imagined this.

“You think about me a lot?” he raised an eyebrow at you, now cocky.

“No,” you lied, glancing away to avoid his eyes.

“My thick fingers spreading you open,” he continued anyways, smirking when he felt the way you reacted around him.

“Seung-,” you whined, overwhelmed at the way he teased you.

“God I like hearing you say my name like that,” Seungcheol shook his head, as if in disbelief. “Can I see you?” he asked, other hand itching to peel back the comforter.

You nodded wordlessly. You were slightly mortified to reveal yourself to him in this way, but his other hand quickly distracted you. You watched his eyes rove across you appreciatively until they trained in on your bruise, his jaw clenching.

“I’ve been thinking about this all week,” he exhaled sharply.

“Why? It wasn’t on purpose!”

“No, it’s not-,” Seungcheol paused. “That’s not why. I was annoyed because the idea of getting to be the one to leave marks on you has rendered me…basically unable to produce coherent thought.”

“Oh? OH,” your eyes widened, gears in your brain turning. “I mean…all yours, Cheol,” you smiled sheepishly at him.

“Really?” he groaned, looking at you appreciatively as he thought about exactly where and how he’d like to mar your skin.

“Seungcheol!” you snapped at him as he continued to mumble to himself.

“Maybe a handprint here?” he grazed your upper thigh with his palm, eyes dancing mischievously at you. “Or a necklace of hickeys,” he growled as he nipped at the base of your neck. He had decided to seize the opportunity to tease you, and as much as you liked it, you only had so much patience.

“Cheol, please,” you pouted, grabbing at his collar, “I can’t take anymore of this.”

“Yes princess,” he pulled an old nickname out of the vault. You melted.

“Mmmpf!” he smothered your next protest with a kiss.

“Seung. Cheol!” you moaned desperately as his hand grabbed your thigh, hard.

The strength in his grip set your nerves alight and your head fell back against the bed, arching your chest up towards him. His mouth took the opportunity to latch onto the underside of your breast, biting down firmly. Your hand fisted itself in his hair.

It was so much sensation. It was so good.

“Hn,” he pulled back with a breathless smile. His eyes flicked down to the spots where his mouth and hand had been and his lips curled into a cocky grin at the bright red marks. With any luck those would be bruised nicely tomorrow.

“That was…a lot,” you murmured as you caught your breath.

“In a bad way?” Seungcheol’s brow furrowed with sudden worry.

“No,” you smiled at him, slightly fuzzy, “In a good way. A really good way.”

“Really?” his eyebrows raised back up with delight. “So you won’t mind if you bruise a little?”

“I don’t think I’ll mind even if you bruise me a lot,” you answered after some thought.

Your best friend’s eyes darkened. The way you had rearranged his words hit the possessive button in his brain like crazy. His lips nibbled and nipped their way down your torso while his hand came to cup your breast. His grip was on the hard side of firm as his lips latched onto a spot on your inner thigh. His tongue stroked across the sensitive skin as he sucked firmly.

Your thighs parted of their own accord as you squirmed at this building onslaught. As you shifted, you could hear the wet sounds of yourself spreading. Open and inviting.

“Cheol, please,” you tried to pull him towards you. “Please,” you panted.

Seungcheol, the bastard, increased the intensity of his sucking before releasing his lips with a loud ‘pop!’. The jolt of the disconnection sent a shiver through you and the spot where his mouth had been now felt woefully cool.

“Pretty,” he looked at the red mark appreciatively. The thought that you would be reminded of this encounter over the next weeks sent a streak of pride through him that was unexpected.

“Seungcheol!” you grabbed his face by his cheeks, directing his attention to you. “If you don’t fuck me right now, I’m going to kick you out and take care of it myself!”

His eyes widened and he chuckled sheepishly before reaching over you to pull a condom out of the nightstand. You watched, almost painfully aroused, as he undressed and unrolled the condom over himself. His cock bobbed proudly as he pulled his sturdy torso over you, slotting himself between your thighs.

You sighed when his cock came to rest against your core. You could already tell it was going to be good.

“Seungcheol, please,” you placed your hands around his jaw. “Need you.”

He nodded, reaching down to slip himself inside of you. A soft gasp escaped you as his head pushed in and you couldn’t help but relish in the stretch. Seungcheol took his time sinking into you. The whines and gasps that you made were way too good to be rushed.

“Cheol,” your hands clutched at the back of his thick neck until he was pressed flush against you. “Fuck,” you exhaled into his ear.

Seungcheol’s hand was gripping your hip so hard as he struggled to keep control of himself. Of all the things that he found overwhelming, the way you pulsed and squeezed around him, the little sounds you made as he had pressed into you…the worst of all was the way you smelled. His hand fisted itself further in your hip as he inhaled you, a most intoxicating scent.

You clenched around him as his hand tightened. He was sure to bruise you there, too, and you couldn’t wait. Knowing that you’d be able to see these marks as evidence that this wasn’t another crush induced dream made you feel crazed in a different way.

“You feel perfect,” Seungcheol groaned against your skin as his hips started to move. “I just knew it.”

Clench.

You hooked your legs around his hips as he pumped into you deeply. Each thick stroke pushed you dangerously closer to the precipice and you were ready to fall off the edge.

“Cheol,” you pulled back slightly to meet his blown out gaze. “I’m there.”

“Go ahead,” he encouraged you, aching to feel you come apart around him. “Be good and come for me.”

Your eyes squeezed shut as you let go. Your hands clutched desperately at his shoulders as your pussy fluttered around him. You didn’t even know what kinds of sounds you made as you simply didn’t have the presence of mind.

“So good,” he smiled, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against yours. “So good,” he grunted before his hips shuddered and he emptied himself inside of you.

You wrapped your arms around his torso as he slumped down on top of you. He smiled when you gave him a squeeze with your entire body.

“So you’re kind of possessive, huh?” you chuckled softly after you’d regained your sanity.

Seungcheol squeezed his eyes shut with a laugh. He hadn’t realized it, or maybe it was just because it was you, but yes. Yes he was.

[seungkwansphd]

let me...

pairing: idol!seungcheol x gn!reader word count: 1.2k synopsis: you can tell that seungcheol is frustrated by his injury. if he would just let you...you'd be happy to help take his mind off of it. themes: SMUT, MDNI, squirmy/whiny scoups, oral sex (reader giving to seungcheol), explicit descriptions of oral sex, idol au, established relationship, comfort-ish?. (lmk if there are others to add)

a/n: my brain is fully rotted out these days. thanks @the-boy-meets-evil for instigating/encouraging this behavior🫶

You snuck a glance at Seungcheol again and exhaled sharply. He had been in the wheelchair for nearly a week now and you were officially concerned. You imagined it would be tough for anyone to adjust to the change, but it seemed particularly challenging for him. He was, after all, the capable, strong, and self sufficient leader of Seventeen and despite his doctor’s orders, he seemed intent on refusing to ask for help.

“Hey! I said I would get things for you!” you yelled, concern rising as you watched Seungcheol try and fail to stand from the wheelchair.

“I can do it!” he insisted stubbornly, trying again.

Your hand shot out to his shoulder, pressing down as you rounded on him, pinning him with a stern look.

“It has not been that long since your surgery. If you tear something again I will truly kill you,” you narrowed your eyes at him menacingly. “Now what is it that you need?”

Seungcheol’s words died in his mouth as you turned from him to look at the cupboard. Even after months of dating you, the sight of your shape from behind never failed to drop his jaw. His brow furrowed. Yet another reminder of this godforsaken injury hindering him from the things he needed and wanted to do.

“Cheol? What was it you needed?” you turned your head to question again. His eyes shifted quickly back to the top shelf of the cupboard, but the hungry look in his eyes did not escape you.

“Tupperware from the top shelf. The blue one,” he answered.

“Okay,” you nodded, standing up on your toes, arching your back to reach for the item. You grinned as you did so, pushing your hips back towards your boyfriend because you could absolutely feel his eyes burning into you.

“Got it!” you chirped, letting yourself fall back into your heels and your ass to bounce gratuitously.

“This is killing me,” Seungcheol groaned, shifting in the wheelchair.

“Baby,” you turned to him with a simpering smile, “I know you hate asking for help, but what if you just let me…” you trailed off, tracing your fingertips up the brace on his leg.

Conflict played across Seungcheol’s brow as he considered your words. You knew it was tough for him to relinquish control, but you hoped he would so you could take his mind off of things, even if just for a while.

“Help me how?” he finally spoke, eyebrow raising expectantly.

You chuckled softly.

“You know I'm always good for you,” you smiled, tongue touching the corner of your lips playfully.

“Go ahead,” he nodded, giving his permission.

Your eyes lit up at him as you sank to your knees before him. You reached around the chair to lock the wheels before trailing your hands back over his hips and down his thighs.

He inhaled sharply and your pulse raced with pride. You leaned forward and started nuzzling your lips gently up the inside of his thigh. He squirmed as you drew closer and closer to the apex of his thighs. You were poked in the cheek by his tented erection when you finally arrived. Grinning at him, you nuzzled your cheek against him through the fabric of his sweatpants and Seungcheol was surprised at the way he reacted. Possessiveness and pride surged through him as you knelt between his legs, nuzzling his heavy cock eagerly.

“Someone’s eager,” you teased as you pushed the hem of his shirt up above his belly button. You kissed and lapped at the exposed skin above his waistband, knowing that this would drive him wild. The cool trail of your thin saliva set Seungcheol’s nerves alight and his hand found familiar purchase in your hair.

“Ah ah!” you shook your head, pulling his hand away. “I said…let me.”

Seungcheol’s eyes smoldered at you, but he gestured for you to continue.

“Good boy,” you teased and returned to the task at hand. Your hand stroked him over fabric as your lips continued their foray across his midsection. The feel and sound of him gasping and squirming underneath you was dizzying.

“YN, please,” he finally choked out. He felt ready to burst.

You hummed up at him before tugging at his waistband. He shifted his hips up, allowing you to pull it down around his thighs. You were mesmerized at the way his cock bounced when he sat back down, your eyes transfixed on the swollen, thick head.

In fact, many things about this moment were hypnotizing. The slight tension of elastic biting into Seungcheol’s thick thighs, the way the weight of his cock caused it to rest against his tummy, and the sturdiness of aforementioned midsection as the complimentary backdrop. After several moments of ogling, you literally had to shake your head to clear it of thoughts.

“You’re practically drooling,” he teased wryly, head cocked slightly as you regarded him. It was nothing short of a boost to the ego and he allowed himself to enjoy it. After a week of feeling frustrated and helpless, he let himself bask in your attraction and the power it made him feel.

“And?” you challenged him, lacing the fingers of one hand in his as the other grasped his thick cock eagerly at the base.

“Nothing,” he shook his head, eyes widening a hair as you started trailing kisses up his inner thigh.

At first through the fabric of his sweatpants and then on the bare skin of his upper thigh, Seungcheol was squirming by the time you closed your lips around his cock, sucking him hungrily into your mouth.

“Fuck,” he exhaled, voice breathy as he slouched slightly in the chair. You chuckled as you drew back up, lips stroking along the ridges and veins of his shaft. Seungcheol’s hands fisted as you began bobbing up and down, stroking him with your tongue.

“Feel good?” you asked when you came up for air. You nuzzled and nipped at his wet erection and he nodded.

“Fuck! Your mouth feels so good,” he let out a strangled groan as you shifted lower to suck on his balls. They were heavy and hot in your mouth as you sucked gently. You rolled them around on your tongue and were delightfully surprised at the whiny noise that Cheol let out. 

“Oh?” your eyebrows raised with delight. You licked a long, wet stripe up his length before swallowing him whole again, this time relaxing your throat to take him entirely.

Seungcheol let out another breathy whinge as you swallowed around the part of him that was lodged firmly in your throat. His whines grew louder and more frequent and you knew he wouldn’t last much longer. Pulling back, you fucked him with your mouth and throat as he panted your name desperately and repeatedly.

“Close,” he cupped your chin and warned you.

You nodded as well as you could with your mouth full and you reached down to cup his balls, tugging gently as you increased the suction with your mouth.

“Fuck! Shit. Fuck,” Seungcheol’s entire body tensed.

You watched with hungry eyes as his thick brows knit together and his eyes squeezed shut before he emptied himself into your ready and waiting mouth. You enjoyed the way his chest heaved with deep breaths until he came back down to earth and met your eyes.

“Thank you,” he pulled you up for a kiss. “Thank you, thank you. You always know what I need.”

[seungkwansphd]

bean me up, scotty

pairing: coffee roaster!seungcheol x cafe manager!YN word count: 2K synopsis: you see seungcheol often enough at work. helpful daytime seungcheol, you can handle. but nighttime, arms fully out seungcheol? that's a problem. themes: fluff, SFW, work crush/work acquaintances vibes. beefy seungcheol. SCOUPS RIZZ at the end, implied smut.

a/n: @wavelikewhat came up with this concept and we both had different ideas about how to approach it, so it was super fun to write and then read both versions! def check hers out here.

“Hey boss, Mr. Choi is here!” the voice of one of your baristas pulled your mind out of inventory suddenly.

“Hey I told you not to to call me mister, kid,” Seungcheol’s voice followed. You can practically hear the pout in his tone, which drew a smile to your lips.

“I’ll be right out,” you called back and tucked your pencil behind your ear.

You stepped out of the back room to greet Choi Seungcheol, head roaster at Brandywine Coffee Roasters.

“Hey Cheol,” you greeted him with a smile, “You can leave the delivery in the usual spot. I’ll put it up later.”

“You sure? I have time today, you’re my last delivery,” he raised an eyebrow at you, an offer to help.

“Well, I won’t say no, if you have the time. I’ll caffeinate you,” you shrugged. This was your typical offer and as usual he took you up on it.

“Okay,” he nodded and rolled his dolly into the back room.

Brandywine was the core coffee roaster that you used at your cafe. Seungcheol had been your point of contact for almost a year now, so he knew his way around without any direction. He set to work on replenishing your two pound bags of espresso blend and let you handle the retail, one pound single-origins.

“Oh? You found it?” your eyes widened as you read the label of the bag in your hands. “Restricted oxygen?”

You had mentioned this specific type of processing to Seungcheol a few months ago. The low oxygen processing conditions selected for a unique proportion of microorganisms, yielding an unusual flavor profile once roasted. It seemed quite niche, so you were surprised to be holding a bag in your own hands. You set one bag aside for your personal tasting needs before shelving the rest of the bags.

“Got time to try this with me?” you asked as you both left the back room. “I can set us up a French press.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol nodded. “Let me just put this back in the truck.”

“Sure,” you smiled at him, setting about prepping. You were giddy with excitement as you ground the beans. The aroma was already quite striking.

“Are we doing a tasting?” your youngest barista, Chan, asked curiously.

“Yes,” you nodded surely.

“Oh yay! Seungcheol whips up the coolest stuff. What is it today?”

“It’s a restricted oxygen process Ethiopia,” Seungcheol answered, appearing behind Dino. “Experimental processing, but cool. I’ll be interested to hear what you think, YN.”

“Whoa, that’s cool! Like leaning towards anaerobic, huh?”

“Yes, exactly that,” you grinned.

As the timer counted down, Chan helped a customer. Seungcheol stood with his arms crossed, watching you watch the timer.

“Missed you at the roaster showcase,” you commented as you depressed the French press plunger and poured the brew into cortado glasses.

“Eh, you know I don’t like that stuff. Sam is way better at those events. I heard it went well though, thanks again for letting us use the space.”

“Of course,” you chuckled, handing the glass to Seungcheol. It was hard to ignore the jolt you felt when his hands brushed over yours, but you liked to think you did your best. “Chan!” you beckoned during a lull in customers.

“Oh interesting!” Chan’s eyebrows raised with surprise, “It tastes almost like…peachy gummy rings? Fascinating!”

“Hmm,” you hummed thoughtfully as you tasted the liquid in your mouth. “I don’t know that I get peach gummy, but I see what you’re saying. There’s like fruit and sweetness, but it’s not very high, if that makes sense.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Seungcheol nodded before taking another aerated sip. “Really neat, thanks for the suggestion, YN,” he nudged you gently.

You smiled sheepishly at him and ignored Chan’s pointed look. You could already tell that once Seungcheol left, you were going to get yet another earful about how you and the roaster were dancing around each other and denying mutual chemistry. You were overcome by an unreasonable desire to keep Seungcheol here longer so that you could avoid that.

“Something for the road?” you asked instead, shaking that thought out of your mind. “I have a seasonal cherry syrup and we’re doing a cherry cola espresso tonic that’s kind of fun for the summer.”

“Huh. Caffeine and caffeine?” Seungcheol considered the drink with amusement. “Sure, I’ll try it.”

“I’m assuming you’ll want YN to make it, as usual?” Chan teased, stepping back from the bar.

The roaster placed his hands into his packers and shrugged with a soft smile, but didn’t deny it. You laughed and set about crafting his featured beverage.

“I really think you two like each other!” Chan started practically before the door had swung shut behind Seungcheol.

“I do like Seungcheol. And his coffee.”

“I mean in a non-professional way. Please note I didn’t say unprofessional, because I don’t think it would be unprofessional. I just think you think he’s hot and he thinks you’re hot. He’s always taking your coffee suggestions and he looks at you a lot when you’re not looking.”

“Chan,” you planted your hands on your hips.

You didn’t want to talk about this with him anymore. He didn’t need to know that the reason was fear of it pushing your delulu brain further than it already was with this workplace crush. You liked Seungcheol, but you also only saw him at work, so it didn’t need to go further than that.

Outside, Seungcheol was grateful that he worked alone. If he’d had a Chan, they most certainly would’ve called him on the inordinately pleased look that had crossed his face when he’d caught the start of your conversation as he left. While it was a guess on Chan’s part, it at least reassured Seungcheol that he wasn’t the only person who had picked up on a potential something between you. Not that he felt ready to do anything about it yet, but he could at least be comforted that it wasn’t totally fabricated on his end.

…

“Eee, staff outing, I’m so excited!” Naomi and Chan squealed excitedly as they skipped towards the bar.

You smiled, thoroughly entertained, as you watched them. You hadn’t had a chance to do much prying yet, but you had a sneaking suspicion that they had started dating recently.

“The answer is yes,” Seungkwan, one of your higher seniority staff, clicked his tongue judgmentally at the pair.

“Huh?” your head whipped around to look at him more directly.

“They are dating. Just last week.”

You had to burst out laughing. For someone who’s life occasionally got quite messy, he could be quite judgemental, but he was also incredibly reliable and responsible in ways that made you grateful he’d continued to work with you for so long.

“Thank you for the updates as usual,” you smiled before grabbing his arm to pull him into the bar.

You spotted Naomi and Chan whispering to each other at the end of the bar and you made your way towards them.

“Okay, let’s thank Father Chip for bankrolling our annual staff outing. Please drink wisely,” you smiled at him. It was a sorry excuse for a grand speech, but it would do well enough to kick the night off.

You looked over the menu as Chan and Naomi waited to catch the eye of a bartender. You heard some commentary about a ‘beefcake’ as you wondered just what exactly Cynar was made out of.

“Oh, he’s coming, he’s coming!” Naomi bounced on her heels excitedly, which meant you had to decide what you wanted and quickly.

“Hey folks, what can I get-,” the bartender greeted you. You were just in the middle of recognizing his voice when he recognized you first. “Oh hey Chan, Naomi, Seungkwan! Is YN out with you?”

“Seungcheol?” you lifted your head, slightly bewildered, to meet eyes with Brandywine’s own head roaster.

“Hey,” he nodded at you. It was a normal greeting, but something about the way his eyes flicked over you afterwards made you impossibly nervous.

“Do you work here?” Seungkwan asked on your behalf.

“Not usually,” Seungcheol brought his arm up to scratch the back of his neck, “Sammy owns this place too and occasionally he needs a hand.”

Sammy was Seungcheol’s business partner at Brandywine, so this made some sense, but your brain and eyes were busy processing Seungcheol’s arm. Daytime Seungcheol was typically clad in a flannel or a solid Carhartt t-shirt, effectively hiding his build. Nighttime Seungcheol, however, was wearing a cut off t-shirt which favored you with a gratuitous view of his muscles. This was a problem for you.

“So what are we drinking?” Seungcheol asked, “Happy to make recommendations too.”

He held your gaze for a moment.

“I’ll do the Coco Bop,” Seungkwan ordered. Dino and Naomi quickly followed suit and before you knew it, Seungcheol stood before you, arms fully out, waiting for your order.

“What does Cynar taste like?”

“Oh, I don’t know actually. You want to try?” he asked before turning to grab the bottle. He poured out a partial shot and took a sip before handing it to you. When you set down the glass, you were both making mirrored grimacing faces at each other.

“That is foul,” you inhaled sharply, face warm from the overwhelming taste of the liquor. “Thank you though. I will have a glass of white wine, please.”

“Oh we have a skin fermented wine, I think you’ll like that. It’s got a little bit of that funk, like the low oxygen process. How’s that sound?”

“I’m sure it’ll be good!” you nodded, self conscious at the crowd that had built up behind you, eagerly awaiting their turn to order.

“This one’s on me,” he smiled when he returned with the glass.

“Oh no-, I-.”

“You comp me all the time. Let me get this one for you.”

“Okay,” you nodded before seeking out the rest of your staff. You just knew you were going to be teased about this interaction too.

Despite your best efforts, you and Seungcheol continued to cross paths and meet eyes the rest of the evening. Whether you were returning glassware, barreling into him as you left the bathroom, or feeling his gaze on you as you watched the others dance, it all seemed to affect you. Unfortunately for your brain, you liked this version of Seungcheol too and it made you curious for more.

Seungcheol watched you try to avoid his gaze and he glanced at the clock impatiently. He’d only agreed to take on the opening shift, so he had a handful of minutes left. He hoped that you’d stick around until then.

“You can leave now,” Sammy appeared at his side.

“Huh?”

“I’m worried your eyes are going to fall out of your head if you look any harder at YN,” Sammy rolled his eyes. He’d had a sneaking suspicion about you since Seungcheol had brought up the idea of participating in the coffee roaster showcase at your cafe.

“Wish me luck,” Seungcheol chuckled before heading towards you.

“And then she said-,” Seungkwan’s words trailed off as his eyes widened at you.

“What did she say?!” you demanded. You were surprised and confused when all three of them shook their heads and pointed at something behind you. Someone, rather.

“Hey,” Seungcheol was standing behind you with his hands in his pockets. “Are you hungry? I just finished up.”

“...I could eat,” you answered, heat zipping up your spine again.

“Did you drive?”

“No.”

“I’ll give you a ride then,” he smiled. He waved at Chan, Naomi, and Seungkwan before leading you out the staff entrance to his car.

“Should I plan to drop you off at home tonight or tomorrow?” he asked as he backed out of his parking spot.

If you’d been holding something, you most certainly would have dropped it. You bit your lip and still failed to hold in your gobsmacked grin at this line.

“...tomorrow.”

Seungcheol glanced over, eyes flicking over you again, before he smiled smugly and drove out of the parking lot.

[seungkwansphd]

tell me

pairing: changkyun x fem!reader word count: 4.2K synopsis: you and changkyun have been hooking up for a while now. both of you want more, but neither is willing to say it without some reassurance from the other end. themes: fwb, repressed feelings, pining, poor communication, shy-ish reader, probably not the most responsible driving practices on changkyun's end, slight angst, they work through it in the end.

warnings: SMUT, phone sex, a LOT of dirty talk, power dynamics, lots of possessive names, slight degradation???, jealousy, changkyun is a demon. lmk what i missed!

a/n: happy (early) birthday to @the-boy-meets-evil i hope you have a wonderful weekend 🫶

“Hnnmm!” you whined, eyes squeezed shut as Changkyun watched you from between your legs. He hummed loudly against your clit and your thighs were pressing against his ears, nearly drowning out your sounds for him.

Nearly. And he was glad for it because he absolutely lived for the noises he was able to get you to make.

One of his favorite memories was of the time he had overstimulated you until you’d unleashed your deepest, most desperate, and lewdest thoughts. The way you’d gasped, moaned, and begged for him to use you until you’d gotten everything you’d wanted. It lived rent free in his mind still.

Hooking his arms around your thighs, he pulled your legs apart, tongue dragging perilously through your folds. You squeezed when his lips latched onto your clit, applying a firm and steady pressure. Your legs reflexed shut, but his arms held you open for him.

“Please,” you whined, clutching at his shoulders, pulling him up towards you. You couldn’t take it anymore, you needed him inside of you. Your walls clenched desperately around nothing and you needed something.

“What is it?” he asked, face almost blank. “What do you want?”

“Changkyun,” you implored shyly. “You know.”

“I know,” a small smile spread across his lips.

It was so cute how you got shy even after months of doing this. He wished you would let go like that again. He hoped to hear your lewd confessions again, but he could tell it made you flustered so he never pushed too hard.

“You need my cock, huh? Pussy feels so empty without me?”

You nodded furiously, fingertips stroking across his bare chest. You loved when he talked dirty to you. He said all the things you wanted to hear. Things that you wanted to say, in fact, but the one time you’d let loose and begged so desperately and told him all the things he could do to you, he’d given you a look of such shock that you’d been too embarrassed to do it again since.

“You love when I press into you, feel you spread for me, take me deep inside,” he pressed his forehead against you, speaking feverishly as he lined himself up. You didn’t realize it, but he was trying to coax you into talking dirty to him again. You’d done it one time and while yes, it had surprised him, it had also made him think you might have needs and compatibilities that you hadn’t shared with him fully.

You nodded, eyes shining up at him until he thrust into you, deep and slow. The growly purr you let out had him running laps, mentally, and he struggled to keep himself under control. His hands sought out your breasts, fingertips tugging at your nipples as he pressed into you over and over.

“I-, I-,” you gasped, melting into the bed as your orgasm built. His hands grazed over your sensitive areas, sending chills across your skin. Close.

“You feel incredible,” he nuzzled you gently as you threaded your finger into his. Your thumb rubbed across the back of his hand. Your tell. “My pretty toy wants to cum?”

“Yes,” you managed to squeak out a reply. You wanted to sink into the bed and reiterate that you loved being his pretty toy, his needy holes, his eager slut. But you reigned yourself in, instead biting down on your lips and letting out an anguished whine of desperation. Just saying the words to yourself in your head were enough to drive you to the edge.

“Go ahead, cum for me,” he murmured into your neck. He wouldn’t be far after you.

“Mmmpf!” you bit down on your knuckles as you came around him. Your chest heaved with ragged breaths and he clutched at you as he found his own release. He collapsed on you after, head fuzzy with dopamine.

“It’s late,” he looked at you after he’d recovered.

“Yeah,” you nodded.

“I should go,” you spoke again just as Changkyun was about to ask you to stay.

Instead he said nothing so you stood up, eyes searching the room for your clothes. Both quiet, you saw yourself out and your chest twisted when the door swung shut.

…

You chewed your lip as you contemplated texting Changkyun. It’d only been three days since you’d seen him, but you were feeling incredibly needy. As you rode the elevator up to your apartment, you texted your friends to let them know you’d made it.

[yn]: ‘so nice to see you, let’s get a meal together soon!’

Changkyun’s eyebrows had raised with anticipation when your message came in and then quickly furrowed when he read it. He’d already deduced that it wasn’t for him, but when the ‘sorry, wrong person. please ignore!’ had followed it shortly, his temper rose in a way that surprised him. It was impossible to tell anything from the tone of the message, but he couldn’t help but be jealous. For sure jealous if it was something like a date, but even jealous at the simple fact that he hadn’t been the one to spend time with you tonight.

You were disappointed when he didn’t reply. You’d thought, for a moment, it could open the door for you to ask whether he was free. Since that hadn’t presented itself as an option, you resigned yourself to masturbating instead. By the time you finished your skincare routine and settled in bed, you’d become antsy with anticipation.

“Shit,” you cursed under your breath when you realized your vibrator was dead. You plugged it in, but it would take some time. That was fine, your hands and your overactive imagination had certainly never let you down before!

Closing your eyes, you let yourself settle into a thought. Your fingertips lightly skimmed across the sensitive skin of your torso, your hips, and your inner thighs. You sighed contently as your left hand came to tease at the underside of your breast and your right hand stroked up your inner thighs. You let out a small, surprised puff of air when you realized how wet you’d become. Gathering it up, your fingertips moved to circle your clit lazily and pinch every so often.

Inevitably, your mind wandered to your last sexual encounter with Changkyun. You recalled the way his eyes looked at you intently as his tongue dragged torturous circles around your clit. You let out a soft whine as your fingers dipped into your entrance and you recalled the way he had called you ‘his pretty toy’.

Toy. Doll. Kitten. You whimpered as you imagined his deep, sultry voice rasping in your ear. You’d never told him, but you adored when he used these pet names for you. Best of all when preceded by the word ‘my’. You’d recently learned that you had quite the taste for power dynamics in the bedroom and were still grappling with it yourself. It seemed like Changkyun might be able to give you what you wanted, but you felt too shy to ask yet.

You chewed at your lip and whined with frustration as you tried, repeatedly, to bring yourself to orgasm. It surprised you as you’d never struggled before, but this time you couldn’t seem to bring yourself over the crest. Exhaling sharply, your eyes flitted to your phone again. You wondered if he was up.

[yn]: ‘...please ignore if you’re busy, but…are you up?’

[ck]: ‘yes. everything okay?’

[yn]: ‘can i call you?’

You threw your phone away with embarrassment. Were you really going to call him just to hear his voice? You had to push that thought aside when your phone started buzzing. Changkyun was calling you!

“H-hi,” you greeted him with some surprise, “How-, um, thanks for calling.”

“Sure,” he smiled, “Everything okay?” He repeated the question that you hadn’t answered.

“Mhm, yes,” you nodded, squirming under the sheets. You knew what you wanted to ask, but couldn’t seem to vocalize the words.

“...was there something you wanted to talk about?” Changkyun asked after you didn’t speak again. He could hear shifting and rustling on your side of the call and he wondered if you were in bed.

“Um,” you inhaled, “Kind of? If you’re not busy.”

“I wouldn’t have called otherwise,” he chuckled. The sound of his voice curled into your ear and you held back a sigh. “It’s late. Are you in bed?”

“Yes,” you nodded, “Are you? It is late.”

“No,” Changkyun shook his head, leaning back in his chair. “I’m at my desk. Doing some work on the computer.”

“Ah! Should I let you go?” you asked. You wanted to smack your own forehead. Why were you so nervous?

“Please don’t. I called you, remember?”

“That’s true,” you chuckled.

“Tell me about your day,” Changkyun prompted. You seemed nervous and he had a feeling he knew why. He hoped he could get you to relax enough to tell him why you’d wanted to call.

“Ah,” you relaxed. This you could do.

“And you saw a friend?” he asked after you had told him about work. The tinge of jealousy in his voice triggered a throb in your core.

“The text you accidentally sent me,” he elaborated when you didn’t answer.

“Ah, that,” you nodded, “I ran into an old friend from school. When I was on my way home.”

“I see,” he blinked. Not nearly enough information to sate his curiosity, but he also felt he didn’t have the right to ask for more. “And then what has my kitten been up to since they got home?”

You swallowed loudly. It could’ve been an innocent question, but you could tell that he was finally calling your bluff. You pressed your thighs together and let out a defeated exhale.

“How did you know?” you pouted.

“It’s past midnight,” he laughed at your indignant tone. “And I can hear the neediness in your voice.”

“Changkyun,” you sighed, the gates open now. “Please help.”

“Help how?” his voice lilted teasingly. “I’m all the way over here.”

“Tell…talk to me,” you begged, fingers stroking through your drenched folds again.

“Hmm,” he chuckled smugly, “Is my kitten so needy that even just my voice will get you off?”

“I think so,” you moaned, sinking into the pillows as you ground your hips against your hand.

“Fuck,” he cursed, palming himself through his pants as he listened to your little gasps and moans. “Sound so pretty gasping for my cock,” he smirked into the phone.

“Hnn,” you nodded in agreement.

You wanted to tell him how you loved being wrapped around him like a cocksleeve. How you throbbed for him, ached for him. You wished you were brave enough to ask him to claim you, but the worry at the back of your mind caused the words to dry up in your throat. After all, you’d established terms at the beginning and you most definitely weren’t his.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about,” he rasped into your ear as he thrust himself into his own fist.

“You,” you answered simply.

“Hmm,” he purred, a shit eating grin on his face. “Wish you were here. Sitting on my cock for me like a good girl.”

You whined, fingers reaching a fever pitch. You were almost there.

“Tell me,” he panted into the phone, “Tell me who you’re thinking of. I want to hear it when you cum.”

His name echoed in your head as the orgasm finally ripped through you. Your hand clapped over your mouth out of subconscious reflex and all he heard was a muffled cry. It was still enough to bring him over the edge, but when his presence of mind returned, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

…

You frowned as you scrolled through your phone. Things had been uncharacteristically quiet since your last call with Changkyun. You’d sent him a few texts here and there and received monosyllabic replies. At first, this hadn’t seemed too unusual, but after two weeks you were starting to feel certain that you were being ghosted.

Changkyun frowned. He was starting to regret his decision to go out. When his friends had asked, he’d been feeling petty about you and said ‘yes’ out of spite. He’d been approached by a few folks and despite them being attractive and fun, he didn’t feel anything more than a passing acknowledgement.

Despite what his short replies may have suggested to you, you’d been on his mind a lot. While true that at the onset of this friends with benefits arrangement, he hadn’t been looking for anything other than casual, that seemed to have changed. More than a few times had he hoped you would stay through a weekend, but you were too good at following the rules.

“What’s up with you?” his friend appeared at his side, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “You are in a funk!”

“Yeah, I kind of am,” Changkyun shrugged. There was no sense in denying it. Maybe if he left now, he would be able to catch you before you fell asleep. “I’m going to head out. Thanks for inviting me.”

He was grateful that his friends didn’t put up much of a fight and before long he was in his car, driving home. He thought about calling you, but his stubbornness hadn’t receded yet. He wanted some sort of tell from you that you were interested in more too.

[yn]: ‘are you ghosting me?’

Changkyun’s eyebrow raised sharply at the text message. He was dialing you before he even realized it.

“Hello? Give me one second?” you sounded far away when you picked up his call.

Changkyun let go of the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“Hey, can you hear me?” you said a moment later, voice much clearer now.

“Yes, I can,” he replied, relief spreading through him that you had picked up.

“Do you need something?” you asked. There was an annoyed edge in your voice and he couldn't blame you. He’d been quite distant lately.

“Yes,” he answers. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times before he spoke again. “How are you?”

“Oh-kay,” you drew the word out. “What do you need?”

Changkyun’s tongue pressed into his cheek. If you hadn’t had a legitimate reason to be upset at him, he would’ve thought you were bratting. He would have liked it.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” he finally spoke. It didn’t really answer your question, but it was what he could manage without sounding like a complete idiot.

“Oh really?” you hoped you sounded nonchalant, but your body reacted to his statement.

“Yes.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, even though he wasn’t there to see. He had only said one syllable and yet it made you feel on fire as if he had said something graphic and filthy. It was truly unfair.

“Have you thought of me? Since our last call?”

“Yes,” you sighed, trying to hold onto your indignance. It was tiring to keep your walls up when you still wanted him so badly.

“Have you…cum to the thought of me since our last call?” he asked. His voice sounded ragged.

“...no,” you exhaled sharply with frustration. This was true, but not for lack of trying. “I-, I can’t seem to without you.”

Changkyun’s eyes widened at your confession. It shot through him like electricity.

“It’s been frustrating,” you continued, voice thin and breathy. Your resolve was breaking.

“Do you want-,” he offered. “I can help.”

“...please,” you nodded vehemently.

Changkyun turned the car around as he listened to you lay down. Your soft gasps and moans as you listened so well to his instructions made him consider breaking the speed limit more than once. Instead he got a hold of himself while you rubbed your clit for him and his cock throbbed eagerly as he drove.

“Are you hard?” Your question took him by surprise.

“Of course,” he laughed. He was straining against his pants.

“Are you playing with yourself?” you asked shyly.

“No, not right now.”

“Oh? That’s too bad. I wish I could. Let you use me like your pretty little cocksleeve.”

Changkyun’s eyes bugged out of his head. Fucking hell.

“Oh? You wanna play with me?” He managed to recover.

“Mhm,” you cooed, “I want you to use me like your pretty little doll so bad. My fingers aren't enough.”

“Hnn, my baby needs me so bad? Can't even cum without my help? Need me to talk you through it,” he smirked, his ego inflating. The desperate whine you let out made him grip the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white.

“Please Changkyun, please. Need you until I can’t take any more. Fuck me until I cry,” you begged and begged. Your hips had risen off of the bed and despite your best efforts you were right at the edge but unable to crest it.

Changkyun was running up the stairs to your apartment as he listened to you struggle. He could clearly picture you, brow screwed up with concentration, sweat beading on your nose as you tried to let go.

“Stop,” he instructed as he ascended the last flight of steps. “Listen to me, kitten, stop touching yourself for a second.”

You frowned, pulling your hand away. It wasn't like it was doing any good anyways. You were down so bad that you seemed to need him in the flesh.

“You want to cum?”

“I want to,” you exhaled sharply. You were frustrated at yourself more than anything else.

“Let me in,” he cooed. “Let me in and I'll give you what you need.”

Your eyes shot open and once you processed his words, you bolted to the door. Nearly ripping the door off its hinges, you jumped into his arms, kissing him voraciously. You felt him chuckle before he licked into your mouth with an intensity that made you shiver. He was here.

“Had me aching for you the whole way over,” he snarled, nipping at your neck. “My cock is throbbing for you.”

“Changkyun,” you pawed at his shirt frantically.

“So needy,” he laughed as he carried you to the bedroom.

“Please,” you didn’t care that you seemed desperate. You would’ve taken him on the floor if he’d let you.

His lips quirked up into a smirk as he unbuttoned his shirt.

“You'll take what I give you,” he raised an eyebrow at you when you let out an impatient whine.

You pressed your lips shut. You really weren't in a position to be making demands. Instead you squeezed your knees together impatiently as you watched him undress at a speed that you knew was just to make you crazy.

“Don’t you want to be inside of me?” you asked him, feigning innocence. “I thought you said you wanted me to sit on your cock like a good girl, but you’re taking really long!”

Changkyun let out a derisive snort, his eyebrow jerking upwards again, and gestured you towards him. You stood from the bed and brought yourself toe to toe with him and he looked down his nose at you, eyes intense.

“Have you always been this noisy?” he asked.

Your jaw dropped slightly. His words zipped through you like electricity. Your pupils dilated as you looked up at him in wonder.

“I asked you a question,” he cupped your cheek in a deceptively tender gesture.

“No, I don’t think I’m noisy,” you found your voice.

“Hm, well then I wonder what inspired the change,” he laughed.

Before you could answer, Changkyun’s thumb had slipped through your lips and was pressing down on your tongue. Your mouth closed around his digit reflexively and your tongue reached forward to caress him softly.

“So pretty,” he smiled at you, eyes glued to your lips.

You hummed happily at this scrap of praise. You nursed his thumb in your mouth until he pulled his hand back minutes later. He wiped the saliva off on your cheek before he finished unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off. As you watched him intently, you let out little noises of appreciation that were going straight to his head, but he did his best not to show it.

“Changkyun,” your hands reached out towards him, unable to wait any more.

“What is it?” he held you at arms length, making you squirm under his intense gaze. “I want you to use your words.”

Normally this would've made you shy beyond being able to speak, but he had teased you for so long that your typical inhibitions were gone.

“I want you to ruin me,” you answered him solemnly. “I want you to use me. I want you to be rough, I really need it.”

“Hm,” his lips drew into a line as he considered your words. “Are you mine for the night?”

“Yours period,” you nodded breathlessly. You'd thought it many times but it knocked the wind out of your sails to say it out loud.

Changkyun felt the knot in his chest unfurl. The feeling of stuckness he'd been experiencing over you started to undo itself.

“Mine. Period.” he pulled you towards him by the back of your neck.

You melted.

“Yours,” you reinforced, fingertips tracing along his waistband. “Changkyun, please.”

“Yes,” he answered, pushing you to your knees. You smiled up at him before slipping your fingers into his waistband and pulling down.

Changkyun was surprised at the speed with which you took him into your mouth. Your tongue lapped firmly up his length before you reversed direction, nursing his tip between your lips. He hissed at the sensitive pressure and the way that your eyes lit up at the sound made his knees nearly buckle.

“Enough,” he withdrew from your, pulling you up to your feet. He guided you onto the bed and pressed you onto your back with his hand splayed across your chest. Slotting himself between your legs, he gave you a look that conveyed his hot, heavy attraction. You squirmed.

“Changkyun,” you whined, “Baby, please!”

“Baby?” his eyebrow raised, fixing you with a bemused look.

Your face got hot.

“Oh-I, um…,” you floundered under his gaze.

Changkyun smiled as he watched you stutter. He didn’t mind the moniker, of course, but he had been surprised to hear you use a pet name for him.

“It’s okay, I like it,” he finally reassured you after watching you squirm for a while. “You want me to fuck you, baby?”

“Yes!” you cried, rocking your hips anxiously, desperate for more.

Changkyun settled back and watched as you ground yourself desperately against him. He found himself hypnotized by the way your lips caressed his swollen, red tip, coating it with your juices. His hand on your chest held you in place, but you were trying your best to press forward and take more of his length. Cute.

“Please, please, please,” you’d been mumbling endlessly for a while now. Your brows were pinched together. What did you have to do to get him to fuck you?!

Changkyun’s eyes raked over you and he smirked. You were starting to unravel and he couldn’t wait for you to be completely undone.

“Baby, please!” your eyes snapped open as your patience finally snapped. “I can feel the tip but I need more! Need to feel you inside of me, Changkyun please!”

That did it. His eyes widened just a fraction before his hands found purchase in your hips and he pulled you down on his swollen cock slowly. When he had fully sheathed himself in you, he leaned forward, grabbing the sides of your face for a kiss. You returned it voraciously as you bucked desperately against his cock buried deep inside of you.

“So desperate,” he chuckled against your lips. “Just a little hole for me to bury myself in.”

Largely unintelligible cries left your mouth. A string of babbles as he started driving into you deep and hard.

“Fuck, you’re so good,” he groaned appreciatively as your walls clenched around him, squeezing him tight. God damn it, he was close.

“I’m, I’m, I-,” your brows pinched together as you looked up at him. Your thumb rubbed against the back of his hand. Your tell.

“Be a good girl and cum for me,” he coaxed you, fingers tweaking your nipple, sending you over the edge.

“Changkyun!!” you cried, back arching up off of the bed towards him as you came completely undone.

Hearing you scream his name as you came pushed him over the edge and he quickly followed you. Falling onto his forearms, he shuddered before deflating slightly onto you. You wrapped your arms around his broad chest and you pressed your face into the crook of his neck. You were so satisfied.

“We can talk more about this tomorrow, but I do want you to be mine,” he murmured in your ear.

Your eyes snapped open at this confession and a sigh of relief left your lips.

“I-, I’d like that,” you admitted shyly.

Changkyun smiled and pressed soft kisses against your neck. He’d stay the night and you’d work out the details tomorrow.

[seungkwansphd]

mouse in the walls

pairing: law student!jeonghan x law student!YN word count: 841 synopsis: you and jeonghan don't get along, so it's highly suspicious when he offers you a place to sleep when you're sexiled at an away mock trial competition. you take him up on it, though, because your next best idea is to sleep in a stairwell. themes: part of 'room for interpretation' series, prequel/flashback, sfw, college rivals, tentative friends, two big IDIOTS who don't realize anything about themselves.

a/n: ok i know i said i was working on a sequel, BUT i slipped and fell into a prequel moment for these two. sequel has been bullet pointed and still coming istg.

You stared at the door of your hotel room in dismay. True to her words, Cheryl had found someone to hook up with and you had been sexiled. You wracked your brain for ideas. On the one hand, you had no desire to go into that room, nor did you want to snitch. On the other hand, were you prepared to sleep on the ground? No, that didn’t make sense, but you truly didn’t know what to do. You were deep in thought when someone walked by you and did a double take.

“What are you doing out here?”

Jeonghan.

“It’s none of your business,” you flashed an irritated look at him.

“Who’s your roommate again?”

“Cheryl,” you answered as you contemplated sleeping near the ice machine, like Michael in The Office.

“Oh…oh,” Jeonghan reacted as he recalled seeing Cheryl aggressively pursuing one of the students from another school. “You become homeless?”

“Correct,” you made a face at him. “Hey! Give me the spare blanket and pillow from your room and I’ll sleep in the stairwell.”

“Are you stupid?” he blinked at you incredulously, “Come with me. You can sleep on the pullout couch in my room.”

