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pantoneyoongi · 11 months

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03. the roommate

title ; find room for me cast ; yoongi x you, ft bts, got7 word count ; 4.1k tags ; roommate!au, friends to lovers, it’s finally here!!, this is completely unedited i’m so sorry lol, just a whole lotta fluff tbh

description ; falling in love with your roommate wasn’t part of the fine print when you signed your lease.

masterlist | part one | part two

Every date you go on shifts a different feeling into Yoongi’s chest.

Look - Yoongi’s not great with feelings. He’s not good at dealing with them, not good at facing them, and not altogether that good at naming them, either. He just kinda does whatever seems right and usually things just sort of sort themselves out eventually.

But you’ve been going on dates at least once a week for coming up on two months now, and he’s starting to question the breath he always lets out whenever you come home and shake your head again, telling him it didn’t really go well. It’s probably not a good sign that he seems to like the fact that you can’t succeed on your dates, right?

Not that he really understands why. For a number of things, really. But there’s a limited set of mental questions he’s willing to address, and why he prefers your dates ending in failures isn’t high up on the list.

What he is willing to think about is why your dates fall through in the first place. Who wouldn’t like you? Why wouldn’t they, when you have that adorable laugh and pretty eyes that crinkle in the corners whenever you smile? Don’t they think it’s fascinating that you jump out of your skin at horror movies but they’re still your favorite genre to watch? Isn’t it utterly enchanting to watch you get entirely immersed in any story you tell, eyes sparkling so brightly that Yoongi can’t even look you in the face, but he’d listen to you for hours on end? Who in their right mind is missing out on charming their way into your heart?

He counts himself lucky that nobody has, yet.

He’s just not sure why.

It’s Taehyung’s turn to figure out dinner for your Friday night hang-outs. Normally he gets take-out, but this week he decided he wanted to give cooking a try, which means Yoongi is in the kitchen making sure he doesn’t light anything on fire that isn’t supposed to be on fire.

“Dude,” Taehyung complains, nudging Yoongi. “Are you helping me or are you just standing there?”

Yoongi shakes out of it. He can’t seem to take his eyes off you today, and he doesn’t know what it is that’s making him like this. You just - you look so pretty, even that unamused look you throw at Namjoon whenever he says something lame has Yoongi forgetting what he’s supposed to be doing. When your eyes glance back to him, he quickly averts his gaze, grunting back to Taehyung and pretending to be invested in preparing the vegetables. He’s slicing the mushrooms when he gets distracted by your twinkling laughter again, eyes darting back up to look at you.

A flash of - god, he really needs to learn how to name his emotions. But it’s an unpleasant feeling, something twisting in his chest uncomfortably at the sight of you beaming at Jungkook, playfully invading his space. “Should I just date Kookie?” your voice is in his head, paired with your pensive expression. At the time, he was pretty sure you were joking. But friends become more all the time, don’t they?

“If you’re just gonna stand there staring at Y/N, you may as well swap with Jungkook,” Taehyung nudges him, and for a brief second Yoongi actually considers it. His brain does the quick calculations - you minus Jungkook, add Yoongi… What does he have to do to divide Namjoon out of the picture?

“I’m not - staring.” Yoongi’s choppy sentence is incredibly unconvincing and Taehyung just arches a brow at him. Yoongi stares flatly back. A better man might own up to it but Yoongi is more a stubborn man than anything else.

Taehyung rolls his eyes. He looks like he wants to say something but just heaves a sigh instead, waving him off. “I’m gonna say ‘I told you so’ when you idiots figure it out,” he shuffles off to continue preparing his food. Yoongi frowns.

“Figure what out?”

Silence.

“Figure - wait, Taehyung - figure what -”

“Chop chop, hyung!”

He hates this.

The one thing Yoongi will say he’s newly discovered about you in the process of watching you go on date after date is that you have a much more expansive closet than he thought you did.

It’s giving him a headache, having to force smiles on his face and asking you to do a spin for him every time, so he can compliment you sincerely, just to watch you slip out the door again. Something constricts in his chest every time, seeing you smile softly back whenever he tells you how pretty you look. Your eyes always shy away from his, abashed, giving him this fluttering feeling that drives him nuts when the door closes behind you. His heart pounds in his chest and he always has to inhale deeply as soon as you’re gone, taking back the air that he’d lost holding his breath whenever he looks at you.

The good news is you’re staying in tonight, back in your usual pajamas with the little cats patterned on them, shuffling about the kitchen. Yoongi watches you from the couch, as you go from the cabinet to the fridge and back to the cabinet, collecting what you need to make hot chocolate. Your hair is still wet from a shower, a towel draped over your shoulders to keep the water from seeping into your clothes. You’re kind of glowing, actually, or maybe Yoongi is actually losing his mind.

When you turn around, he rapidly adjusts his vision back to the TV, burying himself deeper into the pink snuggie that is offensively comfortable. It’s literally just a blanket with a hood. And yet. Yoongi can’t stop curling himself into it.

You make your way into the living room, setting down a cup of hot chocolate for him on the table. He blinks at you in surprise, not having expected you to make one for him, too, and you smile at him, making his breath catch. It’s been getting harder and harder to look away from you these days. But it’d be weird if you caught him staring, so he diverts his eyes almost immediately, glancing back at the cocoa.

“Any requests for tonight’s movie?” you ask as you settle onto the couch, grabbing the remote off the table. You lean against the opposite arm of the couch instead of against him, and Yoongi wonders when he got used to feeling the warmth of you beside him and when you stopped doing that.

He shrugs, leaning forward to grab the cup of hot chocolate you’d made for him, just to preoccupy himself. “Anything goes.”

Your eyes glint. “Even if it’s scary?”

His nose scrunches and he sips his drink. “Do you never get tired of being scared shitless?”

“I never get tired of you getting scared shitless.”

“I have never been scared in my life.”

You giggle. “The Conjuring it is.”

Ah. Yoongi understands now why he likes the snuggie so much. It has a hood that he can shove as far down as it can go so as to avoid nightmares for the next three days from watching the insane shit you call an enjoyable movie.

True to your word, you flip to The Conjuring, tossing the remote to inevitably get lost somewhere on the couch. As the movie plays, the two of you jump (and shriek a little) and somehow you’re back at Yoongi’s side, fingers clutching at the snuggie and face buried into it, as close as you can get to him. You may as well be in his lap, the way you’re holding onto him, and Yoongi’s heart is suddenly racing for reasons unrelated to the movie.

He swallows hard, completely distracted. Whatever’s happening on the screen is not even remotely close to being processed in his brain, largely because every single functioning brain cell he has has decidedly thrown itself out the window.

What is wrong with him? His face feels hot and he’s a bit frozen in place, really, and -

He feels your arms slide around his waist, something you’ve never done before. Most of the time you cling to his arm, wrapped tight around his bicep like a koala. But your hands are now curled firm around his side, gripping tight enough to let him know you’re still terrified by the movie you chose.

Slowly, like if he moves too fast this will all dissipate into thin air, he turns to look at you. You’re no longer looking at the screen, face buried into his chest, so he really only sees the top of your head. He’s hyper-aware of every part of you latched onto him, legs thrown over his thighs somehow at some point in the night, and, very hesitantly, his arms shift to hold you.

You still. Now both of you are hyper-aware of the position you’re in, and neither of you are paying attention to the movie anymore. But neither of you move, either, Yoongi because he’s pretty sure there’s no way he can play this off any way but awkwardly if he gets up right now, and you because you’re not entirely sure this is real and happening and it’s impressive how quickly Yoongi can make you forget any date you’ve ever been on with a touch as gentle as the one he has on you right now.

But you have to move, eventually. Eventually, the movie will end, and you won’t have any excuse to stay here anymore. Eventually, you’ll have to go to bed.

There’s any number of reasons you could run through to get up and out of his arms, but none of them are stronger than the desire to stay here, where he’s warm and comfortable and safe. Yoongi’s simply given up on any form of critical thinking, because whatever’s happening might not make sense but it definitely feels nice despite his heart threatening to jump straight out of his chest.

So you both stay. Silent, pretending like you’re still watching the movie even though neither of you jump at the scary parts. You stay so long you somehow both fall asleep, with your head against his chest, and Yoongi curled around you.

“You’re overthinking.”

“I’m overthinking,” you agree, staring blankly at the wall right past Namjoon’s head. “But I’m valid.”

He arches an eyebrow. “Can I ask what you’re overthinking?”

“Oh my god,” you crumble instantly, burying your face into your palms, distressed. “Oh my god. Oh my god, Namjoon.”

“That’s very nice,” he says placatingly. “But I’m afraid that tells me literally nothing, Y/N.”

You peer at him from between your fingers. “Namjoon,” you say, heat already creeping up your cheeks at the thought. “I sort of… We sort of…”

He leans forward. “Sort of…?”

You groan, squeezing your eyes shut again and dragging your hands through your hair. His jaw drops.

“Did you sleep with him?”

“No!” you hiss, palms slapping down onto the table. Then you frown. “I mean, yes, but not that kind of sleeping!”

Namjoon squints at you. “Oh. Then what are you overthinking?”

“Namjoon. I fell asleep, like, practically on top of him.”

His brows furrow, confused. “Don’t you two do that all the time?”

You throw him an odd look.

“What? Namjoon, no I do not regularly fall asleep on top of our good friend Min Yoongi!” You emphasize the friend part, in case Namjoon decides he wants to make that particular vital piece of information irrelevant in this conversation.

He waves a hand. “Whatever. But doesn’t he, like, regularly carry you to bed?”

Namjoon’s not wrong. Yoongi does often carry you to your bed when you’ve fallen asleep on the couch. He never brings it up in conversation, and neither do you, but it’s the only reasonable explanation you have after the several instances when the last thing you recall is the TV rather than crawling into bed. You tried to thank him for it once and Yoongi had just shrugged then shuffled away from you without meeting your eyes, so you never brought it up again.

You make a vague noise at Namjoon. “It’s not the same thing.”

“It’s the natural progression,” Namjoon concludes. He nods thoughtfully. “Good. Nice progress.”

You stare at him. “What?”

He looks back at you like he’s startled you’re still in front of him. He smiles, ever so helpfully, and gives you utterly nothing in return.

You sigh.

You’ve been slacking. That’s what this is.

It’s the only explanation you can use to justify why you’ve let yourself keep slipping around Yoongi, succumbing to the warmth of him, kind eyes, gentle smiles. Falling asleep in his lap, in his arms, is a wake-up call. Christ, you’re never gonna get over him like this.

You think it startles Yoongi a little bit because he always looks a little surprised when you say you’re going out for the night. The rate at which you go on dates has increased aggressively now, a desperate bid to find anyone - anyone - that’ll keep you from jeopardizing your friendship with Yoongi.

You try. You really try. You try not to nitpick and find stupid reasons why you shouldn’t see someone for a second date. Sometimes, you even go on a second date anyway, because hey, maybe the second time around, your date will be that much more tolerable.

They never are. None of them send sparks through your system. Some of them are just downright poor dates, but even the ones who are nice, the ones who are trying just as hard as you - you just keep trying to find Yoongi in them and failing.

Matters are made worse when Yoongi for no discernible reason decides to turn up his charm ten thousand notches. You can’t tell if it’s because the more dates you go on, the more you notice how endearing Yoongi is to you, or if Yoongi is just getting bored around the apartment without you in it. You always come home to a plate left to the side for you (“in case you didn’t get to eat a lot,”), or your favorite drink left in the refrigerator for you that he would’ve had to explicitly go out and buy from the store that’s a whole thirty minute train ride out because the one near you doesn’t stock it, or, this time, a little origami crane perched on the breakfast bar near your front door.

“His name is Minnie,” Yoongi says, peering at you from the couch. You pick up Minnie. “Jimin made me name him that.”

“You made it?” you ask, playing with the little wings. It’s made from a classic yellow post-it note, probably from his job. You’d gone to your date straight after work, so you haven’t seen Yoongi since this morning.

“Yeah,” Yoongi says, then pauses. “Well. Jimin taught me how while he was avoiding doing his job again.”

“That explains the name,” you mutter, setting Minnie back on the counter, so you can shrug your coat off and toss it over a chair.

You usually try to get changed as soon as you’re home, but after today’s lackluster date, you just want to sink into the couch and maybe meld into it until you’re one with the couch. The defeat is so deep in your bones, and seeing Yoongi’s adorably mussed hair and cute little crane makes you wonder if you might be better off accepting that you’re never getting over him, a thousand dates be damned.

“Bad date again?” Yoongi shifts in his spot on the couch. He’s slightly angled, shoulders dipping down towards you as he stares ahead at the TV with you. You draw out of your thoughts for a minute to squint at the screen.

“Are you watching Coco?”

Yoongi blinks. “Maybe.”

You try to hide a smile. He huffs.

“There’s nothing wrong with Coco, Y/N.”

You make a vague noise, shrugging your shoulders to tease him. “I didn’t say there was anything wrong with Coco, Yoongi. It’s a lovely movie.”

“It is a lovely movie.”

He’s pouty and you can see it in the corner of your eyes. You slink just the slightest bit closer, shoulders just shy of touching. “If this is what you want to watch on movie night Yoongi, you just gotta say so.”

He crosses his arms, petulant. “I can handle a scary movie.”

Your eyes glitter with amusement when you look at him. “That doesn’t mean we can’t watch Coco sometimes.”

His eyes slide over to you. “But you like scary movies,” he says simply, so plainly, like it’s a given that he should let you have your way whenever you want, even over something as unimportant as what to watch on movie night. You’re so taken aback that your smile slips for just a moment, before you jerk your gaze away from him, facing the TV again.

You both let the movie fill the space for a minute, sitting in silence save for Miguel running around on screen. Then Yoongi bounces his leg twice, elbow nudging lightly into your side. “How was your date?”

You hate that he always asks. Every time, without fail. Sometimes even without words, but regardless, he asks. You know it’s what makes him such a good friend - always listening to you talk about your day, the things going on in your life, even the most mundane of activities that you tell him about, he listens attentively, wanting to know anything you’ll offer up to him.

But every failed date leaves you with shame sinking into your chest, your feelings for Yoongi rooting deeper and deeper, reminding you that maybe you’re never going to let him go.

You let out a dramatic sigh, tilting your head back on the couch and letting all your limbs go slack. “At this point, I’m just gonna ask Namjoon to take me on a date. He’s mostly nice and filthy rich. At least maybe I can con him into paying for another meal for me.”

You expect Yoongi to make some joke about Namjoon always getting conned out of his money, but instead he’s quiet. You stiffen, teeth gnawing on your lower lip, slowly, hesitantly glancing over at him, wondering why he won’t say anything. You release your lip to make another remark playing it off, to fill the space, but then Yoongi is looking intently at you, suddenly shifted and leaning close to you, one arm behind you on the couch and the other next to your knee, to keep balance as he draws close to you.

“What about me?”

You blink, taken aback. “What?”

Yoongi’s tired of you going out on shitty dates, tired of you leaving him home alone while you try and entertain somebody else out there who clearly doesn’t even remotely come close to entertaining you. He hates watching you leave out the door - hates that sometimes you don’t even leave out the door, because you go straight from work. He misses the time spent in between, picking you up from work and walking home with you, having dinner with you, the way you laugh every time he complains about Jimin and Jimin’s anti-work ethic. He misses your stories about Hoseok during your coffee breaks or the pictures you secretly show Yoongi that Jungkook only sends to you because he thinks Namjoon will nag him in the group chat. He hates the jealousy - because that’s precisely what it is - that grips at him whenever he sees you get too close to someone who isn’t him.

“I’ll take you on a date,” the words are out of his mouth before its even properly registered in his head, but Yoongi thinks maybe that’s what he’s been trying to say for months now, with every meal shared and every nudge on the subway in the mornings and jacket offered in the cold and dish washed when you’re tired and movie watched together late into the night.

“I’ll show you what a good date looks like,” he repeats, and you stare blankly at him, unable to tell if he’s joking but he just leans closer, lips quirking in the corner, hesitant but earnest. There’s not an ounce of humor in his eyes, just a little bit of hope as he waits for your answer.

You splutter a little, brain cells clinking together awkwardly in an attempt to put together the pieces Yoongi is laying out in front of you. “Really?” you ask, a little embarrassingly breathless from how close he is to you right now. You try to give him an out, “The bar’s pretty high.”

He tilts his head, serious as ever, keeping his eyes concentrated on you. It makes you dizzy. “I’m pretty confident.”

You duck your head, trying to hide a smile. Your heart is racing in your chest. “You should be,” you mumble. Then, shyer, “You’re the one who set the bar in the first place.”

His eyebrows shoot up, and you raise your eyes to meet his again. “But if you’re gonna offer to take me on a date, can I request one thing?”

“Anything.”

“Can you say it first?”

He huffs out a laugh, cheeks warming. “Say what? That I like you, and I think I’ve probably liked you for awhile now?” His fingers twitch like he wants to shift them elsewhere, maybe rest them on you instead of on the safety of the couch, but even with his fingers a breath away from your knee and your back, you can still feel the electricity sparking. “Or should I just say, stop asking our other friends to take you on a date and just go on one with me, instead?”

That pulls a laugh out of you, which makes his eyes light up, the way they always do when he makes you laugh. You always thought Yoongi just secretly liked to entertain people, but the way he looks at you now, you wonder if maybe he just likes to entertain you.

With your heart fluttering, you try for coy, leaning towards him with a tilt of your head. “Mm. Not quite what I wanted,” you say playfully, even if it’s exactly what you wanted to hear, Yoongi easily wiping away any of your fears that he’s maybe just ‘being a good friend’ or any other ridiculous excuse you can come up with. You grab the pink snuggie that’s off to the side of the couch and tug it over your lap, grin widening when you see his gaze narrow in on it.

“Admit it,” you tease. “You like my snuggie.”

