Tumgik
#joohyun drabble
seullovesme · 9 days
Text
fevers and flowers w/ bae irene
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
i love irene, my cutie patootie pie☹️☹️☹️
pairing ⥬ irene x sick!reader
request ⥬ IRENE AND SICK GF READER DRABBLE PLEEK 😭
easy - mac ayres
Tumblr media
irene made it a tradition to bring you at least one flower every time she visited, and she really stuck to it. she could only come so often with her busy schedule, so you made sure to take the best care of each precious flower so that she could come to a colorful arrangement filled with her gifts.
typing in your passcode into the lock, she entered the house as quiet as possible, hoping to surprise you. she immediately dashed to your flower vase with a big grin, excited to see her "pretty babies", as she liked to call them.
but to her own surprise, they were looking quite limp and dull. she frowned, knowing you would never let them reach a state like this. irene switched out the water and tried her best to care for them, saddened by their appearance. they seemed sad too.
once she was finished, irene did not pause before going to find you. pushing open your room door, she realized why the flowers were so down. their mother was sick!
you groaned as the light from the hall shined into your room, the brightness hurting your head like crazy. irene furrow her brows and climbed onto your bed, sitting beside you. she pressed the back of her hand against your forehead and felt how hot you were. despite being almost as hot as the sun, you were shivering like crazy under your thick blanket. you leaned into irene's touch and hummed, finding comfort in the touch of your girlfriend.
the sight was stressing bae joohyun out. you should've called! or at least messaged saying that you were so unwell. as she left the room, you whined, missing her already. not even a minute later, she returned with a bowl of cool water and a towel. soaking it first, she placed the towel onto your head while stroking your cheek lovingly.
"you silly girl, why didn't you say anything? i would've been here much sooner..."
you smiled at her sweet words, touched by the love of your girlfriend once again. there was never a day where irene forgot to show you how much she loved you. through her gift of flowers to her caring for you when you're sick, to even just her words, they all expressed the pure love she had for you.
"it's okay, all that matters is that you're here now."
<3
Tumblr media
194 notes · View notes
kyuusberry · 3 months
Text
bite | red velvet irene drabble
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
pairing: vampire!irene x gn!reader
warnings: rene is lowkey crazy, slight blood, small mention of murder
a/n: this will not follow the traditional drabble.. which is a max of 100 words, but cough i made this 215 words cough.. anyways! enjoy ^^
cis men, homophobes, racists, 20+, smut accounts dni
Tumblr media
vampire!irene who took interest in you when you first met
vampire!irene who pretended to be a noble lady who was interested in your family's business just to get closer to you
vampire!irene who stopped eating people just to appear normal to you and your family (almost died in the process, but it was worth it)
vampire!irene who married you and couldn't resist herself so she bit you, draining a lot of your blood, making you faint
vampire!irene who kept apologizing to you, crying her eyes out because she almost killed you
vampire!irene who paid you to stay with her
vampire!irene who turned you into a vampire too, wanting to live with you for eternity
vampire!irene who hated when you interacted with other people that weren't her
vampire!irene trying to not kill everyone you knew and loved so she could have you to herself
vampire!irene who spoiled you rotten
vampire!irene who loved cuddling with you
vampire!irene who loved kissing you
vampire!irene who loved talking to you about stupid stuff
vampire!irene who enjoyed going on walks in the woods with you
vampire!irene who loved you so much she would do anything for you, even if that meant killing someone or killing herself
107 notes · View notes
daemour · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media
Pairing: heiress! Bae Joohyun x gn! Reader
Genre: Angst, light fluff, mentioned arranged marriage
Warnings: arguing, some manipulation, suggestive content (13+)
Summary: When faced with a marriage she doesn't want, Joohyun decides to take matters into her own hands
Word Count: 713
Tipsy drabbles are back with a vengeance! Hope you guys enjoy it <3 its a short one hehe
-
“Miss Joohyun,” you practically sprint after your friend and employee, the soon-to-be wife of the business mogul Beomjun Kim. “Whatever is the matter?”
Joohyun spins around, her brows furrowed and her lips pursed in a perfect display of discontent. In this moment, you’re struck with her ethereal beauty once more. Having worked with her for almost half your life, you’re rarely caught off-guard by it. But at this moment, she looks ready to strike you down, like the queen she is supposed to be.
“‘Whatever is the matter’, you ask? The matter is that I have no choice in my future. No chance at finding my own love!” Joohyun’s eyes flash. “And that, that pig is going to be my husband? He has no clue how to run his business, much less the combined efforts of both our families. And yet, my parents decided to have him be the one for me to marry?”
Your eyes widen at the blatant disrespect Joohyun has displayed, your eyes darting around to make sure no one else is within earshot. “Miss Joohyun! You know he’s already part of the board of your father’s company! You can’t say such things.”
Joohyun scoffs. “I’d much rather die than be with him for the rest of my life.” She stalks forward, reaching out to grab your hands. “(Y/N), you’ve got to understand me. You can’t possibly want me to be married to that thug either.”
Your mouth opens and closes as you stare at her. “I–” Joohyun blinks at you, the epitome of innocence although you both know that’s far from the truth. In the many years you and your family have served the Bae family, you’ve grown fond of the young woman who grew up alongside you. And she has found company in you as well. But her feelings surely do not match yours. “I’d rather you found someone you genuinely cared for, Miss Joohyun. But I cannot sway your parents’ decisions.”
Joohyun’s eyebrow raises. “I’m not asking you to. Lord knows their decisions will never change. But there is something we can do.” She leans in, her breath fanning over you and everything in you stiffens. “Run away with me.”
You blink once, twice. “What?” It comes out as a whisper, and Joohyun chuckles at the look on your face.
“Run away with me, (Y/N). Come on. Ever since we got older, we’ve hardly had time to spend with each other. I don’t want to marry Beomjun, and you can’t possibly want to work for my family for the rest of your life. It’s mutually beneficial.”
A frown pulls at the corner of your lips. “But I can’t possibly upend my life like that. My family would be devastated. I want to go with you, but I can’t bring myself to.”
Joohyun’s facial expression changes. Not to disappointment, or anger, but something else you can’t place. Something akin to a cat getting ready to pounce. “(Y/N),” she hums, leaning in just a tad more, and your breath catches in your throat. “Couldn’t you come with me, because I want you there?”
And before you can protest any more, Joohyun leans in and presses a soft kiss to your lips. Your eyes squeeze shut. It’s what you’ve dreamt of at night when no one is away but your shallow breaths as you sneak a hand down your pyjama pants. A daydream you find yourself in as you clean the kitchen, imagining her slender arms wrapping around your waist as she presses kisses below your ear.
Deep in your mind, you know she doesn’t love you, not in the way she’s promising. The daughter of a business mogul, Joohyun is an expert in manipulating feelings. But maybe you’re so far gone, that if she wants you to believe she loves you, you’ll let yourself fall.
“If you want me, you can have me,” you murmur, and Joohyun’s face brightens at your quiet defeat. The sight of it makes a warmth bloom in your gut and you let a smile grace your face although your brain is screaming for you to pull back.
Living in a lie is worth it as long as she looks at you. Even if it’s not the way you look at her.
24 notes · View notes
twogyuu · 2 years
Text
Love Me Out Loud
Tumblr media
Pairing: Mingyu x fem!reader
Featuring: BooSeokSoon, the rest of team ENFJ, Kim Taehyung, Irene/Joohyun, Younghee
Synopsis: Kim Mingyu was your first, but to him, he was for sure you were his endgame. One year out from university, no one expected you to be dating the former campus heartthrob. It's why you had to hide it from everyone – Mingyu's 14.5K Instagram followers, at least. However, the return of your childhood best friend Kim Taehyung to Seoul for a wedding, forces Mingyu to rethink the secrecy of your whole relationship. 
Genre: Fluff, angst, smidgen of crack, established relationship, secretbf!mingyu, medschoolgrad!reader, childhood bestfriend!taehyung, bestfriend!younghee, title inspired by Chungha's Love Me Out Loud
Warnings: Use of profanity, mentions of food and alcohol, inaccurate statistics about couples, lack of communication, insecurities, yes I chose cliché wedding songs . . . I think that's it?
WC: ~14.6K
A/N: Surprise 🤡 This fic was inspired by Mingyu's IG thirst photos. Also . . . high-key low-key me projecting my beef with him onto the couple in this au😳 I deeply apologize in advance if the main conflict of this fic is kind of stupid 😭 I needed to . . . uh, vent out some steam :') Only Kim Mingyu can make me feel this deeply to the point where I can smash out almost 15K words in three sittings, despite recently declaring Vernon (and maybe Jihoon) as my new biases . . . (I am not proud).
I was this close to throwing out this fic, but @onlymingyus encouraged me to follow through with it, so here's the final result. Thank you for believing in my hot recycling writing when I can't, fam 😭
Other things: Per usual, this is unedited, so I'm sorry for any grammar and error mistakes. One of these days when I'm feeling ambitious, I will come back and fix them. This will probably be my last update in a while! I have a couple big exams coming up I need to focus on. I also need to work on those 1K fic drabbles (and finishing my 2 other series 🤡)! I'll be lurking around simping over Vernon, but for the most part, I'll see you all on the other side in a few weeks, hopefully having passed my exams with flying colors and with some new stories and updates in hand.
Last, Kim Mingyu if you're reading this: Sir, please love me back in my dreams at the bare minimum!!! 😭💔 #iykyk
Permanent taglist: @sleeplessdawn @woozarts @wonuziex @rockwidthyou @bibinnieposts @jeonghanniehae95
Tumblr media
“He looks like a . . . a fuck boy.”
Her brows knitted together with a frown set on her lips, Younghee sank down into the wooden chair and shot you a concerned look. Mirroring her disappointment, though for different reasons, you pouted and lowered the image of your new boyfriend closer to your chest. Silently, you clicked the side button of your phone that turned your screen black. 
“He’s not,” you mumbled, your feelings hurt that your best friend would think you were that dumb to fall for a fuck boy. 
Younghee let out a heavy sigh, running her hands through her long wavy black hair. She tucked a loose strand behind her ear and clasped her hands together, tilting her head curiously to the side. “What’s his name again?”
“Mingyu,” you replied promptly, “Kim Mingyu.”
“Kim Mingyu, Kim Mingyu, Kim Mingyu,” she repeated like a mantra, tapping her chin curiously. She narrowed her eyes, “The name sounds familiar.”
“He . . . went to the same uni as me,” you added – not that it mattered a whole lot. Younghee didn’t know many of your friends from university as she didn’t attend with you when the both of you graduated from high school. Rather, she went down her own unique path, opting to attend culinary school and now owning her own bakery. Busy with your post-graduation and adult lives, the two of you hardly found the time to sit down like this and catch up anymore – it’s almost been a year since you last saw Younghee and had a lot to update her on, your relationship Mingyu being the main new occurrence. 
Sucking in a sharp breath, she asked, “I don’t remember you talking about him.”
“That’s because I didn’t,” you cleared your throat and took a long sip of your own drink before replying. “We didn’t run in the same circles – I mean, we did, he’s friends with Seokmin and Seungkwan, but I was hardly around when he was because ya know, medical school is busy . . . We met after I graduated.”
“Ah,” Younghee nodded slowly. 
“He’s really nice – a sweetheart,” you volunteered. You rubbed your arm, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “Treats me well . . . and s-stuff.”
“I mean, I hope he does,” Younghee replied. She shrugged and turned back to her iced coffee, twirling the straw nonchalantly as the ice sloshed against one another inside. 
You frowned and let out a heavy sigh. Your shoulders slumped forward. “What don’t you like about him already? You haven’t even met him yet”
“I never said I didn’t like him.”
“You said he was a fuck boy and keep giving me these weird looks.”
Younghee rolled her eyes. She hated how observant you were at the wrong times. “I said he looked like a fuck boy,” she pointed at your phone, “And I don’t know? It’s the air, the vibe, about him in his pictures? He’s definitely good-looking and you can tell he knows it – it’s like . . . arrogant?”
“He’s not–”
“And don’t lie to me, you can tell, the man has had bitches before you.”
“Okay and? We’re nearing our thirties, haven’t we all dated someone at this point?”
“You’ve never dated anyone before Mingyu and there’s a chance that there will be bitches after you.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” you scoffed. As much as you loved your best friend, she was quick to judge and did not know how to filter herself at times. “Also, I did date before this! There was –”
Younghee pointed at you, her eyes wide and playful as she was trying to make a point. “Hoseok doesn’t count – you both were so shy, nothing came about it.”
Annoyed, you pressed your lips tightly, waiting for Younghee to finish rattling off nonsense about Mingyu. She wasn’t wrong per se, but she also wasn’t right. Mingyu was one of three major heartthrobs at your university, and unironically, they were best friends with one another: Kim Mingyu, Joshua Hong, and Lee Chan. Like those cheesy coming-of-age movies set in high school, people gawked at them in the hallways while they blessed everyone with their presence. Women flocked in their direction at parties, hoping at a shot to be their companion for the night, or perhaps even the next few months. 
They each had their own charms, it just depended on what you preferred. Joshua Hong was the soft “indie” type. Seemingly lost in his own thoughts, daydreaming and sketching away in his notebook or strumming his guitar during his free time, the former Film major was quite the romantic. He was warm, kind, and soft-hearted. He was the owner of the gentle tinkling laugh that had women and men alike on their knees. Lee Chan was the youngest, but the boldest, of the trio. Effortlessly, funny and shameless, he was quite the flirt; yet known to be quite serious when it came to studies. And last: Kim Mingyu – arguably the most popular out of the three of them. He was a man written by a woman: Handsome, tall, well-built, respectful, and friendly. His photos on Instagram surmounted hundreds of likes within hours of posting them. Rumor had it that brands had offered him deals for modeling, but he always turned them down, opting to focus on pursuing his career in architecture instead. He was practically a university socialite, though that did come with a downside. 
“Are you done?” you asked when you saw Younghee lean back into her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
She nodded. “All I’m saying is you need to be careful with men who look like him. Looks can be deceiving.”
“I understand where you’re coming from and thank you for your concern,” you sucked in a sharp breath, “But . . . give him a chance? Mingyu’s . . . the first guy I’ve really liked in a long time.” You peered up at Younghee through your lashes, gnawing at your bottom lip. “I also thought he was going to be like that in university, up to when Seungkwan first introduced us: arrogant, only here for an ego boost and to play with me and go about his life, but . . . I don’t know, he has his flaws, but something’s . . . different about him. I promise.”
Younghee eyed you curiously, chewing the tip of her straw between her pearly white teeth. She turned your words in her head over and over like she was observing a stone in her hand. To her, Mingyu was an interesting shift from your type, which you had claimed your last crush, Hoseok, was. He wasn’t ugly, but from the first look, you knew that wasn't all there was to him like Mingyu. Hoseok was cheerful – he added color to your dull, gray life. His style was definitely unique to put it kindly, but he was supportive and got along well with all of your friends, especially Seokmin. She hadn’t met him yet, but one look at the picture of Mingyu wearing a black T-shirt reading, “ART THAT KILLS,” and coyly looking at the camera while putting on his headphones was enough to set off alarms in her head. 
Younghee let out a sigh and dropped her empty plastic cup onto the table. Her lips contorted as her eyes wandered around the cafe before they landed on you. Reaching over to place her hand over your clasped ones, she leaned in, trying to read your face. Clearly, you were upset with her. She wasn’t sure if you were just so far up Mingyu’s ass that you didn’t see the red flags, or maybe, she was wrong and Mingyu really was a good guy, so you genuinely did like him. 
“How long have the two of you been dating again?” Younghee asked. 
“Seven months,” you mumbled. 
She nodded. It was a sizable amount of time and you usually did have a good read on people to break things off before they got toxic – but maybe Kim Mingyu was a different breed. “And why is that I’m only finding out about him now? As your best friend, I kind of expect you to blow up my phone the day you made it official.”
“We agreed to keep it on the down-low,” you played with your thumbs, avoiding her eyes. Your mind flitted to the day, Mingyu and you talked about it on his old beat up blue couch. You still remembered the way his hands gingerly crept up to caress your own, his eyes silently pleading you to give him a chance.  “A secret, if you will?”
“But I’m your best friend,” Younghee frowned. She felt her stomach churn, though she was trying to keep calm and let you explain your side of the story before she misunderstood.
“You are!” you exclaimed, covering her hands with yours now. You folded your thumbs over her fingers. “B-but for my sake, I chose to keep it a secret and I asked him to do the same – he was only doing what I asked him to do . . . Not many people knew about us. Only Seungkwan, Soonyoung, and Seokmin really did – Seungkwan set us up anyhow. Mingyu only told his friends recently too.”
“Okay,” Younghee replied slowly, “Why did you want to keep it a secret then?”
“I - I . . . Mingyu is, err, famous?” you offered. 
“All of it in one go, girlie, don’t stutter,” Younghee encouraged you, “I won’t understand otherwise.”
You huffed out a breath, blowing off the fringes in your eyes. “This is so cliche,” you muttered, “But Mingyu . . . was the, uh, ‘campus heartthrob’ at our university. A lot of people liked him and, uh, you were right, he dated a lot of people before me. With those people, he . . . was very vocal about his relationship with them on Instagram – you know, like, posting cute couple pictures and stuff. You knew when they were together, and you knew when they weren’t anymore, or when he found someone else. As much as I like him, I don’t want everyone from university who follows him to be all up in my business – especially since we graduated already. I-I like my privacy and the small world I built in university. You know too, I hardly use my IG account.”
“Anything else?” Younghee offered, giving you the space to add any sparing details. 
Biting your bottom lip, you replied, “I’m also scared about how my parents, especially my mom, will react when they find out I’m dating Mingyu . . . You know how they are.”
“You didn’t even tell your mom!?” Younghee exclaimed. 
“I know I’m almost twenty-six and I shouldn’t be scared of my mother, but I am,” you wailed, burying your head in your arms. “I wanted to be sure before I introduced Mingyu to them, let alone, tell them about him because I’m scared they’ll give the same scolding you did – but worse.”
Younghee let out a chortle. She rounded the table to sit in the seat next to you, pulling your form into her arms. “You’re the cutest.”
“Stop finding joy in my misery,” you whined. 
“But in all seriousness,” Younghee rubbed circles into your back, “I get it now. It makes sense why you kept it from me, especially when we run such opposite lives – you at the hospital and me at my bakery.”
You nodded, letting out a soft hum. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Though,” Younghee started teasingly. You glowered at her in annoyance, only eliciting a playful smile dancing on her lips, “You must really like him if you’re this cautious and scared.”
You shrank back against the window. “I’m just . . . not sure he feels the same. What if I do like him more than he likes me?”
“What makes you think that?”
“He’s Kim Mingyu, and I’m me – I didn’t see this coming.”
“Did he approach you, or did you approach him?”
You thought for a bit. “The former.”
“And what made you cave in?”
“ . . . Seungkwan?”
“You dated him for Seungkwan?” 
You shook your head furiously. “No, no, no – I, um . . . Mingyu . . . after we met at Seokmin’s birthday party, we, uh, hung out a few times – as friends, friends only. But one day, he just casually asked me out on a date.”
“And how does Seungkwan play into all of this?” Younghee shook her head. 
“At first I told him no because I thought he was joking, but he was persistent. The first time turned into a second, then a third, then a fourth. I thought he’d give up by the fifth time, but he asked again, and he probably told Seungkwan about it because shortly after, he gave me a good long talk,” you peered up Younghee, “You know, Seungkwan and his long talks.”
Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she chuckled and replied, “I know them the best.”
“But yeah,” you said in a small voice, perching your chin meekly on your hand. 
“Well, I think he’d be blind not to like you as much as you like him,” Younghee reassured you. 
You scoffed. “You’re obligated to say that as my best friend.”
“Y/N,” Younghee rolled her eyes, “You’re ambitious, pretty, humble, easygoing – you’re a fucking doctor for heaven’s sake. You’re everyone’s dream girl. Give yourself some credit.”
“I don’t know, Younghee,” you muttered. 
Younghee wanted to shake you. As amazing as you were, your insecurity was one of the things that always seemed to get the best of you. It made her heartache that after all your achievements at such a young age, you still succumbed to self-doubt. If only you saw you through her eyes. 
“When do I get to meet this ‘Kim Mingyu’?” Younghee asked, hoping to get your mind off of things. 
“You . . . want to meet him?” you asked nervously instead. 