“No!” you shook your head, balking at the idea of sharing a room with Jeonghan.

“Oh grow up, it’s not even the same bed. We might not get along, but I’m not going to let you sleep in the goddamn stairwells, like a mouse living in the walls,” he insisted, grabbing you by the wrist and tugging you towards his room down the hall.

You glared at him as you followed him, but by the time you actually made it to his room, you had accepted that the stairwell idea wasn’t one of your best. Jeonghan was right, you were both adults. You could share a room without it being weird.

“Here, change into these. I’ll get the pull out couch set up,” he threw a bundle of fabric at you. He was so damn bossy.

You shut and locked the bathroom door behind you. You considered the pieces of clothing as you changed. The shirt was one from orientation. You actually had the same one in your luggage. The bottoms were a pair of loose shorts. You considered the situation at large and concluded that it was very odd, but you weren’t going to fight it too much. Sleeping on the couch was better than being sexiled.

“So bad news,” Jeonghan started when he heard the bathroom door open. The rest of his sentence caught in his throat when he saw you, dressed in his clothes. It was stupid because he had been the one who’d given them to you, but it still caught him off guard.

“Bad news?” you asked, placing your own clothes in a pile on the coffee table.

“Uh, yeah,” Jeonghan shook his head, “It’s not actually a pull out couch,” he gestured to his evidence: the couch with the cushions pulled out of it.

“That’s okay,” you shrugged, grabbing the cushions to return them to their places. “I’ll just sleep on the couch.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. As much as I hate to admit it, you are right that this is better than sleeping in the stairwell. Like a mouse,” you cracked a smile.

Jeonghan found himself smiling with you. Because he got a lot of joy when you admitted he was right and definitely not because your smile was infectious.

“Okay, I’m setting my alarm for pretty early. Going to have to go back to my room to get changed and stuff before breakfast.”

“Sure,” Jeonghan nodded.

Jeonghan listened to your light shuffling as you got settled in to sleep. He heard a few punches to your pillow to make it the right shape, but before long your soft snores indicated that you were out. He was a little surprised at the speed with which you’d been able to fall asleep. He was a person who tended to stare into the void for quite a while before he could drift off, but something about your rhythmic breathing helped push him into dreamland much faster than normal.

…

“Where did you end up sleeping last night?” Cheryl asked you at breakfast.

“One of my friends let me sleep on their couch,” you answered shortly. You and Cheryl weren’t really close, so you knew she wouldn’t dig too deep.

“Who? You don’t have any friends!” she commented, but quickly moved onto a different subject.

You rolled your eyes before stuffing more hotel waffle into your mouth. You loved Mock Trial, but you were ready for the weekend to be over.

Jeonghan hid a bemused smile behind his coffee cup as he eavesdropped on your conversation. He was half convinced that Cheryl had only come on the Mock Trial trip to have casual sex, but that wasn’t why he was smiling. Something about the absurdity of hearing you refer to him as a friend really made him laugh. As if you could pass as anything more than classmates!

[seungkwansphd]

we get along infamously

pairing: jeonghan x reader wordcount: 5.2k summary: you can never, have never, will never get along with Yoon Jeonghan, but unfortunately you have a chemistry that is simply undeniable. no strings attached is perfect, except when those pesky feelings and that new girl decide to pop up unannounced. genre/themes: smut, enemies to lovers, rivals to lovers, emotional constipation, reader is in denial. chaotic seungkwan.

a/n: OKKK! this is filthy so i hope you enjoy it :)

   You sighed deeply as you looked at Jeonghan across the office. You’d thought that, maybe, after hooking up with him your strong feeling of anger towards this man would dissipate. No such luck. It seemed that the only time you could stand him was when you were in the midst of intercourse with him. Even shortly before and after, you found yourself bickering.

“If you plan to kill him, please do it off of company property,” your HR manager and friend, Minghao, joked as he took a seat beside you.

“Of course, Hao, I would never force you to do that paperwork,” you laughed heartily.

“Thank you,” he nodded at you prudently.

“I know I’m not supposed to know in an official capacity, but…?” Hao shot a meaningful look at you.

“Yeah,” you sighed, “We did.”

“And?”

“Incredible. Infuriatingly incredible. And I still want to beat him with a rock at work.”

“Hm, interesting,” Minghao quirked an eyebrow at your statement. “So much for all of that nonsense about dopamine and whatnot.”

“Seems so,” you wrinkled your nose at your friend before glancing at your computer screen. “Did you need something for real? Otherwise I should actually do some work today.”

“Nope, just being nosy,” Hao laughed, standing to leave your cube.

“See you later,” you blew him an exaggerated kiss as he left.

    Jeonghan’s eyes flitted surreptitiously from your cube as Minghao walked away from it. He certainly hadn’t been keeping tabs on you and he definitely wasn’t curious who was making you laugh.

    Yoon Jeonghan. Your workplace rival for the better part of the last year. He had been hired on as your peer and had been a hotshot right out of the gate. He was smart and sharp, which were generally desirable traits, but also maddeningly argumentative and cunning. He had a talent for managing office politics that utterly infuriated you.

‘cozying up to minghao?’ an instant message from Jeonghan popped up.

    You rolled your eyes, closing out of the chat window to return to your work at hand. The lines of code stared at you as you picked up where you had left off.

‘are you free tonight?’ Jeonghan was persistent today.

‘this could be considered harassment’

    Your phone pinged shortly after.

‘sorry, i forgot about your paranoia’ the message from Jeonghan’s unsaved number read. ‘my question still stands’

    You mulled the question over for a long time. On the one hand, the sex really had been incredible, but on the other hand, you really couldn’t stand him. As you thought, a perfectly timed message popped up on your screen.

boo: ‘what do you think about a double date tonight?’ 

    You sent the declination to Jeonghan shortly before sending the affirmation to Seungkwan. Nodding to yourself, you tucked your phone away, determined to finish this section of code.

    Jeonghan’s jaw ticked as he read your response. While he didn’t think he’d had his hopes up, what he felt in his gut was surprisingly similar to disappointment. Clicking his tongue, he put out a few other half-hearted feelers before returning to his work as well.

…

“I’m not going to lie, I’m surprised you said yes to this!” Seungkwan chattered next to you on the subway.

“Oh, yeah,” you laughed, “Well, I’ve been thinking of dating again anyways and I happened to be free tonight!”

“Really?” Seungkwan’s shocked expression made you laugh. “I-, if I’d known you were serious I would’ve fixed you up with someone better!”

“Who is my half of the date?” you turned to Seungkwan, eye twitching menacingly.

“It’s not bad!” Seungkwan shouted defensively, “He’s just kind of boring! I figured you’d just come and get some free food.”

“Okay, okay, I can deal with boring,” you reassured your friend, “But next time set me up with someone exciting!” you teased.

    Halfway into dinner you began to wonder if you had cursed yourself. While Seungkwan’s date was more than personable and fun, you found that you and Juwon could hardly string together two sentences, let alone a conversation. While there was nothing specifically wrong with him, it seemed that the venn diagram of your interests just did not overlap one bit. By the time dinner drew to a close, you were more than ready to head home.

“It was nice to meet you!” you bowed politely to everyone. Seungkwan and Seyoon had decided to continue their night and so you took the subway back alone. As you fiddled through your phone, you noticed Jeonghan’s message from earlier. Against your better judgment, you found yourself wondering.

‘what are the chances you’re still available?’ you shoved aside your pride to send the message.

    Jeonghan’s eyebrows shot into his hairline as the banner notification appeared above his text exchange with Minju. Your timing couldn’t be worse.

‘non zero’

‘i see. well i’m on the subway that passes by your place, so if that chance improves within the next 7 minutes, do let me know.’

    Jeonghan scoffed. Four minutes passed before he texted you again. Three minutes after that you were leaving the subway car and headed towards his apartment building.

“Well, well, well,” he greeted you smugly as he opened the door for you, “Look what the cat dragged in.”

“Shut up,” you scowled before pulling him by his neckline into a fervent kiss.

“I thought you weren’t free,” Jeonghan couldn’t help but probe as he pulled your jacket off of your shoulders.

“I wasn’t,” you shrugged.

“But you’re here now?” Jeonghan almost smacked his own mouth. What was it about you that made his brain stop functioning properly?

“Would you really like to hear about my dull date?” you sighed, pulling back and fixing him with a stare, “Or would you rather fuck me until I cry?”

    Jeonghan blinked. He gave you a once over before his lips curled into an almost cruel smirk. You found yourself being dragged into his bedroom and pushed down onto your knees.

“Wait here,” he instructed before leaving.

    Your left eye twitched as you heard him fiddling around the kitchen, no doubt idly passing the time, making you wait. Unfortunately for you, Jeonghan now knew that making you wait turned you on just about as much as it made you mad. You tried to practice meditative breathing and ignore the fact that you were leaking.

    Jeonghan stood in the kitchen, running his tongue across the edge of his incisors. The waiting was as torturous for him as it was for you, but the prospect of the delayed gratification outweighed everything else. Tapping his fingertips against the countertop, he counted down the minutes until he would let himself back into the bedroom.

“You’re so pretty when you listen,” you heard his drawling voice eventually.

“Hn,” you murmured lightly.

    Jeonghan was surprised to see your eyes calmly closed when he faced you fully. You really did have a talent for being good when you wanted to be. He reached out a hand, stroking your hair down to your chin and sliding his thumb between your lips.

    Your eyes shot open, tongue wrapping around him, warm and wet. You took severe pleasure in the way that his adam’s apple bobbed.

“Can I be rough?” he asked.

“Yes,” you nodded, in fact you wanted him to be.

“Good,” he nodded before pressing your face against his erection, straining through the fabric of his shorts.

    Humming with pleasure, your lips sought him out, nipping gently along his length. His grip slackened and you made quick work of his pants, allowing him to jut out heavily at you. You moaned appreciatively before closing your lips around him.

“Fucking christ,” Jeonghan hissed, his lip curled up into a snarl as you worked his length. You’d think he’d never received head before, the way his brow was worked up in ecstasy. You swallowed down to his hilt before giggling around him. It was fun to see him suffer for a change.

“You minx,” Jeonghan growled, pulling you off of him, clinging to his last threads of sanity.

“Too much, Hannie?” you teased, wiping saliva off your chin.

“Cute,” he squinted, pulling you to your feet.

“Oop!” you exclaimed, falling into him.

“You okay!?” a look of concern flashed across his face as he caught you.

“My legs,” you chuckled, maneuvering to the bed, “They fell asleep!”

“Oh,” Jeonghan nodded, wondering if he had made you wait too long.

“Tingly,” you giggled, laying back for a stretch. Your toes stretched towards the ceiling and Jeonghan’s eyes widened as he was favored with an unobstructed view of your obviously damp panties.

“For me? You shouldn’t have,” he smirked, placing his index and middle finger against you.

“Maybe it was my date,” you laughed, enjoying the way his jaw tensed.

“Oh?” one eyebrow raised. “So why is it me who’s knuckle deep inside of you?”

“Jeonghan!” you gasped at the intrusion. His long fingers curled into you and your legs fell open, hips shifting up for more.

“So wet, listen to yourself,” he shook his head appreciatively.

    You flushed. You could hear yourself far too clearly.

“Please,” you mewled desperately, right hand seeking out his wrist.

“What is it?” he asked, pressing his thumb against your clit.

“Jeonghan, please!” you cried, head thrown back in desperation.

“Hm, no. I don’t think so,” he sniffed, hand stilling just before you crested the wave.

    A string of vivid curse words left your mouth as Jeonghan’s fingers followed suit. He blinked, impressed at your colorful vocabulary.

“If and when you cum, it’s going to be on my cock,” he decided aloud.

“If?!”

“When,” he corrected himself, but not before laughing. If you were a cartoon, you’d have a halo of flames drawn around your head. “Can you stand up?”

    You brought yourself toe to toe with Jeonghan. Your heart pounded in your ears as he tugged gently at the straps of your tank top.

“Got all pretty just for him to be a bore, huh?” he murmured softly, index finger wandering further and further down your neckline.

“Mhm,” you purred, “You’re not boring though,” you pursed your lips. It almost pained you to compliment him, but you knew the way you’d be rewarded if you stroked his ego.

“Hah!” he let out a laugh as he tugged lightly at your top, “Get out of this.”

    His hands turned you towards the bed and folded you forward. His fingers traced a line down your spine before gripping your hips tightly, lining himself up against you. You bounced on the balls of your feet, your wet folds nudging him impatiently.

“God, you are wet,” he groaned as he teased himself in and out of you.

“Yoon. Jeonghan. Please.” you begged through gritted teeth.

    His lips curled into a pleased smile and he pulled himself into you. He set a punishing pace, exactly what you needed, and fucked you headfirst into the mattress, interrupted only by the occasional dizzying spank. Your hands were fisted in his sheets when you came around him the first time, sudden and without warning.

    He didn’t stop, instead setting his jaw and working towards his own release. Your second orgasm roiled as he plowed into you, turning you inside out.

“I’m close,” he warned you. You nodded, clutching around him. His hips stuttered before he pulled out, emptying himself on the small of your back. “Fuck,” he breathed.

    You laid together for a few moments, collecting yourselves, before Jeonghan stood up to retrieve a washcloth. He cleaned you up so gently that you almost couldn’t believe he was the same person that you knew from work.

“Thanks?” you offered awkwardly as you pulled your shoes on.

“Thanks?” Jeonghan let out a true laugh, “No need to thank me. Next time just say yes the first time I ask,” he rolled his eyes at you. You pursed your lips at him before slipping out the door.

…

“I want to go home,” you repeated yourself to Minghao for what felt like the tenth time of the day.

“I’m aware,” he replied dryly.

“Why, why, why must we do this stupid ‘team building’ outing?” your griping fell upon deaf ears as the escape room facilitator signaled everyone for their attention.

“For the record, I need you to know that I voted against this,” Minghao spoke after the person had finished. “Like you, I am but a cog in the wheel.”

“I know, I just hate this,” you grumbled as the instructor divided everyone into teams. You frowned at Minghao as you left him for team number four. Your eyes sought out Daehwi, who stood holding four fingers above his head.

“YN!” he waved animatedly as you walked towards him. You smiled, relieved, as you walked towards him. You weren’t as close to Daehwi as you were to Minghao, but it was nice to at least have a friendly face on the team. Your mood soured severely, however, when you noticed Jeonghan and Jae walking towards you.

“Man, I’m so stoked to be on your team!” Jae gushed, “You’re so good at games!”

    You fought back an eye roll. Jae was a junior developer who had quite the work crush on Jeonghan. It would almost be cute if he wasn’t always so loud about it.

“Hey teammate,” Jeonghan greeted you cooly, stepping a few feet to your left.

“Hi Jae, good to see you,” you waved to the younger man as you stepped away from Jeonghan pointedly.

“Really?” Jeonghan raised an amused eyebrow at you.

“I don’t like being seen with you,” you lied.

    Jeonghan blinked rapidly, holding in his snide comment about how you’d seemed quite happy to be around him earlier this week. Before he could actually speak, a low energy teen arrived to walk the group through basic safety.

…

“Must you be so stubborn at work?” Jeonghan muttered as he dragged his teeth across your collarbone. You didn’t answer him, instead gasping at the sensation. Jeonghan had been pleasantly surprised at how little of a fight you had put up when he had invited you over this time.

“I don’t want people to know,” you answered after you’d recovered your presence of mind.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about there,” he chuckled darkly, skimming his hands over the material of your leggings. “God, you drove me crazy all day in these.”

“Oh?” you smiled, pleased to hear that.

“All I wanted to do was drag you home and tear them off of you.”

“So do it,” you laughed, more than willing.

“Hmm, we have time tonight though,” Jeonghan smirked. He wanted to ruin you tonight.

“Hannie,” you groaned playfully, even though you already trusted that Jeonghan would make it well worth it.

“Be good for me, huh?” he raised an eyebrow at you, holding your face close. Your eyes fluttered before you nodded, swallowing loudly. He planted a disarmingly soft kiss on your nose before hauling you onto his bed.

    Prying your legs open, he settled in, hands around your waist as he nuzzled his cheek against your inner thigh. He nipped gently, the sensation somewhat dulled by the leggings as his hands reached up, pushing your shirt off of you. You helped shrug off your bra as well and he palmed your breasts, squeezing possessively.

“Aaah!” you let out a strangled moan as his lips found your clit and pressed firmly. “Hannie!” you gasped, hand threading through his hair as he massaged you. Grinning, he hummed against you, the slight vibration turning your mind into verified mush. “Jeong-han!” you babbled, thighs closing against his ears as you struggled to keep it together. Your breathing paused for a moment as you tensed, perched right on the edge of orgasm.

“Go ahead,” he mumbled against you and you let yourself cum, voice cracking as you did.

“Fuck,” you looked at him, breathless.

“C’mere,” he gestured after laying back against the headboard.

    Curious, you climbed atop him, straddling him. He guided your hips, dragging your now soaked center against the length of his shaft, teasing both him and yourself. Your eyes sparkled as you caught on and you ground yourself against him.

“You’re so hard,” you giggled. You enjoyed watching the small details of his face, his raised forehead vein, the slight scrunch of his nose, and the fluttering of his eyelids as you dragged yourself torturously against him. “Can I please have you inside of me?” you pouted.

“Soon,” he reassured you, hands back on your hips, pulling your clit flush against him, hard.

“Jeonghan!” you gasped at the direct pressure, gripping his wrists for support as he bucked up against you. Your eyes watered as you held back, waiting for his permission before you came against him, leaving a wet stain on his sweatpants.

“Now you can have me,” he decided, shrugging off his clothes as you did the same. You climbed back atop him, sliding down around him.

“Fuckkk,” you whimpered, brows knitting with pleasure as he bottomed out.

“YN,” he groaned, glaring at you with dilated pupils as you clenched playfully around him. “Tease,” he chided, but it was half-hearted at best.

“Yes,” you laughed before pushing up on your knees. You could honestly say you felt giddy at the way he hissed underneath you as you sheathed him again, arms looped around his neck for support.

“I-, I’m almost-,” Jeonghan bit out as you rolled your hips against him.

“You gonna cum for me, Hannie?” you teased, keeping up the pace despite the burning of your thighs.

“Yes,” he panted.

    Smiling mischievously, you leaned forward. “Be a good boy and cum for me,” you whispered. The effect was immediate. His eyes shot open and his hands tightened around your waist. His hips bucked against you as he came intensely.

“You liked that?” you smiled, catlike, at him after he had recovered.

“You will pay for that,” he threatened you half-heartedly. It wasn’t a no.

    You scrunched your nose at him before getting up to help clean up. Jeonghan furrowed his brows, it was unusual, but he didn’t stop you.

“What would you say if I proposed getting dinner?” Jeonghan hypothesized as he propped his head up with a pillow.

“I’d ask whether you needed to see a doctor.”

“Why? Is it so crazy to ask that?” He couldn't help but feel frustrated.

“Why would you want that? Things are fine as they are.”

“Are they?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

“Aren’t they?” you countered, your pulse pounding in your ears. “I gotta go,” you decided, sliding off the bed to look for your things. Jeonghan didn’t move, so at least you were spared your traditionally awkward goodbye at the door when you left.

…

“Alright, what is eating you?” Seungkwan finally asks after he catches you lost in thought a second time.

“Huh?”

“Minghao, what the hell is wrong with her?” Seungkwan decides to try another avenue.

“I think I know, but I don’t think I can tell you,” Minghao glances slowly at you.

“Let’s see what your working theory is,” you laughed tiredly.

“She’s been hooking up with her workplace rival. And I think she’s catching feelings.”

“What?!”

“You big stupid idiot!” Seungkwan almost yells, “What is a rival if not a crush that you’re mad about having?”

“What are you talking about?!” you yell back at your friend, drawing the attention of the few other patrons who are outside on the patio.

“And that’s why we don’t claim her in programming,” Jeonghan laughed sarcastically as he took a seat with Jae. You flushed, having completely forgotten that multiple coworkers had been invited to today’s happy hour.

“As to be expected from Tactician Yoon,” a new voice joined in, one you didn’t recognize.

“Ah, Hyemi, you made it!” Seungkwan smiled delightedly, gesturing her over. “Everyone, Hyemi just joined us in HR recently.”

    You smiled at her, having noticed her around the building recently.

“Tactician Yoon?” Jeonghan asked after introductions were made. “Why do you have a nickname for me when we haven’t even met?” he asked Hyemi with interest.

“Perhaps she just has good instincts,” you chimed in, “You couldn’t pay me to say something nice about him,” you chuckled.

“Oh, I just know that there are few quite as keen with office politics as Yoon Jeonghan,” she replied playfully. “You’re welcome to spend more time with me, if you’re interested in giving me a nickname as well.”

    Seungkwan’s eyes widened painfully with interest. To Hyemi’s credit, Jeonghan was at a loss for words, something that was rare to see. Sipping your beer a little faster, you tried to ignore the sinking feeling in your chest as you realized they were flirting.

“I’m gonna bounce,” you announced to Seungkwan and Minghao as you stood from the table. “Good luck, Hyemi,” you teased before taking your leave.

    By the time Jeonghan returned from the restroom, you were gone. He itched to know why you’d left, but couldn’t really ask anyone without blowing your cover. Pulling out his phone, he typed out a quick message. It was normal to at least check if you were okay, right?

“Jeonghan!” Hyemi waved at him. Jeonghan slipped his phone back into his pocket, but couldn’t help the small tug of guilt that accompanied the action.

[redacted]: ‘you okay?’

    You sighed loudly, disturbing all of the people waiting with you for the subway. If he could just leave you alone, that would be perfect.

yn: ‘i’m fine, just tired.’

[redacted]: ‘sure. hey you were great the other day, by the way’

yn: ‘??’

[redacted]: ‘in the escape room. you really took the lead on the puzzle activity. a lot of the junior developers have been saying they look up to you. i thought you should know’

yn: ‘ah, thanks. you too. you already know this, obviously, but hyemi is right. you’re very good at managing upwards. even if it makes me mad, it’s admirable’

[redacted]: ‘that actually means a lot coming from you’

    Jeonghan lifted his hand to his mouth to help hide the giant grin on his face. You had never complimented him outright before and he was surprised to find himself almost giddy over it. Looking up, he tried to reorient himself in the conversation before anyone else noticed.

“What do you think, Jeonghan? Ready to turn in? Or are you staying out with the kiddos?” Seungkwan asked, gesturing to Jae and Hyemi, who were looking towards a few of the interns, eager to keep the night going.

“I’m officially old,” Jeonghan laughed, “So I think I’m gonna have to turn in.”

“Want my number in case you change your mind?” Hyemi glanced hopefully towards him.

“Good thinking,” he smiled at her, offering up his phone. Seungkwan was practically throttling Minghao in excitement as he looked on. Minghao prayed that you’d come to your senses quickly.

…

[redacted]: ‘can i see you after work?’

    You fought back a smile as you reread Jeonghan’s text. The week had been stressful from a work perspective and all of the developers had been working a significant amount of overtime. You’d also be lying if you’d said that your newly realized jealousy hadn’t taken a toll on you either.

    By the time you got to Jeonghan’s apartment, you were almost running, excited to blow off some steam. You weren’t quite ready to admit that you were eager to see him too, but that was also true. Jeonghan had left the door unlocked for you, so you entered unceremoniously.

“Whoa!” Jeonghan laughed as you nearly bowled him over.

“Missed you,” you offered as an explanation, “Need you,” you muttered, not really thinking as you tugged impatiently at his shirt.

    Jeonghan’s eyes widened, but he was quickly distracted and backed you onto the living room couch. You sank down as it hit the back of your knees and Jeonghan kneeled down between your legs. You made quick work of your pants and he slid two fingers into you smoothly. The intrusion was welcome, but you could quickly tell that it wouldn’t be enough. Not this time at least.

“I need you to fuck me,” you looked up at him, eyes desperate, “Please, no teasing this time. I just need you.”

    He nodded, shifting to move, but you had one more request. You caught his wrist, flushing pink before you made your request.

“I don’t know why I want this, but…will you cum in me?”

“In you?” he had to confirm he had heard right.

“I can’t stop thinking about it, please,” you were embarrassed to admit.

“I can’t say I’ve never thought about it myself,” his lips curled up into a grin.

    You held on for dear life as he thrust into you urgently. Your noises mingled together as you came around him and he released his first load into you. Breathing deeply, his body slumped over you. You looked up at him with a smile, brushing a few stray hairs out of his field of vision.

“So needy for me,” he chuckled after recovering. You glanced away from him, slightly embarrassed at your own desperation.

“It’s been a long week,” you admitted.

“That is has,” he nodded, moving to pull out of you. “You want something to wear? I’m not done with you yet, but I am gonna need a second.”

“Sure,” you nodded, pulling on a t-shirt and pair of boxers shortly after.

“Do you think we’re ready to move into testing?” Jeonghan asked about the project as he passed you a glass of water.

“Yes, I think so,” you answered after a few gulps. You were surprised to find that your conversation moved smoothly and without argument for once. In truth, things had been much tamer with Jeonghan since your text exchange with him, which made it all the more frustrating to know that he would move on with Hyemi soon.

    Jeonghan studied you for a moment after realizing that your attention had wandered. Part of him almost regretted dressing you in his clothes because he simply liked it too much. The creampie, this conversation, it was a lot of new things in one night.

“What?” your eyes turned back on him after noticing his stare.

“What? You’re the one who stopped paying attention to what I was saying,” he complained, but it was playful.

“Sorry, I-, uh,” you stammered, not quite able to articulate your thoughts. Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at you. “You are…leaking out of me,” you finally confessed, blushing high in your cheeks. “And I don’t hate it,” you grinned.

    Jeonghan groaned before dragging you into his bedroom. He knew you always wanted to torture him, but this was even worse than usual. His mind raced as he sat you on the edge of the bed.

“I know you love being a brat, but even for you this is filthy,” he looked down at you sternly.

“You like it,” you teased.

“I do,” he nodded, sliding his hand along your inner thigh and collecting some of himself on his fingers. “So desperate for my cum,” he chuckled as you sucked his fingers into your mouth.

    You smiled, lips curling around him and Jeonghan felt his blood grow hot. He pulled his fingers from your mouth with a wet pop and landed a wet slap on your pussy. As he instructed, you undressed and waited for him. You watched as he rummaged around his drawer.

“Got something for you,” he grins before sliding a vibrator into you.

“OoooOoh!” your moan wavers as he turns it on.

“I want to see just how long it takes you to tap out,” he challenges you, glancing at the clock, “It’s eight seventeen.”

    Jeonghan controls the vibrator leisurely, ramping the speed up and down as he likes. You quickly find out that, unlike usual, you can cum as much as you like, but he won’t be turning it off until you tap out. It’s not long before he has you seeing stars and any concern you had about a noise complaint is pushed out of your head to make room for the overwhelming sensation of back to back orgasms.

“Hannie!” you finally gasp, “Stop!”

    Jeonghan complies, immediately shutting it off and pulling it out of you gently. He climbs over you, stroking your hair and peppering you with soft kisses.

“Incredible,” he smiles proudly at you and your heart hitches in your throat. He continues to murmur soft compliments into your hair as you collect yourself.

    Pushing aside the urge to fall asleep, you climb over Jeonghan, straddling him. You can’t explain it, but you want one more. You feel greedy tonight. Your hands cup his jaw as you lower yourself on him, slow and sensual. You’re slightly sore, but you are dead set on getting him to cum in you one more time.

“Fuck, YN,” he sighs, hands draped loosely at your hips. He smiles up at you genuinely and you almost still. He really was handsome.

“I need-, can I?” Jeonghan’s eyes squeeze shut, unable to complete his thought. Luckily, you don’t need him to.

“Yes,” you nod furiously, “Cum in me again.”

    Jeonghan lets out a strangled curse when he does. You squeeze, milking him as your forehead rests against his. You allow yourself to feel contentedly full for a few moments before rolling off of him.

“I should leave,” you eventually stammered, pulling back from Jeonghan’s arms. “I might be able to grab dinner if I leave now,” you thought aloud.

    Jeonghan nodded. He had run through probably a hundred versions of this moment in his mind, but still he felt frozen. He watched as you slipped on your shoes and bag and waved a small wave at him before slipping out the door. A moment later, inspiration struck.

“Oh!” you looked as the elevator doors opened back up. “Jeonghan?”

“I almost forgot, there’s been a weird guy hanging out in front of the complex. I’ll walk you to the station if he’s there,” he lied.

“Ah…thank you,” you smiled awkwardly at him.

“Oh! I’ve been thinking,” you turned to him after a few floors had passed.

    He looked at you, slightly surprised. Almost hopeful.

“If you, well-,” you stuttered, not quite sure how to phrase it. “When you pursue Hyemi, I think we should have a clean break. So maybe give me a couple weeks' notice.”

“Ah,” Jeonghan nodded, brow furrowing at the mention of her name. He had drafted more than a few texts to her this week, but ultimately deleted them all. She’d left the ball in his court and he felt frustrated that he was fumbling it without a real reason.

“I would hope even you, Tactician Yoon, would know that,” you teased, unable to bear the drawn out silence.

“When? Not if?” Jeonghan asked, glancing sideways at you.

“I didn’t think it was still a matter of if?” you asked, heart squeezing with hope.

“If…you want it to be.”

    Your heart hammered angrily as the elevator made it to the ground floor. The doors opened and then closed again. Turning to meet Jeonghan’s expectant gaze, you smile sheepishly and press the button back to his floor.

...

Thanks so much for reading! Part two is here if you’re so inclined. :)

[seungkwansphd]

sit down

pairing: joshua x reader word count: 0.6k synopsis: joshua wants needs you to ride his fingers. genre/themes: SMUT! minors dni! fingering. est relationship. thigh-riding adjacent almost? kind of needy shua.

a/n: yo idk this came out of nowhere. but thanks to @baljinciaga and @here4btsfics for encouraging it LMAO not edited, lmk if you see errors

"what's that?" you asked joshua. you thought you'd heard him calling you from the living room.

"come here," he cooed at you.

had it been a few weeks ago, you wouldn't have assumed anything, but you could now recognize the deviousness hidden behind his deceptively sweet smile.

"why?" you swallowed, slightly nervous.

he patted his thigh, still smiling serenely. brow furrowed, you placed your tea on the coffee table before perching gingerly atop his knee. his hands clasped around your waist possessively as he looked up at you.

"what's gotten into you?"

"i was just thinking." he replied with a cat like grin.

"thinking about?" your eyebrows raised at him.

"..." for a moment you almost thought he looked shy and then he opened his mouth. "i was wondering if you would sit on my fingers," he whispered into the crook of your neck, his breath tickling at your ear.

"what?" you almost choked.

"i've been thinking about what my fingers would look like with you sinking down around them," he groaned. "i need to watch them spread you open."

"shua," you exhaled sharply, squirming at his confession.

"will you?" he asked, lips nibbling at your shoulder.

"yes," your breathy exhale was like music to his ears.

you thought you heard him murmur 'thank god', but you were too busy hiking your dress up around your hips to be sure. joshua rested his hand on his thigh with his middle and ring fingers angled upwards as his eyes drank in the exposed skin of your thighs.

you held your breath as you straddled him, placing your hands lightly on his broad shoulders for support. your pulse raced at the way his eyes flicked over you before settling at the apex of your thighs. you lowered yourself until his fingertips met your folds, slick from his sinful request. his eyes burned into you as he watched you spread, wet and lewd, and you sank down, slowly, on him. knuckle by knuckle, his fingers disappeared into you until you were sat on his hand, his palm cupping your mound.

"ride me. grind yourself on me," he urged you desperately.

your breath caught as he nudged you with his thigh, pulling your attention to the present. you nodded, rocking your hips against him. you whined at the way his knuckles stroked inside of you. ribbed for your pleasure indeed.

“shua!” his name fell from your lips as your walls contracted around him.

“yes baby,” he nodded. you weren’t sure if he was answering you or just egging you on, but it didn’t really matter. “wanna see you cum like this.”

you let out a soft whimper and the wet sounds of your hips meeting his palms were almost dizzying to him.

“one more,” you met his gaze, brows knitted together in desperation.

“what?”

“another one, please,” you begged. you needed to know if you could handle just a bit more.

“really want me stretch you out, huh?” his pupils dilated as he curled his index finger into you. it was a tight fit.

your mouth fell open as you realized just how tightly you were stretched around him now. your movements grew sloppy as you rocked against his three, thick fingers and his palm. you were done for.

“shua,” you whined, lowering your forehead to his shoulder as he worked his fingers impossibly deeper inside of you. “i’m gonna cum,” you panted desperately as your walls started to pulse around him. he could feel it too.

he watched as you constricted around him, chest heaving with ragged breaths as you came. watching you come undone was one of his favorite activities. as you came down, his free hand hooked around your waist to support you and when you were ready, he picked you up and carried you to bed.

the cup of tea that you’d made earlier sat alone on the coffee table. it was quite a while longer before you recalled its existence again.

[seungkwansphd]

fixer upper

pairing: minghao x reader wordcount: 9.5k summary: you love your friends dearly, but do they really think that they can match make for their resident matchmaker? minghao’s certainly interesting, though, so maybe you can fix him up with someone else instead. genre/themes: s2f2l. “beg” minghao. LOTS OF PLOT with eventual smut. slow and i mean SLOW burn. some member slander(affectionate), lol. set in the ‘we get along infamously’ universe.

a/n: i have nothing to say for myself regarding the length of this.

    You tapped the bartop impatiently as you waited for your blind date to show up. You couldn’t believe that Danbi had roped you into this, but you had lost the game of darts fair and square. As a result, you were here waiting for a man named Minghao to show up. Part of you really wanted to skip out on this, because you just did not trust Danbi’s romantic sensibilities. She had dated a string of truly boring and strange people for months before you had finally set her up with Seungcheol. There was no way this Minghao was going to be anywhere near suited for you, but you were a person of your word, so you would do the date and be done with it.

“Hey, are you YN?” a voice called from above your left shoulder. You turned your head to see a tall, lanky individual with dark hair looking curiously at you.

“Yes, are you Minghao?” you sat up straight, fixing him with a smile. He wasn’t your usual type, physically, but you couldn’t deny he was handsome.

“Yes, nice to meet you,” he smiled, taking the barstool next to you.

“So how do you know Danbi?” you asked after he had ordered with the bartender.

“Ah, so,” Minghao looked almost sheepish, “I helped Jeonghan get together with the person he’s dating now. One of my close friends! And so I met Seungcheol and Danbi through Jeonghan.”

“Oh?” you calculated the degrees of separation quickly in your mind. “So you don’t really know Danbi at all, then!”

“Not well,” Minghao shook his head. “I was kind of surprised when Jeonghan told me that she wanted to set me up on a date.”

“I-,” you laughed, somehow relieved to find out that this hadn’t been any serious effort on your friend’s part. “Honestly, thank god! No offense to you, I obviously don’t know you, but Danbi historically has not impressed me with her taste in men.”

“No offense taken,” Minghao chuckled, bringing his cocktail to his lips for a quick sip. “So does that mean you’re the resident matchmaker in your friend group as well?”

“Very much so,” you nodded, “So I’m not sure exactly what Danbi thinks she’s up to, trying to take my title. In fact, I bet even I could set you up with someone better! And I don’t even know you at all!” you blustered.

“Oh really?” Minghao’s eyebrow raised. You were funny.

“What, you don’t believe me?” you furrowed your brows at him.

“I mean, no one is a better matchmaker than me, so my bar is pretty high,” he replied smugly. “I’ve only ever had one couple break up, and it was due to one of their jobs making them move away.”

“Out of how many?” you found yourself curious.

“...Eight?” Minghao had to tally in his mind quickly.

“Hah! That’s nothing!” you waved him off easily, “I’ve successfully set up eleven couples and none of them have broken up yet!”

    Minghao smiled, amused by your bright and confident energy. While you clearly weren’t suited for him, he found himself wanting to beat you at your own game.

“Set me up then,” he invited confidently. “But I bet I can find you a match sooner than you can find one for me.”

“Oh?” you grinned at his gamelike proposal. Before you even knew it, the words came out of your mouth, “You’re on!”

    Minghao laughed, shaking your hand enthusiastically. You spent the rest of your “date” exchanging phone numbers and excitedly reviewing each other’s basic likes and dislikes. Minghao wasn’t your type, but he certainly was interesting! He worked in HR for a tech company, had interests in art and fashion, and also had trained in mixed martial arts as a child? Quite a strange array of hobbies, but you were so going to win this thing!

…

“So, how did it go?” Minghao’s voice sounded slightly tinny through your headphones.

“Not good,” you were almost excited to report on how badly the date had gone. “I would rate your matchmaking skills like a 4 out of 10 right now!”

“Excuse me?” Minghao stopped in his tracks. Surely he had misheard you.

“Four. Out of ten.” you repeated yourself, grinning at the way you could tell he was surprised by your feedback.

“No, that can’t be right.”

“Allow me to elaborate,” you pressed on as you decided to take the long way home so you could regale Minghao with every last detail of why your date with Wonwoo had not been stellar. “First…could you have found someone more quiet or disinterested to have set me up with? You’d think I was trying to pull his teeth out!”

    Minghao squeezed his eyes together. He and Wonwoo had built up their rapport over many years and he’d somehow forgotten just how tight-lipped his friend could be when meeting someone new.

“Also his only hobby seems to be gaming? I don’t know anything about that nor do I have an interest,” you continued. “Ah, it’s so nice out!” you commented as an aside while you pulled a pink bloom to your nose to inhale.

“Oh are you outside?” Minghao couldn’t help but ask.

“Yep, I’m walking home!” you nodded, “Oh I’m glad I took the long way! I forgot how much I like this park.”

“It is a nice day out,” Minghao looked out the glass panes of his office. He was painfully close to the end of his day and truth be told, he was excited to run out the clock with you on the phone. “So anyways, where are my four points coming from, because I haven’t heard anything positive yet.”

“Oh, well, I mean. I’m going to chalk that up to Wonwoo’s looks, really. He’s unbelievably handsome. Almost too handsome!” you threw your hands up in the air, drawing a few odd looks from other pedestrians.

    Minghao laughed. It was true, Wonwoo was probably his most conventionally attractive friend, so it wasn’t a surprise to hear you say it too.

“Okay, so then…very cold on the personality traits, but very hot on the physical features. I can work off of that,” Minghao nodded, scanning through his mental roster of friends. Luckily, Wonwoo was probably the most introverted of them all, so it could only go upwards from here.

“Yep. Oh which! I have a candidate for you,” you clapped excitedly as you waited for the crosswalk to turn green. “My friend Yena!”

    Minghao nodded contemplatively as you rattled off the list of compatible points that you saw for him and this Yena. He had his doubts, but he put your proposed date and time in his calendar. A deal was a deal.

“Okay, I’m almost home, so I’m going to hang up now! I’ll text Yena to confirm! Eee, I’m excited to hear what you think!”

“Okay, bye,” Minghao laughed, glancing at the clock again. It was officially quitting time, so he packed up his bag and headed out of the office. You’d been right, it was a beautiful day out, so he decided to switch up his commute as well. As he walked, he found himself wondering which park you had passed through on your way home.

…

[yn]: ‘sooooooo…………yena?!?!???!’

[minghao]: ‘6/10’

    You narrowed your eyes in disbelief. Six out of ten?!

[yn]: ‘BE SO FUCKIN FR RIGHT NOW’

[minghao]: ‘no, I actually really liked her, but she said she doesn’t eat chinese food?! i can’t live like that’

    What? Surely you had eaten Chinese food with Yena before, right? You racked your brain, but unfortunately came up empty handed. You had to admit, that was a big blind spot on your part.

[yn]: ‘.........i guess that has never come up before. my bad! i know that’s important to you’

[yn]: ‘i’m still up 2 tho! 6 against your 4.’

    Minghao threw his head back to laugh. You were so competitive.

[yn]: ‘ok feedback on other qualities tho! plz & thank u’

    Minghao waited, an amused smile on his lips, for your three dots to vanish before providing your requested feedback. As he had said, overall he had quite enjoyed meeting Yena. She had been a little quiet and shy at first, but had opened up quite a bit as the date went on. They shared an interest in art and had had quite a nice discussion before she revealed that she did not like Chinese food. Normally an aversion to specific food wouldn’t bother Minghao so much, but after moving, it was important for him to continue to engage with his culture and food was a major way in which he did that.

[yn]: ‘ok, got it, got it. that makes perfect sense’

    A soft smile settled on his lips. Minghao was glad that you weren’t taking too much offense to his negative feedback. Part of him was glad that the date hadn’t gone that well and he was sure that it was just his competitive nature. It would have been humiliating for him if you had actually found him someone perfect on the first try.

[minghao]: ‘what are your plans for the weekend?’

[yn]: ‘theres a textile and apparel exhibit opening at the folk art museum that i wanted to check out’

[minghao]: ‘oh?? i was planning to go too! when are you going?’

    You cocked your head curiously at your phone. That was weird. But you realized it would be very helpful to observe Minghao in the wild so as to do a better job choosing prospective dates for him. Then you could review your roster of candidates for him after the museum, so it could be a productive time! With a fluttery feeling in your chest, for whatever reason, you chose a meeting time to visit the museum with Minghao. Together.

…

    You tapped your fisted hands against your hips as you scanned the crowds for Minghao. It had been a few weeks since you had first met him in person and you had an unreasonable worry that you’d forgotten what his face looked like. Glancing at your watch, you wondered if you had gotten the time wrong.

“YN!” a clear voice caught your attention.

“Ah, there you are!” your face cracked into a smile up at Minghao. “Ok, I’m glad I decided to dress up!” you exhaled with relief after taking in his outfit. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he was interested in fashion.

“This outfit is very cool,” he nodded approvingly, eyes raking over you. An unreasonable warmth spread across you at his assessment. You had spent longer than usual picking and re-picking necklaces to match the hardware on your boots. It was nice to see that it was appreciated.

“Thank you!” you beamed up at him, eyes creasing into semi-circles. “Now let’s go!” you gestured forcefully at the museum entrance.

“Okay, okay,” Minghao chuckled goodnaturedly, allowing you to lead the way.

“Holy fuck,” you breathed, hands fisted in excitement as you peered closely at the thread and beadwork on a contemporary bobbin lace exhibit. “Unreal.”

    Minghao had to do a double take. Your mouth had fallen slightly open, enthralled, as you took in the detail and your eyes were as wide as saucers. You looked like a cartoon frog.

“You’ll catch a fly like that,” he teased, slipping two fingertips under your chin to snap your mouth shut.

    You narrowed your eyes at him. If you’d learned one thing today, it was that Minghao was quite prone to teasing. It was a good thing that you had agreed to this museum trip after all, because otherwise your list of next candidates would’ve been wildly out of order.

“Do you want to see the other exhibits too? Or are you only interested in fiber arts?” Minghao asked, looking up from the museum layout map.

“No, I’m interested in all mediums!” you nodded at him. “I just think textile arts have been woefully excluded from the mainstream art world because, you know, misogyny,” you rolled your eyes theatrically at him as you followed his lead. “So I am particularly interested when museums put together exhibits like that!”

    Minghao’s lips pinched slightly in amusement. He agreed with you, of course, but he found your animated enthusiasm in high contrast to the serious backdrop of the museum hall. He led the way to one of his favorite areas and you two passed the rest of the afternoon walking through the displays in contemplative quiet.

“I’m hungry,” you frowned as you left the museum.

“Me too,” Minghao grabbed at his midsection. “Let’s go find something to eat!”

“There’s a Chinese restaurant around here that I like! Let’s go there!” you suggested. Minghao nodded furiously, stomach grumbling insistently at him.

…

    You glanced at your date out of the side of your eye as you wondered how rude it might be to just leave. While Joshua was certainly your physical type, all arms and chest, you quickly found out that the contents of his brain were just not for you. You weren’t religious at all and if he broke out into song, singing ‘Sunday Morning’ at or near you one more time, you might actually run away.

    After going through the motions of saying goodbye, you pulled your phone out to dial Minghao as soon as you started walking home.

“Hello?” he answered, sounding slightly groggy.

“I need to understand your thought process with this one,” you shook your head in disbelief.

“Huh?” Minghao rubbed his eyes, pulling his phone away to check who had called. “Oh, hey! Sorry I just woke up.”

“Oh, did I wake you up?” you paused, “Shit, sorry! You didn’t have to answer me!”

“I didn’t know it was you! I also hadn’t meant to fall asleep,” Minghao chuckled and you heard some rustling of sheets in the background. “Sorry, what did you ask me again?”

“I need to know why you set me up with Joshua,” you frowned. “Do I give off a vibe that he’s my type?”