He snorts, head ducking, his hair flopping over his eyes. He glances back up, one eyebrow arched. “I like you.”

His insistence sets off the butterflies in your stomach all over again, but you refuse to back down, not when you so enjoy when Yoongi’s like this, the kind of soft and playful that Yoongi only gets around you. You bite your lip and press the pink fluff towards him. “And my snuggie?”

He bites his cheek, trying to fight a smile. With a roll of his eyes, he says, “...and your snuggie.”

You grin, shrieking slightly when he tackles you, snuggie and all, down onto the couch. He gets his arms wrapped around you, face buried into your neck, and you can feel him smiling against you, both hearts pounding hard enough that you’re not sure if it’s yours or his that’s going so fast. Eventually you end up wound around him, limbs tangled, Yoongi’s face close in a way you didn’t think you’d ever get to see unless by accident.

“I do really like you,” he says quietly, sincere. “I’m… you know. Want to be the only person to take you on dates.”

You smile, fingers curling into his shirt, fiddling with the fabric. Your cheeks feel hot, probably just as pink as his are now. You can’t quite meet his eyes, shy and happy, when you confess, “I really like you too.”

Face buried in his chest, you feel every part of you light up with Yoongi’s warmth, the steady comfort he’s always brought you, consistent, reliable, Yoongi.

There’s no one else who can compare.

bonus

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you say dryly, watching Jungkook pout as he drops twenty bucks into Namjoon’s hands. “Joonie.”

He shrugs, waving the twenty in the air. “I had to get my money back somehow. And you two were so obvious.”

“When?” Jungkook throws his hands out. “How did I miss this?”

“Taehyung didn’t tell you?” you glance towards Jungkook’s roommate. “That’s how Namjoon found out.”

Jungkook looks devastated by the betrayal, tackling Taehyung and rolling around on Namjoon’s floor, narrowly avoiding Yoongi’s spot sprawled on the ground, half-asleep. Yoongi smacks an arm against either Taehyung or Jungkook (it’s hard to tell while they’re squabbling) and the two roll in another direction to fight.

“So does he know about why you downloaded the apps in the first place?” Namjoon questions, as he pockets the $20.

You still, glancing at him. “Not yet…”

Namjoon grins. “Hey, Yoongi-”

“Namjoon, I swear to god-”

#yoongi x you #yoongi fluff #yoongi x reader #yoongi x yn #yoongi #fluff #series: frfm #i can't believe i actually finished it #i hope yall like it tho #it's absolutely unedited so if this is garbage im sorry LOL

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sorryimananti-romantic · 6 months

Text

Ateez - Character Concept

Lore: 'An Empire of Dreams and Illusions'

[faerie prince!ateez au]

[Name/Titles]

Kim Hongjoong Prince of Light

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Scorpio

[Cities]

Antares (Capital) Acrab Jabbah Schubba Sargas

[Sea]

The Topaz Sea

[Animal Form]

Lion

[Court members]

Got7 (Jaebeom as Right Hand, Yugyeom as Captain of Guard) Red Velvet (Seulgi as Head Healer)

[Powers]

Bending light Burning with light Great affinity for healing Only magic to break through illusions 'Unheal'

[Appearance]

Ginger hair Blue eyes Translucent orange wings

[Name/Titles]

Park Seonghwa Prince of Dark

[Family]

Princess Yena of Space (soulmate/wife)

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Aries (State- Hamal)

[Cities]

Hamal (Capital) Bharani

[Sea]

The Diamond Sea

[Animal Form]

Wolf

[Court members]

Seoho/Jinki (ex-Right Hand) Exo (Kai as Captain of Guard) (G)I-dle (Soyeon as Right Hand, Miyeon as Head Healer)

[Powers]

Bending dark Blinding with darkness or increasing vision when dark Penetrating mind Accessing memories Nullifying most magics

[Appearance]

Dark hair Grey eyes Translucent silver wings

[Name/Titles]

Jeong Yunho Prince of Water

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Aries (State- Sheratan)

[Cities]

Sheratan (Capital)

[Sea]

The Diamond Sea

[Animal Form]

Sea Dragon

[Court members]

The Rose (Woosung as Head Healer) Itzy (Ryujin as Right Hand, Yeji as Captain of Guard)

[Powers]

Bending water Altering water bodies Controlling temperature of water Element of ice Accessing memories through water bodies

[Appearance]

Strawberry blonde hair Dark brown eyes

[Name/Titles]

Kang Yeosang Prince of Spirit

[Family]

Princess Yena of Space (twin-sister)

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Gemini (State- Pollux)

[Cities]

Mebsuta (Capital) Makbuda Propus Pollux

[Sea]

The Pearl Sea

[Animal Form]

Meerkat

[Court members]

BTS (Namjoon as Right Hand, Taehyung as Captain of Guard) Mamamoo (Solar as 'Left Hand', Hwasa as Head Healer, Wheein as Vice Captain of Guard)

[Powers]

Detection of living souls Ruler of the 'Other' Dimension where spirits dwell Portals Ability to kill a spirit so it ceases to exist from every plane Astral Projection

[Appearance]

Platinum blonde hair Grey eyes

[Name/Titles]

Choi San Prince of Earth

[Family]

Princess Gaeul of Underworld (soulmate)

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Cancer

[Cities]

Altarf (Capital) Arkesh

[Sea]

The Ruby Sea

[Animal Form]

Fox

[Court members]

Seventeen (Dokyeom as Right Hand, Mingyu as Captain of Guard) Twice (Jihyo as Head Healer)

[Powers]

Bending earth and the elements within Altering landscapes and geography Great affinity for healing- mostly soothing purposes Commanding animals

[Appearance]

Dark hair with ash ends Dark brown eyes

[Name/Titles]

Song Mingi Prince of Fire

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Leo

[Cities]

Regulus (Capital) Algieba Denebola

[Sea]

The Turquoise Sea

[Animal Form]

Salamander

[Court members]

Day6 (Jae as Right Hand, Wonpil as Head Healer) Blackpink (Lisa as Captain of Guard)

[Powers]

Bending fire Controlling the temperature of fire Extracting lava from earth Detecting burning souls (either from magic or sth else) Seeing through masking magic and illusions

[Appearance]

Red hair Dark brown eyes

[Name/Titles]

Jung Wooyoung Prince of Air

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Sagittarius

[Cities]

Rukbat (Capital) Ascella Nunki Kaus Medionalis

[Sea]

The Peridot Sea

[Animal Form]

Hawk

[Court members]

Stray Kids (Changbin as Captain of Guard) Dreamcatcher (Siyeon as Right Hand, Jiu as Head Healer)

[Powers]

Controlling the element of air Controlling properties of air Altering weather Detecting the presence of life Tracing whereabouts of something/someone from scent

[Appearance]

Dark hair with streaks Dark brown eyes Translucent silver wings

[Name/Titles]

Choi Jongho Prince of Nature

[Kingdom]

Kingdom of Libra

[Cities]

Zubenelgenubi (Capital) Zubenelschemali Zubenelakrab

[Sea]

The Opal Sea

[Animal Form]

Bear

[Court members]

Monsta X (Jooheon as Right Hand, Hyungwon as Head Healer, Changkyun as Captain of Guard) Gfriend (Sowon as High Healer)

[Powers]

Controlling element of nature Maintaining harmony and balance in nature Command over life forms Meditative state allows him to connect with nature on another level Great affinity for healing Can 'breathe' life into things (unpractised)

[Appearance]

Dark brown hair Dark brown eyes

#not me bringing the entire kpop industry in this lore #fic: take me home #fic: horizon #lore: an empire of dreams and illusions #ateez headcanons #ateez scenarios #ateez au #ateez imagines #ateez x reader #ateez angst #ateez fluff #ateez smut #ateez #choi san x reader #park seonghwa x reader

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chans-room · 10 months

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i will write for -> skz, ateez, svt, shinee, kard, block b, btob, got7, dpr, monsta x, NCT, mamamoo <- feel free to send other artists but these are the ones i feel most comfortable writing for

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requests are: open

taglist is: open

updated 1.17.24

Stray Kids

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Craving Connection | nsfw | SMAU, fluff, smut, angst | idiots to lovers | Bang Chan x original female character

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SKZ as Gerard Way MCR 2022/2023 tour outfits | sfw | headcanon/crack

Stolen Sunshine | nsfw | one shot | yandere, dark, smut, angst | vampire chan x reader

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On Your Mark | Bang Chan x Reader | nsfw | more to be added

Ateez

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BTS

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Multi

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Winter Things | nsfw | skz and ateez | headcanons, fluff, smut, moodboard

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Pink Pony Club | nsfw | smut, fluff , angst | plus size sex worker original characters | SKZ, Ateez, SVT, others to be added

Spookyfest 2023

Stray Kids as Couple Halloween Costumes | sfw | headcanon/ranking, crack, fluff

Stray Kids Spooky Season Dates | nsfw | headcanons, fluff, smut, moodboard | members x gn reader

Ateez The Craft Moodboard | sfw | demon line + mingi

Spookyfest Presents…

SHINee in Evil Dead

BTOB in Nightmare on Elm Street

Ateez in Friday the 13th

Monsta X in Scream

Stray Kids in IT

#masterlist #chans-room #stray kids fic #ateez fic #kpop writing

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urneverland · 2 months

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𝗂 𝖿𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗇 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱: 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲.

about: shyla. 25+. she/her. gmt+8.

status: not currently looking for more partners!

hi and welcome to my blog! i used to be @momorini but i lost my login for that account, so i'm starting over. i'm currently looking for short-term or long-term rp partners for double rps with idols on tumblr or discord.

if you're interested, please continue reading the details below carefully.

what i'm looking for:

20+ partners

semi-lit to literate responses

okay with idol x oc ships

familiar with tupperbox if discord rp

non-demanding activity

puts equal efforts on both rps

groups i rp / write for:

ateez

blackpink

bts

exo

(g)i-dle

got7

monsta x

nct

stray kids

twice

groups & members i'm looking for:

ateez (hongjoong, seonghwa, yeosang, wooyoung)

blackpink (jisoo, rosé)

bts (seokjin, yoongi, hoseok, jungkook)

exo (xiumin, baekhyun, chanyeol, sehun)

(g)i-dle (soyeon, miyeon, yuqi)

got7 (jaebeom, mark, jinyoung, yugyeom)

itzy (yeji, ryujin, yuna)

monsta x (minhyuk, kihyun, i.m)

nct (taeyong, taeil, johnny, yuta, jaehyun, renjun, jeno, haechan, jaemin)

red velvet (irene)

sf9 (inseong)

stray kids (bang chan, lee know, changbin)

the boys (sangyeon, younghoon, hyunjae, juyeon)

twice (jihyo, sana, mina, dahyun, tzuyu)

what i will and won't do:

i'm okay with most aus, themes, and plots in rp, but i will let you know if i'm uncomfortable with what you're offering. i'm willing to find a compromise to get you something you want, while keeping my comfort. send "i am a top super lady" when you contact me.

i'm open to all types of ships (m/f, m/m, f/f, m/nb, f/nb, etc.) for idol x oc or idol x idol. for n.sfw stuff, i'm not comfortable writing it out, so i'd prefer to have it be implied s.mut or fade-to-black.

however, these are the ones i will never write for:

abuse

death of an idol in rp

hybrids

idolverse

incest

little space/ddlg

noncon/rape

omegaverse/abo

self-harm

suicide

underaged/minor idols

how to reach me:

for tumblr rps: please contact me on @shylarps via dms or asks, and all rps will be done on that blog.

for discord rps: please send your discord username to my askbox or dms, and i'll send you the server invite when it's ready.

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morethansky · 23 days

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WIP Game

rules: in a new post, post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how nondescriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet and tell us about it!

Thanks for the tag, @wolveria! Only listing the ones with more than 1k written, because otherwise we'd be here all night. Bolded the ones that I've already started posting for reference.

Miscellaneous Star Wars

Mend This Old Wound (Obi-Wan/Maul)

the chains are the easy part (Obi-Wan/Maul)

down that wild road (Obi-Wan/Maul)

A Future for Us (Echo/Fives, Jesse/Kix, Cody/Obi-Wan, Barriss/Ahsoka)

wait for the warm sun to return (Echo/Fives)

lay down the scepter and crown (Cody/Rex)

Tomorrow Bright Before Us (Rex/Anakin)

Departure (Anakin/Ahsoka)

A Symmetry to Such Things (Thrawn/Eli)

Intoxication and Ecstasy (Thrawn/Eli)

sendoff kisses (Thrawn/Eli)

skybridger soulmate au (Ezra/Luke)

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Another Way Back (Crosshair/Hunter)

sift through the ash and dust (Crosshair/Hunter)

the side effects that save us (Crosshair/Hunter)

your laugh through the wall (Crosshair/Hunter)

settle down my shivered bones (Crosshair/Hunter)

coming back from what seemed a ruin (Crosshair/Hunter)

happily ever after first date (Crosshair/Hunter)

tantiss amnesia (Crosshair/Hunter)

A Fragment of My People's History (Tech/Wrecker)

lead me to the ark (Tech/Wrecker)

so put down the knife (Tech/Wrecker, Wrecker/Clone X)

Lupin

And All My Tomorrows (Ben/Assane)

a love that will see you through (Ben/Assane)

darling, without you i'll go on searching (Ben/Assane)

Transformers

Revision Within a Rigid Framework (Megatron/Optimus)

Paradise Elusive (Megatron/Optimus)

soundrod fix-it (Cyberverse, Soundwave/Rodimus)

K-pop/C-pop

in this life we're the perfect match (Jackson/Yixing)

the most beautiful melody (SDC, Qiao Zhi/Huang Xiao)

love is a kind of faith (SDC, Qiao Zhi/Huang Xiao)

i wish only to face the sea (SDC, Qiao Zhi/Huang Xiao)

want you for my whole life (GOT7, Jackson/Jinyoung)

let's start again from the beginning (GOT7, Mark/Youngjae)

camboy au (Bruce/Dick)

fairy tale identity porn (Dick/Damian)

dickroywill (Young Justice, Dick/Roy, Dick/Will)

Others

The Universe Ablaze (Part 3 of Supernova) (ATLA, Zuko/Aang)

always a space for you and me (Good Omens)

telling my own fortune (Good Omens)

The Dawn Breaking (MDZS, Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji)

Kintsugi (TGCF, Shi Qingxuan/He Xuan)

just to be awake in the same world as you (Staged RPF)

survive more, love harder (TMNT 2012, Leo/Raph)

Jfc, this is so chaotic, and seeing them laid out like this breaks my brain. Ask away!

If you're seeing this, you're tagged!

#amph talks #amph writes #ask game

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prettynxsty · 1 year

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hello, you lil naughty hoes, i decided to update the list of stuff that will be coming to you at some point in this lifetime. Under the cut!

Noxious pt 2

Top Dog pt 2

Frills pt 2 aka the prequel

Quaint Spaces (at some fuckin point)

Protection Afforded (at some fuckin point)

Taehyung- he didn’t know he liked roses until…

Wonho 2x: foodplay fic + incubus slut

Kevin Moon: fic involving milk lol all you need to know is milk

Jungkook: somnophilia fic

Mystic realism pussyboy series (i aint telling u who, but its a lot)

Kevin Moon: flogging

SKZ Jisung 3x: you just wanna make him cream sometimes + cowboy + hybrid themes

Huening Kai: plantboy fic

TBZ Sunwoo: hard domming him

Skz Changbin: lol... you'll see...

Bts Jin: hybrid themes

got7 yugyeom: mythical/mystical au

winner mino: royalty???

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flurrys-creativity · 1 year

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11.56pm

Pairing: Jinyoung (GOT7) x GN!Reader; Genre: Bad boy AU, Romance; Rating: sfw, PG-15; Warnings: sneaking out at night, climbing out the window, one suggestive sentence, mention of seeing panties; Wordcount: 501

Summary: Sneaking out of your home wasn’t the easiest task. And it didn’t get easier with Jinyoung’s sassy comments.

You tiptoed down the stairs, flinching when they made a sound underneath your feet. With your breath held in, you stopped and listened to your surroundings. An inaudible groan escaped your throat once you heard your roommate giggle downstairs in front of the tv.

Silently, you walked back upstairs and into your room, pacing around the small space until your phone vibrated in your hand. You stopped and faced the display, seeing a new message from Jinyoung.

“Hurry up! Won’t wait all night for you.”

You hurried over to your window and searched for his dark figure down on the street. Only his face was illuminated from the display of his phone as he stared down at it.

“My roommate’s still awake. I can’t leave through the front door.”

Jinyoung looked up and quickly found your nervous form in front of a window, definitely appearing distressed from the whole situation. “Guess, I’ll leave without you then.”

You vigorously shook your head, motioning for him to wait, before you rushed back into your room. You gnawed at your lower lip in thought as you tried to come up with a solution.

It would be a lot easier going out with Jinyoung, if none of your friends would be so judgy about his bad boy vibes, telling you to choose someone better.

You walked back over to the window and opened it, climbing on the windowsill.

Jinyoung had leaned against a tree with his arms crossed in front of his chest, waiting for another message from you, until he saw you climbing out of the window. His eyes widened momentarily, worry flaring up inside of his stomach.

While you carefully closed the window behind you and balanced yourself on a narrow ledge, Jinyoung walked over to you.

“In what universe did you think climbing out a window in a short skirt is a good idea?”

“This one”, you whispered and held onto the gutter. “I wanted to look cute for you!”

Jinyoung scoffed in amusement and shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest again. “You’d always look cute. Even in some sweatpants. Hell, even with nothing on, you’d look cute.”

You whined quietly, feeling the heat burning in your cheeks from his comment.

“Maybe I shouldn’t complain though”, Jinyoung mused with a teasing tone, “after all I’m able to see your panties this way.”

“Not helping!”

