—the (un)holy cock-up (m.)
⟶ pairing: park jimin/reader
⟶ genre: smut, angst
⟶ word count: 14.5k
⟶ warnings: explicit sexual content, oral sex (m receiving), dirty talk, profanity, unnecessary amount of biblical puns, some critic on catholic church, this is a heavy read be aware
⟶ summary: there is a quite long list of circumstances, with student loan and rent on the very top of it, that led you to work in the sunday’s spirit editorial department, a newspaper overally known among fellow catholic community of busan, with park jimin as your boss.
when your small cock-up goes unnoticeably out of your hand, you find yourself in a situation painted in all shades of wrong.
or, alternatively: when it’s forbidden, it tastes bittersweet.
a/n: please, before you read this: take the warnings seriously. this is not a light read, it touches some heavy and quite controversial topics. tit also involves a scene where a person in charge exhibits inappropriate behavior towards their subordinate which I do not condone, however it’s all done with consent.
ps. im really proud of this work so give me some love please:(
Fingertips typing furiously on the keyboards, sights focused on the computers’ screens, brows furrowed, minds utterly concentrated and all of this accompanied by angelic voices of various religious songs playing in the background.
This is how a typical day at Sunday’s Spirit editorial department goes by.
The newspaper is a local source of information for the catholic community not only in the city of Busan, but in the whole country. Its history starts in 70s, when Park Min-Sung with his wife started publishing the very first version of the Sunday’s Spirit, selling copies in front of churches. Young activists definitely hadn’t anticipated such a big success, especially due to hard times of the military dictatorship in Korea, but two decades later they have become one of the most affluent families in Busan. The newspaper remains the Park’s legacy till these days, being owned by Min-Sung’s son, with the original founder’s grandson Jimin as an editor-in-chief.
Sometimes you ponder how did you end up in this kind of situation. Sitting at your desk with eyes glued to the screen, working for the catholic newspaper with Mary did you know and other holy songs playing from the Spotify’s Blessed Hits playlist.
First of all, you aren’t quite a Jesus stan yourself. Not a regular churchgoer, Bible reader or a person who lives according to God’s will with Ten Commandments written on your heart and soul.
Someone may wonder, what a young, aspiring journalist like you is doing here? Yes, that’s right.
Money is the reason.
The perspectives of wealthy life as a presenter in the national television or a host in the radio were just a mirage, because after receiving your master degree in journalism you realised that, unfortunately, a bright future was bright only in your unreal dreams.
The case was simple. You needed money. Your bank account was literally screaming at you to get your shit together and figure something out before you end up under the bridge. So you started searching for a job, looking over various offers on the Internet for two weeks straight. A waitress? Nah, too clumsy for that. Jewelry seller? Definitely not, since you are a happy owner of a few pairs of earrings from etsy-like online shop that certainly have nothing to do with real gold. You were almost convinced you’re destined to be a sexworker but then you stumbled upon an offer from the Sunday’s Spirit.
It was your chance. A God himself decided to take pity on you.
In that exact moment the genre of the newspaper wasn’t important. The vision of bankruptcy was enough for you to wear knee-length black skirt, white button-up shirt and a pair of high heels you’ve never worn before and go on a job interview with plastered smile on your face, looking delightful like you have just given birth to Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
All the Hollywood actresses could be put into shame after your Oscar-winning performance you acted out on the interview in front of middle-aged woman in checked jacket that no one wears since 90s. Your enthusiasm and assurance you live good, catholic woman’s life, along with your master degree and motivational letter (you added a quote from The Letter to Philipians at the end of it to spice it up) was enough to be accepted for the position of Ask and you shall find column creator.
The job itself wasn’t complex or tough. The newspaper on its online site has a page where people can create an account and send asks to the author of the column who responds to them. You did something wrong and you aren’t sure it should be considered a sin? Having problems with regular praying on mornings and evenings? Write to us and we will solemnly help you with the God’s blessing, it says.
This is basically how it works. Each week, the said journalist chooses the most interesting questions and answers to make an article to the Sunday’s Spirit’s next publication. Of course, you can’t answer those questions the way you would like. You must do it according to the catholic laws and God’s plan (the True God’s plan, not Drake’s). A woman who interviewed you even gave you a notebook full of already made-up responses and a list of things you definetely mustn’t write if you still want to be employed.
To be completely frank, you don’t hate your job that much. You actually feel kind of nice, helping other people with their problems. You’ve been doing this for six months now and during this period of time you got used to some things.
A ‘Jesus, I trust you’ framed picture you swore your mother gave you on your 16th birthday standing on your desk. Holy beats blasting through the speakers until you leave the office at 5pm. A big-ass cross hanging right in front of the entrance to the editorial. Lee Chin-sun, the Weekly News column author, rushing to Park Jimin’s bureau every day at different hours in her pencil skirts and high heels knocking on the floor.
There’s only the Pentecost in the middle of the office that could actually surprise you.
“Looks like our Mary Magdalene is going to Jesus cave again,” mutters Kim Taehyung, the newspaper’s main photographer, friend from your desk and, actually, the only friend you have here. Very much gay and just like you, in desperate need for money. “It’s her third visit today. I wonder what it is this time. New prayer to Pope Francis she found?” he whispers and you chuckle at that quietly, looking around if anyone pays attention to your conversation, but everyone seems busy doing their own stuff. “Maybe she’s sucking his dick right now and we all think they are playing Who said it? Bible edition,” he adds in a hushed tone.
You start thinking about it for a while. Is that really possible for someone like Park Jimin, the editor-in-chief of the Sunday’s Spirit to have a sexual relationship with his coworker? The man who has a smaller version of Pietà in his office?
“I mean look at him. I would smash that ass too.”
You roll your eyes at Taehyung words, going back to your previous task but every time you try to concentrate, the face of your boss appears in front of your eyes uncontrollably.
Truth to be told, Park Jimin was a sight.
Blond hair, always perfectly styled and simply parted in the middle, revealing his forehead. Dark, sharp eyes that seem to pierce right through your soul and full, plump lips which could only be described as kissable.
He wears only high fashion brands, wandering through the office in Prada and Tom Ford suits that hugs his sculpted body just right. You think that as for a person who never misses Sunday’s mass, Park Jimin has also nice thighs. And a fine piece of ass, as Taehyung would describe it.
Newest Rolex that costs probably more than you will ever earn in your entire life on his wrist, Mercedes who just got brought out to the international market standing on his parking spot in front of the building, an apartment in the most luxurious area in Busan.
Park Jimin inhales God’s mercy and exhales money.
You spoke to him more explicitly only once, on your first day at work. He greeted you and wished good luck, saying that everything will be fine because you know, God’s good. Since that day, Park Jimin seems out of your reach. You contact him only through email, sending articles for him to check and approve, occasionally receiving some short message from him to improve this and that. He rarely leaves his office during working hours but when he does, it’s either for business meetings outside the editorial or for a lunch at nearby restaurant.
There’s also one, special occasion, every Friday, that’s a sacred time for all the employees. The clock hits 12am and so it begins. The angelic voices stop singing and everybody shifts on their sits.
“Oh, Holy Judas. I almost forgot about my favourite part of the week,” Taehyung sighs, standing up from his desk. And by that, he means-
“Friday’s Bible contemplation lunch break, everyone please gather up at the cafeteria.” Park Jimin’s sweet as honey voice says through the speakers.
You stand up from your chair with reluctance. Taking food with you, you go to the cafeteria, following Taehyung.
That’s actually the next thing you got used to while working at Sunday’s Spirit. Bible contemplation meetings are, as you found out from Taehyung, Jimin’s idea after he became an editor-in-chief almost one year ago. Every Friday all the workers sit together, eat their lunches and listen to Jimin as he reads a certain chapter from the book with true admiration written on their faces. After that, he usually asks some questions holding a discussion among the participants who, unlike you, happily takes part in.
The cafeteria looks rather normal, like any other lunchrooms you see in offices. Painted in bright yellow colors, with a few tables and a typical kitchen set in the back. Except for one thing.
A replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper hanging on the wall.
You decided a long time ago that you don’t want to know how much money it cost Jimin to have something like that here.
The newspaper’s workers, almost like the twelve Apostles, sit together by the tables. Lee Chin-sun at the very front, looking completely mesmerized by today’s Park Jimin’s appearance. He’s wearing navy blue suit that Taehyung swears it’s from Hugo Boss. The place next to Chin-sun is always occupied by tall, black-haired guy named Choi Eunwoo, main graphic designer, hopelessly in love with her since his first days at work. Behind them there’s a group from emendation department, with their leader Min Yoongi and other journalists. You always sit with Taehyung at the back, near the kitchen, not necessarily paying attention to what’s happening in the front.
Jimin, as on every Friday, walks to the small podium, designed to look like a pulpit in the church and opens the Bible. But one thing is odd: Jimin ain’t no priest or altar boy himself and he certainly dosen’t look like one, flipping through the pages of what you think it’s New Testament this time.
From your point of view, you could practically see how Chin-sun sighs with content expression on her face, lacing her fingers together on the lap and straightening her back. Eunwoo, on the other hand, shifts uncomfortably on his seat, sending Chin-sun quick glances full of unspoken longing she never acknowledges, to his dismay.
Then, Park Jimin clears his throat and the whole cafeteria goes quiet.
Truth to be told, you never really listen to what he’s reading. This time is no different. You just chew on your avocado sandwich, occasionally taking a sip of coffee. Your boss’ smooth voice reaches your ears faintly but you don’t pay attention to it, focusing on eating and Taehyung’s hushed rumbling instead.
“Look at our Mary Magdalene, she looks like she might burst a nut just by listening to CEO Jesus,” he says, making you peek at the girl.
Mary Magdalene is a nickname that Taehyung made up for Chin-sun when he started working at Sunday’s Spirit, mainly because of her attitude and relationship with Jimin. It’s rather platonic, at least for now. She looks at him with pure admiration on her face and she literally melts everytime he smiles at her. But Chin-sun’s ‘stalking’ isn’t unreasonable. Her father is a well-known philanthropist in Busan. He donates catholic charities, churches and, what’s the most interesting – he has some connections with Jimin’s father, the owner of Sunday’s Spirit.
And here’s the thing: Chin-sun’s hare and hounds definitely have some hidden reason. Maybe the whole marriage thing that has become a gossip in the office is true. Which makes poor Eunwoo’s situation even worse.
“Sometimes I wonder why has he fallen in love with her in first place,” you whisper, pointing at the graphic designer. “He knows he stands no chance against Jimin.”
“What can I say, you can’t help who you fall in love with.” Taehyung muses almost poetically, shrugging his shoulders.
You hum at that, placing your coffee cup on the table and looking around the cafeteria. It seems like Jimin has ended his reading session for today and now he invites everyone to join the discussion about the topic. He flashes Chin-sun a gentle smile and you could swear the girl is biting her lip.
On the corner of your eye you see Taehyung smirking.
“What?” you ask.
Taehyung takes a sip of his coffee lazily (it’s always caramel macchiato), peering at Jimin. “Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if our boss really wants to settle not only with Chin-sun, but anyone in general,” he says languidly.
You furrow your brows. “What makes you think that? I mean, look at him. He probably waits with sex till marriage.” you snort.
Taehyung chuckles at your words. “Ah, sweetheart, you really know nothing about Park Jimin.”
“What do you mean?”
He moves closer to you, leaning towards your ear. “What I mean,” he whispers, “is that Park Jimin isn’t such a prude everyone thinks he is. At least he didn’t use to be.”
You raise your eyebrows at him with disbelief. “What? He’s secretly gay?” you mock.
Taehyung rolls his eyes. “I wish, but no, he isn’t,” he answers with a sigh. “Do you know Min Yoongi from emendation team?” he then asks, pointing at grey-haired man with feline eyes sitting behind Chin-sun.