“Is he not?” Minghao wondered, “He’s more outgoing than Wonwoo, still handsome, and family oriented.”

“Okay, those things are true, but he’s also super religious, which I’m not. And I do not like to be sung at in public…or at all, I don’t think.”

“No, please,” Minghao started laughing, “Did he? I didn’t think he’d bring that out on a first date!” Minghao couldn’t stop laughing, practically kicking his feet in delight at the absurdity of it.

“Yeah, several times, in fact,” you rolled your eyes.

“Why are you so difficult to match for?” Minghao found himself asking. He was partially teasing, but also somewhat serious. People generally threw themselves at both Wonwoo and Joshua, so to hear you be so turned off by them was surprising and confusing.

“I’m not difficult! I think my expectations are more than reasonable,” you nodded firmly to yourself.

“Okay, elaborate on these expectations, please, because I’m clearly missing the mark.”

“Hm, well, okay. Someone funny and intelligent with a wide variety of interests or knowledge. Someone who would challenge me in ways that make me grow. Someone who also can understand that I should have my own endeavors and activities without feeling insecure. I dunno, someone who just gets me!”

“Very reasonable,” Minghao’s flat voice came back across the phone.

“It is reasonable!” you stamped your foot. You felt like he was teasing you again, but it was hard to tell over the phone.

“No, that’s helpful!” he clarified.

“Why are you asleep at 8pm anyways, you old man?” you suddenly remembered.

“Ugh, it was a long day,” he groaned into your ear, “I had to get to work early to prepare onboarding materials for new hires and then when I got home, I just passed out I guess.”

“Ah, well, do you want me to let you go? You should go back to sleep and catch up on yesterday.”

“No, I’m up now,” Minghao shook his head, reluctant to end the phone call. “Tell me about the restaurant, was the food at least good?”

    You smiled, happy to stay on the line with him. The food had indeed been good and you described your meal and cocktails to him in vivid detail. You were now in your second month of knowing Minghao and your relationship had evolved into a tentatively comfortable friendship. Between all of the set up activities, you’d actually gotten to know him a bit and grown used to discussing and sharing other aspects of your lives. Minghao was definitely an introvert, but he was well balanced with an energy and enthusiasm that ensured you were never bored.

…

“Wait, I’m confused. You told me that the date with Minghao didn’t go well, but you’ve stayed in touch with him?” Danbi’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“What are you confused about? That’s exactly right,” you returned her confused look.

“Why would you stay in touch with someone you don’t like?”

“I never said I didn’t like him!” you shook your head, confused at her statement.

“You liked him, but the date didn’t go well? Why wouldn’t the date go well if you like him?”

“I can like him as a friend and not want to date him!”

    Danbi narrowed her eyes at you. She didn’t think you were that petty, but it was almost as if you were purposefully maintaining a distance between yourself and Minghao just to spite her.

“So what do you two talk about?” she was curious.

“We’ve been setting each other up on dates! Supposedly he’s the friend group matchmaker, like me, but he’s pretty bad at it,” you chuckled, rolling your eyes. “But we talk about other things too! He likes art and fashion. We went to the textile exhibit opening a few weeks ago.”

    Danbi shook her head; she was lost. Wasn’t that just a date? Luckily she knew you better than to prod too much further.

“Well that’s good! It’s always nice to make a new friend,” she smiled at you, “He should come to Soonyoung’s housewarming party next week!”

“Should he?”

“Yeah, of course! Jeonghan will be there and I think he invited a few of his coworkers too so see if Minghao wants to come!”

“Ah, I guess so,” you nodded, somehow nervous, “I’ll ask, but no promises.”

“Sure!” Danbi laughed, “Now let me show you some pictures of Doyun with Jeonghan and his new partner! Who you also have to meet!”

You giggled happily as Danbi flipped through her photos. Doyun had always looked more like Seungcheol as a baby, but now that he was getting older, he was taking on more and more of your friend’s features.

“Ah, he looks so much like you there! Ahhhh!” you shook your fists excitedly.

“He does look more like me recently, doesn’t he?” she beamed proudly at you.

    For all the headache you had posed to her with this Minghao situation, she did love you and was grateful towards you for gently nudging her towards Seungcheol many years ago. You were very astute at reading others and as a result, she now had a wonderful husband and son. It had always interested and amused her that your insightfulness didn’t quite extend to yourself.

…

“Eeeee!” you and Soonyoung clapped your hands together excitedly after you’d sunk another ping pong ball into a plastic cup.

“Just perfect! Look at that technique! You duds don’t stand a chance!” he crowed, jeering at Seungcheol and Seokmin excitedly.

    Danbi giggled excitedly at her husband’s rotten luck, to which Seungcheol pouted.

“Ya! Who are you even cheering for?!” he shouted playfully, leveling an accusing finger at his wife, inspiring another round of giggles.

“Me, of course! I can find her another husband, she can’t find another me!” you laughed, jumping up and down in delight at the way that Seungcheol fumed.

“You’re dead!” he furrowed his brows at you, “You’re so dead!” He made a show of stretching his neck and shoulders before taking his next shot at beer pong.

“Hah!” you shouted and shook Hoshi excitedly, collapsing into a puddle of laughter as Seungcheol’s ball ricocheted dramatically off of the rim and bounced anticlimactically across the ground. “Oh no, oh Cheol please I’m crying!” you hiccuped, wiping your eyes.

    Minghao had slipped in quietly while you were taunting Seungcheol and he was shocked at the way you did it so loudly and unapologetically. He didn’t know Seungcheol quite that well yet, but he had been under the impression that he probably shouldn’t be messed with too much. A smile toyed at the corners of his mouth before he moved away to grab a beverage.

“You made it!” Danbi appeared at his side while he popped the cap off of a beer.

“Hi Danbi,” Hao smiled kindly at her. He had met Danbi through Jeonghan a while ago and for whatever reason, she had really taken a shine to him.

“Did you find the place alright?”

“Yes, YN’s instructions were very easy to follow.”

“Great! Let me know if there’s anyone here that you haven’t met yet, but I think you may know them all!”

    Minghao nodded. Looking around the room, it did seem like he knew most of the attendees. Jeonghan and his girlfriend were flanked by a few of their other coworkers. By some miracle Seokmin and Seungcheol had both managed to find babysitters tonight, and so were able to attend with their wives, Hana and Danbi. Joshua was on another date, after he and YN had not managed to hit things off, so Jeonghan’s friend group was short just one of the usual count.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” you laughed with Hoshi after winning yet another game of beer pong. You and he had been nearly undefeatable since college and it was nice to see that this hadn’t changed, even after he had moved away for a few years. “Oh pink?” you wondered aloud when you spotted Minghao chatting with Jeonghan over a beer.

“You’re here!” you interrupted their conversation easily, fingers itching to touch his pink hair. “Is this a fade out color?”

“Yes,” he laughed, “The murder scene every time I showered was starting to get old.”

“I can’t believe your hair hasn’t just fallen straight out of your head,” Jeonghan’s girlfriend shook her head with a laugh.

“Hah!” you laughed heartily, struggling to imagine Minghao bald.

“I’d love it if you didn’t curse me with this foul energy,” he rolled his eyes at all of you.

“Did you all see how I swept the floor with Seungcheol? Again?” you crowed excitedly to Jeonghan.

“Yes, yes, very good,” Jeonghan rolled his eyes at you. You were always such a braggart about pong.

“I can’t believe he lets you tease him like that,” Minghao gestured to Seungcheol incredulously.

“Ah, I’m a lovable scamp!” you shrugged, sticking your tongue out at your newest friend.

“That’s true,” Hao laughed, a soft smile crossing his face.

    Jeonghan and his girlfriend both looked at Minghao with interest while your attention was pulled elsewhere. Danbi and Hana summoned you from across the room so you gave everyone a small wave before you left.

“So-,” Jeonghan opened his mouth to dig, but his girlfriend stopped him with a quick shake of her head. She knew Minghao would not respond to anything that direct, so it was best to meddle gently.

“What is it?” you asked once you were close enough to Danbi and Hana for them to hear you.

“We were wondering if Minghao had set you up on a successful date yet?” Hana asked, “If not, I actually met this kind of cool guy at the school yesterday.”

“Oh, no, not yet. I actually need to follow up with him on that,” you shook your head.

“Follow up? You’re being so project manager-y about this,” Hana laughed.

“I mean…it is a project that I’m managing,” you flushed, already knowing that you would say no to Hana’s proposed guy.

“Well, what do you think? He came to service the computers, so he works in IT. He’s tall, pretty broad, and has a very nice smile.”

“What’s his personality like?” you queried. It didn’t make any sense at all, but for whatever reason you felt guilty of the idea of being set by someone other than Minghao.

“I didn’t get to talk to him too much, but he seemed nice! He volunteers at an animal shelter.”

“Aww,” Danbi cooed excitedly.

“You’re going to make fun of me for saying this, but I don’t think I care,” you inhaled deeply before rejecting Danbi’s proposal. “It feels weird to think about going on a date with someone that Minghao doesn’t pick for me. So I kind of want to see how things play out with that?”

“I’m not going to make fun of you!” Danbi looked at you indignantly.

“I am!” Hana made a face at you, “You are so attached to him, like come on YN!” she gestured forcefully at you.

“Of course I’m attached to him, we’re friends!” you shrugged. “I’m attached to you doofuses too,” you gestured back with your palms up. Hana and Danbi laughed. Your love language was, indeed, teasing and they’d grown used to it long ago. You were watching them whisper to each other suspiciously before Danbi jutted her chin out, pointing at something behind you.

“Oh, JESUS!” you jumped after realizing Minghao was standing behind you. “Snuck up on me, fuckin’ hell,” you mumbled curses as you put a few paces between him and yourself.

“Let’s go play beer pong. Apparently you’re unstoppable and I need to witness this for myself,” he smirked, giving you a disbelieving once over.

“Don’t…,” you found yourself shivering under his gaze, “Look at me like that! I will win,” you let yourself think that you had recovered smoothly.

    With each ball that Minghao sank into your cups, you stood up just a little straighter and your expression grew just a little more baffled. You’d never been in such a closely matched game of pong before and, honestly, you didn’t care for it.

“Hey, let’s make this more interesting,” Minghao spoke up when you were each down to one cup. You raised an eyebrow at him, gesturing for him to proceed with his idea. “If I win, I take you out on a date.”

“I-,” you choked, heart clogging your throat momentarily. “What?”

“For research purposes,” he clarified, triple checking his foot placement as he squared up his aim. “You can give me feedback and that’ll help me better tailor my matches for you in the future.” He launched the ball into the air and it sailed into your final cup easily.

“I-, wait,” you stuttered, partially in disbelief over your loss and partially for a reason that you weren’t able to identify yet. Your mouth opened and closed a few times before you could accept it.

“What, are you scared?” Minghao stepped towards you. He felt a perverse joy in the way you were reacting to his win. Something about seeing you flounder tickled his brain very specifically.

“You lost fair and square!” Soonyoung waved you off to make room for the next players.

“What exactly would I be scared of?” you blustered as Minghao herded you away from the table. “A date with you?”

“Scared you’ll like it,” he laughed, peering down at you, stepping into your personal space just slightly.

“Hah!” you let out a honking laugh. That was absurd, right? “Fine, take me out on our little date. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of feedback.”

“Great,” he grinned at you, patting you on the head condescendingly.

    You were baffled. You could tell you were blushing and you weren’t really sure if you could just blame it on the beer pong loss. You snuck a glance at Minghao, whose attention was back on the party, watching Soonyoung trounce Seokmin quite soundly. He was right, you were terrified for this date.

…

“Ugh you look so cute!” Hana squealed excitedly, “It’s such a shame it’s just for a practice run!”

    You chuckled. Sure, it was true that this date with Minghao was just for research purposes, but it hadn’t stopped you from thinking of it as if it were real.

‘wear a dress or skirt. something short or unrestricted at the bottom and shoes you can move in’ was all of the instruction that Minghao had given you.

“Maybe he’s taking you dancing?” Hana wondered aloud. “It’s kinda romantic that he’s keeping everything a surprise!”

“So romantic,” you parroted at her sarcastically.

    You didn’t know why, but you felt quite nervous about this one. You had been on more than your fair share of first dates recently, so it really didn’t make sense to feel this way about the fake one. Probably just because everything was a surprise.

“Ya! Why am I nervous!?” you jumped up and down aggressively, shouting at yourself.

    Hana shrugged, even though she knew the answer. Best to let you come to your own epiphany. She fretted and cooed the appropriate amount as she helped you finish your makeup and hair. You were satisfied when you looked in the mirror, but that didn’t make your armpits any less sweaty. Thank god for prescription grade antiperspirant.

“Ready?” Minghao greeted you at your door with a bouquet of flowers around half an hour later.

“I think,” you eyed him suspiciously, still irked that he hadn’t spilled a single clue about your activities.

“Put these in water so we can go!” he thrust the bouquet at you impatiently.

“Okay, okay,” you muttered. You scanned the blooms quickly and were pleased and surprised that all of them were cat safe. He’d remembered. You grabbed an empty jar and plunked the stems into it before returning to Minghao. “Is this outfit acceptable?” you paused to check, turning in a full circle so he could inspect.

“Yes,” he nodded, eyes full of something you couldn’t quite place, but it vanished just as quickly. “Now let’s go! We need to be on time.”

    Minghao shepherded you into the car and drove towards your destination. You were, strangely, at a loss for words and so spent the time inspecting his car and marveled at how clean it was. Usually you couldn’t stop yourself from babbling about nonsense at him, but this simulated date seemed to have rendered you speechless. As he pulled into the parking lot, your eyes lit up reading the sign.

“Hana was right!” you grinned at him triumphantly. “It is dancing!”

“Yes,” he chuckled at your expression. It wasn’t like you were the one who had guessed right, but he’d never know that with the way you beamed at him. “Intro to Rumba! I thought it’d be fun to try something new together.”

“Rumba?” you thought hard. You weren’t well versed in ballroom dance styles, but the name rang a bell. You had definitely seen it on a ‘Something-est Things To Do With Your Partner’ kind of list. “I don’t know how to dance,” you whispered to Minghao as the other students filtered into the class.

“That’s why it’s fun,” he grinned down at you.

    After beating you at beer pong last week, Minghao had been itching to get the upper hand on you again. While he wasn’t very skilled at ballroom, he did have some dance experience from his past. Rumba was also fairly sensual in nature and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to watching you squirm and be flustered over it.

    With your hands tucked behind your back, you watched intently as the instructors demonstrated the short routine that you would work on during class. You did your best to keep your cool, but you felt like everyone probably heard the sound of your loud gulp as you registered just how close together you would be with Minghao. There was probably technically some distance between the instructors, but not that you could see with the naked eye.

    Minghao blinked a few times as he watched the demo with you. This was closer quarters than any other style of dance he had ever tried before and he wondered if he had made a mistake.

“Okay, right hand to left hand. Leading partner’s right hand on the following partner’s waist. Following partner’s left hand resting gently at the back of the leading partner’s neck,” the instructions came.

“Okay, right hand here, left hand here,” you muttered to yourself as Minghao clasped his left hand into your right and you hooked your left hand around the back of his neck. You managed to follow the first set of steps without tripping over yourself too spectacularly, but the next combination threw you for quite the loop.

“So now comes a sexy part,” the instructors grinned mischievously, “Leading is going to spin the following out and then pull them back in to face them. And then following partner is going to drop in a slow and sexy wiggle, their hand trailing down the leading partner’s chest.

    Oh. Your lips pursed as your mind painted the mental picture of what that would look like. You resisted the urge to glance furtively at Minghao, pink rising in your cheeks.

    Next to you, Minghao blinked. Once, twice, and then one more time for good measure. He had been so busy considering how this class might affect you that he hadn’t even thought of himself. The idea of you trailing your fingertips down the centerline of his chest made him want to shake his head furiously.

“Five, six, seven, eight!” The rapid counts snapped both of you out of your thoughts. “Spin out!”

    You held onto Minghao’s fingers tightly as you spun away from him.

“Fancy arm!”

    You flung your arm out theatrically and were inordinately pleased to make Minghao laugh.

“Now tuck your arm as you spin back in!” the instructions continued.

    You bit your lip to keep from laughing before you brought your arm back to your center and spun into Minghao’s chest. Slowly, your hips drew figure eights as you worked your way down into a squat and your eyes followed your hand’s slow trail down his chest. Like watching a train wreck.

    Minghao looked to the instructors for the next directions, desperate to be not looking at you. He wanted to groan. Even in this wordless touch, you were mischievous, not drawing straight down, but rather trailing a wavy line, timed with the movement of your hips on the way down.

“Now leading partner, you are going to pull them back up! Forceful! Dramatic! What are they doing down there? They’re up to no good!”

    You had wanted to laugh, but when Minghao dragged you back up to your feet and looked deeply into your eyes…all of that went out the window. For a moment, the directions barked by the instructors faded into the background and all you could hear was a soft buzzing in your ears as you held his gaze.

“Very good, very good you two!” the instructors clapped excitedly as they walked towards you. “Tension! Eye contact! That’s what the rumba is all about, excellent!”

“Thank you!” You almost shouted. You were so excited to be able to rip your eyes away from Minghao that you plastered a wide grin across your face and gave an awkward thumbs up to the whole class.

“How do you do this dance without falling in love with each other?” another student wondered aloud.

“You don’t!” the instructor replied with a laugh. “Every so often you get a pair that falls in love and gets married, but in general you break up but you keep dancing together because you have good physical chemistry.”

“Yikes.” you turned to Minghao with a bemused look on your face. You were relieved to see that the tension seemed to have dissipated and he found your instructor’s comments as strange as you did. The rest of the class passed with relative ease, but the feel of his fingers resting at your waist and nipping into your hips certainly lingered longer than was ideal.

“What’d you think?” Minghao asked as he started driving to the next destination.

“That was fun,” you nodded after some consideration. “Definitely out of the box and a new experience for me. Also a very good way to gauge physical chemistry. Honestly a very good early date activity. Ten out of ten.”

    He preened under your compliment. You wondered what your next activity would be, but knew that asking would get you nowhere, so you tried to fill your brain with other thoughts. After a while, you ran out of things to think about and your eyes decided to regard Minghao as he drove. His right hand lingered at the gearshift, fingers tapping every so often as his eyes stayed glued to the road. You shifted in your seat as you watched the tendons of his forearms flex in a very distracting way. The way he looked when he was focused was…unfortunately attractive.

    Minghao could feel your eyes on him as he drove. He struggled to keep his attention on the road as his mind played back snippets from class. Namely, the moment when he had pulled you back up to your feet and locked eyes with you for just a little too long. Your eyes had widened and your lips had parted just slightly as you gazed back up at him and rational thought had almost left him completely.

“No, Minghao! Really?!” you squealed excitedly as he pulled into the parking lot of the botanical garden. “You remembered!”

“Of course,” he nodded, parking the car. You had mentioned the Poisonous Plants special exhibit off-handedly a few weeks ago and he had filed it away in his brain. He liked the botanical garden too.

“Look how beautiful!” you gasped as you looked at the Atropa belladonna, or Deadly Nightshade. “I can’t believe a flower this beautiful is also poison! Isn’t that cool? Such a good name too.”

    Minghao chuckled. You were making your little frog face again. He didn’t know if he thought of poison as cool, but he enjoyed seeing your excitement over such a morbid topic. The expression you made when you were enthralled by something was painfully endearing to him.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” you wrapped your arms around him excitedly as you headed towards the exit archway of the garden.

“You’re welcome,” Minghao was surprised by your sudden physical affection. “You’re such a nerd, I’m glad you had a good time,” he teased as his arms folded around your waist naturally.

    You wrinkled your nose at him playfully. You couldn’t help the slight hitch in your breath before you pulled away, looping your arm in his happily as you walked through the other areas of the garden. This closeness grew less and less foreign as the day went on and was directly correlated to your concern for your own sanity.

…

“So…what do you think?” Minghao inquired after you had settled in at your table at a rooftop restaurant and bar. He really enjoyed the ambiance here and thought you’d enjoy the food as well.

“Of?” you replied blankly, having been busy reading over the menu.

“Our date?” his brows creased together, he had not been expecting that response.

“Oh! Good! Really good, actually,” you nodded, trying to speak of it in a detached way. “You did a really good job picking activities and this restaurant. This menu is so interesting! But at the same time, I feel like you are at an unfair advantage because you know me pretty well by now. I don’t think this is a reasonable expectation to have for a first blind date. I also probably wouldn’t agree to so many things in one day with them, because what if we didn’t hit it off? Also wouldn’t let them drive me because what if they’re a murderer?”

“You think I’d set you up with a murderer?”

“You never know,” you shook your finger at him playfully, “People are full of surprises, unfortunately.”

    Minghao watched you as you watched the sunset. He agreed with you, this had been a really good date. For whatever reason, you had leaned into the physical affection at the botanical garden and it had made his brain go haywire. He found that he not only didn’t want this date to end, but he wanted a second and a third (maybe to infinity) with you. He wanted to watch you try really hard at things that you had never done before and wanted to watch you make your little cartoon frog face when you were delighted by something.

“What?” you asked, turning back to meet Minghao’s lingering gaze.

“Nothing. I’m just having a really great time with you today,” he smiled back.

    Your smile faltered as your heart pounded. You searched his face for some hint that he was teasing you, like usual, but it wasn’t there.

“Minghao!” an excited voice pulled your attention away suddenly. You turned to see two men, one tall and muscular and the other slighter and shorter.

“Mingyu, Jae,” Minghao waved at them easily, “Coworkers,” he explained to you as they approached. “This is YN.”

“Oh, are you on a date?” the taller man’s eyes flitted between you and Minghao, slowly coming to a realization.

“Wait no. YN. No, they’re not dating!” the other man interjected as he connected his brain cells, “Jeonghan told me about this! You two have been setting each other up on dates, right? Or something like that?”

“That’s right,” you laughed, “So sorry, who’s Mingyu and who’s Jae?”

“Ah, sorry, yes,” Minghao chuckled, “Mingyu and Jae,” he gestured towards them respectively.

“Nice to meet you,” you smiled, unable to help the way your eyes raked over Mingyu. He was your exact physical type and his eyes sparkled obviously at you when he talked.

“Well, we’ll get out of your hair! We were on our way out,” Jae nodded at you after not too long.

“I hope to see you again sometime,” Mingyu smiled at you, leaning down for another handshake before they left. Minghao bristled.

“Him,” you turned to Minghao, oblivious to his irritation. “Set me up with him, he’s my exact type!”

“Mingyu?” Minghao’s nose wrinkled slightly. “You don’t even know him.”

“He’s so hot though,” you exhaled theatrically, not really caring what his personality was like when he had a body like that. “That’s what a blind date is for, right? Blind to the red flags that I don’t want to see.”

    Minghao scoffed at your absurdity. On the one hand, Mingyu was a perfectly nice guy. Maybe too eager and bubbly for you, but he trusted that he could treat you well. On the other hand, he had just been grappling with the idea of wanting you for himself, so the two sides of his brains clashed violently and he really had no explanation for the next word that left his mouth.

“Beg.”

“Excuse me?” you must have misheard him.

“Beg me. And I’ll set you up with him,” he leaned back, smirk playing across his lips as he teased you mercilessly.

“P-please?” you stuttered, thighs pressing together inexplicably at the look on his face.

“Cuter,” he goaded you, tongue tracing across his lips as the flush rose in your cheeks. Your heart threatened to stop.

“Hao, please?” your eyes became doe-like and your lower lip pouted out just slightly. You didn’t even know why you were humoring him, you’d never let a man make you beg for anything before.

“There, see? That wasn’t so hard,” he sat back up, clearing his throat slightly as he glanced away. “I’ll set it up,” he nodded, heart sinking in his chest.

“Great,” you smiled, chest feeling tight. Your heart was racing.

…

    You found yourself perplexed and kicking a small pebble down the sidewalk after your date with Mingyu. It wasn’t that it had gone poorly, no in fact just the opposite. You were surprised that he had even been available to be set up because he was, on paper, perfect. He was funny, sweet, eager and all in that body? It was simply unfair.

    No, the thing that you were confused and frustrated about was that you didn’t really want to go on another date with him. For whatever reason, the only feeling you could muster for him was a lukewarm fondness and it really made you mad. Typically, you would call Minghao to debrief, but you were mad at him too! Your date with him last week was the reason the bar was so unreasonably high now, after all.

“Damn,” you sighed to yourself as you gave the poor pebble another swift kick.

…

    Minghao glanced at his phone, irritated to see that you still hadn’t messaged him with any updates. Dinner had to be over by now, right? Normally you at least snuck away to text him from the bathroom, so for his phone to be this dry could only be a sign that the date had gone well. Probably too well.

[mingyu]: ‘dude! YN is wonderful! thank you for setting this up!’

[hao]: ‘ah, so it went well?’

[mingyu]: ‘i think so! she’s cool as hell man’

[mingyu]: ‘she makes such a cute face when she gets excited’

    Minghao saw red for a moment. The intensity of his jealousy caught him by surprise and he had to reign himself in before he replied to Mingyu’s text.

[hao]: ‘yeah, i like her too, lol’

    Minghao threw his phone onto the sofa. Stupid idiot.

…

[hao]: ‘are you ever going to admit defeat or are you going to just ignore me forever?’

    You had been doom scrolling in bed when his text appeared and before you knew it, you were calling him.

“Hey,” his voice was soft when he picked up. The way his heart had jumped when he’d seen your incoming call was unreasonable.

“Hi,” you greeted him, your voice sounded small.

“So…,” Minghao waffled. He didn’t really want to talk about Mingyu, but he wasn’t really sure what else to talk to you about. “Mingyu said he liked you.”

“Oh, did he?” you chuckled, “He seems like the type of person that likes everyone.”

    Hao laughed because you weren’t wrong.

“It went well, though, right?” He wished that, like all the other dates, this one had been a dud too.

“It was okay,” you shrugged, “I don’t see myself going on another date with him though, to be honest. He’s a little too…I don’t know?” you trailed off trying to explain.

“Oh?” Minghao’s voice piqued with interest, “Well I’m starting to run out of friends,” he joked.

“I don’t think I want you to set me up with any more of your friends,” you sighed. “No more first dates for a while, I think.”

    Minghao froze as he saw his opening. He knew he would forever be kicking himself if he didn’t take the shot now.

“Are you home?”

“Yes?”

“Okay, I’m in the middle of errands, but I’ll be there in ten. I have to ask you something in person.”

“Oh okay.”

    Minghao didn’t leave much more room for discussion as he hung up and turned the car around, driving towards your place. You checked your appearance nervously as you waited.

[hao]: ‘here’

    Your pulse pounded in your ears as you opened the door for him, more nervous now than you had been for your date.

“Hi,” he greeted you from under a black baseball cap. It was annoying how he looked so good in it. “Can I come in?”

“No,” you joked as you opened the door for him.

“So no more first dates, does that mean you’re officially tapping out of our game?” he asked, looking down at you.

“N-,” your instinct was to push back, but he was right this time. “I mean, yes, I guess so. I’m tired of this meeting people business, I just want to spend time with people that I already like.”

“Would that include me?” he grinned, stepping towards you and until you backed into the kitchen counter.

“I-, I have mixed feelings about you,” you answered honestly, unable to meet his gaze.

“Can I take you out on a second date?” he ducked his head towards yours, hands coming to rest at your hips.

“I-,” you squeezed your eyelids together. In the past you would’ve panicked, but this closeness was now familiar to you and you only wanted to sink into it further. “Maybe you should beg this ti-,” you raised your brows, flicking your eyes mischievously to his.

“Ah!” Minghao cut you off sternly. “I’d think twice about that.”

“But-,” you couldn’t help yourself.

    He cut you off with a firm grip at the base of your throat. His longer fingers tapped against the side of your neck as he regarded you sternly. “Will you behave?”

    You knew you should say yes. Part of you might have even wanted to say yes, but you were you to your core. “Maybe.”

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” he teased you in a sing-songy voice. “Where’s your bedroom?”

“There,” you pointed to a door towards your right. Without so much as a warning, you found yourself being hauled and plunked onto the edge of your bed.

“You have been driving me crazy for months, so let’s see if I can return the favor,” he looked down at you, tongue poking in his cheek.

“Months?” you wondered, thighs squeezing together nervously.

“Yes, months,” Minghao reached out and patted you on the cheek condescendingly. “So picky and difficult about every single person that I set you up with. Were you doing it on purpose or did you really not notice?”

“Not on purpose! They just…,” you trailed off sheepishly.

“What’s that? Speak up.”

“They sucked cause you’re bad at picking,” you squinted at him defiantly. You hated that you loved the way he was treating you.

“Try again?” he grabbed you around the jaw, his fingertips pressing your lips into an unflattering fish face. You could see in his eyes that he wouldn’t humor you for much longer.

“They weren’t you,” came your muffled reply, your lips moving in an exaggerated manner between his long fingers.

“One more time?” Minghao’s eyes danced at you, fingers relinquishing their grip. He wanted to hear it again, clearly.

“They weren’t you!” you replied, sickeningly sweetly eyes creasing into sarcastic half moons as you smiled at him.

“Tch,” he scoffed, pushing you back onto the bed and climbing over you. “You are so difficult,” he shook his head as his eyes raked across you, admiring your shape. “You’re lucky I like you.”

    You let out a simpering sigh as his lips nibbled from just behind your earlobe down to your collarbone. His teeth nipped roughly as his fingertips trailed from your knee to your hip and gripped tightly.

“Hao,” you sighed, “Kiss me?”

“Hmm, do you deserve that?” he rebutted, pulling back to look in your eyes.

“Please?” you pouted, tugging at the front of his shirt. “I’ll be good.”

“Somehow I don’t believe you,” he laughed, his lips grazing yours.

“Minghao, please,” you insisted and he indulged you.

    Minghao brought his lips to yours, kissing you thoroughly. His hands kneaded possessively at your hip as you nipped at his lips. Your kisses were peppered with soft moans and exaltations.

“You make such desperate sounds,” he teased appreciatively. You flushed at his description, but he wasn’t wrong. “Lay back and let me appreciate you,” he pressed a kiss to your temple before helping you undress completely.

    Starting at the bottom of the bed, he trailed soft, plush kisses from your ankles to your knees and then from your knees to your hips. He nipped, bit, and sucked his way up your inner thighs until you were glistening and slick for him. His fingers pried your legs apart, allowing him to taste you for the first time.

“Hao!” your thighs closed instinctively around his ears as he lapped long, leisurely strokes with his tongue. You heard him chuckle as he gripped above your knees, holding you open for him. He teased you with his hot breath, enjoying watching you shift and writhe, just for him.

“So gorgeous,” he rested his cheek against your thigh for a moment, enjoying the way your chest heaved with shallow breaths as you came down from the edge for the second time.

“Ming-hao!” you squealed as he brought his lips back around your clit, sucking with a torturous pressure. “I-, I-, I,” you malfunctioned, hand gripping his hair tightly as you came hard against his lips.

“Very good,” he grinned up at you, his lips and chin glossy with your slick. “Can I finger you now?”

“I mean, yes?” you laughed nervously, a little concerned at what his hands would be able to achieve after experiencing his mouth alone.

“Don’t cum until I say so,” he directed as his fingertips slid through your wet folds. “You are so wet,” he commented offhandedly as he pressed two fingers in a v-shape against you, squeezing around your swollen clit. Your mouth formed a silent ‘o’ shape as he ground his fingers against you, avoiding direct contact where you wanted it most.

“Hao,” you cried, hand resting around his wrist as you squirmed helplessly under him. “Why are you torturing me?!”

    Minghao paused for a moment. He supposed he was going a bit more out of his way to undo you than was typical for him. It wasn’t fair, but his pent up jealousy was manifesting and you were there to pay the price.

“Are you telling me you don’t like it?” he asked, cocking his head at you.

“Well, no,” you blushed, sinking into the pillow shyly.

“Then let me torture you a bit, sweetheart,” he grinned sweetly at you, fingers pinching together firmly around your clit again. “You’re so incredibly wet, just for me?” he marveled rhetorically as he slid two fingers into you, parting your wet, warm walls.

“Yes,” you nodded, pressing your hips up to meet him. You rolled your hips, desperate for as much as he would give. “More,” you begged until he added a third finger, stretching you slightly.

“Look at you,” Hao cooed appreciatively, nipping at your upper thigh as he stroked his fingers in and out of your deeply. The scrape of his teeth oversensitized you suddenly and you became a whimpering, desperate mess quickly.

“Hao, please, darling,” you clutched at him urgently, “I need, please let me cum!”

“Cum for me, darling,” he cooed the pet name back at you as he kept up the pace until you had collapsed into a pile of mush for him. “So good,” he praised you, pressing soft kisses along your jaw as you recomposed yourself.

“Blurple?” you asked, now that you had the presence of mind to register his hair color. “This is pretty,” you grinned, running your fingers through the colorful strands.

“You’re pretty,” he nuzzled you gently, fingertips trailing across the underside of your breasts.

“Oh,” you flushed.

“You are.”

“You are…wearing too many clothes,” you observed impishly, fingers tugging at his waistband. He laughed as he helped you shrug off his layers.

“How would you like me?”

    Minghao visibly thought as he slipped on a condom. “You would look absolutely gorgeous on top of me, riding me,” he smiled.

    You flushed, grinning at his flowery praise as you straddled his hips, grinding yourself along his length. Your hands splayed across his chest and you took a moment to admire his lithe physique. “So handsome,” you whispered before lowering yourself onto him slowly.

“Fuck,” he hissed as you took him in completely. The tendons in his neck were taut as you drew back up and back down.

“You feel good, Hao,” you breathed, holding onto him for support as your hips found a comfortable rhythm. Each stroke, each intrusion made you shudder with pleasure and the wet sounds were joined by your soft moans and Minghao’s tense hisses.

“You feel incredible, petal,” he grabbed you tightly around the ribcage, bringing you down on him with slightly more force. You faltered at the additional impact.

“I’m so close,” you leaned forward, looking directly into Minghao’s eyes. Nodding, he gripped your hips, grinding your clit against his pubic crest as he bucked up, deeply, into you.

“Come with me, YN,” he coaxed breathlessly. The way he purred your name undid you. An anguished wail left your lips as you clenched around him, triggering his release as well.

“So did I earn a second date?” Minghao teased as he folded you into his chest, cuddling you closely.

“I think you might have,” you grinned up at him, pressing a soft kiss to his nose.

“Danbi is going to be happy when she finds out about this,” Minghao chuckled into your hair.

“Oh we’re never going to hear the end of it,” you moaned. “Maybe let’s no-”

“Ah,” he reached to press your jaw shut and you stilled. You delighted at this subtle, domineering action. Quite a match indeed.

[seungkwansphd]

room for interpretation - chapter index

pairing: lawyer!jeonghan x lawyer!YN word count: 27.4K synopsis: as top of class, you and jeonghan had been many things to each other. enthusiastic rivals, begrudging allies, and…parties to a jokingly written (but legally binding) marriage contingency contract? this piece of paper would’ve been long forgotten had an unexpected merger not thrown you back into each others’ lives. themes: fluff, SFW, rivals to coworkers to tentative friends to lovers, “if we’re both single by X age” marriage contract, IDIOTS2lovers, fake dating, miscommunication. this is just a romcom.

a/n: OK SHES DONE. hope y'all enjoy

chapter index: chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3

[seungkwansphd]

just deserts

pairing: wonwoo x minghao x fem reader word count: 4.9k synopsis: when wonwoo and minghao invited you to this fancy business event, it hadn't really crossed your mind that they'd be busy working instead of entertaining you! perhaps you can find someone else to keep you busy, but those who misbehave always get their just deserts. themes/cw: SMUT! mdni!, threesome, established poly, BDSM elements, brat-ish vibes, toy usage, rough sex, power dynamic, degradation kink, spitting(once), cumplay(kinda?).

a/n: idk friends, the horny thoughts just keep coming. baby's first 3some fic! i think i got everything for content warnings, but do lmk if i missed anything! also TYSM to @playmetheclassics for beta-ing and making me this BEAUTIFUL banner (via @classicscreations) i appreciate you so much!

“Hao I’m bored,” you pouted, tugging at Minghao’s necktie as you looked up at him.

“Bored? Or needy?” He glanced down at you, clocking your true intentions immediately.

“Both,” your lips curled up at him playfully. “Do you and Wonwoo have to do so much networking tonight?”

“You already know the answer to that,” he replied. He was trying to be stern, but you knew that Minghao typically had a softer spot for you than Wonwoo.

“I should’ve just stayed home,” you grumbled. “At least at home I wouldn’t be wearing such uncomfortable heels and I could have fun by myself,” you whispered suggestively at Hao, fingertips tracing down the edge of his lapel mischievously.

“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow, lips quirking up with interest. Your teasing words forced him to recall the last time he’d watched you pleasure yourself and he found himself effectively distracted.

“Quit it,” Wonwoo appeared behind you, whispering discreetly in your ear. He’d been watching you and Minghao from across the room and could tell that Hao was close to folding.

“Quit what?” you asked, feigning innocence, blinking up at Wonwoo with wide eyes.

“You know what,” he hissed, tugging harshly at one of the ties on your dress. “Hao, you need to go talk to the president of the bank.”

Minghao stood up straight and cleared his throat. Wonwoo was right, some clear objectives needed to be met tonight. He downed the rest of the drink and made his way towards the president, leaving you and Wonwoo alone. You were disappointed when Wonwoo’s eyes caught another potential investor’s and he left you just as swiftly.

You sulked. When Wonwoo and Hao had originally asked if you’d wanted to attend, the idea of getting dolled up to attend this fancy event had appealed to you. Still, you hadn’t realized just how much business they both intended to do! You’d spent the last few hours mostly by yourself and your feet absolutely throbbed with pain, so you were in a bad mood to say the least. 

Well, if Minghao and Wonwoo weren’t going to pay attention to you, you were sure you could find someone else who would.

“Oh, Dylan?” you smiled happily as you caught sight of a young investor that you had met a few months ago.

“Oh, YN? I didn’t know you’d be here tonight!” the handsome young gentleman smiled, pulling you in for a quick hug.

“I didn’t know you’d be here either!” your eyes sparkled at him, squeezing him back maybe just a tad too enthusiastically. “How have you been?”

“Good, very good actually,” he answered after some thought. “Are you tied up? If not, let’s grab a drink to catch up.”

“Not at all,” you smiled back genially. “Let’s do it!” You placed your hand into his and allowed him to lead you towards the bar. Wonwoo and Minghao’s relationship with Dylan was interesting and complicated. As an investor of many businesses, he was somehow both a prospect and a competitor at the same time. While they often found themselves competing with businesses that he held a stake in, they would also more than welcome investment from him. As always, you were acting in a way that you knew would irritate them, but wouldn’t completely piss them off.

Minghao’s eyes flitted to you from across the room. Dylan Wang wasn’t on the list of marks for the evening, but certainly would’ve been a ‘nice to have’. He and Wonwoo did their best to stay engaged in their respective conversations, but every simpering giggle that fell from your lips caused their ears to prick towards you. Their eyes met, communicating silently. They finished their respective schmoozing and moved to intercept you.

“Oh, Hao!” your eyes lit up as you saw him first. “Dylan, you remember my colleague, Minghao?” you beamed at Dylan as you gestured towards Hao.

“Of course,” Dylan nodded at the other man.

“It’s good to see you again,” Minghao greeted him stiffly, almost physically fighting the urge to stare daggers at the hand draped around your waist.

“Actually, if you have a moment, I’d love to pick your brain,” Hao finally came up with an excuse, prying Dylan from your side. At the same time, Wonwoo materialized behind you and pulled you behind a heavily foliaged fiddle leaf fig.

“Care to explain yourself?” He asked, peering at you down the line of his nose.

“About?” you asked, as if clueless. Wonwoo’s eyebrows twitched with irritation before he replied.

“A little bit of attention and he can put his hands on you? Are you that easy?” he sneered. His eyes flicked over you in a way that triggered a warmth to spread across your cheeks.

Your brows furrowed and you opened your mouth, but were cut off before you could retort.

“I know you’re bored, but if you don’t get a hold of yourself, you’ll have something else to worry about,” he hissed in your ear, gripping your hips tightly.

Your brow wrinkled with confusion, so Wonwoo went on to elaborate.

“You are dangerously close to getting bent over and railed right here. If you’re that desperate we can ruin this whole event. I’m almost past caring at this point.”

The words were menacing and sent a chill down your spine. Part of you thought that Wonwoo was above his baser urges and wouldn’t undo months of planning just to punish you, but the other part of you had seen this man at his most unhinged and you thought perhaps he just might.

“It’s so boring though,” you frowned. You could feel Wonwoo’s poor mood rolling off of him.

“Then go home,” he spoke through his teeth. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message.

“Car’s coming.”

“Fine,” you rolled your eyes, stomping  off towards the coat check.

“Be ready when we get home,” he caught your wrist, voice so low you could barely hear it. “And don’t think it’s worth your while to get a head start.”

You swallowed, eyes narrowing at him before you tried to step away. Wonwoo’s fingers bit into you, a warning, and you nodded before you slipped out of his grip and worked towards the car. Your lips curled up into a smile once you were out of his line of sight. If you played your cards right, you might get what you wanted.

…

Wonwoo ran his right hand over his face as he looked at the phone in his left hand. He’d thought that sending you home would be enough to make you behave, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He scrolled through the pictures and texts that he had had to silence and his blood boiled.

“She’s in for it, isn’t she?” Minghao chuckled, throwing his partner a wry look.

“What do you think?” Wonwoo almost snapped.

“Don’t get mad at me, I’m not the one being a brat,” Hao threw his hands up in defense.

“No, but you encourage her,” Woo accused. Generally he enjoyed the dynamic nature of your relationship, but it really would’ve been easier tonight if you had just been good.

“Shall we take bets on whether she managed to wait?” Hao chuckled.

“I sincerely doubt it,” Wonwoo rolled his eyes with a snicker, “She was so needy. I bet she’s a mess already.”

“I guess I’ll have to have a little faith then,” Minghao laughed, leaning forward to shake Wonwoo’s hand.

You huffed as you scrolled through your phone, disappointed but not surprised that neither Minghao nor Wonwoo had responded to your many lewd texts. You had graced them with a play by play of your various states of undress as you’d slipped out of your gown and you’d expected at least one text back, but they both seemed to be playing hardball tonight.

Your ears pricked to attention as you heard them return. First, the scraping of the key in the door was followed by a series of footsteps, but you were surprised when you heard them stop. You couldn’t see it, but Wonwoo and Minghao were discussing the approach they planned to take, which had the added bonus of making you wait. Eventually, their footfalls resumed and they entered your room, the stern expressions on their faces sending a chill down your spine.

“Hi,” you greeted them. Your voice sounded small, even to yourself.

“I guess I was wrong, Hao,” Wonwoo sneered, barely even looking at you, “She was able to control herself.”

“I guess so,” Minghao chuckled, hands in his pockets. “I’ll owe you.”

“Did you take bets on me?” your brow wrinkled as you pieced things together. You were both offended and excited.

“And if we did?” Wonwoo looked down his nose at you, one eyebrow raised. When you couldn’t formulate a response his lips curled up into a smirk. 

“That’s what I thought.”

Even though you grew weak when Wonwoo treated you this way, you couldn't help the reflexive way your temper flared. Glaring at him, you crossed your arms over your chest stubbornly.

“Great, you’re home. Now good night,” you scrunched your nose at him, laying back down and pulling the covers over yourself. Minghao was amused at this behavior and he complied easily when Wonwoo gestured for him to go to you.

“Good night?” Hao cooed, sitting next to you on the bed, running his fingertips across your exposed shoulder. “After all that teasing, you’re just going to go to bed?”

“You guys are boring anyways,” you glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, but you shifted slightly so that you were facing him more.

“There’s my pretty girl,” Hao smiled down at you, trailing his fingers up your neck to cup your chin and rub the pad of his thumb against your lower lip. You hummed, preening under his praise.

“You looked so good tonight, it was hard to keep my hands off you,” he continued to shower you with compliments as Wonwoo wandered towards the dresser and pulled the top drawer open.

“Pfft,” you rolled your eyes at Hao.

Wonwoo’s expression ticked at this behavior. You’d been riding the line with your poor behavior all night and this pushed him over the edge.

“Out of bed, now,” his deep voice rang out tersely. You looked at him with surprise and his expression sent a shiver down your spine.

You swallowed loudly, pulse quickening as you swung your legs over the edge of the bed. The edge that you could hear in Wonwoo’s voice made you wonder if you had pushed too hard.