Jinyoung chuckled under his breath and stepped closer to you, opening his arms for you. “Jump, I’ll catch you.”

You looked down over your shoulder, uncertainty painted all over your face. “Are you sure?”

“As sure as the sun will rise again in a few hours, love.” He waved at you reassuringly with a small smile on his lips.

Your heart leaped inside your chest and you couldn’t tell whether it was from his term of endearment or the thought of jumping from the first story. Still, a hesitant smile spread over your lips as you nodded and let go of the gutter.

Taglist: @xavi-in-kpopland

#got7writerscollective #kwritersworldnet #kdiarynet #wkcnet #kvanity #park jinyoung #got7 #got7 jinyoung #time stamp #11.56pm #kpop #idol

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noirsfantasy · 1 year

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⎯ʀᴜʟᴇꜱ/ɢᴜɪᴅᴇʟɪɴᴇꜱ

Hello! If you're here, then you must be interested in sending a request. Here are just a few things to remember before doing so.

ʀᴇQᴜᴇꜱᴛ ꜱᴛᴀᴛᴜꜱ: OPEN

ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ

I am a full-time student and I work, I may not always be consistent with posting. Although if there is a set schedule, you can trust that I will be on time with those posts.

Please don't bring any negativity. Over here is a safe space and I will not allow anyone to take the fun out of this. Disrespect = Blocked

Remember that it takes time to make these stories. I will do my best, but some things take time.

I am just getting back into kpop and kdramas, so bare with me. I have a lot of catching up to do, but I will get there. Feel free to suggest things for me to watch and songs to listen to as well!

I've been out of practice for a while, so my material may not be the best. I am open to constructive criticism, but I will not tolerate hate.

ꜱᴍᴜᴛ

I have written smut in the past, although I am still learning. A lot of my past works have been mainly fluffs and sometimes angst. I plan on doing a lot more of everything.

I have some boundaries when it comes to writing and there are some topics I WILL NOT touch at all. For instance:

p*dophilia

be*stiality

non-con/r*pe

age play

abuse/assault

mental illness that is not my own (self explanatory)

Incest

3. There are also some AU's I don't do such as the omegaverse. I don't feel comfortable doing those types of stories.

4. Please do not read my nsfw content if you are a minor. I will not be held responsible for that.

5. If any of these rules are violated, I will be blocking.

ʀᴇQᴜᴇꜱᴛꜱ

I will allow anonymity, but please do not request any smut or nsfw stories if you are under 18 years.

Please give a detailed request when it comes to oneshots.

For drabble, please submit a request in this format: EXO!Chen + 1&5. I will accept other formats but that is the one that I prefer.

Feel free to reblog if you see that I've responded to your request.

Don't rush me with your request. I get a lot and it takes time to get to all of them.

ɢʀᴏᴜᴘ ʟɪꜱᴛ:

EXO

BTS

Ateez

Stray Kids

Monsta X

SHINee (I do write about Jonghyun too)

GOT7

NCT

Wonho

Henry Lau

Dean

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ

Reactions

MTLs

Idol x Reader

AUs

Fantasy

Well, that is all for now. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

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writingstuffandmore · 2 years

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Little Things..

Pairing: Suho x fem reader (mentioned) ft Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and rest members

Genre: Fluff

AU!: Established relationship, idol au

A/N: Hey people... So, I myself don't know what I have written because I was in the mood to write a domestic au which shifted into this which isn't domestic in nature.. Please do give me feedbacks, people it means a lot!! I hope you will like it.

GIF isn't mine.. Credits to the original creator.

Requested: @proudahgase-got7 requested it. I hope you will like it dear! I am so sorry if this wasn't something you wished to read.

Word count: 988

The bright golden rays were slowly spreading through the narrow spaces of the blinds covering the large window. The once quiet room got disturbed with sound of the alarm indicating it’s time to start the day’s activities but what marked the day’s distinction from others was that both the occupants living had a planned a small surprise for their partners to make up for the lost time and just enjoy the evening and the weekend which followed it. Soon after, the occupants woke up, did their regular routine before heading to their respective offices.

Y/N’s POV:

“Hey Lia, how are you today?” I said while settling down in my cabin.” Lia smiled before speaking “I am okay, how are you? Also, your mood looks different today, hoping for something good for you.”

I laughed a bit before looking back at her trying to match her bubbly energy, “Well, nothing good has happened except for the regulars but I am in the mood to surprise my boyfriend with something sweet. It's been so long since we have spent time togeth-

“What are you planning to do so” Lia wiggled her eyebrows making both of us laugh. “I am planning to order some food and make his favourite dessert.”

“Damn, just thinking about it makes my mouth water. You really make some great food! Um…yummy!!” Lia said while making some sounds as if she is really eating some. “Okay, its time to work.”

Suho’s POV:

“Guys, lets get started for the day!! Phew!” I said while gearing up the day’s practice as our choreographer Kasper came in. “Wow, hyung! You look so energetic today. Whats the reason? Humm?” Baekhyun wiggled his eyebrows that gathered everyone's attention, making him sigh. "Nah, it's just nothing. I just thought to make some time for my girlfriend you know?"

"Well, at least you acknowledge that you have a partner though. Not gonna be exaggerating the stuff but the way you at times act as if you don't have a family to go to. I know you work so hard for us Hyung but at the same time, don't harm your private life for us okay?" Kyungsoo said before all the members nodded their heads in unison.

"Okay! Guilty pleaded but now let's start working people" Suho said and Kasper then lead the members to do some warm up.

You came home by 5 in a rushed manner, throwing stuff here and there before changing the work outfit into the home ones and started preparing your dessert. In the middle of the mixing of ingredients, your phone rang which notified that Lia was calling.

Lia: Dude where are you?

Y/N: At home?

Lia: Uh? Is everything okay?

Y/N: Just wanted to give an unusual surprise to my man haha.

Lia: How are you g-

Y/N: See, usually he is here by 8 or something. The same time as me, okay? So, what I will do is that I will leave the house by 7-ish or something because I know that I still have to complete some work which I will do that and then around 8:15 I will come home back. The advantage point is that we both have keys other than the spare ones.

Lia: umm.. okay? But you know what it kinda sounds stupid but whatever makes you and him happy, it all matters. Okay bye!!

She ended the call and now your whole attention is back to the dessert. Just like how she hoped and planned, the dessert was in the freezer by 10 mins past 7 and she changed her clothes again and walked to her car.

Soon after, a black mercedes was parked in the garage and now a man rushed through the doors of the beautiful house.

"I hope she hasn't come till now and judging the looks of it yeah, she didn't!" The male happily chimed before starting his day's chores.

"How does this light even fit here? Baekhyun told me that I have to uplift this side and push it to the othe- Oh, yes!!! Damn, she could be here any minute. I need to change"

After a few minutes, you returned back to the place but instead of lights being open, the house looked dark."It's strange though.. Suho's car is here but where is he? Maybe, he is busy with a call or something." You shrugged your shoulder before inserting the keys in the key hole, only to be opened by your beloved boyfriend.

"Hey Y/- "Shit, Suho!! You scared me.. who keeps the house like this? My poor heart!!" Suho's sudden voice lead you to have a mini attack.

"Oh, I am so sorry love but you need to see this!!" Suho said as he took your hand in his and ran towards the backyard. "Did the play se-

"Oh my god.. Suho, this is so beautiful!!!" You said while clasping your hands together.

"Did you like it?" He asked while hugging you from behind. "Its really so beautiful bub but you di-

"Shush.. I needed it to because you deserve more than this angel. Trust me when I say that what did I do to deserve you, okay? You have always been there for me, even when at times I acted that I don't have a family, a partner to go at night just because I was busy making sure that everything was perfect a-

"You don't need to explain to me love! Your support and love is that all I need. You supported me in my lows and highs, listened to me, made me food or did anything I said to you even after you had a long day.." you said and reciprocated his hug before sharing a sweet yet passionate kiss.

"Let's enjoy all the time we have before the Monday Blue's arrive.." He said cheekily before kissing your nose. "Aye, aye my darling!!"

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dootiexcupcake · 2 years

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A Winters Ball

Warnings: none

pairings: choi youngjae (got7) x poc!reader

genre: Royalty!au, king!youngjae, queen!y/n, fluff, idiots MADLY in love

just a lil blurb for @queenzara ;>

Youngjae was furious. Angrily pacing back and forth in his private quarters. “It’s all his fault. ALL HIS FAULT” he cursed under his breath as his fist curled until his knuckles were white. You watched on in concern as your husband was getting worked up by the minute, unsure of what to do to calm him.

“My darling, please. Don’t worry yourself so much you’ll wind up sick.” Your low soothing voice cascades through the large bedroom and you can see his tense shoulders loosen ever so slightly at your words. You get up from your place at the end of the bed to walk over to Youngjae, “This kingdom needs their king healthy.” You place a hand on his broad shoulder, “I need you healthy, my love.” Youngjae exhales heavily through his nose as he gazes out the window overlooking the town square. Seeing your subjects roam about the town and getting on with their daily lives, children laughing and playing in the street, the coach dropping off distant travelers coming to visit loved ones or working men returning home from a tiresome and laboring day. Coming come to their families.

Youngjae turns to look at you and he leans down to rest his head upon yours. Your warmth acting as a tranquilizer for him, to the point he no longer remembers why he was angry in the first place. “Where would I be without you? You’re my whole world.”

“Mmh, well a hot headed fool like yourself would probably be in the mix of some sort of witless squabble.” You tease, a playful smirk on your face. Youngjae lets out a scoff and rolls his eyes, he can always depend on you to laugh and joke in even the most perilous situations.

He wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you close, smiling down at you and taking this time to admire the way your skin glows in the warm evening sun light. Something that he’s grown quite fond of since the two of you first started courting.

“Some music would be quite nice for this moment, hmm?” You comment as you bury your head in his chest, definitely not making the effort to go and do it yourself. Youngjae hums as he lays his chin on top of your head, both of your crowns having been put in their proper displays after your end of day activities. He starts to sway the both of you from side to side rhythmically to the sound of nothing.

You furrow your brow against his chest, “Dear, did you not hear what I said?” His chest rumbles in a hum again to confirm that he did in fact hear you request music to be put on. But he is instead choosing to ignore the request.

Oh he's lucky he’s so cute…

“I like how it is now. This is music.” he whispers. You pull your head back and look up at him and see he has his eyes shut, like he’s trying to hear something.

He moves his arms from around you and grabs hold of both your hands, pulling you into the middle of the floor. He chuckles at the way you’re looking at him like he has two heads.

“You don’t hear it?” He asks with a raised brow.

“I don’t hear anything but you.”

“The music.” He says breathlessly with his eyes closed again as he twirls you around smoothly. He closes the gap between the two of you once more and dances across the room, using the empty space as a makeshift ball. You can’t help but laugh boisterously at the ridiculousness of it all. Youngjae finding your laugh to be contagious as you two breathlessly ballroom dance in your bedroom.

Oh what would this kingdom think if they were to see their powerful and commanding King and the sharp witted and serious Queen dancing round their bedroom like two love sick teenagers?

After your shared laughing fit you both continued to dance silently, perfectly comfortable with the silence and quite enjoying each other’s company as you were pressed close to one another.

“I love you.” Youngjae announced out of no where. You felt your heart swell at the declaration, it’s not as if you haven’t heard him say it before. That’s far from the truth. But with everything going on these past few days governing, giving orders, long meetings, long dinners, and even longer journeys to far away places for meetings and dinners. It’s refreshing to hear it from him. It’s like a reminder. An assurance. A validation.

“I love you too, Youngjae.”

It’s something you both need to hear.

˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲˱ 𓈒 𓈊 ┈ 𓈒 ˲

Main m.list

#no i didn't completely forget to give this fic a title and chose a Hamilton song as the title at the last minuet no thats crazy what-#choi youngjae x black!reader #choi youngjae x poc!reader #got7 x reader #got7 scenarios #choi youngjae imagine #choi youngjae x reader #got7 imagines #choi youngjae #got7 youngjae

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dvbkie099 · 9 months

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four - whiskey-filled stories

Seo Changbin x fem!oc

Tags: Gang!AU, TattooArtist!OC x GangMember!Changbin, smut, violence, drugs, swearing, death, characters are not morally good people

Minji didn’t expect much from sleeping with the hot muscle at her local bar. She left first, after all.

Changbin knows her face. She’s a regular of the bar that Hyunjin runs, loves a strong drink, and has some truly beautiful tattoos.

It should’ve been a one-time thing. That was until Minji inadvertently got herself caught in the middle of a gang war by somehow pissing off the wrong person.

| MASTERLIST

“Penny for your thoughts?”

She turned her head slightly, looking at the man seated next to her.

“You wouldn’t have enough pennies, Chris.”

The man grinned at her, refilling her whiskey glass before snatching the cigarette from her hand and taking a drag from it.

“Bitch.”

It was surprising how quickly they became comfortable with one another, their banter reminiscent of their shared mutual friends. It was natural, she figured, for them to connect so deeply. While everyone, save for Jeongin, had trained under GOT7, none of them had as deep of a friendship with the older guys like Chan. He didn’t know the full scope of her relationship with the men he saw as older brothers, but he knew enough from mentions of her over the years to the fact that she seemed to know why, and even potentially where GOT7 was hiding. She didn’t have to wax poetics, he saw it all in her dark eyes.

“Is the decorating going well?” Chan asked, handing her cigarette back to her.

“Yeah. Thanks for everything, by the way.”

“Well we did kinda cause your shop to get ruined, so it's the least I can do.”

“I killed the guy, not you, don’t take my credit.” She snarked, “Also just learn to accept gratitude.”

Chan and the guys were godsends. With her parlour destroyed, she didn’t have the space to tattoo or train her apprentice. In their last consultation, she had mentioned searching for a new place for her parlour. Chan had then offered the empty retail space on the ground floor of the building, next to the club. She hadn’t realized that he owned the entire building, except for the Scarlet Lagoon, which Hyunjin owned. It made sense. It was an excellent base for the group and brought in significant legal money. She had been redecorating the space for the past few days, Hyunjin and Jisung often stopping by and aiding her, to the amazement of Wei, who very obviously had a crush on Hyunjin.

She was a relatively frugal person, tending to only splurge occasionally for special occasions. It came in handy in this case, having the extra funds for new equipment and supplies. They were expected to re-open in their new location in a few days, but there were a few things left.

“Having some trouble figuring out what to put on the walls, given that all the paintings are damaged,” Minji said, taking a long drag of her cigarette.

“What did you do with them?”

“They’re in my office in my apartment.” Minji said, “Can’t get rid of them.”

“Youngjae’s right? The paintings, that is?”

“How’d you know?” Minji said.

“Jisung mentioned seeing the one from Jaebum’s office. Thought you stole it at first.” Chan shrugged.

She snorted, “No, it was a gift to me, before y’know. The rest of the paintings are birthday presents from him as well.”

“Why don’t you frame some of your sketches? You’ve got quite the artistic talent.”

“I mean I could, but my sketches are always just… sketches. The finalized art is what goes on people.”

“The unfinishedness could be the look though. Your shop’s aesthetic was already kinda edgy.”

“The exact aesthetic is dark academia, but I suppose it could work.”

Chan made a face but didn’t retaliate further.

“The question is what to remake onto a standard-size canvas. Given the space, I want seven pieces of artwork up.”

“Do you have your sketchbook?”

His eyes were on the sketchbook on the counter, yet he still asked that question with a stupid grin on his face.

“No.”

He chuckled as she flipped the book open, thumbing through pages of sketches.

“What about this one?”

His finger stopped her from flicking the page, pressing gently across the page that depicted a bouquet.

“The Death Bouquet itself, good choice.” Minji hummed, her manicured nail tracing the pattern of the sketch.

“The Death Bouquet is a real thing?”

“Well, it is an urban legend in my hometown.” She explained. “I drew it and it is the first tattoo I ever got.”

“What’s the legend?”

“Well, it starts with two brothers. It’s said that they were inseparable, even through their teenage and adult years. The younger brother moved away, seeking to find his way, leaving his brother behind. Several years later, he came back to town, with a fianceé. His brother was overjoyed at his return but found himself unable to connect with his brother, too in love with his soon-to-be wife. The older brother found himself resenting their relationship, as it was all his family talked about.”

Her hand stopped tracing, finger staying put on the ribbon of the bouquet.

“It was only until their wedding day, when he was helping his soon-to-be sister get ready, that he realized that he hated their relationship because he loved her. Her bouquet was full of baby’s breath, the flowers of purity and young love, her favourite flower. He was beside himself, torn by his grief and love for the one woman he couldn’t have.”

“When he went outside for a breather, he saw a pretty purple flower going in the gardens. When he came closer to the flowers, he recognized them as Wisteria flowers. When he saw the plants, his bitter heart turned to greed and jealousy, and he plucked a few flowers, making sure to gather a handful of seeds. When he returned to the bride, just before the ceremony was to begin, she wholly accepted the new addition to her bouquet, awed enough to not the seeds he placed in the ceremonial tea that the flower girl was to carry out.”

“However, as he stood by his brother's side, watching as the couples reached for the cups that contained the tea, he could only watch as they drank from the same cup, the bride and his brother ingesting poisonous tea. And when the couple went very still later that night, entangled in their wedding sheets, it was the brother they found, seated at the altar of the wedding church, the bouquet in his hands with tears in his eyes.”

It was silent within the empty Scarlet Lagoon, Minji nursing her whiskey and Chan staring off into existence.

“Is it true? The story?”

“The married couple were found dead, and wisteria toxin was found in their systems. It is assumed that it was the brother, but no one knows. The story is from a few decades before I was born.”

“If people assumed it was the brother, then why didn’t he get arrested for it?”

“He was found dead when the police came to question him. Alcohol poisoning.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Jesus Christ indeed.” Minji hummed, tipping her glass toward him as if she was toasting him. “That’s the world we live in.”

