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bluehwale-main · 9 months

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me after reading this BCS WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MY LIFE NOW

ateez as mafia members who fall for you

genre: mafia!ateez x gn!reader, fluff, angst, smut, crack, an absolute brainrot-fest of every mafia trope to exist

length: 14.7k

c/w: illegal acts (abduction, murder, physical/sexual abuse, trafficking, financial crimes, underage working, underground casinos/boxing rings), suggestive/nsfw scenes, explicit language (swearing, insults), death, violence, blood & injuries, weapons, smoking, drugs, alcohol, backgrounds of trauma (death of parents), pet names (kitten, babe, love, sweetheart)

a/n: scenarios involve lots of heavy and mature themes - please read through the tags carefully and mdni! if i disappear from tumblr after this, it’s probably safe to say that i got arrested for my search history. couldn’t have written this without @sorryimananti-romantic, so i guess i’ll be seeing you in jail soon yumi 😘🫶

hongjoong

pov: you're dating a mafia leader

dating a mafia boss has its perks, you suppose

for one, there’s the money

“you like that, kitten?” hongjoong asks when he notices your gaze flitter over the blue diamond pendant for a brief second longer than usual

“no, babe. just thought it might look pretty with those earrings you gave me the other day”

he steals a kiss from you before he hands his card over to seonghwa. “buy one in every design”

then there’s the power

you smile smugly as you feel hongjoong’s arm snake around your waist, hand bringing you a little closer into his side as if to gloat at the meeting that you are his and his only

you know better though. behind closed doors, he’s your trophy

and then there’s the love

“let me hear you, kitten. loud enough that everyone can hear you,” hongjoong pants against your neck

“guess you’re just not fucking me hard enough,” you tease

that night, he makes you orgasm eight times - once for every word in that sentence

but as with anything, dating a mafia boss also has its downsides

like the ignorant and simple-minded gangsters who catch a whiff of the ‘mob boss’ lover’ and immediately think that you are the weak link in the chain - that if you are in their hands, hongjoong will promptly come crawling

so really, it comes to no surprise when you wake up to a throbbing head, with your hands bound behind your back and feet tied to the legs of the chair you’re sitting on

you roll your shoulders back a little, stretching the ache in your neck

from the way your muscles tense and cramp, you must have been out for a couple hours by now

hm, shouldn’t be long now.

“looks like the bitch is awake”

ten.

your eyes lazily look over to your right, towards the source of the sound, raising an unimpressed eyebrow when you lock eyes with the leader of the bluebirds, kyungtae, surrounded by several of his men

the bluebirds are a small mafia gang who have tried several times to stir up trouble in the neighbouring territories

what gives them the confidence to provoke ateez this time, you’re not quite sure, but you know that they have just voluntarily placed their heads under the guillotine

giving kyungtae a once-over from where you’re seated, you spare him no further interest and look away, which does not stroke the man’s ego in the way that he is coveting you to

kyungtae stalks over to you, grabbing a fistful of your hair to force your head up

“look at me when i’m talking to you”

you grace him with no response, merely blinking one, twice

eight.

obviously having expected you to whimper and weep and beg for mercy, your passiveness to the situation, to his presence, to him, has kyungtae’s ears burning red

it doesn’t help when one of the men behind him, with a leg propped up onto the table nearby, lets out a poorly-disguised snicker

it’s quite pathetic, really, how you feel kyungtae’s grip in your hair immediately tighten in response to the sound, and you can’t quite help but let out a snicker of your own

kyungtae’s eyes widen with fury as he spits out curses in your face

five.

he releases his hold of your hair, only to roughly grasp the front of your shirt. “you little fucker, you’re lucky i haven’t killed you yet. just you wait until your little boyfriend arrives, and then i’ll put on a good show for him.”

kyungtae gives you a greasy look, running a finger along your jaw

“and maybe if you beg prettily enough, i’ll think about sparing your life and making you my whore”

three.

he laughs as he steps back, pleased with his threats, too caught up in his own fantasy to notice the quirk of your lip

walking back over to the table, he picks up a bottle of hennessy and takes a swig straight from the neck

two.

you watch with amused interest as one of his lackeys suddenly bursts through the doors of the warehouse, giving you a quick glance before hurrying over to kyungtae’s side and bringing a hand up to hide their whispered conversation

you catch the brief flash of shock across kyungtae’s face, before he’s attempting to school his face back into a neutral expression

one.

sinking back a little further in your chair, you run your tongue over your teeth as you cock your head and smirk at him, declaring your first words of the night-

“time’s up.”

and right on cue, a loud bang fires off, everyone flinching save for you

the underling who had delivered the news just seconds ago crumples to the floor, blood beginning to seep out from the clean hole that goes right through their forehead

another three shots ring out in rapid succession, bluebird members dropping to the ground one after the other like a sick, synchronised dance

the warehouse doors behind you and on the far right cave in on themselves as you hear the hoots and hollers of ateez making an entrance

you watch leisurely as your men easily pick off the bluebird members, who begin to litter the floor of the warehouse like dead flies

the bluebirds never stood a chance - not against your gang, and definitely not against hongjoong

speak of the devil

you sense him before you hear him, his strong, dark, yet comforting aura approaching you from behind as he brings his mouth down to nip at your ear lightly

“sorry i’m a little late, kitten”

you sink into the chaste kisses he presses against the nape of your neck and just between the junction of your ear and shoulder as he loosens the ropes around your hands

when hongjoong comes around to crouch in front of you, working to untie your feet as well, you run your fingers through his blonde mullet appreciatively

“i knew you’d come,” you hum nonchalantly

hongjoong removes the last of the ropes from around your legs, standing up to tower over you as he places a hand on the back of your chair and leans his face down closer to yours

“oh? cocky, are we?”

you smile coyly at him. “my boyfriend is a mafia boss, i think i’m allowed to be a little cocky”

hongjoong’s eyes darken with lust, and whilst his hands are gentle in capturing your jaw, his lips crashing against yours are anything but

the sound of a body being dragged across the ground has you sighing into the kiss, breaking it so that you can let hongjoong deal with the interruption

san releases his grip on the scruff of kyungtae’s shirt none too gently, dropping the man to the floor, before scoffing briefly at the sight of the man below him

out of the corner of your eye, you spot wooyoung and yeosang leaning casually against the wooden crates bordering the sides of the warehouse as they watch the moment unfold

you can hear the slow, arrogant footsteps of jongho and seonghwa as they come up to stand behind you and hongjoong, steadfast additions to the threatening ambience that is now thickening and settling around the warehouse

you can’t see him, but you know that yunho is also here, somewhere with a high vantage point, crosshairs of his sniper trained on kyungtae’s forehead, ready to end his life if need be

kyungtae scrambles to his knees in front of hongjoong, rubbing his open hands together as he looks up pathetically, then presses his face against the floor and grasps at hongjoong’s polished dress shoes, repeating the two motions like a bowing wind-up toy

“fuck, i’m sorry, i’m so, so sorry. please, have mercy on me. fuck, i’ll do anything. please don’t kill me,” kyungtae cries in desperation as he grovels

you look at your fingernails, noting how the polish is starting to chip away

you idly wonder what colour you want hongjoong to paint your nails this weekend

hongjoong snarls dangerously, “that’s not what you were saying when you called my kitten a whore.” and then he drops the bomb-

“i don’t know what made you think you were worthy to touch, much less even look at our boss.”

kyungtae’s eyes widen at that, flickering between you and hongjoong as he stutters, “w-what? but you- you’re…the boss is-”

you finally take pity on him, uncrossing your legs daintily only to inch forward in your seat and plant both feet down firmly, right on top of his hands

you run a hand through kyungtae’s hair with mock tenderness, giving him a saccharine smile. “i don’t think anyone has ever discovered how hongjoong and i met…i think it’s only fitting that you’re the first to find out, since, you know, you wanted to put on a good show for him”

and so you tell kyungtae.

you’re a famous grey hat - you infiltrate security systems regardless of permission and whether your methods violate the laws or not, and have earned yourself the nickname of ‘the greyhound’

in some instances, you offer to disclose the security vulnerability and its solutions for a…small price

in other instances, you use the breach to take down organisations, operation rings, and dark web websites that exploit others in ways that don’t sit right with you

and then there’s the instances where you hack for neither of those reasons - such as the one where you discover ateez

or more specifically - hongjoong

the mafia boss has an irritatingly handsome face, and you want to see what it would look like marred with anger

so you infiltrate ateez’s cyber system, just to show that you can, redirecting all of their security feed and replacing it with a live stream of your beloved pot plant

when hongjoong discovers that you are the infamous greyhound, and has quite literally messed with his gang’s cybersecurity just for the shits and giggles, he finds his interest piqued

you accept his proposal to take over ateez’s data, information and communication security - a role that puts you almost on par with hongjoong in terms of importance

and just a month later, he accepts your proposal to be your boyfriend - a decision that solidifies your presence at the top of the hierarchy in terms of authority

if hongjoong is the mob boss operating as the face of ateez, then you are the mob boss operating as the shadow of ateez

you finally rise.

standing up from your chair, you knock kyungtae over onto his back and place a foot on his chest

“so when you thought that i would be an easy target, that i could be used as bait, it was really me that you should have been scared of, all along.”

you slowly curl your fingers around the handle of the gun that hongjoong has held out for you, index finger finding its familiar position on the trigger

as you level the barrel of the gun with kyungtae’s head, his mouth opening and closing with words that don’t reach your ears, hongjoong pressing his face into your neck so that he can suckle blossoms onto your skin, you think to yourself that when it’s a mafia boss dating a mafia boss, there are no downsides

you pull the trigger

seonghwa

pov: you're discovered captive during one of his missions

ateez had recently been tipped off about a ledger, with countless records of illegal transactions that would be able to implicate several officials and ministers in high positions of tax fraud, embezzlement and in some cases, prostitution

which is why seonghwa is currently creeping through the house of minister seo - the alleged location of the ledger - wooyoung having disabled the house’s security system and created a commotion distracting enough for seonghwa and a few other members of ateez to comb through the rooms for the ledger

they make quick and efficient work, a feat considering wooyoung’s last words of advice were to ‘get the fuck in, get the fucking documents, then get the fuck out’

it has probably only been twenty minutes before seonghwa’s earpiece sputters to life with hongjoong’s voice alerting him that the others have found the ledger already

“have a quick scan for anything else that might be important, and then haul ass out of there. you guys don’t have much longer”

there doesn’t seem to be much apart from the usual things he would expect to find in a house, until a door strategically placed in the far corner of the room, partially tucked behind a shelf of abstract sculptures, catches his eye

there’s a thick slide lock that keeps it shut from the outside, and he grips his glock a little tighter as he treads closer

he can see the wear on the lock’s metal surface now that he’s right at the door, indicating that it must be opened and closed quite frequently

slowly easing the lock open, he swings the door open with his gun positioned in front of his body

for a brief moment he’s not sure what his eyes are seeing - the room is dim, illuminated only by a small window on the left wall and the light now coming from the open door

as his eyes adjust, trepidation turns to confusion as he spots a few stray items scattered on the ground of the small room. a tattered piece of cloth. a metal bowl. a rusted chain

there’s a musty smell that hints to seonghwa the room is not well-cared for, if at all

and that’s when he takes an involuntary breath

because at the end of the chain, connected to a ring screwed into the wall itself, is-

your eyes focus on the sight of an unfamiliar man

it’s hard to make out the details of his face, but you’ve seen your captor enough times to be able to tell him apart from his stature and build alone

you wonder if you’re being sold to this man, having been reminded repeatedly by minister seo that he can do as he wishes to you

approaching you with slow, deliberate movements, seonghwa can now see the grime across your face and clothes, the way your hair is matted together, the scarred redness of your ankle rubbed raw from the shackle around it

“i’m not going to hurt you. i’m just going to see if i can get this off you, okay?”

seeing as you don’t make a move or noise of protest, seonghwa crouches down in front of you, where you have drawn your legs towards your body, hugging them towards your chest

the chains could probably be broken off with the right tools - tools that were back at base and not on him right now

unless

“i can’t break the shackle right now, but i can shoot through the chain first so we can escape”

he sees you perk up almost immediately at his last word, and he thinks that if you were an animal, your tail would be wagging by now

almost as fast as it came over you, however, you deflate with a perplexed, “why are you helping me?”

he looks at you with kind eyes, eyes so round and large you think you can see the twinkle of galaxies within them

“if i am able to help, what further reason do i need?”

hongjoong’s voice suddenly interrupts, a little frantic

“change of plans, you guys need to get out now. they have reinforcement coming soon”

seonghwa addresses hongjoong, “two minutes. wait for me”

“park fucking seonghwa if you don’t get out of there right now-”

he tugs the earpiece out of his ear

hongjoong can shoot him later if he wants to, except he won’t because seonghwa is his right-hand man

looking at you again, voice significantly gentler, he tells you to cover your ears

even though you’re expecting it, you still flinch at the sound of the gun going off as the chain breaks into two

“you did well, love. now let’s go”

if the pet name doesn’t send your stomach into somersaults, the encouraging smile that he gives you afterwards certainly does

he makes his way back to their assigned meeting point, with you cradled protectively in his arms against his chest, after you both quickly discover that you walking out of there is not going to be a feasible option

wooyoung does a triple-take from the driver’s seat when he sees seonghwa appear, but there is no time for questions, his foot revving the engine as soon as seonghwa has carefully lowered you onto the backseat of the car

you shrink back a little in your seat and closer towards seonghwa, who has kept one of his arms around you, when you meet wooyoung’s eyes in the rearview mirror

“boss ain’t going to be happy”

which is the understatement of the century - hongjoong is furious

but he understands seonghwa, because should it have been him in the situation, the outcome would also have been the same

you stay in seonghwa’s apartment, and although he isn’t home a lot of the times, the times that he is makes up indefinitely for the times that he isn’t

you find yourself looking forward to when he comes home, sometimes falling asleep on the couch before you can wait it out, yet still smiling in the morning despite waking up to an empty apartment, because you find yourself in his bed, warmly tucked into a cocoon of blankets

seonghwa finds himself looking forward to going home. where his apartment before seemed cold and lonely, void of the laughter and warmth he feels around ateez, he is now becoming accustomed to hearing the light pitter patter of your socked feet against the ground as you run to shyly peer out at him from around the corner of his hallway, waiting to welcome him home

you find that cooking together becomes one of your favourite pastimes. you pelter him with questions, like what do you call this, hwa? and how do you use this, hwa? just because you enjoy spending time with him and listening to the deep timbre of his voice that sends pleasant shivers throughout your body

seonghwa finds himself cooking more. where he would usually order takeout or forego a meal altogether, he now tries new recipes with you just so he can see the innocence and curiosity your eyes hold as you sing out hwa? after hwa? after hwa?. he loves the way you fit against his chest as he holds your hands to show you how to slice vegetables, or to roll out a ball of dough, and he thinks that he wants this forever

there is a growing desire inside of him to keep the light in you burning alive, to teach you things that will only make you smile, and to keep you under his watchful protection

his feelings intensify in moments like these, when a nightmare has led you to slip out from under your blankets to crawl into the comforting solace of seonghwa’s sturdy arms

he gently nuzzles his nose against yours

“considering you spend more time in my bed than your own, maybe i should swap this one out for a bigger bed”

despite his words of defeat, his tone is endearing

you look up at him with doe eyes, lips slightly pouted in determination. “my favourite place would still be in your arms”

seonghwa can feel his resolve breaking down

that seems to be the effect you have had on him since the day he found you

breaking protocols, breaking habits, breaking walls

seonghwa does not fear many things, and yet, tonight he is scared that he will confess his innermost desire to call you his

“i’m a dangerous man, love,” he whispers

you place a hand softly on his cheek as you reply with a whisper of your own

“a man who claims he is dangerous, and yet has shown me more care, love and happiness than i have known my entire life”

his tongue darts out over his dry lips, and your eyes involuntarily flick down to catch the movement

it doesn’t go unnoticed, and seonghwa is leaning in closer, slow enough for you to lean back should you wish

“i want to continue showing you that for the rest of your life, if you’ll let me”

you close the gap between the two of you in the form of your answer, pressing your lips gently against his

he chases after your lips until the both of you are rosy-cheeked and breathless, pressing his forehead against yours as he runs his thumb over your cheekbone, thinking that there is nothing more perfect than this moment with you

and this time, he is not scared of the sweet confession that comes tumbling out of him

“if your favourite place is in my arms, then i think my favourite place is on your lips”

yunho

pov: you're his literal partner-in-crime

you and yunho have been mission partners since the moment you two met

ateez’s deadly duo

like peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, you and yunho are a combination that make more sense together than alone

it’s what leads to yunho affectionately calling you ‘J’, claiming you as the J to his PB

and if both of you know that there is more to that claim - that you’re his other half - than just a working relationship, neither of you bring it up, even if your interactions involve flirtatious comments and touches

the two of you are usually assigned the more covert missions, like assassination, as yunho is the gang’s best sniper, and you have an aptitude for luring the target into an ideal position

it’s your ‘natural charm’, as yunho likes to put it

working together, basically every mission is a guaranteed success

so despite you being the only one exposed out on the field, you trust yunho with your life, quite literally, to take out the targets in due time and to get you both back to base safely

hence it’s a completely new and an utterly terrifying experience for you to find yourself held at gunpoint by the very same man you guys had been assigned to kill, the mission having taken a very wrong turn

an anomaly, but not uncommon, you, yunho and jongho had been briefed the week before of the mission that would take place tonight, a job that would require the three of you to work together

you were to find out whether the target, kwan, knew any information about the death of a mob boss in a bordering territory, suspicions raised after phone logs showed that kwan kept in frequent contact with the mobster, and jongho was there to help with the more physical aspect of persuasion. yunho, as usual, was to be stationed on the rooftop of a building nearby

and that was the plan that the three of you had been following, up until moments ago when you and jongho triggered a silent alarm, allowing kwan enough time to ambush you

jongho had been fast enough to land a punch, but wasn’t able to stop kwan from snaking his arm around your neck and bringing his other hand up to press a gun against your temple in one fluid motion

which is where you find yourself now

yunho is relaying the situation back to base, having started reporting into his earpiece the moment he spotted kwan - there was not enough time to adjust his sniper to take out the moving target, much less when no one had expected kwan to make the first move

“forget about the interrogation. yunho, can you get a clear shot now?”