She nodded. “I need to scope him out – make sure, he’s not here to play with my best friend’s heart.”
“Oh god – don’t. Soonyoung already gave him a hard enough time,” you chuckled at the memory of Soonyoung’s shocked expression when the two of you showed up hand-in-hand, the older man eventually pulling Mingyu aside and giving what Mingyu described as a “stern dad warning.” “But I do really want you to meet him . . . and he wants to meet you too.”
“Oh?”
“I talk a lot about you to him,” you nudged her in her ribs. 
Younghee smiled and pulled you into another hug. “I’m happy for you, truly – though, I don’t trust Mingyu 100% yet. Come by the bakery after work or on the weekend sometime. We’re gonna play on my turf.”
“Younghee,” you warned, jokingly. 
As you pulled away, your phone lit up, Mingyu’s caller ID, a photo of him with his dog Bobpul that he insisted on, displaying on the screen. Younghee wiggled her eyebrows at you playfully. 
“Hello?” you answered, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. Younghee moved to press her ear next to your phone, hoping to also catch a word or two from your boyfriend.
“What are you doing right now? Where are you?” Mingyu asked softly. His voice was rasp and low as if he just woke up from a nap. 
“I’m meeting with Younghee, remember?” you peered up at your best friend. She smirked at you, lightly slapping your shoulder in excitement. 
Mingyu let out a soft hum. You heard ‘poof’ in the background, assuming he rolled onto his back and collapsed on his bed. “How much longer are you gonna be there? Do you work today? I miss you – I want to see you.”
“I don’t work today, but I was hoping to spend more time with Younghee,” you side glanced at her, heat creeping across your cheeks. She was angrily holding up her two pointer fingers in a cross, suggesting you cancel your plans and run home to Mingyu. You rolled your eyes and shoved her away. “You know I only get to see her every few months and I saw you two days ago.”
“Mmm . . . it’s been too long though,” Mingyu groaned. 
“I’ll see you tonight? After the movie?” you offered. 
“I wanna see you now,” he chuckled. 
“Gyu.”
“Y/N.”
“You are insufferable,” you chortled. 
“But you’re stuck with me, so,” you could just picture him skittishly shrugging his shoulders.
“I’ll come over after, okay?”
“Okay,” he pouted jokingly, “Don’t be too long, love.”
“Bye, Gyu.”
“Bye.”
When you ended the call, you were met with Younghee’s shit-eating grin. A moment of silence passed before she erupted in a thunder of squeals and giggles. 
“You two are so gross, but so cute!” she latched onto your arm. “‘Love’? What other pet names does he have for you? Babe? Honey? Sweetheart?”
“Stop,” you groaned, reaching for your purse. “Let’s just go to the movies.”
“Sure thing, love,” Younghee winked facetiously. 
. . . .
As promised, you returned to Mingyu’s apartment that evening. Initially, you had only planned on staying a few hours before returning to your own home; however, like more times than not, he managed to convince you to stay the night. Hence, why you were lying in the crook of his arm on his bed, wearing one of his many black T-shirts that were much too large for you, the hem hitting you below mid-thigh.
Because Mingyu couldn’t sleep unless it was completely pitch black, there wasn't a trace of light. He had chosen a windowless bedroom, so not even the slightest sliver of moonlight would seep through. Your only sense of him was his large body half underneath you and the steady rise and fall of breathing. 
“I told Younghee about us,” you muttered, tracing invisible circles into his abdomen.
Mingyu replied with a soft hum, followed by a sigh of relief. You felt him shifting underneath you, turning until you were laying on his bicep. You peered up at him through your lashes, the light from outside reflecting off his deep brown irises shining like stars. Mingyu’s hair was getting long as his messy dark bangs were starting to skim the tops of his lashes. 
Mingyu reached over and brushed a few strands of loose hair from your face, letting his fingers linger a little longer along the curves of your cheeks. He gave you a small smile. “And?”
“Do you want me to be honest or do you want me to sugarcoat it a little?” you whispered. 
His smile grew into a grin – he was already expecting to not be well-received by Younghee as you’ve told him she was rather blunt and critical. It took her almost half a year to warm up to Seokmin because she claimed he was too nice to be true. Especially in the case that he was your first boyfriend in a while, Mingyu knew he’d have to be more than ‘nice’ for Younghee to welcome him into your life. 
Mingyu slipped his arms lower, wrapping them around your waist. He pulled you closer to him; you automatically placed both of your hands on his chest in efforts to create some distance between the two of you. It wasn’t that you didn’t like his physical affection, but rather, you weren’t used to someone being so clingy and touchy with you like this before. 
“Lay it on me, love,” Mingyu whispered, tucking your head underneath his chin. “I have to hold you in case it hurts too much.”
“You can just hold me if you want to, Gyu,” you giggled. 
“You’re my emotional support teddy bear,” he insisted. 
You rolled your eyes. Nonetheless, you found yourself snaking your arms around his waist as well. “Younghee thought you looked like a fuck boy.”
“Hhmm,” Mingyu hummed. You could already picture the slight pout setting on his face. You knew he didn’t like it when people made this assumption about him based on his appearance. 
“She’s . . . kind of nervous about you for me,” you continued to explain. It was as Mingyu expected, “But . . . I reassured her that you were good and she wants to meet you – but she thinks we’re gross.”
Mingyu let out a breathy chuckle. “Why?”
“When you called, she overheard you calling me ‘love’,” you squirmed a little in his hold. 
“Do you think it’s gross?” Mingyu asked instead. 
You pressed your lips into a tightline, answering his question with silence. Had you been an outsider watching the two of you, you might have said the same thing as Younghee: gross. However, admittedly, the pet names he gave you like, ‘love’ and ‘teddy bear’ made you feel warm and fuzzy inside – almost special if you will. There was a small voice inside of you that questioned if he did the same with his various past girlfriends. 
You buried your face into his chest, the scent of floral laundry detergent filling your nostrils. He must’ve pulled this out of the dryer recently. You felt a rumble bubbling through his body as Mingyu let out another chuckle at your reaction. You had a feeling, he already knew what you were going to say. You’ve only been dating seven months, but he already read you so well. 
“Kind of,” you finally replied, your voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. 
“I . . . don’t blame you,” he reassured you. He planted a brief kiss on the crown of your head, while rubbing your back. “We are kind of gross, but . . . I wouldn’t have it any other way. I like it when you call me ‘Gyu.’”
“It’s not that special of a nickname,” you pointed out. 
“It is when you say it,” he immediately replied. 
You were glad he couldn’t see you right now as your cheeks grew warm. Again, you found yourself burying your face deeper into his chest – as if it could take anymore of you. Simultaneously, you were silently cursing yourself for swooning so easily at each flirt he shot your way. You shouldn’t let him have this much of an effect on you. What happens when the honeymoon phase is over? Will he still be calling you ‘love’? Will you still feel this special for doing the bare minimum?
“What are you thinking about?” Mingyu asked, his voice soft. 
“Nothing,” you lied. 
“You’ve been quiet for a while now though.”
“I’m just getting tired,” you sighed. You pulled back from his chest, fluttering your eyes shut. “We should sleep.”
Because he didn’t want to argue, Mingyu chose to leave it at that. Perhaps another day he’ll ask what’s been keeping you so preoccupied. With a deep breath, Mingyu turned and tightened his grip on you, molding his body against yours. He could feel you moving in his arms, trying to find a position to get comfortable. 
“Good night, Gyu,” you whispered when you had stopped turning. 
“Good night, love,” Mingyu replied. 
. . . .
You spun around at the familiar sound of his Leica camera shutter going off. Mingyu smiled softly, a fond look in his eyes as he admired the photo on the back screen. Placing the pumpkin spice candle back on the shelf, you shoved your hands in the pockets of your peacoat and walked over to him. Leaning over, you tiptoed peering over his shoulder looking on as well. The picture was of your profile as you read the label of the candle, your hair spilling over your shoulder. You knew Mingyu loved photography and you could appreciate it, but you couldn’t help but frown at the thought of him taking photos of you unaware. You just didn’t like taking pictures unless you had to; they made you uncomfortable, even if it was just Mingyu. Silently, you nudged his side, snapping him out of his musing. Mingyu lowered his camera and turned to face you, a nervous smile dancing on his lips. 
“Gyu,” you said softly, “You know I don’t like pictures.”
“You looked nice though,” he mumbled. 
You frowned at him. 
“Candid pictures are the best,” he tried to convince you. 
When you didn’t respond, only pressing your lips into a thin line and looking away, Mingyu finally relented with a soft sigh. He only wanted to love and appreciate you for who you were and that included taking pictures. He wanted to show you, you through his point-of-view; yet, you didn’t want it. Hooking the red camera strap around his neck, he reached over to place his hand on the crook of your elbow, tugging you closer towards him. 
“Hey,” he said more firmly this time. You peered up at him silently through your lashes. “I’m sorry, okay? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but . . . I just like taking pictures of the people I love.”
Though you understood where he was coming from, it didn’t necessarily make you feel any better. Especially when the Instagram images of Mingyu with his previous girlfriends have flashed through your mind. 
“You’re beautiful and I just want to remember small moments like this with you,” his hand trailed from your elbow, down your forearm, naturally fitting them into yours. He gave you a reassuring squeeze. “But if you really are against it, I’ll stop.”
Guilt flooded your system at his words – it was the same unsettling feeling you had when you had asked him to delete his first Instagram story of the two of you. It was a photo taken by Seungkwan, Mingyu’s arm wrapped loosely over your shoulder while your head was tucked away in the nape of his neck with your arm resting on his chest – a closer look would reveal the bashful smile on your face. 
“Why?” Mingyu had asked innocently through the phone when you had anxiously called to ask him the favor. 
“I just like my privacy,” you had simply told him. “I would also rather . . . uh, keep our relationship out of the . . . public eye right now,” you chuckled nervously, “On the down-low?”
It wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t the whole truth. 
“Okay,” he replied. Little did you know, his heart sank a little. He was excited for your relationship when it started that late spring – as corny as it sounded, it was as if the cherry blossoms bloomed late that year, just for the two of you to come together. Nonetheless, Mingyu wanted to try and be understanding and accommodating – you weren’t quite like any of the other girls he dated previously. “For future references though . . . would you be comfortable if I post pictures of us? Photography,” Mingyu let out a breathy, but nervous chuckle, “It's kind of a hobby of mine and I like sharing the ones I took.”
You had taken a minute to reply, your mind running at 100 miles per hour, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. It was as if the course of your whole relationship flashed before your eyes, the end seemingly soo and grim. 
“I-I . . . um, for now, let’s not,” you stuttered, “Maybe as we go along I’ll be more comfortable – just ask.”
But as time continued, the situation didn’t seem to get better. Similarly to today, you’d only get quiet when he took pictures of you, quickly reminding him not to post it on Instagram. Though he was curious if there was more of a reason beyond your privacy, Mingyu never dared to question you. Yet, it made you all the more guilty as time went on. 
He loved photography and he loved you – Mingyu was an altruistic and rather pure soul, so you knew his words weren’t without substance. You didn’t want to cut him off from his passion either – refraining from sharing your relationship was already a huge sacrifice for him. Mingyu was extroverted, confident, and unafraid to show himself to the world, and this included his photos and you. For that, you loved him, but you wouldn’t want him to change that for you. 
“It’s fine,” you finally muttered. 
Mingyu frowned, unconvinced. “Is it though?”
You pulled away from his hold, though not letting go of his hand. “J-just . . . give me a heads up next time okay? Like ‘hey, babe, I brought my camera and I might snap a few pictures,’ okay?”
A mischievous smile replaced the sullen look on his face. He cocked a curious eyebrow in your direction. “Babe?”
You rolled your eyes. “That wasn’t the point I was trying to make.”
Mingyu nodded, acknowledging your point. “I know, I know – I’ll let you know next time.”
“Don’t post it on Instagram,” you added. 
Mingyu felt his heart drop into his stomach, unsettled. It’s been seven months and most, if not all of your friends knew at this point. Were you still so worried? Nevertheless, he shooed away the turbulent feeling and nodded. “Promise.”
Looking down at your watch, you tugged Mingyu along towards the exit of the store. “C’mon, it’s almost time to meet Younghee.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, nervous. 
You chuckled at him, “Just be you and she’ll love you.”
“I purposely wore this jacket instead of my leather one because I thought it wouldn’t make me look like a fuck boy,” he noted as you pushed open the door. A clang sounded through the store as you walked out, being met by the crisp air of autumn. 
You paused in your steps, turning to him and grabbing either side of his collar. Pulling him towards you, you placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “Mr. Kim,” you teased, “I think we’re past the point in adulthood where you can refer yourself to a fuck boy.”
“Mr. Kim? Are we getting–”
You pecked his lips again to stop him before he could say anything suggestive. “We’re not in university anymore,” you explained, “Nor are we . . . the young adults we used to be.”
“Babe,” Mingyu interrupted, dragging on the word. “You don’t have to be in university to be called a ‘fuck boy’ – Joshua has a full-time job and I can assure you, he still is one!”
“But you’re Kim Mingyu and you aren’t one,” you tilted your head coyly at him. 
He pouted, stomping his feet. “I’m just still . . . mildly offended that she would think that.”
“Admittedly, I showed her a very hot picture of you,” you joked, hoping to take the edge off of him. You patted away an invisible crease on his jacket. 
 Mingyu wrapped his arms around your waist. His eyes darkened as he leaned in, replying in a low voice, “Did you now?”
“I did,” you placed two fingers on his forehead and pushed him away, eliciting a whine from him. You chuckled and marched along. “Younghee doesn’t like people who run late, so we gotta hurry.”
For a moment, Mingyu watched you walk down the street, your hair swaying behind you. He was grinning stupidly and happily, and people were probably staring at him on the street, but he didn’t care. Serendipity was the best way to describe your presence in Mingyu’s life. To this day, he still wonders why he didn’t notice you then when the both of you still attended the same university, your friend groups even clashing through Seungkwan and Seokmin. Nevertheless, he was grateful to have you now. You had problems and differences, but he was hopeful the two of you could work them out. You had to – it’s what people who love each other do when things get hard. 
When you were a good distance away and noticed the lack of Mingyu’s presence, you turned around, eyebrows furrowed at him still standing by the streetlamp where you left him. He was grinning, though you weren’t quite sure at what. Just as you were about to call his name, he came jogging in your direction. Immediately, he linked hands with you and marched forward towards Younghee’s bakery again. Though he paid no mind to you, you stared at his profile curiously. Sometimes, you wondered what went on in that pretty head of his.
. . . .
Mingyu liked to think that he was a confident man, always willing to stand up to a challenge. If there was anything he wanted to do, he could put his mind to it and see it through. Yet, sitting here in front of Younghee with coffees that had grown lukewarm and half-eaten cranberry scones on the table, his cheeks burned with shame, the feeling of failure settling in the bottom of his stomach like a rock sinking to the bottom of a lake. Even with your presence next to him, Mingyu couldn’t help but feel like he had just flunked one of his university exams – it was like that, but ten times worse because he knew that there were no revisions. 
To put it plainly, rather than this being a pleasant meeting between new friends, Younghee had just grilled him and Mingyu stumbled through it like a rat lost in the sewers. Interestingly, however, the first meeting seemed to go differently for Younghee, your friend, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest, with a sly, but pleased smile dancing on her lips.
An uncomfortable silence ensued. Underneath the table, you felt the warmth of Mingyu’s hand previously resting on your thigh leave your leg, nervously clasping his hands together in his own lap. His eyes fell from Younghee, choosing to take up interest in the creases of his hand instead. Mingyu’s short lashes fluttered quickly . . . almost as if he was blinking back tears? Concerned, you reached over and placed your hand over his, gently pushing them apart, so you could slot your hands in one of them. It didn’t require much effort as Mingyu knew, he needed your reassurance more than ever right now. 
“Well, I should probably get back to work,” Younghee casually glanced down at her watch. “Gotta close the shop and prepare for tomorrow – lots to do.”
“Of course,” Mingyu replied softly. He looked up and smiled at your best friend, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
In contrast, Younghee grinned and leaned over the table. “It was an absolute pleasure to meet you, Mingyu,” her eyes flickered to you before they rested on his figure again. “I guess . . . you’re . . . much different from what I was expecting. I can kind of see why Y/N likes you now – I hope you stick around, get to know you better, make sure you’re the right fit for my best friend.”
“Younghee,” you warned.
She winked at you playfully. “I’m kidding, Mingyu – but really, it was a pleasure.” Younghee stood up from her chair and wiped her hands on her worn brown apron, stained with blotches of flour here and there. She extended a hand for Mingyu to take. “Come by again, okay?”
Mingyu was utterly confused at the invitation, but took her hand nonetheless. He moved towards the door of the bakery to grant you and your best friend a few moments of privacy to say your goodbyes. You were making your way over, adjusting your purse on your shoulder when Younghee suddenly called your name again. You responded with a soft hum. 
“Joohyun’s getting married at the end of next month,” Younghee announced.
Mingyu watched the way you gripped onto the leather strap, your feet stuttering to a stop at the drop of the news – at least to him it was. 
“Taehyung,” she continued, stretching out the last syllable. Mingyu noted the way your eyes visibly widen at the sound of the name, “He’s coming back for it, ya know?”
“Taehyung?” you choked. You spun around to look at your best friend, your mind reeled back to the lanky teenage boy with the round chocolate eyes and boxy grin, his hair neatly cut into a bowl cut. “As in Kim Taehyung?” 
The space between Mingyu’s eyebrows dipped at the tone of your voice. It was definitely surprise, but was it the good kind? As in you were excited to hear again about this person? Or was it the bad kind, in which he left a dent in your heart? Either way, Mingyu did not have a good feeling about it.
Younghee nodded. “I’m surprised he hasn’t contacted you.”
“He hasn’t,” your voice trailed off, “We haven’t chatted for a while – lost touch the first or second year of university because we both got busy.”
“You’re going, right?” Younghee asked. You saw the way her eyes trailed to your boyfriend standing behind you, her lips pulled mischievously between her teeth.  “With Mingyu?”
Right – Mingyu. 
You didn’t have to turn around to know the way Mingyu’s lips were already set in a small pout, a crease between his sharp brows now softened in a dispirited expression. He thought he knew everything about you – good, straightforward communication and no secrets, like the two of you agreed. But why was this the first time he was hearing about Joohyun and her upcoming wedding when you seemed to have known for a while now? 
Pressing your lips together, you nodded once stiffly. “Y-yeah, I think so.”
The hesitancy in your voice wrung Mingyu’s heart in a funny way. 
“Good,” Younghee chuckled, hiding her smile behind the back of her hand. “Him in a suit would make for a dashing Instagram photo with lots of thirsty comments underneath.”
. . . .
“Who’s Joohyun?” Mingyu finally asked. 
The two of you were on your way back to his car parked a few blocks away from Younghee’s bakery. The first half of the walk was oddly quiet, but you had chalked it up to Mingyu feeling disappointed about his conversation with Younghee. His usual charming ways did not quite work on the girl as it did with most people. You figured he needed his time and space to process the situation, only asking every now and then if he was okay and where he wanted to go for dinner. However, it seemed like it wasn’t Younghee on his mind, but rather someone else. 
Mingyu reached into the pocket of your jacket, intertwining his fingers with yours that were tucked away inside. He eyed your side profile carefully, giving you a soft squeeze, waiting for you to return the gesture – it was your thing. He did this when he was nervous (which was not often) and needed reassurance, but too shy to tell you the truth out loud. 
“She’s, uh . . . a friend,” you explained, squeezing his hand, “From high school.”
“How come you never mentioned her?” he pressed on. 
“She wasn’t ever really relevant in our conversations,” you replied softly, “And we weren’t that close really.”
“But close enough to be invited to her wedding – in a month,” Mingyu huffed, “That you didn’t tell me about.”
“I-I was going to tell you,” you stuttered, “Ask you – eventually. I just wasn’t sure how.”
Mingyu let out a half-hearted chuckle. “How hard could it be? You know I would happily go anywhere with you.”
You shrugged, jostling your linked hands. “Our . . . agreement, you know?”
Even though it’s been months since the two of you decided to keep your relationship fairly hidden, it still didn’t fail to send a sting through his heart. He tried to be understanding and respectful of your values of privacy, but Mingyu liked to love loud. Holding your hands at events with friends, kisses out on the sidewalk, and cute Instagram photos of the most seemingly boring things were beautiful to him. 
