Tumgik
#on a side note i do have a bunch of asks ive been meaning to answer since months ago so theyre coming at some point
darqx · 8 months
Text
Tumblr media
Aren't you tired of being nice?
2K notes · View notes
gaybitchfx · 2 years
Note
I want to make a request of the angst type, basically Sanemi, rengoku, obanai and muzan with a terminally ill reader, who on his deathbed the reader assures them that the years he spent with them were the best of his life, that he lived happy with them the time they were together and that they don't need to be afraid of having another partner after his death because he just wants them to be happy,I'm in mood for pain today
Note: Gotta love angst from time to time. I think you can tell when I start to get a bit lazy-
Tumblr media
Character(s): Sanemi, Rengoku, Obanai, Muzan
Type of reader: M!Reader
Category: Angst
Warning(s): Mentions of death & death
Edited; ❌
Tumblr media
Muzan hated the thought of you dying and never wanted to think about it at all
That was until you were diagnosed with a sickness that wasn't curable
He was shocked and instantly did everything he could to try and get you better
Muzan even wanted to turn you into a demon, but you declined and told him you wanted to die as a human
He understood your wish
Muzan stood outside the room you were in.
Just from where he stood he could hear the beeping sounds of machines. He exhaled before opening the door and the sight that his eyes were bestowed upon broke ever heart he had. Seeing you hooked up to so many machines that were barely keeping you alive had hurt him deeply.
Your attention was brought onto him before a weak smile formed on your lips. He sat next to you bed and held your hand with a tight grip, but not too tight to hurt you. "How are you, Y/n?" Muzan asked, he carefully rubbed his thumb against the back of your hand.
"I'm fine, but are you alright?" You asked him as you stared into his plum red eyes. He stared back into yours that barely showed any signs of life. "Don't worry about me dear, worry about yourself." Muzan said as he held your hand close to his lips and pressed a soft kiss on it making you weakly laugh. Silence took over the room as you stared at the ceiling before breaking it. "I'm going to die soon, Muzan." You said to him, making his eyes widen.
"What?" "When I die, I want you to move on and love someone else, alright? The years I've spent by your side were the best years I've ever had. I don't want you to be afraid when you chose to have another partner-" "What nonsense!!" Muzan shouted, startling you.
"You're the only one for me. You're the only one who understands me. I can't lose you...not now..." He muttered. "I know sweetheart, I know... You too are the only one who understands me as well. But I want you to be happy, 'kay?" You told him as held his hand close to your lips and pressed a kiss onto it before placing both yours and his hands back to your side.
Your facial expressions had become more relaxed and that when the heart monitor flatline. "Y/n...?" Muzan said as he waved a hand over your face. You didn't respond or moved.
He swallowed any saliva he had in his mouth and rested his head on your chest where he could already feel your body become cold.
Tumblr media
After Kanae died, he thought he wouldn't find another person he'd love
But than you came and brought so much joy into his life
He cherished every moment you two spent together
Sanemi even thought this was God giving him another chance in life
Oh how he was wrong
“Terminally ill?! What the fuck do you mean he’s terminally ill?!!”
Sanemi shouted at Shinobu as he slammed his fist against the wall.
"It may have been a sickness that ran in his family, but there's nothing we can do about it, Sanemi-San. It's best if he spends his last moments with you." Shinobu said as patted his shoulder and walked out the room leave you two alone. Sanemi stared at you.
You were hooked to a bunch of IV tubes and machines that showed you were already so close to death. He quietly walked up to your sleeping figure and sat down to the left of you. Sanemi carefully held your hand with his hand which woke you up. "Sanemi?" You crooked, your voice was dry and tired like.
"I'm here, don't worry." Sanemi hushed you as he kissed your cheek. You gripped his hand as tight as you could which really wasn't much. Tears had already started to fill up your eyes. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I can't stay with you any longer.." You sobbed out causing a pang to Sanemi's heart. "It's not your fault Y/n.
None of this is your fault." Sanemi spoke, his tone gentle to soothe you the best he could as he brushed away your tears. "Sanemi..." You began getting his attention.
"What is it?" "I want you to know, the years we've spent together were the best years ever and I couldn't ask for more. I lived happily because I was with you, but now that my time with you has been cut short, I want you to find someone else to love once I die.." You told him making his eyes wide. He was in shock and disbelief you would even say that to him. Sanemi couldn't even imagine being with anyone else but you.
"What the fuck are you talking about? I don't want to be with anyone besides you!" Sanemi shouted as he held your hand with both of his hands. "I know, I know. But you have to let go sooner or later Sanemi. I'm not even a woman so I can't do much for you to act like this." You cried out. Sanemi sighed and brushed the strands of hair from your face.
"I never cared for that and neither should you. I will always and I mean always love you." Sanemi said making a soft smile form on your face. "I'm glad...so so glad..." You mumbled and closed your eyes. You heart monitor had flatline the moment you closed your eyes making him panic.
"Y/n..! Hey wake up!! Stop fucking with me Y/n and wake up!!" Sanemi shouted as he shook you body but got no response. "Shinobu!!" Sanemi shouted and the door quickly burst open revealing Shinobu and a couple of the helpers who tried their best to bring you back, but it was already too late. "He's passed on, Sanemi..." Shinobu said.
Those three words were Sanemi's last straw before he broke down and cried with his head laid down on your stomach.
Tumblr media
Never once in Rengoku's life has he met someone like you
You would match his energy and never commented on loud he spoke
You were perfect
The two of you dated for a year before he proposed to you and that when your relationship took a turn for the better
That was until the two of you were walking and he had coughed up blood
“So…you’re sick?”
Rengoku asked his voice low as to not give you a headache. "Mhm. Shinobu said I won't live for much longer, so I wanted to spend my time with you if you don't mind." You told Rengoku who looked so sad and hurt.
"I don't mind one bit." Rengoku told you and kissed your lips. He never thought about death when it came to you, he even thought the two of you would grow old together. What a silly dream he had. Rengoku held your hand gently as he rubbed his thumb on the back of your hand. The two of you sat in silence before you broke it.
"Rengoku, the years I've spent with you were the happiest years of my life and I couldn't ask for more. You made me so happy when you would express how you felt and never hid it. I'm very grateful you decided to stay by my side this long, but I think it's time for you to let go." You told him, making his eyes widen.
"What? What do you mean 'let go'?" Rengoku asked perking up a bit. "I want you to find another partner to love. I want you to cherish them, share laughs with them...take care of them.." You said, your voice cracking as tears began to form in your eyes.
"...And love them just as much as you loved me, okay?" You sniffled and placed a hand on Rengoku's cheek. "But...I don't want to do that. I want to stay with you." Rengoku crooked as he leaned into your touch that he adored so much. "I know, but you have to move on, for me at least." You motioned him to bring his head to your chest and he did. He could hear your heartbeat becoming fainter and fainter.
"There's only so much time I have left to spend with you." "I don't care if there's only such little time you have left. Once you die, I'll find you. No matter how many times I'm reincarnated I'll always look for you." Rengoku told you as he held your body close. "If that's what you want dear." You said and placed a hand on his head.
Eventually your heart stopped beating, but Rengoku didn't let you go like the stubborn man he was.
Tumblr media
He was never the kind of guy to speak most of the time, so you carried the conversation
Eventually seeing how you spent almost all of your time with him made him kind of happy
Obanai wanted to see where this relationship would lead to so after some time he asked you out and you accepted
One thing led to another and before you knew it the two of you were married and lived happily for years
That all ended when you started having heart problems that became worse over time
“He’s going to get better, right?” Obanai asked Shinbou who sighed and shook her head no.
"With the way his heart is beating, he doesn't have much longer till he passes." Shinobu told him and left you two alone. Obanai stared down at your weak form. You were much lighter than before and you looked close to a skeleton.
He swore if he hugged you too hard you'd break right in his hands. "Y/n..." He mumbled. It took you a couple seconds to wake up before you were met with his beautiful eyes. "Obanai.." You smiled, it was a warm smile that you always showed him. You held out your hand and he took it without hesitation.
"What's wrong with your heart?" Obanai questioned and you placed your other hand where your heart was. "I don't know, but I can feel it becoming weaker with each beat." You mumbled, a saddened look had spread across your face. "I want you to know something." You began perking Obanai's interests.
"That is?" "I want you to know I loved and cherished all those years we've spent together. The great ones and even the bad ones. I'll always cherish those. I know you will too, but I don't want you to be afraid to fall in love with another person-" "What nonsense are you sprouting now, Y/n? You're the only one for me and nobody else can change that." Obanai expressed, his face slightly crunched up when you said that.
"What makes you think I'd fall in-" You had sat yourself up a little and grabbed Obanai by his cheeks and pinched them. "Stop being so stubborn and just listen for once! I feel the same way you do, but there's only so much I can do." You said, finally getting him to stop talking.
"Nothing will change my feelings for you once I die, 'kay? Now listen to what I told you and don't you dare argue with me." You huffed and released his cheeks before laying back down.
Obanai was a bit taken back from what you did, but he couldn't argue with you at all. "I love you, alright?" You said with a smile. "I love you to-" Before he could finish his sentence your heart monitor had flatline signalling you had passed. His grip on your hand tightened as he stood in silence.
Obanai could even feel your hand grow much colder than it was before.
702 notes · View notes
laikaflash · 2 months
Note
im so curious, ive been dying to ask you this:
which soulcalibur ships interest you the most? for the canon ones (lol the few that we have), what about them speak to you? for the noncanon ones, where is the potential for them in your eyes?
Okay, this is probably going to be a bit of a mess, but I'll try to keep it concise. Not jinxing it at all. Going off the top of my head... (drum roll)
Canon
Kilik/Xianghua: It's not for nothing that I summed this one up as "complicated, but dammit if I'm not there for the emotional roller-coaster" in this ask from a while back. I don't want to harp on why the way it ended in the old timeline makes sense to me, but again, I'm a sucker for star-crossed lovers. 'Tis better to have loved than to have lost than to never love at all, and all that... Also, I get the feeling that some overlook the fact that Kilik was raised in a Buddhist monastery as something that plays into his decisions.
Li Long/Chie: The accidental tragicomedy of "My girlfriend's a ninja?!", as I like to call it. Li Long started off as a hotheaded assassin who bit off more than he could chew while deep in enemy territory, and would've bled to death if Chie hadn't found him by chance. I like to imagine them gradually bonding as she nurses him back to health... all while hiding the fact that she and her father are fugitive ninjas, of course. (I've thought about these two a lot because I've had a fic languishing in my drive since 2020. Also, Chie's muteness gives me an excuse to practice describing a range of nonverbal cues for just about anything.) Long story short (pun not not intended), he went through hell and back for her... And it all worked out. Since he ends up in the ranks of the Fu-Ma clan during the pre-SC5 timeskip, I like to think he was a good adoptive dad to Natsu. He probably left the demon stuff to Chie and Taki, though.
Not canon (but I can always dream)
Siegfried/Salia: The Schwarzwind side-missions in Libra of Soul were my fuel, especially with Salia keeping the group together long after Siegfried ran off. ("Because without us, he would have no one to return to...") I think her feelings toward Siegfried were only mentioned in supplementary material before, so I was particularly happy about this part of the "Feelings Shared" side-mission:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Sounds like an open secret to me! (Pardon the uneven cropping.)
To me, Siegfried and Salia have the sort of dynamic that writes itself. Close friends, erstwhile partners-in-crime, leader and tactician... What was that line in Siegfried's SC4 prologue? Something about not letting anyone touch his heart?
(T_T)
To be fair, having a child born with latent Soul Edge energy would be a reasonable worry for him. That might be part of it.
Bonus: according to this relationship chart from New Legends of Projects Soul (page 118), Siegfried's mother sees Salia as "a nice girl, too good for her own son"!
Tumblr media
(I'm probably showing more of that section than I need to.)
And now we enter my self-indulgence zone.
I've been playing around with a (very id-driven) Mitsurugi/Taki scenario and went into crackpot mode to flesh it out. It's an AU partly because I think it would take a lot for Mitsurugi to see Taki as something more than She-who-dares-get-in-my-way... Like, oh I don't know, him jumping at the chance to do some mercenary work, even if it means getting caught up in the Fu-Ma clan's business (and Taki watching him like a hawk the entire time). A fair trade for that shard of Soul Edge he picked up long ago? This is all supposed to diverge from some point after Mitsurugi returns to Japan too late for the Battle of Sekigahara (during the pre-SC5 timeskip). For now it's a bunch of notes and scenes clogging my phone's memo app.
There's just... something about a pair of rivals growing to trust each other enough to show their vulnerable sides, I'll say that much for now. Man, that was a lot of words for what started as my brain going NOW KISS.
Sorry this took two weeks. Thanks for asking!
7 notes · View notes
i-am-beckyu · 7 months
Note
AKDNDKDKJFKSKDF IVE BARELY SENT ANYTHING HERE LATELY IM SO SORRY BECKY!!!!
How is you? :] I is tired, it’s night time, tho I don’t feel like sleeping yet-
Your birthday fic is coming along, I will probably have it done by your birthday, if I balance homework and life right… Let’s have a snippet!
The borrower heard an irritated sigh, and, sure enough, when he looked up there was his escort and best friend, ———.
…who, as he looked closer, seemed ready to murder him. ——— gulped, and tried to play it off casually.
I hope you’re excited! And I also have actually started, and have a decent idea for my 100 followers fic (THANK YOU 3D)
I maaay have taken some inspiration from your 100 followers fic, even most of its original, if you see somethings that seems like MMTS, then I hope you don’t mind :]
Also, randomly, I don’t think anyone’s seen this, but I’ve actually been going around becoming peoples evil, shadow clone counter part (I have way too many side blogs at this point) *cough* anybodywritingao3 *cough* Rose if you see this no you didn’t
So… On a completely unrelated note, what would your evil shadow self be? What would their pfp and username be? :D
also can I ask why everyone’s putting their pfp underwater and how do I join the trend I have no idea how to do that qwq
This ask is getting pretty long, uh, I hope you don’t mind….
I’d like to talk to you more, but I don’t want to bother you :]
(and in an earlier ask you said that I can just message hi in the family discord but that’s basically not possible for me cause I have something called being social anxious around people I find amazing and cool :P)
Okay okay I’ll stop the ask now-
Have a nice day/night if you’d like too!
Cookies? 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
-✨anon✨
HIIIIIIIIII ✨ANON✨
All good all good! I was pretty flat out as it was yesterday and on the weekend. Pretty much played power wash simulator irl cleaning lol.
And I'm good! I hope you slept well (because you should def be asleep right now as of posting this) I'm a bit tired just cause of all the work I did but otherwise feeling good. ❤️
S N I P P E T
*eats snippet and gets the happy chemicals* oOooOo am so EXCITED FOR THIS FIC!!! BORROWER FIC! BORROWER FIC! LETS GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Bu tbut but but as I know everyone is telling you, make sure to not over work yourself and take breaks. You don't have to force yourself to finish any of these fics on time if it means you get some extra sleep or finish the homework you have to do. Sleep being the most important of all things. Not saying you can't do things, just keep a healthy balance <3
and awwwwwww. My MMTS fic has inspired you're own 100 follower special? 🥹🥹🥹🥹 I don't mind at all!!! If anything it makes me extra excited cause it gives me a very vague idea of what the special fic could be centering on (putting bets on a monster meets found family times lol)
@nobodywritingao3 can you please drown @munchkin1156 next? They wanna be part of drowned squad :3
And this ask isn't long at all! You're more than welcome to come chat anytime and as long as you like. You're not bothering me at all <3 Also I get the discord feeling a bit daunting, but I promise everyone is really nice and we're all just a bunch of weird anxious beans that vibe lol.
You're more than welcome to just chat in private dms tho too. Whether it's on discord or tumblr dms, if you'd like to just chat rather than through asks, you're more than welcome to message me. I respond as quick as I can but life and lifing sometimes and can make response time slow lol.
Thank you for the kind wishes, I'm having a lovely morning so far and I hope you have a lovely day too.
Thanks for the cookies! Lollipops? :3 🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭
7 notes · View notes
catboy-beb0p · 1 year
Note
sorry for the weird timing but ive meaning to ask for some time: what are the new things that came along with this synthv update ?
id love to know your thoughts man !!
Oh boy lemme tell you!
So the new SynthV update brings a whole bunch of new features. Some of the more boring ones include support for midi inputs and things that go along with that and some UI changes.
Now onto the big changes, update 1.8.0 introduces engine changes, including Diffusion Probability Models. After the fiasco of HDVM, I was pretty wary about this, but after testing the beta voicebanks for a bit, I can confidentially say the new update is INCREDIBLE. Voices are notably more realistic, voicebanks are more stable in their lower ranges (way less of this), HDVM is now working like it's supposed to, and cross-language synthesis is now way more clear. I've been told An Xiao's been let out of the washing machine but has gained a British accent, but I can't confirm this. The AI banks have finally been de-Weinafied, except, I've heard, for Weina, who's still got some spotty quality.
Speaking of cross-language synthesis, you're now able to select the language on a per-note basis, so if you have a multi-language song you don't have to mess around with groups like you used to.
Tumblr media
Both Koharu Rikka and Eleanor Forte have gotten vocal modes, meaning all AI banks now have them. Rikka's are Kawaii, Soft, Pops, Emotional, and Ballade, and Forte's are Melancholic, Solid, Warm, Powerful, Dark, Clear, Tender, and Bold (meaning she's now tied with Solaria for most vocal modes). I don't own Rikka, but I do have Eleanor Forte and I can say that a lot of her vocal modes are really samey, but she finally has access to the strong voice I've been hoping for.
Dreamtonics has also released a new voicebank for free to people who own the full software, Mai.
youtube
She's a little bit too on the poppy side for me but I can sing her praises for her quality. She sounds incredible, her English is almost indistinguishable from a native English bank, and her auto-pitch is actually good. To anyone with access to the beta Pro editor I strongly recommend her.
Extra minor changes: SOLARIA's finally gotten her original voice tone back thank god. ANRI and Eleanor Forte sound way better now Stardust's [uh] phoneme finally sounds right and her Cool vocal mode functions properly now. SynthV is now a lot more caviler about rendering "the" as [dh iy] and it's only slightly killing me.
Onto downsides. I've noticed the change in how low notes are handled also effects standard banks, and GENBU's range has shrunk significantly, which is a pain for me.
Also a new bug on mac has made it so that occasionally the editor will crash when changing to certain voicebanks on some projects. I've no idea what causes this to happen but I hope it, and some optimization issues, will be fixed once the full editor releases.
Overall, it looks like Dreamtonics is finally fixing the mess that was the 1.7 updates and not letting Vocaloid steal their thunder. I'm finally excited for SynthV again.
Tumblr media
11 notes · View notes
bbysamu · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
It ain’t Me - a series   
✎ Featuring: KUROO Tetsurou x you 
✎ Now Playing:  It Ain’t Me by Kygo & Selena Gomez 
✎ Genre: Angst 
✎ Word Count: 1,573 
✎ Preview: You and Kuroo are high school sweethearts, you thought your love was as strong as whiskey, burning and sweet. What happens when adult Kuroo develops a bad habit of clubbing too frequently and you find it harder and harder to reach him? 
Ch. I 
Ch. II
Ch. III
Ch. IV
Ch. V
Epilogue
a/n: no underage drinking please, don’t hinder your brain growth
Tumblr media
♫I had a dream We were sipping whiskey neat Highest floor, The Bowery And I was high enough♫ 
“shhh, you have to be quiet babe, we’re not exactly allowed up here”, your boyfriend whispered as he pulled you up, guiding you to the rooftop. You nodded, slowly steadying your breath. 
The dark sky was empty with the exception of the half covered moon and some stray stars. Today was you and Kuroo’s second anniversary, your relationship lasting much longer than typical high school romances. Kuroo had texted you today saying he had a surprise for you. 
And the said surprise was a late night picnic on the school’s rooftop surrounded by big fluffy pillows and dimly lit candles. 
“when did you have time to organize all these?” 
Kuroo smiled proudly, “I had the boys bring over some spare pillows and Lev and Kenma hauled them up here during their free period”. You smiled at the image of the two boys bringing up pillows to the roof, giggling at the thought of Kenma complaining as he climbed the stairs to the roof. You made a mental note to thank the two tomorrow. 
Kuroo gingerly picked up your hand and led you over to the picnic blanket. The two of you quickly settled down, his arms around your waist, as you laid your head on his shoulder, talking about both everything and nothing. 
Kuroo suddenly brought out a bottle of light honey liquid. 
“Happy 2 years to the love of my life.” He said, delicately pouring the golden liquid into a small glass.
“only one glass?” You raised your eyebrows.
“of course, you’re not 18 yet!” 
“I’m literally turning 18 next week and you just turned last week!” 
“exactly! no underage drinking in this relationship.” He smiled cheekily at you before taking a swing at the liquid. You laughed out loud at his expression.
“ew people actually like this stuff? my throat is literally on fire.”
“wait, let me try!” 
“okay.” 
And instead of handing you the glass, Kuroo leaned in. 
You smiled as his tongue met yours, giving you a taste of the sweet whiskey. 
And that’s how the both of you will always remember your second anniversary, the empty night sky and the sweet, burning taste of whiskey. 
Tumblr media
In the years since high school graduation, the two of you have settled into a comfortable pace, no longer the young teenagers, but hardworking adults in a cruel society. The honeymoon period was a distant phase, but that didn’t mean the love between the two of you dwindled. 
You shot a quick text to Kuroo. His lack of response brought a frown to your face. You tried to call him for the third time, this time directly reaching his voicemail. You sighed at the thought of him pressed up against another body and glared at the laptop in front of you. 
Halfway across the town, Kuroo stepped into the dimly lit club in a pressed black button up and some black pants. He lived for nights like these, the mingled bodies on the dance floor and the beautiful ladies. 
Kuroo loves you and he’s been warned by Kenma a bunch of times but he just couldn’t help himself. Kuroo knew you hated the club but he could never bring himself to stop coming. Week after week, especially since you started being asked to work overtime, Kuroo found himself and some of the boys at the club, drinking and dancing with the girls in the short skirts and bodycon dresses. 
Yamamoto wolf-whistled at the sight of the girls walking by, “dang, look at that girl in the black mini”. 
Kuroo whipped his head around and checked out her long legs and low-cut dress before turning to Yamamoto, “I need a drink first”. 
Yamamoto shook his head knowing what this meant. A drink then another was what Kuroo needed to numb himself from the growing guilt eating him away every time he was at the club. With enough alcohol, Kuroo was always able to convince himself he did nothing wrong as he gripped the waist of another woman, his lips on hers. 
He winked at the bartender and a shot was served up. The burning, sweet liquid brought him back to that picnic on the rooftop. He shook his head, chasing away the memory and shot a smile at the girl in the back dress, before making his way over to her. 
♫Somewhere along the lines We stopped seeing eye to eye You were staying out all night And I had enough♫
It was a little past midnight when you made your way over to Kuroo’s apartment, spare key in hand. You knew he was probably at the club, but he promised he’d be home around midnight. Things have been tense between the two of you lately. You sighed at the memory of your fight last week. 
“What do you mean it was nothing?” You shouted, exasperated at the man sitting across from you. “She was all over you!” You sighed internally, tired of always fighting with Kuroo about his clubbing behavior. 
Kuroo shook his head, “babe, I told you, I literally pushed her away, but the video caught the seconds she came on to me before I could even react. I love you, you know that. Why would I ever want someone else?” Kuroo knew he had you by the way your eyes softened, he mentally winced at his lie, memories of making out with the woman fleeted by in his mind. He quickly pushed them away, the guilt barely lingering. Kuroo notices he’s better at doing that.  
“you’re the only one for me” He said pulling you into a hug, his words trying to convince himself more than you. Tired of fighting, you chose to believe him, after all who would you believe, your boyfriend of five years or a 10 second video? 
The turn of the knob brought you back to reality. You smiled at the thought of his surprised face when he comes home to you later. You quickly changed into one of his spare t-shirts and settled down in his bed. “12:30 am” your phone read before you drifted off to sleep. 
Tumblr media
♫ No, I don't wanna know Where you been or where you're goin' But I know I won't be home And you'll be on your own ♫ 
The soft light of sunrise woke you up earlier than your alarm. Your body feeling unexpectedly light as you turn to face the empty space. You thought you would wake up to a Kuroo cuddling you. 
“6:27 am” and no notifications on your phone. You got up, unable to sleep anymore, anger and frustration bubbling at the lack of communication from your boyfriend. 
You look in his fridge, empty except for some leftover boxes. Despite your feelings of anger towards Kuroo, you made a mental note to bring over some groceries next time. You decided to make some tea, mindlessly scrolling through the news. 
A sudden click of the door got you looking up from your phone to see two figures, one unfamiliar, the other as familiar as the back of your hand. 
“You know we could just stay at my place. Why’d you have to insist on this weird coffee?” 
You knew exactly what coffee the female voice was referring to. It was the same one you got him from Vienna that time you studied abroad and he’s been hooked on Viennese coffee ever since. 
You heard his voice, “once you taste it, you won’t ever be able to go back I’m telling you”. 
“where’d you get it from?” 
The two figures stepped into the living room just as Kuroo answered, “oh, just from a frie...” he trailed off as you entered into his field of vision. 
The colors draining from his face, the same look of shock mirrored on your features. 
The woman came into view a second after, confused, “wait, who’s this?” 
The look on both of your faces and the tension in the air got her scrambling to the door embarrassed, mumbling a quick apology on her way out. 
Smart woman, you thought. 
You looked at each other in silence. You took him all in. The ruffled hair, the faint hickey on the side of his jaw, the same black button-ups he wore to the club yesterday. 
Kuroo did the same. You standing across the room, dwarfed in a shirt he bought at nationals, a thousand hurts and emotions in your big tired eyes. 
You broke the silence first, too shocked and hurt to even register what had happened five minutes again. 
“I’m leaving.” 
“Y/N wait...” he reached for your hand and pulled you close. You recoiled as soon as you smelled the cheap perfume intertwined with the same whiskey he’s taken a like to after high school. 
“please I can explain.” He search your eyes desperately. 
You shook his hands off yours and quickly gathered your stuff. 
“I’m leaving...”
He cut you off before you could finish, “yeah I heard the first time, please just give me a chance to explain.” 
“you.” 
The shook on his face made it hard to look at him. You cleared your throat. 
“I’m leaving you”. 
You rushed past him, but not before he caught the glimpse of tears running down your cheeks. 
You realized Kuroo was like a bad shot of whiskey, burning, yet all signs of the sweet aftertaste disappearing. 
339 notes · View notes
lueurjun · 3 years
Text
𝖱𝖮𝖠𝖣 𝖳𝖮 𝖥𝖠𝖬𝖤. 𝗌𝗂𝗆 𝗃𝖺𝖾𝗒𝗎𝗇
Tumblr media Tumblr media
“=⌕ sim jaeyun x gn!reader. 
⌗ SUMMARY — becoming a tiktoker was never apart of the plan, but here you are, 4 million followers and a love for pranking your boyfriend. 
. . ⇢ LUEURJUN’S NOTES — this is supposed to be gender neutral but if i slipped up at any point then i do sincerely apologise. this probably won’t be written the best, i was kinda sick and had a moment of inspiration. this is super fluffy and cheesy, so brace yourself. 
₊❏❜ WARNING ⋮ uh tears of joy?? i guess.
2021 @lueurjun.
i. 
THE 30TH APRIL 2020 was the day that your life changed in ways that you used to believe only happened in movies. 
Honestly, setting up your phone and telling your devilishly handsome, yet so pure, so innocent boyfriend that you wanted to have a child—whether that be adoption plans or getting pregnant—it was a small prank you decided to pull and film for your group chat. You never had any intentions of uploading it onto the internet, until Jay, one of your closest friends, suggested that you posted it to Tiktok. 
Jake was cool with it, having not expected it to blow up as much as it did. Nobody had expected for you to get over 2 million views and over 600k likes on your first video. Nor did you expect the heaps of requests in your comment section of different pranks to pull on your boyfriend. And that’s where it began. 
That one video was a rabbit hole into what quickly became your career. 
Now, with over 4 million followers, you have created your own little fan base, who have grown to love you, your boyfriend and even your friends that occasionally end up in your videos.
ii. 
The light in the kitchen flickered once as you set up your phone against a bunch of cookbooks that your parents had yet to read. Mentally, you made a note to ask one of your family members to change the bulb when they returned home. Focusing on your phone, which was now recording, you put your thumbs up and turned towards the door.
“JAEYUN!” Your voice echoed through the quiet home, bouncing off every wall until it met your boyfriend’s ears. Brief shuffling could be heard followed by the padding of feet across the floor boards. He was only in the next room, so it didn’t take long for him to appear right before your eyes. 
The first thing your eyes set on was the crinkles in his shirt, suggesting that he had been laying down. His dark hair was hidden beneath a black hat, which he had placed on his head backwards. He was dressed so simple, but you still managed to fall in love once again at the sight of him. You often wondered how you had managed to bag someone like Jake, he was the epitome of perfection and you couldn’t really see why he would want to be with you. Jake never let these thoughts ponder in your mind for too long, since he was always quick to prove to you that you’re everything to him. 
Secretly eyeing the camera, you put on a pout and fiddle with the hem of his shirt. Immediately, the alarm bells go off in Jake’s mind. You’re never normally this quiet and it’s rare to see you pout. He frowns a little, eyebrows knitting together as concern washes over his face. Using his index finger and his thumb, he lifts your chin and gently rubs the skin just below your lip.
“What’s the matter?” 
“I just- don’t get mad,” you begin, forcing yourself to sound sad. “But I just think you could’ve been a little bit nicer to me today.”
He had been nothing but an angel to you all day, and you felt horrendous for making him think otherwise, but alas, Tiktok had spoken and they wanted you to do this prank. So, as bad as you felt, it wouldn’t cause much harm. 
“Did I do something to upset you?” He looks genuinely hurt by his own actions and guilt immediately tugs at your heart strings.
You shrug and avert your gaze downwards, focusing on the tiled floor beneath your feet. This was partly to stop yourself from giving in too quickly, you’d always been a sucker for Jake’s puppy dog eyes and you knew if you looked into them any longer, you would stop the prank.  
Jake cocks his head to the side and steps closer to you, nuzzling his nose against the side of your head. You feel his breath fan over your ear and you swear your heart stops beating for a second. His fingers trail over your waist and he plants the softest kiss to the side of your head. 
“I just feel like you’ve been a little mean to me today,” you continue. And he nods his head in understanding, though you know he doesn’t understand at all. Jake doesn’t know what he’s done wrong, but if you think he hasn’t been nice to you then he’s not going to argue. 
“I’m sorry, can you tell me what I did to make you feel this way?” 
You lean your head against his chest and bite your lip, it’s hard to contain your smile. With his sweet response mixed with the scent of his cologne fogging up your brain, you have a hard time holding onto your act and he quickly notices. 
“Is this a prank?” He asks, pulling away from you. 
You let the giggles slip from your mouth and nod towards the phone, that you had done your best to hide. Jake turns, his hand still on your waist, and he looks for the camera. Once his eyes land on his figure, he throws his head back and a breathy laugh falls from his lips.
“I should’ve known.” 
Yes, yes he should’ve but you still made up for it with plenty of kisses. 
iii. 
Picking Jake up from football practice had become a ritual. 
You didn’t need to be asked anymore, you’re just always there waiting for him and he loves that. The excited smile on his face whenever he sees you patiently sitting behind the wheel never gets old. Picking him up, as sad as it sounds, has become your drive to get through Tuesdays. They’re not your favourite day of the week, but knowing you get to see a smiley, yet sweaty, Sim Jaeyun at the end of the day gives you more than enough motivation. 
Just like any other Tuesday, you’re waiting. You like to get there early and so, you have about fifteen more minutes until you see your favourite boy walking through the gate. Music plays softly in the background as you lean back and scroll through your comment sections—people are so sweet, though you do get a bitter taste in your mouth when you see people fawning over your boyfriend like he’s a piece of cake. 
You ignore the thirst comments and look through the requests. Not many catch your eye, until you come across a particular one and a smirk appears on your face.  
Fifteen minutes turns into twenty and finally you see your worn out boyfriend heading towards your car. As tired as he never fails to smile and pick up his pace. He pulls open the door and slips inside. You reach over and greet him with a chaste kiss before pulling away.
“How was practice?” 
“Exhausting. Can we take a nap together when we get to your place?” He asks whilst adjusting his seatbelt. 
A nap sounds amazing, and you waste no time in nodding your head. “Before we go, I went shopping today. I picked you up a few things, let me show you.” 
He melts then and there. Reaching back, you grab one of the bags and aggressively tug it towards you, making sure you hit Jake on the side of the head. He hisses and turns to look at you. 
You don’t even apologize. 
“No this isn’t it,” you mumble to yourself. 
You grip the bag and throw it back where you got it from, once again making sure to slap your boyfriend with it. He stares at you, annoyed with your aggressiveness, though you don’t look back at him and instead, you hit him a third time with a new bag but you instantly regret it. You ended up attacking him with the new pair of shoes you treated yourself to and you can tell this one pained him.
Quickly giving up on the prank, you drop the bag and reach over to rub the back of his head. “I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean to hit you that hard.” 
He whips his head towards you, looking at you as though you had just murdered an entire family in front of him. “What? So you meant to hit me?” 
You drop your hand and retreat back to your seat, attempting to look innocent. Jake then finds your phone, which is pointing right at him and he sees that it’s recording. You feel guilty, having not meant to hurt him so hard, you can’t meet his eye. You are about to start driving again, when you feel an impact on your arm and a yelp parts from your mouth. 
Jake sits beside you, a smile on his face and a bag clutched in his hand. You scowl and he only grins wider. 
“Now we’re even.” 
Oh, he is evil. 
iv. 
On the 10th May 2021, you hit 5 million followers. 
It was a shock, you rarely kept track of your follower count because you weren’t really in it for that ( though you are grateful for every single person that supports you ) so, you really hadn’t been expecting to hit such a huge milestone. In fact, you were so unexpectant, that you were sleeping at the time. 
“BABY!” Your eyes flew open as the bed shook. Jake had jumped on the bed, plastering kisses all over your face. “You hit 5 mill!” 
Disoriented, you blink. “Pardon?” 
Jake chuckles at your sleepy state, even with messy hair and puffy eyes, he thinks you look so attractive. His dark eyes trail over your features as he uses his thumb to rub underneath your eye, almost like he was trying to wipe away your sleepiness. 
“You hit 5 million followers, you did it.” His voice is softer this time, quieter but still filled with enthusiasm. You gape at him, and he laughs. 
“I did?” You ask, pointing to yourself. 
He nods. “You did.” 
The realisation crashes down at you at once and suddenly, you feel your nose sting as tears form in your eyes. Your fingers curl around the fabric of your boyfriend’s shirt whilst the other hand comes up to cover your mouth. Stray tears drop down onto your skin. You can’t believe it. 5 million people followed you. They like your content.
Jake coos at the tears that leak from your eyes like a waterfall. He’s quick to wipe them away, before he presses a kiss to your wet cheek. He’s proud and he’s filled with pride, his baby got 5 million followers and he couldn’t wait to brag to everyone about how talented and cool you are. That’s his favourite thing to do. Jake loves to brag about you. 
You sniffle and press your hands against his cheeks. Gently, you rub your nose against his own. “We did it. It’s your account just as much as it is mine, I wouldn’t have got this far without you. After all, you’re my main prank victim. So, we did it. We hit 5 million together.” 
