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bibinnieposts · 2 years ago

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yes i know that this has smut, but i fr felt like this was more comfort than anything

—Playboy | y.jh (M)

pairing ➳ dom!Jeonghan x sub!inexperienced!female reader

genre ➳ sugar daddy au, strangers to lovers, smut, pwp, angst and some fluff. part of Sugar Spice and Everything Nice project.

word count ➳ 18.8k (haha my hand slipped 😀)

warnings ➳ profanities, drinking, smoking(im dumb,idk how that shit actually works so ignore if I made a mistake), blond jh that turns into black haired jh, stealing, jealousy, reader is somewhat of a brat, age gap(not mentioned), soft playful dom Jeonghan, hella teasing, kissing, marking, use of belt as a restraint 😳, daddy kink, name calling, nipple play, fingering, male and female oral, choking, crying, some spanking, overstimulation, unprotected sex (this is fiction guys!! be safe irl), virgin sex, creampie, multiple sex scenes 😭

synopsis ➳ you try to steal from him. things take a turn when he catches you on the act. seemingly for the better at first but then for the worse when you catch feelings for him.

playlist ➨ sugar daddy- queen herby // playboy- exo// sugar- maroon 5 // guys my age- hey violet // anytime anywhere- kevin oh // orion's belt- sabrina caludio // all my love- seventeen // tie a cherry- cl // tell it to my heart- meduza // one last night- vaults // i fell in love with the devil- avril lavinge

A/N: The second installment of Sugar Spice and Everything Nice project is here!! So, I decided to change his hair colour midway because of the Elle 95line photoshoot. Jeonghan has black hair there and that photoshoot SCREAMS sugar daddy vibes so yeah, you are getting the best of both worlds here LMAO. I had the best time writing this, especially the stealing part lol and maybe that's why this has been released a lil earlier than I originally anticipated. The story just came naturally to me, ya know? BUT, for Joshua's story...I have nothing planned, like nothing so who knows if it'll be released in this lifetime 💀. Oh, and also thank y'all for a thousand followers, srsly, guys thank u so much😭. I'll stop blabbering now and let you read. Lemme know what you think and I'll see you all in hell! 😘

when you think it's too late,

you've already fallen for me,

it's out of your control

you knew everything from the start

and now you're blaming it on me?

Your hands dance over his thighs to capture his attention as the man next to keeps entertaining his friend, completely ignoring your existence.

You have been doing this for a while but your companion has shown great self control, definitely not one to give in so easily. You know he's doing this on purpose, it's in his nature to tease you and have you desperate.

Huffing, you retract your hand and sip your martini, playing with the olive sitting on one side of the glass as your eyes mindlessly wander around. You watch the bartender in the distance, his hands moving skillfully as he prepares drinks for the customers and you scoff a little how ironic it is.

About two months earlier, you were in his place, preparing drinks till your hand hurt. You never imagined yourself here, on the opposite side, sipping drinks instead of making them, dressed in the prettiest clothes and jewelry, with an ungodly beautiful man who you couldn't even dream of having.

Yoon Jeonghan.

The story of how you two met still flusters you and sitting here, on the same place where you first met him brings back the still fresh memories as if it all happened yesterday.

He's here again. This is the third time you are seeing him in this bar, looking like he just stepped out of a magazine while everybody else looks like what they should after a long day; tired, ordinary.

He stands out easily, his hair painted in a beautiful, eye-catching shade of blond, an easy smile on his lips, dressed in a suit that costs three months of your rent. His features are extremely striking and charming, so much so that once you see him, you can't get him out of your head. You are sure you have never seen any man this attractive in your lifetime. His aura is playful yet controlling, movements confident, like he owns the place- which he does. There used to be rumors going around about how he owns this club and a share in ten others, which later turned out to be true.

Like a magnet, your eyes can't help looking at him every so often as you prepare the continuous orders of drinks. It also doesn't help that a flock of girls surrounds him all the time, handsy and giggly, though their number today seems to be a little less than other days.

Today he seems to be here to enjoy the company of his friends rather than any female, though some ladies accompany their group, one of their hands resting on his thigh as she sits close to him.

You have been working at this place for about a month and it has become a habit to observe and in turn judge the people that come here while preparing drinks. Yoon Jeonghan is one of them, one who you love to judge. You sound petty even to yourself but everytime you see that man, strolling around, all playful smiles and flirty eyes you can't help but feel a little jealous. That man literally has the perfect life, the looks, the money, the company- everything. And you often feel annoyed when he would buy drinks and leave a huge amount of tips- like yeah, everyone around here knows you are dripping with money, no need to rub it in our faces. Most of the time, the servers or the waiters would pocket them, beating you to it, irking you further.

You are too lost in your train of petty thoughts to realize that the man you have been thinking about stands right in front of you. "Hello?" He calls you and you blink, staring at him dumbly for a second before putting on a professional smile.

"Hello sir, what can I get you?"

With a lazy smile, he plops down on a stool. "A scotch please."

Nodding you reach for the bottle to pour him his order, while his eyes wander, looking around the counter. "Taking a break from your company?" You ask as you serve him his drink, chin jutting out to point behind him as his friends lay on the couch with their eyes closed, probably drunk.

"Yep. Seems like I'm the only one who's still sober," he throws you a playful grin and you nod before tending to other customers, while he sips the scotch and scrolls through his phone.

Every so often you take looks at him through the corner of your eye, his ethereal profile looking even more eye catching underneath the club lights. His hair is a little messy, in the sexiest way possible and he has discarded his green suit jacket which leaves him in a black turtleneck that fits him like a glove. Though the lighting is not the best right now, you can see how the material hugs his strong chest and shoulders tight. Your eyes trail down to his hands, long and lithe, perfect fingers clad in a bunch of expensive rings. You would like to think you don't have a hand fetish but damn, his hands are beautiful just like the rest of him and you wonder how they would feel to touch.

Your wandering eyes stop on his wristwatch glinting underneath the lights, a silver Rolex if you had to guess, with yellow gold highlights, which he has taken off and put on the counter, absentmindedly fiddling with it. A woman suddenly asks for a gin and tonic, diverting your attention from the man as you busy yourself with her order. You don't notice that one of his friends walks over to him to drag him back to the crowd and when you look back to where he was sitting, it's empty.

Empty except for the watch he was wearing, still left on the counter, probably forgotten by him.

Oh, how unfairly, filthily, loaded he must be to forget something that expensive.

Normally, you would like to consider yourself as a person with good morals but the longer you stare at the abandoned watch, glinting underneath the lights, almost calling to you, the more immoral thoughts gather in your mind. It also doesn't help that the flow of orders suddenly stops, making the counter empty, leaving you to do nothing as people dance and chat amongst themselves.

Maybe this is a test. The almighty is testing you, your morality, but it looks like you are going to fail dramatically because the more you stare at the watch, the more temptation you feel. You can sell that watch for a good 10k.

Other than the loans and bills that you have to pay off, you need to pay for your brother's college tuition. And damn it, do you need money right now. The thought of providing a better life for Chan seems to do the trick as your hands move on their own and before you know it, you have grabbed the jewelry and stuffed it into your pocket.

Oh god.

Humiliation and guilt burn throughout your body in scalding flames as you chew on your lower lip. Throat dry, your eyes move around the dim club to scan around cautiously, looking to see if someone has their eyes on you but everyone seems busy with their own thing. You can't even spot the man you stole from or any of his friends so maybe they left.

But what if they come back and ask for it? What would you do then? What if they suspect you? Or maybe ask to see the CCTV footage which definitely caught you putting that item in your pocket. What if they take you to jail?

Oh god, oh god. You are terrified, hands rubbing your face frustratedly. Maybe, just maybe you'll get lucky and he won't come back. He's probably drunk and has already forgotten about it.

A bunch of tipsy young girls suddenly appear at the counter and your heart almost lurches out of your chest. They ask for more shots and you gladly accept the distraction, trying your best to focus on your work. Just as you finish serving them a familiar voice calls for you, sending shivers down your spine.

"Hey! Have you seen my watch? It was a Rolex. I accidentally left it here." Yoon Jeonghan seems to have magically appeared out of thin air, his innocent eyes looking at you for an answer and your guilt increases tenfold.

This indeed is a test and God is giving you another chance to redeem yourself.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see it," the lie comes out easily before you can stop yourself.

Oh god- what the fuck is wrong with you?

"Maybe you took it with you?" You continue lying like a bitch when in fact, the thing he is looking for is sitting right inside your pocket. "Did you check your pockets?"

The man pats around his chest and then thighs, looking for the watch and shakes his head. "No, I think I left it here." He says almost with a pout, his tone sad and you loathe yourself.

What if it was precious to him? Maybe it was a family heirloom? Maybe it is a rare piece? Swallowing you try to keep your voice as cool as possible. "I'm really sorry. I can't help you." The man standing opposite to you watches you for a while as you hold your gaze and try not to start shaking in your boots.

"Are you sure, you can't help me?" His demeanor completely changes, his tone almost teasing, his eyes glinting with challenge and you instantly know he has figured you out.

Your heart almost drops out of your ass.

You stand there frozen, literally, not moving, blinking or breathing, just staring at him with wide eyes as you feel like crying. Has he called the police already? Half of you expect to hear the sirens and cop cars pull up.

"Hmm? Are you sure? Because I think you can, darling," He smirks, the cockiest smirk ever, resting his elbows on the counter and you feel like disappearing into thin air. "Why don't you hand me that back and I don't make this a big deal?" He wiggles his brows, pointing them towards your pant pocket and in a flash your hands move, fishing the jewelry out and handing it to him.

"I'm so sorry!" You almost yell, tears in your eyes as shame washes over you. Your head hangs low as you wait for him to do something, maybe throw insults at you and then kick your ass out.

"I swear I didn't mean to! I am not a thief! It's just that it was sitting there and- and-" Your throat tightens as a drop of tear leaks from your eye, your hands fisting your apron in a tight grip.

"Hey," His voice is unexpectedly sweet, soothing as he coos at you to look at him. "It's alright. It happens. I don't think you are a thief."

"Really?" You blink at him. He gives you a reassuring smile. "Though it's not right to steal, I'm sure you had your reasons." He says and the relief you feel is beyond words. Your legs almost give up and you want to sink onto the floor and cry.

"T-thank you," is all you can whisper, eyes cast down, the shame ever-present as you realize he is turning a blind eye towards your actions.

"You're welcome," he grins, that playful grin you've seen many times. However, his next words are something you never expected, "Is there anyone that can cover for you? Have a drink with me. It'll be quick."

"Huh? Me?" You're flabbergasted. "I- I can't...we have rules not to drink-"

"I'm the boss here okay," he rolls his eyes. "And I'm telling you to break those rules. Now, get someone to cover for you."

You stand there, blinking at him, expecting him to say that it's a prank but when he doesn't, you quickly start moving, searching for your replacement Hoshi.

Ten minutes later you sit with Jeonghan in a private room of the club, away from the loud music and chattering. You have finished a couple of glasses of bloody mary to calm your nerves and now you sit next to him awkwardly, fiddling with your hands, the tension thick in the air.

Jeonghan sits beside you, legs spread, leaned back into the velvet couch, sipping on a whiskey. You can feel his eyes on you, watching you rather amusedly and you start getting nervous. What is he planning?

"So," he sets the glass down on the coffee table and leans closer to you. "When you said this is your only time stealing, I'd like to believe that you were telling the truth and not lying your way out of trouble?"

"I swear!" You yell desperately, hands almost reaching out to clutch him. "I swear on my little brother, okay? I have never ever done anything like that before. I just- it was just there and I was tempted and I need money-" You sigh, putting your head into your hands.

"It's alright. I believe you," Jeonghan assures, patting you on your shoulder. He leans back and surprisingly, takes out a cigar from his pocket and lights it up. You watch him hold it against his lips with fascination.

So he smokes.

He takes a drag and then blows a puff of smoke into the air. "I just needed to be sure. If you did something like that, stole from any of the customers then I was giving you a chance to come clean."

"I swear, I didn't. And I won't, ever again." You whisper, holding his gaze. "Please don't fire me. I need this job, please."

Jeonghan hums, leaning back into the couch, taking another drag. "I can see that. Little brother, your say?" You nod.

"How old is he?"

"A couple years younger than me. He's starting college. I just- I need money for his tuitions and I-" You fall silent, staring at the ground. God, how could you put yourself in this stupid situation? You should be on your way home now instead of begging for mercy from the unbelievably hot owner of the club.

"It's alright, take it easy." He says, pouring you some whiskey before tapping the butt of the cigar in the ashtray. "You do other jobs than this? I'm pretty sure this doesn't cover your expenses." He raises a brow. You chuckle mirthlessly, "Yeah. I do a couple of other part times. But nothing seems to be enough you know." You take a sip of the whiskey. "I really should get a sugar daddy." You murmur under your breath to yourself but Jeonghan seems to have heard it.

"Sugar daddy?" His eyes dance in amusement. Your face heats up. "Yeah- uh-um...it's nothing. I- I downloaded this app on my phone and...and I think I should just go with it." You explain, waving your hand dismissively. The alcohol surely loosed your lip.

"Oh yeah? What's the app?" A smirk seems to settle on his face.

"Uh, Sugar and Spice..?" You murmur, confused at his question. Why is he so curious? A full smile sets on his face at your answer as he laughs softly, finishing his whiskey before saying, "And what if I told you I was the one who made that app?"

Huh?

You stare dumbly at him. "Wait- what?" He laughs some more. "Yeah. Sugar and spice. That's my app. Yoon Corporation, that's my company." You blink at him for a while, processing his words before nodding slowly. "Wow. That's...cool. Know anyone you can introduce me to? Someone at your age?" You half joke, shaking your head at the situation as you finish your drink. Jeonghan watches you with a playful smirk on his face before replying. "I do, in fact."

Your eyes widen. "Really? You are not kidding? Who is it?"

"You are looking at him, baby." He grins a cocky smile. You gape at him for a while before chuckling. "Okay, that was funny."

"I'm serious."

You stop and sit still, watching him wearily. "Wait- so you are proposing me to be your sugar baby? I- why? That- that doesn't make any sense. I- I'm sure you don't lack any company of women." You murmur dryly with a frown. He grins, leaning closer to you, his breath fanning your face. You can smell the hint of whiskey and cigar in it and you have this stupid urge to kiss him. "And what if I said I wanted your company?"

Your eyes move heavenward at that. "I'm not buying that."

"Oh but it's true, darling." He settles back into the couch, throwing one leg over the other as one of his hands stretches out to rest on the backrest of the couch. "I wanna have your company. Let's say you've intrigued me and I'd like to get to know you more. But, don't think that I'm asking you to have sex with me. We can go there later but let's start easy. If you want to, that is."

Your eyes narrow on him suspiciously. "I- this is too good to be true. I don't know..."

"Well, you get your money and I get the company of this really attractive lady. I think it's a fair deal. I've been wanting to try having a sugar baby for a while. I mean, I literally made an app on that. What's the harm in trying new and fun things? And what can I say, I love trying out new things." He grins, his brows dancing suggestively at you. "I'm not saying that you have to give me an answer right now. Think about it. If you don't want to then it's cool. You keep working here and we forget about this. I won't take your job or anything."

"I want to!" The words leave your mouth before you can think it through. Jeonghan raises a surprised brow at you, a mischievous smile appearing on his lips as he sets down his cigar on the ashtray and rubs his hands clean.

"I...will take the offer." You whisper, face heating up as you avert your eyes.

This is a chance too big to let go. This filthily loaded man is asking you to be his sugar baby. Not to mention he is illegally hot and young. How many people get chances like this? Besides, you have nothing to lose. You need money and this is the easiest way you can have it.

"You sure?"

You take in a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm sure." He seems satisfied with your answer as a large grin kisses his lips. "That's great." From his breast pocket, he fishes out his phone. "Give me your number, darling." You take the unlocked phone from his hands and quickly type your number, heart thudding loudly.

This is actually happening. You are actually doing this.

He nods, taking his phone back. "Thank you, babe. I'll call you." He stands up and you do too and he steps forward to walk out of the room but stops at the door. Turning around he takes off his wristwatch and with a smirk, he grabs your hand and sets the timepiece on your palm. "This is for you. A little gift to seal our deal." He winks at you cheekily as you stare at the device in your hand, stunned.

Before you can say anything, the man is gone, leaving you frozen in your place and your heart beating wildly in your chest, the expensive jewelry sitting in your hand.

"Bored, darling?" Jeonghan's sultry voice brings you back to reality as you blink and turn your head towards him. A lazy, teasing smile sits on his face as he watches you amusedly. "Trying to get my attention huh?" He points to your hand which has all this time been dancing on his upper thigh, dangerously close to his crotch. You roll your eyes, retreating your hand, "You noticed only after like, an hour."

He chuckles softly, "Being a brat today, aren't we?" He whispers in your ears, pressing a kiss just by your earlobe. You huff. "No, I am not. You brought me here and I thought we were gonna have some fun or something but you keep talking to Joshua and your other buddies." Jeonghan hums, a smile on his face, as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear. "Baby wants my attention all to herself, doesn't she?"

Nodding you scoot closer to him and rest your head against his shoulder. His arm comes to loop around your waist. "We'll go home in a bit, darling. And then you can have my full attention."

You roll your eyes, groaning as he goes back to conversing with Joshua and a few other friends of his. But this time, he includes you as his friends ask questions about you here and there. You don't know most of them other than Joshua, a sweet, handsome man who owns this and a few other clubs with Jeonghan. You have met him a few times before, at company events and dinner parties, his sweet personality making him easy to talk to.

Even though you are not left alone like before, your bored, tipsy self cannot help but be a little brat. Your fingers trail up Jeonghan's thigh as you nuzzle your face in his neck, a soft sigh escaping your lips as you inhale his intoxicating scent. A subtle mix of wood and fruit and his natural scent have you obsessed. Slowly, teasingly, your fingers drag over to his crotch once again from his thighs. As discreetly as possible, you cup your hand over his crotch and loom at his face for some reaction. Except there isn't any.

This man has amazing self control.

He ignores you completely, listening to his friends talk about some one-night stands they had. You huff at the lack of any reaction from him. The lights are low and no one should be able to tell what you are really doing if they don't look too hard so bravely, you squeeze him and start rubbing him over his pants. And that seems to do the trick.

His head turns towards you, an eyebrow raised, his eyes giving you a warning. "Darling." His voice is a clear message to stop your actions. But you won't. "Yes, Hannie," you use the nickname when you sweet-talk him to do something and blink innocently at him.

"Don't do this. It won't end well for you, darling."

"Oh really? What are you planning on doing, Mister?" You challenge, tilting your head to one side. "I've been with you for two months but you have yet to fuck me. I doubt it gets any worse than this."

It's true. The two months you have been with him were completely different from what you expected. You were sure he was gonna stick his dick in after the first week, given his reputation but for an entire month, all you got was kisses, mostly on your cheek and temple. He kept his distance, even more so after he learned that you are inexperienced in that department and it has been frustrating you to death.

After a few weeks, he got more handsy with you when you sweet-talked him until he had a boner. Even then, all you got was his fingers inside your pussy and his mouth on you, which by no means were disappointing. He gave you mind numbing orgasms just by fingering you so you can only imagine what will happen once you have him inside.

"You are playing a dangerous game, _____" his eyes narrow on you, all hint of playfulness gone. Good.

You smile sweetly. "Oh yeah? Why don't you show me how dangerous it is?" Your hand gives him a squeeze and his breath hitches, eyes shutting instantly. When they reopen, they are burning with lust. He whispers. "Oh, I'll show you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

A satisfied smile settles on your face as you watch him stand up and announce, "Well, gentlemen, it was a pleasure spending time with you all but we need to get going." He pulls you up roughly by your arm and you barely have time to grab your purse before he is dragging you out of the club, his jaw clenched but a victorious smile on your face.

You just might finally have him tonight.

A swift car ride later, Jeonghan is dragging you inside his penthouse and straight towards his bedroom, his hands working on removing his black blazer, eyes boring into yours as you wait for him to speak.

"I hope you had your fun, darling. Cause I'm gonna have mine, now." A salacious smile sets on his face as he starts rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt and then undoes a couple of buttons of his shirt. The sight is enough to make your knees buckle as you get a little peek at the veins in his arms and involuntarily swallow. He takes a few steps towards you and you reflexively step back until your legs meet his bed and you fall on top of it. He keeps moving towards you, taking his time, a dangerous smile on his face.

When he is just a few inches away from you, he stops and tilts your face up using his index finger. His head comes down while yours move upward subconsciously and your lips meet in a kiss. It's slow at first, almost like he's teasing you before his grip on your chin gets stronger and his lips move more aggressively. Your tongues waltz together as you taste the alcohol and the very faint hint of smoke in his lips. When you are breathless and your eyes are wide with need and anticipation, he pulls back with a crooked smile. "Strip for me, darling."

Throat dry, you swallow. You watch him with wide eyes for a few beats before reaching behind to undo the one button on the neck of your backless dress. His eyes never leave yours as he stands back and watches you, arms crossed over his chest. Once you are done with the button your hands move down to undo the small zipper just above your ass. After it is down you shrug your shoulders to let the dress fall loose before peeling them off of your arms. It bunches at your waist before you tug the shiny material down and it pools at your feet, leaving you in your panties only.

Jeonghan still has his burning gaze on you, eyes never straying from yours even though you are almost as naked as a baby. The chilly air and his lustful gaze have your nipples hardening and a shiver running down your spine. As if he can sense your thoughts, his eyes move downwards, onto your breasts before going lower. He hums, pleased. "Good girl. Sit back."

On command, your ass falls onto the soft mattress and you hold your breath, waiting for his next move. He takes slow steps towards you, his shoes clinking against the floor before stopping right in front of the bed and kneeling. You gasp as he tugs at your legs to pull you closer. His face hovers over your covered core as you feel his warm breath and it is enough to make you lose your mind. "Jeonghan, please." You plead.

He grins evilly, clearly enjoying this as he presses a kiss on your covered pussy. Then his mouth trails down, between your thighs where he takes his sweet time nipping the flesh, making you whine in pleasure.

His movements are slow, taking way too long to mark the sensitive flesh of your inner thighs. He licks and sucks at the blooming marks and stops when a wet patch forms in your panties and your moans increase their pitch. "Desperate, aren't we?" He whispers, hands reaching for your soaked panties to peel them off. The cool air on your core makes you shudder and release another whimper. "I- I need you Jeonghan, please."

He hums and suddenly licks a stripe from your core to your clit, eliciting a scream of surprise from you. Your hands immediately fist in his hair to pull him closer and you are scared he is going to ask you to let him go but he doesn't, busy sucking your pussy. He devours you with no break, tongue working skillfully to tease your opening and your clit. Your pussy gushes more and more at each of his movements as you keep chanting a series of pleases.

He slides a finger inside you, slowly, as your cunt greedily takes it all in. He curls it inside you simultaneously tonguing your clit and you wail in pleasure, tears brimming in your eyes. He then enters another finger and then another before moving the three of them tirelessly inside you, curling them against your sensitive spot that has your whole body shivering. That feeling paired with him torturing your clit brings you close to your orgasm.

"J-Jeonghan...gonna cum." You breathe and much to your disappointment, he gives you one last suck before pulling away with a satisfied smirk. "Jeonghan!" You call for him, half wanting to smack him from taking your orgasm away from you. The man has the audacity to laugh. "That's what you get for being a brat, darling. Now be a good girl and I'll let you come on my cock."

"B-but H-Hannie-" you whimper. He raises a brow. "That is not my name right now, is it? You're not being a good girl, you know baby."

"Daddy!" You immediately correct yourself, getting your wits together to cum. "Daddy, please. I'm sorry, p-please fuck me." The pleased, cocky smile on his has you leaking more than before. He gives your cheek an affectionate pat before standing back up and undoing the buttons on his shirt. He takes his sweet time, purposefully doing it slowly and you want to jump at him and do it for him but you clench your fists and try to be his good girl. After the shirt is off he undoes his belt and you expect him to toss it away but he has more surprises for you.

With your jaw loose, you watch him as he crawls on the bed, pushing you back and then sits on his knees. He grabs your hands and pulls them above your head, a mischievous smile on his face as he ties the belt around your wrists.

You thought you couldn't get any wetter but you were wrong. Your pussy throbs at the action and a soft mewl fall from your lips. "Okay?" He asks, his expression serious, looking for any signs of discomfort as he tugs on the belt. "Not too tight?" You shake your head vigorously, letting him know you are perfectly fine.

"Words, baby."

"I'm okay. It's fine." You pant. He smiles, pleased, as his previous playful demeanor returns. "Good. This is your punishment for not listening to me earlier. No touching." He pecks your forehead before standing back up and you hate how you miss his warmth. He resumes his strip show, now undoing the buttons of his slacks before taking them off. Left in his boxers you can now see the clear outline of his cock and you wet your lips, anticipation killing you. He grins at your reaction before finally taking off his boxers and the sight has you writhing in your position.

His beautiful cock stares back at you, hard, tall, a little curved at the tip with the perfect girth. "Please," you swallow, eyes not leaving that thing. Jeonghan chuckles. "Like what you see, darling?" His hand moves to cup his length, rubbing up and down his shaft. You try to tug your hands free even though you know it's futile. "Daddy, please."