“negative,” he replies

yunho bites back a curse of frustration, struggling to keep his cool. he has had years upon years of experience and training, and he knows that he needs to approach this situation calmly

but it is you down there right now who is in danger, and yunho has to fight all of his primal instincts not to run down there and rip you from kwan’s grasp

kwan has taken several steps back with you in his hold, his head now out of sight as it becomes covered by the scaffolding around the building

and no matter which angle yunho adjusts his scope from, the only face that he can clearly see is yours, pupils dilated with fear and skin flushing from the strain

he sees the way your hands are grasping at the muscular forearm slowly choking your neck, the way your shoulder is pushing back against kwan’s chest in an attempt to loosen his hold…

you hear yunho’s voice in your earpiece

“J, there might be a way to save you, but for that, i’ll have to hurt you,” yunho starts. “touch your forearm if you trust me”

you bring your right hand to your left forearm, leaving it there for a second before removing it

“what are you planning on doing?” hongjoong questions

yunho swallows, finding it hard to say his next sentence

“i’m going to shoot his heart through J’s shoulder”

you know that it’s a difficult and risky shot - several variables could turn this into a fatal shot not just for the man behind you, but you also - but if anyone could pull it off, it would be yunho

and if things were to go south, dying by the hands of the man you have loved for half your life doesn’t seem so bad either

yunho knows you can hear him clearly through your earpiece, having only just followed his request moments ago, and it is the fact that your frightened gaze is suddenly replaced by a hard determination and newfound hope at his words alone, so ready and easily entrusting your life in his hands, that hurts him the most

because the last thing he ever wants to do is to hurt you, because he loves you too much to cause you any pain, even if it is the only way to save you

at hongjoong’s confirmation of the go ahead, albeit voice strained, yunho lets out a long exhale before bringing his right eye to the scope of his sniper, shutting his left eye with a sense of finality

he reminds himself, like a mantra, that he only has one shot at this, when your tight voice filters into his ear

you struggle to take a breath as you pretend to speak to jongho, when really, your mind is only filled with yunho and your words are only for yunho and you pray to god that he knows

“if i don’t make it, just know that i love you”

yunho’s heart comes to a stuttering pause as tears start to well up in the corners of his eyes. he rapidly blinks them away to clear his vision, because if he wants to hear those sweet confessions from your lips, and return the same of his own, face to face, then he has to take down kwan now

adjusting the angle of his sniper so that the crosshairs have aligned with your right shoulder, he waits for the perfect window of opportunity-

“i love you too, J”

and then he pulls the trigger.

your shoulder bursts into a pain so blinding you wonder if it is really just one bullet that has gone through your body

it feels like you are simultaneously being burned and stabbed, over and over again, the sensation rapidly travelling across your chest and upper body as you start to collapse, the man behind you no longer holding you up as he instantly slumps to the ground dead

you faintly register the sight of jongho sprinting towards you, arms outstretched and mouth forming the first syllable of your real name, before you hit the ground and you black out from the second eruption of pain upon impact

yunho’s days blur together, a fever dream of red rivulets, echoing screams and phantom recoils

every time he closes his eyes, he sees that one moment replaying over and over again

like a taunting five-second film strip that has been repeatedly duped and taped together to replay an endless movie

he sees your body jerk grotesquely as the bullet - his bullet - rips through you. he sees your face twisting into searing, raw agony. he sees you fall heavily to the ground, just like kwan.

he sees you die, die, die

if only he had been the one on the field

if only he had been the one held at gunpoint

if only he had been able to shoot kwan a little faster

if only-

“...y-yun?”

the film stops.

you blearily blink as your eyes struggle to adjust to the lighting of the medical wing, voice dry and scratchy from disuse

suddenly there’s a hand caressing your cheek, a nest of brown curls, a choked sob, another hand brushing your hair, a whimper of your name, a pair of bloodshot eyes, and it’s all a bit too much all at once but it fills you with a sudden rush of air because it’s yunho, crowding your vision and personal space and heart and-

“you’re alive.” yunho can’t quite believe the words falling from his lips

“i’d hope so. unless you also somehow died and we’re in hell right now”

he lets out a shaky exhale at your joke

“fuck, J, i thought i was going to lose you forever”

you try to reach out for him in reassurance, until a sharp stab in your right shoulder reminds you of your injury and you cease your movements, squeezing your eyes and biting your bottom lip until the pain dulls to a tolerable throb

yunho’s hands hover over you frantically but he’s not quite sure where to place them or what to do or how to comfort you

“shit, does it hurt? yes, of course it hurts. fuck, how bad? really bad? do i need to get you painkillers? probably, yes, let me just, um, find them. shit, okay, don’t move, okay”

you don’t think you’ve ever heard such a colourful string of words leave his mouth before, nor have you ever seen him this flustered and uncertain and worried about you

“if this is how you treat me when i’m hurt, maybe i should get shot more often”

yunho freezes guiltily, then shoots you a scandalous look, before his face morphs into an expression more serious

“seeing you get shot was the worst moment of my life, especially when i was the one who hurt you. it felt like i was the one who was dying, and- and when i thought that i would never be able to tell you just how much i actually love you, i-”

“but you did tell me, and you saved me…just like you said you would. and i’m here now, to tell you that i love you, too, so so much…”

yunho slowly lifts up a corner of your blanket so that he can ease himself into bed next to you, propping himself up onto one elbow and angling himself towards you so that he can carefully place his other arm over your waist, like a sweet claim that you are alive and real and his now

you settle a little more comfortably into the broadness of his chest, before he asks, “can i see?”

you nod, then you’re shivering slightly from the stroke of cool air as yunho slowly lowers the top of the sheets to reveal your bandaged shoulder

you’re not wearing much underneath for ease of changing your dressing, yet you don’t feel shy under his gaze - in the silence of the small infirmary, where it is just you and yunho, a pair who makes more sense together than alone

he presses butterfly kisses just around your wound, fluttering over the gentle dip of your sternum and along your collarbone and down the smooth slope of your upper arm

“i heard voices, is J awake- woah, okay, nevermind!!”

just as quickly as wooyoung opens the door to the med wing, he slaps a hand over his eyes as he hollers and swivels on the ball of his foot to step back out and announce with a shout,

“PB&J are fucking in the ward, nobody disturb them!”

“no we’re n- oh my god, whatever, i’m not even going to try,” yunho slumps back against the bed in defeat from where he had jerked up the moment wooyoung interrupted

he looks at you - face flushed, lips curled into a bashful smile, one hand softly fisting the front of his shirt, and he thinks that you look so, so pretty

“well, since woo’s already guaranteed us some privacy, how about we take advantage of it, hm?”

you can literally see the moment your words bring the cogs in yunho’s brain to a screeching halt

and then all of a sudden, they come spluttering back to life

his eyes glint with mischief

a breathless “okay, yeah”

and then he’s pulling the sheets back completely

and he thinks to himself once again that oh, you really do look so, so pretty

yeosang

pov: you're friends and he's your bodyguard

for as long as you can remember, it has always been you and hongjoong

he tells you that your parents disappeared from the picture almost as soon as you were born - why, you never care to ask, as you have no memories of them anyway - so hongjoong is simultaneously a friend, a brother and a father to you

a few years later, your little pair suddenly doubles in number with the addition of yeosang and seonghwa - two boys who have fled from an abusive orphanage

the four of you form an unlikely group of ragtag misfits; children trying to exist in a world for adults

you learn the ways of survival through street smarts and petty crime

and you develop a soft spot for yeosang - with his big, round eyes - just like hongjoong does for seonghwa

your gang of found family continues to grow. systems, roles and hierarchy become implemented as you all dip your toes into increasingly dangerous and illegal activities, eventually becoming the mafia gang ‘ateez’ and hongjoong naturally taking on the leadership role

one thing that stays constant, no matter how old you are, is hongjoong’s protectiveness over you

and when you nearly get kidnapped one time on your way to the shops, hongjoong doesn’t let you out of his sight for three days straight, until you finally snap in frustration and threaten to shave his mullet off if he doesn’t stop breathing down your neck

eventually you two come to a compromise - more like hongjoong threatens you back, but he says otherwise - that you’ll have a bodyguard to keep you safe

and hongjoong thinks there is no better candidate than the very man he has known for over a decade, and is arguably one of the best fighters in ateez

“yeosang? i literally grew up wiping his nose for him as a kid, but okay”

so at first it’s a little funny, having your roles reverse - someone who you dote on, despite being similar ages, now doing the doting

but then it starts to become endearing, yeosang’s little antics and unwavering determination to be ‘the best bodyguard ever’ causing laughter to bubble from your lips whenever you two are together

like the way he steals takes your first bite of food, insisting he’s checking to make sure no one is attempting to poison you

or when he runs ahead to open the door for you, declaring that if there is someone behind it waiting with a gun, he’ll get shot for you

and when he naturally places himself between you and the road, claiming that his buff muscles with stop any swerving cars from hitting you

it’s the way that in whatever he does, he’s always looking out for you

but it’s really the less common moments, when his more guarded, brooding and protective side makes an appearance, yeosang immediately stepping forward to place his larger frame in front of yours whenever he perceives danger in a situation, one hand reaching behind him to carefully press you closer into his back, that makes your heart flutter and stomach flip uncontrollably

as you sit behind yeosang now, the familiar feeling of his steadfast back and your arms wrapped around his waist whilst he accelerates the motorbike, you wonder how it would feel to be pressed up against his chest instead, melting into the sturdy embrace of his arms as the steady beat of his heart sounds in your ear

you’re meeting an informant who has picked up on the tail of a child trafficking ring, running under the guise of an orphanage

they have been a reliable source for several years now and you trust them enough that most contact you have with them is done one on one

still, yeosang (and hongjoong) insists that he accompanies you, which is why you have to force yourself to focus back on the task at hand, not yeosang’s arms or chest, as his motorbike pulls into the abandoned junkyard

“uhh,” yeosang looks around as he helps you off the motorbike, “do your meeting spots usually entail an unlimited number of blind spots that can allow someone to attack you?”

the scattered cars around the junkyard form a labyrinth of, you do admit, potential danger

“just making sure you don’t become jobless”

“yeah but if your brother finds out, i’m going to become jobless and headless”

“you don’t tell, i don’t tell. deal?”

“okay, deal”

he’s about to link pinkies with you, a habit neither of you have outgrown, when a bullet shatters the window of the car to your right, passing straight between the two of you as it ricochets off a surface you never get to find out what

yeosang makes an immediate dive for you, knocking the breath out of you from the force with which he collides into you

he wraps his arms around you tightly, curling you into his chest as he presses you against the floor, shielding your body with his own

“fuck!” he growls, “it’s a trap”

and in any other situation, the huskiness of his harsh curse and the proximity of his muscles rippling around you would have you sweaty and weak in the knees

just not when you’re in a life or death situation

yeosang tugs a smoke grenade off his tactical belt, ripping the ring off with his teeth before sending it flying over the car you two are taking cover behind

as the smoke starts to cloud the vision of what yeosang hopes is only a handful of enemies, he leans down to look at you with burning intensity

“when i give you the signal, run to the bike and don’t look back. i’ll cover you”

you slip out a pistol from your own belt, “and i’ll cover you once i’m there”

yeosang nods grimly, straightening slightly to fire off several shots into the general direction of where gunfire is generating from

he ducks back down, only to grab a grenade this time

“go!”

you hear the sound of more bullets as you frantically sprint to the bike, swinging a leg over the body to seat yourself on top

“yeosang! covering you now!”

swiftly glancing at you to confirm your safety, yeosang pulls the pin and hurls the grenade as far as he can before turning and racing towards you

he nearly knocks you right off with his long leg in his haste to mount his motorbike, twisting the throttle to send dirt flying as the wheels jerk forward

as yeosang starts to pull you both away from the junkyard, you’re hit by a shock wave and burst of heat when the grenade detonates

the explosion seems to have taken out most of the attackers, if the dwindling of gunfire is any indication, but there are still a few, intermittent shots, likely from someone who has been staking out further away from the eruption

with the junkyard behind you erupting into flames and the adrenaline from your close shave with death coursing through your veins, you raise a middle finger into the air and holler, “you fuckers can’t aim for shit!”-

just as a bullet opens up a gash on the side of yeosang’s arm

to his credit, he barely flinches apart from the hiss that escapes his gritted teeth, but your heart still clenches and throbs at the sound

as the distance between the pair of you and the junkyard increases, a terrifying thought suddenly dawns on you

“do you think we can hide this from hongjoong?”

unfortunately, the answer is no.

the guilty look in your eyes is an immediate giveaway

hongjoong nearly faints as he pulls you into a crushing hug, pulling back for brief moments only to fret over you and make sure you’re unscathed

when you finally calm him down enough to assure him that no, joong, i’m not hurt, yeosang saved me and that said man is actually the one who is hurt, your brother finally seems to remember the presence of the other

yeosang laughs and shakes off hongjoong’s belated concern to get his wound attended to, claiming that it is just a scratch, even swinging his arm around for good measure

you frown, giving your brother one last, reassuring hug before you tug on yeosang’s hand with a quiet, “come with me,” before you head towards your room

you close the door and lead him by the hand to sit on the edge of your bed

now that you two are alone, yeosang suddenly juts his bottom lip out, declaring that his arm is actually in great pain and it’s going to fall off if you don’t do something about it soon

“fix my booboo for me” :(((

you chuckle as you lightly nudge him with your hip, pointing out how different he is whenever he’s with you, “all soft and caring and squishy”

“you still don’t get why, do you?” he looks up at you with fondness in his eyes from his seated position on your bed, eyes flickering back and forth between your own as if he is looking for something

your lips are slightly parted, breath hitching as you try to control the thumping of your heart that you are almost certain he can hear

finally breaking eye contact, yeosang shrugs off his red and black leather jacket, leaving him in a fitted, black tank top that accentuates the sculpted swell of his chest and reveals the toned muscles of his arms

you drag your eyes away from him before he can catch you staring, moving away to fill a bowl with water and wetting a towel

as you settle down next to him on the bed, gently wiping away the dried blood on his arm, guilt starts to seep into you