○○○

"So are you two going to fuck again or are you just going back to staring at her."

Changbin smacked Minho on the arm, as he pulled his eyes away from Minji across the room. The Scarlet Lagoon was packed, but that was expected. One of the main reasons that the club was as popular as it was, is that it had a themed night once a month. And it wasn't cheesy themes, continuing with the luxe and glamourous interior and general vibe of the club.

It was one of those themed nights, and due to the level of people there, it was customary for all eight of them to attend. And now Minji was attending, no longer a regular of the club and now free to move around. Yet she had stayed at her regular spot at the bar until Hyunjin had weaved through the crowd and pulled her onto the dance floor.

The pair were easily the best looking on the dance floor, the red velvet of Hyunjin's suit pairing nicely with the blush pink satin of Minji's dress.

As if they could sense people talking about them, the pair wormed their way out of the dance floor, coming over to the table. Hyunjin reached the table before them, Changbin noting the darker tint to his lips and the single red tear-drop-shaped jewel beneath his left eye.

Minji approached them, the satin hugging her figure down to her hips before it draped loosely down the rest of her body, hiding her legs from view save for her heeled feet. A loose white sheer shawl hung loosely off her arms, upon which matching rose-gold arm cuffs sat. Her fingers had countless rings upon them, all in soft pastels and golds, mimicking her rose-gold jewelled nails. The pastels and rose gold theme continued, up to the cuffs and chains from her ears, which were unnaturally pointed. There were countless small braids littered throughout her hair, with jewels twisted into the braids. Her makeup was simplistic, but the attention still went to her eyes, now a bright purple.

"I see you are strikingly on theme," Chan said, as Minji accepted a drink from him as she sat down next to Jeongin.

"It's a supernatural theme, it's easy to be on theme."

"You wouldn't believe how many people we've had to turn down because they aren't on theme or are dressed like a corny dollar store supernatural," Hyunjin said, scoffing as he stole Seungmin's drink from him.

"You're an ass," Seungmin said, stealing the drink back.

Jeongin tapped her hand as she set her drink down, so she turned to look at the younger man, dressed nicely in a black suit with a scratch across his cheekbone. She noted the dark grey acrylics on his nails, long enough to dig into her hand slightly.

"Yes?"

"How did you do the pointed ears? They look really cool." Jeongin gushed.

"They're prosthetics. Another time I could put a pair on you?"

"I'd like that."

"Stop trying to be cute to woo Minji, Jeong," Minho said.

"Stop being a mood killer and I'll consider." The youngest snapped back.

Minji grinned at their banter, taking another drink. As set her drink down, she noted his eyes on her again. She wasn't blind, she could feel the looks upon her from him but chose not to act upon it. Would it potentially get awkward when she started tattooing the guys tomorrow? Most likely, especially since she was going to be tattooing his pectoral.

But that was tomorrow's problem.

#skz #stray kids #changbin x oc #dvbkie099 #cigarette daydreams

0 notes

inyournightmares97 · 2 years

Text

The Back-Up

You’ve worked your entire life to become the captain of the most elite starship in the space force. When your crew makes a monumental discovery and Captain Lim Jaebeom is sent to provide back-up, you refuse to let this wonderful man steal your thunder yet again.

Word Count: 12k+

Genre: Space Exploration!AU, JaebeomxFemale!Reader. I won’t pretend this isn’t heavily Star Trek inspired but you definitely don’t need to know anything about Star Trek to understand it.

Warnings: Language, and some mentions of drugging someone without consent.

USS Premier.

Captain's Log, Stardate 56698.4.

Our efforts to make peace with the primitive alien species inhabiting Iota Five are progressing slowly but steadily. This species, referring to themselves as the 'Magrakhar', do not appear to be hostile but I sense some reluctance on their part to fully commit to a peaceful alliance with us. Perhaps further research into their customs is warranted.

Admiral Nguyen has arranged for us to receive back-up. I have conveyed to him that all is under control, but he insists on sending us the USS Miracle for support. The Miracle is due to land on Iota Five in less than an hour and they shall rendezvous with us immediately.

The captain of the USS Miracle, Captain Lim Jaebeom, is a fellow classmate of mine from the Academy. I have not seen him in many years. This reunion promises to be interesting, though I continue to believe that the USS Miracle's deputation to Iota Five is wholly unnecessary.

You stopped recording and relaxed in your leather-backed chair. Your Captain's quarters were large and beautifully furnished- or at least, as large as they could be given that you were on a starship where, ironically, space was a luxury.

There was plenty more that you wanted to say about Captain Lim Jaebeom, but most of it would not have been appropriate for an official log.

To put it plainly, you were not terribly excited about the USS Miracle arriving. Iota Five was your discovery and you were the one who had initiated first contact with this previously undiscovered alien species. It felt a little unfair that the USS Miracle would come now, after the difficult part was all done, and steal your thunder.

This would not be the first time that Lim Jaebeom had stolen your thunder. Considering how much thunder he went about stealing from everyone since his Academy years, it was a wonder there was any thunder left in the galaxy.

Still. There was one thing he couldn't steal.

The USS Premier.

Your starship. One of the best starships in the fleet, the absolute pride of the Federation and an engineering marvel. Sure, Jaebeom's USS Miracle was nothing to laugh at, but there was no denying that the USS Premier was simply better in almost every way that mattered.

You smiled to yourself.

You did so enjoy these rare opportunities to flaunt your success.

There was a small beep and an androgynous robotic voice spoke aloud in the room.

"First Officer Smith requests entry."

"Granted," you replied, moments before your First Officer entered your quarters and nodded at you respectfully.

"The USS Miracle just landed on Iota Five. Captain Lim and First Officer Park are preparing to transport on board with some of their other commanding officers. We should be ready to greet them," she explained.

You stood.

"Of course. Have Conference Room One prepared. Knowing Jaebeom, he'll want to skip the pleasantries and get straight to business," you replied. "Do we have a brief about everything we have discovered so far about the Magrakhar and Iota Five ready?"

Your First Officer nodded.

"Yes, Captain. Arrangements are already made."

"Excellent." You straightened your uniform and smiled as you followed her out of the room. "Let's go and welcome our back-up."

-------------------------------------------------------

It was easy to forget just how attractive Captain Lim Jaebeom was until you were standing right in front of him. His sharp eyes and thin lips were not traditionally handsome, but Jaebeom carried an aura of confidence and self-assuredness that made him the object of much curiosity and sexual desire.

So what if he was more attractive and seemed to have aged splendidly since the last time you saw him at some event three years ago?

Now you had the better ship.

You had the Premier.

"Captain Lim Jaebeom," you greeted with a broad smile and all the humility you could muster. "Welcome to Iota Five. And, more importantly, welcome on board the USS Premier."

Jaebeom gave you a reserved and polite smile as he shook your hand. His grip was gentle, but yours was firm. Perhaps a little firmer than it needed to be.

Jaebeom withdrew his hand quickly.

"Thank you, Captain. It's a pleasure to be here. May I introduce my officers? This is my First Officer Park Jinyoung, my Chief Tactical Officer Jackson Wang and my Communications Chief, Mark Tuan," he introduced the three men standing close behind him.

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at the sight of Jaebeom's handsome, yet evidently male senior officers. A quick glance at First Officer Smith revealed that you were both thinking along similar lines.

What a sausage fest.

Didn't the USS Miracle have any commanding officers that weren't so stereotypically male?

"It's a pleasure," you lied. "Allow me to introduce First Officer Smith. I'm afraid most of my senior officers have taken up temporary residence on Iota Five, and are preparing reports on various aspects of the planet and our new friends, the Magrakhars."

"Not our friends yet, I take it?" First Officer Park asked with a smirk.

You gave him a sharp look.

"Only a matter of time, Commander Park," you replied tightly. "We have made tremendous progress. I shall be delighted to bring you all up to speed in the conference room… unless you would like a tour first?"

Jaebeom blinked. "I think we would prefer to be briefed before we tour Iota Five."

"I meant a tour of the USS Premier."

"Ah. My apologies. I would be delighted to have a tour of the ship. Perhaps after the briefing?"

You tried not to let your disappointment show.

"Of course. Conference Room One is this way. Please, follow me."

--------------------------------------------------------

The conference room was a large, windowless room with a sleek rectangular table along the middle and comfortable leather-backed chairs. You stood in front of the enormous holographic display that showed a 3-D visual depiction of Iota Five- or at least, whatever your crew had managed to map of the planet so far.

You were almost giddy with excitement.

"As you know, making first contact with a previously unknown alien species is an extremely delicate matter, particularly when the species is as primitive as the Magrakhars," you boasted.

Jaebeom watched calmly from his chair. His dark eyes were fully focused on you.

"The Magrakhars are an extremely religious group. They have a fairly moderate understanding of science, astronomy and engineering, but they continue to worship a god they refer to as Grahvak. We've learned that word translates to 'water'. It's a dry planet and the only abundant source of water is a single river that flows from the mountainous region down through the plains. The river is also called Grahvak- we're not entirely sure which is named after the other."

"Not the most creative bunch, I see," First Officer Park muttered.

You ignored him.

"Their settlements are largely around the plains and close to the river. Most of this part-" you gestured to the part of the planet which was far from the river, "is uninhabited and barren."

Jaebeom rose from his chair and stepped closer to you and the 3-D hologram of Iota Five. His eyes narrowed as he inspected the geographical landscape.

"What about this part?" Jaebeom gestured to the mountainous region from which the river appeared to originate.

You frowned.

"We havent explored the mountains fully. The origin of the river means that area is sacred ground for the Magrakhars, and they are reluctant to permit us to see the upper parts. There are no settlements on the mountain- only a monastery where Magrakhars who choose to dedicate their lives to the service of Grahvak reside after leaving their families behind."

"Sounds like an important place to begin."

"We are working on gaining entry," you reassured him. "We don't want to trod on any toes too soon, especially when it comes to what they hold sacred."

Jaebeom nodded and stepped back. "Understandable. So- what can we do to help, Captain? My crew is at your disposal."

You smiled.

----------------------------------------------------------

It took a few hours to discuss personnel assignments and plans for the next few weeks. Jaebeom agreed to dispatch his communications team to help yours generate a dictionary of the Magrakhar language, and his science officers to help yours collect samples of flora and fauna from Iota Five.

"We should call it a night," Captain Jaebeom said finally, as the discussions ended. "We'll need to be up bright and early tomorrow. Commander Park, make sure our crew assignments are sent out before the start of the next shift."

First Officer Park nodded.

"Of course, Captain. We'll see you back on board the Miracle."

You continued to frown at the 3-D hologram as the others began to leave. As always, Jaebeom had managed to strike right at the heart of the issue- the Magrakhars still wouldn't allow you or your crew onto the mountain and perhaps the key to this alliance lay not in what the aliens shared freely, but what they hid from you.

"Hoping to discover something new by staring at the hologram?"

You looked up and realised that Jaebeom was still at his seat. The rest of his officers had left but he remained there, dark eyes watching you. You blinked at him.

"No. Just thinking about something," you replied casually. "Need help finding the transporter room to head back to your ship?"

Jaebeom stood up and stretched his arms out in front of him lazily. You could see him flexing his broad shoulders.

"I know where the transporter is," he replied with a playful smile. "But if I recall, you offered me a tour of the USS Premier and I was rather looking forward to that."

You grinned. "Of course. My mistake. Ready for your tour?"

"Lead the way."

It was a strange but exciting sensation to be walking along the halls of your starship with Captain Lim Jaebeom. You had spent most of your 15-year long acquaintance with the man feeling inferior to him, always being one step behind. It was exhilarating to finally be the one with something to flaunt.

"When was the last time we saw each other?" Jaebeom asked conversationally as you walked down the halls to the observation decks. "It's been two, maybe three years, hasn't it?"

You nodded. "We met at the Memorial Event on Earth three years ago. You were still First Officer on board the USS Fantasy then. It was before I was offered a captaincy as well. I think this is the first time we've met in person since we both became captains."

Jaebeom smiled.

"Well. I suppose congratulations are in order, then."

"A bit late for congratulations, isn't it? It's been a year since I was offered captaincy of the Premier, and half as long since you took charge of the Miracle."

Jaebeom nodded. "I suppose. How has captaincy been treating you?"

"Marvellously. I don't think I've ever been happier."

"I'm not surprised to hear that. Captaincy has always been your natural calling," Jaebeom replied graciously. While his expression was neutral, his eyes were smiling.

You blinked.

Why did he have to be so humble? It made maintaining your imagined rivalry with him so much more difficult.

"Thank you," you mumbled.

"Aren't the observation decks this way?"

"Uh-yes. This way."

You tried not to be too flustered as you led the way to the enormous observation deck aboard the USS Miracle. It was a broad oval-shaped hall with pure glass walls and ceiling that revealed the vast expanse of the night sky on Iota Five.

There were hardly any clouds and the stars twinkled brightly in the distance. The deck was furnished with comfortable lounge chairs, couches, and a well-stocked bar that ran along the entirety of one wall.

"Beautiful," Jaebeom mumbled. "I see why the USS Premier is chosen for most diplomatic missions. This observation deck is enough to make anyone fall in love."

You smiled.

"Well. Yes, it is a nice view. Not that I have much time to come up here normally."

Jaebeom chuckled as he looked around. There was nobody here except the two of you and an android bartender. "I don't imagine anybody on board the Premier has much time for stargazing. You've always run a tight ship."

"I'll have you know that I am very liberal about sanctioning shore leave. Can I offer you a drink? Unless, of course, you don't imbibe while on duty…"

Jaebeom surprised you when he coolly removed his captain's badge from the lapel of his uniform and tucked it neatly into his pocket.

"Let's say I'm off duty. I'll have a whisky."

"Ice?"

"Of course."

You glanced at the android bartender that was standing eerily still behind the bar. "You heard the man. I'll have a glass of wine. Red."

"Yes, Captain," the android replied before moving to make your drink orders. You grabbed your wine and handed Jaebeom his whisky before settling down next to him on a couch. Jaebeom took a sip and leaned back to stare at the stars twinkling through the glass ceiling.

"It's ironic," he said quietly. "That we've dedicated to spending our lives exploring space and yet we hardly ever get the opportunity to just… look at it."

You rolled your eyes. "There's not much to see in empty space."

"I think there's plenty to see."

"Well, suit yourself, but don't get too comfortable up here. I haven't even shown you the engine core or the tactical department and that's where I go to really dazzle my ship's visitors," you joked.

Jaebeom tilted his head slightly towards you.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hmm?"

"I think I've missed you."

You were caught off guard. It would be a lie to say that your relationship with Jaebeom was entirely formal or official- there had been far too many parties and late-night study sessions back during your days at the Academy for that. But it had been years since then, and you certainly weren't close enough to Lim Jaebeom to casually exchange phrases like 'I missed you'', or things that were only said between close friends or family or… lovers.

You swallowed. "Uh…"

Jaebeom looked abashed and turned his face back to the glass ceiling. "Never mind. Forget I said that. I must be more lonely than I thought."

You raised an eyebrow.

"Lonely? Aboard a starship where you can't take two steps without bumping into someone else?"

"It's not about physical proximity. I guess it's just strange to have to maintain certain formalities with my crew. Being Captain means that you're at the top of the chain of command and you can't afford to be… you know."

You tossed back your wine and then nodded. "You can't afford to be too friendly with people who report to you. I understand."

"Well, yeah. You're the first person I've seen in a while that doesn't report to me. I guess I miss having someone around that I can speak to as a friend, as an equal-"

You interrupted him. "Stop right there. Equal? That's a bit of a stretch. Yes, we're both Captains, but I think you're forgetting that I have the superior ship," you replied smugly.

Jaebeom laughed.

"I won't lie, your ship is great."

"Thank you for noticing."

"Is this why you invited me to have a tour? So that you could show off the USS Premier?" Jaebeom chuckled. "You haven't changed. You're as competitive as ever. You must hate the fact that Admiral Nguyen sent the Miracle as back-up."

You pouted.

"Well, I wasn't particularly delighted."

Jaebeom smiled and shook his head. "You don't need to worry. I'm not trying to steal your spotlight. In fact, I'm looking forward to finishing this assignment as soon as possible. Once the Miracle is done on Iota Five, I plan on going back to Earth for a long overdue vacation."

You blinked.

"You want to go back to Earth, of all places, for your vacation?"

Jaebeom nodded. "Yeah. I guess I miss it."

"You seem to be missing a lot of things. Is old age turning you sentimental? What happened to the stone-faced Lim Jaebeom from the Academy, the one that waltzed into a battle simulation exam 3 minutes late and began barking orders at all the androids?"

"I don't remember what exam that was."

"You aced it," you muttered.

"Well. Those simulations only teach you how to deal with the action-packed ethical conundrums, they don't teach you how to deal with what happens after all the action is over. After you go back to your Captain's quarters alone for the night and maybe regret the fact that you chose such a lonely career path."

You sighed and shook your head. "I can't believe you're moping. Aboard the USS Premier, no less. Come on. Let's go to the tactical department. Maybe the sight of our new photon torpedos will cheer you up."

Jaebeom sighed and stretched a little as he stood up.

"All right. I won't pretend I'm not curious. Let's go look at your weapons."

"That's more like it!"

--------------------------------------------------------------

Jaebeom could not deny that he was disappointed.

Part of him had been hoping that you carried the same emptiness he did, the same longing for companionship that he had been feeling more strongly of late. He hoped that maybe this time, at last, you would notice his attempts to get closer to you.

He had been hoping you missed him too. But as always he was left unsure about your response.

You seemed genuinely happy, and Jaebeom supposed that you had every right to be. You were living your dream as captain of one of the best starships in the fleet. You were at the pinnacle of your career so it was not surprising that you had no interest in, dare he say it, romance.