He smirks, watching you, hands moving to pump his length a few more times, soft sighs of pleasure falling from his lips that drive you insane. He finally takes mercy on you, as he moves onto the bed and balances his weight on his knees. "You ready, baby?" He asks, a soft hand running on your thigh soothingly. You shake your head up and down.

"Tell me if it gets too much, okay?" His voice is soft like his gaze and your heart flips. "I will, I promise." You whisper, wiggling your body a little to prove your desperation. With a soft smile, he lines up his length with your pussy and pushes in as you inhale deeply.

A sensation of discomfort flows through you as he pushes into your tight walls, followed by an overwhelming feeling of fullness and you release a deep breath. Above you Jeonghan grunts, supporting his weight on his elbows, trying not to start ramming into you at full speed. "Fuck- are you okay?" You can only nod your head, clenching your restrained hands in fists.

Your tongues dance against each other as he keeps you distracted, pulling back just a little and thrusting back in. "Feel good?" He breathes. You almost choke on your words, "Y-yes. Fuck m-me daddy."

Jeonghan almost growls at your words. He doesn't hold back, pulling out almost all the way before snapping his hips back in, making your body arch. "Oh fuck!" You moan, breath creeping out of your lungs. Jeonghan smiles lazily at your reaction, hips moving in calculated movements, his pace gradually increasing, thrusts hitting you so deep each time you feel like he's inside your belly. His mouth trails over your neck, littering open mouthed kisses before they travel towards your breasts, capturing a nipple into his mouth. You mewl in pleasure.

His tongue teases your nipple, circling the hard bud before he gives it a harsh suck and then finishes off with a soft bite. He does the same to your other breast while you writhe below him, arms moving fruitlessly over your head. An incoherent chant of his title falls from your lips.

His thrusts never falter while he tortures your tits, instead picks up the pace and you soon hear the headboard hit the wall. You watch the man passionately move on top of you with blown out pupils. A few strands of his blond hair sticks on his forehead with sweat and he clenches his jaw, brows furrowed, focusing on his thrusts. The scene on top of you is heavenly and sends your heart racing for no reason. You whisper. "D-daddy... please, untie m-me. W-wanna touch you."

His eyes widen a fraction as he considers your words before smashing his mouth on yours, hands doing quick work of untying the belt around your wrists. As soon as your hands are free, you wrap them around his neck to pull him close, clawing at his solid back. "P-please, daddy. Oh- fuck- harder." You babble, head lost in a cloud of pleasure as you feel every inch of his dick brand itself into your walls. The pleasure makes your head spin and you know you are going to come soon.

Jeonghan increases his pace even more, drilling into your swollen cunt, rough breaths falling from his lips. One of his hands comes to toy with your clit while the other pinches your nipple harshly and you wail. "Daddy! Gonna cum!"

And you do. In the blink of an eye, the coil in your belly snaps and fireworks shoot throughout your body as you reach your peak, body trembling underneath him. "Yes, good girl. Come for me." He hisses, leaning down to nibble on your neck before whispering, "Give me another one, darling." You're too lost to even process his words but your body moves to action, another orgasm already building up. Jeonghan's soft grunts increase as he rubs your wet pussy mercilessly, his thrusts now faltering. "Fuck. Gonna come, darling. Gonna fill you up. Come with me."

Your body seems to have a mind of its own as one flick of his finger on your clit brings you to your second orgasm. This time it is even stronger and you can see white spots in your vision. Jeonghan releases inside you at the same time, his warm seed filling you up and then leaking out. Your legs shake continuously as you sense him pull out and some of the cum dribble out of you but you can't bring yourself to move a muscle in your body. You can feel Jeonghan crashing next to you, a soft hand touching your cheek and asking about your well-being but you're too tired to open your mouth. Instead, you hum and sigh in content as he wraps his arms around you and the last thing you remember before passing out is his breath on your forehead and his fingers combing through your hair.

The sun is bright and shining the next time you open your eyes. Squinting at the light peeking through the half open curtain to blink to adjust your vision before craning your head to look around the empty bedroom. You are tucked nicely under the covers, dressed in a large shirt that you know is Jeonghan's and your panties. It takes a moment for you to process everything before you sit up and a pleasurable ache shoots throughout your body.

It's the weekend. Your mind wonders where Jeonghan is. Slowly you get out of bed and move with wobbly legs, quickly releasing the pressure in your bladder and then washing your hands and face. When you are done you step out of the bedroom and climb down the stairs, barefoot and it's a pleasant surprise to see Jeonghan sitting at the dining table, eyes focused on the tablet on his hand and the other hand holding up his phone next to his ear. You don't hear what he's talking about, too busy taking in how sexy he looks in a simple white t-shirt and grey sweatpants. He doesn't hear you until he is hanging up and you are almost next to him and when he turns around, his signature lazy smile appears on his face. "Well, hello there. Good morning darling."

"Morning," you grow shy under his stare, his eyes scanning you up and down and he seems very pleased. "You look lovely in my shirt." He muses.

"Thank you." You smile, sitting down at one of the breakfast stools beside him. "Sleep well?" He asks, a teasing tilt to his voice. You nod softly. "Who was that?"

"Oh, that?" Jeonghan chuckles. "My buddy, Seungcheol. He's getting married in a couple of months. Asked me about a wedding planner I know." You nod your head. You know Seungcheol. He's one of Jeonghan's closest friends. "Wow, that's nice. You will be attending, no?" You inquire. Jeonghan smirks, "I'm the best man, darling." He takes a sip of his coffee. "You know how he met his fiancé? Through my app. I literally set them up." His eyes crinkle at the memory in amusement as you listen to him, fascinated.

So his friend is marrying his sugar baby. That's romantic.

"I really thought he was gonna die alone but then he met her and he was fucking whipped. Can't believe he's the first one to get married among us." He shakes his head with wonder. You reach for his cup of coffee with a coquettish smile before taking a sip. "Well, it's nice. You should be happy for him. He's getting married to someone he loves."

"Oh, I am, darling. I just- don't see the hype with getting married." He shrugs nonchalantly, scrolling through the tablet in his hands. You raise a brow at his comment. "Really?"

"Yeah." He peeks at you. "I mean, marriage takes away your freedom, doesn't it? And it takes a shit load of commitment and work to make it last. And I'm not good with commitments. I like being independent."

You snort before raising a brow, "And let me guess. Your definition of being independent is sleeping with the entire city, Mr. Playboy?" Jeonghan throws a sheepish smile at you, like he has been caught and you shake your head with a sigh.

"Just the ladies, though." He winks. "But for now, I am not interested in the city but rather in one particular beauty in front of me." He puts his tablet away and leans towards you, a teasing grin on his face that makes you roll your eyes. But you can't help the fluttering feeling bloom inside you. He has such a way with words.

"Are you implying that you want to get in my pants?" You ask. "Oh baby, I've already done that. I'm saying if you are up for it again. Do you hurt?" He asks, his time concern evident in his tone as he gets off his stool and cages your body between him and the countertop. "I-I'm a little sore so...I'm not sure." You whisper, heart thudding loudly at his proximity and the addictive scent of his. Maybe, you are actually up for it because your pussy seems to be leaking again.

Jeonghan gently strokes your cheek. "It's alright, darling. We don't have to do anything. Let's get you some breakfast." He pulls away but you immediately grab his forearms. "I- I'm up for... other things if you are too." You mumble, eyes not meeting his. "Oh yeah?" A grin plasters on his face as he tilts your face up with a finger. "We can do so many other things darling and I'm definitely up for it." His eyes glint with mischief and desire. Your shy smile is all he needs to get to work, immediately lifting you onto the marble countertop, the cold surface making you gasp. With a wink and the sexiest smirk ever, he tugs off your panties and attaches his lips to your sensitive core making you let out a shrill moan.

After a couple of orgasms and breakfast with Jeonghan, his car drops you at your place. As you enter your house and toe off your shoes, you yell, "Chan, I'm home!"

The man doesn't seem to be far away, making a sandwich on the kitchen counter. He looks up, "Oh hey, noona. You're back." Dropping the couple bags from your hand, you envelop him in a hug. "Yeah. Sorry I didn't call last night. I should have told you I was staying out."

It has become a habit to spend the night before the weekend and sometimes even the weekend with Jeonghan but you always let your brother know where you are. You don't want to be irresponsible or let him think you have forgotten about him. Chan sighs softly, pulling back. "It's okay, noona. You're a grown woman. You don't have to report to me. As long as you are safe it's all good." You give him a wistful smile, patting his cheek softly. "Still."

Your eyes move to the brunch he's making and you wonder. "Is all the food finished? I kept some meals for you in the fridge, did you finish them?" Your brother grunts, going back to preparing his food, "No, there's still some left. I just wanted a sandwich." Nodding, you watch him finish making his food and wash his hands. You're about to go to your room and take a shower when he murmurs. "Were you with him? Jeonghan?" He juts his chin out to point to the couple of Chanel bags you brought with you, yet another gift from Jeonghan. For no reason, you get shy. "Yeah." You fiddle with your fingers, watching your sibling carefully.

He hums, "Did you see this?" He pushes a magazine that was lying on the kitchen counter towards you. Frowning, you pick it up to be graced by a picture of you and Jeonghan on the front cover of a gossip tabloid. It's taken from behind, his body mostly covering you as you two walk by the sidewalk. Your face isn't fully visible but anybody who knows you can tell it's you. In bold letters, it asks about your identity, or to be exact, Yoon Jeonghan's latest lover's identity and part of you is glad that they actually don't have any info about you, just suspicions.

You had asked Jeonghan at the beginning of your relationship to keep your identity a secret for you and the sake of your brother, as everyone loved talking about Jeonghan's latest notch to the bedpost and a little warmth spreads in your chest to see that he really didn't let anyone know anything about you. With a sigh, you put the magazine back in its place. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not...I just sometimes worry about you." Chan says. "It's just- Yoon Jeonghan isn't exactly the gentleman type you know. I don't want you to get hurt because of him. I mean, I was quite surprised at first but I thought it wasn't serious since he doesn't...you know, stay with one person for a long time. I don't want him to...use you."

It's the first time you are hearing Chan express his concerns regarding Jeonghan and to be honest, you sensed some hesitation when you first told him that you were seeing him. Nevertheless, a small smile sets on your face as you reach for his hands, "Chan, it's okay. I'm fine. He isn't using me or anything." You stroke his knuckles soothingly. He watches you in silence for a beat and you can feel the gears in his head moving. The next words are what you expected from him but still, they fluster you.

"He isn't... like- paying you for se-"

"It's not like that!" You scoff immediately, probably a bit too defensively. But it's true. Jeonghan is not paying you for sleeping with him, hell the first time you ever slept with him was last night. He's paying you for your company so there is a difference. Getting yourself together, you give him a reassuring smile. "It's nothing like that, I promise."

Chan observes you silently for a second before nodding. "Okay. If you are good then I'm good too." Smiling wistfully you let go of his hands. "I'll take a shower now." Reaching for the bags you're about to step towards your room but Chan's voice stops you. "Do you really like him? Jeonghan?"

His words make you freeze in your spot. However, the reply comes easily. "Yeah, I do." It's only after you have uttered the words that you realize how scarily true they are.

Later that evening you find yourself sitting in front of your laptop, staring at the tabloids you found about you and Jeonghan. All the shots are taken from behind or far away; some of them are from when Jeonghan took you to one too many brunch dates. Sighing, you read the speculations about you; not one from high society, which is true. Closing your laptop you lean against your headboard, numerous thoughts running through your head. The prime one is that you have feelings for Jeonghan, your freaking sugar daddy.

You often had butterflies on your stomach when you were with him and you thought you had managed to bury them deep within you but no. Now that you are not in the man's presence, you think about him, slowly, clearly and the depth of your feelings frighten you immensely.

Jeonghan is so easy to like. He's funny and charming once you get to know him but also intimidating and scary when he needs to be. You have mostly come across his playful and charming side, as he loved teasing you and pranking you now and then. You have fallen for many of his white lies, only to be told that it was a prank and then get laughed at your face. But you couldn't be mad. His toothy grin and bright laughter warmed your heart and the way he'd hug you while laughing made your heart race, making you join him in his laughter. His soft giggles when he's tipsy made you want to kiss him and wrap your arms around him so tightly that he could never leave.

Thoughts about him often plagued your mind, an inappropriate amount for a sugar baby to think about her sugar daddy. Because deep down you imagined him as more than that, more than a source of money, which he showers you with. You see him as a companion, a friend and a lover. And you want him to be more. So much more.

The thought brings tears to your eyes as you scoff at yourself. How could you become like this? Jeonghan isn't that type of guy, it is a fact. His words from earlier in the morning rub salt into your wounds. He doesn't want to marry or date. He said he likes being free which means none of that. The most committed or maybe lengthy relationship he has ever had is probably with you as it is still existing after two months. That brings hope to your hopeless heart. Maybe he actually feels something about you but he is hiding it like a habit. Maybe he wants to truly be with you. Maybe that's why he calls everyday to check up on you, take you to nice, thoughtful dates, calls you over to simply hang out.

Maybe, maybe.

Or maybe, he does this to all his lovers, no matter if he's with them for a few hours or a few days. The thought makes you pathetically jealous. It's unbelievably silly how much you want his smile and laughter and teasing and company reserved only for you. You want him, you want all of him but life is never that easy.

A ping from your phone jolts you out of your thoughts as you reach for the device to check it and sure enough, it's the devil himself.

[jeonghan] heyyy babe, how you doing?

[you] just chilling. hby? Working?

[jeonghan] Unfortunately yes, babe. just can't seem to finish them. I'd rather be with you ;)

His text makes you grin like a fool.

[you] Me too😏 when will I see you again?

[jeonghan] Soon actually. There's a party I need to attend this tuesday and you are coming with me. I'll have a collection of dresses for you at my place to choose from.

Another party? You definitely don't mind if that means you get to have his company.

[you] Great! Can't wait!!

[jeonghan] Me neither. I've to get back to work, darling. Goodnight, dream of me ;)

[you] You too 😘

Closing your phone, you clutch it to your chest, staring at the ceiling. A simple text from him has your heart thudding loudly and you are once again reminded of your feelings for him. You can convince yourself all day all night but the bottom line will be that you like Jeonghan.

Too much.

You are on your way home after getting some groceries on Tuesday afternoon when you come across a pleasant surprise. Just as you are about to enter your building, you find Mingyu, Chan's best friend, there, about to go inside. "Mingyu!" You call for him with a smile. His head whips towards you and a large grin spread across his face. "Noona! Hey!" He calls as you take quick steps towards him.

"Chan isn't at home. He said he was going to the library." You inform the man towering you, assuming he's here for your brother. "Oh," Mingyu murmurs. "It's alright. I have some good news to share with you."

"With me?" You arch a brow, surprised. "What is it?"

A shy hand moves to scratch his neck as Mingyu smiles softly. "I got a job. A modeling gig." Your eyes widen, "Oh my god, Mingyu! That's so great! Congratulations!" You grin, genuinely feeling happy for him. You've known Mingyu since he was in high school with Chan and he often came over with your brother after class. He comes from a struggling family; his single mother working hard to take care of him and his sister so this is a great piece of news to hear.

"Thanks, noona," he murmurs shyly, making you smile. You can totally see why he got the job. He is blessed with extremely good visuals and height so it'd be a loss for anybody who rejected him. "Does Chan know?" You ask. He nods, "Yeah, I told him yesterday. Anyway, the main thing is, I wanted you to join us for a dinner. It's my treat."

"Me?" You are surprised but also touched as you point a finger at yourself. "Aw, Mingyu, you don't have to treat me. Treat yourself and your friends." A cute pout appears on his face. "Oh come on, noona. You are my friend too. I need to pay you back for all the times you let me stay over and bought me and Chan snacks. Let me treat you to barbeque, please."

His words warm your heart as the memories come back to you. It feels like ages ago when they were in high school, doing assignments till the night and then him and your brother passing out in your living room. You smile fondly at the memory but before you can reply a hand wraps around your waist from nowhere, making you almost jump out of your skin. With a gasp, you whip your head to the side and find Jeonghan, grinning toothily but something is different—

Oh.

He has dyed his hair from blond to black and you almost don't recognize him at first. While you stare at him, still processing his sudden appearance, he speaks, flashing a grin at Mingyu, "Barbeque? I wanna go too."

Poor Mingyu looks utterly confused and you playfully glare at Jeonghan. "Hey, why are you here so early? I thought you were at work."

"Mhmm. Was finished early," he hums, placing a huge kiss on your cheek, making your eyes widen. Mingyu looks at the interaction and blinks confusedly. You feel flustered. "Oh erm, Jeonghan, this is Mingyu, Chan's best friend. And Mingyu, this is Jeonghan uh-"

Shit. What do you introduce Jeonghan as? 'Hi Mingyu he's my sugar daddy'? You're about to say friend when Jeonghan pipes in, "Boyfriend. I'm ____'s boyfriend. Nice to meet you, kid."

A sour look sets on Mingyu's face and you assume probably because Jeonghan called him a kid. He chuckles rather awkwardly, "Wow...you are dating, noona? I've seen him before, I think. Wait, are you Jeonghan of Yoon Corporations?"

"In the flesh," Jeonghan smiles a cocky smile. "Oh," Mingyu falls silent and there is a moment of tension as you look nervously between the two men before Jeonghan announces. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Mingi but me and ____ need to get going now."

"Mingyu!" You pinch his waist, scowling at him. "His name is Mingyu, Jeonghan!"

"Oh, my bad." Jeonghan grins and you have a feeling he did that on purpose. With a sigh, you smile apologetically at Mingyu, "It was really nice seeing you, Gyu. And congratulations again."

"Yeah, thanks noona," he murmurs. "I'll get going now." He waves at you with a small smile before turning around and briskly walking away. As soon as he's out of sight, you jab Jeonghan's arm. "You did that on purpose, didn't you! You sacred that poor guy!" Jeonghan shrugs, slinging his arm around your shoulder, "Well, that poor guy has a crush on you."

"No! He doesn't!" You hiss, cheeks fuming. To be honest you always thought Mingyu may or may not have a little crush on you but hearing someone say it out loud makes you flustered. It isn't anything serious anyway. Jeonghan rolls his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Let's get going now."

"B-but I just came from the store. I haven't even showered yet. You shouldn't be here until two more hours you know." Your eyes narrow at him. Jeonghan hums, pulling you in the direction of his car, "Mhmm, you can shower at my place. Come on."

"Okay, okay! Let me drop my groceries first!"

A few hours later you sit next to Jeonghan in his limo, on the way to the event. Jeonghan said it is a small one because it is taking place on a weekday and that you can leave early, so you haven't dressed up much. Humming a tune, he looks outside, one of his hands resting on your thigh, playing with the silky material of your dress.

You take your time appreciating his features, his pretty, glinting eyes, his prominent cheekbones to his perfectly straight nose and down to his deep Cupid's bow and his perfectly shaped lips that you want to keep kissing and kissing. Without much thought, you scoot closer to him, resting your body against his as you put your head on his shoulder, making him look at you. His hands move to interlock with yours which sends your heartbeat in a frenzy and you can't help but think how cozy and homey it feels.

"You know, you introduced yourself as my boyfriend earlier." You whisper, making him chuckle softly, "Yeah. Couldn't really say I was your sugar daddy. Already scared the kid enough." You roll your eyes at his words but your heart sinks a little at them. You had hoped that maybe, maybe he felt something more for you that led him to say those words. Sighing quietly, you keep resting your head against his shoulder and stare at your hand in his, your heart deflating like a popped balloon.

"By the way, did you think about what I said that day?"

Confused, you blink at him before realizing what he's referring to. Jeonghan had proposed you re-enter college and finish your degree which you couldn't complete because of your parents' sudden death and the burden of loans along with Chan's school fees; saying that he will pay for everything. You are the older sibling and Chan's guardian so you dropped out of college and started working to make sure your brother accomplished what you couldn't.

You have had quite some time to think about it but it just doesn't feel right, him paying for your tuition fees when he already showers you in opulence. Sure, his offer was tempting, really so; you could finally finish your studies and get an actual job but he's being too generous. It feels wrong; college tuitions are in no way cheap, at least to you and just accepting it like that doesn't sit right with you.

"There you go again, overthinking," Jeonghan's voice snaps you back to the present. "Why are you thinking about this so much, babe? You're an amazing person and you deserve to get that degree. If you think I'm pitying you, then stop right there. I have the ability so I just want to help you accomplish something you couldn't earlier." He murmurs, his voice sincere.

Your heart softens at his words."I know, Jeonghan. It's just- too much. I mean you have no reason to pay for my-"

"You're my sugar baby. It's my job to take care of you."

"And you do!" You sigh, rubbing your temples. "Okay. Instead of just taking the money like that, I'll accept it as a loan. When I graduate I'm going to pay you back." You decide, your voice firm making him sigh out of frustration. He watches you for a few seconds and realizes this is what you'll accept so he holds his hands up in surrender. "Alright, fine fine. I'll give it to you as a loan."

You grin victoriously, quickly pressing a kiss on his cheek, whispering a sultry, "Thank you, daddy." Jeonghan narrows his eyes at you, feigning anger but you can see the playfulness dance in his eyes. "You love being a brat, don't you?"

"Mhmm," you hum, grinning as you trail kisses from his cheek to his jaw. A pleasured sigh escapes his lips, blooming pride in your heart. His head turns to capture your lips in a kiss that starts softly, his lips moving against yours in sweet, passionate movements. As soft whimpers begin to come out of your mouth, it turns more heated and he wraps an around your waist pulling you closer while your hands tangle in his hair. His tongue delves into your mouth, dancing against your tongue in needy movements, releasing wet noises of sucking. He pulls back, breathless, and watches you with hazy lust ridden eyes as his thumb reaches to wipe the little smudge of lipstick below your swollen lips. "You taste addicting, darling."

You lean towards him for more but he tuts, pushing you away. "Uh uh. Enough of that." A salacious smile graces his lips as his fingers trail over your thigh before moving towards the high slit of your dress. His finger enters inside the fabric and then inches towards your core, your breath hitching when his fingers softly stroke your inner thighs. "J-jeonghan-" you breathe, knowing where this is going, the anticipation building in your veins. He only replies with a smirk and soft kiss to your temple.

His fingers move your panties to one side underneath your dress and the cool air flowing through the slit hits your exposed sex making you shudder. Ever so gently, just barely, his fingers move over your entrance. You can feel the barest touch of the pad of his fingers on your core and you squirm in your seat, desperate eyes begging him in silence. His eyes never stray from you, watching every little reaction you give and the sharp gasp that elicits from you when he pushes one finger inside you has him grinning in satisfaction.

"Jeonghan- please..." You breathe, trying to grind against what little you have, your hands fisting his suit jacket. All thoughts of time and place are forgotten by you and the only thing in your mind right now is coming on his fingers. The long digit moves swiftly inside your velvety walls making your eyes roll on the back of your head. "More, Jeonghan... please-"

"That's not my name now, is it?" He teases, his breath fanning over your heated cheek. "Daddy! Daddy... please..." You immediately correct yourself and Jeonghan rewards you by pushing another long, bony finger inside you. They move in tandem, stretching your tight walls as you unconsciously part your legs wider. If there was no divider in the limo, the driver would have seen the show you were putting on.

"Feels good?" He whispers in your ear, pressing soft kisses below it. You nod swiftly. "S-so good, daddy." He grins, pleased and cocky before thrusting another finger inside you, this time his ring finger. They waste no time, moving expertly in your hole as you writhe in the plush leather seat, gasps of pleasure falling from your lips at every movement. You can feel your orgasm building.

"Daddy p-please, m-make me come." You pant, eyes closed. "Wanna come, little darling?" He breathes, and you can feel the grin on his lips and the smugness on his tone. Nodding vigorously you agree and Jeonghan hums, before shifting his fingers to press your clit with his thumb. The sudden touch on your sensitive nub makes you whine loudly as you feel yourself throb.

You're so close to your release.

Your hips grind against his digits tirelessly and he keeps rubbing your clit back and forth using his thumb while his fingers curl inside you. Just when you can taste the orgasm, feel it build in your veins, Jeonghan, the evil bastard, takes his hand off you completely. His fingers leave your hope gaping and empty and your clit throbbing painfully with need. "Jeonghan!" You scream, scowling at him at how he ruined your orgasm. You were so fucking close. The bastard has the audacity to laugh as he makes a show of licking his fingers clean making you release a whine of need as you pant.

He's such a fucking tease.

"Be a good girl and you will get come as many times as you want later." His deep baritone and the look he sends your way rakes shivers down your spine and the promise of cumming makes you obediently nod your head. He places a tender kiss on your forehead and just then, the car halts, letting you know you have arrived at your destination. With a rather displeased look on your face and shaky legs, you step out of the limo, Jeonghan's hand in yours.

The evening is spent attending the boring event and throwing fake smiles at strangers when all you can think of is Jeonghan railing you till the bed breaks into two. Which he does, of course, when you return to his home at night. You wouldn't consider yourself as a possessive partner but damn if it didn't irritate you when girls and married women ogled him, some even throwing themselves at him, flirting blatantly when you were right next to him. But it's all good since he ended up in bed with you, raining one after another mind numbing orgasms on you before you finally drift off.