“i wish i was the one who got hurt…” you whisper

a warm, larger hand over the top of yours brings your gaze up to look at him

“i would rather die before letting you lose even so much as a hair on your head. your life is worth so much”

yeosang - a boy you grew up protecting from the monsters in the dark with a candle, now a man protecting you from the monsters of the world with his life

in that moment, you decide to take a leap of faith

“but what is my life worth, if it is not with you?”

and yeosang catches you

he cups your face with his hands to brush a sweet kiss against your forehead, pulling back to capture your blissful expression, before leaning back in to press his lips against your own

breathless from the kiss and from the swirl of emotions inside of you, you nuzzle your foreheads together as you let out a small giggle

"just wait until my brother finds out about this"

san

pov: you're part of a rival mafia gang

you used to work for an underground casino

considering the business itself was formed around illegal gambling, drug dealing and money laundering, they turned a blind eye to the fact that you were still underage at the time of your hire

you never really noticed a pattern in the repeated appearance of certain men until you were approached by one yourself, his teeth yellowed and stained from countless smokes, tip of a blackwork tattoo peeking out from under his collar and extending behind his ear, one hand adorned with an assortment of gold and silver that was probably worth more than your life

you had no family, no real plan, no real future, so when you were offered the prospect of a better life, with money and protection, you agreed to become an associate of the crescent clan

a stupid decision in hindsight, but one made out of desperation and vulnerability

just a few years shy of a decade later, you’ve risen up the ranks and now you serve directly under the capo of your territory

you usually accompany your capo to negotiations and deals that occur between different organisations, which are generally civil and fair to keep relations pleasant, even if just on a surface level

negotiations happen much smoother when both parties have familiar - and thus trusted - faces present

which is the exact reason why you’re present at most meetings your capo is involved in, and the reason why you become familiar with certain faces who, like you, help represent their own respective clan

you’re reminded of that fact as your eyes briefly flick up from the meeting in present time, a trade request for a shipment of weapons, only to find his dark eyes already trained on you

san of ateez.

crescent and ateez have made several negotiations over the years. the two groups are not exactly on the terms where they would be in the same room for a reason other than business. but they are not exactly on the terms to want the blood of the other spilled, either

when san realises you’ve returned his gaze, the right side of his mouth rises into a smirk that has you looking away with a subtle eye-roll

because that’s how it has always been between the two of you

smirks, amiable quips, sarcastic ‘sweetheart’s from his end

scoffs, humouring his antics, biteless ‘fuck off’s from your end

an acquaintanceship that is built upon nothing more than brief run-ins and business deals. if there is an underlying interest, or daresay, desire for the other, it is buried deep within the bottom of your hearts

and that is how you both go about - a duet of dances but never touching, a game of gazes but never lasting

until one day, everything you’ve ever known goes to shit

it’s a deal gone wrong. you are all already on high alert, this only being the second time negotiating with this particular organisation

there must be a rat or traitor in crescent, and you just happen to be the scapegoat, or there is a member who holds a personal vendetta against you

regardless, all it takes is an incriminating note and an altered photo for years of trust - or as close to trust as you can develop in the mafia world - to erupt into flames, and for the deal to fall through. whether or not there actually was a deal to be made, or whether it was all a set-up to begin with, you’re unsure

amidst the chaos of guns and knives from both sides, you incapacitate enough of your own to sprint away, but not without injuries of your own

carefully nursing your ribs as you ignore the sticky sensation of blood trailing down your forehead, you manage to stumble your way through the dark alleys

why your feet take you there you’re not sure

but you find yourself staring at the rusted peephole and spiderwebbed paint of san’s apartment door

he had slipped you a piece of paper with the messy scrawl of his address as a joke months ago, quote unquote if you ever wanted to have a good night

before you can reason with yourself to turn away, you rap your knuckles against the door

a few seconds of nothing but your quick, shallow breaths fill the hallway

until the door is ripped open and you’re met with san’s murderous gaze

and at first you think that he’s going to finish off what the dirty traitor first started - kill you right there and then at the threshold of his door for disturbing him at this ungodly hour - when his eyes flick over your forehead and back to your eyes so quickly you almost think you imagine it

"who hurt you"

if you aren’t so delirious from the pain starting to seep into your body now that the adrenaline is starting to wear off, you would notice the tremble in san’s voice as it drops an octave lower than usual

or the way his chin lowers slightly, eyes narrowing as the veins on his neck become more prominent

or the way his fingers whiten from his grip on the door handle

“san-” you breathe out

“who.”

you’re conscious of the possibility of the eyes and ears of anybody catching the both of you right now

because in the end, he’s part of ateez, and you’re part of crescent, even if your very own clan has painted a giant red target on your back now

and honestly, you just want to sit the fuck down

so you shove him aside as you force yourself in

or more like he lets you shove him aside. because he’s built like a brick wall and you, well, are not.

you hear a click from behind and you realise that perhaps, your interest in san is not buried as deeply as you believed it to be, when your first thought is that you’re now safe within his locked apartment, as opposed to whipping around out of gut instinct expecting to face the barrel of a gun

you let out an involuntary grunt of discomfort as you lower yourself onto his couch, and almost immediately san enters your field of vision again

kneeling in front of you, san’s eyes soften as he attempts to quell the flames inside of him so that he can focus on you in the present

“where are you hurt?”

he goes to grab his first aid kit after you begrudgingly answer

he squeezes an instant ice pack, holding it in his right hand as it starts to rapidly cool. with his other hand, san reaches towards your ribs where your own hand is still cradling your injury

“let me have a look”

he hovers his hand over yours whilst searching your eyes, waiting for confirmation that it’s okay

when you swallow and nod your head, he gently moves your hand aside and lifts up the bottom edge of your shirt to reveal a mottle of angry marks around your left ribcage, like a bucket of spilled paint splattered across a surface

san clenches and unclenches his jaw before letting out a long exhale, then places the ice pack gently over the area

you hold it in place as he rises to take a seat on the couch next to you, resting one of his knees on the couch too so that he can angle himself towards the gash on your forehead

you try to ignore the pressure of his knee against your thigh and the heat that radiates off it, because despite the numerous run-ins you’ve had with him, you two have never been this close within each other’s proximities before

he works in silence, wiping the crusted blood off your face and out of your hairline, pouring alcohol onto a cotton bud so that he can disinfect your wound

you feel the warmth of his exhales and the dancing of his deft fingers as he whispers soft apologies and ‘just a little longer’s whenever you wince

when he finally gets a good look at the cut extending from your hairline to the corner of your brow, narrowly sparing your eye, still a raw red around the area, his hands slow to a stop as if afraid to touch you any further

it’s your turn to murmur a reassurance, that “it’s not as bad as it looks, san”, turning your body towards him and ducking your head down to try and catch his gaze from under his fringe

“who hurt you, sweetheart?” he asks again

he meets your eyes with an intensity that almost has you pulling back, but instead it does the opposite - the gentle furrow of his brows knitting together, the concern laced in his deep voice so contrasting to the usual teasing lilt of his voice he uses with you, the faint sensation of his fingertips brushing against your cheek - all pulling you in like quicksand that you can’t escape from, except you wonder to yourself whether you even want to escape or whether it wouldn’t be so bad to let yourself become consumed and engulfed by this. by him.

as you explain how the betrayal of your own unfolded, how you fought for your life and managed to flee, how before you knew it you were at san's door, his gaze never wavers from yours

you've started to dissociate yourself from the events of the last two hours, but san's constant touches keep you grounded

a stroke of his thumb across your jawline, a caress of your temple as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear, a gentle squeeze of the nape of your neck

as your words come to a finish, your heart rate picks up at the silence that settles over san's apartment, a silence whose meaning you cannot decipher, clouding you with uncertainty

uncertainty of your future, now that you don't have the protection of your clan

and uncertainty regarding the man before you, now that you've bared yourself to him in one of your most vulnerable states, both physically and emotionally

then your heart comes to a stuttering pause at his response

“join me”

because despite you belonging to a different mafia, despite the teasing comments thrown at you, despite never having had the luxury to hold a conversation longer than five minutes with you, san's gaze has always been on you

"let me protect you, sweetheart"

and perhaps yours has always been on him too

so as you take a deep breath, you nod and let go, allowing yourself to be pulled in completely, with the comforting knowledge that san will be there to hold you from now on

mingi

pov: you're a citizen in the wrong place at the wrong time

you’re the owner of a small bar, the mist

it’s a modest little place, with a singular countertop spanning almost the full length of the bar from the entrance towards the back wall. there are a couple of low-backed stools along the counter, allowing customers to engage in idle conversation as they watch you make and serve up different drinks, and two smaller tables are placed in the far corners, should anyone desire a little more solitude

right across the street from yours, there’s a larger bar, the chilli peppers, that attracts most of the individuals seeking a little buzz for their body, a quick stringless night of passionate touches, or an opportunity to forget and drown out unwanted realities

the few who venture away, stumble across your bar by accident, or have grown a strange fondness strong enough to pull them back to the mist again, are enough to keep your business going

barely. but you haven’t had to close your bar yet so it’s something

plus, you were able to lease the little room right above it as well, and you can call it your home

so really, you don’t have anything to complain about

except maybe those nights when the air is tenser than usual

nights where the distant drumming of heavy bass and droning of conversation is disrupted by escalating voices, thrown fists, shattering glass, and on some rarer occasions, the resounding authority of a single gunshot

and it seems like tonight is one of those nights

mingi knows something is off the moment he steps through the saloon doors into the chilli peppers, the accelerating creaks of the panels swinging back and forth reflective of the way his heart rate starts to pick up

he keeps his gaze covered underneath the wide brim of his hat, noting the way the eyes of the men scattered around the bar are trained on him

and under usual circumstances, being surrounded by members of the xikers clan wouldn’t make the weight of the automatic rifle slung across his back seem heavier than usual, considering they all believed him to be one of their own - also a loyal associate, rather than the spy for ateez that he actually was

but as mingi’s eyes catch sight of his portrait roughly sketched onto a ‘wanted’ poster behind the bartender, he realises that they might not quite believe him anymore

the sudden hellfire of gunshots startle the glass cup out of your hand, sending it shattering across your tiled floor like an omen of what’s to come

frazzled and unnerved, the reasonable part of your brain telling you to flee upstairs to safety shuts down and you squat behind your countertop to, instead, clear up the mess of broken glass

it doesn’t dawn on you the fact that amongst the chaos of sound outside, one particular set of footsteps have halted for a split second in front of your door

a quick scan inside of what looks like a small bar appears to show no signs of people, and mingi doesn’t have time to second-guess his observation before he’s pushing the door open in an attempt to seek refuge from the few men who have managed to stumble their way out in pursuit of him

mingi spots a countertop running parallel to the wall, a place that can easily cover him from the vantage point outside

so he places a hand on the table, jumping up and shifting his weight onto his hand to bring his legs and body nimbly over to the other side of the countertop

only to very nearly land on a small mountain of glass pieces

and a person.

you.

for a few seconds, you and mingi just stare at each other from your crouched positions, shock reflected in the both of you but for completely different reasons

you, because who is this man how did he suddenly appear in front of you what is he doing here

and him, because-

“shit, i thought there was no one in here”

a small part of you that is still somehow functioning thinks that now is probably not the time to point out that, in fact, the lights of your bar were on so yes, of course there would be someone in here

but then he’s shuffling a little closer to you, the sound of glass crunching under his feet as he extends an arm to gently press the both of you flush against the drawers of the counter

you realise he’s trying to keep the both of you out of sight - from who exactly you’re not sure - when a harsh voice, startling close to the outside of your bar, shouts “find that fucker right now”

you think to yourself that this is it

this is how you’re going to die

all you can do is bite back the whimpers that are threatening to escape your mouth as you tremble

he takes a quick glance at you, noting the way you have hunched in on yourself in an attempt to appear smaller, eyes rounded with apprehension, fingernails digging into your own palms

the least he can do right now is offer you some semblance of comfort, even if he is the very reason you had been dragged into this mess in the first place

so he lowers his arm that has been stretched across your front, and places his hand over your smaller, shaking ones

he’s able to engulf both of your curled fists with just his one hand

he feels one of your hands slowly open, only to reach out and encase two of his fingers in a firm grasp, much like a child would their security blanket

you both stay like that until your muscles start to ache and the pounding of shoes against pavement have long gone, and when mingi is sure that the men won’t backtrack, he gently eases his hand out of your grasp, but only so that he can remove his long, leather jacket and place it on the ground for you to sit on without hurting yourself on the glass shards

he apologises, explaining that there was a bit of a ‘scuffle’ - you nearly snort at this - and he had to find a quick place to hide from the men

he really didn’t mean to involve you

somehow, during the conversation, his hand has made his way on top of yours again, your own fingers grasping a couple of his, just like earlier

you’re not sure who initiated it

but you do know that it feels comforting, safe, warm

feeling a burst of courage, you ask the question that’s burning at the forefront of your mind

“are you running away from bad guys? or are you the…”

the remainder of your question goes unfinished, but mingi understands nevertheless

working as a spy, he has been trying to uncover information about county lines - drug trafficking between areas by coercing vulnerable populations to do the dirty work - so that ateez can terminate the operation ring. and xikers has been suspected to be the key reason behind the recent disappearance of children and elderly

is what he is doing considered illegal? yes

but can you say that it is wrong? debatable

“what makes a person bad?” he asks

“i’m not sure…someone who does the wrong things, i guess?”

as soon as the words leave your mouth, you realise how sheltered and privileged you sound

mingi hums

“sometimes people have to do the wrong things to make things right”

a moment of silence. a peer of curiosity

“are you trying to make things right?”

an upturn of the corner of a mouth

“i’d like to think that i am. or trying to, at least”

it’s a strange feeling, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder as you make soft-spoken conversation with a man whose name you still don’t know, a man who is a blur of black and white, bad and good, dangerous and safe

when he sees you suppress your third yawn in the last five minutes, mingi realises he’s overstayed and he probably should have reported back to his boss, hongjoong, ages ago, and it was probably way past your shop’s closing time too

“i should go”

“oh, okay, um, yeah”

your face grows hot as you fumble over your words, suddenly wide awake

you’re curious about this handsome stranger, yearning to unravel the secrets that he is harbouring, to learn about the good bad things he is doing to make wrong things right

and then mingi is standing, and it hits you that you’re not quite ready for this night to end

mingi decides to leave his leather jacket behind, which you are still prettily perched on top of, and he’s just about to round the end of the countertop, when your shy, hesitant tug on the back of his waistcoat pauses him in his tracks

“...will i see you again?” you question softly

he knows. he knows that the answer should be no. that someone whose canvas as white as yours should not be mixing with someone like himself, who will only ever be able to work with dark colours

and yet, he finds himself saying

“yeah, i think you will.” he slowly removes your hand from his waistcoat, brushing his thumb softly over your knuckles as he nods towards the floor. “that leather coat is designer, so i’ll be back for it”

and if that coat was really just passed-on to him from someone else because it was simply a size too large, then that would just have to be another secret for you to discover in the future

wooyoung

pov: you're a worker at the store he frequents

over your three years of working the night shift at the convenience store, you can say that you’ve seen it all

from the piss-drunk people (pun intended) having pissing contests to see how far they can shoot their stream along the pavement

to the breakups in the frozen foods section because a couple can’t see eye to eye on their opinions regarding mint chocolate as a flavour

but as a bloodied and beat-up man comes quite literally crawling to the glass doors of your store front, halfway through your thursday shift, you’re not so sure anymore

a quick glance at the aisles confirms that there are currently no customers inside - not that there usually are at four am - so you round the register counter and walk to the doors with your eyes narrowed

you briefly eye the plastic umbrellas displayed near the entrance, wondering if you should grab one for self-defence, but eventually decide against it since the man outside already looks like roadkill without your additional contribution

the door chimes when you nudge it open, and you raise an eyebrow as you scan the man’s busted lip and swollen left eye, fresh bruises and cuts littering the rest of his face and knuckles

you had just mopped the white floor an hour ago, and quite frankly, you’re not interested in doing that again

wooyoung finally gathers enough strength to raise his head to look up at you, the doorbell alerting him of your presence, and between the lights of the store creating a backlight around your figure and a very likely case of concussion, he thinks that he’s being visited by an angel-

“if you can crawl yourself here, you can crawl yourself to the nearest hospital”

you squat down next to him, pulling your phone out of your back pocket with the full intention of bringing up google maps to start him off in the right direction

flustered, he tells you, “i can’t go to the hospital. it’ll only bring me more trouble”

“oh, yeah? and why exactly would you get into trouble”

“because i’m part of the mafia”

you have to physically restrain yourself from rolling your eyes

why does this guy think that exaggerating his story will make him sound more masculine?

chances are he picked a fight with the wrong guy, got his ass handed back to him, and doesn’t want to embarrass himself further by going to the hospital

pinching the bridge of your nose, you resign yourself to having to clean the floor again after this problem is taken care of

“if you don’t stop squirming i’ll give you a black eye to match your left one”

“but it huuuurts”

as you both sit in the back room - a ‘be back in 10 minutes’ sign stuck on the store’s front door - you’re discovering that this guy is not only a grand storyteller, but is also a vocal whiner

holding back the urge to use the gauze tape in your hands to seal his lips closed, you rip a strip off instead so that you can secure the dressing pad against his cheek

“so how did you get hurt, exactly?” you decide to ask him, in hopes that it will distract him from the pain and actually let you dress his wounds properly

he tells you that he manages several underground fight clubs, usually remotely through his own lackeys, but it occasionally requires him to make rounds in person to keep them smooth-running

except, tonight there had been a disagreement over the bidding wins at one particular venue

which, combined with the hyped atmosphere of the crowd, had quickly escalated into a full-blown brawl

and wooyoung discovers that he is apparently a crowd favourite when it comes to getting pummelled

again with the lies.