You weren’t taking all of the credit, Jake was just as involved as you and he deserves the praise. You had done this together. 
“You do know Jay is never going to let you forget that he was the one who suggested uploading it to TikTok...right?” 
You laugh, nodding your head. “Yep. I know he’s gloating in the group chat, right now.” 
And he was. Jay was so proud of you and Jake, but most of all, he was proud of himself because without him, you would have never uploaded that first video. So, you let him have his moment. 
“To millions more!” Jake cheers as he lifts the pizza in his hand, the two of you had decided to celebrate with a victorious take away and a movie marathon. 
“To millions more,” you repeat softly. 
Whether you had 0 followers or 5 million, as long as Sim Jaeyun was by your side, you didn’t mind.
112 notes · View notes
Text
Out Of Time ~ 133
MASTERLIST
Tumblr media
< previous chapter
Word Count: 3,000ish
Summary: Tony finally comes home, but that doesn’t make the problems go away. (Please read the note at the end)
Tumblr media
Y/N completely unconscious for a whole 24 hours. The remaining team members never wandered far from her side, too scared to lose another person. When Y/N finally awoke, she knew what had happened. She could feel the change inside her.
“They’re gone…” She croaked, looking at Steve with teary eyes. “The Stones are gone…”
“What do you mean, Y/N?” Steve questioned. “Like you don’t have your powers anymore?”
“I mean, they’re gone.”
“Y/N, I think you’re tired,” Thor said. “If your abilities have left you, then you must be exhausted.”
“No. You have to believe me.”
“Okay,” Bruce interrupted. “I think we need to leave her to rest some more.”
Y/N knew that they didn’t believe her. But she could feel it. The Infinity Stones had been destroyed. Her abilities were gone.
~~~
Y/N was alone in the med-bay when the building began trembling ever so slightly. Concerned as it continued, slowly getting worse, Y/N slid out of bed. The others were not too far in front of her as they all quickly headed out to the yard. Looking up as they all continued to walk, they noticed a ship being carried by a glowing Carol. She carefully landed the space craft, looking at a new shaven Steve with a nod. 
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Y/N froze, heart pounding wildly in her chest as the stairs of the space craft lowered. Tony, being supported by Nebula, walked out. She couldn’t stop the tears that began to cascade down her cheeks. Tony was alive. Yes, it was clear that he was barely alive, but there he was.
Steve ran up to Tony, taking him from Nebula to help him stand. Tony gripped Steve’s arm as he joined him.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
“I couldn’t stop him,” Tony told Steve.
Tumblr media
“Neither could I,” Steve responded.
Tumblr media
“I lost the kid.”
Tumblr media Tumblr media
“Tony, we lost.”
“Is, uh…? Y/N…”
Tumblr media
“I’m right here,” Y/N said, running up and embracing him.
Tony practically melted into her arms, kissing her head and Y/N cried. “It’s okay.”
“You’re alive…”
“You’re alive.”
Y/N and Steve helped Tony inside. Bruce immediately got an IV in him and told him that he needed serious rest and food. While Tony sat at the table, his insisted on knowing everything. So the team began explain as a holographic casualty report listed the names and faces of those they lost.
Tumblr media
“It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth,” Rhodey stated.
“World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census,” Natasha explained. “And it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures.”
Tumblr media
“Where is he now?” Tony asked. “Where?” Y/N, who was standing behind Tony’s wheelchair, gave his shoulder a slight squeeze.
“We don’t know,” Steve answered. “He just opened a portal and walked through.”
Tony looked over at a sullen-looking Thor, who as sitting outside on a bench. “What’s wrong with him?” Tony pointed.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
“Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed,” Rocket responded. “Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?”
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
“Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear.”
Tumblr media
“Maybe I am.”
Tumblr media
“We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, and satellites, Y/N was even searching Titan over and over, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him.”
“Who told you that? I didn’t fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the Stone. That's what happened. There was no fight.”
“Okay.”
“He’s unbeatable.”
“Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?”
“Steve—“ Y/N called, waiting to stop this before it got too bad.
“Pfft! I saw this coming a few years back,” Tony continued. "I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming. So did Y/N, ya know? She saw this coming too.”
“Tony, I’m gonna need you to focus,” Steve pressed.
“And I needed you. She,” Tony pointed back at Y/N, “needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?” Tony stood, pushing things off the table. “I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling you—“ Tony went for Steve, only for Rhodey to try to stop him.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
“Tony, Tony, Tony!” Rhodey said. 
“Tony!” Y/N added, though she knew it was no use.
“Alive and otherwise what we needed was a suit of armor around the world!” Tony continued, taking his IV out. “Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not— that's what we needed!”
Tumblr media
“Well, that didn't work out, did it?” Steve retorted.
“I said, "we'd lose". You said, "We'll do that together too." And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, we're the Avengers. Not the Prevengers.”
Tumblr media Tumblr media
“Okay,” Rhodey said, trying to get Tony back into the wheelchair with Y/N’s help.
“Right?”
“You made your point,” Y/N said. “Just sit down.
“Okay…”
“Okay?”
“Nah, nah. Here’s my point. You know what?”
“Tony, you’re sick,” Rhodey said, finally able to guide him back to the wheelchair.
Tony pointed to Carol. “She’s great, by the way.”
“Sit down. Sit.” 
Tony finally gave in. We need you. You're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules!” Tony sprang back up and walked right up to Steve’s face, voice dripping with venom. “I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar.”
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
It was clear that Steve was affected by Tony’s words. The old friends just gazed at each other in tense silence. After a moment, Tony ripped his arc reactor from his chest and shoved it into Steve’s hand.
Tumblr media
“Here, take this,” Tony said. “You find him, and you put that on. You hide.”
Tony fell to the ground. Y/N was by his side instantly.
Tumblr media
“Tony!” Steve exclaimed.
“I’m fine,” Tony slurred. “I… Let me...” He quickly fell into an unconscious heap on Y/N’s lap.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
“You shouldn’t have pushed him,” Y/N whispered harshly at Steve. “But that’s what you do, right? To get what you want?”
“Y/N—“
“No, Steve. Just, no. Tony’s always been blamed for everything. Always. But, you know what, you’re not perfect either and are to blame for a lot as well.”
“I never said—“
“I don’t want to hear it, Steve. Not anymore.”
~~~
Tony was brought into a private glass room, where Bruce was getting him situated. Y/N was seated by his side, while Rhodey stood by the door.
“I gave him a sedative,” Bruce informed them. “He will most likely be out for the rest of the day.”
“Thank you, Bruce,” Y/N exhaled shakily. 
“Of course. I’m going to run a few more tests and give him some more meds.” Y/N nodded, staring at Tony.
“Y/N,” Rhodey called for her attention. She glanced over at him. “I need to know… would you have chosen Tony in the end?”
Y/N pursed her lips. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Rhodey… the choice was made for me…”
“I just don’t want him hurt.”
“I won’t. Trust me.” Y/N rubbed her fingers over Tony’s hand. “I love him. And… he’s all I have left.”
~~~
Rhodey walked out to inform the others about Tony’s condition.
“Bruce gave him a sedative,” he told them. “He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day.”
Tumblr media
“You guys take care of him,” Carol said. “And I'll bring him a Xorrian Elixir when I come back.” She walked away.
“Where are you going?” Natasha asked.
Tumblr media
“To kill Thanos.”
Tumblr media
Steve and Natasha shared a look before quickly walking after her.
Tumblr media
“Hey,” Natasha called after her, “you know, we usually work as a team here, and between you and I, morale's a little fragile.”
“We realize up there is more your territory,” Steve added, “but this is our fight too.”
“You even know where he is?” Rhodey questioned.
“I know people who might,” Carol responded.
“Don’t bother,” Nebula said, standing behind Carol. “I can tell you where Thanos is. Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask "where would we go once his plan was complete?". His answer was always the same: "To the Garden.”” 
Tumblr media
“That's cute, Thanos has a retirement plan,” Rhodey commented.
Tumblr media
“So where is he?” Steve asked.
They grabbed Bruce and gathered in the common room. Rocket stood on the table with a hologram of a planet.
“When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions,” Rocket explained. “No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago.” A shockwave visibly traversed over the planet in the hologram. “On this planet.”
“Thanos is there,” Nebula confirmed.
“He used the Stones again,” Natasha stated. She looked at Steve. “That’s what happened with Y/N. She was feeling the Stones. We have a chance, we could—“
Tumblr media
“Hey, hey, hey,” Bruce interrupted. “We'd be going in short-handed, you know.”
“Look, he's still got the stones,” Rhodey said. “So—“
“So let’s get him,” Carol stated. “Use them to bring everyone back.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, just like that.”
“Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this…" Natasha said. “I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try.”
“If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?” Bruce wondered. “And how do we know that Y/N’s not right? That the Stones are destroyed.”
Tumblr media
“She can’t be right,” Steve stated. “Not until I see it with my own eyes.”
“And this will be different because last time, you didn’t have me,” Carol stated.
“Hey, new girl, everyone here is about that superhero life,” Rhodey said. “And if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?”
“There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys.”
Thor, who had been eating in the back all this time, stood up and walked over to Carol. She looked behind at him. Holding his hand up, Thor summoned his ax. He caught it as it flew over to him, missing Carol by inches. But Carol didn’t even flinch, instead giving Thor a small smile.
Tumblr media
“I like this one,” Thor smiled.
“Let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Steve ordered.
~~~
Y/N was sitting beside a still unconscious Tony, reading, when Steve slipped into the room.
“How’s he doing?” Steve asked, awkwardly staying near the door.
“Fine,” Y/N responded, not bothering to look up from her book.
“Look, Y/N, I…” He sighed. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then go.”
“The team knows where Thanos is.” This got Y/N to look up at Steve. “We’re going to go get the Stones back and reverse this.”
“I told you, Steve, the Stones are gone.”
“You don’t know tha—“
“Oh, I don’t? I just wasn’t, I don’t know, connected to them for years? But go ahead. Try and fix this. But I’m telling you it’s too late.”
“Don’t you want to try and get everyone back? Get Bucky back?”
She paused, searching her mind for how to answer. She knew Steve wouldn’t believe her if she told him that she had seen the future. The battle wasn’t over.
“Things happen for a reason,” she replied. “We have to accept it—“
“Unbelievable,” Steve scoffed. “I can’t even—who are you?”
“I could ask you the same question, Steve.” He clenched his jaw. “We are not the same people we were before we froze, Steve. And I don’t know if we’ll ever go back to that.”
“I’ll let you know when we’re home.” 
~~~
When Tony woke up, he was all alone. He was groggy from all the drugs, but he knew he was back at the compound. Looking around the room, he saw Y/N coming towards the room with a tray of food. Her eyes lit up ever so slightly when she met his opened ones.
“Hey, sleepy head,” Y/N greeted with a soft smile. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a moon landed on top of me,” he responded, voice raspy. “Oh, wait. It did.” He grunted as he sat up more.
“I brought some food.” She set the try on a table in the room. “I didn’t know what you’d be feeling like, so I got a little bit of everything.”
Tony carefully watched as Y/N got his food ready. Knowing her for so long, he knew when something was up.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
Y/N sighed, knowing she couldn’t keep anything from him. “The Stones are gone.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I mean, they’re destroyed. I don’t have my powers anymore. The team also found Thanos, they went to try to reverse what happened.”
“But the Stones are destroyed.”
“They don’t believe me.” 
“What? Why? You’re connected with the Stones.”
“I know… they still didn’t.”
Tony could see how everything that had transpired was weighing down on Y/N, whether she admitted it or not. “We’re leaving.”
“What?”
“We can’t stay here. We need to move on. Start our live together.”
“We can’t just leave.”
“We can’t? Why?”
“Well, they… I… I don’t know.”
“Exactly why we need to go. I’ve already got a secluded piece of land with a small lake on it. We can build a house there. Try to find some normalcy.” Y/N looked out the window, biting her lip. “I can see the weight you’re carrying about all this… it’s not solely your fault. Don’t take all of it on yourself.” He reached out his thin, trembling hand. “Let me bare it with you.”
With a teary nod, Y/N set her hand in Tony’s. He tried to pull her towards him. She sat beside him on the bed, brushing his hair off his forehead.
“I love you, Tony,” she whispered.
“I love you too.” 
~~~
By the time the team came back, Tony and Y/N had already put together a house plan. The team came back with the news that Thanos was dead and the Stones were gone, not to Y/N or Tony’s surprise. The two left the compound to Tony’s apartment in the city that night.
They were both extremely sadden by how destroyed and seemly empty the city was. The first night was harder for Y/N than it was for Tony. Due to still being malnourished, Tony spent a lot of time sleeping. Y/N was the opposite, not getting much sleep at all. She was haunted by what happened in her dreams and too scared that if she closed her eyes, Tony would disappear. 
It was dusk, when Tony woke up from a nap. Usually, Y/N would lay beside him or still be somewhere in the room. But this time, he couldn’t see her anywhere. He pushed himself up to get a better look at the room.
“Y/N?” He questioned. “Honey? Where are you?”
No response. With a grunt he stood up, grabbed his cane, and headed out of the bedroom. He kept calling out her name.
“Y/N? Y/N?”
He stopped when he thought he heard something. And he was right. He heard sobs that were clearly trying to be concealed. Hurrying as fast as he could, Tony turned the corner, he heart shattering further than he thought it could at the sight. Y/N was on her knees, in the middle of the living room. Her hands were pressing a blanket to her mouth, trying to conceal her retching sobs. Who knows how long she had been like that, but the blanket was drenched in tears.
“Oh, honey,” Tony hurried over, getting down next to her. He pulled her into him, but she fought it. “Don’t fight me, hun. Please.”
“I’m so-sorry, Tony,” Y/N sobbed. “Please just go… I’ll be fine…”
“It’s clear that you’re not.” Tony pulled her back in, not caring that she was fighting. “You’re carrying too much on your own. Like I said before, let me bare this with you…”
“I-I can’t… cause it’s my fault… if I had tried any harder or pushed myself—“
“Until what? You died? You know that I wouldn’t have been able to handle your— I-I can’t even think about it.”
“It’s just… it’s so hard, Tony… it hurts so much… I watched them dust right before my eyes… the power I was given to stop this, failed me and now it’s gone… I’m—I’m useless.”
Tony’s frail hands took Y/N’s face firmly in his hands. “You are not nor ever will be useless. Especially not to me.”
“I’m so sorry, Tony… I’m so sorry…”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay…” 
He placed a soft kiss on her lips before going in for other, more hungrily. Y/N welcomed it, letting him have entrance into her mouth. When they finally separated, panting, Y/N and Tony locked eyes.
“Help me, Tony,” she whimpered. “Please… take this feeling away…”
Tony nodded before pressing his lips firmly against hers. Y/N guided herself so that she was laying down as Tony hovered over her, pressing kisses down her neck.
“I will always help you,” he whispered against her lips. “Always.”
It was a beautiful, long awaited night of love and passion. Both of them were beginning to feel whole again, completed, in each others holds. Healing was starting to take place because, as long as they had each other, everything was going to be alright.
next chapter >
My dearest Team Bucky, many of you have been so patient throughout this whole series and I ask you to continue to do so. I have a surprise coming your way (and to Team Tony’s). Thank you for your support and please keep reading.
If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.
214 notes · View notes
jooniyah · 4 years
Text
Poison Apple : The Finale
Tumblr media
Pairing: Kim Taehyung x Fem Reader ; Min Yoongi x Fem Reader
AU: Yandere!au, Moneylender!Taehyung
Genre: Angst, Mature, Smut rated R
Warnings: NON CON, Violence, Hard Yandere behavior, implied forced pregnancy, childbirth, emotional abuse, blackmail, kidnapping, child maltreatment, vehicle crash, surgery, hospitals, character death, degradation and physical abuse, slapping, cum play, choking, spanking, manipulation, heavy profanity, smut, blood, knives, guns, assassins, and murder.
Word count: 37.1 K
Cover edit: @dameleia ᵗʰᵃⁿᵏ ʸᵒᵘ ˢᵒ ᵐᵘᶜʰ ˡᵒᵛᵉˡʸ ᵖˡᵘᵐᵎ
Disclaimer:  This is a work of fiction and I do not condone any of the actions of the characters in this fiction. This is to be treated as pure fantasy, and should not be misconstrued to be demeaning the idols in any way. If any of the above warnings cause you discomfort, kindly refrain from reading.
This is a non-consensual setting, please proceed only if you are not triggered by the warnings. All warnings for Chapter 1 and 2 apply. I repeat, please be sure to read all the warnings carefully.
Author’s note:  This is the final chapter of the Poison Apple Trilogy. Please make sure to read Part 1 and Part 2 before proceeding.
Chapter 1  |   Chapter 2
The vapor from the milk swirled up Taehyung’s nostrils. He slowly withdrew his lips from the cup.
“I’m ready to die if that’s what you really want, Y/N.” He looked at the cup, gently twirling it in his hand.  He crinkled his nose and raised his eyes to yours.
“Will you kiss me goodbye?” He hesitated briefly. “Kiss me like you mean it. Will you?”
Heavy salty drops streamed down your face. Dipping your head, you slowly pressed your lips against his. He deepened the kiss, lapping at your mouth like a man dying of thirst. You closed your eyes, fighting your instinct to flinch and step back. He sighed into your mouth, moaning something that clearly resembled your name.
His fingers tightened around the cup. When you broke the kiss, he looked up with teary eyes.
“I’m ready, Y/N.”
He raised the cup to his meet his lips again. Something snapped inside you, and you instinctively reached out to stop him.
“I am not a killer,” you whispered, voice breaking. “I am not you.”
His features became gloomier. He shook his head, not letting his grip slacken.
“You only want to know about where he is buried.” He dropped his gaze. “Before you try to kill me again.”
Hot blood rose to your cheeks. You did want to go to your husband’s grave. Taehyung was a monster. Undoubtably so. But killing him wasn’t going to bring back all that you had lost.
“No. I-” You had nothing to say. You had all the reasons in the world to want Kim Taehyung dead. But you could not find a reason to want him alive.
“I just- I don’t- you could just let me go, Taehyung.” The words came out in a whisper, sounding like a prayer.
A bitter wince shot through his features. Before you could react, he swatted your arm away and tipped the cup over his mouth in one quick flash.
You watched in stunned horror as he downed all the poisoned milk, witnessing his throat bob around the liquid. He wiped his mouth, setting the cup down.
“I’d rather die, Y/N.” He licked his lips slowly. “Like I just did.” A tired smile stretched over his lips.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Taehyung? Taehyung!”
His body was convulsing, froth trickling down the side of his chin. His eyes were fixed on you, but there was no emotion in them. They were devoid of animation. Like the eyes of a ghost.
You crouched down, trying to hold him still.
“Ambulance!” you shouted, trying to get up from the floor. His arm wildly slashed at the air, finding purchase on your ankle.
“No…” he croaked, his face twisting with agony. “Don’t, Y/N.”
You shook him off, running to fish your phone out of your bag. Just as your finger circled the call button, a cold wave of realization hit you. You couldn’t call anyone but Taehyung on your phone.
Spinning around, you caught sight of the man convulsing on the floor.
“I’ll be back. Just- just stay here,” you whispered, making haste to rush out of the kitchen.
You flew like the wind to the brigade of guards patrolling the mansion.
“Help!” you screamed, waving your hands above your head. “Get an ambulance!”
The men turned and looked at you weirdly. It was as if your screams had simply vanished into thin air before falling on their ears. They made no move, there was no sign of acknowledgement.
“Can’t you hear me?” your voice grew even louder. “Taehyung is dying in there!”
Still, no one moved.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you a bunch of morons?”
They lowered their weapons, holding them so the muzzles were facing the ground. A guard jogged over to you, removing his Aviators as he did so.
“We know what’s happening, Mrs. Kim. We were ordered to stay out of anything that happened this evening.”
“What?!” Time was ticking on like a time bomb over your head. “What the hell? Get the ambulance this instant!”
The guard’s face flinched. “You don’t understand, Mrs. Kim.”
You bit your quivering lips. “Who had the nerve to give such an order?”
“It was Mr. Kim, ma’am.”
Your gaped in stunned surprise.
The guard went on. “He talked to us before stepping into the house. His instructions were clear. He ordered us not to intervene or stop you in any way.”
“Not to stop me? But I’m trying to save him! Help me!”
The man shook his head, his face betraying the pain he was going through.
“Fuck you! Fuck all of you!” You thrust your hand at him. “Hand me the damn car keys!” He placed them on your palm, and you ran back into the mansion.
Taehyung was writhing on the floor, and his dull eyes lit up when he saw your outline.
“…..came back…” he mumbled, still foaming at the mouth.
“You’re a stupid bitch, Taehyung!” you spat, latching your hands under his arms, and pulling him up.
He was so damn heavy, and you wheezed as you dragged him to the door. Adrenaline gave you inhuman strength - strength you never knew you had possessed. Huffing and wheezing, you reached the porch with Taehyung clinging onto you like a withered leaf.
The guards were huddled by the car, visibly distressed. They didn’t, however, make any attempt to help you lug Taehyung into the vehicle. The guard from earlier stepped forward, blocking you when you tried to hop into the driver’s seat.
“Ma’am- I was instructed to ask in case… “ He quickly glanced at his boss, “… you know what you’re giving up by saving Mr. Kim, don’t you?”
You glared at the man and turned to see Taehyung collapsed in the backseat. He had passed out. Turning back, you shook your head helplessly before pushing the guard away.
Strapping on the seat belt, you sneered at him.
“I know.”
The tires screeched loudly, the smell of hot rubber on gravel filling your nose as you tore out of the gates in full speed.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Kim Namjoon was watching the blue skyline out of his penthouse suite when his phone buzzed. He didn’t like loud ringtones. Naturally, it wasn’t a surprise that his phone was on vibrate mode. The glass coffee table vibrated, humming along with the phone. He didn’t hear it. Nor did he see the way his phone slightly moved with each ring.
“Um, Excuse me? My phone- can I have it back?”
You bit your lips, resisting the urge to dissolve into a puddle of tears. Handing the phone back to the stranger, you sniffed and retreated to the sofa.
Hoseok’s phone had been switched off. Calls to Bo Na and the Jung house didn’t go through either. You had hoped to run back into Hoseok’s arms, away from all the horrible tangles you were ensnared in.
But you were left alone. Your best friend wasn’t around to hold you. What had happened to him? The deafening loneliness had driven you to do the unthinkable – calling Kim Namjoon.
And he hadn’t picked up either. What were you supposed to do? Were you free to leave? What about the man in the ER? You couldn’t leave him to die. Or could you?
Breathing deeply, you rose from the sofa, making your way through the corridors in a daze. Your legs felt incredibly heavy with each step. You had expected to feel relieved. Joyous even. But why then was it so hard to turn your back? You stopped midtrack as if you were shot. Monster or not, you weren’t leaving a dying man alone. Turning on your heel, you slowly retraced your steps to the sofa.
Right on cue, a nurse opened the door and called out “Who’s here with Mr. Kim Taehyung?”
There was only a split second to make your choice. Would you regret it? You didn’t know.
You raised your hand.
“I am.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung was unconscious and he remained so for hours on end. You found yourself internally struggling during the whole time. You kept walking to the door, turning back, sighing, and sitting down again. It was a hell of a torture to reason with yourself. Weren’t you a better human being? Shouldn’t you stay at least till he woke up? But what would happen then? Would you still get to leave him after?
It was the twelfth time that your hand was on the doorknob, ready to turn it, when his groggy voice called out.
“You… still here?”
Spinning around, you stared at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t fully aware of his surroundings. The dazed look on his face confirmed that.
“Y/N… where am I?”
He looked at the IV cannula hooked to his arm. It came flooding back to him. You had poisoned him. He remembered drinking the milk. He had vague memories of feeling incredibly lonely for a while. But then you had returned. You had helped him up to stand on his feet. But he didn’t know what had happened after that.
He saw your shocked face, his mind still buzzing.
“Y/N, who brought me here?” Speaking made his throat burn. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to tide over the pounding headache. “I left clear instructions.”
You remained by the door, looking at him warily. “I did.”
He raised his eyebrows in shock. “You?” A sudden bout of coughing interrupted him. “You brought me? How- why?”
Good question. Why indeed? Because you were a fool? That was probably right. You hadn’t expected to feel so guilty when you had planned to poison him. Who poisoned a monster and then drove him to the hospital without fleeing for their lives? Fools did.
“Y/N,” he repeated, his eyes latched onto yours. “You didn’t leave.”
The statement hung in the air like a smothering wet cloud. You stared back at him, finally finding your voice.
“I am now.”
When you turned again, the question whipped on your back like a hot rod.
“Why didn’t you let me die?”
The words rolled into a tight ball in your throat. What were you supposed to tell him?
“I- I’m not a cold-blooded killer like you, Kim Taehyung. I can’t live with that.”
He strained his burning throat to whisper hoarsely:
“Stay with me then. Come here.” He patted the side of his bed.
You scoffed in mock surprise. Folding your arms in defiance, you gave him your toughest glare.
“I’m leaving now.” You took a step forward and hissed “I let you live. And now I’m going.”
He chuckled, and then coughed before smirking at you. “I have your passport. You don’t have a penny to your name. Hoseok isn’t here to bail you out either.”
Your breath caught in your throat. Hoseok? Did Taehyung do something to him?
“H-Hoseok? Where is he? What did you do to him, you bastard?”
He beckoned to you with his finger. “Come here and I’ll tell you.”
You sidled closer, worrying your lip so much that you could taste the blood. His hand shot to your face, the back of his fingers caressing your cheeks before his thumb traced the tiny bitemark on your lip. With a firm tug, he pulled you so that you were sitting haphazardly on the bed. His hand resumed brushing your face.
“Now- where was I?” he purred, a gentle smile tugging the corners of his lips.
“Hobi- where’s-?”
He hummed, nodding. “Oh, yes. Well, I got him on the run. He won’t be coming back in a hurry.”
“What did you do to him?” Your voice was lower than a whisper.
His finger continued drawing lazy circles, slowly working its way down your arm. “Pass me that glass of water, honey,” he said, unmindful of your agitation. You didn’t move, too stunned to react.
“Honey? The water?” His voice grew deeper, the slight stern note kicking you into action.
You passed it to him with shaking fingers, and he grinned happily, like a child who had won his first race. Each second dragged on, as you watched his mouth sip the water in agonizing slowness. He enjoyed tormenting you for a while longer, before giving in to the painful suspense on your face.
“I set him up for tax fraud, baby. He decided he’d rather exile himself than stay and get his ass thrown in jail.”
“Where-”
He shook his head prettily. “Oh, I wouldn’t ask that question, honey. He can’t contact you or he’d be dragged back into the country through call tracing.”
He loved the shocked look on your face. He had begun to miss the surprised wide eyes of older days. These days, it was increasingly difficult for him to catch you off guard.
You shook your head, fighting back the angry tears.
“You’re like mold, Kim Taehyung. You destroy everything you touch. I despise you.”
He stared at you, bringing your palm up to his lips and dropping a kiss in it.
“I love you.” He stopped himself before saying out loud : “You saved me. You love me too.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
It was a warm and toasty day, with crisp blue waves lapping at the beach in serenity. Hoseok propped his legs up on the deck chair, rubbing his feet together and shaking the grainy sand off his soles. He looked at Bo Na who was approaching with two martini glasses.
“Baby?” she asked, concerned. “Are you okay?”
He sighed, blowing out his cheeks.
“I just- Y/N…  I feel so goddamn guilty for leaving her.” He shook his head sadly. “I’m a coward, aren’t I?”
She set the glasses down, reaching over to pat his head over the brown straw hat.
“We had no choice, Hobi-yah,” she said, taking his hand in hers. “That asshole completely ruined all of our lives.”
Hoseok looked straight ahead at the kids surfing along the waves.
“Poor Y/N,” he said, heart dropping. “She’s chained to a monster. Poor girl. She’s pregnant too.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. “I feel like crap, Bo Na.”
Hoseok’s wife patted his hand soothingly.
“We’ll go back as soon as we sort this out, Hobi. We will.”
He shook his head in resignation. He knew that Taehyung had completely fucked him over. The guy was like a damned viper. He would find some way or the other to keep throwing Hoseok out of your reach. The only way he could go back was after he killed that bastard.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
When she pushed the door open, Taehyung was doubled over his desk, passed out.
“Mr. Kim?”
She reached out to touch him, feeling his weak breath ghost her fingers. She leaned over the table, picking up the phone to call emergency. A weak hand grasped her forearm, and Taehyung slowly raised his head.
“Y/N,” his lids were half-shut, skin cold and clammy to touch. “Y/N, don’t leave me.”
“Let me call emerg-“
He pulled her closer, pressing his forehead into the warmth of her hips.
“No, just stay.”
Soft hands combed through his hair, and gently brushed the long strands away from his eyebrows. He was definitely in heaven. The fingers traced his earlobe, drawing lines along the side of his neck.
“Sit on my lap,” he croaked, gripping the hips tight.
And then he felt the heavenly weight sink on his thighs. You were being so compliant.
“Kim,” the voice drew him in, sending jolts of delight throughout his body. “You need to rest.”
He shook his head, the sudden action making his delirious brain go into overdrive.
“No, you’ll disappear if I do.”
The hand cradled his jaw, and a wet kiss spread a lovely warmth over his clammy forehead.
“I promise I won’t.”
“I feel so tired, Y/N.” His lids fluttered closed, a cold silence blocking his ears. He could feel you panting and struggling to hoist him up. His mind started losing focus. The last thing he heard before passing out cold was:
“I love you, Kim.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“How much longer, Se Jong?” the man asked, irritation evident on his features. He was in a bad temper, and the cheap wine had served to infuriate him even further.
“Patience, man,” Se Jong said, leaning back in his chair. The bulb above their head was covered in grime, and it flickered like a dying candle.
“Let me do something. Anything. You’re making me sit on my ass all day every day for months now.”
Se Jong tsked. “You don’t know how dangerous Kim Taehyung is. One wrong move could cost us our lives, man. Why else do you think I’m stuck with you instead of all those hitmen I could have hired?”
The room was silent, the stale smell of cigarettes lingering in the air like unsaid words.
“No one is ready to cross Taehyung,” Se Jong continued. “I’m having such a hard time finding guys to join us without blowing my cover.” The chill running up his spine was very real. “Taehyung’s men would empty their guns inside my head if they even smelled our plots.”
The man opposite him shook his head dejectedly. “What if- what if we change the target? Can’t we do something to his wife- what’s her name? You said he follows her like a blind puppy.”
Se Jong straightened up, looking at his mate carefully. “It’s a bit risky, he drives her around wherever she goes… But that’s certainly an idea…”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
When Taehyung opened his eyes, bright light was streaming in through the windows. His neck was sore. The headache was a terrible bitch, throbbing and making his temples hurt. What puzzled him the most though, was the fact that he was lying on the couch in his office. He didn’t remember going over to the couch.
What he definitely remembered was the warm crook of your hips against his face. But- he looked around- you never visited him in his office. The throbbing resumed with renewed vigor. Had he been dreaming?
“Mr. Kim? Sir?”
His secretary hesitated at the door, hand on the doorknob. He shook himself, sitting upright.
“Yeah?” His eyes were groggy and took a second to focus on the woman.
She worried her lip, unsure.
“Are you alright?”
He didn’t know. “Did you see my wife? I thought she was…” He looked beyond her, expecting to see you around the corner. He swung his eyes back at his secretary. Her blank face told him the answer. No one could bypass Na Yeon and reach his office. He nodded to himself.
“…Never mind.”
“Sir, do you want me to call the doctor?”
“What? No. I’m fine. I just-” He looked around, still uncertain. “-did you come in earlier?”
Confusion spread on her face like ink on parchment.
“I have been with HR all day, going over this quarter’s staffing plans. I came back just now.”
He took a deep breath, coughing immediately after.
“Let me fetch you some water, sir.”
She left, leaving behind a very concerned Taehyung.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Throughout the day, Taehyung’s thoughts kept returning you. He was sure it had been you. He didn’t remember a lot of details, but the words “I love you, Kim” came back to him, your sultry voice calling his name.
He was agitated on the drive home. He had called his guards just to make sure. The head guard at home had confirmed that you had in fact never left home.
Who then had uttered those words to him?
“Bin-ah,” he called out.
“Yes, boss?”
The man was seated on the front passenger seat.
Taehyung told him where he wanted to go, and Wo Bin nodded. The car changed course, making a full U turn.
── ⋆✩⋆ ──
“I assume you don’t have an appointment?” the psychiatrist asked.
Taehyung shrugged. He wasn’t a man who made appointments. He was a man of very little patience, except when it came to matters concerning you.
“So, how can I help you, Mr. Kim?”
It wasn’t easy to exactly define what he needed help with. In fact, it was obnoxious that the doctor thought he even needed help.
“I only came because I…I was confused.”
“Alright. What are you confused about?”
Taehyung pursed his lips. He didn’t really know. He felt like the doctor wouldn’t truly ever understand it either. Nevertheless, he hazarded a try.
“My wife- I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“I see. It’s only natural to-“
Taehyung clucked his tongue in exasperation. “No, you don’t understand. I keep seeing her. Hearing her. I feel like I might hurt her.”
The doctor considered the statement for a second.
“Let’s talk about the first part. You keep seeing her? Could you explain that?”
It would probably sound crazy. Maybe there was nothing wrong with him. He might have just been tired. Taehyung sighed.
“I- I saw her at my office today.” He ran a finger over his brow. “I faintly remember her touching me and talking to me. She helped me lie on the couch.” His brows creased, internalizing the words as he said them. “But when I woke up, she wasn’t there, she had never left home today, in fact.”
The doctor nodded his head softly, as if he heard stories like this all the time.
“Has this happened before?”
The times he had conjured up fantasies about you were innumerable. How many times had he imagined your plush lips around his cock? How many times had he almost felt your breath on his neck? Too many.
“No.”
“You talked about feeling like hurting her. How exactly do you mean?”
Apart from the fact that he had killed your husband before your eyes?
“She…” Taehyung swallowed thickly. “… she’s pregnant. With her first husband’s child.”
“Does it bother you?”
Well, he did want to fucking rip it out of you. It made him tremble in revulsion to see the bastard growing inside you, flourishing and mocking him every day.
“Sometimes, yes.”
“How does it make you feel?”
Like a fucking loser.
“I love her. I want her all to myself. I can’t share her.”
“Sharing her love with the baby irks you?”
Fuck yes. You couldn’t and shouldn’t love anyone or anything that didn’t involve him.
“I guess.”
“Could I suggest getting a pet, Mr. Kim?”
Why a pet? So that you could hand an even bigger slice of your love to it and ignore him?
“What good would that do?”
“See, Mr. Kim, you have a problem adjusting to the fact that your wife is pregnant, and that you’ve been left out of a significant part of her life-“
This guy seems to be getting somewhere
“-So, adopting a pet could help you bond with her more. It’s like having a baby too, you both would get to participate in raising the pet. It might help you get closer and feel less bothered by the baby.”
What kind of logic works that way?
“I guess I can try getting one.”
“Well, I would suggest adopting one after making sure you’re both not allergic.”
You weren’t allergic to dogs. Or cats. You used to love walking your neighbor’s dogs when you were single.
“Fine.”