Morning comes in the form of your bladder almost bursting and despite the slight ache in your body, you quickly head towards the bathroom to refresh yourself. After you are clean and fresh, you head outside the bedroom in search of Jeonghan. It's around 7 in the morning so he should be still at home. Your prediction proves accurate as you find him in his study, on his phone, scribbling down something on a piece of paper. He's dressed in his work clothes; a white dress shirt with black pants, a fine piece of watch around his left wrist as his fingers card through his slightly damp hair. You silently appreciate the view from the doorframe and it takes a few moments until he notices your presence.

His appreciative eyes rake down your body, covered only in your panties and one of his t-shirts that reach your thighs. His lips break into a grin and you mirror it before he asks the person on the other end to hold for a second. "Good morning, babe. I need a few more minutes. I'll come find you after I'm done." He smiles at you and you nod, leaving you to his work as you turn on your heel, walking aimlessly through his huge apartment. Your bare feet silently pad against the glossy tiles as you head back to the master bedroom. The room is still messy, the clothes you two discarded last night are still scattered over the floor. You pick your clothes up and start putting them on as you need to leave soon too. After you are dressed, you reach for Jeonghan's shirt and pants, bunching them together in a pile for laundry. His Armani jacket lays haphazardly on the loveseat and you scoff at how he just abandoned such an expensive thing. Little creases have formed on the silky material and with your hands, you try to brush them away and straighten it again. As you sling it over your arm to pick up his tie, a piece of paper drops from one of the pockets.

Intrigued, you pick it up to find a number scribbled in black. At first, you think nothing of it, until you notice a red lip print at the corner of the paper. Your heart sinks as you realize one of his fangirls from last night is the owner of this number. Your head starts running a mile a minute, wondering if Jeonghan is talking to this girl over the phone.

No, that does not make sense. If he was talking with her then this paper wouldn't be here but probably in a dustbin. Besides, despite Jeonghan's track record, he has never disrespected you since you've been with him and he has stated multiple times that he's only interested in you.

Still, you chew on your lip nervously, staring at the piece of paper, insecurity and jealousy blooming inside you. He has given you no reason to distrust him but the nature of your relationship, how it is not exclusive, makes you think that maybe, he is slowly losing interest in you. Whatever it may be, you don't get to dwell on your thoughts for long as the ringing of your phone suddenly alerts you, making you jump. You reach for it and seeing the name at the top of the screen you pick it up immediately.

"Hey, Chan! Good morning." You speak, wondering if something is wrong for him to call so early. You texted him last night, letting him know that you will be with Jeonghan.

"Hey, noona. Morning. Did I wake you?"

"No, I was already up. Is everything okay?" You ask, hands subconsciously fiddling with the paper in your fist. "Everything is fine, don't worry." You hear your brother laugh softly. "I'm just calling to let you know I'll be late today. We have a team project and we're going out of the city today. Will you stay at Jeonghan's tonight?"

"No, I don't think so." You murmur. "Did you have breakfast? Don't forget to pack some food for the road."

"Okay, I will. Don't worry so much," you can feel your brother rolling his eyes. A soft smile sets on your face. "Is Mingyu going with you too? He told me about his new job. I met him yesterday."

"He did?" Chan asks. "Yeah, he's going too. Did he invite you for dinner this weekend? He was talking about it earlier."

"Yep, he did. I was really surprised, you know. But it's great, I'm really happy for him. He looked so excited." You hum, stepping closer to the window, watching the city grow busier from Jeonghan's castle in the sky. "Yes, he is. He wouldn't shut up about it." Chan laughs. "Anyway, I'll see you tonight then. Don't stay up for me if I'm late."

You will but you don't tell him that. "Okay. Be safe. I love you."

"I love you too." The line goes dead and with a sigh, you set your phone down. Jeonghan's jacket still rests on one of your arms, with the piece of paper crushed in your fist. Turning around you find Jeonghan leaning against the doorframe, hands crossed over his chest, watching you.

"Jeonghan!"

"Hey." He smiles. Padding toward you, he reaches for your shoulders, lips coming down to meet yours. Your head tilts up automatically, as you chase his lips, forgetting everything for a second. His eyes move to the jacket on your arm. "Why are you cleaning everything up?" He gives you a fond smile, reaching for the clothing. "I should have done it, sorry. I had so many calls to take this morning."

Shaking your head, you whisper. "It's okay. I had nothing to do anyway." Seeing how cool he is you wonder whether it would be right to bring up what you found in his pocket.

"Let's have breakfast together. I have to leave early today." He drops the jacket on the bed, motioning you to follow him but you stay rooted to the spot, words tangling in your throat. "Jeonghan?"

"Hmm?" He turns around. Inhaling deeply you show him the chit lying in your palm. "This dropped from your jacket's pocket." Frowning, he reaches for it. "What is it?"

His eyes scan the paper and then he seems to realize, "Ah, this? Some girl gave it to me last night. You were in the bathroom then, I think. I took it to be polite." He smiles, his usual, carefree smile as he throws it in the bin.

"Oh." Silently, you stand opposite to him, not knowing what to say or do. "Hey, are you mad?" He steps towards you, tilting his head, eyes watching you intently to see your reaction. "You have nothing to worry about, babe. I swear I forgot about it. You can check my call list if you want."

Groaning you step away from him. "No, Jeonghan! It's okay. I trust you. I just-" you fall silent as your eyes meet his.

"You just what? Tell me?" Jeonghan prods, eyes laced with worry. You sigh, the thoughts racing in your head suddenly sounding silly now that you need to articulate them. "Nothing." You whisper meekly.

"No, ____, tell me!"

"I just wish it wasn't like this!" You cry. "I- I wish some stupid girl didn't just drop her number in your pocket and I wish you didn't take it just to be polite! I wish girls didn't flock around you when I am literally right next to you! I wish- we were more than...this and I wish people knew so that they would stay away." Your voice fades into a whisper as thick tears brim in your eyes. You had not imagined this to go down the way it is. You made yourself believe that you didn't need to express your true feelings, that you would forever be okay with how things are and then say goodbye to each other one day when Jeonghan changes his mind. You imagined yourself to be stronger, different, not one to actually fall for a man like him when you clearly knew how he was.

"What...what are you talking about? I don't understand." The man standing still in front of you, breathes. A frustrated hand moves to rub your temple as you take in a deep breath, trying to get your thoughts together. "Jeonghan, I...like you. More than I should. More than our current relationship allows us to be. I want more. I want you, completely. I want us to be exclusive. I want a relationship, based on love and trust, not money or whatever. I want to love you and if I'm gonna stay with you, then I want you to love me too."

A small frown mars his face. "But I do love you!" He exclaims. "I take you out on dates and we make love or...fuck. Is that not love?" He mutters.

This man is so dense. You sigh, "No Jeonghan, it isn't. Or at least it is not enough for me. I want a future with you. I want to bare myself to you and I wish you'd do the same. I want to build a life with you and I want to be by your side at all times, as a lover, a girlfriend, a partner. I don't want a love in which other girls are gonna chase after you, thinking you are available and you are going to entertain them just to be polite. That's not love Jeonghan and you k-know it!." You can't help the jealousy that rises in your voice towards the end and you hate how pathetic you sound. Jeonghan watches you, carefully, silently, for a very long time and finally, some sort of realization seems to flash in his eyes.

"____," he starts, carding a hand through his black locks. "I don't do...that. I- don't know how or if I even can. I-" he stops, tonguing the inside of his cheek, a storm of emotions in his gaze. "You just need to try, Jeonghan." You murmur softly, a mite of hope blooming in your chest. "You are already so good to me. You- you make me feel so happy and hopeful and cared for without even trying, Jeonghan. I love being with you. Do you not feel the same about me?"

The man remains wordless, staring at the ground with a clenched jaw, hands in his pockets. The stillness and tension in the room make you swallow nervously, the earlier hope you felt fading into nothing. "And if you don't, then you can just say. I won't force you. It'll be better than this, me always hoping for more and we can just end t-this and go on our ways." Your heart breaks as you say those words but you know that it is best if he lets you go now. You are already in too deep and you can't imagine how worse it will be if you stay and then get discarded once he is bored.

"Is this about Mingyu?" He speaks suddenly, his gaze sharp, tone accusatory. The sudden mention of the younger man's name perplexes you and you wonder if you even heard him right. "What!" You yell, confusion painted all over your face.

"No, really, is this about him? You were talking about him earlier on the phone too. Do you like him? Is this your way of wiggling out of this relationship?" Mouth open, you watch him, not believing he just said those words. "You-" tears choke you up as you try to speak, a couple of drops trailing down your face.

How could he say something like that? Does he even hear himself?

"I- am truly, madly, deeply in love with you and yet you say that- You know what, I should leave. You need to get your shit together, Jeonghan. If you really want me, want a real relationship with me, then we can see each other, or this is goodbye." Fire blazes in your eyes as you pin him down with a stare, your heart breaking with each word you utter. You move around, collecting your phone and purse, wiping the occasional stray tears that fall, desperately trying to keep yourself together.

He stays still, like a statue, his face emotionless as he watches you with blank eyes. You miserably hope that he says something, does something, asks you to stay, anything but he doesn't and it shatters your heart even more. So with no more hope, you sling your bag over your shoulder and walk past him, the sound of your feet tapping against the tiles filling the grave silence. Sobs escape you but you try to muffle them, hands clamping over your mouth as you step out his door. But all hell breaks loose when you enter the empty elevator. Tears blur your vision as you hastily press the ground floor button and then sag onto the floor, violent sobs wracking your body, your tears flowing freely as you curl into a ball and just cry, your ugly sobs echoing in the empty elevator.

It's almost 11 at night when you sit on the floor of your living room, eyes set on the TV screen but mind elsewhere, as you keep stuffing your face with chips and occasionally taking sips of beer. Chan has yet to return so you are left with your own company, drowning your sorrow in the beer and the noise of the TV providing you some sort of false assurance. Your stupid self held on to the hope throughout the day that Jeonghan would at least call or text but he didn't and the realization that it is over for good has started to settle in your bones. You are still processing it, wondering where it went wrong, whether it was your fault. But you know it wasn't.

You once again remember how Jeonghan brought up Mingyu for no god damn reason and the memory makes you fume once again.

How dare that asshole! He not only brought that innocent kid up in a conversation which was about him but also he has ghosted you completely, giving you no closure as sit and cry about your broken heart.

The sorrow and pain blanket you so much that you don't take notice of how the front door opens and your brother enters the house, watching you with a confused expression as he stands a few feet away from you. "Noona?" His voice stops the train of your thoughts as your head whips towards him. "Oh! hey, Chan! Welcome back!" A reply, a bit too enthusiastically, trying hard to not let your voice crack.

"I told you not to wait for me," he frowns, stepping closer to you and setting his backpack down on the couch. "I missed you," you wave your hand lazily in the air, turning your face away to hide your puffy eyes now that he's closer. From the corner of your eye, you can see his gaze is on you, concerned and probably judgemental. His eyes scan over the two empty cans of beer lying next to the one you are currently drinking. You swallow, thinking of saying something that will distract him but he's faster than you.

"What's wrong?" His voice is calm, casual, like he's asking you if you've had dinner.

"N-nothing," your stupid voice cracks as you sip your beer, avoiding him. You hear him sigh and then shuffle, as he sits down next to you, legs crossed and reaches for the chips on your bowl. "Hey! Wash your hands first!" You bat his hand away, scowling at him. His gaze meets yours and you know he can clearly see how bloated your face is from all the crying. "I know something is wrong. Tell me, noona." He murmurs, putting a chip in his mouth. "Wash your hands, idiot." You whisper, voice pathetically timid, like you are on the verge of falling apart.

"I will after you tell me what's wrong." He says, getting comfortable, resting his back on the couch behind you. You heave a frustrated sigh, combing a hand through your hair as you decide to just stare at the TV. Your brother does the same to for a while and you sigh in relief, thinking he has dropped the topic. But he keeps surprising you.

"It's about him, isn't it?" His voice is calm, confident and you mentally curse your brother for reading you so well. "Did you two break up? Did that asshole cheat on you?" His pitch raises at the end as he leans closer to look at your face.

"No Chan! He didn't cheat! It's- complicated." You mutter.

"Is it? He hurt you, that's clear. What did he do?"

"Nothing! He did nothing! That's the problem!" You yell, groaning in frustration as you rest your head on the coffee table. Chan stays silent and you know he's waiting for you to continue. "I- I wanted more. He didn't or maybe did- I don't know. He- he said nothing. I poured out my heart to him and he just stood there, saying nothing. I left and he didn't stop me." A small, pitiful sob crawls out of your mouth as you sniffle. Perhaps what hurt you most was how he didn't stop you when you left, how he didn't even acknowledge your words, how he didn't give you anything, not a yes or a no, just silence. Utter, haunting silence.

That's what broke your heart so much. Did the past few months mean so little to him that he just decided to get you out of his hair like that?

"He's an asshole for that. You deserve better." Chan murmurs as one of his hands reach out to softly pat your back. You huff, frustrated at your overwhelming emotions as you peek a look at him. "We shouldn't be talking about my pathetic love life. I should ask you how your trip went."

"It was fine. Nothing exciting to talk about. And I like hearing you talk, whatever it is. You always look out for me. I barely get to do the same." He averts his gaze from you, a pink tint coating his cheeks and you can't help but laugh, seeing your grumpy little brother be sappy. "I really appreciate it, Chan. And you always look out for me. Who says you don't?" You wipe your eyes and take his hand in yours to squeeze it reassuringly.

"I do. You- you are always working so hard for me. You take care of me all the time. You barely have time for yourself or do something for yourself anymore because of me." Your brother whispers, a look of guilt sitting on his face as he fiddles with the hem of his shirt. Your heart breaks at the sight.

"Chan, no, that's not true. At all." You shuffle closer to him, voice pleading. "And I like taking care of you. You are my brother, it is my duty."

He sighs, saying nothing and you can see his eyes getting misty. Words get stuck in the back of your throat, seeing your brother like this. He is the type to rarely show his emotions and witnessing him like this hurts you deeply because you realize he has kept his pain all to himself. You struggle to say something to comfort him, to tell him it's all good but he suddenly clears his throat, sitting up straight and looking at you. "Anyway. I have some good news to share."

"Oh?" You blink.

"Remember the modeling gig Mingyu got? Well...I applied too and they accepted me."

"Wait- what? Really?!" You yell, eyes widening like saucers as a huge grin spreads on your face. Your brother nods, smiling shyly and you engulf him into a hug. "Chan congratulations! I'm so proud of you my handsome brother!"

He laughs. "Oh please. But thanks, noona. My first shoot is next week." He says, trying to free himself from your hold. "I'll be sure to drop by." You grin.

"You don't have to but okay."

You wave him off, reaching for the unopened beer can on the table. "We need to celebrate. Here." You open the can and then shove it in his hand before clinking yours to it. "Cheers." As you finish your can, you say. "I'll make you a nice meal for you tomorrow. Or maybe we should go out. What do you say? My treat."

Your brother laughs at your enthusiasm, shaking his head. "Anything you make will be fine. And I want to treat you after I get my pay."

"Okay, I'll hold you on to that." You send a teasing look his way and he chuckles, shaking his head. A comfortable silence stretches in the air, as you two mutely watch the TV while sipping your beers. You feel a lot better than you did earlier as the thoughts of Jeonghan do not haunt every cell of your brain anymore. And you want to keep it this way.

When you're about to get up to grab some more snacks, Chan suddenly speaks.

"Forget about him, noona." He murmurs, eyes trained on the TV screen. He doesn't even look your way, almost like he's alone here, talking to himself. "I'll work hard. For you, for us. I'll make so much money that even he won't be able to compete. And I'll take care of you. Pay you back for everything you've done for me."

Your eyes once again become glossy as you watch your brother in silence. He resumes sipping on his beer, occasionally reaching for the bowl of chips, acting like he did not just say all that. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you move your eyes towards the TV, murmuring, " You don't have to but thank you. For saying that."

Your brother only hums from beside you and a small, content smile sits on your face as you both sit in silence, huddled close to each other, watching the TV.

It's early morning on the weekend when your beauty sleep is interrupted by your bursting bladder. With half open eyes, you waddle towards your bathroom, bumping into things as you are still tired from all the laughing and drinking from last night. It was Mingyu's treat at a Korean barbecue restaurant. You and Chan went, along with a few of their friends. It was fun, more than you had expected as it got your mind off of everything. They were great company, chatty, lively, fun and it was easy to lose track of time. When you and Chan returned home it was almost two in the morning but you didn't regret it. Mostly. It has been a long time since you had this much fun but you wish you drank a little less as you still feel your head ache.

Quickly washing your hands, you make your way back to your bed, stumbling along the route as you get comfortable beneath the comforter again. Snuggling into the pillows, you close your eyes, almost traveling back to dreamland but a certain sound garners your attention, preventing your slumber. It sounds distant, like a bell ringing and you think you are dreaming. But then, you hear it a couple more times and you sit up, eyes half closed, silently cursing under your breath. Your eyes move to your bedside clock.

7:05 am.

Who the fuck is at the door this early on a weekend?

Grumbling to yourself, you scramble out of your bed, rubbing the sleep away from your eyes as you open the door to your room.

"You really have some balls showing up here, on a weekend morning at that." Your sleep-ridden brain takes a while to process that the voice is Chan's.

"Please- just- let me talk to her."

The second voice, however, doesn't take much time to be registered by your foggy mind. His voice sends shivers up your spine and suddenly you are wide awake, alert, your heart beating like it just ran a marathon.

"Get the fuck out or I will kick you out myself." You hear Chan threaten and you immediately step into the common area, eyes wide as you watch your brother stand on the threshold of the main door, his frame hiding another person. "Chan!" Your voice calls automatically. He turns around and another head pops up from behind him, making your heart skip a few beats.

Jeonghan.

His pleading eyes are the first thing you notice— a spark flickering through them as they meet yours, followed by the faint bags underneath his eyes. His hair is disheveled but the most bewildering thing other than his sudden appearance is his outfit— he's wearing a literal three-piece suit.

Why is he dressed for work on a weekend morning? And why does he look so exhausted?

"Do you want me to throw this sleazeball out?" Chan turns to look at you and your eyes widen at his words. A part of you wants to scold him for his words but the other, bigger part of you puffs in pride. Your little brother just called a billionaire sleazeball right at his face. He really wasn't kidding when he said he's gonna take care of you from now on.

However, you have a lot of questions that need to be answered so you send a proud, reassuring smile his way. "It's alright, Chan. I got this." Your eyes move to Jeonghan, "My room." You mouth, turning on your heel. Begrudgingly, Chan moves out of Jeonghan's way but not before sending a burning glare at the older man as he hurries inside.

With Jeonghan tailing you, you pad into your bedroom and he closes the door behind him. Your room isn't perfect right now, your unkempt bed and messy dresser make you a little embarrassed but shove those thoughts away, clearing your throat as you start making your bed, something to keep you a little distracted and less agitated. "Sit." You murmur, well aware that Jeonghan's eyes are burning into you. He follows your word as he gently sits down at a corner of your bed, his eyes wandering around your room. Silence prevails as you fix your pillows and fold your blanket before sitting down beside him but maintaining a safe distance.

With the corner of your eye, you watch him stare at the ground, chewing on his lower lip as he fidgets with his fingers. You sigh, "I'm sure you haven't shown up at my place this early on a weekend to just sit in silence."

Your voice seems to break him out of a trance, "Hmm? No, I- I actually came straight from the airport. I was in Singapore the past few days."

That explains his tired look and crinkled clothes. Your heart thuds loudly as you wonder what made him rush to you straight from the airport. But you stop yourself from being too hopeful and stare at him as boredly as possible, waiting for him to continue. He sighs, raking a hand through his hair. "Anyway. I...I have a lot to say to you."

"I'm sure you do." You can't help the sarcasm in your voice, setting your eyes on the ground.

"I- I am sorry," Jeonghan announces suddenly, a desperate note in his voice. You're surprised at how he cuts to the chase. "I am really sorry for that day, for bringing Mingyu up for no reason. I- I was a coward, okay? I- everything you said was true and it caught me really off guard and before I knew it I was saying those stupid shit but you have to know I didn't mean them." Even though your eyes are not on him, you know he's looking at you with the most pleading gaze. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you say nothing and stare harder at your feet, trying to keep the tears at bay.

A short silence follows before he whispers, "I want more too. I want you completely to myself too. I want to build a life with you too. After you left, it felt like my heart was ripped into two, as cheesy as it sounds. I realized what an idiot I was and I swear I was about to go after you until I got a call and I had to fly out to Singapore immediately." He breathes, his voice the softest. You don't dare move, afraid that if you move, this moment will break and you will wake up to realize everything was just a dream.

Jeonghan sighs quietly, rubbing his temples, "I thought about you and me long and hard for the past few days. And I realized how much joy you bring into my life and how much I hate being away from you. Without knowing I've fallen for you too and I can't imagine my life without you anymore. Yes, I had different thoughts before but that was just me being a stubborn asshole. I want you to be mine and I want to be yours. I'm...done playing. I like you, ____. Fuck, I love you."

You can't stop yourself from looking over at him, the passion and need in his voice pulling you like a siren's call, your eyes wildly searching his face for any clue on whether he is joking. But you're met with an expectant, almost shy gaze as he watches you with bated breath, pupils blown out as if he himself just realized his feelings.

"I-" Whatever you wanted to say, dies on your throat. You struggle to find the right words as your brain becomes a mushy pile of mess, tears brimming in your eyes. "Do- do you m-mean it?"

"I do."

A lone tear makes its way down your cheek as you shake your head at the incredulity of the situation. Half of you still can't believe that this is real while the other half weeps in happiness, not knowing what else to do. You don't realize you are quietly sobbing until you feel Jeonghan rest the gentlest of hands on your shoulder, as he scoots closer to you. "Hey," he calls for you, pushing the stray hair out of your face to take a look at you. Your misty eyes confuse him as he retracts his hand from your shoulder,

"I- did I do something wrong? Do you not feel the same about me anymore?"

Despite the situation, you can't help but roll your eyes. This man is so fucking dense when it comes to emotions. Sighing, you wipe your eyes and sit straighter, turning to look at him. "What do you mean I don't feel the same about you anymore?" You glare at him. "I couldn't get you out of my mind ever since I last saw you, asshole. How could I? I fucking love you. I was mad at you- maybe still am but I love you so freaking much, Yoon Jeonghan." The tears you wiped away start to reappear as you utter your fragile truth while trying to stay mad at him. As you hear yourself say the words, you once again realize just how much you mean them, how much he means to you.

Jeonghan, however, seems elated, as the playful spark in his eyes return, accompanied by happiness as his lips break into the sweetest grin which you can't help but reciprocate.

He doesn't say anything but wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you tightly against his chest where you immediately melt. It's your safe place; his strong arms, his warmth, the rhythm of his heartbeat, his intoxicating scent. You bury your nose into his chest, arms gripping his waist tightly as you feel all the stress and worry melt away. You are happy, happier than ever, safe and you feel like you can do anything in the world right now. Jeonghan's fingers repeatedly stroke your hair as he whispers, "I'm sorry for being an asshole. I'm sorry it took me so long. I'm so sorry."

"Well...I can forgive you if..." You pull back from his arms as your eyes wander to his pink lips and whisper shyly, "you kiss me right now." Jeonghan smirks, happy, surprised, proud and he wastes no time to attach his lips to yours. Fireworks go off in your head as you revel the feeling of his soft lips against yours, his addictive taste that you so desperately craved. Your tongues dance against each other passionately as you lose yourself in his taste and touch. Moaning, one of your hands moves to push off his blazer from his shoulder as he shuffles, moving on top of you, pushing you backward on the bed. Your hands aimlessly claw his back as you try to wrap your legs around his waist, wanting him closer.

"Wait- fuck." Jeonghan pants, resting his weight on his arms as his blown out pupils meet yours. "I- I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not here for sex... so if you don't want to, we-"

"Who are you and what have you done with Jeonghan?" You tease, raising a brow at his attitude. Jeonghan rolls his eyes. "I'm serious."

"So am I. Who's this gentleman and where is the playboy I know?" You fake frown, pretending to scrutinize his face. Jeonghan sighs in defeat. "He's gone for good. However, if you don't like this gentleman, then I have no choice but to bring out the demon." His voice deepens as he nips on your jawline before trailing down towards your neck where he licks and bites until pretty marks form. "Oh yeah?" You sigh, eyes falling shut as you squeeze the bedsheets in your hands. "Let's see how rough you can be." You challenge. Jeonghan stops his ministrations to take a look at you and once he realizes you're serious, his demeanor completely changes. He sits up and commands, "Take your shirt off, little brat. Don't make me repeat myself."

You spring into action, a coy smile sitting on your face as you quickly take the clothing off, pussy throbbing at his deep voice, his no-nonsense tone and the heated gaze he sends your way.

Once your top half is naked his hands reach for your pajamas but not before drinking in your naked form, his eyes scanning every inch of your naked half hungrily. In a swift tug, they come off and when he sees you're not wearing any underwear, he cocks a brow at you as heat flares in your face. "No underwear huh?" He chuckles, tossing your pajamas behind him. Leaving you squirming, touch starved, and butt naked on the bed, he stands up and starts taking his shirt off, painfully slow. He sees the clear desperation in your eyes which makes him grin predatorily. Your eyes move along with his hands as you openly ogle every inch of skin that comes into view. Once the shirt is off, he removes his belt and then his pants and boxers as they bunch around his thighs. What you were waiting for finally comes into view and you let out an unabashed moan, pussy clenching at the sight of his hard, bobbing length.