“yeah, and i belong to the royal family but look where we are now.” you give the bandaid you have just placed over a cut on his forearm a final pat. “there, you’re all patched up”

he utters a thanks as he helps you clear away the packages of gauze, bandages and bottle of saline you have taken from the small first aid section of your store

when you outstretch a hand towards him, your palm facing upwards, he looks at you almost bashfully

you can’t quite understand why…until he places his hand into yours

“ow!” he cradles his hand that you have just slapped away against his chest, infatuated expression quickly withering under the dirty glare you shoot at him

once it’s clear that he won’t try to hold your hand again, you extend your arm once more

“cough up.” you gesture at his face, “those things cost money”

he winces, “i uh…i don’t have any money on me right now…can’t you just be a good samaritan and help a poor guy out?”

“yeah well this good samaritan also happens to be poor, so, no.”

he has the audacity to look like a kicked puppy, which, no, absolutely does not weaken your resolve. at all.

with the promise of returning soon with the money he owed you, and the new, yet not necessarily unwelcome, name of wooyoung falling from your lips, he bids you farewell as the first streaks of dawn start to paint the night sky

and indeed, wooyoung comes back the following night to hand over some crumpled notes and loose change, face still looking a little worse for wear, but at least he is not crawling anymore

you think that that is the end of this acquaintance - a favour given, a debt paid off, a brief crossing of fates

but unbeknownst to you, an extension of the accepted promise includes wooyoung’s recurring presence in your store on random nights

at first, it is just once a fortnight that you will find wooyoung peeking in through the windows, eyes lighting up in recognition as he spots you at the register, before he is walking in through the doors

then, it becomes one to two times a week that wooyoung will already be waving at you from outside as he skips his way to the doors of the convenience store

soon, wooyoung is keeping you company almost every other shift that you work, having spent enough time watching you work that he could do your job for you

he’ll snack during your shifts (you find that he has an intense sweet tooth and can down three share packs of lollies in one hour alone)

or he’ll share his mafia stories (you let him keep this running theme going - perhaps he is part of a silly street gang, so you don’t bother to correct him)

or he’ll arrive a little roughed up (you patch him up and tell him that he must be a pretty crappy fighter if he gets hurt this much)

and during those moments, when you carefully dab at the grazes on his face, when you are close enough to feel the soft exhales coming from his slightly pursed lips, when you see all the little embellishments adorning his face such as the spot under his left eye or on his bottom lip, you come to realise that wooyoung is, in fact, actually quite good looking

an understatement, but you’re not about to confess that either

the clock has just ticked past midnight - wooyoung isn’t around and you are rearranging the packets of gum on display at your counter for the third time in a row to keep yourself busy and from admitting that, perhaps, you are waiting for him

your slight frown turns into carefully feigned nonchalance when you think you can see his familiar mop of two-toned hair appear from across the road, your heart involuntarily skipping a beat

except your face contorts back into an even deeper frown upon spotting the frenzied look in his eyes and his flailing limbs as he comes closer and closer, until he barrels right through the doors

he forgoes a greeting, instead whizzing past you like a mini tornado, beelining for the back room of the store as he yelps, “pretend i’m not in here!”

blinking back the dazed fog in your brain, you suppose he is being chased by another bunch of street hooligans and has decided to hide in your store during your shift

just excellent.

honestly, you should probably have a chat with wooyoung after all this and talk to him about his little gang antics because just what sort of people is he hanging out with and what kind of gang chases after other people like children and- oh.

this kind of gang.

it would have been quite funny, really, how they resemble a scene straight out of a mafia movie or drama - five big, burly men in dress shirts and slacks, chains and sunglasses adorning their chests, scars and tattoos littered across their skin, cigarettes and guns held casually in their hands - if it is not for the fact that you are currently the main character of this confrontation, and there is no script writer to ensure that you make it out of this scene alive

you gulp as your brain screams at you to act natural, so you say the first thing that comes to your mind-

“hey fellas, how can i help you this fine evening?”

if wooyoung brings this up with you days later, you deny it and say that he was hiding too far away to catch the conversation properly

“have you seen a guy, mid-twenties, come in here? hair’s half black, half white. pretty hard to miss”

“uhh, no. i haven’t had a customer come in for a while now”

you have to stuff your hands into your pockets to hide their shakiness when you spot a couple of the men start to stalk through the aisles

“i can, uhh, show you the surveillance footage if you guys want? it just might take a while to get the data from the cameras?” you pray to whatever gods are above that they don’t take on your offer

you physically clench to stop yourself from pissing your pants when one of the men try to open the door to the back room - wooyoung, thank fuck, has locked it

the man who you have been addressing appears to be the boss, as he lets out a grunt and signals to the others, “nothing here. let’s go”

with one last rattle of the doorknob, the men lumber their way back out

you stand there frozen, looking at the doors that have just swung closed in dumbfound silence

wooyoung slowly unlocks the back room, wringing his hands together as he steps out and approaches you

you turn to give him a blank stare

“that was the mafia”

“yes”

“you are part of the mafia”

“yes”

“you could’ve put me in danger”

at the rise in your pitch and volume, wooyoung winces with regret, because you sort of have a point - that could have gone down a lot worse than it did

but also he just really, really likes having you as a friend, and he also maybe really, really likes you as more than a friend, and whenever he’s in trouble, the first person to pop up in his head is just always you

plus

“i told you i was in the mafia…” his voice trails off as a lightbulb goes off, “...but you didn’t believe me,” he concludes.

“of course i didn’t believe you! who just casually admits that they’re part of an illegal crime organisation?” you throw your hands up in the air, “and what is someone from the mafia even doing here chatting? or eating snacks? in a convenience store?”

“well even the mafia need to get their snacks from somewhere,” he mumbles

you can see him chew the inside of his cheek as he apologises, before he meekly looks up and asks, “can i…still come by during your shifts?”

you huff, and wooyoung thinks that he has royally fucked up, that you’re going to ban him from the store and from ever seeing you again

but, like always, not dissimilar to the way a maths formula stays constant despite the question it is used to solve, wooyoung’s damned kicked-puppy look has your prickly defences crumbling

you don’t find it very hard to tell him that yes, he still can, because after all,

“where else would you get your snacks from, mafia boy?”

he shrugs, before breaking out into an impish grin. “good, because it just so happens that my favourite snack is only available at this store”

“yeah? and what is that?”

“you”

jongho

pov: you're his childhood sweetheart

hwang, your superintendent, motions silently for the two of you to move in, the coast seemingly clear

you nod as you step into the empty corridor, the gun in your hands trained vigilantly for any signs of danger

just days ago, your police unit had received an anonymous tip about a certain mafia group’s drug trade that would be taking place in an abandoned building

whether or not the information is reliable, you’re uncertain, but both hwang and yourself have been tracking them for years now, the two of you spurred on by the same reason, so you both bite

and as you approach the room at the end of the corridor, you vow to yourself that no matter what it takes, you’re going to bring ateez burning to the ground today

some people are lucky to grow up with a childhood friend, and some even luckier to have a childhood sweetheart

choi jongho is both of those to you

your early memories with him are filled with shared packets of gummy bears on the park swings, games of hide and seek at your dad’s police station, and hushed giggles under the covers during sleepovers

as you both grow older, your memories become ones of cheap diner burgers at your favourite date spot by the river, the smell of home when you’re engulfed in his hoodies, and stolen kisses behind locked bedroom doors

and life is perfect, until your luck runs out

it all comes crashing down the week you start college

your father is killed on the field, his superintendent - hwang seongmin - tells you that he was shot during a confrontation with a young, emerging gang

ateez

and as if that isn’t enough, the world takes away jongho from you too

he doesn’t give you a reason why, only presses fervoured kisses against the salty trails running down your cheeks as tears of his own fall, murmuring desperate promises of “i’ll come back to you. i’ll find you, i promise. but first you have to let me go”

and then he disappears without a trace

channelling your grief into anger, you drop out of college and join the police force, vowing to take down ateez with your bare hands

your thirst for vengeance spurs you to graduate at the top of your unit and rise rapidly through the ranks until you make it into the very same team your father used to serve

here, you are able to dig up old files on your father’s closed case, as well as information on ateez, who have evaded the police all these years

and all the while, you hold onto the hope that someday, jongho will return to mend the broken pieces of your heart back together, just as he had promised

"put your hands in the air where we can see them"

except it’s not hwang’s voice, nor your own, that is making the demand

teeth gritted together, you slowly raise your arms, dominant hand unfurling from your gun as best as you can without dropping it, hwang mirroring your actions to your side

the members of ateez, you realise, emerge from the shadows to slowly encircle you both

you’ve only ever seen photos of hongjoong and seonghwa, the two eldest who are rumoured to have been part of the original few who started ateez

and if you were paying more attention to the dire situation, you would realise that none of their guns are actually pointed at you

except your attention isn't on the guns at all, or the fact that the anonymous lead had been part of ateez’s plan to be discovered in the first place

because stepping forward, right into your line of vision, is jongho

you know that your face must be a sight to see, anger quenched in a millisecond as it turns into bewilderment instead, questions flooding through your mind

you know that he recognises you, and yet, he doesn’t seem surprised or even fazed to see you

before you’re given the chance to step forward and grab him by his collar, guns be damned, hongjoong is breaking the stillness of the room

he holds up a photo - it appears to be a screen capture from a grainy security feed of…a police station?

more specifically…hwang’s office?

as you squint to make sense of what you’re seeing, the leader addresses you both, “february the 3rd, 2018”

you can’t help the animalistic snarl that leaves your lips as you make a step towards him

how dare he rub it in your face. how dare he bring up the very day he murdered your father in cold blood

jongho calls out your name - acknowledging you for the first time - and he has the gall to look apologetic as he pleads softly, “just listen first. you deserve to hear this”

and if his words don’t give you whiplash, then the way his eyes suddenly become murderous as he turns to look at hwang certainly does

it’s jongho’s turn to step forward, taking the photo and shoving it right in hwang’s face

“i think you remember this night very clearly, hwang. seong. min.”

you don’t miss the way hwang’s eyes widen at his own name, confusion constricting your throat in a chokehold

“h-how do you know my name?”

“it would be hard to forget the name of the person who murdered my lover’s father.”

you feel like your head has been plunged underwater, struggling to breathe in the wave of information that has just crashed over you

hwang seems to connect the dots much faster - the wrong dots, but a conclusion nonetheless

“you fucking rat! you were working for them all along-” he screams and makes a lunge for you

jongho intercepts easily, stepping in front of you and pinning hwang to the ground

“i wouldn’t do that if i were you, unless you want to lose your hand,” jongho growls with controlled rage. “now are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

hwang stops struggling once he realises there is no way he can overpower jongho

“yeah, fine, it was me,” hwang spits out angrily, “i shot him dead by accident and it fucking ruined my life. we were trying to arrest you fuckers, and look what it cost me”

hongjoong squats down, using the tip of his gun to force hwang’s chin up. “instead of owning up to your wrongdoings, you framed us for murder and kept the man’s own child hidden in the dark all these years”

jongho stands to carefully gather your hands in his; hands that seem so unfamiliar yet are simultaneously all that you have ever known

voice filled with comfort that he wishes he could kiss into you, jongho murmurs, “it’s your decision now. we’ll do whatever you choose.”

you stand at a crossroad

they’ll either hand over all of the evidence and hwang will be convicted for his past actions

or they can take away what hwang stole from your father - a life for a life

it’s a feeling you’re all too familiar with.

the feeling of something dying inside of you.

you make your choice and then walk out of the room without looking back

not even as the sound of a gunshot resounds behind you.

it takes everything in you not to break down in the corridor, and you barely register jongho’s voice catching up to you as he desperately calls out your name

when he catches you by the wrist and whips you around to face him, all it takes is one look from him to tip you right over the edge, all the suppressed emotions from the last half an hour and past five years pouring out in primal wails and hyperventilating gasps

jongho brings you into him, one hand cradling your face into the nook of his neck, other arm wrapped tightly around your body like it’s your lifeline

he holds you through it all, even as your bodies sink to the ground; a parallel universe of that very night years ago when your fairytale ended

you let yourself sink into the feeling of jongho’s long fingers running through your hair in gentle caresses and his lips kissing away the last of your tears

sensing that you have calmed down, jongho tilts his head down to nudge your nose delicately, and you see your very own sorrow and pain reflected in his eyes

“long time no see,” he jokes softly, and as much as you want to be angry with him, your mouth curves into a small smile

of all the things that you want to say, of all the questions and confessions swirling inside of you, enough to fill a library’s worth of novels, all that escapes your lips in a whisper is, “why?”

jongho doesn’t really know where or how to begin, so he decides to tell the story from the day it all started

the day your father was killed

he explains that that very same night, he had gone to the police station after you had cried yourself to sleep, in a futile attempt to see if they had made any progress on your dad’s case

only to overhear hwang talking on the phone in feverish hushes that he had accidentally killed your father and was going to pin the blame on a fledgling gang

“and don’t say that i should’ve told you, because we both know you would have gone straight to hwang after finding out”

you close your mouth that you had started opening to protest, because jongho’s right

he always did know you better than you did so yourself

you very well would have gotten yourself killed in the crossfire trying to bring justice to your father’s death

he grows sombre, eyes dropping down to your intertwined hands in acknowledgement, “i know it was wrong to keep it from you, but i was so, so afraid of losing you. i didn’t have any other choice”

without the evidence, connections or power to do anything about it, jongho made the decision by himself to join the very gang that was being framed, until he did have the evidence, connections and power to do something about it

a selfish decision, but a decision made out of love

he hopes you forgive him as he looks at you with tears welling in his eyes, “i promised you, remember? that i would be back for you”

your own vision blurs as you hope your next words convey that you understand, “i never forgot. not for a single day. not for a single moment”

as you he captures your lips with his, desperate and yearning, you recall how five years ago your fairytale ended

it’s not perfect - it’s far from perfect - but tonight, your nightmare ends

and perhaps, it is the beginning of a new fairytale; one where you finally get a happily ever after with your childhood friend and sweetheart, choi jongho