You nodd your head. Min Yoongi is a hard to read guy. Always suspiciously silent, practically never leaves his office. Something makes you wonder how did Taehyung end up befriending him enough to casually gossip about the boss. You will ask him about this on another occasion.
“So here’s the thing,” Taehyung begins, lowering the volume of his voice. “He used to study at the same university in Seoul with Jimin. They even had been together in the fraternity. Yoongi-hyung told me some juicy details about our boss’ life back then.”
You frown at his words. “And you are telling me this now?!” you hiss.
“I found out literally two days ago!” Taehyung exclaims, maybe a little too loud, so you quickly place your index finger on your lips, shushing him.
“Fine. Continue.” you whisper, looking around to see if anyone pays attention to you.
“Well, Park Jimin used to be a trouble back then. A golden boy of his family in Busan, but a campus fuckboy and obnoxious heartbreaker in Seoul. He smoked cigarettes, drank enormous amounts of alcohol, got wasted on every weekend, missed classes and changed hair colors as often as his girlfriends. By the way, don’t you think he would slay pink hair?”
“Taehyung can you please–”
“Okay, okay. Enough thirsting over Jimesus. So, as you can see, there was no place for Sunday’s mass and Bible contemplation meetings in his life. And here’s the awaited plotwist. His parents somehow found out his son wasn’t living good catholic life on his studies and got extremely pissed off. They simply gave him an ultimatum: if he doesn’t stop his shenanigans, they will cut him off their money and they won’t make him Sunday’s Spirit heir.” Taehyung stops his rumbling for a while, letting you proceed all the bewildering informations about your dear boss he has just revealed.
Your eyes simply widen at the revelations.
Park Jimin, the man who organises Bible contemplation lunch breaks, a regular churchgoer, someone who you always thought has a cross tattooed on his back, was a playboy who slept with a half of the female community in the university?
Interesting.
“Rest of the story is simple. He changed his behavior, got a master degree in journalism and came back to Busan to work here. What is funny, his first position was the same as yours now,” Taehyung ends his story with a light chuckle. “Now you understand why it’s hard for me to believe he really thinks about getting married and having at least three kids.”
You look up at Park Jimin, who’s standing now in the centre of the cafeteria, with his arms crossed over his chest, nodding at one of the journalists words. His gaze is so intense and filled with such an authority that makes you understand why Chin-sun literally squirms when he looks at her that way.
It’s not hard for you to imagine him in much different surroundings.
Him, standing with a cup of beer in his hand in the middle of the crowd of drunken people at some frat party. There’s a leather jacket on his shoulders and he’s wearing tight-fitting pants that hugs his gorgeous thighs much better than his usual slacks he puts on every day before he sets off to work. He scans the room with a mishevious smirk dancing on his features, biting and licking his lips as he looks for his prey for tonight.
He then spots her, his pick for the night. He runs his fingers through his silky locks and approaches the girl, whispering dirty promises to her ear as he sways their bodies to the rhythm of loud music blasting through the speakers. Later that night he has her underneath him, begging him to touch her. He fucks her hard, leaving bruises all over her limp, exhausted body. There will be soreness between her thighs in the morning and a few violet love bites on her neck, a gentle reminder that all of this wasn’t just a dream.
But there’s no warm body next to her she could wake up to, no ‘good morning, baby’ or a second round of love making between the sheets. Because Park Jimin isn’t like that. He waited until her breath slowed down and eyelids fluttered shut, drifting her off to sleep. He left in the middle of the night, a cigarette caught between his swollen from kisses lips. He fumed the poison and smiled to himself, wondering what his parents would think when they found out. A golden boy of his family, future heir of the Park’s legacy, coming back from one of his sexcapeds with girl which name he didn’t even remember.
The Lord himself must have already cursed him and he’s currently planning the punishments for him in depths of Hell. But does Park Jimin look like he really care?
You stare blankly ahead, imagining those scenes in your head. You can’t help but squeeze your thighs because God, yes, Park Jimin is hot, even if he reads Breviary before he goes to sleep. What a shame he has changed.
A smooth like honey voice pulls you out from your airy-fairy slumber.
“Miss Y/N?”
You jolt in panic after hearing your name, glancing around and praying that wasn’t the person you think it was. But this silky, melodious voice you would recognize everywhere.
God hates you though, he knows what kind of scandalous things you were daydreaming about and now it’s his time to punish you.
Looking up, your gaze settles on no one other than Park Jimin, who stares at you with his left eyebrow raised, pursing his lips. He extinguishes the aura of pure dominance around him and you involuntarily blush, squirming under his intense glare. You’re royally screwed.
You clear your throat, trying to calm down rapidly beating heart. Without success.
“Yes, sir?” you manage to answer innocently. Certainly not like you weren’t thinking about being fucked by him minutes ago. You don’t even have time to be surprised he remembers your name.
Park Jimin looks unamazed by your sweet tone; he almost seems bored, but definitely irritated. “I asked you a question and I’m waiting for your response.” he says lowly.
Fuckfuckfuck. God have mercy on you. What was the question? Shit, you don’t even know what fragment he had read before.
In act of complete desperation you elbow Taehyung for help but this little shit pretends he has no idea what’s going on, looking at The Last Supper with sudden interest.
You are purely, loyally, utterly fucked.
You adopt the most charming smile you could muster, knowing that it will have zero affect on Park Jimin and ask, “Could you repeat the question one more time, sir? I’m afraid I didn’t hear you correctly.” Jesus, when has your voice become so high-pitched?
A cruel smirks forms on Park Jimin’s lips. He shakes his head, tsking. Taehyung mutters something under his breath that sounds dangerously close to “It was nice meeting you, sweetheart.” You gulp, waiting for your sentence and hoping Pontius Pilate will be gracious to you.
“My, my,” Jimin muses. It makes you feel like a little girl being scolded by the teacher due to her outrageous behavior. You bite your lip so hard you might draw blood, waiting for your boss’ next words. “Of course you didn’t hear my question, because you weren’t paying attention to our discussion.”
In the corner of your eye you see Chin-sun shaking her head with detestation. What a bitch, you think to yourself.
You take a deep breath then, nails digging crescent moons on the skin of your palms. You don’t like being in the spotlight, you never did, but now you have no choice but face the consequences. “My deepest apologies, sir. The behavior I exhibited was highly inappropriate,” you say, bowing your head. Jimin eyes your figure from head to toe and you might actually feel his burning gaze on your skin. Your cheeks flush in crimson even more.
The editor-in-chief seems to deliberate with himself for a while, turning his head slightly to the side, not breaking the eye contact with you. Finally, after a moment that seems to last an hour, he speaks.
“I think you need a lesson that will teach you to pay attention to our weekly discussions, miss Y/N. That’s why I want you to write a 4000 words long paper about the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ’s life which we had discussed today but you, unfortunately, didn’t acknowledge it.”
You freeze. Like a scene in the movie, everything stops. The embarassement you felt earlier is quickly replaced by pure anger and irritation. He wants you to write a fucking paper? What is this? University lectures?
Never before in your entire life have you felt so humiliated. All eyes are on you; you could practically sense how they are trying not to laugh out loud. Eunwoo and Taehyung look at you with apologetic faces while Chin-sun smirks, whispering something to Jimin’s ear.
“I apologize once again, sir,” you grit through your teeth with a forced smile. Jimin nods then, not even bothering to look at you again. You’re dismissed, that’s what his behavior is saying.
“Our meeting is over, you can go back to your work.” Jimin announces and walks away from the cafeteria with Chin-sun by his side.
You wait for everyone to leave and the you let out a groan of annoyance, burring your head in your hands.
“Hey, it could have been worse. He didn’t fire you after all.” Taehyung laughs but he quickly shuts up as soon as he sees your glare. You stand up from your chair with a scowl written all over your face, and storm out of the lunchroom.
And may the God help you.
Later that unfortunate day, you sit by your desk again, scrolling through the Ask and you shall find page absentmindedly and waiting for the new asks to come. Everyone has returned to their work like nothing has happened but it doesn’t stop you from feeling all those eyes constantly on your back. Maybe you weren’t fired but the humiliation and embarrassment of being told off by your boss publicly makes you want to disappear and never show up at the editorial again.
“Y/N,” Taehyung’s deep voice pulls you out of your thoughts. You look up at him and find the man smiling at you lightly. He’s wearing a long, camel coat and a big scarf around his neck with ridiculous patterns that reminds you of Persian diwans. He places his black camera bag on the desk, which means he’s leaving the office. “I’m free of office work for today so I just wanted to say goodbye.” he explains and you just nod.
“Bye, Taehyung. See you on Monday.” you say maybe a little bit to wryly and he feels that, letting out a long sigh.
Taehyung seems to deliberate with himself for a moment before he decides to speak again. He clears his throat audibly. “And I, uhm, I’m sorry. It’s my fault that you are in this situation. I started this conversation and I should be the one writing this stupid paper for Mister Prude.”
You can’t help but chuckle at the new nickname Taehyung gave Jimin. The anger you felt before drifts away from you slowly, and you smile at your friend apologetically. “Oh, God, Tae. I’m such a bitch sometimes, sorry,” you blurt out.”I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at him. Besides, maybe that’s good I’ve got homework. I don’t remember when was the last time I wrote some-”
Your words are interrupted by a loud laugh that resonates through the office. You look in the direction of the voice just to see Chin-sun with her manicured hand on Jimin’s chest, throwing her head back from the laughter, too dramatically for your taste. She seems to have changed her clothes, a black pencil skirt long forgotten and replaced by a red, bodycon dress. Her dark hair is also styled differently, curled and loose. She looks beautiful, matching Jimin’s appearance perfectly.
“Where are they going?” Taehyung whispers to you, furrowing his brows. You shrug your shoulders, tearing your eyes of Chin-sun and Jimin. “Maybe our Mary Magdalene’s plan to win Jesus’ heart is working. Poor Eunwoo,” he sighs, looking at his watch to check the time. “Anyway, I gotta go. I have to drive all the way to some shithole near the city to take photos of an old lady who swears she saw saint Francis or other dude with halo speaking to her,” he grumbles and you giggle at his words. “Good luck with your paper, sweetheart.” he leans and places a small peck on your cheek.
“Bye, Tae.” you say, watching him leave the office right after Jimin and Chin-sun.
You let out a long, tired sigh, counting the time to leave the office and finally be back home, with a bottle of red wine and new season of Game of Thrones that are waiting for you to watch the whole week. Then, when you’re about to stand up and make yourself another coffee, a new ask pops up in your inbox with the title ‘Sex S.O.S’.
You raise your eyebrows because honestly, what kind of title is this? Curiosity wins the battle with a hot cup of an americano and you click the show more button. You put on your prescription glasses and start reading.
Dear Sunday’s Spirit editorial,
My name is Kang Seoyeon. I study medicine at the University of Seoul, I’ve got an amazing group of friends and a loving boyfriend. And here’s where the actual problem begins. I’m from the catholic family with long traditions, and as you can guess, he isn’t.
We’ve been together for almost 2 years now and since my parents don’t want me to live with him before the marriage, there’s also no sexual life between us. I was actually surprised they agreed I can date a non-religious person in first place, so the rules weren’t that horrible at the beginning.
My boyfriend always seemed to be understanding about the fact that I’m catholic and he has never had issues against it because I stated this on the start of our relationship, but lately… he’s been distant. We meet up less often and I feel like simple kissing after 2 years isn’t enough for him. I even thought about initiating something that wouldn’t necessarily involve the real intercourse but I’m too inexperienced and shy for that. We are slowly drifting apart.
I don’t know what to do. I love him so much and I don’t want to lose him just because of some stupid rules I need to follow. I’m scared he will leave me for some other beautiful girl who wouldn’t have anything against sleeping with him, especially after considering the fact that he isn’t virgin unlike me and he experienced this kind of pleasure before.