"Please," you whisper automatically, eyes meeting his turbulent gaze as you swallow at the thought of his length inside your mouth. You've only sucked him off a couple of times, during which you couldn't even fit it whole inside your mouth. Jeonghan had been patient with you, guiding you through it and pulling you off of him too quickly, saying you will get hurt. However, you feel like he won't be doing that today and a shiver runs down your spine at the thought.

"What are you doing? Come over here and suck like a good girl." He orders and you immediately crawl towards the end of your bed, hands reaching to pump the base of his throbbing length. The pink tip leaks a few beads of precum and focusing your eyes on him, you give him a kittenish lick, his taste coating your mouth. Moaning, you wrap your lips around the swollen tip, sucking his cock head, eyes never leaving his. Hissing, he grabs a fistful of your hair. "I said, suck."

His tone makes your pussy gush as you happily do so, enveloping his length with your mouth, until you feel him touch the back of your throat and he isn't even fully inside yet. Pulling back, you take a deep breath before diving back in and you don't stop until you can feel him in your throat, his full length lodged inside your mouth. Tears leak out of your eyes as you breathe through your nose, trying not to gag as your pussy throbs.

"Oh fuck-" Jeonghan grunts, head lolling back as you feel the grip on your hair strengthen. "Fuck, that feels so good." His praises make your pussy leak as you start bobbing your head with new vigor, one of your hands trailing down to rub yourself, the sinful sight of Jeonghan moaning making you extremely needy.

He picks up pace, hips thrusting into your mouth faster as his hands hold an iron grip on your head. Tears now freely stroll down your face, as you simply keep your jaw slack, drool dribbling down the corners of your mouth, letting Jeonghan fuck your face. Your hands work on your clit, rubbing it in fast motions, trying to bring yourself to an orgasm.

"Fuck, are you touching yourself, dirty girl?" Jeonghan hisses, craning his head to one side as his eyes focus on your fingers playing with your pussy. "Does sucking me off turn you on that much? Dirty slut." Jeonghan smirks, making you mewl as you increase the movement of your fingers, your orgasm approaching quicker due to his filthy words. Just when you are about to fall into your orgasm, he pushes your mouth off of his length as he breathes heavily, dark eyes watching you. "Get your hands off your pussy." He orders making you whine.

"Please-"

Impatient, he does it himself as he pries your fingers away from your core before pushing you back onto the bed. He then takes off his pants and boxers before crawling on top of you, a predatory glint in his eyes as he watches your heated face, eyes full of need, beckoning him closer. "I need to come inside you." He whispers, more to himself than you as his lips trail over your earlobe and then down your jawline.

"P-please do." You beg, heavy breaths falling from your lips. "Mhmm. I will. But I need to prep you first." He moves down towards your pussy but your desperation stops him. "Don't n-need it. Please, just f-fuck me." Your hands grab his biceps, eyes silently begging him. Jeonghan halts. "Are you sure, darling? I don't wanna-"

"Please! I can take it. J-just fuck me." You whine, your desperation reaching its tipping point. The need to have him inside you right now is enough to make you go mad.

You want to point out how you are literally dripping onto the bed, a wet patch forming on the sheets but instead, you wrap your legs around his waist and pull him closer before reaching out to cup his cheek. "Please, I've missed you. Need you, daddy."

Your soft voice, paired with the needy, doe-eyed look you give him is enough to make Jeonghan lose his damn mind. With a growl, he captures your lips in a bruising kiss as his hands move to line up his cock to your pussy. "You asked for it." He warns and that's all you get before he's pushing his entire length inside you, a high pitched shriek falling from your lips as an overwhelming feeling of fullness consumes your entire body.

"Careful babe, don't want your little brother hearing us," Jeonghan whispers lowly, his warm breath tickling your ear and you can feel the bastard smirk cockily. Biting your lip, you refrain from making any more noise as Jeonghan increases his pace, his sharp thrusts hitting so deep inside you, your whole body shakes. Mindless babbles fall from your lips as your hands clutch into his back tightly, your nails digging into his skin which makes Jeonghan hiss in pleasure. "Fuck, I don't think I'm gonna last long." He mutters, eyes moving onto your face, the fucked out look on you making him groan, as he buries his head in your neck, painting the skin with pretty marks.

"Please...gonna come- make m-me come." you plead and Jeonghan listens, one of his hands moving to push a couple of his fingers into your mouth. "Suck," He commands softly, dark eyes watching as you wrap your lips around his digits, sucking them sloppily like it is his cock, never breaking eye contact. Spikes of pleasure shoot throughout your veins as he retreats his fingers from your mouth and places them on your sensitive nub. "Oh my god!" You wail, eyes falling shut as your body arches at his touch.

Jeonghan starts playing with your clit, rubbing it swiftly before pulling and pinching it between his index and thumb. His mouth showers kisses and nips on your neck and the overwhelming feeling of pleasure consumes you, the tightly winded coil in your gut snapping as you feel a violent orgasm wreck your body. Jeonghan comes with you, releasing deep inside you in thick spurts, his breathy noises prolonging your orgasm. You think you almost black out for a second before you feel Jeonghan pick up the pace again as he whispers. "One more love, wanna feel you come one more time."

His soft whisper sends shivers down your spine and without thinking, you nod, holding him tightly, burying your face in his neck. Your brain has stopped functioning properly long ago and all you can feel are the way Jeonghan's hips snap into you and the warmth radiating from him. You feel vulnerable yet safe at the same time as you hold his body close to yours and breathe in his scent.

"G-gonna come again," you mewl into his neck, making him huff as he grunts. "Yeah? Me too baby. Come on, come for me, my love."

His sweet words paired with the way his lips venture down towards your breasts, sucking and biting while one of his hands plays with your oversensitive clit make you release a loud cry of his name. Soon after, you come for the second time, your orgasm brain numbing, making your toes curl and your whole body twitch. Jeonghan feels you tighten around him as you come and he can't hold back either as he fills you up for the second time, calling your name softly, his warm breathes fanning your face.

Your ears ring and you are too tired to move a muscle as you lie there, with Jeonghan panting harshly on top of you, careful not to crush you with his weight. For a while there is silence, nothing other than the harsh breathing of you both before you feel Jeonghan soften and slide out of you, making his release drip down your pussy and you wince. He collapses next to you and wastes no time to pull you close, your sweaty bodies tangling into a mess but you don't mind. The safety and comfort of being in his arms post orgasm, no worries whatsoever and hearing his heartbeat is enough to lull you to sleep. And you are almost drifting off when he suddenly asks. "You wanna tell me about that notification from Sugar and Spice?"

You blink, prying your tired eyes open as you peek a look at him. The view takes your breath away, the early morning sun falling on one side of his face, bathing it in an angelic glow, accentuating his features, his hair messily falling over his face and a soft, playful smile resting on his face. Your heart beats loudly in your ears and you realize you just fell in love with him all over again.

"Babe?" He calls, a knowing smirk on his face. "I know I'm gorgeous but can you stare at me later?" His voice snaps you out of his thoughts as you roll your eyes, hitting him in the chest softly. He props his body on one of his elbows and peeks at your face, waiting for your explanation and a shy smile sets on your face as you think about the answer to his question.

A few days ago, on an afternoon when you were bored and broken hearted, you logged into the sugar daddy app to go through it one last time before deleting it. Just for fun, you had typed in what you were looking for, waiting for the app to find you a match and lo and behold, it matched you with Jeonghan. You had screamed, half surprised and half annoyed at how that man wouldn't just leave you alone. And somehow, as you were throwing the tantrum, you accidentally liked his profile.

How smooth.

"I was so confused when I got the notification." Jeonghan grins seeing you smile at the memory. "Wanna explain that?" He wiggles his brows. You shove his face away. "Ugh. I just logged into it for fun. I was gonna delete it anyway. Your stupid app matched me with you." Jeonghan feigns hurt. "How could you call it stupid? I'd say it is a very good app because we're a perfect match and now you're my girlfriend." He links his fingers with yours, nuzzling your neck as heat flares through your face.

Girlfriend. Right.

"You wanna tell me why you have a profile on your app? Were you looking for a new sugar baby?" You narrow your gaze at him. Jeonghan's eyes widen. "No! I created my profile long ago, just after I launched it. I mean, I made it so..."

"Mhmm." You hum, snuggling closer to him. "I deleted mine, just so you know. I've already found my sugar daddy."

"Oh? Just a sugar daddy? Not a boyfriend or something?"

"Yeah, that too." Your eyes remain closed as you shrug like it's no big deal making him laugh quietly. "Well, just so you know, I've found my soulmate, lover, girlfriend...whatever they call it." He breathes, pressing a kiss on the corner of your lips. His words make your heart melt and you pout your lips for more kisses but he retreats, a cocky smile on his face as he leaves you hanging. "Now let's clean you up, darling."

"Asshole." You mutter under your breath and a smack lands on your ass making you squeal. You turn your head to see Jeonghan heading for your bathroom, throwing a wink at you. With a love-struck smile, you snuggle back into your bed, listening to Jeonghan hum a tune from the bathroom.

Later, after he has cleaned and dressed you up and put on his clothes, Jeonghan heads out of your bedroom, claiming he has to bond with his brother-in-law. His words and the way he so casually announces them give your stomach butterflies; the thought of a future with Jeonghan making your heart melt.

As you lie in your bed hearing your boyfriend and your brother talk from the other room— thankfully and surprisingly not fight, you reach for your phone and look for Sugar and Spice in the app store. Biting your lip, your hands glide over the keyboard as you type out a review.

Five stars. Highly recommend this app. Started out looking for a sugar daddy but ended up with so much more. Give it a try guys and you just might get lucky like me.

Shutting your phone down, you clutch it to your chest and stare at your ceiling, a wide, goofy grin on your face. For probably the first time in your life you feel so happy, so complete, so at peace. Hearing the muffled laughter of Jeonghan and Chan from the other room warms your heart further, making you feel like everything is okay and it is. Sighing in content, you get up from your bed and step out of your room, joining your brother and your boyfriend as they watch a game on the TV. Jeonghan pulls you next to him and with a shy smile, you snuggle close to him, not before raising a surprised so-you-are-getting-along-with-him brow at your brother who rolls his eyes, muttering something under his breath as he excuses himself to the kitchen.

You get comfortable next to Jeonghan, linking your hands with his, eyes trained on the TV screen as he nuzzles his face in your hair before pressing a kiss on your temple. "I love you," he whispers.

"I love you, too." You smile, holding his hand tighter.

And it doesn't get much better than this.

A/N 2: Funny thing, the day I was writing the scene where Dino says he got the modeling gig was the day when Elle Korea released their recent photoshoot with Dino lol. anyway, if you have any drabble requests regarding this couple then my asks are always open. if you enjoyed this please comment and share and you can buy me a kofi here!

masterlist

Taglist: @coupsiekkuma @haomullet @haven-cove @woozarts @fairiewonu @qy61 @lilactangerine @wheeinz @melocular @soonchanshua @chvngbin @kp0p10v3r2 @mommymilkers6000 @silent-potato @luv4cheol @namjoonslefttiddie (forgive me if I've forgotten to tag someone 🙏)

#strawberry shortcake: members #strawberry shortcake: vocalunit #yoon jeonghan #spiced s'mores: solo

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bibinnieposts · 2 years ago

Text

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jeonghan had spent his whole life imprisoned, but being in your service is what finally set him free.

bewitched | coming soon

wc.25.2k | vampire!jeonghan x gn witch!reader, fluff, hurt/comfort, horror comedy, band au ?, mentions of past trauma (details under cut), contractual servitude, mentions of blood, minor injuries (just cuts and scratches really), drinking, swearing, smoking, can i write jeonghan without argumentive flirting, vampire kisses (both kinds)

hi everyone! i, once again, have caught up with jeonghan age wise 😎 as of today we are the same age until october. to celebrate, here is an insanely long vampire au i created after this past january when i was hyperfixating HARD on a webtoon called bloody sweet (available to read here!). the circumstances of jeonghan and the mc's relationship and some major plot points (keyword: some) were inspired heavily by that original comic, so i want to give credit where credit is due! though i changed quiiiite a lot, so it's definitely not the same story loool. please enjoy a long burn vampy witchy jeonghan au!

thanks to @sichengtual and @babiemingoo for beta reading!

taglist (send me an ask to be added!): @soobin-chois

the following possibly triggering events happen in flashbacks or are mentioned in dialogue: familial death, suicide attempts, kidnapping/imprisonment, and murder

"c'mon, it's not that big of a deal," hyejin laughed, tugging your arm. "don't tell me you have a weird feeling, i know that's bullshit."

you swallowed harshly as she dragged you into the main cathedral. her, along with several of your other friends, decided that the only way to properly celebrate halloween would be to find an old abandoned church in the woods and get drunk in the rotting pews, but all the hair on your neck stood on end as soon as you entered the building. you looked around, the light streaming vaguely in through the warped stained glass windows inlaid in stone, and you wondered how long it took for such things to fall apart. how long a place like this could exist in a country where christianity had only arrived in the late 1800s. how quickly it must have been abandoned to have come to this state.

mingyu and jihoon were ahead of you, kicking aside broken wood from the altar to clear space for you all to sit, and your eyes ran up the cross hanging over them. something here didn't feel right, but there wasn't much you could say as you were pulled to join your bandmates.

"did you bring your tarot cards?" hyejin asked, and you just shook your head. "aw, c'mon, hex! you aren't gonna give us fortunes on halloween?"

"not here," you said, rolling your eyes at the nickname as you sat on the pew in the front row, eyes catching mingyu's for a second. "i'm not trying to invite bad juju on my deck."

"hey!" wonpil called, and you looked up behind you, to the choir balcony railing he was leaning over. "check it out, i found an organ!"

hyejin squealed, and you looked to her. "your guitars are in the van, right?"

jihoon laughed. "what am i supposed to do, find a chair to slap?"

"whatever keeps the beat," hyejin teased, rushing up the altar to grab his arm, and you exhaled, glad that her attention was off you. "you have the keys? help me grab them."

"should we really unload the van?" you asked. "what if we need to make a quick escape?"

mingyu looked at you. "weird feeling?"

"oh, shut up," hyejin rolled her eyes, tugging jihoon - the car key keeper - with her back to the entrance. "stop being a baby, we'll get the beers, too."

you watched after them, and jumped when the sound of the organ echoed through the cathedral. hyejin squealed again, giggling, telling jihoon to hurry up while he complained about the two non-guitar players having to go retrieve the guitars.

"i wonder how close that balcony is to falling," mingyu joked, and you looked at him with big eyes. he chuckled. "don't take it too seriously."

you nodded, standing and taking jihoon's place exploring the altar, eyes wandering across the plastered walls. "where's changyoon?"

"who knows," he said, shrugging. "him and wonpil decided they wanted to explore."

your eyes went back to the source of the haunting melody of the organ, and you wondered if your foster brother had joined wonpil, or if he was off in some other back room of the church. you squatted, looking through the debris on floor - there were offering trays, hymnal books, and you spotted a small silver cross half under a sheet of paper. you pushed the paper aside to inspect and felt a jolt of pain.

"ow!" you jumped, instinctively shoving your injured index finger in your mouth.

mingyu looked at you. "you good?"

"yeah," you muttered around the finger, standing and nudging the paper aside with your shoe, revealing green glass under it. you pulled your finger out of your mouth, watching the blood gather on your first knuckle again. "watch your step, there's broken bottles."

mingyu grabbed a larger piece of wood to push aside debris, making space for the others to join later, when someone suddenly jumped out from a doorway to the left of the altar.

"fuck, hyung!" mingyu threw the slab of wood in changyoon's direction, making him laugh and pick up his foot to dodge the splintering wood. "this place is already creepy, cut it out!"

changyoon grinned at you both. "come with me, i found something insane."

you looked at mingyu, who looked back at you, and you both abandoned your post at the altar to follow the self appointed manager of your band through the doorway he appeared from.

in all honestly, you wished you weren't as in tune with your surroundings as you were. it was unavoidable, the way certain places and situations made you feel on edge. you were generally a calm person, but those places and the feeling you got in them had a way of turning you into an anxious wreck. you were able to make it through the haunted house hyejin had dragged the band to the previous week without issue, letting mingyu hide behind you with his hands on your shoulders every time you had to enter a new room, but the back hallways of this church put a weird feeling in your stomach, and it was near impossible to ignore as you stepped over splintering wood.

when you were younger, changyoon had called you a scaredy cat for refusing to go under a bridge near where the two of you had grown up, where a dead body had been found a week later, strapped to cinder blocks in the river. you had believed his words for most of your life, despite the coincidence, but that didn't explain all the dreams you had that depicted natural disasters the night before they occured, or the vivid memories in your head that weren't yours. that hyejin would tell you to bet on which figurines she was going to pull from her blindboxes as a joke, only for you to be right every time. they called you lucky, but you were pretty sure it wasn't luck, especially with the way you would get pushed in the mud in primary school before changyoon had started defending you.

mingyu was the only one that ever believed you when you said something felt off, when you said that you felt like something bad was going to happen. your other bandmates usually rolled their eyes and backed down to appease you, to keep the peace. but mingyu would make eye contact with you, and he was always able to see that you were genuinely shaken, especially because it didn't happen often.

"i don't like this," you said, as soon as changyoon walked through another doorway, his phone flashlight shining in the darkness. "i don't like that room."

mingyu looked at the back of your head, then at changyoon, and the older just sighed and grabbed your hand. "hey, we're all going in together, okay? you'll be fine. c'mon."

you chewed your lip, looking past him into the room. "changyoon, there's something wrong in there."

"impressive, hex," he said, grinning. you had earned the nickname over the years for the express trait that you were displaying in this moment - your sense, and your luck, that your friends always equated to some kind of witchcraft. "aren't you curious why it feels wrong?"

you cursed under your breath, looking away from him. changyoon knew you the best out of anyone in your life - you grew up with him, and his family took you in when you had no one else, making him your closest friend by far. his sly question was the same thing that had gotten you to go under that bridge back in middle school, and he knew you were too easy to convince as soon as your curiosity was piqued.

"hey," mingyu interrupted. "we don't have to-"

"it's fine," you said, looking back at him. his brows creased at you. "i'll be fine. let's check it out."

he eyed you, and agreed as changyoon pulled you through the doorway by your hand, following behind.

"hey, hex," changyoon prompted, directing his light at the wardrobe stood against the wall. "what does that look like to you?"

you gulped. the tall wooden wardrobe looked old, but seemed to be perfectly maintained in the general wreckage that occupied the rest of the church, and you saw two yellow sheets plastered over the seam of the doors with red calligraphy.

you could feel mingyu fidgeting beside you. "aren't those talismans?"

"protective," you agreed, wondering what they were doing in a christian church, then looked at changyoon. "can we get out of here, now?"

"hey," he said, brows knitting when he looked between you both. "if it's sealed, then we're safe, right? unless one of us happens to break the seal…"

"not funny, hyung," mingyu said, eyes stern. "i don't like this either."

changyoon laughed. "you two are too superstitious. c'mon, don't you wanna see what's in it?"

while entering the room had felt wrong, and staying in it felt worse, you almost felt a siren song coming from the wardrobe, unable to pull your gaze from it. you wanted to shake yourself awake, fully aware of the importance of such symbols. someone had placed them there for a reason, and they probably had a better understanding of the beyond than you did, but something in your heart tugged you towards it. "kinda-"

"what?" mingyu looked at you. "you can't be serious."

when you looked back at him, you realized how stupid you were being. "we shouldn't," you agreed, but your eyes caught the talismans again. "but aren't you just a little curious?"

"rock paper scissors," changyoon said, holding out a fist in front of you. "winner opens it."

you looked at him, eyes wide. "winner?"

"not fair," mingyu said, running a hand up his arm, and you wondered if he had the same goosebumps you did. "you know they always win."

he shrugged. "maybe if they didn't cheat-"

"i don't cheat," you argued. "i just-"

"-know what we're gonna throw," changyoon finished for you, teasing. "then you should be able to lose, too, if you don't wanna open it so bad."

"i'm not playing," mingyu said, annoyed. "this is stupid. i'm gonna go find wonpil. you coming?"

you hadn't even realized that the organ had stopped playing when you looked at mingyu. you slowly raised a fist. "after this. you go ahead."

changyoon grinned victoriously when mingyu exhaled, recognizing your need to prove yourself right as he exited the room. "if you guys open that thing, you're idiots."

"play or you lose, rock paper-"

you looked at changyoon's grin, and instantly, you could see his hand with a thumb and finger out. as he yelled bo and threw out his play, you spread your fingers, despite the urge to keep them clenched. he was staring at your hand, and when you looked down, you saw his hand playing the exact way you had predicted.

"fuck."

"i guess you were right," you said, a smile slowly creeping across your lips. "i can lose when i want to."

"you cheated," he accused, muttering about how annoying the situation was, but straightened his spine and looked at the wardrobe. "whatever. deal's a deal."

"you're really gonna open it?" you asked, shocked. "changyoon, those talismans-"

he rolled his eyes, approaching the wooden wardrobe. "you know i don't believe in that stuff."

"and you know that i do," you said, slightly annoyed when you grabbed the back of his shirt. he looked back at you, and you swallowed, eyes going to the seals, and you felt goosebumps on your arms. "changyoon, i really d-don't think this is a good idea. i have a r-really bad feeling."

"relax, hex," he said, looking back at you when he noticed the return of your childhood stutter. you swallowed, and watched as he bent his neck until it popped, holding his flashlight towards the wardrobe and pulling a utility knife out of his pocket. "just stay behind me."

your fist tightened on his shirt, wanting desperately to stop him, but knowing there was nothing you could do when he set his mind on something. he had spent your entire shared youth doing whatever he wanted without heeding much warning from anyone, and all you could do was hope to some higher power that whatever was in that wardrobe wasn't as dangerous as the talismans suggested while he sliced the knife through the yellow sheets sealing the wardrobe.

the room felt suddenly colder than before, and changyoon paused, flipping the knife shut and depositing it back in his pocket as he swallowed. "am i imagining it, or-"

"hyung!"

you both spun, towards the door, when mingyu suddenly appeared with his own phone flashlight.

"wonpil fell, we should get out of here."

your stomach sank. your bad feelings were never wrong. "fell?"

changyoon immediately grabbed your arm, guiding you as he headed towards mingyu. "from where? is he okay?"

"he says he's fine," the guitarist explained, and you looked back at the broken seals upon the wardrobe as you were pulled out of the room. "the stairs down from the balcony broke under him. i think it's just a sprain, but he has a couple scratches and hyejin wants to get him to a hospital. we figured you could check him out."

"okay, yeah. good idea," changyoon said, letting go of you as you all entered the main cathedral again, turning off his phone flashlight. you stopped, looking down the hall towards the room you had just come from.

"you good, hex?"

you looked at mingyu, who had worry painted over his face, and you consciously adjusted your expression, smiling back. "yeah, i'm fine. we just didn't get to open the wardrobe."

he exhaled, throwing an arm over your shoulder and pulling you into his side as the two of you followed your manager down the aisle. "good, that shit creeped me out."

you peeked over his shoulder at the doorway. "me, too."

the rest of your band was out front, gathered around the passenger seat of the van.

"i'm fine," wonpil insisted, whining. "stop babying me."

"it's swollen, pil," hyejin said, pressing a beer against his ankle in place of an ice pack, and he hissed at the cold can.

jihoon spotted you, waving as you walked up. "where did you guys disappear off to?"

"exploring," changyoon said, squatting in front of wonpil, inspecting his ankle. with how reckless and rebellious he acted, you sometimes forgot he was studying medicine. "yeah, that's definitely a sprain. we should get you to a hospital so you can get wrapped up proper."

"told you," hyejin said, shutting the cooler of beers, and wonpil stuck his tongue out at her. "mingyu, can you stick this in the trunk?"

he nodded and exhaled, picking it up, and you followed him to the back of the van where the trunk was hanging open to scan over the contents.

"hey-" you peeked around to the group. "where's my bass?"

"shit," hyejin said, looking back at the church. "i must have left it by the altar, sorry. we were in a rush to get out."

you rolled your eyes, stopping yourself from saying i told you so, closing the trunk before heading back to the entrance of the church. "don't leave without me."

"you good to go alone?"

you looked at mingyu, then nodded shortly, giving him a small smile. "i'll be fine. be right back."

you pulled open the heavy doors, looking around as you headed back up the aisle to the altar. you spotted your guitar case just where hyejin had said she left it, picking it up with your right hand and feeling a sting. you adjusted it to your other hand, pulling your finger into your vision, and you cursed when you noticed the blood gathered on the digit, the cut opening back up, about to stick it in your mouth before someone grabbed your wrist.

you jolted, expecting mingyu or changyoon to have followed you back in despite not hearing them, but you froze when you were suddenly face to face with a man you had never seen before. skin pale as the moon and hair dark as night, his hand wrapped around your wrist colder than the beer on wonpil's ankle. but the most chilling feature were his eyes - one a pinkish red, the other glowing amber, and you almost felt hypnotized by his gaze. he wore a clean suit, shirt tucked neatly into his dark slacks but unbuttoned enough to reveal his equally pale collar bones.

he breathed in heavily, eyes shutting briefly, before they opened again, hooded as he stared you down. "i'll take that," he said, his voice smooth and low, and you could only watch as he slotted your bleeding finger between his lips. you felt every hair on your body stand on end, his eyes shutting again, and you tried to make your body move. run. anything.