“Right, Mr. Kim. Would you like to come back for another session to discuss further? You might have some issues I’d like to help you with.”
Like hell he would.
“We’ll see.”
“You see, Mr. Kim, you seem to be carrying a lot of emotional baggage. We could talk more over another session….”
Taehyung stood up, giving the doctor a firm nod that was supposed to convey his thanks. Without another word, he stepped out and left.
Once outside, the car again changed course towards an animal shelter. Taehyung had no trouble choosing the pet he wanted. You loved dogs. He had seen you eagerly asking your neighbor if she wanted help with her dog. He even knew which breeds you liked.
“Do you have Golden Retrievers? Corgis? Pomeranians?”
The attendant nodded. Leading Taehyung to the kennel, he said “We have a Golden puppy. He’s a great little guy.”
The puppy in question was curled up in a corner, his silky coat littered with burrs. He looked up at Taehyung, cute eyes shining in expectation. There were other pups with him, but he seemed to seriously miss human interaction. His leg was bandaged, and he whined at the human looking at him through the bars.
“The bandage?”
The attendant clicked his tongue.
“They get into fights, and another pup nipped at his leg. But he has had his shots, no worries.”
A lone puppy. Picked on by other pups.
A couple hours later, Taehyung walked out of the shelter, carrying the Golden pup in his arms, all cleaned and spruced up, with a huge red bow around his neck.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
You were cursing in frustration at the needles. The old school sentimental mom in you had wanted to knit your baby a warm fuzzy sweater. But the damned stitches kept falling apart. It was bizarre, considering you were very good with needles. You had even embroidered Yoongi’s initials in all his pocket squares with seamless finish.
“Damn it!”
You threw the ball of yarn over your shoulder, cross at the stupid thread. Sighing in frustration, you were trying to calm yourself when something butted your elbow. It was wet. Was it him licking you? You shuddered and turned slowly.
A wet nose was against your elbow, yes, but the owner of the nose wasn’t Taehyung. It was a handsome puppy. The ball of yarn was securely nestled in his mouth, and he wagged his tail at you, shaking his pretty bow in the process.
“Hey…” You crooned, smiling down at him. “Who are you, boy?”
Taehyung stood at the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms folded.
“We adopted him.”
You stood up, all the messed-up yarn falling to the floor.
“We did what?”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“We have a puppy together.”
You looked down at the puppy in disbelief. His starry eyes were bright as they looked up at you. You knelt down and patted his head, happiness filling up your heart.
“And I don’t get a say? You should have asked me.”
“Well, you love him. So why bother picking a fight with me?” He found your pouting attractive. “Of course, you get a say, you get to name him.”
You never thought anything Taehyung did could ever delight you. But fate had its way, and you were grinning as you booped the pup’s nose, saying:
“Almond. You’re Almond.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Namjoonah?”
The younger Kim stopped outside his father’s study, popping his head in at the door.
“Yeah, dad?”
“Your mother didn’t say you were coming tonight.”
“Ah, I wanted to drop by before I headed to Ha Ni’s.”
“Give your girlfriend my love.”
Namjoon nodded. He saw his father’s face twist in uncertainty.
“What is it, dad?”
His father wiped his glasses, signaling Namjoon to close the door and grab a seat.
“I can’t say much, boy, but Kim Taehyung showed up at my office today.”
Namjoon did a double take.
“What?” His mouth went dry. “What did he want?”
His father rubbed his temples, deep in thought.
“He came for help. Saying he feared harming his wife.”
Namjoon’s jaw clenched. “Y/N?”
“Yes. He apparently doesn’t enjoy Min’s baby disrupting his life. Do you- Do you think he would hurt her? Or the baby?”
The hooded eyes burned with anger. Exhaling sharply, Namjoon’s thick voice growled:
“Well, she would deserve it then. I don’t give a shit about that bitch.” He rose, clenching his fist tight. “I don’t even think it’s Min’s baby anyway.”
He stormed out, leaving his dad staring at the doorway, worry creasing his features.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Mr. Kim?”
Taehyung was grabbing his coat and keys when he heard the voice. He raised his eyebrows at his secretary.
“Mr. Jinyoung is waiting to meet you.”
Na Yeon’s boss looked at her in confusion. “Isn’t he supposed to be here at 3 pm?”
“No, Mr. Kim, his appointment was at 11 am.”
He didn’t believe her. He had carefully scheduled his appointments around your ultrasound. He wanted to go with you.
“Let me see the appointments journal.”
Sure enough, his secretary had jotted down Jinyoung’s name for a 11 am appointment. But he remembered saying 3 pm so clearly
“Tell him to come back at another date. I am leaving.”
“But, sir –“
He flashed her a warning look. Kim Taehyung was never contradicted. Except, of course, by you.
“I am taking my wife for her sonogram. Don’t call me unless it’s urgent.”
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
At the doctor’s, he held your hand, squeezing it gently. Your attempts to shrug his hand off were futile. Besides, it was an expensive clinic that only the elite could afford. It was a given that everyone knew who you both were. The social eyebrows would frown on you if something awkward happened.
The gel was cold on your belly. It made your toes curl. The transducer wand moving all over your belly produced images of your baby on the monitor. Involuntary tears pricked the corners of your eyes as you watched, spellbound. A deep ache in your heart reminded you that Yoongi wasn’t present to see his child’s sonogram.
In his place, however, was another man, his murderer, holding your hand and blowing on your knuckles as he too silently watched the child’s images.
Taehyung couldn’t understand what he was feeling. There was a tiny version of you, getting ready to come out to the world, trusting him and you to be loving parents. His mind screamed at him that it was part Min too, but his heart wanted to focus on the part Y/N at that moment.
“You have a very healthy baby, Mrs. and Mr. Kim,” the doctor said, smiling down at you. While you wiped yourself clean, Taehyung thanked the doctor and murmured some questions which you didn’t quite catch.
“Very well, then.” You saw her nod in enthusiasm.
As he steered you out the door, you hissed at him, asking what he had been up to.
“Nothing.” His face was sincere. “I told her that we didn’t want a gender reveal.”
You spun around.
“We? You fucking impose your ideas on me all the time, Taehyung.” You hadn’t wanted to know the gender either. But it was rude of him to take all decisions on his own, tying it up with the ‘we’ bow.
“I know what you want, love.”
You faced away, fuming. It was maddening how he seemed to read you so well.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung was at a loss for words. He had missed eight appointments, each one just as important as the other. Just because he seemed to have his schedules mixed up. Each time his schedule clashed with plans to take you out, he chose you over his own appointments. He couldn’t understand how his time got so muddled however much he tried to keep his professional appointments away from personal time.
Na Yeon was standing before him, worrying her lip, looking meek.
“Sir, if you don’t mind, can I suggest something?”
A sharp sigh gave her the permission she sought.
“Can I arrange Mrs. Kim a personal chauffeur?”
“What?”
She took a step back instinctively, scared at his tone.
“I just think… that it would be easier for you.” She looked like she would faint with fear. “I mean, she could have the chauffeur to take her to her appointments. And- and he can keep tabs on her whereabouts.”
Taehyung was about to deny the idea. But then, he remembered the eight missed meetings, and the deals that hadn’t gone through because of them. He grudgingly admitted that it would perhaps be better to get you a chauffeur of your own.
“Well, tell Wo Bin to arrange for one of the guards to-“
He was interrupted by a file, which she extended to him meekly.
“I have already chosen very skilled people to shortlist from, sir. Using our guards might make Mrs. Kim feel uneasy.”
He thought about it. Hiring one of his own men to drive you around was safer. But you would feel on edge. As if having dozens of men around you at the house wasn’t enough. Na Yeon was right.
He skimmed through the file. There were five shortlisted candidates.
“The best out of these five?”
She drew nearer, leaning to turn the pages. Her perfume reached his nostrils. The smell brought some vague memories back. Weird, faded ones.
“This man,” she pointed at a picture, and then turned the page over to point at another.
“And this one. These two are contenders, very skilled and trustable.”
Taehyung nodded.
“Hire whichever one is the best.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Jinyoung was deep in discussion with Taehyung, talking over the nuances of their deal. The water in the crystal glasses started to ripple, and Jinyoung scowled at his counterpart, pissed. The source of the vibration was Taehyung’s phone-and it flashed your name on the caller ID.
Taehyung didn’t hesitate.
“Yes, love.”
“Stop calling me that, asshole.”
“Tell me, my sweet.”
“Blueberries.” Taehyung reached for his notepad, jotting down. “Chocolate ice cream. Apricots. No, Dragon fruit. Oh, and Hershey’s kisses. Get me the almond ones.”
Taehyung subconsciously nodded his head, writing all your demands down.
“Anything else, honey?”
“Fuck you.”
“I love you too. I’ll get them to you.”
Taehyung grinned when you cut the call abruptly. He was still grinning when Jinyoung glared at him.
“What the fuck, man?” He was peeved. “In the middle of a business meeting?”
Replacing the phone on the table, Taehyung glided his hand to the file he was reading.
“It was my wife.”
Jinyoung scoffed. “You ditched my appointment once already. And now this? I can’t deal with you.”
He got up, nose flaring. “Fuck you. And your dumb cunt. You’re pathetic, running after a pussy who already got knocked up for fuck’s sake.”
Jinyoung’s head made contact with the glass tabletop, smashing it to bits, blood pooling on the sharp shards. The collision had a heavy impact, shattering everything and leaving only the steel frame intact.
“What the hell did you say, motherfucker?” Taehyung grabbed the man’s head by his hair, driving him into the steel frame. “How dare you insult my Y/N?” He kept banging the man’s head against the metal, not satisfied until he passed out and went limp.
“Fucking piece of shit.”
He spat on the unconscious figure, kicking his midriff with violent force. He was heaving with the exertion, sweat wetting his collar and trickling down his neck. His eyes landed on his phone and his face slowly lit up again.
You had called him and ordered him to get you the things you craved. You wanted him. You had thought of him. His smile radiated in his eyes, and his heart smiled too.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
It was the seventh month of your pregnancy. Fuck the calculation of weeks. It made you crazy if people asked in which week you were. The hormones were completely off balance. You snapped at anything and everything under the sun. Almond was the only living creature you didn’t snap at.
Taehyung received a fair dose of kicks and bites, mostly when he tried initiating kisses and make-out sessions. He couldn’t bear to have sex with you, not when your belly was swollen with Yoongi’s child. But he couldn’t stop himself from trying to kiss you.
He got angry when you pushed him away. He was scared that your baby was quickly becoming the center of your attention. It felt threatening that a weak bundle of muscle inside you was challenging his position in your life.
It was one similarly exasperating day when he saw you knitting a scarf, you had given up on a sweater because it was too puzzling, and Almond was lying contentedly at your feet. He sneaked behind the couch, trying to put his hand around your neck so he could kiss you. But a harsh jab of the knitting needle poked his ribs, leaving him gasping in pain.
“Y/N, what the hell?” He clutched his chest in agony.
“Keep your hands to yourself, you bastard.” You spat at him in anger, already irritated by your hot flashes and frequent need to pee.
Almond whined at the sudden raise in voices, and you instinctively bent to soothe him, rubbing his nose.
Watching the fucking dog getting better treatment than him led Taehyung to fly off his handle. Mouth curling, he grabbed Almond by the collar, dragging him out of the room. You shouted at him to stop, swearing angrily, but he pushed you away. He was muttering at the dog in anger as he pulled and tugged, slamming the door shut on him.
You could hear the whines and soft scratching of paws against the door.
“What the hell are you doing, Taehyung?” Your voice was a scream.
“Showing you who is in charge.” He ground his teeth, anger lending a murderous flash to his visage.
He pushed you carelessly, sending you flying to land on the couch. The sudden push made your head throb.
Unbuckling his belt, he pulled it free from the loops, throwing it away, the metal buckle hitting the floor with a clang.
Your voice caught, and you half choked out: “Don’t you fucking dare.”
Reaching his hand out, he pulled the straps of your dress down, exposing your breasts to him. Pregnancy had led to swollen breasts, so you were usually braless.
The only good side of the pregnancy, to him, was that your breasts had become bigger and hence he had more soft flesh to rub his face into.
He didn’t lay a finger on you. His attention was focused on your breasts, and he took his already hard member out, stroking himself. The pre-cum glided on his thick shaft, generously coating him and making lewd noises.
“Eyes on me,” he breathed, seeing you attempt to close them.
“You are a shitbag, Taehyung.” Anger made your face feel feverishly hot.
“Don’t take that tone with me, Y/N Kim.”
You flinched at the surname, and his devilish smile flashed at you.
“You’re a Kim, my Y/N Kim. Remember that, sweetie.”
He stroked himself, an intent gaze fixating on your breasts, watching the way they heaved with each breath. The sight made him go wild, and he stroked harder, hand working in a frenzy. Before he knew it, he was panting your name out, taking strangled breaths and shooting his cum on your breasts. He licked his lips as he witnessed his essence dripping in globs onto the cloth bunched over your belly.
He was shaking, and he squatted down, his breaths labored and heavy.
Almond whined again, and he snapped his head towards the door, shouting in rage:
“SHUT UP!”
He turned back to face you, a blissed out look on his face. An adoring smile stretched his lips wide.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Almond was banished from the house. He was put in a kennel outside, and he wasn’t allowed to go near the main house unless the master desired. You weren’t allowed near him either.
“Why are you doing this?” you had asked, and he had shrugged simply.
“Nothing is more important to you than me. Remember that Y/N. It’s a lesson.”
He dropped his gaze to your bump, and grinned when you put your hands on your belly protectively.
“Cute. But you can’t protect your baby unless you listen to me.”
“Why are you this way, Taehyung? Haven’t you tormented me enough?”
His heart felt stabbed. He had done everything for you. Everything he had done was out of love. Why couldn’t you understand? You were so ready to give your whole heart on a platter to that fucker Yoongi. But why weren’t you throwing even one morsel of love his way?
You put your hands on your hips.
“If you love me as you say, let me go. Let me live my life.”
He was looking down.
“Taehyung?” You sighed in pain. “Do you really love me?”
He looked up directly into your eyes.
“Do you?”
You stood motionless, the heavy silence smothering him.
“Yeah. I thought so.”
He scoffed and got up. You had to learn to love him. It would take time. But he would wait. He almost turned, but stopped when he remembered something.
“I want you to embroider my initials in my pocket squares. They’re all on the dresser. The maid will bring the needles and thread.”
He advanced towards you with a disarming smile.
“Remember, it’s KTH. I’ll let you take Almond on a walk after you finish doing it, my dearest.”
He pecked your cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.
“I’ll see you in the evening, love.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung was in hot water. You were dangling his pocket square in your left hand, holding his tie with the right.
“What is this stain, bitch?” you growled, leering at him.
The lipstick stain was bright red, the lip prints visible clearly on the white fabric, right above the embroidered KTH. You had found it on him as soon as he walked in.
He had been taken aback when you had jumped on him, pulling his tie in anger.
“You fucking kill my husband, lock me up in this goddamn house and go get a whore’s lips on you? Who do you think you are?”
His face was ghastly, shocked at the accusation. He didn’t know how the lipstick stain had got on the fabric. He always wore suits, and he always wore his pocket squares to show off the beautiful KTH embroidered by your pretty fingers.
What angered him more than your being mad at him was the fact that someone had ruined his precious monogrammed pocket square. He had no idea how it had happened.
“Is this a trick, you sick fuck?” you spat, “Did you make me embroider that just to insult me like this?”
“Y/N, no, I would never,” his tone was panicked. “I have no idea, I swear. I don’t know how it got on me.”
Your bitter stare sliced through his heart. Who had played such a sick prank on him? Who had the fucking nerve to? He couldn’t think of anyone other than you having the balls to mess with him. Balls. He scoffed. More like boobs. And a fucking baby.
You let go of his tie with a spiteful tug.
“Bitch. You are a bitch, Kim Taehyung.”
He controlled his urge to slap you. He had refrained from hitting you as much as he could. But your favorite swear word was making his blood boil. You kept calling him a bitch. Maybe he was, but you were the real bitch. The bitch who just wouldn’t let him love you.
“Wash the stain yourself. Don’t touch me, I loathe you.”
You were about to move when he tugged on your elbow.
“Don’t be a bitch, Y/N. I won’t cheat on you. You are my wife.”
“Yeah. And the mistress of this fucking house. Watch me, I’ll come with a man’s cum on my kerchief one day, and-“
The slap was incredibly harsh, leaving a hot red print of his entire hand on your cheek. Your hand flew to cup your smarting cheek, but he slapped again, and again. The force made your head lurch left and right. The tears washed down your cheeks, staining them and burning the sore skin.
His hand found the nape of your neck, cradling it. His blank manic eyes stared deep into yours.
“I will snap you in two if I smell another man on you.”
The tone was cold as ice, making your gut churn. He stared for a long time, unblinking and stern. Finally, as if he were out of a trance, he let go of your neck and pushed you away with unnecessary force.
You didn’t say a word, moving away from him with flaming hot cheeks.
He didn’t argue when you slept on the couch that night. But when you woke up at midnight to pee, you saw him lying on the floor, just adjacent to the couch, fast asleep.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung brought his work home in the last trimester of your pregnancy. He wanted to be near you, soothing you and making sure you were alright. Besides, he found that he was having zero productivity at his office while you were at home. He didn’t want one of his guards helping you up the stairs or fetching you hot chocolate. It had to be him.
He would be dictating to his secretary in his study and you would shout out to him.
“Grapefruit. I fucking want grapefruit.” If he didn’t respond, you would punctuate with a “Can you hear me, asshole?”
He learned to get on his feet as soon you called. It was amusing to watch his secretary squirm in her seat when he got shouted at. He didn’t really feel ashamed. Rather, he felt happy that you wanted him.
It was hard to watch you struggle at night. He couldn’t sleep, not when he knew you were wide awake. Even if you did doze off, you would awaken screaming, drenched in sweat. He would ball his fists; hands itching to cuddle you and provide comfort. But he suspected he was probably the reason for your nightmares in the first place.
So, night after night, you both lay awake in your beds, pretending to sleep, trying to fool each other. He would assist you to get up and turn to lie on your side. But the rest of the time, the bedroom was filled with heavy sighs and muffled sobs.
Na Yeon once tried commenting on his dark puffy eyebags.
“Mr. Kim, your eyes-“
“Huh? What about them?”
She shuffled her feet nervously.
“You don’t seem to be sleeping enough.”
Just then, you yelled out:
“Kim Taehyung, black currant ice cream.”
He bolted out the door, returning only after a good thirty minutes. When he came back, Na Yeon risked another comment.
“Sir, she is being really… “
Taehyung had looked at her sternly, cutting her short.
“Say a word against my wife and I’ll fucking fire your ass.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
It was a fine spring day. Taehyung had made sure to check on you before making his way to the study. You had looked ripe. He was sure it was coming soon. The half bastard – half angel was coming soon.
He was talking about a drug deal with another drug lord. The door was closed because the man had demanded it.
Na Yeon was outside, waiting for the meeting to end. She rummaged in her bag to find something. Her hand made contact with the slender wire of her earphones. She started blasting a song, turning the volume up and pressing the buds hard into her ears.
The phone in the study rang, and Taehyung picked it up whilst he was still talking to the man, not noticing the caller ID.
“Taeh-I-I aarghh” The line disconnected.
In a second, he was on his feet, running to the bedroom and throwing the door open. You were lying on the floor, unconscious and out cold. The phone had dropped and switched off on impact with the floor.
“God, Y/N!” he dialed emergency, simultaneously checking your pulse. It felt very weak. “Stay, stay, stay with me,” he muttered, ears ringing in anxiety.
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
A couple hours later, he was prancing outside the ER, unable to breathe. He didn’t care about the baby. He really didn’t. But you had looked shockingly ill. Your lips had been blue. Dangerously low blood pressure, the nurse had said. He swore he wouldn’t forgive himself if something happened to you.
“Mrs. Kim’s attendant?” The nurse called out, peeking her head out.
“Yeah?” His voice came out dry and raspy. “I’m her… husband.”
“We’re taking her to the labor room, she’s stable and prepped.”
He wiped the sweat off his forehead in relief. He felt like he had just run a marathon. Taking deep breaths, he went off to go wash his face and join you in the labor room.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Ah, shit shit,” he was cursing, the hard squeeze almost breaking his palm. “It’s okay baby, you’re doing great.”
The contractions were fucking painful, and you took great joy in squeezing his hand to death. You were 10 already centimeters dilated, so what was keeping the baby so long?
Taehyung was going crazy by your side, and it didn’t help that at every painful contraction, he screamed at the doctor:
“Get it out, get it the fuck out!”
The pushing started, and you squeezed even harder, inflicting as much pain on him as you could. He took it like a champ, though he swore till his mouth was dry.
“I can see the head, Mrs. Kim! Great job, keep pushing!” the doctor’s voice sounded from between your legs.
“Just a bit more, just a bit more, honey,” he cooed, biting his lips to contain his cussing. He was sure you had broken a few bones in his hand.
With one blood curling scream, you gave one final push, and the room was filled with a hearty cry of an infant.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Kim, it’s a beautiful baby girl.”
The doctor held up the beautiful bundle you and Yoongi had lovingly created, and tears wouldn’t stop trickling down your cheeks at the thought of him missing his daughter’s birth.
“Mr. Kim, do you want to cut the umbilical cord?”
Taehyung went to the foot of the bed. The man who had ruined the father of the baby you had just birthed. His hands were shaking when he snipped the cord. A killer, witnessing the miracle of life. Fucking ironic.
He had the skin-to-skin, as you watched bleary eyed. It was so unfair. Yoongi was supposed to be holding your baby. He was supposed to be crying tears of joy. He was supposed to have the first skin-to-skin
After being cleaned, she was given to you, and the brilliant black eyes made you gasp in happiness. They were exactly Yoongi’s shining ones.
“Do we have a name yet?” the midwife asked mildly, smiling at you.
Taehyung clenched his teeth. It had been the deal, after all. You did get to name the baby if you took his name.
Looking out the window, you smiled at the blue sky. You had chosen the name with great care.
“Ha Neul.” You looked down at the mini Yoongi in your arms. “Min Ha Neul.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Sure, it was a fact that babies needed to be near their mother and stuff, but Taehyung was quickly losing all his patience. Considering your health, the doctor had advised you to stay back for a couple days to monitor the hypotension. And to Taehyung’s annoyance, almost ninety percent of your time was dedicated to rocking, crooning, and- he shuddered- breastfeeding the little tyke.
He hated it when you nursed the baby. It took all his self-control to prevent plucking the little bastard from your arms and throwing her away. You had seen his face a few times, and you had ordered him to get out whenever Ha Neul needed feeding. It only served to make him resent the child more.
He had asked his secretary to send news of the baby being born to the circle. He didn’t want to, but some traditions were traditions, and he couldn’t change them.
A steady stream of visitors came and left, bringing the little one a lot of gifts and clothes. To them, the child was a descendant of the Min family. And that in itself warranted their inclusion in the celebrations of her birth.
Namjoon’s father had called him.
“Joonah, Y/N has given birth to a daughter.”
There were mixed feelings crashing inside Namjoon’s heart when he heard the news. When he didn’t reply, his father pressed.
“Your mother and I have already seen her. She’s just like Min Yoongi.” There was a pause. “You go too, son.”
It was a very confused Namjoon who arrived at the hospital, carrying flowers and a Penguin plushie. He was an uncle. His best friend’s daughter had been born. He remembered how Yoongi had smiled his gummy smile, confiding in him that he wanted his first born to be a daughter. Namjoon’s small fond smile evaporated. Because Yoongi had wanted a mini version of you. You, the bitch who married fucking Kim Taehyung as soon as Yoongi died.
Part of him believed that the child wasn’t Yoongi’s. He told himself that you had probably been screwing Taehyung behind Yoongi’s back, and the girl was possibly Taehyung’s.
You had just burped Ha Neul and laid her down, when Taehyung was hot on your tail.
“You don’t remember Almond, do you?” he hissed.
You turned incredulously. “What is that supposed to mean?”
His lips trembled as he shot a murderous look at your daughter.
“Do you want her to be locked away like he is?”
You leered at him. “The fuck do you want? Don’t you dare threaten me.”
He scoffed in derision. “Kiss me.”
“Fuck off, Taehyung.”
He reached his hand down to the giggling infant. “Well, in that case…”
You threw a punch at his ribs, screaming at him. “Fuck you, bitch.”
He smiled. “So that’s a yes?”
Namjoon raised his hand to knock at the already open door, stopping when he saw Taehyung lean down to kiss you. He gritted his teeth when he saw you kissing him back.
“My tongue, lick my tongue,” Taehyung moaned, and Namjoon’s face crumpled in disgust when you complied. Bitch.
He rapped on the door loudly, making you jump and withdraw back to the propped cushions. Clearing his throat, he spoke tonelessly:
“I- uh, I came to see the baby.”
Taehyung and Namjoon exchanged murderous stares, and your husband stepped away to let the man see the baby.
Namjoon’s doubts vanished as soon as he saw the lovely eyes of your daughter. Just like Min. The little lips were like orange pulp, delicate and soft. He placed his gifts on the bedside table and bent down, crooning at her.
“Hey, little Min, it’s uncle Kim!”
He didn’t bother looking at you, throwing the question at no one in particular.
“Her name?”
You whispered softly, chest puffing up with pride.
“Min Ha Neul.”
He nodded, smiling down at the child, touching her nose gently. If only his best friend had lived to see his fine daughter.
When Namjoon left, he was not sure if he simply disliked you or abhorred you. True, the baby had been Min’s, but he had witnessed you kissing the slimy Kim bastard as if you were eating his face. He called his father after he reached his apartment.
“I saw her, dad, she’s exactly like Yoongi.” His tone changed. “You don’t have to worry about Y/N being unsafe, she is in fact very comfortable with Kim.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Your days were spent changing poop diapers and chasing after your daughter when she crawled near guards with guns. Having the baby and raising her all alone, with zero help from Taehyung, was hard. He was a diva, he wouldn’t even go near a soiled diaper, let alone touch it.
“You made her, you take care of her,” was always the reply when you demanded him to pitch in.
One day though, you had left her in the nursery and gone to take a shower. The water was running, muffling all the sounds from outside your room. You were halfway through your shower, shower gel suds all over your palms and shampoo dripping down your eyebrows, when a piercing squeal almost stopped your heart.
There were a few more squeals, and then Ha Neul’s bawls filled the whole mansion. Wrapping a towel around your soapy body, you dashed out towards the nursery. The cries were still loud, and you tumbled at full speed in her direction.
The door was open, and when you slid to a halt before her crib, Taehyung was there, holding her with a disgusted expression.
“Little piece of-“ he was muttering, shaking her like a ragdoll. When he saw you, he stuffed her into your arms, crinkling his nose up.
“Ger it to stop! Get it to stop! God, I’m going crazy!”
You shushed her, letting her nestle into the safety of your arms.
“What were you doing to her?” you snapped, glaring at him.
He scowled at you, showcasing his arms.
“That dratted bastard- shat all over my hands. Ugh.” He shuddered. “Where the fuck were you? I tried to change her but she wouldn’t fucking shut up.”
A smile threatened to pry your lips open.
He ground his teeth, glaring at the now-calm baby.
“Fucking screams like a hyena,” he said, turning away and stomping off to wash his hands.
When you returned to the bathroom to finish your shower, he was holding the bottle of shampoo, reading the label.
“Funny,” he said, glancing at you as you entered the bathroom. “This label doesn’t mention any fragrance.”
“Huh?”
He squeezed a dollop of shampoo onto his palm and sniffed at it. “I was right, it has no scent.”
“Get out, Kim Taehyung. I need to shower.”
He grabbed the towel and pulled you closer, turning the shower on. The water ran down your damp hair, letting all the bubbles wash away. The wet towel dropped to the floor, bunching around your feet. His hands were all over your shoulders and back, gently kneading your muscles.
You tried to rebel, but his grasp just grew tighter. Deciding to get it over with, you let him caress you. Much to his joy, he pulled you closer and kissed you sweetly. Usually he was aggressive and went for your tongue. But this time it was soft and almost romantic.
He moaned softly into your mouth, cupping the supple flesh of your butt as he thrust his lower body against yours. His eyes were closed when he broke the kiss and roamed down to your neck. There was a sharp prick on the side of your neck, and it vanished just as suddenly when he bent to suckle on the mark.
“God, Y/N,” he murmured, kissing the hickey fervently. “You make me go wild.”
He grabbed your wet locks, sniffing at them like he always did. When he opened his eyes, he was smiling, realization dawning on him.
“It’s not the shampoo. It’s you. You smell like berries.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“It’s time, Se Jong,” the caller said, breathing into the phone conspiratorially. “Her car just zoomed past mine.”
Se Jong drew a deep breath. It had been goddamn hard to get you alone in the car. You only came out of the Kim mansion rarely, and usually a guard accompanied you if you took Ha Neul with you. Taehyung was wary and paranoid that you would try and run away with your daughter.
Se Jong couldn’t risk being identified by any guard. It had taken a whole damn year for him to plan your accident.
Things had started to turn bright for him when the guard stopped accompanying you when you went out without Ha Neul. The chauffeur might recognize him, but he was willing to take that risk. If any of Taehyung’s guards even heard a whisper of what he was about to do, he’d be skinned alive. He was sure of that. Those men were fiercely loyal to their boss. Se Jong scoffed. Dogs. He would become the next mafia lord and they would all come running to worship his feet.
He started the ignition, carefully glancing at the road, waiting for the sleek black car to appear. He had tried to get a hitman, but the wimp had backed out as soon as he had started saying “Kim…” So, he had no choice but to get his hands dirty.
The afternoon rain had left the roads slippery, and it was a stroke of luck on Se Jong’s side when your car came careening around the corner a bit faster than needed. He released the hand brake, hurtling forward at full speed and crashing right in the middle of your vehicle.
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
The air was filled with smoke, and you couldn’t see properly. The impact had been sudden, and the chauffeur had been knocked out. Coughing and trying to clear your burning throat, you reached out to open the door when it swung wide open. A man’s pants and belt were visible, but it was all so blurred that you couldn’t make out who it was.
His hand reached in, clamping tightly around your eyes as the other arm worked on pulling you out of the car.
“What?” you started to ask before your mouth was covered with the grime-covered hand.
“Shut up,” the man hissed in your ear, pressing your back against his chest as he pulled you to your feet. “Don’t make any noise.”
He was hugging you from behind, one hand covering your mouth and the other pressed against your eyes. He slowly inched you forward, telling you to move one step at a time.
The smell of burnt tires filled your nostrils, and you staggered forward blindly, trying your best to lean away from the man’s chest. The distant sound of a car grew closer and closer, and just as he tried to make you crouch down, you elbowed him sharply.
He cursed in pain, grabbing you by the hair and trying to push you into his car. You attempted to veer around, and a heavy strike sent your head crashing against the doorframe. Your vision blurred, and everything seemed to grow dark.
“Hey!”
A man was calling from somewhere to your left, but you couldn’t focus.
“Hey! Let the lady go!”
The voice was louder now, and you blinked in confusion. Crinkling your eyes in desperate concentration, you tried to see who your assailant was. But just as you turned to face him, a sickening punch hit you like a gunshot, throwing your head back and causing you to tumble. The last sound you heard before your head hit the gravel was the hasty squeal of tires racing away from the scene.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
The lights were making your head pound. There were so many people bustling around, but it all seemed to be happening in slow motion. The voices were too hard to comprehend. But you could feel that something was definitely different with your head. There were thick bandages wrapped heavily around your head, feeling like a big boulder was tying you down.
People came in and shone lights into your eyes, telling you instructions in voices so muffled that you couldn’t understand what was being asked of you.
He wasn’t there. You knew that much at least. It was more by instinct that you knew that.
Your body hadn’t tensed up into a tight coil the entire time you were conscious. Maybe you could slip out of the room unnoticed when you felt better. But the pounding in your head was too much to risk an attempt anytime soon.
It was only on the next day that your hearing got clearer. The clogged sensation slowly alleviated, and you could hear the doctors discussing your charts with their colleagues. You wondered if you could try and make a run for it.
You were debating internally as to what should be done. Just as your toe touched the cold hospital marble, the door opened, and your daughter ran in. She made straight for your arms, jumping into the bed, and clasping her little hands around your waist.
“Mmommieeth!”
“Oh! My baby Min!”
Hugging her in joy, you exclaimed at the shiny truck she had dropped in her haste to run to you.
“Oh, what a gorgeous truck!”
She giggled innocently, bunching your gown tightly in her little fingers.
“Daddath,” she lisped happily, and your breath stopped for a second. Slipping in through the doorway was the embodiment of all your worst feelings in the world.
He casually waltzed in, taking note of your foot resting on the floor. He raised one eyebrow cockily.
“Going somewhere?”
He was holding a slew of wrapped lollipops in his hand, as if it were the most common thing in the world for him to carry candy around.
You refused to answer, choosing to settle back into the bed instead. So much for planning to run away.
He sauntered nearer, placing the lollipops down on the bedside tray and reaching a hand out to touch your forehead.
His fingers made slight contact with the bandages, and he sighed heavily.
“Oh, sweet baby wife,” he murmured, his deep baritone voice sending unexpected thrills up your spine. “I shouldn’t let you out of my sight anymore.”
God, was he going to ban you from leaving the house?
“It was an accident…” you whined, hoping that he wouldn’t press the issue any further.
“Lollipop!” your daughter interrupted, thrusting the candy into Taehyung’s big hand. He silently unwrapped it, handing it to her before turning to face you. He moved over and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Y/N,” his tone was serious, “you had surgery. You were out cold for a whole day. You can’t imagine how much I was-“ He bit his lip, and you squinted hard to see if it was a tear shining under his lids.
“I had surgery? What- how? He hit me that hard?”
Taehyung’s jaw tightened in silent fury.
“About that, yeah,” he said, gently pressing your hand. “Who was that? Did you see that son of a bitch?”
You could see his nostrils flaring. It was quite a sight, your daughter cheerfully savoring a candy while Taehyung seethed in stony anger near her, clearly fighting his urge to throw and break things.
“I’ll get that fucking son of a bitch, I will,” he muttered, making you scowl.
“Don’t swear before my daughter,” you snapped, and he nodded absently. When he looked back at you, his eyes were loaded with concern.
The pads of his fingers traced your forehead softly.
“A subdural bleed-“ he was talking to himself at that point, “- how much it would have hurt…” His lips trembled. In anger or in concern you weren’t sure.
The moment was broken when a doctor came in, requesting Taehyung to stay outside for a few minutes while she inspected your bandages.
She smiled at your daughter, pinching her cheek gently. Ha Neul popped the lollipop out just long enough to say “Docthor Mogo.”
The doctor chuckled and nodded. “Hi Mrs. Kim. I’m Dr. Montgomery, I’ll just need to take your vitals and ask you a few questions.”
You smiled at her, throwing the question at her. “Mogo?”
She laughed. “It’s easier to pronounce. You have a very intelligent child.”
You beamed in pride. “Yes, she is. Wait, how does she know you?”
The doctor paused in surprise. “Oh? Mr. Kim- he was here the whole time ever since you got admitted. He simply refused to leave your side. When you went in for surgery, he went home and fetched little Kim too. He hasn’t slept for two days, he’s such a devoted father.”
You looked down at the angelic little girl on your bed. “Little Min,” you said slowly. “She’s little Min.” The doctor didn’t say anything and chose to scribble your vitals down on the chart instead. She turned to leave, but you caught hold of her arm.