I hope you will help me.
Yours faithfully,
Kang Seoyeon.
You blink once, twice. Read the message again and then, something snaps in you.
To Hell with these stupid, old-fashioned rules straight from the Middle Ages. To Hell with celibacy till marriage, masturbation prohibition and living according to God’s will. To Hell with Park Jimin and his ridiculous moral code (and his Bible contemplation lunchbreaks).
Unofficial eleventh commandment: If a girl wants a dick, she deserves to have it.
And that’s exactly what your response to the girl is in a nutshell.
Your blood boils in your veins with anger as you’re typing furiously on the keyboard, not even bothering to check if your sudden outburst makes any sense.
Dear Seoyeon,
It’s Y/N here, the journalist who you wrote this message to.
I don’t know what kind of response are you expecting from me but honestly? If you think I’m going to recommend you some praying to Saint Rita then you’re wrong. I’m done with this shit.
Let me make this straight: if you want to fuck your boyfriend, do it. Maybe God wouldn’t approve that but don’t worry, he won’t send you to hell because of some dick in your pussy.
They are plenty of worse things in this world than having sex with the person you love. Look at me. I’m literally writing to catholic newspaper while using words like ‘God’ and ‘Fuck’ in the same sentence. And that’s not even a small piece of what I’ve done in my life.
So you go girl, suck your boyfriend off. Make him beg. He will never leave you after this. You have my blessings and Jesus is giving you metaphysical thumbs up from above. Sex is amazing thing and you don’t have to wait for it until you say ‘yes’ in front of some guy in black cassock. Just go with the flow.
May the God help you!
Love, Y/N.
P.S. Watch out that guy. He seems suspicious. If he’s been really sex deprived for two years he will die after you give him a head.
Sent.
You exhale loudly, staring at the screen. You did that. Six months into working in Sunday’s Spirit and the time when you lost your temper has finally come. You should probably feel ashamed or have some type of conscience pangs but actually you aren’t even near this state.
Grinning to yourself, you delete the message you had sent to the girl from your inbox and check the time. It’s almost 5pm and it looks like you haven’t even realised you’re the only person at the office right now. Since it’s Friday and Jimin has already left, seems like everyone has decided to set off earlier too.
You turn off your computer, packing your things to the bag. Wrapping a scarf around your neck tightly, you leave the building, welcoming the coolness of the early Spring evening in Busan.
When you’re about to cross the street, your phone buzzes in the pocket of your coat. You stop for a moment, smiling to yourself when you read the message.
[04:23pm] from Tae: hey
[04:23pm] from Tae: i know you are probably planning an evening with mary magdalene n jesus but
[04:23pm] from Tae: wouldnt u want to go for drinks with me tonight?
[04:23pm] from Tae: same place as usual
[04:24pm] from Tae: as a wise man once said: nothing helps better for the writer’s block than vodka
[04:24pm] from Tae: so what do u say?
You don’t need to think twice when you quickly type a response. Game of Thrones and wine can wait till another time.
[04:26pm] from me: how could i say no to kim taehyung and vodka?
[04:26pm] from me: see u there
Kim’s is a place like no one other in Busan.
You wouldn’t even know about its existence if it wasn’t Taehyung who took you there first when you started working at Sunday’s Spirit, solemnly promising free drinks. Who would you be if you didn’t agree to that?
When you arrived at the bar, it eventually turned out the alcohol was costless hence it’s his family business since over thirty years and his brother Namjoon is a bartender, not because Taehyung willingly decided to pay for you.
Kim’s is located in rather industrial part of the city, sandwiched between factories and huge housing estates, not looking really inviting at first glance, but the place has its own, unique charm. There are some stories, shrouding the building’s history in mystery. Some people say it used to be headquarters of the most dangerous mafia in Busan, some even believe it served as the secret arsenal during the Korean War.
But what’s definitely true, it’s the fact that Taehyung’s parents bought this place in swinging times of 80s for a small amount of money and turned the place into disco bar which had become a must-go spot for young people in Busan.
Kim’s on the outside, with its large red neon sign hanging above the entrance, looks more like a night club than a bar, but on the inside the magic of kitschy 80s still remains the same (Taehyung swears retro is in fashion these days and that’s why he didn’t let his parents redecorate when they wanted to).
You always feel like you’re traveling back in time when you visist Kim’s.
The place is quite big, with a large dancefloor in the middle and red leather sofas strewn around the place along with the tables. Walls are made of brick and colorful, vibrant neon lights are shimmering on them. Oh, not to mention the huge disco ball on the ceiling. Everything accompanied with the quality music provided by Namjoon.
There are few billiard and foosball tables in the corner of the bar, always occupied by the same group of middle-aged men on weekdays and university students on weekends. But the thing that attract attention of the customers the most, is the bar with Namjoon behind it.
When you enter the place, you spot Taehyung and his blond mop of hair immediately. He sits on one of the bar stools, talking to his older brother. He’s wearing beige pants and floral button-up shirt that seems to match colors with his pinkish-looking drink he holds. You notice a new pair of sapphire earrings and a huge ring from the same collection on his forefinger. Classy, as always.
Taehyung grins broadly when he sees you. He puts his drink on the counter and stands up to greet you. His breath smells like strawberries and vodka when he leans to place his usual, small peck on your cheek. “Hi, sweetheart,” he says with his signature smirk plastered on his face, scanning your figure. “You look gorgeous. Last time you did this kind of make-up you wanted to get laid.”
You rolls your eyes at his words, sitting on a stool next to him. “Hi, Taehyung. Thank you for appreciating my efforts to look like a decent human being but no, I’m not planning on getting laid tonight.” you answer, waving to Namjoon who makes drinks for a group of girls a few meters from you. He smiles bashfully at you, showing his dimples.
“I’m not saying you want a fuck, calm down. I just assumed since it’s not everyday that you put eyeliner on,” Taehyung explains himself. “So let me do that again,” He takes a deep breath, placing a hand on his chest in a dramatic manner. “Y/N, you look absolutely breathtaking. I could stare at you for hours and I wouldn’t mind that even a bit. My homosexuality is at risk right now.”
You ignore his exeggarated outburst, rolling your eyes. “I’m not using eyeliner everyday because there’s something called dresscode in our work, you know?” you say. “Besides, my mum says you should look good on every occasion because you don’t know when you will meet the love of your life.”
Taehyung puts a hand on his heart and sighs with relief. “Thank God I always look good.”
You chuckle and then your eyes wander for a moment to Namjoon, who seems busy listening to whatever the pink-haired girl is telling him with polite smile on his face.
“Here,” Taehyung nudges your side, bringing your attention back to him. He hands you the same pinkish drink as he was drinking when you arrived. “Hyung told me it’s their new specialty or something. It’s called Flamingo’s Beach,” he says and you take the glass in your hand. “I have no idea what Namjoonie-hyung put here but as long as it looks good, it’s good. Cheers!” Taehyung sips his one and watches you with raised eyebrows as you’re taking a generous gulp of the drink. “And…?” he asks.
You lick your lips, humming to yourself. “Not bad. Tastes like strawberries.”
Taehyung opens his mouth to say something but he gets interrupted by his brother. “Y/N, hi. How are you?” Namjoon approaches you with two beer mugs in his hands.
His hair is back to his natural brown color now, purple strands long forgotten since the last time you saw him. It looks like he’s been working out lately, his posture more bulky and it makes his black shirt stick to his body tightly. Namjoon’s good-looking, you always knew that, but he seems to be even more handsome now.
“Hey, I’ve been good, thank you,” you greet him with maybe too much enthusiasm for your liking. You always had a weak spot for him. “How’s the bar going?” you ask.
“Busy, as you can see,” he replies, chuckling to himself. “I would love to talk to you more but I have some work to do in back room, so…” Namjoon trails off sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.
“Oh, it’s okay. We can catch up another time.” You smile at him and you could swear his cheeks flushed.
“I’ll be going. See you.” Namjoon stammers out, not even waiting for your response before he disappears from your sight.
The pregnant silence sets in between you and Taehyung, something heavy hangs in the air and you feel it, tapping your fingers on the counter to the rhythm of one of the ABBA songs, waiting impatiently.
Taehyung looks like he’s debating with himself in his head. You narrow your eyes. He’s adopted a face you know pretty well, too well even. He looks everywhere but keep avoiding your gaze. He wants to ask you something, you’re sure of it, but he doesn’t know how.
Finally, after a moment of awkward quietness, Taehyung finally opens his mouth. “So, here’s the thing,” he starts and you wait for the bomb to drop.
Last time when he approached you like that, he asked you if you would be down for a threesome with him and some guy he met on Tinder. Your eyes almost popped out of your head when you heard his blunt proposition. You were eating lunch at cafeteria and the words casually slipped from between his lips as he chewed on his egg sandwich, like he didn’t just propose you having sex with him and instead asked for a lift to home after work.
Taehyung begged you for a whole week, pleading and convincing it’ll be fun. When you eventually agreed (sex draught make people do stupid things), the other guy didn’t show up. You ended up drinking tequila shots with Taehyung that night in his apartment, and you can’t quite recall how it happened, but somehow you found yourself unzipping your friend’s pants and the rest is history. He passed out right after he came. Now when you think about it, you feel a sudden urge to ask him if he remembers that.
You will do it next time, you promise yourself.
Taehyung though doesn’t ask you about having a threesome or robbing Park Jimin’s house this time. His intentions are pretty much different.
“See, Namjoon split up with his girlfriend few weeks ago,” he says and you prick your ears. “He’s not in good condition right now, as you can see. It was a nasty break up, he found out she’s been cheating on him,” He lets out a long sigh. You bite your lip, imagining Namjoon’s disappointed face when he discovered the truth. What a bitch cheats on someone like him? “So, I thought maybe you could… cheer him up a little bit?” Taehyung ends hesitantly, with a glint of hope in his eyes.
You frown. Cheer him up? Did he just imply what you think about?
“Look, I get it, he’s sad and angry, but what the fuck, Taehyung? What do you want me to do? Do you want me to be his rebound? Make him forget?” you exclaim. Taehyung quickly shakes his head but you don’t let him say anything. “I feel sorry for Namjoon but I’m not going to take advantage of him when he’s literally still hurt.”
“No, it’s not like that!” Taehyung rushes to explain. “Well, maybe it sounded like that but I swear, I didn’t mean that!”
“Then what should I do? Wipe his tears? Tell him a joke? Or maybe-”
“Of course he wants you to suck his brother’s heartbroken dick, doll.”
A sudden, low voice interrupts your conversation. Your eyes follow the direction when it comes from, looking to Taehyung’s left where not even a meter away a very familiar grey-haired man with feline eyes sits.
“Min Yoongi,” you say matter-of-factly.
The leader of emendation team from Sunday’s Spirit editorial raises his hand in which he holds whiskey, greeting you and Taehyung. “Hello, doll. Hello, Taehyung,” he says, not even bothering to look at you.
You elbow Taehyung searching for explanation but he shrugs his shoulders, turning to face the man as well.
“First of all, since when do you call me ‘doll’? We have never spoken a word to each other. Secondly, how long have you been sitting here and listening?” you ask Yoongi.
He snorts, smirking. “Long enough to know how Taehyung comforts his brother after break up.” he simply answers and Taehyung’s cheeks blush in crimson at his words.
“You come here often? I’ve never seen you here before,” you continue, crossing your arms over chest.
Next to you Taehyung lets out a sigh. “Yes, he does. Albeit I haven’t seen him for a while here,” You look at him in confusion. “Yoongi-hyung is Namjoonie-hyung close friend from university days.” he clarifies.
You raise your eyebrows at that. “So Namjoon went to the same school as Park Jimin?”
“Not the same. We met under different circumstances.” Yoongi cuts in.