"delicious," he muttered, making eye contact again, his lips parting into a smirk. "thanks for letting me out of that tiny closet, i was getting bored."

you watched him lick his teeth, noticing how particularly sharp his canines were, and suddenly snapped out of it, doing the only thing you could think of, swinging your guitar case and clocking him as firmly as you could in the side of the head before sprinting as fast as you could.

"ow!" the man said, grabbing the side of his head as you ran from him. "i bit my tongue!" he watched you fly out the front door, in no real rush to catch you when he knew he could track that sweet smell anywhere, but suddenly felt a weight around his neck. his hand went to it, confused.

"let's get out of here," you said urgently to mingyu, who had been looking at his phone and leaning against the van while he waited for you to return. you quickly climbed through the door, hugging your guitar case between your knees as you buckled in.

"where's the fire, hex?" changyoon asked, laughing as he looked at you through the rearview mirror.

"can we just go?" you said, looking out the door as it closed behind mingyu, watching the church doors.

mingyu's hand found yours when the van started moving. "you okay? you look like you've seen a ghost."

"i-" you paused, swallowing as you considered what you had seen, what you had felt. and while you were pretty sure of what it had been, you were unsure of how to explain it to your friends. maybe a ghost was an easier explanation, only second to calling him a pervert. "maybe."

"you serious?" wonpil asked, spine twisting in the front seat to look at you. "you saw a ghost?"

hyejin laughed behind you. "there goes hex again, always connected to the beyond."

"i don't know what i saw," you huffed, indignant. "but i'm never going back there again."

jeonghan approached the temple he knew well, not far from the church he had been trapped in, hands tucked into his slack pockets. his eyes scanned the courtyard, searching for the man that had locked him away. "shaman, you around?"

"how did you get out?"

jeonghan jumped, spinning, finding the traditionally dressed man behind him. "how do you sneak up on me if you're just human?"

minghao whacked jeonghan in the arm with his stick, eyebrows furrowed, and the vampire flinched, letting out an annoyed ow! "you were in timeout, who let you out?"

"i dunno, some kid!" jeonghan said, rubbing his arm. "these kids were messing around in the church, one of them cut the seals."

"some kid?" minghao frowned. "don't they know how important talismans are? you were being punished."

"punished for killing a chicken because i was hungry."

minghao stuck the stick in jeonghan's face, making him jolt back. "all life is precious."

the vampire swallowed thickly. "can you explain this?"

minghao squinted at what jeonghan pointed to - the black leather buckled around his neck, silver spikes protruding. "a dog collar?"

jeonghan huffed, annoyed that someone else had confirmed his suspicion on what it was. "it just appeared. why?"

minghao leaned in, tugging at it, and jeonghan gulped as the shaman studied it closely. "it has strong energy. when? how?"

"when those kids were there, one-" he swallowed again when minghao released the collar to walk around him, studying it from all angles. "one of them had a cut on their finger."

minghao stopped, directly behind him. "you drank human blood?"

"barely!" jeonghan whined, turning to the shaman. "i just licked off what was already on the finger. i was starving, and it smelled too sweet, i couldn't resist!"

he tutted, hand rubbing over his face. "i think you may have found a witch."

jeonghan's eyes lit up, mind swimming as he thought of the implication. "a witch?"

minghao nodded, walking toward the temple. "i did some research when you arrived here. when a vampire consumes the blood of a witch, a servant-master contract is made."

jeonghan followed. "i get a blood servant?"

minghao looked at him. "you're the one with the collar, what makes you think you're the master?"

after wonpil got wrapped up at a hospital, your friends ended up back at his and changyoon's place to finish out the night, but you couldn't shake your encounter at the church, the eerie feeling you had that you had met something not quite of your world. you had a hard time even believing yourself, but every detail of that man - pale, hypnotizing eyes, sharp teeth - it all seemed too directed towards one answer.

pervert, you decided. because every other option gave you a headache.

"i'm gonna head home," you announced, grabbing your bass and shoving it back into its case. you were too distracted to have fun, and being alone sounded like a better choice at this point.

"lame," hyejin said flatly, tossing her sock in your direction from where she was lounging on the couch, mingyu nodding in and out of sleep next to her. you laughed.

"careful out there," changyoon nagged from the kitchen, making up some drink. "who knows what kinda crazies are out there for halloween."

you gave him a weak smile, waving goodbye, but not saying that you were pretty sure you were one of the crazies people should be worried about.

as soon as you stepped out onto the streetlight lit night, you dug into the inner pocket of your denim jacket as you walked down the sidewalk. you leaned your instrument against the concrete planter that you used to stop by frequently, a decent enough distance from the entrance of the apartment building, extracting a cigarette from the carton and sticking the end in your mouth before flicking your lighter on.

you sat on the edge of the planter as you took a deep drag, eyes shutting as you exhaled, trying to process the day as you shoved the lighter back into your pocket now that you were finally alone. you looked down at your hand, at the index finger that kept bleeding, and realized that it hadn't since you left the church. you inspected it closer, sticking the cigarette between you lips to pull apart the skin with both thumbs, unable to find a hint of the injury.

"hey, sweet thing."

you looked up, gasping, and pulled the cigarette from your lips to choke out the smoke. "y-you-"

he grinned, showing his sharp teeth, and your voice caught in your throat. the man you had been caught thinking about all evening was standing before you, one hand resting on a roller suitcase and the other tucked into the pocket of his slacks, a leather jacket draped over his suit coat, and wearing sunglasses despite the sun being long gone. "those things'll kill you, y'know."

you looked at the cigarette between your fingers, then back at him. "isn't that the point?"

"oh, great, they're dramatic," he said, a chuckle falling out of his lips. "i've been looking for you, by the way. you couldn't have cut yourself again to be a little easier to track?"

"why?" you said, staring at him, unsure of why you felt more at ease now than you had when you first encountered him. before, his gaze sent chills up your spine, put a rock in the pit of your stomach, but now… you couldn't explain it, but his presence felt warmer, despite knowing his skin was cold to the touch. you had always been able to read people's auras - it's what made you keep your current friend group close, knowing that despite their teasing and playful jokes, they would always have your back. this man's aura had changed completely since you ran from him in the church, and that in itself grabbed your curiosity enough to hear him out.

"because," he started. you watched him pull the hand from his jacket pocket, a long finger pulling at the black leather collar around his neck. "that little drop of blood of yours formed a contract, and i plan on making sure you fulfill it."

your eyes stayed on the collar for too long before you blinked. "what?"

he appraised you gently. "you've guessed what i am, right?" you looked away, bringing the cigarette to your lips again to take a drag, and he took the avoidance as a confirmation before continuing. "i've been trying to become human for almost three hundred years, and you're my ticket."

"how?"

he sighed out a laugh. "are you capable of doing anything other than asking single word questions?"

you huffed, shoving your free hand into a pocket and adjusting on the concrete. "yeah, but you're not making any sense. you're trying to tell me you've been alive for three hundred years."

"i've been alive for four hundred," he corrected, head cocking at you with a tired expression. he looked away, brows furrowing. "not-alive. i dunno, it's complicated to explain."

"four hundred years," you scoffed. "and you need me for what?"

he sighed, abandoning his roller case to sit beside you on the planter as he took off his sunglasses, tucking them away in his jacket, and you stiffened at his presence. "witch blood is like poison to vampires," he said, and your fingers clenched in your pocket at the blunt verification of your outlandish theory. "it takes away their power, and the more they drink, the more human they become-" he looked at you, and you kept your eyes forward as you felt his gaze on your profile. "when even the smallest drop is drank," he said, eyes landing on your knuckle. "a contract is formed. in return for the witch's blood, the vampire must offer their life in service until the contract is broken, when the witch dies or the vampire becomes human."

"vampires aren't real," you said, staring at your hands, mind reeling. "there's no way. vampires?"

his hand found yours, goosebumps running up your arm at his cold touch. "do i feel real?"

"honestly?" you let out a smileless chuckle. "not really."

he rolled his eyes, pulling your hand up to his face, placing your palm on his cheek, and you couldn't keep your eyes from him any longer. he leaned into your palm, and you were forced to reckon with the fact that he was incredibly handsome, with round eyes and a perfectly sloped nose, and you tried not to stare at his pouty lips when he spoke again. "you're being rude."

you studied him, eyes frantic as you tried to accept this new truth. "are you gonna tell me goblins and werewolves are real, too?"

he sighed, dropping your hand from his face. "maybe, but i've never met any. what about you, sweet witch? ever seen a man howl at the moon?"

you blinked again. "i'm not a witch."

"oh, contraire, master," he grinned, nudging you, shoving his hands into his pockets. "i wouldn't have this collar if you weren't."

"but i'm not," you argued, turning to him. "i get… feelings sometimes, but i don't, like-" you waved your cigarette in the air like a wand, ashing it with a flick. "cast spells, or whatever."

his eyes went to your lips as you spoke, and you tried to ignore the way your stomach flipped, taking another drag to disguise it. "there's lots of different types of witches."

you blinked at him, about to ask him to elaborate when the apartment building door swung open behind him, and you hurriedly threw your cigarette on the ground to stomp it out when you spotted who was coming out of it, waving away the smoke as you blew it out in the opposite direction. mingyu appeared in the night, sniffing at the air and looking around, immediately spotting the roller case, then you, and his eyebrow creased when he saw the man sitting by your side.

"hex?" he asked, long legs allowing him to approach quickly. "who's this?"

your eyes flicked to the vampire sat beside you, and you cleared your throat to stall. "uh-"

"jeonghan," he said, smiling up at the tall guitarist, and you stared at him. jeonghan. "and you?"

mingyu's expression was stern. "i'm their friend." he shifted his attention to you. "you want me to walk you home?"

your lips pursed before looking back at mingyu, and you gave him a close mouthed smile. the same one you always gave him when you wanted to avoid talking. "i'm okay. i left so i could chat with him for a bit."

he nodded slowly, then looked jeonghan up and down. his eyes went back to you. "call me if you need anything."

you gave him a small wave. "g'night, mingyu."

you watched mingyu stalk off, glancing back at the two of you once, and you exhaled when he was out of earshot.

"you're not a witch, but your friends call you hex?"

you planted your palms over your eyes. "it's a nickname."

"and?" jeonghan asked, smirk on his lips when you slowly revealed your eyes to look at him. "how'd you get the nickname?"

you swallowed. you usually hated explaining this to people, hated the way they looked at you like you were crazy, but considering he was claiming to be a monster of the night and that you were his witchy master, you figured there were few people that would understand better than him. "i get these feelings sometimes," you said, sighing. "like, vibes? i guess."

"vibes," jeonghan repeated, a short laugh escaping him. "kids talk so funny these days."

your eyes found his again, remembering that he had said he'd been trying to become human for hundreds of years. "premonitions," you clarified. "i can predict things easily, and i can tell when bad things are going to happen. i see things in my dreams, even."

he nodded. "is that why you always win rock paper scissors?"

you flinched, brows scrunching at him. "you heard that?"

"i mean, i was in the room," he said, pulling his hands out of his pockets. "sounds to me like you would be burned at the stake if you were from my era."

you considered that, staring down at your hands, wishing your cigarette wasn't under the sole of your boot as you remembered how you had been treated in primary school for being different. "i got burned at the stake in this era, too."

jeonghan ran his tongue over his teeth, inspecting your profile. then, he reached across you, and you were too caught off guard to say anything as he pulled the lapel of your denim jacket forward, reaching into your inner pocket. he put a cigarette between his lips as you watched, shoving the carton into his own coat before lighting it. he exhaled the smoke, away from you, then held it out for you. "three puffs, then you put it out. you're no good to me dead."

you took it, staring at him. "thanks."

he coughed shortly, sniffing and shoving his hands back into his pockets, looking away as you took a long drag. "your friends don't know you smoke?"

you watched the cherry burn as you sucked, exhaling harshly and tapping the ash away. "they think i quit a while back, but…" you thought a second, not wanting to fully get into your personal trauma with someone you met minutes before. "i've been trying, but it's been a hard month. i thought he was gonna stay longer, or else i would have waited til i got home."

"well, he definitely smelled it," jeonghan said, and you let out a short laugh. he looked at you, smiling at your giggle. "he probably thought it was me."

you looked down the street to where mingyu had walked off. "probably."

"well, master," he nudged you again. "i'll hang on to the pack. let me know when you really need one, we can pretend i'm the one with the disgusting habit."

you sucked on your cheek, inspecting his two toned eyes. "you are the one with a disgusting habit."

"what, the blood thing?" he asked, the smile on his lips being replaced by a pout, kicking out a foot and looking away from you. "it's not that disgusting."

you let out another short laugh, and he peeked back at you to watch the way your eyes curved. "you sucked my finger before you even knew my name."

his gaze ran over your face. "and what is it?"

"you said it was small!"

jeonghan had practically tripped out of his shoes to look around your loft after politely asking if he could come in, and you laughed as you pulled off your coat, pushing his roller case aside in your entry. "it is small!"

he looked back at you, eyes wide. "i've been sleeping in closets for the last fifty years."

you pursed your lips, stifling another laugh as he curiously inspected your bookshelf. you brought your guitar case into the living area, leaning it against the wall next to its stand to be dealt with later. "you were stuck in there for fifty years?"

"oh, no," jeonghan said, eyes still scanning your shelves. "i was in there for three weeks. but there's not many places someone like me can hide out during the day."

you sat down on your couch, exhaling as you watched him move on to your kitchen, touching most of the contents on the counter before leaning over to squint at the pictures on your fridge. "who sealed you in that wardrobe?"

"some stupid shaman," jeonghan muttered, glancing over to you before pulling a photostrip off the fridge. "he's been feeding me mugwort and garlic for a year. one evening with you and i'm closer to becoming human than i ever was with him. who are these people?"

you squinted, recognizing the colors of the familiar strip when he displayed it for you despite the distance. "changyoon is my foster brother, hyejin is our friend from high school. they're both in mine and mingyu's band."

"ah," jeonghan nodded slowly, wanting to ask about your foster brother, but knowing it wasn't the right time as he replaced the strip under its magnet on the fridge. "you're in a band."

"did you think i carried around a bass guitar for fun?"

he shrugged, opening cabinets to peek at the contents. "you smoke cigarettes to die and you brought a vampire slave to your apartment, so i can't be sure of any of your choices."

you sighed, unable to argue, and pulled your phone out of your pocket to check your notifications.

minnie gyugyu: did you get home okay? minnie gyugyu: who was that guy?? his eyes gave me the creeps ;; were they contacts? minnie gyugyu: where did you even meet him?

"tell him we met on bumble."

you jumped out of your skin, yelping and falling back on the couch with your limbs sprawled when you found jeonghan leaning over you, both his leather jacket and suit coat removed. "jesus christ, announce yourself!"

he stood straight, wincing and putting up his hands. "i'd appreciate it if you didn't mention him."

you stared at him, then laughed out loud when you realized what you had said, sitting up again. "don't sneak up on me!"

"i can't help it," he whined, plopping down on the couch next to you, one foot tucked under him to face you. "i have light footfall. like a cat, or something."

you eyed his pout. "you act more like a dog."

his hand when to his throat, slipping a finger into his collar. "that explains this."

you blinked at him for a moment. "how do you know what bumble is?"

he almost laughed. "i'm dead, not unaware."

"why would i tell him we met on a dating app?" you asked, leaning back on your sofa.

his lips pouted out again, crossing his arms as his eyes went across your high ceilings. "is that not the easiest explanation? a strange man suddenly enters your life and pledges to do everything you ask." he looked at you. "sounds like dating."

"wow," you breathed out. "you're four hundred years old, and you're trying to date someone in their twenties? for shame."

he laughed at that, and you caught yourself smiling at the way his fangs showed. "three hundred and ninety nine, actually," he corrected. "freshly, it was my birthday this month. and admit it, i look good for my age."

you paused. "how old were you?"

his eyes found yours, and he adjusted his posture at the question. "about as old as you are now."

"how did it happen?" you asked, studying him.

jeonghan sighed, letting his head roll back against the sofa, slyly scooting closer to you. "do we have to do this now? i'm starving."

you eyed him. "are you asking to bite me right now?"

"just a nibble," he begged, curling his legs up on the couch, grabbing your hand. "you smell so delicious, just a tiny-"

you yanked your hand from him. "are you serious? i met you today, how do i know you won't just drain me right now?"

he looked hurt, but you knew better than to fall for it. "i don't kill people. it's not my style."

"you're a vampire," you pointed out.

"you're stereotyping!" he argued, eyes big. "besides, i'm trying to become human. that's the whole point of the blood contract."

you studied him. "do you know how much you need?"

his eyes wandered. "i'm not sure, actually. someone once told me it would take a full one to kill a vampire."

"a full person's worth of blood?" you asked, shocked.

"a full witch's worth of blood."

you swallowed, still having a hard time believing that you could be such a thing. "who told you that?"

he looked at you, and you could tell he was hesitating to answer, even though he spoke with conviction. "the shaman."

you squinted. "you're lying."

"who cares who said it to me," he sighed, collapsing into the cushions. he pouted, eyes shut as he whined. "i can't believe i have to sit next to the tastiest meal i'll ever get and i'm not even allowed to have one bite."

you studied his pouting face, keeping your smile at bay. "tastiest, huh?"

he let one eye peek open, a sliver of amber watching you. "don't get a big head."

"you said it, not me." you adjusted, settling with a shoulder against the back of your couch, sitting sideways to face him. "is... witch blood that special?"

both eyes were open now, and jeonghan stared at you intently. "you have no idea."

you paused. "enlighten me."

you almost flinched when his hand reached out, fingers tangling gently with yours as he pulled it close to his face. he was inspecting the finger you had cut - the finger that had formed your contract - absentmindedly as he spoke. "i haven't been tempted by human blood in three hundred years."

you could feel your heart thumping in your chest, and you pushed down the feeling as he continued pulling your hand closer with both of his. you swallowed harshly. "what about before then?"

his eyes met yours as your palm made contact with his lips. "i don't think you're ready for that."

heat rose up your neck as he inhaled deeply. "jeonghan-"

"i'm sorry," he chuckled, and placed a kiss upon your palm before he pulled you towards him. "you smell so sweet, it's enough to make me go insane."

"i-" your eyes were wide, but you only cowered when he leaned into you. his eyes were different now. darker, and his piercing gaze made you feel small. you suddenly realized you were the prey here - even if he claimed you were his master, he was the powerful beast - strong, silent, fast - and you were but a lamb brought to slaughter.

he was only inches from you at this point, and his eyes flicked down to your mouth. "if you keep biting your lip like that, it'll bleed. and then i really won't be able to help myself."

you gasped, planting your hand over your mouth and furiously running your tongue over your bottom lip, making sure you hadn't broken skin, even if he made it very clear that you would know if you had. he smirked at you, leaning back.

"i'll stop," he said finally, stretching his back and exhaling heavily. "before that poor little heart of yours explodes."

you scoffed, indignant, avoiding his eyes as you crossed your arms and planted your back on the couch, sitting as far from him as you could. did he hear your heartbeat? had he always been able to? you cursed internally. "you're mean."

"guilty as charged," he grinned, watching you kick your feet around with a scowl on your face. "you're obviously not ready. i can wait."

you rolled your eyes, standing from the couch, feeling his eyes follow you, and you hoped he couldn't tell how hot your face felt. "i'm going to the store."

"what are you getting?" he asked.

you exhaled, gathering yourself. "pork blood. or is oxblood better?"

he jumped up, his expression completely changed. "both, please!" his hands were in fists by his face, excited, before he reached out for your hand again. "you're the best master ever."

you couldn't help but smile as you rolled your eyes again, pulling away from him. he was annoying, you thought, and he teased you too easily, but he was still cute sometimes. "you wanna come? i might be a bit, i need to get some other groceries, too."

"okay!" he chirped, rushing over to the door to pull his shoes back onto his feet, and you couldn't help but imagine him with a wagging tail, excited to go on a walk. a giggle escaped you, and he looked at you as he pushed his roller case further into the apartment to get it out of the way. "why are you laughing?"

you shook your head, grabbing your jacket again as you approached the entry to slip your own shoes on. "your mood switched so fast."

"trust me, i still want the gourmet meal," he said, and you stopped in your tracks, looking at him. the entry to your apartment was small, only leaving half a foot between the two of you as he gave you a sideways smile. "but instant ramyeon is good sometimes, too, right?"

you chewed on your cheek, trying to control your heart beat with a subtly deep breath. "give me until february."

his eyebrow quirked. "february? why so long?"

"that's when i graduate university," you said, shoving your feet into your shoes. "i need blood in my brain to pass finals, and we're playing a bunch of gigs all through winter break, but you can have some after my graduation ceremony. only a little at a time, though," you said, pointing a finger in his face. "i'm already anemic, i don't need you making me sickly."

"you're in school?" jeonghan asked, and you giggled at his shocked expression. "why didn't you say so sooner?"

"you didn't ask," you said matter of factly, opening your door. "i also have a job."

he followed you out the door, brows furrowed. "i thought you were in a band?"

"so?" you asked, making sure it locked before heading to the elevator. "i have to make money to live. i can't just bum off a shaman in the woods like some people."

jeonghan scowled at you. "not by choice," he said, crossing his arms and pouting. "so i have to be your slave with no reward until february? how humiliating."

"i didn't ask you to suck my finger," you pointed out. "it's not my fault you have bad timing."

he sighed dramatically, seemingly ignoring your accusation. "you'll be gone all day and asleep all night. how am i supposed to occupy myself?"

you stifled a laugh. "i'm sure you'll think of something."

"why haven't you come out sooner?" hyejin whined, her brows furrowed at you. "we haven't seen you since halloween."

it had been a while, you thought, at least longer than usual. ten days, maybe? you usually went out to eat with your friends at least twice a week, and you had even shown up late tonight, apologizing profusely, but it was impossible to think of an excuse that wasn't i have a vampire at home that's as needy as a puppy. "work. and school."

changyoon laughed as he grabbed another spoonful of cup noodle fried rice from the center of the table. "don't believe that for a second. did you get yourself a boyfriend?"

"hyung," mingyu warned, the back of his hand hitting the older.

you pushed your lips to one side, grabbing some of the fries that had been ordered before you arrived and shoving them in your mouth, only for hyejin to gasp.

"you did, didn't you?" she asked, grabbing your arm. "is he handsome?"

"i-" you swallowed, looking at her, then at the two boys across from you. mingyu's eyes were wide, and changyoon had a smile sneaking onto his face. "i don't-"

"holy shit," changyoon said, leaning back. "i was just teasing, but hex actually found a man."

mingyu's brows creased at you, and you cursed internally. "is it that guy?"

"what guy?" hyejin immediately asked, looking at him. she looked back at you. "there's a guy?"

"it's not-" you nearly choked, reaching for the jug of water in the center of the table to pour yourself some. "it's really not like that."

"c'mon, hex," changyoon prodded. "aren't we your friends?"

you swallowed down the water, trying to breathe. you looked around the table, and everyone was staring at you with mixed expressions. "it's just... really new."

hyejin smacked your arm. "and you didn't tell me?"

"us," changyoon corrected.

she rolled her eyes. "us, whatever."

"is it that guy?" mingyu repeated. you looked at him, and you thought he almost looked hurt.

you looked down, fiddling with a paper napkin on the table, thinking about how jeonghan had said that dating was probably the easiest explanation. "yeah, it's that guy," you said finally, voice small.

"what guy?" changyoon asked, and hyejin immediately asked mingyu if he was handsome.

"on halloween, hex was outside with some guy when i was leaving your place." mingyu leaned back in his seat, his spoon clattering on his plate when he abandoned it in favor of his beer.

"that's why you left," hyejin said, using her chopsticks to pick out fries. "where'd he take you on the first date?"

you pursed your lips. "we mostly just hang out at my place."

mingyu choked on his beer, nearly spitting it across the table as changyoon laughed at him, and hyejin whacked your arm. "you fox! i can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"not like that!" you wailed, indignant. "god, you guys are so annoying. this is why i didn't want to say anything."

"how can it not be like that?" changyoon asked, rubbing mingyu's shoulder as he recovered. "you say it's new, but you hang out at home? what else are we supposed to assume?"

you huffed, crossing your arms, looking away from them. "assume whatever you want," you pouted. "but we mostly just talk."

"what about?" hyejin asked.

you looked at her, knowing you couldn't say that you mostly talked about the last three hundred years of his life, but you tried to play off the hesitation as being offended rather than floundering for a way to not outright lie. "he asks a lot about the band. and school, because he never went to uni," you started, clearing your throat lightly. "he traveled, instead. he tells me about europe, sometimes."

"he's been to europe?" she asked. "is he foreign?"

"nah," mingyu said finally. you looked at him, and he avoided your eyes. "he's korean. jeonghan."

you blinked at him, remembering that jeonghan had given his name on halloween. you looked down. "yeah, he's korean."

"and why didn't you say anything?" changyoon asked, shoving mingyu's shoulder. "you saw them and didn't mention it once?"

"hex said it was nothing," he said, clearing his throat and looking around the restaurant. "i believed them."

that stuck with you for most of the meal, even though the other two moved on fairly quickly. and while mingyu went on to act normal for the rest of the night, he avoided looking at you, and you struggled to focus on anything else. hyejin was telling a story, something ridiculous that happened at her work, and she gesticulated too widely, knocking an empty bottle off the table.

she gasped when it shattered between the two of you, and you jumped in your seat. "shit, sorry!"

a staff member came over to clean it up right away, and when you stood to get out of the way, you noticed a thin, red string coming from your pant leg. your eyes followed it across the restaurant, where it seemingly went through the wall. your eyebrows creased, leaning over and pulling up the leg of your loose pants to inspect the source, and hyejin whined.