“Come here,” he instructed, back still facing you as he perused the contents of the drawer. You glanced at Minghao nervously before stepping towards Wonwoo, looking at his broad back until he turned to face you. His tongue swiped across his teeth as he took in your pajama set with distaste. 

“Get out of this,” were the last words he spoke before he tossed a bundle of shibari rope at Minghao and pulled an app-controlled vibrator out of the drawer.

Minghao started undoing the rope from its storage tie and looked towards Wonwoo for guidance on how he wanted you tonight. After ensuring that the toy was connected to his phone, Wonwoo brought himself toe to toe with you, pulling your chin up harshly to meet his gaze.

“Color?” he asked. His tone was cold, but you could see a hint of softness in his eyes if you squinted.

“Green.”

“Limits?”

“Same as usual,” you blinked up at him.

Wonwoo nodded before shifting slightly to position your arms behind you so that Minghao could tie you up. He folded your forearms together so that each hand held the opposite elbow and you enjoyed the slight stretch that you felt through your shoulders. Your skin broke out in goosebumps as Hao started binding you. His fingertips trailed across your skin teasingly as he snaked rope around you, snapping it against your skin tautly every so often for impact. Your arms were effectively immobilized and the rope created a harness around your chest. Hao slipped two fingers into each of your hands and you gripped them tightly, completing his check to ensure he hadn’t cut off your circulation.

“Knees,” Wonwoo demanded as he rolled his shirtsleeves up to his elbows. He smirked as you dropped for him, struggling for a moment to keep your balance as you didn’t have your arms to help right you. His eyes burned into you as he pulled at his tie, loosening it before he approached. Your nipples puckered being in this vulnerable position as adrenaline rushed through you.

“You look so good like this,” Hao cupped your cheek in his hand as he stood behind you. “On your knees for us.”

“Hn,” you giggled, looking up at him sweetly as his thumb grazed your lips. You opened your mouth, sucking his thumb into your wet hole.

“Look at you. You’ll put your mouth on anything, won’t you?” Wonwoo sneered, eyes trained on the shape your lips made around Minghao’s digit. He allowed it to go on for a few more moments before he snaked a hand into your hair, pulling you back. You gasped in surprise and Wonwoo seized the opportunity to pop the remote controlled vibe into your mouth. 

“Hold this for me,” he chuckled sarcastically. You narrowed your eyes at him, but whatever retort you could have come up with was effectively muzzled.

Hao patted you on the head before undoing his tie and rolling up his sleeves. He sank to his knees behind you, checking your grip before using his hands to torture you. Wonwoo watched as Hao’s fingertips traced along his bindings, brushed along the undersides of your breasts, and gripped tightly, as if trying to bruise you. Then with his left hand, you traced along your inner thighs until he met the slick dripping out of you.

“Absolutely fucking soaked,” he snickered as he nipped at your collarbone sharply. “Pathetic.”

You let out a desperate, muffled sound, forgetting that Wonwoo’s toy was still in your mouth.

“Shall I?” Minghao’s eyes flitted up to the older man’s.

“Yes, can’t have her leaking all over the place, after all,” Wonwoo nodded after blinking slowly.

Hao chuckled as he plucked the toy from your mouth, reaching between your legs, and sliding it into you, nice and snug. Your arousal provided more than sufficient lubrication and you felt yourself being filled until the base sat securely against your clit. Your hips jerked slightly at this new sensation, arching back against his broad chest.

You clenched around the toy and watched Wonwoo play with his phone lazily. He didn’t even bother to look at you as you turned it on, setting it abuzz at a medium setting.

“Oh!” you whimpered pathetically, jumping slightly. Minghao’s grip on your rope harness, however, held you firmly in place as you soaked the toy lodged deep inside of you. You squirmed and twisted as Wonwoo increased the speed. 

“Wonwoo!” you pleaded with him fruitlessly.

“Hao,” Wonwoo’s eyebrows jerked up slightly and Minghao nodded, reaching forward to press his palm against the base of the toy. You jerked again, desperate for relief, but Hao’s grip on your harness was ironclad.

“Hao!” you cried, tears welling in your eyes as his right hand pressed against you, grinding the buzzing toy cruelly against your sopping wet, swollen clit. You let out a mangled scream as your first orgasm ripped through you, your head falling back against Hao’s shoulder, chest heaving beautifully for Wonwoo to witness.

“One more,” Hao whispered in your ear as he kept the toy pressed against you, working you through another orgasm until you were gasping wildly for breath.

“I fucking hate you two,” you cursed between inhale and exhale, body heavy as you tried to gather yourself.

“You keep running your mouth like that and I’ll leave you tied up on the floor with the toy on all night,” Wonwoo’s eyes flashed dangerously at you. Your lips pressed into a straight line before you could say anything else.

“That’s better,” Wonwoo scoffed, squatting down in front of you, jerking you up by Hao’s ties to meet him. “Open.”

Your breath hitched as you opened your mouth, already anticipating his next move. Wonwoo’s expression was a mixture of appreciation and disdain when he sent a glob of saliva flying into your mouth. You let out the tiniest of whimpers when it landed at the back of your tongue. You hated and loved how well he knew you.

“You might as well put your mouth to use,” Wonwoo stood, gesturing towards Minghao as he walked away.

You turned to Minghao with a playful grin, licking your lips with anticipation. Minghao’s lips curled up into a smile, but he surprised you when he moved away from you, instead electing to sit in a chair across the room. He leaned back, legs spread as he palmed himself through the front of his pants. When you didn’t move, he looked up, eyes hooded, and summoned you towards him with two fingers.

You threw him a look. He really expected you to get to him on your knees like this?

“Come,” he coaxed, voice deceptively like honey as he palmed himself through his slacks.

You struggled a little, but eventually managed to balance on your knees and shuffle towards him. For a moment you contemplated rather you’d prefer being unbound, as crawling would be less difficult, though maybe more humiliating. By the time you had managed to wedge yourself between his legs, your arousal had dripped practically down to your knees.

“That’s our good girl,” Wonwoo settled in behind you, placing his fingers into your hands for another safety check. “Now show him what that filthy mouth is good for,” he grinned. “Don’t forget to use your physical cues on me if you need.”

You nodded, smiling gratefully before leaning forward to drag your lips across Minghao’s erection. You nibbled along the underside of it until you reached the tip and pulled him into your mouth. You hummed contentedly when you heard him hiss with pleasure. Minghao always made such nice sounds. Being restrained posed a bit of an extra challenge, but you managed to find a position where you were comfortable enough to bob your head up and down his length, breath catching every so often when his tip hit the back of your throat.

“So sloppy,” Minghao exhaled, puncturing the quiet as his abs contracted and twitched.

Wonwoo gripped your hips, grinding himself against your ass as he watched with admiration. You were going to leave a stain on his slacks, but that only served to egg him on more. Something in Wonwoo snapped as he watched you moan around Minghao’s cock and his thrusts grew sharper and more desperate. Digging his fingertips into your hips, he pulled you back, jerking Minghao out of your mouth. You cried out loudly as Wonwoo ground himself against the toy still firmly lodged inside of you.

“Wonwoo,” you wailed.“Please!”

“Oh?” he cooed, deceptively sweet, in your ear. “Gonna cum again? Cum for me?”

“Yes, Woo,” you nodded desperately.

“Go ahead,” he ordered, hand now fisted around one of the shibari ropes around your back. His hips pumped against you mercilessly and you came with a fluttery wail, tears leaking from the corners of your eyes.

“Do you want your arms back?” Wonwoo murmured against the top of your head as he supported you.

“Yes,” you nodded.

“Hao,” Wonwoo jerked his head towards you and Minghao quickly set upon untying you. You smiled at him gratefully as he supported your upper body, rubbing your shoulders gently where he knew you’d be stiff.

“I do enjoy seeing you marked up like this,” Wonwoo raised an eyebrow as he counted the indents that the rope had left on your skin as he pulled you to your feet.

You turned to reach for him, eager at his praise. You were completely surprised when he caught you by the side of the face and held you away at arm’s length.

“Wha-?” you mumbled against his palm.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Wonwoo asked, tone cold.

“Oh, I just-,” you stuttered, “I thought-...” you trailed off. Now that you tried to put it into words, you didn’t know what you’d been thinking.

“Now we all know that thinking isn’t your strong suit, kitten. Do you really think that after all your bad behavior today, you’re going to get a sweet little kiss?” he sneered at you.

“Not when you put it like that,” you pouted.

“So desperate for attention that you were even willing to let Dylan Wang put his hands on you,” Minghao appeared behind you, hand sliding over your hip possessively. “Did you forget who you belong to?”

“No, I-,” your craned your head, eyes searching him out.

“Laughing like a simpering little twit at his bad jokes, hanging off his arm,” Wonwoo seethed, pulling your attention back to him. They were giving you whiplash.

“I-,” you struggled to think. Your knees threatened to buckle, but Wonwoo and Minghao had closed in on you and their torsos sandwiched you firmly upright.

“Tell us who you belong to, doll,” Hao’s lips nipped at your ear. The warm, wet whisper of breath made you dizzy and even though you knew the answer, you truly floundered as you tried to say it.

“Jeon Wonwoo! Xu Minghao!”

Both men cracked into a smile.

“Very good. Now shall we get some sleep? It’s been a long day,” Wonwoo teased.

“No!” you were surprised at the urgency with which your objection came out.

“Oh? So what is it that you want?” Wonwoo’s eyes raked over you.

“You know what I want,” you glared at him.

“I do. But I want you to use your words,” he patted your cheek condescendingly.

“I need you two to fuck me,” you answered, well past shameless at this point. You needed them and you’d do almost anything to get it.

“You won’t even be satisfied by one cock?” Hao laughed.

“Please, I’ve been go-,” you started to make your case, but you realized you didn’t have one. “Well, I’ve been waiting all night. Please.”

Wonwoo and Minghao both let out hearty laughs at your self-correction. Even if you weren’t always good, you’d always been honest, even to a fault.

“You have been waiting all night,” Wonwoo’s expression softened. “I suppose you can have what you want.”

“Really?” your eyes lit up.

They practically carried you to the bed, tossing you carelessly onto it. You watched, eyes glistening, as they undressed. Your thighs pressed together and you were surprised. With all of their teasing and torture, you’d completely forgotten that the toy was still inside of you. Wonwoo noticed at the same time that you did and he reached forward, plucking it from between your legs. He surprised you when he licked it, noting how you’d soaked it completely.

“Tasty,” he grinned, eyeing you hungrily as he set it aside.

You balked, ducking your head and flushing with disbelief. Hao chuckled at how you got shy before he slid his hands up your thighs and pushed your legs apart. His cock landed against your wet folds a few times as he teased you.

“Wow, completely drenched,” he groaned appreciatively as he watched your arousal coat his shaft. You squirmed, pushing your hips up towards him desperately. You needed more.

“Hao,” you mewled, grasping at his forearms. “No more teasing, please!”

Minghao chuckled. He might’ve been nicer than Wonwoo, but he still wasn’t that nice. He shifted to slide the tip of himself inside of you, but no further. Your brows knitted up with anticipation and then confusion when you realized what was happening. You tried pressing your hips up to take more of him, but he pulled back, managing to keep himself just barely inside of you.

“Minghao,” you huffed, clearly frustrated, but you kept trying, shifting your hips fruitlessly. It was as if you both held the ends of a rope and Minghao was doing his best to keep it just barely slack.

Wonwoo looked on with interest. He was surprised to see Hao in this kind of mood, but it would be a lie to say he didn’t enjoy it. Smiling, he moved to the other side of the bed, towards your head. He leaned over you, cupping your cheek softly.

“Wonwoo,” you clutched at him naturally, “Woo, please,” you begged.

“Sorry kitten,” Wonwoo cooed condescendingly at you, his lips whispering above yours as he watched you writhe. Sweat beaded up on your nose as you tried, again and again, to work yourself down Minghao’s cock.

“Hao, please,” your eyes watered as you looked at him, fraught with arousal.

The corner of Minghao’s lip turned up just a fraction before he bucked his hips towards you, thrusting deeply. The gasp you let out tickled his ego and he continued, stroking into you deeply. From Wonwoo’s vantage point, it would almost seem brutal, but both he and Minghao knew it was what you wanted and needed.

Wonwoo’s eyes narrowed as a wicked idea formed in his head. He leaned over you slightly and placed his palm against your lower abdomen, pressing down lightly.

“Wonwoo!” You and Minghao both let out jagged gasps at this additional pressure. Hao threaded his fingers through yours and after two more thrusts, orgasms ripped through you both.

“Bastard,” Hao cursed after he had caught his breath.

Wonwoo laughed. He’d certainly been called worse. As Minghao rolled off of you, he cupped your cheek again. Your eyes flicked up to him and he was surprised to see they were still full of want.

“More?” he asked.

“Want you, Woo,” you murmured affectionately, nuzzling your cheek against his hand.

“Insatiable,” he laughed, but it was something he adored about you. He and Minghao traded places and Wonwoo slotted himself between your legs. Minghao’s cum was starting to leak so he quickly gathered it up and pushed it back into you.

Minghao’s hands cupped your chin as Wonwoo slid into you. He watched your pupils dilate as your mouth fell open, letting out the most gorgeous whimpers and sobs. He allowed himself to be mesmerized by you for a few moments before he returned to the task at hand - to make you cum and cum and cum until you were completely spent.

Hao and Wonwoo got along great, but when it came to your dynamics as three, they were nothing if not competitive. Minghao’s hands brushed along your skin, bringing up goosebumps. When they rolled over your nipples, you clenched, which wrinkled Wonwoo’s brow just a hair. Minghao looked down to hide his smirk. That was easy.

“You’re so responsive. You must be sensitive, doll,” Hao cooed in your ear as he reached down to rub your clit with his fingertips. You jerked slightly at his touch, walls squeezing around Wonwoo again as Hao worked counterclockwise.

Your mouth fell open, letting out a series of short pants as Hao worked you quickly to another orgasm. Wonwoo’s brows pinched together as your pussy spasmed around him torturously. He managed to keep his resolve, but Minghao did not ease up, fingers rubbing again, this time slower and firmer.

“Hao,” you moaned as you sank into the mattress. They were really intent on wrecking you tonight, huh?

“Pretty little toy,” Minghao cooed in your ear, “You’ll take it, won’t you? Whatever we give.”

“Ahh!” you cried. His words were enough to push you over the edge again. You convulsed around Wonwoo as you came and Minghao was truly surprised to see him continue to buck into you, adding to your overstimulation.

You had barely managed a few lungfuls of air before it started again. Wonwoo’s hand came down to rest around your throat as he met your eyes. His gaze was intense and you could feel yet another orgasm building in you already. You bit down on your bottom lip. You didn’t need to use your safe word yet, but you were starting to wonder how much more you could take. You were brought out of your thoughts, however, when Minghao landed a loud, wet slap against your clit. The knob of heat in your belly exploded through you violently. Wonwoo grunted loudly as you triggered his orgasm and he unloaded deep inside of you as you came.

You didn’t pass out, but it felt like you were regaining consciousness as you caught your breath. You were sore, tired, and so utterly satisfied. You grinned up at Hao and Wonwoo happily, eyes creasing into semi-circles. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Wonwoo spoke first, shifting off you. “It’s been a long day.”

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” you asked as you settled into the pillows.

“What, still haven’t had enough?” Minghao teased, grabbing your chin gently.

“No plans yet,” Wonwoo answered. The toy he’d set on the nightstand earlier caught his eye. He picked it up and his eyes flashed at you playfully. “Maybe we’ll go out and make better use of this.”

You swallowed audibly.

[seungkwansphd]

to boil a frog

pairing: seungcheol x reader wordcount: 15.6k summary: you & cheol go back, like way back. growing up together, you never felt anything more for him than a proximity based fondness, but things are a little different since you moved back to town. genre/themes: tattoo artist!coups, childhood acquaintances to lovers. brother’s best friend (but it’s not so much a theme as it is just a statement of fact). S L O W B U R N. idk that this is even fluff but more like just romance? mention of alcohol, tattoos, needles...cat?

a/n: truly idk what this is and why. it’s so long & self indulgent, but i’m in my soft era i guess, hah!

“Hi, I’m here for my tattoo with Seungcheol?” you checked in with the unfairly stylish receptionist at the front desk of the tattoo and piercing studio. “I booked for 3pm.”

“Okay, yes, here you are!” they smiled up at you, “If you want to just take a seat, I’ll see how he’s doing with prepping the room.”

“Perfect!” you smiled before moving towards the waiting area.

    Your foot bounced excitedly as you waited. In addition to being excited to get your first tattoo, you were doubly excited because you had history with Seungcheol. He’d been one of your brother’s closest friends growing up and despite not keeping in touch since they’d left for college, you’d really enjoyed following his artistic evolution on social media. You weren’t sure if he’d recognize you anymore, to be honest. It would be funnier if he didn’t.

“YN?” the receptionist returned, greeting you with a smile, “He’s ready if you’d like to follow me!”

“Sure!” you stood, “I love your dermals, by the way! The placement is so good,” you gushed as you followed them through a short hallway.

“Ah, thank you so much! They’re probably the piercing I worry about ripping out the most, but I do love them,” they chuckled before gesturing to an open door. “He’ll be right through here.”

“Awesome, thank you so much!” you grinned before stepping through.

“Hey,” Seungcheol greeted you after hearing your footsteps. His back was still turned to you as he finished wiping down his countertop. “YN, right? You know what’s funny, one of my friends has a sister who shares your exact name. Like last name and everything,” he chuckled before turning to greet you.

“Huh that’s weird,” you mirrored his laugh, trying to hide your curiosity as his eyes finally met yours. His eyes scanned your face for a few moments before he rolled his eyes and let out a loud laugh.

“Oh I’m a fuckin’ idiot,” he laughed, “What the hell are you doing here?” he leaned back in his chair, looking at you with slight disbelief.

“Mm, here to get a tattoo,” you deadpanned.

“Yeah no shit, but why are you home? I thought you were living that big city life now,” Seungcheol rolled his eyes at you again. You had always been a sarcastic scamp as a kid and it didn’t surprise him that this was still true.

“Oh did he not tell you?” you asked, referring to your brother. “I’m moving back. Well closer at least. I got a different job offer out here.”

“Oh no, I hadn’t heard,” Seungcheol shook his head, “To be honest, Jihun and I don’t talk all that much anymore. Not since he moved, at least.”

“Ah,” you nodded, “That makes sense. Time zones and whatnot.”

“But that’s cool! New job and I bet your parents will be glad you’ll be closer.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “They are verily psyched.”

“Well that’s dope! It’ll be good to have you around again,” Seungcheol laughed before shifting topics, “So this tattoo. Did you have something in mind? You’re my last appointment, so we can take some time drafting and working on things.”

“I was actually planning on just picking something from your available flash,” you confessed, “I’m a big fan of the latest set. But…,” you flashed him a cheesy grin, “If you’re offering, I’m not gonna turn down a custom design from you. And I expect a friends and family discount, of course.”

“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?” Seungcheol laughed heartily. You were making the same face you used to make at him in high school when you were in a bind and needed help.

“Not much,” you laughed, eyeing some of the designs up on the walls. “Honestly, I’m down for whatever,” you shrugged.

“How about this? Pick out a few of the flash designs that you like and we can weave something together. I think that’d be fun.”

“Deal,” you grinned, accepting the binder of flash sheets from him. Pursing your lips, you flipped through it in its entirety before going back to the beginning to point out the ones that had caught your eye.

    Seungcheol couldn’t help but approve of the way you reviewed the designs in full before pointing out your favorites. You seemed to gravitate towards botanical, insect, and occultish designs which made sense, given how many times you’d attempted to cast spells on him and Jihun as children. More than a few times at sleepovers, they had woken up to find that rocks, leaves, and twigs had been strategically placed around them while they’d been sleeping. He couldn’t help but chuckle fondly as he recalled a specific incident where you’d snuck up on him to pluck out one of his hairs. When pressed on the issue, you’d calmly explained that you needed it for a spell to make him go bald.

“Okay, those are all the ones I like best,” you nodded at him, waiting for feedback.

“Alright, let me work something up. You can chill in here,” Seungcheol took the binder back from you, flipping between the designs you’d marked with sticky tabs and moving to draft up something new.

“How long’s it gonna take?” you made a face at him, “Can I go look at the piercing portfolios instead?” you asked, not really appealed by the idea of just sitting and waiting.

“I mean sure,” he shrugged, “Ask Wren for them,” he pointed back towards the reception area, “I’ll come get you when I’m ready.”

“Yay!” you popped up excitedly, clapping your hands together as you walked back towards reception.

“Hey Wren, can I take a peek at the piercers’ portfolios? And also can I ask you where you get your hair done? I’m moving back here soon, but I haven’t lived here in a while and could use a stylist rec.”

“Oh of course!” Wren smiled brightly at you, “So do you know Cheol from when you lived here before?” they asked as they pulled out the piercing portfolios to hand to you.

“Yea, we grew up together,” you nodded, flipping the binders open, “I wouldn’t say we were friends? But he was close friends with my brother so he was at our house a lot.”

“That makes a lot more sense,” Wren nodded with understanding, “I was wondering why he was so chatty with you! Usually his room is way more quiet.”

“Oh yeah, we go way back. A lot of shenanigans,” you grinned as a few septums caught your eye.

“So where do you live now?” Wren inquired after giving you the Instagram handle of their current stylist.

“I’m actually in the process of moving back! I got a job in the next town over, but I was thinking I’d move back around here since there’s more to do? This is actually mostly an apartment hunting trip.”

“Oh my goodness, well let’s be friends when you move back! I’ve been trying to get Cheol to come out and do things more with me and my partner, but he’s kind of introverted so he doesn’t bite all that often.”

“I don’t know that I’ll be able to convince him either,” you laughed, “We’re not exactly close. But I would love to be friends! I don’t know too many people who live here anymore.”

“Okay, deal! Let’s exchange phone numbers then. It’ll be good to hang out with someone less grumpy than Seungcheol,” Wren teased, eyes dancing at the man in question as he entered the reception area.

“So grumpy!” you giggled playfully at his expression, “I’m going to leave you a bad review for poor bedside manner,” you couldn’t help but tease him.

“You’d be grumpy too if you had two imps bothering you!” Seungcheol protested with a pout, before beckoning you with his hand, “Now come on, I’m done with my draft.”

“Okay,” you shrugged, following him back to his room.

“What do you think? It might be a little bigger than you had planned, but we can scale down if needed.”

“No, I love it!” you sighed, eyes sparkling as you looked at the design. The final draft was a staghorn beetle with a third eye on its thorax surrounded by a wreath of botanical work that included some of your favorite plants and flowers.

“I had a hard time deciding between a moth or the beetle,” Seungcheol mused, “But you were always a little…unique, so I went with the beetle.”

“Thanks, I think,” you narrowed your eyes at him, unsure if he was sassing you. “I’m a huge fan of this. I think you chose great. Now as far as placement, I am thinking thigh? Left thigh?”

“Do you wanna go this big?” Seungcheol asked. The tattoo artist in him thrilled the idea of the placement, but he wanted to make sure you weren’t overcommitting.

“I mean, I’ll be honest, that wasn’t what I had planned. But don’t you feel like…it deserves it?” you pulled up the leg of your shorts in the mirror to try and envision the placement and it just felt right. “I think at least let’s pop the stencil on so we can see it. But my gut says yeah.”

“Okay,” Seungcheol nodded. That was a good idea.

“Yeah. Yeah, yeah,” you nodded furiously at him after he had placed the stencil on. “She’s just gonna be a big bitch, I don’t know what to tell you, Seungcheol. It just feels right, right?”

“Yeah, I agree,” Seungcheol grinned at you, “We can do this in multiple sittings too, so don’t feel like it needs to all be done in one day.”

“I’ll let you know,” you smiled up at him, “Eee! I’m excited!”

“Alright skippy, let’s get you up on this table and we’ll get started,” Seungcheol patted the tattoo table. He made a few adjustments so that your thigh was positioned at a comfortable working height before getting started. “How’s that?” he asked above the buzzing of the tattoo gun.

“Not too bad, actually,” you were surprised to find out, “It’s just…buzzy?”

“Hah! I mean that’s good, okay I’ll keep going then,” he laughed, ducking his head back down to continue working.

    The time passed surprisingly quickly. You and Seungcheol caught up on a variety of topics until you ran out of things to talk about. After that, he let you choose some music and you simply watched him work quietly. By your math, it had been around two years since you had last seen him and seven since you’d had an actual conversation with him. Somehow he looked both the same and different. He had always been sturdy, especially in the legs, but he seemed to have filled out more in the arms and shoulders in recent years. His face looked exactly the same, but his hair was now longer than you remembered it ever being in the past. It suited him.

“Doing okay?” he checked in as he worked on a section of shading. He had been going over the same area of skin for a while and was wondering how you were holding up.

“Yup,” you nodded. It was starting to get a bit sensitive, but you weren’t ready to tap out just yet. You focused on inhaling deeply through your nostrils and exhaling slowly through your mouth, which helped.

“Good girl,” he murmured approvingly as his left hand moved to grasp you at the knee, turning your inner thigh out to face him a bit more.

    Your eyes flashed to him and your breathing pattern halted as you processed his words. With the soft praise, the somewhat breathy tone of his voice, and the pressure of his fingertips at your inner thigh, you found yourself shivering. Whether Seungcheol was aware of it or not, you found yourself deeply flustered by his praise and wildly confused at your reaction. Swallowing, you tried to gauge whether he even registered what he had just said, but he seemed to still be deeply absorbed in shading.

“Should we take a break?” he looked up suddenly, “You’re getting squirmy, it seems like.”

“I-, uh, yeah,” you did your best to act normal, “Yeah a break would be good, I think,” you managed to answer him.

“Okay,” Seungcheol stood up, “I could stand to stretch my legs anyways.”

“Sounds good,” you gave him a thumbs up as you raised your arms above your head to do some stretching yourself.

    Seungcheol peeled off his gloves and turned to take a sip of water. His expression creased once his back was turned to you. Why the hell had he said that to you? It certainly hadn’t been on purpose, but as soon as it left his mouth, he’d wanted to wince. He could only hope that you hadn’t heard it or registered its weirdness. 

“Do you need any water or a snack? We’ve been at it for a while,” he offered, pulling open a cabinet to reveal a handful of water bottles and a variety of snacks.

“I have water in my bag, if you don’t mind grabbing it for me? I would eat something though.”

“Should we order something? It’s getting to be around dinner time, I wouldn’t mind eating something proper,” he suggested as he handed you a granola bar.

“Oh yeah! Build in another break in a couple of hours, that sounds good. What’s good to eat around here nowadays?” you asked through a mouthful of granola.

“Tomato Pie is actually still open, if you feel like pizza,” Seungcheol chuckled as he scrolled through restaurants on his phone. “Otherwise it just depends on what you want?”

“I’m not feeling pizza. Let’s save TP for another time,” you shook your head, “What about sushi? Something light or fresh.”

“Oh sure! Um, how about this place?” he offered you his phone. You scanned the PDF menu before nodding.

“Yeah that looks good! I’ll do roll 37 in a combo.”

“Cool, I’ll have Wren order for us. They might want to eat too,” he nodded, stepping out of the room momentarily. Before too long, the sound of the tattoo gun was droning and you fell into an easy quiet with Seungcheol again.

“Please tell me more about Cheol as a kid,” Wren asked desperately as they swirled udon around their chopsticks.

“No,” Seungcheol grumbled.

“Of course!” you answered over him.

“Do y’all have a favorite memory together? Or a most distinct one?”

“Favorite?” your brows furrowed in concentration as you tried to think. “Like I said, he and I weren’t really friends? But, oh!” you clapped your hands together suddenly, “But this one stands out! It was the end of summer before Jihun and Seungcheol were leaving for college.”

“Please don’t tell this story,” Seungcheol buried his face into his hands, ears turning pink.

“Oh it’s cute though!” you argued, but you wouldn’t tell it without his consent. You waited a moment for him to lift his head again, eyebrows raising in a way that you knew to mean ‘go ahead’.

    Eyes sparkling, you recalled the night before your brother and Seungcheol moved away for college. You had been nearly inconsolable as you and Jihun really had been close growing up and you simply couldn’t imagine finishing high school without them. He and Seungcheol had tried all manner of things to cheer you up, but nothing worked until they whipped out an emergency dance routine to your then-favorite boy band. They hadn’t really put all that much effort into learning it and mostly tripped over themselves, but it had done the trick and you’d laughed so hard that you cried. That was still an incredibly fond night for you.

“Oh and he was blonde then too! That was an era,” you wrinkled your nose as you finished telling the story.

“He can dance?” Wren looked at you incredulously.

“No, he can’t! But he tried, and that was what was important,” you chuckled heartily. “Honestly, Cheol was kind of just a good person. He was usually nice to me, but generally I just saw glimpses of him around.”

“You’re failing to mention all of the times that I bailed you out when Jihun was busy,” Seungcheol gave you a pointed glance.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” you shook your head playfully at him. “He’s always been an old man like this.”

“He is responsible like that, isn’t he?” Wren nodded at you. “Our Studio Daddy.”

“Eugh yuck!” your skin crawled as you heard Wren refer to Seungcheol as Daddy. “No no no, don’t like that one bit!”

“You and me both,” Seungcheol rolled his eyes at both of you as he finished up his food. “You done? Let’s finish this bitch up. We’re getting close.”

“You good to lock up, boss?” Wren asked as they cleared their dishes.

“Yeah, you’re good! Just turn off the reception lights and lock the door when you leave. Don’t want any randos wandering in.”

“Sure!”

“So are you in charge?” you asked after Seungcheol had settled back into to finish up the last sections of shading on the beetle legs. Wren kept referring to him as ‘boss’, but you couldn’t tell if it was just good natured ribbing.

“Kind of. I hate being called boss, but I do own the studio now. The last owners were ready to retire and move, so they made me a good deal. I don’t feel like the owner yet, but I guess technically I am.”

“Wow, that’s…that’s really impressive, Seungcheol. I’m proud of you,” you smiled genuinely at him.

“This is weird, you’re never this serious,” he raised an eyebrow at you, a little uncomfortable to receive your genuine praise.

“I know, but I am serious!” you laughed, “I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve been following you for a while. I’m proud of how you’ve developed your art form and now you even own the studio! I think that’s super dope.”

“Thanks,” he grinned, ducking his head down to hide his blush under the guise of inspecting his work. It wasn’t too much longer before he was finished and applying tattoo dressing. “So for aftercare. Everyone has their own opinion, but I like Saniderm. Keep this one on for 24 hours and remove and wash. If you want, you can apply another sheet. Try to wear loose clothing as much as you can, but life is life. You can always call if you feel like it looks weird, but basically treat it like a wound cause it is.”

“Cool, sounds good!” you gave him a thumbs up. “What’s the damage, boss?”

“Shut up,” he rolled his eyes at you before working up a number that was on the low end of reasonable.

“That’s too low,” you decided, counting out bills until you reached a number that seemed more fair. “Dinner money’s in there too.”

“I-,” Seungcheol was slightly surprised. Not that he thought you’d be stingy, but because he was still accustomed to the you that begged rides off of him and never had gas money.

“I’ve had a big kid job for years now, don’t look so shocked,” you smiled at him, tucking your things back into your bag. “It was really good to see you, Coups. Maybe Wren and I can talk you into a night out sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he half smiled at the old nickname as he waved you out the door. His lips curled into a full smile after the door swung shut. It had been good to see you.

…

“Hey boss?” Wren popped into Seungcheol’s office, trying to seem casual.

“I told you don’t call me that,” he looked up from his sketching. “What is it?”

“Do you have any strong friends that could help move some furniture this weekend? They will be paid.”

“You’ve never paid me to move furniture for you,” he narrowed his eyes at Wren, “Also didn’t you just move like a couple months ago? Why are you moving again?”

“Not me, YN. They just texted me. I guess the moving company cancelled at the last minute, so she’s scrambling for options.”

“Oh, shit. That sucks,” Seungcheol crossed his arms, brow furrowing at the situation. “I mean I could probably scrounge up a few friends.”

“Huh, okay!” Wren fixed their boss with an odd glance before plopping into the empty chair across from him. “Did you and YN ever date? Or like…have a thing?”

“What? No,” Seungcheol made a face of slight distaste at his receptionist. “That has never even crossed my mind until now. And I find it unpleasant.”

“Ugh, boo! Friends to lovers is the best trope,” Wren frowned, “I should’ve known you’d be a party pooper about this too. Oh well, I’ll let YN know that she can count on at least one of you meatheads to show up. I’ll get the address and stuff from her too!”

“Sounds good,” Seungcheol nodded, making a quick note on a scrap piece of paper to see whether Mingyu would be free and to exchange phone numbers with you so you could contact him directly.

…

“Hey Cheol?”

“Huh?” Seungcheol looked up from his desk. He had been very much in the zone, so the interruption had him slightly befuddled. “Oh, YN? What are you doing here?”

“Do you mind if I chill in the lobby and charge my phone? I didn’t see Wren, they must be doing something else, but I didn’t want to just be like a loiterer without someone knowing,” you huffed.

“Yeah, I mean, but you didn’t answer my question. Are you okay?” he asked. You didn’t look completely upended, but you were a little frazzled.

“Oh, yeah I’m fine! I just got lost and my phone battery died so I couldn’t pull up a map,” you grumbled, shuffling back to the waiting area and setting your bag down. You rifled through briefly to pull out a charging cable. “I decided to bus and walk home after work, since I’m still trying to get the layout of the city, but I got super lost. I slightly recognized this neighborhood from when I drove in for the tattoo. So here I am!” you gestured as if to say ‘ta-da’.

“Ah, I see,” Cheol couldn’t help but laugh as he took a seat next to you in the lobby. “How is work going?”

“Pretty good! I’m picking up the quirks of the software that they use, but for the most part, the job is very similar to my old one and I’ll be good at it. I like my coworkers too, which is always good.”

“Good,” he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“How was your day? Busy?” 

“It was okay,” he shrugged, “No tattoos today, I have Wednesdays set aside for bookkeeping, paperwork, and other businessy activities. Not my favorite, but gotta do it.”

“And how’s that?” you grinned at him, “If I remember right, you weren’t the most mathematically inclined.”

“You remember correctly,” Seungcheol grimaced.

“If you ever want help with the bookkeeping stuff, let me know. I can build a mean spreadsheet,” you offered. Despite not having been close with him in years, you felt invested in his success.

“Really?” he cocked his head at you, surprised.

“Of course! We were friendly before, right? We can be friends for real this time,” you scrunched your nose playfully at him. “Plus I definitely owe you for sending me Mingyu and Chan. Lifesavers, those two.”

“Yeah, they’re alright,” Seungcheol chuckled. “I might take you up on that spreadsheet thing, cause doing the math by hand is strange and unusual punishment.”

“Sounds good, just text me,” you nodded, eyes lighting up when your phone had charged enough to power itself back on.

“YN!” Wren called your name excitedly as they returned to the reception desk. “Sorry, I was taking inventory. What are you doing here?”

    Seungcheol returned to his office as you gave Wren the rundown of your unfortunate turn of events. You wanted to be friends this time around, huh? That could be alright.

…

“I’m starting to regret this whole ‘friends’ thing,” Seungcheol groaned as you dragged him towards the bar. The rest of the studio staff was already there, but he had taken his time closing up, hoping that Wren would’ve run out of patience and just left without him. In the past, this strategy had been successful, but that was before you were part of the equation. You had a longer attention span and just when Seungcheol thought he’d gotten away with it, you’d popped up at his side, asking him if he was ready to go.

“No take backs,” you teased, only releasing the grip on his sleeve after you’d pulled him full inside the establishment. “Wren! We’re here!”

“Finally! Did he do his usual thing of taking way too long?”

“Yes, you were right,” you laughed, hopping onto an empty barstool.

    Cheol narrowed his eyes at you. While he had grown to be able to handle Wren’s brand of shenanigans, he wasn’t sure how to feel about your powers combined. He watched you chat excitedly with Vernon about lizards or something before deciding that he needed a beer.

“Anyone else need drinks?” he asked, glancing across the table.

“If you’re buying, then yes!” Hoshi jumped up excitedly and appeared at Seungcheol’s side.

“YN, what do you want?” Wren tapped on your shoulder gently as they moved to order with Cheol.

“Oh, whiskey soda with a cherry?”

“What?!” Wren’s eyebrows pinched together, “Miss girl, this is a dive bar. Can you please 

order something normal?”

“Hah! Well then just get me a beer or something,” you shrugged, eager to get back to discussing the Galapagos marine iguana’s algae based diet with Vernon.

“What the hell are they even talking about?” Wren did a double take before their boss tugged them towards the bar.

“It’s better that you probably don’t ask,” he chuckled as he hailed the bartender.

“Hey what can I get you?”

    Wren rattled off the group’s order before looking back at you. “Shit, and some sort of beer,” their brow furrowed as they scanned through the options.

“You got cherries back there?” Seungcheol cut through Wren’s thinking.

“Yeah,” the bartender fixed him with a surprised look.

“Okay, then a whiskey soda with a splash of sour and a cherry. Nix that beer.”

“Weird, but sure,” the bartender laughed, moving to fill the order.

“I don’t think she asked for sour?” Wren asked Seungcheol.

“She always forgets to say it. She won’t like it without it,” he shrugged with a wry smile.

Wren watched their boss out of the corner of their eye. In the few weeks of knowing you, Wren had done a little bit of poking and was surprised that you and Seungcheol both independently maintained that nothing had ever happened or even threatened to happen between you two. In fact, you both had such a surprised reaction that made it seem like neither of you had even entertained the possibility. Yet, small things like this happened every so often and would surprise Wren anew that things were just platonic between you two.

“You got it all?” the bartender asked again, watching Cheol and Wren haphazardly gather up the six drinks between them.

“I think we’re good,” Wren finally nodded, leading the way back to the table. “Okay, so…,” they trailed off as they doled out the drinks around the table.

“Oh! I thought I was getting beer?” you were surprised when you received your drink.

“They had cherries,” was all Seungcheol offered up in explanation.

“Oh, well thanks!” you beamed at him before taking a sip.

“So what was the name of that documentary again?” Vernon asked, drawing your attention back, “I might just leave now to watch it,” he mumbled to himself as he pulled out his phone to make a note.

“Oh come on,” you chided him, “We just got here! I’ll give you the name of the documentary at the end of the night, as incentive,” you suggested.

“That’ll work,” he grumbled slightly, slipping his phone into his pocket and turning his attention back to the group’s conversation. Hoshi was regaling the group theatrically about something or the other.

    Seungcheol raised an eyebrow. He was surprised that you’d managed to convince Vernon to stay out. That was something that even he couldn’t pull off sometimes.

“So YN, are you liking your new job?” Hoshi asked after sharing his many personal thoughts and feelings about Tiger King.

“Yes!” you nodded, “I really like everyone at the practice! My trainer is super funny and nice and she said I’m basically ready to fly solo next week,” you grinned, a little nervous now that all eyes were on you.

“Remind me what you do again?” Joshua asked kindly. He was one of the piercers at the studio that you had probably spent the least amount of time with.

“I’m a vet tech! So, you know, helping with exams, running analyses, and giving vaccinations. That kind of thing.”

“Ah, so we have some things in common then,” Joshua quipped about the vaccinations.

“Hey if you’ve got a passion for stabbin’, might as well get paid for it,” you joked, prompting a chorus of laughs.

Eventually, the group broke off, some heading to the dance floor and others moving to play darts. You watched the game of darts until you were ready for a refill. As you waited for the bartender, you fished the cherry out from your melting ice cubes. It was the best part, after all.

“What’re you drinking there?” a voice to your right drew your attention.

“Hm,” you regarded the man with a suspicious glance, “I don’t think I'll tell you. You look like you’d tease me for it.”

“Oh? Well it’ll be tricky to buy you a drink, then,” he chuckled, a little taken aback by your response.

“I-,what?” you blurted out after processing his words.

“I’m Yejun,” he smiled at you, “Can I buy your next drink?”

“Hm, I suppose you can!” you chuckled. You observed his side profile as he flagged down the bartender. “So do you live here, Yejun?”

“I do,” he nodded, “Do you?”

“I do now,” you grinned, “I actually grew up around here and recently moved back for a job. Things are kind of the same, kind of different.”

“Oh really? How long has it been since you lived here? And what’s different?” he asked, smiling charmingly as he leaned against the bar, turning to face you fully.

    Seungcheol watched intently as you chatted with this man. His brow furrowed slightly trying to gauge whether he needed to intervene. For a while, your expression was wary, but eventually you broke out into a teasing smile and he could tell that the attention was welcome. You were more than capable of holding your own, Cheol knew that, and so he returned to watching darts.

    Wren was stumped as they watched Seungcheol watch you. For a moment he’d almost looked jealous, but that tension eventually dissipated and he returned to darts as if nothing had happened. When Wren looked at you again, you were happily chatting with a man at the bar, which was somehow even more confusing.

…

“Ah, I’m so glad you were free this weekend! You’ve been so wrapped up in Yejun that I feel like I barely see you anymore!” Wren tittered animatedly as they wrapped you up in a hug.

“Wren we hung out on Tuesday,” you laughed, shaking your head.

“Yes, and it’s been far too long between then and now. Speaking of, how are things going with Yejun? If he’s not treating you well, I will bring the boys to beat him up!” Wren threatened.

“There’s no need for that at all,” you shook your head vigorously, “Things are going good! I don’t know that I feel super…serious about him, but it’s been fun so far!”

“Hm. Well if you’d rather just date someone at the studio, I’d prefer that so I could see you all the time! I think Vernon is single, and you both love those damned lizards.”

“Hah! Iguanas,” you corrected them as you scanned down the list of cocktails. An aperol spritzer sounded good in the day’s warm weather. “No, I won’t date anyone at the studio. I don’t date friends, that’s a recipe for disaster.”

“You’re smarter than most,” Wren laughed. Couldn’t fault your logic.

“How are things with the boys? I feel like it’s been a bit since I’ve seen everyone. Anything interesting happen lately?”

“Oh, we might have a stray cat hanging around?” Wren clapped their hands together, “There’s a calico that showed up both yesterday and today.”

“Really? No collar or anything, I assume? Does it have a clipped ear? Is it friendly?”

“No, no, and yes,” Wren answered, “Should we do anything special for it?”

“Honestly, we should try and grab it so that we can take it to a vet to get it checked out. See if it’s microchipped. I can bring some stuff from the office and maybe let’s pick up some wet food after lunch? You can bring that to the studio.”

“Sounds good!” Wren nodded gamely. “Aside from that, nothing new at the studio. We’re a boring bunch these days.”

“You know honestly, that’s not a bad thing,” you smiled.

“We should go out for a happy hour sometime this week,” Wren suggested as your entrees arrived. “Maybe Thursday? You can bring Yejun!”

“Oh sure! Are we going to try and bring Seungcheol? Or not worth the fight?” you scrunched your nose up playfully.

“I mean, I always want the whole gang to be there. But might need your help again.”

“I can be on Coups duty,” you laughed, “It’s light work.”

“Alright, well if you’re in then I’m in,” Wren laughed. You did seem to have a way with Seungcheol that nobody else did.

    The rest of lunch was filled with odds and ends of conversation before you and Wren walked to the supermarket to pick up a few cans of wet cat food. Wren headed back to the studio and you drove to the veterinary office to pick up some supplies. A humane trap, a cat carrier, and a kitty straightjacket accompanied you back to the tattoo studio. 

“I’m here!” you announced as you brought the trap into the reception area.

“Um, what’s happening now?” Minghao, one of the other tattoo artists, looked on curiously as you fiddled with the gate of the humane trap.

“I told YN about our new friend! She’s going to help us trap it so we can take it to the vet.”

“Oh, I see,” Hao chuckled before returning to his room. Since you’d moved back home, you’d clearly established yourself as Wren’s new partner in crime. It was usually entertaining.

“Okay, I think I got it,” you nodded before grabbing a can of food and walking back outside to place the trap against the side of the building. You popped the can open and placed it at the back of the trap. “Now hopefully we catch the stray cat and not some other beastie,” you muttered to yourself as you walked back inside. Last time you’d set up a humane trap, you’d woken up to a livid raccoon instead of the stray you’d set out to capture.

“Hey Wren, can you order more of these supplies please?” Cheol dropped off a list at the receptionist desk, barely registering your presence. Between your help setting up his profit and loss statements and just general shenanigans with Wren, you’d become somewhat of a regular at the studio.

“Sir, yes sir!” Wren saluted playfully before waving you out the door. You had errands to run yet, but you let Wren know to call you if and when the stray showed back up.

…

“Oh my gosh, she is so so cute! I have named her Sausage Patty, we shall call her Patty and I love her very much,” you gushed over drinks. The studio had organized a staff outing again and Yejun had opted to join, so all of your people were in one place.