Perhaps Jaebeom was the strange one.

He really shouldn't have had that whisky.

He followed you around the USS Premier, nodding and lavishly praising everything you showed him. The engine core, the tactical defence equipment, even the exobiology labs and digital libraries onboard the Premier were a sight to behold.

It was extremely late by the time Jaebeom was transported back to the Miracle alone. He had hoped to quietly return to his quarters without any fuss, but he ran into First Officer Park in the hallway.

Jinyoung looked surprised.

"Captain. Are you just returning from the Premier?"

Jaebeom cleared his throat. "Uh, yes. I had some things to discuss with the Premier's captain and she was kind enough to show me around the ship."

"Oh. I'd forgotten that she offered to give us a tour of the ship after the briefing," Jinyoung replied, looking mildly disappointed that he had missed it. "What do you think of her? The Premier's captain, that is."

Jaebeom felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What?"

"I mean…" Jinyoung lowered his voice although they were standing in the hallway of the senior officers' sleeping quarters and there were unlikely to be any eavesdroppers. "She seems rather proud of discovering Iota Five and the Magrakhars and I noticed that she hasn't allowed any of our officers to take on any real responsibility. She just has us translating and collecting samples."

Jaebeom relaxed a little. "Oh. Yes, I noticed that too."

"It seems like she doesn't want us here."

"Discovering a new species is a once-in-a-lifetime event for most starship captains. Many never manage it before they retire. I think it's understandable that she doesn't want to share the spotlight."

Jinyoung pursed his lips. "I suppose… but shouldn't we at least be allowed to make contact with the Magrakhars? Perhaps find out what's going on in that mountainous area?"

Jaebeom sighed. "We'll talk to her about it tomorrow."

"Er… Permission to speak freely, Captain?"

"Of course."

"Is it true that they offered the captaincy of the USS Premier to you first and you rejected it?"

Jaebeom blinked. "Where did you hear that?"

"There's a rumour going around on the Miracle."

"I think it would be in everyone's best interest if that rumour stopped going around before it reaches anyone on the Premier."

"Understood. Good night, Captain."

------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a bright and sunny afternoon on Iota Five as you entered the cool, brick house of the Magrakhar's Chieftain. The aliens did not have any formal system of government, but this Chieftain seemed to be a de facto leader, and the rest of the aliens respected him.

You had intended to go alone but you were unable to shake off Captain Lim Jaebeom and his posse. They invited themselves along when they discovered you were meeting with the Chieftain, and you couldn't think of a solid reason to refuse.

You glanced distastefully at Park, Wang and Tuan. These men looked more like they belonged in a 21st century boy band than commanding an elite starship.

"Cap-tain!" The Chieftain welcomed you into his home enthusiastically. Like all Magrakhars, he was a small and rotund figure with no hair and rubbery, light blue skin. He had been making an effort to learn your language.

"It's a pleasure to see you too, Chieftain," you greeted the man. Your communications officer, Nelly, quickly translated your words for the alien in a series of grunting noises made in the Magrakhars' native tongue.

The Chieftain grinned. "Come!" and then he made more grunting noises. You glanced at Nelly hopefully.

"I think he's inviting us to have a meal with him, Or it could be a drink. I'm not entirely sure," Nelly admitted sheepishly. "We're still learning about their customs and some words don't have direct equivalents…"

"Either way, please tell him we accept."

Nelly translated and the Chieftain ushered you further into his home. The central area was a large, open-roofed atrium and the Chieftain's wife was preparing drinks in small clay cups. She handed them to you and your fellow officers with a bright smile.

You peered into the cup.

"What do you think that is?" Jaebeom mumbled as he accepted his own cup from the female Magrakhar.

"It can't be alcoholic, can it?" you asked, taking a tentative sniff of the drink. "Uff. Yeah, that's definitely alcohol. In the middle of the day, too. I'm not sure I should be drinking this. We came here to ask him about the peace treaty negotiations. I'd rather not be drunk for this conversation."

Jaebeom shrugged. "What's worse- being drunk or disrespecting their customs?"

As usual, Jaebeom made an excellent point.

You forced a polite smile at the Chieftain who was watching you eagerly and swallowed half of the contents of the cup. It tasted bittersweet and burned your throat as it went down. But your body instantly felt a few degrees warmer.

Fascinating.

"Chieftain," you greeted him as you set down your cup. "Have you given more thought to our proposal from our last meeting? We are very eager to cement the terms of our peace treaty and add Iota Five to our list of allies."

Nelly translated your words to the best of her ability.

The Chieftain smiled but his expression was less cheerful than before. He made a series of grunting noises that Nelly listened to intently. She took a moment to reference her digital dictionary and you noticed that Mark Tuan, Jaebeom's communications officer, was also looking up something on his handheld computer.

"What?" you demanded impatiently.

Nelly looked up. "He is saying that while he enjoys our company and believes that we have come in peace, he is not entitled to make such decisions. He says he cannot be sure whether or not Grahvak would approve of mingling with non-believers."

You looked at the Chieftain.

"But you are the Chieftain. Everyone here respects you, from what I can tell. Surely they would respect your opinions of us?"

The Chieftain made some sad grunting noises.

"He says he is not the mouthpiece of Grahvak. He says Grahvak speaks from… from the water? I don't know, it's very confusing since he calls a lot of things Grahvak- the god, the river, even normal water."

"I think," Lieutenant Commander Tuan spoke up quietly. He was consulting his own handheld device. "He is saying that Grahvak speaks from the origin of the water. The source of the river is the mountains. Grahvak speaks from the mountains."

You weren't happy with Tuan for interrupting, but it was clear that you needed all the help you could get. You thanked him and turned to Nelly.

"Ask him if he is saying Grahvak speaks from the mountains."

Nelly made the requisite grunting noises and then listened to his response.

"Yes I think he's saying that the mouthpiece of Grahvak is in the mountains."

"Ask him if I can speak to Grahvak."

Nelly communicated the response.

"You cannot speak to Grahvak," she explained. "Grahvak speaks from the mountain. You are not allowed to go on the mountain."

You were beginning to grow frustrated with the Magrakhar's infuriating answers. Not to mention, the alcohol was beginning to make you feel a bit fuzzy.

"Ask him what he wants me to do then. He cannot accept the peace treaty unless Grahvak approves. But he will not allow me to speak to Grahvak. Tell him I need his help to find a solution. I wish to make a binding alliance with his people for mutual benefit."

Nelly communicated your response. The Chieftain looked agonised for a moment before he finally made some reluctant grunting noises.

"He says we should return tomorrow morning and meet him at the foot of the mountain," Nelly explained. "He will try to obtain permission for us to go on the mountain. But he says… I think he's trying to say that only some of us may be allowed to go?"

You nodded. You had no qualms leaving the crew of the USS Miracle behind for this excursion.

"Excellent. Thank him for me."

Nelly communicated your gratitude. You made to leave but the Chieftain's wife hurriedly brought around another set of clay cups with the same liquid as before. You were reluctant to have more. The first had already left you rather light-headed.

But the Chieftain smiled and grunted at you eagerly.

"Apparently it's custom to have one more drink before you leave," Nelly muttered.

You forced a smile and accepted the drink.

"So be it."

You tried to stay sober but you found yourself stumbling a little as you got to your feet. Jaebeom quickly held your arm to prevent you from falling over and you shot him a grateful smile.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

You mumbled your goodbyes to the Chieftain (luckily Nelly had been able to dispose of her second drink into a nearby succulent plant since the Chieftain had his eyes only on you) and Nelly translated your goodbyes as you left his house and began to head back to your ships.

"You shouldn't have had that second drink," Jaebeom admonished with a chuckle as you found yourself leaning on him for support. Your legs felt like jelly.

You frowned. "He was looking right at me. I had to drink it. How come none of you are struggling?"

Jaebeom and his officers appeared completely unaffected by the drink. Nelly was a little pink but not nearly as drunk as you. She hiccuped lightly.

Jaebeom glanced at his officers, who shrugged.

"I don't know. It didn't have much of an effect on us, really," he replied honestly. The drink had tasted bitter to them but had not had any intoxicating effect. "Do you need help getting back to your ship?"

"No," you insisted, but the moment Jaebeom released your arm you stumbled sideways a little. Jaebeom chuckled.

"I'll escort the Captain and Lieutenant Nelly back to the Premier. Go back without me," he told his officers before pressing his badge and instructing your transporter to beam you up to the Premier. Your mind felt numb and your thoughts muddled as Jaebeom escorted Nelly first to her quarters, and then brought you to yours.

"Never thought I'd get to see your quarters," he admitted lightly. Your personal quarters aboard the Premier were as well-furnished as his own, but slightly larger.

You grinned. "Impressed?"

"They're quite lovely."

"I decorated them myself. My quarters were the only part of the ship that I was allowed to design, so I'm rather proud of them," you admitted with a grin as you sat down at the edge of your bed. A wave of nausea swept over you. "Fuck, I feel dizzy."

Jaebeom folded his arms over his chest.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. He went to your small private kitchenette and tapped the food generating device. "Computer, glass of water please. Cold."

A glass of water materialised before Jaebeom and he brought it over to you. You drank it gratefully.

"Thanks. I wonder what the hell that drink was… none of the Magrakhars offered it to me the last few times I was on the planet," you mumbled. Your mind still felt cloudy and you looked up at Jaebeom. He was standing with his arms folded and looking concerned.

"I think you should get some sleep."

"I'm fine- it's the middle of the day, I'm not tired."

"It's not about being tired. You're clearly too intoxicated to continue your duties, and the only solution I can think of is for you to try and sleep it off," Jaebeom insisted as he gently placed a hand on your shoulder. His dark eyes looked down at you with a certain softness.

Something suddenly stirred in your chest.

Your entire body felt incredibly aware of Jaebeom's hand on your shoulder. He wasn't even touching your bare skin but the contact still felt warm and tingly. Something inside of you burned red-hot.

You wanted more.

You abruptly stood up and found yourself inches away from him. Jaebeom's eyes widened but he said nothing as you slowly leaned closer.

Your lips dropped close to his neck, your breath tickling his skin.

"You smell really nice," you whispered.

Jaebeom stiffened.

"Uh- thank you. Although I don't think the sonic showers are supposed to leave any fragrances behind-"

Your eyes rose to meet his. Jaebeom's expression was hesitant and confused as you leaned closer. His soft musky scent was intoxicating and you couldn't think of anything other than what it would feel like to kiss his lips and run your fingers through his hair.

Rank, propriety, rivalry… all these things disappeared from your mind in an instant.

You kissed him.

It started off as a soft peck but when Jaebeom did not react, you felt the heat going lower from your stomach. You wrapped your arms around his neck and gripped his broad shoulders and slanted your mouth over his eagerly. There was a fraction of a moment when Jaebeom moved his mouth against yours in response-

But he suddenly and abruptly pushed you away. You fell back against the bed and a chill came over your body.

"Stop," he muttered.

Your body reached out for him automatically. It was like reaching out for a cold glass of water when you were parched- you needed Jaebeom and nothing else would do to satisfy that need. There was a hollow ache inside of you.

"Please," you whispered as you moved towards him again. The ache intensified. "Please, I need this-"

"No," Jaebeom said more firmly. "This isn't like you. Clearly there was something in that drink."

"It doesn't matter-"

"It matters a lot," he replied as he hurriedly extricated himself from your arms and stumbled back to the door. He took a deep breath and glanced back at you with a pained expression. "I'm sorry. But I think you'll regret this tomorrow and I don't want to be the cause of your regret."

And he left.

You wanted to chase after him, to grab him and inhale his intoxicating scent again. Your hands began to tremble. You needed Jaebeom badly, or you felt that your entire body would explode. Before you could even stop to think, you had run out of your quarters after him.

You glanced up and down the corridor but it was empty. He must have already transported back to his ship. You ran, barefoot, down to the transporter room and startled the half-asleep Ensign on duty as you stepped on top of the transporter pad.

"Beam me over to the Miracle," you ordered. "Now,"

"Y-yes, Captain."

The transporter's light flashed and you rematerialised aboard the Miracle, in their transporter room. The officer on duty on the Miracle reached for his weapon instinctively, but lowered his hand as he recognised you.

"Captain," he said hesitantly. "I wasn't informed of your arrival aboard our ship…"

"I need to see Captain Jaebeom immediately," you choked out. "Tell me where his quarters are- no need to follow me, I'll find them myself."

"But I wasn't informed-"

"Code Priority Beta, this is an emergency."

"O-oh. His quarters are on Deck 8, section B, the turbolift over there can take you to them-"

You were gone before the officer could finish his sentence. At this point it felt like your logical mind had shut down completely- there was nothing left inside of you beside raw determination and desire. The thought of Jaebeom and his scent flooded your senses as the turbolift brought you to his quarters.

You pressed the little entry button on the panel next to the door.

"Computer, request access."

There was a brief pause.

"Access denied," the androgynous robotic voice replied to you. For the first time in your life you almost wanted to break the computer apart. You clenched your fists and tried to calm down.

"Computer, open a channel of communication to Captain Lim Jaebeom," you ordered.

The computer buzzed and then you heard Jaebeom's voice coming from the small panel sounding bewildered.

"What are you doing here? Did you just transport aboard my ship without my authorization-" Jaebeom began to demand but you were in no condition to listen to his admonishes. You leaned against the door.

"Let me in," you begged. "Please. It hurts."

Jaebeom's voice was silent for a moment.

"You're not okay."

"I'd be okay if you would just let me inside, please, don't shut me out like this," you pleaded. "I need you, Jaebeom. I need you right now or I'm going to go insane, I swear to god-"

"Fuck, this is more serious than I thought."

Your mind was growing more and more fuzzy by the moment. Your thoughts were filled with Jaebeom's intoxicating scent. "Jaebeom, please…"

There was a brief pause. Your heart leapt as you waited for the door to open but instead you heard Jaebeom's voice once more.

"Captain to Lieutenant Commander Wang. I need your help to restrain an intruder aboard the ship. Report to my quarters immediately... and bring Doctor Choi."

---------------------------------------------

You awoke to a blinding white light in your face.

You blinked and the light moved away. It was replaced by the face of a handsome bespectacled man with a pleasing and wide smile.

"I see you're awake. No need to panic- I'm Doctor Choi Youngjae, Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Miracle," he replied soothingly. "You're in the medical wing of our ship. I've already sent for Captain Lim to come see you-"

You felt nauseous.

Captain Lim.

Jaebeom.

The same Jaebeom you had thrown yourself at shamelessly while he was in your quarters and broken perhaps a hundred Federation rules to follow back to his ship without authorisation and beg him to fuck you.

Oh god.

You leaned over the side of the bed and threw up.

Doctor Choi expertly stepped back to avoid your vomit coating his shoes. "Nurse, can you help clear this up, please? Captain Lim will be here momentarily."

You blinked apologetically at the nurse who handed you a glass of water and then turned back to Doctor Choi.

"Did I pass out?" you demanded.

"Uhh… in a manner of speaking. It was deemed prudent to sedate you until the effects of the Magrakhar's drink faded off. It wasn't very clear to us whether you posed a threat to Captain Lim, and you seemed to be in… some form of agony anyway."

The mechanical doors to the medical wing opened and Jaebeom stepped through briskly. He was as handsome and confident as always but to your utter relief you were not hit with a sudden urge to leap at him and rip his clothes off.

"Doctor Choi," Jaebum greeted. "Were you able to determine anything?"

"Her hormone levels are back to normal," Doctor Choi explained calmly. "The effects have worn off fully, but she may be a little weak from the forceful sedation we did."

You still couldn't believe what you were hearing.

"I had to be knocked out?" you demanded, horrified.

Jaebeom glanced at you warily. "Doctor Choi, if we could have a minute, please."

"Of course."

You found yourself losing your will to live as Doctor Choi walked away and left you alone with nobody but Lim Jaebeom and some beeping medical equipment.

The memories of your behaviour were coming back to you rapidly, and each memory was worse than the last.

"Fuck," you whispered. "Fuck, I want to die."

Jaebeom placed a hand on your shoulder comfortingly.

"Hey. Relax. I'm glad you're all right now. I sent my officers down to Iota Five to investigate and the Chieftain was pretty quick to admit that the drink he gave us was an incredibly strong aphrodisiac. You were drugged."

You felt violated.

"The bastard. We went there in peace and he had the gall to drug me? How come nobody else was affected?" you demanded.

Jaebeom sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Preliminary reports from my officers suggest that the drug only affects biological women. It's well-intentioned, I suppose. Apparently the act of sex is very painful for Magrakhar females and this drink helps them enjoy it more. It also increases fertility… not that you would have noticed that last part."

You were appalled.

"I don't… I don't even know how to…"

Jaebeom sighed. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

You felt small and ashamed. You wanted to drown in your humiliation. If you never saw Lim Jaebeom and his crew again then it would be far too soon. But you knew what you had to do next. Your pride had to take a step back in these circumstances. You cleared your throat.

"I-I'm sorry-" you began to apologise.

"You weren't in your senses. Nobody blames you."

"I followed you to your quarters," you whispered, mortified. "I threw myself at you, it was completely unwarranted and I don't even know how to begin to apologise for my behaviour."

"I had my officers sedate you. I think we're even."

"We're not even! Of course you had me sedated, if a man had come banging on my door out of his mind and begging me to fuck him, I'd have done a lot worse than sedate him!" you cried, your voice rising hysterically. One of the medical machines you were hooked up to began to beep rapidly.

"Shh, calm down," Jaebeom soothed you.

"I-I can't. Oh god, I pretended it was an emergency in front of that poor officer in the transporter room, I cited emergency protocols at him-"

Jaebeom grasped your shoulders firmly.

"Relax," he insisted. "I've spoken to the officer and he's been… persuaded not to write any reports. So have my senior officers. This is over. Do you understand? Nobody blames you. We're not even making any official reports on the incident. You need to stop worrying and just process this and move on."