"oh, gosh, hex, you're bleeding! i'm so sorry."

she was right. there was a small cut on the side of your calf from the broken glass, where your pants lifted whenever you sat, and the string came directly from it. you looked up at her, her eyes focused on your leg, and you concluded that you must be the only one that could see it. "it's fine, it's barely anything," you said, and you noticed the string was moving across the wall.

"lemme see," changyoon said, leaning out of the wall booth. you rolled your eyes, but displayed your leg for him nonetheless, and he wet a napkin to wipe it clean, the string going through his hand as he did. "you'll live. should we call your boyfriend?"

"you have a boyfriend?"

your foot landed on the floor as you spun, shoulders raised. "jeonghan?"

and there he was, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket that he wore over a shirt and black jeans, and you saw the little red string tied to his collar. he had his sunglasses on again, but you could still see his round, two-toned eyes through them as he pouted at you. "when were you gonna tell me?"

hyejin laughed out loud, hands covering her face. "oh my gosh, he is handsome."

"what are you doing here?" you asked, hushed, pushing on his chest, and he grinned as he let you move him backwards, away from the table.

"got the feeling my master was hurt," he teased, winking at you as he tugged the string in his collar, and you stared at it for a moment before looking down at where it connected to your leg. "you okay?"

"i'm fine," you sighed. pulling your hands from his chest. "you can go home."

"but you're still bleeding," he said, hand grabbing your arm to keep you close, and you saw his eyes deepen before he leaned into you. he practically purred against your ear when he said "i could take care of you 'round back-"

your face burned, and you pushed him away, mortified at the way hyejin practically choked as changyoon held in his laughter. jeonghan's smile faltered for a second, doing his best to ignore your smell, the way your heart thumped, trying not to slip in front of your friends. "no, thank you! go home!"

"aw, he came all this way!" changyoon said, grabbing his beer. "you're sending him home?"

"yeah!" hyejin grinned up at you two. "why don't you join us, jeonghan! i'd love to hear about europe!"

he quirked a brow at you. "you told them i went to france?"

"i-" you swallowed. "they asked what we talk about."

"here," changyoon said, standing. "i'll take your chair, love birds can sit in the booth."

"love birds," jeonghan repeated, smirking at you as changyoon sat in your chair, swapping your utensils and glasses. "well, go ahead, sweet thing. take a seat."

you ducked your head and slid into the booth next to mingyu, who stiffened when jeonghan joined you, casually throwing an arm over your shoulder. you gave quick introductions, to which jeonghan said i know, i've seen all their pictures, which made hyejin giggle and changyoon eye you curiously. you exhaled, hands on your knees, as hyejin immediately launched into her expected interrogation.

"so, how old are you?"

"almost four hundred," jeonghan replied quickly, and you gave him a look as changyoon laughed.

"wow, hex. older men?"

"ha ha," you joked, grabbing jeonghan's knee, trying to think of a believable and acceptable age. "he's kidding. twenty-seven. can we get more soju?"

"no way," hyejin said, grinning. "born in '95?"

jeonghan blinked at her. "sure?"

"same age!" she said, holding up a hand for a high five, which jeonghan hesitantly gave her as changyoon flagged down a waiter for the soju you requested. "how did you end up going to france?"

"uh," jeonghan rubbed his chin, glancing at you. he had told you a lot about his time out of the country, but never explained how he ended up there. "kind of a long story. this foreigner sponsored me, i guess. hoping i would follow in his footsteps."

"like an apprenticeship?" she asked, fascinated. "what kind of work?"

"not really supposed to talk about it," he said, giving an apologetic smile. "sworn to secrecy. i worked for him for a while, but i didn't agree with the ethics, so i came back home."

you studied him, wondering how much of the truth was laced in his answer, and changyoon whistled.

"must have been bad if you gave up europe for it," he said.

"it…" jeonghan's eyes went across the ceiling before settling on you. he adjusted in his seat. "it was pretty bad. sometimes i wish i had never gone in the first place."

"but it was worth it, right?" hyejin asked. "i mean, you did things other than work?"

"yeah," he shrugged. "i learned french."

you looked at him. "you can speak french?"

he eyed you, a soft smile on his lips. "yeah. te rencontrer était un autre avantage."

you chewed your cheek. "what does that mean?"

"getting to meet you was also a bonus."

your eyes widened and you looked down, flustered, and hyejin squealed about how romantic it all was. mingyu scoffed beside you, leaning over his plate. you chewed your cheek. "you didn't meet me in europe."

"yeah, but i wouldn't have come to seoul if i hadn't gone there first," he said, swirling your water cup with a gentle grip of his fingers. "i would still be in my little farm town," he mused, not mentioning that he would also be long dead.

"okay, i gotta ask," changyoon said, leaning forward. "don't take this the wrong way. what's up with your eyes?"

"changyoon," you hissed, and jeonghan just put up a hand to tell you it was fine.

"i don't mind," he said, smiling at your foster brother. "my mom was albino, i got my eyes from her."

"wow," changyoon leaned back again. "albinism is pretty rare. to what extent?"

jeonghan snapped his fingers, pointing at him. "that's right, you're studying to be a doctor," he said, and changyoon gave you an impressed look as jeonghan thought for a moment. "well, she was pale, and her hair was blonde, red eyes - like me. beautiful, though. she was treated poorly because of her condition, but she's always been one of the prettiest people i've ever seen."

you studied jeonghan's profile, thinking about how he must have not just gotten his eyes from her. no one asked or clarified, for which you were grateful, but you could tell by the expressions across the table that they understood why he spoke about her in past tense, and you realized the table had fallen into silence.

"no wonder you're so good-looking," you said finally, trying to lighten the mood, grabbing your chopsticks to pick at the remaining fries. you didn't look back at him, but you could feel jeonghan smiling at you.

"you think so?" he asked teasingly, arm squeezing over your shoulder. "you always call me a dog, i figured you thought i was ugly."

changyoon laughed as you rolled your eyes. you knew he was baiting you, but you felt the need to indulge him. "you're pretty," you said succinctly, going back to eating fries as jeonghan grinned at you.

"what about work?" hyejin asked. "what do you do?"

"i'm…" jeonghan scratched the back of his head. "i'm actually in between jobs right now."

you nearly choked on your fries. you knew jeonghan hadn't worked a proper job a single day in his damned eternal life, and even though you couldn't say that to your friends, the suggestion that he had just been in between jobs made you laugh.

"stop," he whined, pulling his arm from your shoulder to push you gently. "i'm already embarrassed."

"there's no shame in that!" hyejin said, trying to defend him. "it took me ages to find my current job."

you gathered yourself, inhaling and exhaling slowly. "sorry," you said, wiping your eyes. "i wasn't expecting you to answer honestly."

he crossed his arms, pouting. "i've been honest so far, why wouldn't i be now?"

you giggled, patting his leg. your eyes flicked to the string at his collar again, unable to help the smile on your face. "sorry, jeonghan. forgive me?"

he glared at you, then exhaled, looking away. "i thought you were just stuck with me, but i guess i'm stuck with you, too."

changyoon ended up calling a cab for hyejin so she wouldn't have to take the subway slightly tipsy and alone, and after the four of you waved her off on the street, he looked at you. "band practice day after tomorrow?"

you nodded, smiling. "already have it in my schedule."

"good, i had to play bass for you last week."

you groaned, remembering how annoying changyoon acted when he had to fill in for any of you. you poked at mingyu. "sorry. i won't miss another."

he barely looked up from his phone, giving you a weak smile. "s'fine."

changyoon exhaled, throwing his arm over his shoulder "ready, big guy?"

he nodded, eyes glued to his phone. "yeah, let's go."

jeonghan ran his tongue over his teeth, studying mingyu for a moment before he put up a hand. "nice to meet you guys."

"you, too," changyoon said as they turned. "come hang out more, if you're serious about hex."

jeonghan looked at you as you waved. you peeked at him, then exhaled before spinning on your heels, heading back in the direction of your apartment. "i can't believe you came out."

"you were bleeding," he reminded you, falling into step beside you with his hands in his pockets. "you're my master, i'm supposed to protect you from danger."

"i wasn't in danger," you pouted. "it was just a soju bottle."

"but what if it had been worse," he pointed out, and you sighed when he stuck out his elbow, giving you room to link your arm with his. you had enough drinks to accept the offer, and your cheek landed on his shoulder for a moment as the two of you walked. "no matter what, if you get hurt, i'll come running."

you smiled lightly, pulling him down an offshoot in the pavement to walk through a park instead of on the commercial street. "just because you want a taste."

"okay, maybe," he said, and you laughed. he smiled along with you. "but against my better judgment, i'm also starting to really care about you."

you considered that a moment, thinking about how he had mentioned things tonight that he hadn't yet in your lengthy conversations about his long life. how he had never told you about his mother, even when you had told him about yours. how your parents had been taken from you too young, even if you hadn't revealed details, and how changyoon's family had fostered you until you came of age. "i care about you, too, y'know." you looked over to him. "you don't have to now, but i hope you'll be able to share more of your burden with me in the future."

he studied you in the moonlight when you looked forward, then let out a light chuckle. "you're a sixteenth my age, how did you learn to be so kind?"

you sighed. "when you spend most of your life feeling alone," you said, voice small, squeezing his arm gently. "i suppose you can tell when others feel that way, too."

jeonghan looked down at his feet, and you both allowed the silence, taking in the mixed sounds of city and nature as you wandered the park path that served as a shortcut to your apartment building.

"can i have a smoke?"

he looked at you, fishing in his pocket. "do i stress you out?"

"yes," you giggled, taking a cigarette from the pack as he held it open for you. "nah, drinking always makes me wanna smoke. old habits, i guess."

you held your hand out for the lighter after putting the cigarette between your lips, but jeonghan flicked it himself, cupping his hand next to your face to keep the wind from blowing out the flame as he lit it for you. you looked at his face as you puffed, then down at the tip to make sure it lit fully before pulling it from your lips, blowing the smoke away.

"thank you," you said, bringing it to your lips again to pull a real drag, exhaling happily as he shoved the lighter back in his pocket. you made a face down at the cigarette. "these don't taste as good as i remember."

"that's a good sign," jeonghan said, nudging you with his elbow, and you gave him a suspicious look. he laughed. "you're getting used to not smoking them."

you thought about that. you had asked him for one since halloween, when you had come home late from work and needed to rant about a shitty customer, and he sat dutifully beside you outside your apartment as you sucked it down, practically in tears over how frustrated you were. tonight, though, it was just habitual - the many times you had stepped out of bars into cool nights to have a smoke gave you a pavlovian response of some sorts, leaving you to succumb to your oral fixation whenever you were tipsy in the cold. you looked at jeonghan again, thinking about how many times you had tried to quit smoking in the months prior to his appearance in your life, but this felt the most promising, and it had only been ten days. you hooked your arm in his again, looking out to the night.

"hey," you prompted suddenly, blowing smoke away. "why can't you go in the sun?"

he eyed you. "it hurts," he said. "like a sunburn, but worse and more immediate."

you squinted. "are you sure it's not because you sparkle?"

"oh-kay," he said, dropping your arm from his as you giggled, trying to keep your hold on him. "you did not just compare me to that shitty book."

"so you've read it," you accused, and he looked at you, annoyed.

"absolutely not. why would i read sensationalist teen fiction fetishizing my kind written by a white woman?"

you laughed even harder at that, and jeonghan caught himself smiling at the way you had to cling to him to stay upright, your cigarette barely staying between your fingers as you lost motor control.

"there's only three vampires of color in that book, by the way," he continued, and while he sounded annoyed, you could tell he enjoyed having someone to complain to about it, and he especially liked your reaction. "one of them is evil. that's pretty fucked up."

"you're right," you agreed, eyebrows knit as you looked at him, clutching his arm. you took a quick puff. "that is fucked up. where's the asian vampire heartthrob representation? screw edward cullen, i wanna see chwe eunwool."

he laughed with you that time, and you almost started to feel lightheaded with laughter, though the nicotine and alcohol in your system surely didn't help. jeonghan noticed, not because you showed it outwardly, but because your blood was pumping harder than before, and he let his gaze run to the red string coming from your leg. the scent of your blood had been difficult to ignore at the restaurant, but it had stopped bleeding by now. even so, he stared at it for a long moment, remembering that first taste he had gotten of your sweet blood, and he had to swallow before he spoke. "i should take care of that."

you looked to him, then followed his gaze down. you sighed. "you can't wait til we get home?"

"i've waited this long," he teased, grinning at you, and you just rolled your eyes. "no one's around."

you looked around in the dark. "how do you know?"

"i can hear," he said, as though it were obvious. "there's a bench, if you wanna take a seat."

you pouted at him a moment, then unhooked your arm to march over to the bench, taking one last drag, and he laughed as he followed. you put out your cigarette in the sand pit on the trash bin by the bench and plopped down onto the wood, head spinning slightly at the sudden altitude change, and jeonghan put a cold hand on your forehead. you sighed.

"feel good?" he asked, and you just nodded. "you're warm."

"i may hold it well," you said, dragging his hand down to your hot cheek to look up at him. "but i drank a lot."

he smiled at you fondly, his thumb stroking over your cheekbone. "you are holding it very well."

you sucked on your teeth. "if you drank my blood right now, would you get drunk, too?"

jeonghan laughed, kneeling in front of you. "maybe. shall i check?"

"i thought you were just gonna help it heal," you said, pouting.

he exhaled a chuckle. "i'm just teasing. i said i'd wait until you graduate, i'll keep my word." he placed a gentle kiss on your knee, and even through your loose pants, you could feel the cold touch of his lips.

"you could have a little," you offered quietly, and he looked up at you as he pulled the leg of your pants up, studying your expression.

"wow, you must have drank a lot."

you huffed, looking away. "nevermind, then."

he chuckled, the exhale of his breath sending chills up your body when it landed on your calf as he brought it up to his lips. sometimes, you were able to forget that he stuck around because he needed your blood - wanted it, too, it seemed. sometimes it felt like he actually spent time with you just for your company, but you winced when you felt his tongue run against the cut, and you were reminded again that there was a contract that kept him tethered to you, even when the string between the two of you faded as your small injury sealed itself with his kiss.

he hummed, looking up to you slowly. "having a taste out in the open like this," he said, licking his bottom lip. "you're even more delicious than before."

you jolted, your foot landing on the ground as you sat up straight, heat rushing to your face. "my first impression of you was right," you huffed, crossing your arms and looking away. "you are a pervert."

he couldn't help the laugh that exploded out of him, and his eyes looked dreamy as he inspected your face. "and now your blood is rushing to the surface," he said, moving to sit beside you on the bench and pulling you toward him. you faltered, suddenly face to face, his cold fingers curled around your jaw. his eyes closed and his forehead landed on yours as he controlled his breathing. "you're lucky i have great self control."

your heart pounded in your chest, and you wondered if that was adding to his struggle. you silently thought that with all he put you through, he deserved the difficulty he caused himself. "you're the one that makes it beat like that."

his eyes opened, and you looked at him sheepishly, your eyes landing on his lips. he winced, pulling away suddenly, and you blinked yourself out of your trance. "we should get home," he said, and you hid your disappointment as well as you could as he pulled you to your feet, wondering if he was only ever tempted by you for your blood. if it was okay for you to feel this way about a man like him, who only needed you for what ran through your veins.

jeonghan said nothing, but without the distraction of your sweet scent, he noticed a new smell, not too far off - the familiar stench of blood being spilt in excess, and he put an arm around your shoulders the entire way back to your apartment, senses on high alert.

you were in a cold, dark room, curled up on the stone floor. your body ached, and your wrists felt heavy. you looked around, seeing bandages across them, and while they weren't bloodsoaked, you could feel the injury they covered, and you wondered if you had done that to yourself, or if someone else had tried to kill you. your skin felt tight against bone - dehydrated, you were pretty sure. a door suddenly opened, and you winced at the candle light, shielding your eyes from the tall man that entered. he was a foreigner and notably well off, you could tell, with long blonde hair tied back neatly. or perhaps you were the foreigner in this dream?

"have you changed your mind yet?"

you choked, unable to answer. your throat was dry, parched, and your stomach hurt in a way you had never experienced. how long had you been starving before this point?

the man tossed a loaf of bread your way, and though you wanted to reach for it, your body didn't move. you looked down, hiding your eyes from his gaze, and realized your body wasn't your own, nor were your actions. was this someone else's memory? it must have been, you thought, and you willed yourself to keep your eyes from him, but he reached down and grabbed you by your jaw.

"don't ignore me, darling," he hissed, and you saw that his eyes glowed amber, a color you had only seen on jeonghan. "you can't ignore your fate."

"just let me die," you choked out, and your heart sank when you recognized the voice. tears welled in your eyes when his grip grew firmer.

"admit it," the man spat. "you don't want to die. you just want to kill them, like they killed her." his sharp teeth shone behind curled lips. "i can help you."

you jolted awake, gasping for air, and your hand immediately went to your throat, expecting the cold touch that had been there only moments before. there was a weight on you, and you sat up, finding that jeonghan had curled himself around you in your sleep. he mumbled and stirred with your movement.

you stared at him. "i thought you slept standing."

he stretched. "nights are too long in the winter, i wanted a nap and you always smell so goo-" he interrupted himself with a yawn and smacked his lips twice, then furrowed his brows when he focused on your face. he sat up immediately. "what's wrong? nightmare?"

you didn't realize you were crying until his hand went to your face, his cold thumbs wiping away the tears. he had been with you for nearly a month now, hiding away in your apartment while you went about your daily life, and it would be a flat out lie if you said coming home to him wasn't the best part of your day. but with his increased presence in your life, it was no wonder you had tapped into his past. you swallowed. "i think it was a memory."

"a memory?" he asked, studying your eyes. "yours?"

you shook your head, and he must have realized what that meant. his shoulder slumped slightly, and you grabbed his hand from your cheek. "it was in a cell. who-" you paused, swallowing. you had so many questions. "he said he could h-help you kill..."

jeonghan turned from you completely, hand dropping to your lap, eyes scanning across your duvet. "is this what you meant when you said you saw things in your dreams?"

"i'm sorry," you choked, and you wrapped your arms around him, your cheek landing on his shoulder. "you don't have to talk about it. i'm sorry."

"he's my sire," he said flatly, and you froze against him. "he found me bleeding out in the woods of my hometown and took me prisoner."

your thumb made circular motions on his arm, not letting go of your grip around him. the foreigner that wanted him to follow in his footsteps. "how long?"

"i don't know," he admitted. "it felt like so long, but i don't know. months? a year, maybe?"

your grip around him tightened. "i'm so sorry."

"how much did you see?" he asked softly, his hand finding your knee through the blankets.

"enough to know it was hell," you said, pulling away finally. you sniffed harshly, wiping at your face. his eyes met yours, and you chewed your lip. "he turned you against your will, didn't he?"

jeonghan looked away again, exhaling, grateful that you hadn't seen the answer for yourself. "he did."

you looked down at his hand, watching it grip you gently. "is that why you want to turn back? because you didn't want it in the first place?"

he paused. "partly."

your eyes went back to his profile. "who was he talking-"

"that's enough," he said, sniffing harshly. "we can discuss it another time."

"o-of course," you said hastily. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to push-"

"it's not your fault," he said, glancing at you. "you saw it, you're right to have questions. i just don't think i can answer any more right now."

you nodded, landing your forehead on his shoulder. "take your time. if you can wait for me, i can wait for you."

jeonghan exhaled, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you back down into your bed. you adjusted, squirming until you could comfortably curl into his side, and he put his cheek on your head. he wondered if he could just hear your heart beating, or if his was, too. "you're so special," he said finally.

you paused, unable to think of a response for a moment. "i'm not that special."

"but you are," he said, hand running up your arm. his eyes shut as he tried to remember if he had ever felt this comforted before, even before he had turned. even before she had been taken from him. "i'm nothing but a cold blooded monster, and yet you make my chest warm."

you came home later than usual, caught up at the library with changyoon studying for your finals without the distraction of your new vampire roommate, and the first thing you noticed when you opened your door was the sound of your bass.

"i'm home," you announced as you entered the living room, and jeonghan smiled at you from his cross legged seat on the couch when he paused his playing.

"welcome back," he said, setting your bass on its stand as he approached you, wrapping you in a hug. "done studying for today?"

you nodded, exhaling into the embrace. "i didn't know you played."

"i tried it back in the seventies," he said when he pulled away. "it's been a while, so i'm a little rusty."

"you sounded good," you said, smiling as you went to the kitchen to wash your hands. you looked at the tv, on but muted, and read the lower third on the news report - something about the body of a murder suspect waiting for trial being found. you squinted at it. "what's that?"

jeonghan glanced at the screen. "that guy," he said, looking back at you. "the one that killed that kid in gangnam. he was found dead in his apartment."

your brow ruffled, remembering the case - he had been from an affluent enough family to pay bail, and it seemed like he was going to get charged for manslaughter instead of murder, despite the general public believing otherwise. "suicide?"

he cocked his head at the tv. "not sure."

you sighed, deciding to maintain your appetite by changing the subject. you had just spent the last four hours studying your criminal pathology practice test, you didn't need it to be your focus at home, too. "have you eaten?"

he shook his head as he followed. "i was waiting to eat with you."

you hummed, opening up your fridge. "i'm craving kimchi stew. are you willing to wait for soondae?"

his eyes got big, and you giggled when he said of course. you set a large pot of water to boil on the back burner of your induction cooktop and your small earthware on the front, and jeonghan chatted with you, asking about your day as he watched you cook.

you had spent so long living alone, it had been an adjustment to have someone home with you every day. but these days, you barely remembered what it was like before jeonghan was in your life, leaning against your wall or sat at your kitchen counter as he made you laugh.

you were quickly chopping green onions when you nicked the tip of your thumb, and you had barely pulled it to your face to check it before jeonghan's gentle grip was on your wrist, naturally spinning you until your back was to the counter, and you stared at him as he inspected the cut. this was normal at this point, his immediate appearance whenever you got little cuts or scratches, but your chest still fluttered when he was this close to you.

"dessert before breakfast?" he asked, his eyes meeting yours as he pressed a gentle kiss on your knuckles. "you should really be more careful, you'll spoil me rotten."

you could only watch as he placed your thumb in his mouth, and you were overly conscious of the way his hands landed on the counter at your hips. you let your fingers rest on his cheek as you felt his tongue swipe against the cut, the familiar sting before his saliva healed it, and you were left studying his hooded eyes as you lifted your other hand to his face.

"jeonghan…"

your thumb pulled from his lips with a pop, and he licked them before saying, "yes, master?"

you swallowed. "would it be wrong for me to like you?"

jeonghan faltered for just a moment, wondering if it was better to let you believe that he was just drunk on your taste, your smell. if he would be able to admit to even himself that his heart beat for you the same way yours did for him. and while he wasn't sure he could, he leaned into you, watching your eyes flutter shut as he approached, and he paused only to say, "we would probably both be in the wrong."

then, his lips were on yours, and your hands skated to his nape as his found your hips, his cold body flush against your hot one. when he pulled back, leaving only for him to stare at your soft, warm lips, you chased after him, leaving gentle pecks against him, and his chest swelled in a way that almost hurt - unfamiliar, a feeling he wasn't even sure he was capable of the last time he had been this close to someone.

"you're too sweet," he muttered, practically panting and his eyes shutting as his forehead landed on yours, trying to control the urge to sink his teeth into you, to drink the color from your lips. "i might be addicted."

you studied him, your fingers combing against his scalp as he exhaled. "at least you have an excuse."

his eyes opened, and you thought you could see the slightest tinge of red at the top of his amber iris, but you were soon distracted when he kissed you again, gentler, sweeter. and when his lips slowly pulled from yours, he ran a hand up your back as he said, "i think this is different."

it snowed the next day, and you stared out the window as jeonghan slept in your bed instead of his usual place in your closet. you decided to stay home that day, too endeared by the way he curled up on your mattress to tell him you were headed back to the library, but you had taken a quick break from studying to watch the snow drift to the ground through a foot tall gap in the window covering, lost in thought over what he had meant by different.

you finally finished your finals. you had pulled an all nighter studying before grabbing a coffee and heading off to your last two exams at nine in the morning, promptly passing out as soon as you got home six hours later.

jeonghan woke up around eight, stretching as he stepped out of your floor to ceiling wardrobe, eyes immediately catching you in bed. he checked the clock, about to approach you so you didn't ruin your sleep schedule, but when he saw the way your cheek squished against your pillow, phone haphazardly thrown on the mattress beside you, he just chewed his cheek and pulled your duvet up to cover you better. you adjusted, letting out a little noise followed by a soft sigh, and jeonghan had to turn away and cover his face to avoid blurting out how cute you were.

he took his time selecting a book off your bookshelf, reading the synopsis and quickly nodding. he had always enjoyed reading - once as an escape, but now, it was a hobby he had picked up to fill the time while you were gone or asleep, and the books you had were much more enjoyable than anything he had gotten his hands on back in the day. he made his way back up the stairs and snuck his way into the empty space beside you on your bed, laying with his head on your spare pillow. his eyes were on you as he flipped open the book, the pages slipping from his thumb and slapping against each other louder than he intended, and he froze when you adjusted. but you just scooted closer to him, your fingers gently resting on his arm as you snuggled down into your duvet, and he, again, struggled to keep a straight face.

he read for a couple hours, and when you adjusted again, inhaling, he set the book aside and rolled over, asking you how you thought your exams went.

