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#i’m going to have to immediately buy the rest of the city watch series aren’t i :
creacherkeeper · 3 years
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i am reading guards guards and i never want to be done with this book 🥺🥺
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tyonfs · 4 years
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i like me better (when i’m with you)
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PAIRING ▸ jeong jaehyun x fem!reader 
GENRES ▸ friends to enemies to lovers, college au, sports, friends with benefits, smut, crack, fluff 
WARNINGS ▸ sexual !! tension !! lots of it, smut (public sex, fingering, hate sex, raw sex, pool sex, oral sex), mark lee cockblocking, also yes, there’s actual fluff
SUMMARY ▸ there was no one else on the planet that made your blood boil like jeong jaehyun did. you never thought your feelings toward him were anything past pure hatred, but when you were lost in the feeling of his lips on yours and his hands on your body, you couldn’t help but think that maybe a part of you didn’t completely hate his guts. 
PLAYLIST ▸ i like me better by lauv • unravel me by sabrina claudio
WORD COUNT ▸ 11896 words
TAG LIST ▸ @gotoartistprofile @chanluster​ @steamyjaehyun
AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ big shoutout to fia for hyping me up to complete this and i hope you guys enjoy it !! thank you so much for reading ♡ part of the dunk shot! series but can be read separately!
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SOMETIMES, THE AMOUNT OF HATRED YOU HAD FOR JEONG JAEHYUN AMAZED YOU.
To the average human being, Jeong Jaehyun was, in a sense, perfect. On the surface, he was everyone’s trademark Golden Boy—good grades, athletic, and a seemingly good personality. The last point, however, was a complete and utter lie. Simply put, Jaehyun was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and you, unfortunately, wound up becoming his target.
If it weren’t for your love for cheerleading, you probably would never have to see Jaehyun, but your passion came with a price. Competitors were often asked a series of questions, and these questions typically included inquiring about your hardships as an athlete. If someone were to ask you what the hardest part of being a cheerleader was, your answer would not be what they expected.
It wasn’t getting back up after bad falls that left you with bruises and a concussion. It wasn’t dealing with the basketball team’s aftermath of a devastating loss and having to cheer them on through it. It wasn’t waking up extra early for morning practices, or having to push yourself to run miles in the sweltering heat. Hell, it wasn’t even dealing with the horny basketball team members at afterparties.
It was the annual training camp.
Every winter, the team attended a week-long training session along with several other teams in the city. With state-of-the-art facilities and a massive training center, the training camp was an event that the entire team looked forward to. Although the training was brutal, the luxury of the hotel rooms and the gourmet meals had made up for all of that. Yet, despite all of that, the camp itself was still hell for you.
It wasn’t all bad, though. In fact, you indulged in the concept of a training camp, delighted with the opportunity to meet cheerleaders from different universities. A handful of your friends from high school had joined teams at different universities, so it was exciting to get to see them all again. All in all, it was the whole package deal: friends, your favorite sport, and fun times. What could possibly ruin that?
Well, a certain someone by the name of Jeong Jaehyun could, and that wonderful individual incensed your fury quite like no other.
“You again,” you spat, clutching your duffel bag strap. You had just gotten off the bus to head into the hotel, but the devil himself was blocking your way.
“Y/N,” the devil cooed, “do you need help carrying that?”
“I’m fine.”
You shrugged Jaehyun off and tried to move past him, but the bane of your existence had other plans. He tossed you a small carton of milk; it was the kind you could buy at a vending machine. Your reflexes kicked in just in time for you to catch it, giving him a questioning look.
“You should be drinking more milk, Y/N. It’s good for you,” Jaehyun said. You were sure he was going to make a snide comment so you opened your mouth to protest, but he continued, “Jaemin likes big tits, you know?”
Ouch.
You and Jaehyun went farther back than you’d like to admit. While you did currently attend different universities, you had the joyous experience of going to the same high school as him. He wasn’t too different now; he had the same dimpled smile, the same godly features, and the same cocky smirk when things were going the way he planned. What was different was that you two were once friends.
And what took the cake? You had a big crush on his friend and fellow teammate. Introducing Na Jaemin, everyone.
It wasn’t like you never got over Jaemin, but you had to admit that your heart still fluttered pitifully whenever you saw him. It didn’t help that he was so breathtakingly beautiful, so undeniably genuine, and such a sweetheart. Unfortunately, Jaehyun knew of your little secret. Being the conniving little snake he was, he used it to his advantage.
Ever since your fallout with him in your senior year of high school, you’ve hated Jeong Jaehyun, and you were sure he hated you right back. It almost felt akin to the competition at this point, and you were a pretty sore loser. Honestly, you were sad initially when he broke off your friendship in senior year and threw crude insults at you. You normally didn’t let things get to you, but it hurt to hear that your best friend didn’t want anything to do with you after you had told him you were going to a different university. You were sure the both of you had grown past that, but now he had changed from a sincere highschooler to a complete low-life piece of shit.
“You’re a douche, Jaehyun,” you sneered.
A grin spread across his face. “Yeah, I know.”
You scoffed. “God, if I could, I would smash that pretty face into—”
“Hey!” a loud voice laced with trepidation interjected. It was your best friend on your school’s basketball team, Mark Lee, coming to your rescue; or, rather, he was trying to prevent you from doing something you’d most probably regret. He shot Jaehyun a warning look and slung an arm around your shoulders. “Y/N, what’re you doing here? We have to check into our hotel rooms.”
You looked back at Jaehyun to see a smug look on his face before he turned to catch up to Taeyong and Jaemin. You looked back up at Mark, who was also keeping an eye out for the demon in disguise.
“Thanks for getting me out of that mess,” you mumbled. “That guy is so infuriating. I can’t believe he still brings up Jaemin when I’m clearly over him!”
Your words were sharp enough that Mark and the people around you flinched, even if they weren’t completely paying attention to your rant. It was common knowledge that Jaehyun’s presence left you in low spirits, and Mark had come to terms that you would always be in a bitter mood during the training camp, and that there was only one person to blame for it.
Mark shot you a sympathetic look that you knew was intended to show his helpfulness, but instead just served to make you appear all the more bitter.
“Why don’t you just ignore him?” he suggested. “He’s just looking for a reaction out of you.”
“If I let him get the last word, then he wins.”
“At least he’d stop bothering you,” Mark reasoned as you both made your way to where your team had gathered by the reception desk.
“Is this about Jaehyun again?” Zhong Chenle chimed in, a devilish grin plastered across his face. “You’re a handful, Y/N.”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” you snapped.
Chenle just stared at you, arching a brow as if the answer should have been obvious. “You and Jaehyun,” he said, “there’s some tension there.”
“Wow, Sherlock Holmes. Observant, aren’t you?” you spat, words dripping with sarcasm. “We’ve hated each other for years. Of course there’s tension.”
Johnny Suh snorted, averting his gaze as to not bring attention to himself. Chenle rolled his eyes, a delighted smile on his face as he watched you carefully, digging into his bag of chips in the meantime.
“Y/N, I think he means a different kind of tension,” Mark said.
“What kind of tension?” you asked, shocking the rest of them with your surprisingly innocent response. In retrospect, it was more because you couldn’t imagine the answer being anything past the realm of hatred.
While they all hesitated to respond, Johnny spoke up, “He meant the ‘I wanna beat you up and then have rough sex with you’ kind of tension.”
You immediately froze—long enough for Chenle to take a picture of your reaction—the expression on your face a cross between incredulity and visceral rage. You must have looked like a ticking time bomb because Mark had to take a cautious step back.
“Come again? Rough sex?” You were well aware of how strangled and pitched your voice sounded as soon as it escaped your lips, how guilty it sounded, but you couldn’t focus on that as the weight of Johnny’s words were sinking in. “Jaehyun and I?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Johnny answered.
“That’s a lie.”
“Yeah? Then why do you two always look at each other so weird?”
You didn’t know how to defend yourself now so you just said, “He’s a bastard and I would never see him in any other way.”
“You say that now but we all know—”
“Alright, let’s drop it,” Mark said, trying to defuse the situation before you blew it up into an argument. “I would rather go rest in my hotel room rather than bear witness to a homicide.”
“Fine, fine,” Johnny relented.
You scoffed and jabbed at his foot with yours before letting the topic go. Your squabbles with them were all in good nature, but this one somehow put you off. It was like Johnny had planted the seeds and were waiting for them to grow. You were starting to mull over every interaction you’ve had with Jeong Jaehyun.
Johnny and Chenle had made a startlingly accurate observation. You and Jaehyun did look at each other for a little too long sometimes, nearly to the point where it seemed like you were basking in the attention of the other—
No fucking way.
You were not going down that path. There was nothing more to your relationship with Jeong Jaehyun than pure hatred and resentment. He was a douchebag who was intent on making you feel like shit. His only motive was to start shit again between you and Jaemin, who you would’ve completely forgotten by now if it weren’t for him.
No way. There was absolutely no undercurrent of desire that was creeping its way to be uncovered.
Or was there? a small, treacherous part of your mind offered.
You were lost in your thoughts as the coaches handed you your room key, as you waited for your roommate who was some girl named Eunha from the other school, as you made your way to your room on the fifth floor.
The only thing you could think about were those long stares, those mesmerizing eyes, and the implication behind them. You always attributed it to Jaehyun being a hormonal teenage boy, but you had to admit that you’ve seen him look at you with some semblance of lust. Perhaps that same feeling was buried far in the depths of your consciousness, too.
Could you possibly be attracted to the devil incarnate, Jeong Jaehyun?
No, you argued with yourself, and shit, even your frontal lobe sounded pretty unconvinced. He’s a petty bastard and that’s all he’ll ever be.
You instilled the mantra of you and Jaehyun being sworn enemies in your head, but you couldn’t help the fact that it was peppered by the memories of an irritatingly familiar smirk. You scowled, willing your head to get rid of all-things-Jeong-Jaehyun, but he was right there.
Literally.
He was standing right in front of you.
“Hey, neighbor,” he teased, all too satisfied with the horrified look on your face. “Guess you can’t get rid of me.”
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You were falling when you jolted awake.
A groan tore its way past your lips. You made sure you didn’t disrupt Eunha’s sleep before you recounted your dream. It had been a while since you’ve had one, and realization was morphing into shame when you realized what kind of dream it was. You’ve never had a wet dream before but what made you want to astral project yourself into oblivion was when you realized that Jaehyun caused it.
After tossing and turning for a couple of minutes in a desperate attempt for sleep to overcome you once more, you came to terms with the fact that you were staying awake for now. Staying awake was worse, though, because there was no way you could keep the intruding thoughts at bay. Not with the way Jeong Jaehyun kept flashing behind your eyelids, at least.
You considered how to spend the rest of your night, surveying your options as you stared up at the ceiling:
Watch season three of Riverdale on Netflix so you could make fun of it.
Attempt to sleep, but with little success because there was no way you were going back to bed after that dream.
Count the slacks of the window’s blinds even though it would be pointless because what the fuck were you going to do with that information?
It was truly astounding how interesting your life was.
You couldn’t think clearly with Eunha’s soft snoring, so you grabbed your keys and pushed the door open carefully to keep it from squealing. After your delicate movements to escape your room quietly, you leaned against the wall and let out a sigh of relief. You weren’t too keen on someone scolding you in the middle of the night for being outside, but you needed to clear your head somewhere. You packed for weather that was balmy, but the air conditioner carried a bite to it that made you wish you hadn’t just worn shorts and a tank top to bed.
You could practically hear Mark mocking you if he were here: Are you in the right headspace, Y/N?
You shook your head, getting your provoking best friend out of there, but instead, you found yourself wandering into dangerous territory again.
Johnny and Chenle were parroting the same words over and over again in your head. You wished you could use your metaphysical hands in your head and squeeze the life out of them, but they always flew out of your grasp. You clicked your tongue absentmindedly, your annoyance rehashing itself as your mind gravitated back to Jeong Jaehyun with his stupid smirk and annoyingly persistent cockiness. It was almost pitiful that you hated his guts and yet you couldn’t deny the magnetism he carried, the pull that made your breath hitch when he met your eyes.
His presence was announced by the change in the air more than anything else. You didn’t have to see him to know he was there. You clenched your jaw; you couldn’t catch a break from him even during the ungodly hours of the night.
He was unavoidable.
He hummed with amusement. “Look who’s here.”
“What are you doing up this late? Go to bed.”
You didn’t even bother to look at him because there was one thing you were sure of and it was that you could not look at his sickeningly attractive face right now. Jaehyun didn’t move, blatantly ignoring your order. The tension was so thick that you wanted to storm away, but you knew he would follow you just to piss you off.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “You should be the one resting up. You cheerleaders always train until you’re near death.”
“Can’t sleep,” was your curt response.
He laughed once, a short sound that was pretty much gone the moment it hit your eardrums. “What? You get nightmares or something?”
“So what if I do?” you retaliated, getting oddly defensive. It was a given that you’d lie about getting a nightmare over a wet dream. “It’s none of your business.”
He laughed again but this time it was lower, more dangerous. “It’s my business when it concerns you.”
“I have and will never be your business, Jeong Jaehyun.”
He leaned against the wall. “I beg to differ.”
“Then keep begging.”
“If you say so.”
“Jaehyun,” you interrupted your own banter. “What’s the point of this conversation? Just go back to your room so we can go back to not talking to each other.”
“I’m good, thanks.”
“That’s unfortunate,” you said. “I don’t want to talk to you, so go find someone who does.”
“We don’t have to talk.” Suddenly, his voice sounded closer, and you forced your gaze down at the strangely-patterned hotel carpet.
You swallowed thickly. “I’m here to clear my head. I don’t want you to hover around me for the rest of the night.”
“Actually, I had something else in mind.”
He closed in on you, one of his hands skimming up the soft skin of your arm. A shudder ran down your spine as you felt his fingers travel up to your shoulder, your collarbone, and then the side of your neck. With a swift movement, he caged you in his arms, biceps flexing as he did.
What was going on? You couldn’t quite keep up with the situation but the way Jaehyun was looking down at you made you feel hot. It was exactly like your dream—
“Holy fuck, Jaehyun.”
You couldn’t stop the words from escaping your lips when you felt his hot breath on your neck. Your head went fuzzy and you were pretty sure your knees were ready to buckle under you. The corner of Jaehyun’s lip lifted into a smirk as if he had been planning this. You mustered a scowl at him but one thing was clear: you screwed yourself over by getting into this situation.
Damn it. You knew you should’ve watched season three of Riverdale instead
Also, Chenle and Johnny were right. Not that you’d ever tell them that; put simply, you were a sore loser.
Lust was swimming in Jaehyun’s eyes. The way he caged you felt predatory, a show of dominance rather than passion. That smirk of his carved in deeper, and it only pissed you off. Yet, as much as it pissed you off, all you wanted him to do was just ruin you.
Your pride was too strong, though, and you concluded that you would rather stick a fork in your eye than let Jaehyun do what he wanted. This sparked a dilemma in your head: to fuck or not to fuck Jaehyun, that was the question. One sounded like a pretty uneventful night, while the other sounded appealing save for the self-loathing you’d experience afterward.
“You want me, Y/N,” he cooed. “I know you do.”
“I hate you.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“I mean it, Jaehyun,” you hissed. Your head was screaming at you to just go with it, but denying Jaehyun’s advances and provokes was just natural instinct to you. “I don’t want you. Stop lying to yourself.”
“Is that so? I think you’re the liar here,” he replied easily as you dodged his attempt to kiss you.
You pushed at his muscular arm but he didn’t budge. For a moment, you strongly considered just dropping to the ground and crawling out from under his legs, but you were done for. Seconds later, Jaehyun’s hand flew up, long fingers digging into the soft flesh of your face as he forced your chin upward to look at him directly. The lust in his eyes was so clear, so alluring, and it made you stop struggling for a second.
“I’m not going to ask you again. Let go of me.”
“Good, it’s a waste of breath.”
“Has anyone ever told you how infuriating you are?”
“You did. Many times.”
“Just fuck off already.”
Your words were like poison, but for some odd reason, Jaehyun was immune to it. Any reasonable person would at least flinch, but Jaehyun was so fixated on his one goal. Again, he didn’t budge. He gazed into your eyes with a fierce intensity that threw you off.
“Just let me fucking kiss you, Y/N.”
His smirk was gone. He wasn’t teasing you anymore. Jaehyun’s eyes darkened with his command.
He leaned in and you could feel his hot breath fanning your lips, drinking in your appearance. You were pulled into his trap and you hated yourself for it. You swallowed hard as all of your worries about being with Jaehyun and getting caught had started to fade away. All you could do was yield to him.
“Fine,” you whispered.
“Good girl,” was all he got out before basically smashing your lips together.
It was rushed, messy, and way too rough. Jaehyun grabbed the back of your neck, his other arm still locking you in place. Your hands moved from gripping at the front of his shirt to slowly wrapping around his neck. You weren’t sure how you felt, but there was something that made you want to tangle your fingers in his hair and get lost in him.
The moment Jaehyun’s tongue slid along the crease of your lips, you were conflicted. You weren’t exactly sure what to do so he took the reins. You wondered if he was expressing his pent-up hatred as well. It was clear in the way he was taking prying your mouth open with his tongue, snaking his hot muscle to dance with yours as if he had something to prove. He wanted you to see that he was the dominant one, that he had leverage over the situation.
But when he broke away, he flipped the switch. The both of you were left catching your breath, Jaehyun resting his forehead against yours in a feeling that had a weird sort of intimacy stemming from it. His hand dropped from your neck to brush messy locks of hair behind your shoulders.
Well, that explained why humans were so tempted by the devil.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jaehyun grinned down at you.
You fought down the shyness that was creeping into your chest. Before you could respond, the both of you turned your heads at the sound of footsteps. A flashlight glimpsed by you when you saw two dark figures at the end of the hall. It didn’t sound like your coach, but you weren’t too keen on sticking around to figure out who it was.
“Son, how in the world did you get locked out of your room this late?” one of them asked.
“I’m telling you, I needed to use the bathroom so I went outside without my key, and then I remembered the bathroom was in the room.”
That voice was most definitely Mark.
“Hey!” the security guard scolded when he saw you two. “What are you kids doing? It’s late!”
“You’re on your own.” You pushed Jaehyun away from you and fumbled for your keys before Mark or the security guard could spot you. “Bye.”
You jammed your key in, not worried about waking up your roommate anymore. All you could hear was Jaehyun growling out a short string of curses before you shut the door behind him and leaned against it. Your head was still reeling in what had just happened, but that kiss had left you in the clouds. You could feel the ghost of his lips on yours. Dazed, you just fell onto your bed, into the entrancing clutches of sleep.
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You were exhausted when you woke up, and you blamed Jaehyun for it.
You weren’t in the proper condition for training; you hadn’t gotten enough sleep and your head was a mess (well, you supposed you were the only one to blame for the latter). You forgot to set your alarm so you woke up to Eunha shaking you gently, coaxing you into stirring. She was already dressed, tying her hair up in a ponytail. You all but jumped out of bed when you saw her, thinking you were late.
“What time is it?” you asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you stood up and tried to adjust to the morning light.
“You’ve still got plenty of time,” she assured you. “I just like to get ready early so I can go for a quick run.”
“Ah, okay. Have fun,” you mumbled before she left the room, leaving you to drag yourself around the room to get ready. You heard a knock at the door and went to open it, assuming it was Eunha forgetting her keys. Your eyes narrowed when you saw who it was. “Jaehyun?”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” His voice was somewhere between a pant and a rasp as if he had been working out, which he probably was judging by the sheen of sweat on his biceps.
“Were you waiting for Eunha to leave?” you asked. “You’re disgusting. Why would you think about me?”
“I was thinking about how much of a bitch you are for running away and letting me get in trouble like that.”
“Pity.” You mocked a pout for him. “Now move. I have to get ready.”
“Let me in.”
You made a face at the thought. You knew where he was going with this and you needed to stop it. “No. You’re disgusting.”
“You liked it last night.”
His eyes searched yours in the dim light, looking for something that unfortunately was there: longing. You were never the greatest at hiding your emotions, which was why you couldn’t lie to yourself and refuse Jaehyun. Screw your transparency. Jaehyun grinned at your silence and took a step in your room when you opened your door wider for him.
You closed the door. “I hated every second of it,” you said in a childish attempt to get on his nerves.
You were a terrible liar.
Your back was against the door in a second. You could only let out a soft gasp before he kissed you, hands on your waist, slowing his movements unlike the hurriedness from last night. It was foreign, the way he kissed you like you were the only girl he saw. You pulled away quickly but it just left the both of you staring at each other’s lips.
“You sure about that?” His lips curled into a smirk.
“Don’t get me wrong,” you warned in a low voice, “I still hate your guts.”
“As I’m reminded of every single time I see you,” he returned coolly.
“Fuck off.”
This time, you pulled him down to kiss him again. You fisted your hand into his hair, tugging at his dark locks as your lips moved smoothly against his. Caught off guard, Jaehyun groaned, low and deep against your lips.
The two of you separated again before Jaehyun said, “See? I know you want me. Only I can make you feel this good, Y/N.”
You scoffed. “We’ll see about that.”
Jaehyun’s eyes darkened at the challenge. To prove his point, he pushed his knee up and between your legs, pressing against your clothed cunt. A gasp escaped your lips, the fingers curled in his hair instinctively tightening. You bit your lip but to no avail; a whimper escaped your lips as soon as he started pulsing his knee against you. You grabbed onto his shoulders for leverage, burying your face into his chest while bunching up the thin fabric of his shirt.
You wanted to hold back your moans because you were adamant about not giving Jeong Jaehyun the satisfaction of hearing you moan. Instead, you shifted your hips so that the pressure of his knee became more intense. Sparks flew behind your eyelids as he bounced his knee under you.
He finally released the tight grip he had on your waist in favor of palming one of your breasts, squeezing it firmly through your shirt and bra. All the while, he continued ramming his knee against the apex of your legs. He kept his eyes on yours and you scowled at the thought of him getting off on seeing you crumble in front of him. But you couldn’t stop yourself. He wanted to completely and utterly ruin you, wanted to fuck you in and shut you up.
The worst part was that you wanted to let him.
“You’re so cute when you’re like this,” he mused, slowly rubbing his knee in circles against you. “God, you’re still wearing that fucking tank top.”
“You’re such a—ah!”
He groped your chest again, thumb pressing down on your nipple. Another whimper escaped you as Jaehyun grazed his lips down your neck, nipping at the supple skin. You only got louder as the kisses turned into bites.
He ignored you and removed his hand. Instead, he tugged the neckline of your tank top down, delighted at the loose straps sliding down your shoulders. He yanked it down to your waist so you were exposed to him, and you swore you heard his breath hitch. Jaehyun pinched your nipple with two fingers, drawing out a moan that drove him crazy. He buried his face into your neck, sucking and making you quiver under him.
“Didn’t you say I had small tits earlier?” you jeered, a teasing lilt to your tone.
“Yeah, I still stand by that,” he replied, resulting in you punching his shoulder.
“Asshole.”
“Hey, I never said it wasn’t cute.”
“You’re such a softie,” you grumbled, but your voice was gentler than before. It was almost like you were warming up to Jeong Jaehyun, and you hated the mere thought of that.
Jaehyun pulled away from your neck. “Y/N, I want you to suck me off,” he demanded.
“I refuse.”
“Be a good girl and do it for me.”
You swore you’d go crazy if he called you ‘good girl’ one more time. You were pretty revolted at the thought of sucking his dick, but the way he looked so fragile under your hold made you want to do it for the power rush. It was like some cheap porno in a way; ‘College Jock Gets Sucked Off By Cheerleader.’ You bet half the members on the team beat their meat to something similar to that.
Your shoulders sagged. “Fine. Get on the bed.”
Jaehyun groaned at your approval. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he said, letting go of you to pull down his sweats on his way to your bed. He sat at the edge of it, tugging the elastic of his boxers down. You swallowed hard, tugging your tank top back up as you stared at his painfully hard erection springing out.
You got on your knees in front of him, lips parted in anticipation of taking in his length. Your hair fell over your face, which Jaehyun took notice of and held it back in a fist. Taking a deep breath, you wrapped your hand around his cock. It was rock solid to the touch and twitched at your grip. Glancing up at an eager Jaehyun, you pumped the length of it once, inciting a groan from him.
You wrapped your lips around the head of his cock, rousing a strangled noise from his throat. He looked down at you through half-lidded eyes, messy strands of your hair tangling in his fingers while his other hand was gripping the stiff hotel sheets. Then, you took him in fully at his encouragement (which was more of him just grabbing the back of your head and pushing it down on his cock).
“Shit,” he breathed out before slowly moving his hips in and out of your mouth. It was like iron wrapped around velvet, and he was relishing how hot your mouth felt.
He pushed your head down further and right as you gagged on his length, there was a knock at the door.
“Y/N!” Mark’s voice sounded from the other side. “Are you coming for breakfast?”
You pulled off of him with a pop, a string of saliva dripping off your lips. Your eyes were wide as you lunged for your phone, checking the texts. Meanwhile, Jaehyun just frowned down at you, looking up at the ceiling with a frustrated sigh.
“Holy fuck,” you muttered when you looked at the time. You called out to Mark, “Give me a minute!”
“Perfect,” Jaehyun said in a low voice and held the back of your head, attempting to push you down on him. “We can finish up now.”
“Are you an idiot?” you hissed, swatting at his hand. “I have to get out of here before Mark finds out you’re in here.”
Ignoring your state of panic, Jaehyun said, “You look so hot with drool on your chin.”
That was the most disgusting thing you had ever heard, and if it weren’t for Mark being on the other side of the door where you and Jaehyun were screwing around, you would have beat the living daylights out of him. Only a creep like Jeong Jaehyun could find something like drool sexy. You scowled at him and wiped it off with the back of your hand.
“Put your dick away,” you scolded. “Hide in the closet and you can leave when I’m gone.”
He rolled his eyes at you and stood up, making his way to the bathroom. “I need to get rid of the problem you caused.”
You had no time to complain about him jerking off in your bathroom. Mark was not a very patient man, so as soon as Jaehyun closed the door behind him, you stripped off your pajamas and threw on whatever was at the top of your suitcase. You brushed your teeth at the speed of light, using your other hand to brush down your hair. After you laced up your shoes, you opened the door to Mark looking at you suspiciously.
“You’re never late,” he pointed out.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” you said. In your defense, it wasn’t a complete lie.
“Oh, by the way,” Mark started, “can I use your bathroom real quick?”
“No!” you exclaimed, pushing him away from your room and in the direction of the elevator. “My roommate, um, is… on her period—yeah, you don’t want to see that mess.”
Another reason why you hated Jeong Jaehyun was for giving you reasons to lie when you were a terrible liar.
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Training was long and grueling. Your bones were mush and your muscles ached, pins and needles shooting through you every time you moved. As your teammates dragged you to get dinner with them, you couldn’t even resist because you were so drained.
The one thing you loved about training was that you could wear whatever you wanted, whereas you were confined to tight skirts and crop tops at your university. Now, you could rest in whatever position you wanted without worrying about exposing anything, so you didn’t hesitate to manspread as soon as you got to the cafeteria table.
“Did you guys hear about Jaehyun from the other school?” one of the girls gossiped. “Looks like he was fooling around with someone last night.”
You were grounded back into reality from whatever dimension you were floating about in. Your teammates were perplexed as you choked on air, hitting your chest to stop yourself from coughing. You were handed a glass of water, which you gingerly accepted and drank until your body had calmed down.
“Ah, sorry, Y/N,” your teammate apologized. “I forgot you and Jaehyun have bad blood between you.”
“You’re good,” you told her, waving it off. “I was surprised for a second, but I guess it makes sense for a guy like him to go around hooking up.” Then, silence fell. You were confused as they all looked at you with a puzzled look. “What? Am I stereotyping too harshly? My bad.”
“No, it’s not that,” another chimed in. “A lot of girls go around hitting on him, but Jaehyun never lays a hand on them. I thought it was common knowledge that he doesn’t do that sort of stuff, but I guess it makes sense that you don’t care about the details.”
That was news to you.
“Yeah,” you replied distantly. “I don’t care.”
So Jaehyun doesn’t hook up, was what you happened to hear around the grapevine, and he most definitely doesn’t hook up with his enemies.
You stood up in the middle of your dinner. “I gotta go,” you said. “I’ll see you girls tomorrow.”
You actually weren’t very sure where Jaehyun was, but you figured if you walked around enough, you’d run into him or someone from his team. You headed out of the canteen and walked to the basketball courts, expecting to see him dribbling a bar or doing reps. But the first person you saw was Na Jaemin, and he noticed you immediately, eyes sparkling with recognition.
“Y/N!” he greeted cheerfully. “It’s been so long.”
That infectious smile of his was plastered across his face, making a small one creep to your lips. If Jaehyun smiled like that more, then you could understand his charm, but he was always so moody around you. He either did something to get on your nerves or he would just flat-out ignore you. Furthermore, he always riled you up instead of offering you that warm security that Jaemin emanated—
Wait, why were you comparing him to Jaehyun?
“Sorry,” you apologized meekly. “Am I interrupting your practice time?”
“No, it’s cool. We were just messing around in here,” Jaemin replied. “Are you looking for someone?”
You looked into Jaemin’s eyes and your thoughts slowed. He made you feel safe, warm, but that was all; there was no fire, no rage, no heat. It was just a shallow attraction that fizzled out, leaving you neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. And you clawed at your brain as you wondered what you were getting at, but you knew. You knew it was all going back to Jaehyun.
And it pissed you off.
“I was looking for Jaehyun,” you said, “if he happened to be in here.”
“He told me he was going for a swim,” Jaemin said, and that was all you needed.
Before Jaemin could respond, you thanked him and turned on your heel. The pool was in a separate building, and there was no training that even required swimming, so it made no sense for Jaehyun to be there. You let out a frustrated sigh. Even when he wasn’t doing anything in particular to annoy you, it still managed to anger you.
You weren’t going to let Jaehyun do what he wanted this time. This was merely for interrogation—your own personal gain. Then, you thought it over some more, and you reasonably concluded that there was a 97.5% chance that you would not lay a finger on him, but there was a 2.5% chance you’d cave.
When you got to the facility where the pool was, you were entranced by the renovation at first. The pool was massive and the equipment was lined up so neatly along the walls. You peered through the glass to see the pool completely empty save for Jaehyun in the hot tub.
He met your eyes while you opened the door to the pool. His eyebrow arched at your entrance but a smirk settled on his lips as you neared him. You tried to push down your lust; you were not letting him get to you again. You crouched down by the side of the pool and Jaehyun moved so he was facing you, holding onto the edge of the hot tub.
“What brings you here?’ he asked, playfully flicking some water in your direction.
You flinched and scrunched up your nose at his action. “I heard you don’t do hookups.”
“You heard correctly.”
“So what am I?”
“You’re Y/N.”
You were a coward. Admittedly, you had probably always been running away from your own problems, deflecting your feelings with unbridled hate that had no direction, no meaning. Underneath your blunt and fiery front was pure cowardice. Even now, you refused to admit anything to yourself.
You didn’t want to accept that maybe you actually liked Jeong Jaehyun.
Maybe you’ve always liked him.
“Don’t be stupid, Jaehyun,” you grumbled. “You’ve always hated me.”
“I think you just want to believe I hate you. Is that how you suppress your feelings?”
“How long have you liked me for, then? Days?”
“Years.”
You paused for a moment as you recounted your interactions with Jaehyun. It was true that he never explicitly said he hated you and that you always started the arguments, but he was the one who broke off your friendship. Why would he do that if he didn’t hate you?
“You said you wanted nothing to do with me, Jaehyun,” you said in a smaller voice, fist balling at your side.
“You were going to a different university.” He ran a hand through his damp hair, and although you were angry, it was difficult not to enjoy the view. “Plus, you just kept going on and on about Jaemin, and I couldn’t even shut that mouth of yours up back then.”
“So you cut me off?”
“I felt like I was being petty, so I tried to apologize but you blocked my number and wouldn’t let me come near you,” Jaehyun deadpanned. He reached forward and grabbed your wrists, pulling you closer to him. You teetered on the balls of your feet, swallowing hard. “Forgive me?”
“No.”
Jaehyun rose up a little so he was eye-to-eye with you. He smiled at your flustered expression and cupped your cheek with his wet hand. Every muscle in your body was telling you to pull away but you couldn’t. Not when his lips were so close, when his eyes were boring into yours.
“Forgive me,” he repeated in a gentler tone, but it became more of an order than a question.
“Make me,” you whispered and Jaehyun groaned, somewhat helplessly.
“You’re going to be the death of me, I swear.”
You opened your mouth to say something more, but you couldn’t even form your words as Jaehyun yanked you forward and sealed your lips with a kiss. Before, you had the sense to try and push him away, but now you were held captive. He slid his tongue past your lips and you let out an appreciative whimper, hand sliding into his wet hair. You tugged at his hair and this time, Jaehyun was the one to react.
He pulled away for a moment to catch his breath, eyes clouding over with lust. “Get in with me,” he said, voice rumbling. You shivered as he dragged his lips down to your jaw; you could feel his voice reverberate down your spine and to your feet.
“What if someone walks in?” you asked in a daze.
“There’s no use for the swim facility, so no one’s going to walk in on us,” he persuaded. “Come in.”
Water dripped from his neck, landing on your thigh. You took in a sharp breath as his hand tugged at your waist. While the pleading look on his face was priceless, you couldn’t even ridicule him because you were at your limit, too. You let out an irritated sigh when you realized you gave into that 2.5% of you caving.
You responded by pulling off your shirt, tossing it to the side where Jaehyun had left his shoes and towel. Jaehyun watched you as you fiddled with the clamp of your bra. Meanwhile, his hands went to the waistband of your sweats, making you shudder as he tugged them down at the sides. You raised your hips to help him get them off and, after removing your bra, you were only left in your underwear to protect you from his hungry gaze.
You weren’t the type to hook up with guys. Hell, you weren’t the type to even show a guy your ankle if he asked. You thought you’d feel insecure with Jaehyun eyeing you in your full glory, but there was none of that. You wanted to know why it was so different with him but maybe it was the way he looked at you like he just wanted to kiss you. Or maybe a tiny part of your heart always belonged to Jaehyun, and you couldn’t bury it anymore.
“You’re so gorgeous.”
He mumbled the words, barely audible, but they set you on fire. He pulled you down onto his lap like you were his anchor, and you were afraid you’d get swept with the current, but you let him. You’ve only ever kissed a few guys before, so you really had no idea what the fuck you were getting into. All you were sure about was that Jaehyun could make you feel good and you were having your first time in a hot tub. You only prayed that you wouldn’t pass out from the pleasure combined with the heat of the water.
“Is this your first time?” he asked, gliding his hands down your sides. You nodded. “Then I’ll be gentle.” Truly, you did find his gesture rather sweet, but it didn’t stop you from rolling your eyes. Jaheyun saw and narrowed his brows. “I don’t hate you, but you really piss me off sometimes.”