“They’ve been together in underground rap group, or some shit. Didn’t like each other at first but eventually stuck together till the end of studies.” Taehyung ends and grey-haired man nods.
You can’t help but chuckle at that.
“What’s funny in that?” Yoongi scowls.
“Nothing. I just imagined you and Namjoon in snapbacks, rapping about the unfairness of social hierarchy,” you say, grinning at him.
“Well, you may believe me or not, but we even made a mixtape.” Yoongi reveals proudly, taking a sip of his whiskey.
Your eyes widen in curiosity. “Then what happened? Why aren’t you in Seoul now, still producing music? Why do you work in this stupid newspaper and Namjoon’s a bartender?” you ask interrogatively.
“Life happened, doll. We didn’t have enough money to publish our works so we decided to quit it.”
“Oh,” you breathe out.
You could see the nostalgia written across Yoongi’s face. You feel sorry for him, for Namjoon. Everything is always about the money. That’s why you’re working in Sunday’s Spirit even though it was never your dream in first place. Even though you have much higher ambitions than being Ask and you shall find column author.
Ever since you were little, you loved writing. You never complained, not even once, when your teachers in school assigned you to write something. They kept saying you have an extraordinary talent and it would be a shame if you didn’t do anything with that.
During your high school years, you were the leader of school newspaper’s team, still writing your own works every time you didn’t have something different to do. After that, you got to the university in Seoul, your another dream came true. You got a master degree, an apprenticeship in the Korean version of highly popular, world-widely known magazine. And then, nothing. No job applications available. No newspapers or publishing companies wanting you, dismissing you right away because they didn’t have any vacant places.
This is how Sunday’s Spirit, even if that’s not your dream job, happened. And quite literally saved your ass.
“I’m sorry.” you say after a while.
Yoongi smiles but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Don’t be. What’s in past, stays in past.” he ends the conversation, drinking the rest of his whiskey.
You find this as a perfect possibility to do what you’ve come here for: get wasted, forget about this prick Park Jimin and his stupid assignment. You turn around on your stool to face the bar again, calling for the red-haired bartender named Hoseok who’s substituting Namjoon right now. You order a round of tequilla shots and quickly pours two of them in one go.
“Easy, tiger,” Taehyung teases, still sipping his pink drink as you wipe your chin with the back of your hand. Taehyung has stated a long time ago that he enjoys only casual drinking, which makes you and you lightweightness snort at him.
“Loser,” you mumble under your breath, deep down knowing you’re oh so much going to regret this after.
You focus your attention on the dancefloor now; technicolor lights glittering as the crowd of sweaty people bounce to old Madonna hits. You feel like your spirit might actually experience new kind of awakening during the chorus in Like a Virgin. You mouth the lyrics, the vodka already half-way to your bopping head. Your drunken self almost asks Taehyung and Yoongi if they would agree to be your backup dancers.
You eyes scan the room carefully and then, you spot him. He’s sitting in the corner, his arms splayed over the backrest of the red couch. A devil himself. A black horseman of the Apocalypse. A man who looks like every girl’s next mistake. Taylor Swift’s ‘we are never ever getting back together’.
A true sin.
Jet-black hair parted in the middle, onyx eyes and lucious smirk written across his lips as he bites them purposefully. He’s wearing a leather jacket and you wonder for a while if you would find inked tattoos on his body. He cocks his head to the side, his eyes glued to the same spot as he waits for something, or rather someone.
“Who’s that?” you ask, not even hiding your curiosity at this point.
Taehyung turns around as well, his eyes glancing to the dark-haired man briefly. “Ah, this, sweetheart, is Jeon Jungkook, Park Jimin’s best friend.” he says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
You raise your eyebrows, watching as Jungkook’s face expression immediately changes when waitress approaches him. He says something to her that makes her roll her eyes. She tightens her grip around the tray she’s holding, asking him for his order.
“Don’t worry. You are not the only one thirsting over him. I would let him top me too,” Taehyung whispers to your ear and you flinch.
“I’m not thirsting over him! I came her for drinks, not to get laid, I told you.”
“Okay, okay, loosen up a little. Tequilla makes you aggressive. Besides, it looks like he’s got his pick for tonight.”
Jungkook stretches out his hand and fixes the waitress’ glasses that seem to rode down her nose a little. The girl frozes in place because of his action and he grins, calling her cute.
“He’s trying to ask her out for two months,” Yoongi interrupts suddenly, again. It looks like he has nothing better to do tonight. “I’m serious. He’s here every Friday. Normally, he would have given up after the second time she had rejected him but there’s might be something in this girl that makes his dick hard and his heart soft.”
Jungkook’s eyes girl’s body as she bends to pick up the glasses from other tables and maybe that’s the alcohol swimming in your veins but you could swear his face lights up when she sends him another irritated glare when he calls her name.
“Does Park Jimin comes here often as well?” you ask before you could stop yourself.
Both Taehyung and Yoongi shake their heads.
“I don’t think so. Jeon comes here because he lives nearby in this huge ass apartment complex. His father runs a chemical factory and he works there.” Taehyung explains.
Jeon? Chemical factory? Something clicks in your brain. Right, you know who his father is. The King of Washing Powder. Another rich as fuck Busan’s snob.
“God, I hate him. I fucking hate him. What a prick. Douchebag. Asshole of the century,” The string of profanities leaves poor waitress’ mouth as she walks to the counter with tray in her hands. “How’s your day, love? You look beautiful today, love. Fucking leave me alone, love!” she mutters to herself, taking the beer mugs from Hoseok abruptly which makes the bartender raise his eyebrows in confusion.
“How’s your assignment about Mary Magdalene going on, doll?” Yoongi asks then, startling you.
You roll your eyes at him. “I literally got it today, Yoongi. I haven’t started yet.” you answer, gulping another shot.
On the corner of your eye you see Yoongi’s smirking. “I’m surprised, to be honest. You aren’t the only one who doesn’t pay attention to shit Jimin’s says,” he trails off. “I work for him from the moment he started this ridiculous Bible lunch breaks and I swear, he’s never called out someone like that before.”
“What do you mean he’s never called out someone before?” Taehyung joins in curiously.
“Look, I slept through the majority of these sessions and Jimin knows it, but he has never lecture me about it,” Yoongi remarks. “Maybe you’re an exception. Or he’s become more strict because of this bitch Chin-sun.”
You furrow your eyebrows, confused. You know Chin-sun has been making heart eyes for Jimin for a long time but what why it might have an influence on his behavior?
“Lee Chin-sun? What the office’s Mary Magdalene has to do with that? Besides the fact that she’s drooling for his dick every time she sees him,” Taehyung snorts.
Yoongi chuckles lowly. “Oh, so you two really know nothing about what’s going on between them right now,”
“What’s going on right now? Spill.” Taehyung says abruptly. You sigh when you see the way his eyes flicker with mischeviousness. One thing Taehyung loves more than photography and fashion is gossiping (and dicks).
“First of all, Chin-sun is a fucking bigot. And well… she might be closer to being miss Park than we thought.” Yoongi muses.
Taehyung eyebrows practically disappear in his hairline. You’re sure you mirror his expression right now.
Yoongi asks Hoseok for another glass of whiskey and continues. “My friend Seokjin’s wife is Jimin’s personal assistant and secretary. She heard this and that, quite juicy things I must say,” he says in a lower tone, like he’s revealing government secrets to them. You lean closer into his direction along with Taehyung. “Chin-sun’s father recently bought the claims to the most popular, conservative TV station in whole South Korea. But, what is more interesting, it looks like Park senior has some shares in it as well.”
You’re astonished. You knew there’s something looming in the air but you didn’t expect this. A TV station? Even your slightly drunken brain can calculate it’s very interesting.
“So the marriage between Chin-sun and Jimin would be pretty convenient for their families, especially after considering the fact that Jimin is the heir.” Yoongi adds, gulping the first sip of his new whiskey.
“Poor Eunwoo,” you whisper to yourself.
“But why so soon? Why do they want to legalize their relationship so suddenly?” Taehyung asks.
Yoongi lets out a heavy sigh. “There’s a rumour going around that Jimin’s father isn’t in good condition right now. Seokjin-hyung mentioned something about the heart disease. So, if that’s really true, you have the answer why he wants his eldest son to settle down already. Everything’s about the money, I told you.”
Taehyung whistles. “Woah, so Mary Magdalene is really about to be CEO Jesus’ wife soon!” he exclaims, clapping his hands. “Brilliant. Finally something spicy is happening in this boring editorial.”
“I wouldn’t be so enthusiastic if I were you, Taehyung. This kind of business never ends well,” Yoongi says coldly, placing his glass on the counter and standing up from the stool. He glances at his watch and throws a few bills next to his empty glass. “I’ll get going. It was nice talking to you, doll.”
“What about me?”
“Shut up, Taehyung, you’re not pretty lady.”
“I feel offended.”
“And I don’t care,” Yoongi mutters. Maybe that was alcohol swimming in her veins but you saw Taehyung lifting the corners of his lips in amusement. Weird. “Good luck on your assignment, doll. See you all on Monday.” Yoongi glances to your way one last time, adjusting his jacket.
“Bye, Yoongi.” you wave to him and a small, even sincere smile appears on his face when he as well raises his hand lazily and leaves. “Why didn’t you tell me he’s actually nice, Tae? I was always too scared to start a conversation with him because I felt intimidated.” you say after a while.
“I’m sorry, should have I set you up for a date with him?” Taehyung mocks.
A groan escapes your lips. “Could you please stop insinuating things?”
“You need to get laid, seriously. Like soon-soon. You get easily irritated recently. You need a d i c k,”
“I don’t need a dick!”
“A cock, Y/N,” Taehyung emphasizes. “A penis in your precious vagina.”
“Shut up!”
Several shots and a few drunken dances to Cindi Lauper and Bon Jovi, you’re pretty much wasted. And maybe, just maybe, you need a dick. And Taehyung, like a dipshit he always is, thinks that’s actually funny.
“Don’t wanna homff,” you slur, supporting your weight on Taehyung’s arm that shakes with laughter at your drunken antics, as well as his whole body. “I wanna danfce witfh somebodyyy,”
“Holy Mother of Jesus, you must be really drunk if you started referring to Whitney Houston’s songs. And you smell like booze,” Taehyung mutters under his breath and you whine, tugging on his arm.
“TaeTae, Taehyungie, pffleasee, can we go back?”
Taehyung ignores your grumbling completely. He exists the bar, walking (or rather dragging) you to the cab. As he tries to push your body to the car, he sees in the corner of his eye Jeon Jungkook, standing in front of his black SUV. The waitress from earlier accompanies him as well. It looks like he’s trying to convince her to let him give her a lift to home. The girl shakes her head at first but eventually gives up, stepping into the car. Jungkook grins to himself then, clenching his fists in gesture of pure triumph.
“I fuckin’ hate Park Jimin and his stfupid newspaper,” you mutter incoherently as you bury your head in the crook of Taehyung’s neck in the back of the cab. Old, korean songs are playing in the radio when you’re driving back home. Taehyung smiles to himself, hearing your light snores. But then, he falters.
Ah, yes, he almost forgot. It is going to be a long way to the third floor of your apartment building.
Next day, you wake up in the middle of noon with raging headache and an abrupt need to throw everything up. Frankly speaking, you had worse hangovers during you university days but it doesn’t change the fact that the state you’re currently in still sucks.
“Oh, good God, what have I thought?” you mutter to yourself while standing in the shower, letting the water cool you down.
Truth to be told, a drinking escapade when you have a whole ass paper to write in two days wasn’t the smartest idea you could come up with. You know that for sure, when you’re sitting down in front of your laptop with prescription glasses on your face and a cup of tea in your hand.
There’s a blank document opened on the screen, with only your name written in the corner and the title in the middle. You feel pathetic and useless, staring at it for 30 minutes straight. If you keep sitting like this, you might actually call Park Jimin right now and beg him not to fire you due to your incompetence.