#BLESS U AND UR BRAIN LOREN IM LITERALLY IN LOVE W U AND THIS!!#what is life meant for if not to read abt mafiateez #got me all dizzy and giggling bcs how is this simultaneously cute AND hot at the same time????#I CANT EVEN CHOOSE A FAVORITE I LOVE THEM ALL #the angst in yunho’s part though </3 loved that I FELT THE PAIN #it feels like IM the one who got shot in the shoulder damn #and wooyoung’s is just so cute omfg #CANT BELIEVE HE IMMEDIATELY SAID THAT HES IN THE MAFIA TO SOMEONE HE JUST MET #face palms #AND SEONGHWA !!!! IS JUST SO SUPER SWEET !!!! 😞 im devastated 😞 how could u 😞 (pls do it again)#and the plot twist in hongjooong’s part!! rawr #in conclusion: tysm for writing this it’s pure escapism and i loved every second of reading this <3 #ateez recs #ateez x reader

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

Note

hi hello how are u are u doing well im worried i hope u are eating well doing well mentally emotionally and physically

i kinda miss (ALOT ALOT ND I HOOE U ARENT DED PLS BE ALIVE I LOVE U COMEBACK HOME 😓😿)

ALSO I FUCKING CAME BAck HERE TO SCREAM ABT A GUY IN TUX FUVKING HELL WHY DO I MELT OVER A MAN IN A TUX 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

yes i was malfunctioning when i opened that snap like him trying on a black tux nd sent me a black nd white snap of him trying with all the cuff links 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

me the whole day after seeing him in tux 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 (same person who I complained abt blaming me abt not telling him to back off when he was flirting )

BUT WHY THE HELL MEN LOOK SO GOOD IN TUX

my frnds were LIKE CALM DOWN BITCH HE AINT BOYFRIEND I WAS 🙄🖕🥲LIKE LOOKING SO GOOD

kinda wanna yk wear a ball gown nd make my future bf wear a tux nd do a dance with him then loose my mind over how good he looks

like I WANT TO SEE CLOSE UP A MAN IN TUX (I want to 😭😭😭 why am I like this I do feel like I shld get a boyfriend these days but then I realize im listening to love songs too much these days nd those are the sideffects of it 💀)

TAKE CARE HAVE A GOOD DAY LOVE <3

HONEY, IM HOME!! <3

i’ve read ur previous asks and OMGMDKSNSJSJS THE TEA???? so exciting (also thanku sm for ur k/thai/cdramas I WILL BE WATCHING THEM SOOON <3) and ahhhhh i hope u passed all ur mock exams I HAVE FAITH IN U REN !! how was ur finals btw? :3

I MISSED U SM IM SO GLAD I GET TO HAVE MY NEEDED DOSE OF REN ENERGY AGAIN <3 i’ve been doing well!! life is just super life-ing rn and i hope u’re doing well both physically and emotionally as well and also!!! i hope u’re eating well and eating lots and lots of yummy desserts <3 (IM THANKFULLY NOT DEAD YET AND I LOVE U TOOOOOO MWAH MWAH)

OOOOOOF NOT THE GUY BEING THE SAME ONE U TALKED ABOUT HELPPPP AAAAA but damn..,,,. sometimes it really do be like that 😔 sigh,,, most hot men are assholes ngl UR FRIENDS ARE SO FUNNY THOUGH??-??? HAHSHSHHSHAHA

omg a ball gown and dancing in a ballroom sounds so fun tbh I WANNA DO THAT TOOOOO AAA especially bcs i didn’t have prom in hs bcs of covid </3 the world is unfair !! >:-(

giiiirrrlll frrrrr DID U SEE ATEEZ IN THE AMERICAN MORNING SHOW THING??? THEY WERE WEARING SUITS AND imagine seeing that irl 😵‍💫 i’d run the other way actlly bcs i’d be too nervous (IM CRYINGG nah but yeah that happens </3 listening to love songs makes u want to be in a relationship so bad but when u look at the choices u have, u just kinda go… hM.. bcs men suck 😭)

I LOVEEE UUUU SM I HOPE U’RE HAVING A GREAT DAY AS WELLLLL <3 forehead kisses mwah mwah

#answered #the loml!!!!!!#diorwoo #<3

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

Note

LIZ IM SICK ND TIRED OF PPL

i read ur other ask and i have a lot of some THOUGHTS

1) IM ALSO SO HAPPY THAT U DIDNT GIVE UP IN PREPARING FOR UR MOCK EXAM LIKE I AM SO PROUD OF U LET ME JUST KISS U ON THE FOREHEAD!! frr like trying not to give up is so hard to do so im rlly glad that u got thru that and that u did well on the exam :’-) I AM SO SO PROUD OF U I JUST KNOW THE RESULTS ARE GONNA BE GREAT I HAVE FAITH IN U <3

2) goodluck on ur final exams!!!!! i hope u had a good break on ur 15 days of study holiday + prepared well for ur exams!! sending u all my love and all the four leaf clovers i can find to manifest good luck on top of ur sexy brain 🍀🍀

3) INTROVERT SCORPIO????? are u hongjoong in disguise 🤨 but anyw LMAOO FR LIKE WHENEVER IM WITH MY FRIENDS I CURSE LIKE 14 YEAR OLD BOY TRYING TO ACT COOL (translation: i curse a lot) SO ABHSHSHSAHA U NEED TO TEACH ME UR WAYS!! but fr so happy for u that u get a break from exhausting toxic ppl during the holiday <3

4) WHAT IS THIS GUY DOING HE BETTER SQUARE UP BCS I CAN FIGHT POW POW 💥🥊 nah but fr one of my friends told me that guys won’t be friends with a girl unless they find her attractive and i was like LMAOO WHAT AHAHAHaha Haahaha.. aha… nthen i kinda realized that she’s 100% right :-/ men aint SHIT but anyw U CAN LITERALLY TREAT UR GUY FRIENDS SUPER PLATONICALLY LIKE STRICTLY PLATONIC FRIEND ZONE BEHAVIOR TYPE OF SHIT N THEY’D STILL BE LIKE oh so u’d wanna date me huh LIKE ??????????? get ur head out of ur ass

5) i hate false/misleading gossip w a passion bcs i’ve been a victim of it wayy too many times so hearing what u said makes me so MAD like ppl should mind their own business fr what. like i love silly little gossips i can giggle about but yeah it really sucks when u’re the one at the wrong edge of the sword i do not recommend nu uh mhm sucks big time

6) recommend me some kdramas pls

7) HES BLAMING U????? oh hell no HE HAS TO GO!!!! n btw u are not at fault at all for reaching out to him BCS U WOULDNT KNOW THAT HE’D START FLIRTING WITH U???? 💀 bro is kinda pathetic ngl. and yeah i do get that part abt wanting genuine male friends who only see u as a friend and like. i genuinely cant find any in my campus. i can only rely on my highschool guy friends to pull through but 95% of them study abroad so that sucks 😔

8) oooh yikes i dont like ppl who bash about their own friends :( that rlly sucks ugh ditch her!! and also hm i cant really tell who is it that snitched the gossip to the asshole BUT KEEP AN EYE ON BOTH OF THEM 😡 also its a good thing they unfollowed u bcs u R BETTER OFF WITHOUT THEM <3

9) again, PROUD OF U FOR UR MOCK EXAMS AND I WISH U THE BEST OF LUCK FOR UR FINALS <3 ILY i hope ur mental peace wont hv to be ruined for u to get a degree 😭

10) honestly i have like 4 insta accounts all for different reasons (i need help ik) and i used to be so active but it just gets so tiring tht im honestly never on insta anymore. like i just repost my friend’s stories whenever they tag me lmao 😭😭😭😭 but yeah it feels nice to not be all up on ppl’s business all the time i feel u

11) IM STILL HAPPY U DID UR MOCK EXAM SO WELL‼️ DONT LET THAT SENIOR GUY GET TO U!!! keep ur head up ren ily goodluck on ur final exam and keeping ur mental peace intact <3

#answered #diorwoo

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

Text

Inked By Fate - THREE

↬ pairing/s: park seonghwa x fem!reader, choi san x fem!reader ↬ genre: soulmate!au, racers!ateez, rivalry, angst, romance, fluff, pining ↬warning/s: profanities, alcohol use, illegal racing ↬wc: 3.9k

*reblogs and feedbacks are much appreciated!

・・・・・★

What made you want to go on a late night drive with a guy you just met today?

You don't know, but it felt like the best thing to do. It felt right.

You looked at the window, getting lost in the beauty of the moon-lit city as San drove at a certain speed.

San had driven the two of you out of the underground and past the expensive club, now you're on a road that led you further away from the buzzing city.

Just a plain cemented road, no other cars in sight. Somehow, it gave you a sense of tranquility.

"We're here." San announced and went out first. Then he opens the car door for you.

When you walked out, you noticed San had brought you to a viewing point. The place was high and flat enough to give you a picturesque overlook of the city and its night view.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He comments, and when you look back, he was leaning on the hood of his car, so you went beside him and copied his posture.

"Yes, yes it is." You let out a good-natured sigh.

Without thinking much, you ask the question that's been bugging you since earlier.

"Why take me out, San?"

"Why accept my offer when you could've refused?"

You scoff when San answers your question with another.

"Why? Do you regret it now?" He asks after a brief moment of nothing but the chirping of the crickets.

You chuckle, shaking your head. "No, absolutely not."

San stares at you for a few seconds before he lets his gaze wander around the city just below you.

"I don't know, it just felt like the right thing to do." He sighs, then the corner of his lips curls upwards into a smile.

You shake your head again, smiling lightly due to amusement.

The two of you stayed silent for a moment. Again, it wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest. Being with San here felt like you're just casually hanging out with a friend you've known for years.

"Is he...is he always like that?" You asked, out of the blue, leaving a confused looking San.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Seonghwa." You cleared your throat. "Is he always like that? Emotionless?" You bit your lip. You don't know why you're still not over Seonghwa's behavior earlier. It's like he was a mystery to you. Someone you want to unmask.

San laughs, much to your surprise. "Seonghwa hyung?"

"Wahh, I can't believe he still can capture a girl's attention despite him having his resting bitch face on." He adds, voice laced with amusement and disbelief.

Then, he turns to you. "Don't tell me, you like him?" San gasps dramatically. You hit him. "No! I was just curious...that's all."

San hums. "I can't answer your question, though. But if you so badly want to find out, why don't you talk to him?"

"I can't. Yeosang told me to stay clear from him, well from Inferno, generally."

San laughs, finding it funny. "So? It's not like Yeosang holds superiority over you, right? You're your own person."

Well, he's right. But…

"How about let's make a deal?"

At that, you quirk your eyebrows at him.

Deal?

"What deal?"

"If you go on more late night drives with me, I'll take you to our place so you could score a talk with Seonghwa hyung." He smirks.

"W-What makes you think I'd want to talk with that jerk?" You stutter, looking away.

"Jerk?" San wheezes. "Wow, you already have a nickname for him?"

You flush in embarrassment.

"Well, you did say you're curious about him, so I'm merely doing you a favor y'know? So what do you say?"

Something in you wants to say yes, immediately. But what would you even say if you get to face Seonghwa? What will he say if you randomly ask him, "Why are you such an emotionless jerk?" when you two aren't even close and he didn't even do anything to you, for you to reach that assumption?

In the first place, why are you even so bothered by him?

You're beginning to not understand yourself.

"Will Yeosang find out?" You ask, biting your lip.

"Nope, he won't. This all will be a secret between the two of us, I promise." He raises his right hand, his eyes bearing sincerity and assurance.

"Okay, it's a deal then."

"Nice. Let's head back, shall we?" San says, and you nod your head.

Then he opens the car door for you and turns to go to the driver's seat. And just like that, the black car roars back to life.

・・・・・★

When the two of you went back to the underground, San dropped you off near the comfort room to avoid getting looks from others and so to prevent your brother knowing that you just went out with the Choi San.

After that, you went back to the bleachers where your brother and Mingi were seated, lucky for you the race was still ongoing, which means you and San weren't out for that long.

So when Yeosang asks you what took you so long to use the comfort room, you just told him you got lost for a little bit.

Yeosang squints his eyes at you and is about to open his mouth, but then, Mingi from the side shakes him vigorously, pointing at the finish line as he shouts.

"Oh my god, look! Yunho won!"

And just like that, your head snaps to the front as you hear a buzzing sound, and surely you see Yunho's orange car being crowded with people.

Meanwhile, Yeosang behind you was in utter shock, "No way…"

"Yes way!" Mingi squeals as he finally stands from his seat, dragging Yeosang up with him. And now, they're clinging to each other, bouncing up and down.

Later on, the three of you went down when the crowd was clear.

"Congrats, Yunhooo!!" Mingi shouts, running to the other tall male and embracing him in a bone crushing hug.

"This calls for a celebration!" Yeosang cheers, joining them.

Then, you see Hongjoong going towards your mini circle. He stops beside you, saying, "Y'know it's still weird. Don't get me wrong but I'm truly happy Yunho won but...don't you think it's a bit skeptical for Park Seonghwa to have lost? After his straight wins?"

Your eyes widened, trying to process what the male just said.

Yeosang did say Seonghwa is the king of the tracks but… seriously? That guy hasn't lost once?

"It is weird, if you ask me." Yunho admits, his brows furrowed.

"Honestly, I don't give a fuck. All I just know is that he finally got a taste of a loss, heck his record isn't clean now and I'm beyond happy." Yeosang smirks, and Mingi was quick to second him.

"Still, one loss is better than five losses, Kang."

When you turn to your side, you flinch when you see Seonghwa. His all black figure was enough to make you intimidated, especially that he's so close.

But just like earlier, he doesn't bat an eye at you.

Instead, it was San who looked at you, smiling. You, of course, return the smile, discreetly.

"Speaking of the devil." Yeosang mutters quietly, but Seonghwa seemed to hear it as he let out a dark chuckle.

It gave you goosebumps. He gave you goosebumps.

"Anyway, congrats on winning tonight, Jeong." Seonghwa extends a hand and they both shake hands.

"Where's your other friend Wooyoung?" You whispered when you felt San subtly stop by your side.

"With his girls, of course." San replies, chuckling slowly. You nod, already understanding what he meant by that.

"Here." He whispers as he slides a paper in your hand. "It's my number." He adds, before he and Seonghwa walk away from the scene.

When you were already inside Yeosang's car, driving out of the underground, he asks, "So, do you still want to tag along with me the following nights?"

"You bet I will, Yeo." You say, smiling to yourself as you unfold the small paper San had left you with his number written on it neatly.

Funny how a late night drive with a guy you just met was enough to shift your attention to him, now all your flaming annoyances were washed out down the drain, forgotten.

・・・・・★

The loud music, the countless number of bodies dancing crazily to the beat of the music and the familiar strong smell of alcohol didn't make him stop in his tracks, turn around, and go back to his vehicle. Instead, it was enough to lull him deeper inside the place.

After a race night, most of the people decide to swarm in the expensive club and have a little bit of fun after stressing on betting their money to their favored contestant of the night.

And lucky for him, he's not one of those people, because he's at the receiving end. The one people bet on, the king of the tracks, who just happened to have had his first loss.

And he's here to drink to that.

"I'll have one Hemingway Daiquiri, please." His deep voice was enough to scare the bartender, which he immediately noticed was new. Just then another bartender slides into the scene, taking the former's place, brows furrowing.

"You scared him, hyung." The bartender says.

"Do I look like I care? I've got bigger problems to take care of, Jongho."

The bartender, Jongho, merely laughs and brushes some of his stray black locks out of his face.

"See? This is why people's first impression of you is a rude, cold-hearted jerk who only gives a fuck about racing, Seonghwa hyung."

"Again, do I look like I- you know what just give me that damn daiquiri please?" Seonghwa grumbles, face buried in his hands, trying his best to control his steaming anger and to not pour it out on the young bartender, who happens to be his friend.

"On it!" Jongho chirps, and just like that, he's out of sight, already doing his job.

But when Seonghwa thought he's finally got a sense of peace, oh boy was he wrong.

"Hyung, hyung, hyung, hyung!" Someone calls out amidst the noisy crowd, the voice all too familiar that Seonghwa just wanted life to end him then and there.

On second thought, certainly not. He still has yet to find his other half. Another reason why he lost the race tonight was because of his itching wrist. Which led him distracted all throughout the night, cause he knew what it had exactly meant.

His thoughts got cut off when the owner of the voice sat beside him, all bright and happy and of course - reeking of alcohol mixed with a woman's perfume.

"You wouldn't guess what happened to me hyung! So I met this girl-" But before the younger could even ramble on about his new fling, Seonghwa stops him.