“He took care of Ha Neul? He had her the entire time?”
“Yes, Mrs. Kim. I need to jog your memory a bit, can you answer a few questions?”
“What? Yeah okay.”
“Let’s see. What’s in this picture?”
You stared at the flash card dumbly. Was she kidding?
“An umbrella.”
“Good. Can you spell that for me?”
The curiousness got the better of you.
“Why are you asking all this?”
She gazed at you, turning to look at the frosted glass windows. Taehyung’s mop of long hair was barely discernible, he seemed to be talking to another doctor.
“Mrs. Kim, there were complications during the surgery. You have a risk of developing seizures. We are closely monitoring you.”
You had no suitable reply. It was too much to digest.
“Now, Mrs. Kim, can you spell ‘Umbrella’ for me?”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Previously, 3 hours after the accident
“Mr. Kim?”
Taehyung leaped out of the sofa, rushing to the surgeon.  Wo Bin followed him with equal haste. The surgeon was in his scrubs, he had come out to give an update.
“Mr. Kim, I understand this is a very tough time for you-“
Taehyung was shaking all over. He had been unable to breath properly ever since he you had been wheeled into the OR. God, the blood. His precious little bird all cut up, bleeding and bruised.
“Is she- is she-“ he couldn’t form the words, too scared to ask.
“She’s still in surgery, but she’s stable for now Mr. Kim. That’s why I came out. I need to let you know that there was an unexpected complication…”
“What? What happened?”
Taehyung plunged forward urgently, and Wo Bin had to use his full strength to keep his boss from pouncing on the reedy doctor.
“There’s seizure activity in her brain, which might exacerbate post-surgery-“ the doctor said, his eyes round and wary.
“Treat it then,” Taehyung hollered in his deepest growl. “Isn’t that what you do for a living?”
The man in scrubs seemed to grow perplexed.
“You see Mr. Kim, we might have to remove a portion of her temporal lobe to treat it.” He paused awkwardly. “It might lead to significant memory loss. Statistically speaking, around 70% of the patients…”
“No.”
Taehyung cut the doctor midsentence. “No. I won’t consent to it.”
“But Mr. Kim, it is…”
There was a deep sigh. One that Wo Bin was accustomed to fear. He glanced at his boss in alarm.
“I. Said. No.”
The doctor made as if to open his mouth to protest, but Wo Bin shook his head at him. Taehyung fell silent and Wo Bin took charge.
“You will not perform that procedure on Mrs. Kim,” he said, folding his arms. “Isn’t there any other method you could try?”
The doctor explained that the risk of seizures would be dramatically reduced, and that the patient’s quality of life would be so much better if her husband consented to the suggested surgery.
“I will take care of her if she seizes,” Taehyung said sullenly. He was looking down at his shoes, refusing to look at the doctor. “She’s my wife. I will tend to her.”
The surgeon talked to Wo Bin for a couple more minutes and went back into the OR. After the door closed behind him, Wo Bin rounded on his boss, unusually angry.
“Why did you refuse to consent, boss? Don’t you understand? She’ll forget stuff! She might forget Min entirely. Why would you pass up on a chance like that, sir?”
Taehyung collapsed onto the sofa, putting his head in his hands.
“I can’t do that Wo Bin-ah.”
Wo Bin looked down at the bent man in confusion.
“Why not? It’s a second chance. I don’t get it-“
Taehyung had gone completely silent. There were faint sounds of sniffing. When he lifted his head to look up at his aide, tears were ready to spill down his cheeks.
“Don’t you see? She’ll forget Min. She’ll lose whatever little memories she has of him. I can’t do that to her. I have already taken too much from her. I can’t rob her of her memories too.”
He paused to take another sniff. “I don’t want her to be a clean slate. Because her memories and battles make up the woman I love today. I just want her to forget him and learn to love me.”
Wo Bin knew he had crossed the line even before the words left his lips.
“With all due respect, sir, this might be the worst mistake of your life.”
Taehyung stared at him with a defeated smile.
“Then I shall live to regret it.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
You seized only twice after the surgery, and Taehyung was there both times. He had made you lie on your side and had held you until they passed.
When you were discharged, he brought home flash cards to keep working your brain. He was ruthless and adamant, and just wouldn’t leave you alone until you finished all the cards successfully.
It was raining one night, and he had been in a particularly long meeting with his mafia men. He kept screaming at Wo Bin to drive faster, he knew you would have skipped dinner and tucked yourself into bed. He never worried about Ha Neul. That tyke was well cared for anyway. It was you who kept him worried.
“Y/N?” He shrugged his coat off, not bothering to hang it on the rack. “Y/N?”
He was right. You were curled in a ball, pretending to be fast asleep so he wouldn’t bother you.
The bed dipped, and his warm breath tickled your skin. He simply rested his head in the crook of your neck, supporting his entire weight on one arm so you wouldn’t be crushed.
“Baby,” he whined, unusually softly. “Come eat.”
You lay completely still, hoping he would leave you alone. But he just didn’t budge.
“Y/N,” he whined again, twisting a strand of your hair around his finger. “I know you’re awake.”
Sigh. Of course, he did. What monstrosity was he planning to put you through? Shrugging him off your body and hoping it hadn’t pissed him off, you got to your feet. There was no point in stalling.
He was mysteriously in a good mood though. Reaching out to entwine his fingers in yours, he dragged you to the living room.
“You ordered Pad Thai?” you asked incredulously.
“Mmm hmm,” he nodded before plopping down on the couch. He proceeded to mindlessly unbutton his shirt and remove his cufflinks. He knew you liked Pad Thai, he had been on his toes all through your pregnancy, running to fetch it for you from the best fast food places in the city.
The muffled jangling of the cufflinks as they dropped down onto the carpet brought a fresh wave of dread crawling over your skin. You stood gaping at him, unsure of what he was up to.
He raised his head and stared at you quizzically. Three buttons of his shirt were open, revealing his sculpted chest perfectly. Propping his legs up on the coffee table, he reached over for the remote.
“Well, aren’t you gonna sit down?”
“I- yes. “
You glanced at him from under your eyelashes. He looked relaxed, there was no indication of anything horrible about to happen.
He casually handed over a food box to you, patting the couch to indicate that you should sit closer to him. When you pretended to not understand, he simply scooted you over even closer.
“There,” he said, sighing happily. “Let’s watch this movie, shall we?”
As if you had a choice.
You had expected the movie to be a typical action flick, filled with stupid car chases and shooting sequences. It was a complete surprise when you found out that it was a romantic film. Taehyung had picked a romantic film? What kind of sorcery was that? You had been sure that he only had an iron padlock for a heart.
The empty food boxes and chopsticks were scattered all over the carpet, and your eyes flickered over to see his reactions when the scenes were particularly unhappy. His face was like a canvas, and a myriad of emotions flashed on it with each scene.
It was almost like the usual Taehyung had vanished and another person had taken his place. The man sitting with his arm over your shoulders, the one who was stealthily sniffing away a few tears, was in no way the man you knew.
It felt natural to Taehyung when he pulled your body snug against his, cuddling into your neck comfortably. He didn’t understand why you were trying to squirm. He wound his arm around your waist, butting his head against yours.
The heavenly scent of berries made him heady with happiness. How perfectly lovely it was, to be able to cuddle and watch a movie with you. Why hadn’t he thought of it sooner?
Taehyung was simmering away in euphoria, lost in his own happy world, while you were subtly squirming in his arms. The movie was going to end, what would happen next? Was he going to violate you? The seed of apprehension grew and grew with each passing moment.
“Y/N,” he whispered, his voice ever so soft. “What’s the matter? Need a bathroom break?”
His features showed confusion and apparent concern. At that moment, you wished he were his normal sneering self. This new side threatened you and kept you on edge. You knew how to tackle his mean and arrogant side. But you had no understanding or control over his new side. It was scaring you more than you had expected.
“No, I just-“ you couldn’t think of a coherent reply fast enough.
He cupped your face, bringing it closer to his. The final scene played on TV, with the leads kissing each other and then the credits started rolling. He smiled- but it was a very different smile. It wasn’t the leering one he flashed at you often. It was a genuine boxy smile, and it pulled the corners of his lips up naturally.
“Perfect timing,” he crooned, gently pressing a kiss on your lips. It felt extraordinary, and you didn’t know how to respond. An inner voice screamed in your head, shouting that he was going to violate you after all.
So, it was yet another surprise when he pulled away after the kiss, letting his fingers brush your hair into place.
“Let’s go to bed, hm? It’s late.”
He undressed and changed into his pajamas, completely oblivious to the mental rollercoaster you were experiencing. When he turned the lights off and climbed into bed, he stayed on his side of the bed without attempting to trespass into yours.
He patiently waited for your lids to close, and when he was sure that you were asleep, he whispered: “I love you.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Several weeks after, the traces of brain injury completely vanished, leaving you behind with nothing but a scar on your forehead. That would take a good amount of time to vanish, you knew.
You were fit enough to take care of Ha Neul on your own, but Taehyung insisted on keeping the nanny.
“You might seize out of the blue, so I’m not leaving you alone without someone.”
And that was it. He rarely let you argue. It wasn’t like he cut you off deliberately. It was just the tone of his voice that sounded finality before you could think of a retort.
Taehyung had to go and check on a deal in Berlin, but he hated being away from you. Sure, it was just a 3-day trip, but it was a full 72 hours of not seeing you or touching you. He was annoyed when your eyes brightened on hearing the news.
He stood and sulked as he watched you bustle around Ha Neul, trying to get her to stop spitting out her breakfast.
“Someone really is happy that I’m leaving, huh?”
You let your lips stretch in a semi-smile. You enjoyed the little moments when you could spite him and smugly smile without being reprimanded. He might punish you later, yes, but you would deal with that when it came.
Oh, how he wanted to slap that smirk off your face! But he couldn’t. No, he would spend the next three days immersed in guilt if he did. You wouldn’t be near for him to kiss and make up. He was at a loss to find a way to break you.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he glared at Ha Neul, irritated that she was taking so much to time to swallow the damned food. Just like Min, getting in other people’s ways and eating their time.
“Be ready at 7 tonight. We’re going out for dinner.”
He turned to leave after announcing it, but your scoff stopped him.
“We? Who’s we?”
He shrugged. “You and me.”
The arch of your eyebrows wasn’t lost on him.
“Look, you can have all the time with your bastard for the next 3 days. Leave her with the nanny tonight.”
And there it was. That tone again. The tone that simply blocked out further arguments.
You had an ominous feeling that he was warming up to you being his wife, salty or otherwise. Movie and dinner? This wasn’t the Taehyung you knew. He surprised you occasionally with cheesy romantic shit, but he was usually hard and cold. He took what he wanted, claimed you if he needed to, bought you stuff that you threw out without even glancing at them, but he hadn’t ever tried to engage in romance.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Why the hell are you fiddling so much with that?”
Conjuring up your harshest scowl, you snapped back at him. “It’s fucking riding up my ass, that’s why.”
He bit his inner cheek to stifle a chuckle. You looked devilishly cute when you were angry.
“Just fucking let me dress myself, you bitch.”
He hummed, one hand on the steering wheel and the other reaching out to squeeze your thigh.
“Oh, come on, Y/N. We both know you’ll wear a dowdy sweatshirt and torn jeans if I let you dress yourself.”
You decided to emphasize your annoyance by going silent and staring out of the window. Taehyung always chose what you wore. Even at the mansion, when you went nowhere, you had to wear pretty dresses and skirts during the day. You had rebelled at first, but he had simply ripped a good number of tees and shorts that you eventually gave up and aligned to his will.
He had picked a luxurious wine-red dress, he had fallen in love with how beautifully it accentuated your body. It screamed elegance, and you carried it so well even though you swore like a sailor the entire time.
When the maître d’ left after seating you in Taehyung’s chosen table, you pursed your lips at the uncomfortable sensation again. Taehyung noticed it, and something snapped in him.
“Damnit Y/N, can you just wipe the scorn off your face for one fucking minute?” he hissed, his feathers thoroughly ruffled.
“You wear a thong that keeps riding up your butt then,” you sneered back.
Shocked surprise lit up his features, and he burst out laughing. He took your hand and patted it affectionately. His smile was innocent and sickly sweet when he murmured discreetly:
“I’ll rip it off as soon as I can, I promise.”
He talked and talked, telling you stuff he had heard from the elite circle. It was unusual of him to chatter and gossip away, but the change was so different. You ate in silence, listening to him and occasionally nodding your head.
You wished you could prolong the ride back somehow. He had dolled you up for a reason. And it was obvious what he was going to do.
Taehyung was losing patience, watching you slide the panna cotta all around the plate in a lame attempt to buy time.
“You do know I can bend you over this table right now, don’t you sugar?”
He bit his lower lip cockily, staring you down. When you didn’t answer, he simply stood up and reached your side, placing his hands on your hips.
“Don’t!” you whispered urgently, alarmed that he actually proceeded to pull you up to your feet in full view of the entire restaurant.
“Well, let’s go home then,” he crooned into your ear.
“All right, all right, you made your point.”
Taehyung grinned like an imp throughout the car ride back to the mansion, gleefully thinking of ripping off the offending thong. He hadn’t meant for you to be uncomfortable in it. But he wasn’t complaining because he now had a chance to right something for you. Even if it was so trivial as tearing off a thong.
He pounced on you like a starved animal as soon as the door closed. His lips were everywhere, licking and sucking marks into your skin.
“Ha Neul- I need to check on her-“ you moaned, unable to remain passive in the face of the sensual attack.
“No…” he groaned, fingers feverishly roaming on your skin, trying to breathe before he crumbled to dust. “She’s asleep… the nanny-“ he dropped a wet kiss on your collarbone before panting out “- texted me. She’s fine.”
His slender finger reached for the zipper, pulling it down in apparent haste. He loved the way the fabric pooled around your hips, leaving your chest open for him. You had worn a plain bra just to spite him. But to him, simple garment looked infinitely sexier than the choicest lace.
Tugging the dress down, he lifted you and practically threw you on the bed, discarding his coat and shoes urgently.
“Oh, God, Y/N!” he whined, flipping you over and watching the thong in fascination. “So pretty. So incredibly pretty, laid out just for me.”
His big veiny hands caught hold of your wrists, lending you helpless. His brain was short circuiting at the delicious sight before him. Engulfing your tiny wrists in one hand, he reached down to knead the soft flesh with the other. One finger slipped under the elastic band and pulled, snapping the flimsy fabric with ease.
“There, baby” he cooed, his hand cupping your ass. “It can’t disturb you anymore.”
You moaned something into the pillow, but the sound was too garbled to comprehend. Turning you over, he shifted his position, so he was hovering just inches over your body.
“Just let me take care of you,” he breathed, nudging his knee into the crook of your knees. “I’ll make you feel so good.”
You parted your lips to protest, but he drowned out the words with a searing kiss. His hand still had control over your wrists, and he slowly moved down to your navel.
His tongue drew hot lines down your belly, inching tantalizingly closer to your core. Using his free hand, he parted your legs, exposing your swollen core to his depraved eyes.
“Such a pretty cunt,” he said, licking his lips sinfully.
But when he bent down for a taste, you kneed him hard, making him hiss in pain.
“The fuck!” he yelled, clutching his precious nose. He tilted his head up, praying that it didn’t bleed. Goddamn, his wife really was a fighter.
“I don’t know why-“ he leaned over and rummaged through the drawers of his bedside table, “-you keep making this so hard.” He produced a shiny pair of handcuffs, dangling them before your nose. “Now look what you got yourself into.”
“No, I…” you tried to shake your wrists free, eyes wide in alarm.
“Shh, baby. Don’t make me tape your mouth too.”
It was not the rickety sex toy version either. The handcuffs looked like standard issue police ones. Taehyung grinned at your shocked face.
“These,” he ran a finger over the cold metal “-these are from a policeman I shot in a drug bust.” The metal cuffs turned and glinted at you.
“He cuffed me to him, silly bloke. As if someone could cuff me.” He threw his head back and laughed. “I shot his hand to pieces. Served him right. And this- I kept this as a souvenir.” He smiled affectionately, the faint clink of the chain sending shivers up your gut.
He was in a strange temper, and you weren’t sure about escaping unscathed if you rebelled. So, you remained still while he clicked the cuff onto your wrist, securing it to the bedpost. He winked at you, proceeding to take off his shirt while you lay motionless under him.
He now had both hands free to work on you, and he set about parting your legs for him. Smirking coyly, he dipped his head down, pressing his tongue flat against your sensitive bud.
You threw your free hand at him, pulling on his long hair, but his grip around your thighs tightened in response. He didn’t even flinch when you yanked at his thick locks, focusing on leaving kitten licks on your clit.
He groaned into your core, pressing his face harder against your silky folds. The sensation of his quick tongue darting all over you left your knees trembling like jelly. You had a hard time containing your moans, determined not to give him the satisfaction of hearing you moan.
But it spurred him on harder, and his licks became raunchier. He felt your core pulsate, and he knew you were close. Opening your legs wide, he attached his lips to your bud, starting to suckle on it sensually.
“Mm hmm, yes… Cum on my tongue, baby,” he encouraged, nibbling on the swollen hood ever so lightly. He held your thighs tightly, peppering your core with soft kisses as you climaxed and shook like a leaf.
He lapped at your sweet essence, helping you ride through your high. His mouth was wet and shining when he rose up to meet your eyes.
“So fucking sweet, Y/N,” he said, flicking his tongue out and smacking his lips brazenly.
You expected him to unzip his pants and get it over with. But he surprised you yet again. Simply crawling back up, he buried his nose into your chest, not minding the way your nails clawed at him.
He inhaled your scent like he couldn’t get enough of it. He so badly wanted to bury himself inside your velvety walls. He craved being united with you as one body. But no, he would wait.
He would go to Berlin first and then come back to claim you heartily. Maybe being away from him would soften your heart. He couldn’t imagine staying even one night away from you. Would you begin to feel the same way? After all, patient men did get the ripest fruit.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung kept looking at his phone, not caring about the subtle looks thrown his way. His fingers kept drumming against the table, impatient and jittery. His index finger subconsciously went to the notification shade every two seconds, but there was just nothing there to see.
A new notification popped up just then, and his eyes lit up.
Wo Bin
9:28 am : Everything fine at mansion.
9:29 am: Se Jong becoming troublesome.
He swiped it away furiously. He couldn’t care less about some stupid banker acting up. He was sure Wo Bin could handle it. No, he was looking forward to something about you. Just a scrap of news about you. But Wo Bin had to go and text him some random shit like that. He sighed and turned back to the man who was talking.
“We need to be more vigilant; the police are sniffing us out somehow.”
Taehyung tried to focus, but his gaze fell on his phone again exactly three seconds later.
Two hours later, Taehyung was about to push the door and leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Kim?”
It was Andrei. He was one of Taehyung’s acquaintances in Berlin.
“Yeah.”
Andrei dropped his voice low. “Care to join me for a drink?”
The bar was weirdly empty, there weren’t a lot of people hanging around. Well, that happened when mafia lords booked the hotel by the dozen. They were a careful bunch; they always played their cards close to their chests. Outsiders were never trusted when one of their meetings was underway.
Andrei toyed with his shot glass, slurring his words slightly.
“So Kim Taehyung is a married man now, huh?” he asked, chuckling slightly.
Taehyung nodded, sipping his drink. A small part of his mind wondered if he should check his phone.
“How did you ever settle down?”
Andrei looked genuinely curious. He only knew of Taehyung’s philandering side. He had been surprised on learning about the wedding.
“She’s-“ Taehyung racked his brain for words “- exquisite. I just knew. That she was the one for me.”
Andrei raised his glass in agreement. “Good for you, man.” He considered for a moment, gazing at Taehyung before parting his lips again.
“If you want, I can send Victoria to keep you company. You know, tonight.”
The Taehyung of older days would have jumped at the suggestion, launching into an interested inquiry of what the woman could offer. But now, he only shook his head, gripping his glass tight.
“No, Andrei. I’m married.”
The man smiled slyly. “You absolutely sure? She’s damn hot.”
“I’m sure. I’m a changed man, Andrei.”
Andrei nodded, looking at Taehyung thoughtfully. “I can see that.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Yoongi was humming to himself, hammering away at his laptop. He usually didn’t carry his work home. But this one was important. He had to finish drafting the presentation he was going to make the next morning.
“Busy much?”
You were leaning against the doorframe, playing with the sash of your dressing gown.
He looked up and crinkled his nose cutely.
“Just a couple more hours, baby girl.”
Clicking your tongue in disapproval, you loosened the sash and let your dressing gown drop down your shoulders to the floor.
“Can’t wait that long,” you crooned, giving him your sexiest drawl. “Need you inside me. Now.”
His fingers stopped typing, and a slow smirk dawned on his lips. He was so damn handsome when he smirked like that.
He kept his eyes focused on the screen, uttering the words in a blunt tone: “Come and take what you want then.”
Giggling in excitement, you rushed over to him, throwing your legs over his lap to straddle him. He smelt so good, just like he always did. You knew his scent by heart. It was the faintest note of cologne, fresh and pleasant like morning dew. He could come back dripping with sweat after gym, but he would still smell heavenly. It was just- so Yoongi of him.
“You’re blocking my view, Mrs. Min,” he said, not caring to look at your eager face.
“Oh, I’ll be out of it in a second, Mr. Min,” you replied, licking the shell of his ear.
The smug devil didn’t bat an eyelid, concentrating on typing whatever was clearly more important than his hot wife eating his earlobes. You decided to accelerate things further.
Grinding against his crotch, you hooked your chin on his shoulder to keep out of his way. You could feel him stirring in his pants, and soon enough he was hard as nails. Allowing yourself a proud smile, you nibbled on his shoulder blade, making him moan despite his best efforts.
You were satisfied at his response. Besides, you were aching for him already. You got off his lap, sinking down to your knees. He still wasn’t looking at you. Well, he would soon.
Instead of taking him out, you chose to palm him through his night pants. The tent in his pants left your mouth watering in anticipation. You looked up; he was still typing. Time for drastic measures.
Leaning forward, you pressed your mouth against the hard muscle, the thin fabric dampening up with your saliva. The friction of the cloth was too much to bear, and he moaned out loud.
“Fuck, Y/N!”
He shut the laptop down with a snap, to hell with the presentation. Grabbing you by your hair, he pulled you in level with his crotch. You stared back at him, tracing your lips with your tongue. Damn you. Want flooded his veins, sending a searing sensation shooting through his length.
“Up,” he said, snapping his fingers at you.
You loved it when he was horny and pissed. It made for a deliciously passionate Yoongi. Hastening to stand up, you looked at him expectantly. He motioned towards his pants, his dominant streak glinting dangerously in his eyes.
“Get my dick out.” He bit his lip before adding: “And lose your bra.”
Without a word, you peeled his pants off, shaking in excitement. His thighs were strong and muscular, just as perfect as the rest of him. He waited until you freed your breasts and patted his lap.
“On my thigh, slut.”
You pouted in disappointment. He noticed that and laughed impishly.
“What? You don’t get to sit on my cock until I say so.” He narrowed his eyes at you, loving the lust shining raw on your features. “Serves you right for teasing me.”
“But Yoongiiiiiii….” you drawled, only to be silenced with a piercing glare.
“Ride my thigh, come on,” he said. “Let me see those tits bounce.”
Fuck, he was making you so wet. Climbing into his lap again, you grabbed his shoulder and steadied yourself. He hadn’t told you to get out of your undies yet. You knew the friction was going to make you go wild.
“Go on,” he said, settling back lazily against the headrest of his chair. You slowly started moving, gripping his shoulders tight. He didn’t make any move to touch or hold you. He simply watched your face in fascination, observing every fleeting emotion with pride.
You were inching closer to your orgasm, and he stilled your hips with a steel grip. Your protesting mewls were music to his ears. A long bony finger pushed your soaked undies away, and his firm hands pulled your hips onto his hard cock.
He slammed his hips up, and started thrusting into you in a punishing rhythm, eliciting fierce curses and strangled moans from deep inside your chest.
“Damn, that’s it baby, bounce on my cock,” he praised, growling in primal want.
You could have sworn you saw the bushes outside the window move. But when you looked down to tell Yoongi, the feral lust swimming in his eyes washed every thought off your mind. He really was fucking your brains out.
“What is it, baby girl?”
Your mind was in complete shambles, and you knew he loved it. Especially when you struggled for words while he had you impaled on his cock.
“I- spank me…”
He grinned, landing a soft slap on your butt cheek. “Use your words and ask me nicely.”
“Oh, damn you Yoongi,” you whined, throwing your head back and exposing your neck. “Spank me, please.”
“Now, that’s a good girl.”
Min Yoongi had the smallest and most delicate of hands. But that didn’t mean his slaps were any less harsh. He could give you a mean spank, leaving hot red prints all over your ass if he liked. And right now, he chose to use that to his full advantage.
He lifted his hand, licking his lips and preparing to rain a volley of slaps on your butt. Closing your eyes, you rutted against him, waiting to feel the first sting.
“Y/N!”
When you opened your eyes, Yoongi was staring at you blankly. His eyes were shining with unshed tears.
You cupped his cheeks, puzzled. “What’s it, honey?”
A set of big hands snaked around your waist. You looked at Yoongi in confusion.
“What-“ you started to say, and froze in horror as Yoongi’s face slowly faded away, wiping all your happiness away with it. Everything went suddenly dark, and an unbearable coldness settled in, smothering you.
“No!” You thrashed about violently, desperate to see Yoongi, desperate to touch him again.
“Shh, Y/N, it’s fine.” The voice hummed in your ear, pulling you towards something warm.
You opened your eyes and gazed directly into Kim Taehyung’s radiant eyes.
“It’s okay baby, I’m back.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Dawn was beginning to break, and Taehyung was severely jetlagged. He assumed you would go right back to sleep. But you remained wide awake, silent tears streaming down your cheeks.
His heart felt all mushy and happy. Had you missed him? Were you crying because your feelings were overwhelmed? Maybe you had felt relieved that he had woken you up from your nightmare in time.
“Bad dream, darling?” he asked, carding his fingers through your hair.
He wouldn’t leave you alone anymore, he would always be there to chase away your nightmares. He resolved to himself that he would protect you from anything, even your own mind.
You lay still, not bothering to respond.
The semi-darkness lent your face a mysterious look, and Taehyung wasn’t sure if the gleam in your eyes was anger or joy.
His unusual softness assured him that it was joy. He told himself that it would be confusing at first and you needed time to warm up to the idea of loving him.
Birds started chirping outside, sunrise was very near. He traced your cheek with his thumb, wanting to kiss you. When he pulled you closer, there was no resistance. Cheering up considerably, he brushed his lips against yours.
When you didn’t flinch, he deepened the kiss, softly moaning into your mouth. The smoldering hunger stirred deep in his belly, consuming him completely. He climbed on top of you ever so lightly, kissing your neck and leaving wet splotches all over your chest.
He had waited for so long, and the tension had built up into a crescendo. He was panting when he fished himself out of his trousers, one hand fiddling with your shorts. He shimmied down the fabric, clawing at it in haste.
The first rays of sunlight broke the darkness, lighting up the room with a rosy hue. He whimpered when the head of his member made contact with your entrance.
“I’m home,” he said, pushing himself inside in one long shove. He slowly started to rock his hips, he wanted to be slow and sensual for a change.
You closed your eyes, and everything came flooding back. It was like your lips had a mind of their own. Before you knew, you had moaned it out loud.
“Yoongi…”
Taehyung’s hips stilled, his hard member still buried inside you. It hurt him like a violent slap. Slipping out of your core, he could hardly contain his angry tears while he dressed himself back up. You had moaned… for Yoongi?
He wanted to leave without saying anything. But he stopped just near the door.
“Tell me just one thing- whenever we… had sex, did you….”
Your vacant eyes chilled his blood. You mumbled silently, almost like you were talking to yourself.
“I Imagined Yoongi…”
He stormed out of the room, rushing to the guest bedroom to unleash the sobs bubbling up his throat. Taehyung never knew that he could hate you. It surprised and upset him to know how much he despised you for insulting him like that. It left a bitter aftertaste in his tongue.
When Taehyung finally stopped sniffing, he made up his mind. You weren’t changing. He would be fighting a dead man for the rest of his life. If you couldn’t warm up to his romance, it was fine. He would just return to being a mean bastard you rebelled against. Being feared was better than being insulted and trampled upon.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung’s behavior went from romantic to mean and waxed meaner over the course of days. He ignored your presence completely, choosing to leave home at dawn and return at midnight just to avoid seeing you.
He broke things in sudden fits of temper, and every morning you woke up to more and more smashed vases and glass. You kept Ha Neul well out of his way, there was no telling what he might do if he got his hands on her.
Taehyung, on the other hand, was torn between his all-consuming obsession over you and the new-found disgust he had for you. It scared him when he realized how much it was affecting his mind. He had to choose a way to saddle his dark feelings and rein them in. Because, after all, you were his Y/N. His precious Y/N he would do anything for.
Almost a month after he returned from Berlin, almost a month after avoiding you like the plague, Kim Taehyung decided that enough was enough.
He returned home in the evening, slamming the door unnecessarily loud. That was a signal these days to announce his arrival and departure.
“Y/N!” The slight bitterness in his voice surprised him.
Ha Neul’s giggle sounded from somewhere deep in the nursery, and he followed the sound until he was standing before you.
You were kneeling on the floor, clutching onto your daughter fearfully. You didn’t care if he hurt you. Hell, you would even karate chop him right back. But you were nervous when he was around your child.
He glared at the toddler, throwing his most hostile look her way.
“Bedroom, now.”
You dragged yourself to the bedroom after handing Ha Neul over to the nanny. You had no clue what he was going to do to you. He had been like a zombie for the past month, slinking away into the shadows and disappearing all day. What was in store for you in the bedroom?
Taehyung was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for you. When you entered the room, he manspread his legs and snapped his fingers.
“On your knees,” he tapped on the floor with his shoe, “here.”
You hesitated, and his eyebrows knotted dangerously.
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Swallowing your pride, you knelt before his spread legs, his crotch in full display right before your eyes.
He bunched your hair in his fist, pulling you towards him. He rubbed your face against his clothed crotch a little harsher than he had planned to.
“This cock-“ he said, pressing your face against him, “this cock is the only one you’ll get in this lifetime. Better get used to it.”
Yanking your hair, he tilted your head, so your eyes were staring into his.
“If you say his name again, I’ll break your daughter’s neck.”
He was pulling hard on your hair, and the roots were beginning to sting.
“Am I clear, bitch?”
You silently nodded, not trusting your voice enough. He let go of your hair with a mean tug, and you wobbled on your knees.
“Open your mouth.”
You were late in complying, earning a hard slap in reward. Your cheek felt burning hot. He ground his teeth and slapped the other cheek, releasing all the pent-up anger boiling in his chest. Grabbing you like a ragdoll, he gripped your jaw tight and puckered your lips open.
“You don’t deserve my cock,” he spat out, forcing two slender fingers into your mouth. “This is all you get until you earn it.”
He pumped the fingers in and out, setting a harsh rhythm. His fingers were long and slender, and it was a feat to accommodate them all the way up to the knuckles. He added a third finger, not slowing one bit when you whimpered in protest.
“Shut up and take it,” he growled, driving them deeper and deeper until you gagged and coughed around the digits.
He waited until you regained your breath. Then he removed his fingers, scooping up the drool running down your chin. He then dragged his fingers on your cheeks, painting them in drool.
Grabbing you by the neck, he leaned over to breathe in your face:
“You can hate me all you want, but I’m never letting you go. Imagine him all you want, but the dick fucking into you will always be mine.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
The days rolled by quickly, and before you knew it, Ha Neul had turned 2 years old. She had started running and jumping, and she followed Taehyung around whenever he dressed up for work, hoping for a ride in his car.
It was a sunny April morning. You had asked your chauffeur to take you and Ha Neul shopping. She had to get vaccinated, and you had to pick some stuff from the store on the way back. The car was ready, and a guard quietly gave you the message.
Knocking on the bathroom door, you shouted to Taehyung.
“I need your credit card. I’m going out.”
The sound of the running shower immediately stopped. The door opened, and he leaned on the frame, his whole body on display.
“And where exactly is my baby girl going?”
Trying to forget the way his cock stood half-erect, you mumbled out: “Ha Neul’s vaccination.”
Taehyung didn’t let you have money of your own. He wanted you to be dependent on him. That way, you would always stay with him.
He had never forgiven you for moaning Yoongi’s name that one time. Whenever you wanted something, he made it a point to make you beg him. Usually, he made you suck him off, or ride him, just to go to the store or to grab cake for Ha Neul.
You weren’t allowed to ask the guards to get stuff for Ha Neul. They would simply nod their heads but not comply. Because they served Taehyung. And his orders took priority over yours.
“Just give me the card,” you huffed, annoyed at him.
He shook his hair like a puppy, sending water droplets flying all around, some landing on your face and clothes.
You took a step back, patting at the random drops spraying on you. “Ew. Cut it out, Taehyung.”
He grinned, grabbing you and grinding himself against you, wetting your clothes slightly. He was stark naked, in full contrast to your fully clothed body.
“Where’s the brat?” his tone was casual.
You bit back a curse word. “She has a name. Min Ha Neul is in the nursery.”
The annoyance on his face satisfied you to no end. “Why do you insist on calling her that every time?”
“Calling her what? Min Ha Neul? That’s her name.” You weren’t backing down in the slightest.
He leaned down to nip at your jaw. “Hmm. Very well, Y/N Kim.”
It was your turn to snap at him. “Stop calling me that.”
He smiled into your skin. Riling you up was so much fun.
“That’s your name, baby. To get the credit card, come soap me up and wash me.”
“Forget it, bitch,” you sneered, shaking him off.
“Not so fast, honey. Don’t you want her to get vaccinated?”
He thought you looked absolutely beautiful when you were angry. Oh, how he wanted to slam you against the door and fuck you into oblivion!
Not sparing a glance at him, you peeled your clothes off, stripping down to your underwear. He grinned.
“Might as well remove them, no?”
You wanted to slap the smile off his face.
“Fucking get back in the shower, Taehyung.”
He felt a sizzling electric jolt down his spine when you soaped him, lathering up and spreading the foam all over his chest. He was choking on his breath when he whined “My cock, ah Y/N, grab my cock.”
He shivered at the feeling of your warm hands slipping around his length. The feeling was delicious, making him roll his closed eyes under his lids. He enjoyed your little fingers caressing his skin, and when you knelt to soap his legs, he went wild.
The shower washed off the lather, leaving him sparkling clean. Before you had a chance to get up, he dug his hard dick into your face. Your head was caught between the wall and his strong thighs, and you were left with no other choice.
“Shit, suck me, go on, suck me with that hot little mouth.”
He slapped his dick against your cheek, ruining the makeup and leaving a mixture of water and pre-cum glistening on your skin.
“Go on, baby, I’m oh so clean. Suck my cock.”
He popped your mouth open, sliding himself in and hissing at the sensation.
“Like my cock, baby? Nibble along the shaft, yes,” he panted, looking down at you, face contorting in pleasure. “Like having my fat cock inside your mouth?”
You replied something, probably a curse, but it came out muffled around his cock. The vibration made him lose himself, thrusting deeper and deeper against your throat.
“Ah, swallow me, yes, fucking swallow my dick, Y/N.”