“How much longer do we have to keep it this way though?” Mingyu asked quietly. 
“Mingyu,” you started slowly. 
“I mean, at this point, all our friends know, right?” he pressed on, cutting you off. You could hear the exasperation in his voice overtaking his thought process. “Seungkwan, Seokmin, Soonyoung . . . I told Josh and Chan recently, and today we met Younghee.”
“I know,” you muttered, “B-but . . . there are just . . . so many other people who’ll be at the wedding.”
“I don’t care about those other people,” Mingyu deadpanned. 
“And if I do?”
At this point, the both of you had stopped walking, your hands still linked. Mingyu searched your face for an answer – anything, yet you always managed to stay so stoic somehow. In contrast to him who wore his heart on his sleeves and his current emotions written all over his expression, your heart was hidden in the folds of your jacket while an expressionless mask shielded your true feelings. It made you seemingly strong, but sometimes, for him, Mingyu wished you would let your guard down and tell him what was bothering you. 
“Is this about that Taeyong guy?” Mingyu asked abruptly. 
Your eyebrows ticked, furrowing together momentarily before they returned to their places. A small frown on your face, you corrected him, “Taehyung.”
“Taehyung, Taeyong – tomato, to-mah-to.”
“Why are you asking about Taehyung?” 
Mingyu shrugged, “I . . . dunno – you seemed pretty shocked to hear his name again and I was wondering why.”
“He’s just a friend who Younghee and I grew up with.”
“You seem to have a lot of friends I don’t know about,” Mingyu mumbled. 
“He was a neighbor from down the street and we went to school together, but he ended up going to a different university. I really mean it when I say I haven’t seen him since the first year of university,” you quickly summarized, hoping to calm his nerves. “Any other questions?”
Mingyu twisted his lips, glancing at the crack along the curb. “Who was he to you?”
“A friend,” you answered promptly. 
“Anything more?” 
You shook your head fervently. “Why are you so curious?”
“I mean, Younghee specifically mentioned him. Seokmin and Seungkwan went to high school with you too, but she didn’t talk about them going,” he shrugged like a child upset on the playground, “Frankly, I’m curious – perhaps, mildly jealous.”
“Mingyu,” you frowned. You leaned in and wrapped your arms around his waist. “Taehyung was just a good friend of ours and neither of us have really heard from or seen him in a while. We see the other two fairly regularly. I’m surprised Tae’s even coming back for this.”
“Tae?” Mingyu repeated. You’ve only ever shortened his own name – he assumed he was special.
“Gyu,” you scowled at him for latching onto the miniscule change in detail. 
Mingyu gnawed on the inside of his cheek. He should give you the benefit of the doubt, right? It’s been years and if there was something between you and this Taehyung, it would’ve happened already. If you said you were friends, then you must’ve been. He had no reason to question you otherwise. 
Sucking in a sharp breath, Mingyu nodded and stepped towards you, bringing his hands up to your waist too. 
“Okay,” he relented. He peered up at you, “But . . . the wedding?”
“What about the wedding?”
“Are we . . .” his voice trailed off, hoping you’d finish the thought for him. 
But your answer was something he didn’t want to hear. 
“I, uh . . . I do want to go with you,” you stuttered, “A-as my plus one.” 
Visibly, Mingyu’s eyes lit up. 
“But, I’m not sure yet,” you finished, your voice soft followed by a shaky breath. “Let me think about it, hm?”
The light in his eyes dimmed as quickly as they came. "What is there to think about?"
"It might not seem like a big deal to you, but it's a big deal to me – just . . . Be patient, okay?"
The corner of his lips sagging, he nodded slowly. “Okay."
Because that’s all he could do right now. 
Be okay with it. 
. . . .
Leaning against the pillar of the front office, Seungkwan cocked a curious eyebrow at you as you walked in, yielding a red lunchbox that you weren’t holding before you left. A wolfish grin grew as you neared with your eyes wide, silently warning him to keep any snark comments he had to himself. It didn’t deter Seungkwan from teasing you, however – it never did, especially when it came to Mingyu. Clicking his tongue against his teeth, he jovially joined your side. 
“Mingyu came by again, didn’t he, love?” Seungkwan asked, using the nickname, he’s heard Mingyu call you more than a thousand times at this point. 
“Shut up,” you grumbled. 
“He packed you lunch too?” Seungkwan pointed to the red lunchbox in your hand. “You guys are so domestic.”
“He didn’t – I just forgot it at home,” you tried to explain as you got onto the metal crate. 
“Oh so he spent the night?” Seungkwan pondered aloud, hiding a chuckle behind his hand. 
Aggressively punching the button reading ‘9’, you turned to your supposed friend and glared at him. “Boo Seungkwan if you know what’s good for you–”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Seungkwan let out a boisterous laugh as the elevator door closed. He wrapped his arms around your shoulder. “I just think it’s very cute to see you so in love – I feel like . . . a proud mother, that’s all.”
You rolled your eyes, trying to shake him off your shoulder as the elevator door opened. If there was one bad thing about working at the same company as your friend, it’s the constant teasing when you were trying to be serious. The two of you weaved around the hallway towards the lunchroom, engaging in a light conversation about your weekends.
“Younghee finally met Mingyu,” you announced when the two of you settled down at a lunch table. 
“Oh yeah?” Seungkwan stuffed the egg salad sandwich in his mouth. “How’d it go?”
“You know Younghee,” you shrugged, “She was all ‘no shits’ and serious – her talk was worse than Soonyoung’s! I’m pretty sure she scared Mingyu.”
Seungkwan chortled, taking a quick swig of his sparkling water to wash down his food. “Sounds like Younghee.”
“He did well though,” you nodded, poking your chopsticks at your vegetables. “I think she likes him enough for now.”
“Is she the last friend you have to tell?” Seungkwan asked, knowing well about your decision to keep yours and Mingyu’s relationship a secret from the beginning. 
You paused, letting the chopsticks that were halfway to your lips drop with a clatter against the container. Your mind reeled back to the part you left out of meeting with Younghee: Joohyun’s wedding and Taehyung. 
“Younghee brought up Joohyun’s wedding,” you started, your voice suddenly growing soft. 
“And?” Seungkwan pressed on. He was confused with your change in demeanor. 
“I . . . hadn’t told Mingyu about it yet.”
“Oh,” Seungkwan puckered his lips. 
That was kind of bad. 
“Then Younghee said Taehyung was coming back to town for it.”
“Oh,” Seungkwan reiterated, as if it couldn’t get any worse. He remembered Taehyung very well. 
“Yeah,” you muttered. 
Silence ensued while you picked at your food. Seungkwan watched you carefully, questions about your situation spinning in his mind as they always have since you asked him, Seokmin, and Soonyoung to stay quiet about your relationship with Mingyu. Initially, the request to keep it a secret made sense: it was a new relationship, let alone with Mingyu. However, the two of you got along so well, it didn’t make sense for you to be insecure now. You telling Younghee was the final step to ending all of this, no? From Seungkwan’s point-of-view, all your dilemmas and inner turmoil could be solved with one simple solution. 
Holding his sandwich up to his lips, Seungkwan let out a sigh and shook his head. He looked up at you, his round eyes narrowed in confusion. “I don’t get it – why don’t you want people to find out about you and Mingyu still?”
You chewed slowly on your rice, taking your time to grind each piece and swallow it down with a sip of ice water. Seungkwan refrained from eating his sandwich until you replied. 
Your eyes flickered hesitantly up at him before they fell on your tray again. Bringing your fist to your lips, you faked a cough, clearing your throat of your food. 
“Y/N,” Seungkwan said sternly. 
“I-it’s . . . too early, okay?” you stuttered. 
“You’ve been together for almost a year now,” he deadpanned. 
“It’s only been seven months,” you corrected him. 
“And?”
“Mingyu’s best relationship lasted six months and we just barely made it past that,” you explained, the pace at which words were flying out of your mouth was astronomical. “I just want to make sure it’s not just a honeymoon phase and our relationship works out okay before it . . . gets out there. I’m comfortable with our close friends knowing, but not the whole world and Mingyu knows quite literally, the whole world.”
“What do you mean?” Seungkwan scrunched up his nose. “He’s friendly, but he doesn’t know the whole world – you're exaggerating.”
You sighed heavily, slumping over on the lunch table. “Unlike me, he’s quite friendly and makes friends anywhere he goes – it could be a rock and he’d somehow make relations with it! His Instagram following is also insane for a regular, non-celeb person.”
Seungkwan frowned and shook his head. “And that matters because . . .?”
You suddenly felt small and bare – vulnerable in a place where you shouldn’t be so. For some reason, however, the small voice at the back of your head told you that maybe you should share this insecurity with someone – and perhaps that someone could also be Seungkwan. “Mingyu’s been in a lot of relationships before me and, uh, I just . . . don’t want to be another girl who dated Kim Mingyu.”
Seungkwan’s eyes soften at your response. 
“Is that why you don’t want to post a picture with him on Instagram?”
“Partly,” you shrugged, “Research also shows that 67 percent of couples who post about their relationship consistently are insecure and about 45 percent of those social media couples break up.” You sucked in a sharp breath and lifted your eyes to meet Seungkwan’s gaze. “And as you know, Mingyu’s past relationships kind of . . . followed that trend.”
“Aaaww, my dear, Y/N,” Seungkwan cooed. He ruffled your hair lovingly. “You really think Mingyu is unsure of your guys’ relationship, so he needs to upload pictures to reinforce it?”
You swatted Seungkwan’s hand away and brushed your strands back into place. “Shut up,” you grumbled. 
Seungkwan smiled at you apologetically, stars shining in his eyes. “You really love him, don’t you?”
“Love is a stretch,” you stammered, “But like? Yeah, um, I like him . . . a lot.”
“Honestly, Y/N,” Seungkwan took a bite of his sandwich, “I don’t think you need to worry about anything. You’re different.”
“What do you mean, different?”
“Different from the previous girls,” he replied with his full. He took a swig of his iced Americano to wash the food down. “He’s different with you.”
“As in . . .?”
Seungkwan rolled his eyes, shooting you a look of disbelief – as if you grew antennas from your head. “I guess it’s not fair to assume you’d know, but I’ve been around when Mingyu dated other people and I’m currently around while he’s dating you, and honestly? I hope he keeps dating you. Of course, getting engaged and marriage aside, but I’ve never seen him so . . . calm and sure before? I’m not sure if ‘sure’ is the right word, but there’s a sense of stability and content – maturity, maybe? I haven’t seen it before. Sure the other girls might have been prettier or more fun, and he squealed like a thirteen year-old girl getting tickets to a BTS concert after amusement park dates, but with you? He looks like he’s actually having fun cleaning with you.”
You tuned out as Seungkwan continued to ramble on. It was indeed nice to get an outsider’s perspective rather than being stuck in your own head. Your friend was probably right, and you were being irrational. But that’s what fear did to you. Mingyu was understanding and you know if you brought it up eventually, he’d be more than willing to listen and reassure you to the world's end. There was a piece of you that still hesitated, nonetheless. What if he got mad at you?
“If you’re that worried about it, I’d just bring it up to Mingyu – he’s understanding and has a good head on his shoulders,” Seungkwan finally finished ou. 
Stuffing your cheeks with rice, you gave Seungkwan a small nod. “I’ll think about it.”
. . . .
[unknown number]: hey
[unknown number]: this is tae :) 
[unknown number]: kim taehyung from high school if you remember me haha
[unknown number]: younghee gave me your new number – i hope you don’t mind:)
[unknown number]: i just wanted to say hello and see if you were free to meet up?
A warm mug of coffee in his hand, Mingyu paused and stared blankly at your phone as each new message from Taehyung flashed across your screen. He frowned, tightening his abdomen as if it would do anything to control the nerves swirling in the pits of his stomach right now. Baseless thoughts flooding his mind, he failed to hear your padded footsteps behind him.
“Whatcha doing, Gyu?” you asked, reaching for your coat.
Swiftly, he turned around and smiled at you, though it didn't reach his eyes like most times. 
“Ready?” Mingyu asked, avoiding your question. 
He didn’t miss the way the space between your brows dipped slightly at him avoiding your question. You chose not to hound him on it, however. 
“Yeah,” you untucked your hair from the collar and reached for your phone. 
Holding his breath, Mingyu watched you carefully as you swiped at the screen. His heart sank a little when the little smile on your face formed at the new messages from an old friend. It was the smile he pictured you would have every time he sent you something. 
Tugging on the arm of his jacket, Mingyu asked softly, “Who’s got smiling like that?”
You stopped in the middle of tapping away at a new message to Taehyung. You pulled your lips into a slight pout. “Like what?”
Mingyu waved his hand at your face before tucking them into his pockets. “Like that – the small one where you’re incredibly happy but you’re nervous to show it.”
You pressed your lips into a thin line, clicking off your phone and dropping it into your purse instead. You extended a hand for him to take. “Only you Mingyu.”
“You sure?”
“With my whole heart.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me it was Taehyung messaging you?” Mingyu muttered. 
It was now your turn to frown. You didn’t have anything to hide from him nor was it the idea that he was snooping at your texts that made you upset. It was the fact that he was withholding his feelings from you. He was upset, jealous maybe, and he didn’t want to tell you. 
“Gyu – are you still hung up on that?” you asked.
His gaze drifted to your hands. He rubbed small circles into the back of your skin, opting not to answer. 
Gently, you pulled your hands from him and moved up to cup his cheeks instead, forcing him to look at you. He stared at you reluctantly with his puppy-like eyes. 
“He’s just a friend, Gyu,” you reminded him, “No one’s taking me away from you.”
Mingyu gulped, scared. You’ve never been quite this certain with your words before. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
Wrapping his fingers around your own, he pulled them off his face, lacing them together in the space between you. He took note of the new coat of baby pink nail polish on your fingertips.  Silently, he brushed the rough pads of his fingers over them – they were calloused from the barbells at the gym. 
If you told him not to worry, there was no use in worrying, right?
You loved him and he loved you. 
“Okay,” Mingyu finally relented.
“Let’s go get those groceries now, hm?” you hummed, tightening your fingers around his. 
He nodded, his heart swelling once more. It was simple, grocery shopping, but it was in the ordinary things like this that were all the more precious because they were with you. 
. . . .
“Kim Taehyung?” Seokmin sits back, wracking his brain for a mental image of the man. 
Despite your reassurance, Mingyu was growing skeptical – more of Taehyung’s intention than he was of you. These past few days, you had been texting Taehyung non-stop and it was making Mingyu nervous. Your giggles were becoming more frequent and whenever Mingyu asked, it was always “back in high school Taehyung and I did this” or “Taehyung just said the funniest thing” when it wasn’t even that funny. 
It was bearable until it wasn’t. 
When you broke the news to him yesterday that you had agreed to meet up over coffee with Taehyung, it really pressed Mingyu into acceleration mode – nearly veering off a cliff. 
Was Mingyu worried that you would intentionally cheat on him? Absolutely not – you loved him and it showed enough. You were just happy to see your childhood friend again. Admittedly, the two of you did have some pretty bizarre memories. The story of when Taehyung got Hot Tamales stuck in his nose in detention was quite entertaining – Mingyu choked on his salad at that one.
Was Mingyu worried that Taehyung might try to pull something funny and sweep you up from under his nose? Absolutely. You were smart, pretty, shy, but outgoing enough. You had a charm to you that was attractive and alluring. Not to mention, Mingyu has done his research (read: Instagram stalking) and Taehyung was undeniably gorgeous. His aesthetic was classy and sophisticated, sprinkled in with a touch of goofiness. 
He definitely seemed to be “your type” – Taehyung was every girls’ dream type: a handsome gentleman with a touch of humor. 
Hell, even Mingyu almost fell for the man.  
Hence why today, Mingyu recruited the help of Seokmin to prevent you from falling for Taehyung and Taehyung from falling for you.
In an attempt to help jog Seokmin’s, Mingyu slipped his phone across the table, the screen displaying Taehyung’s Instagram page. Seokmin narrows his eyes curiously at his friend and reaches over for the phone, slowly scrolling through the pictures. As he gets further and further down, you could see the epiphany forming on Seokmin’s face. 
“This Kim Taehyung!” Seokmin screeched. He snapped and pointed at Mingyu. The latter winced back in confusion at his friend’s sudden excitement. Hands clasped tightly over Mingyu’s phone, Seokmin leaned over the table as if he had a secret to share with Mingyu. “Taehyung from high school – yes, I remember him. He hung out with Y/N – and so Younghee by default too, a lot. I thought it was a little weird at first, but didn’t think much of it since they just seemed like good friends and he was a nice kid! He grew up on the outskirts of town, kinda grubby, to be honest, but very sweet and goofy – shy too.” 
Seokmin wiggled his eyebrows as if he had the hottest tea to spill. “But,” he dragged out, “Senior year at someone’s graduation party, we found out he did actually have a crush on Y/N!” 
Seokmin glances down at the pictures again, his eyes latching on a black and white photo of Taehyung staring mysteriously into the camera, a hand placed teasingly by his temple. His forearms were ripped. Seokmin shook his head in amazement, letting out a shocked groan. “Wah, I can’t believe he grew up to look like this! He’s gorgeous! Almost identical to V of BTS!”
Eyes downcast on the chipped mahogany table, Mingyu couldn’t help but frown at Seokmin’s reaction. If his friend was this excited and shocked to see Taehyung again, how would you react? Let alone, knowing the two of you were close friends too. 
Seokmin finally took the hint when Mingyu remained quiet, calming down from his marvel. “I mean,” Seokmin coughed, thumbing through Taehyung’s profile some more, “He’s not that handsome – nothing compared to you Mingyu. You’re much better looking than him.” He stopped at a photo of Sesame plushies lined up on the couch. “I mean look at this – he likes stuffed animals like a kid!”
“Seok,” Mingyu deadpanned. 
Seokmin shrugged back, mumbling a soft apology. He cleared his throat. “Okay, um, well, why are you asking if I know him?”
“Y/N’s meeting up with him tomorrow,” Mingyu explained. 
“Aahhh,” Seokmin nodded slowly, starting to put the puzzle pieces together. “You’re nervous she’s gonna fall for him, aren’t you?”
Mingyu’s eyes flickered up timorously at him then downcast at his fingers. 
“Eeeyy,” Seokmin dragged out, “Have a little faith in Y/N? She’s whipped for you even if she holds back a little.”
Mingyu frowned even at Seokmin. 
“Okay, well maybe not a little – she holds back a lot, but she’s just nervous, okay?” Seokmin tried to reassure him. 
“About what? I try my best to remind her she’s the only apple of my eye every day,” Mingyu pouted. 
“I mean, I would be scared too if I was dating you,” Seokmin noted. 
Mingyu furrowed his brows at Seokmin, wondering what his friend was getting at. However, that wasn’t the purpose of this meeting though. He had to get to the main point – it was easy to get caught up in tangents with Seokmin. 
“I need you to help me tomorrow,” Mingyu started again. 
“Huh?” Seokmin frowned. 
“I’m gonna follow Y/N and Taehyung to their coffee thing tomorrow,” Mingyu told him, “Make sure he doesn’t pull any funny moves on her.”
“Mingyu, don’t you think that’s a little –”
Mingyu sighed heavily, cutting off his friend. “I . . . just want to make sure, Seok,” he fumbled with his thumbs. “I . . . really like Y/N – like really, really, really like her.”
“So you . . . love  . . . her?”
“I . . . think so,” Mingyu pressed his lips into a thin line. “I just . . . don’t want her to slip out of my grasp.”
MIngyu looked like a kicked puppy, his eyes literally sagging at the thought of losing you. The sad expression on Mingyu’s face tugged at Seokmin’s heartstrings (granted, he cried very easily, but still). What's worse could happen if he just lets Mingyu follow you this once? Mingyu would only be reassured because Seokmin was sure you wouldn’t swoon so easily for Taehyung. If you had, you wouldn’t be here with Mingyu all these years later. 
“Fine,” Seokmin sighed. “Whatchu got for disguises?”
. . . .
Detective trench coats, sunglasses, and a fake mustache. 
Very original. 
Seokmin rolled his eyes behind his Ray Ban sunglasses as Mingyu looked not very covertly over his menu, craning his neck to get a better look at you and Taehyung. A bell of laughter erupted from yours and Taehyung’s table. You threw your head back, covering your fabulous smile with the back of your hand. 
“Can you hear what they’re talking about?” Mingyu whispered. “What’s so funny?”