"Woo, I don't care which girl you met this time, and I'm certainly not interested, okay? Good."

"Grumpy as always, no wonder why your handsome face is getting all wrinkly. Tch." Wooyoung scoffs, but Seonghwa was too tired to argue.

And as if Wooyoung's mouth was powered by a motor, never-ending until you shut it off, he continues.

"Ooh, where's Sannie by the way? Did you see him? Cause I did-"

"For heaven's sake, would you kindly shut that loud mouth of yours Jung Wooyoung?!" Seonghwa snaps, making some heads turn in their direction.

"Chill, man. Are you that affected by your loss? It's only one-"

"Hemingway Daiquiri for the King, is now ready." Jongho slides in smoothly despite the tension between the two racers, and Seonghwa is thankful for him for that, cause if not for the bartender, then who knows what he could've done to his chatterbox of a friend?

Taking the drink, Seonghwa takes his time to bask in the smell of it, letting his senses get lost in the drink itself. And by the time he drinks the daiquiri, he drowns the sound of the loud club music and his problems along with it.

"What's wrong with him?" Wooyoung whispers to Jongho.

"I don't know hyung. He's been like that since he entered, even scared one of the new recruits." At this info being relayed to him, Wooyoung grimaces.

"Oh, Sannie hyung is here." Jongho informs the latter. When Wooyoung does look back, he spots San coming towards them, the crowd making way for him as he spins his car keys smugly in his hand.

"Where have you been, mister?" Wooyoung asks the newcomer.

"Just out...thinking." San replies as he takes a seat beside the male, but then his head snaps to the side upon seeing their eldest hyung dead on the counter while still gripping on his half filled daiquiri.

"Is he okay? He's not like that just because of his loss, isn't he?" San inquires.

"I wish I knew." Wooyoung says. "But one thing I know is that he's extra grumpy tonight."

"I'll have the usual, Jongie." San smiles at the younger. After the bartender was out of sight, he gestured for Wooyoung to switch seats with him so he could talk to Seonghwa.

"Hyung, wake up." San shakes him. After some time, the elder groans and when he looks up he speaks in a slurred voice, "Oh, you're here."

"Do you want to talk it out hyung? You know I'm always ready to listen."

"No, I don't want to talk about it." Seonghwa replies stubbornly. San doesn't give up though, resulting in him giving in at the end.

"Go on, talk." San urges him while Wooyoung already disappeared somewhere in the sea of bodies on the dancefloor.

"I…" Seonghwa takes a deep breath. "I think my...soulmate and I crossed paths tonight." He looks longingly at his soulmate mark, which happened to itch for the first time after years of being engraved on his skin.

Seonghwa doesn't know which weighs in him more; the feeling of relief and happiness because he knows his soulmate is somewhere out there, closer than he thinks, or be angry and disappointed because his other half decides to show themselves just when his world has become a total mess.

Contrary to what he was feeling and thinking, beside him is Choi San with wide eyes, a hand over his mouth as he tries to hide the smile that's about to break out.

"No…way…" There was excitement in the latter's voice, but Seonghwa could only offer a tight-lipped smile, not really knowing what to feel.

All his life, Seonghwa truly yearned for his soulmate. But what good would it do both of them now when his life is nothing but built on lies and danger?

・・・・・★

You sat on the floor, with Jia braiding your hair as the two of you decided to spend the day lazily but cozily by having a marathon of barbie movies in your apartment.

"I remember I had a crush on King Dominic when I was a kid." You snicker, finding the memory ridiculous.

Jia snorts, saying, "Well, I can't blame the younger Y/N. For a child, Dominic is quite handsome."

The both of you laugh.

"Oh, did you...you know? Get another tattoo sprouting on your back?" Jia asks, and you're suddenly reminded of last night, where you had to bite one of your teddy bears because of the stinging pain.

"Yeah, no." You reply. Yeah, because you did get a new tattoo, and no, because it's not on your back this time.

"What do you mean? Is it a yes or is it a no?"

You don't answer her and just simply lower the collar of your shirt to the side, enough for her to see the not so small tattoo near the side of your collarbones.

"It's pretty, but do you know what it says?" Jia asks as she traces the tattoo with her delicate fingers.

You shake your head.

The tattoo was written in Japanese characters, and you have absolutely no idea what it meant. But the strokes are indeed pretty, light and minimalistic - very different from the bed of blossoming black-inked flowers on your back and other designs on your upper arm.

After that, you shift to make your body face the sofa and then you look up at Jia, asking, "How did it feel when you met Yeosang? The time when you both didn't know you were soulmates, how did it feel being around him?"

Jia groans, but you know that deep inside she's more than willing to go on a trip down the memory lane just to answer your questions.

"Well, uhm, how do I say this? There was this connection? That even if I didn't want anything to do with him, I found myself always drawn to him and then when-"

By now, Jia's words were all a blur, your mind going back to last night, before you experienced another pain from a blossoming tattoo, before Yeosang dropped you back home - back to the moment a certain black-haired male with the striking green streaks asked you if you wanted to go on a late night drive with him.

You know you felt it, the reason why you decided to come with him.

You felt the connection.

You were drawn to him.

Perhaps, could it be? Is he...?

The questions continued to bug you even in the next sunrise.

・・・・・★

That night, Yeosang picks you up, all dressed up in his usual black leather jacket and dark jeans when you step inside his red car.

When he does take notice of your outfit he grins wide in mischief. "You're dressed much more than last night, my dear sister."

"And? It's none of your business." You deadpan, but that only spikes up Yeosang's interest and nosy ass more.

"Do tell me, is it one of my friends?" He faces you, hands off the steering wheel as he now has his arms crossed. "Cause I clearly told them not to hit on you, didn't I? So I expect that you-"

Suddenly, San's words from the other night appear at the back of your head.

So? It's not like Yeosang holds superiority over you, right? You're your own person.

It makes you question if Yeosang's solely doing this because of his protectiveness over you - you're starting to think otherwise. Surely Yeosang isn't using this as an opportunity to make you bend to his will just because of the fact that he's the only family you could rely on, right?

You hope so.

"Yeosang," You pause, making sure to stress his name. "I'm not hitting on one of your friends, I swear. It's not one of them." It's one of your rivals.

When your brother doesn't speak, you continue, "Now, could you just please drive? You wouldn't dare want to miss your own race, right? You said you still have to beat Jung Wooyoung's ass on the racetrack."

Yeosang scoffs, "You bet I will."

・・・・・★

Just like the other night, you settle with Yeosang's friends on the bleachers, wait a little bit for the race to start, then excuse yourself to the bathroom.

And just like that, you're inside Choi San's car, driving through the same route that will take you to the viewing point you last went to.

Though unlike the first ride, tonight was much more comfortable, San even let you plug your own phone to his car's speakers. And now you two are vibing to some songs you put in your 'night drive playlist' - a playlist you wanted to save for yourself the moment you get yourself a car - but it looks like San's car had stolen the privilege of your future car.

"The stars look more extra sparkly tonight." San sighs over a smile, his eyes gazing at the night sky above you two.

"Yes...they are." You say, also completely mesmerized by the heavenly bodies scattered all over the black canvas, the moon looking like a blurry light at the side because of the fogginess of the clouds.

"Very, breath-taking." San adds.

At that, you unknowingly turn your head to him, eyes locking at the side of his face.

What's with you, Choi San?

You thought, taking in his features. Okay, you're not gonna lie. San is probably one of the gorgeous guys you've ever laid your eyes on. His cat-like eyes, his long lashes, high cheekbones, plump lips, sharp jawline-

"Y/N?"

Even his voice has its own softness for a lullaby.

"Kang Y/N?"

You immediately snap out of your daze, looking away and praying that San didn't notice the way you looked at him, how long you looked at him.

Oh, but you think he did know. He caught you, considering that you can feel the burning gaze of his on you. And when he's about to open his mouth, to say something, you don't let him.

"San." You say.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Have you…" You fiddled with your fingers, before you mustered the courage to look at him again. "Have you met your soulmate?"

San's eyes flickered with something, and you knew that he didn't expect that question coming.

"I..." San rubs the back of his neck, his mouth opens and then closes. Then one time he looks at you, and then back at the view in front, until he settles with a, "No. No, I haven't."

"How about you?" He asks back after a moment of silence. You simply shook your head, your hand caressing the mark you have on your wrist. San notices it as he too, looks at his own mark, touching it.

"You know what, fuck it. Y/N, can you touch my wrist?" San abruptly says, eyes dark but it kind of held a vulnerability in them, his tone somewhat pleading and pained.

"I- w-what?"

San doesn't repeat his words, instead, he just rolls up his leather jacket. Catching you off guard, he takes your hand in his and lets your finger touch his wrist, which you just realized by now is where his soulmate mark was engraved.

But instead of having the usual one letter tattoo, his' was different.

Y/N.

It had your name on it but you didn't know what and how to feel.

No burning sensation, no glow.

What the fuck does that mean?

San chuckles bitterly, as if having known it, having expected it.

That night when he asked you to go on a late night drive with him, that time when your knees gave up and he catches you - was also the time you accidentally touched his soulmate mark.

The one that started off as an initial until it became your name, the one that was engraved on his wrist since birth.

He felt the connection that night, but nothing happened.

And now he still feels the connection between the two of you, but it just drives him crazy because you touched that same mark tonight and yet nothing happened again.

Was fate and destiny toying with him?

Oh, how cruel of them.

Even when you ended up showing your soulmate mark to him, the one with the letter S, and made him touch it. Nothing happened, still.

That ends up with a fragile looking San laying on your lap, your hands brushing through his black hair.

It was silence as the male was spaced out in his own little bubble, but then he spoke up. Calling your name

"Y/N…"

"Hmm?"

"You...you'll stay with me until we figure this shit out right? My promise still lies; me not telling your brother about our rendezvous and scoring you a talk with Seonghwa hyung." San says in between sniffles, and you don't know whether it was because of the cold, or the fact that he had been secretly crying. Or maybe both.

But…

Seonghwa.

Oh right, you almost forgot about him.

The sudden mention of his name gave you a slight feeling creeping through your skin.

"Yeah, of course, San." You respond, only for the said boy, correcting you.

"Call me, Sannie!"

"Okay...Sannie." You say as you mindlessly rake your fingers through his hair, your mind drifting off to the tall man with the midnight black hair, clad in black from tip to bottom.

The King of the tracks.

The emotionless jerk.

Your flaming annoyance ignites inside of you again.

・・・・・★

taglist: @rockstarsanie @purple-bell @huachengsbestie01 @ellelabelle @annacroft23114 @http-gyu @bluehwale-main @sangiluvem @babyhailey819 @0rangemilk @kmecrazyfor @sallymurda @oahubliss @jxhnnyfav @mingiswow @linoluvr4eva @n18i81

(pink ones are those who i can't seem to tag :(( ; taglist is still open so just feel free to send an ask or message me)

↬ IBF MASTERLIST ↬ ATEEZ MASTERLIST

#elle. excuse me. what did u just do.#noooonononono ononon #i feel it coming #THE SECOND LEAD SYNDROME #NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO #who am i what am i omfg #DUDE???????????#WHYD U HAVE TO DO THAT TO HIM‼️#im gonna cry ㅠㅠ is he like a fault in the system or smth omg no thats breaking my heart </3 #SANNIE U DONT DESERVE THIS #AND THE FACT THAT HE’LL STILL TRY TO GET HER WITH SEONGHWA OFMDMNS </3 do u hear my heart breaking #elle im going to therapy for this n im charging the bills on u 🫵#IM NOT READY #NO #okay listen hwa is super hot but san is such a sweetheart n im a sucker for second leads soooo #TEAM SAN ALL THE WAY #ateez recs #san x reader #seonghwa x reader

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

Text

tysm for the tag elle @dairyminki <3 ily

me 75% of the time lately bcs i get dehydrated sO often n hv to stay at home bcs i’d get sick 😐 (stay hydrated everyone!!)

tagging. anyone who wants to join in! <3

PICREW TAG GAME

RULES: fill out this picrew!

this is so cute 😭

TAGGING: @dreamescapeswriting @crowhyun @noramoons @sulfurcosmos @decembermoonskz @hyucks-rose @strawberryya @penny-quinn @redsaurrce @tyungun + anyone else who wants to do it 🤍

#tag games

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

Text

dynamic

Genre: soulmate!au, strangers-to-lovers, crack, maybe a bit suggestive but not really?, floofy floof

Word count: 2.1k

Pairing: rockstar!Wooyoung x fem!reader

Warnings: mentions of pain and some broken bones, mentions of a funeral but nothing explicit (related to Seonghwa's story Memento Mori), mentions of crying, swear words, Wooyoung has some other piercings that he has irl, pet names, a kiss, possible grammar mistakes

Taglist: @shakalakaboomboo, @pocketjoong-reads, @nebulousbrainsoup, @justhere4kpop, @bluehwale, @bluisheye93, @ssaboala, @i-luvsang, @ad0rechuu

Networks: @cromernet 🤍

The music echoing through the loud speakers was suddenly replaced by your muffled breaths, a frustrated sigh escaping your lips as you kept messing up the same step for the nth time that day. You groaned in annoyance when your friend blamed it on the pain of your overworked limbs; yet, you signaled him to shut up, starting the music once again and trying to concentrate as much as you could before everything you crafted came crashing down—cause this scene happened exactly two minutes before the disaster.

Wooyoung was helping his bandmate, Hongjoong, upload some announcements on the internet as they temporarily needed a lead vocalist who could replace Seonghwa on their tour. Due to the loss of his soulmate, all he wanted was to stay back from fans and fame for a bit, and they were all willing to give him a well-deserved break and wait for him.

"You know you can still call me whenever you need help, right, guys?" Seonghwa asked on the other side of the phone, voice low and raspy due to all the crying he'd been through.

Hongjoong smiled and nodded, wishing nothing more than to be close to his friend and show his support in this hard period. Attending a funeral would never be easy, especially when it’s your soulmate’s, your other half’s grave you're crying on; so he just wanted to show love to his friend.

“Yeah, Seonghwa, just relax. It will be alri—’’

“OUCH! MY FUCKING HAND!” a sharp scream was heard, followed by another one: “It hurts, I can’t feel my hand, ouch!”

“Woo?”

“Soulmate, I fucking adore you but, holy crap!”

Hongjoong looked worriedly at Wooyoung, hanging up the phone as Wooyoung continuously hissed in pain. Among the eight rockstars, Wooyoung was the most excited to meet his soulmate—despite the pain he had to go through. Thus, he was convinced it wasn't one-sided; Wooyoung was clumsy and made you suffer a bit as well, and after all, where would the fun be in having such a bond, if not in teasing each other about the places you've hit yourself? Wooyoung endured all this pain for the sake of your tied souls, the pain that wore his soulmate's face, so he was taking it like a champ—not today, though.

“Does it hurt that bad? Do you need to go to the hospital? You have quite a low pain tolerance, maybe it’s too muc-’’

“Shut up and just take me to the hospital!”

Hongjoong took a long breath and shut his eyes, allowing Wooyoung to talk to him like that only this time. It’s safe to say that it was a hell of a day for both of you; all you wanted was to prepare the perfect choreography for the opening of Guerrillas’ concert, yet everything seemed compromised now. You were on the way to the hospital and you were sure you had some broken bones, crying not only for you but for your soulmate too, knowing how hurtful that must have been. Minho was nagging at how he told you that it was too much, but as soon as he saw the tears on your cheeks, he stopped.

“Y/n, you will be fine… I’m by your side.” Minho, better known as Lee Know, your friend and partner for over ten years sighed, rubbing your back to soothe you a bit.

You tried to take deep breaths, being used to this kind of pain, but more likely overwhelmed due to the wrong time this happened. As soon as you reached the hospital, your friend helped you get out of the car and followed you inside, asking for a doctor who could see you soon. At the same time, Hongjoong made it to the hospital too, carrying his extra whiny friend as he didn’t seem to shut up about his condition.

“I’ll get you both an X-ray, prepare. I will need to cut your shirt so that I can have access to your hand, okay?” the doctor professionally said, until you heard some protests from an emo guy.

“My mesh shirt? No, doctor, sorry but you are not cutting this.”