"I can't," you whispered. "I've never felt more humiliated."

"You're a starship captain. You command one of the Federation's flagships and you're one of the most level-headed, competent people I know. You've handled life and death situations before. Don't tell me a little embarrassment is enough to bring you down."

You frowned.

"Well, when you put it like that…"

Jaebeom smiled reassuringly. "You'll be fine. You have bigger things to worry about. The Chieftain said he would allow us up onto the mountain tomorrow, remember? You should rest up and prepare."

You slid off the bed and unplugged yourself from the medical devices before dusting your uniform off. Other than a little weakness, you felt perfectly fine.

"Yes," you mumbled. "Yes, I should prepare."

"Exactly."

"Well, if you won't let me apologise, at least… at least let me say thank you," you replied abashedly.

You hated having to say it. Lim Jaebeom had always been your rival. He had always been one step ahead of you, had snatched opportunities out from right under your nose for years and you had resented him for it.

But you couldn't deny that he was a gentleman.

It almost made you hate him more.

The androgynous robotic voice suddenly spoke aloud in the room.

"Captain, First Officer Park and Chief Tactical Officer Wang request entry."

Jaebeom nodded. "Granted."

You tried to compose yourself as two of Jaebeom's officers entered the medical wing. The Chief Tactical Officer had a hand hovering over his weapon but he lowered it when he realised that you were no longer throwing yourself at Jaebeom.

You tried not to drown in the embarrassment once more.

"Good to see that you're recovered, Captain," Wang greeted you brightly. First Officer Park nodded at you respectfully.

You tried to maintain some composure.

"Yes, I am fully recovered, thank you," you said stiffly before glancing at Jaebeom. "Captain Lim, I'd like to take your leave to return to my ship. I am sure my crew are awaiting my return."

Jaebeom nodded. "Of course. Lieutenant Commander Wang, would you mind escorting the Captain back to the Premier?"

Wang held an arm out to you gallantly.

"It would be my pleasure."

You ignored his arm and headed for the door, leaving Lieutenant Commander Wang to drop his arm and scurry after you.

Jaebeom watched you leave with a sigh of relief, unaware that he was being eyed curiously by his First Officer. It was a few moments before Jaebeom remembered that Jinyoung was still standing in the room.

"Oh-First Officer Park. Anything to report?" he asked awkwardly.

Jinyoung nodded.

"Some of the crew went down to Iota Five to find out more about the drink. We took samples and conducted some tests. It's really a remarkable mix of chemicals, considering how selectively it acts based on the person ingesting it."

Jaebeom raised an eyebrow. "You mean how it only affects biological females?"

"It's more than that. Lieutenant Nelly is a woman too, but she just went back to her quarters and took a nap, if you remember. The aphrodisiac didn't kick in for her."

"You've discovered why?"

"The Magrakhars didn't want their women going mad and throwing themselves at any unsuspecting passersby. Apparently the drink is completely harmless- unless ingested mutually by couples that already share a sexual attraction. The drink causes men to release pheromones towards women they are attracted to, and simultaneously causes an amplified chemical reaction in any woman who shares that attraction."

Jaebeom stared at Jinyoung in disbelief. "So it did have an effect on the men, just not one we noticed?"

Jinyoung nodded.

"The effect only materialises when both persons ingesting the drink are already attracted to each other. The Magrakhars didn't want to encourage rape or chaos. They just wanted married couples to have more fun in bed- if you'll pardon my callousness. They certainly didn't intend to drug anybody."

"Are you sure about this analysis?"

"Our science team is preparing a report on it now."

"So it wouldn't have affected her at all, if I hadn't already been…" attracted to her. Jaebeom finished the sentence in his head and felt a rush of embarrassment as he noticed that Jinyoung was trying to hold back a smile.

Well, fuck. This was going to be a tough one to explain.

"That's right, Captain."

Jaebeom cleared his throat. He suddenly felt warm and uncomfortable. "I see. Perhaps we can… hold off on sharing this particular report with the Premier for the time being?"

Jinyoung nodded. "Understood, sir. But we'll have to share it eventually. Iota Five is the Premier's mission. We have to hand over all our files to them before we depart."

"I know. Just wait for my go-ahead. I'll, uh, I'll be returning to the bridge. Good work, Commander."

"Thank you, sir."

------------------------------------------

Captain Lim Jaebeom clearly remembered the last time he had attempted to confess his… feelings for you.

It had been about 15 years ago, the day your class had been due to graduate from the Space Academy. It was also the day the final academic ranks would be announced. Everyone expected you to graduate first in your class. You were renowned for being one of the most hardworking and dedicated students the Academy had seen in years.

All in all, everyone was in high spirits and Jaebeom figured it would be a good time to make his move.

He had sidled up to you and your friends as you stood chatting near the entrance to the auditorium and casually asked you to meet him for a drink after the ceremony. Some of your friends had winked, suspecting exactly what Jaebeom planned but you had merely shrugged and agreed to meet him.

He should have known then that you were far more interested in the graduation ceremony than anything he would have to say. But still, he was optimistic.

Until the academic ranks were announced.

Until the Chancellor got up on stage and announced that it was Jaebeom who had ranked first in class, not you. When Jaebeom went up on stage to collect his award and saw you surrounded by a group of friends attempting to console you as you tried not to burst into tears, he realised with a sinking feeling that you had rejected him long before he could make his confession.

You never turned up to grab a drink with him after the graduation ceremony. Jaebeom was not surprised.

Life had simply gotten in the way.

Well.

Perhaps life was seeking to give him a second chance. Jaebeom took a deep breath as he looked down at the report that his crew had prepared on the Magrakhar's drink. There was no doubt it would be handed over to your crew and you would eventually read it.

And, considering your above-average intelligence, there was certainly no doubt that you would come to the same logical conclusion that everyone else had.

That the drink had affected you because Jaebeom was attracted to you.

And on some level, you were attracted to him too.

Jaebeom decided that the decent thing to do would be to tell you this himself rather than let you figure it out through some report.

And let the cards fall where they may.

-----------------------------------------------

You slept fitfully.

It didn't help that every time you closed your eyes you could feel the ghost of Jaebeom's lips on your own. His scent (while no longer strong enough to drive you to violate regulations or social norms) still lingered in your mind and occupied your thoughts.

Clearly the effects of the drug had not completely worn off. You woke up tired and irritable as you made your way down to the transporter room to meet Lieutenant Nelly and head down to Iota Five.

"Captain, are you all right?" Nelly asked. She was surprised to see you looking tired and irritable. You ideally should have been in bright spirits- you were finally close to sealing the deal on the peace treaty with Iota Five!

"Fine," you muttered. But you didn't feel fine. "Computer, make an appointment for me in the medical bay when I return."

You glanced at Lieutenant Nelly- she looked as chipper as ever and you were tempted to ask whether she had thrown herself unceremoniously at anyone under the influence of the Magrakhar drink, but decided against it.

Perhaps it was a conversation better suited for after the peace treaty had been signed.

"Captain, the senior officers of the Miracle are waiting for you down on Iota Five," one of your officers reported.

You sighed. "Yes. Take us down."

The bright light of the transporter flashed in your eyes. When you reopened them, you were standing on the surface of Iota Five, just a few hundred metres away from the foot of the mountains. The Chieftain was waiting for you, as were Captain Lim Jaebeom and his senior officers.

"Cap-tain!"

The Chieftain greeted you eagerly. You forced a smile back at the man and tried to suppress the reminder that he had been responsible for what was possibly the most humiliating and mortifying incident in your life so far.

It wouldn't do to commit murder on a planet you'd come to make peace with.

You grunted out the standard greetings in the alien's native tongue and then continued speaking. "Chieftain, I hope you have some good news for me. I am looking forward to climbing the mountain and speaking to Grahvak."

The Chieftain grinned and nodded. He let out a long series of grunts that Nelly struged to translate.

"He says that atop the mountain is the monastery where the monks are able to communicate directly with Grahvak. He will take us there and they will ask Grahvak for permission to enter into an alliance with us."

You nodded. "Excellent. Let us begin."

You stepped forward onto the mountain but the Chieftain yelled and grabbed and pulled you back. He made a series of panicked grunting noises and pointed at Jaebeom. Jaebeom looked startled.

You wrenched your arm away from the Chieftain.

"What is he saying?" you asked Nelly, but she looked confused.

"He-he says you can't come onto the mountain. He says only Captain Lim can come up with him," Nelly replied, confused.

You tried to retain your patience.

"Tell him that I am in charge of relations with Iota Five. I represent the Federation here, and if only one person can go up the mountain then it will be me and not Captain Lim," you ordered sharply.

Nelly hurried to reply. The Chieftain shook his head and continued to grunt rapidly.

"He says you are not allowed on the mountain. The monks will not see you. They will only see Captain Lim."

"Why?"

You could hear First Officer Park and Lieutenant Commander Tuan whispering to each other a few steps behind you. You whirled around to face them, frustrated and on the verge of losing your temper.

*Do you two have something to add?" you demanded.

They had the courtesy to look ashamed. First Officer Park stepped forward and looked at Jaebeom.

"Captain, may I speak to you in private?"

"No," you said sharply before Jaebeom could respond. You were done with this nonsense. "Say whatever it is you want to say here. In front of me."

First Officer Park bristled.

"With all due respect Captain, I don't report to you. I report to Captain Lim," he said stiffly.

You clenched your fists. "You report to Captain Lim aboard the USS Miracle. Right now, you are on Iota Five and I am in charge of the mission on Iota Five. If what you have to say has anything to do with the Magrakhars, Iota Five, or what is going on here then you will say what you have to say in front of all of us."

Jinyoung glanced at Jaebeom for confirmation and then sighed.

"All right. The problem is that the monks are celibate. They go up there to dedicate themselves to Grahvak and all sexual activity is forbidden. To help them enforce this and shield them from temptation, women are not allowed anywhere on the mountain."

You felt sick.

"What?"

Lieutenant Nelly hurried to repeat what Jinyoung had just said to the Chieftain. He nodded and made an agreeable series of grunting noises.

"I think what First Officer Park is suggesting is right," Nelly admitted reluctantly. "The Chieftain is saying women are not allowed up. He can only take the men."

"They can't make an exception for us? We're not of the same species as the Magrakhar, surely we shouldn't count for the purpose of temptation or whatever?" you demanded.

Nelly posed the question and then sighed.

"He says even female animals that make their way onto the mountain are sacrificed to Grahvak. He says the monks may do the same to us if we go onto the mountain. He says it's for our own protection."

"That's repulsive."

First Officer Park gave you a sympathetic look. "You can't expect alien societies to abide by human morals, Captain."

You were in no mood to be lectured by First Officer Park. Your entire mission, your purpose and your achievements on Iota Five were crumbling before your eyes. You had come this far and worked so hard yet it would once again be Lim Jaebeom, man of the moment, who stole your thunder, took credit for forging an alliance with the Magrakhars and went down in history.

Fuck.

"I need a minute," you muttered as you walked away.

You were aware of the others watching you intently, Jaebeom in particular, but you paid no mind to them. You were no longer a young and inexperienced student who had had her academic rank snatched out from underneath her. You were a Captain, a woman grown who had been chosen to lead the Federation's premier starship into its exploration of space.

You had saved and lost lives. You had been through encounters beyond what most people could imagine. You could not and would not allow a small setback to affect you emotionally. You could not show vulnerability.

You couldn't.

You took a deep breath and returned to the group.

"Well," you said more calmly as you looked around at the group of officers. "I believe the way forward is clear. We can't risk offending the Magrakhars and we certainly can't risk any female officers being murdered by celibate monks. "

Jaebeom spoke quickly. "We should postpone the meeting. I agree that you and Lieutenant Nelly should not be the ones to go up but there's no reason why we can't wait until an appropriately senior male officer from the Premier is available to conduct the discussion-"

You saw pity in Jaebeom's soft eyes. You would have none of it.

"That is not practical. The senior officers of the Premier are all engaged in equally important tasks, and I'm not about to entrust a meeting of such diplomatic importance to a junior officer. The monks are waiting for us and it would not be prudent to delay any longer. I authorise you to negotiate with the monks on behalf of the Federation, Captain Lim."

Jaebeom looked torn.

"Captain, I appreciate your trust but this is not our mission, it's yours," he replied hesitantly.

You sighed. Fuck. Why did he have to be such a gentleman? Why couldn't he have leapt at the opportunity for glory so that you could resent him?

"That's correct, Captain Lim. I am in charge of this mission. You and your officers will go speak to the monks on our behalf. That is an order," you added firmly.

Jaebeom straightened up.

"Understood, Captain."

"Meet me on the observation deck aboard the USS Premier once you return, I would like a full report," you replied. You knew Jaebeom would give you a full report anyway- but at least ordering him to do so allowed you to maintain some semblance of control over the situation.

"Yes, Captain."

"That's settled then." You reached forward and gave Jaebeom a brisk, formal handshake. "Good luck, Captain. Seal the deal for us."

--------------------------------------

"I'm sorry to hear that, Captain. It is unfortunate that many alien societies continue to have patriarchal and sexist notions forming the basis of their culture. I hope that they can transcend then as we have. But in the interim, I believe you have made the right decision."

Admir's Nguyen's face was large on your screen and you could see that his sympathy was genuine.

"Thank you, Admiral," you replied. "I only hope that Captain Lim is successful."

"I am sure he will be. As you are aware, he is a highly competent captain and has multiple commendations to his credit."

You nodded. "I know-"

"In fact, captainship of the USS Premier was offered to him shortly before it was offered to you. He turned it down because he was not given the freedom to appoint his own officers."

You froze.

"I'm sorry, did you say the Premier was offered to him?"

Admiral Ngyuen appeared a little abashed as he realised his faux pas. "Of course, I am confident now that nobody could be a better captain for the USS Premier than you. You have performed outstandingly in the past year and the discovery of Iota Five and your work with the Magrakhar's has impressed most of the high command-"

"But he was their first choice," you replied, feeling dazed.

Admiral Nguyen sighed. "Indeed he was."

"So," you replied softly. "There is no use in my feeling resentful about not being able to negotiate the peace treaty with Iota Five- it was originally destined to be Jaebeom's anyway."

Admiral Nguyen frowned.

"I did not realise you believed in destiny, Captain."

You shook yourself to your senses. "I apologise, Admiral. I don't mean to take up too much of your time. I will submit a report as soon as I learn of how Captain Lim's negotiations have gone."

The Admiral nodded.

"Very good. Thank you, Captain."

His face disappeared and the screen turned black. You took a deep breath and leaned back in your chair as you willed yourself not to cry.

Iota Five was but one mission in a lifetime and you had decided to put it behind you. But the one thing you valued most, the most glorious achievement in your professional career so far…

Even that had been Lim Jaebeom's.

And you, like a fool, had shown off your ship and all its wondrous features to Jaebeom, unaware that he was merely looking at something he had already rejected for himself.

My god, you must have seemed so pathetic.

"Captain," the androgynous voice of the computer spoke. "Please report to the medical bay for your scheduled health check up."

You closed your eyes and sighed.

-------------------------------------------------------

Doctor Min had just completed your routine health check-up and was complaining to you about how the USS Miracle kept forgetting to send across the report they had prepared on the chemical properties of the Magrakhar's mysterious drink, when the computer'd androgynous voice interrupted.

"Captain, please report to the observation lounge. Captain Lim has returned from Iota Five and awaits your presence."

"Acknowledged," you mumbled before quickly hopping off the bed. "Thank you, Doctor Min. I'll have to leave now. I'll ask Captain Lim to make sure they send us that report."

"Of course, Captain. Thank you."

You hurried to the observation lounge with your heartbeat thudding. Was it too much to hope that Jaebeom had failed the negotiations? But no… that wasn't what you wanted, not really. It wouldn't make you feel much better even if Jaebeom failed, you realised miserably.

The problem wasn't that you hated him. No, there was nothing to hate about Jaebeom.

It was that he made you hate yourself.

The observation lounge was deserted. It was late at night and most of the crew were asleep other than a skeletal crew for the night shift. Once again you found yourself alone with Jaebeom, the stars, and the bartender robot.

"Captain Lim," you greeted awkwardly.

Jaebeom stood and gave you a soft smile. He appeared tired- his eyes were red but his expression was gentle and hesitant.

"We did it," Jaebeom told you. "It took a lot of weird chanting and strange rituals to contact Grahvak- but that deity gave his word. The Magrakhar's have signed the peace treaty."

You sighed in relief. "That's excellent news."

Jaebeom stepped closer to you.

"I'm sorry that things turned out this way. This wasn't what I wanted at all, I hope you know that," he began to say nervously.

"Then you're an idiot. Most people would kill to be the one to forge a peace treaty with a previously undiscovered species."

He sighed. "I know, but-"

"It's fine, Jaebeom. You're not the sexist one. And if the Magrakhar monks are so determined never to lay eyes on a woman, then so be it. They don't know what they're missing out on. Frankly I'm starting to suspect they're all just closet homosexuals."

Jaebeom chuckled. "Having met them, I can neither confirm nor deny that hypothesis."

"Drink?" you offered.

"No. And I'd prefer it if you didn't have one either. I have some things to talk to you about and I'd feel a lot better about the conversation if we were both sober," Jaebeom admitted.

The determination in his eyes surprised you.

You swallowed and nodded.

"Uh, all right. We'll have soda, then," you told the bartender android who instantly handed you two glasses of soda. You passed one to Jaebeom. "What's on your mind, Captain Lim?"

"I need to talk to you about the aphrodisiac."

"Oh," you muttered. "Honestly, we don't need to talk about that."

"No, I need you to hear it from me. My crew members did some research on the aphrodisiac. You're about to receive a report on it, but in short, the drug only affects people who are already mutually attracted to each other. That's why nobody else was affected. And it wouldn't have affected you either if I hadn't been attracted to you in return."