“Mingyu,” Seokmin tugged at the fake mustache that his friend made him wear. Fuck, it was itchy. “You’re being ridiculous – why would we be able to hear what they’re saying? We’re literally on the opposite end of the cafe!”
“Am not!” Mingyu pouted. “You just need to listen better.”
“They’re literally just laughing like old friends,” Seokmin peeled the mustache off, wincing in pain as it tugged at his upper lip. “Mingyu, when you said we were following them, I thought you meant just standing from afar to make sure Tae doesn’t put his hand on her ass or something.”
Seokmin had expected his friend to protest in return, but Mingyu just remained silent. Through the sides of his shades, Seokmin could make out his hardened gaze was hardened on you and Taehyung. You were leaning over the table while Taehyung held up his cell phone aimed at the two of you. Seokmin presumed he was just taking a selfie. Your pink-glossed lips were spread wide in a happy grin, Taehyung holding up a playful peace sign. Why was Mingyu so upset?
“Uh, Mingyu?” Seokmin called. 
Still no answer. 
The moment Taehyung set down his phone, swiping at his screen, Mingyu whipped out his own device. He quickly logged into Instagram and typed in ‘thv’, pulling up Taehyung’s page. 
“Mingyu –”
Aggressively, Mingyu pulled the toggle down to refresh the page. He did it again and again, until a new photo popped up in the upper left corner. 
‘Reunited </3,’ the caption read under a photo of you and Taehyung he had taken just moments ago. 
That was the last straw for Mingyu. Aggressively, he got up from his chair, nearly toppling it over. He ripped off his sunglasses and started walking – stomping, towards your table. 
“Oh – oh my god, Mingyu! Stop!” Seokmin hissed as he lunged forward. Mingyu’s pace was a tad too fast for Seokmin, his fingers barely grazing against his coat. Before Seokmin knew it, they were both standing at the foot of your table and you were blankly staring up at Mingyu.
Taehyung peered up innocently, his face lighting up when he saw Seokmin. 
“Seokmin!” Taehyung called cheerfully. 
“H-hi!” Seokmin laughed nervously. He punched Mingyu’s shoulder, but his gaze was hard and set on you. 
Taehyung looked back to you, then Mingyu, and back at you. He figured half as much as you and the tall, handsome man were acquainted with one another. 
“Who’s this?” Taehyung asked curiously. He brushed his wavy bangs out his eyes, tucking hand into his pocket. A gentle smile on his face, his eyes scanned your boyfriend up and down, oblivious to the daggers Mingyu was sending his way.
“This is . . . Mingyu,” you explained hesitantly. It was as if time was moving through viscous honey, all eyes on you waiting for a further explanation beyond his name. Yet in this moment, all you could see was the man who’s name just slipped from your mouth. Usually, it tasted like cotton candy, but the shift from envy to desperation in his eyes as he anxiously gnawed at the inside of his cheek, waiting for you to tell them the truth, the taste of iron spreading across your tongue. 
“He’s . . . a good friend,” you finished, your voice soft.
And that was the final nail in the coffin. 
“Oh!” Taehyung chuckled innocently, already extending a hand towards Mingyu. “We’re the same. I’m Taehyung, Kim Taehyung – also a friend of Y/N’s. Nice to meet you!”
Silence, then a beat. Only the chatter of the other customers and the hissing of the espresso machine filled the air.
Mingyu pressed his lips into a thin line, clearing his throat and offered Taehyung a tight smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Taehyung.” 
“Do you guys want to sit with us?” Taehyung offered, moving his Boston bag from the chair next to him, already making room for the two. “We were just about to order.”
Mingyu chortled half-heartedly and shook his head. “Thank you, but we should be on our way. Just . . . stopped to say ‘hello.’” Mingyu’s eyes flickered to you once more. “I’ll see you around, Y/N.”
And with that, Mingyu was gone. 
. . . .
Coffee with Taehyung was anything, but fun after Mingyu and Seokmin’s departure. As much as you tried to stay engaged and keep up with his stories about traveling across Europe with his new job, it was clear your mind was elsewhere. You were on edge, eyes flitting to your watch every five minutes, your fingers tapping at your phone screen every chance you got to see if you got any messages from Mingyu (spoiler: you didn’t). It was Taehyung who cut the hangout short. He knew something wasn’t quite right between you and your so-called “friend,” but was a polite man and pretended not to notice. Taehyung fibbed and told you he had forgotten he had a meeting to attend instead.
After bidding him goodbye, you sped walk back to the safety of your apartment, already rehearsing in your mind what you would say to Mingyu when you call him later. You paid no mind to the fact that his car was parked in the guest lot. Nor did you bother to listen to Mrs. Lee who worked the front desk, when she tried to tell you she saw Mingyu coming in earlier, only offering her a brisk nod. 
Hence, when you finally opened the door to your safe haven and let out a deep breath, pressing your body against the silver handle, you didn’t expect the familiar sound of Mingyu clearing his throat.
Your eyes shot up to find him sitting at your kitchen island, his elbows propped up on the table. The trench coat he was sporting earlier was draped over the chair next to him, suggesting he immediately came to your apartment after leaving the cafe. He had a key to your place after all.
Your breath hitched in your throat, unsure of what to say. You knew you had fucked up introducing him as a friend to Taehyung, but your thoughts were jumbled and you couldn’t dare face him now. All you had prepared earlier vanished from your brain. 
You had to move (and think) fast as Mingyu was already making his way towards you, getting out of his chair. You pushed yourself off the door, preparing yourself to walk past him and drop your stuff off in room in an effort to give yourself a little more time to think. You should've known better that Mingyu would never let you make it that far though – not with this large of an elephant in the room.
Mingyu stood 187 centimeters tall and showed in his reach as his hand latched onto your bicep, stopping you abruptly in your tracks. His head turned robotically towards you, staring holes into your head. You could see in the side of your eye, the hurt in his face, silently begging you to say something.
Closing your eyes, you inhaled deeply before you spoke. "Can we not –"
"No," he said softly.
“Mingyu–”
“No,” Mingyu stated more firmly this time. His voice was loud and commanding, taking you by surprise. He’s never raised his voice at you before. You caught sight of his grip on the edges of the granite counter; he was holding so tight, his knuckles grew white. 
“We’re not going to wait anymore – we’re talking about this now,” Mingyu continued. He took note of your stunned expression. “I’m tired and this is wearing on me, Y/N; I’m not sure how much of it I can take, but I also know I don’t want to lose you over something that could’ve been easily solved if we were just . . . honest about our feelings. I truly want this,” he waves his finger between the two of you, “to work . . . So please."
You gnawed the inside of your cheek, staring into his sharp dark brown eyes. You weren't used to them filled with so much sorrow and anger, and it pained you knowing you were the cause of it. As much as you were afraid of the dark path where this conversation may lead, you also knew it needed to be had if you wanted your relationship with Mingyu to progress – and you did.
With a heavy sigh, eyes downcasted on Mingyu’s hand on your arm, and nodded, silently agreeing to talk this through. His hand slipped down the expanse of your arm and laced his fingers with yours. His grip, but even in trying times, he held your hand ever so tenderly – because this was Kim Mingyu: unshakeable, yet soft hearted. 
“Where do you want to start?” you asked quietly as the two of you settled onto your blue couch. He still hadn’t let go of your hand. 
Swallowing harshly, you could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “Are you ashamed of me . . .? Of dating me?”
Your heart sank; though his words were minimal, the look in his eyes was deep. That was the thing about Mingyu. Perhaps he never cried in front of you (or anyone for that matter) and he never got outright angry, but one look in his eyes and they were a dead give away about the feelings swirling in his heart and the thoughts tumbling in his mind. Right now, his eyes told you heart was bruised and his mind was confused and set on one thing only: you. 
“It’s not that Mingyu,” you muttered. You could feel your airway tightening, your esophagus growing stiff. It was getting hard to even swallow your own saliva. 
“Then what is it?” Mingyu asked impatiently, “Why is it that you didn’t tell anyone outside of our mutual friends about our relationship? Why did you wait seven months to tell Younghee? Why did you introduce me as “a good friend” to Taehyung? Why can’t I post pictures of you, of us, on my Instagram, but Taehyung can?”
There was a long pause before you spoke again. It only grew harder for Mingyu every ticking second, he could feel an uncomfortable warmth spreading across his chest, threatening to boil over. 
“I’m scared,” you replied in a small voice. If it hadn’t been dead silent, Mingyu probably wouldn’t have heard you. 
“What?” Mingyu frowned. “What are you afraid of?”
“This,” you shook his hand, gesturing between the two of you. “Us. You and me. I’m . . . like, it’s too good to be true --you're too good to be true. And it's not even because you're handsome or whatever, Mingyu. It's your patience and consideration. It's your willingness to drop everything for the people you love. Do you remember that time Seungkwan got a flat tire? You had a big presentation at work, but rescheduled it and left early to go help him. You love so . . . so openly and loudly, not just through words. 
"Sometimes I wonder if I even deserve you? I’m scared that it’s all a dream and tomorrow when I wake up, you’ll be gone. I’m afraid that I’ll grow too attached – fuck, I'm probably already in too deep, and when we don't work out, it'll hurt more than it needs to.”
Mingyu sucked in a sharp breath, nodding slowly as he digested your confession. So this is what Seokmin must’ve meant when he said he would be nervous too if he was you. Truthfully, it was hurtful to hear all of this, but not necessarily irrational. Mingyu too thought you were too good to be true – all his past relationships were rather vain, ending because he wasn’t who they had dreamed him to be. They found his love for architecture boring and when he couldn’t meet their expectations of extravagant dates, they pouted until Mingyu came running with flowers and chocolates. It got tiring - fast.
However, the difference was in that Mingyu trusted the process and let himself grow attached to you. Never mind the thoughts of no longer having you by his side while taking Sunday morning strolls or staying up until 4AM on Friday nights because you both thought it would be a good idea to try the Starbucks PSL at 8PM. He lived in the moment, and while this didn’t mean he didn’t think about a future with you, he wanted to relish in all phases of being in love with you. What hurt him was the fact that you harbored all these feelings to yourself, not trusting him to understand your emotions and insecurities.
"And is that why you want to keep us a secret? Because you're scared I'm going to leave you?" Mingyu finally asked. 
"It’s not . . . Completely baseless," you muttered, looking away from him. 
"Then tell me more."
"It’s stupid."
"I'm sure it's not." He raised his eyebrows at you, silently warning you not to be stubborn but also reassuring you that he just wanted you to be heard. He knew how stuck in your head you could get when you were overcritical of yourself.
"When . . . we were in university, I followed you on Instagram because you know,” you shrugged, picking through your mind to find the right words. “And I saw all the girls you dated and how . . . they didn't last.
“And one day, I was doing some light reading on Pledis Times and there was a study that talked about couples on social media . . . How they felt insecure and overcompensated with photos and videos of each other . . . And ultimately, most of them broke up. I, um . . . as much as I lo– I mean like you, I feared that the louder we were about ‘us,’ I’d just end up being ‘just another girl’ who dated Mingyu.”
It was nothing to be shameful of, yet, your cheeks burned. You couldn’t bear to look at him. As the silence between you grew louder, the urge to flee to the sanctuary of your room became overwhelming. You squirmed in your seat, inching away from him. 
“Love,” Mingyu chortled. You felt him give your hands a squeeze in an attempt to stop you from moving. 
“I told you it was stupid,” you muttered. 
Rather than replying to you with words, however, Mingyu leaned over and captured your lips instead. He pressed against you with just enough pressure to reassure that you were his whole world, but not enough to scare you off. The kiss was firm, but tender – like Mingyu. 
When he pulled away, an apology spilled from your lips as if on instinct. You weren’t sure why but you felt you owed him one. Mingyu shook his head slowly as rested his forehead against yours, while his fingers played with the loose ends of your hair. 
“You don’t need to be sorry for your own feelings,” Mingyu said. 
“I ended up hurting you though,” you whimpered. 
Tucking your head under his chin, he hummed. “I think I’m more hurt by the fact that you didn’t tell me you were feeling this way. I just assumed you just wanted to keep things under wraps because we were a ‘new thing’ and wanted to take things slow.”
“I’m sorry,” you mumbled again. 
“It must’ve been hard, hm?” Mingyu noted as he stroked the crown of your head. “I don’t know what else I need to do, but trust that I’m utterly heads over heels about you, alright? If you need me to tell you every day until you believe me, I will.” he tugged your hand out of your lap and placed it over his heart. There was a fast, but rhythmic thump.
”You feel that?” he asked.
You chortled softly. “Mingyu, I think I know where you’re going with this and it’s kind of corny.”
“I don’t care – you’re the only girl who has made me feel this way. The sight of you excites me, but it all feels . . . right. I’m scared, but I’m reassured things will fall into place in due time.”
You curled your fingers around his heart, letting his voice vibrate from his chest and flow into your ears melodically. 
“As unreal as I seem to you, you are equally a dream I don’t want to fade either,” Mingyu continued to explain. “No one has ever sat patiently and listened to me ramble about cameras for two hours, let alone when you don’t know the first thing about photography. You match my ‘grandpa’ energy, willingly going on hikes with me on the trails hours away from the city to keep me company. Heck, you didn’t even blink twice when I accidentally sneezed on you or scratched my ass in front of you during the first month we dated.”
“Gyu,” you chuckled, burying your face into his chest. 
He kissed the crown of your head. You could feel smiling into your hair. “Instagram, old girlfriends, old boyfriends–”
“Taehyung was a childhood friend,” you remarked.
“Old childhood friends,” Mingyu corrected himself, “And statistical data aside, it sounds like we’re both scared – and that’s not a bad thing, okay? It means we both care deeply about this relationship and neither of us would let it slip away so easily. That said, I also don’t want that fear getting in between us. I love you and I trust you – I could only hope you feel the same for me.”
And for the first time in your relationship, you decided you wanted to be strong for Mingyu – you needed to be. Too long you’ve locked away your feelings and let them run how you act around him with others. Rather than hiding away in his embrace and kissing him in secret, perhaps it was your time to love him just as loudly as he has loved you all this time. 
Rising from his chest, you peered up at him through your lashes. There was nothing but adoration for you gracing his face, patiently waiting for you to say something. 
“I do,” you replied hesitantly, “I . . . love you and I trust you too, and I’m sorry if I’ve struggled to show it, but I’ll be braver – I’ll change.”
“I don’t want you to change,” Mingyu cupped your cheeks, squishing them together. “I love you for you, and If you don’t want to be vocal about it, we don’t have to.”
You pushed his hands away and pecked his lips, shaking your head. “I want to – no more hiding. Let your 14.5K Instagram followers know that I’m utterly head over heels for you, Kim Mingyu.”
He grinned from ear to ear, his cheeks puffing up like marshmallows. He leaned over and gave you another breathtaking, yet simple kiss. How he was so relieved to be able to show you to the world.
 “I have a lot of pictures to choose from, you know?” 
. . . .
Joohyun’s wedding was a success – the blizzard outside and blustery wind seeping through the windows aside. Her and her new husband’s wedding photos were going to be absolutely stunning with all the winter white snow though, Mingyu had whispered to you during the ceremony. Bellies full of chicken and mashed potatoes, garters and bouquets tossed to all the single people, the reception was finally getting started. The DJ played bopped to the upbeat dance music, people starting to stream in and join the bride and groom.
Mingyu had an arm thrown over your shoulder, his hand resting on the head of your chair. Arms crossed, you leaned into his chest and watched your friends sing and dance happily to Tao Cruz's Dynamite. You had that smile on your face that Mingyu adored so much – the small one where you knew you were incredibly happy, but afraid to show too much of it.
Mingyu watched the crowd while pointing out funny occurrences on the dance floor. Soonyoung getting top excited and wrapping his tie around his forehead. Chan and Seungkwan were krumping in the corner as a small crowd formed around them. They both backed away when Seulgi pushed between them, however, a round of "oohs" and "ahhs" at her sharp and playful dance moves.
"Hello, Y/N," a familiar voice called from afar. Your attention turned to the source of the voice, your face spreading into a grin at the sight of Taehyung weaving through the tables. Though Mingyu knew he was ultimately no threat, he couldn’t help but stiffen at the presence of the other man.
Taehyung tipped his head in Mingyu’s direction. "Y'N's good friend," he teased, raising an eyebrow at you.
"Tae," you greeted him with an eye roll, "How's the party going for you?"
"Splendid," he tucked his hand into his pants pocket. "Got myself a nice cocktail earlier, caught up with Younghee, and even caught myself a garter," he pulled out the thing and waved it in the air.
"Gross," you chuckled.
He winked at you playfully and tilted his head at the dance floor. "What do you say, old friend? Wanna dance? Make it up to me when you went with Seokjin to prom instead?"
Instinctively, Mingyu found himself wrapping a hand around your waist, tugging you protectively into his side. Taehyung took note of this. "Your good friend is rather possessive."
You gave Mingyu a warning look, gently pushing his hand off your abdomen. You gave him a reassuring squeeze in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Mingyu’s actually my boyfriend."
Taehyung nodded. "I figured when he looked like he was ready to take me out at the cafe," he clicked his tongue against his teeth. He laughed at the sheepish look that crossed Mingyu's face. "It was worth a shot though," he shrugged, "In all seriousness, I'm happy for you, Y/N. He seems to like you a lot."
"Thank you," you turned and peered at him shyly through your lashes. Mingyu took it as a cue to press his lips against your temple.
"Alright, alright," Taehyung waved you off, shielding his eyes. "I'm gonna leave you lovebirds alone," he pointed at pretty blonde in a silk spring green gown sitting in the corner, her eyes wandering the venue. "I'm gonna go shoot my shot over there."
"Sure thing, buddy," you giggled.
He gave you both one last wave of goodbye. "The next wedding I see you at, it better be yours!"
"You caught the garter, Tae!" you shot back.
He gave you both one last boxy grin before he turned his back to you. Immediately, Mingyu let out a brisk 'tsk'.
"I like him, but he sure knows how to push my buttons," Mingyu huffed.
"It’s Tae," you giggled watching your friend approach the girl. She blushed when Tae extended a hand. "He teases a lot – it's his thing."
"Ladies and gentlemen, why don't we slow it down for the night?" The DJ tapped into his mic and announced, not giving Mingyu a chance to pout further. The gentle strumming of the guitar in Ed Sheeran’s ‘Photograph’ filled every corner of the room.
Mingyu brushed his lips gently against your cheek. His hot breath hit your skin as he asked, “If you won’t dance with Tae, will you dance with me?”
You rolled your eyes as if the answer wasn’t obvious. Your hand was already reaching for his own, leading him to the dance floor. Not letting go of him, you spun around to rest your free hand around his neck. The two of you settled into a gentle sway, Mingyu holding you by your waist and guiding you through the waltz. He grinned at you, his canines peeking out. Even under the dim lighting, his sharp eyes twinkled with fondness. Your face reflected his joy, the small smile spreading into something bigger. 
You loved him and he loved you, there was no denying it.  
“Bro,” Seungkwan sipped on his drink, nudging Seokmin. He pointed at you and Mingyu on the dance floor. Seokmin grinned widely, fishing for his phone in his pocket. He aimed his camera at the two of you, zooming in and adjusting the lighting to best capture all your features in the photo. 
“They’re so in love, I’m kind of regretting introducing them to each other,” Seungkwan grimaced, swallowing down the bitter taste of his alcohol. 
Seokmin slapped his arm. “Don’t say that – they look cute.”
Seungkwan leaned over and peeked at the photos on his friend’s phone. He nodded in approval at the one that captured your grin over Mingyu’s shoulder, your dress swirling at your calves very prettily. 
“Post that one to the ‘gram,” Seungkwan chuckled.
“Ew, don’t say that,” Seokmin looked at him scornfully. “You sound like an old fart.”
“They’ll thank me later,” Seungkwan shrugged. 
Even after your intervention, neither you nor Mingyu had posted anything onto the web to suggest that you were dating to your followers – not that it was a big deal to either of you at this point. If a good photo comes up, you would. It was just not on the forefront of your mind anymore and the both of you had been too busy to look through Mingyu’s gallery. 
Seungkwan figured, if you guys wouldn’t be loud about your relationship, he would – it was the least he could do to support the Mingyu-Y/N agenda. 
Nonetheless, it didn’t take an Instagram post to know you were mad about one another. 
Without words, pictures, or even a peep of your voices, Kim Mingyu loved you loud enough and you loved him, equally as clear.