“Get your shit together, Y/N.” you say to yourself, clenching your fists.
At first you fought about making some mind-map, outlining the most important parts of your essay, as you always used to do when you were studying. But there’s a huge difference between what you’re working on right now and what you usually did during academic days. Above all, at that time you were writing about things you had more knowledge about, not about Mary Magdalene and her role in Jesus Christ’s life.
“Ah, fuck it.”
You open an online Bible page and quickly type ‘Mary Magdalene’ in browser. All fragments when she’s mentioned shows up in front of your eyes. You fix your glasses and before you could stop yourself, you whisper, “Let’s get it.”
You don’t know how much time has passed since you started reading, but when you glance a the clock it’s nearly 7pm.
You went through every single page in the Bible when Mary Magdalene appears or when for some reason her name comes up in conversations. You read two thesis in which you found quite interesting facts about the heroine of your work. Also, you watched some conspiracy theories on YouTube about her, in which people claim that she was actually Jesus’ wife. You were bewildered, even in your post-hangover state.
And after all of this researching, you have settled a plan. You’re a journalist for God’s sake, you’ve been writing your entire life and none assignment will break you. So you start typing on the keyboard, filling the blank document pages with words, hoping that Park Jimin will approve your efforts.
On Sunday, you look like a ghost.
You’re a mess, cured from hangover but still in bad shape, especially after spending the whole night writing in front of your laptop. There are bangs under your eyes and you hair looks like you could cosplay a scarecrow. Your eyes are sore from staring to the screen for so long and you feel like you might collapse anytime if you won’t drink coffee in five minutes.
In between writing next paragraphs, you answer a call from Taehyung.
“How’s your assignment going, sweetheart?”
You let out a long, exhausted sigh. “It’s fine, I guess.” you respond to him.
“That’s lovely! I knew you would slay this, babe,” you hear him saying.
“I’m not done yet, Tae. I still have like a half to write,” you mumble and then let out a yawn, closing your eyes for a brief second before you speak again. “I would love to talk to you more but I really need to get this shit done as soon as I can, so I could have some decent sleep before Monday. I don’t want to look like an old witch when I hand in the paper to Park Jimin.”
“I know, I know. You got this, sweetheart. I’m sure you will make Mister Prude’s dick hard because of this.” Taehyung assures you.
You crack a tired smile even though you know he doesn’t see you. “Thank you, Tae.”
“Anything for you, sweetheart.” he says and hangs up.
You take another gulp of your coffee and start writing again.
It’s a little past midnight when you’re, with your last amounts of force you posses, typing the last words of the paper. As you look at your laptop screen, eyelids half-closed, you dream about nothing but going to sleep.
You did that. You really did. You wrote this stupid paper for Park Jimin and you’re actually proud of it. You carefully save the document three times (to be hundred percent sure) and as soon as you close your laptop, you pass out.
Little did you know what is waiting for you in editorial in a few hours.
You stare at your reflection in small mirror you hold, thanking God that he has enlightened the person who discovered make-up. You won’t say you look stunning but, after five hours of sleep you had in last two days, you would risk it all and say you appear much more than decent looking. You’re wearing your new black jumpsuit that makes your legs look longer and you even used a different shade of lipstick, painting your lips in crimson red.
And all of this for nothing, because when you stormed into the Sunday’s Spirit editorial to give the paper straight to Park Jimin’s hands, his secretary with polite smile said he’s coming to work later today.
You pursued your lips and handed the woman your blood, sweat and tears (you’re actually sure a few tears rolled down from your face on the keyboard while you were writing it), wishing you saw your boss’ face when you place the printed pages on his expensive desk.
“I changed a little bit the topic of my work while I was outlining it,” you tell Taehyung as you both sit together by your desks later that day. “I focused more on a role of Mary Magdalene character in world ruled only by men. I showed how a powerful woman she was, standing at Jesus’s side even though the church for the centuries referred her to whore,” you explain.
“Wow,” Taehyung muses. “You turned Mary Magdalene into feminism icon fighting against patriarchy.”
“It’s not like that!” You hit him in the arm. “You may laugh as much as you want but I actually got into her story.”
Taehyung smirks. “Looks like being scolded by Park Jimin wasn’t that bad.”
You roll your eyes. “Shut up. I got humiliated in the middle of fucking cafeteria. I still hate him. And also, I don’t know what he thinks about my essay.” you say with a sigh.
“Don’t worry. He’s probably having an epiphany right now while-”
A voice from the speakers that certainly doesn’t sound like gospel choir interrupts him.
“Miss Y/N, please report to the Park Jimin’s office immadietly.”
“-or he isn’t.” Taehyung ends.
Once again, you’re frozen in place. It’s okay, you tell yourself, maybe he just wants to talk about my essay. But what if he didn’t like it? What if your sudden feminism outburst about Mary Magdalene was too much?
“Holy fuck.” you blurt out quietly.
Taehyung gives you an encouraging smile but he doesn’t look much convinced in positive intentions of summoning you to their boss’ office, he just doesn’t say it aloud. “Well, maybe it won’t be that bad! Maybe he wants to congratulate you,” he tries to comfort you, without success. You look horribly pale and scared to death.
“I repeat: miss Y/N, please report to the Park Jimin’s office immadietly.” Jimin’s stone cold voice pierce through the silence again. You shiver. The journalists in the editorial send you impatient glares.
“Whatever happens, remember that I love you.” Taehyung whispers, squizzing your hand, which makes you even more nervous. He gives you thumbs-up and you take a deep breath, trying to calm your trembling body. A whole Sunday’s Spirit team follow your movements with their eyes.
You stands from your desk on wobbly legs and walk to the door with golden sign hanging on its surface.
Park Jimin
Editor-in-chief
You take the knob in your shaking palm and twist, stepping into the lion’s den.
The atmosphere seems to shift when you walk into the room. You could hear your heart rapidly beating through the dead silence that lingers in Park Jimin’s office. “You wanted to see me, sir?” you ask after closing the door, subconsciously cursing yourself for sounding so weak already.
“Yes, have a seat,” Jimin says. “Give me a second. I need to finish something.” he adds when you sit down, not even bothering to spare you a look.
Jimin sits behind his desk, eyes glued to the computer screen. His hair is pushed back from his forehead, his jaw clenched. Oh, great, he looks pissed, you think to yourself.
He isn’t wearing his suit jacket like usually, which surprises you. His white shirt’s sleeves are rolled up, revealing a glimpse of veiny hands and his Rolex. This is the first time you see him like this. He looks so… unlike him.
Strange.
You use the time you have to take in your surroundings. Jimin’s office is painted in fair tone of grey. The rumors were actually right, there’s a smaller version of Michelangelo’s Pietà standing proudly on of the drawers. Behind the desk, on the wall, hangs a wooden cross with gold-plated figurine of Jesus Christ, and just underneath it there’s a framed picture of Lady of Fatima, which he once proudly showed to the whole editorial team on one of the lunchbreaks, saying his grandmother brought him this from her pilgrimage.
You focus your attention now on the wall filled with numerous diplomas and certificates, all of them signed with Park Jimin’s name.
You had read some of his works before you started your job in Sunday’s Spirit and you must admit: Park Jimin is a talented, smart journalist you aspire to be one day. It’s actually sad, you think, that he can’t pursue his career, wasting his abilities by working in catholic newspaper owned by his father. And as you know from Yoongi, his situation isn’t going to change soon. Maybe he was right after all. Money really does rule this world.
After a few minutes that seems to last forever, Jimin breaks the silence. “Do you know why are you here?” he asks, finally averting his attention to you. He stares so deeply into your eyes that you feel you might faint from the intensity of his aura.
You clear your throat, and then respond. “I do believe it’s about my paper I handed in to you this morning.”
Jimin raises his eyebrow at that. “Your paper? No, everything’s fine about it. I read it and I must say, you did a great job,” he says and you furrow your eyebrows. So if nothing’s is wrong with your essay then what does he want?
“Then… why did you call me in, sir?” you hesitantly ponder.
Jimin laces his fingers together and leans closer over the desk. “Well,” he begins, “Maybe you forgot or you really didn’t know about it, but I used to run the same column as you do now,” You nod your head, recalling what Taehyung told you recently. Jimin continues, “I was actually the one who created it. That means I am still, for this day, its administrator. Which leads to another conclusion: every single ask that is send to our editorial and your responses to them can be monitored by me.” he explains, gauging your reaction. You still don’t have an idea why is he telling you that, so you just sit still and wait.
Then, Jimin reaches for the paper that lays on the left side of his desk and hands it to you. “Could you please tell me what is this?” he asks, pointing at the paper.
You glance at it briefly. “These are the questions I got last week and my responses to them.” you reply straightaway.
Park Jimin doesn’t seem much satisfied after hearing your words. He then takes another paper and gives it to you as well. “And this particular one, Y/N? Could you please read it and tell me what is this?”
Ignoring his forego of ‘miss’, you take it to your hands and start reading.
Dear Sunday’s Spirit editorial,
My name is Kang Seoyeon. I study medicine at the University of Seoul, I’ve got an amazing group of friends and a loving boyf-
You gasp and immadietly put a palm over your mouth. Under Seoyeon’s ask there’s also, clear as day, your much inappropriate response to her. In which you persuade the girl to suck her boyfriend off.
Holy fuck. Jesus Christ. Shitshitshit!
Jimin said he monitors everything that people send to the editorial along with the responds. Of course he had to read it. Why have you been so dumb? How could you believe that simple deleting from your inbox would be enough? Why can’t you do something properly for once?
You gulp, trying not to cry because good God, he’s going to fire you. He will kick you out and write a bunch of negative letters to your future employees, in which he will explain in details how disobiedent, reckless of a worker you are.
“Did you also forget how to speak?” Jimin asks. You almost cry out right away from the coldness of his voice.
You muster up a courage and look at him, and that’s a huge mistake because as soon as your eyes meet his, you’re lost for words.”I-I don’t know what to say, sir,” you stammer out. “I have nothing for my defence. I can only apologize for my irresponsible and inappropriate behavior I exhibited.” you say, bowing your head down.
Jimin pursues his lips. He stands from his chair and walks to you, leaning his body on the desk. He takes the paper from you to his hands and starts reading. “If you want to fuck your boyfriend, do it. Maybe God wouldn’t approve that but don’t worry, he won’t send you to hell because of some dick in your pussy,“ he quotes your response to the girl and your cheeks flush in red; you wish nothing more than to disappear and never see your boss again. But he’s relentless and continues reading, spilling the crude words, humiliating you even more. “So you go girl, suck your boyfriend off. Make him beg. He will never leave you after this.“ Jimin chuckles to himself darkly and you shut your eyes. “Look at me when you are spoken to,” he demands. You quickly oblige, lifting your chin a little to meet his intense gaze. “Is that really how a good, catholic girl should act?” he asks in a mocking tone.
You shake your head. “No, it isn’t.”
Jimin clicks his tongue. “Do you think he really won’t leave her after this?” he asks out of the blue.
You furrow your eyebrows. What kind of twisted game is he playing now? “I don’t know, sir.” you answer honestly.
Jimin smirks. Devilishly, sultry and completely illegal. He then licks his lips and leans closer to you. You could swear his eyes are darken than before. Something has shifted in his demeanor; he looks daring. “Why don’t you show me then, how this poor girl should suck her boyfriend off, Y/N?” he whispers lowly.
Your eyes widen. Did he just-?
He didn’t. He can’t. Maybe you misheard him, maybe you started imagining things that aren’t real. Oh, sweet Lord, the look of absolute seriousness written on his face tells you very much different.
Park Jimin, your boss, the man who goes regularly on masses and reads Bible, wants you to give him a head. In his office.
May the God help you.