“Wooyoung, let her do her job.” Joong sighed, rubbing his temples as the younger one was giving him a headache.

“No, no! No one is touching my outfit, I put a lot of effort into it!”

Already losing his patience regarding Wooyoung’s antics, Hongjoong nudged his nape slightly in order to make him shut up—yet Wooyoung didn’t seem to be the only one affected.

“Ouch!” you said in unison.

Your eyes widened and you looked immediately around you, in search of the voice that echoed your scream, realizing that besides your friend, the emo guy, his friend, and the doctor, the room was empty. You stared at the shiny, silver jewels that adorned the long-haired guy’s ears, your eyes unconsciously roaming on his eyebrow piercing, then slowly, on his handsome features. His hair was tied in a messy ponytail, and you were completely out of it; was he really your soulmate? You must have been daydreaming for a while, because you felt Minho’s fingers pinching you, and when you flinched in pain, the guy copied your reaction—he had to be your soulmate. You opened your eyes to see him standing next to you, an overly excited wave coming from his healthy hand.

“Hey, I think we’re soulmates!” he exclaimed, a big smile stretching his lips as he talked again: “You have no idea how excited I was to meet you, despite the pain you caused me. I learned to love you with all of it.”

You smiled softly, reciprocating the feeling; the soulmate bond has always been a special thing for you, so now, with your soulmate beside you, you couldn’t help but show it to the world. Soul ties have fascinated you since you were just a little girl; something about having your own half, someone you could call yours forever, made you shiver with excitement.

“I’m happy to meet you as well, emo guy.”

Hongjoong smiled softly at the sight of his friend, an arm on his shoulder as he played with his hair softly: “Wooyoung is quite a special human, he is more than the emo guy he wants to be perceived as; he has a lot of love to give you.”

You nodded at his friend’s words, Woo’s hand touching yours before the doctor came back, taking you to the place where you would be examined.

“Seems like you two have a broken arm,” the doctor said, writing something down before talking again: “you should take some rest and medication, for at least a few weeks.”

“I won’t be able to play the guitar for that much time? Holy crap, what would you guys do without your dear bassist?”

"So we need to replace both Seonghwa and you now, amazing." Hongjoong said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the younger one who was sticking his tongue at him.

The familiar names seemed to make more sense now, as you opened your mouth to speak.

“Don’t tell me… are you guys members of Guerrillas?” the words left your mouth as your soulmate smirked, nodding.

“See, Joong? She’s a woman of culture.”

“No way, I was supposed to dance at the opening of your concert!”

You saw the shocked look on their faces; they were surprised to have one of the best dancers at that moment, and the leader of a well-known dancing crew beside them.

“I guess I couldn’t get luckier, then.” Wooyoung whispered, hugging your shoulders with the other hand while you leaned into his touch.

Three months passed since you and Wooyoung first met, and this period was filled with nothing but happiness and news in your life. You have discovered that under the cold allure he loved to keep on stage, he was a lovely, sweet guy (although clingy). He was also surprised by how much you resembled each other, though, in the end, you were his other half. His heart had always craved your touch, your voice, you. And despite those around you who were judging you for going too fast, you two felt as if it was the right thing to do. For Wooyoung, his soulmate meant another reason to keep pushing through when life gets hard, it meant happiness, the sweet sensation of spiritual fulfillment. For you? Your soulmate meant dynamic. A constant development of your personas, learning and growing together. A necessary energy that tied your souls together—it was giving you life, just like the blood flowing through your veins. And there you were now, in your practice room, your body settled between his legs as he laid his chin on your shoulder, watching whatever you were scrolling on your phone when suddenly, an idea hit you.

“Should I show you the choreography that united us?” you chuckled, turning your head to see him better.

“I would love to. Teach me too!”

You smiled and got up, dragging him after you, in the middle of the floor. You started teaching him some of the easier moves in your choreography and watched as he followed along, though he seemed pretty much blinded by your beauty, and maybe, just maybe, a little lightbulb started to brighten his head with some amazing ideas too. He met the sight of his guitar, going to grab it as you looked at him.

“Woo?”

He just smirked, grabbing the guitar and attaching it to his torso with the help of its strap, then taking his phone and playing a rhythmic rock song, filling the speakers and your ears with a sweet melody. Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love was now serving as background music, while Wooyoung was working on strumming his guitar, fingers skillfully plucking the strings while he moved his head along to the music. You looked at him in awe, admiring how his hair fell into beautiful, raven waves on his face, the way the rings adorning his fingers shined with every movement of his hands, the way his body was swaying to the beat.

It didn't take you a lot to start moving to the music, eyes shining with passion and love as you found yourself freestyling something. Your arms and legs were swaying graciously, making you get carried away with this being the first time properly dancing since your hand healed. Your soulmate wore a cheeky grin on his face as he started to sing the lyrics, his fancy attitude flying around him as he mouthed the words.

"There goes my baby

She knows how to rock and roll

She drives me crazy"

His smile kept growing bigger and bigger with every step he was making toward you, finally approaching you and putting his guitar aside. He smiled and his hands found their way around your waist, your bodies swaying in unison (more like jumping as you were too immersed into the music), into your little soulful party. He pressed his forehead on yours, noses rubbing together, making you giggle softly. You two kept stepping and stepping until he had you pinned to the wall as his face got closer to yours, his warm breath on your neck. His soft lips captured yours, your hands finding their way into his hair as your tongues molded into a sweet, yet passionate kiss. It was lovely, exuding a sincere emotion, the pure love between you—that was until you softly hissed when you felt something cold against your lips, looking at Wooyoung with a raised eyebrow, to which he only smirked.

“Holy shit, do you have a tongue piercing?”

“Surprise, baby.”

You were face-timing your boyfriend while he was on tour, and the idea of cooking together popped into Wooyoung’s head. He was still upset that you had an event coming up right when he was touring (or at least that's what you told him, cause you had other plans), so there you were, trying your best to distract him from finding out more than needed.

“Hi, princess. We’re making waffles today.”

“Okay, chef.” you nodded, giggling at how advanced he was with his recipe, while you were only taking the ingredients out, in order to waste time.

“My love, you are soooo sloooowww.” he whined, intentionally dragging the words and looking at the camera while you moved away from the camera’s view. “Baby, a bit to the right, please? I can’t see you, can you move your phone a bit?”

He frowned when he noticed your sudden disappearance, looking around and noticing something off; you were definitely not home. What he expected to be your usual kitchen was replaced with some modern furniture, way too similar to the one in his hotel room.

“Babe? Your kitchen looks so damn similar to mine… Are you perhaps in the same hotel as me? Did you trick me?”

You smiled softly, knocking at the door and waiting for him to open it; without hesitation, he hung up the call and opened the door for you, catching you in his arms as you wrapped your legs around his waist, whispering a slow “Surprise, baby.”

#we love emo guy soulmate wooyoung <3 #esp with his TONGUE PIERCING.#TONGUE PIERCING.#n the way he went ‘surprise baby’ NDNDNDNSJSJ #it’s like u’re trying to kill me @ chip #but fr if i ever end up in the hospital n they’d have to CUT my outfit open i’d rather bolt out n go hone #*home #or like i’d rather strip naked istg NO ONES CUTTING MY CLOTHES‼️‼️ wooyoung’s so real for that #the ending is so adorable though <3 i love ur soulmate series n u <3 #thanku for existing <3 sorry i forgot tht this isn’t supposed to be a love letter to u 😵‍💫#ateez recs #wooyoung x reader

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

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★ MILKY WAY. ━━ (046) loser doesn’t even describe it

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NOTES. (the korean in the tweet means please btw) i cannot explain how excited i am for next chapter <33 anyway seulgi x hongjoong might be on par with yuna x swan (platonically!!!)

TAGLIST. @bunnystrm @seongwin @aestheticsluut @meginthebuilding27 @gaebestie @stopeatread @pr1ncessm1ng1 @persphonesorchid @se0nghwaswife @seonghwasslytherin @leeknowsnothing @alixnsuperstxr @bluehwale-main @miriamxsworld @tocupid @rieuvie @sunoo-bby @jcngh0-hq @dudufodd @nikisbf @mrowwww @end0rchans @qtdenks @mintgki @dear-dreamie @leo-seonghwa @legohwas @evilsailorsenshi @seonghwaddict @choichaeyiul @iw4milf @yunstarz @cvberidiot @tubatu-wari-wari @not2daym8 @jaehunnyy @brrrkdslek @whippedforbeomgyu @amara-mars

#HIS LOSER JUMPED OUT LMAOO I LOVE HIM SO MUCH #i am! i’m interested in you!#i can imagine him dying inside n holding back from smacking his phone to the ground fr 😭#guess he’s foaming at the mouth rn after getting called pretty boy 😭#BUT #me 🤝 joong #WE R ROOTING FOR SEONGHWA‼️‼️ EVERYONE ELSE BETTER MOVE ASIDE ‼️ BACK OFF 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨#ateez recs #ateez smau

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

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★ MILKY WAY. ━━ (045) love letters to lee hyori

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NOTES. if u don’t know who lee hyori is im disappointed, she boa level kpop royalty!!! but anyway what could hongjoong be planning 🤔

#WOOYOUNG IS SO FUCKING FUNNY I LOVE HIM MAN #should i start sending love letters to dilf kpop idols too #i want to be a sugar baby goo goo gaga #JONGHO DID MINGI SO DIRTY LMAOOOO #also seonghwa ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ #ZERO DONT DO THIS TO ME IM WEAK #DONT GIVE ME SAD SEONGHWA WITH USER ANGRYBIRDDUPE WITH TOOTHLESS AS HIS PFP #im so close to imploding #ateez recs #ateez smau

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

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[004] rating bff!ateez as presentations

pairing: ot8 x reader

genre: idol!ateez x non-idol!reader, platonic bffs, twitter smau, crack, fluff if you squint

c/w: swearing, mentions of bleach and euthanasia, choking (the kinky type)

a/n: don't mind me just tweaking something about the formatting every time i release a new part of this smau bc im an indecisive clown who likes to make problems out of nothing ☝️🤡 also i love when the number of images is a multiple of three bc then they all align up cleanly

part: 003 | 005 | mlist

taglist: @bluehwale-main @thecarnivaloflies @miriamxsworld @shakalakaboomboo (lmk if you want to be added)

#no omg the way i cackled at all of these #ESPECIALLY YOUTH IN ASIA HENDHSBDNDNSJSJNDJDNSJS #YEOSANG WOULD DEFINITELY DO THAT HELP #damn i can’t stop laughing 😭 yOUTH IN ASIA #also…. that edit of san as shrek will forever haunt me #thanks a lot loren </3 gonna have NIGHTMARES now #and hongjoong as fiona LMAOOO 😭#THAT SAN RUNNING WITH SHREK MEME IS MY FAVORITE LEGIT SHSBHSHSHS #wooyoungie panty!jongho is the cutest i love him #agreeing w san bcs pineapples on pizza is ILLEGAL #and mint choco as well #boo👎#the rock formation 😭😭😭😭 JONGHOOO LMAO so accurate #also yunho simping for shrek is 100% canon #i loved these sm as always <3 #YOUTH IN ASIA AHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA sorry im done now #ateez recs #ateez smau

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

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tysm for the tag nadia @justhere4kpop !! u’re the cutest ily <3

i obv don’t look like an angel irl but this picrew is so pretty 🥺 — picrew link here

tagging. @ad0rechuu @seonghwaddict @lightinythedark @eightmakesonebraincell @a1sh1teruu (no pressure <3) + anyone else who wants to do this!!

love playing picrew 🥺🥺🤍🤍🤍

tagging: @daintydongyoung @justwritedreams @neowinestainedress @onyourhyuck @papergirllife i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i did 🤍🤍🤍

#tag games

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bluehwale-main · 9 months

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THE CUTEST CATBOY SLASH DEMON SEONGHWA AU EVER.

Cat named Mars (catboy!hwa hcs)

(masterlist) (perma-taglist)

😻 pairing: catboy!seonghwa x gn!reader 😻 genre: headcanons, fluff, crack, demon? to cat? to roommate? to lover? 😻 summary: the longest bulletpoints about what it would be like to have catboy!hwa as your bf - the whole story 😻 wordcount: 4.5k 😻 warnings/tags: editing? who is she, unhinged crack part nyah, catboy!hwa, cute catboy!hwa, soft and polite catboy!hwa- okay i will stop |, language, food/eating, mention of others not treating animals well, sweater paws, mention of adorable nerdy hobbies, domestic, cuddle, a surprise about how hwa ended up being a cat in the first place, both past and present tense used, mainly lowercase 😻 taglist: at the bottom of the fic~ 😻 a/n: let me drift in the soft and fluffy catboy!hwa lands until waterbomb strikes, for my own healing; my braincells are out of service but i hope you enjoy <3 all reblogs, thoughts and notes appreciated! big hugs!

once upon a time he was a cat

there was never a moment to think about anything except work, and maybe about groceries and bills (but even those things normally hit you at two o'clock in the morning, leading you to check your phone and make make amendments to your schedule in a panicked state). there was never any room for a cat. until there was.

of course there just had to be an adorable kitty, at most maybe a couple of years old, lean and with jet black fur that was surprisingly shiny for an abandoned cat, sitting square in the middle of a cardboard box on the side of the street that formed a part of your regular path and commute to and from work. in the morning, you had locked eyes with the cat, heart bleeding and hurting for the poor creature but secretly hoping that someone else would take it - you couldn't take care of it, could you? in the evening, you were huffing and puffing with the cardboard box in your hands and the cat happily meowing, its tail stretched out upwards into a chimney pipe, slightly tilted to the side at the very end. you read somewhere that it meant the cat was happy, so you were going to take that as a good sign.

sat on the floor at the entrance to your apartment, you eyed the beautiful creature as it kept on purring and trying to hop out of the box and towards you, while you were insistent on keeping it in, lifting a cardboard flap repeatedly in an effort to prevent it from jumping. so. now you had a cat. there was nothing in the box, and on the outside, in horrific scrawl was a message suggesting whoever took the kitty either "kept him, or throw him away, whatever". non-humans. "that's who your previous owners were, right kitty?" you mumbled to no one in particular, but it seemed that the cat picked up on your speech and inched closer to you, ears moving like disks to pick up signals. "so you are a he, yeah?" a meow. so you were right. at least the beasts from this cat's past got one thing right. "do you have a name? actually… you know what do you want a… new name?" you were fast on the attachment scale, you realised. it had been barely a few minutes and you were already trying to name the cat who you had not even checked for diseases, nor had any basic facilities to take care of him. but he was more than excited by the prospect, and mewled in what sounded like gratitude. you began to list off names, eventually boring the kitty, and he started to falter in his enthusiasm. all until one name rang a bell.

"Mars?"

and that was how you ended up with a black cat named Mars.

by the power of actually having to shake paws with a cat, and you promising to get him quality snacks, you managed to get Mars checked at the vet who confirmed everything was fine, and was equally as amazed as you that he was so well groomed and neat. while you knew you did not have much of a right to do this, your inner pride still swelled and, to yourself, you said that 'yes, my Mars is really neat and handsome'.

you took to addressing Mars as 'your handsome boy' and that seemed to wake him up and get him speeding towards you faster than anything else could. also 'the prettiest star' and 'my universe' and 'marvellous Mars' all worked wonders.

at the same time, he was shy, as if he did not want to disturb you with his antics. always tip-toeing around you as silently as a cat could (which was very silent, to the point where he jumpscared you a couple of times but that is okay because excuse me did you see his precious face????) and never taking up much space, even though… hello? Mars? you are a cat?? he would rarely ever hop on any surfaces unless you explicitly told him to do so - this had left you convinced that your cat was well-versed in human-speak. he never meowed for food until you had told him to vocalise and tell you if he was very hungry, and gave him a rundown of his eating schedule and how it was important that he drank water. he was the politest cat you had ever met, while at the same time his timidness made you wonder if you were in any way intimidating. not once did Mars ever enter your bedroom, even though you left the door wide open for him, preferring to crash on the couch or on the floor of some other room. the first couple of times you joked about it saying "are you scared you'll see something, Marsy?" but when your cat actually looked away and hunched over, you were convinced that you hit the nail on the head, and that you were probably either hallucinating or were slowly turning into Doctor Dolittle.

but you were persistent. and insistent. and you took the little blanket with kuromi decor on it from him (yes this was that extreme of a situation) and put it at the edge of your bed. climbing in and covering yourself in the many layers, you looked at the terrified figure hovering at the entrance to the room, boba eyes as wide as saucers. he kept on looking at the blanket, then at you, then again at the blanket, then again at you, probably wondering if he could snatch the thing and make a run for it. you were on the verge of giving up at this point. sleepy, with work tomorrow, you were not about to engage in a whole war with your cat.