3K notes · View notes
soyeonsbabygirl · 3 months
Text
Red Velvet MASTERLIST!
Tumblr media
Bae Joohyun (Irene)
Kang Seulgi
Son Wendy
Park Sooyoung (Joy)
Kim Yerim (Yeri)
OT5:
Drabbles!:
Tumblr media
13 notes · View notes
rosewould · 2 years
Text
mortal sin; nct dream
chapter two; a snob and a job
masterlist
Tumblr media
words; 3.1k
genre; humor with a sprinkle of angst
warnings; description of sex public, mean!renjun again
preface; I think the story has progressed enough to start my side drabbles and imagines with demon!dream. Feel free to send requests of what you want to see ;)
Tumblr media
"It's called the Elysium 1007. It's the latest model from the Celestial Realm." Jaemin hands me the impressive phone for the second time in my afterlife.
"Woah..." Each time I experience the orgasmically advanced technology I get goosebumps. I'm supposed to be asking about what room his brother is in since he's in my group, but he's a damn good salesman.
"Could you at least tell me how much you want for it?"
"How much d'you have?" Jaemin gives me that look again. The same look he gave me the first time I expressed my lack of wealth. It was like a monarch looking down upon a filthy peasant. His tongue toyed with a new piece of jewelry on his canine. He narrows his eyes at me as he awaits my answer.
"I-I'm still broke- but I- wait!" I struggle against him as he pushes me towards his bedroom door. I try and twist my body around to reason with him, but he curls his hands around my shoulder to lock me in place.
"Come on! I don't even know how to get money!"
"I don't talk to broke people." Jaemin deadpans, all of the character he was oozing with suddenly missing. He slides his arm in front of me and opens the door. He jumps when he sees Mark on the other side.
"M-Mark! Hey! I was just going to take the prototype out on a tour. Ole Yongie didn't give her a proper one." Jaemin beams unconvincingly as he taps my shoulders like I was his disappointment of a child. A touchy albeit familiar attitude I've experienced.
"I heard everything. Move out of the way." Mark glowers at the taller man before giving a disinterested swipe of his hand. We both slide to the side and allow him to walk into the room. He marches in before turning on his heels and cutting his eyes at Jaemin. Jaemin chuts, letting go of my shoulders. As if nothing ever happened, Mark smiles gleefully at me.
"I'm so excited to get to work with you and Joohyun! I'm sorry my younger brother was toying with you."
"Toying? He wasn't toying with me, he was selling me the beautiful phone." I quirk my thumb towards the device in Jaemin's pocket. Jaemin makes a strained noise in an effort to shut me up but it was too late.
"As I thought, he's definitely toying with you. On my way here I heard him selling you something and assumed he was up to no good. Now I know for sure." Mark walks toward Jaemin and slides the phone out of his pocket, dodging his attempts to stop him. He flips the phone upright and presents it to me.
"You can get this for free when you become a VIP. He got this for free because Lord Taeyong was bribing him."
Jaemin snatches the phone back from him. "Don't act like that's not the reason you have one too."
"That's where you're wrong. Then again, when have you ever been right?" Mark says with a pout and feigned sympathy. "Poor thing. I got one because I help out Lord Taeyong the most. Also, if you recall, I'm the one who offered to help in the first place."
Jaemin groans, eyes rolling back into his head. "You keep bringing that up any chance you get. You know he mainly gave it to you so you'd be touched enough to stay and help even when it got ugly."
"Wait, he gave you guys those phones to make you stay and help?" I ask in disbelief.
"Yeah. Did he give you that fossil as an incentive?" Jaemin snorts. I glare at him and he clears his throat. God, was everyone here insufferable? Why is no one else concerned about this situation? When it got ugly?
I let out a tired exhale before turning to Mark.
"Taeyong tells me he emailed you about our first assignment."
"Ah yes! Joohyun's busy today but she requested that we record our endeavors so she can catch up. Follow me." He smiles as he exits the room. I follow him into his room, hanging my head in shame. I can't believe I didn't question whether or not I was being scammed... in hell. It was difficult to get my head on straight. A small part of me still thinks this is a surreal dream. The larger part of me needs to get my shit together or else this place might eat me alive.
Even though he was annoyingly chipper and way too eager to please, I deducted that he may have some power or at least information. I should hold my tongue and push aside my vexation. As for Joohyun, I still couldn't put my finger on it, but something was off. Taeyong said that Celestials were the most powerful beings in the universe, so why does she seem so interested in me? Prototype or not, something was off.
At the swipe of a hand, a projection shoots up from the table Mark and I are seated at. He grins at me as he leans closer.
"Pretty cool, huh?" He chuckles, pleased with himself. "Lord Taeyong gave this to me. None of the other recruits have one." He shrugs as if he's not clearly proud of this fact.
"It's very futuristic." My love for gadgets is my kryptonite apparently. I get a closer look at the table. There is no visible indication of where the projection came from, just the slightly transparent screen in front of us. As soon as I see Mark's grin get wider at my interest in his gadget, I change the subject.
"Are you gonna read the email or..."
"Right!" Mark swipes and taps the air in front of the projection until he reaches his inbox. "Says here that our first order of business is to win over Devildom. Easy." He says, hubris seemingly neverending.
"Since this is about where I live, I think I should take the reigns, no?" He suggests with a quirked brow. Every single expression and movement he makes is nausea-inducing. Though he presented it questionably, the suggestion wasn't bad. It was actually the most logical conclusion to make.
"I guess, you are a demon after all." I shrug, eye twitching when he chuckles haughtily. "Any other important info in the email?" I ask, sighing.
"We have to come up with our own plans to win over the demons."
That was all fine and dandy, except for the fact that I knew jack shit. Mark was barely helpful, just talking about himself instead of coming up with a plan. I huff as I trudge towards Taeyong's office. Before I open the door I gather myself.
What I know so far is that Taeyong wants to unite the realms, make it easier for non-Celestials to travel to and from any realm they want. What I also deduced is that someone wants to stop this from happening. According to Taeyong, it wasn't a demon dictator but:
"...much bigger than that."
The Celestials?
"Ugh. Why are you here? Aren't you on the teacher's pet team with Bark?" A voice condescends to my right. I turn to see yet another brother. One which I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet. By the first words he's saying to me, I can tell it's going to be yet another insufferable encounter. Must run in the family.
"Are you actually asking both of those questions or just wasting my time?" I scowl at him, pushing Taeyong's door open before he can make an insulted response.
"Ah! A member of my star group!" Taeyong stands up from his desk once he sees me come through the door. The faded pink-haired brother pushes me out of the way to confront Taeyong.
"You're not even hiding it at this point!" He crosses his arms.
"Ah... Haechan. I see that envy hasn't gotten any less potent." Taeyong's demeanor is significantly less chipper upon his arrival. Haechan scoffs.
"How dare you bring that up so easily?" He looks at Taeyong in disbelief. "I don't want to talk to you anymore." He makes sure to bump into my shoulder on the way out. I feel ire boiling in my stomach as he slams the door behind him.
"What the fuck is wrong with those brothers?"
"You have to forgive them, ___. They can't help it." Taeyong maneuvers around his desk.
"Can't help what, being intolerable?"
Taeyong leans against the front of his desk, crossing one foot over the other. "Why don't you come take a seat?"
I walk over cautiously, sitting in the chair on the left. Once I'm settled, he continues.
"I was going to mention it, but you're so smart that I thought you would have figured it out on your own. Have you noticed that each brother comes packaged with a rather overt character trait?"
I cross my arms as I think about each brother I've met so far. Jeno and his sex drive, Jaemin and his flashy jewelry (and tech) and disdain for the moneyless, Mark and his bottomless confidence...
I hadn't properly met the others, but from what I can tell, there was already a theme.
"Their father cursed each of them before he cast them down to the Telestial realm. There were seven of them, so it was perfect."
"The seven deadly sins..." I finally put the pieces together and look up at Taeyong in shock. "Jeno is lust, Jaemin is greed, Mark is pride, and Jesus is his strong."
How didn't I notice? Now I know for sure I've been off my A-game. "And why didn't you tell me this? I almost got scammed by Jaemin."
"Eh. Conflict builds character." Taeyong shrugs.
I'm starting to believe that being insufferable doesn't stop at the brothers. Perhaps it's a demon thing.
"Any other secrets I need to know?"
"Why don't you just ask me what you came in to ask me?" Taeyong suggests, but it's more like a polite demand. I didn't even know where to start. Are Celestials, the most powerful beings in the universe, gonna be a problem? Is it also possible that they view other species as below them? Should I be worried about Joohyun?
"How do I become VIP?"
That stupid phone.
"Oh! I see you found out about that." Taeyong says, wincing. "Don't tell the brothers, but I made that up so they could feel special. Specifically Mark."
"Oh?"
"Don't look at me like that- like I just gave you useful information- you can't tell the brothers, no matter how much you dislike them. Not only would it break their little hearts, but it could be detrimental to my plan."
"That's very sensitive information to just tell people." I say, hoping he'd explain why he didn't just convince me it was real. He told me an important secret like it was nothing.
"Well, I trust you. Much more than I trust any of them." Taeyong says it as if it's normal, even obvious, for him to feel that way.
"But why? I get that I'm the prototype, but that still doesn't explain why everyone seems so intrigued by me."
"How about this, I'll explain everything to you once you become VIP."
"You just told me it wasn't real!"
"But I know you want the phone, and I can't just give it to you. The demons have to think they're special."
I roll my eyes. "You mean so Mark thinks he's special. Wait- how did you know I wanted the phone-"
"Let me get you started on your first task!"
-
Hell's Kitchen, as the restaurant is aptly named, was a short distance away from the House of Lamentation. The short walk felt like miles and miles considering the locals. They were unnerving, to say the least. They either had grizzled exteriors with "don't fuck with me" written all over their faces or sinister wide smiles stretching from ear to ear. They were all looking at me like they wanted to kill me or eat me alive. I never thought I'd be happy to be standing next to NingNing's boyfriend.
"I'm sorry again if I made you uncomfortable." Jeno whines, looking like a puppy that just got scolded. I was about to assure him for the umpteenth time that I didn't care but was distracted by the scene to my right. A couple was plastered against the brick exterior of a building, pants lazily discarded so they were still dangling off one of their legs. The woman had her legs wrapped around his hips as he thrust her into the wall. A man was nearby, tugging at himself as he peered around the corner at them. Their loud moans filled the air, clearly not interested in how it made them appear. I scrunch my nose before looking away. In my peripheral, I can see Jeno's hands over his crotch. I look up at him to see his pathetic expression. He whimpers.
"Look straight ahead please."
I push one of the double doors open, examining the black and magenta interior. The chairs and tables were in such disarray that I was surprised this place wasn't abandoned. The three demons in uniform standing behind the counter proved that it was indeed a running business.
"Where the fuck- there you are Jeno. Are you hard again?" It was the brother that I made a mental note to stay away from scolding Jeno and making him droop his head. Renjun was it? "Oh my god- just go to the bathroom. Quickly." He orders and Jeno scampers off. His eyes finally land on mine.
"As if my day couldn't get any worse." He spat, looking at me like I was a pest crawling around his workplace.
"Renjun, stop it." A mousey-looking boy quietly urges. Despite being taller, I could tell he was one of the younger brothers just by his demeanor. Incensed, the fox shoots a warning look at the mouse. The mouse shrinks away, scurrying off to the kitchen. Then he turns his glare back to me. It's clear from his eyes.
Wrath.
I roll my eyes as I approach the counter. "I'll be the waitress here. Taeyong said to speak to the manager...?" I look around for another person. The only other person is one I don't recognize. I know there are seven brothers, and he was dozing off with his arms crossed.
"I'm the manager." Renjun huffs. He grits his teeth when I return his glare. "So it'd be smart not to get on my bad side."
"Isn't it too late? You seemingly already hate me, for no reason might I add." His eyes follow me as I make my way toward him.
"Great. A smartass. And yet another pain in my ass."
"I can show you pain if you want me to."
Renjun and I step toward each other but his brother is stepping in between us. "Stop. Lord Taeyong is gonna be pissed if he finds out you guys fought." He groggily explains.
"I'm going to make every day you work here a living hell if you cross me." Renjun seethes before pushing his brother out of the way.
"Right back at you." I look him up and down with a scowl before pushing past him. I don't need him, I could ask Jeno to help me out after he's finished. Before I could make it into the back of the restaurant, something knocks me off my feet. My head hits the floor, bouncing back upward as I push myself up. The tall mouse gasps as he steps back into the dining area, mumbling something about how they're so fucked.
I feel woozy as I stand to my feet. I wobble a bit, pressing my hand to my head. When I pull it back and see a layer of crimson red covering my hand, I grow faint.
The crunch of my skull, the gurgling of blood in my throat. The smell of the blood. My vision going in and out.
I stumble back to the floor as the room starts spinning. The next thing I know, there's blurred conversation. I can feel the cool air on my body as I'm pushed into a vehicle. I blink and I'm in a blindingly bright room. I squint, lifting my head up slightly and shielding my eyes with my hand.
"I told you it was an accident! Tell him Jisung!" Renjun yells.
"I-It was. She tripped and fell." The mouse's voice is meek as he lies.
"You really think I believe that? Renjun you've been using your powers on her since you first met her. Lord Taeyong told me." I recognize the disappointed voice as Mark.
"It wasn't a fucking accident." I slur out, throwing my head back against the pillow.
"I knew it. You should be ashamed of yourself. You know how dangerous it is for humans outside of the academy."
"Well she should've never accosted me. How am I supposed to work with someone who is so confrontational?" Renjun tries to reason with the boy, but knowing Mark for the short time I have, he's not gonna budge.
"That's literally how everyone feels about you, Renjun. Everyone else learned how to control their sin to some degree except for you and Jeno. The second and third oldest. Aren't you guys embarrassed?" Mark's tone is as patronizing as ever. He tells Jisung to follow him out of the room. Renjun goes to follow as well but Mark stops him with a hand to his chest.
"You're working on it starting now. Go apologize." Mark sends a stern glare to Renjun before exiting the room with Jisung. As soon as their footsteps fade out of earshot Renjun is stomping toward me.
"I refuse to work with someone as insufferable as you." He spat.
"Diddo. I'll tell Taeyong-"
"You won't say a word. If you ask to work somewhere else they're gonna blame me and I'll never hear the end of it. No, you're not going to step foot into the restaurant, but you're gonna tell everyone that you work there and that it's heavenly."
"And why would I ever agree to that?" I sit up again and look at the man towering over me incredulously.
"I know that you just want to be VIP, wouldn't you want to achieve that without lifting a finger?"
Of course I did, but there was no way I was making a deal with the likes of him. Especially not when he was basically ordering me around like I was a child.
"Fuck no. I'm telling Taeyong to give me a different job."
Veins protrude from Renjun's neck as he clenches his jaw. His pupils flood with red, his head jerking to the side. Groans and growls rip from his chest and fill the room and I'm officially panicking. I slide off to the other side of the hospital bed, falling to the ground since my legs and head hadn't fully recovered. All I can hear are his shoes tapping closer and closer until I'm staring right down at them. I slowly raise my head up when something blocks out the light with a heavy whoosh.
My eyes are met with a creature I barely recognized. Renjun's glare was deadly as his glossy black wings engulfed me in darkness. His red pupils burned into me with a silent warning. There's a long spiny black tail wrapped tightly around his leg as he steps closer. As he finally spoke, it sounded like multiple fractured voices spoke with him.
"You don't have a choice."
55 notes · View notes
say-ulalalala · 8 months
Text
What / Who I Write For
Basically just a small masterpost on the characters / idols I write for, and also the things I write about! ^^
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
What I write:
Fluff, romance, angst, crack, and sometimes smut (but only for HBO Max's Warrior characters) or anything in-between;
Occasionally, I might write about dark topics (mainly abuse and mental health issues (these will be tagged as such)) and maybe anything with children;
I also write based on headcanons as well;
Idols who are 04 liners and older;
Character Ships, Character x Fem!/AFAB!/Gender Neutral Reader, Idol Pairings;
Drabbles (Single Drabbles, Double Drabbles, and Triple Drabbles), Standalone fics (both short and long ones), Songfics, Multi-chapter fics and AUs, and maybe scenarios
What I don't write:
Anything containing non-con, abuse, incest, homophobia, transphobia, racism, etc;
Idol x Reader;
Male readers;
BP / GP;
Smut for kpop idols;
Basically anything I'm uncomfy with
Who I write for:
HBO Max's Warrior
Ah Sahm, Ah Toy, Mai Ling, Li Yong, Nellie Davenport, Eliza Pendleton
Kpop groups (more groups might be added in the near future):
Aespa
Yoo Jimin / Karina, Uchinaga Aeri / Giselle, Kim Minjeong / Winter, Ning Yizhuo / Ningning
Enhypen
Lee Heeseung, Park Jongseong / Jay, Sim Jaeyun / Jake, Park Sunghoon, Kim Sunoo, Yang Jungwon
Everglow
Park Jiwon / E:U, Kim Sihyeon, Heo Yoorim / Aisha, Wang Yiren
Ive
Kim Gaeul, An Yujin, Naoi Rei, Jang Wonyoung, Kim Jiwon / Liz
Lapillus
Chantal Videla / Chanty, Nonaka Shana, Nancy Yang / Yue, Susanna Kim / Bessie
Le Sserafim
Miyawaki Sakura, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Nakamura Kazuha
Red Velvet
Bae Joohyun / Irene, Kang Seulgi, Son Seungwan / Wendy
That's all for now I guess, further notes and reminders will be stated in my works :)
4 notes · View notes
matzprincess · 1 year
Text
MATZPRINCESS’ MASTERLIST
[key:
❤️‍🔥 - smut
💋 - suggestive
☁️ - fluff
💔 - angst
✨ - personal favorite
💐 - trafoamp series]
𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙
Tumblr media
kim hongjoong:
taste you ❤️‍🔥
small!joong ask ❤️‍🔥
mini studio drabble ❤️‍🔥
manhandling & railing ask ❤️‍🔥
HOT TO GO! ❤️‍🔥💐
park seonghwa:
guilty pleasure 💋💐
jeong yunho:
giggly yuyu ask 💋
kang yeosang:
body worship ask ❤️‍🔥
choi san:
baby fever ❤️‍🔥
w/ a chubby gf imagine 💋☁️✨
body worship imagine ❤️‍🔥
my kink is karma (coming soon) 💔💐
song mingi:
dessert ❤️‍🔥
jung wooyoung:
ATAP ❤️‍🔥
casual ❤️‍🔥✨💐
choi jongho:
bj drabble ❤️‍🔥
picture you 💋💐
all members:
would you rather ❤️‍🔥✨
ATEEZ: doms, subs or switches? ❤️‍🔥
𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐄
Tumblr media
park jihyo:
n/a
im nayeon:
n/a
yoo jeongyeon:
n/a
hirai momo:
n/a
minatozaki sana:
n/a
myoui mina:
n/a
kim dahyun:
n/a
son chaeyoung:
n/a
chou tzuyu:
n/a
𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐗 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑
Tumblr media
choi yeonjun:
n/a
choi soobin:
n/a
choi beomgyu:
n/a
kang taehyun:
n/a
hueningkai:
n/a
(𝐆) 𝐈-𝐃𝐋𝐄
Tumblr media
jeon soyeon:
n/a
cho miyeon:
n/a
nicha yontararak “minnie”:
n/a
song yuqi:
n/a
yeh shuhua:
n/a
𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐓
Tumblr media
bae joohyun “irene”:
n/a
kang seulgi:
red wine supernova (coming soon) ?💐
son seungwan “wendy”:
n/a
park sooyoung “joy”:
n/a
kim yerim “yeri”:
n/a
𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐈𝐌
Tumblr media
kim chaewon:
super graphic ultra modern girl (coming soon) ?💐
miyawaki sakura:
n/a
huh yunjin:
n/a
nakamura kazuha:
n/a
𝐈𝐓𝐙𝐘
Tumblr media
hwang yeji:
n/a
choi jisu “lia”:
n/a
shin ryujin:
after midnight (coming soon) ?💐
lee chaeryeong:
n/a
shin yuna:
n/a
𝐏𝟏𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘
Tumblr media
choi taeyang “theo”:
n/a
yoon keeho:
n/a
choi jiung:
n/a
hwang intak:
n/a
𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄
Tumblr media
sung hanbin:
n/a
kim jiwoong:
n/a
zhang hao:
n/a
seok matthew:
n/a
kim taerae:
n/a
shen quanrui “ricky”:
n/a
kim gyuvin:
n/a
𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐀
Tumblr media
naked in manhattan (coming soon) ?💐
38 notes · View notes
kpop-zone · 3 years
Text
A Good Place To Start | Irene
Hogwarts AU | childhood friends | “You had no idea, did you?”