You should probably slap him in the face for his immoral proposition. You should save your dignity, leave and never come back again. But then, you clear your mind from all those twisted thoughts running through it and you realise that you’re walking on a very thin line. Line which is called unemployment and bankruptcy.
You think about your landlord who praised you recently for keeping up with rent every month regularly. You think about your student loans that you still need to pay.
And fuck, you hate Yoongi because he was damn right. Money wouldn’t buy you happiness, but it can provide you that.
That’s why you put away the humiliation, the what ifs. You shut your mind screaming at you and listing the future consequences. Maybe Jimin just tests you, but the way he looks at you denies it. He wants to see you on your knees in front of him. Perhaps he only wants to play before he fires you but you put that thought aside.
You at least need to try.
Jimin searches for any kind of protest in your eyes and when he doesn’t find it, he’s back to his domineering self. “What are you waiting for?” he asks, his voice an octave lower. “Get on your knees.”
He has a calm expression on his face and you wonder for a moment how many times has he been in similar situation before. Having a woman on his mercy and using her the way he likes. And now you know. All those stories you heard about, are actually true. Park Jimin isn’t a prude. He’s dirty.
You fall to the floor with a light whimper. Maybe it’s the last chance for you to leave, but the confidence that emanates from Jimin doesn’t falter your movements. You hate yourself for that but God, you want to see this man being a mess for your touch. Even if that’s fucked up.
And it’s wrong, so, so wrong, when there’s a cross hanging behind you, when he’s your boss who claims to be a good catholic, when you do that because you’re too afraid to lose your job. But in that moment, the morality doesn’t exist.
Jimin stands up to take his belt off, looking at you from the above as he slowly, purposefully pulls it from the belt loops. He doesn’t encourage you or say anything, he just waits. You gulp when he yanks his black slacks down, along with his underwear.
For a few, solid seconds, you just stare.
You aren’t a connoisseur of dicks. Dick is a dick, but Park Jimin’s length is just as perfect as the rest of him, semi-hard against his lower stomach. Your hands move to his sculpted thighs, running up and down, tracing the prominent lines of his toned abdomen. The muscles tense underneath your touch.
You don’t remember when was the last time you’ve gone down on someone. Maybe it was Taehyung few months ago when you were both too drunk to care? You can’t quite recall. Every move of yours is uncertain, but Jimin doesn’t mind. Maybe your uncertainty turns him on even more.
He watches as you take him in your palm hesitantly, hot and already stiff, stroking him several times until he hardens in your hand. The sight is purely erotic, filthy, and you lick your lips before placing a light kiss on his tip. Jimin hisses. That’s a warning. No teasing.
You pump him, trailing a thumb over his slit, spreading precum all over his cock. Jimin doesn’t say anything but from the shuddering breath he lets out you assume he likes it. You take a deep breath, wrapping your lips around his dick and swirling your tongue around the head.
Jimin groans, a guttural sound resonating through his whole body and you take it as a sign to continue. You ease more of him into your mouth, hollowing your cheeks and bobbing your head up and down around his length obediently. Some twisted and fucked-up part of you wants him to praise you, call you good girl with your lips around his dick and throbbing core. He does none of that. His hands tangle in your hair as he withdraws, and you know exactly what’s coming next.
It’s an unspoken question on his lips and your jaw falls slacks on command.
A forceful push of his hips and he’s burried deep inside your mouth till he hits the back of your throat. Tears brim in your eyes and you gag, breathing heavily through your nose. It hurts a little, a dull ache but the content sigh and fucked-out expression on Jimin’s face is worth it. So you let him fuck your mouth the way he wants, let him pull your hair harder, wreck you a little more. It’s so easy to submit to him, to let him overwhelm you in every sense possible.
Your eyes fall shut and Jimin stops his movements, pulling from your mouth. Drool dribbles down your chin and you wipe it with the back of your hand. Jimin lets out a shaky breath, staring down at you so intensely it makes your insides tighten, even if you don’t see him yet.
“Look at me,” he rasps and you do, how could you not. The sight of your boss’ flushed cheeks and sweat forming on his forehead will be imprinted in your mind forever.
You curse yourself for wanting him to fuck you senseless right against his deck, with a hand around your throat muffling your screams, fuck you so hard you won’t remember your name anymore, no matter how wrong it is.
“Good girl. You’re so pretty like this, letting me fuck your mouth,” Jimin nothing but purrs, filling you to the brim again, until there are tears forming in your eyes and running down your cheeks, until he hits the base of your throat again and again and you fight back choked gags every time. “Just like that, fuck-” he moans, lowly and beautifully, head thrown back and mouth parted.
He’s close, you could feel that, so you take him deep once again and when your throat tightens around him one last time, he lets out a gutural groan and comes. You swallow every drop of his bitter release and when he pulls out from your mouth, you nearly fall forward.
Jimin catches you, placing his hands on your shoulders, balancing your exhausted body. You look at him through your half-lidded eyes. He looks so young now, so innocent, his cold demeanor’s gone and replaced by pure bliss written on his face. For Park Jimin, cheeks rosy, disheveled hair and loosen tie, you would do it all over again.
He then does something unexpected. He reaches for your face, brushing your tangled hair away and placing the strands behind your ears. This is a loving gesture, something exclusive he definitely shouldn’t be doing. You’re frozen, you can’t move a muscle while he wipes your cheeks from the reminiscences of your tears. He trails his thumb over your swollen lips absentmindedly, faltering there. For a moment he looks like he might say something, but he quickly shuts his mouth, regaining his previous posture.
You take this as a sign to leave. You get up from the floor, your knees sore from the uncomfortable position you’ve been in. You walk to the mirror that hangs on the wall of Jimin’s office. You sigh, seeing your current state. There’s no way someone would believe you that you haven’t just sucked a dick.
Your cheeks are flushed in pink, there are smudges of mascara under your eyes and your lipstick is smeared in the corners of your mouth. Not to mention your hair is still a mess.
You are painted in all shades of wrong.
In the reflection of the mirror you see Jimin buckling up his belt and straightening his tie. He runs a hand through his blond locks and looks up, catching you staring at him. You quickly look away.
“Don’t worry. No one will notice anything. Everyone should be off for their lunchbreaks by now.” he says. He sounds so pathetically normal, yet there’s still a slight rasp in his voice.
You glance at the watch on your hand and check the time. It’s a little past 12. You brush your hair with your fingers quickly and proceed to leave, but you stop, remembering you have to ask about one last thing. You turn around to face him.
“Are you going to write a bad opinion about me to my future employees?” you ask, flinching at the hoarseness of your voice.
Jimin raises his eyebrows. “Bad opinion? No, absolutely not,” he answers, shaking his head. “I was never going to fire you in first place.”
You fight back the shocked expression that threatens to appear on your face. You quickly rush to leave this damn office and never look in his eyes ever again. What were you even thinking?
“And Y/N,” Jimin’s voice makes you stop with your hand hovering over the door knob. Single tear rolls down your cheek and you gulp. “I’m sorry.” it’s all he says.
You don’t ask him what he meant by that. You don’t deliberate if he was sincere or not. You leave the office as soon as you can, running to the nearest bathroom, closing the door behind you and leaning on it.
He wasn’t going to fire you. He just wanted to use you, demand to get down on your knees and please him the way he wants. It was all a game for him, and you became his plaything.
“I’m so stupid,” you mutter to yourself, burying your head in your hands. “God, I’m so stupid.”
You feel sick, used, but at the same time you can’t get away with creeping feeling that you enjoyed it, wishing he wanted you just as much as you wanted him in that moment.
You sigh, closing your eyes. You’re probably foolish for thinking it won’t have any consequences. You’re just about to face them.
The coldness of early Spring hits you when you exit Sunday’s Spirit editorial. You hug your body tighter with your coat, standing in front of the building awkwardly. You take a few deep breaths, trying to clear your mind, but nothing really works. There’s a vacant space inside your body, like your soul has drifted away and left nothing but emptiness.
You feel hollow.
You don’t know how long have you been standing there, inhaling fresh air and waiting for your blood to start circulating properly in your veins again. When you’re about to head to the underground station, on the corner of your eye you see Jimin’s black Mercedes. You probably shouldn’t stare but you helplessly do.
Probably if you didn’t, it would hurt less.
He approaches the car, looking perfectly fine as always, which you couldn’t say about yourself. And he isn’t alone.
You recognize dark curls of Chins-sun’s hair, contrasting her beige coat beautifully. The corners of Jimin’s lips lift when he sees her. You don’t know if it’s a honest smile or a forced one. You wonder for a while how does he look like when he’s truly happy. Maybe he’s happy now, when Chin-sun is by his side.
What you are really sure about Park Jimin, is that he’s a man of many maybes.
Something which definitely doesn’t look forced are his palms, cupping the cheeks of Chin-sun’s flushed face. He starts tracing circles on her skin in intimate gesture and murmurs something. Maybe he asks her how was her day. Your lips still tingle where he trailed his thumb over it bitten, swollen surface. Maybe he still remembers how they felt around his cock when he was relentlessly bringing tears to your eyes and stabs to your heart.
The way he leans and kisses Chin-sun’s cherry colored lips is purposeful, perfectly measured. Maybe he sighs into her mouth with content, a beautiful sound you have witnessed with your own ears, as you were working him to his climax. Jimin’s hands grip Chin-sun’s dark locks but it isn’t the similar manner he did to you earlier, as he laced his fingers through the strands, when you wished him to do nothing more than pull harder and harder, until the pain in you scalp was replaced by dull ache, until a whimper fell from your lips and eyes squeezed shut. He kisses Chin-sun lovingly and there’s no roughness in that. It’s gentle caresses and soft murmurs.
After a moment he breaks off, soothing his palms over Chin-sun’s shoulders. She sends him a smile and opens the passenger’s door, getting into the car. And then, when you swallow a lump in your throat, when you decide to turn around and go, run as fast as you possibly can, when you dream about nothing more but never seeing him again, you catch eyes with him.
Jimin looks pathetically apologetic. There’s something in his dark brown orbs you can’t read. Maybe it’s guilt, maybe regret. Park Jimin is a man of many maybes, yet he stares at you with expression you could only mistaken for sadness.
You wonder if he sees the way your eyes stare at him blankly. You wonder if he knows how he nearly wrecked your body and made you feel things you shouldn’t. If he hurts the same way as you do now. However, Jimin quickly diverts his head away from you, closing the door to his car behind him as well. You laugh quietly at the ridiculousness of this situation. A bitter laugh that escapes your mouth and deepen the hollowness inside you.
A hand touches your arm and you don’t even flinch, knowing already who it is.
“So you know the news,” Taehyung says, looking at Jimin’s car leaving the parking lot. How long has he been standing behind you?
“What news?” you ask, turning your head to look at him.
“Chin-sun is really going to be miss Park officially,” he replies. “Jimin proposed to her this weekend. The wedding is in may. But that’s not important right now. How’s your conversation with him, sweetheart?”
You feel sick. You excuse yourself, mentioning something about needing to catch earlier train and texting him later. Taehyung calls after you but you don’t listen. You start running.
You run until you couldn’t breathe, until there’s a soreness in your throat from the coldness of air. You run until you reach your apartment, stumbling into it on wobbly legs. Your back touches the wall and you slide off, sitting on the floor.
You don’t cry. The tears don’t strain your eyes. It’s only this damned, dull hollowness.
There’s written in the Bible that a guilty person is the one who broke God’s law, who committed a sin. The said person will be judged by their actions after their death. Because every human being has a conscience, the thing that sets the line between good and bad, so when we did something wrong, we should feel remorse.
When you sit on the floor and stare blankly in front of yourself, you know you have sinned.You both did. You wonder if he, trailing patterns of tender touches on his fiancee’s skin, feels the same as you. You wonder if guilt eats him up as much as devours you. Maybe there’s hollow ache in his chest, just like in yours. Maybe he doesn’t feel anything.