He bottomed out against your mouth, the prickly hair on his balls making the tip of your nose itch. His fingers felt around your throat, trying to feel himself through the skin of your neck.
“Swallow, baby,” he cooed, and you gagged a little, trying to swallow around him. His fingers felt the bulge in your throat, and his dick pulsed at the heady sensation, making him cum hard into your mouth. You almost choked on the cum, your throat feeling raw and sore.
He picked you up on your feet, muttering praises and kissing whichever part of skin he could find. Wiping your mouth, you stared at the floor and asked, “Can I get the card now?”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Baby,” he called, calling your attention to him as you tried to sneak past the living room. “Forgot something?”
You took a deep breath, giving up. There was no point in sneaking around him. The guy seemed to smell your presence.
“I’m going to tuck Ha Neul in,” you replied, not quite looking at him. “She fell asleep on the way back.”
He turned his gaze from his laptop, nodding absently. “Come back in five. And don’t forget.”
You went away, preoccupied with thinking of the man who had followed you around in the store. He had worn a mask, covering his lower face, and had been hot on your tail until you had reached your car. He had looked like he had something to say to you. But as soon as he had laid eyes on the car, he had disappeared. Who could it have been? You had no idea.
When you returned after getting your daughter to bed, he was waiting for you. He extended his hand, and you slipped the papers into it.
Taehyung always wanted the complete receipts and details of what you had bought, where you had gone and whom you had met whenever you went out. It was mostly to make sure you weren’t planning an escape or meeting some other guy.
His quickly scanned through the receipts, suddenly pausing, and looking at you ominously.
“Tampons, honey?”
His tone was controlled, but chilling, nonetheless. You had deliberately bought a lot of useless items to cover the fucking tampons.
“Yes. What about them?”
He sighed, skimming through the rest of the items on the bill.
“Y/N, it’s been two years.” He sighed again. “You know we want a baby.”
You recoiled, you had suspected he would say that, but to hear that out loud terrified you.
“Well, I don’t.”
He didn’t answer. He knew you would of course reject him. But it had already been two fucking years. He had tolerated that little tyke Min had sired just because he loved you. But however much he thought about it, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Ha Neul was more important to you.
He had sent Almond away; the dog was under Wo Bin’s care. But he couldn’t separate Ha Neul from you. He burned with jealousy whenever you kissed her or ruffled her hair. The dratted child had inherited her father’s gummy smile, much to Taehyung’s annoyance.
He wanted to feel closer to you, he needed to make you love him. Seeing you showering your love on the fruit of another man’s seed was humiliating to say the very least. He would give you a child, making you tend to his baby, effectively pulling you closer to him.
He wasn’t sure he liked babies. He hated smelly diapers and wet beds. But he would have to bear those if he wanted you to carry his child.
“Y/N, it’s time we started a family. You know it.”
You felt like screaming and breaking things.
“What part of ‘I hate you’ do you not get?”
He stood up, asserting his dominance by rising to his full height.
“I let you have that bastard’s child, I let her eat and sleep under my roof, I let her fucking have her damned surname,” he said, inching closer and closer, “And this is how you repay me?”
You perked up your chest, standing upright and biting the words out: “I don’t owe you anything. You ruined my life.”
He scoffed, a spray of spit landing on your face. “Don’t you dare talk back to me. You’ll only make things worse for you.”
“Oh? And how, exactly?”
He flushed in anger, looking out the window. It had started drizzling. Making up his mind, he stormed out of the room. You weren’t sure if you should follow. A few seconds later, you heard your daughter wail.
“Ha Neul?” You rushed to the nursery but stopped midway when you saw Taehyung carrying her down the stairs.
“Wait, what are you doing?” you screamed, following him in hot pursuit. He was quicker than you, and just as your feet touched the landing, he slammed the door on your daughter, letting her stand outside in the rain.
“What the hell, Taehyung? Open the door!”
You saw him turn the key in the lock, and he grinned sneakily as he dropped the key into his pants. Throwing yourself at him and pummeling at his chest, you sobbed at him to open the door.
“Please,” you begged, seeing through the window that the rain had started falling in torrents. “Please let her in.”
“I think not,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning his back against the door.
“What do you want? Please, anything…”
He cocked his eyebrows.
“Anything?” When you nodded, he thrust his hips out, still leaning. “Fish the key out of my pants.”
You dropped to your knees in haste, unzipping him and searching for the key. Your fingers brushed against hot muscle instead, and he lazily drawled above you:
“Kiss the tip and tell me you love me.”
Furious tears pricked your eyes, and you swallowed the bitter taste at the back of your throat. Taking his dick out, you kissed the angry red tip, muttering a weak “I love you.”
“Say, I love you Taehyungie.”
You couldn’t wait to grab your cold wet child shivering outside. Kissing the tip again, you looked up at him and bit the words out.
“I love you, Taehyungie.”
He grinned and let you take the key. He was already uncomfortable by sensation of the cold metal rubbing against his hot dick.
You hit him across the jaw, punching with all your might. He responded by shifting his position to let you put the key in the lock.
Before you turned it though, he grabbed you by the hips, his fingers searching under your dress for the crotch of your undies. Ripping it easily, he slammed himself inside you. You turned the lock. But you couldn’t open the door, not with him buried inside you.
“Let me get her first,” you whimpered, struggling to get away.
“Take me, baby,” he said, pushing himself deeper. “Make me cum and you can get her.”
Blowing out your cheeks, you clenched your pelvic muscle tight around him, repeating it mindlessly until he was a gasping mess.
“Oh, oh yes,” he whined, driving harder and harder, finally cumming hard. He slid himself out, letting go of your hips.
“Go get her. She’ll catch a cold, sweetie.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Mrs. Kim?”
The voice of your chauffeur cut through your thoughts, catching your attention.
“Your pills, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Seung Jo,” you breathed. Taehyung never would know how you got your birth control pills. You were so grateful that Seung Jo was loyal to you. You had no idea why, but he was very friendly, he seemed to understand that you were living the life of a caged bird.
He had been smuggling you the pills for a long time, and no one had ever found out. Taehyung had been vocal about you not getting pregnant however much he tried. He didn’t let you get up after sex, rather he made you lie down and tuck your legs. He carefully calculated your ovulation dates. But nothing came of his efforts. Except monthly bills that included tampons, of course.
“Seung Jo, can you do me a favor?”
He looked at your image in the rearview mirror. “Anything, ma’am.”
“I- can you check on Mrs. Min at the Klammer Institute on my behalf?”
He nodded silently. “Anything else, ma’am?”
You looked down at your shoes, chewing out the question. “Why are you not more like Taehyung’s men? What makes you keep secrets for me?”
He smiled and shrugged lightly. “I like you.”
The signal turned green and you lurched forward a bit. “Excuse me?”
He repeated patiently. “I said, I like you.”
“Are you aware that Taehyung would blow your brains out if he heard about this?”
Seung Jo glided the car to a stop. “You hadn’t any idea that I liked you all this time?”
You fell silent. There was no way to know if he was being serious. Maybe it was a trap Taehyung had set. You had to be cautious.
“Well, Mrs. Kim? Tongue-tied?”
“Get the car moving, Seung Jo,” was the only thing you could reply.
Just before the car nosed into the mansion, he whispered in a low voice:
“I think I love you.”
You stared at his reflection, dumbfound. He continued.
“I’ve known you for more than two years, do you think I can’t see how unhappy you are?”
“Seung Jo,” you said, warningly.
“Just think about it,” he said, turning the ignition off. He got out of the car and held the door open for you, meeting your eyes for a brief moment, the look laden with meaning.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Mommy?” Ha Neul called, her cute lips curving around the words. She was very smart, and had started talking in long meaningful sentences.
“Yes, honey?”
She tugged at her pigtails, forming the sentence in her head.
“Why- my name is Min? Father’s name and yours are Kim?” The lilt of the second question suggested innocent curiosity.
Taehyung lowered the newspaper, glaring at the back of her head. You smiled, gathering her up and sitting her down on your lap.
“Because, sweetie, mommy was married to Min Yoongi, your daddy.”
Her sweet voice took on a confused tone. “What happened to daddy?”
You sent a scorching glare to Taehyung before replying, “He died, baby. A bad man killed him.”
Taehyung threw his paper down. “Is this necessary? Should she know the details?”
“She deserves to know the truth,” you snapped.
The child looked at you, not understanding the banter. “Bad man?”
You nodded sadly. She asked again, crooning: “Daddy was a good man?”
A smile dawned on your lips, and you replied earnestly, “He was the best man in the world, sweetheart.”
She went silent, her little brain working to grasp the information. Taehyung’s eyes shot daggers at you, which you steadily ignored.
“Mommy,” she said again, “Can I call father daddy?”
You looked up at the man in question. His face registered surprise. He hadn’t quite expected that.
He cleared his throat and replied gruffly, “You can call me that, Ha Neul.”
The brightness of her gummy smile melted your heart. God, she was just like Yoongi. So adorable.
“Daddy,” she said, feeling the word rolling off her tongue. She ran towards Taehyung, innocently clinging to his forearm.
“Daddy, when can I go to school?”
Taehyung’s eyebrows shot up. He addressed you, asking, “Didn’t we decide to homeschool her?”
Ha Neul spoke up for herself, waving her hands. “Daddy, Mr. Soh says school is wonderful! Pencils, paper, desks,” she started counting them off on her little fingers.
“Alright, honey,” you said, attempting to steer the conversation towards calmer topics. “Daddy and mommy will think about it.”
Mr. Soh was Ha Neul’s homeschool teacher, he came by thrice a week. He had probably planted the idea of school in her mind.
After Ha Neul got bored and ran off to play ball, Taehyung hissed at you angrily.
“I’m not letting you or her out of this house.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
The sound of the waves crashing filled your ears, salt heavy in the air and reminding you of the terrible day you had spent dangling on a suspension bridge.
“Mrs. Kim?” You turned. “Thanks for meeting me.”
You were silent, the blank look on your face replaced with shock when he removed the mask and took off his shades.
“Bong Ju?” you gasped, a wave of fear jolting your heart. “What do you want?”
He took a hesitant step forward; palms open to show he meant no harm.
“I have to give you something, I tried hard to meet you, but it was almost impossible.”
You watched in fear as he dipped his hand inside his coat pocket, your breath relaxing when he pulled out a sealed envelope.
“I’m sorry for a lot of things, Mrs. Kim, I have betrayed you so much. But this,” he extended the envelope to you, “this belongs to you.”
“What is it?” you whispered, scared to touch it.
“Mr. Min, he gave it to me for safekeeping. He-“ the man gulped, “-he wanted you to have it in case he was gone before you.”
You shook your head in disbelief.
“Why did you wait so long then? You fucking betrayed him and me. Why should I believe you?”
He nodded, guilt weighing his features down.
“I had to do it, Mrs. K- Mrs. Min, I was blackmailed to do it. Kim Taehyung threatened to kill my sister and her family if I didn’t help him.”
Tears streamed down his face. “I took the money and fled, but my sister- she died in a plane crash. Her whole family.” A loud sob interrupted his flow. “I think it’s karma, I deserved it for betraying you. I am really very sorry, Mrs. Min.”
“But you- you were the prime witness…”
“Witness? What witness? What are you talking about?”
You shrank back in alarm.
“You don’t know about the inquest? Weren’t you the state’s prime witness?”
He tilted his head in confusion. “I don’t understand. An inquest, you say?”
Cold dread filled the crevices of your heart, rising up steadily, threatening to crush your ribs.
“But- I thought… How did you know where I was?”
His features were still confused when he answered:
“Kang Minsook, a lawyer called me a few weeks ago.”
Your mouth widened. “Where were you three years ago? How do you know Minsook?”
He shrugged, wide eyed.
“I fled to the Bahamas after you ran to rescue Mr. Min. I didn’t know he was dead until Mr. Kang called recently. I flew back and saw you had married Taehyung. I thought you didn’t require to read the letter, but…” his voice trailed off. “…But I asked around and heard a lot about what had happened. Mr. Min made me swear I would deliver it to you.”
“Didn’t Minsook tell you about the case?”
“I don’t know of any case. He only asked if I used to work for Mr. Min and whether I knew he was dead.”
The whole earth stopped spinning. There had been no prime witness! Bong Ju hadn’t even known about the case. Minsook hadn’t discovered about Bong Ju at all. You swallowed the truth. It dawned on you that Minsook never mentioned a witness in court, only Taehyung and your attorney had hinted that Bong Ju was the prosecution’s witness. Taehyung had well and truly played you.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Fragments of Yoongi’s letter kept returning to haunt you. It had been five pages long. You knew he had poured his heart into it, there was such emotion in the words. According to the date, it had been written on the day of your first wedding anniversary.
His words filled the deep void left by his sudden departure, at least to a certain extent. The papers had creases in them, caused by your repeated folding and unfolding over the course of weeks. You kept re-reading it whenever you had the chance, just to hold on to the ghost of his memory a little longer. Dear, wonderful, passionate, loving Yoongi.
“Y/N?” the arms gently shook your shoulders, breaking the spell.
“Huh?”
“I said, I love you.” He leaned into you, his concerned look searching your face. “You okay?”
“I-“  You looked at Seung Jo’s chocolate brown eyes. “I don’t know.”
He let go of you, leaning against the car. “What do you mean?”
“Seung Jo.” You took a whiff of the salty air. “I have a 3-year-old daughter. My husband is a businessman with roots in the mafia. He would kill us if he knew.”
He scoffed, taking your hand, and pressing it lightly.
“Y/N, remember, I love you and your daughter. I am not afraid of Taehyung. I can make you happy. Just say yes and I’ll take you away.”
It did sound alluring. But you didn’t love him back. He seemed sweet and genuine, but that was it. You looked at the brown wisps of hair dancing on his forehead. He was young, the honey toned skin was taut over his prominent veins. He was cute, yes. Did you love him? No.
Yoongi’s letter fluttered back to your mind.
I have kept aside 5 million dollars for us, Y/N. We can use it for our baby, we can add to it every year. I will be so proud on the day our baby is born. I am sure our firstborn would be a girl, just as beautiful and wonderful as her mom. I can’t wait to see you glowing with our child, I can’t wait to hold her tiny fingers in mine.
You stifled a sob. The pain was still fresh. You would never believe that three years had gone already. His letter ended with a note, saying that if he ever died, you were supposed to use the money in case it wasn’t withdrawn already. He had written that he would add a million dollars for every anniversary he celebrated with you. The account details had been written in his neat handwriting.
If I go before you, Y/N, even if I’m 60 and you’re 59, if we haven’t already used up the money, take it. Live happily. I want only the best for you, my love.
It made you guilty that you were even thinking of eloping with Seung Jo. You didn’t love him. But he was your entry pass to the outside world. Maybe, just maybe, after you got out of Taehyung’s clutches, you could explain it all to Seung Jo and part ways. But you knew you needed Seung Jo’s help to get out. You wouldn’t tell him about Yoongi’s secret trust fund, you weren’t sure about revealing that.
Your resolve crumbled, and you caved, asking for more time. He drove you back home, dropping you off dutifully.
When you entered the house, Taehyung was coming out of the basement, unaware of your figure standing on the hearthrug. His torso was naked, save for the chain around his neck. He was holding the key looped in the chain in his hand as he ascended the steps, not seeing you in the least.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Wo Bin sought a meeting with Taehyung, giving him the security update for the week.
“Mr. Kim,” he started cautiously, looking at his boss in wary apprehension.
“Yes?”
“It’s Se Jong again, he has been a sore pain in the ass for months, boss.”
Taehyung blew out his cheeks and sighed.
“I know, Bin-ah, but his brother was very loyal to me. He took a bullet and died for me. And Se Jong is helpful with the money matters.”
Wo Bin hesitated. “Yes, about that…”
“What is it?”
“Mrs. Kim was seen at the bank yesterday. She was enquiring about a withdrawal. Se Jong brought it to our notice.”
Taehyung sat up in concern. It was unusual of you to go to any bank. You only had credit cards which he gave after you satisfied his quirks. What was the need for going to the bank? He knew that more details were yet to come, else his man would have already told them without being prompted to.
“Keep an eye on her banking interests, tell Se Jong to be alert.”
Wo Bin nodded, readying himself to speak again.
“Also,” he drawled, waiting until he had his boss’s attention. “Our man at the docks informed that Bong Ju was seen in the city. We don’t have the details of where he went or who he met yet.”
Taehyung leaned back in his chair, a faint worry nagging him. Bong Ju had been told to stay put in the Bahamas if he wanted his sister’s family to stay alive. It was a breach on his part to flout the order. Why had he come? Did it have anything to do with you?
“Keep asking around. I need to know if he crossed paths with my wife.”
He decided to leave early and be near you for the rest of the afternoon.
On his way out, Taehyung absently walked by the aisle of cubicles, thinking about your new interest in finance. What were you up to? His guards always gave him clean reports of your whereabouts, it didn’t seem like you had found a new guy.
As he passed a cubicle, a pair of sultry eyes looked up at him. He froze spontaneously. Stepping towards the eyes led his gaze to a prominent cleavage, a beauty mark right at the middle of it. His mind raced to the masquerade ball, the night when the mysterious masked woman kissed him.
“You.”
She got up, eyeing him steadily. She never broke eye contact as she traced her vixen steps, affirming his suspicion. She flicked her hand at him, dipping it into his breast pocket and pulling out the pocket square. She was still gazing at him when she pressed it against her lips, winked coyly, and tucked it back in its place with a smoot pat.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Where’s Taehyung?” You inquired casually, careful not to look too interested.
“He is at the cottage, Mrs. Kim.”
Cottage. Basement. Yoongi.
The word opened a dam of traumatic memories. “Oh, yes, I see.”
Your hands were shaking nervously when you returned to the bedroom. So, he was away. He’d probably be late. It gave you ample time to rummage around for passports. Ha Neul had her own passport too, he had taken you and Ha Neul to Paris on a vacation. The passports had to be somewhere, right in his closet.
There was a vault with an electronic keypad. You hoped that the passports were in there. But what was the combination? You tried everything you could think of. Birthdays, birth years, anniversaries, but no luck. It just stubbornly flashed a red light and vibrated.
What was it?
Your fingers punched the numbers in, doubt weighing heavily on your mind. Could it… be the day Yoongi died?
The vault clicked open.
── ⋆✩⋆ ──
Taehyung was seated on a chair, his legs crossed. The woman was kneeling, held in place by two guards. The musky smell of the room brought back memories of the night he killed Min Yoongi. He was not in the glass room, but the basement was the same anyway. The faded light flickered outside the door. It was fucking cold. Well, basements did get damn cold in the winter.
“It was you.”
She smiled, licking her crimson lips, her lipstick and sharp canines lending a fiendish aura to her. Like a vampire.
“It was always me, Kim,” she cooed, the smile turning sinister. “Took you long enough.”
He tilted his head, creasing his forehead.
“What do you mean?”
She smiled again, the genial expression morphing instantly into a dangerous sneer as she ground her teeth.
“You don’t remember me, Kim. But I do. You thought I was an easy fuck. You kicked me out on the streets even before your cum dried.” She glared at him. “I was not and am not a fucking whore, Kim Taehyung. I’m the heiress of the damned Song Shipping Line,” she spat.
“Song? But that is owned by Song Joong-“
“That’s my cousin. I had more pressing matters to deal with.” She smirked and raised her brows. “Because, Kim, you cannot just fuck me and throw me out.”
The pleasant beam was back on her face. “I let my cousin run the company and came after you. I changed my name, solely to crush your heart under my heels.” The smile took on a shy turn. “But what can I say, I’ve fallen for you.”
He looked at her as if she were out of her mind.
“You? Have fallen for me?”
Even the guards holding her looked at each other in confusion.
She laughed, letting her head roll back. “What?” Her eyes were streaming with mirth. “You can’t believe that?”
He didn’t respond, suspicious that she was playing him. Who on Earth actually fell for him? She must be crazy. But Song? Was she Song Jun Hyi? He didn’t even remember meeting her. When he found his voice, it came out croaked.
“Why- why would you leave everything and become a secretary? Why?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Why? Don’t you understand? You of all people should get me. It’s simple, Kim.” She pouted her plush lips. “I’m in love with you.”
He darted out of his chair. “What are you, crazy?”
“Uh huh.” She winked at him, drawing her words out. “Crazy about you.”
Taehyung looked at the guards, and they dropped her hands, leaving the room immediately. But she remained kneeling. Taehyung sat down again, leaning against the backrest, and establishing the power dynamic.
“I don’t believe you.”
She scoffed. “What should I say to make you believe me?” She smiled her crooked smile. “Should I say how your wife is sneaking behind your back?” The smile deepened. “Should I say she’s hiding secrets from you?”
He gripped the armrests tight. No, his Y/N would never. This woman knew nothing about you. She was a crazy bitch who had no idea how pure you were.
“Well?” she teased. “Wanna know, baby boy?”
He pressed his lips together, fighting the urge to slap her silly. The sound of her voice was grating on his nerves.
“Don’t you dare call me that.”
She gave him her best puppy eyed smile. “Aw, look at you, so pretty when angry.”
“I would never love you back,” he snapped.
“But that didn’t stop you from grabbing Y/N, did it?”
He bounded forward, catching her throat in a strangle-hold.
“Don’t fuck with me, Na Yeon.”
His hand was gripping her like a vice. The bob of her throat was evident as she choked out “I’m not. It’s the truth.”
His mean streak got the better of him. “Oh, yeah?” His fingers tightened. “Tell me my wife’s secrets so I can spit on your face and say that I already know them.”
Even though death was beckoning, she remained stoic, looking at him steadily. “I will. But kiss me first.”
He knew an obstinate bitch when he saw one. Dipping his head down, he ghosted his breath just down her nose.
“Tell me and I’ll give it to you. If you really deserve it.”
Her tongue flicked out and traced his lip. “Okay, tiger.” She pushed herself a bit and butted his nose.
“Hmm, how do I put it eloquently, honey boy? You aren’t going to have a baby anytime soon.”
His glare burned into her face. “I’m not impot-“
She rubbed his nose with hers. “Shh, I know, tiger boy. You’re well equipped to make a lot of cubs inside me, I’m sure.”
He remained silent, not liking how she knew about his weakness for nose rubs.
“Tell me, bitch.” His nostrils flared in anger at being called a boy.
“You’re staying at the winter villa, right?” She licked his lips again, causing him to recoil. “Well, my source tells me that she hides pretty little things in a shoebox. Third closet from the left. An old shoebox, baby boy. Go look.”
He smiled mockingly at her. Did the bitch think he would believe her?
“You’re pathetic.”
She grinned again. “Aren’t you, too?”
He rose from his crouch, ears pink. Walking rapidly to the door, he looked back at her one hard time, biting out the words:
“We’ll see what’s in the closet. I’ll fucking snap your neck if you’re lying,” before slamming the door behind him.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
So Na Yeon or Song Jun Hyi to be precise, looked up with hysterical joy when he returned. She saw the tousled hair, deathly pallor and the unsteady gait of a man defeated. The strange mix of anger and disappointment plastered on his face told her all she wanted to know.
“You saw it, didn’t you?”
Taehyung couldn’t believe that his Y/N had betrayed him right under his nose. What hurt him more was that you had kept a lot more stuff inside that box.
He didn’t know how you had gotten your hands on them, but there were suit buttons, bits of paper with Yoongi’s handwriting, cuff links, tie pins, movie ticket stubs, and a lot of odds and ends crammed into it. Beneath the box of souvenirs, the yellow pill bottle was tucked safely, full of birth control pills.
He had gone feral, throwing everything out of the closet and fucking losing himself. He had almost hit you, but he had exacted revenge another way.
He looked at the woman squatting on the floor. Her ass was probably freezing on the cold hard floor. But her face had all the warmth in the world as she gazed at him.
He couldn’t control the anger coursing through his body. His eyes were burning.
“How did you know about it?” He hated the defeated tone of his voice. He hated losing. Ever.
“I think I’ve earned my kiss now,” she replied, pouting her lips up at him expectantly.
His glare was sharp enough to cut diamonds. “I only ever kiss my wife.”
“Come on, tiger boy, you made a deal.” Her whine was bratty, yes, but he knew she wasn’t as weak or harmless as she looked. She had no business inside his wife’s closet, yet she knew where exactly you kept your secrets.
His heart weighed down with guilt as he extended his hand to her, pulling her up so she wouldn’t fucking lose her butt to the bitter cold. Once up, she slithered her body against him, humming in content. He let his hands hang limply at his sides, not even attempting to hold her.
She didn’t seem to mind. Pushing him to make him sit on the lone chair, she straddled him, not paying attention to his limp hands. She moaned in luJst, purring like a cat as she hungrily licked strokes on his Adams apple. Her tongue found its way to his lips, kissing the corners teasingly.
Bunching his hair in her fists, she kissed him with such intensity that a subconscious moan escaped the depths of his throat. Her tongue fought his own for dominance, and he couldn’t help but give up. She was a fricking wildcat. But it was when her hand slid to cup his crotch that he drew the line.
“I only agreed to a kiss. Get off me.”
Her glance was mocking. “Seriously, you don’t want it? You don’t want to be loved back? I’m offering you my whole heart on a platter, and you still want her?”
He didn’t respond, the words cutting him harder than the sharpest blades. She traced her finger down his chest. “I’ve got everything, baby, I am a fucking heiress. She’s got nothing.”
He pushed her off, the malice back in full spirit. His voice was laced with hatred when he hissed at her:
“She is everything.” No one could match up to you. Your half-hearted kisses, sloppy blowjobs, angry punches, they all made more sense than the fiery kiss he had just received. No, he loved you. The whole you.
Na Yeon hugged her knees, smiling up in that annoying manner. “You’re a business man, Kim. How about we talk a deal?”
── ⋆✩⋆ ──
“I’d rather sit on your lap if you don’t mind,” she said, eyeing the chair that had been brought into the room for her. God, she was driving him insane.
“I do fucking mind.”
She pursed her lips, settling into the chair with an air of defeat. He cut to the chase immediately.
“What is your deal?”
She regarded him with blank honesty. “Let’s have a bet, actually. It’s better that way.”
“Spit it out.”
“Let’s see, you killed Y/N’s husband just to get her. Right?” The innocent question had a sinister hook lurking underneath, which Taehyung immediately caught.
“What about it?”
“Well, in that case, if killing an obstacle is right to get to the person you love, doesn’t that law apply to me too?”
He had expected that hook. He understood how her mind worked because she was exactly at his mental place. Obsessed with a person who just didn’t return the feeling. He realized that she was very much like him.
“Do you expect an answer?” He sounded calm and relaxed.
“No, I know you know what I’m talking about, Kim.” She cracked her neck, sighing a little. “I will kill her if that means I can get you.”
“So, what is your deal?” He fought to keep the condescension out of his tone.
She grinned. “My businessman,” she purred. “I try and kill her. You try and stop it. Just leave the odds to the stars.”
“Why would I agree to such a stupid deal?”
“Because, Kim, the clock has already started ticking for your Y/N. I’m only offering you a chance to save her before I kill her.”
“If I win?” He smirked with confidence.
“You get your way with me. Kill me, lock me up, whatever you want.” Her casual words did send a jolt up his spine. “But, if I win,”
“What if you win?”
“I get you.”
She winked and laughed before adding, “And she dies.”
He didn’t bat an eyelid. “Deal.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
The deal was that Na Yeon would try and kill you within a month, and he would have to prevent it from happening. The nuances were:
Na Yeon wasn’t allowed anywhere near you. She had bragged about already having set a plan in motion. So, she had only that plan to rely on. She was fired from Taehyung’s office with immediate effect.
Taehyung wasn’t allowed to tap into Na Yeon’s phone calls or personal correspondence. He wasn’t allowed to involve any other person into the deal. His attempts to save you were to be his alone. No cops, guards, or any backup for him either.
When Taehyung returned home, his ears were already buzzing. He had almost drowned your daughter, trying to teach you a lesson. He went in search of you, finding you curled into a ball by your daughter’s bed.
“She got a fever?” he enquired, attempting to balm your pain.
You flew at him like a lioness, punching him in the chest, pushing him out of the room.
“What the fuck? ‘She got a fever?’ Is that all you got, you cruel piece of crap?”
He let himself get pummeled; he did deserve it. He had jeopardized the only string that was tying you to him. He shifted his gaze down, looking at your pants when he saw something that caught his attention. Dog hair. Almond.
He caught your fists, shushing you as he did so. “What’s that? Almond’s fur?”
You froze briefly, collecting yourself just as quickly.  “Yeah. What about it?”
He tsked. “I don’t remember giving you permission to walk him. Or go near him.”
Holding your head, you shook in anger, hissing “I don’t want your permission to fucking breathe. I’m done.”
He was tempted to say that he knew. He knew you were upto something behind his back. The words almost slipped his lips. But he had to play it out. He had to win you. It was almost objectification, trying to win you. But Na Yeon had placed him in that uncomfortable fix. If he justified killing Yoongi as an excuse to scout your love, Na Yeon did have the right to employ the same tactic. It was only fair.
“I know you’re upset, Y/N. I…” He swallowed the lump in his throat, “… I am sorry.”
You were taken aback. You had thought that apologies never existed in his world. To hear it for the first time, the sound of it felt so unfamiliar.
“I- need to be alone.”
He nodded and withdrew silently, leaving you to your own. Almond. He had to know how you had gotten near him. Also, he had to find out about the shoebox. Was it one of the guards? He became paranoid. Was one of him own men cheating on him with you? Was that why he only got squeaky clean reports of you all the time?
He trusted his guys with his life. No, there had to be something else he was missing. It didn’t make sense, especially when you vehemently hated the guys and their guns. You never allowed them anywhere near your daughter.
Who had clearance to talk to you, to pass you pills? Who did you meet that no other guard got suspicious of? Who was in the circle approved to be in contact with you? Who was the invisible person hiding in plain sight?
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Seung Jo had packed all his stuff and sent them ahead to Malta. He only had to pick up a couple of things. Oh, and the tickets. He smiled at the couple of tickets he had tucked inside his diary. He was going to Malta with the love of his life. It felt too good to be true.
Na Yeon’s steady paychecks, coupled with Taehyung’s had given him a lot of money to enjoy a life of luxury over there. His phone vibrated, interfering in his pleasant daydreams of lazing on hammocks and sipping beer.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Has anyone begun to suspect you?”
“No, everything is fine.”
“And Y/N? You’re positive about her?”
“Oh yes. We’ll continue as planned.”
“Good. Six more days.”
The caller hung up. He lay back down on his bed, thinking if he should get married in Malta, or wait to get to an even better destination.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
There was a knock on the door, waking up Seung Jo. His blurred vision made out 3:18 am on the digital clock. The knock grew louder, and he swore under his breath as he hit his foot on something. Waddling through the darkness, he flicked the light on and rubbed his toe. The sudden brightness took some adjusting to. The knock persisted, getting faster by the second.
“Chill the fu-“ He threw the door open, the curse freezing on his lips when he saw who was standing outside.
“Mr- Mr. Kim?”
The man in sweatpants looked so different, as if he were a whole other person, and not the suit and tie guy Seung Jo knew of.
“I’m coming in, it’s fucking freezing.” Taehyung brushed past Seung Jo, making straight for the couch.
Sweat lined Seung Jo’s neck, even though it was winter and bone-chillingly cold.
“Is something the matter, sir?” He couldn’t imagine the boss man coming to his house at such an odd time. Whatever it was, it surely wasn’t good news.
“Let’s cut the bullshit, Seung Jo.” Taehyung waved a file at the man in front of him. “Who hired you?”
The sweat was coming in torrents now. “Uh- Miss Na Yeon did, sir.” He wasn’t sure how much the boss had found out. He didn’t know if he was owning up to the plan or to the fact that she hired him as the chauffeur.
“As the-?” Taehyung persisted, patience wearing thin.
Seung Jo shut up, he was not going to readily own up. He wouldn’t give up and lose Malta and love to empty threats.
“As the chauffeur,” he replied sulkily.
“Oh?” Taehyung’s lips remained in the surprised pout for a whole minute. “Well, I have a whole file of papers that proves otherwise.”
Seung Jo knew now. His breath stuck in his throat. “Mr. Kim, let me explain…”
Taehyung waved in dismissal. “Just spit out the truth. I don’t have time. Bare facts.”
When he received just a beseeching look in reply, Taehyung opened the file and pulled out sheets of paper.
“Two tickets to Malta.” He waved them at the man. “By flight.” He removed some more sheets and waved them. “Three tickets to Santorini, by ship.”
Taehyung clucked his tongue. “Tell me I’m wrong, Seung Jo, how can you be on a flight and a ship on the same day?”
Seung Jo knew that he was beyond saving. He knew Taehyung’s violent temper. And living around men with guns had already shaken him enough to know when to give up.
“Mr. Kim, sir, I was asked to trick Mrs. Kim into going to the harbor. I was supposed to get out of the country as soon as she left to go to the harbor.”
“And what’s in the harbor?”
“I don’t know, sir. I really don’t. Ms. Na Yeon told me to not poke my nose into it when I asked.”
“And you were going to Malta.” Taehyung leaned back as he surveyed the man shaking before him. “With your boyfriend.”
Seung Jo nodded, wiping his sweat with his palm. “I wanted to live a better life, Mr. Kim. My boyfriend- he’s a barista. He has been through enough in life, that’s why I accepted Ms. Na Yeon’s offer. I wanted money.” He sniffed. “I wanted to marry my boyfriend and give him the life he deserves.”
Taehyung looked at the man closely. “Did you ever… kiss my…”
The man shook his head with violent passion. “No, sir! No. I could never cheat on my boyfriend.”                                                                                    
Taehyung’s chest deflated. “So, you never had feelings for her?”
“I swear I didn’t, sir.”
Good. The guy hadn’t held you or touched you with any lustful intent. Taehyung would have chopped the fucker’s fingers off if he had. He felt lucky.
“Na Yeon doesn’t know that you’re gay?”
She had made a very foolish mistake, overseeing that important detail. One that was going to cost her dearly.
“No, sir, I wanted the money. I couldn’t risk not being hired. She has no idea.”
The man was visibly shaking. He kept wiping his sweaty palms on his sides. “Please, please don’t kill me, sir. I …”
“Oh no, Seung Jo. Here’s what we are going to do...”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Y/N?”
You turned to Seung Jo. His almond skin was glinting in the afternoon sun. “Yeah?”
He passed the tickets to you. Your hands shook when you opened the envelope. The destination made your head swim. Santorini. It was real. You were really going. Your baby girl and you were finally going to be free.
You nodded at him absently before asking “And yours?”
He chuckled, nodding. “I have it safely locked at home. Can’t risk carrying it around, babe.”
“Yeah. Right.”
You fell silent, looking at the cottony clouds sailing above. “It feels so scary-” You took a deep breath – “Getting out of there.” The silence resumed for a moment. “I’m scared I might wake up and find this is all nothing but a dream.”
Seung Jo’s conscience pricked him for the first time. He was dangling freedom in front of a woman who would never get out of the cage. But he had gotten into the sticky mess; he had to get out of it alive.
Taehyung had threatened to kill his boyfriend if he didn’t finish the game he had started.
He squeezed your hand, gently assuring that you were going to escape for real.
“But we’re going on Friday, not Thursday.”
You stared at the ticket closely, surprise written on your face. “I thought you said Thursday. I clearly remember.”
He looked ahead, avoiding your stare. “Yeah I did. But I could get tickets only for Friday. Just a day, babe, hold on for one more day.”