"i'm confident," you exhaled, rubbing your face. "i was worried about chemistry going in, but it was easier than i expected."

he grinned, his torso fully on top of yours. "i knew you had it in the bag."

you smiled, hands landing on his cheeks. "thanks."

"so," he said, fingers gently running across your jaw, and you adjusted to cock your head as you looked up at him. his gaze ran across your features, settling on your eyes as his lip caught between his teeth. "since you don't have anything going on tomorrow…"

"don't tell me you want a drink."

jeonghan scoffed, indignant, making you giggle. "i said i would wait!"

you cupped his cheeks with your hands, the laughter still on your lips. "you were making that face. the one you always make when you're hungry."

"i'm not hungry," he pouted, then looked to the side. "well, i am, but that's not what i was gonna ask."

that made you giggle again. "what is it, then?"

he stared at you a minute, then looked away again. "i thought we could go somewhere tonight. to celebrate."

"go somewhere?" you asked, a sideways smile on your lips. "are you asking me out?"

he sighed, annoyed, and rolled off you. "i'm gonna go eat."

you giggled, flipping off your covers and stretching before you followed him down your stairs. "i moved some pork blood from the freezer before i left this morning."

he glanced up at you, trying to hide his reaction. "that was nice of you."

"you're allowed to say thank you," you said, skipping down the steps and throwing your arms over his shoulders, letting your feet drag behind you as you clung to him. he barely faltered as he walked to the fridge, but his hands went to your arms to keep them in place as he did. despite looking thin (and fragile, though he would probably kill you if you said it out loud), his occult nature made him stronger than anyone you had met, allowing him to carry your weight without even exerting himself on many occasions, much to your surprise.

he exhaled as he opened the fridge, spotting the jelly-like blood. "if you're gonna do this, jump on. it's hard to balance when you're dead weight."

"rude," you said, standing upright and letting go of him. he watched you as you grabbed a ramen pot out of your cupboard to fill with water, and he tried not to smile when you muttered "you're the dead one."

after getting a dish and a spoon, he placed a kiss on your cheek as he walked by, headed to the table in your living room. "thanks for the meal."

you smiled after him as you tore open a packet of instant ramen. "eat well."

you did, too, slurping down your celebratory ramen as jeonghan ate the congealed red jelly across from you. he let his spoon linger in his mouth a second after he finished, watching you drink the broth. you exhaled happily, dropping your chopsticks into the pot and leaned back on your hands.

"where would you wanna go?"

his eyebrow quirked, and he dropped the spoon from his mouth. "where?"

"you said you wanted to go somewhere tonight," you said, grabbing the roll of tissue you left on the table to wipe your mouth clean. "where were you thinking?"

his fist landed gently on the table, the metal spoon in it making a soft clanking noise against the wood, and he rubbed his face with the other hand. "i had a couple ideas."

you waited for him to look back at you, his fingers twirling the spoon in his grasp. "go ahead," you prompted.

he studied you, then let a smile sneak across his lips. "aren't surprises more fun?"

you agreed, but after you had cleaned up your place, taken a shower, and gotten dressed - warm, as was his request - he dragged you to the roof of your building, and you faltered. "jeonghan, i tend to avoid rooftops-"

he held your hand, giving you his biggest puppy eyes. "trust me?"

you stuttered, trying to figure out how to explain that it had nothing to do with your trust in him and everything to do with your trust in yourself, and you yelped when he scooped you into his arms and stepped to the edge of the building.

"don't look down," he warned, and you could only stare at him in shock as two bat-like wings folded out from his back.

"wait wait-wait!" you squealed as he leaped off the building, and your arms wrapped around his neck as your eyes squeezed shut, legs curling into your chest with his arm securely under your knees. "jeonghan!"

he laughed, and you could feel the wind whipping past. "you're not scared of heights, are you?"

you pushed your face into his neck. "it's falling that scares me."

"i won't let you fall," he muttered into your ear, and you slowly pried your eyes open. "relax a little, you're harder to carry when you're tense.

you took a deep breath, focusing on him as you tried to loosen your muscles, and he gave you a quick smile. the air was cleaner up here, you realized - cold, but refreshing, and it almost felt like you had been trapped inside for days with how good it made you feel. "you didn't tell me you could fly."

"you didn't ask," he said, and you would have smacked him if you weren't so focused on keeping your grip around his neck. "the city's pretty from up here, if you think you can handle it."

"i'll keep my eyes on you, thanks."

when jeonghan finally landed, it was on an unoccupied terrace of a hotel, close to the coast. "we'll have to walk the rest of the way," he said, setting you down on your feet. "it's usually busy out there during the weekends."

your knees wobbled slightly, and you grabbed his arm as you breathed. "warn me next time."

"yes, master," he said, grinning at you as he pulled open the door to the elevators, gesturing for you to enter before him.

by the time the two of you were on the street, you had fully gathered yourself, and jeonghan nudged you.

"you okay?"

you noticed his hand turning something over in his pocket, and you realized it had been over a week since you had asked him for a cigarette. you exhaled slowly, grabbing his elbow and pulling his hand from his pocket, where he abandoned your lighter. "yeah, i'm okay."

he laced his fingers with yours, still studying you. "sorry for scaring you."

you shook your head, smiling at him. "you don't scare me, jeonghan."

"right," he said, squeezing your hand. "it's falling that scares you."

you thought for a second, tempted to correct him, say that it was actually yourself that scared you the most, but you looked up at the night sky as the two of you walked to the pier, and exhaled with a smile on your lips. "in that case, maybe you do scare me."

jeonghan didn't say anything, but he thought that if he had a fear of falling, the feeling of your warm hand in his would trigger that in him, too. he always hesitated to admit such things to you, because the first and last time he thought he might have been in love, his judgment had been clouded by other factors, some of the same factors that drew him to you. deep down, he knew it must have been real this time, but his only true fear was that this feeling he had for you would end in a worse tragedy than the one previous.

the ocean air felt healing, and you exhaled happily as the two of you leaned against the railing on the boardwalk. there was a moment of silence, and suddenly you yelled out to the ocean.

jeonghan jumped, laughing at your meaningless wail, and looked around briefly at the attention you had garnered. "what was that for?"

you giggled, looking at him. "i've been too stressed lately. this felt like the right place to let it out."

he rolled his eyes. "have you always been like this?"

"unfortunately," you said, sighing, and you turned your head slightly when you heard someone talking about jeonghan. you didn't look, but they said something about that handsome guy, asking their friend do you think they're a couple? only to get a response of no way, he's too good looking.

you pursed your lips, scooting slightly closer to where his arms were crossed over the railing, and he let out another laugh. "wanna show off that i'm yours?"

you looked the opposite direction. "no."

"aw, master's so cute," he cooed, wrapping his arms around you and smooching your cheek. "don't listen to them, they're just jealous of how delicious you look."

of course he had heard them, too, and you tried to hide the heat on your face at the realization that you had been caught acting jealous, when you weren't even in a relationship. sure, he took care of you, but he did that because you were his master, and offering his hand or arm for you to hold felt more like an excuse to keep you from wandering off than anything else. even the kiss you had shared, and the few times he pressed his lips against your cheek… you weren't sure of his intentions. if he was just obsessed with your blood - his most frequent compliments were that you smelled good and looked delicious - or if there was the possibility that he saw you the same way you saw him, with rose tinted glasses and a bokeh effect, fracturing lights into hearts in your vision every time you looked at him. were vampires even capable of such complex human emotions?

"stop thinking about me, unless you want me to lower your blood pressure for you."

you puffed out your cheeks and glared at him, making him laugh. you looked away, out to the ocean, as you grabbed his hands and pressed them to your face, trying to cool it. he held back another laugh, studying the way your cheeks were cupped in his cold hands, and pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead. you sighed, finally catching his gaze as you chewed your lip.

he smiled when he overheard another whisper. "they think i'm your boyfriend now."

a tiny smile snuck onto your face before you could catch it, and jeonghan grinned at you when you consciously changed your expression, pulling from his grasp to put your arms on the railing, staring out at the ocean again. "you aren't."

"but everyone thinks i am," he said, an arm casually draping over your shoulder as he stood beside you. "even your brother."

"foster brother," you corrected, and looked down at the surface of the water. it was far, and though it wasn't deep just below you, it went all the way out to sea. you knew china was on the other side of this particular body of water, but if you swam far enough, you would end up in the pacific. you remembered how often that thought floated through your mind when you were younger. "i wish i could tell him the truth, but he doesn't believe in this kinda stuff."

jeonghan sucked on his cheek. "you didn't either, when i first spoke to you."

"i didn't believe in vampires," you agreed. "but he doesn't even believe my premonitions."

"your vibes," jeonghan nodded. you let out a short laugh, and he smiled at your profile, eyes following your gaze to the water. "why are you lost in thought?"

you shook your head, taking a breath and moving your eyes to the horizon. "i used to come here a lot in high school. fantasize about swimming out to sea and never coming back."

he took your hand in his, pulling it to his lips and pressing a kiss to your knuckles. "you had a hard time, i'm sorry."

you usually minimized how much you struggled when you were young, played it off, pretended you were okay, even when you lost your parents. the flood of those memories brought on by your night made your eyes well slightly, and you thought you wouldn't be able to hide it from jeonghan even if you tried. "i did."

he studied you, placing another kiss on the back of your hand. "do you want to talk about it?"

you inhaled, looking around the boardwalk and spotting a bench in a mostly unoccupied area. you looked at jeonghan, nodding your head towards it. "shall we sit?"

primary school was hard for you. you were too young to understand that people ostracized those who were different. that many parents passed on the learned behavior of judgment and shame onto their children, and the smarter they were, the faster they caught on. your mother had always had dreams she couldn't explain, visions of things before they happened, and oftentimes, it allowed your parents to steer your family towards fortune. she told you that your differences were what made you beautiful, and you had believed her. but when you told a girl at school that she should stop chasing after a boy, having a bad feeling about what would happen when she confessed, she accused you of having a crush on him, too.

"n-no," you said, backing up slightly. "i j-just don't want you t-to get hurt."

"a stutter, too?" she scoffed at you. "worry about yourself, you weirdo. he'll never like you back, leave it alone."

children were cruel. and when that boy you had a bad feeling about pushed her down into the mud, she blamed you. and so did her friends. and soon, so did the rest of your class, the opinion becoming fact, and the fact becoming legacy.

you were ten when that same girl was shoving you down onto the pavement after school, when you were just trying to walk home. you hissed, your knees bloodied from the fall, and her friend kicked you to your side, telling you to look at them when they spoke to you.

"look how pathetic, sooah," she laughed. "can't even make eye contact."

you swallowed, looking up after you managed to sit on the pavement, your hands behind you for support. "y-yes i c-can."

sooah laughed at you, kicking aside your bookbag and letting the contents spill over the pavement. "ugly and a stutter. no wonder your parents never show up to school fairs, they must be embarrassed by you."

"th-they-" you swallowed. "my dad, h-he travels-"

"whatever, stutter," sooah said. "tell whatever lies keep you alive, that way we can keep kicking you to the curb."

"hey!" you winced, shoulders curling at the new voice. "leave them alone!"

"let's get out of here," sooah said, grabbing the arm of one of her friends before stepping on your notebooks as they ran off.

"you fuckin punks! jesus christ. are you okay?"

you looked up at the hand extended in front of you, then at the boy it was connected to. he wore a middle school uniform, and you were stuck blinking up at him.

"are you deaf?" he asked, crouching in front of you.

you shook your head. "s-sorry-"

"those stupid girls are the ones that should be sorry," he said, starting to gather your things. you moved to grab your bag, holding it open as he brushed the dirt off your notebooks and deposited them into it. "are you okay?"

you sniffed, rubbing the tears off your face. "yeah."

"i'm changyoon," he said after he helped you to your feet as you told him your name. "don't you have anyone to walk home with? friends? siblings?"

you shook your head, kneading your hands together, and he looked around before sighing

"i'll walk you home," he decided, putting an arm over your shoulder. "i'll be your big brother, okay? tell me if anyone's bugging you, and i'll beat them up."

the bullying never stopped, but he made it easier to deal with, walking home with you most days. he wasn't able to protect you in class, though, and your bullies took note.

changyoon's family was kind to you, taking care of you when your parents were away for business. your father was professionally successful, and with his job, he often had to attend dinners and meetings late into the night. your mother would appear as his wife, of course, and she once asked if you had any friends that you could have a sleepover with while they went out.

"i-i have one," you said sheepishly, and when she pressed, you told her about changyoon.

"a boy?" she asked. "is he in your class?"

you shook your head. "he g-goes to the middle school n-nearby."

she studied you, thinking about all the times you had come home with bruises and scrapes, insisting that you had fallen on your own, even though both of you knew she knew the truth. that she saw those girls in her dreams the same way you did. "does he take good care of you?"

you nodded, and she put a kiss on the top of your head, asking if you knew his mother's phone number.

on nights where your parents were unsure of when they would come home, they sent you to the kim household with some folded cash, and you always dutifully told changyoon's mother that your parents said it was for the trouble. she would call your mother to let you know that you arrived, but send you up to changyoon's room without taking the money from you with a wink and a finger over her lips.

you hated feeling alone, so even when you were old enough to stay home when they had dinners, you usually asked changyoon if you could come over anyways. on one such night, while the two of you attended the same high school, you sat straight up in bed, trying to catch your breath, your face already stained with tears. you looked over the edge of changyoon's bed, crawling off it to where he was laying on the cot in the middle of his room, blankets haphazard around his sprawled body.

"changyoon!" you cried, shaking him awake, and he blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he registered your choked sobs. "c-changyoon, i-i think something happened…"

changyoon's mother held your hand at the funeral. a car crash - they got t-boned at an intersection by a drunk driver. your mother died on impact, but your father died in hospital, and he wasn't even able to speak to you before he passed. people you didn't know offered you their condolences - people your father worked with, surely, but you had never met - and you felt numb as you accepted them, waiting for the day to end so you could crawl into bed and let yourself cry until the sun rose again.

you were laying on changyoon's bed a week later with his dog asleep at your feet, officially moved into his home after you were left alone in yours, staring at the ceiling as he played some game on his computer. you chewed your cheek. "changyoon?"

he glanced over at you as he played. "yeah?"

you took a deep breath, eyes trained on the ceiling as tears welled in them. "do you think i'm cursed?"

he instantly moved from his computer, abandoning the game. "i don't believe in that stuff."

you looked at him as he approached, nudging your side with the back of his hand so you would scoot over to make room for him. "what do you mean?"

"curses, and whatever," he said, laying out next to you. "i don't believe that stuff. things just happen sometimes, and it's out of our control."

you thought about that a moment, and you figured that was one way to find comfort.

it took you a month or so to run out of patience. the outright bullying had turned to an abundance of whispers, always too close and too loud to be out of earshot. that you were an orphan, rumors about how your parents would run off regularly to avoid staying with you. hints that you were at fault. if they can see the future, why didn't they save their parents?

you left in the middle of class with the excuse that you needed to use the restroom, but walked in the opposite direction, headed to the stairs that led to the roof. the air was cold and refreshing, and you felt a kind of clarity for the first time since your parents had died, staring out over the edge of the building.

changyoon was heading back to his class from the bathroom with the hall pass spinning around his finger when he spotted you all the way down the hall, going up the stairs. his brow ruffled, catching the carved wood pass and looking around before deciding to follow you.

he was glad he did when he found you standing on the raised edge of the roof, instantly running towards you and yelling out your name.

you spun, face puffy from crying, and he grabbed your hand, pulling you off the ledge before you could fall back.

"i'm sorry," he said, catching you in his arms and hugging you close as you both shook with sobs. "i'm so sorry."

you choked, hands grasping the back of his uniform as you buried your face in his shoulder. "i'm so tired, changyoon. i can't do this anymore."

"i know," he cried, not letting go. "i'm sorry, i'm being selfish, but please," he tightened his hold. "please, even if you feel like you can't continue, please keep living for me."

jeonghan's hand was clasped tight around yours, and you inhaled sharply, staring out at the water. "he made me promise. we don't break promises."

he watched you, almost shocked that the tears in your eyes hadn't fallen. "i'm glad you have him."

a small smile found your face, and you turned towards jeonghan. "me, too. he ended up introducing me to hyejin, and her and mingyu's families are neighbors. we all got pretty close." you sighed, thumb running over the back of jeonghan's hand. "then he had the idea to form the band after he made some more friends in college."

"what about you?"

you gave him a puzzled look. "what about me?"

"you made more friends?" he asked. "the other guys in your band, i know, but anyone else?"

you blinked. "not really," you admitted. "but i'm okay with that. they're practically my family," you said, smiling. "they make it easier. less lonely."

jeonghan looked down, eyes running over your hand in his. "i'm sorry about your parents."

you exhaled. "thank you."

"you only stayed with changyoon's family until you came of age," he remembered, and you looked to him, realizing he had recalled the information from one of your earliest conversations. "where did you go after that?"

"well," you started, looking out to the water again. "i got access to my inheritance, so i used a little for a deposit on an officetel, but i honestly didn't want to touch most of it." you swallowed, peeking at him. "then i decided to work for a while because i bombed my college entrance exam."

jeonghan stifled a laugh, and you let go of his hand to punch his thigh repeatedly. "sorr- ow! sorry!"

you giggled. "have you even tried to go to uni?" you asked, accusatory. "it's hard!"

"i haven't," he said, laughing and taking your hand again. "i don't really have a way to apply even if i wanted to. no identity."

you stared at him. "i didn't think about that."

he sighed, a smile on his lips. "just a drifter. but i like it this way, not being on record. it's true freedom."

"that's an interesting perspective," you decided, then studied him. he gave your hand a squeeze and looked out to the ocean.

"i lost someone, too. back when i was human."

you swallowed. "i'm sorry."

he shook his head. "it's been so long, i've done my healing. but my love for her will never fade."

you looked down, chastising yourself for feeling some kind of jealousy over his statement. "it's kind of beautiful," you said, finally sorting out your feelings. "if you stay a vampire, someone will love her forever."

jeonghan leaned back on the bench, pulling his hand from yours and draping his arm over your shoulders instead. "my sister has been loved for almost four hundred years, now. i'm sure that was longer than she was expecting."

your eyes snapped to his. "sister?"

he had a vague smirk on his lips. "did you think it was someone else?"

"n-no," you said, embarrassed. "i'm sorry, i just didn't even know you had-"

"i'm teasing," he said, pulling you into his side. "yeah, i have a sister. she was smart. beautiful, too, just like my mother. even had her blonde hair."

"how-" you hesitated, before remembering all you had just shared with him. "how did she die?"

he studied you a second. "she was like you. different. sometimes when you tell me about your premonitions, it reminds me of things she would say." you watched him as he turned towards the ocean. "it was a time when witches were deemed evil. there were white men back then," he said, adjusting his posture. "traders from france and portugal. they had their own beliefs about witches, and their own ways of dealing with them." he paused. "they took her from me."

your hand went to your mouth. "jeonghan-"

"like i said," he looked at you. "i've done my healing. but back then, i struggled with it just as much as you did."

you remembered the dream you had suddenly, the weight of the injuries on his wrists when that man held him prisoner. "before that man turned you," you said quietly. "you said you were bleeding out."

he nodded. "people are cruel. i thought the pain would stop if i made it."

you looked down, your hands knitting in your lap, then placed one on his thigh. "it does eventually, though."

"it does," he agreed. he smiled at you when you met his gaze, studying his two toned eyes. "though it took me about three hundred years longer to learn that having friends makes it easier."

he insisted that you could take the subway home instead of the method he had used to bring you there, but you brushed him off. you had stayed out too late - by the time the two of you had even thought about heading home, it was long past midnight, and you told him flying would be faster. he studied you closely, hoping you weren't just saying so for his sake.

"i'll be fine," you said, hands on his chest, and he exhaled when you smiled at him. "i trust you."

the trip home was easier, and you enjoyed it, even - he had been right when he said the view was beautiful from above. the city was all twinkling lights and toy cars, bustling with life despite it being too late into the night. there was a christmas tree lit with strands of white lights in the park that the two of you often walked through together, and you had to blink yourself out of your daze when he landed on the roof of your building again.

your knees shook less when he let you down. "you're okay?"

you nodded, grinning at him. "i think i can get used to it."

when you were back in your apartment, outer layers shed and lights turned on, you flopped onto your couch, sighing happily. you felt refreshed by your trip to the ocean, from revealing your past to jeonghan - weight had been lifted from your shoulders, and you felt lighter than ever when a smile snuck onto your lips. "i don't have school anymore."

jeonghan smiled at you from where he was hanging your coats, shutting the closet door before walking towards you. "how's it feel?"

"amazing," you said, sitting up and holding out your arms, gesturing for him to join you. "how about you? you excited for my graduation?"

"of course i am," he said, placing his hands in yours, and you let out a surprised noise when he pulled you to your feet. "only a month away from sinking my teeth into that pretty neck of yours."

you giggled when his hand went to the back of your head, and you instinctively tipped your head back as he put his lips on your throat, his teeth gently nibbling at the vein on the side of your neck. you breathed out. "that tickles."

he hummed against you, his hand flat against your spine to hold you close. "i hope it only tickles when i bite you for real, too."

you pulled back slightly, but his hold on you landed your forehead on his, and you stared at him a moment. "jeonghan, i'm curious…"

his eyes skated over your face. "yes, master?"

you hesitated. "do you think i'd be okay if-" you bit your lip. "if you had a little today?"

jeonghan stared at you, and he thought it was your heart thumping against his chest before he realized it was his own. "don't tease me."

"i'm not," you said quietly. "i don't have any plans til practice next week, and i'm curious if it…" you paused, glancing at his lips. "if it will actually tickle."

"it won't," he warned, immediately exposing his flirtatious lie. "it'll hurt."

your eyes met his, and he wondered if this is how you had felt all those times he made your heart beat fast, made your blood rush to your face. "sometimes pain tickles a little."

he couldn't stop himself from pressing his lips against your forehead gently. "are you sure?"

your hands went to his face, cupping his cheeks, and you nodded. "i promise."

he hoisted you up onto his hips, and you yelped into a giggle as your legs settled around him. you ran your hands through his hair, grinning at him, and he nearly tripped on the first stair with the distraction of your fingers threading against his scalp, but managed to make it into your lofted bedroom without too much trouble. when he kneeled in front of your bed, gingerly seating you on it, he took your hand in his and placed a kiss on your knuckles before he looked up at you. "you can change your mind."

you shook your head at him. "i'm ready."

jeonghan bowed his head, then rose to place a knee between yours, his hand finding your nape as you stared up at him. "thank you for the meal."

you smiled gently and tipped your head as he laid you back onto your bed, his lips placing kisses down your neck before he settled in one spot. your hands ran up his back, one clenching at his shirt when he tentatively placed his fangs at your pulse - the same gentle nibble he had done before - and you put the other in his hair as silent reassurance before he sank his teeth into you.

he was right - it did hurt, but only a small, sharp pain of him breaking skin before he began to draw blood. you stopped yourself from gasping by biting your lip, your fingers digging into his scalp at the almost numbing sensation, and jeonghan was grateful he had fed himself already after his first gulp. your sweet taste on his tongue, your warm blood running down his throat, he was forced to pause before continuing, your plasma pooling on his tongue, his eyes fluttering open to catch the way you craned your neck for him. he ran his hand under your spine, pulling you up off the mattress to let your head fall back naturally before he drank again, three more gulps, but stopped himself short when he felt your heartbeat quicken, your grip on his shirt loosen slightly, worried he would take too much. he was hyper aware of your hold on his head, your scent, your taste, and he knew he could lose himself to you too easily.

he knew what it felt like to lose himself. and he wasn't going to let you reap those consequences.

you felt his tongue lap against the puncture wounds, and you muttered his name. he placed you gently back on your mattress as he pulled away, hovering over you, and you stared up at him a moment. his lips were stained red, and his tongue darted out to clean them. your hand went to his cheek. "thank you for finding me."

he put his hand over yours. "you found me," he corrected, and you noticed more red in his amber iris as you studied him.

"i like you, jeonghan," you said, and you saw his eyes dart between yours before he gave you a wide smile and plopped down next to you on the mattress.

"i like you, too, master!" he said giddily, rubbing his cheek on your shoulder as he hugged you, and you suddenly felt lightheaded from the blood loss. "you're so delicious!"

your hand went to the thigh that was hooked over your leg, the only part of him you could comfortably reach with the arm he was snuggling. "stop squirming, i'm dizzy-"

he kissed you on the cheek and rolled onto his back. "i feel like i could take on the world."

you turned your head, the motion making you aware of the soreness in your neck, but you couldn't help the giggle that fell out of you when you noticed him practically glowing with glee. "you're drunk."

he grinned at you. "because you're so sweet. oh-" he leaned over again, holding your jaw forward to inspect your cheek. "you have a kiss mark."

"are you gonna clean it?" you asked, and his lip caught in his teeth as he wiped away the blood stain with his thumb, sticking it in his mouth. you winced, hand landing on your forehead. "can you get me-"

jeonghan leaped up before you could finish the thought, giving you an on it as he ran down the stairs. you found yourself laughing again, his earnesty putting a smile on your lips, but you wondered if he understood the earnesty behind your confession, as well.