He kissed you again. It was more passionate this time, but also harsher and messier. You let out a sound that was something between a yelp and a moan, making Jaehyun move his hands to run down your bare back. Then, he planted his thumb on your clit and pressed down in a way that made a muscle in your thigh twitch. Your grip on his shoulders tightened; you weren’t expecting that. It felt different in the water, but somehow, you couldn’t get enough of it.
“You’re wet,” he mumbled against your lips as his fingers found purchase on your slit.
“We’re in the water, you idiot.”
Jaehyun scoffed. “You know what, Y/N, you’re right, I did hate you,” he spat, rubbing small circles around your clit now. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders to steady yourself, whimpering as his movements grew more intense. “I fucking hated how you looked at Jaemin with those love-struck eyes.”
There was a shift in his usual cocky expression. He turned focused and, to a degree, angry. It was the kind of look on his face you saw when he was on the basketball court or during a game.
“You’re the one who told me to go after him.”
Wrong choice of words. Jaehyun lifted you up and placed you on the edge of the pool, pushing a finger inside you with no warning. You gasped, your mouth open to ask him why he took you out of the water, but you already knew the answer; he wanted to feel you completely.
“R-right there,” you whimpered out as he pushed his finger deeper inside of you.
He started to curl his finger whenever he passed over your g-spot, and you had to close your eyes. Jaehyun pulled his finger out to marvel at the slick wetness that coated it. Your body tingled as he slid his finger inside you again. This time, he was teasing your slit with a second digit. Jaehyun had no delicacy, though, and he all but shoved in a second finger, causing you to cry out.
He didn’t even care. You opened your mouth to call him a bastard, but all that came out was a pitched moan that seemed to float up to the stars.
“I fucking hated,” he rasped as he pumped two fingers inside of you, “how you treated Jaemin like he was the only one in the world.”
“I don’t… like Jaemin,” you got out, each labored breath of yours fighting off another moan. “I’ve stopped liking Jaemin after high school.”
Jaehyun’s free hand went to your chest, cupping one of your breasts as he rubbed circles around your nipple. You bit down on the inside of your cheek, unable to contain yourself as the fingers on your clit got almost frantic in their place, and the fingers inside of you were pushing against your walls. You felt an unfamiliar cold fire that felt so fucking good, lighting you up and threatening to spill over. Your muscles clenched and spasmed around Jaehyun, and you weren’t even in the hot tub but you felt like you were sinking.
A high-pitched moan left your lips, leaving you hot with embarrassment because you didn’t know you could make a sound like that. You fell from your peak, relaxing in Jaehyun’s hold; it felt like you were floating amongst the clouds in an almost euphoric way.
“I don’t like Jaemin,” you breathed out, still winded from your orgasm, “you fucking idiot.”
“I know.” Jaehyun pulled his fingers out of you, eyes trained on you as he licked them slowly. The look on his face was more gentle now. With his free hand, he brushed loose strands of your hair out of your face. “You like me now.”
“No, I’ve loved you for a while now.” You didn’t know what possessed you to say what was on your mind, but it surprised you more than it surprised Jaehyun. “I didn’t realize it then but… I think I did.”
Love? Love?
You thought you knew what love was. Something that you felt in your bones, that burst within you instantly. Simple glances, thoughts, and daydreams—something gentle and fluffy, but also emotionally shattering. You thought it was tender smiles, kind words, and little gestures.
But maybe that was the kind of love that led to puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and hoarse voices. The kind of love that was left fruitless with an empty gap in your chest.
Maybe this was different.
It was instinctive, the way you fell for him. Like an effortless intake of breath, you were in love before you even knew it. You always thought love was a monster. Ravaging, scraping, foul monsters with jaws so immeasurably large that they would have swallowed you whole. But maybe it wasn’t the tragedy you made it out to be.
With Jaehyun it was fierce and maddening and made you want to rip your hair out. It was a violent hurricane that you tried to brave your way through. But you were blind. You were already at the eye; you had always been at the center without realizing it. And, despite all the pointless arguments and name-calling, it was the most beautiful thing you had experienced.
Yeah, you liked him. You liked how you were around him, despite how much you complained about it to Mark. Part of you refused to admit it, but sometimes the bickering was fun. You realized that you never let go of Jaehyun before because you couldn’t. You simply didn’t want to be without him because Jeong Jaehyun drove a deeper passion within you.
Your rose-tinted loving moment was ruined as soon as a shit-eating grin spread across Jaehyun’s face.
“You love me.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“You love me,” Jaehyun echoed as if he was internalizing the information. “You love me.”
“I take it back,” you said flatly. “I hate you, I hate you, and I’ve always hated you.”
Jaehyun ignored your words, his cockiness morphing into adoration. “You actually love me back.” He cupped your face in his hands, eyes turning into little crescents as he smiled. “Even though I called you a cougar for liking a guy a year younger than you?”
“Yes.”
“Even though I made fun of you wearing a push-up bra in front of him?”
You clenched your jaw. “Yes.”
“Even though I asked Johnny about you and he told me that I still live in your mind, rent-free?”
“What? Johnny said that?” you exclaimed, eyes wide. You grimaced. Johnny would be dealt with later. You placed your hands on Jaehyun’s shoulders and made direct eye contact. “Look, Jaehyun—as much as it hurts me to say this and I’d rather tear out my vocal cords—I like you. I like you so much that I don’t care about the petty shit you pulled when I liked Jaemin because frankly, I don’t care about Jaemin anymore.”
“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.”
You wanted to slap him.
“Are you just constantly horny?” you snapped. “I’m pouring out my feelings to you here!”
“I’m better at expressing my love through actions, not words,” Jaehyun explained. “Can I show you?”
“Is this another ploy to get in my pants?”
“No, I’m asking you out on a date,” he said. “Sneak out with me tonight. I want to explore the city with you.”
The offer was tempting. In fact, you found no reason to be opposed to the idea. After all, you were always down for an adventure in the city. Jaehyun being with you didn’t sound too bad either, especially when Seoul was so lively at night. Part of you wanted it purely to catch up on all the time you missed when you stopped being friends.
“Fine,” you agreed. “An hour after curfew.”
“Great.” Jaehyun flashed a grin that slowly curled into a smirk. “Now let me get in your pants.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Y/N, you see,” Jaehyun started, “I don’t hate you, but you’ve really pissed me off these past two years. We have all of this pent-up rage, so it’s only fair that we let it out on each other.” His grip on your hips tightened.
You loathed yourself for wanting him, and for putting aside the fear of being walked in on for him. You internally cringed at the thought of Mark accidentally bearing witness, and you weren’t sure you were willing to explain the situation to him just yet.
It was the price you paid for carnality, you supposed.
You sighed in a forced way so that you sounded reluctant and bored. Unfortunately, your plan backfired and you ended up feeling bad when a concerned look crossed Jaehyun’s face.
“If you’re worried about getting caught, I’ll just cover you,” Jaehyun mumbled, the softness of his voice almost putting you at ease.
You rolled your eyes. “How kind of you.” You paused and looked up at him. “Are we really going to have sex for the first time here?”
Jaehyun looked around him. “Well, I guess we could go to the hotel room if—”
“Nope!” you interrupted, wrapping your arms around his neck and drawing him closer to you. “Let’s do it here. I love the pool, love having sex at the pool.”
He rose a brow at you, hands making their way down your body. Suddenly, your realization of being completely exposed had heightened, and you pressed your thighs together. Maybe it was because your vulnerability showed on your face, clear as day, but Jaehyun smirked, further flustering you by tugging down his swim shorts to reveal his hardened cock.
It was heavy and warm against your thigh, but what you were fixed on was the v-line on his pelvis. You traced along the bone, making him shiver under your touch. You were shocked when he grabbed your wrist tightly, holding it away from him.
“You’re playing a dangerous game here,” he growled. Jaehyun leaned closer and nipped at the shell of your earlobe, chuckling as you tensed up under his hold. His hot breath made you squirm under his grip.
Have you ever noticed how insanely attractive he was? Yes, of course. You weren’t an idiot.
Have you ever appreciated his beauty until now? Probably not.
“Just fuck me already, Jae,” you grumbled out as he pushed you down onto the deck of the pool.
In seconds, Jaehyun grabbed your hips and pulled them to his waist. Without any preamble, he rammed himself inside of you. The motion caught you by surprise and you cried out, half out of pleasure and half out of pain. You were definitely wet from being fingered earlier, but two fingers were nothing compared to Jaehyun’s cock.
Seeing his cock disappear in you was enough to make you whimper. Your walls clenched around him, pulsating at the foreign feeling. You were tempted to slap him upside the head for going so fast, but all you could do was tug at his hair and wrap your legs around him.
“You bastard, I’ll fucking—oh.”
Jaehyun laughed cruelly at your reaction, partly to cover up the groan caught in his throat and partly because your attempts at being mad at him were downright pathetic. When you had adjusted to his size, Jaehyun grunted and pounded in you, hitting spots that made your limbs feel like jelly. As if that wasn’t enough, Jaehyun found your clit with the hand that didn’t have a bruising grip on your waist and pressed harshly against it.
“You’re so fucking tight,” Jaehyun gritted out.
“T-then be gentle,” you bargained, drowning in a molten sea.
Jaehyun narrowed his eyes at you. “Have you ever fucking heard of gentle hate sex?” he asked, validating his point with a particularly hard thrust.
Your fingernails dug into his back, leaving hot-white trails down his skin. You were certain you had drawn blood, but knowing Jaehyun, he’d probably feel proud if he saw it. He brought his lips to your neck as you writhed under him, biting around until he found your sweet spot. This wasn’t fair; he was pleasuring you in every way possible and all you could do was cry out as he pummeled in you.
You closed your eyes, sparks flying behind your eyelids as you felt your release rushing to you.
Then, he slowed his strokes down considerably.
“Look at me,” he ordered in a rasp. Your eyes fluttered open, remaining half-lidded as you felt like you were going to spill over. “Look at me when I’m fucking you.”
He slapped his hips against yours again, the sound of skin against skin making you shudder. Jaehyun filled you up to the brim and you were oh-so-close to letting go and falling off the edge. The hardscape was cool but you were on fire, bliss overtaking all of your senses. Your toes curled as you held onto his damp skin for dear life, not sure if it was because he was in the pool or he was sweating due to the heat you both emanated.
“R-right there!”  you wailed. “Fuck, right there!”
Jaehyun angled his hips slightly to pound into you, causing you to see metaphysical stars. It was so hard to keep eye contact with him when your eyes just wanted to roll back. Jaehyun let out a groan by your ear, low and guttural. You didn’t even notice how tight the grip he has on you until he releases your hip for you to see the print he left.
You could tell he was close, but he wanted to hold on for you. Both of your breaths were labored as you stared into each other’s eyes, your body moving up and down against the hardscape as Jaehyun railed you. You tightened your grip on him, a pathetic moan falling from your lips as you were falling over the edge.
Jaehyun understood and fucked you through your orgasm, making sure you made the most of it. Warmth blossomed under your skin as you cried out in pure bliss, your vision blurring and refocusing as it flickered from normal to pure white as you rode out your high. You ground yourself back to reality after nearly sobbing out his name, the pleasure overwhelming you. Jaehyun’s eyes went hazy as he fell apart right after you did, and soon, you felt something warm spill inside of you.
Jaehyun finished inside of you and stuttered out a curse as he pulled out of you. He rolled over and laid on the deck of the pool next to you, the both of you catching your breath like you had just run a marathon.
“I have a cute date idea for tonight,” Jaehyun said after a long pause.
You looked over, watching his chest rise and fall. “Yeah?”
“We go to the store and buy Plan B.”
You couldn’t even disagree.
“Sounds good.”
Jaehyun dragged himself off the floor, muttering something along the lines of “shit, that felt good” to himself as he reached for his swim trunks to pull back on. You grabbed a towel to dry yourself off, but pins and needles shot up your legs when you tried to walk. Jaehyun noticed immediately and a smug look settled on his face again, not the least bit remorseful.
You scowled as you slipped your clothes back on. “Shut up,” you jeered. “You’re so shameless for someone who can’t pull out.”
“Oops,” he replied flatly.
“I hate you, Jaehyun.”
Jaehyun ran a hand through his damp hair, letting out a laugh as he shook his head. He picked up another towel from the chairs by the poolside and wrapped it around so it covered your head. You bit your lip as you watched him attempt to dry your hair. It was times like these when he seemed so gentle and delicate, unlike his usual irritating attitude.
“You liked it, though,” Jaehyun said. “Right?”
You faltered, looking down at your feet as he continued to dry your hair. “Yeah.”
Jaehyun smiled softly and leaned in swiftly to peck your lips, but your moment was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.
Mark was gaping at you two, eyelids fluttering rapidly as if he was trying to blink away what he had just seen.
“Y/N? Jeong Jaehyun?” Mark questioned, his voice an octave higher than usual. Realization crossed his face through a series of facial expressions that morphed far too quickly for you to process. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Mark!” You and Jaehyun pulled away from each other quickly.
Mark paused to think his words through. “Did I almost walk in on a murder?”
You let out a frustrated groan. “Jesus, Mark, if you’re not going to read the room, at least SparkNote it.”
“Wait, so you were kissing?”
“No, we didn’t kiss,” Jaehyun assured, and you felt tricked for feeling relieved for a split second. “We actually had sex.”
Jaehyun’s words ended with a splutter as you elbowed him in the gut. Mark looked between the two of you, boggled. You nudged Jaehyun again with your foot, signaling for him to leave so you could handle Mark. Thankfully, he took your cue this time and grabbed his towel, mockingly saluting the both of you. You were stupid to think you were safe, though, because Jaehyun had to get another last word in before he walked off.
“See you tonight, Y/N.”
There was a long, awkward pause while Jaehyun opened the door and left the building. You and Mark were staring at each other but neither of you knew what to say or how to approach the subject.
“I just… I just came here to find you, and Jaemin told me you went to the pool. You…” Mark started. He looked absolutely horrified, like a corpse had fallen to his feet—no, rather, he looked like a corpse himself, like someone attempted to do taxidermy on him but did a shit job. “Bitch.”
“Let me explain.”
“Bitch,” Mark enunciated, “you just fucked the hottest guy here, oh my god.”
Definitely not the reaction you were expecting, but you supposed it wasn’t a bad one. You were glad he wasn’t getting into the whole ‘why didn’t you tell me? I’m your best friend’ rant, but this was equally as overwhelming.
Mark continued, “Wait—is that why you were late this morning? Oh my god, this has been a thing. You’ve been hooking up with him in secret, haven’t you?”
“No? Well, yes, but it hasn’t been much until, um”—you gestured awkwardly around you—“you know.”
“So you were the one who was with Jaehyun last night?”
“Yes.”
“And this morning before I picked you up?”
“Yes.”
“Are you two dating now?”
“Honestly, I really don't know,” you admitted. “Mark, please don’t tell anyone about this. Especially not those little shits, Chenle and Johnny.”
Mark gulped. “About that…”
Before you could question him, there was a chorus of loud clapping echoing from the locker rooms which was then followed by a few cheers. You grimaced as the two boys you didn’t want to see walked out: Chenle and Johnny, Tweedledee and Tweedledum themselves. They both wore cocky smirks as they shook their head at you, which made Mark a touch more nervous than he was before.
“Have anything to say for yourself, Y/N?” Chenle teased.
“Go to hell.” You scoffed and turned to Mark, narrowing in on him. “Why’d you bring them along? What are you? The three stooges?”
“We were looking for you so we could invite you to the movie night we were having in Jungwoo’s room!” Mark defended. “I swear, if I knew about you and Jaehyun, I never would’ve brought them along.”
You sighed deeply as Chenle snickered to himself. “Well, I guess Y/N can’t come to movie night since she has a date with—hold on, what did you call him again? The devil?”
“Okay, I get it!” You threw your hands up in defeat, eyes closed to show you were reflecting upon your actions. “I’m a dirty hypocrite and I’ve committed a crime worse than death.” You opened your eyes again. “I’m sorry.” To your surprise, Chenle and Johnny had their right hand up. You stared at it, puzzled. “Do you want me to make an oath or something?”
“In modern society,” Johnny explained, “we call it a high-five.”
It took you a few seconds to process their words before you tentatively gave them each a firm high-five. You blinked up at them before ease washed over you. This was how it always was, anyways. At the end of the day, no matter how much you guys bickered or teased each other, you always made up. That's what friends were for, after all.
“There we go,” you said, oddly satisfied. “For now, I’ll let go of the fact that Johnny snitched on me to Jaehyun behind my back.”
“How dare you!” Johnny gasped. “Chenle was with me.”
Chenle raised his hand to confirm the statement. “Indeed. Please give credit where it's due.”
“Alright, fuck you both.”
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What the fuck even was a date?
This was foreign territory to you, but even so, you decided you wouldn’t rely on your annoying friends. First of all, you were sure they wouldn’t really be of any help and just endlessly tease you about it. Secondly, they were simply going to gradually grow more stressed (Mark), lecherous (Johnny), and aggravating (Chenle). Thus, you decided to slay the monster of first dates yourself.
Your first hurdle was looking cute. You packed absolutely nothing that wasn’t for the training camp, so you had already failed. Jaehyun was going to have to deal with you in your gym shorts and a school t-shirt.
Your second hurdle was sneaking away from Eunha, your roommate. That was a piece of cake considering how she didn’t exactly care. When you headed out of the room, wallet and phone in hand, she wished you a kind farewell, which you returned.
Your third hurdle was sneaking out of the hotel. You weren’t quite sure how you and Jaehyun made it outside without being spotted, but you were certain he must have tipped off some of the staff because there was no way the both of you could have walked straight out of the lobby without being reported. When you asked him, though, he said it was probably because you looked like the cleaning lady.
Needless to say, Jaehyun was on thin ice.
You loved Seoul, loved the dirty of it. Even at night, the city was alive and full of vigor, full of young people like you who were chasing cheap thrills. Jaehyun was a dream under the glowing lights, and you almost couldn’t believe that the prince-like boy was head-over-heels for you.
He took you to a wide alley with a night market, full of life and energy. Jaehyun was walking through the crowd and you were following right behind him, like some awkward fish swimming after a cuter, more popular fish upstream. There were several times where you almost lost yourself in the crowd, and Jaehyun noticed this. He reached behind him, still shouldering his way through the crowd, and grabbed your hand. The smell of spicy rice cakes, the numerous pop-up bars lining the alley, and Jeong Jaehyun gripping your hand—it all made a pretty eventful first date.
Jaehyun didn’t kiss you. Not once. He didn’t try to touch you anywhere that would have tempted you both into doing something you definitely shouldn’t do in public. There were times where Jaehyun turned pink or looked away from you shyly, and you indulged in it because this was a side of him you didn’t see often.
Jaehyun stopped at a convenience store before you both decided to head back. You waited outside for him, kicking stones as you thought of him. He was undeniably perfect, which you somewhat despised because you had spent the last two years hating his guts and this was an abrupt change. You were worried if he was buying you something; he had already bought you lamb skewers and rice cakes at the night market. You didn’t want to be the girlfriend to empty his wallet.
Wait—
Were you his girlfriend?
“Y/N,” he called when he walked out of the store, holding something behind his back with a sneaky grin. “Close your eyes.”
You bit back a smile and closed your eyes, holding your hands out. He placed the object in your hands and it felt light, so you were sure it shouldn’t have cost much. Although, your stomach was pitted with guilt at the thought of him spending money on you. You opened your eyes when he directed you to.
Plan B One-Step.
You no longer felt bad for him.
“Very romantic,” you observed, putting the packet in your wallet, “but thank you.”
You were seething. Your face grew unconditionally hot and you had to look down at your feet. It seriously pissed you off that your feelings were so clear right now because Jaehyun had bought you fucking Plan B.
Jaehyun seemed to notice right away and tilted your chin up with two fingers, chuckling. “Is something wrong?”
Your face screwed up when you decided on what you were going to ask him. “Are we dating?” you blurted out.
Jaehyun held your face gently like it would shatter if he applied any more pressure. His fingertips grazed the hinge of your jaw while his thumbs rested on your cheekbones. You were panicking when he leaned in, but it wasn’t what you expected. Jaehyun pressed a chaste kiss to your nose, grinning at your reaction. You reached up to trace his dimple with your finger.
“Do you want to be my girlfriend, Y/N?”
“Yeah,” you admitted, flustered beyond imagination, but you had already gotten this far so you continued, “do you?”
“Do I want to be your girlfriend?”
You wanted to hit yourself. “Fuck. I mean, do you wanna date me?”
“Of course,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been waiting for this for so long.”
He drew you into his warm embrace and you buried your face into his chest, wondering how you hated this man for so long. Of course, when those cocky smirks and impish looks came back, you were sure you’d remember again. But right now, in his arms, you just knew that you wanted to be with him. You looked up at him, arms slung around him, and got on your toes to press a gentle kiss to his lips.
You were positive you hadn’t ever seen Jeong Jaehyun blush before tonight, but it was a sight you were sure you could never get sick of.
And you never would.
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floral-force · 3 years
Text
Knight in Beskar Armor: Chapter 6
Seeing Stars
words: 2.3k
warnings: smut, 18+ only/NSFW content
series masterlist | read on ao3
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Your night on Cara’s couch seemed to go by quickly. Maybe it was because of your smug victory, or because her couch was infinitely better than the Mandalorian’s uncomfortable cot. You woke up to the smell of caf and the sound of someone rummaging around in the kitchen behind you. Yawning and sitting up, you caught a glimpse of Cara pouring dark liquid into two mugs, and you stretched your toes, swinging your legs over to the edge of the couch. Cara began to walk toward you.
“Good morning,” you said, smiling as she handed you your hot cup of caf. Sitting on a drab couch next to an Outer-Rim marshal was a stark departure from your usual breakfasts on Naboo. The luxury of warm breakfasts in the palace garden was another thing you’d have to get used to living without.
“You ready?” Cara said.
“To leave? Well, I guess so—I don’t have anything to pack, so that makes it a bit easier.”
“No,” Cara shook her head and set down her caf. “Are you ready to see Mando again? You really pissed him off last night.”
Your smile fell and you straightened your back. You shrugged and took another sip of your caf. Considering the way the Mandalorian had looked right through you last night, you didn’t doubt Cara’s words. The rush of your victory had worn off, and now you were left with a little fear about the Mandalorian’s demeanor going forward. You could easily assume that it’s rare for someone to challenge the Mandalorian and win.
“I haven’t seen him that upset in a while,” Cara shook her head and took a sip of her caf. “You really struck a nerve with him.”
“I have a feeling he’s not used to people talking back to him.”
“Normally he just freezes the ones that do in carbonite.” Cara raised an eyebrow at you, standing and walking back to the kitchen. “Anyways, Princess, I figured we could get you clothes that fit before you fly off with Mando.”
You nodded. “That might be a good idea.”
“We’ll head out soon,” Cara said, turning around from the sink to smile at you. “It won’t be as nice as anything you’re used to, but it’ll work for where you’re going.”
Your trip to Nevarro’s single clothing store had been as successful as it could be for a planet populated with outlaws and shady characters. You tried to think about the bright side—no more ill-fitting clothes, and now you wouldn’t have to worry about ruining your gown. But your new, bland clothes were yet another reminder of the sudden changes in your life. Putting on one of your new outfits—a form-fitting gray shirt, black leggings, and brown boots—made you miss your boudoir and Nelly’s help picking out dresses and outfits that suited your figure in colors that complimented your skin tone. You sighed, looking at your reflection in the fresher mirror. You certainly didn’t look like the Princess of Naboo; you looked like a commoner that would seek an audience with the king and queen.
When you returned to the common area, Cara was chatting with the Mandalorian. They both stopped their conversation to look at you, assessing your appearance. The silver dome was at the Mandalorian’s side again, and you wondered what could be inside of it—more weapons, perhaps? His gaze pulled you out of any thoughts you may have had about that mysterious levitating dome and tugged you back to the present. The light of the setting sun reflected off his beskar armor, and the room was filled with an orange glow.
“Are you ready?” he asked, his modulated voice sending an unwelcome chill down your spine.
You shrugged, slinging your bag of clothes over your shoulder. “I suppose I have to be.”
He turned to Cara. “I owe you.”
She smiled at him. “Buy me a drink when you come back, and we’ll call it even.”
You walked up to her and smiled. “Thank you, Cara. I appreciate your help.”
“You’re always welcome on Nevarro, Princess.”
You followed the Mandalorian out of her home and waved good-bye as you began your trek back to his ship. His long strides were hard to keep up with, and you were certain he was moving fast on purpose. You kept up with him as best as you could through Nevarro’s city streets, and as you crossed the lava flats, you found it harder to gain your footing and you fell behind him. However, you refused to ask him to slow down, instead narrowing your eyes and keeping track of the levitating dome that followed at his side.
Finally, you reached his ship, and you caught your breath when you were seated in the cockpit at long last. Your skin was hot and sweaty from keeping a steady pace behind the Mandalorian, and you tried to wipe the sweat from your brow and fan yourself as the Mandalorian prepped the ship for lift-off. The ship ascended into the air, breaking through the atmosphere with a jolt and a rumble.
“Where are we going?”
“Corellia,” he answered, not even bothering to turn around to speak to you. His hands were focused on the control panel, his helmet staring into the vast starry expanse ahead of him. “Strap in, I’m sending the Crest into hyperdrive.”
Almost immediately after you tightened your seat straps, the stars stretched, and you were thrown into your seat as the ship made the jump into hyperspace. Satisfied with his work, the Mandalorian stood and watched you unbuckle the straps pressing into your body. You stood and met his helmeted gaze, trying to remain calm in the face of a predator.
“You should get some rest,” he said, opening the door back to the ladder opening and descending it once again.
“Where?” you yelled, following him after a moment of stunned silence. Once again, the Mandalorian’s audacity took your breath away. You huffed as your feet tapped down the ladder, and when you touched the metal floor of the ship, you crossed your arms and faced him.
“Where else?” he moved over to where his rack was, opening the panel to it with the push of a button.
You walked to him, inches away from his chest plate, and you felt heat creep up your cheeks and down to your cunt. He was eyeing you up again like you were his next bounty, and for some reason it made you want to push him back onto his cot and taunt him like he had taunted you that night in the garden.
He cocked his head to the side. “Is something wrong, Princess?” You jumped when one of his hands landed on your waist, and you heard him chuckle quietly. “Are you scared?”
“Of you, Mandalorian? Of course not,” you glanced down at the floor, then at the cot to your left.
“You know I’m good at reading people,” he said, the sound of a smirk tinging his voice. “Your body is betraying you.”
As he spoke, you felt his other hand creep up and nearly cup your breast, causing you to sharply inhale. He chuckled again and the hand on your waist suddenly grabbed your ass, making you yelp. You could feel your panties get even wetter, and you weren’t even trying to hide the blush that had overtaken your cheeks.
“Do you want this, Princess?” he murmured.
You nodded profusely, almost letting a whine escape your lips when the hand below your breast moved up and squeezed it. “Yes, Maker, I do.”
He slowly turned you around and pushed you down onto the cot, and your heart raced as he crowded you from above. His hands were by your ears, boxing you in and putting you at his mercy. You were captured, and you didn’t want to be released.
“Close your eyes,” he growled, and when you did as he said, you heard a hiss and then a sweet baritone voice. “Don’t open them. Understood?”
You nodded, but it wasn’t enough for the Mandalorian. His hand gently closed around your throat, making your cunt throb even more than it already was.
“Understood?” he asked again, his question punctuated with a quick squeeze on your neck.
“Yes,” you gasped. “Fuck, yes, Mando.”
You felt him let go of your throat and his hands trailed down your body, exploring your curves and teasing you. You were nearly bucking your hips, so close to begging the hunter to touch you more. Hot breath brushed your ear, making you shiver. You heard the Mandalorian snicker when you whimpered as his hand cupped your cunt, his thumb pressing on your clit.
“Good girl,” he snarled, sending chills up your spine and heat down your torso. “So wet for me already, I can feel it.”
You whined when his hot lips touched your neck, your hands wrapping around his torso and pulling him closer. His thumb was rubbing up and down on your clit, his other fingers stroking your sex, teasing you until you were nearly crying out. He was needy too—he barely took your shirt off to suck on your tits and nibble your nipples, and you knew he was going to leave marks all over your chest. His neediness took the form of impatience, and he quickly worked his way down to your pussy, roughly yanking your leggings and panties down.
Out of instinct, your hand reached out and grabbed onto his hair; it was thick and a little curly, and you tugged slightly, trying to guide his mouth to your dripping cunt. His hands were gripping your waist, but you felt him quickly remove them and heard the quiet sound of leather gloves hitting the cot. His bare hands fell back on your waist, and they were warm, just like his breath was on your clit.
“Beg for it, Princess. Tell me how much you want my mouth.”
You felt your brow furrow in frustration, your hand tugging his hair again. “Fuck, please, Mando. Please, I need your mouth on me, I need it so fucking bad—”
You were cut off when you felt his tongue lick up from your slit to your clit, eliciting a sharp inhale and a moan from you. You felt him chuckle against your clit as he drew lazy circles with his tongue, his hands still gripping your waist and holding you in place. When he gently nibbled on the sensitive nub, your hips jerked upwards, but he managed to hold you down.
“You’re so fucking wet, cyar’ika,” he mumbled against your cunt, making you moan. “You’re such a naughty little princess, aren’t you?”
“Mmph…Y-yes, Mando,” you moaned as he slid a hand down your body, massaging your inner thigh, fingers creeping closer to your soaking slit.
“I want to hear you say it,” he growled, fingers teasing your entrance.
“F-fuck, Mando,” you breathed out, barely able to focus while he teased you, the heat in your core growing. “I-I’m a naughty little princess.”
You barely finished your sentence before two fingers plunged into your dripping hole, the squelch making you cringe out of embarrassment. The Mandalorian just groaned, obviously pleased with how much his teasing had worked you up. He was working his fingers in and out, curling them inside of you, and you could feel your cunt clenching on them.
“Fuck, cyar’ika, you’re so tight, so wet. Is this all because of me?”
You could feel his breath on your clit yet again, and it was driving you crazy. Your grip on his hair tightened as you felt your cunt clench and your core grow tense. You could only moan and nod in response, but he wasn’t satisfied with your answer. His free hand flew up to grab your throat, squeezing it again and making your cunt even wetter than it already was.
“I said, is this all because of me, Princess?” he growled, teasing your clit with a quick flick of his tongue.
“Yes, Mando, fuck—it’s all because of you,” you moaned, your breaths quickening as his fingers pumped in and out of your dripping hole, making your entire body shake.
“That’s it, Princess,” he mumbled against your clit. “Cum for me, cum all over my fingers, there you go.”
You nearly screamed as your orgasm blasted through you, your cunt clenching around his fingers, soaking them in your cum. As you felt your orgasm, you saw stars, the force of your climax stronger than you had thought. The tension in your core finally released, and the heat slowly dissipated as you caught your breath, relaxing back into the firm cot. The Mandalorian’s fingers pulled out of you with a wet pop, and you jumped when he gave your slit one final lick before coming back up to kiss your neck. You could almost smell yourself on his face, and you felt a little pride about marking the fearsome bounty hunter with your scent.
You made a surprised sound when you felt his fingers force themselves into your mouth, and you could taste your salty-sweet cum. You licked his fingers dutifully, listening to him praise you and say your name while you worked. After he pulled them out of your mouth, you jumped when you felt his lips meet yours in a desperate kiss. Your hands wrapped around his neck, and you almost opened your eyes when he deftly rolled you over so you were on top of him, his cold beskar armor chilling your warm skin.
“I just had to kiss you,” he murmured against your lips, a hand stroking the back of your head. “I couldn’t help it.”
“Fine by me,” you whispered, catching his lips in another kiss. You moved yourself off of him, nestling against his side instead, a hand resting on his chest.
“Are you tired now, Princess?” he asked.
“If making me cum so hard I saw stars was your plan to tire me out,” you mumbled, “then you’ve succeeded.”
He chuckled. “I promised to take care of you, Princess.” He planted a kiss on your forehead. “And I promised to do so by any means necessary.”
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travellingarmy · 3 years
Text
║Diluc║Found You 2
A continuation requested by someone on Wattpad.
Be warned: This could absolutely be a sh**y post.
Word count: 2.7k
---
All felt like a dream when he had taken you away from your home. It was a slip through the day like wind passing through a blocked off cave of old. So now, you were going back home-- your true home, Mondstadt, and in Dawn Winery.
"Do you need anything? Snacks, clothes, collection items-- anything?" Diluc asks, sitting beside you on the sofa as wood in the fireplace crackle under the fire that lit up part of the room. "I'm okay," you answered, smiling.
Diluc, ever since you've returned, has stayed at a good distance from you so that you would never disappear from him again. He knew that when he took you from Fontaine, it was kind of abrupt and that your father would be out to get you, most likely knowing where you are hiding. So, for the time being, you two were staying at a luxurious inn within Liyue.
It was close to Mondstadt which does sound like a horrible place to stay, being that since it is the neighbouring nation, your father would send people to Liyue. However, that is why you two stayed there. If your father does send people to Mondstadt and did not find you there, he most likely will not assume that you are in Liyue since he would think that it is a foolish idea.
"Let's just stay like this for a while," you said, leaning on his shoulder and closing your eyes.
Your thoughts wandered. If your father does find you, there was no way in Teyvat will you let him drag you back to that gloom of a home, wanting to try and fight for yours and Diluc's happiness. You know that you can't hide forever and that this was simply a mean to by time-- to take a rest until you decide to face your father.
And so, why did you leave home? The word 'gloom' has most likely stood out.
You left home after your father became that of a tyrant in the house, when your mother had fallen out of love with him, and you couldn't stand his new persona-- always shouting and even starting to slap you at the littlest of mistakes that he used to brush off. He would even have someone monitor you and report everything to that man, giving you that feel of lost freedom.
That progressed to worse treatment when he started to see you not as his child but an object. Everytime he saw you, he remembers your mother and that would get him riled up.
When he knew that you ran away, he was furious. You are to bend to his wishes as his child, no? That is what plagues his mind.
Originally, both parents were to have a split custody, but she lost even that half the authority, given how much money your father bribed to keep you as a way to make your mother regret.
"Hey, (Y/N)?" Diluc calls your name, gently putting a hand over yours. You dismissed your thoughts and hummed to his call. "What is it, Diluc?" you ask softly, eyes still closed, feeling have tired.
"I am sure you're thinking about your father, so this may sound that I am prying into your life.." At that, you understood as to what he was leading on, and you were kind of expecting it, seeing as you didn't tell him anything. "I don't want to pressure you into telling me so I'll wait until you want to.." he adds, rubbing his thumb on your hand.
"Mn.. Thank you," you said. It was a long journey to Mondstadt and with the many stops to avoid encountering any of your father's servants, it tired you out honestly.
-
It takes a couple months to travel from Fontaine to Mondstadt, but added a couple weeks hiding in Liyue. You didn't feel as if you were truly hiding though-- you and Diluc stroll around Liyue, completely out in the open, but there were many people so that you two won't stand out.
During that time, Diluc took you out to dinner and bought you anything that you wanted, even tossing in things that he thinks you might like and the stuff that you eyed for a little longer to not be considered as a glimpse.