Your heart skipped a beat.

"Did you just say you were attracted to me?" you repeated in disbelief.

"Yes."

"You didn't act like a man that was attracted to me last night," you muttered.

"Well, I am. It took a lot of self-control to push you away when you… when you kissed me. God, I don't know why I feel like such a teenager saying this. But you probably have me figured out by now and there's only so much time we have left in this world. I care about you deeply, and I have for a long time. I know your feelings were amplified by the aphrodisiac but mine weren't. They didn't need to be. They were already strong to begin with."

Your knees felt weak.

"I, uh, I need to sit down," you mumbled.

Jaebeom quickly pulled out a bar stool for you. You sat on it shakily and took a deep breath. Your brain felt like mush.

"Bartender, give me a whisky," you ordered.

The android instantly prepared a glass of whisky and you drank the entire thing in one shot. You looked up at Jaebeom. His dark eyes were staring at you nervously and you wondered how you had missed it.

Jaebeom had always looked at you with such affection. You'd just never paid attention to it before. You had been too obsessed with trying to outdo him.

But you still couldn't shake it off. That thought. That horrible, disgusting thought that was creeping around on the edges of your mind.

"Is it true that they offered you the USS Premier first?" you blurted out.

Jaebeom looked like you had slapped him.

"Wha-who told you-?"

"Admiral Nguyen."

"Fuck," Jaebeom cursed. He stepped away from you and placed his arms on the bar, leaning against them as he hung his head down in frustration. You could hear the anger in his voice. "Fuck this. I'm so tired of this fucking shit."

"What are you tired of?" you asked weakly.

"This. You. Me. This whole situation that keeps happening where our careers and circumstances keep pitting us against each other as rivals. I feel like there's some force out there in the universe that is determined to make you hate me because no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to catch a break."

You closed your eyes and sighed. "I don't hate you."

"Your first response to me telling you that I have feelings for you was to ask if I was offered your ship," Jaebeom replied incredulously.

You bristled. "This ship is important to me!" you defended yourself.

"Well, it's not important to me. You are. And I've spent many years wondering if things could have been different if I had told you about this sooner, but I think it's pretty clear to me now that nothing would have changed."

"Jaebeom-"

"No," he said softly. He looked defeated. "Never mind. I'm sorry I brought it up. I see that you do resent me for everything. I'll leave you alone-"

You felt like you wanted to cry.

"No-no, look, don't leave. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. It was completely inappropriate of me to ask about the Premier," you apologised. You took a deep breath and tried to gather your thoughts. "I just… I've been hit with a lot of stuff today and I don't know how to react to it all."

Jaebeom nodded. "I understand. I'll leave you to think-"

"No, wait."

"Okay. I'm waiting."

You took a deep breath as you gathered your thoughts.

"I need you to know that I don't hate you. I don't even resent you. You're an amazing person, Jaebeom. You're intelligent and kind and you're a gentleman and any woman would be lucky to have you," you admitted softly. "And yes, clearly the aphrodisiac figured me out because I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to you."

Jaebeom ran his fingers through his hair. "I hear a but coming."

"It's my fault. I've always been too competitive, I've always let my career determine my self-worth. I know there's more to me than being captain of the Premier, but to be honest that's the only part of me I'm truly proud of. And it hurts to think that I only got this opportunity because someone else turned it down. It makes me lose confidence in myself."

Jaebeom sighed. "And I hate being the cause of that."

"I know."

"I wish we'd met under different circumstances," he admitted quietly.

"Me too."

"Is it too late to change that? Is it too late for us to start seeing each other as something other than professional rivals? I still think that if we just spent some time together without our careers getting in the way, then there could really be something between us."

You reached out and took Jaebeom's hand in yours. His grip was warm and comforting.

"How?" you asked.

Jaebeom lifted his hand to cup your cheek softly. His passionate gaze sent a shiver down your spine as he leaned closer to you and pressed his forehead to yours. His familiar intoxicating scent flooded your senses.

"I told you I'm going back to Earth to take some shore leave once we're done here," he whispered. "Come with me."

"To Earth?"

"To Earth. Just you and me. No starships, no ranks, no new planets and patriarchal aliens. Not another soul. Give me a chance. I want to show you that we can do this- maybe the circumstances aren't perfect, maybe we aren't perfect but I want to give this a try."

You hesitated. "I…"

"Please."

"Okay," you gave in with a soft smile. You couldn't resist any longer. "Okay, fine. Let's leave this all behind for a while. Let's go to Earth and see if there's really something here between us."

Jaebeom grinned.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Don't thank me for something like that, it feels weird-"

"Can I kiss you instead?"

"You could do that."

Jaebeom leaned forward and captured your lips with his. Your heart leapt when he wrapped his arms around you and drew you closer. The observation deck was quiet and for a moment all you could hear was Jaebeom's soft breathing as he poured his feelings into the kiss.

You pulled back from him, flustered.

"Uh, we should… I know us doing this isn't really against regulations but it would be really bad if someone found us here…" you stammered out.

Jaebeom grinned.

"Still worried about your career?" he teased.

"Worried about losing the respect of my crew, honestly. I've already humiliated myself in front of your senior officers-" you began to explain.

"Your quarters or mine?" Jaebeom asked quickly.

You stared at him and laughed.

"Unbelievable. You were such a gentleman while I was literally throwing myself at you and begging you to fuck me but now that I'm sober you reveal your nefarious ways? I am disappointed in you, Captain Lim."

Jaebeom interrupted you with a quick kiss.

"Yours or mine? Answer the question."

"Mine."

"Lead the way."

As you took Jaebeom's hand and snuck down the corridors of your elite starship like a pair of teenagers looking for a janitor's closet, it struck you that perhaps it wasn't happiness that you should be looking for in life. Happiness is only for an instant- it comes and goes and nobody really knows what triggers it.

So while true happiness is still light years away, you realised that Jaebeom had brought something new and unexpected into your life.

He had brought hope.

-----------------------------------------------------

Epilogue

A few weeks later

"Your efforts on Iota Five have been more than commendable, Captain. We are truly privileged to have added a new species to those we call our friends in the galaxy."

You nodded and bowed. "Thank you, Admiral. Your praise means a lot to me and my crew."

"Is today your last day on Iota Five?"

"Indeed, Admiral. The Miracle left yesterday and we are scheduled to depart ourselves at 1900 hours. Hopefully the science teams should have wrapped up by then. We've learned a great deal from the Magrakhars and I am sure Iota Five has years worth of culture and science for us to research."

Admiral Nguyen nodded.

"I'll make sure you receive a medal for this, Captain."

You laughed. "Thank you, Admiral. But spending time on Iota Five has been rewarding enough. I really learned a lot during this mission."

"Good to hear. Where are you heading next?"

"Well, the Premier is heading on to the Adonis sector for some repairs but they'll be dropping me off at Earth. I'm planning to take a few weeks of leave before I rejoin them."

Admiral Nguyen chuckled. "Leave? On Earth? I think Captain Lim mentioned something like that recently. Since when has it been the new fad to waste your precious time off going to Earth?"

You smiled. "Someone dear to me convinced me it would be a good idea."

"Well, enjoy your leave, Captain. You deserve it."

"Thank you, Admiral. Over and out."

The screen went black and you sighed as you leaned back in your chair. It was nearing time to depart. You checked the time just as the computer buzzed overhead.

"Lieutenant Nelly requests entry," the androgynous robotic voice declared.

"Granted."

Lieutenant Nelly sidled into your office with a smile.

"The science teams are all back aboard, Captain. First Officer Smith asked me to tell you that we should be ready to depart on schedule."

"Excellent news. And?"

Lieutenant Nelly blinked. "And…?"

"Did you manage to get what I asked for?"

"Oh!" Her eyes brightened as she reached into her bag and extracted a large bottle. She smiled at you mischievously. "The Chieftain was only too happy to hand some over. He asked me to wish you a good journey and to say that he thinks you and Captain Lim would make a good couple. I wonder where he got that idea?"

You smiled innocently. "I wonder."

"Anyway, I'd be careful with that stuff if I were you, Captain. You're going to Earth and it might be considered contraband there. You don't want it confiscated from you."

"They can't confiscate it unless they know what it is," you said smugly. "I'm not exactly going to log it into invrntory, but it'll be fine. I'll see you on the bridge in time for our scheduled departure."

"Yes, ma'am."

You smiled and waited until she was gone before you turned back to your screen.

"Computer, locate Captain Lim Jaebeom of the starship USS Miracle," you ordered.

"Captain Lim Jaebeom is on Earth," the robotic voice replied.

"Elaborate."

"Captain Lim Jaebeom is in Paris, France on Earth."

"Can you establish visual communication with Captain Lim Jaebeom?"

"Establishing visual communication."

It was a few moments before Jaebeom's face appeared on screen. He was lying lazily on a large bed in what appeared to be a very luxurious hotel room and he grinned at you.

"Well, hello there."

"You're in Paris?" you demanded with a laugh.

Jaebeom nodded and lazily placed his arms behind his head. "That's right. I thought we could start our tour of Earth somewhere romantic. I know Paris is logically more of a final destination but hey, screw that sort of thing, I'm on leave and I'm going to do what I want to do.*

You smiled. "That's the spirit."

"How much longer will you take?"

"We're departing in a few minutes. We should reach Earth in 24 hours."

"Make it sooner."

"Yes, Captain," you joked. You picked up the bottle Nelly had brought you and waved it in front of the screen to show him. "Look what I found."

Jaebeom raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Yes. I thought we could finally use it as intended, you know? Now that we know exactly what it does and we're not going to be caught off guard," you giggled.

"You're insane. Hurry up and get here."

You looked at Jaebeom and smiled. You hadn't felt this content in a long time and you knew that he was the reason that you felt so amazing and optimistic about the world lately.

"Jaebeom?*

"Yeah."

"I can't wait to see you," you told him softly and honestly.

Jaebeom smiled. "Then stop yapping and go start your ship. Jaebeom out."

-----------------------------------------------------------

#got7 #got7 jaebeom #got7 scenarios #got7 fanfiction #got7 fluff #got7 angst #jaebeom fluff #jaebeom angst #jaebeom fanction #jaebeom scenario #got7 space!au #got7 fanfic #jaebeom fanfic #not gonna lie I have some ideas for the other members in this AU although I dont know if people will enjoy it since its a bit unconventional

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tuanyiems · 5 years

Text

The Space Between Your Fingers 07

Mark Tuan x OC Genre: Fluff, slice of life Words: 4.8k [Masterlist] [Series Masterlist] - [RECAP] Mark smiled to himself, thinking back to their lunch at school. She had given him her pudding cup so easily even though, clearly, she was in love with pudding cups. He chuckled, patting her head as she dug into the sweet pudding. Ahnmi looked up at him questioningly. She brought a spoonful of pudding towards him. “Ah?” Mark smiled, pleased, but shook his head. He continued to pat her head. “You’re a kind person, Ahnmi.” - Ch. 7: New Friends As the evening came upon them, Jackson gathered the guys, leaving Ahnmi behind with Mark who was lying lazily on the grass again. “It’s about time we head back home right? We have school tomorrow,” he told them. Jinyoung nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I need a nap,” Yugyeom complied with a yawn. Without much resistance, the guys began their tread back to their own homes, not even noticing the two they had left behind. Jackson smiled triumphantly, as he took one last glance at Mark and Ahnmi before ushering the guys home. Feeling his phone vibrate, Mark looked at the text from Jackson, realizing that all the guys had left him. Jackson: Enjoy the rest of your date Jackson: Oops I meant day!

Mark sat up confused, noticing Ahnmi was still with him. “Did they all just leave?” he asked in dismay. Ahnmi shrugged her shoulders. She had been dazing off only to realize she was alone with Mark. Mark chuckled to himself, lying back on the grass. The guys were so random sometimes. “Do you want to go back home?” Ahnmi paused. She shook her head. The weather was really nice now that a cool breeze had settled in the air. Ahnmi picked at a dandelion and closed her eyes earnestly before blowing at it softly, sending the white seeds off into the wind. Mark watched her quietly. He didn’t want to leave either. With all the guys gone, he found that a pleasant quietness had settled around them. He turned on his side to get a better view of her. “What did you wish for?” Ahnmi smiled shyly. “Just…for a happy day tomorrow.” It was quiet again and the sun was beginning to set. Mark got up and took a seat beside Ahnmi. “Jackson’s birthday is coming up soon,” he started. “We don’t usually do much, but it’s his senior year so…” Ahnmi nodded her head. “We should do something special.” “The guys and I started a jar of compliments,” Mark chuckled to himself. “Since he loves being praised so much. You can add to it.” Ahnmi nodded her head, smiling at the idea of such a cute gift. “But I want to do something really big,” Mark began. “Jackson was one of my first friends when I transferred to the school. It was comforting to have someone I could speak English and Mandarin with…and he’s always hyping me up and cheering me on even though he’s working really hard himself.” Ahnmi nodded her head, listening closely. It was the first time Mark had ever spoken so much to her. She could hear the concern and care in his voice. She thought carefully, wondering what Jackson would really appreciate. “Does Jackson live alone like you, too?” “Yeah, his parents are back in Hong Kong.” “Mmm…it might be difficult under such short notice but…what if we bought plane tickets and flew his parents out here?” Mark turned to Ahnmi, looking at her seriously. She looked away, “Ah…it’s probably not a good idea, huh?” “Th-That’s a really good idea, Ahnmi!” Mark exclaimed. “Why didn’t we think of that earlier? Jackson loves his family more than anything else in the world.” She smiled at his excitement. “Do you have his parents’ contact information?” Mark took out his phone immediately. “Already asking them.” She chuckled, pulling out her own phone to check for ticket prices. Mark laughed with delight. “Jackson is gonna piss his pants!” Putting his phone away he smiled, seeing Ahnmi looking at flight tickets. To be honest, he wasn’t very happy to hear that Yugyeom’s cousin would be hanging around them all the time. He liked the group the way it was and taking care of a girl he barely knew did not sound like fun. But now that she was here, and she was Go Ahnmi and not Yugyeom’s cousin anymore, he was very glad she was with them. He got up and picked up his skateboard. “Wanna learn how to skateboard?” Ahnmi smiled and gave a nod. She had actually been waiting for his lesson since the beginning of their weekend get-together. She had always wanted to learn how to skateboard. Mark motioned for her to follow him out of the grass and onto the concrete. “I can teach you to skate back home.” She smiled nervously. Knowing her own clumsiness, she wasn’t sure if they’d make it that far before he’d give up on her. Yugyeom always gave up five minutes into his lessons, teaching her how to bike and swim. Evidently, she had never learned either skills. He grinned, ushering her gently onto his skateboard. He put his foot between hers on the skateboard to steady the board, offering his hands for her to hold. She held timidly to his fingers, grateful that he was guiding her carefully. “Please don’t let go,” she murmured, having flashbacks of toppling off her bike and half-drowning in pool water after Yugyeom’s lessons. Mark chuckled, moving his hands so that their fingers intertwined. “Don’t worry I’ve got you.”