Wordcount: 5,331
Tumblr media
“Joohyun! Hi, my name is Soeun. You can come wait with us.”
“We also have a spot left in our group.”
“I like your hair clip!”
You watched with amusement how the other first years competed for Joohyun’s attention as you were waiting for the sorting ceremony in the Great Hall to begin. You couldn’t blame them for it. She was a beautiful girl and something about her was simply addicting. No matter where she went, Joohyun never had any trouble finding new people to talk to. The only problem, however, was that she never wanted to talk to anyone. Except for you.
Therefore, you watched with even greater amusement how Joohyun dodged all the advances of the other kids with a polite smile on her lips while making her way over to you. You chuckled when you saw the discomfort on your best friends face and quickly grabbed her hand as soon as she was standing next to you. The jaws of the other students dropped in an instant as their eyes wandered to your intertwined fingers and you immediately knew what they were thinking.
What was this mesmerizing girl doing with this tiny, unremarkable kid in the front?
---
Now, 5 years later, not much had changed. Maybe the reactions of the others weren’t as drastic anymore because everyone already knew that Joohyun and you always came in a double pack. Nevertheless, till this day no one really understood why. Joohyun was the most sought-after girl in school. Not only because she was beautiful, but also because a certain mysterious aura surrounded her that made everyone interested in her. You, on the other hand, were a wallflower. You weren’t particularly unpopular, but you were content with your small group of friends and didn’t long for popularity. For that reason, most people thought that you weren’t the right company for Joohyun. They thought that she should spend time with people with the same potential as her.
Therefore, you earned yourself some jealous and disapproving looks as Joohyun sat down beside you in the Great Hall for breakfast. But like always, your best friend didn’t seem to notice or chose to ignore them.
“Good morning, Y/N. Did you sleep alright?”
Joohyun greeted you with a soft smile that you reciprocated.
“Morning. Meh, I couldn’t fall asleep for a while. You wouldn’t believe what happened in the common room.”
You mumbled while chewing on your porridge. Curiously, Joohyun neglected her own breakfast to give her undivided attention to you.
“Felix asked me out for the Yule ball.”
The moment your statement left your mouth, Joohyun’s eyes widened in shock to the extent that you almost spit out your porridge in laughter.
“W-what?! Did you say yes?”
Your best friend asked, sounding almost panicked to your surprise.
“Whoa calm down. I know my looks aren’t quite stunning, but don’t act as if the fact that someone actually asked me out is that impossible.”
You pouted lightly, causing Joohyun to shake her head vigorously.
“No, no, no. That’s not what I meant. You are stunning, Y/N. I-I...it’s just that I- um...I-I didn’t know that Felix was into you.”
Joohyun’s behavior was extraordinarily weird, but you chose not to address it.
“Well, I didn’t know either. But apparently he is.”
You shrugged nonchalantly, seeing from the corner of your eye that Joohyun was nervously biting her lip.
“So...are you a couple now?”
She asked so quiet that you almost didn’t hear her, nevertheless, the question almost caused you to choke on your breakfast.
“What!? No, of course not! Felix is nice, but...I don’t know, I don’t like him that way. I won’t even go to the ball with him.”
You explained quickly and it seemed like you had just told Joohyun that she won the lottery. Her face lit up in an instant and she sighed in relief. When she noticed that you were looking at her in confusion, however, she contained herself again and put a straight face on.
“Um...I think that’s a wise decision. There is something shady about Felix...”
She mumbled, making you wonder whether Joohyun had sniffed the wrong kind of potion before breakfast or got hexed by someone. Felix and shady? He was a literal ray of sunshine and no one had ever said something negative about him. Right when you wanted to ask her what she meant by that though, Joohyun suddenly leaped to her feet.
“Oh no, I forgot my Herbology book. I have to go, see you later Y/N!”
With that, Joohyun sprinted away, leaving you behind with confusion written all over your face.
What was her deal today?
Intently, you thought about whether she had told you about something that could cause her weird behavior, but before you could come up with an answer, someone patted your shoulder.
“What’s up?”
Jiwon asked as she sat down with the rest of your friends, including Felix who glanced at you sheepishly.
“Um...nothing, it’s just way too early for my taste.”
You lied with a smile and the others seemed to buy it. Excitedly, they started to chat about random things as they gulped down their breakfast in less than five minutes before all of you rushed to your first class of the day. During the entirety of the breakfast and on your way to the classroom, however, you didn’t engage in the conversation as you were deep in thought, thinking about Joohyun until a light tug on your sleeve brought you back to the real world. Confused you turned around and saw Felix smiling at you sheepishly.
“Are you sure you’re alright? You’ve been awfully quiet.”
He looked concerned, causing you to feel guilty for turning him down the day before.
“Yeah yeah, don’t worry.”
You smiled, feeling lucky that you had friends that you could count on. Wherefore you were even more perplexed when the friend that usually cared most about you gave you the cold shoulder when you sat down beside her after entering the classroom. Confused, you cleared your throat, thinking that she perhaps didn’t notice you yet.
“Did you find your Herbology book?”
The question was rather dumb, because you could clearly see the book in front of Joohyun on the table, but you thought it would be a good conversation starter. Instead of a real answer, however, Joohyun only hummed in response and decided to ignore you for the rest of the class. No matter how hard you tried to get her attention, she always turned her back to you or dodged all of your advances to get her to talk with a one-syllable answer, leaving you completely frustrated. Never in your entire life, Joohyun had behaved like this and you didn’t know how to handle this situation now. Helplessly, you watched how your best friend packed up all her stuff after the professor dismissed the class before walking to the door without sparing you another glance. Wanting to try one last time to get her to talk, you sprinted behind her and interlinked your arms like you often did.
“Are we getting lunch together later?”
You smiled at Joohyun, but your gesture wasn’t reciprocated. Her expression was stern, and she instantly wiggled her arm out of your grasp.
“No, I’m eating with others.”
In complete shock, you stopped dead in your tracks and watched how Joohyun walked away unbothered. Your question was supposed to be rhetorical; the two of you always had lunch together ever since you could remember. Always. Even when you had been nauseous after eating a carrion flavored bean of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Bean or when Joohyun could only eat puree after getting her wisdom teeth removed. Lunch was the time of the day that you came together, no matter what was going on in your lives. And you couldn’t believe that Joohyun would just break your ritual like that. Therefore, you watched in utter disbelief how she disappeared out of sight with your feet glued to the ground and your mouth wide open, completely forgetting about your own class that you had to attend.
“Come on, Y/N! What are you doing? We only have 15 minutes to get to the third floor and you know that’s nearly impossible with those darn stairs.”
Jiwon gladly ripped you out of your trance and grabbed your arm to drag you to your next class. Although you didn’t even know why you bothered to attend the rest of your morning classes. Mentally, you weren’t present in the classrooms anyways and couldn’t listen to a single word of your professors; not even after Professor McGonagall yelled at you for accidentally transforming your pen into a snake instead of a caterpillar. The whole time your mind showed you a replay of the Herbology class, especially of the part in which Joohyun wordlessly left you behind. That was just so untypical for her.
“Maybe she was just messing with me?”
You mumbled under your breath after you had survived all your morning classes and were making your way to the Great Hall to have lunch.
But unfortunately, everything wasn’t just a joke, because when you entered the Great Hall, Joohyun was indeed sitting at another table, surrounded by some of the other “cool kids”. You glared at her in disbelief as anger started to bubble inside of you and slowly drowned out the sorrow that you had felt the whole morning. Did she think that you would run after her? Definitely not! Instead, you headed for your usual table where your other friends had already gathered and plopped down sulkily, much to the confusion of the others.
“Why is Joohyun not sitting with us?”
Hyerin asked hesitantly, sensing your bad mood and following your death glare with her eyes.
“You would have to ask her that.”
You gritted through your teeth, having had enough of Joohyun’s weird behavior. You hadn’t done anything wrong, why was she punishing you with ignorance today?
“Did you fight?”
Felix probed carefully and you huffed annoyed.
“No! I don’t know why she is behaving like that. I’ve done nothing wrong!”
You whined while sulkily shoving your plate away from you.
“Don’t rack your brains about it. I mean...Joohyun and you are really different. She never really seemed like she enjoyed our company...”
Hyerin got quieter with every word that she uttered as you directed your death glare at her now. How dare her saying that Joohyun didn’t enjoy your company? But apparently, she wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“She could have gotten bored of us... Wasn’t it just a matter of time till she gave in to them? You know that everyone always tried to get between the two of you. Maybe they finally managed to do that.”
Panicked, your gaze snapped up following Jiwon’s comment and you looked at Joohyun who was mopishly picking at her food at the other side of the hall. For a split second, your eyes met when she looked up from her plate and you wondered whether it was sadness that you spotted in them. Weren’t the others too quick to judge her? You knew her better than everyone else and she would never replace you with someone else. Therefore, you shook your head vehemently, instantly banning the doubts from your brain.
“No. Joohyun and I are inseparable.”
You retorted while crossing your arms defensively. No one and nothing could ever get between the two of you; not after everything that you had been through together.
---
“Y/N, I have to talk about something important with you.”
When your dad came into your room with a stern expression on his face, you immediately stopped drawing and looked at him with wide eyes. Had you done something wrong? Had your homeroom teacher called to complain about you? It was your very first week of elementary school and you really didn’t want to be in any kind of trouble.
“Don’t worry, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
Your father reassured you immediately when he noticed your panicked expression and gestured you to come to him.
Relieved, you ran to him and climbed into his lap, curious to hear what he had to tell you.
“Do you still remember what I’ve told you about that evil magician that is trying to seize power?”
Your father started and you furrowed your brow, trying to recall what your father had told you the day that he had the first serious conversation with you.
“I think so... You said that he is dangerous and that he is attacking innocent people which is why I have to be more careful.”
You muttered deep in thought and your father nodded in agreement.
“That is right. Well unfortunately another attack has happened which is why... we’re going to have an addition to our family.”
He explained hesitantly, much to your confusion, because you didn’t really know what that meant. You tilted your head to the side pensively, trying to make sense of his statement until your eyes suddenly lit up.
“Are we buying a dog to protect us?? Or a dragon?”
Excitedly, you squealed and clapped your hands, thinking that you had cracked the code. But your dad shook his head and chuckled sadly.
“No, unfortunately that’s not it. Honey?”
He turned his head and called your mother who stepped into the room a few moments later, leading a girl by the hand. You didn’t know who she was, but she seemed to be around your age.
“Baby, this is Joohyun. She’s the daughter of Mr. and Ms. Bae, you might remember their names. Mr. Bae is...was working with me in the ministry. From now on, Joohyun will be living with us.”
You didn’t understand why this little girl would be living with you from now on; a girl her age should be living with her family. But the sad expression in your parent’s faces told you that it was better not to ask any questions right now. Therefore, you simply nodded before jumping off your dad’s lap and walking up to Joohyun. You didn’t know why, but you had the feeling that this girl could really use a friend right now. Therefore, you smiled softly and put out your hand.
“Hi, I’m Y/N. Do you want to be friends?”
---
Joohyun couldn’t understand a single word that the others at the table were saying. She felt that your gaze was glued to her and if she was honest, she couldn’t care less about anyone else right now. She never liked any of those arrogant “cool kids” around her anyways. She would love nothing more than to walk over to you and sit close by your side as if the two of you were attached at the hip. But she couldn’t do that. You had caught her off guard this morning and she needed time to recollect herself. Time to sort out her feelings that were dangerously close to exploding for the first time in her life. After pining after you for as long as she could remember and finally having the courage to ask you out, Felix decided to shoot his shot? Joohyun had just not been able to hide her frustration when she saw you walking into the classroom beside him while flashing him one of your beautiful smiles. Why would you smile at him like that if you weren’t interested like you had told her? She couldn’t even blame you if you were interested in him. Felix was good-looking, a good student and an even better friend. He owned all the traits that Joohyun would never be able to obtain. Charm, kindness, a warm aura...
Why would you ever choose someone like her if you could have him?
Frustrated, Joohyun stabbed the piece of chicken on her plate with her fork before quickly stealing a glance at you. You were still looking at her and your eyes met for a split-second. You were visibly upset, causing Joohyun to avert her gaze in shame. This situation was a mess that she needed to clean it up as fast as possible. Although she didn’t know how. It seemed like she had hidden her feelings for far too long to be able to suppress them anymore.
---
“Hi, I’m Y/N. Do you want to be friends?”
Skeptically, Joohyun looked at the extended hand in front of her. She didn’t understand anything that was going on. Why was no one telling her where her parents were? Why would she be living with this family from now on? Everything was just so confusing. But despite all her unanswered questions, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her live would never be the same from now on. And if she hated one thing, it was change. So maybe it would be quite practical to have a friend that would help her getting through this. Therefore, Joohyun slowly lifted her gaze and looked into your eyes before grabbing your hand. Nervously, she looked back and forth between you and your parents, feeling all the expectant gazes on her. It seemed like something was blocking her ability to talk and she wordlessly stared at you. But apparently, you didn’t seem to mind. Her gesture was enough to conjure a wide smile to your face and you squeezed her hand lightly.
“Great, so we’re friends now! Do you want to see what I’ve been drawing?”
Gladly, you didn’t expect her to answer, but dragged her to the table where all your drawing utensils were scattered instead. Like you had known her all your life already, you started babbling about your day at school and other random things, causing Joohyun to subconsciously scoot closer to you. For some reason, you managed to make her feel a lot less nervous. There was something about you that caused a warm feeling to spread inside of her that eased the violent storm that was raging in her head. Joohyun didn’t know why you could influence her so easily, but she knew that she didn’t want you to ever leave her side again.
---
It had taken Joohyun quite some time to figure out why you were able to make her feel the way that you did, but after you had started attending Hogwarts together, everything was starting to make sense. At one point, she had realized that as a friend, she wasn’t supposed to die of jealousy whenever someone was trying to get close to you. She also realized that it wasn’t normal to wonder how it felt to kiss your lips. It was a realization that hit Joohyun like a truck, but her crippling fear of losing you forced her to lock away her feelings in a small, distant place in her heart. Until she could no longer hide them. It was in her fifth year when someone had asked you out for the very first time and Joohyun felt the green monster inside of her taking over. She couldn’t watch you being with someone else. So for one whole year, she gathered all her courage to finally be able to confess to you. And after hours of research on how to declare one’s love and countless practices in front of the mirror, Joohyun was ready.
But then Felix happened.
Joohyun could still feel how her heart dropped when you told her that Felix had asked you out for the Yule ball. How was she supposed to confess to you now? You had quashed his advances, why would you choose her? And then she saw you smiling at him with that glint in your eyes. Had she really been foolish enough to think that you could resist his charms? She knew better and so did Felix. After Joohyun had given you the silent treatment for a day, you were basically glued to your other friends the days that followed. Especially Felix was more than willing to cheer you up. There was not a single moment that you were alone and Joohyun definitely didn’t have the courage to talk with you with all of your friends around. It seemed like you were playing Hide and Seek and you were winning.
Day after day passed and the only memorable interaction that the two of you shared was when you accidentally bumped into each other as you ran to your class. It was pure torture for Joohyun. You had never been apart for that long and she began feeling like a piece of driftwood in the ocean. She wasn’t a person who liked to open up to others; she didn’t need a big group of friends around her. You had always been enough for her. But now that you weren’t by her side anymore, she was all alone. Of course, there were other people that would be more than willing to fill your place, but little did they know that they would never be able to. You knew things about her that no one else knew and you always knew how to make her happy even in times when she had thought that she could never be happy again.
She needed you.
But the question was: did you need her? Because judging by the way you were strutting through the hallways with Felix, you didn’t.
---
“I just don’t know why she doesn’t talk to me.”
You sobbed as you collapsed on your bed at the end of a very exhausting school week. The week hadn’t been exhausting because of your soul crushing amount of homework or the nearing finals though, no, it had been unbearable because your best friend seemed to have grown tired of you.
“Why don’t you just talk with her? Maybe she feels the same as you.”
Jiwon sat down beside you on the bed and patted your back encouragingly. But you were inconsolable.
“Does she look like she misses me? She seems to be perfectly fine with her new friends.”
You spat out, feeling how your own words were cutting deep into your heart.
“Well then you shouldn’t be sulking here! Come on, it’s the weekend! Let’s go downstairs and spend some time with the others.”
Jiwon tugged at your arm, but you clung to your pillow, wanting to cry for the rest of the night.
“Nope, we’re not doing that. Get up!”
This time your efforts to stay in bed were in vain, because Jiwon gave you a hefty push, causing you to fall off the bed with a loud thud. Perplexed, you sat on the floor and rubbed your butt while staring at your roommate.
“Oh good, you’re up. Now come downstairs with me.”
Jiwon grinned and you scoffed in disbelief but decided not to disobey your friend another time for your own sake. Therefore, you got up from the floor and reluctantly walked downstairs to the common room where nearly your whole house was gathered to enjoy the weekend. Some were playing magical chess, others were trying new transformation spells on their pets and others were simply relaxing on the comfy armchairs. Usually, you loved this room and you loved the people in it. But today you just couldn’t get yourself to smile. Everything seemed to be so dull. Nevertheless, you didn’t allow yourself to ruin the weekend of the others. Therefore, you tried to look a little less sad as you sat down beside your friends in front of the fireplace.
“Y/N! What an honor.”
Hyerin joked and you stuck out your tongue.
“Hush Hyerin, we have more important things to settle, remember? We were just deciding whether I should go with Kyungmin to the Yule ball or not...”
Sunghee interrupted your teasing session and started a heated discussion among your friends. You tried your hardest to stay focused and participate, but after she had mentioned the Yule ball, you automatically thought back to the morning that Joohyun’s weird behavior had started. Was that the trigger for her alienation? But why? You didn’t get to finish your thought because someone suddenly nudged their elbow into your ribs causing you to flinch.
“Talking about the Yule ball... I think someone is coming over for you right now.”
For a split second, you were hoping that Jiwon was talking about Joohyun, but then you saw Felix making his way over to where you were sitting, causing your heart to drop. Your instincts were instantly telling you to run away, but there was no time, Felix was already standing in front of you with a shy smile playing on his lips.
“Hey Y/N.”
He greeted you sheepishly and you mumbled some incomprehensible words in response that were barely audible over the excited whispers of your friends beside you.
In an attempt to escape this situation, you sunk deeper and deeper into the armchair, but Jiwon was having none of your allures and pulled you off your seat. Nervously, you were standing directly in front of Felix now who seemed to be feeling the same way as you, only for other reasons.
“Listen, I know that you’ve turned me down before but I’m not one to give up so easily.”
He started while shyly fidgeting with his fingers. You wanted to interrupt him right there, but before you could, he already continued.
“I don’t know if I read the signs wrong this week, but I think we’ve been getting along pretty well, haven’t we? So I wanted to ask you one last time and I promise after that I will let you live in peace. Will you go to the Yule ball with me?”
You could suddenly feel the eyes of everyone in the common room on you and your cheeks were beginning to glow bright red as Felix smiled at you sheepishly. You couldn’t say no to him now, right? He was a good guy and didn’t deserve to be embarrassed in front of the complete house. Even if you couldn’t shake the feeling that it was wrong, you just had to say yes, right? Therefore, you reciprocated his smile and cleared your throat to give in to his wish. But you didn’t get to give him an answer as you could suddenly feel yourself getting spun around before an electrifying sensation started to spread from your lips into your whole body. What was happening?
---
Joohyun didn’t know what had gotten into her. She had made her way to your common room to apologize to you for her weird behavior in the past week. It was time for her to stop acting all jealous, because she had no right to. But then she heard Felix asking you out again and her good resolutions were lost in a heartbeat. Her jealousy came rushing back stronger than ever before, blocking the last bit of reasonability left in her body. Her brain seemed to be on standby, leaving nothing but her instincts to guide her. And they were telling her to walk up to you and claim you. So she did.