"Diluc, there really is no need to buy me these," you hastily said, trying to reach the item in his hands which he switch to the other to make it further away from you. "It's fine. The money I earned from Dawn Winery and the tavern won't stop," he said, quickly paying it so it left you no room to dissuade him.
Life was like that for a while until a letter from the head butler of Dawn Winery sent an emergency letter through Diluc's bird, saying that there were two people loitering around Dawn Winery who look like they were from Fontaine, seeing their unique clothing.
The letter wrote that they have been watching the winery and not leaving when forced to.
"I don't think it's time to go back just yet. We'll just tire them out," Diluc said, referring to the Fontainians, as he scans through the letter.
The next day, was that of any other day, but what you didn't expect was to see your father in Liyue.
Seeing as his head was turned to somewhere else- most likely searching for you as he passes by Liyue- you took it as a chance to drag Diluc into one of the stores, hiding behind one of the shelves inside.
"(Y/N)?" He calls, but then looks at where you were staring at and knew what was happening. "You saw your father, didn't you?" he asks and you nod.
You guessed that he couldn't wait for a couple more months to hunt down for you and that is why he is personally finding you, finally standing up from his stupid chair in his office.
"He's most likely going to Dawn Winery.." Diluc states, narrowing his eyes at the people outside.
You were off in your thoughts, dwelling on decisions to be made hastily. Have you been prolonging the search that long now? As much as you didn't want to face that man, you had to someday because there really aren't much places to hide in Teyvat-- aside from the land of sinners, Khaenri'ah.
You look out the window, now seeing your father gone from the spot he once stood. Sighing, you and Diluc walked out of the store, but didn't dare put your guards down as you made your way back to the inn. Just because he wasn't in your sights doesn't mean he has fully left Liyue.
His eyes were that of a hawk and there is no way he wouldn't see you even amongst the wave of people, and he has other eyes just in case he does miss you.
You two only relaxed once back in the safe zone, deciding to not stroll around for a couple of days and only letting Diluc run errands since he most likely wasn't one to be recognized to be with you.
During those days, there have been a brief exchange of letters through Diluc's bird. The letters also included one from the Knights of Favonius' Cavalry Captain, Kaeya, saying that a nobleman from some place off was being a hassle in the city. And with the level of intellect that the knight holds, he deducted that it had something to do with Diluc's absences at the tavern.
Then, one night, when you and Diluc were sitting comfortably on a sofa, you spoke, "Diluc, I think we should go back." You intertwined your hands with his, feeling warm throughout your body.
You gulped back fear of your father and decided to face him. There was no way will you ever let yourself be dragged back to that house of his.
And so, the travel to Mondstadt took no less than a day and was soon facing Dawn Winery-- the only place you called home.
"Master Diluc, welcome back," the head maid, Adelinde, greet. Diluc's eyes darted to the maid and immediately asked for a report about what happened in Mondstadt while he was gone.
"The Knights of Favonius has been trying to please a group of foreigners for the past days," Adelinde answers. "A particular man was searching for a person named (Y/N) and has been causing trouble for the knights."
Diluc's eyes befell on you, getting your attention on him. Then, "Where is this man right now, Miss Adelinde?" you ask straightly, facing the maid.
"Ah, they are still within Mondstadt's walls," she answers.
With that, you look towards Diluc and gave a firm nod to reassure the male of your decision. You knew of Diluc's worries and fears from the past days spent together. He was afraid that you would leave again, but just didn't quite express it.
Seeing your determined look, he nods and the two of you walked to Mondstadt, soon being greeted by the Cavalry Captain. "Master Diluc, why the frown? Here I thought you had a wondrous time being away from your work for so long," Kaeya states, still able to pull a sly smile. "You know.. The knights were having quite the time as well, trying to--"
"Sir Kaeya, could you speed this up and tell me where that nobleman is right now?" Diluc cuts off, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the captain.
"Oh, so you're well-informed even when you are gone," Kaeya says. "I'm sure one of your servants filled you in about that nobleman already, so if you are looking for him, he's at the headquarters talking to the Acting Grandmaster, saying that if we ever found their child, we should send him a letter." With that, Kaeya's eyes narrowed on you, knowing full well of who you were. After all, you, too, were a foreigner to Mondstadt well before-- he just had to connect a simple series of dots.
You, however, remained silent and paid no mind to the male. "Alright, we'll be off," Diluc says, holding your hand and walking off towards the headquarters.
Just as you two set foot on the final set of stairs, you see an all too familiar man stepping out from the headquarters. However, you weren't jolted with fear anymore, gripping onto Diluc's hands tightly.
It didn't take long for your father's eyes to meet yours, a hint of anger on his face. But since you were with another person, he had to calm down as to not have a bad impression. He was still a businessman after all and seeing how well-dressed Diluc was, he knew he was someone of the same level as he was.
"(Y/N), is that you?" he played off, asking with a forced smile on his face that would make one want to punch him.
"Drop the act, I know why you're here," Diluc steps in, eyes cold for a man who wields pyro. Hearing this, your father frowns and cursed you in his head.
"Alright, since you know why I'm here, why don't you hand me my child back?" the man said.
"I'm afraid I won't let you, sir," Diluc said, which just upset the old man further. "I don't think you have the right to say this. I am their father and as their father, I have the right to take them home," your father said.
"They may be your child, but they are at the matured age to decide what they want to do with themselves. I believe that you have no power to control them anymore," Diluc asserted firmly.
"Who do you think you are!?" your father suddenly booms, anger masking his face read. "Don't you know who I am!?"
"No, I do not. But let me ask you this, do you know who I am?" Diluc asks. Your father huffs. "Why do you matter?" he shots a question back.
"I am well aware of your status in Fontaine, but none of that matters to me," Diluc said. "I'm sure you suspected as much, but I hold the most power in Mondstadt just as you hold in Fontaine."
"But you are in Mondstadt and have no backing whatsoever, making you at the bottom," he continues. "Under me, you can't take them away from here."
Your father clench his teeth at the words thrown at him. He was suppose to have control over you, right? Again, this is what's plaguing his mind, but what can he do? It was true that he was nothing but a foreigner. However, he was still planning on getting you back home so with that said, he lunges at you, ordering the people who serves him to catch you.
Diluc put an arm in front of you. He was ready to use his pyro vision, but was still wavering to use it against another human being.
Luckily for him, instead of having your father be burnt to death, ice blocked you two from your father. "Oh~ who knew that you were this man's child," Kaeya steps in, pretending to not know anything even though you were already aware. "And, Master Diluc, you must know you can't harm others with our visions. It will make a bad impression of our nation."
"Kaeya.. What are you doing here?" Diluc grumbles. "Oh, you know, just thought that the Acting Grandmaster might need me soon~" he openly tells a lie, then turning towards your father. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm sure your hands are numbing due to being locked in ice, hm?"
"Remove my hands from these!" your father shouts. "Ah, but only when I'm sure you won't harm another person. I'm a knight and as a knight, I have to protect others." Kaeya shrugs, looking quite smug with himself, earning your father to growl.
But still knowing he was furious, Kaeya released him from the ice. "I'm sorry to intrude in your family business, but I might have overheard the conversation," Kaeya said, looking from you to the vieux riche.
"What do you want? I don't think you were ever part of this business," you father spat at Kaeya. However, he remained calm-- clearly unfazed by such small talk. "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think you have the right to take our citizens forcefully," Kaeya said.
"Citizens? They're not even from here!" he shouts angrily, showing a clenched fist at the captain. "Oh? They're not? Huh, now, I may be wrong- which I highly doubt- but I am sure they are Master Diluc's lover, yes? So to say, lovers should be in one place," Kaeya said, closing his visible eye and holds a pointing finger as he speaks.
You notice your father about to lunge at Kaeya, but before he could do that, Kaeya's eyelids open and revealed a cold gaze. "Sir, you have been quite the handful lately. I think you best be off to the safety of your nation. We Mondstadtians won't just idle by and watch, you know?" Kaeya said, his gaze making your father seem small.
With one more mean look, your father fled from Mondstadt altogether in fear of being locked in prison in Mondstadt, never to return in search of you.
"I could have handled that, you know?" Diluc states, eyes boring through Kaeya like a knife. "I know, but I wanted to step in, in fear of you burning that man alive~" Kaeya shrugs. "Well then, I'll be off now~" Kaeya turns around and walks away, hand up in the air as a mean of a wave.
Silence soon fell-- a comfortable silence, of course. You felt relieved and your heart felt lighter at the fact that your father was never going to show up in front of you again. You would have picked a fight, but Kaeya stepped in. Nevertheless, you were grateful since you might've been the one to kill your own father.
"Then, shall we be off?" Diluc spoke, hands intertwining with yours. You look away from the direction Kaeya walked off to and smiled at Diluc, nodding. "I want some rest," you said, earning Diluc to smile.
"Sure. Let's go home."
---
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bluewhale52 · 3 years
Text
Little Black Book: The One You Hate (M)
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Summary: There are a few names in your Little Black Book, and these seven hold a special place in your heart. Now that you are closing that chapter in your life, you reminisce the time and experience you have had with your seven favourite men, especially with Kim Seokjin, the one you hate.
Pairing: Seokjin x female reader
Rating: Explicit. NO MINORS ALLOWED.
Genre: nonidol!au, strangers to lovers, friends with benefit
WC: 3.9k
Warning: swearing, car blowjob, ass slapping, OC loves going down on Seokjin, sex against a window, sex between coworkers, love-hate relationship between OC and Seokjin (more on OC). I guess that’s about it….
A/N: Many, many, many thanks to @rainbhrts94​ for beta-ing this piece. I was experiencing a burnout and having a hard time putting all my thoughts together, and her reviews and suggestions totally helped getting this fic into its final form. Thank you!!  Also, I’m a total dodo when it comes to Tumblr so with some help from @aroseforyoongi​ and @moccahobi​, I’m reposting this with hope that the link works this time round!
Series Masterlist:  Little Black Book
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Kim Seokjin was the bane of your existence. 
The cocky, arrogant IP attorney from the New York office had everyone on your floor in an uproar for weeks. You had seen him making one of the conference rooms his home away from home, with a hoard of lawyers and secretaries going in and out at his beckoning. You were watching them with jealousy. Sure, you were a mere junior in the firm and therefore the lowest in the food chain (just slightly above the interns), but you really wanted to be part of the action. 
Then, somehow, during his  last few days in Seoul, you were picked to help him and his team. Your excitement soon turned sour, as you were constantly on coffee and photocopy duties. How could you prove your worth when you were too busy being worked as Kim Seokjin’s personal server? Why couldn’t he ask one of his groupies? There were plenty of secretaries and PAs throwing themselves at him; you bet one of them would be happy to do this… THIS menial job. It was truly beneath your job description, and you started to simply, truly hate the man.
If that was really the case though, how did you end up in his luxury rental car, bending over towards the driver seat, sucking his cock? How did your mouth end up around his shaft, while your saliva dripped down and coated your fingers around his base? Why were your panties getting wetter with every moan and groan that left his lips? Why did you wish he would just spank your ass instead of tugging your hair? Why, when he came, did you gobble up his seed so greedily and lick him clean? Why did you even feel the need to stick your tongue out to him to show him you had swallowed every single drop?
Seokjin exhaled sharply then looked over at you as he tucked himself back in. “You do this with every visiting attorney?” He leered at you.
You rolled your eyes. “Just the one that pisses me off.”
He chuckled. “I should piss you off more then.”
“Are you going to drive me home or what?”
Seokjin started his car. The engine purred, and you pressed your thighs closer together at the soft vibrations that went through the car. “I promised I’d buy you dinner first, didn’t I?”
You flashed him a saccharine smile. “I had a meal already, thanks.”
Seokjin sniggered as he pulled out of the parking lot. He had offered to drive you home - “the least I can do after all your hard work this week” he had said- and while your little apartment was at the other end of the city from the five-star hotel he was staying, it was indeed the least he could do for you. So when you had settled in his car and buckled your seatbelt, after he had asked if he could buy you dinner, you- in your frustration, because you hated him and you just wanted to go home (god, was that too much to ask)- muttered under your breath on how you would rather suck his dick than have dinner with him. 
You had been taken aback when he broke into a brazen smile, challenging you to eat your own words, and damned if you were going to back down. Deep down, you had wanted to see if this perfect man with the perfect face and the perfect suits tailored around his perfect body (he had legs that went for miles, you hated to admit), also had the perfect dick. 
It turned out that he did, and his perfect dick was perfectly hard when you unzipped him. And so, that was how you went down on Kim Seokjin, giving him a near perfect blowjob, in his car, in the basement parking lot of your firm. (Near perfect because honestly, you could have done a lot more had you had more ample space to move.)
You stole a glance at Seokjin as he drove. His side profile was sharp and too good to be true. Flashes of lights only further highlighted his jaw and cheekbones. You looked away, pouting. 
“I’m flying back tomorrow evening.” He broke the silence. “You gonna miss me?”
You scoffed. “You wish. I’ll finally be able to do real work rather than making you coffee.”
He had the gall to laugh. “I’ll be back in two months. Don’t worry.”
The rest of the drive was quiet. How did you get into this? How could you possibly be so horny for him? Was it your dislike for him that made you like this? You should have known better than blowing him in his car just now. What if he started shooting his mouth off in the office? Or worse, in your personal promised land, THE New York office?
“Seokjin,” you started, “about what happened just now, I’d appreciate it if you keep it to yourself.”
“Of course, I’m not Yuna.”
You tilted your head at the name. Yuna was one of the senior partners’ secretary. “What do you mean?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know? She’s been telling everyone how good I was in bed.”
“You slept with her?” You couldn’t mask your surprise. “I didn’t hear anything about it. I must’ve been so out of loop with the rumor mills. Wait… Is that why you’ve been asking me to do all that shit? So you don’t have to deal with her?”
“Smart girl.” Seokjin made a turn, stopping just outside your apartment complex. He turned off the engine.
“And here I thought you liked my coffee. And how I photocopied your endless documents.” You said dryly. “Thanks for the ride.”
Seokjin stopped you before you exited his car. “Aren’t you going to invite me to your place?”
You chortled. “Why, you need a goodbye fuck?” You spat it out, but internally, you hoped your playing hard to get was not going to backfire. 
“Hmm,” Seokjin looked out of the car, eyeing your apartment building. “What kind of bedsheets do you have?”
“What do my bedsheets have to do with anything?”
“500 thread count? Or pure linen?” 
You opened the car door and got out. “Bye Seokjin.”
He got out too, walking you to the main entrance. “I’ll buy you some. For next time I’m here. Two months from now.”
You scanned your access card, but he stopped you from opening the door.
“Not gonna kiss me goodnight, sweetheart?”
You turned to him and leaned forward. But instead of kissing him, you stuck your tongue out and licked him, along his jaw, all the way to his ear. You did not miss the shiver that ran through his body when you closed your lips around his earlobe. Smiling smugly,  you opened the door, and as you were about to walk into your safe haven triumphantly, Seokjin slapped your ass. You stilled yourself, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing your reaction. 
“See you in two months, sweetheart.” You heard him chuckle as the door closed behind you.
Kim Seokjin was truly the bane of your existence. 
~~~
He returned to Seoul in two months. You were not keeping track on your calendar, no of course not. You just knew because the commotion was back, as it always was when he stepped into the office. He picked you again to assist his team (Yuna gave you an evil eye for that), and at the end of the work day, when you were filing papers and folders, he slipped a small envelope into your hand. 
“Open it at your desk.” He said in a low whisper. 
You looked at the envelope quizzically before putting it into your pocket. “Is it your credit card? To buy pure linen bed sheets?” You whispered back. 
“Sweetheart, I already bought you a few sets from New York.”
You snorted. Later, when you were back at your desk, you took the envelope out and opened it. You found a note with a gold monogram of Seokjin’s initials at the top. You laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Under his insignia, was a series of digits you assumed to be his mobile number. You saved it in your phone. 
There was something else in the envelope, however. A piece of key card, with the logo of the five-star hotel on one side, and handwritten 4-digit number on the other.  Your eyes widened. Was this an invitation to his hotel room?
You peered out of your cubicle like a meerkat, trying to find where Seokjin was. Then you remembered foolishly you had his number. So you immediately texted him.
– You [18:40] : Seokjin, WTF??? 
– You [18:40] : also, nice stationery
– You [18:40] : it’s me btw
– Seokjin [18:41] : hurry the fuck up. I’ve been waiting for you in my car
You smiled. The time had finally come, you were going to fuck Kim Seokjin.
~~~
You had to admit, high quality bed sheets felt amazing. It hugged your naked body like soft clouds as Seokjin pounded into you relentlessly. His thrusts had caused your body to move, inch by inch, from one end of the bed to the other. You were not complaining though;  the way he rammed himself into you made your breasts bounce back and forth like a pendulum on a string, the feeling was so delicious.
You gripped the edge of the bed as you watched him over you. His usually perfect hair was messy now, his perfect face was void of the usual laser focus expression you normally saw at work and of the arrogant smirk he liked to give you. His broad shoulders and lean torso filled your vision- you had had fun stroking your hands over his pecs, abdomens and biceps. God, you hated how perfectly hot he was. 
You whined pathetically when he plunged his cock and pushed it as deep as he could into you. Seokjin dropped to his elbows, and you welcomed the new weight on top of your body. He stilled, letting his hardness rest inside you. You wrapped your legs around him and could not help but clench around his cock. He groaned against your chest at the sensations. 
“Do that again, sweetheart,” he nibbled and licked your collarbone, “squeeze my cock again.”
You did as he asked, tightening your walls around him before loosening again, repeating the movements and creating your own erotic Kegel exercise around his cock. You could feel Seokjin’s breath faltering on your neck, and before long, you were careening towards your peak.
“Seokjin,” you gasped, “close.”
He remained still, even at your warning. Choosing to work his lips on your neck and up to your ear instead. Finding a spot behind your ear, he licked and nipped at it, sending shudders all over your body and suddenly pushing you to your release. Seokjin held you down as your body shook, willing himself not to come, but the way your pussy walls massaged his cock, it did him in. 
You and Seokjin held each other tight as you both came. Your fingers dug into his shoulders, his hips pressed harder against yours as he shot his seeds inside you. Finally groans and moans gave way to heavy breathing, and as your heart rate slowed down, sanity returned. 
You opened your eyes. “God, don’t do that EVER again.” You slapped his shoulder. “I’m super ticklish there.”
Seokjin hummed, and nipped at the spot again. You yelped, but in the process you also squeezed his flaccid cock, still sheathed fully in you. “Now I know what to do when you talk too much.” He mumbled. 
You tried to wriggle away from his mouth, but the more he teased your spot, the more you moaned, and the more your body became heated again. You were all ready for round two, but your stomach betrayed you, for it growled shamelessly. Seokjin’s eyes widened at the sound, and the two of you burst out laughing.
“OK, I’d better feed you before I fuck you against the window.” He pulled out of you, holding on to the spent condom on his dick. Walking to the bathroom, he gestured to the phone on the bedside table. “Whatever you order, order the same for me.” 
And that was how you spent your first night with Kim Seokjin. Fucked out of your brains and eating room service food in his luxurious hotel room. 
~~~
You gave Seokjin your Saturday nights whenever he was in town, which was only about three to four times a year.. You hated to admit it, but you enjoyed your time with him. It was obvious he liked your company too, and your arrangement worked out well. You both wanted sex with no strings attached. You enjoyed arguing with each other, although it felt like Seokjin lived solely to rile you up to get a reaction out of you. He said he was training you to hold your poker face better; after all, didn’t you want to be a successful attorney like him?
And that was the situation you found yourself in that evening. Seokjin kept prodding at you until your temper snapped, and you roughly pushed him to the chaise in his room. You quickly worked on his jeans and his boxers, pulling them down to his ankles, only to find his cock already hard and weeping with precum.
You cocked an eyebrow at him. “Making me angry turns you on so much, huh?” You wrapped your fingers around his shaft, lazily stroking it a few times before squeezing it gently at the base. Seokjin hissed, but his annoying smirk never went away. 
“You can’t shut up your opponents by going down on every one of them,” he teased, his hand reached out to touch your hair but you swatted it away with your free hand, “no matter how sexy you are when you’re angry.”
You scowled as your hand continued stroking him. Keeping your eyes on his, you closed your lips around the head of his cock, your tongue lapping up his precum. Seokjin sucked in a breath. 
“So what should I do then?” You asked before licking up and down his length. Seokjin threw his head back, enjoying the wetness of your tongue on his hot member. 
“Hmmm… “Seokjin moaned. “Learn to control your temper better, sweetheart. You know how our kind is…”
Seokjin took a deep breath. Your tongue was still busy on his cock. It drove you nuts how addicted you were to the taste of him. “… especially to female attorneys..” Seokjin continued.
“Excuse me?!” you sat up straight, but your hand was still around his member, unconsciously squeezing it a little harder than normal.
“Ouch!” Seokjin yelped. “What are you trying to do? Pull my dick off?”
You sniggered, your grip loosened slightly as you continued to stroke him. “Tell me,” he asked, “how did your last case go? You almost lost because the opposing attorney kept throwing jabs at your gender, am I right?”
Your cheeks reddened. “How did you know about that?” you pouted.
“I get regular updates on you, sweetheart, I like to know how my protege is doing.”
You eyed him skeptically. “Wow, I’m so honored.” Your tone was flat, but your hand started pumping his cock faster. You thought back to the moment you nearly lost your temper in court, and you buried the memory deep. You leaned in and started to take Seokjin’s length into your mouth when it suddenly dawned on you.
“Wait,” Seokjin’s cock popped out of your mouth. “Is that why I didn’t get the promotion? I won that case but I didn’t get my promotion because I was too emotional?”
Seokjin groaned, in desire and in frustration. He looked down at you, kneeled between his legs, eyebrows scrunched up, eyes angry, mouth in a pout, and his hardness in the mercy of your hand. He ran a hair through his hair. 
“Now that you recognise the problem, will you solve it?” 
You nodded.
“So can we please continue?” He asked. 
You nodded again before your mouth returned to his cock. You enveloped your lips around the head, sucking it gently and licking it until you heard him moan. You started taking more of him into your mouth, the muskiness of his scent filling your nose. His hands found your head and held it gently, his fingers carding your hair. 
You continued to lubricate him with your saliva, relaxing your mouth and your throat to take all of him in. You steadied your breathing as you sucked in your cheeks, and you slowly pulled out all the way to the tip, before filling your mouth again. “That’s good sweetheart, you know just how I like it.”
You stupidly beamed at his praise, and it encouraged you to pick up your pace, sucking him faster and harder. His breathing was getting heavier, and you massaged his balls, eager for him to cum in your mouth. “No, no,” he pulled your head, and you came up gasping for breath. “I want to be in you now.”
You and Seokjin undressed immediately, and Seokjin went to the bathroom to retrieve a condom. He rolled the rubber as you positioned yourself by the window. The window felt cold on your back, but your core was wet and hot.  Seokjin lifted you up effortlessly, and your legs immediately wrapped around his waist, and your arms around his neck. 
Seokjin spat into his hand and rubbed his saliva over your cunt. Then the blunt head of his cock was at your entry, and he pushed it in, inch by inch until he was fully inside you. Adjusting his grip, ensuring he got you secured between him and the window, he started to move. Slowly at first, and once your juices were flowing and leaking, he went faster. 
You felt sweat developing on your back, making your body slippery against the glass. You dug your fingers into Seokjin’s shoulders, anchoring yourself up as he continued to pound into you. You turned your head to the side, catching the city skyline in the corner of your eye. 
“God, Seokjin,” you whined wantonly, “When I get that New York position, will you fuck me like this with the New York skyline in the background?”
Seokjin huffed, his hips not missing a beat. “Sweetheart, you’ll never get the New York position.”
You snapped your head back to look at Seokjin, he was still thrusting mercilessly into you. You pulled his hair. “What do you mean I will NEVER get the New York position?”
Seokjin’s smirk was back. He pulled out slowly then he rammed himself back into you hard, making you mewl. “It means…”
He took his time thrusting into you again.
“… you will…”
Another slow and hard thrust.
“… never get…”
He was hitting the sweet spot inside you.
“… the New York position.”
You cried out at his last thrust. “Because I’m too emotional?” you asked breathlessly.
“Because… “ his mouth was inching closer to the sensitive spot on your ear, “we’re closing that office.”
You gasped, at the news and at Seokjin’s sudden change of pace. He was fucking you fast again, pressing your body harder against the window. 
“Wait.. ah, Seokjin… “ you said between pants, “does that mean…”  
You could not finish your question because Seokin began nibbling and sucking your ear, sending your body rigid as the pressure on your cunt was waiting to explode.
“Yeah,” Seokjin panted. “I’ll be back in Seoul for good, sweetheart.”
You threw your head back against the window as Seokjin continued pistoning into you, pushing you towards and over your climax. You wailed in pleasure as the heat enveloped you. He did not let up at the slightest, his hips kept thrusting into you ruthlessly even as you began to sob from the oversensitivity.
Seokjin wrapped his arms around you tightly to move you, and you both collapsed on the bed, his cock still secure in you. He rolled to his back, bringing you on top of him. He slapped your ass. “Can you ride me?”
You pushed yourself up with your arms, your hair curtaining Seokjin’s face. You started to move your hips back and forth as you tried to get your breathing back. The sensitivity in your sex slowly turned into pleasure once again, and you quickened your pace. Seokjin moved his hands to your breasts, squeezing the flesh and flicking the nipples as they swung before him.
“Does… does this mean you’re gonna be my boss?” You asked between moans.
“Do you want me to be your boss?” Seokjin tugged your nipples, causing your back to arch.
“You’ll scold me everyday.”
“And I’ll fuck you every Saturday.” He thrusted up to meet your hips. “You like that?”
“Fuck no…” you felt the heat returning back to your core. “I’ll just hate you even more.”
Seokjin slapped your ass. “Just admit it, sweetheart, I’m your favorite among all your other fuck toys.”
You stammered as Seokjin thrusted up again, and he took the opportunity to pull you down onto his chest. Planting his heels on the bed, he held you down as he started thrusting his hips to plunge his cock into you, fast and hard. You closed your eyes tightly and felt tears slipping down your cheeks as you came closer to your climax.
“Come on sweetheart,” Seokjin whispered in your ears, “give me one more. Milk my cock.”
You cried out as your body jolted and shook. Seokjin kept holding you down, chasing his own release too. His thrusting became more messy, and he finally came too, swearing and groaning loudly.
You stayed still on top of Seokjin, your heart beating out of your chest, and so was his. You both lay on the bed, bodies sticky with sweat, waiting for the haze of your orgasms to pass.
“If you become my boss,” you whispered, “I want no special treatment.”
“Of course not, sweetheart. The only special treatment you get is I feed you after sex.”
You chuckled. “Speaking of…”
Seokjin rolled you over and pulled himself out. “Yeah yeah, order whatever you want.”
~~~
Today
Seokjin walks into your room. You barely glance up, used to him barging in whenever he likes.
“So, Yuna told me there’s a tall drink of water waiting for you in the lobby.” He plopped down on the little settee in your office. “So naturally I went to see. And you’d better get there before Yuna devours him.”
You glance at your watch. It’s ten minutes to 7pm. You smile softly, leave it to your boyfriend to arrive early. “He’s my boyfriend. I told you about him.”
Seokjin ahs. “So, that’s the man who took away my Saturday night fun.”
You glare at him as you tidy up your desk. “Yeah well, he feeds me AND reads me poetry after sex. So, sorry.”
Seokjin stands up as you ready yourself to leave. 
“Besides, now we play Maple Story every Saturday, surely that’s more fun?” You tease him. He chuckles and rubs his chin. He accompanies you walking down the hallway towards the lobby. 
Before you arrive at the glass door separating the inner office from the reception area, you turn to Seokjin and ask, “Do you want to meet him?”
Seokjin thinks for a moment. “Does he know about our history?”
“He knows MY history, but I never share any names with him.” you explain. “He only knows you as my asshole boss.”
“Now I am offended. I thought I was a nice boss!”
“Well, I rant about you too much maybe. But he doesn’t mind, because you know what happens when I get riled up.” You wink. 
Seokjin laughs. “What a lucky bastard. OK, come on, introduce your asshole boss to your boyfriend.”
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Published 01022021
176 notes · View notes
remmushound · 3 years
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Curse of the Clans part 56! @scentedcandlecryptid @selfindulgenz
“Get back…” Splinter held his arms out to force his sons to back away as the smell of the predator overwhelmed his senses. The immense form of the yokai was already emerging from the darkest corner of the large space, heavy muscles rippling as he dragged his belly across the floor.
The snake just kept coming, more and more of it uncoiling from the shadows in a seemingly endless chain. Gray scales were flecked with ash marking, more black along the head and down a portion of the neck. There were no arms or legs, but still a suit was draped over the yokai, and on its belt was a holster that carried a very familiarly wrapped bottle releasing a knoxious scent.
“Bishop…” Even in the monstrous form he had taken, Splinter recognized the snake immediately.
“Is it that obvious?” Bishop’s form shuttered as he laughed, pulling himself up to a height that towered greatly over the mutants below, his head brushing against a series of wires near where the chest of the mech suit would be. “You know who I am. Is it too much to guess that you’d know what I am?”
“You’re an uwabami…” Leonardo said slowly.
Bishop seemed genuinely surprised, but then his open mouth curved into a smile. “Correct…”
“How’d you know that, Leo…?” Michelangelo frowned, clinging tightly to his brothers arm as he hid behind Leonardo.
“I’ve been researching all kinds of yokai.” Leonardo said, “Figured it might help on one of our missions; figured right, I guess. The name means Great Serpent, but the only thing great about you is your ego.”
Bishop hissed out an amused laugh. “Funny.”
“What’s funny is the fact that you didn't think to hide that.” Leonardo pointed to the bottle, “Because, well known fact about Uwabami, they make a habit out of drinking sake liquor. I had my suspicions, but Theres one tiny little detail I still can’t quite wrap my head around. Why would a solitary yokai live anywhere near a community, let alone a whole city? It just doesn’t make any damn sense. That’s what was throwing me off.
Bishop laughed. “Well, where there are people, there is food. And here? They practically walk right into your mouth.”
“Of course.” Leonardo nodded; he glanced back at his brothers, smirking as they all got their weapons ready. “And another thing that’s been boggling me. Why bother helping us at all? I’m guessing you’re kinda buddy-buddy with Krang since this is his ship, yet the advice you gave us seemed to be pretty solid. Why send us on that wild goose chase at all instead of just killing us outright?”
Bishop hissed through his teeth and pulled back, starting to coil around himself as Leonardo’s words, piecing together the facts like an intricate puzzle, cut deeper than any knife.
“Unless…” Leonardo mused, tapping his chin. “You were scared we’d find Krang and fix the rift before he could get free. If you’ve heard the stories all about us, you know how lucky we tend to get with ancient evils. You needed an excuse to send us away and buy time for the rift to break, because you knew us curious little creatures wouldn’t be able to resist poking our noses around the new mystic hotspot in Japan. You were scared that we would just happen upon the site, so you felt the need to separate us. Because you know how strong we are as a team, and having other creatures do your dirty work absolved you of any blame. You’re a coward.”
Bishop reared up again, fury flashing like flames dancing in his eyes. “You dare call me a coward?!”
“Yes.” Leonardo answered evenly, “Because that is what you are. Why didn't you kill us as babies?”
Bishop began to circle. “At the time, I didn't know what you were, or what you would become. I had no reason to hunt you, but now I do.”
Leonardo and his brothers kept on a constant swivel to keep their eyes on Bishop at all times.
“Even now, you’re just trying to buy Krang time, aren’t you?” Leonardo dared.
Bishop didn't answer the question with anything but a low growl. “If you are so knowledgeable of my kind, then surely you know of the power I possess?”
“You’re a constrictor. You have no venom, no powers.”
Bishop mused. “Right yet again. I can squeeze the life out of a human in seconds.”
Leonardo’s gaze was steady. “It is a good thing, then, that I am not human.”
Donatello saw a flash. Powerful jaws latching, the screams of his father. Bones crushing, blood pooling at his feet. He blinked and the vision was gone, replaced by the uwabami Bishop’s eyes glancing ever so slightly toward Splinter. He lunged, and in the same instant Donatlelo lunged. The softshell crammed his bo staff into the snake’s open mouth, and when Bishop tried to bring his mouth down to latch upon Splinter’s neck, he was met with the great resistance of the staff and a slash in the roof of his mouth from the blade. He pulled back, roaring as he shook his head violently to dislodge the weapon. When it finally came loose, flying out of his mouth and skidding across the floor, the inside of his mouth was frothing red, and he was even more furious.
“You’ll pay for that!”
***
“CASEY!” Raphael’s eyes followed the girl as she was tossed carelessly through the air, her body gone limp the moment she was struck. She flew over the group too stunned to do anything but watch, and disappeared out of their sights. “NO!”
Draxum grabbed Raphael around his plastron and pulled him to safety just as Krang tried to a massive foot down on him.
“Go!” Draxum snarled, “Find her you fool!”
“But…” It was all Raphael could say; he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. His mind felt as if it had been shut down and the only thought that was still online was screaming at him to go find her.
“I’ll handle this. Go!” Draxum commanded.
And Raphael was running. Draxum didn't watch him leave; he couldn’t look away from Krang, not for a second. This mech was so much like the Council of Heads, so robotic and still, mouth hanging open even as Krang talked through it.
“April.” Draxum said as he fell back to address the girl in green, “I am going to throw you at him.”
“What?” April gawked.
“I am going to throw you into his mouth.” Draxum repeated.
“Uh. No you ain’t.”
“Yes I am.”
Draxum gave her no chance to argue before picking her up and tossing her through the air like a football. April screamed, her feet pedalling on nothing as she tried to make sure she landed upright. It didn't work. She ended up on her side, rolling and slamming hard into something cold and metal. But at least she had made it, right? She was definitely inside the mech, and the thing she saw before her when she was finally able to process the situation was definitely… something.
“Oh?” Krang said almost softly, bringing two tentacles to cross over. “Who are you?”
“I’m a bad bitch, that’s who.”
The words escaped before April could stop them. Her body was sore all over now, stinging and burning and pulsing, but still she brought herself to stand. There wasn’t much inside of the mech suits head, a large operation station in the center holding the giant, blobish menace; wires and pipes worked to support him, digging into the folds of his flesh, and in front of him was a control panel so complex that April didn't bother trying to work out. The rest of the space was empty, and in the back was something that might have resembled a throat, sloping into a dark abyss below. April could hear the echoes of a fight from deep down in the mech suit's belly.
“Well, Bad Bitch, it is time for you to go.”
Krang went to pull a lever, but stopped when there was more screaming. April immediately recognized the voice as Sunita, and not a second too soon. Sunita was flung through the mouth in much a state that April had been, reaching out desperately as Krang moved to dodge her. April reached for her friend but Sunita slipped through her fingers and the young yokai just kept screaming as she plummeted down the throat of the suit until her shouts stopped with a great splat.
“Sunita!” April was still reaching out for her even as she disappeared.
“Oh. How sad.” Krang nodded, “Oh well. Back to business.”