You nodded, gulping down the fear nibbling at your heart. Taehyung would go ballistic if he knew your passports were missing. Just one day.
“So, be ready and I’ll come pick you and Ha Neul up on Friday. You told him you’re going to the dentist, right?”
You nodded again. The alibis were already ready.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“You ready? It’s time. Get going, Seung Jo.”
“Yes, ma’am. I am on my way to the house.”
“Text me when you get there.”
She cut the call and picked up her burner cell. The room was silent except for the low sound of the dial tone.
“You there yet?”
“Yeah. I’ve already set up the scope.”
“Okay. Remember, she’ll be there with her daughter. Wrap it up nice and clean.”
“For sure.”
The sniper hung up, looking at his neon watch. He had some time to kill before his target would be arriving.
Meanwhile, Na Yeon was micromanaging Seung Ho, calling him every few minutes to check up on him. She was in her apartment, biting her fingernails and praying that everything would go right.
Seung Jo hadn’t told her anything that was the least suspicious. Had Taehyung really not found out? Was she winning? Her controlling nature was bursting at the seams, not being there to witness your death. She didn’t like putting her fate into other people’s hands. But some battles were better fought remotely.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“I never miss a target.”
Her fingers trembled, causing the cellphone to shake. She drew a shaky breath.
“Fine. Abort and return.”
When she turned, she had a violent start. A dark outline was standing the doorway, moving towards her. Taehyung stepped into view, his devilish smile lending unnatural charm to his features.
“Guess I won then?”
She had no choice but to surrender, tail well between her legs. All the confidence in her had evaporated away. Not because she failed to kill you. Rather because she had lost him. He was never going to be hers.
“What’s it gonna be? She asked softly. “Death by what? Guns? Poison? Explosives?”
He chuckled lightly. “None.” He took great pleasure in seeing her startled expression.
“What?!”
He flashed his boxy smile, melting the living soul out of her.
“You can never get me, Na Yeon. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t live.” He crossed his arms and pursed his lips. “You did try to harm the singularly most important person in my life. For that though, you’ll have to pay the price.”
He dipped his hands into his pockets.
“A sniper? Really? I never expected that much class from you. I’m amazed.” He chuckled lightly. “Your sniper couldn’t shoot my wife because according to Seung Jo’s new plan, they’re leaving tomorrow, not today.” He loved the way she gulped in shock.
“You played me, so I played you by using your own man against you.”
That evening, So Na Yeon was restrained and taken to the Klammer Institute, where she was placed in a psychiatric ward reserved exclusively for her. Her registration form simply stated ‘No next of kin. Hold till end of life.’
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
You couldn’t sleep all night. What if something raised Taehyung’s doubts? You weren’t going to take any luggage. Getting yourselves out of Taehyung’s clutches was enough for now. You had prepped Ha Neul for the big plan, telling her that it was a surprise for daddy and she absolutely should not say anything before him.
Taehyung was tired and slept soundly by your side. It eased your mind to know he wasn’t aware of how fidgety you were. That man had the sense of a bloodhound.
Dawn came, and soon it was bright and sunny. Taehyung smiled into his glass of juice when you announced that you were going to the dentist.
“Sure, honey. Be back soon.” He resumed scanning his newspaper.
You waited and waited, biting your lips, and stealing looks at the clock. The ship was going to sail away soon. But no Seung Jo came. He had talked to you the previous evening, going over the entire plan. Where, then, was he?
You jumped whenever a shadow fell across the foyer, hoping to see Seung Jo bounding in. But every time, you were disappointed.
Taehyung kept a straight face when he asked, “Do you want one of the guards to drive you?”
You shook your head, biting your lips harder. “No, I’m fine.” You looked up at the clock again. He wasn’t coming. He had let you down.
You had chased a fickle drop, and it had vanished, leaving you stranded in the desert.
At that exact time, Seung Jo was inside the plane bound to Malta, holding hands with his boyfriend, waiting for the takeoff.
His boyfriend pressed his hand warmly. “What is it, babe? Sad about leaving this place?”
Seung Jo gave him a watery smile. “Uh, yeah. Kind of.”
The plane took off, carrying them both towards a new phase of life. Seung Jo leaned and peered down the window, wondering about you. He had done everything Taehyung had ordered him to. There was nothing more to be done. He hoped you would be alright.
“I love you,” his boyfriend said, leaning on his shoulder and sighing happily.
“I love you too.”
“To better places, love.”
“Yeah, babe. To better places only.”
With that, Seung Jo erased you off his mind.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Wo Bin discreetly cleared his throat, standing at full attention before his boss.
“What’s the matter, Bin-ah?”
The man hesitated slightly, unsure of how to best word it.
“Mr. Boss, no, Kim… no, Mr. Kim….”
Taehyung shot a penetrating glance at his aide, peering at him over his reading glasses.
“Spit it out, Bin.”
“I don’t know how to…” He saw his boss’s nostrils flare up, and he blurted it out. “I- I’ve been in-“ He swallowed hard, “-in love with So Na Yeon for years now.”
He nervously watched his boss digest the information, waiting to have his head bitten off.
Taehyung crossed his arms and stared at Wo Bin hard.
“For years?”
Wo Bin nodded silently.
“Help me understand, Bin. You say you love her and then she tries to kill my wife? Were you two planning…”
“No, no, boss!  I never told her. She doesn’t know. Not an inkling. I never even asked her out.”
Taehyung leaned back a bit. “So, are you going to fight me for putting her in an institute?” He looked at the gun in Wo Bin’s holster. “Are you going to shoot me?”
“Of course not, sir. I loved her. I still do in fact.” The man wiped his brow. “But I would never choose her over you.”
Taehyung’s brow shot up, intrigued.
“Why is that?”
“She doesn’t love me.”
The soft voice made Taehyung uneasy. Was Wo Bin mad at him that So Na Yeon was in love with him? Would he kill him for her? He wouldn’t be surprised if Wo Bin decided to go down that road.
Wo Bin looked down at his boots and continued: “She’s not So Na Yeon anymore. I didn’t fall in love with Song Jun Hyi.” He snapped his head back up to look at Taehyung square in the eyes. “And most importantly, I would never betray you.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
One year later
“Mommy, will daddy get candy?”
“Yes, baby.”
Your little girl shook her pigtails cutely, saying “Will I get gummy bears?”
You smiled and nodded at her, assuring her that she would.
Taehyung was talking to Wo Bin, who was complaining loudly about the lack of discipline in the ranks. “Some guys are just too unruly, boss. They’re like a bunch of school boys.”
Taehyung’s phone vibrated, and he smiled as he picked it up.
“Yes, sugar?”
“Min Ha Neul wants gummy bears. Don’t be a miser. Get her some M&Ms too.”
“And you, love? Can I get you anything? Cravings?”
“Fucking get hit by a car and die.”
“I’ll remember not to,” he replied, grinning.
You sighed and looked down. 6 months pregnant. It was humiliating to carry his child around. But you couldn’t hate the baby. No, you weren’t evil enough to do that. He was such a bitch to you, yes, but you would never hurt babies. You would never stoop that low.
You still randomly thought of Seung Jo. Where had he gone? Had Taehyung found out and killed him? But Taehyung was a man to gloat. He would have laughed in your face and told the news. So, what else had happened to Seung Jo? The thoughts came occasionally, out of nowhere. And every time, you daydreamed of escaping on that ship, far far away from Kim Taehyung.
When Taehyung returned home, he couldn’t find you in the bedroom. Waltzing over to the kitchen, he froze when he saw you downing something straight out of a bottle. He bounded over to you, snatching it, and raining slaps on your face.
“You’re trying to kill my baby,” he screamed in hysteria, shaking you by the throat. “You bitch, you’re poisoning my baby!”
“Let me go,” you croaked, “it’s – it’s just cough syrup.” You threw the bottle down, fighting to breathe.
His hands abruptly left your throat, his pupils still dilated in the surge of adrenaline. You looked over his shoulder and saw Ha Neul peeking around the door, scared by the loud noise.
When he bent and looked at the label, he hung his head sheepishly. It was cough syrup.
“Don’t worry,” you snapped, brushing past him, “Unlike you, I don’t hurt children.” You paused and glared at him. “Or anyone, for that matter.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
The baby was due in a few weeks. You had to get a breath of fresh air. You had been going to see your parents for a few weeks, but then the back pain had become too much to handle. You had missed a few weeks, and suddenly you decided on a whim to visit them. It was a long walk, yes, but it would help clear your mind.
You wanted to take Almond too. The poor boy really needed some love. Those brutes with guns didn’t exactly shower him with the love he deserved.
When you knocked on the study door, there was no response. Taehyung worked from home just like he had done when you were pregnant with Ha Neul. You tried the handle and opened the door, but he wasn’t there. Fuck. He usually went wild if you didn’t ask him before taking Almond out. Screw it, you couldn’t be bothered to call and ask.
The crunch of gravel underneath your sneakers felt oddly satisfying. The elation of taking Almond along without Taehyung knowing stirred rebellious joy in your heart. The guards might probably tell him, but you would deal with it later.
Almond happily sniffed at the flowers by the roadside, wagging his tail and occasionally pressing his body against your legs to show his appreciation. Such a dear little thing. You were smiling when you entered the cemetery. Walking past the headstones, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion when you saw two bouquets of white carnations laid neatly on your parents’ graves. You hastened towards them, Almond bounding closely behind you.
The water droplets on the flowers were still fresh, the candles had just gone out. You touched a wick. It was still warm. You looked around wildly, almost missing the man walking far ahead of you, amid the maze of graves.
So, you had finally lost your mind. Were you seeing Yoongi? Had you gone crazy? What would happen to Ha Neul if you were sent to a psych ward? A billion questions buzzed in your mind.
“Almond, stay.”
The dog sat down faithfully.
You trailed behind the apparition, unsure of what to expect. Turning around a row of headstones, he turned to the side, and his side profile was thrown into light. Your breath stopped, heart hammering away inside your ribcage. He sauntered away, unaware of the heavily pregnant woman following him. You ducked behind a headstone, watching him walk out through the other entrance, making straight for his car.
The car revved up and glided away, leaving you staring open-mouthed. He had been the mysterious flower guy the whole fucking time? The fact flashed at you out of the blue. It was Wednesday. Your parents had died on a Wednesday.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
When you walked back home and left Almond at his kennel, the car was already parked in the porch. A bouquet of lilies was on the kitchen counter. Near it was a bag of Tootsie Pops and gummy bears for Ha Neul.
You walked down the hallway to his study. The door was half open. He was writing something and turned in surprise when he saw you.
“What is it, Y/N?”
You couldn’t coherently form a word. His gaze roamed down and settled on the flecks on your pants.
“Is that… dog hair?”
“I went for a walk; you weren’t there when I came to ask about Almond.”
You waited for him to say something. Anything.
“Well, it’s okay just this one time.” It looked as if he wanted to say something else. “I.. uh, brought you some flowers. Didn’t want them to be thrown on my face, so I left them on the counter.”
Mustering up a great deal of courage, you breathed out, “The flowers-“
He didn’t give away anything. There was no dawning recognition on his features.
“Yeah, lilies. You love lilies.”
“Uh, yeah. Yep, I do.”
You silently removed yourself from the room, too dazed to think. The man you had met at the cemetery had said that he had been paid for like- what? Five years? You realized that his job was to scrub wax and get the shrunken flowers off the graves before you went to see them on Thursdays. Taehyung knew your parents had died on a Wednesday. How much did he actually know about you?
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Y/N?”
Taehyung had woken up thirsty, and had gone down to get a sip of cold water.
The fridge door was open; and the soft light fell on his favorite person in the world, with an ice cream tub cuddled in her chest. At the sound of his deep groggy voice, the spoon fell on the floor with a clang.
“Here,” he picked a fresh spoon and handed it to you. “Oh my, Y/N, you’re so beautiful.”
You raised an eyebrow, licking the back of the spoon and smacking your lips. Was he fucking kidding you?
“I’m round as a ball, wearing sweatpants twice my size, leaking through my hoodie, stuffing my face at 3 in the morning with blackcurrant ice cream, and you find me beautiful?”
He snorted, spilling the water on his shirt. Wiping his mouth, he laughed at your indignant face.
“Of course. You don’t believe me?”
“Like hell I would,” you grunted, digging into the tub to scoop up some more.
He clutched your arm, steering you forward as he kicked the fridge door closed.
“Come, let’s go. No, bring the ice cream with you. It’s okay.”
When you reached the bedroom, he flicked on the light, the sudden radiance dazzling your eyes.
He pulled you to the mirrored closet, standing behind you with his chest pressed against your back.
“Look,” he said, taking the ice cream tub from your hands and placing it on the bed gently. “Look ahead.”
His fingers grabbed the hem of your hoodie, his knuckles grazing against your belly and leaving goosebumps in their wake. He slowly lifted the fabric up, bunching it up so your belly was naked and vulnerable.
“See?” he asked, his hand cupping the widest part of your belly, the other hand squeezing your shoulder. “See how beautiful you are, carrying my child. Don’t you see? We made that together.”
His finger traced delicate lines along the bump.
“You’re growing a little Kim inside you, Y/N. Look how pretty you look, swollen with my seed.”
He bent slightly to breathe into your ear: “So fucking perfect.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Kim Taehyung, you miserable bitch!”
Taehyung shot up to his feet, rushing to your side.
“Yes, honey. I’m here.”
The midwife tried her best to pretend that she didn’t hear you insult him every few seconds your contractions came on.
“You made this happen. You put me through this, you asshole!”
He didn’t care about the midwife squirming behind him. You were his Y/N. You had every right to call him names. He held your hand, attempting to help you focus on your breathing.
“Breathe in, baby, just follow my lead.”
“Fuck you,” you screamed sobbing in agony.
“You can do this, Y/N. Just hang on a little more.”
“I can’t, I can’t,” you whimpered, wanting to smash his head against the wall for putting you through the whole ordeal.
“I know,” he said, rubbing your palm and looking hopelessly at the midwife. “How much longer?”
“Just an hour or so, Mr. Kim.”
He sighed and leaned down to wipe your clammy forehead. “Just a little while longer, baby.”
Taehyung could remember the last time he was in a delivery room only too clearly. He had been seething in white hot rage, furious at Min for letting you handle so much pain.
But now, standing nervously by your side, he felt radically different. He couldn’t wait to get the baby out of you and end your suffering, yes, but there was a small feeling of awe that humbled him.
This woman, the one screaming out curses and clawing at his hands, was birthing his child. He was no more just a man; he was a father. The very thought affected him more than he had anticipated.
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
“That’s it, Mrs. Kim, you’re doing great,” the doctor called, her head between the stirrups. “Give me one more push.”
Taehyung felt something odd going on. The pressure on his hand was weakening by the second.
“Y/N?” he called out, bending to look closely. “Are you alright?”
The machines started beeping in a frenzy, and the doctor yelled for help.
“She’s seizing!”
More doctors rushed in, and one of them jabbed at his chest, trying to push him out of the way.
“Please get out of the room, sir,” he said, using his weight to buckle the tall man.
“Yeah? Try and make me,” Taehyung said, rooted to his spot.
People in white coats were barking orders at each other, pushing and pulling his beloved wife all over the place.
The young doctor opened his mouth to argue, and Taehyung sneered at him angrily.
“Look, you moron, that woman is my wife, and I swear I will rip your balls off if you don’t back off!”
Suddenly, all the pandemonium stopped, and the doctors began filing out of the room.
“What, what?” He shouted, kicking himself for losing track of you.
Your doctor glared at him, pissed.
“If you are done heckling my intern, Mr. Kim, you may be pleased to know your baby is coming. Now.”
Taehyung ran over to the doctor’s side, watching her expertly handle the teeny tiny head coming through.
You were slumped against the pillows in exhaustion, the final push had usurped all your energy.
Before he even saw the baby’s face, Taehyung rushed back to you, hugging you tight. His body shook in emotion.
“I almost died, you scared me so much.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Kim Jaemin was born hale and healthy, his cute cheeks and glittering eyes making you wonder how such a wonderful little human could have been sired by Kim Taehyung.
When you took him back home after a few days, the entire staff of Taehyung’s office showed up to celebrate the baby. The mansion was decorated with festoons and balloons, welcoming the Kim heir heartily.
Taehyung threw a party in honor of the birth of his son, sending out handwritten invitations to every person in the elite circle.
He played the part of the generous host to perfection, moving around the hall with a gracious smile. He had bullied you into wearing a pretty dress and greeting the guests.
You were hastening to get yourself a drink when his sonorous voice chanted your name and piqued your interest.
“… is such a talented person. Yeah, it’s a pity she couldn’t work on projects, I am sure she could work from home. Her artistic sense is impeccable. Come, I’ll show you how tastefully she has decorated the study. You couldn’t see such perfect harmony and rhythm anywhere.”
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
Ha Neul was elated to have such a cute younger brother. She eagerly brought all her toys to stuff inside his crib, her gummy smile widening every time he giggled.
Jaemin took after you, most of his features resembled you. Taehyung took absolute pride in that. He had made a baby with you. A baby that looked so alike you. A part of him and you were inside Jaemin. Curiously though, he felt like he loved you more than he did his own boy. Yes, Jaemin was his offspring, but it was you that he loved. And you always came first.
Not an ounce of his jealousy had changed. He still hated when you coddled Jaemin or breastfed him. His son was stealing your love. He hoped he wouldn’t grow to regret having Jaemin. He would have much preferred a girl, just so he could compare Min’s daughter and his own and tell himself that he had won over Yoongi, producing the best child.
But when he saw Ha Neul kissing Jaemin’s forehead with her tender lips, he wondered if he were really a monster to even think of comparing children. How could Ha Neul love Jaemin so much? Wasn’t she the least bit jealous? He was baffled and lost, stressed at the complexity, and wondering why everything was so fucking difficult.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Ha Neul was off at kindergarten, you had fought tooth and nail with Taehyung so she could go to school. He had reluctantly agreed, just to get a break from your constant swearing.
After sending her off with Wo Bin, you looked at the clock. You had an appointment with the pediatrician. Taehyung had already given you a credit card, kissing the top of your head before leaving to his office. Strangely, he only ever patted Jaemin’s back, there were no kisses. There weren’t any kisses for Ha Neul either, but you couldn’t help wondering why Jaemin got the same treatment. Wasn’t Jaemin his own flesh and blood?
Wasn’t the war he waged against Yoongi over already? He had gotten what he had wanted. He had ruined the Min clan, taken you and made you a Kim, and finally gotten his own child. What else did he want?
The grandfather clock chimed and startled you out of your musings. You had better shower; the appointment couldn’t be missed. Laying Jaemin down in his crib, you told the nanny to engage him while you got ready.
“Mrs. Kim?” The nanny was standing at the door meekly. “Ah, good. I thought you had already gotten into the shower.”
“What is it, Dana?”
“Little Jaemin broke the harness of his stroller, I wanted to remind you.”
Oh yeah, you had almost forgotten it. You had to buy a new one. Wait. Ha Neul’s old stroller was still in the basement. It could fill in until you bought another one.
“I think there’s a 5-point harness somewhere, I’ll get it.”
Taehyung always insisted that you never go down. He just forbade you from going to the basement. But you had sneaked there a few times. The walls were definitely wallpapered for some reason. Who wallpapered basements? Apart from that, there wasn’t anything suspicious whatsoever.
When you went down, there was so much stuff boxed up neatly in the basement. Ha Neul’s boxes took just a couple minutes to find. The harness was packed along with it, and you grabbed it and turned to leave before something curious made you stare harder.
The wallpaper had previously disguised it, but the ageing and peeling had revealed some parts of the wall. The paper dipped into parts of rectangular crevice almost the exact size of a door. A door? Was it a secret door? A tunnel? Maybe that’s why Taehyung had forbade you from coming to the basement? What was that crevice for?
You felt around the paper, knocking, and pressing, and sure enough, it was a door. Fiddling around, your fingers found a keyhole. It was so small that you almost missed it. How could you open it? There had to be a key somewhere… You tried pushing and jiggling the door. But it was firm and unrelenting. The curious side of you itched to know what was on the other side. Something like an escape tunnel, surely, because Taehyung had been so stubborn about shooing you away from the damned basement.
When you went back up, you passed the harness to the nanny and hit the shower. You were still thinking about the door. Well, you would find out soon enough.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Se Jong was waiting impatiently, smoking his last cigarette, and cursing at no one in particular. How long was it going to take for those stupid dickwads to get the job done? It was getting late. He had to have heard from them a quarter of an hour earlier. The loud ringtone startled him, and he cursed again, shifting his phone to his ear.
“You done?”
“Yeah, man.”
He smiled, licking his lips eagerly. God, he was going to be so rich. He took his sweet time finishing his smoke, dialing Taehyung’s number lazily. A deep voice answered.
“Kim Taehyung.”
Se Jong grinned into the phone. “I’m Se Jong.” He snorted a bit, the chuckle making a gross sound in his throat. “Wanna talk.”
Taehyung was puzzled. His guys never called him directly. It was always Wo Bin who dealt with their calls and reported to him. Was the bastard drunk?
“I’m busy, keep it short,” he snapped.
The voice on the other end laughed stupidly, pissing him off even further.
“Did you just- laugh at me, Se Jong?” he shouted, slapping the table. “Why are you even calling me? Quit wasting my time!”
“Simmer down, Taehyung,” the voice drawled, shocking Taehyung into stillness. He dared call him by name? He was certainly asking for a bullet in his brain, the damned son of a bitch.
The cocky chuckle repeated itself, and then the voice came out low and menacing.
“I got your kid. I’m gonna rip him in pieces if you don’t do what I say.”
Taehyung’s blood chilled. His fingers clutched the phone tighter. His son Jaemin? What the fuck was happening? He shot up, sprinting out of his office, phone pressed against his ear. He raced through the paneled offices, taking the stairs at a frenzied pace.
“Get me Wo Bin. Now!” He screamed at the driver, hopping into the car and slamming the door. Se Jong was chuckling on the other end of the line when he panted into the phone, out of breath.
“How much do you want?”
“Oh, Taehyung.” There was a mocking whistle. “How much can you give me?”
The car was racing towards home. Taehyung’s mind was spinning in circles, nothing was comprehensible. You? What about you? Was it only Jaemin that had been kidnapped?
“I… What do you want?”
Silence.
The man chuckled again. “Power. Everything. All that you have. Oh, including that pretty piece of ass, your wife. The whole deal.”
Taehyung gritted his teeth, relapsing into stony silence, willing the car to move faster. The tires squealed, and he jumped out even before the ignition was turned off. Another car pulled up right behind him. Wo Bin jumped out, concern written all over his features.
Taehyung sprinted towards the nursery, heart thudding and making him feel sick.
“Y/N? Y/N?” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “Y/N!!”
No baby in the crib.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
Se Jong laughed, snorting again. “No boy at home? Ready to talk business now?”
Wo Bin watched Taehyung collapse onto the floor, squatting weakly. Sweat was pouring down his clothes.
“What do you want?”
“Now that’s the right tone, that pleading tone is good to hear. I’ll call in five.” The line went dead.
Taehyung stared at his phone screen blankly, feeling numb throughout.
“The fuck were you shouting about?”
Taehyung looked up startled, and saw you standing before him, your face cross. Most importantly, a child was on your hips, hugging you like a koala. His son. Jaemin.
He sputtered his words out.
“I- was just… looking for… never mind, Y/N.”
You gave him the hardest glare you could muster, wild at being interrupted in the middle of a diaper change.
Taehyung got up, pulling his subordinate by his sleeve, dragging him to the window.
“What the fuck is Se Jong high on, Bin-ah?” he spat, staring at the confused man.
“What exactly did he say, sir?”
Taehyung could hardly contain his loudness. “He told me he had kidnapped my son for fuck’s sake?”
“Kidnapped?”
You spun around on hearing Wo Bin hiss the word.
“But little Jaemin is here, sir.” Taehyung blew out his cheeks while Wo Bin scratched his head.
“Get me that bitch, that loser bitch in Klammer.”
Taehyung was pacing angrily when the orderly at Klammer Institute let Na Yeon talk into the phone.
“What have you done, bitch?” He screamed, anger rising exponentially. “What is the deal with Se Jong? I’m going to fucking ruin you-“
“What happened?” There was an agonizing silence spanning a whole minute. And then the woman giggled into the phone. “Ooh, something juicy did happen, huh?” She sounded surprised. “Se Jong? Who, the banker? What did he do? Spill the tea, it’s so boring here in the psych ward.”
He held his nose, trying to force himself to calm down. “You didn’t fucking send him?”
She chortled, annoying him to no end. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I hope he kills that bitch.  So that-“
He disconnected the call, cursing out loud.
── ⋆✩⋆ ──--
Se Jong was in the mood for celebration. He was going to strip everything Taehyung had built and become the new lord. Everything Kim Taehyung had built, all his drug cartels, his businesses, everything was going to be his. He was going to be so fucking powerful.
His phone rang again.
“Man, everything OK?”
“Yes, everything’s smooth. How you holding up?”
“Alright here. Little biter we got here. Bit my arm. Can’t wait to get rid of her.”
Se Jong was slow to catch the last word.
“Her?”
“Yeah, man. Kim’s girl.”
Se Jong spat the whiskey he was sipping all over his car’s windscreen. “What the hell are you saying? I told you to get his son!”
“But his wife was late from the clinic, we couldn’t hang out there no more without no one bein’ suspicious. Chill, dude, we snatched the daughter from school. What difference is it gonna make? Boy or girl, both are his, right?”
His entire neck vein was bulging prominently when Se Jong shouted into the phone:
“He doesn’t give a fuck about that one!”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Did you say ‘kidnapped’, Wo Bin?” You advanced towards him, suspicion setting off a loud alarm in your brain. “What is happening here?”
Taehyung stepped nearer to you, murmuring that it was nothing of significance.
“No,” you pushed him away, snapping at him. “Tell me now.”
“He was probably drunk, or high on something, he said he had kidnapped our baby,” Taehyung said, the relieved expression on his face changing as he saw the horror on your face.
“Y/N? Jaemin is safe. So- so… why are you….”
“Oh my God! Ha Neul! Where is my daughter?” Bunching his shirt in your fists, you screamed at him. “Tell me you checked on her. Did you call the school? Did you?”
He looked helplessly at Wo Bin, not daring to answer. Ha Neul hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“You’re pathetic,” you spat out, rushing out to get your shoes.
“Y/N! Where are you going?” he called after you, running to keep up with your pace.
“To fetch my baby. Because you clearly don’t give a shit about her.”
He pulled on your elbow, stilling you. “Listen. I will get her. You stay here with Jaemin.”
“You think I am gonna trust you? You forgot my baby girl, you bitch!”
Taehyung winced at the word, fully aware that Wo Bin was listening.
���Y/N, fucking see reason…” His phone rang again. “Se Jong, I’ll end you, do you hea-“
You snatched the phone from him, screaming into it. “Listen, motherfucker, give me my baby back, or I’ll shove your balls down your fucking throat.”
Taehyung wrestled the phone away, motioning for you to be patient. He swore and cussed briefly, nodding at Wo Bin and they bolted out of the door before you could blink.
“HEY!”
But they had already gone. When you tried to run after them, armed guys blocked your way, brandishing rifles and guns and making you retreat.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
You were pacing nervously around, not able to think clearly. Jaemin was sent to his nanny, under strict orders to stay put. Your baby, your little Min Ha Neul, was she alright? How foolish and ignorant these goons were, letting a guy kidnap a kid right under their armed noses. Fucking losers. Poor baby Ha Neul, she was probably scared out of her wits.
It reminded you of when Yoongi had been locked up in that basement. The scary memories wrapped you in sheets of terror, smothering your lungs. You collapsed in a half-faint, hitting the floor with a thud. Something poked at your butt. Bleary eyed, you reached down and removed the cold object, cursing at it for jabbing you.
The object glinted in your fingers. You had seen it already; it was the chain Taehyung always wore around his neck. There was a small Abloy key attached to the chain. The key was somehow special. It opened something. But you had no idea what.
You threw it away, the faint cling of the chain resounding against the flooring. So what if it was special? You couldn’t be bothered to worry about it. Not when your baby was somewhere, cold and probably scared too. She was only a child, your precious child. It made your blood boil that Taehyung had completely forgotten about Ha Neul in the first place.
It felt like history was repeating itself, mocking at you cruelly. First, Min Yoongi. Now, Min Ha Neul. At least you knew where Yoongi had been. You knew he had been locked in the basement, waiting to be saved. But for Ha Neul, you felt so helpless, not knowing where she was. You traced your thoughts back. Basement. You looked at the chain lying forgotten on the floor. The key.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Se Jong! Show your face, you filthy cocksucker!”
The garage was eerily empty, unused cars parked at odd angles, jamming the place. Everything was dusty and forgotten.
“Bin-ah, cover the right flank, I’m going to towards the left,” Taehyung whispered, cocking his gun.
There was utter silence, not even the rustle of leaves providing any relief. Taehyung listened for a sign, any sign, to deduce where your daughter was. It would take hours to comb through each rattled car, not to mention the time it would take for just two men to accomplish the feat.
The loud ding of Taehyung’s phone echoed around. Sliding against a car’s door, Taehyung squatted down and slid his phone out.
03:10 Unknown sender
Throw your guns away & raise your hands. Both of you.
Taehyung turned on his phone’s flashlight and shone it under the maze of cars. There were no feet anywhere. That meant his enemy was most probably in one of the cars. But which one?
“Boss,” Wo Bin hissed, his voice slicing through the silence. From his vantage point, Taehyung saw Wo Bin crawl under a line of cars.
Tucking his phone back, Taehyung started crawling too, inching slowly forward. Wo Bin gestured towards a black Chevrolet parked a few paces ahead. He pointed to his eyes, and then to the floor. Taehyung squinted hard, and then he realized what it was.
There was a wet patch under the car. AC condensation. They had found the car.
Taking careful aim, Taehyung took a shot at the tires, and Wo Bin followed suit. Just as the first bullet hit the wheel disc, Ha Neul’s voice rang out in a high-pitched scream.
“Daddy!”
Wo Bin advanced ahead, rushing in the direction of the scream. Taehyung’s fingers were groping for his gun when a bullet hit the ground dangerously close to Wo Bin. More gunshots followed in quick succession, and Ha Neul wailed again, this time her voice broken by a sob.
“Daddy!”
Despite his better judgement, Taehyung crept out from under the cars, in full view of any hidden attacker.
“Min Ha Neul!”
“Daddy!”
“I’m coming, baby!”
A bullet whizzed through the air, hitting him square in the forearm. Every angry nerve in him was roused, and he ran like a cheetah, ducking under cars and jumping over hoods, not minding the rain of bullets showering all around him.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
The key fit like magic. You had initially thought that it was too small to fit. But it clicked open just fine. What were you going to find behind the door? It was scary and mysterious, but if there were a tunnel you could crawl out of, you would do it in a heartbeat just for your baby.
Slowly, you pushed the door open, met with eerie darkness. You fumbled, feeling around, and touching what felt like a toggle switch. You flicked it on, and the room was flooded with blinding radiance. The sight before you knocked all the breath out of your lungs.
There were shelves and shelves made of crystal, filled with hauntingly familiar things. Photos of you adorned the walls, framed in gold.  There were little boxes, which you found to contain empty candy wrappers, used lipstick tubes, hair ties, juice straws, every little odd thing collected in each box. There were your old shoes, ones that you had thrown out before you had even met Yoongi.
On the far left was a shelf of books. There was also a chair with a reading light. You looked closer, and found that the books were Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Bronte, and a few other authors you exclusively read. They weren’t from your own collection; they had the seal of the district library on them. Leafing through the pages, you found out that you had borrowed every one of those books at some point in time. Your signature was on all of them. So was Taehyung’s. The dates showed that Taehyung had borrowed them long ago. Long before Yoongi came into your life.
There were more boxes, more things to go through. But you were drawn to the turquoise colored crystal trinket box that was right at the center of the room. You reached out and took it, the cool crystal sending a subconscious shiver up your back. You opened it slowly, and your jaw dropped.
Nestled in it comfortably were your and Yoongi’s wedding rings. They sparkled and winked at you, catching the light concentrated by the crystal they were placed in. You were holding them, not knowing what to feel, when you heard Taehyung’s muffled voice.
“Y/N!”
Your heart turned cold. He couldn’t catch you at the basement. It was incredibly creepy, and you had no idea what to do with the sudden sensory overload. You almost dropped the crystal box, hastening to replace it. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a framed photograph.
You. With your parents. It had been hanging in your childhood home.
Forgetting about the man calling your name, you reached over and took the photograph. The glass had not a speck of dust. It had been wiped so clean that it gleamed. You stood there, quietly sobbing, not sure how to deal with everything, when soft footsteps stole behind you.
“Y/N?”
He was carrying Ha Neul over his shoulder. “Shh, she’s sleeping.” He beckoned to you, inviting you into a group hug. You silently sidled over to him, crying into his shoulder.
“Sh, baby, she’s fine. She’s fine. It’s okay.” He patted your hair, kissing the top of your head. “Here.” He passed your daughter to you.
You cuddled your sleeping child, all the worry easing away. You held her against your bosom, chest heaving with the force of your sobs. Her sleepy little fingers clenched and unclenched, finding purchase at your shirt.
“Taehyung… all this? Why didn’t.. how.. I never knew…”
“It’s alright,” he repeated, soothing you. “We’ll talk about it later.”
The wetness of his elbow soaked a red patch on your shirt.
“You’re bleeding,” you hissed, pupils wide with horror.
“Uh, yeah,” he said, attempting to draw the injured hand away. It didn’t really matter. Because he was with you.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung was sitting on the couch, staring into the space. He hadn’t meant for you to see the memento room. It made him feel embarrassed. His cheeks were hot. He was fanning himself with his hands when he heard your light step.
“Taehyung?”
He gazed at you, no words filling the silence that stretched over several seconds.
You took a step forward, unsure. “Why- the flowers- how long-“
He patted the couch, motioning for you sit down. When you silently glided to the couch, he took your hand in his.
“Now, tell me, baby. Ask me anything but take a deep breath first.”
Man, breathing was so difficult. “I saw you at the cemetery.”
“Oh.”
You stared longer, hoping for another word to fall from his lips. “Why? Every Wednesday? What do they have to do with you? Why do you-”
He blinked, clearing his throat. “They gave birth to you. They deserve to be worshipped. Centuries of destined ancestry and lineage led to their making you. They gave you to this world. They gave you to me.”
You were taken aback. “And the room? Those things there? You stalked me?”
He scoffed lightly. “I loved you. Still do. Always will.”
“But wasn’t it Yoongi you wanted to destroy? You…“
He squeezed your hand. “He was an obstacle. Nothing else. I was blind with hatred, angry that he’d taken you away from me.”
“Why didn’t-” you forced yourself to breathe. “- why didn’t you let me know? Even before I dated Yoongi… Why?” Your voice broke. You would have probably declined, but who knew, you might have even agreed to go on a date with him.
He simply sighed. “Thinking about roads not taken seldom gives you peace of mind.”
You blinked back the tears. “And Woolf? You read Woolf?”
“It is all rather pointless and second-rate without you,” he quoted, flashing a boxy smile.
You didn’t know what to say. It was impossible to love Taehyung. He had killed Yoongi. He had almost drowned Ha Neul. But…
Ha Neul peeked her pretty head around the door.