"you know what, if you want to stay, you can stay. i promise i will not hurt you, nor will i push you out. if you want to come closer, do. if you just want to take the blanket and leave, you can do that. your choice. i won't be hurt. i promise. you are already super brave and i love you either way. okay, Mars?" he did not respond, frozen in place. "my handsome boy?" his head twisted towards you. "precious?" a blink. another blink. one paw in front of the other. "are you actua- wow! I am so proud of you my baby! my brave boy!" you were cooing praises at him like there was nothing else in the world that existed as soon as he hopped onto the bed, foregoing the blanket and making a beeline towards your face, as though that was his read source of comfort. he was afraid to look away, focusing on your every expression as you patted his head and let him nuzzle into you. "you are so so brave, you know that? i know this is hard, so if at any point you want to leave, you can, okay?" purring louder than a powerdrill was the response you received. along with kitty cuddles through the whole night. because apparently, your cat was a koala all along.

and even in his cuddles he was gentle. you did not think you had ever seen him use his claws… ever. except maybe on a few toys but as soon as you were in sight poof gone, soft Mars activated. he was like your personal heater, careful to wrap himself closer to you not to push you out, but to instead complete whatever curled up position you were lying in. if you were stretched out to the side, he would find a place. if you were in a ball? he would find a place again. if you were lying down straight for whatever reason? give him a couple of nights to get comfortable, and now you had the ultimate cat comforter either on you, or around your head. and yes, you were blessed with a cat who barely shed, somehow. some of your friends who had cats almost cursed you when they found out, but you only smiled, looking at your lockscreen. nowadays, even during the workday you were thinking of Mars at least a little bit.

maybe you were spoiling him a little bit, but it was too adorable to see him watching you play legend of zelda or animal crossing on your nintendo switch. and when he saw that you got a gift from a friend in the form of a lego set? well. you were literally afraid to open the box because of how hyper your cat got - perhaps not today…

you fell into the most pleasant routines with Mars, from waking up and going to bed together, to eating breakfast and then 'parting ways' for you to attend to human business and him to his 'cat business'. it was cute. it made your head sing. you were happier than you had ever been. all thanks to that one random day. one random box. and one black haired kitty who radiated sunshine.

it was the eve of the one year anniversary of you being the proud owner of, or how you preferred to say it, the best friend of 'L/n Mars', and you were as sure as his ears were pointy in wanting to go all out with your celebration - minus the guests (because the last time you had invited a male friend of yours over your cat turned into a whole other creature and then sulked for at least three days until you took a day off work and called it 'Mars day', but you just assumed it was some territorial thing). you had set up little themed decorations, found a cute little headband with the number '1' that is suitable and safe for a cat and would not hurt his head, got a matching, human-sized one for yourself, made a whole dinner for your favourite kitty from scratch - the ingredients all checked with the vet who you now casually called by first name because you did not dare ever give Mars anything that might harm him and would rather panic call the doctor.

you were sat at the coffee table, so that it would be easier for Mars to reach the food (you set pillows on the floor for extra comfort, for which he thanked you with a loud meow), and had your respective mini-cakes set out in front of either of you. you had given up on making him ever eat kitty food - another peculiar quirk of your cat, so the 'cake', which was more a protein gift than anything, was fully home made. but Mars was happy. more than happy. if cats could smile, that was exactly what he was doing, right at you, squinting his eyes, threatening to hop over the table. you told him to wait, and quietly whispered your gratitude to him. much to your delight, he waited and listened, clinging onto every word.

"you know, i really think you are an angel. before you i was quite… how do i say this… life was just passing by. and now i look forward to it. and to be able to see you every day, to have fun days with you, to talk with you… all of that brings me so much joy and i hope that i can make you at least a little bit happy too. i wish you could tell me what you want, of course, but i really do think you know what i am thinking, what i am saying. and i hope that i am right in saying that i can understand you a bit too. you really are the smartest, most precious Mars. light of my life. i love you so much, my gorgeous, and here is to many years more, cheers~" you clinked your glass with orange juice with his water bowl, and giggled when he took a couple of neat laps to match with your gulps, only to lick his lips and hop off the pillows and go under the table.

in a matter of seconds, he reappeared at your side of the table, and poked at your lap with his paw, looking up at you with his bead-like eyes that seemed to contain the whole universe in them. you pat him between his ears, scratched under his chin, delighting him, and then stretched out your legs, gesturing towards your legs to signify that lap-napping season was open. Mars did not need to be told twice, and soon enough you had a black cat curled up on your lap, purring away, mewling a couple of times when you started eating to remind you that he was hungry too.

"so you want me to feed you now, too? aren't you cheeky-"

as if you could refuse him. you would be lying if you said you could. so there you were, on the floor and feeding Mars, quiet music playing from your phone, not quite sure if you could be any happier.

"i love you."

quite the contrast to what happened the next morning.

suddenly he is a catboy

when you wake up, Mars is nowhere in sight, and even when you call him, to which he would reply with at least a meow, you are only met with silence. you are alarmed, but wait in bed for just a little longer to see if Mars would come to you. nothing. you call again, 'pspspsps' him, all to no avail. only the breeze and the birds outside, along with inexplicable rustling from another room in your apartment. you raise an eyebrow and prop yourself up on your elbows. more rustling. a door opening, which sounds like the closet where you kept your warmer clothes. what is going on? another door closing. footsteps? you are on high alert. grabbing your phone and the light saber model which you had made a while back and kept safe by your bed, as it turned out exactly for this kind of moment, you head out to face whatever, or whoever is the source of the sound.

you are stealth itself, rounding the corner with weapon in hand, ready to face the attacker - or so you thought. until you come face to face with the tall, young man dressed head to toe in your clothing, namely a tracksuit that you had accidentally gotten in the wrong size and then somehow ended up being refunded for without returning the item, and a beanie that he had pulled over his head. spikes of jet black hair are poking from under the hat in all directions, and his deep brown eyes are widened in shock as he freezes on the spot and stares back at you.

"so, what the hell are you doing in my clothes?"

"y/n- i-"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?"

"i can explain-"

"nope do NOT get closer what-"

"Mars…. i…. it's me… your uh… cat."

"what?"

he looks embarrassed beyond belief, and crumbles to the floor, sliding until his back is against the wardrobe. wrapping his arms around his knees, he is scared to look up at you, worried that you would never recognise him, never accept him. this is exactly what he has been dreading all this time, and was heartbroken when the curse was finally broken, despite him technically being free now. he does not want to be away from you. this is his home. you are his home. you are the one who showed him true love.

"if it is okay… may i take this beanie off for a second?"

"i didn't even let you put it on in the first place," he winces. you feel a little bad, but hold your ground. his eyes sparkle in a way that is a little too familiar, reminding you of a certain someone. the cat who he mentioned. your precious cat. Mars.

"okay… here goes…" he slides the material off, making you gasp. hidden under the beanie is a pair of cat ears, fluffy, the same colour as his hair, and twitching as he adjusts after having flattened them to minimise their visibility.

"yo what."

"i have… a tail too."

"WHAT?"

he is not joking. a black tail to go with the black ears, sliding out from under the oversized hoodie. you are not sure what happened next, but you wake up on the sofa with the man, who you are now guessing is some human cat hybrid version of Mars fanning you with a magazine.

"I AM SORRY, Y/N PLEASE WAKE UP I AM SO- oh you are awake thank goodness i missed you i am really so sorry…" he drops the magazine almost instantly, leaning towards you and wrapping you in a warm embrace, much to your surprise. you yelp, but the softness, as well as his ears moving in the cutest way while he hugs you make you accept the gesture, and return it.

you never thought you would hear a grown man purr exactly like a cat, but here you are. well, you never thought you would have a catboy in your apartment either, but this is already happening so...

"so, Mars?"

"yeah?"

"you have some explaining to do."

after what turned out to be at least two hours of you and him going back and forth about what had unfolded and what was the history of the young catboy's state, you find out that, in reality, his name is Park Seonghwa, and that he is a demon, of all things. that is right, a demon. set out to curse and haunt and spread sin. but no, he is cast out of hell because he is too kind and soft. and so he had been cursed to be a cat, until for a full year, someone could give him their whole heart, their full love. while he explains this to you with a fondness unlike anything you had ever seen before in your life (except in what you perceived from cat Mars's eyes), you begin to blush, realising that all this time, you were talking to and confessing to him. Seonghwa. this handsome man who was always by your side and-

oh. and he was sleeping in the same bed as you. just great. you flush an even deeper shade and cover your face. and he had been jealous, not territorial, when your friend had come over.

"are you okay?"

"so okay."

"hug?"

"i, uh-"

"you give really good hugs."

"Park Seonghwa do you really want to make me suffer?"

"I AM SO SORRY ARE YOU HURT? DID I SAY SOMETHING WRONG I AM SO SORRY?!"

"no you are too cute. come here"

catboy!hwa headcanons

is initially cautious because well… you got used to him being a cat and now suddenly you have a whole man with cat ears and a tail walking around your house. he catches on to the fact that you are kind of shy around him too, but he does not push it, at least not straight away.

because that would mean that he has to get over his own shyness towards you extra quickly, and that proves to be difficult when it hits him that, well, he is now a person too, and you are a person, and he fell in love with you, and you told him you loved him before - on occasion he just walks around blushing with his ears pressed flat to his head but don't point it out he is already struggling ;~;

you might have to be the one to initiate the contact again because he is literally too scared to overstep anything and everything - even when you bought him his own first few sets of clothes as a 'human edition anniversary gift'. you approach him to give him a hug and he groups up as if he is about to dive into a pool, hands to his chest, eyes wide. but is he moving anywhere? no. does his purring give him away? yes. after that the two of you gently reintroduce physical touch and it makes you realise just how much you miss Mars, particularly because Seonghwa is still a little distant for understandable reasons. But you both are trying your best.

if you massage his head and scratch behind his hears he will melt - his favourite thing in the world is having his head rest on your lap with his eyes closed while you ruffle his hair really slowly and run your fingers through it.

desperately misses the times when you would call him handsome and pretty and smart, and every single affectionate word in the universe so he tries his damn hardest to get you to do that again, first by trying to be nice and helping you around the house, and when the results are not to his satisfaction and when cuddle sessions are pretty much the norm, but words of affection aren't… he pouts and openly asks you why you don't call him that anymore. you squeak the words out but the reaction makes every next attempt easier than anything.

he is scared to approach your room again, though, and this time you say nothing because well, this is a whole other territory. a couple of months pass before you consider and that is because you find him sleeping on the floor a couple of times, curled up with is tail covering his face a little, and he said it was because "he is scared otherwise and here is safe". so you take out a futon for now, but he is more than happy with this progress.

he learns how to cook both from you and from tutorials online, and then starts remembering what he used to cook a long time before - you basically stop cooking altogether because now he is insistent on waking you up with breakfast, packing you lunch and greeting you with dinner. he sometimes gets a bit too experimental, but you do not mind it too much because at least he cleans everything up.

you think you can ignore the lego in the corner of your living room? no :) it is a date now. a lego building date. for four hours straight. on the floor. him running this ship like you run your team at work. and his focus, his professional approach to the matter is a little too attractive, you admit to yourself. and somewhere along the way that translates into you planting a kiss on Hwa's cheek. this is the only time over the whole four hours that he drops the pieces he is holding in his hands, gazing at you, not quite sure if what he felt just now was real or not.

but nope, judging by your attempts to avoid his gaze this was very real. so he gets real bold real quick and guess who finds themselves trapped by two tones arms on either side of you, back on the floor, a curious and mischievous face a mere inch away? that's right, you. wants to build a starship, accidentally builds a relationship along with it - a major win.

there isn't ever a platonic stage really. an extensive awkward stage? sure. a roommates-maybe stage? sure. two people who like each other? sure. and now, after many months of you settling into a new routine, two people who love each other and keep telling each other that.

he finds a job that he can do remotely, and in this way remains mainly at home and around the neighbourhood with his beloved hobbies and balancing you out. in this way he now starts to sneak support to pay bills and to buy you little gifts (as a little apology for taking your clothes sometimes - read often)

it is not Hwa's fault that he misses you very quickly. it just happens. then one thing leads to another and he is lying on your shared bed hugging a hoodie of yours. eventually that leads to him dragging a couple more items out of your wardrobe and making a little nest out of them - only then does his worry go down and he goes for a nap while curled up in a ball.

when he knows that you should be arriving soon he starts walking up to the window, then away then back to the window, and away again. cycle repeats itself until he can spot you from a distance, and then he just stays by the window.

he helps you redecorate and rearrange your apartment, considering that you now have a 5'10'' human cat instead of one you can hold with two hands, and shocks you with just how many details he remembers about you, down to allergies, what colours irritate you when it comes to interiors, what plants you had to give away to keep him 'in cat form' safe - even though yes, he would not eat them, but how were you to know that?

he remembers all your special days, and hopes you remember his, too. thankfully, he knows his own birthday and using cat mathematics, converted from demon to cat to human. and so, now you can celebrate him wholeheartedly, only this time that also involves you taking him to go have a picnic under the cherry blossoms.

you and Seonghwa go to pick out and buy him a phone together, and you spend a whole day teaching him how to use it. soon enough your own phone goes off with notifications from him. he sends you fun things throughout the day and if he is busy, he sends you a selfie or a heartfelt message.

likes to curl up and read poetry with you. doesn't matter if out loud of in silence. what matters to him is that you are close. and good luck trying to get away - he has a tail and it is wrapped around your leg like an alert system so that he can tackle you right back to the couch or the bed. because it is you and Seonghwa time.

occasionally sings you lullabies that he either overheard somewhere or remembers, breaking into a smile when you wriggle closer to him and fall asleep, stress melting away from your every feature.

overall you are now living with a catboy Hwa cast out of hell for being too nice, who also turned out to be a big nerd, with heart eyes for you, sweater paws instead of actual paws, the occasional feline habits still coming through (like him rubbing his face against your shoulder, or your own face, or him hissing when frustrated or threatened, or him having the widest stretch in the morning, or… actually he is still part cat so, you have to deal with it), and all the love to give. thankfully not in the form of something he hunted. he buys birds at a store now. meant to be cooked. human-friendly.

he brings you a limited edition starship instead. if you display it he will look at you like he is falling in love with you all over again - if that is even possible because that would mean stopping loving you now, and that is the one thing he cannot do <3

😻 taglist: @acciocriativity @justhere4kpop @byuntrash101 @shakalakaboomboo @starillusion13 @hongthoven @cqndiedcherries @uwuheeseungie @cheollipop @frankenstein852 @charreddonuts @miriamxsworld @mingigoo @michel-angelhoe @innsomniacshinestar @foxinnie8 @preciouswoozi @wooyoungjpg @nebulousbookshelf @wowie-hockey @hongjoongs-patience @ssaboala @jaehunnyy @kitten4sannie @maddkitt @pocketjoong-reads @lightinyreads @ren-junwrld @burnmepls @pyeonghongrie-main @archivesummer @little-angel-k @marsstarxhwa

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, please leave a kind reblog, much love!

#BAI STOP #this is the softest cutest thing ever omg #i can just imagine a tiny cute black cat with his boba eyes— oh look now im crying #AND HIS KUROMI BLANKET‼️‼️#sobbing rn bcs ofc he’d have a kuromi blanket :-(#AND SUDDENLY HE’S A DEMON CATBOY??:?!:#BANISHED OUT OF HELL BCS HE’S TOO GOOD STOOOP STOP STPOPSBBZJA #biting my fist rn that’s so seonghwa #and the legos and watching the reader play animal crossing 😭✋ peak devastation #tysm for blessing us with catboy!hwa #i miss him already </3 #ateez recs #seonghwa x reader

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