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shotgun--rider · 3 years
Text
Rumor
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A Jensen x Reader oneshot
Y/N’s never considered how many suspiciously snuggly photos there are of her and her best friend. Then they all come out in a Buzzfeed article, published just in time for everyone to grill her during her solo panel. Now what?
Word Count: 4000
Warnings: Really dumb fluff, everyone’s anxious, Jared and Briana are sick of everyone’s shit
A/N: This is dumb and fluffy and dangerously song-fic territory but it showed up and demanded to be written so here you go. I have no idea if this is actually any good. Enjoy?
---------* ---------
You were the epitome of normal, growing up. You had decent grades, run-of-the-mill hobbies, and an average high school cashier job. You could hop on your bike (and later, borrow your parents’ car) and take yourself to the coffee shop, or to a friend’s, and the only people that  would look twice at you were drivers checking to make sure the kid on the bike didn’t steer into traffic. 
You didn’t win any “most likely to” awards in the yearbook, your college major was undecided for an embarrassing length of time, and your 300-odd Instagram followers were comprised of friends and some polite acquaintances from welcome week. And you didn’t mind. You were perfectly happy to go through your day-to-day without turning heads and making waves. 
That was all before you’d answered an open casting call on a whim, strapped for cash and mostly there because a sparkly website proclaiming “50 Easy Side Hustles!” had suggested spending your weekends as an extra if you lived in a big filming city. Before your three-episode contract in a show you’d never bothered to watch turned into a series regular.
Now, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have your face splashed across the internet every time you stick a toe off the end of your L.A. property line. Even if the paparazzi aren’t there to get you in Page Six with some wildly exaggerated nonsense, a fan somewhere will snap a blurry photo and upload it somewhere for people to shout about you in the comments section. You’ve never gotten used to being tagged in edits of your own face, or watching your follower count creep steadily upwards. You’re just… you. You’ve always been just the normal, average girl from a nothing-special hometown.  
Even after your third year running on Supernatural, you still forget. You still make it all the way to the end of the block before you remember that the person shouting your name is the bodyguard you accidentally abandoned two errands ago. You still get confused when the restaurant wait staff stares at you, still get annoyed calls from your publicist begging you to at least try to appear in fewer coffee shop paparazzi pictures looking like a disgruntled zombie who’s never seen a hairbrush. (Sue you, you can’t be expected to be functional before a cup of coffee.)
You’re a brilliant actress, an unexpected fan-favorite, relatable to everyone in your autograph line...and you’re kind of a terrible celebrity. Unlike certain child models turned actors straight at 18 you may know, this isn’t a world you were trained in. Which is probably why it doesn’t even occur to you that being caught frequently in the company of your best friend might look like something until you’re staring at your own name in a headline on your phone screen, in line at Starbucks before your first panel of the con weekend. 
Y/N L/N’s Secret Relationship With Co-Star Jensen Ackles, howls the bold-printed headline, and you blink stupidly at the letters, uncomprehending, until you realize that someone’s trying to get your attention. “Sorry, what?”
The barista looks impatient, suppressing an eyeroll and starting her spiel before cutting off halfway with a squeak. “Oh, my god, you’re her! I’m sorry, I’m just… you’re literally my favorite!” She’s blushing and stuttering and has a near-death grip on the empty coffee cup she was preparing to write your name on. 
“Oh,” you reply, forcing the fog of confusion from your brain and slapping on a smile. “Hi, you caught me.”
“Can I...um…” the girl reaches into her back pocket and sheepishly produces her cell phone, complete with a flaming pentagram case. “Um, selfie?”
You smile indulgently, leaning over the counter. The fans are one of the best parts, really, and it’s never a hardship to make someone smile. (That is, when they’re not selling rumors and lies to the tabloids, you think grumpily.)
The barista girl pulls back with a wide smile and a full-face blush, and keeps glancing shyly up at you while she punches in your usual order, plus the second coffee Jensen texted you this morning to beg for. “So I guess Jensen’s around here too, then, right?” she asks perkily, taking your card. 
“Uh...sorry, what?”
She shrugs like it’s obvious. “Since you flew in together,”
You blink rapidly, feeling stupid. You’re obviously missing the punchline somewhere. “We, uh...didn’t. I mean...I flew out of L.A.,” you say cautiously. Your home city is already public knowledge, as is the fact that Jensen lives in Austin, and you can’t imagine she doesn’t know this. 
Her eyes pop wide with curiosity. “Wait, so you’re not staying with him?”
This conversation is too much for your poor, jetlagged, coffeeless brain. “No?” you try weakly, so far past confused at this point that you might actually be getting a headache. “Why would I…” 
Not that Jensen’s Austin house isn’t lovely, and not that you’d object to staying there, and not that you haven’t stayed there plenty of times before, but you’re pretty sure you’re still missing the point. 
The barista lunges forward over the counter, leaning in to ask in a hushed voice, “Did you guys break up?”
An emphatic “No!” leaves your mouth so loudly that the old man in line behind you starts grumbling. “No, you don’t--” 
“Get a move on,” Old Man grouches in the background. “I don’t care who you are,”
“Oh, good,” the girl cuts you off with a relieved grin. “You guys are so cute, you know? I mean, I kinda figured you had to have something going on, but actually seeing it--it’s going to be so much cuter if Dean and Sierra ever kiss now, oh my god--”
She devolves into a squeal, and the we’re not actually dating dies on your tongue. You have better things to do this morning than correct the misinformation of one teenage barista, so you end up just shaking your head and taking the two cups of coffee wearily. “Right, well, I’ve gotta go, so--” you duck around the old man and beeline for the door before anyone can say anything else. Oh, god, your publicist is so going to kill you. 
***
Jared and Jensen are both in the green room when you make it back to the convention hotel, and you groan softly as you walk into the room. Once Jared hears about your so-called relationship, you’re never going to hear the end of it. Then again, better he hear it from you than find it in the tabloids. May as well bite the bullet now before it comes up in a Q&A. 
“Hey,” you slide up to Jensen’s elbow, holding out the requested coffee cup as a preemptive truce. “So, we’re apparently dating now,” 
Jensen snorts, shaking his head and swapping the coffee cup into his other hand so he can wrap his arm around your shoulders in greeting. “Yeah, I saw that.”
“I think I may have given a barista the impression we’ve had a tumultuous breakup,” you say ruefully, tilting your head up to look at him in apology. “Sorry,”
Jensen’s green eyes are dancing, though, and he throws back his head and laughs, still keeping you tucked close enough that you can feel his whole body shake. “Of course you did, sweetheart,”
It’s pretty much the reaction you expected from Jensen, who’s so used to your antics at this point that he just gives you a fond smile and moves on to damage control. Jared, on the other hand, is...not commenting, and suspicion cuts short your quiet enjoyment of being hugged against Jensen. It took the boys a while to feel comfortable messing with you when you first got on set, but after they figured out you gave as good as you got, they’d never yet missed an opportunity to tease and prank you. 
You squint at Jared warily. “Why aren’t you reacting?”
Jared’s lips immediately start twitching, but he makes a valiant attempt at a mock-concerned face. “Oh shit, sorry. Here, tell me again and I’ll pretend like I’m surprised this time,”
Unwilling to bother unwinding yourself from under Jensen’s arm, you extend a childish foot in the direction of Jared’s shins, scowling at him. He dodges easily, laughing, and tosses out, “Someone should really tell Buzzfeed they’re reporting really old news,”
“Shut up and drink your damn coffee, Padalecki,” you shoot back without any real venom.
“Oh, you mean my hotel coffee? The coffee I got stuck with because you only buy Starbucks for Jensen?”
Jensen straightens up proudly, no doubt making a face at Jared over the top of your head. “Y/N just likes me better. That’s why she’s my best friend.”
You roll your eyes, ducking under Jensen’s arm and a few steps away. “You both suck,” you deadpan, resisting an internal wince at the friendzone. “Now shut up and let me drink my coffee, I have to be on stage in fifteen minutes,” 
And God, but your head is way too scrambled for a panel right now. Fifteen minutes is nowhere close to enough time to get your shit together, and you’re going to have to somehow walk out there and not let everyone know. 
You take a seat halfway across the room, watching Jared and Jensen still standing there, heads bowed together, arguing quietly about something. Jensen’s starting to wear an annoyed expression and he still manages to look beautiful and goddamnit this is how you got in trouble in the first place. 
You scroll listlessly through your phone, a headache beginning behind your eyes, and freeze when you realize that you left the damn article open. The headline photo is a picture of you and Jensen on a sidewalk in L.A., caught mid-conversation with Jensen’s hand on your back and a stupid, dopey look on your face while you stare up at him like he hung the moon. Fuck, you’re an idiot. 
A hasty scroll through the rest of the article reveals more of the same, and you could kick yourself for making your dumb crush so obvious. The photo captions are practically mocking you, labelled with things like “an intimate evening for Ackles and L/N” and, under a picture of the two of you at a beach, “We might be a little mad that the two most attractive people are together”. 
Well, at least now you know what every single question at your panel is going to be about. And somehow you have to figure out how to play this off like it’s nothing. Of course I don’t have a crush the size of a mid-sized whale on Jensen, hahaha, that’s such a hilarious idea! 
Your only saving grace is that clearly, Jensen doesn’t think anything of it. It’s nothing more than a brief joke to him and Jared, and as much as that should bring you relief, it still stings to know that he’s obviously never bothered to think of you that way. And why would he? For all Buzzfeed’s nonsense about you making an attractive couple, Jensen Ackles miles above your league. 
You’re pulled out of your thoughts by Misha sitting down next to you, an easy smile on his face as he nudges your shoulder with his own. “So, welcome to the club,”
Typically, you and Misha are pretty close friends, but your patience is too short this morning for any of his shit. “What club?” you shoot back grumpily. 
“People who the internet have declared in love with Jensen Ackles,” Misha returns, grinning like it’s obvious. 
“Ha, ha. See, except when that happens to you, people think it’s funny,”
“It is funny,”
“Not for me!” you explode, belatedly wincing at your harsh tone. “You and Jensen fuck around on stage and that works for you. If I don’t get my shit together in the next five minutes, I’m getting my name dragged through stupid tabloids and laughed straight off the show because I couldn’t keep my goddamn stupid pathetic crush under control!”
“Hey,” Misha waits until you meet his blue eyes. “That’s not going to happen. Okay? It’s not,”
“Misha--”
“Y/N,” Misha returns firmly. “It’s going to be okay. Jensen would never let anything happen to you. And you don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.”
You sigh softly, nodding. Rationally, you know he’s right. But mostly, as much as you’re worked up about the panel, your fear is that Jensen is going to be the one laughing at you, and you don’t know how to explain that. “Yeah,” you say dully, just as a convention worker comes forward to collect you. 
“If it’s really going to shit, I’ll come distract everyone,”
“Somehow, I think that would be worse,” you shoot back over your shoulder as you start walking to the stage. Breathe, Y/N. You’re fine. 
You wait for the introductions to finish and take your place on the stage, a slightly breathy laugh escaping into the mic as you look out at the crowd. That is a lot of eyes watching your every move. And they’re on your side, you remind yourself. It’s the fans who’ve been tireless supporters of you and your character, this whole time. 
“Hey, guys,” you clear your throat. “What’s up?”
You chatter for a while about whatever you can think of, telling an edited version of the grumpy Starbucks man this morning and rambling a little about Jared’s latest on-set antics. All too quickly, though, you run out of things to say, leaving you with no choice but to ask for questions. 
At first, to your great relief, they’re pretty tame. You spend a solid few minutes breaking down Sierra’s latest character arc, and the time she’s spending hunting on her own. You do get a few questions about whether she and Dean could get together when she gets back with the brothers, but as long as it stays firmly in the realm of your characters, you’re not worried. 
“And what’s your name?” You ask gently, trying to reassure the nervous young woman at the microphone. 
“Uh, Y/N…”
“I love that name!” you wink at her, rearranging yourself in the chair to be more comfortable. “What do you want to know, Y/N?”
“Uh,” she stutters, her face blushing pink. “You’re my favorite actress, and, I, um,”
“That’s very sweet,” you interject, nodding to encourage her. 
“I just, uh, really want good things for you, and I just wanted to ask if, um, areyoureallydatingJensen?” she spits out all in one breath. “Cause you deserve him,”
You blink, shifting in your seat. You’d arrived at the elephant in the room. Damn. 
“Uh,” escapes your mouth as you frantically try to construct a diplomatic sentence. “No, actually, no, we’re not.” I wish. “The, um, the article was a surprise to us too!” You added a little shrug in as punctuation, trying to play it off. 
“But you guys look so cute together!” Other Y/N exclaims. “He looks at you like--” she cuts off, biting her lip so hard you can see the white from the stage. “Nevermind. Sorry.” 
“No worries,” you assure her casually, like you’re not dying to know what she was going to say. “Next question?”
The next one up is another young woman, this time much bolder in her question. “But if you were given the opportunity, would you date Jensen Ackles?” 
God, Chuck, literally anyone please kill me. “I don’t know how to answer this without getting in trouble,” you finally laugh nervously. “This is a dangerous question,”
The audience all laughs loudly, some of them throwing out comments and suggestions. “In the interests of not getting killed in my bed tonight,” you say lightly when they’ve quieted. “I’m going to skip that question,”
There’s really no saving you, though. After that first question, it’s like a dam has broken and everyone wants to know about your relationship with Jensen. What do you think of his house in Austin and does he cook for you and what do you do between takes and where’s your favorite place to go together. Someone even asks if you’re hooking up even if you’re not dating, which you’re positive turns your face completely purple before you get through redirecting that fan. 
An hour later, you stagger off the stage mentally exhausted and thoroughly grumpy. 
“Ouch,” Briana sympathizes, sliding up beside you as you grab a water bottle in the green room. 
“Can’t wait for my dumb red face to trend on Tumblr,” you mutter, wondering darkly if you could just jump out one of the windows. 
Briana laughs like she knows something you don’t, and rubs a hand over your back soothingly. “Come on, let’s get you out of your head before your photos,”
The two of you end up on a walk a few blocks from the convention hotel, fresh coffees in hand and Briana chattering away while you nod along. It’s not that you’re tuning her out, exactly, you’re just...overwhelmed. You do, however, notice when she stops talking. 
“Are you listening to me?” she looks at you sharply.
“Sorry, B,” you mumble. “Got distracted. What?”
Briana shakes her head with loving exasperation. “I asked what you’re wearing to karaoke tonight,”
“I’m probably not going to--” you start.
“Oh, no you don’t. You can’t leave me there alone,” Briana interrupts, folding her arms across her chest. 
“What do you mean, alone? Kim and Rich and literally everyone will be there,”
“You are not allowed to skip karaoke.” Briana says firmly, and you suddenly know how her daughter must feel when she’s misbehaved. “Besides, Jensen’s singing with Louden Swain beforehand. Don’t you want to see it?”
“Fine. But I’m wearing this,” you gesture to your plain black top and jeans. To be honest, you’re not sure if you actually do want to see Jensen perform, or bother with the rest of karaoke night. Mostly you just want to crawl into bed and put the covers over your head and pretend that you haven’t been making a fool of yourself all morning, but Briana is a force of nature when she wants something. 
She smiles excitedly at your acquiescence, pulling out her phone for a moment to type something before you start heading back. 
You nudge her teasingly with your elbow. “Your phone more exciting than me?”
Briana just slides it away hastily before you can read more than Jared’s name over her shoulder. “Just taking care of something.”
There’s something she’s not telling you, but you don’t feel like digging right now. You’re just focusing on getting to the end of this convention without spilling all your secrets and looking like an idiot. 
By the time you’re sitting down in the seats for Louden Swain’s set, your face is indeed all over Tumblr. (You always deny having the stupid app, but sometimes a girl’s gotta know what people are saying about her and her hot costars.) There’s comments full of stupid speculation that you’re hiding your relationship, including a whole thread about how you’re clearly hiding your secret threesome with Jensen and Misha. Great. 
“Uh, okay,” a familiar voice snaps you out of your thoughts. Jensen’s on stage in front of the microphone, holding his guitar. “This was not part of my original plan, so...if this goes badly, it’s all Jared and Briana’s fault.”
The crowd laughs good-naturedly as your gaze snaps immediately to Briana. Infuriatingly, your friend just shrugs. 
“This is a cover of a song neither of us wrote,” Jensen continues, gesturing between himself and Louden Swain behind him. “But I thought it could be fitting,”
He’s nervous, you realize, watching the way he’s fiddling with his guitar strap while he talks. But you have no idea what he’s doing. And you have no idea why he didn’t tell you. The two of you always know what stupid thing the other person is planning, especially stunts in front of the fans. But clearly not this time. With a sinking sense of dread, you wonder if maybe he does hate you a little bit after today, and that article. Maybe that’s why he’s not talking to you. You swallow hard against the sting in your throat, and Jensen starts playing. 
The opening chords are definitely from a country song you vaguely recognize from the radio, and you wonder why this is Jensen’s choice over one of his own songs. 
“Girl, you know I've known you forever / How many nights we hung out together,”
Across the room, Briana has an enormous smile on her face.
“My boys are laughing and tap me on the shoulder / Making a motion like, ‘Could y'all get any closer?’” He punctuates the words with a little scowl in Jared’s direction. 
“There's a rumor going 'round about me and you / Stirring up our little town the last week or two / So tell me why we even trying to deny this feeling / I feel it, don't you feel it too? / There's a rumor going 'round, and 'round, and 'round / What d'you say we make it true?”
There are a lot of people suddenly making noise around you as they come to the same realization that you are, but you’re frozen in your seat. The rumor is you. He’s talking about you. Jensen’s singing for you. And you should be elated but your mind is stuck on a loop of what the fuck there’s no way this is real. 
You don’t even realize that the song is over until everyone is clapping and you’re still stuck staring with embarrassingly wide eyes, Jensen up on stage with an embarrassed dusting of red across his face and a slowly deflating expression. 
“Hey,” Jared’s elbow digs hard into your ribs suddenly. “Please do something. I can’t take any more of him like this,”
“What--oh--shit!” spills out of your mouth as you stand hastily, your phone tumbling off your lap. “I’m just gonna--”
By some miracle, you make it through the crush of people and around to the backstage area, your heart racing unevenly in your chest. You have no idea what you’re supposed to say, or if Jensen will be there, or if you’re even interpreting this right. Maybe it’s all just wishful thinking. No, Jared wouldn’t have encouraged you if that were true. Would he?
You’re so lost in your thoughts that you end up plowing straight into Jensen’s chest, his arm sliding automatically around your waist as you wobble off balance. “Shit, I’m sorry!”
He steadies you, green eyes searching your face with a flicker of vulnerability. “Hey,”
“Hey,” you whisper back. You have no idea what happens now.
With his free hand, Jensen rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “Look, if that was too much--”
“No!” you shake your head quickly. “I’m sorry, I was just...processing. I...it was really sweet, Jen,”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” you confirm. “I just… me? Are you sure?”
“Why not you?” Jensen’s face wrinkles in confusion. He moves both hands to your waist, the warmth of his skin bleeding through your thin shirt as he tugs you closer. “Y/N,” 
There’s something in you screaming that you might not get to do this again, that he’s going to come to his senses, that the whole thing is a dream, and before you can second guess yourself you launch yourself up onto your tiptoes and kiss him. 
Your arms go around his neck while Jensen wraps you up tighter against his chest and it’s not fireworks, or earth shattering, or anything so dramatic. His mouth moving against yours just feels like home and love and of course. Of course you were going to get here, of course it was going to be like this. 
Jensen lifts you off your feet for a moment before breaking the kiss, and he looks just breathless and flushed enough that you’re equal parts proud and turned on. 
“Of course it’s you,” he murmurs, one hand under your chin to tilt your head up to him. “Of course I love you. You’re my best friend.”
------
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kimberly-spirits13 · 4 years
Text
Right Hand Man (Loyal to the End) Pt. 6
Pairing: Damian Wayne x reader
Synopsis: You were like Talia’s daughter. The only thing was that you weren’t and instead, you had grown up in the foster care system and at a young age were taken by and personally trained by Talia. Along the way, you meet Damian and the two of you start to work side by side and eventually, after some time become closer and closer. However, when disaster in the league strikes, you face balancing an old, forgotten life as a normal child and the burden of right hand to the demon heir.
Note: I know that this is long and that there are a good number of time skips, but I didn’t want to make this into a series and just wanted it as a long fic because .... well because I can lol
Also, I didn’t want to have Damian so young in this so just go with it. I’m thinking maybe early 15 or almost 16 at the most. Idk I just don’t like writing for young Dami.
Warnings: trauma induced habits (it’s really not anything serious), unhealthy sleep habits but I'm pretty sure everyone here has those
Word Count: 1897
Masterlist for Series
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It was three days later since you had mistakenly slammed Dick into the mats. You and Damian hadn’t talked about it at all seeing as you were trying to avoid the topic like the plague. Darkness had settled over the manor. Bruce and the rest were just back from their patrols and you were just getting ready for yours. It was unofficial at least. Today would have been your turn for the 2:30 am shift of patrol at the league. You couldn’t sleep at all with the thought of your responsibilities running through your mind. 20 minutes had passed of you battling yourself on the aspect of going out. It would be unnecessary, Mr. Wayne has the best security money could buy or make. You thought it through over and over again. What if an alarm didn’t trip off when an intruder came in? What if the manor was attacked and nothing happened to prevent it. With these thoughts overpowering the logic you tried to introduce, you got up and changed into your suit.
        Exiting from your window, you went on top of the manor. The roof was pretty massive seeing as this was a mansion. You looked up seeing the stars and thinking back to what it looked like at the compound. The biggest difference here was seeing the lights from the city in the distance and pine trees instead of endless mountains. You jumped from different points, quietly landing on others. As you did this, you scanned the area and moved on if you didn’t see anything strange.
In the Manor:
        “It looks like she’s patrolling the area.” Bruce said sitting back in his chair in front of the computers that were installed in the cave, “I don’t like it.”
        “Master Bruce, Miss. Y/N is merely practicing habit. Leave the child be.” Alfred said as he cleaned up his first aid tools from tonight’s patrol.
        “She could be plotting something. Getting intel, either way, she’s triggering my alarms.” Bruce responded.
        “Master Bruce! Enough of that.” Alfred raised his voice in disapproval, “This isn’t a normal household as you might have gathered. Everyone here deals with trauma differently. As a child when you picked up strange habits after ... your own set of traumas, I did nothing to stop you of such actions. I knew you’d grow out of it.”
        “I guess you’re right.” Bruce muttered.
        “Nothing new Master Bruce.” Alfred remarked walking into the other part of the cave.
        Bruce eventually left, turning the system off. He knew Alfred was right and even though he wanted to, he knew that there was no ill intent in your actions.
_______________________________________________________________________
        Back outside, you were still well underway in your patrol. You had only thirty minutes left and then you would be able to return to your bedroom. Everything was silent but for the crickets and occasional fire fly here and there. You marveled at their beauty once you figured out what they were. That was strange to see for the first time. Other than that, the only other sound was a new pair of footsteps coming from behind. You knew who it was without turning around.      
        “I thought I would find you here.” Damian said.
        “Well, I guess you thought right then Damian.” You replied perched on the side of the manor.
        “I assume this patrol is stemming from previous habits of yours?”
        “One might say that.” You gave him a side glance seeing that he was coming to sit by you, “Old habit.”
        “Closer to, a sign that you really aren’t taking this move well and are actually covering it up for the sake of reputation and your own personal expectations you have set for yourself.” Damian commented making you roll your eyes some.
        “Wow, caught red handed.” “In all actuality, you’re correct on many levels.” “I just needed something ... normal for a change.”
        “I understand.” He said shortly, “I heard father talking about a gala. Something to parade us around to the rich snobs and media as an introduction. I do not look forward to it.”
        “That sounds like one of the worst ideas I have heard in quite a long time.” You huffed, “And that’s saying quite a lot.”
        He chuckled but after that, everything fell back into silence. You carefully looked out over the grounds before being startled by the vibration and alarm of your phone.
        “Looks like my patrol has ended.” You said turning off the alarm, “I shall return inside. Care to join me?”
        “I will.”
_______________________________________________________________________
        From there, sleep was impossible to come by. You were plagued by nightmares which you never had before. It was probably since you weren’t constantly focusing on training or a mission you had convinced yourself. What you needed was something to focus on and that was what you got. You didn’t rely on coffee like Drake since you never had it to begin with at the league. For the first few days, no one noticed anything. That was what you had planned, however it was of course Damian who raised the first alarm. You were in the library catching up on some studies for ancient history and astronomy. The sunlight was streaming in golden beams through the windows and you were sitting at one of the tables wrapped up in one of the long jackets that you had gotten. Damian walked in to see you hunched over one of the books with your hair in a messy bun.
        “Y/N?” He asked quietly as to not scare you.
        “Mhmm?” You hummed in response giving him a quick glance of acknowledgement, flipping the page to a star map.
        “With all due respect, you seem tired as of late. When was the last time you slept?” He questioned sitting next to you examining the pile of books you had pulled.
        “Last night?”
        “But did you actually sleep an entire night last night? That is the real question.”
        “Why are you concerned on the hours of sleep I got Wayne?” You asked in return.
        He didn’t answer. The truth was that he was worried more than he’d care to admit. He knew that you had terrible dreams like he did, neither of you cared to talk about them at all. The memories of mornings where you’d come for training with dark circles and eyes flooded his conscious. Those days you were scarier and had less patience, though he’d never blame you for it since he understood the feeling for some part.
        “You never answered my question.” You said pulling him from his thoughts.
        “I-I... no reason, I was just making sure my right hand was in stable mind.”
        “Well, I am fine.” You glared at him for the comment, “I’m perfectly stable demon.”
_______________________________________________________________________
        That was a few days ago. You kept the exhaustion hidden well, especially considering you were in a house full of detectives. That didn’t mean you didn’t feel it though. You were bone tired and almost lagged along. Focus became harder to maintain and you felt yourself drifting on and off into sleep. Now you were in the training room running a simulation. It was an easier one you had to admit, but nothing enough to give anything away. Your moves weren’t sloppy, just not as pristine as typical. You also didn’t notice Damian walk inside of the cave to watch you. Rubbing your temple as you finished, you grabbed your water bottle and splashed some of the cold liquid on your face to wake you up. You turned around and were startled by Damian.
        “My apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He said reaching to grab your arms to keep you from hitting him from habit.
        “It’s fine.” You replied, “I just didn’t realize you were there.”
        “You never drop your guard like that. I think it’s time for you to sleep L/N.” He said, “I know you haven’t been getting any.”
        “I insist that I am fine.” You went to grab your duffle bag off of the floor with the intention of showering in the cave showers near the back. Standing up was the issue. With the worst light headed feeling you’d had in years you fell back down.
        “Y/N!” Damian grabbed you before you had totally hit the floor, “That makes it final, I’m making you sleep.”
        You mumbled an argument before totally passing out. There was no way of avoiding the obvious of you being passed out as he took you to your room.
        “Damian, what happened to Y/N?” Bruce asked alarmed standing up to see you completely out. Bruce wasn’t fazed by much, however, he wasn’t ready for that at all.
        “Lack of sleep.” Damian said shortly, “I think I know why.”
        Alfred followed him up the stairs explaining that he’d need to make sure you were okay other than not sleeping. He was sure that after a good night’s rest or so, you’d be fine. Damian knew though, that that was asking a lot from you no matter how simple it might be.
_______________________________________________________________________
        You awoke suddenly in your bedroom only to be surrounded by darkness and the light, delicate streams of moonlight shining dimly across the objects inside. You felt someone taking hold of your hand and immediately looked to see that it was Damian. Next to you, he was sitting in a chair with his head resting on the side of the bed and his hand around yours. With the shift in motion that you had caused, Damian awoke.
        “What are you doing?” You asked, a blush creeping across your face.
        “Oh- I,” He let go of your hand and rubbed the back of his neck, “I knew you needed to sleep and I also knew that you wouldn’t unless there was someone with you.” “I just didn’t think you’d want me to be in the be-“
        “I-I understand.” You replied, “Thank you.”
        “I will leave now.” He got up.
        “Damian I ... you were right about the sleeping bit. I actually wouldn’t mind if you stayed.”
        “I see.” He sat back down in the chair.
        “Damian, I’ve known you since we were three, you can sleep in the bed.” “If you’d prefer, there’s an extra quilt you could use in the closet.”
        “Are you sure?” He asked standing back up.
        “Positive.”
        Damian retrieved the quilt from your closet and returned quietly, getting on the bed. You stayed under the original bedding and he slept on top of it. There was a distance that was kept between you two since it would be strange for you to be any closer. You were just close friends and nothing more. Although, that thought made you a bit upset. When you did finally awaken however, you were startled to see that you were tangled in the covers laying as close as possible to him. Damian’s arms were draped over you holding you tightly and neither of you cared to talk about it.
        That did however start a routine of going into each other’s rooms for sleeping. You didn’t classify it as a romantic or intimate thing. It was saved for whenever either of you had dreams terrible enough that you didn’t want to be alone anymore. At night, you might have been awakened by Damian coming into your room and getting into the bed only for you to keep close to him or it would be the other way around.
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@idkmanicantenglish​ @queengeorgiaaa​ @lucy-roo​ @reclusive-chicken-nugget​ @random-fandom-girl-24​
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Text
Precious (One-Shot)
M/F Pairing: Y/N x Choi San (Ateez)
Warnings: language, alcohol use, stripping? (lol is that a warning?)
Genre: Action AU; Spy AU
Word Count: 7K
Summary: Choi San is one of the best investigators in PD Kim Hongjoong’s agency, especially when it comes to the baddest mafia gangs. However, despite the inherent risk of his job, nothing could shock him more than the discovery that his wife might be cheating on him with another man!
A/N: This is actually based on a scene from the movie True Lies. Oh, and go hard San, like damn! 👇
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San understood the inherent risk of chasing down mafia gangs who always tried their best to test his patience, especially when it involved saving their own ass. However, it made his job much easier when the ones he targeted would quickly betray their own men without any hesitation. For example, when San first brought the agency’s newest scumbag into the interrogation room, he sat him down underneath the low-hanging lamp with his hands tied behind the chair. And San fully expected to encounter another stubborn punk who insisted that he didn’t know anything about the drug cartel that San was investigating. Of course, that would be utter bullshit, but San was also pleasantly surprised to find a man who was balling his eyes out while begging San to spare his life.
“What if I don’t think you deserve to live?” San asked the man, toying with the knife that he held in his hand.
“Please!” the man cried. “I’ll tell you anything!”
“Yeah? Who do you work for?”
“Kim! From the downtown shipyard,” the man said, spilling his secrets as freely as the tears that were falling down his greasy mug.
“That so?” San asked, circling around the man who whimpered when he could no longer see him.
“I’m being cooperative, sir, just cut me some slack!”
San laughed. “What’s Kim doing these days?”
“I don’t know! He’s messing around with some gang downtown, but they aren’t expecting a new shipment until this weekend.”
“What kind of shipment?”
“Cocaine, marijuana, heroin...the usual shit!”
“Who’s he selling to?”
“It’s just a couple of local dealers. He wants them to buy strictly from his organization.”
“Really?” San asked, humming thoughtfully to himself. “What time?”
“Midnight on the East Dock! There’s a boat coming in with the product!”
San sighed because he was somewhat disappointed that the asshole was so compliant. It meant that he couldn’t play with him using his favorite set of knives. “I guess I’ll let the rest of my men deal with you.”
San immediately started for the door, smirking when he could hear the guy calling out to him: “What do you mean!? I told you everything!”
He closed the door quietly, turning to look at his partner Wooyoung who was waiting expectantly with a cheap cup of coffee in hand. “Well?”
“Check the tape,” San said. “He spilled everything.”
“Hell, yeah, dude,” Wooyoung cheered. “I can finally go home before fucking midnight.”
San’s shoulders dropped as he checked the time. “Damn, that means I’m late.”
“Late?”
“My wife was throwing me some kind of birthday party tonight,” San said, already dreading the idea of facing Y/N’s disappointment when he returned home.
“Hey, I’m sure Y/N will understand,” Wooyoung said. “This happens all the time, right?”
San glared at his friend because that comment certainly wasn’t helpful. “Because I have to stay at work all the time.”
“Dude, seriously? Everything’s fine,” Wooyoung continued. “Let’s go tell Hongjoong the good news and then you can go home and make love to your wife or whatever.”
San rolled his eyes, but quietly acquiesced, and he followed Wooyoung as he led them both into the main control room. He was already waiting for them by the time they arrived, and Kim Hongjoong, despite his smaller stature, was one of the most intimidating men that San had ever met. Not only was he in charge of their private detective agency, but he also regularly tracked down some of the most ruthless gang members with ruthless accuracy, leading investigations with a confidence that defined his character.
Hongjoong also spent most of his time at the agency when he wasn’t participating in field work, and San offered him a generous nod as Wooyoung collapsed into one of the leather chairs. “Well?” Hongjoong asked, looking at San with a stern expression.
“He told me everything,” San said, smirking at a video of Park Seonghwa who had just entered the interrogation room on the screen monitor. He could see their unfortunate suspect pleading with Seonghwa as he attempted to slide the chair into the farthest corner of the room.
“Good,” Hongjoong replied. “He didn’t seem very aggressive.”
“He cried like a little bitch,” Wooyoung said.
“Anyway,” San interrupted. “I’m going home, Hongjoong. My wife is waiting for me.”
“Ah, well give her my best,” Hongjoong said, but San couldn’t help but frown at the comment because it was Hongjoong’s fault that his wife thought he was an insurance agent since they were undercover. Of course, San was also responsible because he wanted to keep his wife safe from the mafia gangs that they dealt with on a regular basis.
In any case, San bowed respectfully, and left the two men behind as Wooyoung launched into another story about his most recent exploit involving a girl from a bar downtown.
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The lights were off when San finally entered his house, humming to himself because he wasn’t sure if his wife had gone to sleep. After all, she had made the time for his dinner at 9:00 PM, and San was several hours overdue. He could only hope that she hadn’t put too much effort into preparations, but that sort of wishful thinking was quickly blown away when he walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, baby,” San said, hesitating because he noticed that his wife had her arms crossed over her chest, sitting at the table where the remnants of San’s surprise birthday party were waiting in the form of a delectable cake and several neatly wrapped presents. “I’m sorry.” He sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “It was a long day.”
“That’s what you always say,” Y/N replied, and San knew that he was in trouble.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he said, but the words rang hollow in his own ears because San knew that there would be more nights like this in the future.
“I’m tired, San,” she replied, lowering her gaze to the floor. “We can talk about this later.”
San nodded, and his eyes followed his wife’s form as she trudged up the stairs with an absence of her usual exuberance. He groaned when he sat down at the table in her place, feeling his heart break at the beautiful decorations complimenting the natural elegance of their dining room. He knew that this couldn’t continue, and San needed to do something to convince Y/N that he still cared about her, even if that meant ignoring some of his work-related responsibilities.