"okay," he said, returning too quickly for anyone else to have completed the task. "water and buttercream bread."

he placed the little tray of goodies on the bed beside you as he pulled you to sit up, and your hand went to your neck as you winced, one eye closed and your mouth gaping. "ow."

he pouted at you, kneeling before you again. "i'm sorry."

"no, it's okay," you assured, slowly stretching your neck. "just sore."

"it looks like it'll bruise," he said, running his fingers over the bite mark - sealed, but still visible, and the reddened skin around it where he had sucked.

you exhaled at his touch, unsure if your mind was swirling from his gentleness or from the low blood pressure. "i'll be fine," you said, taking the glass of water he had brought for you and sipping at it. "thank you."

he sat fully on the floor, wrapping his arms around your calf and placing his chin on your knee as he smiled up at you, and you imagined him with a wagging tail again, begging for your attention. "anything for my master."

you stirred when you heard knocking on your door, and jeonghan sat up before you managed to make your brain work. you felt groggy, almost like you were hungover, and your eyes found jeonghan's as he listened intently.

"i can't tell who it is," he said, leaning over you and placing a kiss on your forehead. "should i go answer it?"

you blinked, looking around, realizing it was light in the room. "i left the blinds open," you said sleepily, gesturing for him to help you up. "i'll get it."

he watched you slowly go down the stairs, mumbling when the knocking repeated, and he got out of bed to lean over the railing as you stumbled across your living room, listening closely when you disappeared below him to get the door.

you swung the door open, squinting and rubbing your face. "changyoon?"

he stared at you, then laughed out loud. "party too hard?"

you just turned around, leaving the door open for him as you walked back into your apartment, flopping onto your couch.

"why haven't you been answering your phone?" he asked, flipping off his shoes and following you. "we've been trying to contact you all day."

you blinked at him. "i stayed out late last night."

"yeah, i can tell," he said, his hands in his pockets as he gave you a sideways smile. he looked back at the door, trying to remember if he saw another pair of shoes. "gnarly hickey, by the way. is jeonghan around?"

your hand slapped over your neck, and you winced slightly at the soreness before you sat up straight. your eyes went up to the loft, where jeonghan was peeking out over the railing, but ducked behind it when changyoon turned to look himself.

he laughed, looking back at you. "got it. hope you have concealer, i booked a gig for tonight, i'm here to take you to last minute practice."

"tonight?" you whined, falling back into the cushioned seat. "i thought we weren't playing til next weekend."

"wonpil got us a last minute spot as an opening act for some punk band," he said, kicking your foot where it hung off the arm of your couch. "his friend knows the manager, and their last act fell through."

you groaned. "can't you play for me?"

"c'mon, hex," he said, grabbing your ankle and swinging it around, making you groan again. "this is a good opportunity, and they aren't a band without you. drink some water and get ready, we can get you a morning recovery shot on the way."

you huffed, rubbing your face again. "god, i was really hoping to sleep all day."

"you basically did," changyoon said, glancing at his phone. "it's already four, you go on stage at 9:30." you whined again, kicking your feet around. "you can bring jeonghan," he said, a lilt in his voice as he tried to convince you, and you dragged your hands off your face to glare at him.

you exhaled, standing finally, and headed to your stairs. "you're the worst."

"only for you," he said, grinning after you as he plopped down on your sofa, pulling out his phone to let the others know that he had awoken you from the dead.

jeonghan watched you from where he hid behind the loft railing, and you exhaled a laugh at the way he was squatting to stay out of sight. "i'm sorry," he said quietly, crawling over your bed as you headed to your closet. "i shouldn't have-"

"shush," you sighed, smiling at him. "i offered. and i'm only a little sore, i can play a half hour set."

"i can hear you guys," changyoon announced from your couch.

"then shut your ears," you yelled back, pushing aside clothes in your wardrobe. you looked around, searching for a turtleneck as jeonghan approached you from behind. "would you wanna come?"

he was in the middle of wrapping his arms around your waist when he paused. "i don't wanna intrude."

"i'm inviting you," you said, finding the turtleneck you had been looking for and putting the hanger on the knob of the wardrobe and looking for a punk rock enough tee to layer over it. "but you can say no."

he pressed his lips to your shoulder, thinking about how he had only heard you practice bass at home, without the accompaniment of your band. "it would be nice to keep an eye on you as you recover," he said, as though that were the only reason he would tag along.

you threw a pair of distressed black jeans onto your bed, along with the shirts you had picked out. "yoonie, did you drive the van?" you yelled out, then looked at jeonghan when you didn't get a response. you put your hands on the railing and glared at the man on your couch. "changyoon."

he looked up. "sorry, my ears were shut."

you rolled your eyes, pushing away from the rail as you started to get changed. "the van?"

"yup," he said, still on his phone. "wonpil and mingyu are already at jihoon's, but we gotta pick up hyejin at the nail salon."

you stripped off the shirt you had worn to sleep, flicking out the turtleneck before pulling it over your arms and looking up at jeonghan, his eyes immediately going to the ceiling. you pursed your lips to hold back a laugh. "the van has tinted windows," you told him, pulling the shirt over your head and adjusting the collar, looking in the mirror next to your wardrobe to make sure it covered the bruise on your neck - though going on stage with a hickey would probably be on brand for a punk show. "we can bring an umbrella, too."

jeonghan sat on your bed, fiddling with the hem of the fuzzy pajama pants he wore, looking at your phone. "sun sets in an hour anyways," he said, looking up at you. "i guess i'll change, too."

you nodded at him, then inspected your face in the mirror, rubbing it again. "ugh, i should wash up. see you downstairs?"

he let out a noise of agreement, but before you could grab the rest of your clothes and trot downstairs, he grabbed your wrist, pulling you towards him. you looked at him with wide eyes as he studied your neck, where he knew his bite mark was just beyond the fabric of your shirt. you swallowed and he blinked, refocusing on your eyes, and his lips quirked into a sideways smile before he pressed them against yours. "see you downstairs."

changyoon said nothing as you avoided his gaze, rushing to your bathroom, but he silently wondered how serious the two of you had gotten for jeonghan to be staying the night often enough to have clothes in your closet, and why you hadn't told him anything about your boyfriend.

"oh, jeonghan-ah!" hyejin laughed, climbing into the front passenger seat of the van, looking back at the two of you. "you're coming to the show?"

jeonghan looked confused at the casual address before he remembered they were supposed to be the same age, and adjusted his expression accordingly. "yeah, can't wait to hear you guys play."

hyejin grinned, nudging changyoon. "told you they were serious. when has hex ever brought a boy around?"

changyoon looked at her as he pulled away from the curb. "when has hex ever had a boy to bring around?"

"alright," you said, annoyed. "we don't have to discuss my love life right now, do we?"

"i'm curious," jeonghan said, giving you a teasing smile. "no boyfriends before me?"

"oh!" hyejin laughed again. "boyfriend! straight from the source!"

"you guys act like i'm some kind of prude," you huffed, folding your arms over your chest and leaning back in your seat. "it's not like i've never dated."

changyoon looked at you in the mirror. "you sure about that?"

"just because i didn't tell you, doesn't mean it didn't happen," you said pointedly, then leaned forward to poke hyejin's shoulder. "right?"

she agreed, her lips pouting out, and changyoon looked at her in shock. "what? are you two keeping secrets from me?"

"you're the annoyingly protective older brother," hyejin said, smacking his arm. "i'm the cool older sister. i'm the one they can talk to about boys."

"i'm not annoying," changyoon argued, making the face he always did when hyejin teased him, and you pursed your lips in the back seat to avoid laughing. they were continuing their bickering when you felt a touch on your thigh, and you looked down to find jeonghan walking two fingers across your lap, glancing up at him as he looked out the window, and you let out a stifled giggle when he laid his hand over your thigh, palm up, expectantly. you laced your fingers with his, and he couldn't help his smile after he adjusted in his seat to roll his head towards you, finding you with your tongue out at him playfully. he wondered, briefly, why it had taken him so long to find someone that made him smile like you did.

"drinks on me!" wonpil announced, holding his keyboard over his head after you had all run off stage, the lights dimming to prepare for the main act. you pulled your strap over your head, breathing heavy and grinning up at mingyu.

"dude, you killed it!" you shoved his arm, and he laughed pulling off his guitar. "i'm so glad we played the girl from jupiter, your solo in that song fucks so hard."

mingyu rolled his eyes, then looked behind him as someone had to scoot by, making him step closer to you in the narrow wing of the stage. he looked at you, then immediately redirected his gaze, swallowing. "if you came to practice, you'd get to hear it more often."

you pouted, walking off towards where there was more space, finding your case to put away your guitar. "sorry, i've been insanely busy lately." you crouched down to feel around for the zipper. "i'm finally done with school, so i'll be better now."

"congrats, by the way," he said, tapping your shoe with his. "you forensic expert, you. what now, you gonna be a detective?"

you sighed, standing as you zipped your case closed. "well, i gotta start applying."

"hey!" you both looked over to changyoon. "hurry up and throw your shit in the van so we can get drunk."

mingyu laughed and rolled his eyes, and you ran up behind jihoon, throwing your arm over his shoulder as you all exited the stage doors to the alley you were parked in. he had to use the main act's kit to save stage change time, leaving him to carry wonpil's keyboard stand, and you all stood around the trunk as changyoon arranged the instruments in the way he had decided was most efficient. you were laughing with jihoon as he tried to catch his breath, rubbing his sweaty face with his shirt when you heard a familiar voice call for his sweet thing.

you spun, grinning as you practically skipped towards him. "hey!"

jeonghan smiled at you, putting his sunglasses on the crown of his head and catching you in his arms. "you didn't tell me you guys were good!"

your eyes were big when you pulled away, and he shrugged off his leather jacket to drape over your shoulders, leaving him in the hoodie he had worn to protect himself from the sun, though it was long gone by now. "really? you think so?"

"of course he thinks so," hyejin said, winking at jeonghan and poking at your back. you spun towards her. "i saw him in the crowd. he couldn't take his eyes off you, looking all dopey."

you looked back at jeonghan, whose eyes were pointed at the sky, and you chewed your lip to stop yourself from giggling. "you should come to more of our shows, if you think we're so good."

"maybe i will," he said, pouting, but when his eyes landed on your face, he couldn't stop his smile. "do you get to hang out now?"

"hell yeah, we do," wonpil said, slapping your back as he headed back to the door, making you laugh. "i'm gonna go open a tab at the bar, come find me when you get back in." he pointed at jeonghan. "you, too, mr. hex."

he laughed, waving his hand. "i don't drink," he said, but wonpil had already moved on to try and convince jihoon to have at least one shot with him, to celebrate a successful show.

"you don't drink?" changyoon asked, shutting the van, and you watched hyejin hook her arm with mingyu's, smiling after them as they headed back into the venue. "how long are you guys planning on staying?"

"we'll hang out for the rest of the show," you said, checking jeonghan's expression for confirmation. he nodded, and you looked back at changyoon. "band bonding."

changyoon laughed, pushing his knuckle into your cheek. "good deal. jeonghan, do you drive?"

"uh," he looked at the van, and you hissed out changyoon's name in annoyance. "i can?"

"band bonding," changyoon grinned, depositing the van keys in his hand. "get us all home safe and you can date my kid."

you groaned, about to argue when jeonghan just pulled you into his side by your waist.

"consider it done," he said, and you blinked at him as changyoon grinned, gesturing for you to follow him back into the venue. it was loud and dark inside, and in the time it had taken you to load your things back into the van, the main act had made their way on stage, leaving the bar mostly clear as everyone swarmed to the pit. spotting the rest of your bandmates was easy, crowded in one space at the bar, and jihoon was talking about some article on his phone.

"another one?" wonpil asked, tugging the screen to face him. "isn't that the third one this week?"

changyoon peeked over a shoulder, looking. "good, they're cleaning up the streets."

"what are they talking about," you asked mingyu, and he tapped his palm against the bar.

"another body was found this morning, and they just released his identity. turns out he was a serial rapist."

you looked at jeonghan, remembering that news report you had seen with him a while back. "do you know the cause of death?" you asked, looking at jihoon.

"uh," he stalled, eyes scanning the article. "the throat was slit? seems to be," he quoted. "unconfirmed injury causing blood loss."

hyejin shivered visibly. "aren't we supposed to be celebrating?" she asked, looking around. "can we stop talking about dead creeps?"

"yeah," wonpil said, slamming jihoon's phone on the bar, making the drummer let out an annoyed noise. "shots all around. what's everyone getting?"

hyejin looked at you, her freshly manicured hand grabbing your arm. "take tequila with me?"

you blinked. "sure?"

"great," she grinned. "what about you, jeonghan?"

"he's dd," changyoon said, then pointed at jihoon. "which means you have no excuse."

"what?" jihoon looked around, wonpil already cheering in his face. "i'm always dd!"

changyoon grinned, landing a hand on his shoulder. "it's a haze, bud. he wants to date hex, so he has to pass the test."

jeonghan held up the keys for everyone to see, his lips pursed, and hyejin and wonpil cheered again as he slipped them into his jeans pocket, jihoon leaning over the bar heavily. hyejin ordered the tequila, making mingyu take one too, while the other guys ordered something less insane, in wonpil's words, then a round of beers for everyone. jeonghan stood beside you, leaning against the bar as hyejin excitedly watched the bartender prepare the salt rims for you.

"how much are you planning on drinking?" he asked, lips by your ear to keep it between the two of you. "i'm a little worried."

"why," you started, bringing his hand up to your neck. "because of this?"

he smiled, his thumb running over your jaw as his hand rested against your clothed neck, still sensitive to touch. "yeah, because of that."

"i'll just have the one shot," you assured, fiddling with the strings of his sweatshirt and tipping your head to the side. "then i'll nurse the beer til we leave."

"you might get drunk faster," he warned, glancing at where your shots were being poured. "if you need me to find you food, let me know. i'll keep an eye on you."

you chewed your cheek, hiding a smile as you turned back towards your friends. "yessir."

his hand went to your back, under his jacket that hung over your shoulders, and you exhaled heavily when hyejin doled out the shots, pushing the plate of limes towards you after mingyu grabbed his.

"ready?" she asked, looking around. "changyoon?"

"alright, gang," he said, speaking up over the music playing on stage. "thank you to wonpil for this opportunity-" he nodded, raising his shot in acknowledgement. "-thank you jihoon, for being the best songwriting companion a man could ask for-"

"our jihoonie!" you shouted out, slamming your hand on the bar repeatedly as a replacement for applause, mingyu howling with you.

"and welcome mr. jeonghan, let's hope you stick around. it'll be nice to get jihoon drunk more often."

you couldn't help but laugh at the toast, and hyejin let out an extended yaaaay, clapping and giving jeonghan a double thumbs up before picking her shot up.

"to the band. i'm proud to manage such a cool act. let's blow this year up!" changyoon shouted, grinning, holding his shot out, and everyone happily pushed their glasses against his and cheered.

jeonghan watched, a sideways smile on his face as the six of you drank together, mingyu, hyejin, and yourself having to lick your rims before knocking back the alcohol. you made a face, squinting as you shoved the lime wedge into your mouth, biting into it, and jeonghan couldn't help but laugh at your reaction.

"blech." you smacked your lips, dropping your spent wedge back onto the plate as hyejin laughed at mingyu's similar reaction. "how do you drink this stuff?"

"tequila's fun!" she grinned, then looked at jeonghan. "it'll be fun for you, too, if they keep taking them. thank me later."

his eyebrows raised, looking at you. "is that so?"

"speaking of," changyoon said, stacking his shot glass onto wonpil's before grabbing his beer and pushing off the bar. he pointed at jeonghan. "you, come with me. we need to chat."

"changyoon," you warned, pushing your shot glass towards the bartender, but jeonghan just grinned and pulled his hand from your back. you looked at him.

"you'll be okay without me for a second?" he asked, running a thumb over your brow to check your eyes. you stared at him, then nodded, and he smiled, gently pulling you in to place a kiss on your lips. "i'll be right back."

you watched them walk off together, claiming a standing table in the dark lounge area of the venue, and put your beer against your cheek to cool it. hyejin nudged you.

"you two are super cute," she said, giggling. "right, gyu?"

he sighed heavily. "even i can't deny it," he said, giving you a small smile. "you seem happy."

you looked between them a moment, putting your beer back down on the bar. "i guess i am happy," you said, a smile sneaking across your lips, lost in the fantasy of being half of a cute couple. "thanks."

jihoon grabbed mingyu's attention for some argument, and you giggled as you watched wonpil fight with both of them in the way only friends could, sipping gently at your beer.

"excuse me?"

you spun towards the voice, finding a woman smiling at you. her beauty distracted you from the chill on your arms - foreign, with a head of curly red hair, and you thought she could be a model with her petite figure. you blinked, confused by the flicker of worry in your mind when you met her bright eyes. "yes?"

"you guys rocked," she said, glancing at hyejin behind you before focusing on you again. "i've been trying to learn bass, and you looked so cool up there!"

you were taken aback slightly, but a smile snuck onto your lips. "thank you so much," you said, laughing lightly, your immediate reaction being to promote the band. "do you live around here? we're gonna be doing a bunch of shows in the new year."

her eyes lit up, and you realized your uneasy feeling had been recognition, her amber eyes sparkling at you. "i just moved, actually! i'd love to see you guys again!"

you faltered, unsure if you should give her more information, and you suddenly had the thought that she might have waited until jeonghan had left to approach you. she seemed harmless, but so did he, most of the time, and you hesitated to give her an ability to find you again. she looked behind you briefly and then grabbed your arm.

"hey, i'll catch you another time," she said quietly, then winked. "promise." she flashed a sharp smile before disappearing into the crowd, and you stared after her, leaning your back against the bar, trying to decide if you were just a magnet for vampires.

"holy shit, she was gorgeous," hyejin whistled, sipping her beer and looking at you. "do you think she was flirting?"

"i-" you paused, looking at your friend. "i can never tell with her type."

she giggled. "her type? what does that mean?"

you didn't explain it further, letting hyejin get distracted when mingyu took out his phone to take pictures and pulled her off to where the lighting was better, but you just sipped your beer and wondered if she, too, was looking to become human again. jeonghan walked in front of you, catching your attention, and he smiled at you.

"miss me?"

you smirked at him. "barely noticed your absence."

"ouch," he said, putting a hand over his heart, then planted an elbow on the bar, leaning against it and staring at your profile. "you okay?"

you pouted out your lips, thinking, then smiled at him, deciding it was a conversation for later. "yeah. how about you? changyoon wasn't too mean, right?"

"just the right amount of mean," jeonghan said, then sighed, adjusting the jacket on your shoulder where it was slipping off. "wanted to make sure we were using protection. i told him we haven't gotten there yet, but i didn't have the heart to tell him i shoot blanks anyways."

you sputtered out a laugh, hand planting over your mouth to quiet it. you looked at him, dropping your hand to say, "i'm so sorry."

jeonghan laughed, too. "nah, it's fine. it was kinda refreshing, i could tell he really cares about you." he tipped his head to one side. "i knew he did, from what you've told me, but it was nice to see it myself."

you bit at your lip to hide a smile. "he's a good guy."

"he is," jeonghan agreed, then exhaled dramatically. "weird that someone over three hundred years younger than me told me to call him hyung, though."

you almost snorted. "in his defense, he thinks you're hyejin's age."

"and who's fault is that?" he said, furrowing his brows at you, smiling when you giggled and hit your hand against his chest. "ah, he also threatened to kill me if i did anything to hurt you."

your eyes widened as you looked away. "that's my brother."

"foster brother," he corrected, and your eyes snapped to his at the parrot of your words the night before - less than 24 hours before, you realized, and you smiled. he smiled back. "he plays your brother well. i hope i can play your boyfriend well, too."

you glanced at the collar around his neck before you looked away, taking a sip of your beer and swallowing it harshly, reminding yourself that he wasn't with you for fun. that you had a contract. "just playing, huh?"

"hey," jeonghan put a hand on your chin, turning you back towards him. you swallowed, his eyes darting between yours before flicking down to your lips, and you felt your breath hitch. "only as long as that's what you want, master."

you stared at him. "what if i want more?" you asked, putting down your beer as you turned towards him. "what if playing isn't enough for me anymore? what if i want you to see me as more than your master?"

he adjusted, his hand running back over the sore spot on your neck, and you let your head tip to the side when it landed at your nape. "are you sure?"

"why wouldn't i be sure?" you asked, huffing lightly, and his eyes flicked to your beer on the bar. you rolled your eyes, pushing his hand away when you realized what he meant, trying to not show how hurt you felt. maybe he was right. maybe you were tipsy, and maybe you said more than you would normally, but that didn't change the truth behind your words. "whatever. nevermind."

"master," jeonghan exhaled, recognizing his mistake immediately. "i'm sorry, i didn't-"

"it's fine," you said, turning away from him, knowing the beer would taste bitter now and choosing to leave it on the counter. you thought of the night before, when you had admitted your feelings for him, and how he had completely brushed you off. you almost felt like crying, but glanced over at your friends to make sure they were properly distracted and exhaled instead. "you only want me for one thing, anyways."

"that's not-" he hesitated, his eyes shutting briefly. four hundred years of tricks and schemes, and somehow he had managed to play himself. "that's not true."

"isn't it?" you asked, looking at him. "you look delicious. you smell good. i get it, jeonghan. you're a vampire trying to become human, and i'm a witch that can help you. we can't be anything more than that, but i just wish you had thought about my feelings before you made me fall in love with you."

jeonghan pulled you towards him, his brows furrowed when he studied you, your face between his palms. "you're wrong."

you stared at him. "about what, exactly?"

"i thought about your feelings every day, and we can be more, but i've been scared of the danger that might put you in." he paused, his fingers buried against your scalp, wondering if it was your blood in his veins that made his heart beat so fast, or if it was just the way your hands ran up his chest. "and how dare you not notice that you made me fall in love with you first."

your eyes softened, flicking between his. "don't tease me."

"i'm not," he assured you, and when his lips found yours, your heart soared, his mouth kneading against yours in a way that made you melt onto his chest. he adjusted, moving so your back was against the bar again, and his palm landed on the edge just beside you, your hands running up his chest to grip at the neck of his hoodie. it felt familiar, all too similar to when he kissed you in your kitchen, but new life sewn into his lips on yours with the confession of reciprocated feelings, and you thought the butterflies in your stomach could make you float away if he didn't hold you down.

"get a room!" wonpil yelled, and you broke away for just a second to spot the rest of your band further down the bar, changyoon pointedly looking in a different direction and jihoon laughing hysterically at his expression. you just grinned, looking back at jeonghan, and the way his eyes were hooded as he gazed at you, the sideways smile on his lips never leaving, you just slipped two fingers under the dog collar around his neck, pulling him into you again.

after jeonghan had driven your properly drunken bandmates home, ending the car ride at changyoon and wonpil's place, he carried your guitar case in one hand and held yours with the other as the two of you walked to your apartment, the same route you had taken the first night you had invited him into your home. it had always been a familiar walk for you, but jeonghan smiled as he looked around, enjoying that, instead of a healthy meter away from him, you were right by his side. he had even asked if you wanted a cigarette when you left changyoon's, remembering what you had said about drinking making you crave them, but you had shaken your head, tugging on the strings of his hoodie, saying you had a different way of satisfying your oral fixation now, and he could only grin before he was drawn into you.

"do you…" you paused, looking over to him as you walked hand in hand, and he gave you a questioning look. "do you know of any other vampires in korea?"

"of course," he said casually. "celebrities that died young, entrepreneurs, scientists… we live long, so a lot of my kind spent the last hundred years building empires. some of the richest people in the world are vampires, korea's no exception."

you blinked, registering that fact. "so how come i ended up with a broke bum?"

"hey," he laughed, and you giggled along with him. "i enjoy my life of freedom. why do you ask?"

"i think i met one tonight," you said, and his hand clenched in yours, making you look at him.

his brows furrowed. "you saw a vampire?"

you faltered. "y-yeah. she seemed nice, though. i thought maybe she could tell i was a witch."

jeonghan said your name, and you nearly jumped out of your skin - it almost sounded foreign coming from his lips, in his voice. he stopped walking, and you turned towards him. "if you ever see another vampire, find me immediately."

you flinched. "jeonghan, you're scaring me."

"good," he said, stepping closer. "other vampires aren't like me, master. they're bloodthirsty and cold, and they won't stop once they start." his eyes were dark, brows knit together, expression stern, and you got chills with his words. "if you bleed in front of them, they won't be able to resist you, and they'll suck you dry."

you blinked at him, studying his eyes. you remembered the last time you had studied them on this street - one blood red and the other amber - but now, his amber eye had red bleeding into it, and you thought of how that had differed from the vampire you had seen tonight. you thought about how he had said his mother had red eyes, just like him. "you were part human when i met you, weren't you?"

he looked away, exhaling. "why do you have to be so into mysteries?" he asked. "it's impossible to keep things over your head."

"does that mean-" you paused, swallowing, unsure if you wanted the answer. "was there another-"

"yeah," he said succinctly. and your eyes met his before he spoke again. "there was another witch before you, but she's dead. i killed her."

#strawberry shortcake: members #strawberry shortcake: vocalunit #yoon jeonghan

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