And may the God help you both find your redemption.
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Life is crazy.
I'm still recovering from almost dying.
I haven't written much in a while, life just went a bit insane. I would not say it went to shit, but it was a bit crazy. I figured I would write the highlights, I expect my children may one day read this.
Now, this was the day my brother, Venyabi, took the mother of my child as a mate, for she accepted him, and he her. He loved her. This was… I dealt with it.
***********************************
Xiao and Janaret had a small… interlude in the shower the morning after we have saved his Mother and younger sister from the demons they called Father and his little minion that Naddja was married to. Now, My Janaret is very submissive, and he is what some would call my little. I take care of him, we have times where we spend time together and I braid his hair, or we just spend time cuddling. It makes me happy to take care of him, and he is happy knowing someone will take care of him when he cannot handle life. He’s doing much better now that our friend, Talrethriel Shadethorn, has given him oils made of Shimmerweed to help him with his anxiety.
After their time in the shower, which I often remind them took FOREVER...
*************************
After their shower and Xiao lead Aret out, the prelate didn't speak, only nodded as he led Xiao back into the room to find clothing. "Um.. Xiao?" He had turned an interesting shade.. "What do I wear?"
Xiao blinked, looking back at him as he pulled on his red and black house kimono, though he put on his black cloth pants from the night before on underneath as well for decency, since he'd only worn then for all of 20 minutes. "What do you mean? You have clothes here, don't you?"
"I.. um.."
"Would you just fuckin' pick clothes for him. Tarja is whining, Im hungry, and People are actually wanting to TALK to you two. I only have So many topics of conversation that are not stories from when Aret was little. There is a green kilt with Gold trim, and a green vest. Put that on." Vol poked his thoughts into Xiao’s. "He wants you to choose for him so he looked good for you.. first impression on his mother. Remember, he is submissive, he likes a bit of guidance. Today it is from you."
Xiao lit up when he realized what Aret wanted. He leaned over and kissed him. "Here love, come here." He took Aret's hand and pulled him to his closet. He pulled out several things for the prelate, looking them over before finally finding the piece that he thought was just right. It was an understated black tunic with crimson stitching that hung low enough to accentuate his muscled features without looking overtly revealing, tapering down to be more form fitting around his abdomen. It was a V cut down to about his navel, but for Troll standards it was a 'dressy' vest compared to something loose like what Vol would usually wear that was more two strips of fabric with a string to keep it from flapping in the wind. He made sure to get matching pants, glad to find they were a matching set, similar crimson threading lining the sides and hips. They weren't tight enough to bulge in the groin, but close knit enough to hug his muscled thighs and accentuate his form. He bit his lip, swaying in spot a bit before reaching back to unbraid Aret's hair and pull it over his front to all drape down one shoulder on his chest. He grinned, blushing a little before moving Aret in front of a mirror so they could stand side by side. The colors made sense now, it complimented Xiao's kimono so that the two would look absolutely lovely together. Also it would come as no surprise to Vol that Xiao had Aret's hair down, they likely both knew by now he loved it like that.
Janaret smiled, blushing but happy as he stood in front of the mirror and looked at his reflection. "Thank you. S.. Sometimes Vol'raka will choose for me. That's part of .. our special things we do. I want to make sure Muuka likes you." He stood up straight, experimentally flipped his hair, and put a hand out. "I will make you proud, and She'll like you. I know she will."
Xiao nearly squee'ed at the hair flip, clearly adoring it. "You look absolutely gorgeous." He leaned up to kiss Aret lovingly before offering his hand. "I am always proud of you, Ba'la... shall we head down?"
Aret nodded, a hand on Xiao's as he led him out of the bedroom and downstairs. There was the deep voiced laugh of a Darkspear, Nielka making faces at Zakin and Tarja, the tiny troll girl giggling and bouncing in her hammock. Pahre was sitting quietly, with a soft smile and Naddja was.. not there.
"Where is Naddja?"
"Ja sistah had a visitah an’ went fer a walk. Ja two finally join us, da bacon an eggs be cold, but dere some muffins left. Da pancakes be gone. Ja snooze ja loose." Vol grinned, finally having given up on his mates and eating his own breakfast. "Xiao, aftah breakfast. Kyl need ta come out an finish dat house. Auntie, Naddja, and Nielka need dey own space."
Xiao's smile dropped when he heard 'visitah'. "Who showed up?" He asked nervously, almost as if he forgot he killed the two people they had to worry about. "You can find the stone in my brewing room if you want to just reach out to him for me, Vol." He said with a small smile, though still worried.
"His name was Venyabi. Muuka, I like human food. Muffin? Right?" Nielka was holding up what looked like a muffin, studded with blueberries. "I want to learn to cook. Vol'raka, I want to learn how to make muffins.." Though still scarred, the girl knew she was safe where she was and had already perked up and liked her new home. Her mother was more subdued, more years of pain still lingering and lining her face.
"Please do not bother them with trivialities, Nielka. We are guests, I am sure that they have other matters." The look on her face spoke volumes as she tended to her grandson, She was afraid still, and did not wish to antagonize.
"Auntie et be fine. Ah gotta go ta take care of a mage and make sure he finish da work, but ah also gonna be sendin' Hae an Aret ta get some clothes fer ja. Fabric at leas'. Hae be a good seamstress an Naddja's clothes not quite fit ja. Anothah day, ah teach ja ta make muffins. Xiao a bettah cook den me. We be takin' turns wit da chores." He smiled as he turned to Aret and Xiao, noticing they matched. "Ja look handsome with ja haiah down, sweetheart. Suits ya." he stood, clearing his plate and giving Aret and Xiao both kisses. "Ah gonna talk ta Kyl. Eat. Be good hosts."
"Ones that are not upstairs caterwauling their lusts in the shower..."
Xiao smiled and nodded, seeming relaxed again. "Your brother stopped by? Just to say hello or for business?" He asked casually as he sat beside Aret and reached to nibble on a muffin himself. "Nielka, I would love to teach you how to cook muffins if you would like that." He said warmly, speaking the Zandali after Aret or Vol translated for him as they had been since the night before. "You do not have to worry about bothering us, Pahre. Aret is family and you are Aret's family. That makes you our family. Family is never a bother, hm?"
"Venya come ta see Naddja....". He didn't sound thrilled, but let it go as the twelve year old squealed happily.
"I want to learn! I..."
"Nielka, calm child. We will stay out of your way and be no bother.".
"Muuka... Stop it." Aret and Vol turned as Naddja and his elder brother Venyabi came back in, the druid scowling. "They are nothing like father. They welcome you into their home. They welcome us. We get to start again without Father's rules, pain.... All the things he inflicted upon us. Let Nielka learn things. It doesn't mean they are gonna make her get married! It means she learns skills. This family works together. So she'll have chores, just as I do, I expect you as well..."
Vol interrupted, actually smiling at Naddja, switching to Zandali and translating in his head for Xiao. The Link worked wonders for it.
"She is right, Auntie. No need to hide in the room upstairs. Enjoy the grounds, spend time as you will. Once you settle in,there are things we may ask. Most importantly, I ask that you try and be happy. Find something that makes you happy.". Vol smiled kissing Xiao, Aret and Tarja in turn. "These make me happy."
Xiao looked as though he were about to speak when Naddja came back in and spoke up. He sat quietly, letting the family talk before leaning up to kiss Vol with a small smile. "You are safe here, you can be free here. That is all. Asking us for things, spending time... it is not a bad thing. You do not have to worry anymore."
Pahre looked in her lap, noticing only when her son moved to sit next to her. "Muuka, this is home. A family. Everyone here is family."
"What et be ja fear, Auntie?". Vol stood next to Xiao, relaxed and smiling gently as he looked at the similar blue eyes as his lover.
Pahre sighed. "I must remember, Torcali forgive me, that I can know something more than fear. I fear this place is too open and honest, that something will shatter."
"Auntie, dis place not perfect, but we try ta get along. Et not easy ta be en a relationship wit three, and all da rest. Gotta work at et."
"It took me a while to get used to it too. Vol'raka helped me find happiness through that openness. It may take time, but you can let yourself finally be happy. There will be no pain here."
"Ah takin' Naddja ta mate."
Aret, Pahre, and Vol'raka turned looking at Venyabi, Naddja facepalming. "Way to go, Venya."
Vol crossed his arms, not territorial, more annoyed as Aret stared at his sister. Even Pahre was wide eyed.
"You... Are the new baby's father?".
"Ah gonna be....". Venya was stopped by Vol grabbing him by the scruff and dragging him outside, Naddja following.
"Entertain them... Talk. I'm gonna rip my brother a new ass."
"Uhhh..." He blinked, kind of just staring. When Vol yanked Venya out, he just kind of watched. "... I want to know what happens, you better leave that link open." He offered a nervous little chuckle. "Who wants breakfast dessert crepes, hm?" Yes, more cooking, that would be a good distraction.
Nielka was distracted, hopping up to follow Xiao. "Can I watch?!"
~~~~~
"Are you serious, Venya. I knew you were fucking, by fucking Bwonsamdi you've known each other for...a few weeks!"
"She doesn't.... Mind my... You know. Most people are not ok with it, lil bruddah."
"It's not your choice, Vol'raka."
"Naddja, think of what I am seeing. The woman who ... Let's just say it. The woman who raped me and had my kid is fucking my brother. Now mating my brother and going to probably have his children..."
"And you are fucking my brother...."
~~~~~
Xiao smiled at Nielka. "Of course, come here." He extended an arm out and began to prepare all of the ingredients, explaining it all to her as he listened through the link. "She cannot hear, but... us being with Aret is irrelevant, none of us did anything /wrong/. She did. Not that I hold a grudge, but... her point is not a good one."
~~~~~
"I am. So what. Did you tell my brother what you did to me. How my daughter was conceived?"
"... Yes."
"I still love her, Vol. She actually accepts me."
"And her children? You wander, Venya. You don't stay in one place. How are you going to keep wandering."
Naddja got in Vol’s face, a finger right on his nose. "We will wander too! You don't get input into my life, you are not my caretaker nor my father. You promised to protect me until I found someone. I found someone. I will follow all the rules, I won't be called Tarja's mother, I pitch in and do my part. So butt out of this."
Aret spoke up, quietly. *"Let her be happy too."
"If you hurt Venyabi, I will not forgive you. I will be letting it go, but I hope you can understand why I am upset about this. You can stay here for a while Venya. Same deal. Pitch in."
~~~~~
Xiao listened in silence, sighing lightly as he tried to keep up a straight face as he showed Nielka how the delicate pastry was made. "So she is going to just... wander. That means Zakin will to. I thought she would want her children to know each other. Maybe I was naive in thinking she would just live here with us in her own little quarters so Tarja could grow up around /all/ of her family..." He sounded a tad disheartened as he finally chipped in, like his fantasy had been shattered a little.
"perhaps.. if you talk..to her Aret? I do not know Venyabi well?"
~~~~~
Vol had shut down and stalked off, still there but silent as he had left Venya and Naddja alone to come back in.
"Mango Mon, what a makin?". He was not looking at crepes. He was looking at the stew pot. It smelled far different from a sweet breakfast.
~~~~~
"I do not know either of them well..." He said uncertainly, his gaze pulling to Venya now. The nickname made him smile again, putting the finishing touches on the crepes and putting some powdered sugar on top. "These? They are pastries and-..." It was then that he followed Venya's line of sight and cleared his throat. "That is nothing, just... something Vol'raka is making." He tried to sound casual but he was about as stiff as a board now, anxious panda. He didn't want any attention drawn to that pot.
Venya sniffed, picked up the lid and wafted away the steam. "Da fuck ja got troll hearts en a pot fer?"
Aret's face fell and he paled, hoping his mother and younger sister had not heard Venya. thankfully Pahre was enamored with spending time with her playful grandson and granddaughter, who was inspecting her fingers. "It is Vol'raka's dinner, please leave it alone."