“You said this was a cat?” Yejun asked, “I thought your place didn’t allow pets?”

“It doesn’t,” you sighed, “But Cheol can keep her in until I can find a new place, right? It isn’t too terribly long before my lease is up,” you pleaded with him hopefully.

“Ah,” Yejun shifted uncomfortably, “I, um. We should talk later,” he ducked his head to whisper in your ear.

“Oh, okay?” you nodded at this ominous feeling request.

“So Yejun, tell us about yourself,” Wren prompted, eager to get to know the person you’d been dating. “YN has mentioned some things, but I’m nosy.”

    Yejun chuckled good naturedly and shared his age, where he had lived before here, and that he worked as a financial advisor at the local bank.

“Oh interesting, do you enjoy that?” Joshua asked, eyes dancing.

    Seungcheol fixed Joshua and Hoshi with a warning glance as Yejun answered Joshua’s query.  He could tell that the boys did not find Yejun particularly interesting, but they didn’t have to in order to be nice. You were the one dating him, after all.

“It’s alright,” Yejun shrugged, not picking up on Shua’s teasing. “There are things that I like and things that I don’t, but that’s any job, isn’t it?”

“Sure is!” Hoshi chimed in mischievously, “For example, Seungcheol is the thing that I don’t like most about my job.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cheol laughed, “If this is where the conversation is going, then I’m going to grab a beer,” he announced. Joshua took the opportunity to join him at the bar.

“My god, our YN is dating a banker? Where did we go wrong, Cheol?” Joshua bemoaned jokingly as he leaned against the bar.

“Joshua,” Cheol warned him, the slightest edge audible in his voice. “Be nice.”

“He’s so dull,” Joshua pressed on, “She can do better.”

“That’s not our business,” Seungcheol shrugged as he accepted a fresh beer from the bartender. “If you can’t be nice, then I suggest you stay away. YN will take it personally if you tell her you don’t like him. Just leave it.”

“Fine,” Joshua ran his tongue over his teeth with displeasure, “A banker of all things. Please.”

“You remember when you dated that flight attendant, right? We all kept it to ourselves until things ended. YN is our friend now, so you can do her the same courtesy.”

“I wish you’d given me your honest feedback then. That was a major waste of my time,” Joshua bristled as he recalled that toxic relationship.

    When they returned to the table they found that Hoshi had wandered off with Vernon to play darts and Wren was doing their best to hold the conversation with Yejun. There really wasn’t anything specifically wrong with Yejun, he just didn’t have much in common with any of them. Seungcheol briefly wondered what you two talked about, but it left his mind just as quickly.

“So what did you want to talk about earlier?” you asked Yejun hesitantly as he walked you to your door. There was a nip in the air and your cheeks were flushed pink as you looked up at him.

“Oh, yeah,” his expression filled with unease, “I guess I should let you know that I’m allergic to cats. It hadn’t really come up before, but it’s relevant now.”

“Oh,” your expression fell at this news. Somehow it was both a big deal and not a big deal. On the one hand, you were still in a very casual stage with Yejun and wouldn’t be able to live with Patty for a while even if you and Seungcheol did manage to work something out. But on the other hand, if this was a deal breaker, you wondered if you were just wasting your time. You loved animals and couldn’t envision a future without them. “Are you allergic to other animals too? Or just cats?”

“Mildly allergic to dogs, but my cat allergy is quite severe,” he answered apologetically.

“I see,” you nodded, “Well…I would say that since I’m still not sure I’ll be able to convince Seungcheol to keep Patty for me in the meantime and I’m at least five months out from being at the end of my lease, I’m not sure this needs to change anything between us? What do you think, though?”

“I agree,” Yejun smiled with a sense of relief.

“Great,” you grinned up at him. “Well, I’m home. Maybe we can do something next week?”

“That sounds great!” Yejun pulled you in for a quick peck before moving to drive himself home.

…

“Hello?” Seungcheol’s brows furrowed as he read the name on the incoming call. “YN? Are you okay?”

“Hey,” you sniffed, second guessing yourself. You briefly considered hanging up, but decided it would be helpful to have a sounding board. “Are you busy?”

“No, what’s up?” he shook his head, noting that you hadn’t answered his question.

“Can I swing by? I need some advice. Or maybe just to talk, I’m not sure,” you muttered, pressing your palm against your cheek.

“Yeah, of course,” Cheol nodded, “I’m home right now so come by whenever. Patty would like to see you too, I’m sure.”

“Okay, I’ll be over soon then,” you nodded forlornly before ending the call.

    You second guessed yourself the entire way over. Maybe this wasn’t a big enough deal to bother Seungcheol about. Maybe you should’ve called Wren instead. But you knew that Wren would not be impartial and you knew, in your gut, that if it wasn’t a big enough deal to bother Cheol about, then you wouldn’t have called him. Before you knew it, you were parked in front of Seungcheol’s place and you weren’t about to drive right back home.

    You walked up the steps and tried the doorknob. With all of the shared cat custody, he had gotten into the habit of leaving the front door unlocked when he knew you were on the way. Today was no different.

“I’m here,” you announced generally as you slipped off your shoes. Cheol appeared with a beer before you had gotten the second one off.

“You sounded like you needed a drink,” he smiled sympathetically at you.

“You know all about me nowadays, huh?” you laughed, taking the cold beverage from him.

“Little bit,” he grinned, “So what’s up?” he asked after you took a seat at his kitchen table. You gestured for him to sit down next to you before you answered.

“Yejun and I broke up…I guess? Is it even breaking up if you were just kind of dating?” you thought aloud. “Whatever you want to call it, we will no longer be a thing.”

“Ah, I’m sorry to hear that,” Seungcheol’s expression creased with worry. “Do you want to talk about what happened? Or what’s helpful?”

“I’m not too torn up about what happened,” you thought for a moment, trying to identify your feelings, “But I am sad. But I don’t feel like I should be sad because it wasn’t that serious? Also he was allergic to cats so was it gonna work out anyways?” you were surprised when you felt the tears pricking at your eyes. You had done such a good job of keeping it together all week, but now talking about it in such clarity really broke something free inside of you and suddenly you were crying.

    Seungcheol froze. He had never seen you cry before and he was at a loss about what to do. He wanted to be supportive, but didn’t really know what that should look like for you. Did you want a hug? Did you hate hugs? It frustrated him deeply that he didn’t already know the answer.

“What would be helpful right now?” he found himself asking.

“It’s silly, but I could use a hug,” you sighed, almost rolling your eyes at yourself. You’d never really been one for physical affection, but the thought of being wrapped up in Cheol’s arms seemed comforting in a way that you needed desperately right now.

    He moved immediately, standing over you with his arms outstretched. You stood up to fit yourself into him and his arms folded around you without thought. You were surprised at how natural it felt. You allowed yourself a few more sobs into his chest before letting yourself just feel warm and secure in his hold.

    Seungcheol experienced the whole gamut of human emotion as he held you. Anger at Yejun for causing you to feel this way. Empathetic sadness. Relief when your crying stopped. And…pride at the feeling of being able to provide you comfort. It was very different and new to Seungcheol to see you in this emotionally vulnerable state, but not unpleasant by any measure.

“Okay, I feel better,” you chuckled sheepishly, pulling away from Cheol and wiping at your cheeks. “I should go home and get some sleep.”

“Okay,” he nodded at you, surprised at the instinct he felt to pull you back in.

“Thanks Cheol. Seriously.”

…

“I think I’m getting cold feet,” Seungcheol grimaced after seeing you mix up the bleach in a somewhat alarming way.

“No, no take backs!” you frowned, turning your foil-covered head towards him.

    Several days ago, you had bought the largest containers of bleach powder and developer that they sold at the beauty supply store. You kept saying that you weren’t torn up over Yejun, but you figured why not allow yourself to partake in some of the traditional post-break up rituals? An entirely new haircut didn’t appeal to you, but adding some vivid color did seem fun. You weren’t totally sure how Seungcheol had caught wind of this undertaking, but when he’d thought out loud about going blonde again, Wren had been insistent. Whether it turned out looking good or his hair fell off, it didn’t matter too much to Wren. Both outcomes were equally pleasing.

“I-,” he grimaced, “If I end up having to buzz my head, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Cheol, relax,” you tried to reassure him, “I have done this before. Now just sit still.”

    Seungcheol sucked on his teeth before acquiescing and sitting down on the stool in front of you, allowing you to get started. You grinned happily as you ran your fingers through his hair, sectioning them off and applying the bleach to the foils. The way he enjoyed feeling your hands running through his hair was a little surprising to him, but soon he found himself just watching you and smiling at the way you smiled.

“Are you excited to be blonde again?” you asked around three quarters of the way through. “Was the last time in high school?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Cheol thought for a moment, “Didn’t you help me and Jihun that time too?”

“Probably? Like your guys’ senior year?”

“Yes,” he smiled, “That was a good look, if I do say so myself.”

“I agree,” you nodded as you grabbed a spare grocery bag to pop over his completely foiled head. “Okay, now we can let that process for 30 minutes. It should start to feel warm, mine kind of does already,” you touched your own foils gingerly.

“Okay, you wanna watch something while we wait?” he shrugged, flipping on the television.

“Sure,” you nodded, sitting down on the couch. You giggled happily when Patty hopped onto your lap and you scratched her under the chin.

“She loves you,” he chuckled, watching you interact with the cat.

“She loves you too!” you insisted, “Go see your dad,” you whispered at her playfully, which she ignored.

“No, she’s your cat and your cat alone. I’m just her landlord,” Seungcheol chuckled, unable to keep himself from thinking about the implication of ‘dad’.

“Okay, time to check!” you jumped up when the timer sounded. “Let me check mine first and then I’ll check yours,” you announced as you moved to the bathroom mirror.

“How’s it lookin’?” Cheol asked, leaning against the door jamb.

“I think a little longer, I’ll check again in fifteen. Now come here,” you beckoned him over. He moved to face you and spread his feet apart until you could see the top of his head. You peeled back a few foils and were surprised to see that it had lightened sufficiently. Lucky bastard. “I think you’re good to go, Seungcheol! You can rinse that bleach out and then I’ll tone you.”

“Word,” he nodded, helping you remove the rest of the foils and tuck them into garbage. You massaged your fingers through his hair, evaluating the rest of the strands before confirming he was ready to rinse. Without a word, he tugged his shirt up over his head before moving to grab the shower head.

“What are you doing?!” you almost shouted, alarmed by the shedding of clothes.

“I don’t want to get my shirt wet,” he shrugged, somehow pleased at the way you jumped.

“Let me get out of the bathroom first,” you grumbled, flushed in the cheeks as you made your way back into the living room.

“Okay, I’m done. You wanna check your foils again?” he emerged from the bathroom, rubbing his hair with a towel.

“Yes,” you nodded, trying to look anywhere but at him as he had not put the shirt back on.

After you had also rinsed the bleach out from your ends, you started mixing up toner and color. For a second time, you were applying and massaging solution into his hair.

“This feels nice,” Cheol remarked with his eyes closed, enjoying your touch.

“Does it?” your eyebrows raised, trying to stay composed. You didn’t need to look at his bare chest. You didn’t. “I guess that makes sense, like a scalp massage, right?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, eyes slowly opening again to meet your gaze through the mirror. His lips had curled into a half smile and the way he looked at you made your heart stop for a moment.

“Okay, go pop another bag on your head and let that process for 20-ish minutes?” you glanced away, clearing your throat needlessly. As Seungcheol flopped onto the couch, you applied the tanzanite hair dye to your bleached ends, doing your best to avoid staining his bathroom permanently.

“Okay, my timer’s up!” Cheol announced as he burst into the bathroom again unceremoniously. Apparently you’d zoned out after applying the purple dye and you jumped at his intrusion. “Scoot,” he grabbed you at the waist and relocated you easily. He grabbed the showerhead and leaned over the tub, rinsing the silver toner out of his hair. You intended to leave, you wanted to leave, but when it came down to it you couldn’t do anything but stare at his broad back, mind frazzled at the way he had lifted you up so easily.

“Damn,” Seungcheol whistled appreciatively, regarding himself in the mirror, “This looks good!”

“You’re welcome,” you nodded surely at him, “And you doubted me.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry, you killed it,” Cheol grinned at you. Without thinking it through, he pulled you into his chest and gave you a squeeze.

“Cheol, dye!” you panicked, pushing him away. “See, now you’re purple,” you frowned, looking at the splotch of purple on his chest that had transferred from your hair. Without thought, you swiped at it with your fingers, hoping to wipe it off before it stained too badly. It took a few passes, but eventually you gathered it all and rinsed it down the sink drain.

“Thanks,” Seungcheol coughed, nerves alight at the friction of your fingertips woefully close to his nipple. A quick shudder ran through him before he could gather his thoughts and compose himself.

“Okay, now get out, I’m going to rinse out my color. Mine’s gonna be messy, so I’m just gonna take an actual shower,” you shooed him out insistently.

    After you closed and locked the door for good measure, you let out a sigh. What had you been thinking, touching his bare chest like that? You must be out of your mind. Jumping into the shower, you let the water wash the dye from your hair and the thoughts from your mind.

    Seungcheol ruminated while you showered. He had already acknowledged that something in him had shifted after you’d visited him last week. You had always just been Jihun’s sister and that hadn’t really changed much since you’d moved back. However, seeing you in that emotionally vulnerable state last week had started to chip away at the way he thought of you.

“Whew, okay, the ordeal is done!” you laughed as you emerged from the bathroom pointing at the towel wrapped around your head. “I picked a darker one, but I can’t promise that the purple is gonna wash out,” you chuckled sheepishly, skin pink and glowing from the shower.

“I’m not worried about that,” Cheol shrugged, “Now take a rest, stylist,” he teased, patting the couch cushion next to him. Patty chirped in protest at the noisy impact, but settled back into his lap eventually as you finished the show you had started earlier.

…

“Cheol, Cheol!” Wren beckoned Seungcheol as he was walking through the hallway towards the stockroom.

“What?”

“What do you think about starting a Tiktok account for the studio? People seem to really like them, it could help us drum up some business!”

“I don’t know…,” he rubbed his chin contemplatively, “Are you going to run it? I want no part of it, to be honest.”

“Yes, I will!” Wren nodded furiously, “This looks way more fun and I could definitely do it between my normal job responsibilities.”

“I-, okay. But people have to agree to be in your videos, okay? None of this sneaky filming business,” Seungcheol furrowed his brows at them before returning to his office.

    To Seungcheol’s surprise, Wren really took initiative of the social media management and within a month or so, had amassed a significant number of followers. Wren was always on their phone anyways, and so kept on top of the latest trends and viral sounds. Seungcheol was also surprised at the ways in which the internet seemed to love their ragtag group. Folks found Joshua to be painfully handsome, Vernon and Hoshi to be side bustingly funny, and Wren to be endearing. You had even featured in a handful of videos when you’d happened to be at the studio and commenters the entire week afterwards playfully demanded ‘more YN content’.

“Cheol, have you reconsidered showing your face on Tiktok?” you asked after watching a ‘the art versus the artist’ tiktok.

“No,” he shook his head firmly.

“Aw man, this would’ve been a good video too!” you pouted, turning your phone to show Wren.

“Oh damn it, yeah it would be!” they shouted woefully.

“What is it?” Coups asked, feigning indifference.

“Okay, so the concept is showing art and then the artist that made it. Cheol you’re so talented, I feel like this is such a nice way to showcase your work!” you pleaded with him, though you were not particularly hopeful. When he didn’t reject you outright, you offered him your phone to show an example.

“Hm,” the corner of his lip pulled back as he contemplated. Your heart rose hopefully in your chest, was he genuinely considering this?

“YN can be in the video too! She’s a good example of healed work!” Wren clapped excitedly at the prospect. “We can start the video zoomed in on her thigh tattoo and then zoom out to show you!”

    Seungcheol raised his eyebrows at you in an unspoken question. It seemed that he was in if you were too. Holding back an ecstatic squeal, you nodded, over the moon at finally getting Cheol to agree to be in a Tiktok.

    The first section went smoothly. Wren positioned you in front of the studio window for flattering lighting and then zoomed in on your thigh. The second part where they would zoom out to a video of Seungcheol was not as seamless. First they wanted to try a solo shot, which didn’t pass muster. Then you tried posing next to Cheol, which Wren deemed ‘too stiff’. Finally, they took over full creative control and positioned Seungcheol behind you with his face above your shoulder. After a few more failed takes, he didn’t even register it when he leaned forward to mumble idle threats into your ear. Something about ‘never should have agreed to this’ and ‘I don’t know that we need a receptionist anyways’, which made you chuckle.

    Wren stilled in the midst of filming. Their gaze moved from the screen and lifted over the phone to observe you directly. The sight of Seungcheol with his face tucked into your neck and making you laugh was so tender it made Wren want to scream at the both of you.

“You got it?” Seungcheol looked up suddenly.

“I mean…I got something,” Wren replied, bemused.

…

    You were excited. Jihun was coming home for Thanksgiving! By your math, it had been well over a year since you’d last seen him, so your parents were going all out. They’d invited all of your friends, but Seungcheol had been the only one to take them up on the offer. It was going to be nostalgic, the five of you together, but holidays were all about nostalgia, right? You’d spent the day with your parents, helping them prepare the house and meals. Seungcheol had been assigned to pick up Jihun from the airport when his flight arrived that afternoon, so you were surprised when you heard a knock on the door a little after noon.

“Oh, who-?” your mom wondered as she opened the door, “Seungcheol, darling, you’re early!”

“I know, but I thought I’d come see if I could help with anything until then,” he shrugged, stepping into the threshold.

    From the kitchen, you did a double take. Seungcheol was wearing an unbuttoned button down with a matching t-shirt underneath and accessorized with a medium weight chain necklace. He looked nice, which made you momentarily self conscious that you were still wearing chores clothes. You threw him a quick smile before returning to finish washing the sheet pans that were no longer needed.

“Can I help?” he offered.

“You wanna dry?” you suggested, pointing out a dry towel. He nodded and settled in next to you, drying off anything you handed to him. “What time does Jihun’s flight get in again?”

“Three, so I’ll probably leave around two. There’s probably airport traffic today.”

    You nodded as you finished up the dishes and set the gloves aside to dry.

“Mom, what else can I help with?” Seungcheol had already wandered off in search of your mother.

    You rolled your eyes. He had called your mom ‘Mom’ since you were kids. The first time had been an accident and you had replied ‘No, she’s my mom!’ quite indignantly. Your mom had chuckled and patted young Seungcheol on the head, reassuring him. At first he continued to call her ‘Mom’ mostly to irritate you, but over time, it sort of just became reality. Seungcheol was over at your house so much that he really did feel like family at times.

“You’re so thoughtful, Cheol,” your mom beamed up at him, “You can come help Dad and I wrap dumplings if you like.”

“Sure,” he nodded, hip checking you away from the kitchen sink so he could wash his hands. You huffed indignantly as you took your seat at the dumpling table as well.

“So Seungcheol,” your dad cleared his throat, “How are things at the shop?”

“Good! Not much has changed since you were last there,” he cocked his head thoughtfully.

“You’ve been to the studio?” you queried, confused at the idea of it.

“Yes, of course! We had to congratulate him once we heard he was taking it over. I’m not sure we’re tattoo people, still, but our Cheol is a business owner now!” your dad laughed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s still a small town, YN,” Seungcheol chuckled, “Not much happens without everyone knowing about it.”

“That’s true,” your mom nodded. For example, she had heard through the grapevine that you often hung out with Seungcheol and his staff at Anne Kim’s bar. Apparently quite an edgy group of youngsters. The Kim’s had long ago given up running the establishment themselves, but it was a good source of passive income and town information.

“That’s so funny, I can’t imagine you there!” you giggled.

“They brought me a cake and everything,” Cheol chuckled, recalling that day fondly. It had taken some explaining to get everyone to understand that they were not, in fact, Seungcheol’s own parents and the cake had done a good job of quieting them all down.

“That’s so cute,” you gushed.

    When you’d been younger, it had sometimes bothered you how easy it was for your mom to love your friends in what felt like the same way that she loved you. Now that you were older, you could appreciate her capacity to love in a different way.

“I should go get Jihun,” Seungcheol announced, placing one more lopsided dumpling onto the tray before standing up.

“Drive safe!”

“Will do,” Seungcheol smiled at your mother, disarmingly charming.

“What a good boy,” she preened happily as you finished wrapping up the dumpling filling. “Have you hung out with Seungcheol much since you’ve moved back?” she asked, even though she knew the answer already.

“Occasionally,” you shrugged, but as you did the math you realized that you’d probably seen him more than anyone else in recent days. “I’ve probably hung out with his receptionist, Wren, more though. They’re nice!”

“Oh, Wren! Yes, I remember from the studio. They’re just cute as a button, aren’t they?” your mom chirped. So you weren’t willing to admit that you were closer with Seungcheol than you’d ever been before. That was okay.

“Yes, they really wanted to come for Thanksgiving too, but they decided to go to their partner’s family’s instead.”

“Well, you know you don’t need an excuse to bring them around. Our house is always open. You too,” she gave you a pointed look. You grinned sheepishly. You knew they always wanted you to visit more.

“I’ll bring them around!” you nodded affirmatively.

“In fact, the rest of the shop can come too! They’ll keep us young,” your dad added suddenly. Your dad had always been quieter than your mom, but every so often he said something that left you absolutely slack jawed. This was one of those times.

“I’ll let them know,” you shook your head with a chuckle. “I’m going to go shower and change now.”

    Your parents waved you off goodnaturedly and you retreated to your childhood bedroom. Everything you needed was in your duffel bag, but you couldn’t help from getting distracted by all of the stuff that your mom had kept exactly the same. Filled with nostalgia, your fingertips skimmed across the figurines, books, and other memorabilia. Your diary caught your eye and you pulled it out by the spine, curious to read some of your old thoughts. It was all cringey as hell, but it made you laugh as you thumbed through. As you reached the end, something fell out from the pages which surprised you. A polaroid of Seungcheol from the night you had told Wren about many months ago at this point. It was from the night before he and Jihun had left for college and the last time you remembered him being blonde prior to this most recent bleach job. You smiled softly as you peered at it in disbelief. Seungcheol looked the same, but different. His roots were a touch more grown out than they were right now and he was wearing that dog tag necklace that he had felt was so cool back then. What a handsome doofus.

“Woof, nostalgia is one hell of a bitch,” you muttered under your breath, surprised at your own reaction.

    Shoving your thoughts aside, you jumped into the shower and focused on getting ready. The warm water soothed you infinitely and you hummed contentedly to yourself as you finished getting ready. You changed into a cute yet comfortable outfit and headed down the stairs to join your parents. You were in the middle of contemplating a cookie when the front door opened dramatically.

“I’m home!” Jihun announced excitedly as he entered the house. To your surprise, not one but two figures followed him inside.

“Jihun-a!” your mom cooed excitedly as she moved towards the door. “Oh who’s this?”

“Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend Hyejin!”

“Oh my goodness, what a surprise!” your mom tittered excitedly. “Why didn’t you tell me so I could have prepared?”

“Mom, you’re always prepared anyways! I wanted to surprise you,” Jihun shook his head.

    Your parents tsked appropriately at Jihun while ushering Hyejin inside. As they tittered over her, you threw a look at Seungcheol.

“Surprise!” he wiggled his hands weakly, which made you burst out laughing. You rolled your eyes before joining the family in the living room.

“Hyejin, this is my sister, YN,” Jihun gestured towards you as you entered.

“Hi,” you grinned excitedly at Hyejin. “I’m very excited to share with you all of Jihun’s most embarrassing stories!” you shook her hand with a little too much vigor for your brother’s tastes.

“I’m so excited to meet you all!” Hyejin smiled. She was so pretty!

“Genuinely, you’re so pretty, what the hell are you doing with Jihun?” you couldn’t help but ask mischievously.

“YN,” Seungcheol furrowed his brow, “Easy.”

“You’re right, I’ll let you settle in. I’ll ask later,” you whispered surreptitiously to her, drawing a small chuckle. Instead you joined Seungcheol as your parents lightly grilled Hyejin and Jihun about their relationship. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell any of us,” you mumbled at Cheol. “Did he share much on the drive with you?”

“No, not much,” he shook his head. “I was surprised too, I haven’t seen her on his socials or anything. Must be recent?”

“Hm,” you shrugged.

    Seungcheol watched you as you looked on with interest. You looked really cute in your holiday cardigan. You could feel Seungcheol’s gaze on you. You kept your eyes facing forward, but you couldn’t help a light shiver before you decided it was time to rejoin the fray. Seungcheol looked on from the kitchen, allowing you this familial moment. Dinner passed quickly, everyone enjoying the opportunity to catch up with or get to know each other. You found that you were a big fan of Hyejin. She was funny, clever, and so easy to talk to. Seungcheol and Jihun caught up easily, like old times. Your parents looked on happily at their lovely little family.

“Okay, time for a movie!” your mom announced once everyone had finished eating.

“Movie?” Hyejin wondered and the rest of you stood.

“Family tradition, movie theater after an early dinner,” Cheol answered with a smile. “Are we playing for right to choose? Or perhaps because we have a guest…?” he gestured to Hyejin.

“Oh I think guest chooses,” you nodded supportively.

“Really?” Hyejin was surprised. “Okay, let me see what’s showing,” she laughed, pulling out her phone.

“Ooh I'm excited, good choice again Hyejin!” you bounced on the balls of your feet as you waited in line for concessions.

“Behave,” Seungcheol grabbed you by the shoulders, pinning you in place. 

    A jolt of heat darted through your chest at his grip. You suddenly flashed back to the day of your tattoo. This was a very similar feeling to when Seungcheol had grasped your upper thigh and murmured ‘good girl’ to you, effectively knocking the wind from your lungs. You stilled, unable to face him.

“Good girl,” he went on to commend you thoughtlessly as he perused snack options.

    You blinked. A sharp exhale left your lungs as you struggled with the effect this was having on you. You wanted to punch Seungcheol, how could he be so careless with his words!

“Popcorn,” you answered the teenager when you got to the front of the line.

“What size?”

“Large,” you answered. You had saved room.

“Should we just share a bucket?” Cheol suggested.

“No! Get your own popcorn,” you scrunched your face at him. The possibility of accidentally brushing hands with him was too much to consider right now.

“Okay, damn,” he chuckled bemusedly as he went to order his own popcorn.

    You knew you were acting odd, but you couldn’t help yourself. In an effort to distance yourself from Seungcheol, you wandered towards Jihun and Hyejin, eavesdropping on their conversation. They were discussing something boring so you wandered towards your parents instead.

“YN-ah,” they beckoned you towards them. “How are things since moving back? I know it was always a little small for you here,” your mom asked genuinely.

“You know,” you thought for a moment, wanting to answer honestly, “I was worried I wouldn’t be happy moving back…but I’ve made some good friends and I’m actually pretty happy!”

“That’s great,” your dad smiled at you.

    Your mom studied your expression closely, but you didn’t give much away. She was curious whether your contentment was tied to Seungcheol as much as she hoped it would be. Your parents had always been big fans of Cheol throughout childhood. Part of it was proximity, of course, as Seungcheol had been at the house almost constantly throughout middle and high school. But the other part of it was that they saw the ways in which Seungcheol complimented both you and Jihun. Seungcheol had always had a calm energy and presence that didn’t hinder you from being yourself, but also tempered your personality when occasionally necessary.

“Movie time!” your parents announced, ushering everyone towards theater six. As everyone paired off, you found yourself sitting next to Seungcheol.

“We should’ve just shared a popcorn, we paid basically double to have the same amount in separate bags,” he pouted at you.

“I want to have my own bag, leave me alone!”  you whisper shouted at him, scrunching your face at him in the dark.

    Hyejin giggled as she watched you and Seungcheol with fascination. Jihun had mentioned that you all had been childhood friends, but not that you two were dating. She wondered how long it’d been since you and Seungcheol had gotten together and whether Jihun even knew. She’d have to ask after the movie was over.

“That was good,” you nodded surely as everyone piled into the car. “I was especially a fan of the scenes where the fruit and vegetable carts were upturned. Love me a good ‘my cabbages’ moment!”

“Me too!” Hyejin giggled

    The ride back was filled with excited discussion, laughter, and some good natured teasing. Your parents helped themselves to a slice of apple pie and let you all know you were welcome to the leftovers if you got peckish before they retired to bed. Eventually Jihun and Seungcheol wandered off to look at something in the basement, which allowed you to visit with Hyejin more.

“So how long have you and Seungcheol been dating?” she asked.

“W-what?” you sputtered. “Me and Cheol? No, we’re not!”

“Oh, I’m sorry! Are you really not?” she flushed, “You two seem so close!”

“No, no, don’t be sorry!” you leaned towards her, not wanting her to feel embarrassed, “We are close! But we’ve known each other for years,” you tried to explain.

“That really surprises me. You two seem very much in step with each other,” she mused. She had literally watched him eat the chestnuts that you’d pulled out of your stuffing and set on a side plate.

“I-, I mean I guess we are closer than before these days. I moved back to town a few months ago and Seungcheol is probably one of my closest friends right now,” you thought out loud. You weren’t sure whether it was just the longevity of the relationship, but there was a deep comfort that you had with Seungcheol that just couldn’t be beat.

“Ah, I see,” Hyejin nodded, tipping the rest of her wine back.

“Do you want another drink? Or maybe we can go bother the boys?”

“Why not both?” she laughed, so you led the way.

“Oy, degenerates! What are you doing down here? Smoking weed?” you teased as you bounced down the stairs.

“I mean we could be,” Jihun’s voice called back.

“Holding out on us,” you rolled your eyes playfully at Hyejin as you rounded the corner.

“Hey,” Hyejin grinned, looping an arm around Jihun’s waist and squeezing affectionately.

“Yo,” you punched Seungcheol awkwardly in the shoulder before flopping onto the futon next to him. “It’s been a damn minute since we were all down here, huh!”

“Yes it has,” Cheol’s eyebrows raised dramatically as he considered the length of time. “Probably haven’t been back since before college started.”

    Jihun nodded in agreement and they both took turns sharing fun stories with Hyejin until your eyes started drifting shut. These beers really took a toll on you these days.

“Hey, YN,” Seungcheol’s voice and shoulder nudged you awake.

“Hm?” you murmured.

“You should go to bed,” he suggested.

“No, I’m fine! I’m just resting my eyes,” you protested, struggling to keep the aforementioned eyes open.

“Oh not this again,” Seungcheol shook his head. He had fallen for the ‘resting my eyes’ line a grand total of twice before he’d learned his lesson. That just meant you had already dozed off and were going to fall asleep again shortly. “YN, if you don’t go to bed now, I’m going to carry you up.”

“Do it, you won’t,” you goaded him sleepily. You managed half a yawn before he had hucked you over his shoulder and carried you up the stairs.

Jihun had been scrolling through his phone, and so looked up with slight confusion to see Hyejin grinning knowingly.

    Seungcheol dumped you onto your bed as gently as he could manage, but you still landed with a loud ‘oof’. He scoffed as you curled into your pillows and comforter like a caterpillar into a cocoon. Why couldn’t you just admit you were tired like a normal person?

…

    A few weeks after Thanksgiving, you were at Seungcheol’s again spending quality time with Patty when Jihun Facetimed him unexpectedly. Patty was sitting on your chest on the couch when Seungcheol picked up.

“Hey man, what’s up?”

“Not much, I was just calling to check in. Thanksgiving made me realize that I’ve done a shit job of keeping up with you so I want to change that!”

“Oh, for sure,” Cheol laughed, a little surprised. “Oh, YN is here too!” he directed the phone to you and Patty. You waved from underneath her.

“Oh, YN is there?” you heard Hyejin’s voice in the background. “That reminds me, I’m gonna to text her!”

[hyejin]: ‘hey, I saw an ad for this yesterday and it made me think of you!’

    You squealed in excitement at the attached screenshot she sent of a frog stun gun. It even had a little butt on the back! Patty jumped off of your chest in protest of your loud noise, but your excitement was difficult to contain.

[yn]: ‘OMFG. THNEED’

[hyejin]: ‘right?!? when they do their next shop update, i’m ordering for both of us!’

“Coups, look!” you hopped off of the couch excitedly to show Seungcheol, completely derailing his conversation with Jihun. “It’s a frog. And a self defense stun gun. And it has a butt!” you flipped through the pictures excitedly. Seungcheol nodded good naturedly at you before returning to his discussion with Jihun. 

“I didn’t know you had a cat,” your brother's voice floated across the room. Seungcheol explained the situation, to which Hyejin sent you a slew of texts rapidly.

[hyejin]: ‘are you sure you’re not dating seungcheol?!?’

[hyejin]: ‘you can tell me if you are. i wont tell jihun!’ 

[hyejin]: ‘im cool!’

[yn]: ‘im not!’

You furrowed your brows slightly. You and Hyejin had kept in touch since Thanksgiving and she had taken to fussing over you like an older sister. For the most part you loved it, but this probing about Cheol made you feel…confused. It wasn’t the first time that people had mistaken you as a couple and you almost understood why. No, the thing that was difficult to contend with was the fact that you…didn’t hate it?

[hyejin]: ‘okay 👀 im just sayin not many people would let a cat live at their house just for a friend’

[hyejin]: ‘but maybe im wrong!’

You sat up and watched Seungcheol over the back of the sofa as he chatted with Jihun. You didn’t bother to process what they were saying, but you watched the way the corner of his lips lifted into a half side, revealing one of his dimples. You’d seen his dimples a million and one times before, but this time it felt like your heart shot up into your throat, clogging it. It didn’t seem to matter how many times you tried to clear it either, that bitch was stuck. Seungcheol threw you a ‘you good?’ glance before returning his attention to your brother. There was nothing remarkable about it. There was no reason it should make you nervous. And yet, the slight pinch between his brows and the clear concern in his eyes made you squirm.

“I gotta go!” you announced to Seungcheol and Jihun, waving casually at them before pulling on your shoes. Patty gave you a departing headbutt and you were out the door.

“I thought she didn’t have plans today,” Seungcheol’s expression was clearly confused after you left.

While you drove home with all of the windows rolled down in an effort to regain composure, Seungcheol tied up his conversation with Jihun. The house felt quite empty now that he wasn’t on a call and you were also gone. It was a surprising thought for him to have, since he’d long ago gotten accustomed to being alone and in fact quite liked it. But he’d be an idiot to ignore the fact that his life had changed dimensionally since you’d come back into it.

You’d coaxed him into a closer friendship with his staff members, gifted him the furry little gremlin that he now looked forward to coming home to, and you yourself had become someone that he thought of often and cared for deeply. He’d been unsure whether it was the same kind of proximity based fondness that you had shared before, but upon further consideration, he concluded that this was not the case. These days he didn’t just tolerate you. He sought you out. He wanted to fill his time with you. He wondered if you felt the same.

…

[wren]: ‘come on, please?!’

[yn]: ‘i’m tired 😩’

    You frowned at your phone. You weren’t actually so tired that you didn’t want to go out, but you felt a sort of reluctance to go because you’d been avoiding seeing Seungcheol. It had taken some time to sort through your feelings, but you’d finally accepted that you were struggling with an attraction to him that you needed to get over. You were sure you could, you just needed time.

    Seungcheol ran his hands through his hair as he finished up his profit and loss statements for the month. It had been a good month. In fact, an extraordinarily good month, which also meant that there were many more transactions to account for. In the past, he probably would’ve rather walked off of a bridge than do his P&Ls, but the spreadsheets that you’d help build for him were a genuine lifesaver. You’d even helped with figuring out how to automate data downloads from the PoS system which saved him and Wren a huge amount of headache. He really needed to treat you to dinner or something as a thank you.

[seungcheol]: ‘when are you free?’

    You stared at your phone. What the hell was in the water today? Your heart had jumped when you’d seen Seungcheol’s text. You were of two minds: one wanted to read and respond to it immediately while the other wanted to throw the phone into a garbage chute. As usual, you let both sides percolate before reaching a happy compromise. You read the text but didn’t respond until later.

[yn]: ‘kind of depends. what for?’

[seungcheol]: ‘i want to take you out.’

[seungcheol]: ‘as a thank you for the p&l spreadsheets’

    Your hopes rose and fell just as quickly as you read the texts in sequence. It was a professional matter.

[yn]: ‘that’s not necessary! friends help each other’

    His brow scrunched upon reading the word ‘friend’. It sent such a pang through his chest that he wasn’t expecting, but he felt persistent today.

[seungcheol]: ‘i dont see why that should stop me from showing you that i appreciate you. let me know when you’re free for dinner’

Your heart flip flopped in your chest. How could you get through a dinner with him when just a text affected you like this? And yet you had no valid reason to say no.

…

    You tapped your toe nervously as you waited for Seungcheol. You had decided on Friday after work and he had insisted on driving you, because he had wanted to keep the restaurant a surprise. So here you were, 6:12 pm on Friday and incredibly, unreasonably nervous about dinner. You wondered if you could still cancel.

[seungcheol]: ‘here’

“So much for that,” you muttered to yourself before stepping out of your apartment. The only indication of dress code that Cheol had given you was ‘don’t look like a hobo’, so you’d chosen a simple black dress with a colorful and fun cardigan. There was a slight chill in the air, so you pulled the cardigan a little tighter around yourself as you climbed into his car.

“Hey,” he broke into a smile as soon as he saw you. “You look nice.”

“Thanks,” you replied as you buckled your seatbelt. You gave him a quick once over as he backed out of the parking space. He was dressed in all black and the visual focal point was a half-pearl, half-chain choker necklace that really stood out. “Oh I like that!”

“I thought you might,” he grinned at you as he leaned back, settling into his seat after getting onto the highway. “It seems your kind of style,” he explained when your brows furrowed.

“Ah,” you nodded, not quite sure what to say. “So where are we eating, will you tell me now?”

“Yes. We’re going to Kyōten, in the city.”

“What?!” you glanced at him, slightly alarmed, “That’s kind of a haul!”

“It’s not too bad. Plus our reservation is at 7:30. I budgeted enough time.”

“Still, you don’t have to drive that far! We could’ve eaten somewhere in town,” you grumbled.

“I’ve been wanting to try this place too. Not everything’s about you, baby,” he teased. This was true in part. Seungcheol was interested in the omakase menu at this restaurant, but he likely wouldn’t have gone by himself. “How’s work been, by the way? I feel like I haven’t seen you around much lately.”

    You flushed at the moniker ‘baby’ before pushing through it to answer him. It was true, you’d been working a handful of extra shifts at work here and there in preparation for the holiday season. But you’d also been making yourself scarce because you still couldn’t control the physical reaction that you sometimes had to Seungcheol. You omitted that part in your answer, but did share a handful of funny stories that had happened at work lately. Seungcheol, in turn, updated you on some of the interesting happenings at the studio as of late. Hoshi had finally been able to do the largest tiger flash that he had available, which had been incredibly exciting to him. Joshua had attended the annual APP conference and made a lot of good contacts. The studio was working out details on a guest piercer spot in the near future. Before you knew it, you had pulled into the parking ramp near the restaurant.

“Oh it’s windy!” you remarked as you stepped out of the car.

“Here,” Seungcheol pulled a spare puffer jacket out of his backseat and handed it to you. You’d wrapped it around yourself gratefully as you completed the short walk to Kyōten.

“We have a reservation for 7:30. Seungcheol,” he informed the hostess. She nodded kindly and led you through the dark space towards the sushi bar. You remarked at the beautiful architecture and decor as you hopped onto the bar stool. “I’ll just stand, if that’s okay?” he asked the hostess, tucking his stool slightly to his left under the bar.

“Have you all done this before?” you asked the people sitting next to you as you waited.

“No, we haven’t!” they shook their heads, “Have you?”

“Oh thank god! No, I definitely haven’t. You haven’t either, right?” you asked Seungcheol, realizing you didn’t know.

“No,” he shook his head.

“Don’t be nervous! Just eat what they give you,” the couple on the other side of the bar from you smiled kindly. “The chefs here are great, they’re very interactive and fun. Just have a good time.”

    Reassured now that the ice was broken, the six of you chatted before the chef came. The pair next to you shared that they were celebrating their second anniversary. They had also driven in and were staying for a long weekend in the city.

“That’s so fun, I love that! We’re just here for the night,” you smiled at them, the sake warming you from the inside out.

“What about you two? Is this a special occasion?”

“Sort of,” Seungcheol answered, draping his arm across the back of your stool as he did so. “It’s a thank you dinner for YN. She’s been a huge help with my business this year, so I thought I ought to show her my appreciation properly.”

“What do you do?” Miseon asked curiously.

“I run a tattoo and piercing studio,” he answered.

    As he explained in more detail, you felt like your back was itching, the way you were hyper aware of his arm draped behind you. Seungcheol had gotten closer and closer to you as he’d engaged in the conversation with Miseon and Nuri. It wasn’t like you weren’t used to physical closeness with him, but the interior of this restaurant was so intimately lit that it tricked you into overthinking the whole situation. Even after the chef arrived and dinner commenced, he didn’t distance himself from you at all.

“Would you like to join us for a few drinks? We’re having such fun with you!” Nuri asked once you were all back on the sidewalk.

    Seungcheol looked to you, indicating that he was game. The way you smiled back at him, flushed in the apples of your cheeks, made his breath hitch.

“Sure!” you nodded excitedly. You’d also really enjoyed Nuri and Miseon and were happy to keep the night going.

    The four of you did some quick googling before settling on a bar a few blocks away. At the second crosswalk, you’d been a little too engaged in the conversation and nearly stepped into oncoming traffic. Without thought, Seungcheol had hooked his arm around your waist to pull you back and simply left it there. Your eyes flew to him at this touch. He was looking straight ahead and you were surprised when the idea of planting a kiss along his jaw popped into your mind. You flushed and shook your head when his head turned to look at you again.

    The bar was cute and the next hours passed quickly as you chatted with Nuri and Miseon and enjoyed the ambiance and music. A few times you had looked up to see Seungcheol’s dark eyes trained on you from across the bar and you’d flushed each time. Before too long you were saying your goodbyes and driving back home. The car was quiet as you and Seugcheol both reflected on the night.

    Even though he had framed it up as a ‘thank you’ dinner, you felt like that label didn’t quite fit. You might have been overthinking it, but Kyōten had been so intimate and the way that Seungcheol’s touches seemed to linger felt different than your usual closeness. You’d also been mistaken as a couple a few times and neither of you had bothered to correct them, which you usually did. Perhaps it was the context of being in a city you didn’t live in, but it just didn’t seem important this time.

    Seungcheol tapped his fingers against the gearshift as he drove. He’d known Kyōten might be a little more romantic than your typical dinner with a friend, but he’d chosen it because he’d overheard you share with Wren that you were really interested in trying omakase style dining. It hadn’t been totally conscious on his part, but he’d found himself finding ways to be closer to you throughout the evening and he’d been surprised at how you’d responded. You hadn’t shied away from his touch and he’d seen you blush a few times throughout the night in ways that made him wonder if his attraction towards you wasn't completely one sided.

“Did you have fun?” he asked, glancing towards you as he drove down the dark roads.

“Yes,” you beamed at him, “Although you spent entirely too much money, Cheol.”

“Hey!” he cut you off with a stern look, “I told you, this is a show of my appreciation. Let me just appreciate you.”

“Hm,” you pursed your lips at him, trying and failing to not imagine those words in a different context.

    Seungcheol pressed his tongue against his cheek. He’d always enjoyed the way you reacted when he teased you.

“Thanks for driving,” you threw him a smile before reaching for the door handle. You were eager to get out of this car, which felt entirely too hot right now.

“I’ll walk you,” he announced, leaving the car as well and stepping to your side.

“Oh?” you were surprised. This was not typical.

“I really enjoyed tonight,” he commented as you stepped onto the front stoop of your apartment building.

“Me too!” you beamed, eyes creasing softly at him.

“I want to tell you something,” he cleared his throat and your heart stopped.

“O-kay,” you nodded a moment later when you were actually able to retrieve your voice.

“I-, uh,” he cleared his throat again when he tried to speak. “You are very important to me, so I want you to know that nothing has to change between us after I say what I say.”

    You blinked at him, heart racing so fast that you were worried you wouldn’t be able to hear him over its beating.

“My life has changed a lot since you moved back. I am closer to my friends, the shop is doing really well, and I have a cat that I guess I love now. And that’s mostly because of you, so thank you for that. But also, I, uh, my feelings about you have changed. I think about you often and my house honestly just feels empty when you’re not there. So I like you,” he felt like he was shouting now, so he tried to reign it in, “I like you and you don’t have to say anything, I just want you to know.”