“Mommy, can I play with baby Jae in the nursery?”
“Yes, you can, sweetheart.”
She ran away happily.
He had saved Ha Neul from the kidnapper. He had taken a bullet to protect your daughter. It was all so crazy and complicated.
“So,” he drawled, breaking into your thoughts. “Do you think you can love me?”
“No.”
He nodded and bowed his head. He hesitated before asking the next question. He feared hearing something he wouldn’t like.
“Maybe you could learn to like me?”
He held his breath as you thought about it.
“I –“
Your words hung in the air, unspoken, when the sound of guns going off echoed throughout the mansion. Taehyung jumped up, drawing his gun from the holster, and pulling you behind him.
“Stay back, Y/N,” he said, rushing towards the door. “Don’t come out until I call for you.”
A bullet whizzed in through the window, hitting a framed picture and shattering the glass.
“Down, stay down,” he shouted, bolting through the door. He stood there for a moment, hesitating. Turning on his heel, he ran back to you and knelt on the floor. Cupping your cheeks, he kissed you hastily, as if he were scared that you would disappear the next second.
“Y/N, don’t move,” he urged, shaking your shoulders until you nodded in response.
He was out of the door the next moment, before he could hear you shriek urgently:
“Ha Neul and Jaemin! What about the babies?”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Taehyung ran towards the source of the gunshots. He knew it was from his own guards. He knew the sounds of the rifles by heart. But who were they shooting at?
The sounds grew louder and louder, and he ran up the stairs in hot pursuit. There he was, dressed in all black, the man responsible for all the chaos.
Taehyung ground his teeth. He should have expected the asshole to show up sometime. He hadn’t pegged him to be one of the vengeful types, but here he was, proving his assumption wrong.
The guards were all pointing their rifles at the man, but the indecision was palpable.
“Don’t hesitate, just shoot!” Wo Bin cried, egging the guards on. “Casualties are unavoidable in battles.”
The guards looked at each other, fingers still unmoving on their triggers. They needed someone from higher up in the chain of command to issue an order.
Taehyung calmly walked onto the damp terrace floor, the click of his shoes enough to instill reassurance in his guards.
“Let Wo Bin go,” he said, addressing the man holding a gun to his aide’s head. “It’s only you and me. We’ll sort it out between us.”
The man cocked his gun, pressing the muzzle firmly against Wo Bin’s head.
“Y/N and the children, where are they?”
Taehyung tilted his head to the side, rolling his tongue into his cheek.
“Let him go and I’ll take you to see them.”
The man only snickered in response. “I wouldn’t trust you with a penny. Bring them here or I’ll drill holes into his head.”
Turning his gun so the muzzle was facing the sky, Taehyung took a step forward.
“Now, Namjoon, you know you aren’t capable of-“
Kim Namjoon removed the gun for a split second to fire a bullet straight into a guard’s chest. The guard toppled over like a tile of dominoes.
Bringing the gun back to Wo Bin’s head, Namjoon snapped at Taehyung. “Yeah?”
“Alright, alright. I’ll fetch them.” Taehyung turned to a guard, and the man scurried away to fulfill the order.
“How did he get here?” Taehyung barked at Wo Bin, who was still trapped in Namjoon’s hold.
One of the guards moved forward cautiously, reaching Taehyung’s side.
“Wo Bin was cleaning up after Se Jong and his gang, sir. Half our manpower was out in the field assisting him. He… dropped by at Klammer Institute, alone, on his way back. He left his gun at the security desk for frisking.”
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Taehyung kicked the pebbles scattered on the rugged floor, overwhelmed with anger. Damn Wo Bin for going out and getting caught unarmed. By Kim Namjoon of all people.
“Just shoot me, boss,” Wo Bin said, his voice steady and calm. “Don’t think twice.”
“Shut up, Bin-ah,” Taehyung snapped. He wasn’t losing his best man and his family in a single night. Not to Namjoon; Not to anyone.
“Listen, Namjoon. Don’t involve the rest of them in this. It’s just you and me. Man-to-man.”
“Namjoon!” your voice cut through the cold night air. Jaemin was gathered to your chest, and Ha Neul’s little hand was secured tightly in yours.
“Y/N! Come on over here,” Namjoon shouted, gesturing to his side.
“Oh no, no, no,” Taehyung said, firmly planting himself in front of you. “You have to kill me first.”
“No!” you screamed. “The children! Think about the children! Stop!”
Namjoon bit his lip, glowering at his rival. “Get rid of the guards, then. We’ll see how much of a man you are without a gun. Without your army of gunmen.”
The barb in his tone got to Taehyung, and he shouted at his men to get the hell out of there. He turned to you, yelling at the top of his lungs.
“You! Get back downstairs and send a guard to prepare Namjoon’s coffin.” Ha Neul winced at the shout and tugged at your hand urgently.
“Mommy, I’m scared.”
The guards filed out of the terrace, encircling you and the children so you wouldn’t try and make a run for it. They settled themselves on the stairs, waiting with anxious expressions and bated breaths.
You huddled with the children on the sofa, whispering soothing words to Ha Neul and reassuring her as best as you could.
The three men on the terrace were left alone at last. Namjoon knew that Wo Bin was trained in combat. Wo Bin had been a Captain in the Army before his discharge. The man wasn’t Taehyung’s commander-in-chief for nothing.
“Drop your gun,” Namjoon said, brandishing his weapon at Taehyung.
Taehyung complied wordlessly, dropping his gun, and kicking it away. Mustering all his strength, Namjoon whacked the gun against Wo Bin’s skull, the blunt force knocking him out completely.
“It’s just you and me now, huh?” Namjoon said, kicking his gun away to the side.
“Honestly didn’t take you for the fighter type, Namjoonah,” Taehyung goaded, settling into a boxer stance.
Namjoon charged forward, landing a solid punch in his rival’s ribs.
“Enough chit-chat.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Y/N!”
It was a high-pitched scream; in a voice you knew only too well. There was a sickening sound of glass crashing somewhere to the left of the building.
“Y/N!” this time, the yell came from the stairs, a deathly hush replacing the babble of the guards’ murmurs. The men parted silently, letting the wounded man stumble down the steps one at a time.
“Sweetie, hold your brother’s hand tight until I come, okay?” you whispered to your daughter, running up the stairs to meet him halfway.
“Namjoon!”
His face was ghastly, there were cuts all over his eyebrows and jaw. Blood dripped down his brows in a steady trickle. He was wheezing, all the wind knocked out of his lungs. A few guards rushed past you up the stairs, jostling each other in their hurry.
“Namjoon,” you repeated, kneeling on the steps. “Did you- did you…”
He coughed, spitting blood in the process. When he finally wiped his mouth, he simply nodded.
“He’s as good as dead.”
“What?!”
Without a second thought, you dashed up the stairs, not heeding Namjoon’s cries of dissent.
“Y/N, no, come back!”
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
The guards were all clustered at the edge of the terrace, and they silently let you pass, letting you see the sight for yourself.
Kim Taehyung was sprawled out on the ceiling of the greenhouse, broken shards of glass jutting out of his body. The fall from the terrace had sent him crashing onto the glass. There was no support under his back, only the metal frames shielded him precariously from falling to his death.
His eyes had been flickering back and forth, waiting to see you. And when you came at last, a small smile graced his features. He was losing too much blood too fast.
“Y/N, come back.”
Namjoon was standing behind you, not minding the hot glares he drew from the guards. “It’s time. Come, let’s go.”
Taehyung’s mouth was twitching, and the glass had turned into red glinting blades with all the blood. His legs and hands were jerking uncontrollably, but his eyes never wavered from you.
You felt Namjoon’s hand on the small of your back.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered, gently turning you away from the ghastly sight. He had taken one step forward, pulling your arm, when you shrugged free.
“No.”
Namjoon’s mouth set in a straight line. “What?”
“Get him help, please! I can’t leave him to die. I can’t!” you pleaded, your words tumbling out fast. “Please, just save him. Please.”
The guards looked at one another, and a man cleared his throat.
“Mrs. Kim, ma’am, we tried to help but Mr. Kim waved us away before you arrived.”
You snapped your head to bark at him:
“Now I’m telling you, get that man all the help he needs.”
Everyone rushed into action, until only Namjoon and you were the ones standing frozen on the terrace.
“Really, Y/N?” Namjoon said, disgusted. He barely tried to conceal the contempt in his tone.
You puffed up your chest and looked at Namjoon in the eye.
“Yes, really. I am not a killer. Neither are you.”
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
Namjoon’s doctor was stitching his eyebrow up when a nurse came looking for you.
“Is Mrs. Kim here?”
“Yes?”
You had to admit that you were terrified. Utterly terrified of what news she might be bringing.
“The surgeon will be briefing you about Mr. Kim’s surgery in a few minutes.”
“Yes, thanks. I’ll be there.”
Namjoon exhaled, nodding at his doctor. He took your hand, squeezing it tight.
“I’m with you. Y/N.”
You stared at him, remembering all the hot insults he had thrown at you over the years. He had been mean and cruel to you whenever you had chanced to meet him in social gatherings.
“How did you come? I thought you had pegged me as a gold-digging whore.”
Namjoon winced at your words. He had been wrong to judge you. But he was gracious enough to own up to his mistake.
“I’m so sorry, Y/N. I am sorry I behaved so badly. I was wrong and I am heartily ashamed of myself for not trusting you. I am sorry I didn’t honor Yoongi’s faith in you.”
You marveled at his fierce loyalty to Yoongi. Your husband would have been immensely proud of his friend.
“But how did you realize? I had no way of contacting you or anyone else.”
Namjoon nodded, agreeing. “Kang Minsook, the prosecutor, called me last year and told me that he had found about Bong Ju, Yoongi’s manager who went missing.”
He ruffled his hair, squinting at the window. “He said that there was something off about the whole case and told me that Bong Ju knew something more. But he was missing, there was no trace of Bong Ju anywhere.”
You didn’t interrupt, choosing to listen in silence. He went on.
“I hired a detective to find out Bong Ju’s whereabouts. I was notified that he was back in the city for a brief time, but he vanished again. But as it turned out, I needn’t have hired a detective after all.”
“What do you mean?” Your curiosity was thoroughly kindled.
“Bong Ju got in touch with Minsook, saying that he had found someone called Seung Jo in Malta. I learned that Seung Jo had once been your chauffeur and had mysteriously disappeared too.”
You felt blood rush to your cheeks on hearing the name. But you let him continue without interrupting.
“I went to Malta and got hold of Bong Ju. He told me he had gone there to find out about Seung Jo. I talked to Seung Jo and Bong Ju, and finally realized what Taehyung had been doing to you over these years.” He looked at you with soft eyes. “I am so sorry that you had to go through all that alone, Y/N.”
You were at a loss for words. So many emotions were pelting at you, making it hard to breathe.
“I…” you looked at the sincere face gazing at you. “It’s okay now, Namjoon. I am grateful that you came when you did.”
You didn’t have any grudges against him. You rubbed your nose and looked at the corridor teeming with elderly people.
“I have to go to Klammer and see Ma tomorrow.” Taehyung had kept you from visiting Yoongi’s mother for some reason only known to him.
The nurse returned, walking up to you briskly. “The surgeon is waiting, Mrs. Kim.”
Namjoon whispered softly, “Ready to go?”
You shook your head. “I- I don’t know.”
“Hey,” he said, tucking your hair behind your ear. “I’m gonna be there with you, okay? I won’t let anything happen to you.”
You nodded, summoning a bit of courage from the universe.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
── ⋆✩⋆ ──--
The surgeon looked stern, and you felt like you were going to be sick. Clutching Namjoon’s hand tight, you drew closer to the surgeon, heart hammering away so hard you thought you were dying.
“Mrs. Kim, the surgery went well, the patient is stable for now.”
Your breathing grew raspier.
“But…”
The nerve in your temple started pounding in fear.
“There was a complication, his spinal cord was damaged too much…”
Namjoon’s hand was going numb with how tightly you were gripping it.
“… and he stroked out in surgery, causing him to be paralyzed completely.”
The stunned silence hung around you like a smothering wet blanket, muffling everything else.
“Paralyzed? You mean he can’t-?”
“I’m truly very sorry, Mrs. Kim.”
Namjoon saw that you had gone mute, and he stepped in to ask the surgeon some questions.
“Can he talk?” you heard him ask, and the doctor shook his head.
“Speech therapy can help….”
You zoned out again, unable to take any more.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
“Are you sure about this, Y/N?” Namjoon asked, looking at the papers in your hand.
“Yes,” you beamed, smiling at him. “You are the best person to do this. I’ll join in and do my bit as the Chairperson, sure, but what the company needs right now is you. I know you have that fire in you, Namjoon.”
He smiled, his dimples popping out.
“I want the Min empire to return to its formal glory,” you said, passing the papers to him, “Before Min Ha Neul is of age and inherits it. She’s going to be the next Min to sit in her father’s office.”
Wo Bin had set up a therapy room in Taehyung’s mansion, overlooking the garden. You held the rails tightly, gazing at the butterflies flitting over the flowers.
Behind the one-way glass, Kim Taehyung was in his wheelchair, struggling with gripping his pen.
Ha Neul was tiptoeing on her tiny little feet, trying hard to reach the paints on the shelf. The nanny helped her lift the paint set, and she clapped her hands in delight.
“I’m so happy,” she squealed.
Her nanny smiled mildly. “Oh, really? And why is that?”
Ha Neul considered the question seriously.
“Daddy lets me paint his face.” She glanced sideways at Taehyung. “And he lets baby Jae sit on his lap.” She put her finger on her lips and beckoned her nanny to come closer. “I thought daddy hated me. He always shouted. He always went away.”
She stole a glance at her father again. “But now he is here all the time. And he doesn’t talk.” A huge gummy smile lit up her face. “And I paint his face.”
Taehyung had speech training all day. It was agony to fail at uttering the simplest of sounds. Whenever he tried to speak, it came out in a croak. The drool accompanying it humiliated him. He couldn’t bear to be reduced to such a state. He almost wanted to give up trying to speak, just to save himself the embarrassment of letting you see his spittle running down his chin.
Physical therapy took up a good chunk of his time too. His legs were completely paralyzed; but his hands had very limited movement. He couldn’t grip a cup, but he could hold a pen if he tried long enough.
“You can do it, Mr. Kim,” the therapist said, encouraging him to go on. “You already wrote so many letters, you can write one today too!”
Taehyung was screaming obscenities inside his head. He was able to write just one alphabet per day. Just one! The pen kept falling out of his stupid fingers, and he wanted to scream till he went crazy. It had taken him 7 days so far, to write something so simple.
The nib tore through the paper, bleeding some ink and smudging on the side of his palm. He had finally done it. He had produced a wobbly, crooked ‘U’.
The therapist took the paper like a proud parent, waving it in joy.
“You did it, Mr. Kim! That’s such a great job!”
Taehyung wanted to kick the man’s balls. All the exaggerated joy was making him paranoid. He wondered if the therapist was actually mocking him.
His eyes swung to the one-way glass, and he saw you deep in discussion with Kim Namjoon. There was a hatred burning inside him so hard that it seemed to roll off his skin in waves.
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
“So, Wo Bin is gonna be the next mafia kingpin, I hear,” Namjoon said. “I believe Taehyung already named him his successor.”
You shrugged. “I have no problem with him as long as he does his thing without poking into my life.”
Namjoon’s scar became wobbly as he raised his eyebrow. “You really don’t mind? The man’s a fricking clone of Taehyung.”
“Well, he considers Taehyung family. So, I guess he considers me family too. He is good with the kids at least.”
Namjoon’s phone buzzed, and he reached for it in one quick flash.
“Ha Ni?” you asked, referring to his girlfriend.
“Nope. Not Ha Ni. We broke up long ago. There’s no one, in fact.” His eyes were scanning his phone screen. A slow smile spread over his face. “Guess what?”
“What?” you asked, the energy catching on.
“Jung Hoseok just texted, he’s coming back with his wife and daughter. I sent Kang Minsook to help him out of all that tax fraud stuff, and he’s finally out of the mess.”
“Oh!” You couldn’t help the squeal of joy. “Oh my God, Joon that’s wonderful! Thank you so much!”
You threw your arms around him, squeezing him in a tight bear hug. Namjoon butted his forehead against yours, gazing at you fondly. On some impulse, he bent his head down, his plush lips brushing against yours.
Before they could touch properly, you pulled back, shaking your head.
“I’m sorry,” you breathed, “I’m just- I’m not… I’m sorry”
Namjoon’s eyes were tender. “Hey, don’t worry. I understand.”
── ⋆✩⋆ ──-
Taehyung boiled in rage when he saw Namjoon bend his head to brush your lips. He looked at the paper rustling in front of him. It had taken him eight days. Eight fucking days to spell it out. The bitterness smoldered in his chest, spilling into the pupils of his eyes.
A rush of wind caused the paper to flutter, and it flew down to the floor. Taehyung’s eyes focused on the lopsided letters.
I LOVE YOU 
His therapist snapped his head up from his position on the floor. He had been massaging Taehyung’s feet when he saw it happen.
Taehyung had just twitched and moved his left foot.
✧ ═════ ✥.❖.✥ ═════ ✧
  Taglist: @saxpam24 @dameleia​ @min-hoax @rkivemagic @aassiyaa @sinner-aura @lmepno @belovedjinnie @flowesona @nooooooooona @gucieguciekook @angellgguk @forever-once-gone @swon09ah @ciderxi @mooniconic @jeon-junggoop @t-e-r-r-i--f-i-e-d  @byebyebycycle @boneless-piza @xx-naina-xx 
819 notes · View notes
pascalscenarios · 3 years
Text
THE ONE (Frankie Morales x Reader)
Tumblr media
THE ONE
Frankie Morales x Reader  
Summary: You wake up at Frankie’s house. You spend the day with him, only for things to be finally revealed.
Warning: Swearing 
Words: 4552
Authors Note: Whew... You guys aren’t ready for this one...Ahhh!!! Also I just want to say thank you so much for reading my fic. It means so much to me! Enjoy - k 
CH 1 | CH 2 | CH 3 | CH 4 | CH 5
Chapter 5
The sunlight peeked through the window, shining down on the bed. Your hair was a mess, sprawled out and disheveled as your head rested against pillows. A white comforter covered your body. You slowly open your eyes to an unfamiliar bedroom. You should have felt scared or panicked when waking up in a stranger's bed, but you felt safe.
You could smell him on the sheets, it was Frankie's bed. You were at Frankie's house.
You laid there trying to remember the events from last night. You were partying with your friends in the club and somehow you ended up with Frankie? Your memories were blurred, only remembering bits and pieces.
You sit up in the bed, your head pounding. Looking down you noticed you were wearing an oversized grey shirt and sweatpants. These definitely weren’t the clothes you wore last night.
You look over to the nightstand to find two Advils and a tall glass of water. You pull the covers off from your body, tossing your legs off the side of the bed. You pop the pills in your mouth and chug down the water.
With the glass in your hand, you get up and walk over and open the bedroom door. The door led to a hallway with multiple other doors. Towards the end of the hall was a large opening, you assumed it was the living room because you heard that the tv was on.
Your feet padded against the wooden floors as you made your way to the living room. The local news was playing on the tv.
“Looks like sleeping beauty decided to wake.”
You gasped. Startled, you turn around to find Frankie leaning against the kitchen counter with a coffee mug in his hand.
“H-hi” you stuttered out.
“Good morning.”
Awkwardness and silence filled the air like usual.
You slowly walk into the kitchen, passing him to get to the sink. You set the glass down in the stainless steel tub and turn to face him. He was staring at you while sipping his coffee, waiting for you to say something.
You stared down at your fingers as you fiddled with them. “Frankie..”
You swear he could read your mind because he started explaining everything that happened last night. He knew you were most likely confused as to why you were at his house.
“You called me last night drunk.” He says placing his coffee mug down on the counter. “You were lost and didn’t know where you were. I’m pretty sure you meant to call Alex, but somehow you called me? I came to pick you up, took you to eat at Dolly's. I was going to take you home, but I don’t know where you live and you were sleeping, so I brought you back to my place.” He explains running his hands through his moppy curls.
“I gave you clothes for you to change into, you took a shower, and slept in my bed. I took the couch.” He motions his head in the direction of the living room.
You look over, seeing a pillow and blanket bunched up on the couch.
“You know I would never-”
“I know, Frankie.” You tell him softly. “I trust you. I always have.” Your heart wrenched. The fact he drove all the way into the city in the early hours of the morning and took care of you meant a lot to you. It was proof that despite what happened between you two, he would always be there for you.
“So… “ He says trying to change the subject. “How’d you get my number?”
God this was going to be embarrassing.
Your face started to turn red as you spoke “Santiago gave it to me. I told him once a couple of years ago I wanted to call you. I’ve tried many times to press call under your name, but I always got scared and chickened out.” you confessed.
“Funny, I did the same thing too, asking him for your number, but never calling.” He chuckled, folding his arms against his chest.
“Huh...you know for the past 10 years I thought you’d never think of me again after that night.” You say you continued to fiddle with your fingers.
“I thought about you every day since then, Smiles. You were always on my mind...you still are.”
You glance up at him. Your heart was beating against your chest at his statement.
You both make eye contact. God, those gorgeous brown eyes that always made you melt. You were a sucker for his eyes, they were captivating. You could always read him from the look in his eyes. His eyes were sorrowful, but also longing.
You quickly divert your eyes breaking you from the trance you were in. What are you doing?! You’re going to get married! You can’t be thinking so deeply about someone else, let alone someone being your ex-boyfriend. Snap out of it!
“So why are your plans for the day?” Making conversation and acting like you guys didn’t have a moment just then. You walked past him and went to go sit on his couch.
“Uh, I don’t know.” He says trailing off, following you, plopping himself down on the opposite side of the couch, giving you some space.
“I was gonna drop you off at home whenever you are ready then go fishing out on the lake for a bit” he picks up the remote and starts flipping through the channels. He stops when he notices Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope is airing on tv.
You didn’t want to go home just yet. A few weeks ago you were dead set on avoiding Frankie, but something changed. You wanted to be in his company and spend time with him, at least for today.
“Can I go with you?” you asked.
“Go with me?” He sounded confused.
“Yeah...I mean like spend the day with you...go fishing?”
“You’re hungover and want to go fishing...with me…?” He raised an eyebrow at you.
“Um...yeah?”
“Don’t you wanna go home?”
“I mean if you want me to leave I can-”
“No!” he said a little too quickly. He clears his throat. “No, you can stay as long as you want, it's just” he stops. “Several weeks ago you were pretty clear you wanted nothing to do with me. You said things between us weren’t fine, we weren’t on friendly terms, and for me to stop wedging my way into your life.”
“I mean it’s a little too late for that now, you managed to crack your way in.” You sighed.
“Have I?”
“You were always a constant in my life until you weren't. You were the closest person to me besides Santiago. So naturally for me, as much as I want to push you away, I’m also drawn to you... You’re familiar. Since you came back into my life, you’ve been on my mind a lot lately..” you opened up to him.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I don’t know... That I’ve missed you, despite everything. Think it would be therapeutic for us to talk and hang out for a day.”
Frankie stayed silent.
“Okay,” he nods, giving you a small smile.
You were getting ready to leave with Frankie. You didn’t have anything else to wear, so you decided to just continue wearing his shirt and sweats. It was that or the outfit you wore last night. You patiently waited for Frankie in the living room as he gathered things he needed. You walked over to the front door, grabbing your bag that sat on the small. You reached into your bag pulling your phone out.
Your phone had TONS of text messages and missed calls from your friends and Alex. Your finger sliced against your phone screen noting the long list of notification banners. They had no idea what happened to you last night or where you were. They were worried, thinking the worst possible things that could have happened to you.
You opened your phone, pressing the call icon. Looking at your call log, you noticed you did call Frankie last night. Shaking your head, you clicked contacts, and pressed on Alex’s name. You pressed the phone against your ear.
The call picked up
“Alex-”
“THANK GOD! Where are you?! Are you okay?! The girls were looking for you all night, I was so close to calling the cops! I thought something terrible happened to you!” Alex was worried.
“I’m sorry, I got lost, but I’m fine,” you reassured them.
“Let me come get you, where-”
“Actually, I’m not coming home yet…”
“What? Why? What's wrong?” Alex asked, he thought you were being suspicious.
“I just need time alone…” You lied. I mean you did want to be alone... but with Frankie.
“Time alone? What I’m confu-”
“Alex, I promise you fine. I’m safe….I just need to be alone right now. I’ll explain everything later. I love you. I gotta go”
“Wait-”
You quickly hang up the phone and put your phone back in the bag.
You put your phone back in the bag. You didn’t want to tell him what happened over the phone. It was better to tell him everything in person. You’re debating if you wanted to tell him you were hanging out with Frankie. What he doesn’t know wouldn’t kill the right?
You decided to walk around the room, looking at the various knick-knacks and miscellaneous items Frankie had displayed on his shelves. There were photos of Frankie with his friends and family members, people you recognized. A framed photo caught your eyes. It was a child's painting, with various bright colors brushed on the sheet. In the middle was a handprint of a small child, and one of a grown person.
You continue to walk around the room when you accidentally step on something. You lift your foot, noticing a sterling silver ring on the ground. It was a dainty ring of a crescent moon.
Girlfriend, you thought. You remember him talking to someone on the phone the night with Santiago. It had to be a girlfriend. He has a girlfriend and he brought you home while you were drunk? That’s not good. Yet again you are engaged and here you are spending time with your ex-boyfriend.
But nothing was gonna happen with Frankie. You both hand significant others. You guys were friends… Well sorta. You weren’t sure what to call this relationship.
“You ready?”
You look at him. He was wearing his hat, shirt, jeans, boots, and a backpack hanging off one shoulder. He was also wearing a fisher vest, which made you giggle slightly. Frankie was always a nature boy.
“Yeah.”
“What’s that?” He asks nothing you holding the ring in your hand
“Um, a ring. I found it on the carpet.” You say walking over and handing it to him.
He signs. “I swear she leaves everything everywhere...” he mumbles under his breath, but you couldn’t hear what he said because it was so quiet. He sets the ring on the coffee table.
“Alright let's go,” he says.
The lake was peaceful. The water slowly moved. Nothing but sounds of nature. It was calming and relaxing. You and Frankie sat in a small boat out in the middle of the lake. Frankie placed a worm to hook his fishing rod. He stood up, casting his line far out, then sat back down.
You sat there with a fishing rod in your hand patiently for something to bite.
“It’s nice today.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“You must love it out here. This is very you.” You chuckle slightly.
“I try to come when I can. They have a camping site, so I’ll come out on a weekend and camp sometimes.”
“Usually I’ll come here to think.”
“Think about what?”
He shrugged, reeling in his line slightly. “It depends. Sometimes I’ll come to think about stuff like what's going on in my life. Sometimes I’ll think about the past.”
Silence fell between the two of you.
“Hey, Frankie…”
“Yeah?”
“The questions I ask you today, can you be open and answer them honestly? I know that might be asking a lot but-”
“Okay…”
“Really?” You were a bit surprised. I mean he had been honest with you, but only really scratching the surface. You wanted to dig deeper.
“Only if you do the same.”
“Deal.” You smile. “ Did ever come out here to think about me?”
“Plenty of times, Smiles.”
“So, when did you get discharged from the military? I remember you telling Alex you fly cargo?”
“I got discharged a little while after I left. I got my pilot's license suspended for a bit. I managed to get it back and started piloting for a cargo company about 5 years ago.” He reeled him his line, then stood out to cast it again.
“Did you ever get that job you wanted, the one at the magazine company?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Good for you. I knew you could do it. I remember you being so nervous when you did your interview.”
You chuckle slightly at the memory. “Yeah, it was such a mess then, but apparently liked me. It’s a great job. It’s funny actually, Alex’s tech company is in the same building. Our mutual friend introduced us to each other. We were friends for a while, then started dating two years ago.”
You were curious about his girlfriend. He never mentioned her. I mean the phone call at Santiagos and the ring at his house, he had to have a girlfriend.
“How about you? How long have you and your girlfriend been together?”
“My what? Girlfriend? I don’t-”
“Woah!” You said as you jolted forward your hands gripping your fishing pole. You quickly stand up as the fish keeps tugging aggressively on the end line.
“Reel it in Smiles!”
You pull up on the rod as you quickly cranked the reel handle.
“Oh my gosh!” You laugh trying your hardest to reel in the fish.
“Come on, keep going you go!” Frankie cheered you on.
You reeled the last of your line. The fish flew out of the water as you helped the fishing rod up high.
“Alright Smiles!” Frankie laughed as he set his fishing rod into a holder, he stood up quickly and grabbed your line, holding the fish up. You had caught a Bass.
“This one's pretty big!” Frankie grabbed the fish from the bottom of its amount as he unhooked the fish from the line.
“You wanna hold it?” he extends the fish towards you.
“No way! I’m not touching that!” you say moving your body away.
“Come on smiles, you gotta hold a fish you caught!” He says bring the Bass closer to you.
“Frankie! No! Stop!” you protested as you turned away.
“Give your hands,” he says holding his hand out.
“Frankie...”
“Come on, it’s just a fish.”
You sigh holding your hands out. Frankie placed the Bass in your hands. You slightly squeeze its body, making sure you have a grip on the fish. The was Bass was cold, the scales poked the palms of your hands slightly, and it felt slimy.
“See, not so bad!”
The fish began to move, wiggling back and forth in your hand. You let out a yelp, letting out a shriek as you quickly give it back to Frankie.
Frankie busts out laughing as he takes it from your hands.
“That’s not funny!” You shove him as you laughed slightly.
“Stop being such a wimp! It’s just a fish!” He chuckles.
“I told you I didn’t want to hold it!”
“How about you give it a kiss then?” He moves it towards you.
“Stop it! Frankie!”
“It wants a kiss, Smiles, do leave it hanging!” as he tries to get the fish as close to your face as possible.
“Give me a smooch!” he animates his voice, pretending the fish is talking to you.
“NO! Frankie Stop!” You shriek. Frankie gets closer to you, shoving the fish in the face. You reacted by pushing him, Frankie lost his balance and ended up falling over the side of the boat into the lake.
You gasp, your hands flying over your mouth. You kneel on the bench, leaning over the side of the boat.
Frankie’s head pops up out of the water, his Standard Oil Heating hat on his head.
“Frankie are you alright?!”
He takes of his hat, tossing it the boat. He shakes his head, getting so water out and hair out of his eyes, then takes his hands slicking his hair back so he could see.
“Yeah I’m fine, I wasn't expecting to go for a swim though” he laughs as he treads water.
“Here let me help you up” you extend out your hand for him to grab. He takes your hand but you immediately regret it after seeing the mischievous look on his face. You let out a yelp as Frankie yanked you in, flipping over the side of the boat into the water.
Your body hit the water, you come up with the bubbles gasping for air. Frankie is laughing as he treads beside you.
“Now we’re even!”
‘You punk! You did that on purpose! Meanwhile, I accidentally shoved you in!” you slick your hair back out of your face. You splash water in his face.
“Two can play at that game!” he splashes you back.
You swim over to him, placing your hands on his shoulder, then pushing down on him, submerging you both underwater.
Underwater, he grabs a hold of your waist pulling your body close to his. Coming back up you're both laughing, his arms wrap around your body, as your arms wrapped around his neck.
Your guys’ laughs subside as you stare at each other. You take your hand moving a piece of Frankie's hair, out of his face and swipe it to the side. Your heart was beating fast, as you both started to lean in for a kiss. Your nose touches, but you learn your head down, pulling always from him. Swimming back to distance yourself from him.
“I-I think you should take me home now…please...” you whispered.
“Okay…” was all he said. You two swam towards the boat. Frankie got back up first, then helped. He turned on the boat and stirred back to the dock.
You both were dripping wet, but Frankie managed to pack extra clothes. You changed behind some bushes into a very large and long shirt that went past your knee. Frankie changed into a plain t-shirt and jeans.
After changing in new clothes and packing things up, you guys headed on the road, Frankie driving you home.
It was silent in the car. Neither of you has anything to say. You had an ongoing battle raging inside of you. You couldn’t believe you almost kissed Frankie, but part of you wanted to. You were so confused about how you felt. You needed to go home and truly be alone to think things over.
“I’m sorry-” You both say at the same time.
You both sign.
“I shouldn’t have leaned in like that-”
“It wasn’t just you Frankie...It was me as well. I should have known better.”
“-Nothing happened.”
“But something almost did, Frankie.”
“So what is this? What are we?”
“We’re not anything Frankie”
“Bullshit and you know that! We may not be together anymore, but we’ve got history. We’re connected. Stop denying how you feel” he snaps at you.
“I don't feel anything, Frankie! You don’t know how I’m feeling! I’m getting MARRIED! MARRIED!” you reminded him.
You huffed, your arms crossed against your chest. You wanted to open but the car door and roll out. You both sat in silence for a good 20 minutes, only speaking when you were giving him directions to how to get to your house you were almost home. You both had cooled off from the argument, but the tension was still high in the air.
As you sat in the passage side of the truck, you noticed something. “Who’s this?” You asked, staring at a polaroid picture that was tapped on his dashboard. You only noticed the photo until now.
Frankie closed his eyes for a split second and deeply sighed. He thought about what you said earlier ‘The questions I ask you today, can you be open and answer them honestly’. He made a deal with you, he had to keep his word. He had to come clean and make things right with you.
You peel the photo off the dash to examine it better. The photo was of a young teenage girl laughing as she smiled. She was outdoors sitting on a log in front of a campfire. Her hands wrapped around a stick with a marshmallow at the end. Behind her, there was a tent pitched up, woods, a lake, and an orange sunset sky that made up the rest of the backdrop.
“That’s my daughter.”
You stopped fidgeting with the photo. You quickly turn your gaze towards him. He didn’t look at you, he stared at the road ahead, his hands placed at the bottom of the steering wheel. You examined the photo some more. This girl had Frankie written all over her. The girl wore his Standard Heating Oil hat and the way her eyes squinted as she laughed was exactly like Frankie.
He didn’t have to tell you because you knew. It clicked. This was it. The answer you’ve been dying to know for years. She was the reason why he left you. Your eyes began to well up with tears. So many thoughts were circling in your head. You were rendered speechless. You had so much you wanted to say but didn’t know where to start. You didn’t know how to feel. You felt overwhelmed.
You kept your eyes on the photo.
“2005, our first break up. When the long-distance wasn’t working when I was stationed halfway across the country.” He began to say. He paused for a moment. “I dated someone for a few months after we broke up, but it didn’t work out with them. A little while after, we got back together. I had no idea she was pregnant. She didn’t tell me. I didn’t find out until she passed away in an accident. I was contacted, they told me I had a 5-year-old daughter and if I wanted to care for her I needed to do a whole bunch of legal stuff to gain sole custody. If I didn't, she would have gone into the foster care system. The night I left you, that’s where I went. I drove across the country to get her.”
You stuck the photo back on the dashboard, then turned to look out the window, watching the tree fly by as he drove down the highway.
“What’s her name?” you asked.
“Lilah...She’s fifteen.”
It was silent in the truck. Frankie said nothing more letting you take in everything.
You sat there thinking about what he told you. You put yourself in his shoes, imagining if you were in his situation at the time.
“I’m not even mad.” You admitted.
“Y-you’re not?”