Naddja scowled, then sighed. "Bwonsamdi."
Venya made an "ooooooooohhhhh" looking face and closed the lid. "Ah serve da grave too sometimes, ah get et. Ah not sure mah bruddah happy bout mah fallin' fer Naddja.
Xiao tried to stop him but it was too late. When Venya spoke about it, his mouth fell agape and he looked horrified. He hurried Nielka off to serve the crepes and then spoke in a low but 'angry' whisper so only Vena, Aret, and Naddja could hear once Nielka was out of earshot. "What is wrong with you! If there are Troll hearts stewing, you do not just ask like you would ask about the weather! Sweet Celestials... That poor woman has been through enough, they both have." He gave Venya a disapproving look, scolding him like the Ba he was. He then realized he had just scolded his future brother in law and bit his lip. "Sorry, I just... do not want Pahre and Nielka to have to go through anything more than they already have." He murmured, low still so the other two wouldn't hear.
"Ja lived with Vol dis long an’ he not brought home 'dinnah'? He respectin' JA culture more den his own lil bruddah. Let da old lady be blissful an unaware.. or jus be blind ta et fer 'er own sake. Ja not gotta be yellin' at me bout et. Et not mah sacrifice ta be eatin'."
Aret turned his head upstairs and wandered out, heading for the office Vol kept inside the house, almost like he was called. Naddja watched her brother wander off, turning to Xiao. "Vol doesn't want me here, does he?"
Xiao sighed heavily, whispering to Venyabi now. "They are her hearts of her son by marriage and her husband. There is a reason I told you to shh. It is not the fact that they are offerings to Bwonsamdi, it is who the offerings ARE." He then huffed a little. "Also, do not talk about us not respecting his culture? Who do you think helped me prepare the sacrifice?." He grumbled under his breath mildly. “I doubt we would have been met with the presence of the Loa of Graves if we were paying that little attention... Talk about making my heart race in minor panic." He grumbled again and sighed, realizing he said that out loud, hoping no one heard. He cleared his throat and welcomed Naddja's question, looking to her with a shake of her head. "It is not that he does not want you here. I think... the fact that he lets you near Tarja, lets you live in our home, as family... is trying to him. It takes patience. You have to remember, Naddja... at the end of the day, regardless of what circumstances you were under at home, you raped him. Did you know he does not drink anymore? He hardly even smokes. He refuses almost any intoxicants now ever since that incident. So to have the patience and restraint to let you live under his roof with our child and even getting to be in her life... then find out you are going to go wandering off with his brother? There are limitations to how much someone can put up with. Yes, he is also with your brother, but... we went into that situation with no idea who he was to you. The fact that you two are related is a sheer twist of incredibly unexpected fate. It is not as if he went after him knowing he was your brother. Even if he had, he was not the one who did the wrong but was the one wronged himself. So think of this from his perspective. He shows you the leniency and mercy and kindness to not only forgive you, but invite you and your family in, let you in our daughter's life, reunite you with your son... take care of certain issues so you never have to worry about safety again. All of that, and now he finds out that after everything he has done, you decide to possibly flit off with his brother. It is... salt in the wound. A wound that is still incredibly fresh to him." He sighed quietly, looking down at the kitchen floor as he contemplated his next words.
"I know that... I want you here, believe it or not. I thought that you would live here with us, Pahre and Nielka too. You would have your own quarters, a separate little area through portal magic, but... still in reach. Our own... tribe, if you will. Tarja gets aunts, uncles, grandmothers... a brother, though she will know him as a cousin and vice versa. Your son would get to grow up with a big loving family, no one would be in danger, and..." He shook his head, trailing off again. "It sounds idealistic, but I just thought... I guess I hoped you would stay here, all of you would. Aret is our family, so that makes you family. I had hoped we could be family... together."
Naddja looked chastised and sighed as Venya put an arm around her shoulders. "Ah.. ah know what happen. We agree et not right, we agree da lil ones be needin' ta be raised tagetha, lil bruddah. Et gonna be up to Vol'raka. He forgivin' but ah tink tings hurt em more den he lettin' on. We close, but ...."
"Xiao Chun. Vol'raka is speaking with Kylendris. He would like to speak to you, once he is done." Aret came back in, having not heard Venya speaking. "He is trying to fix the hole in the wall..."
Xiao frowned a little. "I know it is, but he is trying to keep us all together for the sake of our daughter. He wants her to be with as much family as she can. He just needs time and you two getting together is something that adds more strain to his already stressed load than he anticipated." He then looked back at Aret and nodded. "I was wondering when he was going to reach out to him." He said casually before reaching out through the link. "Hole?" He sighed internally, trying to hide his disappointment. "Do you think it is okay if I go in to see him now? Can you entertain?" He said with a glance toward those still in the kitchen and dining area.
"Nienie... let me show you how to fold the crepes? Venyabi, we are not so close, and I would bet you do not know my mother, nor younger sister. I would like to learn more of you, as you will be with my sister?" Aret smiled, hiding his worry. "He broke his hand."
~~~~
Vol was healing his hand, misjudging his aim and having hit a section of stone. The wall only had a small dent. The mage would finish his work and the rest of the family would get their space and he could ... normal was not going to happen, he shouldn't delude himself.
Xiao hurried into the office, frowning as he saw Vol tending to his hand. "What happened...?" He asked worriedly, inching closer to Vol as he peered at him with a worried little whimper.
Vol looked up, grinning even if it did not meet his eyes. "Just breaking my hand, lamenting that I let Venya come visit a few weeks ago, having Tarja's conception rubbed into my face, feeling like I can't save everyone and my kindness is tossed in my face like mud? Nothing major lover. How are you?" He flexed his hand as he stood up, putting Xiao's stone on the desk. “He'll have it all finished by tomorrow. I need to send Hae and Aret off to get supplies, I need to feed the raptors.. I need to get shit done today.." He instead sat in his chair and let his head fall on the desk.
Xiao's frown deepened, moving over to sit in Vol's lap and force his head off the desk and onto his fuzzy chest instead. "Vol'raka... hey, look at me." He murmured, trying to make Vol look up at him so he could gently kiss him on the noise before nuzzling against a tusk. "What do you mean thrown in your face? ... Who could you not save? I know you are hurting, but talk to me, please?" The upgrades from Kyl could wait until later, he was more concerned about Vol.
"Ah get hurt.. ah get an unexpected kid, ah forgive, ah forget, ah do all ah can ta make people happy. Killin' again, make sure ever' one be safe. Try to make so ouah lil girl be given a good family, all who love 'er, even ef ah gotta see ... er ever' day. Now.. et be 'ey, we gonna go travelin'. Ah done ever'tin' ah could so dis can be a family, even ef et hurt me... an' now..." Vol sighed, defeated.
Xiao nodded in understanding, leaning in to hug Vol. "I told Naddja and Venyabi the same thing. Venyabi said that they will not be wandering. I already said they need to be here with their family. Zakin deserves to be with his sister, even if he it is raised as cousin. After all Pahre and Nielka have gone through, they should have their whole family, all the family that matters at least." He nuzzled into Vol's neck, trying to comfort him. "Venyabi said that the kids need to be raised together but... you accepting Naddja is going to be on you. I promptly told them that they are the ones who need to give you time. After everything... Venyabi being involved on top of it, I know it has to be overwhelming."
“I don't know if I can." He left it at that, holding Xiao around the shoulders, chin resting on his love's head. "I have tried. I have tried so hard to forget. To give up my hatred, to give her a chance. All I see is the day she found me in Zandalar and told me she was carrying my kid. I had nightmares... I think I still do...."
Xiao whimpered quietly, hugging Vol tighter. "Can I help...?"
"I don't know.." He lifted his head, plastering on a smile. "Just keep going.. all I can do, you, Aret, Tarja. Need me to get over it."
Xiao shook his head. "No... hey... please, do not do that." He whimpered quietly, pressing his forehead against Vol's. "Don't pretend for me, I want my Vol, not some mask."
"Da mask be ta survive, Xiao Chun. Et ta not explode." He looked over at the smallish hole in the wall. “Not doin' such a good job hmm?”
Xiao shook his head again. "No... we promised honesty, remember?" He murmured nervously, trying to hug his Vol tighter
"Lie of Omission is still a lie. I am TRYING hard to not snap at her. I agreed to let her stay, for you, Aret, Tarja to have SOME relationship with her. Killed her father, and that good for nothing man of her's... Even if it killed me to do so. My family needs her, and she's gonna go run off with my brother.. make the two children she cares for wander too." He was angry, almost shaking, but his voice was dead calm.
Xiao pulled back, looking at Vol. "They are staying, remember? Venyabi said they deserve to be raised together, meaning they will stay... I told him, they need to be together. They agreed."
"That's fine, I just.... I need our space, Xiao. I can't keep having Naddja in my face. I want nights back where It's just you, me, Aret, and Tarja. A quiet meal with just my mates, our children. If it was not a very bad time to do so, I would head to Jade Forest. Pack the four of us up and just go for a week. Can't DO that. So that elf is going to come here, finish the job and Naddja, Venya, all of them get their OWN house. I want OUR house back. I want to be able to fuck you on the kitchen table when I FEEL LIKE IT." the last part was not meant as a joke.
Xiao blushed a little, nodding and cuddling into Vol. "I miss that openness, too. We can have Nielka, Venya, Pahre, Zakin, and Naddja all in their own home with the four of us being here. I originally had thought they could a separate set of rooms through a portal, but... an entirely different house would probably be better. That way we can have family dinners if we want while still having our privacy. Are we going to construct a base house so Kyl can create the portal setup or is this just going to be... a hidden portal outside that they walk into like a front door?"
The big troll sat back, sighing. "Dunno, dun care. I was our space back. I'm going to be going with Hae to get supplies. I was going to send Aret, but I need out of the house. I'm going to actually meditate first." He smirked at Xiao, kissing his nose. "My Master taught me how, I think I need to right now. I'll fix the wall later. I just. I cannot have her in my face all the time. I need time to heal the wound, all I am asking. And maybe being able to bend my husbands over Where I want to....."
"Well, just having a portal placed against a rock or something would be much more... instantly available where if we want an indoors place with the portals inside, that would require us to build the actual base structure first. If we just do a portal inlaid into a tree or something, it can be done in a day or two probably." He said as he nuzzled against Vol's neck. "Can I help at all? Can I do anything? I really wish I could help."
"Make the pain stop." It was all he said as he curled around his love. "I want no more reminders. I want to look at my Loves and be happy, I want to look at my daughter and not think on .. what happened. Forgive me if I run away from it for a day?"
"You do not have to be sorry for not wanting to think about being raped..." He whispered with a quiet whimper. "You are so strong, Vol'raka... to show as much kindness as you do. I am so proud of you." He stood up and offered Vol his hand. "Come on, we are going to run off for the day. Aret can entertain the family. You and I are going to have some time just for us, okay? Like things are normal like before. Just us, no distractions, no painful memories... just each other, okay?"
"It looks really bad if we just bail, Xiao Chun."
Xiao chuckled a little. "Kyl is my contact, it would make sense if you took me with you so I can make sure you get the right things?" He suggested as he offered his hand still, hopeful.
"Lover..." He left the link, whispering in Xiao's ear. "We wont make et ta Halfhill or da Shrine. Ah will take you to the jungle and I WILL have you. on ja back, moanin' fer me, hearin' only MAH name on my lips. Until Ah hear.. "Fuck me Vol'raka. Breed mah body, fill me....", be et screamed or whispered. And Ah will GLADLY do so.... Nothin' gonna get done dat way."
He grabbed Vol's hand and tugged "We are going, /now/." He practically moaned, trying to tug him out of the office and out on their little adventure.
*******************************
We have an active love life...
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