    Your brain had screeched to a halt and you were frozen throughout most of his confession. The cogs started turning again as he planted a soft kiss on your forehead and let you know he’d text you tomorrow. He was back in his car when you’d gathered yourself enough to run after him.

“Hey!” you practically jumped out in front of his car as he tried to leave the parking spot.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” he shouted, jumping out of the car after slamming on the brakes and putting it back in park.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” You couldn’t explain why, but you were fuming. “You need to be less careless with your words!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Seungcheol threw his hands up, completely caught off guard by the fact that you were…yelling at him?

“You can’t just call me ‘good girl’ while you’re tattooing my inner thigh or tell me you like me and then leave? What about me and my sanity?”

“What?” Seungcheol’s eyebrows raised into his hairline as he processed what you had said. Surely you didn’t mean…?

    He was taking too long to understand so you walked towards him, grabbed him by that damned pearl chain necklace, and pulled him into a kiss. He was surprised for just a moment before he was kissing you back intently.

“Were you doing it on purpose?” you asked between kisses.

“What?” he asked, not totally grasping what you were asking.

“Was it on purpose?” you reiterated, fingers teasing at the hairs on the back of his neck. “Your little touches, grabbing my waist? You were driving me crazy,” you exhaled sharply.

    Seungcheol paused at this confession, drawing back to look at you fully. His eyes raked over you and you grew hot under his gaze.

“It wasn’t, but I guess I couldn’t help myself,” he chuckled, lips curling into a half smile.

“Turn your car off,” you demanded and Seungcheol was more than happy to comply.

[seungkwansphd]

want YOU

pairing: changkyun x fem!reader word count: 2.2K synopsis: your dynamic with changkyun had been strained for the entire time you'd dated his friend. after breaking up, the 'why' starts to unravel. themes: smut, boyfriend's friend, repressed feelings, M O O D Y changkyun, post-breakup.

a/n: this fic was HIGHLY inspired by tabber (hence the title). baby's (me) first changkyun fic. also smut's all over the place, to be honest, but oh well

You chewed on your lip. You hadn’t expected Changkyun to be here. You shrank against the wall slightly, as if it would help you evade his detection, but his dark eyes landed on you before long. Found you like always.

You sighed. You didn’t want to talk to him. Even when you’d still been dating his friend, your relationship had felt strained. Dominic insisted that it was imagined on your end, but you could always feel an energy in Changkyun’s gaze that felt disapproving. Even when you’d met eyes with him just now, it felt like it crackled through you from head to toe.

Changkyun clenched his jaw when he saw you. He knew he looked mad, but that was okay. He was used to keeping up this facade, feigning dislike or indifference to avoid the assuredly disastrous reveal of the raw, unbridled attraction that he felt for you. He’d known from the first time Dominic had introduced you two that he wished to undo you.

As time passed and Dominic proved himself to be a rather poor partner, Changkyun’s reign on his emotions grew tenuous, strained. He couldn’t avoid you, after all. He became a sideline admirer of your stray thoughts and soft smiles, but his sense of duty ensured that the way you affected him stayed a secret to everyone and especially you.

“I’m gonna go grab some water,” you excused yourself from the conversation. You wandered into the kitchen and pulled open cabinets until you found the cups you were looking for. Pressing up on your tiptoes, you reached upwards until you nearly lost your balance.

“Careful,” someone appeared to steady you. Large hands found purchase on your waist and even provided a slight lift to assist. The way their thumbs pressed into the muscles of your back made you want to purr, but you managed to keep a hold of yourself.

“Thank yo-,” your words faded into a squeak when you realized who had helped you. “Changkyun.”

He nodded as you looked back up at him. You frowned. He was too close.

Changkyun grimaced slightly, looking at his hands. This had been a mistake. To now know how they fit around your waist would make him mentally unwell.

“Changkyun,” you did your best not to stutter. “Can I? Water,” you pointed towards the faucet. His hands were still around you and sent a ripple down your back.

“If you’re here to tell me off for breaking up with Dominic, you should just save it. Go ask him why things ended,” you told him indignantly after a sip of water.

Changkyun’s heart leapt into his throat. What had you just said?

“You broke up?”

“You didn’t know?” you looked up at him with surprise. He shook his head.

You gave him a half smile and a shrug before finishing your glass of water. Changkyun was still embroiled in thought as you placed it into the dishwasher and slipped outside.

You shook yourself once you were in the backyard. The way he’d been looking at you had been downright suffocating, so the fresh, cool air was a welcome relief. You waved and made small talk with a few familiar faces before you noticed one of the ladder toss bolas wrapped around a tree branch. Someone should get that down.

Once again standing on your tiptoes, you reached upwards, but this time the goal was far more out of reach. Jumping didn't do the trick and neither did standing on the tree’s gnarled roots. You spotted a rickety stool and decided to give that a shot.

“I told you to be careful,” Changkyun’s voice sounded in your ear as the stool started to wobble. You let out a small, surprised puff of air as you fell into him. His arms caught you and folded you against his warm, solid chest.

“Changkyun.”

It sounded regretfully like a soft moan. A gravelly groan emanated from his chest and rippled through you and you throbbed. You didn’t know whether you’d undergone some sort of perverse conditioning by way of his repeated rebuffs or whether you’d actually tucked it aside in self preservation, but your body wanted him.

“Changkyun,” you sighed, body stiff in his arms.

“Yes.”

“What is this?” you asked, searching his expression.

“I’m not sure,” he answered honestly, “I just…want.”

You nodded once, hands fisting in his shirt. His grip on you tightened.

“Tell me.” He needed to hear you say it. After months of lusting after you, he knew with certainty where he stood. He needed some sort of indication from you too.

You closed your eyes. You almost regretted it because it allowed a hazy image from the past to fill in the blank. The one time you'd run into Changkyun leaving the bathroom shirtless, damp, sweatpants slung pornographically low across his hips. You'd nearly lost it then. Sadly there was nothing to stop you now.

“...need you,” you sighed, tugging on his shirt now.

That was enough for him. You heard him swallow before practically carrying you out. He had no more patience.

“Ah!” you let out a surprised squeak when he deposited you on his kitchen counter. His lips explored the curve of your neck and your head fell back, letting out a thick, wet moan. He growled from the back of his throat. He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to hear that. His hungry lips curled into a grin as he traveled down to the hollow at the base of your neck. His tongue dipped into it before he bit down slightly, pulling another cry from you. Your fingers threaded into his hair and pulled him back slightly.

“Demon,” you laughed. His deep chuckle joined yours. You liked when he laughed.

He picked you up again, this time carrying you to his bedroom. Your legs wrapped around his waist and his arousal pressed against you firmly. You were ready. If you could’ve sank down around him like that, you would have. Your hands made quick work of each others’ clothes and he bent you over the bed, his hands finding their place around your waist just like earlier in the kitchen.

“Please,” you whimpered, pressing back towards him.

Changkyun wished he could tease you, draw out your longing, but he couldn’t. He needed to be inside of you or he would simply combust. Pressing his thumbs into the small of your back, he stroked into you, letting out a low groan peppered with choice curse words.

Your mouth fell open with surprise. He was big. You enveloped him with your warmth and he let out a sigh when he was pressed flush against you. Your name fell from his lips like a prayer before he starting fucking you in earnest. Your cries were ecstatic and you took full advantage of burying your face in the covers to muffle the desperation in your sounds.

“God you look good, taking it all for me. So good for me,” he groaned.

“Yes,” you nodded frantically. You could already feel your orgasm building. This first one would be quick.

“I wish you could see. Looks so good taking me into you,” he sounded strained.

“Kyunnie!” you groaned, clenching around him.

“Fuck!” he cursed. His orgasm threatened to rip through him at any moment.

“Taking it so good for you,” you babbled. It was mostly incoherent, but provocative all the same. You reached back, grabbing his wrist as you spasmed around him, orgasm ripping loudly through you. His followed shortly after, his fingertips pressing into you with a bruising pressure before he fell forward, breath ragged.

You watched him as he recovered. When he looked up at you again, his eyes burned into you intensely. Now that he’d taken the edge off, he could really show you what he was made of. Fuck you in all the ways he'd imagined. Fuck you in all the ways you needed.

“Oh?” you were surprised by his short recovery period. He placed you on your back, hips against the edge of the bed before sinking to his knees before you. Your instinct was to sit up and look at him, but you were promptly halted by his hand at the base of your throat, pressing you down into the mattress. “Oh,” you sighed again, brain mushy.

You couldn’t see, but you felt his press your knees apart. He paused for a moment and you wondered what he was doing. The not knowing set a ripple of goosebumps through you.

Changkyun sat back on his heels for a moment to admire you. His eyes traced the swells and curves of your shape. The line of your inner thigh called to him like a siren song and he moved like a man possessed.

Your lips fell into an ‘o’ shape when you felt him on you again. His lips kissed, nipped, and kneaded their way up your inner thighs and your legs spread for him of their own accord. Your hands busied themselves stroking up and down his arm, roped with muscle. You were sure you were glistening by the time he was even close to your center.

“How are you?” he asked suddenly, head popping up into your field of vision.

“Oh, um, good?” you answered, surprised at the question.

“Let me know if you’re not enjoying yourself. Or if anything is too much,” he informed you before ducking his head back down.

You squirmed. No one had ever really checked in with you like that before.

Changkyun resumed the task at hand diligently. His lips were back at your knee, which made you frown. He'd been further up than this before!

“Changkyun, please,” you whined, shifting down towards him impatiently.

He snickered. Seeing you so insistently needy for him was quite the shot of self esteem. He held you in place with his hand and stayed his course. You could wait.

You sighed and waited impatiently as his lips kneaded their way back up towards your now swollen pussy. Your clit throbbed with inattention and your arousal now glistened. When Changkyun finally brought his lips to yours, you let out a loud cry, equal parts relief and anguish.

“Mmmm,” he hummed into you, the sound emanating from his diaphragm. Your thighs closed around his ears and the intensity increased.

“I-, I need,” you gasped, eyes watering. You needed something more.

“What do you need?” his eyes bored into you.

“Fingers,” you answered without hesitation. You needed to feel something inside of you.

His eyebrows quirked up and he looked you over from head to toe. Your initial instinct was shyness, but the way he looked you up and down actually made you feel confident and powerful. He wanted you bad.

“Changkyun, please?” you cooed sweetly, reaching your fingertips out to caress along his jawline. “Don’t you want to watch your fingers slide into me, stretch me out? I’ll be so good, taking it for you.”

You were shocked when the hand on your chest shot up to grab your jaw and his thumb pressed against your tongue, thick and heavy. He’d hadn’t even thought this action through, he just knew he needed to shut you up somehow before he lost his mind. Your goading dirty talk died in your throat and your lips closed around his thumb, sucking eagerly.

“Fucking hell!” he cursed loudly. He shifted to a more favorable angle and dipped his index and middle finger into your honeypot of a mouth before stroking them through your folds.

“Hnnngh!” you keened, pressing your hips up against his fingertips.

“Want my fingers?” he looked down at you, “Let me warn you, my hands are bigger than Dominic’s.”

“Oh?” you smiled hazily up at him. “Show me.”

A smirk curled onto his lips as he pressed into you. He hadn’t been kidding. His fingers were longer and curled into you in the most satisfying way. You sank into the mattress as he pumped in and out of you, wet gushing sounds filling the room.

“So?” he asked. You were clearly enjoying yourself, but he wanted to hear you say it.

“What?” you asked breathlessly.

His eyes darted down to his fingers, lodged deep inside of you, before looking back up expectantly. With his eyes, he was asking how he compared to your ex.

“...who?” you teased.

You were surprised when he hauled himself over you and pressed a kiss to your jaw. It was almost sweet coming from a man that was usually all frowns and stern looks. His fingers slid out of you and he notched himself between your thighs. You giggled like an idiot.

“Someone’s excited,” he teased, tongue in his cheek.

“Yes,” you smiled up at him genuinely. “In case you’re wondering…you’re a lot bigger than him in this regard too.”

Changkyun laughed. He hadn’t not been wondering, but he really did enjoy hearing you say it. Leaning his forehead down to touch yours, he pulled himself into you, deep and slow. The sound you let out was toe curling and he couldn’t wait to pull more of them out of you.

[seungkwansphd]

wings of love

pairing: publisher!mingyu x children's book author!YN word count: 2.4K synopsis: you find yourself seated next to a girl who needs a little bit of assurance during your flight into the city. you don't expect to see her and her dad at your publisher's pitch meeting the next day too! themes: FLUFF, airplane meet cute (SORT OF), this is very kid-centric, single dad mingyu, girl dad mingyu.

a/n: this is based off of an interaction i actually had on an airplane (minus the dilf meet cute LOL). i'm in my short fic era and it's been so nice! ALSO I KNOW THE TITLE IS SO CORNY DO NOT EVEN LOOK AT ME. 😂

You looked to your right at the empty airplane seats. The small hope of having the row to yourself was dashed when a flight attendant appeared at your side with a young, nervous looking girl.

“Hello,” you greeted them with a smile.

“Hello YN,” the flight attendant smiled at you. “This young lady will be sitting with you.”

“Oh wonderful!” your face lit up, “Would you like to sit near the window or the aisle?” you addressed the child directly.

“Window,” they answered shyly.

“Good choice,” you grinned, standing up to let her in.

“I’ll be back to check on you frequently, okay?” the flight attendant addressed the child directly, “If you need anything in the meantime, please press this button.”

Your new seat mate nodded shyly and the flight attendant left, satisfied.

“I’m YN,” you introduced yourself with a gentle smile.

“Hi. I’m Lena.”

“Is this your first time flying?” you asked gently. The girl looked quite nervous and you were hoping to make her feel more comfortable.

“First time by myself,” she nodded.

“Ah, I see. That would be pretty scary, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Well, did you know that flying is actually safer than driving? Statistically speaking,” you blurted without thinking. You idiot. This girl looked to be younger than ten for sure…she wouldn’t know what statistics were, right?

You were out of your depth. While you didn’t have any issue with kids, per se, you also definitely didn’t spend a lot of time with them. Might be best to just keep your mouth shut.

“Is that true?” she asked you after some quiet consideration.

“Yes,” you nodded slowly, now worried that you had given her a new fear of driving. “Is that helpful at all?”

“It is…a little. I’ll try not to think about that when I have to be in a car later,” she nodded resolutely.

You laughed. She seemed quite thoughtful for her age.

“Excuse me,” she glanced at you nervously after peeking out of the window, “Can you hold my hand? I felt a little better after what you said, but then I looked out the window and now I feel worse.”

“Of course!” you smiled kindly at her. “Here!”

You stretched your hand out, palm up, and offered it to her. She placed her own hand gently into yours and gave you a tight smile before squeezing her eyes shut. You squeezed your lips together and hoped that you were helping. Once you had reached a cruising altitude and the flight had smoothed out, she opened her eyes again and looked at you with wide eyes.

“I think I’m okay now,” she looked a little sheepish as she pulled her hand out of yours.

You nodded encouragingly towards her.

“Why are you flying?” she asked you not too long afterwards.

“For my job. I have an important meeting with someone in Chicago. I hope it goes well,” you shared with her.

You were pitching a children’s book concept to a publisher tomorrow. While this wasn’t your first book, it was a new publisher to you and you were nervous. You weren’t sure whether this child would understand the jargon around publishing, so you kept it simple.

“How about you? Why are you flying alone?”

“I’m going back home to see my dad. I was with my mom for a few weeks, but it’s time to go home.”

“Ah, I see,” you nodded, inferring that her parents were likely separated. “Did you miss your dad?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Do you live here most of the time? Or with your mom?”

“I live here during the school year and then I see my mom over the summers.”

“Ah, I see! So does that mean school is starting soon?” you asked as you reminded yourself what the date was. Summer was coming to a close.

“Yeah, in a few weeks. My dad is going to take me shopping. We’re going to buy new clothes, but I’m more excited to get my supplies! I want new markers.”

You were surprised at how tickled you were by her enthusiasm for school supplies. You’d been like that too as a child. Nothing could beat the feeling of getting fresh notebooks, folders, and pencils for the year.

“Ah, that will be so fun! I love shopping for art supplies.”

“Really? My nanny says I should be more interested in clothes than colored pencils!”

Your brows furrowed at this gendered idea. You were a little surprised that she had a nanny, but you supposed if her dad was a single father, having some assistance made a lot of sense.

“Oh really? I don't agree. You should like whatever you like!”

“That's what my dad says too!” her face lit up at you. “He tries to tell Nanny, but she was his nanny too so she doesn't listen to him.”

You chuckled. A family Nanny? That seemed like rich people shit.

“My dad is so silly. He's so tall and Nanny Gerry is so short compared to him, but he still listens to her. I like my dad though. He's nice to me.”

“Well it's good to be respectful to elders,” you nodded, “Your dad seems like a good person.”

“I think so too,” Lena beamed up at you. “I think he’s a good dad.”

You smiled genially at her. Lena would tell you a handful of stories about her dad as the flight went on. He seemed like someone that was loving, enthusiastic, and kind. As someone whose parents were also divorced, it made you really happy to know that Lena had such a solid parent in her life.

“Do you have a suitcase that you need help with?” you turned to ask Lena as the plane taxied on the runway.

“Yes, but I think the flight lady will help me?”

“Ah, okay,” you nodded.

Despite that, you stayed with Lena until the rest of the passengers deboarded. You felt a connection to her now, so it didn’t seem right to just leave without her.

“Thank you for helping me feel less scared on the flight,” Lena smiled up at you as the flight attendant walked towards you. “I hope your job thing goes good!”

“Thank you for keeping me company,” you grinned at her. “I enjoyed our conversation during the flight.”

You were surprised at the little pang of disappointment as you parted ways. Airports were laden with brief connections, but you found yourself hoping that she was able to get all the school supplies she wanted and that this school year would be pleasant for her. You wouldn’t be able to know, of course, but she was a sweet and thoughtful girl and you wished her the best.

…

“YN?” the receptionist pulled you out of your thoughts. “I’m so sorry to inform you, but Mr. Kim is running a few minutes late. Something fell through with his childcare, but please be assured that he will be taking your meeting as soon as he arrives.”

“Oh, of course!” you nodded.

You knew your pitch inside and out at this point and it wasn’t like you had anything else to do. Checking your phone briefly for emails, you decided to browse through the articles suggested to you while you waited. Somewhere to you right, a small commotion entered the office. A tall man in a suit carrying a child on his hip had arrived, somewhat flustered and the receptionist rushed to them to take the child from his arms.

As you glanced up from your phone, your eyes locked with…Lena?

“Oh? YN!” she cried with excitement before wiggling out of the receptionists’ arms.

Her father looked on incredulously as she made a beeline towards you.

“Lena!” you laughed with delight when she launched herself into your arms. “I didn’t think I’d see you again!”

“Me neither!” she grinned from ear to ear up at you. “Dad, Dad! This is the lady I was telling you about. Yesterday from the plane!”

“Ah, hello!” you nodded at Lena’s extremely tall father.

“Mr. Kim, this is your nine o’clock, YN,” the receptionist chimed in helpfully.

“Oh? Oh!” Mingyu’s brow wrinkled before his entire face lit up, the dots connecting in his mind. “What a coincidence! Please, YN, I hope you can excuse my tardiness. Unfortunately Lena’s childcare fell through today, so she’ll be joining me at work today. Lucky for me, you two have already met!”

“Ah? Oh ah!” your mind was a few steps behind Mingyu’s still. “Oh, you’re Mr. Kim? And,” your eyes jumped to Lena in your arms. “Ahhhhh,” you laughed, the understanding finally dawning on you. “Small world indeed.”

“Please, follow me! I’ve asked for my other meetings to be rearranged, so we’re not in a rush. I am excited to review your book concept.”

You nodded, grabbing your bag in your free hand. Lena kept herself busy by updating you about her dinner last night and breakfast since she’d last seen you. She was so engaging with her storytelling that you didn’t notice the handful of curious looks the three of you received while walking.

“Oh my god, I shouldn’t have let you carry her all the way. Lena, please come down,” Mr. Kim motioned to his daughter. She pouted slightly, but eventually shimmied her way out of your arms and took a seat at some children’s furniture that was in the corner of his office.

“It’s quite alright, Lena and I are buddies, Mr. Kim,” you laughed, straightening yourself out.

“Please call me Mingyu,” he smiled crookedly at you.

Lena had spent the majority of last night talking his ear off about the nice lady that had comforted her on the plane. She’d been adamant that he acknowledge that you were also on her side regarding the issue of school supplies versus clothes shopping. She’d also mentioned that you were kind, patient, and a good drawer. One of your napkin doodles was currently on Mingyu’s fridge. He’d found himself wishing that he could thank you for being so kind to his daughter on her returning flight, so to have you now here in his office was quite a shock to his system.

“...Mingyu?” he was pulled back to reality as you called his name.

“Sorry, I spaced out for a second. What did you say?”

“I asked if we should review the pitch concept for my book?” you repeated yourself. You had to hide your grin. The look on his face had been incredibly cute when he’d been zoned out.

“Yes, of course!” you nodded, pulling a folio with your storyboard out of your bag.

Mingyu found himself smiling widely as you discussed the concept. It was a children’s book, so the plot was naturally simple, but you were clear that some of the tougher concepts you wanted to touch on were non-negotiables and he respected that.

“I agree completely. I do think given the target age range of readers, it’s appropriate to consider this topic.”

You beamed at him. Mingyu seemed easy to work with and open to your creative direction.

“Well, I think that covers everything that I wanted to discuss during this meeting. Are there any outstanding questions that you need to ask on the publisher’s end?”

“Hmm,” Mingyu reviewed the notes to his right before shaking his head. “No, not at this time. Today’s meeting was mostly a formality. Our team had aligned that we liked this concept and mostly wanted to bring you out to meet you in person. I feel very good about approving the concept formally.”

“Oh!” you clapped your hands together with delight, to which Lena’s head popped over the back of the couch. “Oh that’s wonderful news!”

“It is,” Mingyu smiled at the way your eyes lit up. “Just to give you a sense of what to expect, you will be referred to a different team to work out the details of your contract. Since you typically illustrate your own work, we can bypass the process to identify an illustrator, which should significantly shorten the overall timeline.”

“Ah, perfect,” you nodded.

“So now that that’s out of the way. M-may I ask you a more personal question?”

“Oh, uh yes?” you cocked your head up at Mingyu with curiosity.

“Do you happen to be free tonight?” he smiled at you in an impossibly charming way. “I would really like to take you out to dinner. Partially as a thank you for being so kind to Lena on the flight and partially because I am itching to get to know you more.”

“Can I come too?” Lena interjected importantly.

Mingyu’s canines revealed themselves when he grinned at his precious daughter and your heart jumped into your throat.

“Yes, I’d like that,” you nodded at the both of them.

“Perfect.”

[seungkwansphd]

i think i need to shoot you

pairing: jeonghan x reader wordcount: 6.2k summary: so you’ve figured out how to get along with jeonghan. so what?! everyone at the office doesn’t need to know. it only gets in the way of life occasionally and it’s not that bad, right? genre/themes: fluff, smut, secret relationship at work, rivals to lovers (kinda), maybe some angst? basically i love jeonghan & yn and just want them to be kinda bickering but happy.

a/n: this is the pt2 to we get along infamously. i found it a little challenging to keep their tension, so i hope it was worth the wait and that y’all love it too :)

    You chewed on the inside of your lip as you stared what you hoped looked like daggers at Jeonghan. He was wearing the black button down that you had gifted him last week and you were imagining how efficiently you could take it off of him, but you were also at the office so that was a nonstarter. Grumbling, you turned reluctantly to your monitor and tapped angrily at the keys.

“You okay?” your coworker, Vernon, looked at you with slight concern.

“I’m great,” you smiled at him with just your teeth and he shook his head at you, amused.

“I actually thought you and Jeonghan were getting along better lately, but I guess I was wrong,” Vernon mused.

“Vernon…I need you to know that I would never,” you placed your hand on your chest, acting aghast. “To my last breath I will curse his name.” You wondered if you were overdoing it, but Vernon didn’t seem the type to notice.

    Jeonghan looked down to hide his smile as he listened to you pretend to dislike him. It should probably bother him more, but you were going about it in such an obtuse way that he found it terribly endearing. He’d never let you know, though. No, it was much more fun to tease you about it later.

[redacted]: ‘are you hungry? should i grab you lunch while i’m out for my client meeting?’

[yn]: ‘plz & ty!! where are you going?’

[redacted]: ‘i’ll send you a link to the menu, just lmk’

    You did a little happy dance in your chair as you peered at the menu on your phone screen and made your choice. You eyed Jeonghan surreptitiously as he left for his meeting, you really had done a good job with the shirt.

“Should we grab lunch? I don’t have another call for an hour,” Vernon turned to you.

“Oh, I-, uh,” your brain stalled as you tried to think of a reasonable response. “I’m not hungry. My mom’s bringing me lunch,” you malfunctioned slightly. “I mean my stomach hurts so my mom is bringing me soup.”

“Oh…that’s nice of her,” he replied, but you could clearly tell he found your response odd. He didn’t press, though, and simply left to find some lunch for himself. Once he was out of sight, you rushed to text Jeonghan again.

[yn]: ‘nevermind, please bring me some soup instead’

“Clam chowder?” Vernon did a double take when he saw the soup container on your desk. “Is that helpful for your stomach?”

“Mhm,” you had to answer simply to prevent yourself from bursting out laughing. At this rate, Vernon was going to report you to HR for being unwell.

…

“How did your client meeting go?” you asked Jeonghan as you chopped up onions.

“Good! They said they’re happy with the progress and are considering bringing a second project to us too,” he smiled, pulling pork out of the fridge. He set it down for you and moved to boil noodles for the night’s jjajangmyeon.

“That’s so good, Hannie!” you beamed at him.

“Hn,” he nodded. “Did you enjoy your soup?”

“No,” you groaned, “I panicked when Vernon asked about lunch so I told him my mom was bringing me soup,” you laughed, still embarrassed at your inability to think on your feet.

Jeonghan burst out laughing as he finally made sense of your weird lunch order. “I see,” he nodded slowly, “I guess that’s the downside of people at work not knowing, huh?”

“Yeah,” you pursed your lips as you fried the black bean sauce in oil.

  Jeonghan watched as you thought, trying to read your expression. He was ready, at any time, to go to Minghao and find out what paperwork he needed to file. You weren’t quite there, but that was okay. He could be patient. You were worth the wait.

“Mm, I overheard something interesting today,” Jeonghan remarked as he helped carry dishes to the sink.

“What’s that?”

“This developer was telling Vernon how she would curse my name until her last breath or something like that?” he raised one eyebrow at you as he caged you in against the countertop with his arms.

“Oh th-that’s crazy,” you stuttered, flushing at his hungry gaze.

“Especially because I really haven’t given you anything to curse about,” he leaned forward, breath tickling your ear, “Not yet at least.”

“Oh?” you squeaked, “Please elaborate,” you tugged at his shirt eagerly.

“With pleasure,” he laughed, grasping you just under the jaw to pull you into a kiss before popping you up onto the kitchen countertop. “Just so you know, you’re in for a long night.”

“Well fuck,” you weren’t able to stop yourself from cursing.

  Jeonghan ran his fingers up your inner thigh, the material of your leggings dragging just slightly at his touch. He pressed two fingers against your clit as his other hand held you open to his firm and direct pressure.

“Jeonghan!” you gasped, head falling back, hair spreading across the kitchen countertop.

“That’s good, I want you to be loud tonight. If you’re going to curse my name, I want you to mean it,” his lips curled up as he worked his fingertips, pressing circles into you at a medium pace. He could feel you soaking through the fabric of your leggings, which always spurred him on.

“Hannie,” you squirmed against the countertop, simultaneously overwhelmed and wanting more. You clutched at his wrist, but he didn’t relent until you were frustratingly close.

“Stay put,” Jeonghan ordered before wandering off. You wondered what fresh hell this would be as you waited. “Is this okay?” he asked when he popped back in, a blindfold dangling off of his index finger.

“...yes,” you nodded after blinking a few times. Jeonghan asked you to get undressed before sliding the blindfold over your eyes gently.

“Okay?” his gentle voice asked, to which you nodded. “Good.”

    He guided you into the bedroom, laying you back gently on the bed. The cool air pebbled your nipples and the deprivation of sight made your pulse race. Jeonghan watched intently as your fingers spread across the covers, orienting yourself. He stepped out of the bedroom again as inspiration struck and you laid on the bed, listening to him shuffle around. He returned shortly and trailed the fingertips of his left hand across your skin. The pressure was quite light, almost ticklish, and made you squirm under him. If you could’ve seen him, you would’ve seen a look of pure adoration as he watched the way your muscles jumped and twitched at his touch. He almost felt bad when he lowered the ice cube against your nipple. Almost.

“Hannie!” you jolted, almost sitting upright as you registered the freezing sensation. “Fuck!” your whole body clenched, hands gripping the comforter. Jeonghan grinned, holding the ice against you for just a few more seconds before pulling back.

“Mm, you seem to like that,” Jeonghan’s brows raised, seeing the way you were glistening.

    You nodded, ears tuned in, trying to follow his movements around the room. Somehow knowing what he had at his disposal made the anticipation even more blissfully agonizing. You gulped audibly when you heard a now familiar buzzing kick on.

“Hannie, I’m sorry I said what I said!” you groaned, cursing your past self, knowing his penchant for torture.

“Are you tapping out?” Jeonghan asked, unable to read you properly with the blindfold on.

“...no,” you whispered sheepishly. It was a fine line between pain and pleasure and Jeonghan had such a skill at walking it.

“That’s my girl,” he patted your cheek condescendingly before he placed the vibrator just off-center, lengthwise against you. Your strangled cries and the way your hips hitched stroked his ego like nothing else he could even imagine. He continued, alternating between ice cube and vibrator, until you were begging desperately.

“Hannie, please,” you cried.

“Louder.”

“Jeonghan, please!” you repeated yourself, eyes squeezed shut behind the blindfold.

“Go ahead,” he nodded, bringing the toy to sit squarely against your now swollen clit. You let out a loud sob as your body shuddered and an orgasm rolled through you. “Another,” he insisted, keeping the toy planted as you continued to squirm. “Han, Han, Hannie!” you gasped, clutching his forearm desperately as another and another rolled over you mercilessly.

“Louder. I don’t think we’re done until you run out of breath,” Jeonghan snickered at you. 

“Hannie, I can’t, no more!!” you eventually squealed, tapping insistently at his forearm with two fingers. Jeonghan nodded, recognizing your signal for release, and pulled away. He pulled off the blindfold and gathered you into his arms, spooning you from behind, and stroking your hair reassuringly.

“So good, so good. Thank you for indulging me,” he murmured appreciatively against the top of your head. You relaxed, melting into him and beaming under his praise. You adored the way he took such care of you.

“What about you?” you asked, turning your face towards him and rolling your hips gently against him.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” he asked, knowing he had already asked for a lot.

“Mhm!” you nodded, “But maybe instead of fucking the living shit out of me, you could be a little gentler?”

“Of course. I’m multi talented after all,” he laughed. You rolled your eyes at him as he ground himself against you. He finished undressing and pulled your back against his chest before sliding into you.

“I don’t think anything beats having you inside of me,” you sighed dreamily, twining your fingers with his as you pushed back against him.

“You’re such an angel at times,” Jeonghan remarked at the way you were able to work him up so easily. With one arm wrapped around your waist, he stroked into you, deep but at a leisurely pace. The way you wrapped around him made his brain feel like a melted slushee in the best way. “Fucking christ,” he cursed, arm tightening around you.

“So good, so good,” you moaned appreciatively, “Will you cum in me?”

“I can indulge you in that,” Jeonghan chuckled, trying to stay composed, but his voice cracked slightly which ruined the effect just a bit.

“Fill me up,” you begged, “Deep inside of me,” you babbled, not really caring what kind of embarrassing shit came out of your mouth as long as you got what you wanted.

“You-, you’re-, fuck,” Jeonghan tried and failed to reprimand you before his hips bucked, shooting his load deep inside of you. You giggled, always proud when you were able to make him the one at a loss for words. He clicked his tongue at you weakly, more than spent.

…

    You blinked slowly, trying to mentally orient yourself as you woke up. That’s right, you had stayed the night with Jeonghan, which was why everything seemed out of place. Turning, you couldn’t help but grin as you saw him, still asleep to your side. He was drooling slightly, his hair was defying the laws of gravity, and you weren’t sure if he’d ever looked cuter than this. Glancing at the clock, you let him continue to sleep for as long as time would allow.

    The pair of you moved through the morning with ease. Brushing your teeth side by side in the mirror, making coffee, and helping him pick out a shirt. It was a good thing you liked him so much, otherwise it would’ve been sickening.

“You’re really not going to eat?” Jeonghan looked at you, almost horrified.

“I don’t usually get hungry until later!” you waved at him, sipping your coffee.

“You should eat,” he grumbled, but dropped the subject for now. Grabbing his plate, he sat down next to you, tugging your chair towards him. Grinning, you hooked your right leg over his left, enjoying the closeness. The morning had passed quickly, but you had to admit it was nice to start the day with Jeonghan.

“Do you want to go to happy hour?” Jeonghan asked you as you walked towards the office building together.

“I was planning to, unless you had other thoughts?” you nodded.

“No, just curious,” he shook his head, “Do you want me to fall back a bit so we can walk in separately?” he offered, eyes scanning the area for coworkers.

“That’s okay,” you shook your head , “We can say we ran into each other on the sidewalk.”

“Okay,” he smiled at you, maintaining a professional distance as you swiped in.

“Morning, dearly beloved!” Minghao greeted you happily when his eyes landed on you. His eyes flitted to Jeonghan before his brows lifted just slightly.

“Morning Hao,” Jeonghan waved to him before everyone piled into the elevator.

“Everyone coming to happy hour today?” Minghao asked, observing the two of you out of the side of his eye. You tolerated an atypically small distance between yourself and Jeonghan and hadn’t actively picked a fight yet. Interesting.

“Yes, you know Seungkwan will beat our asses if we don’t,” you laughed genuinely.

“This is true,” Hao nodded, “Ride over together?” he asked you as he stepped out of the elevator.

“Of course!” you nodded. You could feel Jeonghan’s eyes on you, but you resisted the instinct to turn to him as there were still others in the elevator and walked to your cubes in silence.

    A few hours into the day when you returned from a bathroom break, you spotted an out of place object on your desk. Cocking your head to the side, you realized it was an egg kimbap with a sticky note placed on it instructing you to ‘eat’.

…

“I’m-, are we late?” you turned to Hao with a confused expression as you walked in on an already drunk Seungkwan singing incredibly loudly.

“I-,” Hao stopped in his tracks, slightly surprised, “It’s only six thirty.”

“How long have you been here?” you turned to Hyemi.

“Since five thirty,” she flushed, “It’s been a lot.”

    Your eyes flitted to Jeonghan, who shrugged defeatedly. He sat on the couch nursing a beer while Jae and the interns talked at him about something or the other. You could tell he needed extraditing, but weren’t sure how to manage it. To top it all off, Seungkwan’s voice permeated your brain and made it even harder than normal to think through it.

“Narcissistic, my god I love it!~”

“Let’s get a drink and then figure out how to wrangle these cats,” you laughed with Minghao before searching out some soju.

“Did something happen? Or is he stressed? He is way more drunk than usual,” you whispered at Hyemi as she poured shots for you and Minghao.

“I think he’s fighting with Seyoon?” she guessed, already flushed high in her cheeks.

“Ah,” you nodded. That made a lot more sense. Sipping quietly, you took inventory of the room. Seungkwan had momentarily surrendered the mic to someone else, Jae still clung to Jeonghan like a moss to a tree, and Hyemi was…making eyes at Changkyun? From finance? “Um,” you turned to Minghao, jerking your head subtly at the pair.

“Interesting,” his eyes lit up, “Very interesting.”

    Jeonghan watched you watch the others. A big part of him wanted nothing more than to go home and take you with him, but he could already tell that you were committed to a night of being the mom friend. When your eyes finally met his briefly, his brows quirked up just slightly before anyone could notice and he delighted in the smile that lit up your face.

“Okay, everyone know how they’re getting home?” Minghao helped to herd the small crowd out of the establishment. A chorus of yeses rang out and he nodded, somewhat satisfied.

“Okay, subway gang follow me,” you announced and the interns fell in line behind you and Jeonghan like a group of ducklings. In lieu of holding hands, you hooked your pinky into his until he reached his stop.

…

“Yoon Jeonghan,” you held your left hand up in front of you, eyes wide and voice calm, as if you were negotiating a hostage situation. “Jeonghan, please,” you implored.

“I’m so sorry, but I think I have to shoot you,” Jeonghan grinned mischievously, his paintball gun trained carefully on you.

“I’ll make it worth your while if you don’t,” you stepped forward, tongue tracing your lips in a way that you knew your boyfriend found incredibly distracting. He didn’t shoot, so you took another step and grabbed him by the tactical vest, pulling him in. He couldn’t help it. Confused that you were doing this during work hours, his grip on his paintball gun slackened and his arm dropped, making him the perfect target for Hyemi to shoot in the back.

“You!” he pulled back, eyes narrowed accusingly at you as he touched the neon green paint dripping down his back, “Oh you’re done!” he pointed at you with a threatening chuckle before walking towards the bleachers where the other out players were.

    You laughed it off, running towards Hyemi for a victorious high-five before setting off to find your next target. You scanned the bleachers and noticed that Changkyun and Mingyu were still at large. Noted.

“How did you do that?!” Hyemi asked, high on the rush of taking down the Yoon Jeonghan. “I thought he would’ve shot you right away!”

“I have my ways,” you laughed, turning to her. “Shall we go get your man? I know you guys just recently started dating, so I don’t know if you have the stomach to betray him just yet.”

“Apparently my cat, Natto, prefers him to me, so Changkyun is dead to me as of now,” Hyemi turned to you. A laugh burst through your lips when you saw her deadly serious expression and you nodded firmly before setting off to find him.

“Okay, let’s go!” you pumped your fist, breaking into a jog through the obstacle course.

    Jeonghan fumed on the bleachers as you and Hyemi carried out your mission. He wasn’t actually mad, of course, but his competitive nature got the best of him at times. Even more than that, however, he was surprised at how attractive it was to find out that you could be just as ruthless as him when it came to games.

“Ya, Mingyu!” he gestured to one of the junior developers when he spotted him.

“Yeah?” the large man loped over.

“YN and Hyemi are going for Changkyun, so tail them. You should be able to take one or even both of them out while they’re focused on him.”

“I feel like I’m not allowed to take your tip since you’re out,” Mingyu hesitated.

“Don’t care. Do as I say,” Jeonghan waived off his concerns and pushed him towards the field.

    Mingyu shrugged and crept through the course, keeping an eye out for you and Hyemi. He ducked behind some netting when he spotted you cornering Changkyun, as Jeonghan had described. Taking aim, he fired off a shot, taking you out of the game. You shook your finger at your boyfriend as you approached him on the bleachers.

“Why do I feel like you had something to do with this?” you rounded upon him, suspicious.

“Whatever do you mean?” he asked, a picture of innocence, which more or less confirmed your original thought. You reached around him to grab a bottle of water. “I’m not gonna lie, that was kind of attractive,” he leaned over to whisper in your ear.

“You’re terrible,” you flushed, stepping away from him bashfully.

“Not yet, but I will be later,” he whispered under his breath, eyes full of dirty promises.

    Reminding yourself that you were at a work event, you turned away from him for fear of overheating.

“We were right not to let YN and Jeonghan be on the same team,” Vernon laughed as he grabbed a fresh water bottle. “Just separately, they’re both menaces. Can you imagine their combined powers unleashed upon us?”

“I actually think I rank YN higher on the menace list than Jeonghan right now,” another one of your teammates, Miseon responded proudly to Vernon. “She did manage to coordinate Jeonghan’s takedown, after all.”

“Yeah, how did you manage that, actually?” Vernon wondered aloud, fixing you with a confused stare. Jeonghan had been extremely well positioned before Hyemi had managed to hit him. It didn’t make a lot of sense.

“Keep underestimating me, Vern,” you crossed your arms as you looked on at the remaining players with interest, “That’s how I like it.”

…

“Hannie?” you called, realizing it had been a moment since you’d last had eyes on your boyfriend. Poking your head into a few rooms, you jumped slightly when Jeonghan appeared next to you, a finger gun pointed at you. You were a little confused, but played along.

“C’mere you traitor,” he ordered with a straight face.

“Traitor? We weren’t on the same team!”

“Traitor of my heart,” he pulled you against his chest, acting wounded.

“Tch,” you rolled your eyes, but allowed yourself to be folded into him.

“I didn’t realize you were so competitive,” he looked down at you, his expression surprisingly soft and full of admiration.

“You didn’t?” you narrowed your eyes at him in confusion, “A year and a half of working together hasn’t made you realize that I’m competitive as hell?”

“I meant more like in games,” he clarified.

“If I’m being honest,” you cocked your head to the side to try and organize your thoughts, “It’s really just something about you that brings it out of me. I’m generally quite easygoing.”

“Hn,” Jeonghan blinked. He supposed it made sense, he did seem privy to a much more difficult side of you than most others were. “I have an idea,” his eyes lit up.

    Your eyes widened at him, a bit surprised at how excited he seemed.

“What do you think about cockwarming me?”

“Oh?” you blinked rapidly as you considered it. One the one hand, yes. But on the other hand, no.

“I’m just curious which of us will cave first,” Jeonghan explained, knowing it would egg you on.

“Well it won’t be me,” you bluffed, “So sure!”

“You’re sure?” he smirked at you amusedly.

“More than,” you rolled your eyes at him. Jeonghan scoffed. His toxic trait was that he actually liked it when you acted like this.

    Moving to the bedroom, you and Jeonghan decided on a TV show before climbing into bed. It took a few tries, but ultimately you decided that spooning on your side was most conducive to the task at hand. Jeonghan pulled himself flush against you, sliding between your thighs and tugging the sheet up.

“Not fair!” you protested as he rolled his hips and his shaft grazed you, coating himself in your wetness.

“Sorry, you’re right,” he patted your head before sliding into you, bottoming out easily. You exhaled sharply as he filled you up. Maybe your confidence had been undeserved. “You haven’t watched any more of this without me, right?” he asked as he pressed ‘play’.

“No?” you tried to clear your head. You felt so full.

    Jeonghan’s arm was looped around your waist and fingers laced between yours. You were surprised at how still he was able to be as you watched most of an episode. Towards the end, you started to get a little bored. Ever so slightly, you started flexing around Jeonghan. You hoped to be almost imperceptible and you thought you were achieving that until the episode ended and he put it on pause.

“You’re misbehaving,” his voice was gravelly as you felt him twitch inside of you.

“Am I?” you wondered aloud. “Were there rules?”

“No, I guess not,” he shrugged, realizing you were right, and pulled you down against his hips, hard.

“Han!” you scowled at him.

“Hm?” he hummed lightly as he continued to drive into you without ever pulling out.

“Not fair,” you bemoaned as you realized your inner thighs were completely slick.

“I don’t really feel like playing fair,” he tsked at you, hand moving to tease the underside of your breasts. Your nipples puckered at his touch and your mouth hung open in disbelief. You’d fucked up, truly.

  You folded at the waist, as if it would provide you some relief, but it didn’t help even a little. Jeonghan continued to grind into you, stroking you deeply as little whimpers and cries escaped your lips.

“You could end this,” he goaded you, laughing cruelly, “Just be a good girl and cum for me.”

“No,” you frowned, even though you wanted nothing more than that. You were still holding onto your stubborn pride, but your grip on it was slipping.

“I can hear how wet you are. I can feel how close you are, baby,” Jeonghan continued to needle at you with his words. “Just cum.”

    Your eyes squeezed shut as the orgasm ripped through you. A mangled cry managed to escape your throat as you clenched hard, triggering his own orgasm. If you’d had the presence of mind, you would have heard him cry your name out, but you weren’t exactly all there.

“I really do hate you,” you grumbled, after pulling yourselves together.

“You’re just mad you lost,” he fixed you with a shit eating grin. It was big talk for a man whose bones felt like jelly.

…

“Hao, I genuinely need to file a formal complaint about all of these workplace bonding activities,” you griped to your favorite HR manager. Today was community service day, so a group of you were headed to a local food pantry in embarrassing, matching t-shirts.

“I am once again asking you to remember that that is above my pay grade.”

“What’s the point of being your friend if I can’t use it to get the things I want?” you leaned against him affectionately.

“Yeah, the ROI is dismal, isn’t it?” Minghao laughed.

“Oh! Actually that reminds me. I have something to ask you later, in private.”