Subsequently, the next morning San called the office and asked Wooyoung to handle his morning meetings. His friend protested at first, but San drove a hard bargain when he offered him free lunch for the remainder of the week. Wooyoung was suddenly much more accepting, and San was feeling excited about the suprise that he had planned for his wife. As such, he drove to Y/N’s office to surprise her for an impromptu date to the best restaurant in the city.
As he rode the elevator to the corresponding floor, San checked the time on his watch, smiling when he realized that he would catch Y/N right before she usually left for lunch. He also studied his appearance in the reflecting panels of the elevator, nodding once in reassurance when he stepped out into the hallway, enduring the endless maze of office cubicles to find Y/N’s desk. “Don’t blow this San,” he said to himself before walking in her direction.
He was almost there when he heard one of the assistants mention his wife’s name. “Y/N, your mystery man is on the line!”
San paused, faltering in his steps when he heard Y/N’s voice answer the phone call. “Hello? Mike?”
“Mike?” He whispered to himself, shuffling closer to overhear the remainder of the conversation.
“Today?” Y/N questioned. “Of course, I can meet you for lunch.” San swallowed hard, trying not to jump to conclusions. “I’d love that!” Y/N giggled. “I’ll see you then.”
San quickly darted into one of the empty cubicles, holding his breath when Y/N passed him on the way out of the office. His shoulders instantly deflated, and he could feel a bitter rage churning inside his stomach. “What the hell?” he cursed, reaching for his phone to call Wooyoung because he was nothing short of pissed off and nobody was safe from his wrath.
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San watched from a distance as Wooyoung pulled up to the sidewalk, rolling down the window to greet San as he climbed into the passenger’s seat. “Hey, man,” Wooyoung said. “Welcome to the club. The same thing happened to me with wife number two, remember? She was a real piece of work.”
“But this is Y/N,” San argued, still shaken from the phone call. “She wouldn’t do this to me.”
“Hard to argue with the evidence,” Wooyoung said, shrugging like he wasn’t at all concerned. “Look, divorces are common these days. I’ll even let you crash on my couch.”
“It’s not going to happen,” San insisted. “There has to be something else.”
“What did you expect, San?” Wooyoung asked him. “You’re never there anymore.”
The brutal truth hit San like a freight train, and he fumbled with his seat-belt while holding out his cellphone. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not giving up on our marriage,” San said. “I’m fixing this before it gets any worse.”
Wooyoung’s eyes widened. “San, I don’t like that look on your face.”
“Relax,” San hissed, holding up the phone to his ear. He was pleased when one of the agency’s interns answered from the other end. “I’m coming back to the agency. I need someone to help me tap some phone lines.” 
“What!” Wooyoung screeched, but San ignored him as he shot off a series of orders to the poor intern who probably had no idea why San was so angry.
“Do it now!” San growled, assaulting the end phone call button before glaring out the windshield.
“San, are you fucking insane?” Wooyoung gasped. “This is a blatant misappropriation of funds! If Hongjoong finds out...”
“He won’t,” San interrupted. “Besides, I’m not doing anything that could hurt the agency.”
“But you’re talking about spying on your wife!”
“It’s not spying.”
“What the hell is your definition of spying, San?”
“Look, I’m just trying to keep this under control,” San retorted. “I would think that my friend might support me.”
“I do support you, San, but this is taking things too far!”
“Just drive back to the agency,” San growled. “I’m tired of arguing.”
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San was pleased when several interns greeted him at the main office of their agency’s building. “Mr. Choi, we have the phone wires tapped at the work location and home address that you gave us.”
“Good,” San said, ignoring the way that Wooyoung was trying to get his attention while they entered the recording room.
“San!” Wooyoung pouted, hurrying to match his friend’s pace. “This is insane!”
“Get me some tracking equipment,” San added, throwing the command to the intern who nodded.
“Tracking!” Wooyoung exclaimed. “You’re gonna follow her?”
“Also, make sure that Hongjoong doesn’t find out,” San said, and Wooyoung waved his hands wildly through the air.
“Earth to San! Doesn’t it seem suspicious when you can’t tell Hongjoong about this?”
“He’ll make a big deal out of nothing,” San replied, checking the monitors that were supposed to record his wife’s future phone conversations.
“Nothing? Does this qualify as anything less than treason!”
San turned to look at his frazzled friend, holding his hands behind his back. “I’ve got everything under control, okay? And I need you to bring the van to my house tonight. I can sneak out Y/N’s purse and we can stitch in the GPS.”
Wooyoung sighed. “Anything else, your majesty?”
“Less attitude would be nice,” San told him cheekily, leaving Wooyoung to fume quietly to himself. In the meantime, San had one of the interns help him load some equipment into his car, ignoring the curious looks that he received from the other agents. Because whenever they attempted to inquire about the equipment, San would lie and tell them that he was doing some reconnaissance work from home.
Which wasn’t that far from the truth.
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Later that night, San made sure that he was home early, surprising Y/N when he walked inside to offer her a gentle kiss in greeting. “San!” Y/N exclaimed. “You’re home?”
“Is that a problem?” San questioned.
“N-no,” Y/N stuttered. “But I wasn’t expecting you until later.”
“Hmmm...” San grinned. “I’ll be upstairs in the shower. Unless you want to join me?”
Y/N gasped, and her cheeks filled with an adorable blush. “Dinner...”
“It’s alright,” San said. “We can always mess around later.”
Y/N managed a nod which was nothing short of endearing, and San was even more convinced that he needed to keep a closer eye on his wife.
Thereafter, once he finished helping Y/N clean their dishes, they both returned to the bedroom upstairs. San immediately fell across the bed, enjoying the way that his mattress felt against his back after so many long hours at work. He also studied Y/N from the corner of his eye, formulating his next plan of action.
“I thought that we could have lunch tomorrow,” San said, and Y/N paused in front of the mirror.
“Oh,” she said. “I wish I had known sooner, babe, I’ve already made plans with some of my friends.”
“Really?” San asked, keeping a close eye on Y/N when he reached over onto the nightstand to grab her purse. “That sounds like fun.”
“It’s been a while,” she responded, covering her face with a delicate mask that gave San the perfect opportunity to quietly retreat into the bathroom. He immediately found the window above the sink, opening it just enough to toss out Y/N’s purse to an awaiting Wooyoung who was completely drenched from the rain.
“Yeah, thanks,” Wooyoung retorted, and San paused until he was around the corner of the house before returning to the bedroom.
“I’ll be right back,” San said, but Y/N was still distracted by the mess that she had made of her face mask. San chuckled to himself, hustling down the stairs to fling open the front door.
Thankfully, the agency’s van was parked in the driveway, and San waited by the door for Wooyoung who shakily offered him the purse. “You know, there’s still an opportunity for us to give up on this ridiculous plan.”
However, San’s silencing glare spoke louder than words. “What?”
“I mean, the GPS is at the bottom!” Wooyoung replied, flinching when San slammed the door in his face. 
In the meantime, San had re-entered the house with Y/N’s purse tucked under his coat, bringing it upstairs and returning it to its previous place on the nightstand. “Are you tried?” he asked Y/N, laying back down on the bed as he watched her.
“Yeah,” she said. “Do you have to be up early?”
“Not really,” San said, holding his breath as Y/N finally joined him on the bed. He carefully turned over on his side, dragging Y/N closer with one arm wrapped around her delicate waist. “You know,” he hesitated, “I feel really bad about coming home late.”
Y/N stiffened against his embrace. “Don’t worry about it.”
“It’s okay,” San said. “I should work on that. You deserve better.”
Y/N gave no acknowledgment of his comment. Instead, she muttered something about feeling exhausted because of work, and San simply nodded his head in response. “I love you, Y/N.”
However, Y/N didn’t offer anything in return, and San could feel his heart sinking low inside his chest.
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When San arrived to work the next morning, he decided to finally address the mounting pile of paperwork on his desk. It was mostly just an excuse to remain in the office because one of the interns, who he had assigned to watch over the phone lines, might come to him with developing information concerning Y/N. Thus, San was certain that he needed to remain on standby since he might receive an update at any moment.
Eventually, the work was starting to become tedious, and he glared at the clock when lunchtime rolled around, wondering if his wife was going on some kind of lunch date with her “mystery” man. But to San, he wasn’t much of a mystery, just some bastard who thought that he could try and seduce his wife. Which, of course, made him San’s rival, and there was nothing that he wanted more than to confront this man and beat the shit out of him.
His violent thoughts made San feel restless inside his office, and he decided to visit the interrogation office where the interns had been stationed. However, during his brief walk down the hallway, he thought about Y/N and her dismissive attitude towards him from the previous evening. Was his wife really no longer interested in him? Would San have enough guts to give her a divorce if she asked for it?
He shivered at the scenario, but the unexpected sight of Wooyoung talking with his interns provided a good distraction. “What’s going on?” San demanded when he walked into the room, and Wooyoung immediately hid something behind his back. 
“San!” Wooyoung exclaimed, refusing to meet his gaze.
“You’re holding something,” San said.
“No...”
San rolled his eyes, cornering Wooyoung against the wall before reaching behind him to snatch away the transcript that his interns had likely created for him. Ignoring Wooyoung’s complaints, San started reading over the words, frowning when he realized that it was a conversation between his wife and Mike. “They’re meeting for lunch,” San said. “I know this restaurant.”
“Oh?”
San turned to address his interns. “Anything else?”
“No, sir,” one of them responded, and San reached behind him for the collar of Wooyoung’s well-pressed shirt.
“You’re coming with me,” San said.
“Where?” Wooyoung asked, and San held up the transcript that his friend immediately objected. “That’s really taking this too far, San!”
“Are you on my side or not?”
Wooyoung hesitated, appearing entirely conflicted, so San made his decision for him. He snatched Wooyoung’s familiar car keys from one of the desks, and Wooyoung only had a brief moment of realization before he was rushing to catch-up to San on the way out the front door. Unfortunately, San was beyond reason, ignoring Wooyoung’s attempts at rational conversation by opening the driver’s side door. “Take us there,” San requested, tossing his keys into the air before making himself comfortable on the opposite side.
Wooyoung was grumbling when he switched on the ignition. “This is really low, San.”
“You’re supposed to be my friend and partner.”
“I am!” Wooyoung said, slowly guiding them out into traffic. “Which is why I’m the most qualified to give you relationship advice, and I think that spying on your wife is a hard pass.”
“Says the same guy who’s already been divorced twice!”
“Yeah, and that means I know when you’re doing something wrong,” Wooyoung said. “And that we're doing right now? Wrong!”
“Just drive,” San insisted, and Wooyoung must’ve realized that his friend was stoically determined to follow through with his plan because he started quietly driving the rest of the way to the restaurant. “Pull in at the front,” San instructed him.
Wooyoung turned off the ignition, sighing as he leaned back in his seat. “There’s Y/N’s car.”
“Turn on the audio,” San said. “You put the microphone in her purse, right?”
“I stitched it myself,” Wooyung confirmed, reaching down to twist the knob on the machine attached to the radio.
There was mostly static until two distinct voices filled the rest of the car. “Hey, I’m so glad to see you,” a male voice said, and San assumed that it belonged to this Mike character.
“Of course,” Y/N responded timidly. “What did you need?”
“It’s important,” Mile said. “I think they’re coming for me tonight.”
“Tonight?” Y/N gasped, and San and Wooyoung exchanged a quick look.
“You’ll be there for me, right?” Mike asked, and San wrinkled his nose at the disgusting tone. “I have something to ask you.”
“Yes?”
“I can’t tell you until it’s safer,” Mike said. “Come home with me, tonight. We can talk in a place where they can’t follow us.”
“Damn, this guy moves fast!” Wooyoung laughed, but he immediately stopped when he noticed San’s fierce expression. “Oh, shit, I mean, that sleazy scumbag! Who does he think he is?”
“Just shut up,” San said, leaning in closer to the radio because Y/N was talking again.
“I have work until 5,” Y/N said.
“I’ll pick you up outside the office,” Mike replied, and there was a sound that reminded San suspiciously of the noise that he associated with Y/N’s delicate kisses.
“I’m beating the shit out of this bastard,” San declared, and Wooyoung shivered at his dangerous tone.
“Are we following them later?”
“Absolutely,” San agreed, reaching over to grab the GPS tracker. “I’m putting an end to this bullshit!”
Wooyoung simply nodded because he knew that San was past the point of talking him back from over the edge.
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However, San was usually the type who could control his temper. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time when he had experienced what some might call “blind rage,” but he came pretty close when he watched his wife get in a stranger’s car without any hesitation. Consequently, San was forced to take several deep breaths to clear the red clouding his vision, waiting until he was mostly clear-headed again to open his eyes. Thankfully, Wooyoung was already following Y/N and Mike, maintaining a safe distance so that they wouldn’t suspect anything.
“Keep on that car until they stop,” San instructed his friend, gripping tightly to the dash while they continued to follow Y/N and Mike through the relatively empty streets.
After twenty minutes of tense driving, they finally pulled into a modest apartment complex where Mike pulled in the driveway of one of the units. “He lives there?” Wooyoung asked, driving past their car.
“Turn back around at the end of the road,” San said while pulling out his cellphone. “I’m calling for back-up.”
“Back-up?!” Wooyoung repeated, but it was too late to change San’s mind and he was already ordering most of Hongjoon’s agents off the street to arrive at the complex.
“This is insane!” Wooyoung loudly whispered, stopping his car at the sidewalk near Mike’s apartment just in time to see Y/N walking inside with the other man.
San reached behind him for the gun that he kept on the backseat. “You aren’t shooting him, are you?” Wooyoung asked, but San’s response was nothing but a crooked smirk as he re-loaded the weapon.
Much to Wooyoung’s horror, the other agents were also fast to arrive on the scene, and San greeted Yunho and Mingi who had been dealing with a drug bust downtown. “What do we got?” Mingi asked when he recognized San.
“Some kind of undercover exchange,” San lied. “Clear out the back of the van for me.”
“Do we have any details?”
“Two people,” San explained. “One man and a woman. The dude is complete trash and you can leave him to me, but the woman is innocent, so just try and get her out safely.”
“Yes, sir,” Yunho said, teasing San with the directive. 
“Get your agents ready,” San replied because he wasn’t in any mood to joke around.
Graciously, Yunho and Mingi immediately complied, shouting orders into their walkie-talkies while several agents emerged from around the house, completely dressed from head to tie in their uniforms. Actually, the entire complex was surrounded by Hongjoong’s agents with their sleek black cars, and various cases of equipment and weapons ready for their disposal. “Are you ready?” San asked Wooyoung, covering his face with a mask to disguise his identity.
Wooyoung did the same with a grunt. “I’m sure Y/N will never forget this night.”
San ignored him, checking the safety on his gun, before he stationed himself next to the front door of the apartment. He gave a signal to the agent across from him who nodded once, taking a step back to kick down the door with force, and chaos quickly unraveled as the small apartment was filled with dozens of armed men shouting and aiming their guns in the direction of the two people situated rather scandalously on the couch. 
San recognized Y/N’s screams, eyes widening when he noticed that Mike had somehow made himself rather comfortable in close proximity to his wife. San grabbed the sleazy bastard who was still between his wife’s thighs, jerking him back by the collar of his shirt. “You piece of shit,” San grunted, tossing the man onto the ground to cuff his hands.
“What’s happening!” Mike cried, struggling against San’s grip. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yeah, right, asshole,” San muttered, forcing Mike to stand on his own two feet again before searching for Wooyoung. “Get Y/N.”
Wooyoung nodded, approaching Y/N carefully because her eyes were filled with fear and she was looking around at all the action unfolding. “Let’s go, Ma’am,” Wooyoung said with a wince, trying his best to disguise his regular voice because Y/N might recognize him.
“Who are you?” Y/N demanded, but Wooyoung didn’t try to explain, reaching for her arm.
Y/N shrieked and fought against Wooyoung’s hold, even as Wooyoung maintained his grip. “Oh, come on, Y/N, don’t be like this.”
“You asshole!” Y/N screamed, turning around to knee Wooyoung between the legs and the younger man immediately collapsed to the ground.
“Holy shit,” Wooyoung cried. “That fucking hurt!”
His loud curse attracted San’s attention, and he brought Mike to another agent with strict directions to throw him in the back of the van. Meanwhile, he ran after Y/N who was flailing her arms while tripping in her high heels. “Damn,” San gasped, fighting for air when he finally caught up to Y/N. 
“Who are you people?!” Y/N shrieked, kicking out her legs when San wrapped an arm around her upper torso. He certainly hadn’t expected his wife to fight them so much, especially when she leaned down to bite him. However, he only groaned in complaint and fought against the pain while he managed to drag Y/N back to another agent’s car. 
“Take her to the agency,” San instructed one of the other men. “In the interrogation room.”
“Yes, sir,” the agent said, and San waited until he was driving off before he confronted Wooyoung who was still hunched over on his knees. 
“Come on,” San said, tapping his foot against him.
“You try getting kicked in the dick,” Wooyoung spat, using San’s suspenders to help himself back up. “God, you stupid prick,” Wooyung howled, still feeling the effects of Y/N’s kick while he flipped off Mingi and Yunho who were laughing at his expense.
“Job well done, gentlemen,” Yunho said, flashing San a quick thumbs-up as he settled himself behind the wheel of the van.
“Ignore him,” San told a still seething Wooyoung before they drove off in the direction of Hongjoong’s agency.
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The interrogation room was incredibly high-tech with an indestructible Plexiglas wall separating the room itself from the attached studio which was filled with expensive equipment. Wooyoung and San sat together in the studio, watching Y/N as she stormed around the room, screaming and yelling while demanding to be heard. “She’s something else,” Wooyoung remarked.
“Do we still have the voice changing microphone?” San asked.
“Of course,” Wooyoung said, reaching behind him for the appropriate instrument. “Let me get it ready.”
San nodded, thoughtfully considering Y/N who had passionately refused to sit down even after facing stern directions from one of the interns. She had always been passionate, refusing to give in to others, and it was a big part of the reason why San had fallen in love with her in the first place. It was also impossible to describe Y/N’s beauty because, even after such a long and chaotic evening, she still managed to look good in nothing but casual jeans and a simple blouse.
“Good evening, Mrs. Choi,” Wooyoung spoke into the mic, and his voice echoed inside the interrogation room. “We’d like to ask you some questions. It’s in your best interest to cooperate.”
However, Y/N appeared less than compliant, and she furiously slammed her hands against the glass. “Who are you! What do you want from me?”
“Calm down, Mrs. Choi,” Wooyoung said, flinching when San abruptly took the microphone from him.
“We found you with an incredibly dangerous man, Mrs. Choi,” San said. “Can you tell us how the two of you met?”
“Dangerous?” Y/N repeated, looking nothing short of confused. “Mike?”
“How do you know him?”
“We met when I was having lunch alone one day,” Y/N said. “He came up to me with a briefcase and said that he was being followed by some suspicious agents.”
“Why?”
“He works undercover,” Y/N explained. “His work seemed really important.”
“So important that you decided to help him?” San asked.
“Well,” Y/N hesitated. “He said he needed me.”
“Needed you in what way, Mrs. Choi?” Wooyoung took over, much to San’s displeasure.
Y/N narrowed her eyes. “What the hell are you insinuating?”
“Is it because your husband isn’t pleasing you anymore, Mrs. Choi?” Wooyoung asked, whining when San grabbed the microphone from him.
“Let me handle this,” San said, before turning his attention back to Y/N. “Why did you keep meeting him, even though you barely knew who he was?”
“I don’t know,” Y/N said, throwing out her hands desperately. “I guess it’s stupid, but I kinda liked that he was involved with something top secret. It seemed really special for me to be a part of it.”
“Special enough for you to cheat on your husband?” San practically spat into the microphone.
“Wait a minute! How do you know that I’m married?”
“We know everything, Mrs. Choi,” San said, quickly trying to make-up for his slip. “Did you sleep with him?”
“I hardly see how that’s any of our business!”
“Answer the question,” San insisted. “Your compliance with us could help your case.”
“My case?”
“Of course,” San said. “You were found with a wanted man. That makes you an accomplice.”
Wooyoung cleared his throat. “Isn’t that a little too much?”
San shook his head, determined to get to the bottom of things. “No, I didn’t,” Y/N finally said. “Satisfied?”
“Were you attracted to him?”
“No!” Y/N cried. “What do these questions have to do with anything?”
“I just have one more thing for you, Mrs. Choi,” San said, taking a deep breath as he braced himself for the answer. “Do you still love your husband?”
Y/N sighed, looking around the steel-gray walls of the room. “Yes,” she said. “I still love him.”
“Terrific!” Wooyoung whispered. “She still loves you! Everything's fine.”
However, San still had one more thing in mind. “You want some adventure in your life, Mrs. Choi,” San said carefully. “That’s good because we might have a solution to our problem concerning your association with Mike. Otherwise, we’ll have to turn you into the authorities.”
“Well!” Y/N exclaimed. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”
Wooyoung covered the microphone, looking at San with suspicious eyes. “What the hell are you planning?”
San smirked at Wooyoung. “If she wants some excitement, then I’m going to give it to her.”
Wooyoung rolled his eyes, but remained silent. “Mrs. Choi,” San said. “How do you feel about doing some undercover work for us?”
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After ensuring that one of the agency’s interns could safely return Y/N home, Wooyoung and San drove quietly to the edge of town to deal with Mike. They pulled the van off the road next to a large overpass, dragging him out screaming and crying from the back. But despite his attempts to break free, San held him perilously at the edge of an enormous dam. “Please,” Mike cried. “Don’t kill me.”
San rolled his eyes, even though Mike probably couldn’t tell from behind his mask. “Did you really think you could get away with it?”
“What are you talking about?” Mike questioned. “You’ve got the wrong guy!”
“It’s all over,” Wooyoung said. “Your career as a spy is well-documented.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No, seriously, I’m just a car salesman,” Mike cried. “I’ve never done anything wrong!”
“Why did we find you with that young woman?” San asked. “We overheard you telling her all about your secret as a spy!”
“It’s only because I have to lie to get laid,” Mike said. “I made the whole thing up because I was trying to impress her!”
“A married woman?” San asked.
“I’m sorry,” Mike said, and there were actual tears streaming down his face. “I’m the biggest coward in the world!”
“Get the fuck out of here,” San grunted, jerking Mike’s hands free from his shirt.
“As soon as I’m not looking I know that you’re gonna shoot me!” Mike declared, walking backwards as he looked back and forth between San and Wooyoung.
San pushed him out of the way, reaching for the driver’s side door of the van. Meanwhile, Wooyoung turned around to confront the frazzled man. He reached for his gun, firing off a few rounds into the air while Mile immediately covered his head. “Fuck off, dude.’”
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One Week Later
The hotel made for the perfect cover, and an ideal situation to carry out San’s plan for his wife, even if Wooyoung was less than enthusiastic. He was currently helping San arrange the room to his liking, moving one of the chairs into the shadows of the curtains. His partner also handed San a tape recorder, and San smiled at him gratefully. “Look,” Wooyoung said. “I had one of the interns record some shit. Just play the phrases whenever you need to talk to her.”
It was a good way to disguise his voice, and sitting in the corner would help keep his identity protected. “Did you arrange everything with her?” San asked.
“We had an agent call the house earlier with instructions,” Wooyoung said. “We told her that she was meeting a man who’d be expecting an exotic dancer. She’s supposed to tell you that the regular girl is sick.”
“What did you ask her to do?”
“We dropped off an envelope by her office,” Wooyoung explained. “Her job is to plant the bug on the nightstand without you noticing.”
San chuckled. “And who does she think I am exactly?”
“A very wealthy man,” Wooyoung said, reaching for his phone when it started ringing. He answered in quietly, stepping off to the side of the room while San finished arranging a bouquet of roses next to the little side table where he would be sitting for most of the night. Despite the fact that this whole night had been his idea, he was still nervous about how his wife would handle everything, and there was inherent risk of exposing his identity that he was trying to ignore.
“She’s on her way up,” Wooyoung announced.
“Then, you should go,” San said, ushering Wooyoung towards the door, even while his partner flipped off the light switches as he passed them.
“I’ll be in the lobby in case something goes horribly wrong,” Wooyoung said. “Since it might considering how insane this entire plan is!”
“Relax,” San said, giving him a friendly pat on the ass. “I have everything under control.”
Wooyoung still appeared doubtful, but he gave his friend the benefit of the doubt, and San made sure that the door was closed and unlocked before he settled himself on the chair that he placed in the corner of the room. He sat down with a nervous exhale, wondering if he should cross his legs or not, and he held the tape recorder behind him. There was no turning back from the plan, and San anxiously anticipated Y/N’s arrival, finally deciding to leave his legs spread out in front of him.
It was only a few minutes later that he heard the sound of the front door opening, waiting with a pounding heart as Y/N entered the room. San swallowed hard when Y/N approached, wearing one of the sexiest dresses that he had ever seen in his entire life. His eyes trailed down the skin of her exposed legs, moving back up again to pause on the tight fit around her breasts. He cleared his throat and reached behind him for the tape recorder. “What’s your name?” 
San jumped when he noticed that the recording's voice was much deeper than his, and it was also slightly accented.
“Y/N,” she whispered, and her tone certainly didn’t match the intimidating outfit that she wore. “The regular girl was sick, but she thought you would like me.”
“Let me determine that for myself.”
Y/N nodded, reaching behind her for the zipper, but San quickly rewound the tape. “No, do it slowly for me.”
She was hesitant, but San sat up straighter when she turned around to undo the zipper on the back of the dress, allowing it to fall onto the floor. San cleared his throat, taking in the sight of Y/N wearing a black set of lingerie, and the panties barely covered her ass when she made a complete circle to look at San again for directions. “Dance for me,” the recording instructed. “I want to see how sexy you are.”
Y/N paused while San reached out to turn on the radio, adjusting the volume for the heavy bass song that began to play throughout the room. San waited, taking in a deep breath when her hips started to move, and it was awkward at first, until she finally found the beat, dragging her hands over her gorgeous body. San watched as her hands traveled over her breasts, moving them down sensuously to tease the waistband of her underwear.
At this point, San’s heart was practically leaping into his throat, and the music sounded unbelievably loud inside his ears. Y/N was clearly distracted by her own dancing, closing her eyes as she continued to hypnotize San with the tantalizing way that she undulated her hips. San groaned at the display because he was uncomfortably hard in his black trousers, reaching down to adjust himself as he watched Y/N grind herself against the bed post.
She dropped lower to the ground, pushing her ass out in San’s direction, and every bit of blood in his body had moved south to fill his cock. It took everything that he had not to launch himself at his wife who was using the post as support to sway her body from side to side. San closed his eyes, leaning over to turn down the radio so that Y/N could hear the tape recorder again.
“Lie on the bed and close your eyes.”
Y/N stumbled in her heels at the unexpected order, but she still obeyed, gently lowering herself vertically across the hotel’s king-sized bed. In the meantime, San took a flower from the vase next to him, walking over to Y/N to drag the velvety petals against her smooth skin. He was unable to help himself when he joined her on the edge of the bed, leaning down to claim Y/N’s irresistible red-glossed lips.  
He moaned against her mouth, resisting the urge to climb his fingers along her beautiful skin that was practically glowing from the light penetrating through the curtains. It had been a long time since he had kissed his wife so passionately, and he was determined to make her feel good tonight. Of course, distracted by the moment’s pleasures, San failed to realize that Y/N had grabbed the alarm clock from the corner of the nightstand until she was hitting him over the head with the offending object. “Pervert!” she shouted, immediately rising from the bed. San grunted as he collapsed to the floor, feeling the dizzying effects of the hit that he had just taken courtesy of his wife’s powerful aim.
However, he quickly came to realize that Y/N was trying to put on her dress while limping haphazardly for the exit. “Y/N,” San shouted, and his wife paused. “It’s me!” He removed the mask and held up his hands, watching Y/N’s eyes grow wide with shock.
“San?” she gasped, and her entire body was suddenly shaking.
“Yes, it’s me,” San whispered, hoping to calm her down.
“H-How?” she asked, clutching the dress tightly to her chest.
“I’m not an insurance agent,” San said, carefully approaching his wife like she might flee at any moment. “I work for a private detective’s office downtown, but I had to lie because I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“What?” Y/N questioned, pulling at the strands of her hair as if she couldn’t process anything that he was saying. “None of this makes sense!”
“It was me that night with Mike or whoever,” San revealed. “I interrogated you in that room, and I had some of the agents organize this night for us!”
“San, you sound insane right now!” Y/N said.
“I know,” San agreed, trying to reach out for Y/N, but she quickly took another step back. “I’m so sorry for everything, baby. I couldn’t stand the thought of you getting hurt because of the stuff that I did at work, so I made up a cover to protect you!”
“You?” Y/N repeated, and San wasn’t sure if it was a question or just his wife’s attempt to make sense of everything. “Y-you're being honest? This was your idea?”
San nodded. “Look, I have a badge and everything,” he said, reaching into his pocket to extract his wallet, holding it out for Y/N who took it with narrowed eyes. “I’ve been working at the agency for years. That’s I’m always home so late because my cases sometimes are more difficult than others.”
Y/N had taken out his badge, studying it with an expression that he had never seen from his wife before. Finally, she dropped the wallet and badge onto the floor, inhaling once as she addressed him. “I can’t believe you’ve lied to me.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” San said, desperately trying to make amends. “I know it was wrong to keep this from you, but I thought it would help you.”
“Help me?” Y/N spat. “Really, San? Because I love thinking that my husband is an insurance agent who spends all night at his office, but it turns out that he’s secretly keeping another identity from me since he could actually die!”
“I’m hardly ever in danger,” San said, but he realized that Y/N wasn’t quite as accepting. 
“And what’s this dancing thing all about?” she asked. “You literally tricked me into coming here so you could watch me dry hump the bed?”
“That’s not it, Y/N,” San said. “I- I heard what you said in the interrogation room. You said that you wanted to do something special.”
“But not after my husband lied to me!” Y/N said, meeting San across the room to sharply push against his shoulders. “Is our marriage a cover too?”
“Of course not,” San said, shaking his head. “Y/N, I love you more than anything else in the world.”
“If you loved me, then we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Y/N said. “I feel humiliated!”
“I’m sorry,” San tried again. “This is all my fault, and you can hate me for the rest of your life, but I never wanted to hurt you. Because I’ve loved you long before I became an agent, and I just want you to know that I care about your happiness, even if sometimes seems like I’m the world’s biggest asshole.”
Y/N sniffled, studying San for several long moments. “I believe that you love me,” she finally said. “And I still love you too, but we’re gonna talk about this! Do you hear me?”
“Of course,” San agreed.
“Especially about this disaster,” she continued. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Well,” San said, searching for the correct words. “You look really hot...”
“Shit! I’m still fucking mad at you!” Y/N said, but there was also a carnal energy in her eyes that had San hesitating. “I swear to God I’ll make you pay for this!”
“Is that a promise?” San asked, and Y/N didn’t hesitate to throw her weight against him in a furious kiss as they both landed on top of the luxury bed.
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stusbunker · 4 years
Text
What Lingers Within: One
A Supernatural Fan-fiction Mini Series
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Featuring: Dean Winchester x Reader
Written for: @thisismysecrethappyplace
Prompt: Amnesia
Word Count: 1615 (This was originally a drabble)
AMAZING BETA’ing by: @itmighthavebeenintentional​
Lovely aesthetic and beta’ing by: @thoughtslikeaminefield​
Summary: Reader witnesses the impossible and is thrust into the world of monsters. Unbeknownst to her, Dean has to face the consequences of old choices. Set in season eleven.
Warnings: Trauma as a witness to a show level violent case. Angst.
^*^*^
               All sound morphed into a dense absence, mere gentle rumbles around you as your thoughts spilled over the terror of the last two hours. It was over; you were safe. But that didn’t matter, because your body and mind were still processing, and the weight of the memories fought against your every rational belief. 
               Vampires were real. Stephenie Meyer was fucking right. Well, almost right; daylight barely affected them. The image of Chase, your co-worker, slumped beside the dumpster was peaceful compared to the sight of the monsters as they tore into the girl from the sandwich shop who had stepped out for a quick vape break.
               Somehow you dropped the trash and made it back inside. Sputtering it all out when Katelyn insisted you show her what you were talking about. The cops got called and that was when the real shit hit the fan. 
              They barked at you, patronizing and full of disbelief. Of course, you knew how it sounded, but the bodies told no lies. No one knew what to say to you and so they said nothing. 
              With the rest of the day’s work left for some untouchable future, you got yourself home in a fog. Suddenly trapped in a perpetual state of in-between, you crawled into bed, fully clothed and let the darkness claim you.
^*^*^
               “‘What seemed like a Halloween prank call quickly became a horrific afternoon on the Westside yesterday. Two victims found on the scene were drained of blood and covered in what could only be bite wounds. Police admit to increased drug activity in the area, but’---- yeah, they aren’t going to call it what it is. So, you wanna take it?” Sam called over his shoulder.
               “Vamps with a death wish? Hell yeah,” Dean agreed, leaning over to look at the laptop screen.
               They were on the road in less than an hour, the Impala rumbling east as Sam delved deeper. One name popped up in every report under witness, sinking his stomach. It could have been worse; it could have been in the victim box. Though he had sworn to never speak of her again, Dean needed to know what they were walking into.
               “You know maybe we should just pass on this one,” Sam offered awkwardly.
               Dean recoiled and gave Sam the side eye. “You find something else? I mean, they’re not usually this obvious, but these vamps are dropping bodies, Sam.”
               “Yeah, I know, it’s just--- look, I should’ve read more before we got on the road. But now that I have, I’m not sure this is the right case for--- you.” Sam was digging himself deeper the longer he talked.
               Dean’s eyebrows hitched. “You wanna try that again?”
               “It’s just, the only eye-witness is somebody we know, Dean,” Sam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
               “So--- who is it?” Dean tore his eyes from the road completely.
               Sam pursed his lips and glared at his brother. It took Dean longer to piece together than Sam thought it would, but it had been four years. With everything that Dean had been through the past few years, it shouldn’t have surprised Sam.
               “You promised,” Dean swallowed the rest of the accusation.
               “I know. I didn’t---,” Sam was cut short.
               “Yeah? Well...” Dean trailed off. With a dejected sigh, he rubbed the back of his fingers over his three-day-old stubble. “At least it isn’t an Amara thing she got dragged into.”
               Sam paused over the silver lining, noting how the engine grumbled under Dean’s heavy boot.
^*^*^
               Waking to heavy knocks on your apartment door, you resurfaced. 
               The strain from the day before faded with groggy waking actions. As you scanned your room for the time, you realized you had slept straight through into the next day. You pointedly ignored your phone; work could wait. You straightened your shirt and stumbled down the short hallway, trying to guess who could be on the other side of the door. Looking through the peephole, you were at a loss. 
              Two guys in suits stood outside. Suddenly nervous you did something wrong, you called out. “Who is it?”
               “FBI, Ms. We have some follow up questions from the incident yesterday,” the one with long hair replied. His voice was soothing, so much more so than the police at the scene. 
               The horror flooded back into your mind and you put your weight onto the doorknob to steady yourself. Your eyes closed against the onslaught. You shook your head against the rush of warmth, and took a deep breath as you pulled the door open.