Her lips crashed into yours, causing all air to be knocked out of her lungs. Although the kiss lasted less than three seconds and you were unable to react in any way, Joohyun’s body still felt on fire when she pulled away. For so long, she had wondered whether your lips would be as soft as they were looking and now finally, she knew the answer. Yes, they were. In complete astonishment, Joohyun stared at you, but unfortunately, there was no time to dwell on the kiss as the whole room suddenly erupted in agitated whisper. Heat rose to Joohyun’s cheeks and she looked around in embarrassment. Everyone was staring at the two of you, including a very confused looking Felix. Therefore, Joohyun cleared her throat and looked at him calmly.
“I’m sorry, but Y/N will not be able to go to the ball with you.”
She declared and Felix nodded understandingly in response, still looking like he had just seen a ghost.
Consequently, Joohyun couldn’t suppress the victorious smirk that was tugging on her lips, feeling like she had managed to bring her point across pretty well. When she realized that you were looking just as puzzled as Felix, however, she quickly pulled herself together again. She had a lot of explaining to do now. Therefore, she took your hand in hers and quickly pulled you up to your bedroom where she sat you down on your bed. Silently, she stood in front of you for a while, not knowing how to begin until you piped up eventually.
“Care to explain what that was all about?”
You asked, sounding slightly irritated, causing Joohyun to gulp. You knew that she wasn’t good with words, why did you need her to spell it out of you? Shouldn’t you know what was going on by now?
“Isn’t it quite self-explanatory?”
Joohyun chuckled nervously, but you still seemed to be lost.
“No it is not! I have absolutely no clue what grudge you hold against Felix. I just know that the Yule ball is inching nearer and nearer and that I don’t have a date yet. Not everyone has the whole school whipped for them, you know? And Felix would have been an acceptable option. I don’t know why you hate him.”
You rambled, causing Joohyun to sigh. How could you be so oblivious?
“It’s not about him!”
She responded frustrated and you threw your arms up in desperation.
“Then what is it about?”
You leaped to your feet and stepped closer to Joohyun, causing her heartrate to pick up. She just had to get it off her chest now.
“You! It’s about you, Y/N. I love you; more than anyone else on this planet and more than a friend should.”
Joohyun’s voice cracked as her whole body started to tremble in nervousness. You, on the other hand, looked at her in a state of paralysis with your mouth agape, causing her to chuckle.
“You had no idea, did you?”
You shook your head almost in slow-motion as you kept wordlessly staring at her in shock.
“Since when?”
You eventually choked out, causing Joohyun to sigh.
“Honestly? Probably since the first time we met, but it took me a while to figure out my feelings.”
She smiled, remembering all the beautiful memories that you had made together.
“And you’ve never told me?”
You sounded almost hurt, causing Joohyun to avoid your gaze in shame.
“I’m sorry, but I was afraid that you’d hate me if you’d know.”
She mumbled as tears welled in her eyes, but then she could suddenly feel a hand gently cupping her cheek.
“I could never hate you, Joohyun.”
You whispered causing her to look at you again. The same soft smile that had managed to calm her down the first day that you had met, was making her heart feel at peace again and she leaned her head against your hand.
“But you really shouldn’t have kept secrets from me for that long. That’s quite upsetting.”
A pout formed on your lips and Joohyun could immediately feel panic starting to spread in her body. Her biggest fear in life had always been to accidentally upset you. She wanted to apologize to you but you pressed your finger on her lips to shush her.
“I think to make up for it, you should ask me out for the Yule ball.”
You uttered and this time, it was Joohyun’s jaw that dropped. Did you just say what she thought you did?
“You want me to take you to the Yule ball?”
She assured herself and you nodded with a wide grin on your face.
“Yeah, I mean we have a lot to figure out, but it would be a good place to start, wouldn’t it?”
Relief washed over Joohyun and she wasn’t able to contain her happiness any longer, causing her to fling her arms around your neck. Tightly, she squeezed your body, feeling how your chest vibrated as you chuckled in amusement.
“Yes, it would be a good place to start.”
191 notes · View notes
bylanternlight · 4 years
Text
mens rea
premise: guilty mind | angst, dark themes, horror-ish | second person pov | 276 words 
pairing: joohyun x reader (implied serial killer/investigator au)
warnings: brief mentions of blood, violence, and death
preface: based off of nbc’s hannibal, a little bit of killing eve, and the monster comeback. enjoy! 
Tumblr media
By the time it appears, a year has passed. 
A white envelope. A blackbird stamp in the right corner. No return address. No markings -- only your address printed in the center. Joohyun’s handwriting. 
Your fingers drift toward your sternum, tracing the outline of a scar beneath your shirt. You can still taste the blood in your mouth, feel her brush your hair from your face, feel her cradle your chin in her hand, hear her voice as she sticks a knife into your chest. 
She’s dangerous. She’s a manipulator, a murderer. But when you think of her, it’s not the death you think of, not the bodies nor the pain. It’s soft hands, a soft voice, and brown eyes that peer into you like they see the truth. 
The letter within is short. You commit the words to memory, scan the paper for hints, anything to tell you where she is, and find nothing. Of course; Joohyun doesn’t want to be found, not yet.
The challenge she’s presented is not lost to you. Do your job: submit it into evidence. Help them catch me. Do the right thing. Or don’t. 
Or don’t. 
The decision is immediate, instinctual. It’s upsetting in how easy it is.  
---
Tell me: is running away always this dull? Exhausting? I’m finding it so, especially without the right company. 
I do hope you have healed well.
---
The ash remnants of her message sit at the bottom of a paper waste bin. You take out the trash, open the windows, reactivate the alarms, shower the smell of smoke off your body. And for the first time since that night, you cry. 
46 notes · View notes
pocket-scenarios · 6 years
Text
Confident - Irene
Tumblr media
(Admin: Moon & Jeroforconduct)
You have never been gladder for Joohyun being a very overprotective girlfriend than you are now. Her glare is fierce towards the man that had previously been refusing to let go of your arm, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.
“She said to leave her alone,” Joohyun snaps at the guy pulling his hand off of your arm since his grip had loosened the second she grabbed onto him, you can assume her nails are digging into his skin, “are you not going to say anything now?” Joohyun says raising the pitch of her voice slightly before rolling her eyes and letting go of his arm to pull you away instead.
“I told you I didn’t want to go out,” you mumble clinging onto your girlfriend’s arm a pout covering your features she hums softly laying her other hand over your own, “it was fun until he came up to me though, meeting Seulgi was nice,” you say trying to lighten the mood realizing the drop in Joohyun’s.
“I’m sorry,” she says using her other hand to play with your hair absentmindedly, “Seulgi’s leaving I was going to find you to ask if you wanted to go,” she says softly, “we can go home and watch movies,” she says with a small laugh resting her head against your own that’s laying against her shoulder.
“You looked really cool back then,” you mumble tilting your head up slightly, “I’m glad I have such a pretty girlfriend,” Joohyun lets out a laugh letting go of your hair to cover her mouth instead.
“Let’s go,” she says taking steps forward making you move as well to keep your standing position, “there are too many people here anyway.”
(I took my links off so that it would show up in the search on Tumblr)
88 notes · View notes
justtextmeoppa · 7 years
Text
Drabble Bakery: Irene 1
Tumblr media
For anon
Genre: Fluff and Smut and Male Reader
Words: 682
-kyu
Sultry moans filled the bedroom as Irene lay on it with you hovering above her. You currently were positioned between her legs as she bit down on her lower lip. God you loved the way she looked when she did that, truth be told, it was the reason the both of you were currently in this position. You began kissing down her sharp jawline, enjoying the way she squirmed every time you thrusted deep and hard into her. Running your tongue over her collar bone, you tried hard not to mark her because it was never a fun thing when you both got in trouble due to her manager.
‘Ngggg baby,’ She moaned, ‘Harder…’
‘Mmmm, you like that,’ You pulled out, slamming back in and moving at an erratic pace, ‘Moan for me baby girl, moan my name.’
‘Y/N!’ She released your name as her grip on your strong shoulders tightened.
You loved the way her nails felt, running up and down your back as they traced every muscle. In a quick movement, she flipped you both and you felt yourself being pushed into the soft mattress on your bed. Irene sunk deeper onto your shaft that a disgruntle groan left your lips. She felt so good around you, tight and hot. Her lips were swollen but looked even more tempting. Slowly she began to rock her hips back and forth, finding a rhythm that was pleasurable to the both of you. Instinctively you brought your arms up and cupped her breasts in your strong hands. Her mouth opened slightly as a breathless groan escaped. You teased the harden nipples between your thumb and index finger and watched her back arch at the sensual touch. She threw her head back, suddenly starting to bounce up and down on your member.
‘Ahhhh….fuck….’ You cursed, hands falling to her waist.
‘Ngg….Y/N….’ Her voice sounding even more angelic in this current state .
Your thumbs rubbed reassuring circles on her hip bones as she bounced up and down. She bit down on her lower lip causing you to sit up and attack her lips once again. You ravished them, slipping your tongue in and tasting every inch of the mouth you knew so well. Irene was beautiful, and you were happy that she was all yours. She wrapped her arms around your neck, pulling you closer as her hips returned to thrusting back and forth. You bit down on her shoulder slightly, loving the erotic sensation building up in the pits of your stomach.
‘Baby…’ She said breathless.
‘Me too…’ Your response equivalent to hers.
Meeting her thrusts, the both of you came at the same time as shudders ran down your spin. You loved that she continued moving, riding out the white washing sensation that was leaving your skin tingling. Slowing down, you both panted as she placed soft kisses on your lips and brushed your fringe out of your eyes. She ran her thumb over your lower lip, smiling at you gently.
‘God, I love you.’ You whispered, kissing her back.
She dismounted you as the both of you began to get changed, ‘Wanna get something to eat?’
‘Sound like a good plan,’ You chuckled when you heard the main door of the apartment open and close, ‘Taewon must be back.’
‘Taewonnie!’ She squealed, ‘Your little brother is so cute!’
‘He is 21, not five, baby.’ You chuckled, zipping your pants and stepping out with your girlfriend.
‘Hyung, Noona!’ Taewon greeted, ‘I didn’t know you would be here, I just came to fetch something I left in your bedroom, hyung.’
‘Yeah ahhhh Irene forgot something.’ You lied as your little brother opened your bedroom door.
‘LIER!’ He accused, ‘I know you had sex, this room smells of sex!’
‘Okay bye, see you later!’ You quickly pulled Irene out with you.
‘He is going to kill you.’ Irene chuckled, loving your relationship with your little brother.
‘Give him a few hours, he will cool down.’
‘You said that the last time.’
‘I know, my head still has a bump from yesterday…’
119 notes · View notes
kyuusberry · 1 day
Text
candyfloss | red velvet seulrene - drabble
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
pairing: kang seulgi x bae joohyun (irene)
genre: wlw and fluff
warnings: none!
ib: none!!
a/n: old post from my wattpad lol! only posting this bc my pookie wookie bear (@aeriniee) said so /hj
Tumblr media
"but babe! i want candyfloss!" seulgi whined.
"you're acting like a child seul, but if you really want to, we can get it." irene laughed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind seulgi's ear.
"wait really! you mean it? this is new! you usually always say no then give me a lecture after! am i dreaming?" seulgi's eyes sparkled.
irene sighed, "it's starting to sound like that you don't want to have candyfloss then. we can just go home and not get it instead. i don't mind either." she shrugged her shoulders, about to walk off till seulgi stopped her.
"wait wait! i promise i'll be good! i won't whine! but seriously, can we get it now?"
irene chuckled, "yes of course, love. now come on. you wanted candyfloss right?
"yay! candyfloss here i come!" seulgi cheered, walking with irene to the cotton candy stand.
-
"hi there ladies, what would you like today?" the person at the stand smiled.
"what are your most popular flavors?" seulgi asked, looking at the menu down below.
"our most popular flavors? it's blue raspberry, pink vanilla, green apple, and lemon!" the lady said, pointing at each flavor.
"i'll have blue raspberry and green apple." seulgi said, "what about you love?"
"i'll have pink vanilla." irene replied.
"is that all?" the cashier asked.
"yep!"
the lady typed into the tablet in front of her, "alright then, the total will be $2, plus tax so basically $3. cash or card?"
"card." irene answered. the lady took her card then gave it back. "now all i need you to do is sign right here." she said, turning the tablet towards them.
"here you go taeyeon, the cotton candy they ordered." someone handed her candyfloss.
"thanks fany. here you go ladies! the blue raspberry and green apple for her and the pink vanilla for you!" she smiled.
"thank you, uhm, taeyeon!" irene took the sweet treats from her hands and walked off with seulgi.
seulgi immediately plopped a bunch of the candy into her mouth, "thank you irene!" seulgi smiled, mouth slightly stained from the cotton candy.
"welcome seul. after this we're going home. i'm exhausted." irene sighed as she plopped down on the bench.
"are you gonna eat that? cause if not i'll have it!" seulgi pointed at irene's candyfloss, eyes wide.
"you can have it. i bought it for you. i never wanted it anyways." irene handed her the sweet treat.
"thanks!" seulgi laughed, eating it.
irene looked at seulgi and her face started to crack into a smile. "you're so messy." she wiped the cotton candy off her lips.
"thanks!"
"welcome. and i love you." irene spoke.
seulgi stifled a laugh, "why did you say i love you all of a sudden?"
irene's face grew red at the statement, "it's nothing, i just love you. is it a crime to say i love you to someone now?" irene barked back.
"i love you too, irene." seulgi pressed a kiss fo irene's forehead. "now c'mon, let's go home. it's getting late."
14 notes · View notes
daemour · 11 days
Text
Tumblr media
You bring a glass of wine to your lips, letting the tangy bitterness envelop your taste buds. A smirk pulls at your lips.
This is my sub-masterlist for tipsy drabbles---the masterlist can support only so many links after all ;) Please enjoy the following content! The main masterlist can be found here
(All fics marked with a ♥ are smut/implied smut. Minors do not interact)
-
ATEEZ
A Rose is a Rose - mafia! Seongjoong x f! Reader ♥
After leaving the mafia scene for five years, you’ve had to go back and beg for help from the boss of your former family…and your ex.
Manhattan - photographer! Hongjoong x gn! Reader
A late night photo inspiration leads to something more.
Brooklyn - photographer! Hongjoong x gn! Reader
Hongjoong invites you to his studio, but some complications occur [sequel to Manhattan]
GOT7
Bear like Marmalade - hybrid! BamBam x gn! Reader
You just want to enjoy a (pretty sad) dinner after moving. But your simple meal consisting of toast and marmalade is interrupted by your neighbour. Who really, really likes your food apparently.
Mini-Series
Red Lotus, Red Herring - assassin! BamBam x assassin! Reader (platonic) | An assassin should always be on their toes, a lesson you think you have down.
Between the Sheets - police! Yugyeom x gn! Reader ♥ | Yugyeom didn’t expect this.
Death in the Afternoon - husband! Youngjae x f! Reader | Youngjae’s late, and you’re worried.
Adios, Motherfucker - no pairing, Mark centered | All occording to plan. Remember Murphy’s Law, Mark.
Painkiller - yandere! Jackson x f! Reader | Jackson’s addicted to you.
Blow My Skull Off - implied police! Jinyoung x assassin! BamBam | A deal is struck.
Tuxedo - no pairing, Jaebeom centered | The game is almost over, but how will it turn up?
Last Word - light husband! Youngjae x f! Reader | Youngjae wakes up and can’t quite remember what happened.
MISCELLANEOUS
Planter's Punch - ex! Yoongi x Reader
Yoongi finds you drinking your break-up away in a bar. He wants to get you to stop drinking….but he is the cause of your break up.
French 75 - heiress! Joohyun x gn! Reader ♥
When faced with a marriage she doesn't want, Joohyun decides to take matters into her own hands
0 notes
moguridragon · 2 years
Text
Arranged Marriage |Red Velvet Irene x Fem!Reader|
Irene didn’t know what to expect when her parents had arranged the marriage for her. It was something she didn’t want, but she knew she had to. At least to keep them quiet. 
The ceremony wasn’t terrible, she just wished she didn’t have to be the main part of it. She hated it. 
After the reception, Irene played the part of actually caring about her wife up until they walked through the hotel room doors. She didn’t like this person invading her space and hated them for it. She watched as the woman picked up a few pillows from the shared bed, and walked over to the couch. 
“What are you doing?” Irene frowned. 
“Setting up my own bed. I don’t want this anymore than you do.” Y/N scoffed. “I see how much you hate this, so we’re the same. You’ll do whatever you need to do, and I’ll keep to myself.” She shrugged. 
“What are you talking about?” Irene muttered. 
“Look, our families are incredibly rich, and also seriously stupid. Our marriage was just to unite them so there wasn’t any bad blood or competition. You know this don’t be dense.” She pointed while taking out her earrings. “We’ll play the part as happy married couple, newly in love, everything for them, but in reality, we’re seeing who we want on the side without it interfering with our fake lives. Understood?” She asked, turning around to see a slightly impressed Irene. 
“Understood.” Irene smiled. Maybe she would like this one. 
As time had gone on, the two never shared a bed together, but shared other spaces. In the somewhat huge apartment they lived in, Y/N slept in the guest room while Irene had her own room. The only times they saw each other were during meal times, where Y/N would cook. Days when Y/N would be out, Irene felt a little upset that she had to cook. She had grown fond of her ‘partner’s’ cooking, and actually enjoyed that one part of her day. 
“Are you going out tonight?” Irene asked her. 
“Not tonight.” Y/N shrugged while putting her own lunch together. Irene stayed silent, watching as she packed everything away neatly and placed it in a new bag. “Why are you watching me?” She asked. 
“You have an odd taste in food.” Irene muttered, walking away from her. 
Every day was something new for Irene. Something for her to nitpick on. Causing the two to eventually snap at each other. Irene calling out Y/N’s flaws while Y/N did the same. 
“Maybe if you actually opened up every once in a while instead of being some rude bitch you would actually find someone who loves you.” Y/N growled. 
“Better than going on multiple dates a week like a slut.” Irene fired off, instantly shutting Y/N up. “I see I struck a nerve.” She smirked, her glare never fading. Y/N decided she had enough, walking away from the argument and going to bed. 
Three days they didn’t speak to one another. Y/N didn’t cook, hardly ate even. Irene didn’t care at first, sure she would be filing for a divorce even if they had only been married for a few months. It wasn’t until she saw how often Y/N was home that it started to concern her. 
Usually, Y/N would go out for a few hours after work, then come home late, or send a text to Irene to go ahead and put the alarm on because she wasn’t coming home. Irene just assumed she had found someone and was going to have a grand time with them. But lately, she had been going straight to work, then home. Locking herself in her own room. 
On the fourth day, Irene had finished making dinner, hearing Y/N come through the door. She glanced over, seeing her tired face as she dragged her feet to her own room. Her bedroom door clicked shut, signalling that Irene was alone again for the night. She made an extra plate, walking over to the guest room. She knocked a few times, waiting for a response. 
“Y/N?” Irene called out softly. “I brought you dinner.” She whispered. 
That was the beginning of the end for Irene. Y/N had wanted nothing to do with her, especially after that fight. It shouldn’t have mattered so much to her what her stupid arranged wife thought, but it hurt her. 
Every night Irene would bring her some kind of food, Y/N enjoying the little dishes here and there. After a week, Irene would stay and chat with her. Learning little bits about her. 
“Here.” Y/N called out as Irene was rushing out the door. 
“What is it?” Irene asked, eyeing the bag in her hands. 
“Your lunch.” Y/N answered casually. 
“Oh..” Irene whispered, taking the bag from her. 
When she got to work she had been buried with so much work that she had practically forgotten about her lunch until her assistant reminded her. She opened the little bag, seeing a few of her favorites along with a handwritten note…
‘Don’t work too hard!’ 
Irene chuckled at the note, eating the few things. 
It wasn’t something she had thought of at all. She expected this marriage to fail entirely, but here she was, slowly allowing herself to actually like Y/N.
Before long the two found themselves starting to cuddle on the couch, having movie nights and not going out. If they did, they went together. Both of them starting to enjoy each other’s company. 
“You’re tolerable.” Irene chuckled one night. 
“So are you.” Y/N smiled. 
The two attended events together, both of them giving each other space as they walked through the crowds. Irene watched Y/N mingle, watching another man walk up to her and begin talking with her. 
“Excuse me.” Irene whispered before walking away from the little group she had been conversing with. She made her way over, placing a hand on the small of Y/N’s back, smiling at the man who was getting to be a little too touchy for her tastes. 
“Oh, hello.” Y/N chuckled when she realized it was Irene. 
“And who is this?” The man asked. 