    Minghao’s brows disappeared into his hairline, but he nodded. His curiosity burned, but the volunteer coordinator arrived to walk the group through the tasks for the day. It was a pretty straightforward boxing of groceries to be distributed later. You settled in between Seungkwan and Hao and were responsible for adding carrots. Jeonghan worked at the end of the line, next to Vernon, on the opposite side of the table.

“Hey y’all!” a new voice arrived in the room, “I’m Kim Yejun, the executive director here, and I wanted to stop in and thank you all for your time today! We really appreciate the extra help.”

    The group went through introductions around the table. You thought you were imagining it, but it seemed like Yejun’s eyes lingered on you just slightly longer than needed. You realized Seungkwan had picked up on it too when his head turned towards you, eyes like saucers.

“May I join you?” Yejun approached your table during the lunch break.

“Yes of course!” Seungkwan nodded furiously, pushing things away dramatically to make room for the executive director.

“Thanks,” Yejun laughed, taking a seat almost across from you. “How are you finding things today? Any questions about our organization?”

“It’s been great,” you nodded at him.

“I do have a question,” Seungkwan raised his hand, “How did you come to be in this line of work?”

“Me? Ah, well, actually when I was young, my family was not always food secure. We relied on food pantries, like this, and when I got older, I wanted to make sure I could give that positive experience to others as well.

“That’s so admirable!” Seungkwan fawned. “And do your family and children ever come to help out as well?”

“Ch-children? I’m not married, I don’t have any children,” Yejun blinked.

“Ah, I see,” Seungkwan nodded, clearly scheming.

“How about you all? Do you have families?” Yejun asked, eyes meeting yours with interest.

“Ah, well,” you stammered, not sure how to answer. You weren’t single or interested in this man, but no one at the table knew that and it wasn’t really the time for a big reveal.

“She’s single,” Seungkwan filled in the gap seamlessly.

“Ah,” Yejun nodded, not really listening as the others shared their marital statuses with him as well.

    Jeonghan eavesdropped on your table’s conversation, chewing angrily. He trusted you, but that didn’t make him wish that he could vaporize Kim Yejun any less.

“You okay, man?” Jae noticed Jeonghan’s sour mood.

“Yeah, just ready to be done with this,” Jeonghan grumbled.

“Same, this is so lame. We should go out afterwards and pick up chicks! I’m a great wingman,” Jae boasted, wanting to stay in Jeonghan’s good graces.

Jeonghan wanted to bang his head against the table. There was almost nothing he wanted less than that.

…

[yn]: ‘should I still come over?’

[🥰]: ‘please’

    You smiled, tucking the paperwork that you had gotten from Minghao into your bag. You were glad Jeonghan still wanted to see you, as he had seemed a little moody earlier. You couldn’t blame him though, Seungkwan really had been pushing the YN & Yejun agenda today.

    Jeonghan stewed as he waited for you to arrive. The day hadn’t been completely horrible, but it had certainly snapped things into perspective for him. He had genuinely been okay waiting for you to be ready to go public, but today had dislodged an ugly, jealous piece of him that he did not like at all. He wanted desperately to bring the topic up with you, but was also worried about pushing you too too far and too fast. What a dilemma.

“Hannie!” he heard you calling as you opened the door. For a split second, he forgot everything that had been bothering him as you ran over to him excitedly. “I brought you snacks!”

“Ooh!” his eyes creased into a smile as you climbed onto his lap , kissing his nose sweetly. His hands naturally found their way to your hips as you tossed off your bag and settled in.

“Sorry about today,” your lips drew into a straight line as you played with his hair.

“Sorry?” he cocked his head to the side at you.

“Seungkwan was on another level today. I don’t imagine it was fun for you to see him try to set me up with Director Kim?”

“No,” he shook his head, but the knot in his chest loosened and was replaced by relief.

“Actually, that’s why I was a little later than you today,” you held up a finger before reaching for your bag to rifle through it. You retrieved the handful of papers and started reading from them, “There shall be no policy prohibiting peer coworkers from dating, although HR must be notified via form 0526-15,” which you presented to Jeonghan with a flourish. “What do you think? I know we’ll have to give up our tough, intimidating personas, but-”

    Jeonghan cut you off with a kiss, before beaming at you. “You have no idea how ready I am to file that damn form,” he enthused, almost exhilarated.

“Oh!?” your eyes popped open, “Really?”

“Yes, you dunce,” he tapped you on the forehead impatiently, “You’re mine, I want people to know.”

“Oh,” you flushed. It wasn’t like it was a total surprise, but to hear him say it so simply made your heart swell.

“I also want Seungkwan to repent. He’s already a little scared of me.”

“You’re a big softy though,” you giggled, kissing across his jaw contentedly. You felt Jeonghan swallow as his hands tightened around your waist. 

“Oh yeah?” he queried, and you could already feel him hardening against you. You grimaced at his bad joke, but couldn’t help the way your body reacted so readily to him.

“I retract-, redact,” you tried to say, but his hands were guiding you along his length and you lost the ability to form thought. “Help,” you whimpered, clutching the front of his shirt as your clit throbbed.

    Jeonghan smiled. You were so responsive to him, it was one of the many things that he had come to adore about you over the past months.

“Princess can’t think straight anymore?” he teased, pulling your chin down to meet your eyes as he let you work your hips by yourself.

  You pouted, pupils dilating as your mouth fell open with little gasps and whimpers.

“My princess,” he corrected himself, grinning up at you. You were so pretty when you were speechless for him.

“Yours,” you nodded, loving this soft, possessive side of him.

“Take this off for me,” he tugged at your shirt lightly. You were more than happy to comply. “Mine, mine,” he repeated as he kissed each of your palms before threading his fingers into yours. His lips sought out the sensitive skin of your breasts and nipped gently, continuing this ‘mine’ mantra as your hands clutched his for support.

“My turn,” you decided, standing up and pulling him into the bedroom. You pushed him onto the bed and helped him undress. Settling between his legs, trailed gentle kisses from his knees to his upper thighs. You could see the sinews of his muscles tense as you moved close and closer to his cock. “Mine,” winked at him before closing your lips around the head, lapping your tongue against the underside.

“OooOoh,” Jeonghan’s voice wavered as you massaged him. You giggled around him as you manipulated your lips up and down leisurely. You watched intently as he gripped the sheets, a sure sign that he was unraveling quickly.

“You’re so cute, all worked up like that,” you pulled back, teasing him slightly.

“Shut up,” he glared at you weakly.

“Will you cum in my mouth?” you asked politely, hand stroking him as you waited for his answer.

“This time, yes,” he nodded.

  Your eyes creased into happy half-moons as you worked your mouth back around him, swallowing deep. You applied a gentle pressure as you milked him, knowing it wouldn’t be long.

“YN,” he warned, hand hitting the mattress as he tensed and unloaded. You showed him your tongue proudly before swallowing.

“You truly are filthy,” he shook his head appreciatively as he pulled you against his side. There was no use denying it, it was very true.

“You like it.”

“I love it,” he corrected you without thinking.

    You froze for a split second, surprised to hear him use that word. Did he? Did you? You weren’t sure, but the way it made you smile like a fool to hear that probably meant something, right?

“When do you want to file that paperwork?” Jeonghan asked, cutting off your mental spiral.

“Oh! Um, maybe tomorrow?”

    He smiled the brightest smile you thought you had ever seen on him. “I can’t wait until everyone knows that you’re mine.”

    Damn, if that didn’t make your heart swell and your pussy throb.

“Say more stuff like that,” you insisted, clambering on top of him. Jeonghan had to laugh, that might’ve been one of your most reasonable requests.

“Oh?” he drawled, “I can’t wait to show up to happy hour with you, hold your hand in front of everyone,” he nuzzled you as you played with his hair.

“Hold my hand? You’re gonna get us fired,” you teased him playfully. It really tickled you to hear that such seemingly small things were what he looked forward to most.

“I have lots of ideas that would actually result in that,” Jeonghan grinned impishly up at you, his erection pressing against your inner thigh.

“Of course you do,” you chuckled as you lowered yourself on him. You rode him lovingly, from hilt to tip, and observed him.

He looked up at you, adoringly, hands resting loosely at your hips allowing you to set the pace. 

“You feel so good and you look so pretty,” he pulled your forehead down to his and whispered. He looked directly into your eyes and his blown out pupils made your breath catch. You really did like him.

“Hannie,” you whined, hand tightening at the back of his neck.

“All yours, princess. Cum on my cock for me,” he whispered encouragement at you as his balls tightened.

“Cum with me?” you asked, doing your best to hold off.

    Jeonghan nodded, bucking his hips up into you just slightly as he complied, emptying himself into you as you came around him. You cupped his jaw and kissed him deeply before slumping over him, pulling him into an embrace.

…

“Minghao?” you knocked on the wall of his cube as Jeonghan stood behind you.

“Yes?” he turned, a little surprised to see the two of you there together.

“We have our form 0526-15.”

“Oh. Oh!” He did a double take. “I hate to have to tell you this, but we also need to follow policy. Seungkwan would be the person to process that. I can pass this along,” he offered.

    You and Jeonghan looked at each other for a moment before shrugging. You were ready.

    As you walked back towards the main staircase, you heard Seungkwan let out a strangled yelp after reading the paperwork.

“HELP!! POLICE?!”

...

part 3 is here, if you’re so inclined!

[seungkwansphd]

bite me

pairing: jeonghan x reader wordcount: 6.1k summary: no relationship is all sunshine and roses, of course, but you and jeonghan are both unpleasantly surprised at how easy it is to second guess things and slip into your old ways. it doesn’t help that nobody at work can seem to mind their own goddamn business! genre/themes: angst, fluff, smut, mostly plot, they fight and they’re both petty, wee bit of smut/makeup sex. dad!cheol, dad!dk, college friend!joshua, jeonghan w/ kids. part of the ‘we get along infamously’-verse

A/N: i have a feeling y’all are not gonna like this as much as parts 1 & 2, BUT I already wrote it LOL. but i do love seeing our main characters progress through their relationship!

also thank you @wavelikewhat​ for your input because that first draft was TRASH GARBAGE :|

    You swallowed as you walked into the office, hand clasped in Jeonghan’s. There was no reason to be so nervous, you tried to reason with yourself. You had filed the paperwork with HR and everything had been processed, so legally you were in the clear. Facing the inevitable prying, teasing, and snooping, however, was a different story altogether. You had spent a lot of time curating your dislike for Jeonghan in the office and it felt…embarrassing to admit that it had largely been a ruse.

“Ready?” Jeonghan squeezed your hand with an encouraging smile.

“No,” you grimaced at him, “But yes. It has to happen sometime.”

    Jeonghan laughed, pulling you in for a soft kiss on the head before letting you lead the way. Surprisingly, you didn’t run into anyone on the way up, so you let yourself lean into your boyfriend as you rode the elevator. You had to admit, it was nice to be able to be close in this way.

“Quiet today,” you remarked, walking towards your work area. Usually you had seen at least one person that you knew by now.

“Seems so,” Jeonghan shrugged. “I wonder if-”

“Congratulations!” a few voices rang out as you rounded the final corner to your cubicles.

“Ya, when were you going to tell me?!” Seungkwan’s voice cut through the well wishes as you saw his beet red face pop out above a cubicle divider.

“Congratulations?” Boram asked, their face clearly showing that they were out of the loop.

“YN and Jeonghan are dating!” Miseon filled them in quickly, letting out an excited giggle.

“Oh? OH!!” Boram stood up straight, clasping their hands against their chest as they gasped loudly. “My mom and dad have reconciled! It’s a Parent Trap miracle!”

Jeonghan glanced at you, holding back a smile. Everyone else was so shocked by Boram’s comments that many just turned back to their work. Seungkwan, however, was incorrigible.

“I’m not kidding, why didn’t you tell me?!” he demanded, approaching you with his index finger outstretched like a scolding teacher.

“Because I figured it would be like this!” you whisper-shouted back at him.

“We’re doing lunch today, I’m putting it in your calendar,” Seungkwan decided before storming off.

“I guess I’m busy for lunch today,” you chuckled to Jeonghan before moving towards your desk.

“Talk to you later,” he smiled, hooking his pinky into yours and squeezing before leaving for his own desk.

…

“I don’t even know where I want to start with questions, so just spill!” Seungkwan insisted before taking a sip of his lemonade.

“There’s not much to spill,” you grimaced, “We started hooking up a few months ago…and we never stopped.”

“Okay but hooking up is hooking up. Filing your 0526-15 is another thing altogether! I thought you hated him!”

“I did,” you chuckled, “But he’s actually kind of sweet.”

    Seungkwan clearly didn’t believe you, but the server came so he wasn’t able to say anything more for now.

“So help me understand one more time, how are you two even compatible? You’re so…you. And he is so HIM!”

“Those are meaningless statements,” you chuckled, even though you kind of understood where he was coming from. “I mean, I agree that on paper it doesn’t make the most sense, but it feels like an ‘opposites attract’ kind of situation.”

“I don’t know,” Seungkwan narrowed one eye at you, clearly skeptical. “He’s so conniving and argumentative. And selfish! Decidedly not boyfriend material!”

    You pursed your lips, considering his words. It wasn’t like Seungkwan was wrong. In fact a lot of these descriptors of Jeonghan were ones that you had used yourself, enthusiastically, in the past. You wondered if you had really reached a new understanding with your former nemesis or if it was, in fact, just due to the dopamine and whatnot that Minghao had mentioned before.

“I trust your judgment, I suppose. It’s just odd to see you two together after all of your endless bickering and fighting,” Seungkwan said reluctantly.

“I get that,” you nodded, “If things go south, you can beat him up for me. How does that sound?”

“Acceptable,” Seungkwan nodded firmly, reaching his hand out to seal the deal.

…

“How was lunch with Mr. Boo?” Jeonghan asked as you rode the subway together.

“Very interesting,” you laughed sarcastically, “Apparently you’re all sorts of wrong for me,” you couldn’t help but tease.

“Oh?” Jeonghan raised a brow. He played it cool, but he couldn’t deny the string of worry that drew tight in his chest.

“Yeah, apparently you’re ‘conniving and untrustworthy and decidedly not boyfriend material’,” you quoted Seungkwan with a laugh. He really did have a natural talent for melodramatics. You turned to the LED display, watching as the stops flashed by, so you completely missed the crinkle that flashed across Jeonghan’s brow.

    Jeonghan pulled on a quick smile when you looked back at him, but the cluster of worries did not leave his mind. He could easily count, on one hand, the total number of serious relationships he had been in and the bulk of those had been during his college years. To say he was out of practice at being a boyfriend, and a good one at that, was probably a major understatement.

“Any thoughts about dinner?” you interrupted his thoughts as the subway drew closer to Jeonghan’s apartment. “If you haven’t done any shopping since I was last at your place, then the fridge is probably still pretty sparse.”

“I…have not,” Jeonghan admitted.

“Shall we stop somewhere for food on the way home? Japanese? Chicken katsu curry sounds good, for some reason.”

“Mm,” Jeonghan shook his head, “I kind of just want to head home. Maybe let’s grab something at the convenience store and just cook?”

“Okay!” you shrugged before stepping out of the subway car and heading above ground. You instinctively reached for Jeonghan’s hand, but he was already several steps ahead of you, mind seemingly elsewhere. Furrowing your brows, you tried to shake it off and moved quickly to catch up.

“I think I have everything at home for kimchi jjigae except pork and tofu,” Jeonghan thought aloud as his fingers reached for a block of firm tofu.

“Rice? Should I grab some instant?” you asked, eager to eat sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, whatever’s fastest,” he nodded.

“Of course!” you nodded.

“Okay, let’s go, I’m so hungry!” Jeonghan said excitedly, grabbing your hand and leading you into a light jog. You groaned internally, but you were also hungry so you matched his pace.

…

“Jeonghan, I’m surprised,” Director Bae said, suddenly. “In the past, if a process performer had missed a deadline like this, I’d probably be talking you down from demanding their termination. You seem rather…calm about the whole thing.”

“Yes, well,” Jeonghan furrowed his brow. It was true that Miseon had come in slightly late on her deadline, but after discussing with you, you had made the very good point that her tasks were not on the critical path and it wouldn’t push back the overall timeline.

“You’re not losing your edge, are you? I know dating can make the mind soft and jumbled. Especially considering who you’re dating,” he looked at Jeonghan pointedly. Director Bae didn’t have to complete his thought out loud because everyone in the office knew he considered you to be on the soft side, when it came to management style.

“How do you mean?” Jeonghan asked, temper flaring.

“I was quite surprised when I was informed that you and YN had filed a 0526-16. You’re so different from each other,” the director continued cluelessly, “You remind me so much of my younger self. I hope you don’t let this relationship dull your ambition.”

    Jeonghan fumed. Surely this thrice divorced man was not trying to give him relationship advice? Jeonghan managed to keep a lid on his temper until he reached the elevator, but only barely. After a few frustrated, but restrained, punches to the elevator keypad he was forced to wait through the consequent, unplanned stops at different levels. By the time he was back on his floor his anger had quieted significantly, but the slight pinch in his brows was still noticeable to you.

[yn]: ‘you ok? did the 1:1 go poorly?’

[jeonghan]: ‘he felt i was being too lenient with miseon…among other things’

[yn]: ‘??’

[jeonghan]: ‘i’ll share later’

    Pursing your lips, you wondered what had happened with Director Bae that could’ve upset Jeonghan like this. He was the golden boy, after all, so it was very rare for Bae to give Jeonghan negative feedback of any kind. And as you had discussed with Jeonghan, Miseon’s missed deadline was not on the critical path, so there wasn’t any need to overreact just for the sake of overreacting.

“So what happened during your 1:1 with Bae?” you asked after you had both taken your seats in the cafeteria.

“Well, he was surprised that I wasn’t more upset about Miseon missing her deadline,” he reiterated before taking a bite of his lunch.

“But it’s not on the critical path,” you mumbled through a mouthful of rice. You were starting to feel like a parrot with how many times you’d repeated those exact words over the last three days.

“Yes, of course! But then he implied that I was going soft…,” Jeonghan waffled, not sure whether he wanted to share this specific piece of the conversation, “Because of you.”

“Me?” your eyes widened slightly.

“He said ‘relationships make your brain soft and mushy’, or something like that,” Jeonghan rolled his eyes, his temper threatening to flare up again as he recalled his director’s baseless implication.

“He’s worried that because I’m not an asshole, I’m going to turn you into less of an asshole?” you laughed, trying to play it off by rolling your eyes, “Also considering how many times that man has been married unsuccessfully, I don’t know how much I’d listen to him.”

“I know,” Jeonghan nodded, but was clearly still dwelling on the conversation.

“I think you’re fine, Hannie,” you tried to encourage him, “Bae has a short attention span. Plus you’re his work son, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

    Jeonghan nodded. He wasn’t actually worried about any fallout at work. Work son was an accurate description of how Director Bae thought of him and Jeonghan knew he could probably genuinely get away with murder before his director ever did anything about it. No, the thing that was eating at him was hearing again and again that he wasn’t a good fit for you. He didn’t think they were right, but he was starting to wonder if the others could see something that he couldn’t.

    You watched as Jeonghan thought intently. You didn’t think this comment from Director Bae was anything to get that worked up over, but you also had quite a different relationship with your director. You had established long ago that you didn’t care for or want to play the office politics game and were quite happy to let your work speak for itself. Jeonghan had always been different in this regard and you worried about how much he might take Bae’s comment to heart.

…

“It’s probably not a good thing if your girlfriend calls you an asshole, right?” Jeonghan suddenly blurted out in the middle of beers with his college roommate.

“What?!” Joshua’s neck almost snapped at the force with which he turned to look at Jeonghan.

“I mean, she wasn’t calling me an asshole, but she implied that my management style is asshole-ish,” Jeonghan rushed to clarify.

“Oh. Well…she’s right, isn’t she?” Joshua laughed out loud. He had worked with Jeonghan on enough group projects in college to recall that asshole was probably actually a little kind. “No offense to you, my evil twin, but you are kind of difficult to work with in a professional setting. You’re very particular and have a tendency to overreact when things don’t go according to your impossibly detailed plans.”

“Do you think I should be with someone more like myself?” Jeonghan asked.

“Hard to say,” Joshua answered thoughtfully, “There are benefits to both being with someone like you and being with someone who complements you, so who’s to say? Plus, you haven’t let any of us meet her yet, so I don’t really know how you two are together. Which, I need to ask, are we so horrible that you don’t want her to meet any of us?”

“No, I just…wasn’t sure if we were quite there yet.”

“Knowing you, you probably are,” Joshua rolled his eyes, “Bring her to Nari’s birthday party! Most, if not all, of the gang is going to be there!”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Jeonghan mused, “Yeah I’ll invite her.”

“I’m full of good ideas, you should listen to me more often,” Joshua raised his brows at Jeonghan with a self-satisfied grin.

…

“Wait, what?” you furrowed your brows at Jeonghan, wondering if you’d misheard him.

“I can’t go, I told you I have basketball league this Friday,” he repeated himself.

“You can’t skip…your recreational basketball league? For a concert? It’s my favorite group!”

“I mean, I could, but…I don’t want to,” Jeonghan finished weakly. He knew he sounded like a jerk, but they were playing the team that he had the most beef with and he had been looking forward to taking them down a peg all week.

“I-,” you opened your mouth just to close it again. “Okay,” you finally spoke again after a few moments of tense silence.

    Jeonghan rubbed his eyes, knowing that it wasn’t actually okay but not knowing what exactly he could do about it. He wasn’t going to miss this week’s game.

“I know this is a bad time to ask, but are you free in 2 weeks? My friends are having a birthday party for their daughter and they want to meet you.”

    Your lips creased together. His friends wanted to meet you. Not Jeonghan wanted you to meet his friends.

“I might be busy, I’ll have to check,” you replied curtly. You knew you were being petty, but you couldn’t help yourself. To take second place to a fully optional basketball game, of all things! Maybe Seungkwan was right, maybe Jeonghan was too self centered.

…

“No Jeonghan?” Seungkwan asked when you met him outside of the concert venue, alone.

“No, he’s busy,” you sniffed as you pulled up the ticket barcodes on your phone.

“Doing what?”

“Basketball league,” you rolled your eyes, offering your phone to the bouncer to scan.

“Basketball league?!” Seungkwan half-shrieked. “Is that a good reason to not go to this concert with you? Isn’t this your favorite group?”

“You and I agree, apparently,” you laughed at your friend, happy that you weren’t alone on your side of the issue. “I told him all that, but he said he didn’t want to skip his game.”

“Tch! I told you, he’s selfish!” Seungkwan shook a finger at you as you approached the bar. You shrugged as you squeezed yourself between two people to order drinks. Today you were inclined to agree.

“Hel-lo,” the man to your left gave you an obvious once over as you hailed the bartender’s attention.

“Ew. What?” you asked, patience thinner than usual for all men, let alone strange men.

“I’d love to buy you a drink,” he suggested smoothly.

“And why is that?” you decided to entertain him for a moment or two.

“Cause you look great in that dress and I’d love to see more.”

“Oh my god, ew! No,” you turned away from him curtly, a mildly horrified look on your face. You were grateful that your beer and Seungkwan’s cocktail arrived shortly after and you were able to scuttle away from this man and his giant chain necklace.

“Now there’s a man,” Seungkwan whistled appreciatively as you returned.

“That guy?!” you were surprised to see him looking back in the direction you came from. “Ew, he’s so cheesy!”

“He’s hot though,” Seungkwan shrugged.

“Aren’t you happily dating Seyoon?”

“I still have eyes,” he insisted stubbornly.

…

“Hey YN?” Jeonghan leaned in his office chair towards you, hoping for some quick feedback. “YN?” he tried again when you didn’t respond the first time.

“What?” you answered, but didn’t turn to face him.

“Do you have five minutes to help me review something?”

“Yes,” you replied, taking a few seconds to finish up what you had been working on. “What is it?” you turned to him, your expression concerning placid.

“Ah, um, can you proofread this problem statement for me?”

    Pointedly avoiding his eye contact, you rolled over to read the text on his computer screen. You wondered why he had asked you, problem statements were almost canned. Couldn’t he do this himself?

“Looks fine,” you almost rolled your eyes at him before returning to your desk.

    Jeonghan sighed inwardly as you returned to your desk. Your cold shoulder was painfully reminiscent of the way your relationship had been in the past. While he knew that no relationship was all sunshine and roses, he was surprised to be back on the receiving end of such intensely prickly and dismissive behavior over something he felt was relatively minor.

[jeonghan]: ‘do you want to have dinner together today?’

[yn]: ‘can’t. have plans.’

    Boram and Miseon exchanged looks. It had been a tense day in the office for their little team. You and Jeonghan were doing your best not to impact interactions with the rest of the teams, but even a person without eyes or ears could tell that you were fighting.

[boram]: ‘mom & dad are fighting :(’

[miseon]: ‘i still think it’s weird that you call them that. but agree :( 0/10. don’t recommend’

…

“How’s things?” Minghao asked good naturedly during your dinner.

“Not so good, I think,” you answered after giving it some thought.

“No?”

“Jeonghan and I are fighting,” you stated simply.

“Oh, really?” Minghao raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“I feel like he’s being selfish and I’m not sure we’re actually good together,” you mused, chewing on an artichoke heart.

“Now what makes you say that?” Minghao asked sharply. Now he really felt like you were being irrational.

“I asked him to come to a concert with me last weekend and he said no because he couldn’t miss his basketball league.” you rolled your eyes. “Everyone at work keeps saying we’re not a match anyways, maybe they’re right.”

“Who?” Minghao’s eye twitched. Despite all of your disagreements and incompatibilities, you and Jeonghan had harbored a mutual interest and respect for each other since before Jeonghan had even been hired.

“Seungkwan. Bae,” you shrugged, seemingly nonchalant. “I guess Bae told him that he thinks being with me will dull his ambition because I’m not enough of a cutthroat. Maybe things were easier when we were just hooking up.”

    Minghao thought about this for a moment. It was true that Jeonghan had ambition in his career, with goals to become team leader within the next couple of years, but at the same time everyone knew that Director Bae was a bit of a goof with a tendency to speak without thinking at times.

“Are you thinking all of this because you think it’d be easier to go back to hooking up?”

“Maybe,” you grimaced at him, still moody. “It would be easier in some regards.”

    Minghao tried to form his next sentences carefully. He knew that pushing too hard would have the opposite of the desired effect, but was also concerned that your natural tendency for holding grudges posed a very real possibility of ending the relationship prematurely.

“Do you want to stop dating him now, then? That is an option,” he probed.

    You thought for a long moment before shaking your head and admitting, “No.”

“Is this continued silent treatment productive, then?”

“No,” you repeated yourself. You felt like a scolded child because that’s exactly what you were. Yet you knew that Minghao wasn’t wrong and it was time to communicate like an adult. “This is all your fault to begin with!” you narrowed your eyes at your friend. All that dopamine nonsense.

    Before you could change your mind, you pulled your phone to let Jeonghan know that you would attend Nari’s birthday party. Immediately afterwards, you had to let Seungkwan know you were rescheduling, which was infinitely more unpleasant.

…

“I’m nervous to meet your friends!” you hopped in place to release some of your pent up energy as you waited for someone to open the front door.

“Why?” Jeonghan asked.

“I don’t know,” you shrugged. You did know. Even though you had moved your plans with Seungkwan to be able to attend Nari’s birthday party, things were still slightly tense with Jeonghan. You wanted to put on a good face and make a good impression, but you knew you had one of the worst poker faces out there and it would likely be obvious that you were fighting.

“It’ll be fine,” Jeonghan shrugged. His hands were in his pockets, so he couldn’t give you the encouraging squeeze that he wanted to. He still wasn’t even sure whether you’d tolerate hand holding at all.

“Uncle Hannie!” a delighted squeal accompanied the fast moving blur that hurtled at you through the now open door.

“Nari!” Jeonghan managed to catch her, swinging her around with delight.

“Uncle Hannie, I missed you!” the young girl looked at Jeonghan seriously.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Jeonghan apologized furiously as he carried her into the house.

“Are you my Auntie YN?” Nari peeked over Jeonghan’s shoulder at you suddenly.

“A-ah, well,” Jeonghan stuttered, unsure how to answer .

“Yes!” you cut him off swiftly, squatting to match Nari’s eye level. “Nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you,” she nodded expediently before asking to be let down.

“Help, she’s so cute,” you grabbed Jeonghan’s shoulder as Nari ran to rejoin the herd of children.

“Very,” he agreed before moving to greet the group of adults. “Friends!”

“Jeonghan!” several men stood up to greet him and you excitedly.

“You must be YN!” a tall man with a dazzling smile shook your hand vigorously. “I’m Seokmin. Welcome to our home and thank you so much for coming! We’re so excited to meet you.”

“Ah, so you’re Nari’s dad!”

“Guilty as charged,” he laughed, full and loud. “My beautiful wife, Hana, is here somewhere too.”

“I wasn’t sure whether I believed Jeonghan when he said you were coming,” a second voice chimed in. You looked over to see a broad man with a catlike smile. “I’m Joshua. Glad I was able to bully Jeonghan into letting us finally meet you.”

“Oh?” you chuckled, only slightly bitter. So some people could talk Jeonghan into doing things he didn’t want to do. Noted.

“Don’t listen to him,” Jeonghan scowled before calling to someone else, “Cheol, get over here!”

“Trying!” a sturdy man replied as he tried to free himself from the group of children clamoring for more piggyback rides. “Someone else needs to take a turn!”

    You were surprised when Jeonghan moved, proactively, to take his place and even more surprised at the delighted chorus of ‘Uncle Hannie’s that came from the children’s mouths. Seeing Jeonghan happily giving out piggyback rides was doing something very unexpected to you.

“Hey, I’m Seungcheol. Or Cheol, as they generally call me,” the man made his way over to greet you.

“Nice to meet you,” you smiled, eyes flitting back to Jeonghan every so often.

“He’s great with kids, isn’t he?” Cheol grinned at the way you were watching his friend with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah, I guess I’m kind of surprised?” you had to admit.

“You know him from work, right?”

    You nodded.

“You might already know this, but work Jeonghan and life Jeonghan can be pretty different.” “I am learning that,” you smiled at Seungcheol.

“Did you know that he’s Nari’s godfather?”

“No!” you gasped, a smile lighting across your lips as you recalled her bright greeting from earlier. “It seems like I know nothing about Jeonghan, doesn’t it? I promise, we are actually dating,” you laughed nervously.

“How long have you two been together now?”

“Actually dating? It’s been about three months, I think?”

“Ah, well that makes sense then,” Seungcheol nodded to himself. “Jeonghan is, for lack of a better word, emotionally constipated. And what I mean by that is that it’s unusual for him to talk about things that are serious. And he overthinks a lot.”

“Ah, I see,” you nodded. It was true, you and Jeonghan didn’t have a lot of particularly serious conversations, but up until recently that had been a feature and not a defect.

“We are really glad he brought you! And despite what Josh said, Jeonghan doesn’t actually do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

    You smiled. You liked Seungcheol.

“Miss YN!” a pair of small hands tugged at the hem of your shirt insistently, “Please come with me!”

“Ah? Sure, but first what is your name please?”

“Doyun! That is my dad,” the boy pointed matter of factly at Seungcheol, “And that is my mom!” his finger moved to point at Danbi, Seungcheol’s wife.

    You nodded and gestured for him to lead you. You were pulled towards the pile of children around Jeonghan and before long you were also giving out piggyback rides of your own.

“Miss YN, why are you dating my Uncle Hannie?” Nari asked suddenly. You glanced around and were glad to see that Jeonghan was out of earshot.

“Hmm, that’s a tricky question,” you chuckled, “I suppose we like each other a bit.”

“Why?”

“Hmm. Well, he is very smart. And funny. He can be annoying sometimes, but mostly he’s nice to me and we like doing things together.”

“Hm.” Nari nodded, giving very little indication what she thought of your feedback. “He can be so annoying sometimes, I agree!”

    You laughed at the enthusiasm of her statement before asking her to share exactly what types of things Jeonghan did that irritated her so.

“Cute,” Joshua smiled as he stood with Jeonghan, watching you laugh with Nari.

    Jeonghan nodded. He was relieved that you seemed to be enjoying yourself. It had always felt too early to ask whether you wanted kids or a large family, but today was making him increasingly more curious.

“Does she want kids?” Joshua asked, as if reading his friend’s mind.

“I don’t know, actually. We haven’t discussed.”

“You should probably ask. That’s kind of a big deal for you,” Joshua’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“We’re having difficulty communicating in general, lately,” Jeonghan finally admitted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well. I hope you figure it out soon, because I like her. Maybe even more than I like you,” Joshua couldn’t help but tease.

“YN, I hope you know that we will be leveraging you for babysitting now that we know how great you are with kids!” Seokmin joked after the children eventually lost interest in you and Jeonghan. “I don’t know why Jeonghan has been keeping you hidden from us for so long!”

“Same! Same, us too for babysitting!” Seungcheol’s wife, Danbi chimed in excitedly. “Doyun has never been too keen on Jeonghan, but he really seems to like you!”

    Jeonghan scowled playfully and you had to laugh.

“Uncle Hannie? Can you help me fix my hair?” Nari materialized at Jeonghan’s side. Your chest squeezed as you watched him make quick work of redoing her left braid. Who knew Yoon Jeonghan could be so domestic?

…

“I have something to say,” you sighed begrudgingly as you slipped off your shoes.

“Me too,” Jeonghan turned to you, “You go first, though.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you. I was frustrated that you didn’t want to go to the concert with me and it hurt my feelings. I should’ve talked it out with you sooner.”

“I’m sorry too. I should’ve tried to explain why that game was important to me. I want to do things with you, but I also want to be able to do my things alone at times too.”

“No, I totally agree,” you nodded.

    Jeonghan sighed, a huge wave of relief washing over him when you smiled at him for what felt like the first time in over a week.

“I also have something else to confess,” you admitted, playfully this time, as you tugged at the front of Jeonghan’s shirt.

“What’s that?” he leaned in, the scent of his mint gum teasing your nose.

“I have a big crush on ‘Uncle Hannie’,” you raised your eyebrows playfully at him.

“Oh really?” his left brow quirked up with interest.

“I-...,” you made a face, slightly embarrassed to say what you were thinking, “Seeing you with Nari is like…sexy in a soft way.”

“YN…are you losing your edge?” Jeonghan teased, fingertips digging into your hips just slightly.

“Maybe,” you couldn’t seem to maintain eye contact.

“Or do you have a breeding kink that you never shared with me?” he prodded shamelessly.

“Jeonghan!” you gasped, pushing him instinctively, “How can you say that so casually!”

“I mean…you’re way nastier than this, sometimes,” he couldn’t help but tease. He was relieved that he could still fluster you like this.

“Go away!” you pushed at him, ears turning impossibly redder. Jeonghan held you in place firmly.

“Do you want kids?” Jeonghan inquired gently, leaning in to trail soft kisses along your jawline from your earlobe to your chin. “Eventually,” he clarified.

“...Yes, eventually,” your breath hitched as he nibbled down your neck. “Do you?”

“Yes,” he answered easily. He had always wanted kids.

“Hmm,” you hummed, but it came out more like a desperate whine because Jeonghan had decided to suck gently at the hollow of your throat.

“My god, your sounds,” he groaned appreciatively as he kissed you.

“Ha-Hannie,” you swallowed, tugging him towards the bedroom.

“Uncle Hannie?” he baited you.

“Hnn,” you exhaled shallowly, “So soft. Giving piggyback rides, slicing cake, fixing pigtails,” you mused as you climbed over him.

    Jeonghan’s eyes flashed at you. Realizing that you were so clearly aroused over such domestic things made his heart pound and listening to you say it in that breathy voice while straddling him was undoing him. And quickly.

“Careful, babe, your malewife Jeonghan kink is showing,” he teased, but he didn’t hate it.

    You flashed him a catlike grin, rolling your hips as you unbuttoned his shirt leisurely. He groaned, his erection pressing insistently against you. Your hands stroked across his chest as you pushed his shirt off of his shoulders and you trailed soft kisses down the center of his torso until you arrived at the waistband of his slacks. Your tongue toyed with the corner of your lips as you undid the button and zipper of his fly at a painfully slow pace. Jeonghan hissed at your teasing before you finally pulled him out.

“Ride me,” he requested, not interested in any delay today.

“Now?” you asked, surprised. Jeonghan was not one to turn down a blowjob.

“Up here, now,” he beckoned with two fingers. Who were you to say no? You undressed quickly before climbing over him again.

“So eager?” you grinned, shifting yourself along his length.

“I’m not the only one, it seems,” he remarked, feeling just how wet you were.

    You flushed, but couldn’t deny it, so instead you reached down and slid him between your wet lips. Pressing up on your knees, you worked your hips up and down slowly, only about halfway. Jeonghan tolerated it for a short while before he grew impatient.

“All of it, princess,” he coaxed, placing his left hand around the back of your neck and pulling your gaze to meet his.

    You clenched at the soft firmness of his tone, lowering yourself a little further, but not quite all of the way. Jeonghan’s eyes raked over you one time before he scoffed.

“All the way down,” he repeated himself. It was such a slight edge in his voice, but you picked up on it nonetheless and complied, sinking all the way down his shaft until you were flush against him. “Good girl,” he breathed, his right hand gripping your hip as he ground against you rhythmically.

“Jeonghan!” you gasped, brows knit together as you clutched his shoulders for support. You clenched around him as his pelvis pressed against your clit repeatedly.

“So good, so good,” he panted, lifting your hips up just to pull them back down, stroking into you deeply. “I wish you could see yourself,” he whispered up at you, “Taking me so good. All for me.”

“Yours,” you whined, unreasonably turned on at the possessiveness of his words. “All yours, Hannie,” you nodded, walls spasming around him as he continued to press into you, over and over.

“All mine?” he asked breathlessly, blown out pupils fixed on you.

“All yours,” you reiterated, pressing your forehead against his urgently. “Please, Jeonghan,” you begged, “Need you to cum in me.”

“Fuck,” he hissed, lips curled up into a half snarl, “My girl is so desperate for my cum?”

“Hannie, yes, please!” you plead desperately with him, “Nee-, need to feel you cum inside of me. God, I’m so close.”

    Jeonghan groaned, hands gripping bruisingly at your hips, but it only served to egg you on. Your desperate sounds mingled with his and in the spur of the moment, Jeonghan bit down on your collarbone, the sharp sensation triggering your and his subsequent orgasms.

“Wow,” you blinked, gathering yourself as you both came to your senses.

    Jeonghan pulled you tight against him as he nodded in agreement. His thoughts were a jumble after the day. Seeing how you fit in with his long time friends and their kids had cemented the fact that he did see himself with you for the long term. After your earlier words, he thought maybe you felt the same way, but he wanted to be sure.

“Do you see us together for a while?” he murmured softly against the top of your head.

“Hm?” your eyes widened at the sudden change in mood. “I…yeah, I do,” you answered honestly. “Do you?”

“Yes,” he replied almost before you even finished asking. “I really like who I am with you. You make me more patient and kinder. Everyone at work kept saying we’re not a match, so I just wanted to make sure that you like who you are with me too.”

    Tears pricked at your eyes. You were speechless at his confession.

“Is that why you’ve been distant?” you asked as the new information started to fill in the gaps.

“Oh, I guess so?” he pursed his lips, “But you were being difficult too!”

“I know,” you sank under the covers slightly, ashamed of your own behavior. “I’m not very good at apologizing. I had to have a sidebar with Minghao and everything.”

“Oh? And what advice did he give?” Jeonghan found himself wondering. Minghao was still something of an enigma to him.

“He told me I could break up with you if I wanted,” you smiled at him bemusedly, “Because he knew I didn’t want to. And then told me to be an adult about it.”

“That…sounds about right,” Jeonghan chuckled. It didn’t really help clear anything up at all about where Minghao stood on him.

“He is a Jeonghan stan,” you laughed. “He really is on your team.”

“Equally likely that he hated me more than Seungkwan does,” Jeonghan joked, a sense of relief washing over him.

“Apparently you’ve been obsessed with me since before you even got hired,” you couldn’t help but poke fun at him. “‘If possible, could I review a copy of the current internal solve?’’” you quoted the email that Minghao had shared with you.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a violation of HR policy to share that with you,” Jeonghan glanced away, blushing.

“I was curious about you then, too, if you must know.”

Jeonghan gave you a confused look so you explained.

“After your interview, Bae would not shut up about how you solved my problem with less code. I asked Minghao to get me a copy of your solution because I needed to know how.”

Jeonghan’s expression changed to look at you in a way that knocked the air from your lungs.

“You know, l think I love you?” he blurted out suddenly.

“I might love you too, Jeonghan,” you grinned before snuggling back into him.

“Wait, so what did you think of my solution?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Acceptable, but not nearly as good as mine,” you answered honestly. A laugh escaped Jeonghan’s lips. He had to agree.

[seungkwansphd]

room for interpretation - 3

pairing: lawyer!jeonghan x lawyer!YN word count: 9.9K synopsis: as top of class, you and jeonghan had been many things to each other. enthusiastic rivals, begrudging allies, and…parties to a jokingly written (but legally binding) marriage contingency contract? this piece of paper would’ve been long forgotten had an unexpected merger not thrown you back into each others’ lives. themes: fluff, rivals to coworkers to tentative friends to lovers, “if we’re both single by X age” marriage contract, IDIOTS2lovers, fake dating, miscommunication. this is just a romcom.

You must be losing your mind at least a little. This was the conclusion you’d come to over the weekend. You’d spent the better part of Sunday thinking about Jeonghan, the contract, and your feelings. You’d basically said that you wouldn’t mind being married to him, but that didn’t mean you actively liked him, right? So now you were slightly panicked that you’d maybe confessed something to him that you hadn’t meant to.

“How’d it go?” Maja burst into your office, demanding an update.

“Good!” you spun around to face her, eager to think about something other than Jeonghan. “They treat prospective clients the exact same way that Jillian said they treated employees. The whole place stank of elitism!”

“What did they say?”

“A lot of veiled language around ‘clients have to match the image of the brand’ and how they ‘look for a certain type and demographic of people’.”

“Yuck,” Maja blew a raspberry and gave a thumbs down. You agreed.

“And Jeonghan did a good job at playing fake fiance?” Maja couldn’t help but pry. She’d been wondering all weekend about that.

“Weirdly, yes,” you shrugged, “He’s surprisingly attentive. 

“Huh,” Maja, “Surprisingly?”

“He remembers little things that I wouldn’t have guessed he would remember.”

“I mean, you guys are friends,” Maja felt the need to remind you. Even if you didn’t accept it or realize it, your relationship with Jeonghan was in fact quite close.

“Yes! Everyone and their mother would like me to admit that I like Jeonghan. I’m friends with Jeonghan!” you threw your arms up suddenly, startling Maja.

Her eyes bugged out of her head at ‘I like Jeonghan’. Did you mean like…romantically? Or more as an extension of ‘I’m friends with Jeonghan’? She had a feeling that the question would be poorly received, so she withheld it for now.

“Sorry, it was just kind of weird. Pretending to be engaged, and then remembering the marriage contract, and then pretending to be married. I might still be processing.”

“Marriage contract? And why did you have to pretend to be married?”

“So,” you pointed at her, “When the person at the wedding venue asked us how we met, Jeonghan brought up the fact that we signed a marriage contingency contract in law school. In this fake world, of course, we realized we liked each other before the contract had to be enforced.”

Maja blinked. She was barely keeping up.

“So honestly, I had forgotten about that until he brought it up! But yeah, we did sign that, which was silly. But then we got food after the consultation and the waitress kept making eyes at him. Apparently he didn’t like that, so he kept referring to me as his wife, because we were wearing rings.”

Maja’s head spun.

“Hold on, let’s back up a second. You two signed a marriage contingency contract? What the hell does that even mean?”

“Okay, so,” you inhaled before launching into the full backstory for Maja.

You did your best to explain the context of Peter’s divorce, his declaration that law was for lonely losers, and your subsequent insistence that that didn’t apply to you. She nodded as you explained how smugly sure Jeonghan had been that you couldn’t get married and make partner before thirty and the resultant bet and contract.

She wasn’t nodding because it was reasonable, by any means. No, the whole arrangement was unhinged. She nodded because it could maybe make sense if there were repressed feelings on both sides. And even then, it was a stretch.

“Why would you sign that?” she found herself asking indignantly. Even as a non-lawyer, it seemed ill advised.

“I mean I was such a hothead in law school. I couldn’t stand it when Jeonghan called me chicken. The other thing I realized, like literally this weekend, is that it would be okay if I were contractually obligated to marry Jeonghan. Now that things with Flynn are over, I’m not gonna make the thirty year cut anyways!” you shrugged and laughed.