               The two agents bowed their heads slightly, IDs open and eyes almost apologetic as you put on your best listening face. The scruffy one lingered in the doorway when you gestured them inside. They seemed to have a silent conversation behind your back, and you tried not to read into it, playing with your bedhead as you decided to make a pot of coffee. 
All cops liked coffee, didn’t they?
               “Nice place,” Agent Colfax, the long-haired one, complimented.
               “Thanks, I’ve only been here a few months, but I like it,” you replied, leading them to the small table in the kitchen. 
                They seemed to dwarf your minimal furniture, filling a space that you generally ignored. You remained standing as they asked their questions. Not once did they belittle you or what you saw. Despite their bulk you felt at ease, free to answer honestly. They assured you they were trained to handle this type of assailant. They didn’t confirm or deny your assumptions.
               “I think that’s all our questions for now,” Agent Colfax looked to his partner. “Unless you have anything to add, Agent Berkman?”
               The scruffy one cleared his throat; it wasn’t until then you realized that he hadn’t spoken the entire time. “You said you moved here a few months ago? Any particular reason?”
               His voice was like crunching leaves, rich and satisfying in its resonance. Confused by the change in subject you looked to the ceiling for clarity. “Honestly? I had a pretty bad break up and I guess I needed someplace I could make my own.”
               He swallowed. “Sorry to hear that.” 
               He gave you a reassuring smile, but it fell flat. That was until his green eyes held on to yours, almost like he was searching for something. They were bright and attentive, nearly hypnotic. You felt a warmth spread over your cheeks and down your neck, but it wasn’t from embarrassment; it was welcome comfort after everything you had just re-lived. You felt intensely safe.
               “Right--- thank you for your time,” Agent Colfax interrupted, breaking through what could only be described as a staring match. 
                You blushed, pulling yourself out of the trance. You showed the agents out and decidedly locked and deadbolted the door.
^*^*^
               Dean was trying to hide the way his hands were shaking as he opened the driver’s side door. Sam was watching him with something between annoyance and pity, but Dean wasn’t up for the commentary. Seeing her again after so long was like having bricks stacked in his gut while every thought in his head evaporated.
               On the way to the medical examiner’s office, Sam broke the silence. “She seems good.”
               Dean glared.
               “Other than seeing people being killed by vampires, I mean,” Sam finished.
               “Because we just left her place, I’m giving you a pass, Sammy. But mention her again and I will break your fucking nose,” Dean hissed.
               “Whoa, hey! I’m just saying she’s safe in a quiet, normal life, Dean. Isn’t that what you wanted? When you had Cas...?” Sam pressed.
               Dean hit the steering wheel. “I don’t know what I wanted, but it wasn’t this!” Dean’s eyes left the road and speared Sam to the spot.
“I wanted her out of this stuff, man. Not half-broken and alone in a new city crawling with vamps who don’t even play by the rules.”
               “So, we take care of it,” Sam eased off, head tilted and brow imploring. “She’ll be fine, Dean.”
               Dean dragged his hand down his lips. “Yeah, she better be.”
               They sat in silence the rest of the trip, rush hour slowing them down. By the time they scoped out the bodies it was dark. Working a perimeter from the crime scene slowly gave them the location of the nest, an abandoned subway station accessible through a crumbling sewer maintenance shaft. The vampires stood no chance against a revenge-fueled Dean Winchester. Sam agreed to leave the bodies, five in all, as an underground fire would cause an immediate investigation. Who knew when the skeletons would be discovered anyway.
               By the time they got back to their motel, it was too late to buy beer, which gave Dean the excuse to head out for a drink. After showering Dean suggested the hole-in-the-wall down the block. Sam reluctantly let his brother head out alone, claiming he was just going to call it a night. 
               Dean drove right past the bar and Sam watched him do it. They both knew where he was going, it was a practiced dance; build a wall but ignore the window.
               Dean sat in the Impala and stared at her apartment, he even laughed at himself for a spell. He watched the colors from her flat screen shine against the violet night, morphed by the floor length curtains. 
               She always liked a space to have a lot of natural light; she would’ve hated the bunker. That didn’t matter now. She was home safe. But being Dean, he needed to double check. 
               Flask in hand, Dean continued to pine for her the remainder of the night, lost in memories of a time when they were almost happy.
^*^*^
Tags: @flamencodiva​ @dolphincliffs​  @dontshootmespence​ @thoughtslikeaminefield​  @fangirlxwritesx67 @dawnie1988​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @cosicas-cuquis​ @foxyjwls007​ @tumbler-tidbits​ @defenderrosetyler​ @ericaprice2008​ @princessofthefandomrealm​ @wingedcatninja​​
^*^*^
Read On: Chapter Two
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bluewhale52 · 3 years
Text
Little Black Book: The One You Hate (M)
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Summary: There are a few names in your Little Black Book, and these seven hold a special place in your heart. Now that you are closing that chapter in your life, you reminisce the time and experience you have had with your seven favourite men, especially with Kim Seokjin, the one you hate.
Pairing: Seokjin x female reader
Rating: Explicit. NO MINORS ALLOWED.
Genre: nonidol!au, strangers to lovers, friends with benefit
WC: 3.9k
Warning: swearing, car blowjob, ass slapping, OC loves going down on Seokjin, sex against a window, sex between coworkers, love-hate relationship between OC and Seokjin (more on OC). I guess that’s about it....
A/N: Many, many, many thanks to @rainbhrts94​ for beta-ing this piece. I was experiencing a burnout and having a hard time putting all my thoughts together, and her reviews and suggestions totally helped getting this fic into its final form. Thank you!! 
Little Black Book Masterlist 
Kim Seokjin was the bane of your existence. 
The cocky, arrogant IP attorney from the New York office had everyone on your floor in an uproar for weeks. You had seen him making one of the conference rooms his home away from home, with a hoard of lawyers and secretaries going in and out at his beckoning. You were watching them with jealousy. Sure, you were a mere junior in the firm and therefore the lowest in the food chain (just slightly above the interns), but you really wanted to be part of the action. 
Then, somehow, during his  last few days in Seoul, you were picked to help him and his team. Your excitement soon turned sour, as you were constantly on coffee and photocopy duties. How could you prove your worth when you were too busy being worked as Kim Seokjin’s personal server? Why couldn’t he ask one of his groupies? There were plenty of secretaries and PAs throwing themselves at him; you bet one of them would be happy to do this... THIS menial job. It was truly beneath your job description, and you started to simply, truly hate the man.
If that was really the case though, how did you end up in his luxury rental car, bending over towards the driver seat, sucking his cock? How did your mouth end up around his shaft, while your saliva dripped down and coated your fingers around his base? Why were your panties getting wetter with every moan and groan that left his lips? Why did you wish he would just spank your ass instead of tugging your hair? Why, when he came, did you gobble up his seed so greedily and lick him clean? Why did you even feel the need to stick your tongue out to him to show him you had swallowed every single drop?
Seokjin exhaled sharply then looked over at you as he tucked himself back in. “You do this with every visiting attorney?” He leered at you.
You rolled your eyes. “Just the one that pisses me off.”
He chuckled. “I should piss you off more then.”
“Are you going to drive me home or what?”
Seokjin started his car. The engine purred, and you pressed your thighs closer together at the soft vibrations that went through the car. “I promised I’d buy you dinner first, didn’t I?”
You flashed him a saccharine smile. “I had a meal already, thanks.”
Seokjin sniggered as he pulled out of the parking lot. He had offered to drive you home - “the least I can do after all your hard work this week” he had said- and while your little apartment was at the other end of the city from the five-star hotel he was staying, it was indeed the least he could do for you. So when you had settled in his car and buckled your seatbelt, after he had asked if he could buy you dinner, you- in your frustration, because you hated him and you just wanted to go home (god, was that too much to ask)- muttered under your breath on how you would rather suck his dick than have dinner with him. 
You had been taken aback when he broke into a brazen smile, challenging you to eat your own words, and damned if you were going to back down. Deep down, you had wanted to see if this perfect man with the perfect face and the perfect suits tailored around his perfect body (he had legs that went for miles, you hated to admit), also had the perfect dick. 
It turned out that he did, and his perfect dick was perfectly hard when you unzipped him. And so, that was how you went down on Kim Seokjin, giving him a near perfect blowjob, in his car, in the basement parking lot of your firm. (Near perfect because honestly, you could have done a lot more had you had more ample space to move.)
You stole a glance at Seokjin as he drove. His side profile was sharp and too good to be true. Flashes of lights only further highlighted his jaw and cheekbones. You looked away, pouting. 
“I’m flying back tomorrow evening.” He broke the silence. “You gonna miss me?”
You scoffed. “You wish. I’ll finally be able to do real work rather than making you coffee.”
He had the gall to laugh. “I’ll be back in two months. Don’t worry.”
The rest of the drive was quiet. How did you get into this? How could you possibly be so horny for him? Was it your dislike for him that made you like this? You should have known better than blowing him in his car just now. What if he started shooting his mouth off in the office? Or worse, in your personal promised land, THE New York office?
“Seokjin,” you started, “about what happened just now, I’d appreciate it if you keep it to yourself.”
“Of course, I’m not Yuna.”
You tilted your head at the name. Yuna was one of the senior partners’ secretary. “What do you mean?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know? She’s been telling everyone how good I was in bed.”
“You slept with her?” You couldn’t mask your surprise. “I didn’t hear anything about it. I must’ve been so out of loop with the rumor mills. Wait… Is that why you’ve been asking me to do all that shit? So you don’t have to deal with her?”
“Smart girl.” Seokjin made a turn, stopping just outside your apartment complex. He turned off the engine.
“And here I thought you liked my coffee. And how I photocopied your endless documents.” You said dryly. “Thanks for the ride.”
Seokjin stopped you before you exited his car. “Aren’t you going to invite me to your place?”
You chortled. “Why, you need a goodbye fuck?” You spat it out, but internally, you hoped your playing hard to get was not going to backfire. 
“Hmm,” Seokjin looked out of the car, eyeing your apartment building. “What kind of bedsheets do you have?”
“What do my bedsheets have to do with anything?”
“500 thread count? Or pure linen?” 
You opened the car door and got out. “Bye Seokjin.”
He got out too, walking you to the main entrance. “I’ll buy you some. For next time I’m here. Two months from now.”
You scanned your access card, but he stopped you from opening the door.
“Not gonna kiss me goodnight, sweetheart?”
You turned to him and leaned forward. But instead of kissing him, you stuck your tongue out and licked him, along his jaw, all the way to his ear. You did not miss the shiver that ran through his body when you closed your lips around his earlobe. Smiling smugly,  you opened the door, and as you were about to walk into your safe haven triumphantly, Seokjin slapped your ass. You stilled yourself, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing your reaction. 
“See you in two months, sweetheart.” You heard him chuckle as the door closed behind you.
Kim Seokjin was truly the bane of your existence. 
~~~
He returned to Seoul in two months. You were not keeping track on your calendar, no of course not. You just knew because the commotion was back, as it always was when he stepped into the office. He picked you again to assist his team (Yuna gave you an evil eye for that), and at the end of the work day, when you were filing papers and folders, he slipped a small envelope into your hand. 
“Open it at your desk.” He said in a low whisper. 
You looked at the envelope quizzically before putting it into your pocket. “Is it your credit card? To buy pure linen bed sheets?” You whispered back. 
“Sweetheart, I already bought you a few sets from New York.”
You snorted. Later, when you were back at your desk, you took the envelope out and opened it. You found a note with a gold monogram of Seokjin’s initials at the top. You laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Under his insignia, was a series of digits you assumed to be his mobile number. You saved it in your phone. 
There was something else in the envelope, however. A piece of key card, with the logo of the five-star hotel on one side, and handwritten 4-digit number on the other.  Your eyes widened. Was this an invitation to his hotel room?
You peered out of your cubicle like a meerkat, trying to find where Seokjin was. Then you remembered foolishly you had his number. So you immediately texted him.
-- You [18:40] : Seokjin, WTF??? 
-- You [18:40] : also, nice stationery
-- You [18:40] : it’s me btw
-- Seokjin [18:41] : hurry the fuck up. I’ve been waiting for you in my car
You smiled. The time had finally come, you were going to fuck Kim Seokjin.
~~~
You had to admit, high quality bed sheets felt amazing. It hugged your naked body like soft clouds as Seokjin pounded into you relentlessly. His thrusts had caused your body to move, inch by inch, from one end of the bed to the other. You were not complaining though;  the way he rammed himself into you made your breasts bounce back and forth like a pendulum on a string, the feeling was so delicious.
You gripped the edge of the bed as you watched him over you. His usually perfect hair was messy now, his perfect face was void of the usual laser focus expression you normally saw at work and of the arrogant smirk he liked to give you. His broad shoulders and lean torso filled your vision- you had had fun stroking your hands over his pecs, abdomens and biceps. God, you hated how perfectly hot he was. 
You whined pathetically when he plunged his cock and pushed it as deep as he could into you. Seokjin dropped to his elbows, and you welcomed the new weight on top of your body. He stilled, letting his hardness rest inside you. You wrapped your legs around him and could not help but clench around his cock. He groaned against your chest at the sensations. 
“Do that again, sweetheart,” he nibbled and licked your collarbone, “squeeze my cock again.”
You did as he asked, tightening your walls around him before loosening again, repeating the movements and creating your own erotic Kegel exercise around his cock. You could feel Seokjin’s breath faltering on your neck, and before long, you were careening towards your peak.
“Seokjin,” you gasped, “close.”
He remained still, even at your warning. Choosing to work his lips on your neck and up to your ear instead. Finding a spot behind your ear, he licked and nipped at it, sending shudders all over your body and suddenly pushing you to your release. Seokjin held you down as your body shook, willing himself not to come, but the way your pussy walls massaged his cock, it did him in. 
You and Seokjin held each other tight as you both came. Your fingers dug into his shoulders, his hips pressed harder against yours as he shot his seeds inside you. Finally groans and moans gave way to heavy breathing, and as your heart rate slowed down, sanity returned. 
You opened your eyes. “God, don’t do that EVER again.” You slapped his shoulder. “I’m super ticklish there.”
Seokjin hummed, and nipped at the spot again. You yelped, but in the process you also squeezed his flaccid cock, still sheathed fully in you. “Now I know what to do when you talk too much.” He mumbled. 
You tried to wriggle away from his mouth, but the more he teased your spot, the more you moaned, and the more your body became heated again. You were all ready for round two, but your stomach betrayed you, for it growled shamelessly. Seokjin’s eyes widened at the sound, and the two of you burst out laughing.
“OK, I’d better feed you before I fuck you against the window.” He pulled out of you, holding on to the spent condom on his dick. Walking to the bathroom, he gestured to the phone on the bedside table. “Whatever you order, order the same for me.” 
And that was how you spent your first night with Kim Seokjin. Fucked out of your brains and eating room service food in his luxurious hotel room. 
~~~
You gave Seokjin your Saturday nights whenever he was in town, which was only about three to four times a year.. You hated to admit it, but you enjoyed your time with him. It was obvious he liked your company too, and your arrangement worked out well. You both wanted sex with no strings attached. You enjoyed arguing with each other, although it felt like Seokjin lived solely to rile you up to get a reaction out of you. He said he was training you to hold your poker face better; after all, didn’t you want to be a successful attorney like him?
And that was the situation you found yourself in that evening. Seokjin kept prodding at you until your temper snapped, and you roughly pushed him to the chaise in his room. You quickly worked on his jeans and his boxers, pulling them down to his ankles, only to find his cock already hard and weeping with precum.
You cocked an eyebrow at him. “Making me angry turns you on so much, huh?” You wrapped your fingers around his shaft, lazily stroking it a few times before squeezing it gently at the base. Seokjin hissed, but his annoying smirk never went away. 
“You can’t shut up your opponents by going down on every one of them,” he teased, his hand reached out to touch your hair but you swatted it away with your free hand, “no matter how sexy you are when you’re angry.”
You scowled as your hand continued stroking him. Keeping your eyes on his, you closed your lips around the head of his cock, your tongue lapping up his precum. Seokjin sucked in a breath. 
“So what should I do then?” You asked before licking up and down his length. Seokjin threw his head back, enjoying the wetness of your tongue on his hot member. 
“Hmmm… “Seokjin moaned. “Learn to control your temper better, sweetheart. You know how our kind is…”
Seokjin took a deep breath. Your tongue was still busy on his cock. It drove you nuts how addicted you were to the taste of him. “... especially to female attorneys..” Seokjin continued.
“Excuse me?!” you sat up straight, but your hand was still around his member, unconsciously squeezing it a little harder than normal.
“Ouch!” Seokjin yelped. “What are you trying to do? Pull my dick off?”
You sniggered, your grip loosened slightly as you continued to stroke him. “Tell me,” he asked, “how did your last case go? You almost lost because the opposing attorney kept throwing jabs at your gender, am I right?”
Your cheeks reddened. “How did you know about that?” you pouted.
“I get regular updates on you, sweetheart, I like to know how my protege is doing.”
You eyed him skeptically. “Wow, I’m so honored.” Your tone was flat, but your hand started pumping his cock faster. You thought back to the moment you nearly lost your temper in court, and you buried the memory deep. You leaned in and started to take Seokjin’s length into your mouth when it suddenly dawned on you.
“Wait,” Seokjin’s cock popped out of your mouth. “Is that why I didn’t get the promotion? I won that case but I didn’t get my promotion because I was too emotional?”
Seokjin groaned, in desire and in frustration. He looked down at you, kneeled between his legs, eyebrows scrunched up, eyes angry, mouth in a pout, and his hardness in the mercy of your hand. He ran a hair through his hair. 
“Now that you recognise the problem, will you solve it?” 
You nodded.
“So can we please continue?” He asked. 
You nodded again before your mouth returned to his cock. You enveloped your lips around the head, sucking it gently and licking it until you heard him moan. You started taking more of him into your mouth, the muskiness of his scent filling your nose. His hands found your head and held it gently, his fingers carding your hair. 
You continued to lubricate him with your saliva, relaxing your mouth and your throat to take all of him in. You steadied your breathing as you sucked in your cheeks, and you slowly pulled out all the way to the tip, before filling your mouth again. “That’s good sweetheart, you know just how I like it.”
You stupidly beamed at his praise, and it encouraged you to pick up your pace, sucking him faster and harder. His breathing was getting heavier, and you massaged his balls, eager for him to cum in your mouth. “No, no,” he pulled your head, and you came up gasping for breath. “I want to be in you now.”
You and Seokjin undressed immediately, and Seokjin went to the bathroom to retrieve a condom. He rolled the rubber as you positioned yourself by the window. The window felt cold on your back, but your core was wet and hot.  Seokjin lifted you up effortlessly, and your legs immediately wrapped around his waist, and your arms around his neck. 
Seokjin spat into his hand and rubbed his saliva over your cunt. Then the blunt head of his cock was at your entry, and he pushed it in, inch by inch until he was fully inside you. Adjusting his grip, ensuring he got you secured between him and the window, he started to move. Slowly at first, and once your juices were flowing and leaking, he went faster. 
You felt sweat developing on your back, making your body slippery against the glass. You dug your fingers into Seokjin’s shoulders, anchoring yourself up as he continued to pound into you. You turned your head to the side, catching the city skyline in the corner of your eye. 
“God, Seokjin,” you whined wantonly, “When I get that New York position, will you fuck me like this with the New York skyline in the background?”
Seokjin huffed, his hips not missing a beat. “Sweetheart, you’ll never get the New York position.”
You snapped your head back to look at Seokjin, he was still thrusting mercilessly into you. You pulled his hair. “What do you mean I will NEVER get the New York position?”
Seokjin’s smirk was back. He pulled out slowly then he rammed himself back into you hard, making you mewl. “It means…”
He took his time thrusting into you again.
“... you will…”
Another slow and hard thrust.
“... never get…”
He was hitting the sweet spot inside you.
“... the New York position.”
You cried out at his last thrust. “Because I’m too emotional?” you asked breathlessly.
“Because… “ his mouth was inching closer to the sensitive spot on your ear, “we’re closing that office.”
You gasped, at the news and at Seokjin’s sudden change of pace. He was fucking you fast again, pressing your body harder against the window. 
“Wait.. ah, Seokjin… “ you said between pants, “does that mean…”  
You could not finish your question because Seokin began nibbling and sucking your ear, sending your body rigid as the pressure on your cunt was waiting to explode.
“Yeah,” Seokjin panted. “I’ll be back in Seoul for good, sweetheart.”
You threw your head back against the window as Seokjin continued pistoning into you, pushing you towards and over your climax. You wailed in pleasure as the heat enveloped you. He did not let up at the slightest, his hips kept thrusting into you ruthlessly even as you began to sob from the oversensitivity.
Seokjin wrapped his arms around you tightly to move you, and you both collapsed on the bed, his cock still secure in you. He rolled to his back, bringing you on top of him. He slapped your ass. “Can you ride me?”
You pushed yourself up with your arms, your hair curtaining Seokjin’s face. You started to move your hips back and forth as you tried to get your breathing back. The sensitivity in your sex slowly turned into pleasure once again, and you quickened your pace. Seokjin moved his hands to your breasts, squeezing the flesh and flicking the nipples as they swung before him.
“Does… does this mean you’re gonna be my boss?” You asked between moans.
“Do you want me to be your boss?” Seokjin tugged your nipples, causing your back to arch.
“You’ll scold me everyday.”
“And I’ll fuck you every Saturday.” He thrusted up to meet your hips. “You like that?”
“Fuck no…” you felt the heat returning back to your core. “I’ll just hate you even more.”
Seokjin slapped your ass. “Just admit it, sweetheart, I’m your favorite among all your other fuck toys.”
You stammered as Seokjin thrusted up again, and he took the opportunity to pull you down onto his chest. Planting his heels on the bed, he held you down as he started thrusting his hips to plunge his cock into you, fast and hard. You closed your eyes tightly and felt tears slipping down your cheeks as you came closer to your climax.
“Come on sweetheart,” Seokjin whispered in your ears, “give me one more. Milk my cock.”
You cried out as your body jolted and shook. Seokjin kept holding you down, chasing his own release too. His thrusting became more messy, and he finally came too, swearing and groaning loudly.
You stayed still on top of Seokjin, your heart beating out of your chest, and so was his. You both lay on the bed, bodies sticky with sweat, waiting for the haze of your orgasms to pass.
“If you become my boss,” you whispered, “I want no special treatment.”
“Of course not, sweetheart. The only special treatment you get is I feed you after sex.”
You chuckled. “Speaking of…”
Seokjin rolled you over and pulled himself out. “Yeah yeah, order whatever you want.”
~~~
Today
Seokjin walks into your room. You barely glance up, used to him barging in whenever he likes.
“So, Yuna told me there’s a tall drink of water waiting for you in the lobby.” He plopped down on the little settee in your office. “So naturally I went to see. And you’d better get there before Yuna devours him.”
You glance at your watch. It’s ten minutes to 7pm. You smile softly, leave it to your boyfriend to arrive early. “He’s my boyfriend. I told you about him.”
Seokjin ahs. “So, that’s the man who took away my Saturday night fun.”
You glare at him as you tidy up your desk. “Yeah well, he feeds me AND reads me poetry after sex. So, sorry.”
Seokjin stands up as you ready yourself to leave. 
“Besides, now we play Maple Story every Saturday, surely that’s more fun?” You tease him. He chuckles and rubs his chin. He accompanies you walking down the hallway towards the lobby. 
Before you arrive at the glass door separating the inner office from the reception area, you turn to Seokjin and ask, “Do you want to meet him?”
Seokjin thinks for a moment. “Does he know about our history?”
“He knows MY history, but I never share any names with him.” you explain. “He only knows you as my asshole boss.”
“Now I am offended. I thought I was a nice boss!”
“Well, I rant about you too much maybe. But he doesn’t mind, because you know what happens when I get riled up.” You wink. 
Seokjin laughs. “What a lucky bastard. OK, come on, introduce your asshole boss to your boyfriend ”
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Published 01022021
45 notes · View notes
lokimostly · 4 years
Text
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
James Conrad x Reader Word Count: 3,050 Warnings: mentions of smut, mild language, fluff overload Summary: Since returning to civilization, you and Conrad have forgotten Christmas for two years in a row. You’re determined not to miss this one.
A/N: This fic contains pre-established characters and references to a two-part series called Rainy Days/Home From War. While this can be read without context, you’re more than welcome to catch up with the series first! You can find the series HERE <3
Our beloved James Conrad is home for the holidays! I’ve always wanted to write a Christmas-themed fic, but never remembered until it was long gone. I’m so glad to have caught it this time around (barely). I love you guys, Happy Holidays, I can’t wait to jump into the next year (and next decade!) with you! <3 
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The morning was crisp and cold when you opened the passenger-side door of the truck and climbed inside, blowing out clouds of steam with every breath. It was still long before sunrise. The canopy of stars above you were hidden from view by a thick layer of clouds. If you tried, you might be able to make out the silhouettes of mountains against the black sky, but for now the world was still dark and quiet. 
You rubbed your hands together to stave away the chill. Even though you were thoroughly bundled – with a pile of blankets at your feet, no less – the below-freezing temperatures seeped through your clothes and made you shiver. Two minutes out of the house, and your teeth were already chattering.
The driver’s-side door opened and then closed. Conrad leaned over to press a quick kiss to your forehead before buckling his seatbelt and turning the key in the ignition. The old truck rumbled to life, and you immediately cranked the A/C knobs as far as they could go. He watched you with an amused smirk as you made quick work of unfolding the blankets and burying yourself in them, tucking them all the way up to your chin and closing your eyes.
“You know, this was your idea,” He pointed out, stretching his arm across your seat as he backed out of the driveway. His accented voice was still low and raspy from sleep, the kind of tone that drove you crazy in all the right ways. But right now, you pressed a finger against his mouth and motioned for silence.
“Shhh. Tired.”
He scoffed lightly, shaking his head with a smile before shifting gears and turning his attention to the road.
It was your first Christmas together – not technically, but it would count as the first. There had been a Christmas while you were still recovering from your injuries. Yet another passed you by during your first year of travel: you were visiting Milan when you realized the fact, laughed about it, and moved on. Neither had been celebrated properly; you bought champagne and toasted, and caught the train to France the next morning, and that was it. 
It was too early to settle down. Both you and Conrad shared a mutual restlessness, a sort of wanderlust after everything you’d been through. Traveling during war wasn’t really travel. Conrad’s contract with MONARCH had paid handsomely, and it only took a look between the two of you to understand what you wanted to do.
We’re going home, you and I, Conrad said. Wherever you want to go, I’ll follow.
It seemed like a lifetime ago. 
There were road trips, flights, train rides. Long walks, corner cafes; bar crawls through the city and sex in motel rooms when you couldn’t keep your hands to yourselves any longer. You could trace the scars on his skin unhurried, run your nails over his taut muscle and tease him to the point of begging beneath you. He had you memorized by now: the way your body arched and quivered, the kind of touch that made you dig into his skin and bring noise complaints down on your heads the next morning. You were fairly certain the hotel where you’d spent your wedding night had the Conrads on their blacklist.
“Home” had turned out to be a person rather than a place, like people so often say. Both of you were perfectly content about that fact; so long as you had each other, what else did you need?
It felt like he never let go of your hand for those two years. Even now, he reached over to stroke your hand resting atop the blankets, reassure himself that you were here.
While you only grew closer over the last two years, the road (finally) wore out. So, little less than a month ago, you found somewhere quiet: close enough to the mountains without leaving the sea behind. You had nothing but the clothes and trinkets in your carry-on bags when you signed the lease and pocketed the copper key. 
This Christmas nearly escaped you again-- nearly. You were lying with your head in his lap in front of the fireplace when the thought occurred and you shot up like a bolt of lightning. Conrad jumped, instincts kicking in with a serious expression and his hands outstretched. “What? What is it?”
“We don’t have a tree!”
Conrad gave you a puzzled look, raising his eyebrow. “We don’t have furniture, either,” he pointed out, realizing that this was less of a life-and-death situation and more a minor inconvenience.
“But it’s Christmas on Saturday!”
The corners of his lips twitched with amusement. “I’m aware.”
You stared at him. He didn’t seem to be picking up on the urgency of your current situation, so you gestured around you. “We have a house,” you said slowly, pointing to the bare corners of your living room, illuminated by the firelight. 
“We have a house,” he agreed softly.
You nodded. “We need a tree.”
Conrad sighed softly and took your hand, pulling you towards him for a kiss. He set his forehead against yours and smiled when you bumped noses. “We need a tree,” he agreed.
In the name of authenticity, you bought a tree-cutting permit (“tree lots aren’t as much fun,” you reasoned) and planned the day. A drive up to the mountains in the morning, returning with your quarry, and spending the rest of the day in full spirit of the season. Conrad made sure you wrote ‘drink hot chocolate’ on the to-do list. You would never have guessed that he had such a sweet tooth.
Now, you were fast asleep in the passenger seat amidst a pile of blankets and quilts. Conrad glanced at you whenever he could spare it, taking in the sight of you; even in sleep, your hand was outstretched to hold his. The rosy pale of dawn glowed pink on your skin, and his heart swelled so much it was almost painful.
He never thought he could love you more than he already did, but every day you proved him wrong.
It took another hour before the road broke the tree line, and you stirred, coming awake with a yawn and a stretch.
“Good morning,” He drawled teasingly. You laughed in surprise and smacked his chest. “I was tired.” 
Conrad smirked, catching your hand mid-hit and pressing a kiss to your fingers. “You should have gone to bed sooner,” he chastised, but his smirk was unmistakable -- and only grew when you gasped in indignation.
“If I remember right, you were keeping me up.”
“Former SAS, darling,” he reminded you. “Four hours of sleep are plenty in my book.”
“Oh, that’s not fair.”
He laughed, taking a turn down an unmarked road and giving you an expression of innocence that was almost convincing. “Are you suggesting I stop doting on my wife?” 
It wasn’t a new title by any means, but whenever he said it, your heart leapt. “No,” you admitted, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t ever stop.”
Conrad followed the road until he found a spot to pull over. You pulled off your blankets as he turned the key and got out, walking around to the other side and opening your door. He took you under the arms without question, lifting you down and setting you on the rocky ground before fetching the handsaw and tree tag from the truck bed. 
“Your responsibility,” he said seriously, handing you the red tag with comedic reverence. You accepted it with the same solemnity, only breaking into a smile when you pocketed the item and looped your arm through his, starting down the road.
~
You pushed the tree into the truck bed and shut the tailgate, wiping your hands on your jeans. “We have a tree!” You grinned, unable to hide your excitement. 
Conrad laughed and got into the truck. You followed, almost skipping, and pulled yourself inside the truck. You were fixing your seatbelt and preparing to bury yourself under a mountain of blankets when he turned the key, and the engine stuttered.
You paused. Conrad’s brow furrowed and he tried again, forcing the key forward. The engine spluttered, coughed, and refused to start. 
“Damn,” he swore, sitting back in his seat for a moment. You unbuckled and slid out of the seat, popping the hood as he came around, leaning against the metal with a pensive expression.
You could feel the frustration vibrating off of him and leaned against his arm. “Hey,” You said gently. “Nothing we can’t fix. Remember the ploat?” 
His gaze flickered down to you and he hummed in agreement. “I remember.” He pushed himself off and set his hands on his hips, nodding. “Alright. I think there’s a tool chest under the back seat.” He glanced at you, raising an eyebrow.
You gave him a mock salute. “Sir, yes, sir.”
~
A few hours later, it was starting to snow.
“Babe, did you know we’re low on oil?” You asked, sliding the stick back into the cylinder and leaning down to peer at Conrad, who was lying on the ground.
“That’s not our current problem,” he grunted, his long legs splayed and muscles flexing as he twisted the wrench against something on the truck’s underside. You hummed, appreciating the view unabashedly-- and smirking when he noticed and scoffed. 
“You could help, you know,” he pointed out, grunting when the piece came off. He handed you the fuel filter and you reached down to take it, twisting off the cap. “Oh, yuck.”
Conrad slid out and leaned up on his elbows. “Clogged fuel filter.”
“Didn’t you check all this before buying the truck?” You asked rhetorically, pulling the oil bucket towards you and tapping out the loose debris, digging out the more stubborn clots with your hand for lack of an actual cleaner. 
Conrad watched the snowflakes as they landed in your hair like a feathery halo, sticking against your skin before melting. They clung to your eyelashes and made your cheeks flush against the cold. Your lips parted with a huff and you looked up to hand it back to him, pausing. “What? Something on my face?”
He laughed through his nose, shaking his head. “No. Just...” he trailed off, and a faraway look crossed this face-- the kind you were all too familiar with. 
You knelt down and cupped his cheek with one hand, stroking your thumb against his skin. “Hey. I’m here,” you reminded him gently. His blue-green eyes flickered and he reached up, pulling you down for a long, sweet kiss. You relished the taste of his lips, inhaled the smell of sandalwood and vanilla cologne. He broke away and closed his eyes closing his eyes. 
“I know,” he murmured. “Sometimes you just make me wonder whether or not I’m dreaming.” 
“Oh my god, James, way too sappy,” you laughed, pushing against his chest and rolling your eyes. “C’mon, screw this thing back in so I can try the engine again.”
He chuckled at the suspicious shade of red tingeing your cheeks but spared you the dignity of commenting on it and took the filter from your hands, ducking under the truck and picking up the wrench. You fished the keys out of your pocket and got in, leaning out with your hand on the wheel until your husband appeared with the tool chest in hand and gave you the all-clear.
You muttered a quick prayer and turned the keys. The engine sputtered for a moment, wheezing and coughing before something caught and it rumbled to life. You whooped victoriously, sticking your hands up and laughing as Conrad came around. “We did it!” 
Conrad wrapped his arms around you in a brief, celebratory hug before you clambered over to your side and pulled your seatbelt on. The snow was coming down thickly now; there was already a sheet of white on the ground, and in the branches of the trees it was beginning to stick. You pulled one of the blankets up and tossed them over Conrad’s shoulders, pressing a kiss against his cheek for good measure before snuggling in and tuning the radio to something familiar: songs from your war days, which seemed so long ago. 
He put the truck into gear and turned out onto the road, reaching out to take your hand as you headed back down, towards home -- with your Christmas tree in tow.
~
By the time you pulled into the driveway, it was dark again. Conrad unloaded the tree while you stacked the grocery bags onto one arm, heading down the snow-covered sidewalk. It was still coming down in droves and inches deep; no doubt you’d be stuck inside tomorrow.
“Where are you going?”
“Getting the mail!” You called. “That’s a thing we have now, remember?” 
Conrad made a comment you didn’t catch as you slid up to the mailbox and opened it, retrieving the assortment of letters there before heading inside. You tapped your shoes on the porch before stepping in, letting out a soft sigh at the welcoming, warm atmosphere. Furniture or no furniture, there was a naked Christmas tree in the corner, and that meant home. 
“Hot chocolate?” James asked, taking the groceries from you with one hand and helping your coat off with the other. 
“Mm. Please.” You sat down on the floor and began unlacing your shoes, glancing at the pile of mail next to you. There was a thick yellow envelope amongst the pile that caught your eye, and you paused in undressing to glance at the return address. “Hey, Mason sent us something!”