“This is my wife Irene.” Y/N introduced. 
“Oh.. Wife.” He mumbled. “You don’t wear a wedding ring?” He asked. 
“It’s being resized.” Irene quickly lied. “Got damaged during our last boating adventure didn’t it love?” She asked. Y/N nodded, looking at her wife. 
“It did. Got dented after hitting my hand against the rail.” Y/N sighed. 
Irene smiled at her, happy that she had gone along with the lie. The two stayed close together after, both quite happy with one another. Everything just seemed to finally feel right between them. 
The next morning, Irene smiled when she woke up, pulling still sleeping Y/N closer to her. Everything just felt right.
119 notes · View notes
sevlgi · 4 years
Text
white knight
requested: yes
group: red velvet
pairing: irene x fem!reader
genre: fluff, mild angst
contents: college!au, scaredy cat!irene
warnings: swearing
synopsis: Irene isn’t looking to be saved by a white knight, but she can’t help falling for you when you rescue her. From a spider. In a college dorm.
a/n: i’m sorry for how long this took me 😂 I hope you enjoy!
word count: 3.8k
Tumblr media
It’s not a super fun thing to be woken up by a blood-curdling scream at 4 in the morning.
The hallways and rooms of your dorm building are especially echoey, causing the scream to sound like it’s erupting right next to you. Considering that you’re not a heavy sleeper, it’s pretty damn terrifying.
“Shit,” you gasp, fumbling to get out of bed. Your dorm is pitch dark, as it has been for the past week or so while most people in your building have been gone for winter break. You thought you were the last one left, but clearly, that’s not true. “What the hell?”
The scream sounds again, louder and shriller this time, and you wince, stuffing your feet into shoes that you’re sure don’t match and grabbing the heaviest textbook you can find. Your campus is supposed to be pretty safe, but judging by the screams, there’s probably a serial killer on campus, and you’ll definitely die fighting them off.
It’s not hard to find the room of the screamer; it’s the only door ajar at the end of the hallway, bright light spilling out from inside. Honestly, it’s weird for a killer to keep the door open and the lights on, but your sleep-deprived brain doesn’t make much of it, and you kick the door open violently.
There’s an ugly cracking sound as the doorknob slams into the wall, but you’re focused on the fact that there’s definitely not a killer in the dorm. No, there’s only one person inside, a petite girl in a bathrobe and face mask, standing on top of her bed and screaming at the open door of the bathroom. “What- did you crack my wall?” she demands, staring at you.
“I- that doesn’t matter, what the fuck are you screaming at?”
She points a shaking hand at the bathroom, and you’re half-expecting to see a rabid dog or a dead body. Instead, it takes almost a full minute for you to find the spider on the tiled floor. “The fuck- you’re screaming about a spider?” you groan, already wishing you didn’t get out of bed for this.
The girl frowns and crosses her arms. “Well, yes. Spiders are scary. If you don’t mind, could you kill it? You did break my wall.”
You smash it with your foot, scraping it along the floor to leave a streak of spider guts. The girl’s still staring at her gross floor when you whirl around with your hands on your hips, about to give her a piece of your mind. “Why the hell? You gotta be more considerate, it’s 4 in the morning and you’re screaming your head off about a tiny-ass bug.”
“It’s not my fault I have arachnophobia,” she snaps back, and you bristle at the audacity. “I mean, I didn’t ask for some white-knight wannabe to burst in and ruin my wall.”
“Wh-” you sputter. Drawing yourself up to your full considerably unimpressive height, you spit out, “Well, fuck you. Next time there’s an actual serial killer, I’ll just leave you here to be smeared on the floor like that goddamn spider. Again, fuck you!”
“Wannabe,” she calls out behind you, muffled when you slam the door shut. You want to believe it’s a fever dream, but the reality of it is that you have a rude-ass neighbor with a horror movie scream, and you didn’t get enough sleep to survive class.
All a day in the life of a college student, right?
Tumblr media
“Pleeeaaasseeee.”
You glare menacingly at Jisoo, who doesn’t even flinch. “No.”
“Come on,” your roommate pleads, tugging on your arm. She’s all too used to your stubbornness to give up on something she wants you to do now. “Please? I really want you to meet Jennie!”
“Come on, Jisoo,” you sigh, still typing away at the essay you started an hour too late. “You’re dating the most popular girl on campus, and you want me to come to dinner with the two of you?” At Jisoo’s nod, you roll your eyes and ignore her pout. “You’re kidding.”
The brunette groans; even her patience has a limit. “Jennie’s so sweet, she’ll love you! Besides, she’s bringing her roommate.”
“Should I care?”
“A really hot roommate,” Jisoo amends. “Absolutely your type. I’ve met her, she’s so gorgeous. Her name is Joohyun, and she’s a year above you, I think. She’s super pretty and super sweet and I’m pretty sure she’s super gay-”
Your hand, clamped over Jisoo’s mouth, cuts off the flow of unnecessary information. Honestly, even the mention of a pretty girl isn’t enough to get you to want to go to dinner with your roommate and her uber-popular girlfriend, but you know Jisoo will just reschedule if you don’t come and nag you until you agree. “Fine. I’ll come, but I won’t be happy about it.”
“Trust me, you’ll definitely be happy,” Jisoo squeals, pressing an exaggerated kiss to your forehead before leaving the room, probably to tell her girlfriend the news.
You don’t pay any attention to your easily excited best friend, simply continuing to type away. The mention of dinner with a pretty girl quickly slips away to the back of your mind, a vague throb in the background.
Tumblr media
“I think I see them,” Jisoo tells you with a huge grin on her face. You’re sitting in a booth opposite her, and you’ve been ignoring your roommate’s hands tapping at the table for at least 20 minutes now.
“You said that 10 minutes ago,” you grumble, flipping through the menu. Honestly, one of the only things that got you to agree to the stupid dinner was the promise of food, and your mouth is practically watering at the pictures of ramen on the menu. “Are you sure it’s them?”
Your roommate quickly smooths her hair down, grabbing your face to check your makeup and ignoring your disgruntled noise. “Yes, I’m sure. Can you at least smile?”
Luckily, there’s no more time for Jisoo to fuss over you; you spot Jennie first, recognizing her by her cute gummy smile and expensive perfume. However, when your eyes travel to the girl behind Jennie, your jaw drops in time with hers.
To anyone else, it would seem like you’re simply shocked by how pretty the girl is, and that’s partially true. ‘Joohyun’, as you remember, is absolutely gorgeous, to the point where she seems unreal. Porcelain skin, glossy raven hair, and dark eyes widened in shock make her easily the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen.
However, you can’t help but see a face mask and bathrobe that no one else can see, and you can hear an ear-piercing scream rattling in your ears. Maybe Joohyun sees the oversized shirt you wore that night, a shoe in your hand that you used to smash a stupid spider.
Either way, you’re not letting Jisoo know about what you did.
Extending your hand with the fakest smile you can muster, you introduce yourself. “Hi, Joohyun, right? I’m Y/N.”
“Um, yeah. Hi.” After taking your hand, she slides into the booth next to you, although you’re sure she’s almost hanging off the edge with how much space is between the two of you. You’re the direct opposites of Jennie and Jisoo, who are practically glued together opposite you.
Jisoo’s oblivious, but she’s not oblivious enough to miss the tension between you, and Jennie has practically no tact. Her sharp eyes observe the icy stare Joohyun gives you and she asks, “Do you two know each other?”
“No,” Joohyun answers immediately, her cold expression melting into a sweet smile when she looks to her roommate. “She just looks like someone I met a few days ago. Remember the girl I told you about?”
“Yeah,” Jennie laughs, covering her smile with her hand. “Yeah, I remember. You still haven’t fixed that crack in our wall, you know.”
You pray that Jisoo doesn’t ask for details, but of course, she does. “What crack?” she smiles, eyes lighting up at the promise of a story. Really, Jisoo?
“Oh, you know how everyone was gone for winter break?” Joohyun smiles, tucking her hair behind her ear. It’s not fair how gorgeous she looks. “There was a spider in my bathroom, so obviously I screamed.”
“Are spiders that scary?” you can’t help yourself from blurting out. Jisoo raises an eyebrow at you. “I mean, it couldn’t have been too big.”
“Anyway,” Joohyun continues, fully ignoring you. You bristle at her dismissive attitude, but stay silent to hear whatever lies she’s spinning about you. “This girl busts into my dorm and throws the door open so hard that it makes a huge crack in the wall!”
“Damn,” Jisoo comments. You want to glare at her, but that’ll just be painfully obvious. “Who was she?”
The brunette beside you laughs, shaking her head. “I don’t know! But I fully intend to find her and make her pay for my wall. To be honest, she looked a lot like Y/N, about this tall, with this hair color too. Even her face looks similar!”
“That’s funny,” Jennie chimes in now. “You should try your best to find her then, if you’ve got Y/N as a reference. It’s gonna be expensive to fix up the wall. Do you think we’ll get in trouble with administration?”
Jisoo shakes her head, and you watch on helplessly as your roommate digs you into an even bigger hole. “You won’t if you fix it in time. Y/N can help you guys!”
“Really?” Two sets of eyes turn skeptically onto you. 
“I own a kit to fill in walls,” you blurt out, cursing internally. Honestly, you want to slap yourself. “Yeah, I can help you guys fill in the crack. It’ll look like nothing happened.”
Jennie offers you a gummy smile. “That’d be great! Would tomorrow work for you?”
All of a sudden, Joohyun’s eyes grow wide and she protests, “Neither of us will be home though, maybe we should wait until you have a free day?”
“Nonsense, you’ll be there. You don’t have class tomorrow, remember?” Jennie grins, flapping her hand and looking down at the menu. “You can stop by anytime, Y/N. Now, should we order? I’ll pay.”
As your roommate cooes about how considerate her girlfriend is, you studiously avoid Joohyun’s eyes. Honestly, you have no idea if you’ll survive tomorrow, not if you’re faced with a hot girl with an obvious grudge against you.
Fuck.
Tumblr media
“Uh, would you mind opening the door a little more?”
Joohyun stares at you suspiciously through the tiny crack that she’s opened the door. You can’t help but notice how pretty she looks, hair up in a messy ponytail and dressed in a simple white shirt, but you school your expression into a frown to mirror hers. “Step away first.”
“What the fuck,” you sigh, shifting the spackling kit under your arm. “I’m not gonna slam the goddamn door again, just open it and let me in. Or do you want to explain to administration why you have a crack in your wall?”
“Because you’re an asshole,” she mumbles, opening the door just enough for you to squeeze through. “Who the hell barges into someone else’s dorm at 2 in the morning?”
“It was 4 in the morning,” you snap back, although there’s a twinge of guilt in your chest at the sight of the huge crack in the wall. The cracks aren’t wide, thank god, but there’s a lot of them. “And I barged in because I thought you were being murdered! Who the hell screams like that because of a tiny-ass spider?”
She hesitates at that, and you smirk, satisfied. Crossing her arms, Joohyun scowls, “Whatever. So, am I supposed to pay you for this or something? I don’t know how much I’d usually pay to get someone to do this for me, so don’t overcharge.”
You stare at her, at the brown eyes darting to look at anywhere but you. “What? Jesus, I’m not that much of an asshole. You don’t have to pay.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, the fuck?” you mumble, starting to open the kit you’ve set on the floor. “Did you think that little of me?”
Joohyun rolls her eyes, but you think you can see the tiniest bit of a smile tugging at her lip. “I mean, you did make that crack. It’s the least you can do.”
‘“Look, I feel bad about the crack, but you didn’t need to embarrass me in front of my roommate. You made it painfully obvious that the asshole you were talking about was me,” you frown, looking up at her.
She wordlessly places a cup of water by you, settling down in a chair a few feet away with a thoughtful twist to her brow. “Mm. Whatever, it got you to fix my wall for free.”
“Yeah, and I’m not doing it again. I’m keeping my promise that if you get murdered next time, I’m not coming to save you.”
“Sure you will,” Joohyun laughs, and you can’t help but stare at the way her eyes shine.
Suddenly, you’re not sure you will either.
Tumblr media
The next time you see Joohyun is a few days later at 2 in the morning in the communal washing machine area.
“We’ve got to stop meeting at ass o’clock in the morning” is your greeting to her.
She looks tired, you note, although you’re sure you do too. There’s only 6 washing machines in a floor with a couple hundred students, so ass o’clock of the morning is usually when you come to steal two of the machines for you and Jisoo. Whenever Jisoo agrees to do the laundry, she miraculously finds an empty machine at a convenient time, but you’re nowhere near as lucky.
“Hey, Y/N,” Joohyun yawns, rubbing at her eyes. She’s carrying an empty hamper, probably for clothes she washed earlier. You wonder which one of the swirling machines is hers. “It seems that this is the only time of day you’re awake.”
To be honest, you don’t appreciate being teased for your choice of afternoon classes to preserve your sleep, and you tell Joohyun so. However, you do appreciate the small smile that cracks her usually impassive face. “Anyways, need help?”
“What?”
“Need. Help?” you say again, enunciating the words exaggeratedly and earning a halfhearted slap. She doesn’t respond, only opening two of the still machines. “Really, two machines? How many clothes do you have?”
“Some are Jennie’s,” Joohyun scowls, flipping a shirt more aggressively than strictly necessary. “I think some are Jisoo’s too.”
You snort, holding a pink shirt that you’re sure belongs to your roommate. “I better not find any underwear or something.”
“With how often Jisoo sleeps over, I wouldn’t be surprised,” the other girl sighs. “Seriously, how did you not meet Jennie before that dinner?”
“Apparently, Jisoo didn’t want me to get the wrong impression by hearing them fuck in the other room or something.”
“How considerate,” Joohyun says dryly, and you don’t manage to suppress your laugh. When you calm down, you realize that Joohyun’s staring at you, though she quickly averts her eyes. “No, I’m serious. I heard Jennie moan Jisoo’s name enough times before I met her that i didn’t even need to be introduced.”
You scrunch your nose, observing the neat way the other girl folds her laundry and copying. “Gross. I thought Jisoo would be the loud one.”
“No, she’s pretty loud too.”
“Oh, ew,” you protest. “I mean, that can be hot sometimes, but Jisoo probably sounds like a dying duck.”
“And you don’t?” Joohyun shoots back. Almost immediately, her pale cheeks color to a deep pink, even though you didn’t have remotely enough time to make an innuendo in your head. “Oh my god, that’s not what I meant, I don’t care what you sound like-”
“Shut up, I didn’t even think of that,” you snort, still folding laundry. “You’ve got a crazy dirty mind if you immediately connected those two things.”
Joohyun throws a shirt at your face and you yelp, catching it only to throw it back. Somehow, it breaks the tension and you both start laughing, folding laundry while exchanging jabs at your respective roommates.
Maybe she’s not as bad as you thought.
Tumblr media
It becomes almost a tradition to meet at the laundry room at 2 in the morning on Fridays. The next time is accidental, but after that, you’re sure that Joohyun’s making changes to her schedule just to catch you doing your and your roommate’s laundry and joke with you.
You become sort-of-friends, although you rarely hang out outside of folding shirts together. Sometimes, when Jisoo and Jennie are being gross together, one of you will escape to the others’ dorm, but that’s about it.
What worries you is the not-so-friendly thoughts you begin to have about Joohyun. Sometimes, you can’t seem to stop staring at the girl’s lips, and you feel the itch to hold her hand. 
It’s weird.
Therefore, you’ve been forcing Jisoo to do the laundry for the last week and keeping out of your dorm to avoid seeing your sort-of-friend.
You’re only home when Jennie comes knocking because Jisoo makes you stay home while she goes out with friends. You really can’t fathom who’s at your door, so you yank it open.
“Um… hi?” Jennie offers, a sheepish smile on her face. “I brought dessert.” True to her word, her arms are laden with boxes upon boxes of sweets, all of them your favorites.
“Is this a bribe?” You wince at the words that come out, knowing that they sound accusing. “Sorry, just…”
Jennie shrugs, placing the boxes on a table. “I mean, you’re not wrong. I am bribing you.”
Shoving a pastry in your mouth, you cross your arms and try not to look smug. “What for? You’ve got me in a good mood, it’s in your favor to ask now.”
Your roommate’s girlfriend laughs, hesitantly taking one of the desserts when you offer them. “Well. Jisoo and I actually had a really nice date planned for Valentine’s Day, but we can’t go. You probably know Jisoo has a family emergency, right?”
You manage to nod sympathetically despite your cheeks being stuffed full of sweets. “I’m going with her, she’s so worried that I don’t trust her to fly across the country on her own. But we don’t want our date to go to waste.”
“Okay, but what does this have to do with me?”
Jennie shifts, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Right, so Joohyun’s willing to go on the date, but I don’t want her to do it all alone. Would you be willing to go with her?”
At your slight frown, she rambles, “It doesn’t have to be a date for you guys, it’s just a nice dinner! You know, it can just be a nice hangout between friends who definitely don’t have feelings for each other.”
“Do you know something?” There’s a slight jump in your pulse; there’s no way Jennie could know that you might have feelings for her roommate, but you’re nervous nonetheless. What if she’s told Joohyun?
She blushes, chewing lightly on her lower lip. “Of course not! So. Will you do it?”
It barely takes a moment of thinking for you to say, “Sure, I’ll go on a date with Joohyun.” You wince lightly at the blunt way you said it, clarifying, “A not-date. With my friend.”
“Good,” Jennie sighs, standing. She returns to her confident popular-girl image with a smile, handing you a little envelope with a time and date written on it. “Have fun.”
“I will,” you mumble, staring at the envelope.
What have you got to be nervous about? You’re just hanging out with your friend, who you definitely don’t have feelings for and who definitely doesn’t have feelings for you either.
Right?
Tumblr media
You really don’t know why you spend almost an hour getting ready for your not-date when you usually wouldn’t care what you wore to hang out with friends.
It feels stupid to frown at your simple outfit while piles of clothes surround you. Just on time, you hear Joohyun’s knock, 3 quick raps as always. 
“Hi,” you manage to get out, sounding more breathless than you’d like. She looks perfect as always, but she looks just as flustered as you feel. “Um, let’s go?”
“Right, yeah,” Joohyun mutters, shaking her head and walking faster than she should. “My car’s this way.”
Both of you are uncharacteristically quiet on the way to the car and even more so when Joohyun starts driving. It’s awkward, and you’re sure it has something to do with the fact that you have feelings for her.
You can’t muster up the courage to say something, but you remain silent until the two of you order food. Suddenly, Joohyun groans out, “This is so awkward.”
“Right?” Glancing around you to make sure people aren’t staring, you slump a bit, shaking your head. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” She raises an eyebrow, sipping at the cup of wine she holds. “It’s not your fault, it’s just weird for us to be on a date when we’re just friends.”
As you frown, you can’t help but notice the slight blush on Joohyun’s cheekbones. “I mean, my feelings for you have got to make it weird, right?”
Immediately, Joohyun spits out the mouthful of unfortunately expensive wine, hacking and coughing as she stares at you. “Wh- feelings!?”
You can’t help the dark red flush rising to your face, definitely less flattering than Joohyun’s own. “Shut up, Jennie told me you knew.”
“I don’t,” she says, looking thoroughly convinced. “I was being awkward because I thought Jennie told you about my feelings.”
“Your feelings? What feelings?” You do your best not to be so loud when the other customers start looking your way, but you can’t help the shocked expression on your face.
Joohyun scowls now, staring anywhere but at you. “The same feelings as yours, idiot. Romantic ones, not-friends ones! Want-to-kiss-you feelings, want-to-go-on-dates-with-you feelings!”
“What…?” Realization dawns over you, your mouth forming a little ‘o’. “Jennie and Jisoo knew. They told each other about our feelings and set us up! I’ll bet they didn’t even have a dinner reservation!”
The girl opposite you groans, shaking her head. “Oh, this is so like them. They’re so meddling, I’m going to give them a piece of my mind once they get back!”
“Same.” You sit in silence for barely another moment before you blurt out, “So, you like me back?”
“Yes, you idiot,” Joohyun scowls, tossing her napkin at your head as if it can block the growing grin on your face. “Now shut up and enjoy the food.”
You do as you’re told, but dinner is definitely less awkward once the truth’s out. A weight is lifted from your shoulders now that your feelings are reciprocated, and you catch Joohyun smiling at you as if she feels the same way.
Maybe you don’t regret getting up to kill that spider after all. It’s still undecided.
378 notes · View notes