She bit at her lip nervously, trying to fight the heat that was spreading across her cheeks and to her ears. It was a strange feeling to feel his fingers between hers. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to like it so much. “Okay, so we’re going to move forward now,” he explained softly, moving her forward. He felt her fingers tense around his. “You’re doing good.” Ahnmi looked up at him for further reassurance. He answered with a kind smile. “When you want to change direction you just lean back or forward. Bend your knees a bit,” he directed her gently. “That’s it. And when you want to stop, just step back and the board will flip up to a stop.” Ahnmi carefully stepped back, surprising herself as the board leaned up and brought her to a stop. She giggled happily. She was doing better than she had hoped. Mark watched proudly as Ahnmi got back into the middle position. She stopped and reached her hands out for his. He smiled, trying to stifle his laugh. He held out his hand, letting her wrap her fingers between his. And there she went again, effortlessly holding his hands like nothing. Mark watched Ahnmi who had her head down, staring at her feet on the board intently. He was glad that she felt so comfortable around him…yet, he was a little bit disheartened to think that only he was thinking about their hands intertwined together. Though he wasn’t exactly the hottest guy in school, he knew he had a handful of girls who would’ve died in Ahnmi’s position. Ahnmi was a teenaged girl, right? Mark shrugged the thought away, focusing back on Ahnmi. “You’re doing great.” Ahnmi chuckled at his compliment. “We’re moving at a snail’s pace.” Mark laughed. “Do you want to go faster? You’ll have to let go of my hands though.” Ahnmi inhaled deeply before nodding her head. “I’ll try.” He let go of one of her hands. “Okay, you’ll have to put one of your feet on the ground and push yourself forward.” Ahnmi did as she was told, tightening her grip on the one hand she was holding. “Now, bring your foot back onto the board,” Mark urged, lightly jogging beside Ahnmi who was now holding onto his hand with both of hers. “Oh goodness,” she gasped, looking away from her feet and ahead to where she was going. Mark’s smile widened. Letting go of one of her hands, Ahnmi glanced at Mark for reassurance. “Ready to let go?” “Mm!” And with that, Ahnmi let go of his hand. She put her foot down, giving herself an extra push and positioned herself back on the board. She laughed happily, overjoyed and surprised that she was still on the skateboard and not on the ground. Mark jogged beside her, feeling giddy himself. Seeing Ahnmi laughing loudly without concern for anyone around her, shocked him and filled him with warmth. He could see her eyes sparkling as she smiled at him. “I can’t believe I haven’t fallen yet!” she cheered. Speaking too soon, Ahnmi gasped as the skateboard hit a deep ridge in the sidewalk. Mark’s eyes widened, stretching his arms out just in time to catch her from falling to the ground. Ahnmi chuckled happily into his chest. Mark felt his own chest relax, knowing that she was safe in his arms. He was suddenly very aware of the apple scent around him as Ahnmi leaned into him. She smiled to herself before moving out of his arms. “Sorry,” she apologized a bit delayed. She giggled again. “That was fun.” Mark smiled, fixing her windblown bangs. “You’re a fast learner.” Ahnmi blushed, glancing at his fingers that had lightly grazed her cheeks. “T-Thanks…I have a good teacher.” “A few more lessons and you’ll be a pro,” Mark smiled, picking up his skateboard and walking beside her. “I have an extra board at home.” Ahnmi gasped playfully, covering her mouth with her hand. “I get more than one lesson?” “Yup, I’m so kind that I’ll give you two lessons!” Mark joked along, getting a giggle out of her. He smiled proudly at his own humor. Ahnmi, lifted her arms to straighten out her disheveled hair. Mark looked at her and suddenly his expression turned grave. He stared intently at Ahnmi. “I-Is something wrong?” she asked nervously, putting her arms back down to her sides. “A-Ah,” Mark looked away. “It’s nothing…are you excited to join the art club tomorrow?” She sighed. “I hope they like me.” Mark ruffled the hair she had just fixed. “They will. I have a few friends in the club. You’ll definitely like them.” Ahnmi smiled hoping he was right. As the two approached their houses, Ahnmi turned to Mark with a soft smile. “Thanks for this weekend. It was really fun.” He nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning then.” - Ahnmi curled on her side, cuddling with her soft blanket. She smiled to herself, lifting her hand up to catch the moonlight that was shining through the window. Her hands were still tingling from the space Mark had held between her fingers. It was her first time ever holding a guy’s hand before. She felt her face warming up again at the thought. It was her first back hug too… Ahnmi exhaled deeply, relaxing into her bedsheets. She realized how tired her body was after such a busy weekend. She chuckled softly one last time as her eyes closed. He smelled like grass. - Mark stepped into the Kim house nonchalantly, greeting Mr. and Mrs. Kim with a smile. Yugyeom was seated in the kitchen, eating breakfast. Mrs. Kim handed Mark a bowl and spoon, happy to see her second son visiting. “You’re here early,” Yugyeom commented as Mark took a seat across from him. “Ahnmi isn’t even awake yet.” Mark took a sip of soup, complimenting Mrs. Kim’s cooking as she left the house for work with her husband. He cleared his throat, looking at Yugyeom uncertainly. “There’s actually something I wanted to ask you.” “Yeah?” “It’s about Ahnmi,” he muttered. “Ah—good morning,” Ahnmi suddenly interrupted. She blinked at Mark, her hair a curly mess. Bowing slightly, she rushed towards the bathroom. “What about her?” Yugyeom asked, starting to put his dishes away. “Umm…never mind. I’ll ask you another time.” Yugyeom looked at Mark for a bit before grabbing his school bag. “I’m heading out first then.” “Oh…okay,” Mark said, watching Yugyeom exit the house, leaving him alone with Ahnmi. Ahnmi exited the bathroom refreshed. She was dressed simply in a pale blue, knit sweater with a white pleated skirt. Her hair was parted so that a small bun sat at the top of her head and the rest of her hair flowed down her back in loose, natural waves. She smiled at Mark, finding him eyeing her outfit. She did a little spin for him. “Do you like? Bambam left it for me before he went home yesterday.” Mark smiled. “It’s a good color on you.” She blushed and grabbed a bowl, sitting across from Mark. The two ate quietly for the rest of the meal, enjoying the early Monday morning together. - Youngjae smiled, waving at Ahnmi as she entered the classroom. “What is this boop? It’s so cute!” Youngjae laughed, bopping at the bun on her head. She giggled at his cheerfulness so early in the morning. There was a sudden clap at the front of the class, silencing the noise of the rowdy second-year boys. Ahnmi took her seat, looking ahead at their class president, Sungjae, smiling at all of them. “It’s that time of the year!” he cheered, causing the rest of the boys to applaud loudly. Ahnmi looked on curiously, wondering why they were so excited. “And we have Ahnmi with us!” “No more cross dressing!” The class broke out into a series of whoops and whistles. Sungjae glanced at Ahnmi, smiling at the puzzled look on her face. He was hoping this would bring her closer to the class. Sungjae clapped his hands again for silence. “We have the first two periods to start planning, so let’s start with a list of suggestions.” “Maid Café!” “Yah, you know Ahnmi isn’t going to be the only maid right?” “Haunted house!” “Obstacle course!” “A play!” “This isn’t a spring theme! We don’t have the space for this!” Sungjae criticized as he crossed off their suggestions one by one. With a smile, he circled the play suggestion. “I guess we’re doing a play.” Ahnmi stifled a laugh at Sungjae’s comedic dismissal of the usual voting system. The smile didn’t go unnoticed by Sungjae. “What kind of play should we do?” One of the boys at the front stood up. “Let’s do an interactive rendition of Sleeping Beauty!” “What the heck is that, Taehyung?” He smiled, glancing back shyly at Ahnmi. “Like, we have the characters and everything but instead of a script, the prince would have to play games with us in order to get to Sleeping Beauty.” The boy beside him clapped with excitement. “Like a lie detector game and arm wrestling!” “Ahh,” Sungjae nodded approvingly. “We could get couples to play the role of prince and Sleeping Beauty.” “Or get the singles to fight for Ahnmi’s affection!” “Yeah, and if they succeed they can have a small reward.” Ahnmi sunk into her seat, an uneasy feeling bubbling in the pit of her tummy. She was sure no one would want to do anything for her affection, even if there was a reward. “Like a KISS!!!” Ahnmi sat up straight in her seat with alarm. “No no no!” Youngjae yelled out loudly. “You guys should be asking Ahnmi first before you start volunteering her for things.” Sungjae nodded his head at Youngjae. He looked at Ahnmi with wide eyes and pursed lips. “What do you think, Ahnmi?” “I…I think the couple role play is cute...but…I don’t think anyone would be interested in me as Sleeping Beauty…” Ahnmi’s voice trailed off as she twiddled her thumbs together timidly. The classroom seemed to turn into a puddle of melted hearts at her words. “That’s not true,” Youngjae spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen. “The whole school has been wanting to get to know you.” “You think so?” she wondered quietly. Youngjae chuckled, patting her bun. “I know so!” “Yeah, you’re the school’s Pure Angel!” “Everyone wants to meet you!” “You’re pretty popular, Ahnmi.” She blushed at their words even though she was sure they were only saying it to make her feel better. She looked up nervously again, making eye contact with Taehyung who had suggested the kiss. “But maybe…a kiss would be too much?” Taehyung turned pink in the face, bowing slightly as an apology. Youngjae leaned closer to Ahnmi. “How about a high five? And maybe a printed photo together with the guy who makes the best time?” Ahnmi looked at Youngjae, thinking carefully. “Mm, I guess that would be okay.” The class cheered as they came to a consensus. As the guys continued to come up with different games to play against the prince, Ahnmi sunk back into her chair. What had she gotten herself into? - Ahnmi took a deep breath as she stood in front of the art club room. This was the moment of truth. With a light knock, Ahnmi entered the room. To her surprise (and relief) she found the room with familiar faces—Mark, Jackson, and Jaebum waved at her, amused by her shocked face. In between them was a bald boy with bright eyes and an eager smile. “Hi, Ahnmi-ssi. I’m the president of the art club. My name is Dong Guen.” She softly took his outstretched hand, blushing when he held her hand firmly. “Ahnmi!” Jackson patted the seat next to him. “We’ve been showing Peniel some of your art.” “Peniel?” Ahnmi asked as she took a seat between Jackson and Peniel. The guy rubbed at his neck shyly. “Ah, that’s my pen name. I sign my works under Peniel.” he explained. Ahnmi nodded her head, impressed. She had never signed her own works before. Something about signing it made it seem too finished. She was never proud enough to sign anything. She wondered to herself if she should come up with a pen name too. “Youngjae didn’t come with you?” Jaebum asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. She shook her head. “He’s practicing in the soccer field.” “He could’ve at least escorted you here,” Jaebum criticized, but Ahnmi shook her head with a smile. “I found my way,” she said proudly. “I think I’m starting to get used to the school now.” Jaebum chuckled, smiling at Ahnmi like a father. Jackson took hold of her arm, snuggling in close to her. She chuckled at his gesture. She was starting to get used to Jackson too. “Where are the other members, Peniel sunbae?” she asked curiously, noticing that the rest of the room looked untouched. Peniel blushed at the sound of his name coming from her lips. Sure, the guys called him Peniel all the time that it almost seemed like his birth name, but coming from Ahnmi was different. This was his first meeting with the girl and he hadn’t anticipated all these butterflies. She sure lived up to her name as the Angel of the 2nd year students. “They’re with the theater club right now. Helping out with staging.” “Speaking of,” Jaebum got up abruptly. “I have to get back to my student council duties. Spring festival isn’t so exciting when you have to look over every classroom’s idea.” “Wahh, you seem like a president!” Jackson teased. “Yah,” Jaebum chuckled, playfully hitting Jackson. “I am the president!” “Really? Not Jinyoung?” Mark hit Jackson softly for Jaebum. “Don’t you have to meet with your martial arts team?” Jackson looked mischievously at Mark before sending him a wink. “Ah, of course, I should go too. Leave you guys alone.” As Jaebum and Jackson left the room, Mark let out a sigh of relief, glad for some quiet. His eyes brightened as he turned back to Ahnmi and Peniel. “Thank god Jackson is gone. I thought I was going to die trying to hold it in.” Mark smiled, his eyes brightening. “Jackson’s parents replied back to me. They cleared their schedule for his birthday weekend.” Ahnmi bit her finger as her lips curled into a wide smile. She was barely able to contain her squeals, as her heart raced with excitement. “This is amazing!” she finally cheered. “So we just need to buy the flight ticket!” Peniel looked on, entertained by her sudden burst of energy. However, what really caught his eye was Mark’s smile. Mark had already told him of the news while they were in class together but he didn’t look half as happy as he did now. “Will you guys have enough money to buy two round trip tickets?” he asked curiously. Their excited faces settled down a bit at the thought. “To be honest…” Ahnmi started slowly. “I was just going to use my dad’s card…but does that lack sincerity? Should we earn the money ourselves?” She looked at Mark for his opinion. He didn’t say anything. To be honest, he was planning on doing the exact same thing. If he told his dad it was for Jackson, he would’ve agreed without hesitation. Jackson was like his dad’s adopted son. “Should we?” he finally asked. “I don’t know…can we?” Ahnmi asked again. Mark shrugged. “I don’t know…” Peniel tried to contain his laugher as he listened on. “I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. You guys sound like Dumb and Dumber.” Ahnmi turned red with embarrassment while Mark just laughed. “We only have a week before his birthday.” Ahnmi stated. “Hmm,” Mark thought carefully. “How about we book the flights now and then raise money to pay our dads off after?” Ahnmi smiled. “Sounds good.” “Fatherly love is such a wonderful thing,” Peniel sighed at their decision. He gave Ahnmi a pat on the shoulder. “I have an idea for you to raise money.” She looked on eagerly. “Jackson showed me your watercolor drawing of Yugyeom. What do you think of an open painting session? You can do quick character sketches for people.” Ahnmi smiled sheepishly. “But who would want to pay for doodles?” Peniel glanced back at Mark who gave him an understanding nod. Boy, when the guys said she didn’t know her own popularity, they weren’t kidding. He wondered if she was just playing dumb. Surely she must’ve sensed an inkling of her popularity—practically half of the male population was a part of her fan club and she had just transferred less than a month ago. Ahnmi turned to Mark. “What if we got someone popular to sell my drawings? Like Yugyeom!” Mark burst out in laughter, accompanied by Peniel’s as well. Peniel put his arm around Ahnmi, pointing at Mark for her to get a good look. “Don’t you know this friend here has won the school’s popularity contest every year? Last year he even won at the other school down the block! He doesn’t even go there and he won their popularity contest!” She looked at Mark with wide eyes. Mark chuckled bashfully. “That other school just voted for me as a joke.” “This whole time I thought you were a regular person, I’m so sorry Sunbae,” Ahnmi bowed towards him. Peniel laughed at Ahnmi’s teasing. Even Mark couldn’t hide his smile. Ahnmi was truly starting to open up and he was loving this playful side to her. “But really though,” Mark started again, trying to get back to the subject. “There’s a lot of students here who would want to buy a painting from you.” “Yeah, and it’ll be a great way to promote the art club. Two birds, one stone,” Peniel grinned, flashing her a v sign. “Okay, well, I have to go first. I’m helping to train the new basketball players.” “See? He’s so popular,” Peniel teased. Mark chuckled before leaving Ahnmi and Peniel alone. - Ahnmi sighed with content as she walked past the school gate, taking in the pink sunset before her. She was really glad the guys had pushed her to join the club. Peniel was so nice and friendly. He seemed like a dependable president. After showing her some of their projects over the years, she couldn’t help but feel excitement growing in the pit of her stomach. Everyone in the school was treating her so kindly. She wondered to herself if she even deserved it. She had never imagined such an outcome could exist for her. Was it okay for her to be this happy? “Boop,” Ahnmi lifted her head to see who had bopped her head. She smiled, expecting to see Youngjae. However, to her surprise it was a different classmate…Taehyung. The boy sent her a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I saw Youngjae do it this morning and I wanted to try too.” “Ah…” Ahnmi nodded her head shyly. His face slowly turned a shade of pink. “Sorry, did I scare you? I was just trying to be friendly, I’m sorry,” he apologized profusely, bowing to her. She lifted her hands up in denial. “N-no, not at all. I…I liked your Sleeping Beauty suggestion. It was very creative.” He scratched his head shyly. “Ah, about that. Sorry for volunteering your kiss.” Ahnmi chuckled quietly. “That was a bit shocking.” Encouraged by her laugh, he smiled at her too. “I think our class will win the popularity vote for sure. Everyone wants a high five from you. Even your own classmates!” She grinned at his exaggeration. She lifted her hand playfully towards him, making him blush even more. He touched her palm gently with his own. “Ahhh!” he yelled suddenly, breathing out a sigh of relief. He laughed at Ahnmi’s shocked face. “I’ve been wanting to say hi to you for a while. For such a small person, you’re really intimidating.” The thought of herself being even the slightest bit of scary to others amused her. Surely he was just saying it as a joke. “I’m glad to officially meet you too, Taehyung,” she bowed. She looked up at him nervously before continuing on. “To be honest, I’m kind of shy.” Taehyung could already feel his smile growing as her confession began. Kind of shy? Until today she had only ever spoken to her cousin’s friends. Kind of shy was definitely an understatement. “I wish I could have the courage to say hi to others too,” Ahnmi continued on sincerely. She smiled brightly at him, making his stomach churn with giddiness. “Does this mean we can be friends?” “Of course!” he laughed heartily. He gave her bun another bop. “Don’t just talk to Youngjae in class. You can talk to me too now.” Ahnmi felt the happiness in her heart growing. What did she do to deserve such a perfect day? Taehyung waved goodbye, skipping away happily in the opposite direction. Ahnmi turned her back to continue walking home. At first she thought Taehyung seemed quite scary, with his teasing and intense eyes. However, after the exchange she couldn’t help thinking how puppy-like he was. “Boop!” “Tae-ah, Youngjae,” Ahnmi grinned, seeing Youngjae come from behind her, still in his soccer uniform. He looked at her suspiciously with a frown. “Tae?...Taehyung?” Ahnmi nodded with a smile. “I met him just before leaving the school.” “Oh,” he said blandly. It’s not that he didn’t like Taehyung. In fact, the two were quite friendly with each other. They were always joking around during gym class. However, it was the fact that Ahnmi had thought of Taehyung and not him. He thought he was the only one that said ‘boop’. That was his thing. Not sensing his mood, Ahnmi went on glowing with joy. “He wanted to be my friend. We agreed to be friends.” She gasped to herself. “Does that mean he’s the first friend I’ve made at school?” Youngjae frowned, hitting Ahnmi’s arm lightly. “Hey, no, I’m your first friend!” “Ah, I didn’t mean it like that,” she apologized. Although he knew what she had meant, Youngjae couldn’t help feeling slightly offended. He was so happy to catch her walking home but all she’s been talking about the whole time is some other guy. “I’m your first friend, Ahnmi,” he pouted. She giggled at his cuteness. “I know, you’re my number one buddy!” she replied, linking her arms with his, and successfully shut him up without knowing it. As they walked home, she leaned her head against his shoulder casually. She smiled, staring lazily down at their elongated shadows. “I’m glad you’re my friend Youngjae,” she whispered. The words had been sitting on her tongue for a while now and she was happy to finally get it out there. She was already taking lessons from Taehyung. Youngjae blushed profusely, his arm, stiffly bent between hers. This side of Ahnmi really shocked him. He didn’t know what to do with himself. She looked up at him, causing his face to grow even more warm if that was even possible. “I’m really thankful for all that you’ve done for me, staying by my side and helping me in class,” she continued, gazing into his eyes earnestly. “Thanks for sticking up for me during the class meeting too.” “Of course,” Youngjae finally uttered. “That’s what friends are for. I’m glad you moved here, Ahnmi.” She smiled, happy to know that Youngjae felt the same way. “I’m sorry you have to deal with all my shy awkwardness. I wish I could be as friendly as you and Taehyung. I hope I can start to repay you back for all your kindness soon.” He patted her head again. “What are you talking about? Do you remember when we first met? You couldn’t go a sentence without stuttering and look at you now. You’re already becoming more open and free in such a short amount of time.” Ahnmi felt her heart fill with warmth at the sound of his assurance. As they reached Youngjae’s house, Ahnmi smiled and said her final confession. “Today was a perfect day. I’m glad to end it with the perfect person too.” - Thanks for reading! This series updates every Friday and Saturday at 8PM EST.

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