“Who?” came Conrad’s voice from the kitchen.
“Weaver! The photographer?”
“Oh,” you heard him laugh. He came back out with two steaming mugs and handed you one, walking over to the fireplace and flipping the switch. “We’re on first-name basis now, I take it.”
“Apparently. That was fast, though,” you mused, walking over and motioning for him to make space for you to sit between his legs. He obliged, wrapping his arms around your waist and setting his chin on your shoulder as you tore it open and pulled out the letter inside.
“Conrad and L/N,” you began, reading it out loud. James hummed and reached for his hot chocolate. “She knows you’re a Conrad now, she was at our wedding.”
You elbowed him gently and straightened the paper, clearing your throat ceremoniously and beginning again. “Amended to, the Conrads,” you said. “Congrats on finally taking a breather for once. Now I can send you the film I’ve held onto for the past two years.”
“Perks of having a mail box, I suppose,” James nodded, inhaling quickly through his teeth when he attempted a sip of his scalding hot chocolate.
“The wedding photos are in a different letter, and will probably get there late. Oh, I forgot she took those,” you murmured, clicking your tongue. “Until then, enjoy these. I always figured something was going on with you two, way back when. P.S.,” you added. “For your eyes alone, as usual. Cheers, Mason Weaver.” You raised an eyebrow and tapped the envelope. “They must be from the LandSat project.”
Conrad hummed in agreement. “May I?” He asked, setting the cup down and reaching around your waist to pull out the pictures. You leaned back against him as he slid them into his palm, filtering through each one slowly.
Technically you, Conrad, and everyone else involved in the mission to Skull Island were under government oath not to talk about what had happened. You had no qualms with that; you wanted to put the whole experience behind you, anyway. But it wasn’t always possible. Rainy days brought aching pain to your left leg, and there wasn’t a month that went by without one of you startling the other awake from a dream that had once been all too real. It was part of the reason for your closeness: you and Conrad were poignantly aware of how close you had come to losing each other.
But according to the photographs, perhaps it wasn’t all that bad.
“Look at that,” he murmured, pointing to a still image of Conrad sitting beside your sleeping figure, aboard the wrecked ship. The lights of the aurora borealis were visible through the window, and evident in the hues of blue and purple that the photo was cast in. 
You laughed, tapping the laminate. “You gave me your jacket. I remember.”
“You almost got us killed that night, that’s what I remember.”
You rolled your eyes dismissively and set the photo aside. “Yeah, yeah, moving on.”
The next photo was a bit harder to make out, taken across the flight deck of the Athena. You didn’t recognize the angle, but Conrad made a noise and laughed through his nose. “What?”
“I saw you and jumped out of our helicopter,” he explained. “Ran across the deck and told her to take my seat.”
You made an “O” and nodded. “And startled me half to death. She really didn’t miss anything,” you mused, gazing at the miniature silhouette of both of you in the helicopter, the chopper blades blurry against the frame, with storm clouds brewing behind you.
Conrad took the photograph and set it aside. There were a few others inside the stack--pictures of your group members, candid photos of you and Conrad in your own separate settings. There was an image of you and Slivko made you smile. But more frequently than not, you and Conrad shared the same pensive and worried expressions. Every moment had been a life-or-death experience.
You and Conrad filtered through the deck until you reached the final one: taken on Marlow’s boat-- or ploat, as Slivko had coined it. You and Conrad sitting side-by-side at the stern, set against the lush green mountains with all your bags and gear at your feet. Your hands inches away from touching, the two of you looking upwards and listening intently to Marlow, whose arms were frozen in some descriptive gesture. Only, Conrad wasn’t looking at him: his eyes were fixed on you, gazing at you while you were oblivious, so full of tenderness that it broke your heart.
“You loved me,” you murmured, like you were realizing it for the first time. “Way back then.”
Conrad’s arms tightened around your waist. He nodded, leaning his head against yours. “I was more than a little lovestruck,” he agreed quietly, in a tone that made your heart flutter inside your chest. You nestled further into the comfortable expanse of his chest, reaching up and teasing his hair with your fingers.
“Still lovestruck?” You asked hopefully, smiling when his laugh vibrated against your back. 
He pressed a kiss to your cheek, looking out through the windows at the falling snow and holding you tight. “For as long as I live and breathe.”
- - -
A/N: Aaah! Thanks for reading. I loved writing it. 
Tag List: @neontiiger​, @un-consider-it​, @jessiejunebug​, @nerdypisces160​, @lokiisntdeadbitch​, @e-wolf-90​, @cursedmoonstone-blog​, @kikaninchen-2​, @bluebellhairpin​, @evy-lyn​, @midnight-queen-1​, @travelingmypassion​, @harrybpoetry​, @adefectivedetective​, @absolutecraziness13​, @kumikokagato, @randomfangirl7​, @timetraveler1978​, @tarynkauai, @arcanethamin​, @ornate-ribcage​, @julianettedoe, @kinghiddlestonanddixon​, @yespolkadotkitty​, @befearlesslyauthenticc​, @ladybugsfanfics​, @nancybenson
92 notes · View notes
avengerscompound · 5 years
Text
Legacy - Chapter 1
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Legacy: A Hawkeye Fanfic
Series Masterlist
Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Clint Barton x  F!Reader
Word Count:  1678
Rating:  E
Square filled:   @marvelfluffbingo - Single Parent AU
Warnings:  Pregnancy, domestic abuse, post-endgame, angst, developing-relationship, hurt/comfort, smut, Laura and Clint have broken up.  Comic Clint/MCU Clint mix.
Synopsis:  Nothing is the same after the events of Endgame.  When Clint has trouble returning to a life where his family hasn’t changed but he has lost everything, he moves back to the city and tries to move on as a single parent. When Nate finds you bruised and pregnant in the stairwell of his building, he decides that there might be another way that he can make Nat’s sacrifice worth something.
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Chapter One
It was Nate that had spotted you first.  Of course, Clint knew you’d lived in the building.  He owned it after all.  A lot of things had changed since the battle with Thanos that had brought everyone back.  It was supposed to have fixed everything.  He was supposed to go home and have a happy life with his wife and his kids and everything would be okay.
It wasn’t.
He was different and the problem was, Laura was exactly the same while he’d spent five years on a world wild killing spree.  He’d wanted to die for it.  Only instead it was Nat.  Nat had died so that the rest of her family could live and he couldn’t just settle and give her that.
It should have been him.
The problem was that Laura was still the amazing, caring, supportive person she’d always been.  She never lost him or the kids.  She never had to see Natasha fall to her death.  She didn’t carry the burden of all of this.  He didn’t feel worthy of her.  Or of Nat saving him to go home to her.  He was dirty and … and …
He missed Nat.
God, he missed her every day.  If she was there maybe she could have stopped him acting like a fucking dumbass at home.  Maybe she would have slapped him over the back of the head and called him an idiot for shutting Laura out the way he did.
She wasn’t though and he did and in the end, he’d left.  He didn’t want to keep hurting her.  That was two years ago.  Since then he’d bought this building in Bed-Stuy.  He had joint custody of the kids.  God, Laura had been too good about it.  Lila and Cooper weren’t even technically his kids but she didn’t keep them from him.  He honestly didn’t know what he’d ever done to deserve having her in his life in the first place.  Which was why it hadn’t worked he guessed.
So he has the apartment, the kids every second weekend and for part of the school holidays, he still got on okay with Laura, he had a dog, he managed the building and the girl who had taken over the name Hawkeye when he retired came by every week or so to be mentored or… something.  Maybe it was just to make sure he took care of himself when the kids weren't there.
He still missed Nat.
You and your boyfriend lived two floors down from his place.  He saw him more than you.  Something about the guy always seemed to sit wrong with Clint.  Like he was the kind of guy who kicked puppies and stole lunch money.  Not that he had evidence he was anything other than polite.  Clint was the landlord, people were polite cause they didn't want to be evicted.
You, he saw less.  He had known you were pregnant.  He had also noticed the bruises.  He'd asked once how you'd gotten one on your arm and the story was so weird and unlikely he just assumed it was true.  Something about a guy dressed as Darth Vader on the subway.  He was a bruise magnet himself so he’d just assumed you must be too.
Now that he saw you sitting on the steps, your eye swollen, trying to stop yourself from crying so as not to upset the little boy who had just come in the front door and run over to see if you’d hurt yourself, he realized he was a huge fucking idiot.
“Did you fall?  You need some help?”  Nate asked in his small innocent voice.  You wiped your eyes and gave a strained smile.  Your eyes were puffy from crying but the left was also starting to swell shut.  That mixed with an array of bruises up your arm put Clint into immediate fight mode.  He looked up and down the hall for the asshole who thought beating on women - pregnant women at that - was fun.
“Yeah, sweetie.  Just a fall.  I’ll be okay.”  You said.
Lila looked at Clint and frowned.  “Dad?”
“I know, honey,”  He said.  “You and Coop take Nate upstairs.  I’ll be up when I can.”
She nodded and came and took Nate’s hand while Cooper grabbed the lead from Clint and they all made their way upstairs.  When he was sure they were gone he came and sat beside you on the steps.
“Where is he?”  He asked.
You shook your head.  “In the apartment.  He locked me out.”
“I can go throw him out if you like.”
You shook your head again, a look of absolute terror on your face.  “He’d kill you.”
“He’s welcome to try, but tougher guys than him have failed,”  Clint replied.  He turned to you and looked you over.  “What do you want to do?”
“I - I don’t…”  You finally raised your eyes to meet his.  “He got dusted you know?  I thought I was free to form him.  I moved away.  I got a job.  I was happy and then… they came back and… and I mean, that’s good.  Except he did too and he found me and I was right back here again.”
Clint wanted to hold you.  Or at least take your hand and tell you it was going to be okay.  That he would be the person he had needed when he was a child.  He felt guilty too.  It was partially due to him that everyone had come back.  He wouldn’t change it, but he’d never thought about the fact that bringing people back might mean making life worse for people.  He held back though.  You and he were practically strangers and you had a guy who was fine with laying hands on you when you didn’t want him to.  He didn’t want to add to that.  “I’m sorry.”  He said softly.  “I think we should call the cops.”
“I tried once.  He told them some story and they believed him.”  You said.
“We’ll now you have an ex-Avenger backing you up.”  He said.  “Here’s what I think we can do.  We go upstairs, call the cops.  Get him arrested.  While they’re processing him, we go get your stuff and move it up to the apartment near mine.  Then we get a restraining order and work at having him serve time.”
You looked up at him with such hope and fear.  “I don’t want to be with him but if death can’t keep him away…”
“Then I will.  I’m an Avenger.”  He said.
“Ex -”
“Ex-Avenger.”  He said with a nod.  “Trust me, okay.  I spent half my life keeping people safe.  This is what I do.”
You ran your hand over the small swell of your stomach and nodded.  “Okay.”
He led you upstairs and called the cops while Lila doted over you, making you tea and bringing you ice for your eye.  Nate brought you some of his toys to show you and Clint watched as you listened to all his little stories intently.  It made his heartbreak that little bit more for you.  You were going to be a great mom, but the choice you now had was, do it alone or with that fucker downstairs.
When the cops came he sat quietly and listened to you tell your story.  After the arrest was made he even took you to the station so you could press charges, leaving Cooper in charge.  God, the fact Cooper was both old enough to babysit while at the same time five years younger than he should be was something he still had trouble thinking about.  He felt both too old and yet somehow things weren’t at the place they should be.
When you got home the two of you ordered a pizza for the kids and while they waited for it, he took you downstairs to grab your things from the apartment.
"I don’t know how I’m gonna do this.  I don’t have any savings.  I don’t have a job.”  You said as you pulled down a suitcase.
“We’ll move you next door.  You can stay there until you figure yourself out.  Don’t worry about the rent or the utilities.”  Clint said.
“I couldn’t let you do that.”  You said.
“Yes, you can.  It’s my building.  I can let anyone I want to live here.”  He said.
You sighed as you shoved clothes into a bag.  “Most of this stuff isn’t mine.  I don’t even have any furniture.”
“Hey, trust me, I know exactly how you feel right now.  Sometimes taking the beating and knowing is better than escaping it and not.  You can stay with me for a while.  You can take the bed.  I’ll sleep on the couch.  I know people.  I might be able to get you work, while you still can.  Shit, you can run the books on the building if you want.  We can find second-hand furniture.  I might even have Nate’s old crib back at his mom’s and his old baby stuff.  You aren’t alone right now.”
You stopped and looked at him, sizing him up.  “Why are you doing this?  You don’t even know me.  I could be anyone.  You have kids to worry about.”
He smiled sadly.  “I told you.  I’ve been there.”  He said.  “Besides, I think I’m a pretty good judge of character.  My best friend…”   He stopped, he didn’t think he had it in him to talk about Nat.  Not now.  Not like this.  He shook his head.  “I got told to kill Thor one time, and I knew that was the wrong choice.”
“Thank you, Mister Barton,”  You said not meeting his eyes.  “I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you for this.”
“Just… get away from him.  You deserve to be safe.  So does your baby.”  Clint said.  “And call me Clint.  I don’t even know who Mister Barton is, but it’s not me.”
You chuckled and nodded.  “Okay, Clint.  Thank you.”
Clint nodded and grabbed a couple of your packed bags.  While he still worried for you, and he was sure that wouldn’t pass anytime soon, it did feel good to know he was still able to help people who needed it.
// NEXT
513 notes · View notes
the-original-b · 4 years
Text
Archangel--Chapter 6: the Seza Sanction
Format: Prose/ Fiction, multi-entry
Part in Series: 7 of 9 (Previous Chapter | First Chapter)
Word Count: c. 10,000 (sorry about that)
Summary: Subtle hints, suspicions, and a stack of bodies lead Khai and Krueger to a truth neither of them want to face.
Warning(s): blood, violence
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Khai locked her desktop computer, gathering her handbag and coat before stepping out of her office to walk through the waiting area. “Danielle,” she got the receptionist’s attention, “tell Simon I’m out to lunch if he asks for me, okay?”
“Cool,” Danielle said. “Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting a friend at Tillman’s.”
“Oh..?” Danielle raised her brow. “A friend, or a friend?”
“Yes,” Khai said, grinning.
“I’ll let him know, Miss Khai,” she laughed.
“Thank you.” On her way out Khai passed a fair-skinned woman, seated legs crossed in the corner wearing a dark wool coat, blue jeans and mid-calf boots.
The woman turned the pages of a Time Magazine issue, and waited for Khai to exit the waiting area before she shut the magazine and walked up to Danielle’s desk. “Excuse me?” She said. She spoke with the intonations of somebody who had lived in the city all her life.
She looked over the monitor at this woman, who had icy blue eyes and dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail. “Hi, can I help you?”
“Yes,” the woman said. “I’m here to follow up with Mr. Wells regarding a job offering. He and I spoke last night.”
Danielle looked through the digital calendar on her desktop monitor. “I don’t see any appointments in Mr. Wells’ book right now… what did you say your name was?”
“Just let him know I’m here,” she said. “He knows who I am.”
Danielle shrugged. “If you say so…” She picked up her landline and dialed Simon’s extension. “Mr. Wells?” she said. “Hi, I have a woman here to see you about a job offering? She says you spoke to her last night…” She looked back up at the woman. “Dark hair, blue eyes. Roundish face.” She looked back down at the monitor. “She says you know who she is… I don’t know, she didn’t tell me… okay.” She hung the phone up and looked back up at the woman. “The conference room is through those doors over there, at the end of the hall.”
“Excellent.” The woman turned toward the door and stopped to face her. “Danielle, right?”
“Right.”
“Thank you, Danielle.” The woman crossed the doors and proceeded down the hallway, crossing a second set of doors and stepping up to where Simon stood looking out the window.
“You really couldn’t give my receptionist a name?” Simon asked
“As far as you’re concerned, my name is Nomad,” Seza said. She reclaimed her native accent speaking to him.
“Except that’s not a name.”
“Make my check out to cash, then,” she commented. “You have something for me?”
Simon turned around and found his seat. He paused when he looked ahead to see her standing. “Aren’t you gonna sit—?”
“No.”
“Of course not,” he murmured. He opened his desk drawer and retrieved the still-warm document, sliding it across the desk to her.
Seza picked the document off the table top to study it. When she was satisfied, she picked a pen up off his desktop and signed where designated. She turned it over to Simon for him to sign. When he did, he put the paper back into his drawer. “The advance?” she said.
Simon bent over to retrieve a duffel bag and placed it onto the desk with a thud. “That’s half a million in cash,” he said. He unzipped the bag and pulled a roll of $100 bills from it, holding it up for her to see. “And this is one percent; you and your boys get the rest when it’s done.” He tossed her the roll of bills.
Seza snatched the money out of the air and broke eye contact to undo the rubber band that held the bills together. She began to thumb through it, counting her way to fifty notes.
“Between the five of you left over from yesterday, that’s a hundred thousand a head.” Simon closed the bag up again and lifted it up off the desk with both hands, placing it out of sight again. He sat back down. “A cool hundred thousand can buy a lot of… what do you even buy with your money? Guns? Body armor?” A sarcastic smirk spread across his face. “Hair products?”
Seza looked up from the money roll to glare daggers at him. “Lipstick,” she shot back sardonically. She shoved the roll of bills into her coat pocket. “And eye shadow.” She took a few steps to the window to her left overlooking Sixth Avenue, cursing him in Arabic under her breath.
“Somehow you don’t strike me as an eye-liner-and-French-tips kind of gal,” he commented. “Still, if that’s what you’re into, I’d be open to working with you in the future and getting you as much of that as your heart desires. Depending on how this project turns out…”
Whatever Simon said after that faded into the background. Seza looked out at the faces below; in the crowd she spotted Krueger, sporting a tan wool overcoat and matching scarf. With a beaming smile on his face he embraced a woman and kissed her cheek before they set off toward wherever they were going, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. She looked a little harder and recognized the woman he was with as the one that just told the waiting room receptionist where she was heading for lunch.
“Anything’s possible,” she told Simon. With that she turned and headed for the exit.
Simon let out a breath of relief once she was gone. He leaned back in his chair and exhaled again to calm his nerves. His unease in her presence wasn’t helped by the fact that he was terrified of her.
His peace was disturbed by the ring of his conference room phone again. “Yes?”
“Mr. Wells, it’s me again,” Danielle said on the other line. “I just wanted to let you know the surveillance footage is back online.”
“Thank you, Danielle.” Simon hung the phone up and leaned back in his chair again, shutting his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
~~
Krueger and Khai walked into an upscale chophouse with trendy décor and furnishings tucked away in the Rockefeller Center. They were greeted by the hostess.
“Welcome,” she said. “Just the two of you?”
“Hi, yes,” Khai said. “We have a 12:30 reservation.”
The hostess checked her monitor. “Liz Khai, there you are..!” She took two menus and held them against herself. “If you’ll follow me.”
“Lead the way,” Krueger said.
She led them past the bar area to the booths tucked in the side of the dining space, and they hung their coats on a pair of hooks on its corner post. Khai wore a deep red blouse with heather gray slacks, black round-toe stilettos and a dark blazer; Krueger was dressed in a classy black sweater under a pale gray jacket with black slacks and lace-up shoes.
“Justin will be right with you guys,” she said warmly.
“Thank you,” Krueger said to her. Then he turned to Khai. “So who do you know that owns this restaurant?”
Khai shrugged. “Nobody on our payroll,” she said with a laugh. “I think we’re going to have to pay for this one out of our own pockets.”
“Shame,” Krueger noted, chuckling.
Their server, dressed in a pale blue button-up shirt and dark slacks arrived shortly after with a pitcher of water to fill their glasses. “What’s up, guys. My name’s Justin, I’ll be taking care of you this afternoon. Can I start you off with something?”
“Yes,” Khai said. “I’ll have an Old Fashioned.”
Krueger arched his brow. “Is that so?”
Khai arched her brow right back at him. “Yes, sir. Best in the Five Boroughs,” she added, gesturing the space around them.
Krueger looked at Justin. “I’ll have one too.”
 ~~~~
As promised, Justin took care of them as they conversed, first over their cocktails, and then over their lunch orders. When he finally arrived with their check, Khai opened it when she noticed a few loose bills sticking out of the top of the booklet. “This is change,” she noted.
“The woman at the bar over there covered you,” Justin replied, thumbing over his shoulder at the person in question. “Her treat, she said.”
She looked past the server at the woman seated at the bar in front of what looked like a martini; the woman stared right back at her with piercing, icy blue eyes. Khai’s brow furrowed just a little while she tried to place where she’d seen her before. “Thank her for us when you get a chance,” she said, keeping her eyes fixed on her.
“You bet,” he said. “Thanks for dining with us today.” He took his leave to tend to the other tables in his section.
Krueger turned to his left in his seat to see who she was looking at. His expression flattened—he recognized her immediately. “Ah, scheisse,” he breathed. How long had she been there watching them?
Seza got up from the bar and walked right over to their booth, her hands in her coat pockets. “Curious running into you here,” she said to Krueger. “It’s amazing, the people you bump into in New York.”
“It is,” Krueger deadpanned, icicles growing from the look he gave her. He moved his left hand across his table setting to rest it on top of his knife.
Seza looked over at Khai, seated across from him. “And you must be his new friend..! Miss Khai, am I right?”
“Charmed,” Khai said with a smirk. She blinked slowly, keeping her eyes on her.
“May I sit?”
“No,” Krueger enunciated.
Seza offered him a wry half-smile and pulled a chair over from behind her to their table. She straddled it and crossed her arms atop its back, leaning forward and turning her head to hold each of their gazes for seconds at a time before looking at the other person.
There they sat for a long ten seconds. There was nowhere more public than the middle of a restaurant in the heart of Manhattan and, by extension, nowhere safer from Seza, but both Khai and Krueger knew she was armed—if not with a gun or that sword of hers then something else. Neither of them dared to take their eyes off her for a moment.
Finally, Krueger broke the silence. “What are you doing here, Seza?”
“I’m watching over you,” she replied. “Same as I always have.” She shot a quick glance in Khai’s direction before looking back at him. “I approve of the company you keep.”
“That means a ton coming from you,” Khai added. “Thanks for the endorsement.”
Krueger shot her a look, discreetly shaking his head and pleading with her not to antagonize the armed assassin sitting less than a yard from them.
Seza shut her eyes to exhale, then raised her left hand up off the chair to prop her head against it and fix her gaze on Krueger. “I’m also here—as a professional courtesy—to inform you that my employer recently paid me a five thousand dollar advance to draw you into the open. They intend to kill you, and after that they’ll pay the other four hundred ninety-five thousand.”
“Then why not just offer you the kill order?”
“They did,” Seza clarified. “I declined.”
“Danke,” Krueger said, coolly.
“Natürlich… A word of advice, Archangel,” she continued. “Keep a low profile and stay out of sight for the next few days. The surviving members of the squad that joined me at the cabin are looking for payback.”
Krueger blinked. “Another professional courtesy?”
Seza looked away from his eyes for a moment before reclaiming them. “A personal one.” She went to stand.
Krueger’s fingers curled tighter around the knife in his left hand the instant Seza’s weight shifted off the table.
Noticing this, Seza smirked at him. “You don’t trust me?”
“You did try to choke me on the floor yesterday.”
“Only after you shot at me.” She stood up fully, stepping back over the chair and standing completely on one side of it. She didn’t take her eyes off of Krueger until he loosened his grip on the knife. Then she looked at Khai, studying her for a while before her expression softened. “Be good to him, Miss Khai.” Seza returned the chair to the table behind them, turned, and left the restaurant.
Krueger watched her leave, and when he was sure she was gone, let himself breathe again. “That could have been disastrous.”
“For her I think it was,” Khai said, a grin pulling at the corners of her mouth.
Krueger turned back around to face her. “Why are you smiling?” he asked.
“The way she looked at me,” she said, swishing the remains of her Old Fashioned around in the glass. She brought the drink to her lips and finished it, the single giant ice cube clinking inside the glass. “You certainly have a type, I see,” she added with a chuckle. “Were Jocelyn and Emma that feisty?”
“You have no idea..!” he said, smiling a little. In light of everything that just happened she still managed to coax one from him. He picked his glass up to finish his beverage, but put it back down as he realized something. His expression began to flatten.
Khai could see the gears turning inside his head. “What is it?”
“How does she know your name?” he put forth.
Khai broke eye contact as she thought on that too. Before now she hadn’t actually seen her in the flesh, much less introduced herself to her; Seza would have no way of knowing who she was.
Then she remembered where she saw Seza’s face before, and suddenly everything she disclosed to them had a whole new meaning. She gasped audibly as she put the pieces together, and all manner of undesirable possibilities bloomed in her imagination.
“Elizabeth?”
“Excuse me, Milo” she said, reclaiming his eyes. “I have to check something.” Her heart was suddenly racing, and her mind was moving faster, but she slowly, methodically slid to her right and exited the booth to reclaim her outerwear and handbag.
Krueger saw it in her expression—she figured out some crucial detail. “Go,” he said. “I’ll finish up here.”
“Call me in twenty minutes,” she added. “I’ll explain everything.”
“Of course.”
 ~~~~
She’s a chameleon, Krueger’s words echoing in Khai’s mind as she rode the elevator. Hide in plain sight… infiltrate, impersonate… you’d never see her coming.
The elevator doors opened, and she slowly walked to the glass doors of Simon Wells’ office space. She tapped her keycard on the reader to unlock the doors and pulled one open, paying more attention to the faces around her than perhaps ever before. When she made it to the conference room waiting area, she paused to look at the corner where Seza sat, barely an hour ago.
“How was lunch?”
Danielle’s voice pulled her back to reality. “It was good,” Khai said, nodding. She took a few slow steps toward the desk. “Before I left there was a woman seated there, right?” she asked. “About this tall, blue eyes, good-looking… ”
“Yeah. She said she was here to speak to Mr. Wells about a job offering.”
Shit..! “She’s not with him now, is she?”
“No, she left a few minutes after you did.”
“Mhm… Do you know if Simon’s in there with anyone?”
“No,” Danielle noted. “I don’t think so.”
“Uh-huh.” Khai checked her wristwatch and looked back to her. “Did you break for lunch already?”
“I ate at the desk,” she said.
“Take a half-hour,” Khai advised. “Walk around the block, get some fresh air. I’ll let Simon know I sent you out.”
“Umm, sure. Okay.” Danielle, reluctant at first, stood up and wrapped her down coat around herself. “Thanks, Miss Khai.”
“Any time, Danielle.” She waited for the receptionist to leave before investigating Simon’s office. Danielle was a good kid, barely out of high school. Probably an NYU student working a second job four nights a week to make her share of the rent. Khai didn’t want her to be involved in any of what could happen next.
Khai crossed the doorway of Simon’s conference room, her coat still over her shoulders and bag in her hand, and scanned the room from her spot near the door.
Simon watched her from behind his desk. “Hi,” he said. “Can I do something for you?”
Khai took a few slow steps toward him and his desk. “I figured I’d let you know I’m back from lunch.” She walked over to the perimeter wall and leaned against it to look out the window to Sixth Avenue below them. “I had some time to think about the Orham mess last night.”
“Yeah?” Simon poured himself a glass of scotch from the decanter on his desk. “What’s there to think about?”
“Why somebody would want him dead.” She spotted the exact location Krueger met her an hour ago. From there she could see Tillman’s as well. She could have watched a couple meet up where they did and walk to the restaurant together. That’s exactly how Seza found them, she concluded. “It just seems a waste to me, all that information.”
“Hey a guy like that probably made fewer friends than enemies,” Simon said. He gulped from his glass. “Anybody could have sent people there to collect his head.”
But how many knew where to find him? “Suppose you’re right about that.” Khai turned her head to look at him. She noticed the corner of a large duffel bag poking out from under his desk. “So I guess it’s over then. Job’s done.”
“Looks that way.” Simon raised his glass. “Hallelujah. Time to pick up the pieces.”
“Mhm…” Khai’s personal phone began chirping inside her handbag. She fished it out to answer the call. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” Krueger’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Doctor West..! Good to hear from you again.” She moved her other hand to cover the receiver, looking at Simon and nodding toward the exit. “I have to take this.”
Simon gestured the door. “By all means,” he said.
Khai faked the conversation on her way out of the conference room. “So the labs came back, finally...? How did I do..? ”She continued out past the waiting room, and through the glass doors. “Normal, huh…? Yes… Well, I’ve been meaning to exercise more but, you know how it is with work. I haven’t found a gym I like either—she was in Simon’s conference room,” she finally whispered once outside the office space.
“You’re sure of that?” Krueger said.
“Certain. I could see the restaurant from his window. That’s how she knew where to find you.” She went down the hall as she continued, occasionally checking over her shoulder for other people in the space with her. “She sat right there in the waiting room, and I just walked right past her..! God, I should have exposed her when I had the chance!”
“Don’t blame yourself,” he reassured her. “You didn’t know it was her.”
Khai took a breath to collect herself. “Yeah... You’re right.”
“So we know he hired Seza to draw me out,” Krueger said. “Did he say whether he sent her after Orham?”
“He didn’t admit to anything, but I don’t see any other possibility,” she replied.
“Neither do I. The only reason he would have to kill the man holding all the secrets is to protect his own… I think Orham knew something Simon didn’t want getting out.”
“I agree completely. But we don’t have anything tangible to prove that.”
“What about what we got from the servers,” he suggested. “Is there anything we can draw from the data?”
“I’ll take it to my guy in Brooklyn and see what he can salvage, if anything…” she pulled the phone away from her ear when somebody stepped out of the men’s restroom and headed for a different set of glass office doors from the ones she just walked out of. “But for now let’s do as Seza suggests. Stay under the radar while we figure out our next move.”
Krueger was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again. “That does seem to be what’s best for now. What will you do in the meantime?”
Khai looked back at the office doors. “I go back to work. Keep my eyes on Simon and report back to Isaac Hayden.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Be careful out there, Milo.” Yeah, that was a safer goodbye than what she was really thinking.
“You too, Elizabeth,” Krueger said. “I’ll call you later.” The phone clicked in Khai’s ear, telling her he hung up. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it for a second before exhaling. She put the phone back into her handbag and crossed the glass doors again to return to her office.
~~~~ 
Krueger parked his car half a block away from his home in Rego Park. He took a moment to peer through the windows and mirrors and scan the faces of the men, women, and children walking along both sides of the street before shutting the engine off and stepping out. He took another quick glance over his shoulder before heading to his home.
As soon as he locked the door behind him, re reached into his inside jacket pocket for his personal cell phone and scrolled through his contacts for Alex. He hit the call button and held the phone to his ear, checking through the window between dial tones until the answering machine finally picked up. “You’ve reached Alexander Krueger,” the recording said in German. “I’m unable to get to the phone at the moment, so leave a message and I’ll return your call as soon as possible. Thank you.”
Krueger checked his watch again—at this hour it was barely past 8:30pm in Düsseldorf—it wouldn’t be too unreasonable to assume he was still awake. “Alex,” he said in German, “it’s your father. It’s been a while since I last heard from you, I’m just checking in to make sure you and your mother are doing well.” It wasn’t the first time his life was in imminent, real danger, but given how much he knew about Seza’s crew, he wasn’t going to miss this opportunity again. “Give me a call back when you get this.” He ended the call and searched his contacts for another name.
This time, the person he wanted to reach picked up almost immediately. “Hello?” The voice on the other end belonged to a young woman, a high school senior.
“Hi, Victoria.”
“Hey dad!” In his mind’s eye he could see his daughter’s smile—Emma’s smile. “How are you?? I’ve missed you.”
“I know, I said I’d call more often,” he noted, taking a seat on a bench by the coat rack. He held the phone between his left ear and shoulder as he unlaced his shoes. “But work has been crazy the past few days.”
“Right, a lot going in in the world of private consultative security?” He could see her jest eye roll and it brought a smile to his face.
“You could say that.”
“Look, dad,” Victoria said, “I know whatever it is you do for work is more than just security, you don’t have to hide that detail from me.”
Krueger shrugged as if she could see him, and admitted. “Yes, it is more than security. My line of work is dangerous, and your mother made me promise her I wouldn’t expose you to it.”
“Yeah, I know. She mentions that whenever I ask about you. I remember the gun defense positions you taught me though.”
“How many of them are there?” Krueger quizzed her.
“Twelve. Thirteen if you count the two versions of the second one.”
“And what’s the most important rule about them?”
“Give them whatever they want so you can go back home to your family.”
“That’s my girl,” Krueger smiled. “How is your mother, anyway?”
There was a brief pause on the other end. “She’s alright. She, uh… started seeing somebody.”
“I’m aware,” he noted. “I’ve met Tim.”
“Is that right..? Will I have to separate you two?”
“No, no, there’s no need for that… have you been keeping up with your German?”
Victoria sighed audibly. “Nein, Ich habe nicht geübt. They don’t teach it in school.”
“Victoria…”
“I know, I’m the worst child of a native-speaker,” she laughed. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll minor in German next year.”
“No need. I’ll start teaching you again.”
“That of course means you’ll have to come by.”
“I know,” Krueger said. “Things should stabilize after this job, I’ll arrange a schedule with your mother.”
“Maybe tomorrow?” she suggested. “Over dinner?”
Krueger knew what day tomorrow was. “Perhaps,” he added, smiling a little. “I’ll need you to broker that meeting with your mother for me.”
“You got it..!”
“I should let you go,” Krueger said. “If I don’t see you tomorrow, happy birthday.”
“Thanks, dad. I love you.”
“Ich liebe dich auch.”
 ~~~~
Seza conferred with her associates late that night in lower Manhattan over pizza which she barely ate. The five of them dressed casually—dark long-sleeve shirts and jeans over shoes of various styles. “What have you found?” she asked them.
“A way to draw him out,” one of them said.
“We didn’t find Milo Krueger,” another elaborated. “But we checked that alias you got from Wells and found a few things.”
Seza nodded. In a way she was happy to see he practiced what he taught her. “Tell me.”
“An order for furniture placed late last week,” the third one said, “A business-class flight and car rental in Miami before that, and this.” He slid an envelope toward Seza. “A home in Cambria Heights.”
Seza opened the envelope, looking at the photos therein and studying the notes and diagrams that accompanied them. Her expression remained flat as she examined the pictures. “Who are they?”
“Our way of drawing him out,” the fourth one said.
Seza put their plan together. It was heartless, but effective. “I’ll call the client with this,” she said, putting the envelope in her coat pocket. “We act tomorrow. Get some rest,” she advised, dismissing them.
They nodded and stood up to leave, leaving a few bills between them to reimburse her for their share of the pizza before exiting and going their separate ways. Seza gathered the money and took it to the front, depositing it in the tip jar before asking for some extra plates and a to-go bag.
She had her hand under the paper bag to support the stack of leftover pizza slices and plates inside it as she walked down 1st Avenue toward her lodging three short blocks from the pizzeria. She fished her phone out of her coat pocket and dialed Simon’s cell phone.
He picked up after a few rings. “Wells,” he answered.