Maja squeezed her eyelids together. You were being an idiot of grander scale than she could’ve ever anticipated, it seemed. Maybe more than her gentle nudges were needed. Perhaps it required an actual act of God.

“You know what?” you pointed an accusatory finger at her. You had meant to stop thinking about Jeonghan! “I’ve spilled a lot of beans just now while your beans have stayed in their container. What the heck is going on with you and Harris?!”

“Ah,” Maja scratched the back of her neck. “You’re right, I’ve been keeping that to myself. Why don’t we do something fun this weekend and I can catch you up?”

“Yes!”

Maja shot you a quick thumbs up before returning to her desk. Her eyes flitted to Jeonghan’s closed office door. She wondered how much information she could get out of him if she tried.

…

Maja checked that the coast was clear as soon as Jeonghan left his office. She’d been snooping on calendars and seen that he had the next two hours blocked off. He’d taken his laptop with him, so she was confident that she could snoop freely for the next bit. Trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, she ducked into his office and started peering around. She didn’t honestly know what she was hoping to find. She doubted that Jeonghan kept a journal full of his secret feelings about you, but she would settle for something…anything!

“What’re you doing?” Peter appeared suddenly in the doorway.

“Nothing! Um…helping Jeonghan sort his paperwork,” she shuffled piles of papers haphazardly together on his desk.

“You never help with administrative tasks,” Peter narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s really going on?”

“I…, uh,” she floundered for a moment before giving up the charade completely, “I’m snooping. I think something’s going on between Jeonghan and YN.”

“Oh!” Peter’s eyebrows raised with surprise, “Like…in a good way or a bad way?”

“Like…I think they liked each other. And maybe still like each other.”

“Love!” Peter gasped, clapping his hands together. “Let me help. What are you looking for?”

Maja rolled her eyes. She should’ve known this would be Peter’s response.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing here. It’s not like it’s the Victorian era and they keep secret correspondence or something,” she shook her head, ready to give up.

“Ow, shoot!” Peter whisper-shouted as his shoulder brushed against Jeonghan’s diploma, knocking it off the wall. The loud crash that accompanied it made Maja want to melt into the floor.

“How did it not break?” she marveled with wonder before realizing it was plexiglass. She flipped it over to put the diploma back in place and was surprised when multiple sheets of paper emerged. “What in the world…,” she murmured. Peter had made himself scarce after the ruckus, so she was able to read in peace.

“I, the undersigned, consent to…,” she read the text and realized that this was the contract. It was a fairly short document and while no judge in their right mind would enforce this, it was technically binding. She set it aside before fixing Jeonghan’s diploma and hanging it back on the wall. Maja thought briefly about what to do with the contract, but ultimately settled on leaving it on Jeonghan’s desk. She’d thoroughly undone whatever organization system he used to separate his papers, so she could at least make this easy for him.

…

Jeonghan let out another long exhale. He’d blocked off a few hours in the law library so he could work without being distracted by the view of you through the window. He’d also spent his Sunday thinking of you. He’d have no way of knowing it, but he was far less conflicted than you were. He liked you, was attracted to you, and would be happy to date you. After all this time, both apart and together, he just…enjoyed you. Whether you were making his blood boil while butting heads or making his heart flip flop as his fake fiancee, he liked you.

He knew he likely had some work to do in order to show himself to you in that light, but he was willing. You already spent an atypical amount of time with him, so really there were more than enough opportunities. He typed up a few more sentences before someone burst into the office unceremoniously.

You’d jumped when your phone had started ringing in your hands. Flynn was calling weeks after your break up, so you’d panicked and ducked into the law library.

“Hello?” Jeonghan’s eyes widened when it was your voice that answered. Your phone wasn’t on speaker, but the volume was high enough that he could also hear the person on the line.

“Hello? YN?”

“Flynn, is everything okay?” you asked.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s okay, thanks for asking,” he chuckled and you smiled reflexively. It was easy to relax into his laugh.

“Um, so why are you calling?” you asked, slightly awkward.

“Right to business as usual,” Flynn laughed again.

Jeonghan’s pulse raced. You were still facing the door, so he felt like he was eavesdropping, but it also didn’t seem right to speak up, so he just sat in this one-sidedly tense situation, frozen.

“Listen, I’m calling, um. Because I’ve been thinking…I just miss you. Uh, I know I struggled with your lack of work life balance, but…I’ve been wondering if we should give it another try?”

Your eyebrows shot up with surprise at the same time Jeonghan’s furrowed. You’d been thinking maybe he’d left something at your apartment and wanted to pick it up. You exhaled sharply and turned, pressing your back to the door.

“Flynn, I-,” your eyes met Jeonghan’s. You hadn’t realized he was there.

His eyes pinned you against the door and the words caught in your throat. Heat crept up your neck and the room suddenly felt foggy. You tried to form words that wouldn’t come.

Jeonghan tried to keep from frowning. Your ex wanted to reconcile, which made him want to throw your phone out of the window, but he refrained from showing this. He tried not to react in any way because he needed to understand more of where you stood and what you wanted. His wants regardless.

You blinked at Jeonghan, eyes searching his irritatingly placid face. You were surprised when you realized you were looking for some sort of indication or tell from him. In the past he’d been quite clear that he didn't care for Flynn. Why did it frustrate you that he wasn’t showing that to you again? Now?

“YN?” Flynn’s tinny voice shook you both out of your reverie. Jeonghan held your gaze, nodding as if reminding you that you needed to answer.

“I-,” you closed your eyes for a moment to filter through your thoughts and decide what you wanted. “Flynn, it’s so kind of you to call. I…don’t think we should give it another try. I actually feel really good about our split,” you answered honestly, eyes opening again.

“Ah,” Flynn was clearly surprised. “Well, thank you for being honest. I, uh, wish you the best!”

“Thank you,” you said as you met Jeonghan’s eyes again. Your heart pounded wildly as you ended the call and excused yourself from the library.

Jeonghan’s hand rose to his mouth to cover a wide smile of relief. He spent the next minutes trying and failing to focus and smiling into his palm. After accepting that he wasn’t going to get any more work done, he returned to his office. He cocked his head when he noticed the papers on his desk. This was definitely not how he had left them, but he found he didn’t really care.

The only document of note was the one he’d set his laptop on top of. Furrowing his brow as he pulled it out, his eyes scanned through it until he realized what it was: The ContractTM. Where had this come from?

With revived focus and interest, he reread the pages in their entirety. He found himself chuckling at his past self as he did so. Maybe it was just that hindsight is twenty-twenty, but Jeonghan found himself truly marveling at the document. While on its surface it was just an oddly written contract, it could also be read as a love letter to you from an emotionally constipated idiot. All this time, you’d been someone very special to him and it had taken him all this time to realize it.

…

“Mandatory happy hour,” you read the calendar invite you’d just received from Peter. You looked to Maja, who shrugged in response.

“Guess I’m busy tonight,” you gave your computer a lackluster thumbs up. Your pulse sped up slightly as you watched Jeonghan walk into his office.

You were feeling some awkwardness after he’d witnessed Flynn’s attempt to reconcile. It was your fault for barging into the library, but you wished he’d said something, cleared his throat, anything to let you know that he’d been in there! You felt vulnerable to Jeonghan in a way that made you feel shy around him now. You hated it.

After a moment or two more of consideration, you shook your head. It would be fine. It was fine!

Jeonghan ran his tongue across his teeth as he read the calendar invite from Peter. While a mandatory, company-wide hang hadn’t been his ideal next step, he supposed it was still an opportunity to spend time with you. He had been thinking, overthinking really, ways he could spend time with you that were less casual than the current post-activity meals that you often shared. Your relationship revolved heavily around work, so at some point he wanted to move away from that, but he also wanted some reassurance that you were even interested.

…

“Are you walking over now?” Jeonghan called from his office when he saw you and Maja conferring.

“Yes! Would you like to join us?” Maja invited him.

“Please,” he nodded, logging out of his laptop quickly. It was just a few minutes more before he was ready to go.

“Alright, mandatory fun!” Maja pumped a reluctant fist before leading you towards the elevator.

“Mandatory fun,” you chuckled weakly as you followed her.

“Ready for mandatory fun?” Jeonghan nudged you with his elbow as he settled in next to you.

“So ready,” you laughed.

You actually weren’t dreading it that much. Peter’s unseriousness as a boss meant that after-hours work events were often quite fun. It would be interesting to see Harris in a social situation, but you genuinely liked a lot of the associates, so honestly it would be a good time. As long as you could keep a reasonable distance between yourself and Jeonghan, you could be okay.

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed. You were being unusually quiet.

“How was your day? How’s the wrongful termination suit going?”

“Oh, um, good,” you nodded. Why was this elevator so slow?

Maja furrowed her brow. Jeonghan was trying and you were giving him absolutely nothing.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to visit the employer again? There was a coworker that could be a key witness if you could get into contact with them!”

“I-,” you glared at Maja.

“Oh, do you want to go back? I’ll go with you,” Jeonghan offered.

“For your client,” Maja implored, but you could see the mischief playing across her lips.

“Maybe, it might not be necessary,” you shrugged.

“Okay, just text me if it is. I’ll make myself available,” Jeonghan nodded.

Maja was suffering in silence. She wondered if she could have the elevator to herself for a moment while you two walked to the bar.

“YN! Jeonghan!” Peter greeted the two of you enthusiastically when you walked in.

“What about me?” Maja glared playfully at Peter.

“Maja, my favorite girl!” he folded her into a hug that she immediately pulled away from.

Harris appeared behind Peter and you tried to hide a smile. This casual check-in with Maja was obvious to you, but you knew no one else was aware of the relationship yet.

“Hi Harris,” you smiled at the other managing partner before slipping away towards the bar. Maja followed.

“You’re acting weird,” she declared, leveling you with a stare. “What gives?”

“What?”

“You are being so short with Jeonghan. Did he upset you or something?”

“I mean not specifically, but in general he is upsetting to me.”

Maja narrowed her eyes at you. You were so full of shit! Yet you had given her space about Harris when she’d needed it and so she supposed he could at least try and reciprocate.

“YN!” your junior associate, Kevin, appeared suddenly at your side. He placed his chin on your shoulder, which was silly because he was a full two heads taller than you. Kevin was like a big puppy and he looked up to you like an older sibling.

“What’s up?” you couldn’t help but laugh at his antics.

“The advice that you gave me on that fraud case totally worked!” He stood up excitedly. “As always, you are the greatest!”

You grinned up at him. Kevin was straightforward and genuine in a way that you liked. You could trust the things he said without wondering about ulterior motives.

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed as he watched you and the world’s tallest Kevin at the bar. You two seemed wildly incompatible, yet you clearly enjoyed Kevin’s company and that surprised Jeonghan. He wondered whether that was what you looked for in a partner. Someone goofy and easy?

“You are thinking very hard,” Joshua appeared suddenly, teasing him in a sing-songy voice.

“I am not,” Jeonghan found himself denying immediately.

“Lies,” Joshua’s eyebrows raised before his head snapped in the direction Jeonghan had been looking earlier. The most devious smile curled onto his lips when he saw you. Jeonghan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Explain.” his evil twin demanded.

“There’s nothing to explain,” Jeonghan insisted. He wasn’t willing to share this with anyone yet, not even Joshua. He had just barely admitted it to himself.

“Well, I haven’t gotten to know YN at all since the merger, so now’s the perfect time,” Joshua managed to sound sweet and menacing at the same time.

“Wait,” Jeonghan called weakly. Was he ready to give this up?

Joshua turned back and looked down at him expectantly. Jeonghan glared at him for a moment before looking away and Joshua finished his beeline towards you. For all his soft smiles and sweet demeanor, he was such a little shit when he wanted to be.

“Oh, Joshua!” you were surprised when the attorney joined you at the bar. Aside from his commitment to work life balance, and also due to it, you didn’t know Joshua very well.

“You all looked like you were having too much fun for me not to join,” he smiled at you. Kevin gave him a jovial fistbump and he was folded into the group seamlessly.

You tried to ignore Jeonghan’s eyes on you, but you could feel them. You’d noticed Joshua teasing Jeonghan about something, but even before he had made his way to you, you’d felt Jeonghan’s gaze on you. You couldn’t seem to help the way it made your pulse stutter every so often. You wished it would stop.

“Joshua, you and Jeonghan are close, right?” Maja asked.

“As close as one can be with a workaholic,” he teased.

“Did you know that he and YN went to school together?”

“No, I didn’t,” Joshua shook his head. He looked at you with new appreciation. “Was he as big of a pain in law school as he is now?”

You shifted your gaze to Jeonghan and considered him. A smile lit up your face before you answered yes.

Jeonghan stood up. That was enough of standing on the sidelines.

“Talking about me?” he asked as he slipped behind you to order another drink.

“Only bad things, I promise.”

“Well, even if your attention is elsewhere, I’m glad I’m still on your mind,” he murmured for only you to hear.

You blinked, trying to keep a sheepish grin from spreading across your face. The edge of jealousy you heard was giving you major butterflies.

“YN?” you heard your name, snapping you back to reality.

“I’m so sorry, I did not hear you,” you shrugged sheepishly. Jeonghan looked down to hide a self satisfied grin.

“We were thinking of sitting outside on the patio,” Kevin repeated himself, jerking a thumb towards the door.

“Oh sure! It’s nice out,” you nodded, moving away from Jeonghan in an act of reflexive self preservation. It would be great not to be on edge all night if you could manage.

The outdoor seating was mostly picnic bench-style, so your group split in half to slot yourselves into them. You stayed close to Maja throughout the shuffle, which resulted in being sandwiched between her and Jeonghan. Wonderful.

You didn’t really absorb another word that was said the rest of the night. Every time you tuned in, the conversation had drastically changed from the last time you’d been listening. Eventually you gave up. Instead, your mind zeroed in on every shift and movement that Jeonghan made. A few minutes after sitting down, he turned to face the group more directly and his legs straddled the seat of the bench. What this meant for you was that his legs were now more or less draped around you, boxing you in. 

Maja struggled to hide her giddy grin as she watched you from the corner of her eye. Whether he was aware of it or not, Jeonghan was definitely staking a claim. Most of the firm knew that you two spent a lot of time together, both professional and extracurricular, but these subtle physical proximities reinforced and cemented the closeness you shared.

“Oh? Jeonghan, is that you?” a new voice pierced the air.

“Ah?” his legs brushed against you as he turned to identify where the voice had come from. “Ah, Soonyoung?!”

“Jeonghan, it is you!” a young, vivacious man called more excitedly this time. Jeonghan stood to embrace him. “Just my luck running into you!”

“Oh, why’s that?” Jeonghan slung an arm around his shoulder, moving to catch up with him.

You exhaled a small sigh of relief as Jeonghan left to chat with his friend across the bar. You brought your chin to rest on your upturned palm as you watched them. A soft smile settled on your lips. Jeonghan’s expression was so dynamic as his friend talked. He was a much better listener than he’d been in college.

“YN,” Joshua’s voice pulled your attention away. “How is your wrongful term case going?”

“Oh! Mostly good, though I am a little worried about the jury selection. You never know what you’re going to get, right?”

“That’s true,” he laughed. “Is Jeonghan still assisting on that case?”

“Well, no. He was never formally assisting. I just needed a fake fiance for a day, so he got roped in, I suppose.”

“He volunteered!” Maja piped in unhelpfully.

“Oh, did he?” Joshua’s eyes widened with surprise. “That’s odd!”

“Is it?” your brows raised, “He loves butting into cases that aren’t his!” you laughed good naturedly.

“Hm, not the Jeonghan that I’ve come to know,” Joshua shook his head with a bemused smile. “He’s different with you though, I’ve noticed.”

You looked towards Jeonghan again. He was staring at you with an expression on his face that indicated he needed extricating from his situation. You blinked slowly before turning back to Joshua.

“I think he needs help,” you laughed. You and Joshua chatted about made up topics for a few minutes longer before you got up to retrieve him. You were delighted to learn that reveling in Jeonghan’s misery was an interest of Joshua’s as well.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” you cleared your throat as you approached the pair. “Can I steal him back from  you…soonish?”

“Oh please! We’ve discussed what I needed to discuss. Now I’m just blabbing his ear off. I’m Hoshi, by the way. You are?” Jeonghan’s friend stood up to shake your hand.

“YN,” you smiled, “How do you two know each other?” you couldn’t resist asking. You knew you were meant to be extricating Jeonghan from the conversation, but the opportunity to learn about this person from Jeonghan’s life was simply too tempting to resist.

Hoshi launched into a long and animated story of how he and Jeonghan met on the playground at Maseok Elementary school. Hoshi was an excellent storyteller and regaled you with no shortage of entertaining stories about Jeonghan. One that particularly made you giggle was the story of Jeonghan, upset over something and trying to make a show of it, losing his balance and rolling down the stairs instead.

Jeonghan covered his face with a hand. He should’ve known that Hoshi would happily volunteer all of his most embarrassing tales. He almost stopped Hoshi from telling the snake story until he saw the smile that had lit up your face.

“Friggin’ idiot,” you laughed, covering your mouth with your hands to hide a smile of utter delight behind it.

The words were insulting, but you said them with a warmth and affection that spread through Jeonghan’s chest like fire. Damn, he really did like you didn’t he?

“Hey are you ever coming back?” Maja shouted from across the bar.

You and Jeonghan looked at each other before smiling at Hoshi sheepishly. Jeonghan ensured that he would be in touch with Hoshi soon before you returned to the remainder of the firm that was still out.

“How was your little sidebar?” Peter asked.

“That was an old friend who happens to be in need of a lawyer, so we may have a new client,” Jeonghan shrugged casually.

“Oh I could kiss you on the mouth!” Peter clapped him on the back excitedly. At your bemused glare, he added, “With your consent, of course.”

Jeonghan let out a puff of laughter. Peter had ceased to surprise him long ago.

“Okay, I’m tired, I’m ready to go home,” Maja announced after a rather spectacular yawn.

Harris stood and the rest of the associates followed.

“Hey, you’re not taking the bus home, okay?” Maja pointed a finger at you as you closed your tab. “Jeonghan, will you drive her?”

Jeonghan nodded, silently thanking Maja for her observant and protective nature.

“No, I-,” your protest died in your throat when you saw her withering stare. It was late anyways, you wouldn’t mind the ride, to be honest. “I can ask someone else, if it’s out of the way for you,” you turned to Jeonghan.

“It’s on the way,” he shook his head. He had no idea whether this was true or not, but he wasn’t going to give up this opportunity.

“Okay,” you nodded.

You felt inordinately nervous as you followed him to his car. Jeonghan had driven you places plenty of times before, but it felt a little different this late after-hours. You watched him out of the corner of your eye as he drove.

“Did you enjoy your mandatory fun?” you finally asked, unable to take the silence anymore.

“Huh?” Jeonghan was startled from his thoughts.

He’d been deeply ruminating over if, whether, and then how he was going to walk you to the door and ask you out. He wanted to wait until the Mock Trial season was over so you wouldn’t consider it another meal of convenience.

“Jeonghan?” you were confused when he didn’t answer.

“Sorry, yes, it was fun. Added bonus of running into Hoshi,” he shook his head slightly.

“I enjoyed running into him too,” you grinned cheekily at him.

“It seemed so,” Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at you, but it was good natured.

“Thanks for the ride,” you smiled at Jeonghan as he pulled into the parking area at your place.

“I’ll walk you up,” he decided as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“You don’t have to do that,” you cocked your head at him.

“I know,” he half-smiled at you and continued anyway.

You tamped down a prickle of nerves as he followed you to the building entrance. You turned to face him because you felt like you needed to say something before going inside.

“Thank you for the ride,” you waved awkwardly at him, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Jeonghan nodded, feeling stuck as you turned to enter the building. At the last moment, he grabbed a hanging tie on your bag and jerked you back towards him. Now or never.

“Hey, uh…question,” he cleared his throat when you turned confused eyes towards him. “When Mock Trial season is over…would you want to go to dinner with me?”

“Oh?” your eyes widened. That prickly tingle was back again.

Jeonghan watched you think. It was like the day he’d watched you talk to your ex over the phone. It felt similarly nerve wracking waiting for you to render a decision.

“Yes, I would like that,” you finally nodded, offering him a small smile.

“Great,” he broke out into a smile and you both exhaled small breaths of relief. “How about the Friday after their final trial?”

“That works for me,” you nodded. You didn’t need to check your calendar, you never had plans.

“Okay, let’s plan for 7. I’ll work out the other details,” he nodded before releasing his hold on your bag. You exhaled loudly after you were safely inside. Was this a date?

…

Jeonghan’s brow furrowed as he stared at the casefile on his desk. He should be ecstatic. Harris and Peter had just assigned him a major Merger & Acquisition project. This was a huge step in building his corporate law portfolio, yet he couldn’t help but feel annoyed as it required him to be onsite. Your dinner date was just two weeks out and he really had no way of knowing how long he’d be required to be out of town.

“Hey, I heard you got an interesting case! What is it?” you popped your head into Jeonghan’s office. You were itching to know.

“Merger and Acquisition,” he responded blandly.

Your nose wrinkled. You had never been one for corporate law, so this was a rare case where you had no interest whatsoever. It was, however, surprising that Jeonghan wasn’t more visibly excited.

“Why do you look so un-psyched? You like this shit,” you furrowed your brows at him.

“I am, but I have to be on site for it…in Minneapolis.”

“Ah,” you nodded. You had to travel for work every so often and it was never as fun as you’d think. Staying in a hotel with an unfamiliar bed and weird pillows was just mildly annoying enough to drive you crazy. “Minneapolis is fun though!”

“There are things here I’d rather be doing,” an eyebrow jerked up with slight irritation. He hoped you would catch his drift.

“It’ll all be here when you get back,” you were trying to be encouraging.

Jeonghan tried to be reassured, but the unreasonable fear that you would change your mind about wanting to go out to dinner with him while he was gone lingered. He wondered if he could take that Friday off and fly back for the weekend.

…

You sighed as you walked back to your car. Jeonghan was out of town, which meant you were now advising both teams. You adored all of the students, but their instincts to try and weasel out information about the opposition’s strategy was making you a little crazy. You missed being a two-person team.

Your stomach grumbled as you entered a restaurant. This was your favorite place for solo dining. On top of the food being good, they had single person booths equipped with phone charging outlets where you could eat in peace. As you sat down, you realized just how long it had been since you’d stopped in. These days, more often than not, you had Jeonghan to eat with.

“Ah, YN! Where the hell have you been?” the hostess, Evan yelled excitedly when you walked in. “You finally find someone who will date you and your crazy hours?”

“Why would you think that when I’m back here to eat by myself?” you threw your hands up playfully in response. Your mind wandered to Jeonghan, but you brought it back quickly. 

“I guess so, you lonely spinster,” Evan chuckled affectionately as he led you to a booth. “You know the deal, so let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do,” you nodded as you took a seat. You submitted your order through the tablet and scrolled through your phone as you waited.

Your mind inevitably wandered to Jeonghan. You wondered whether he’d gotten into Minneapolis without much hassle and how the merger seemed so far. You even went so far as to draft a text message to him, but did not actually send it. He could contact you if he wanted to. You returned to the article you’d been reading, but it wasn’t much longer before your phone rang, alerting you of an incoming video call from ‘Yoon Jeonghan’. How was that for timing?

“Hello?” you answered while fishing in your bag for headphones.

“Hey, it’s Jeonghan,” you laughed. You knew that already. “Is practice over?”

“Yes,” you replied, waiting for a moment for the audio to switch over. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he replied, turning his camera on. “I was just thinking of you so I thought I’d call to see how it went. Thank you for pulling double duty, by the way. I wish I could’ve been there.”

“Me too,” you chuckled, propping your phone up so you could see him. “You should’ve seen the way Farah’s eyes bugged out when I told them where you were. Yet another weirdo who likes corporate law,” you teased. Farah was wonderful, but you just truly did not understand the draw.

Jeonghan laughed before reaching offscreen to grab a pair of chopsticks. You watched as he pulled them apart and jabbed them into something in a bowl.

“Oh are you eating? Me too,” you remarked, showing him a spoon that was handy.

“Yes. It’s been a long day, I’m starving,” he nodded before shoveling noodles into his mouth.

“How has the merger been, by the way?” you 

“Fairly aggressive so far,” Jeonghan shook his head. Once his immediate hunger was sated, he shared more details about his day. The timing was just as well because Evan brought you food and you could listen and eat.

Jeonghan smiled as he watched you eat dumplings rather expeditiously. While his day had been busy and consumed with the merger, he hadn’t been able to keep his mind from wandering to you. He’d finalized his plans to fly home on Friday in time for your date, which filled him with a nervous excitement. He planned to surprise you, so he didn’t share for now.

“How is Hoshi’s case?” he asked before bringing his water to his lips.

Your eyes lingered on his hand for a moment too long before you answered. Hoshi was quite the character. You weren’t exactly sure he had a solid case against his business partner, but you were still in the fact finding stage of things.

Jeonghan nodded while his server brought him the bill and informed him that he should pay at the hostess stand. As he stood, he let you know that he would be back soon and instructed you to wait for him. He knew you likely wouldn’t, but he was curious how long you might hold for. He laughed when he returned to a stern text from you asking not to waste your time. You’d waited all of two minutes before ending the call.

…

Jeonghan squeezed his eyes shut. The attorney for the opposite side of the merger was driving him insane with his idiocy and dramatic flair. His eyes flitted to his phone, he wondered if you were free.

[yjh]: ‘my opposing counsel is a moron’

You laughed.

[yn]: ‘i wonder if he attended Thee Law School That Shall Not Be Named’

[yjh]: ‘i’m not even sure he’d be admitted there’

You snorted. While you knew it was unreasonable, dunking on your law school’s longest standing rival still tickled a special spot of joy in your heart.

[yn]: ‘otherwise, how’s it going?’

Jeonghan glanced up surreptitiously before responding. Things were going smoother than the first days. Leadership of the acquiree had come to terms with the transaction. At this point, the opposing counsel was more of an obstacle than anyone else.

You raised your eyebrows as you read his response. You wondered if this attorney was struggling to change mindset and was still taking an oppositional approach.

[yn]: ‘may want to reinforce that his clients have accepted the acquisition and continue to redirect/reroute to them as appropriate’

[yjh]: ‘would rather just strangle him’

[yn]: ‘i will not represent you when it inevitably goes to trial’

[yjh]: ‘but you’re the best 🥺👉👈’

[yn]: ‘i’m aware :)’

Jeonghan snorted before tucking his phone back in his pocket. Incompetent Opposition LawyerTM had returned so it was back to business.

…

[yn]: ‘you should go to the MIA!’

[yjh]: ‘what is that?”

[yn]: ‘Minneapolis Institute of Art.’

[yn]: ‘this weekend is their annual Art in Bloom event!’

[yn]: ‘your timing is perfect!’

Jeonghan was pleasantly surprised as you proceeded to blow up his phone, explaining that the Art in Bloom was an annual event where floral artists were invited to create arrangements that were inspired by or complements to art pieces that were housed at the MIA. Apparently it was a free annual event that you were very excited about.

[yjh]: ‘it’s too bad you’re not here with me.’

‘Here with me’ stuck out to you more than you cared to admit.

[yn]: ‘send me pictures if you go! plz & ty’

Part of you did wish that you were in Minneapolis with Jeonghan. As much as your friends disagreed that it was a cool city, you enjoyed it. It had so many things that you enjoyed.

[maja-stic]: ‘are you ready? i’m leaving now, be there in 15’

[yn]: ‘yes! see you soon :)’

You flipped back to Jeonghan’s messages and were delighted to see he had decided to take your advice and promised to send you pictures. You nodded happily and finished packing your bag. You and Maja had a date at the mall. You were in the market for new trousers and she was shopping for home decor items.

[maja-stic]: ‘here’

“Hello hello! I missed you,” she greeted you with a smile as you climbed into her car. Being with Harris really looked good on her, she seemed so happy these days.

“I missed you too. Freaking Harris monopolizing all of your time,” you feigned outrage.

“You’re always welcome to hang out with us,” she offered as she drove.

“I don’t think I want to third wheel my literal boss,” you chuckled.

“I-,” she glared at you, “He is also my literal boss.”

“Yes, and you chose to get involved in a sordid, workplace relationship. That’s not my fault!” you teased her and she reached over to pinch you.

“Ow! I’m gonna report you to HR!” you shouted.

You both broke out into a peal of giggles as she turned off on the exit to the mall. After completing your ritual of getting soft pretzels and bubble tea, the two of you began shopping in earnest. You alternated between clothing and home decor and as was typical, both ended up buying things you absolutely didn’t need. As time went on, Maja noticed that you were more and more wrapped up in your phone. At the beginning of the trip, you’d been invested in finding pants, but once you’d found two pairs to your liking, you’d been checking your phone like crazy. Sometimes there was nothing to respond to, but more often than not, a smile crept onto your lips and you tapped back a quick reply. Her eyebrows furrowed.

“Who do you keep texting?” she demanded, curiosity bubbling.

“Oh, my friend is at a museum and they’re sending me pictures!” you avoided answering the question directly.

“Oh? Let me see!” she poked her head over your shoulder. She had a burning gut feeling.

You flipped through the photos that Jeonghan had sent you. Maja cooed appropriately at the floral arrangements, but was disappointed that they didn’t give anything away. It had to be Jeonghan, right? You didn’t have any other friends!

“So is it a botanical garden? It seemed like flowers and also art?”

“No, it’s an art museum. They do an annual special exhibit of floral arrangements.”

“Ahh, cool,” Maja nodded before unlocking her phone to do some googling. It didn’t take much sleuthing to deduce that this was probably the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s Art in Bloom exhibit. The pieces of information puzzled themselves together in Maja’s brain and she gasped, giving you an accusatory stare.

“You lying son of a gun!”

“What?” you feigned ignorance, but you knew your goose was cooked.

“You’ve been texting Jeonghan all day! You-,” her outrage choked out the rest of her sentence. “Right?”

“No,” you denied reflexively.

“Give me your phone then,” she stood with a fist on her hip and the other hand outstretched. “If you are truly not texting Jeonghan all day on a Saturday then give me your phone.”

“I-,” you sighed, giving up the pretense, “Fine, you’re right. Sue me!”

“I will!” she replied. She was overwhelmed by a mix of indignance, vindication, and excitement that was showing up in an overly combative manner. “Sorry, I just…I am surprised! And processing.”

“We’re just talking,” you tried to play it down, but you knew it was more than that.

Over the past week, your communications with Jeonghan had grown more frequent than they’d even been with Flynn. You looked forward to his nightly calls and you’d accepted that you were feeling something for him that was more than a casual friendship. Something that made you feel nervous yet hopeful that he meant your next dinner as a date too.

“You are thinking way too hard about him for this to just be talking,” Maja shook her head firmly. “You don’t have to tell me, but…I don’t believe it’s just friendly texting.”

“It’s so embarrassing to say it out loud, but I think I like him,” you rolled your eyes at yourself. “Freaking Jeonghan.”

“Hehe,” Maja was grinning from ear to ear. “I love this. You two make sense together, like come on! I love love.”

“You sound like Peter,” you gave her a pointed look.

“In this case, I’m happy to,” she beamed at you proudly. “Do you guys have anything planned? Have you set like a date date?”

“We were supposed to get dinner next Friday, but since he’s still in Minneapolis, I’m assuming we’ll reschedule once that’s done?”

Maja nodded. That made sense. The rest of the shopping trip was filled with a peppering of questions about your newly realized feelings and fighting off Maja’s occasional offers to Facetime Jeonghan together. It was way too early for that.

…

The next time you spoke on the phone, you were the one who called Jeonghan, which made him want to kick his feet with delight and triumph. He was, however, on his way back to the hotel so that would have to wait.

“Hello?” he sandwiched the phone between his shoulder and ear as he entered his hotel room.

“Hey, do you have any experience with beverage labeling compliance?”

“What?” Jeonghan’s eyebrows furrowed. Not the greeting he expected.

“I’m at the grocery store,” you said, as if it explained anything. “I’m looking at this weird canned beverage that claims a million benefits that I find difficult to believe.”

“Hm, I wonder if it’s technically a supplement. Much more lax on that side.”

“Really?” you squawked. “Shouldn’t supplements be more tightly regulated?”

Jeonghan shook his head. This was yet another corporate law elective that you had elected to ignore.

“You’d think so, but no. FDA is dreadfully underfunded when it comes to inspection and enforcement. It’s almost a free for all unless you have significant market share.”

“Huh,” you narrowed your eyes at the can before moving down the aisle. “Well nay to that, then, I suppose. What are you up to?”

“Just got back to my room. Another long day, so I am ordering room service and not moving once I lay down.”

“Ah, I’ll let you go then.”

“No, don’t,” Jeonghan shook his head vehemently, “Stay on.”

“Do you need to at least call room service?”

“No,” Jeonghan shook his head as he toed off his shoes, “I can order online.”

“Ah,” you nodded.

You continued through the grocery aisles, plucking an assortment of items that you could throw together to make dinner. You were well aware of the differences in regulation between supplements and foods. The beverage’s nutritional claims had been a flimsy excuse to call him. It’d only been a few days since he’d left for the merger, but you felt it. The firm was quiet without him and you found yourself missing your thinking partner. Maja could only assist to a certain level before you needed someone else…well, needed Jeonghan.

“Gosh, I’m tired,” Jeonghan huffed and you heard what sounded like him flopping down into bed. There was a bit of soft rustling before he spoke again. “What should I eat?” he asked, putting you on speakerphone and pulling up the room service menu.

“I don’t know,” you rolled your eyes, “What do they have?”

Jeonghan was inordinately pleased that you were humoring him. In months past, you definitely would’ve hung up at this, admittedly, unreasonable question. He was very much reading into the fact that you hadn’t. He took his time reading the menu to you while you checked out with your groceries.

“I think…well, it’s humid today in Minneapolis, right? I don’t like heavy foods when the weather is sticky like that.”

“How do you know it’s humid?”

“I…,” you had looked it up earlier.

“Did you check?” Jeonghan’s eyes lit up. Had he been around other people, he would’ve had to cover his mouth to hide the beaming smile on his face.

“No,” you denied it too quickly.

“You were thinking about me,” he teased in a sing-songy voice followed by the sound of rustling sheets. You couldn’t see it, but he was kicking his feet like an absolute fool.

You had every plan to say something in your own defense, but you suddenly realized or remembered that he was laying in bed. This sent a jolt of heat up your neck. You really shouldn’t feel this way in a grocery store!

“Well what did you decide to eat?” you asked as you drove your car home. You smacked yourself on the forehead. This was an incredibly inane topic for you to be entertaining, but you didn’t want to end the call either.

“Oh, I haven’t yet,” Jeonghan focused his attention again. “I do think I’ll take your advice. Something light sounds nice.”

You had finished putting away groceries by the time he’d submitted his order. It had been a long day, so you went to lay down as well. You landed with a quiet thud and you shifted slightly to get comfortable.

“What are you going to eat?” Jeonghan asked.

“I bought groceries, but now I don’t feel like cooking them,” you laughed, “I think I have some hard boiled eggs in the fridge.”

“No. Stop,” he said sternly. “That is pathetically sad. You can’t just eat eggs for dinner.”

“I mean who’s gonna stop me?” you teased.

“YN.”

You stilled. Hearing Jeonghan say your name in an admonishing, scolding tone sent a shiver down your spine. Not unpleasant by any means, but surprising. You took a few shallow breaths, forgetting to reply.

“YN?” Jeonghan his voice sounded in your ear again and you shuddered.

“Yeah?” you replied, but it was breathy. Thin. You squeezed your eyes shut.

Jeonghan swallowed. The effect that he’d heard in your voice shot through him and surprised him. He wished he was home.

“I’m gonna order you food,” he decided, clearing his throat.

“No, you don’t have to do that,” you shook your head.

“I know,” he brushed off your protest and pulled up his phone. “Ah, Krazy Bao delivers,” he thought aloud as he submitted your order.

You blinked at his memory. It still surprised you when Jeonghan was attentive like this.

“What’s your address again?”

You contemplated withholding it from him, but he promptly reminded you that he could look it up in his Google Maps search history. Damn his brain.

“Okay, ETA is forty minutes,” he confirmed, satisfied with himself.

“Thank you,” you muttered, face half buried into a pillow.

“You’re welcome,” he laughed. “Tell me about the rest of your day.”

You thought for a moment, trying to decide what to tell. Honestly the days had been boring since Jeonghan was gone. The other associates’ offices were further away from your corner and so you’d mostly been working and chatting with Maja occasionally. She and Harris were now at a point where they spent most evenings together, so you felt more alone than normal. You didn’t share all of this with him, of course, but found more than enough topics to last through both of your dinners.

“It’s getting late,” you yawned.

“It is,” Jeonghan nodded, sleep was creeping up on him as well.

“I can’t wait for you to get back,” you muttered as you dozed off, “I miss you.”

Jeonghan’s eyes snapped wide open.

‘I miss you’

“What did you just say?” he asked in disbelief.

The only answer you had for him was light snoring, so he ended the call.

‘I miss you.’

He hadn’t realized he’d been wanting to hear those words until now. The brief shock of adrenaline subsided and he laid back down. The next two days couldn’t pass quickly enough for him.

…

You felt like a chicken with its head cut off. Things had been so overwhelmingly busy for the past weeks that you felt just one very minor inconvenience from exploding. Mock Trial had finally wound down, but now you were assisting with Hoshi who was quite the handful. You probably would have fired him as a client already, but this was technically Jeonghan’s case. But he was gone and Hoshi was…a lot.

Soonyoung, who preferred his ‘Doing Business As’ name of Hoshi, was embroiled in a fairly pointless lawsuit with his business partner, Seungkwan. The pair of them were equally hotheaded and emotional and some days it felt like they were engaged in the lawsuit just so they could fight with each other on record.

“What time is the mediation for Hoshi today?” you called out of your office door to Maja.

“Six-thirty,” she replied. 

“Gah!” you let out a squawk before returning to work. You needed to run over to campus to meet with your mock trial team one more time before heading to Seungkwan’s lawyer’s office for mediation. After this week was over, you could take a bit of a breather. You just had to make it until then.

As you drove to campus your mind wandered, as it usually did now, to Jeonghan. Tonight would’ve been your dinner (date?), but he was still in Minneapolis. You’d assumed it was canceled. You’d figure something out once he was back.

…

Jeonghan sighed with relief when he finally deboarded the plane. It had looked a little hairy for a moment, but he’d made it back on time. He had enough time to get home, shower, change, and meet you at the restaurant. If he didn’t hit traffic, he might even have time to pick up some flowers. Nothing showy, as that wasn’t your style, but you had so enjoyed those cabbage roses in the wedding venue garden when he’d gone undercover with you.

…

You silenced your phone before you walked into the conference room with Hoshi. You were meeting with Seungkwan and his lawyer today for another, hopefully final, mediation session.

“Are you ready?” you asked Hoshi with a hopeful smile.

“Yes! I will let you answer all of the questions even if Seungkwan goads me!” he answered you, a look of determination across his face. You hoped that would be true this time.

“I guess they really do let anyone in these days,” came Mr. Boo’s drawling voice and Hoshi looked ready to launch himself over the conference table.

You pinched the bridge of your nose. This was going to be a challenging mediation.

…

Jeonghan’s eyebrows were furrowed. You were late. It hadn’t worried him for the first few minutes, but it was now quarter past seven and you hadn’t responded to any of his texts.

“Hello sir,” a waiter dressed in all black came to check on him. It was a fancy restaurant, so the service was unfortunately attentive.

“Yes, I know. I don’t know where she is,” Jeonghan replied, clearly ticked. “Let me give her a call to see if something happened.”

“Of course,” the server ducked away to share the update with another server.

Jeonghan could feel his irritation rise with each ring of the line. He ran his tongue across his teeth with annoyance until it finally went to voicemail.

“Hello, you’ve reached YN-,” he cut off your voicemail with an irritated push of the red button.

“I guess she’s not coming,” his eyebrows flicked up with annoyance when the server came back to check in again.

“Ah, I see. Would the gentleman still like to dine with us today?”

“No, thank you. I’ll get the check and get this table cleared out for you.”

The server nodded and returned shortly with a bill. Jeonghan paid for his one cocktail and then headed out to his car. Before starting it, he tried calling you again. He tossed his phone into the passenger seat before heading home. As he got closer, the irritation subsided and was replaced by a sense of worry. Even if you were standing him up, he would’ve liked to know that you were okay.

…

“How could you possibly suggest that?” Hoshi and Seungkwan gasped in horror at both you and your opposing counsel.

You shook your head. You and your opposing counsel had just devised an ingenious way to split assets of the business quite equitably between the two partners. You’d thought they would be elated.

“What are you, King Solomon? We can’t cut our baby in half like that!”

“Absolutely not!”

“At this rate, I’m second guessing the entire lawsuit to begin with!”

“Me too!”

Your head spun. You weren’t even sure who was saying what at this point, only that your plan had backfired spectacularly. Seungkwan and Hoshi made eye contact for a few moments before launching themselves into each other’s arms for a rather spectacular hug.

“What is happening?” you whispered to Seungkwan’s lawyer.

“Lord if I know,” he wailed, looking ready to pull his own eyebrows out.

“Brothers!” Hoshi and Seungkwan pulled away triumphantly. “Cancel the lawsuit, we’ve reconciled!”

You were torn between stabbing the both of them and cry-laughing because it meant you could go home. You went with the latter. Seungkwan’s attorney had the good idea of documenting the decision signed by all parties and as soon as that was done, you were free to go.

When you pulled out your phone to check the time, your heart leapt into your throat. Three missed calls and several texts from Jeonghan. What was going on?!

Jeonghan pretended to consider not picking it up when you called, but ultimately couldn’t help himself. The curiosity had been eating at him for hours now.

“Hello?” he answered gruffly.

“Are you okay? I was in mediation with a client so I just saw your texts and calls. Are you okay?”

“Mediation? Why were you in mediation?” Jeonghan asked, his tone somewhat strained.

“Because you pawned Hoshi off on me,” you rolled your eyes.

“Did you forget what day it is?” Jeonghan inquired snippily.

“Friday?” you answered, slightly confused.

“We were supposed to have dinner!”

“But you’re still in Minneapolis?”

“Try again,” Jeonghan’s tongue clicked.

“...You’re home?” your eyes widened.

Jeonghan let out a small noise of confirmation and a mix of feelings washed over you.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back? I assumed we were canceling!”

“Why would you assume that?! I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you?”

“Well you were the one who saddled me with the world’s most insane client!”

“And you’re the one who stood me up on our first date!”

You stilled. You pushed your adrenaline aside and focused on what was important. Jeonghan had come back all the way from Minneapolis for your date. Which was in fact a date and not just wishful thinking on your part.

“It’s fine, we can just reschedule. Hopefully the merger will be over soon-”

“No!” you cut him off, opening your car door. “Where are you? I’ll come pick you up! It’s eight, we can still have dinner.”

“I-,” he chuckled. Within moments you were headed towards his place.

Jeonghan glanced at the clock as he waited. He couldn’t recall the last time he had been picked up for dinner and he had to laugh. His relationship to you was anything but traditional, so really it made sense for you to have accidentally stood him up and then come pick him up instead.

Despite that, he was excited to see you. The past weeks apart had cemented just how important you were to him. He missed hearing your thoughts, bouncing ideas off of you, and spending time with you. He thought about you for so long that the buzzer was what pulled him back to reality. He buzzed you up and wondered whether you’d be amenable to a simple night in.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?” you burst in unceremoniously.

“I wanted to surprise you!” came his bemused reply.

“Well I wouldn’t have scheduled mediation if I’d known you were coming back,” you fixed him with a stubborn look.

“I know,” he de-escalated the situation completely, grabbing you by the wrists and pulling you towards himself. “Hello.”

“H-hello,” you swallowed, nervous at his touch.

“I missed you,” Jeonghan smiled softly down at you. “I’m not mad. I’m glad you came.”

“I-,” your adrenaline fueled nerves melted into relief and your heart stuttered in your chest. “I missed you too.” 

“Do you want to go out? Or do you want to stay in?” he asked, pushing a few stray hairs out of your face.

“I wouldn’t mind staying in, to be honest. I need to give you an earful about Hoshi,” you couldn’t help but tease.

“I’m sure you do,” he smiled at you. “Go sit down and I’ll grab you a drink.”

“Wait, before you do,” you caught him before he could step away completely. You tugged him in by the front of his shirt and pressed your lips to his. His arms folded around you and his lips curled into a smile. “I missed you beyond a reasonable doubt,” you smiled cheesily at him when you pulled away.

“My god,” Jeonghan rolled his eyes affectionately at you, “I like you so much.”

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