“It’s Nomad,” she said. Without breaking step or looking she handed the leftover pizza to a passing homeless person and kept walking. “Contact your shooter and have him ready to move on the address I’m sending you now. We’ll take him tomorrow.” She ended the call and hit the keys in sequence to generate the string of alphanumeric characters and hit the Send button before shutting the phone and continuing onward.
 ~~~~
Krueger ran five miles in forty-five minutes the following morning, then returned home for breakfast before taking his P30L to a shooting range out in Long Island. He burned through two boxes of ammunition before getting back into his car and heading to a gym for an hour. He had a quick shower on-site and ate lunch at one of Everett’s diners.
Then he returned home as the sun began to sink behind the horizon to reflect on what happened since this whole thing began with Simon and the Partners. He picked his phone up to bounce his ideas off of the person he could trust most with what he theorized.
She answered after two rings. “Liz Khai,” she answered.
“It’s me,” Krueger said. He took the phone to the seating area and leaned against the wall. “Can you talk?”
There was a second or two of silence on the other end before she spoke again. “I can listen.” Krueger heard a shuffling over the phone, figuring she probably stood up to leave her desk and head someplace quieter.
“I’ve been playing the past few weeks over and again in my head trying to make sense of everything,” he began. “The hitmen in Miami made no mention of Orham or the bug in Simon’s conference room phone, and Simon seemed genuinely surprised when I exposed the device.”
“Meaning he didn’t know it was there,” she added at a whisper.
“Right. That also means Simon—assuming he and Orham were in fact in contact with each other at some point—hadn’t expected him to sell information to his rivals, and must’ve made the decision to have him killed after Caruso gave us his name. We agree the only reason he would remove Orham is to hide something from somebody?”
“Yeah.” Khai continued his thought. “But for any of that to make sense, Simon and Orham would have to have made contact long before the microphone was even placed, and Orham would have to have known something Simon felt was incriminating enough to have him killed.”
“I agree completely. But we’re still left with a massive question.”
“What the Hell was it,” Khai theorized.
“Exactly... any updates from your Brooklyn contact?”
“He’s running a decryption script on what we were able to salvage from the cabin. As of last night it’s twenty-seven percent cracked.”
“Any estimates on time of completion?”
“Tomorrow evening the latest, he says.” Khai was quiet for a little before talking again. “Milo, whatever happens after this, I want you to know—”
The phone buzzed in Krueger’s hand as she began talking again. He looked at the display and saw Emma’s home number across it. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “Can you hold that thought? I’m getting a call I’ve been expecting.”
“Uh, sure. No problem.”
“I’ll be done in a minute.” He put Khai on hold and answered Emma. “Hello?”
“Hello, Milo,” spoke a male voice he didn’t recognize. “Or do you go by Sebastian? That is the name this house is under, isn’t it? I don’t know, why don’t I ask these two ladies sitting next to me?”
Krueger tightened his grip on his phone as he slowly sat down. Everything he needed to know was in that string of words. “What did you do to them?” he demanded, his voice reduced to a guttural snarl.
“Nothing yet,” he said. “They’ve still got all of their fingers and toes, but my friends are getting bored; they’re telling me if you don’t show up in forty-five minutes they’ll do something to them. I was able to talk them down to the full hour so, you’re welcome.”
Krueger took a quiet breath to quell the verbal wrath building up within him. “What do you want?”
“You. Here. Unarmed and alone. Sixty minutes.”
Krueger checked his watch. Accounting for traffic he would have thirty minutes to prepare.
“Don’t be late, Specialist.” The man on the other end of the phone hung up.
Krueger looked down at the phone is his hand, and stood back up as he resumed his conversation with Khai.
“Milo, are you still there?” she asked.
“I am,” he said blankly. “They have Emma and my daughter.”
“What??”
“Seza’s associates. They found my old home and now they’re holding my family hostage.”
“Oh, no…” Khai whimpered. “I- I can meet you at the armory..!” she suggested. “It’ll be short-notice, but I can get something together for you.”
“No time for that,” Krueger said.
“Damn,” she whispered. “What else can I do to help you?”
Krueger thought a little. “Stand by,” he said. “If I don’t call you within two hours, take everything we know to Isaac and get yourself out of the Boroughs. Remember, Seza saw your face, she may have her men come after you.”
“Okay,” she said, hiding the fear and worry in her words. “Alright, I can do that.”
“Thank you.”
“Call me in two hours, Milo,” she appealed. “I mean it.”
“I will,” assured her. “I promise.” He hit the button to end the call and took a deep breath before heading upstairs to ready himself.
 ~~~~
“It’s been forty-one minutes,” one of the mercenaries said. The four of them were dressed in black tactical gear and matching wool caps. “You think he’ll show?”
“If I were him,” another one said, noting the two women seated on a couch in the room with them, “I would.”
“You’re gonna regret calling my dad out like that,” Victoria noted. She was slim, about her mother’s height, with tan skin, green eyes, her father’s nose, and her mother’s jaw and black hair. “You’ll see when he gets here.”
“Is that a fact, now?” one of the mercenaries said, kneeling down in front of her. “There’s five of us and one of him. I don’t see the odds stacking up in his favor.”
“I don’t know where you learned to count, guy,” she said, gesturing the space around them, “But I only see four of you.” She was terrified of them, but maintained her father’s lesson to hide that fear from the people scaring her.
“She’s got a point,” one of the mercenaries added sotto voce. “I haven’t heard from the boss all day.”
“Your boss probably ran and hid as soon as he heard my dad was coming. He’s gonna feed you those guns one bullet at a time.” She managed a wry smirk.
“Shut it, both of you!” the one in front of Victoria ordered. He stood up and gestured his associates to take their positions around the house. He looked back at her before heading to his place. “You’re lucky the boss lady said not to hurt you two.” He placed his fingers onto a communicator to activate it. “November to Watchdog, are you in position?”
Simon’s shooter sat tied to a chair on the second floor of the house across the street, the edge of Seza’s blade against his neck. In her other hand she held the radio in front of his mouth. “Watchdog in position,” he said. “Standing by.”
Seza, dressed in the same gear and wool hat as her squad mates, thumbed the power switch on the radio as soon as he finished, and returned her sword to the scabbard. “Thank you,” she said to him. Then she held onto his chin and forehead and pulled in opposite directions to break his neck. The shooter had incapacitated the residents, so they wouldn’t get in the way as Sea cleaned up after herself, cutting him free from the chair and returning the bolt-action .308 rifle he brought to its bag.
 ~~
Krueger parked his car two blocks east of Emma’s home; knowing Seza’s mercenaries would probably be watching the street, he would have to get to the house from the neighbor’s yard. He exited the car—clad in a dark waist-length jacket, tan tactical pants, mid boots, and a black wool beanie--and scanned the street quickly before heading to the house directly behind Emma’s.
The properties in that part of Cambria Heights were nearly identical—they all featured concrete driveways beside the houses with a short set of stairs leading into the house near the kitchen area, and a standalone garage at the end of the driveway adjacent to a fenced-in patio. Krueger knew the layout of the neighborhood, having lived there for years before his split with Emma, and returned tonight to use that knowledge to his advantage—he vaulted over the waist-high gate at the end of the driveway and moved toward the garage, then climbed the chain-link fence to his right to mount the roof of the garage and scale the back fence into Emma’s backyard.
Once there he knew he had to stay quiet and out of sight. He bent his knees to absorb his landing and minimize the noise, and maintained a low squat as he kept to the shadows and crept closer to the house. From a few yards distance he spotted one of the intruders, and identified a suppressed 9mm P226 in his thigh holster.
The moment the intruder turned away from him, Krueger crept up behind him and pulled the gun from the holster, firing it low into his back causing him to buckle to his knees and fall forward. Krueger shot him in the back four more times to make his point before moving on the house.
Inside, one of the mercenaries straightened up when he heard the noise outside. He looked at the other two in the room with him and signaled one of them to the side door.
Emma and Victoria noticed their change in behavior, and Emma held onto her daughter a little tighter.
The intruder raised his weapon and proceeded to the side door to slowly open it and peer around the corner into the cold night, scanning the concrete driveway from the staircase. He turned toward the garage and peered over the banister just as Krueger bounded out from behind the stairs him to grab him by the hair and pull his head back into the handrail. He smashed the intruder’s face with the grip of the handgun, forcing his head backward and breaking his neck over the rail before putting a round into his temple for good measure.
The other two inside the house sprang into action, raising their weapons and pointing them toward the open door. “Where the hell is Watchdog?” one of them whispered.
“Forget Watchdog, where’s Nomad?” the other one replied.
“Not fucking here, that’s for sure.” He looked back over his shoulder at Emma and Victoria seated on the couch. “Screw it,” he hissed. “Stay on the door,” he said. Then raised his weapon at the two women with them. They gasped and shot their hands up in the air. “You,” he said, “up you get.” He took Victoria by the cuff of her elbow to stand her up on her feet. She resisted at first, but complied after the muzzle of the gun was pressed a little harder into her forehead.
Emma stifled a sob. “Don’t hurt her,” she pleaded.
“Mom—!”
“Whatever you’re going to do to her, do it to me!” Emma cried.
The other intruder looked back over his shoulder at the chaos behind him. “What the hell are you doing!?”
“Stacking the odds in our favor,” he said.
“We’re under orders not to harm them—!”
“And who’s orders were those? Is she here right now?” He pulled Victoria completely up off the couch.
In the chaos, Krueger inched through the side door and quietly raised his stolen P226.
“Face it,” the intruder continued, “she left us behind. We’re on our own here—”
He was interrupted when a bullet came through the forehead of the man standing right in front of him, sending a spray of blood all over him but not the women.
Emma let a startled scream slip out as the last intruder stumbled backward, stunned for an instant before he reclaimed his footing and pulled Victoria in front of him as a shield and fired twice in Krueger’s direction. Krueger dove to his left before the intruder could shoot, and reclaimed his stance just in time to watch the intruder walk backward toward Victoria’s bedroom with her in front of him.
“Milo!” Emma called out, tearful.
Krueger shot a look in her direction, keeping his gun trained on the bedroom, and strafed over to his left toward her on the couch, stepping over the body and kneeling down next to her. “Did they hurt you?”
“Our daughter..!” she said. “Save our daughter!”
“Yeah,” the intruder called from behind the closed door. “Come save your daughter!”
Krueger slowly stood back up and raised the gun again. He pulled a spare magazine from the fallen man beside him and took measured steps toward Victoria’s room. He tucked himself into the entry of the other bedroom and flung the magazine at the cracked door, hitting it with an audible knock. When no bullets shot past him in response, he held the gun close to his face as he pushed through the now-open door and reclaimed his target—the other man cowering behind an innocent bystander, pressing a suppressor into the side of her head.
“Dad..!” Victoria whimpered. Her hands up in front of her.
“Keine sorge, mein liebe,” Krueger reassured her. “Jetzt bin ich hier.” He studied the man tucked behind his daughter pressing the gun against her temple. His eyes were wide, his breathing and pulse elevated, his hand shook, and—most importantly—his finger was beside the trigger, not on it.
“Drop it,” the intruder ordered. “Or she dies.”
Krueger’s eyes narrowed, his hands steady. He glanced at his daughter, locking eyes with her for the briefest moment. Ten, he mouthed.
As in Defense-from-Position-Ten. Victoria blinked, calmed herself down, and inched her head forward.
The intruder moved the gun to keep in on her. “I’ll shoot her right here,” he threatened, thumbing back the hammer and pushing the gun harder into the side of her head. “Believe me, I’ll do it..!”
Krueger tightened his grip on the gun. “No, you won’t,” he said.
Victoria threw her head backward into the intruder’s nose and got both her hands around the gun, grabbing it by its slide and hammer. Immediately afterward, she thrust her hands forward and drove her hips back into him, clearing him and ducking out of the way to her left, just like he taught her.
Krueger fired two rounds into the center of the intruder’s chest, pushing him into the back wall; he kept the sights on him as the other man slid down the wall, and placed a round between his eyes after he stopped moving.
 ~~
When it was over, Krueger lowered his gun and looked over his daughter, on her knees covering her ears. He knelt down next to her and gently placed his arm around her shoulder, as if the slightest addition of weight would crack her in two. “Victoria,” he breathed.
She looked back up at him, with tears in her eyes and a quivering lip. “Dad..?”
“It’s alright,” he comforted her, placing the gun on the floor to pull her into him with both his arms. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. “It’s alright,” he repeated. “It’s over now… Victoria, you handled yourself perfectly,” he added, placing a tender kiss on her forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”
Krueger allowed his daughter a moment to calm herself, then when she was herself again he reclaimed the gun and walked her back to Emma in the other room, who scooped her up in her arms and held her in a tight embrace. Krueger walked up beside her, and Emma pulled him in as well, holding her family close to her.
“I’m sorry,” he confessed, wrapping his arms around the two of them. “I promised I wouldn’t let this part of my life into yours.”
“I know,” Emma said, the wobble in her voice beginning to level. “You promised me a lot of things, Milo. But none of that matters.” She untucked her head from between her daughter and ex-husband to look the man in the eye. “Because you kept the most important one—you kept us safe. You protected us no matter what. I will never forget that.”
As they reconciled in the living area, the first intruder Krueger encountered in the back yard made it up the side door stairs on his hands and feet, mustering the strength to move a handgun he recovered from his associate in front of his face and point it toward the three of them.
Seza stepped over the prone man from behind him, sweeping the gun away with her right foot and squatting down over him to hold his arm between her calf and thigh while she wrapped her right arm around his neck. “Shhhh,” she ordered. With her left hand he slowly pressed the point of her sword into his armpit, pushing the metal deeper into him and holding it there until he stopped struggling.
Krueger heard the man’s gun fall to the floor, and snapped his own gun toward the doorway. He blinked when he saw Seza there, crouched down over her now dead supposed comrade with her sword in his side.
She looked up at him, releasing her hold on the sword and holding her hands up by her shoulders. Slowly, she stood up and tuned around in a complete circle to show him she wasn’t otherwise armed. “I’m not here to hurt any of you,” she clarified, reclaiming Krueger’s eyes.
Krueger stepped away from Emma and Victoria as he lowered the gun, maintaining his grip on it but resting it in his other hand. “Still watching over me, then?”
“Always,” she said. She kept her hands away from her sides to keep them all at ease. “The last one is taken care of,” she continued, nodding in the direction of the house across the street. “You should have no problems leaving.” She broke eye contact with him to address Emma and Victoria. “Is there anywhere you can stay for the next few days?”
Briefly, Emma thought of Tim, but decided not to involve him in this lest he became a target as well. “There’s a hotel in Bayside,” she said. “My company runs events there all the time, they’ll let us stay for a while.”
Krueger knew the place, and the place knew him. “Not good enough.”
“Milo,” Emma began.
“They found you here, Emma,” he told her. “And they’re using you to get to me. Until we know with certainty that the threat is gone, the safest place for both of you is as far away from anybody who knows you as possible.” He reached for his smartphone. “I know somebody,” he said, drafting a text message. “He can take you out east for the weekend.”
“Dad,” Victoria started, “you really don’t need to—”
“Of course I do,” he said with an honest half-smile. “It’s your birthday. Get a bag together,” he continued. “Both of you. I’ve arranged for pickup.” He hit Send and pocketed his cell phone again, then moved to follow Seza back out the door, who reclaimed her blade and stepped out of the doorway.
Emma held onto his wrist to stop him, looking him in the eye.
“I’ll be alright,” he reassured her. “She’s one of the good guys.”
Wistfully she let him go, watching him exit out the side door into the night.
 ~~
Krueger caught up with Seza in the driveway. “Five shots and not a single fatal wound,” she said, gesturing the newer of the two corpses at the top of those stairs. “I’d say you’re getting sloppy… Lovely family,” she noted, hoisting a rifle bag over her shoulder. “She’s definitely your daughter.”
“Seza,” Krueger said. “Why are you helping me?”
Seza looked away from him while she put the right words together. “Because I owe you,” she finally said, reclaiming his gaze. “You taught me almost everything I know, and more you gave me a chance when nobody else did. I owe you everything,” she confided. “And I never got to thank you for any of it… although after today,” she jested, “I think you’re the one who owes me..!”
“Another personal courtesy?” he suggested, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Something like that, yes.”
“I see. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I had to kill your squad.”
“They’re not my squad,” she said. “My squad was butchered near the Laos-Cambodia border, so don’t apologize to me for defending your family from a pack of mercenaries.”
“Mhm.” Krueger exhaled before continuing. “Seza… what we had—”
“Was wonderful,” she interposed. “In so many more ways than I can express to you.” A genuine smile spread across her face as she recalled their time together. “What we had was special, yes, but we had it. Our time is passed, and we’re not those people anymore.” Her expression was content, almost happy, as she came to terms with where they stood now. “Miss Khai really is lucky to have you in her life.”
Krueger nodded in understanding. There was no trace of deceit or duplicity in what she said—Seza meant every word.
They maintained eye contact for a few more seconds before Seza’s mobile phone buzzed in her pocket. She retrieved it and read the number on display, then gestured Krueger to stay quiet while she unfolded the phone to answer the call. “It’s Nomad,” she said.
“Nomad, I haven’t heard from my guy,” Simon said. Seza had him on speaker phone for Krueger to hear. “Tell me your people got something good for me.”
“They don’t,” she said. “They’re dead, and so is your shooter.”
“…You want to say that again?” Simon growled.
“If you insist. The mercenaries and your marksman are dead, the family is unharmed, and the specialist is unscathed.”
“What!?”
“I watched him walk away from the house,” she elaborated.
“Then why the fuck didn’t you shoot him!?” he barked.
“Because you paid me to draw him into the open, and that’s what I did. Just as I told you after the Miles Orham order, if you wanted him dead you should have put it in my contract.”
Simon was fuming on the other end. “Listen to me you little c—”
Seza broke the phone in two before he could finish, and lifted the lid of the trash bin to her left to deposit the two halves. “Maybe take a closer look at the people you choose to work with,” she advised, fishing out a small recording device from one pouches on her jacket and holding it up by her face.
“What’s this?” Krueger asked.
“A professional courtesy,” she answered, placing it in his jacket pocket. “It’s not thermite.”
“Still sore about that?”
“Quite the opposite, actually. It was very clever, I’ll use that trick in the field someday,” she added with a smirk. Then she looked him in the eyes and held her hand out for him. “Until we meet again, Milo Krueger.”
Krueger took her hand in his and slowly, firmly, shook it. “I only hope it will be as allies, Nomad.” He released her, and their fingertips held onto each other for a moment as they held each other’s gaze. Then Seza let her hand fall to her side, turned around, and walked away, disappearing behind the corner of Emma’s home.
 ~~~~
Krueger waited with Emma and Victoria for the SUV to arrive, and walked them out to it as the driver and passenger stepped outside to load their bags into the back.
“Let me know when you’re there,” Krueger told Emma as they embraced.
“I will,” she answered. “Tell me when you’re safe again,” she said, looking him in the eye.
“Of course.” He opened the rear passenger-side door to let her in and went to see his daughter off. “I guess we’ll need a rain check on that dinner, huh?”
Victoria nodded, her hands in her coat pockets. “Yeah,” she said. “I think so.” Her usual bubbly self was starting to shine through again.
Krueger held his daughter tight, rocking back and forth a little with her in his arms. “I’m sorry again for ruining your birthday.”
“Are you kidding me? I got to see my parents together again under the same roof,” she said, looking up at him. “You made my birthday!” She tiptoed up to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Ich liebe dich, Papa,” she said.
“I love you too, Victoria.” He opened the door again for her to sit next to her mother, and closed it behind her. Then walked up to the passenger of the car—Henry Everett—to shake his hand.
“I’ll have a crew clean the house up,” Everett said. “When your girls come back it’ll be like nothing happened.”
“Thank you again for this, Henry,” Krueger said.
“Of course, Milo. I’m happy to help you.” The older man returned to the passenger side door. “Come by Pharaohs some time, I’d like your expertise on something we’re doing.”
“Just let me know the next time you’re there,” Krueger said.
Everett gave Krueger a casual salute and a smile before opening the passenger side door and entering the vehicle.
Krueger watched the SUV head north toward Linden Boulevard, keeping his eyes on its tail lights before they dissolved into the numerous indistinguishable glints in the distance. Then he turned his wrist upward to check his watch and confirm he still had time to spare.
He retrieved his smartphone and dialed Khai’s number. “Elizabeth, it’s me,” he said as soon as she answered. He started for his car two blocks away.
“Milo,” she sighed, “thank God… are Emma and your daughter okay?”
“They are. Henry’s taking them out east for a few days, they’ll be out of danger.”
“That’s great to hear… was Seza there?”
“She was,” Krueger confirmed. “She was actually helping me.”
In his mind’s eye he could see Khai’s inquisitive look. “No kidding,” she said.
“I’m serious,” he continued. “She eliminated two of them, and confirmed it was Simon who had sent her after Orham at the cabin.”
“Did she happen to hand you proof of that?”
“She did. An mp3 recording of her conversation with him, and possibly more.”
Khai was quiet for a while. “If only I could spend an hour inside that woman’s head,” she mused.
“Are you sure you’d want that?” Krueger said.
“No, I guess not,” she chuckled. “I’m petrified of what’s rolling around in there.”
“That makes two of us,” Krueger noted. “I’ll scan the recorder for more information and send you what I find.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Khai said. “I’ll talk to you soon, Milo.”
“Good night, Elizabeth.” Krueger ended the call, and remembered there was something she wanted to tell him earlier that day. He didn’t stress it; he figured if it was important, she would let him know some other day.
 ~~~~
Khai sat in front of her laptop late that night, in her robe and satin nightgown as she listened again to the audio files Krueger emailed her. One was the conversation Seza had with Simon over the phone mere hours ago which—while damning for its own set of reasons—wasn’t enough to build an ironclad case against him. The other she played again and again, tying to make more sense of it.
“This only works if you’re willing to play, Mr. Wells,” one distorted voice said. “Think of me as Odin; I keep a number of ravens in my employ, and those ravens go out into the world and fetch information which I hoard, and sometimes forward to interested parties.” She recognized the filter and speech pattern—this was Orham talking. Who knew how old the recording was?
“For a price, of course,” Simon’s voice replied.
“That’s right, for a price. Of course… Consider it an investment in what you’re trying to accomplish.”
“I just don’t want it traced back to me.”
“Trust me, the information I get is scrubbed six times before I even see it. No sources ever in my line of work. You can wash your hands of this once your part is over, but if this scheme of yours is going to work, you need to tell my ravens where to go.”
Simon sighed audibly. “And you’re sure this’ll work?”
“Trust me, Mr. Wells. At the end of all of this, you’ll be sitting on top of the kingdom.”
Khai could infer what it all meant, but without something black-and-white she was ultimately left to speculate. And she knew she couldn’t go back to Isaac Hayden with mere circumstantial evidence. She resolved to leave it be for the night, and forwarded the audio samples to herself so she would see them at her desk in the morning.
She headed up the spiral stairs to the bathroom to wash up before continuing to her bed. She undid her robe and folded it over the back of a chair, then rested her glasses next to her clock radio and slipped under the sheets, lying on her side and curling her knees close to her chest as she tried to quiet her mind long enough to drift to sleep.
 ~~
Khai ate lunch at her desk the following afternoon, Friday, giving her plenty of time to reflect on what she knew and what she theorized. Thanks to Seza she now knew with certainty that Orham and Simon were in contact, and that they discussed some plan he had—for what they didn’t say, and she was free to hypothesize, but wasn’t about to confront the man over an educated guess.
But a timely email from her Brooklyn contact eliminated the need to guess. She scanned the attached, decrypted files and found correspondence from Simon’s desk to Orham dated three years ago confirming what they spoke about and detailing a plan to forward a list of all the Partners and their subordinates. He finished it with, your birds can take care of the rest.
Khai sat back in her chair, shaking her head in astonished disappointment as she put all the pieces together. Simon contacted Orham to spy on the Partners and their subordinates, setting him up to compile a list of every illegal action they’ve ever taken and from where. When the list was complete, it would be forwarded to interested parties—be they federal authorities, the Company, someone else—and provide them with a blueprint and step-by-step guide to dismantle the organization, conveniently leaving Simon alone as the last one standing to pick up the pieces and start anew, at the head of his own national enterprise.
But Simon underestimated Orham’s ambition, and when the Branch began leaking secrets, he had to look outside for help. Unfortunately for him, the help he hired was too thorough, and very nearly dug up his once-buried skeletons. He had to act quickly and decisively to stop the leaks from shining a light on his schemes so he looked again to the private sector for a secret weapon of sorts, without the knowledge or blessing of the Partners, to torch the project and hopefully eliminate the ones who were on to him. He hadn’t counted on that secret weapon turning against him, however.
And now that she has, the game was over. Khai knew everything.
“You actually went and did it,” she said to herself. She queued up the documents for print. “You son of a bitch…”
Khai stepped out of her office, documents in hand, and walked past Danielle’s desk toward the conference room.
“Miss Khai,” Danielle tried to stop her, “he’s in a meeting right now—”
“This is urgent, Danielle,” Khai replied, “I think he’ll forgive the intrusion.”
Khai stepped through the hallway and into the conference room, where Simon sat with C.J. Silvio and two others. She strode up to the desk.
“You three,” she ordered, “Leave.”
Silvio looked up at her from behind his sunglasses, and over to Simon sitting across from him.
“That wasn’t a request,” she repeated.
They heard it in her voice—Khai was serious. The three of them sheepishly got up out of their chairs and left Simon alone with her.
“You want to tell me what this is about?” Simon asked.
“It’s about you,” she said, holding up the printed correspondence. “And your deal with Orham.” She placed the sheets of paper on his desk and slid them in front of him. “Did you really think somebody wouldn’t find out?”
“Find out about what, what is this?”
“You know exactly what that is..! It’s why you hired Nomad to get rid of Orham and put Milo in a position to have him killed. I’ve been on to you for literal days,” she commented, “don’t think you can pull that shit.” Khai ran her fingers through her hair and exhaled, turning and taking a few steps away from him to compose herself again. “Honestly, Simon,” she continued, placing her hands on her hips. “You were going to betray them? Give them up to put yourself ahead?”
Simon’s expression flattened as he sighed and hunched over his desk, clasping his hands together on his desktop. “There’s a lot you don’t know,” he said, looking away from her.
“I know enough,” she replied, looking back at him. “I know that conversation you tried to hide from me speaks volumes to who you are as a person,” she noted, gesturing the printed message. “I know you should be ashamed of yourself, I know your father would be ashamed of you… and I know the Partners won’t let this go.”
Simon looked back up at her at her mention of them. “Let’s not get crazy,” he said. “Orham’s gone, he’s not a threat anymore. So you don’t need to take this to them.”
“We’ll let Isaac Hayden be the judge of that,” she countered. “Good day, Simon.” With that Khai turned and left the conference room to head back to her office, gather her belongings, and leave the building.
 ~~
Simon sat alone in the conference room, his elbows on his desk top and hands together in front of his mouth as he considered everything that happened over the past few weeks, and everything that could still happen.
Danielle peered her head around the corner of the conference room door. “Is everything alright, Mr. Wells?”
Simon nodded absentmindedly. “It’s fine,” he said. He looked up away from his hands at her. “Why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off? We’re closing early today.”
Danielle blinked. “Uh, sure. Okay.”
“Don’t wait for me,” he noted. “I’ll be right behind you, I just need to make some calls.”
“Sure,” Danielle said. “See you later, Mr. Wells.”
“Have a good one, Danielle. Enjoy your weekend.” When she was gone. Simon took a deep breath and unlocked his desk drawer to retrieve a handwritten note with a phone number to dial in case of emergency. He picked his handset up off the cradle and dialed the number.
(Next Chapter | Masterlist)
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inklingleesquidly · 4 years
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The Wonderful Splatwoon: Eilogue
The final chapter of the series. I said to myself that I would make it when The Wonderful 101 received a representative in Super Smash Bros or got a modern remaster.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/platinumgames/the-wonderful-101-remastered?ref=checkout_rewards_page
I’m so excited about this, I pledged to the Wonderful Art tier! Please do feel free to pledge as well, or buy the game when they release it; you won’t regret enjoying one of my favorite action games of all time! And thank you for enjoying the Squidlys time as super heroes! Hope to do more with them in the future 
Lee and Janine star as Wonder Inkling, the ink-tastic mom and son duo charged with defending Inkopolis from a mysterious alien invasion. Using ancient technology containing the heroic souls and power of over 100 wonderful heroes, this super powered duo saves the day! 
Word Count: 1,324 words
After a period of unrest and attacks on the bustling megalopolis of Inkopolis, its citizenry strived to return to normalcy. A picture of what the city hoped to be lied in the Finjuku district. There, at the Seaside Hill High private academy, students had their lessons as they always did.  
Breaking away from the mundanity of being in a stuffy Biology lab, a class was taking place in an outdoor pavilion on the schoolgrounds. The instructor energetically proceeded through his presentation. “--And if you’ll watch carefully, you’ll see the interesting reaction this alga has to this airborne chemical mixture.”
SHEEEOOOOOO—KABOOM!
An ear-piercing whine sliced through the air, followed by an earth rattling explosion miles-off in the distance. Those who managed to recover from the scare of the blast could look up to see the sky being peppered by mysterious midair machinery. The aliens were attacking!
Panic and chaotic confusion immediately set in between students and teachers alike. The more rational educators rushed into action, herding everyone into the school’s main building. In the time since the alien’s arrival, many facilities in the city had received several structural reinforcements to make them safe sanctuaries. Seaside Hill High had been designated one of those safe zones.
The teacher heading the Biology class held one of the armored steel doors open as lines of teens haphazardly filed in. “Single file! Don’t shove! Remember the emergency drills!” He shouted over all the screeching, gently pushing on the shoulder of the occasional passer to keep the way uncongested. “If your classes aren’t on the ground floor then stick together and find a room to hunker down in.” While the educators did their best to keep order, there was no fighting the alarmed disarray.
Soon, the straggling students all managed to seek safety—all except for one who lagged behind even the last teachers rushing in.
“Mr. Squidtalto, you have to get inside!”
“What? Lee?” The Science instructor found one of his students hadn’t taken refuge. Lee Squidly. “What are you still doing out? We have to lockdown the school.” He hurriedly urged.
Lee mysteriously refused. “I know, so you have to get in now!” Confused, but still anxious, Mr. Squidtalto tried to urge him in. In the end, he seemed to concede, “Okay, okay, I’ll go—SIR, LOOK, IT’S AN ALIEN!” He yelped, pointing away.
“WHAT? WHERE?” The teacher followed his direction, only for the Inkling sophomore to shove him in and slam the heavy door closed. Over the sound of the science instructor’s pleading shouts, Lee heard the clangoring noise of the electronic locks safely sealing everyone inside.
With that, the campus was left completely and utterly deserted. The only sign of life left as the alien threat loomed ever closer was Lee. Nobody could see, and nobody would know about the always timid, soft spoken young man.  
Glasses clutched in his hand, head raised, shoulders cocked back, he boldly looked toward the oncoming assault. Everybody is safe, I can go stop this.
The brave Inkling didn’t get far out of the school courtyard before he was suddenly ambushed. Two hulking monstrous machines belonging to the alien army dropped directly in front of his path. His reflex was to raise his fists, ready for a fight, only to be swooped upon by a pair of aviary automatons. Surrounded on all sides; even the quickest of quick thinking wouldn’t be able to save him.  
The extraterrestrial weapons trained their sights on him. Then, without warning, they fired beams of raw energy directly at him; energy so blisteringly hot they would disintegrate him right on the spot.
Or did they?
If the machines could feel surprise, they would as there was no anticipating their target leaping high into the air, and out of the way of their attack. One of them couldn’t react in time to being pelted by a rapid blasting of ink. As it fell to the counterattack, the rest of them seemed to stare forward, finding the child they attacked had transformed.
Just before the beams struck him, Lee activated his secret weapon. Pinned to his ear was a most wonderful device; one psychically linked to his mind that triggered in one-one billionths of a micro-instant. At the call of “WONDER EYES INKLING!” he donned an all-too familiar burning red costume, only something was distinctly different.
His stance, and the way he gripped a pair of Inkopolis Defense Force issued .96 Gal ink shooters was so much more powerful than ever before. As the one machine began to succumb to the ink spreading through its system, Lee made a declaration.
“I’m a special combat agent of the Inkopolis Defense Force planetary secret service, secret weapon designated for combating extraterrestrial invasion.” As he spoke, the mech fell to its side. “Codename: Wonder Inkling... Junior!” Just as he finished, the robot punctuated his introduction by exploding in a mighty fireball.
Without sparing a moment for their fallen comrade, the three remaining automatons launched another assault.
The empowered boy dodged with great agility, retaliating with super charged shots from his dual weapons. As they failed to hit him and began to succumb to his ink shots, he proposed diplomatically. “Lay down your arms invaders, come peacefully and we won't have to use force!”
One of them remained standing. Camouflaged just long enough by the explosions of its fellow robotic brethren, it moved to attack Lee.
In a flash, it was halted by a pink streak of light delivering a powerful punch.  The first hit sent the machine reeling off its feet, followed by a speedy second jab. The strike smashed clean through its metallic carapace, annihilating it just like the rest.
The new arrival was clothed in the same super powered exoskeleton and identity concealing mask as Lee. Only they were colored in flashy, passionate pink. The sight of the suddenly appearing costumed entity made Lee clench his fists tight against his sides and laugh. “Heh-eh, Mom, you made it!” Watching her turn to face him with a skeptical glance made him suddenly remember their decorum. He cleared his throat, straightened his posture, and saluted. “uh-ah-he-hum, thank you for coming, Wonderful One leading the Inkopolis Defense Force Field Operations, codename: Wonder Inkling!”
Her expression softened, and she couldn’t help but giggle. His abrupt eagerness to adopt this superhero persona he created was so charming. “Ara ara, oh honey, it’s so cute when you act like such a little hero!” A mighty clank sounded as she clapped her shining golden colored gauntlets together.
“Tsk, Mom…” He muttered at her fawning.
Just then, a serious, commanding voice buzzed over their communicating radios. “Come in Wonder Inkling Senior and Junior; the aliens are attacking the city. They’re converging on Inkopolis Tower. Make your way to Shee-Booyah as soon as possible.”
It was such a feat that in an instant, the peaceful city could be transformed into a warzone. I.D.F. jets rumbled across the sky while fights with earthbound enemies could be seen on the way to the center of town.
“Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”   Janine punched her open hand with her fist. “Ready to go? Partner?”
Standing at her side, Lee readied his pair of super shooters. “I’m right here, ready for anything!” Thinking back; recalling the hours upon days upon weeks of convincing it took to get her to reconsider her decision of ending their ties to the Inkopolis Defense Force and fighting the invaders. Now, they were back in action.
Further fueled by his vigor, the maternal woman said, “That’s my boy. Wonder Inkling, and Wonder Inkling Jr!”  
She held out her hand, to which Lee leapt up to smack his own against hers. With their energies combined, the two merged together into the towering form of Unite Kraken.
With their wonderful power surging through their invincible transformation, the Squidly family yelled together. “Team, unite up!” and they charged into battle.
THE END....?
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