“I’m more hurt than I am mad, Frankie.” Tears rolled down your face. “I don’t blame you for what you did. You have a daughter and that was your priority. It was important for you to get to know her, take care of her and be her dad.” Your lips began to tremble more tears spilled from your eyes. “I’m just hurt at the fact you didn’t think you could tell me. God, Frankie you should have told me!”
“I was scared! I-I was so scared to tell you! I didn’t know what you were going to think or say! I was afraid you would’ve wanted nothing to do with me after you found out I had a kid with someone else! O-or what if you didn’t want to raise her with me?! It was easier for me to leave you before you did it to me!”
“Frankie, you think I’m THAT terrible of a person? Do you really think I would have walked out on you if you told me? I told you that night, whatever it was, I would have worked it out with you! You had a daughter for crying out loud! Yes, I admit I would have been taken back and shocked, but I would have supported you! I would have raised her and loved her my very own. There's no way I would have turned her away, she half you of you, Frankie.”
“If-If I could go back a-and change things that happened between us, how I ended things-” his voice was shaking, stuttering as he spoke.
“But you can’t Frankie! You can’t change the past! What you did was done, and you’re going to have to live with that! You’re going to have to face the fact I’m getting married! What happened, happened, We just have to let it go...We both have to move on and let each other go”
By the time you said that Frankie pulled up in your driveway, parking his truck. You quickly grab your bag and hop out, closing the door.
“Smiles!” He yelled after you, getting out of his truck, and shutting the door.
You were walking up the walkway when he grabbed your arm. “Smiles-”
“DON’T touch me!” You snapped at him.
“We’re not done talking!”
“There’s nothing to talk about! Leave! Just get out of here!” you cried. You were feeling so many different emotions, you were confused about how you felt, you just wanted him to go so you could be alone. You turn away, walking to your door.
“I love you!” he shouted
Your eyes widen, whipping around quickly. “NO! You don’t get to say that! Not now! What do you want me to say? What the fuck do you expect me to say?! That I love you back?! I can’t! I can’t say that!”
“You can’t or you won’t?! I know deep down in there you love me. I know you do, but you’re afraid to admit it! Too damn scared to admit that you still have feelings for me!
“FRANCISCO MORALES LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE AND GO HOME!”
Alex came rushing out of the house, hearing you yell. He looked at the both of you. You were a crying mess, your hair damps and wearing a T-shirt. Frankie stood there with a pained and angry look on his face.
“What the hell is going on?” Alex had a million questions running through their head but quickly rushed towards you, putting themselves between you and Frankie.
“Baby you alright? You okay?” he asked, cupping your head in their hands.
“Smiles-” Frankie starts walking towards you.
“You need to fucking leave.” Alex turns around, protectively standing in front of you.
Frankie stands there staring at you. Your lips tremble as you avoid his gaze.
“Just go Frankie…” you whispered.
And just like that, he left. Frankie got back in his truck and drove away.
You started to break down, hysterical crying in front of your house. Your chest felt tight as you sobbed. Alex took you into their arms, comforting you.
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.” He says rubbing your back. “Let’s go inside.”
tag // @icanbeyourjedi @im-an-adult-ish
110 notes · View notes
warmau · 4 years
Text
★ donation request: childhood friends-to-lovers!au jaehyun 
it’s on monday when you realize that you lost it - the necklace jaehyun gave you when you were both kids.
you’re pretty sure his mom bought it and then forced him to wrap it (he did a terrible job) and he’d given it to you with the biggest pink blush on his face for your eleventh birthday
but you’d been so starstruck by the pretty silver star hanging off of it - that you’d slipped it over your head and just,,,,,,,never took it off
after a while, it just became something special to you
years of growing up as jaehyun’s best friend and never once did you or him find it awkward
you had some other accessories you held near and dear too, but it was a silent agreement that you’d just,,,,,,,always have this one on too
even when you were kissing other boys and jaehyun was wingman-ing your invitation to prom from neighborhood heartthrob lee taeyong
you remember tinkering with it when you guys were opening college acceptance letters
and twirling the little star charm between your fingers last week, when you and jaehyun met up to study for your finals
“you still have that thing?”
“it’s my good luck charm!”
he’d grinned, saying sure - the only luck you needed was to get back to studying
you’d scrunched up your nose and told him to be quiet, not registering the dirty looks some people were throwing your way
mostly because you understood: you were close to jung jaehyun, every person on campus was jealous
but now - you were sure you had lost it 
you had gone out last night with some friends, but you were sure you had it on when you went to bed
you only took it off for the night, leaving it on top of your desk where everything else important was
but now - it was gone
you can’t search your room, as you’ve got classes to run to, but you vow you’ll turn the place upside down when you get back
but you don’t find it. you search for two whole days every second you get and then its wednesday and you still dont know where it is.
its also the day of the week where you meet up with jaehyun
he’s coming back from swim team practice, and when he walks toward you - something in your mind plays a memory from when you were both still in highschool
jaehyun had already been swimming back then, and he’d found you in your front yard after practice
he’d come toward you - dimples gleaming with his smile, hair still a little wet, an old nike gym bag that had the keychain you’d given him as a gift from your family’s trip abroad hanging off the zipper
you’d been doing chores, or something and he had dropped his stuff and started helping you 
still in those sweatpants with your highschools name written on the left leg
you blink back the memory as jaehyun reaches you in the present and tilts his head
“are you ok, you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
you strain a smile, not sure if you want to tell him about the necklace
but, you don’t even have to
his eyes skim the line of your neck and then meet yours again
“did something happen?”
he doesn’t even have to say what he’s referring to you, but you nod enough 
“y-yeah i think i lost the necklace you gave me,,,,,,,,or maybe i just need to look through my dorm again. ive been in every corner but -”
you shrug and try to play it off like its not big deal, but jaehyun isn’t fooled
you’ve had that necklace for a long time 
“do you want me to help you search?”
“yes”
you two had planned to just hangout, just talk about school and catch up - maybe plan a visit back to your hometowns
but instead you end up back in your dorm, jaehyun turning over pillows and pulling out drawers as you sweep through your room again
hours pass and neither of you find it, you end up sitting beside him on the floor
“it’s fine, i mean ive had it for like a decade or something now-”
you are saying, but jaehyun puts a large hand over yours
and another one of those memories floods back through you
you’re seniors and you’re telling jaehyun, on the floor of your bedroom, that you can’t make a decision about the future
he’s sitting so close and your shoulders are pressed against each other
you’re ranting, about the stress and fears of growing up, and he’s listening quietly
its almost dinner so you know he has to go - but then he takes your hand in his just as the prick of tears sting in your eyes
he squeezes your palm in his and says you shouldnt worry, youll never be alone in the future because hell always be by your side
you remember nodding, turning and facing him and - 
wanting to kiss him
the memory snaps to an end like a cloud of smoke disappearing - and you’re back in the moment
jaehyun is saying, “im sure youll find it, don’t worry. ill help you look anywhere.”
and squeezing your palm again - you look at him
you want to kiss him now too
but you don’t
when you wake up at the end of the week
you’ve come to conclusion that you are not going to find the necklace in your dorm, which means that its lost for good
you dress and get ready for class, picking something else to wear around your neck, but ultimately giving up
you open your door and see a small box laid out in front of you, curious, you pick it up and read the label on the front
‘from jaehyun’ 
slowly, you pull off the top and see a necklace inside - its a star with a pretty diamond in the middle
theres a note and you pluck it out
‘cant let you go on without your lucky charm. just pretend i gave you this when i was 11 instead’
you smile, and slip the necklace on - it doesnt feel weird like the others hand before
that evening you make time to stop by jaehyun’s 
his roommates arent home and he opens the door with messy hair and his glasses on
he smiles when he sees the necklace
“is it ok?”
he asks and you are about to say; “yes - it’s perfect, thank you.”
but something wont let the words come out - another memory interrupts them
you’re standing in front of jaehyuns door - the door of his family’s house - the door you’ve been in front of a million times before
and you’re crying, full on sobbing, because you’ve just been broken up with by your first real boyfriend
he’s got that messy hair and those glasses and he just tugs you into his arms 
and whispers something about how that guy is a blind, idiotic, loser to hurt you like this
but you remember now that you werent crying because you were upset about being dumped
you were crying because ,,,,,,,,, you never wanted that guy in the first place
when you were being told you just “weren’t what he was looking for” you had wanted to say
“neither are you. what im looking for has always been in front of me” 
because you had realized, time and time and time again, that it was jaehyun
and now you’re here and holding your hand over the necklace and jaehyun is standing again in front of you 
like he has so many times before
and you are about to do the thing you always do, keep pretending like being his friend is enough
but you can’t anymore
you lean forward, hands bunching up the front of his shirt and pulling him down into a kiss
you think you’re going to feel his hands gently push you away - and you embrace the real heartbreak you’re going to feel after
but instead
his hands circle around your waist, pressing you into him and letting his smile grow wider against your lips
when you pull back his eyes fixate on your own
“i thought you were just going to say thanks, but this is so much better.”
you scrunch up your nose and tell him that’s corny, but he just leans in to kiss you again
it’s on a friday that you and jaehyun realize something important - that this has been destined since you were both kids.
722 notes · View notes
ka-writes · 3 years
Text
——————
Notes: I was at camp. Sorry for posting late... in return I gift a long chapter!
——————
In Case you missed it:
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
——————
Inspired by:
Humans are Space Velociraptors
By:FreshRoses_InMyGarden_NeedTheRain
Some kids come from storks, others come from crashed spaceships
By: mmmajora
Home Again, Home Again
By: teeth_eater
All works can be found on Ao3
——————
Warning: Characters being trapped, mentions of IVs, Cussing, yelling, characters being restrained, nightmares, mentions of murder, a guy being arrested.
——————
“Humans are [add text here]”
Chapter 3: A Wild Crow Father has Appeared
Phil wasn’t expecting to be returning to Planet A112 so soon but Wilbur had sent a distress signal and that was the Dream Team Craft’s next stop.
The planet itself stood as a port market place. There were many of these planets around the galaxy, but it was probably the more popular ones for criminal ships and such. Poachers and Scientists alike came here to get supplies to take the biggest beasts in the galaxy, Humans.
Phil never understood the appeal, but both of his sons had gained that sort of adventurous aspect that he had lost so many celestial years ago. He assumed the only reason people ever chased the creatures was to fill their pride.
That was the exact reason Techno had joined the poacher ship three years ago. He only returned when it had crashed three months ago. To this day he has yet to reveal what horrors had gone on the ship.
Wilbur had another reason to go after the infamous creatures. His crave for knowledge was eating him up as was for most scientists. He joined the Dream Team Craft only six months ago and was already heading back to the SBI Craft.
Techno was pacing around the marketplace studying different weapons and supplies. Phil had been standing off to the side, leaning on one of the building walls. Every once and a while he would check his communicator to see where Wilbur was. Thankfully he had turned on his location so Phil could easily watch as he made his way through the maze-like market.
“Is he getting close?” Techno asked running low on patience.
“He’ll be here in two minutes or so.” Phil bit his lip, “You can head back to the ship, I don’t mind waiting for him.”
“I am not leaving you. Prime knows what Wilbur brought back this time.” Techno replied. Wilbur always had a knack for bringing back things he found interesting. This wasn’t the first time he had left the SBI Craft. This would be the 37th since he turned 14. Now he was 24 and the Craft had been designed to handle whatever he brought back. There was a holding room fit for literally any species, a mechanics room full of technology he gained an interest in. A garden and a gardener which was also retrieved by Wilbur. And of course Wilbur’s pride and joy, the laboratory.
“If you want mate..” Phil said, shaking his head.
Not even two minutes later he saw Wilbur coming from the middle of the crowd. He was carrying what looked like a hurt child.
“Well this should be interesting.” Techno mumbled as he spotted Wilbur.
Once the phantom saw them he strode over and they made their way over to him.
“What do you have this time mate?” Phil asked, curiosity filling him to the brim with questions.
“Someone I can’t explain till we get to the ship.” Wilbur states with a tone he had never heard from his son.
After a second of standing awkwardly they had come to a silent agreement to head to the ship.
It took less than five minutes. Wilbur was half sprinting to the lab before Techno’s assistant had even registered that Wilbur was back. Phil gave a quick greeting to the gardener and assistant before following Wilbur to the medical part of the lab. He almost fainted when he saw what was laying on the medical bed.
“I know it looks bad, but I couldn’t help myself.” Wilbur said apologetically, “I know you’re gonna want answers but I really don’t have a lot of time before serious damage is done to him. I’ll explain after I fix him up.” He glanced up with a face full of sincerity.
Phil sighed pushing aside any fatigue and collecting his thoughts. “How can I help?” He states without an ounce of shown-fear in his voice.
Wilbur took a moment before answering. Prime the silence was loud. “Keep everyone out of the lab, and set up another room.. that would be great.” Wilbur said. The worry in his voice was apparent, but Phil said nothing of it. Instead he started on the tasks that came with being the captain of the craft.
——————
He woke up to LED lights blinding him. Tommy blinked a bit before sitting up.
He was sitting on what appeared to be a hospital bed. An IV was attached to his wrist and there were strange alien restraints attached to his legs but not to his wrists. That would be a mistake if he knew how to take the sticky black cuffs off. Which he didn’t. Plus he was too weak to attempt.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and looked around. The bed was pushed into the back corner directly across from a window. There was no glass or plastic covering the window, only a shiny force-field looking thing. The window also was the length of the wall. To the right of the window was a little slot and shelf, clearly used to deliver food. To the left of the window was a place for a door. The only thing was there was no visible door, just more of the light blue painted wall. To the left of the space was a bunch of shelves with a bunch of weird toys, games, books, and puzzles. Across from that was a card table and two comfortable chairs. At the end of the bed was a bench looking thing in which the lid lifted up.
All in all the room was clearly used to keep people occupied while keeping a close eye on them. The inhabitants of the ship had prepared it so it could withstand most things. The furniture in the room had been nailed to the floor. The chairs could move either closer or farther from the table with whoever was sitting down using a strange contraption. None of the toys on the lower shelf could be eaten and all games and puzzles were on higher shelves. The books were also all hard covered. There were even plastic bookmarks in a small container next to the shelves. The window was clearly impossible to get through and looked like it would absorb whatever you threw at it. The food shelf had three mechanisms that wouldn’t be easy to get through. There were no vents or places to hide. It was very apparent they had done this sort of thing before.
The last thing Tommy looked for was a light switch. By some sort of luck he spotted it. It was a weird sort of dial thing that was right by the IV stand. It was currently at 100 and he then dialed it down to 35. It was dim enough to sleep but bright enough to see everything clearly. Not even five minutes later he fell into a deep sleep.
——————
“YOU BROUGHT A HUMAN?!” Tubbo yelled, fluttering his wings furiously, making him hover ever so slightly.
Ranboo swiftly put his hand on Tubbo’s shoulder pushing him back onto the ground. The enderian shifted anxiously making Techno ponder if he was also gripping Tubbo to keep himself grounded. Phil stood near Will expectantly. Wilbur shifted from foot to foot and rubbed his arm, yet kept his head up to look at everyone. Techno was leaning against his security desk, side eyeing the now asleep human.
“I knew you were stupid, I just didn’t know you were this stupid.” Techno stated without a hint of remorse. Wilbur scoffed before attempting to collect himself.
“I couldn’t just leave him there! It was a mission built for researching humans. Meaning they would be doing nasty experiments for prime knows how long!” Wilbur snapped, with a seriousness Techno hadn’t seen since Wilbur brought back the other children on the ship, “He is a kid. Not an adult that had nowhere to go and was doing prime awful things. He is a kid with no family, no home, and barely making it through the day. I read through his file and he has gone through awful shit. I wasn’t gonna let him die in misery too. If you don’t want him on the ship, then I will get myself my own ship.” Wilbur threatened with a tone not to be questioned. Techno took a moment to think through Will’s response before coming up with an answer.
“He can stay. As long as you keep him in line and take care of his rations. He is not to leave his room until we make sure he can do no damage. If anyone wants to visit him, you are either outside the window or I am present. No excuses.” Techno finished satisfied with his answer. Phil may have been the legal captain of the ship, but when it came to rules Techno was always the one to make them.
Phil nodded in agreement. The two children nodded aggressively, both of which clearly had no intention of going near the human’s holding cell. After a minute Wilbur nodded.
“Fine. If those are the rules I will comply.” Wilbur said, “I need to adjust some things, I will assume Techno will be coming with me?” He asked reluctantly.
“Yes.” Techno bluntly said.
“So be it.” Wilbur snapped. Techno just brushed it off as they headed towards the lab cells.
——————
Tommy was running through the forest on the edge of town.
It was his favorite trail and the only one his parents let him go on alone. Which cost a long series of promises and supplies he had to go with.
Usually he would be running on the trail for fun but this time it was a sprint home. He didn’t know what was wrong but he knew something was wrong. Especially when he saw the blue and red lights light up the evening sky.
“I didn’t do anything you bastards!!” His dad yelled over the sirens. They had him in cuffs repeating the Miranda rights to him as they pushed him into the back seat.
“What’s going on?” All Tommy could manage his throat was tight and he was struggling to hold back angry tears. He caught one of the officers' attention. She smiled softly.
“He got caught doing something bad to his wife.” She said sadly.
“What did he do?!” Tommy cried even louder this time tears slipped down his face. At this point the officer got more serious.
“I am not obligated to say.” She bit her lip before continuing, “Why don’t you go back to your parents?” She replied softly. This was the first time Tommy got angry, not annoyed or that childish angry. The kind of anger that makes you wanna burn the world down. It was a quick flash but enough to make him snap.
“You took my dad…. What did he do to my mom?” Tommy answered coldly. His answer clearly shook the officer.
“Aw kid, I- .. I am sorry.. he killed her.” Tommy already knew the answer. He shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. He heard someone scream from far away. Maybe it was him, maybe someone else. They pushed him through a series of questions all of which he could barely answer. His mind was somewhere else. He couldn’t calm down. Everything was too much.
He woke up in a cold sweat. Tears were running down his face. His breath was rapid and uneven. He hadn’t had a dream like that for a couple of months, granted he barely slept. After a few shaky breaths he calmed himself enough to grasp where he was. He wiped the tears just in time for the spot where the door was to open.
In stepped Wilbur along with a really tall alien. The tall alien stood in front of the door as Wilbur rushed to Tommy’s bed. Tommy lost control of his breathing, barely calming down.
Wilbur grabbed his hands to which Tommy snapped his head towards the alien. “I want you to breathe with me okay?” Wilbur said softly. He moved Tommy’s hand to his chest and started taking deep breaths. After a minute Tommy managed to even his breath to Wilbur’s pattern. “Good, good. I am gonna take off your IV since you don’t need it anymore. After that I can get you some food and water, then we can talk alright?” Wilbur said, keeping his tone soft and slow. Tommy rubbed his eyes and nodded.
Wilbur took his arm, there was a small pinch then the IV was off. Wilbur quickly left and came back after about two minutes. Within those two minutes Tommy got a better look at the other alien.
The alien had light pink ruff skin with neat pink hair tightly braided. They were wearing a puffy cream shirt that was tucked into dark brown pants, which were tucked into black boots that went up to their knees. Their knees bent backwards and the boots were shaped weirdly, like they were built for hooves. They had hooves where their hands would be, that somehow had thumbs. They also had tusks poking out of their mouth. Along with blood red eyes that had white pupils. Their ears poked out of their hair and were both torn and pierced with gold earrings. They also had a gold chain necklace with a stone that resembled an Emerald. They also wore a black belt with a gold clip. Attached to the belt was an alien sword leaning against their right hip, on the other side was what resembled a gun.
Tommy swallowed down food that was threatening to come up. He waited patiently for Wilbur to come back, trying his hardest not to stare at the other alien.
“My name is Techno. He/him. Same with Wilbur and most of the crew. The only one who has other pronouns is Ranboo who goes by he/they.” Techno, stated bluntly. Tommy collected himself before responding.
“I am Tommy Innit, er- he/him.” Tommy finished with a shaky voice.
Luckily the awkward tension didn’t last long as Wilbur practically sprinted through the door, shoving Techno out of the way. He pulled a tray that was neatly folded out of the wall and put a glass of water and some food on a plate.
“Some parskey with hatatoes. It tastes good I promise.” Wilbur explained. He then went to grab something he left outside and sat at the card table. He put two plates down and Techno joined him. The door closed after that. There was no button or anything, it just closed. Tommy was a little baffled by it but looked towards the food put in front of him.
It was a white meat, similar to chicken, with a brown version of mashed potatoes. He looked over to the other two who were talking in a different language while eating the same food. With that Tommy decided it was okay to eat. Just like what it reminded him of, it tasted like chicken and mash potatoes with small differences. Like the meat was dryer and more salty and the potatoes were a little sour. Either way it was still good. He then drank the water. There was no odd taste this time so he assumed it wasn’t drugged.
Once he finished he attempted to listen in but was only met with a series of strange sounds. He gave up and pushed the tray away. Almost too quickly he fell into a deep sleep. He didn’t even notice when the visitors took their stuff and left.
——————
Ranboo poked at his food glancing up every once and awhile. The two crew members had returned from the human’s room and decided to finish their food with the rest of the crew. Everyone sat in a tense silence.
“So,” Phil clapped his feathered hands and turned towards Wilbur. “What do we know about the kid?” He asked.
“His name is Tommy Innit, pronouns he/him. He is 14 and was living on the run for six months. No family according to him and he’s allergic to nuts.” Wilbur answered.
“From what I can tell he isn’t super dangerous, just fearful. He already trusts Wilbur, somehow. Though I think it is due to Wilbur saving his life. It will be harder for the rest of us to gain his trust.” Techno added. Ranboo swiftly wrote the responses down, making sure to keep major notes.
The rest of dinner was uneventful and everyone awkwardly washed dishes and went to bed. Assumingly to sleep. Everyone except Ranboo that is. He couldn’t wash dishes due to his biology and he didn’t really sleep. Every time he tried the void would wake him up or he would go into a half-conscious state that the crew deemed as enderwalking.
So for what felt like the hundredth time they stayed awake laying in bed. This time however their mind was racing with thoughts. Traveling through situations that used to seem impossible before the human boarded the ship. Still curiosity was eating their insides.
With a half made up mind Ranboo shot up in bed. They stalked over to where the human was being held and peered into the window.
Almost instantly the human sat up. After yawning and getting into a position he was comfortable in he just stared at Ranboo making them incredibly uncomfortable.
“Who are you?” The human asked, Ranboo couldn’t remember his name.
“Oh! Uh, I am Ranboo.. I am kinda like an assistant, I-I guess.” Ranboo said, fidgeting with his fingers.
“Ah cool. I am the biggest man! Tommy Innit. You should be grateful to be in my presence.” The human practically flowed with confidence making Ranboo question if all humans were like this. He shook off the questions and turned back to the human who was now playing with the light monitor.
“So… what was your planet like?” Tommy asked, startling Ranboo a bit. “I-I mean you don’t have to answer of course.. just wondering..” the human stuttered. They took a moment to go through their thoughts, narrowing down what they could.
“I guess it was peaceful.. in a way.. no one really fell out of line. It was unified, creating a peaceful haven. It wasn’t like people couldn’t fall out of line it’s just they didn’t want to. M-most of them were content with the way they were… but if there was something wrong they would absolutely take any measure to destroy it.” Ranboo finished bitterly, trying to shake off his old hurt of how they treated him. “W-what about your planet?” Ranboo asked.
“Ah.. Earth is interesting to say the least… We don’t all follow the same rules. And there is a lot of falling out of line… But I guess that’s what gave it a certain charm and a certain aspect that made it brutal.” Tommy finished his serious tone melting in an instant, “But that’s there not here! I wanna know what everything is like.” He said looking at Ranboo with curiosity.
That’s how Ranboo created a bond with the strange blond creature. They bounced from topic to topic mainly ending with one of them going into a deep explanation of one thing or another. They talked until both of them ended up passing out sitting next to the window.
——————
Chapter 3- End
Words- 3,212
——————
Techno- “Don’t go near the human without my presence.”
Ranboo- ._.
Ranboo- Ima do it... >:p
——————
(That was a bad one but oh well..)
——————
End Notes: I got carried away a bit... I have a few more filler chapters before we start actually getting into the plot.. also after this should I start a super hero AU?
Ignore minor mistakes... I did reread through it this time so there shouldn’t be too many...
As always likes are nice but reblogs are better! Please share this with people of you enjoyed, I hope you did!
Go get some water, sleep, eat food, and stay safe!! Love y’all <3
——————
Chapter 4:
22 notes · View notes
farfromsugafanfic · 3 years
Text
Sutures - Chapter 12: Cardioplegia
Tumblr media
Genre: Soulmates AU, Idiots to Lovers, slight Enemies to Lovers
Pairing: Yoongi/Named Reader
Warnings (chapter specific): mentions of family member death, medical procedures, ANGST, hospitalization, references to memory loss
Synopsis: “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” –Jean de la Fontaine
There was only one thing you and Min Yoongi had in common that night. You were both brokenhearted. You only intended to be together for one night, but when you both end up in the hospital the next day you discover that you are soulmates. It could kill you to be apart. As you and Yoongi attempt to sever the bond between you, will another be formed?
Note: Before y’all demand my head on a stick for this ending, please note that there is an epilogue and bonus part still to come.
Previous | Series Masterlist | Next
Tumblr media
"Min Yoongi? Jang Sumi?" the doctor asked, carrying a clipboard in his hand. "So, I hear you have some concerns you need to discuss with me?" 
You recognized the doctor from when you'd ended up in the hospital after the night you met Yoongi. He seemed to be the only soulmate bonding specialist in the whole city and your stomach turned. You wanted your needles.
"Yes," Yoongi said. "You see, an urgent family matter has come up for Sumi and she has to fly to the US as soon as possible." The doctor nodded. "The issue is that due to my schedule, I can't go with her. I know you said there were exemptions for work, do you think this would cover that?" 
"It's hard to know," the doctor said. "It's possible you would have no problems as the conflict involves your work. But, for Sumi, there's nothing obligating her beyond the love for her family. I fear it would be risky. We wouldn't know until Sumi is on the plane and if you both have a reaction, it's likely Sumi wouldn't be able to get to a hospital in time." 
"Then, no," Yoongi said. "What are the other options?"
"Wait," you said, touching Yoongi's bicep lightly. "What are the chances I have a reaction on the plane?" 
"I'd say a 70% chance you react, 30% you don't. If it'd been over a year since you'd met, it would probably be 50/50. As the years go by, reactions become less likely. At least in the limited experience and research, we have from soulmate couples. Every couple is different."
"I'm willing to take the chance. Maybe we could hire a doctor to fly with me--" 
Yoongi's hand shot to grip your thigh cutting off your words as your jeans rubbed against your skin where his fingertips touched. Even with the fabric between his skin and yours, it still felt like sitting too close to a fire. The sparks flying just over your head. 
The doctor arched his eyebrow. "There aren't a ton of options. We are researching drugs right now to help curb reactions in situations like this, but since the reactions are individualized in some ways, it makes it hard to develop one drug that will work for all."
"I can come with you," Yoongi said, "It's the only option." You saw in the way his lips were in a slight frown that his thoughts were racing. His voice quieted. "And you'll need me."
"Yoongi, I-I don't know how long I'm going stay. You can't stay forever and I might."
Yoongi's eyebrows rose as his lips fell into a frown. "You want to stay?" 
You felt the atmosphere lose color. The vibrant scene slowly turning black and white. Yoongi's hand still rested on your leg like it belonged there. 
"I could teach Korean. Do translation work. I don't know. But, I miss my family and knowing things can happen so quickly and I could lose them, I just..." Unlike all the other times, there were no tears. You couldn't cry over this. You wanted to cry, grab the closest objects and fling them at the wall until they dented it, or at least chipped the paint. You wanted to grab Yoongi and kiss him, tear off his shirt, pull on his hair. But you couldn't. The only thing you could do was sit and listen to the doctor say you had to choose.
"Can we talk about this privately?"
"Before you make any decisions," the doctor said. "I should inform you that we have been working on an experimental cure. We haven't tested it on any human subjects yet, but we could use you if you consent. We can't guarantee it will work, but if it does, it would solve your problems. We don't know what side effects would be, but we would keep you for 24 hours for monitoring." 
"Is it safe?"
"We believe it is. We've done animal trials and while they don't have soulmate connections like you do, they have not shown any side effects that we're concerned about." The doctor stood up to leave. "I'll give you some time. I know this isn't an easy decision, so take your time." 
Once the door closed, you and Yoongi turned towards each other, your knees knocking together. His hands found yours, but you felt his gaze on your face which was angled downward, your eyes focusing on the way his thumb moved slowly over your knuckles.
"Yoongi, I don't know what to do. I need to see my grandma. I wish this wasn't so complicated and I'm scared cause what if the cure doesn't work or it gives us weird side effects. I mean, technically we could die. Yoongi, what do I do? I'm gonna lose my grandma. I-I don't want to lose you too."
"Hey, hey," he said, letting go of your heads and pulling you into his chest. You heard his heart beating against your ear and how his fingers shook slightly as he ran them over your hair. "It's going to be okay. Let's just think about this." 
He was silent for a few moments. You didn't even hear the doctors and nurses rushing past the room or the beat of your hearts. 
"We were working to sever this anyway. We won't lose each other. I'll still be here for you. You can still call or visit. I'm just concerned if something bad happens with the cure. Are you willing to risk everything for your grandmother?" 
"Yes, of course." 
“Then, we'll try it. I want you to be happy, Sumi. I want you to be able to see your grandmother, okay?" 
You nodded. "Are you sure this is what you want?" 
"If it's what you want, then I'm sure." 
"Yoongi, I'm sorry. I know you--" 
"Shh," he said, smoothing down your hair and bunching it up and curling it around his fingers. "Let's just enjoy this last moment, yeah?" 
You burrowed into Yoongi's chest. You would truly miss his warmth, the way his heart beat in time with yours, how he noticed when you were anxious, and handed you your needles. You weren't sure someone like him would ever walk into your life again. And here you were, allowing him to walk out.
---
"Thanks for coming," the doctor said, nodding towards Namjoon and Eunji who stood off to the side, sharing furrowed brows and concerned glances between you and Yoongi. "Since we don't exactly know what state they'll be in after this we want to make sure they have someone to look after them after."
While the doctor continued explaining worrisome symptoms and aftercare protocol, Yoongi turned towards you and grabbed your hand, slipping a folded piece of paper into it. You flashed him an odd look before pulling your hand away and unfolding the paper, finding a plane ticket to Los Angeles. 
"I've made the arrangements. If you miss that flight, I'll get you on the next."
"Yoongi, you didn't--" 
"Yeah, I did. Now, you don't have to worry, okay?
The doctor finished talking to Namjoon and Eunji and turned towards you. "Are you ready? We need to induce a reaction for this to work, so I've made arrangements for one of you to receive the treatment at another hospital nearby. Which one--" 
"I'll go." Yoongi got off the bed and met your eyes. You'd already said goodbye, but it didn't feel like enough. There was a chance one or both of you could die. That it wouldn't work at all. There was an even greater chance that it would work and all the things you felt for the man in front of you would dissipate like fog in the afternoon. 
You'd miss the way you longed to run your hands through his hair. How your stomach flipped when he smiled at you or the way you felt his touch linger long after he pulled away. The way he could calm you with just a look or how he allowed you to fiddle with his fingers when you didn't have your needles. 
"Bye, Sumi. Call me whenever you need to, okay?"
You nodded and clasped your hands together tightly. He leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to your forehead and left the room before he could look back. 
Namjoon met your eyes and offered a sad smile. "Take care, Sumi." 
"You too, Namjoon." 
Namjoon followed after Yoongi and it was just you, Eunji, and the doctor. "Once her symptoms begin, we'll administer the cure. We'll then just monitor her for any reaction and go from there." 
Ten minutes later, it started. You felt the tightness in your chest, sweat pricking at your hairline, and your legs were restless, wanting to move wherever Yoongi was. 
"Eunji, hold her hands, help keep her still." 
Eunji was hesitant, but she walked over and held your arms flat against the bed. "It's gonna be okay, Sumi. Just breathe, okay? Just keep breathing." 
You flinched as you felt the needle in your arm and fluid spilling into your bloodstream. It was hot--not hot enough to burn--but almost. Your heart slowed, but your breathing didn't catch up. 
"Sumi, how are you feeling? Are you okay?" the doctor asked. You could vaguely make out the two figures hovering over you. Your vision went black around the edges and your legs went numb. You felt yourself falling and the two figures became smaller and smaller.
---
You woke up. White sheets surrounded you and the room was dark except for the light peeking in from the hallway outside. You heard Eunji in the hallway. It sounded like she was talking on the phone as you didn't hear another voice. 
"What do you mean, Namjoon?" Her voice sounded distressed. Worried. 
You glanced down at the IV in your arm. Your head hurt and you couldn't remember why you were here or how you got there. How long had you been here?
"He-he's okay, though? I mean, other than--"
Eunji's voice was now hushed. You strained to hear, but the machines connected to you began to beep. Eunji rushed back into the room, flipping on the light.
"Sumi!" Before you could blink she had her head pressed to your chest and was hugging you the best she could without disturbing all the needles and cords attached to your body. "When you passed out I thought you were going to die and I didn't know what was going to do without my best friend."
"Eunji--what--what happened? Who's Namjoon?" 
Eunji's face fell. "Oh, uh, that's not important. Let me get the doctor."
---
The doctor examined you. His eyes caught yours, a sad look crossing over them momentarily before he pulled away. 
“You seem perfectly healthy," he said. "I'm going to discharge you, but if you start having odd symptoms of any kind get to an emergency room. Okay?"
You nodded, not fully understanding. "Wait, how long has it been? How long have I been here?"
"It's only been a few hours, why?" 
"My grandma," you said. "I need to get to the airport and get a ticket and--"
Eunji reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. "You have a ticket. The flight's in a few hours. If you hurry you can make it. I'll send your stuff along later." 
"You didn't buy this, did you?" 
"No, Yoo--you really don't remember?" 
"Eunji, what aren't you telling me?"
Your friend glanced over at the doctor who mouthed something you couldn't make out. 
"It's not important right now," Eunji said. "Come on, you need to get to the airport if you want to get to the airport on time."
---
"I'll miss you," you said, pulling Eunji in for a hug. "I'll call you when I can."
"Take it easy, okay? You just got out of the hospital." 
"I still don't remember what happened, Eunji. Why can't just tell me? Was it an accident? I must've hit my head." 
"The doctor thinks it'd be too stressful on you right now. Maybe I'll tell you someday, okay? Just go be with your grandma." 
You nodded, even though you overflowed with questions, something made you feel at peace as you stepped onto the plane and into your window seat. Normally, this is when you'd begin feeling sick. You settled into your seat and pulled your flannel closer around you. You didn't remember owning a flannel with the sleeves cut off. It must be one of Minki's old ones that you'd stolen, but for some reason, it kept you calm as the plane rocketed off the runway and into the air.
THE END 
40 notes · View notes
helloalycia · 3 years
Text
alex WILL kick my arse // supergirl
summary: you learn that being supergirl's doctor came with its challenges
warning/s: none.
author's note: i’m lowkey posting a bunch of stuff that i posted on my wattpad a while ago lol
masterlist | wattpad
Tumblr media
I was sat in the medical unit of the DEO, reading through some medical reports from the past few months. I had just transferred from the DEO's desert facility, where I was one of the doctors there to help with any of the agents' injuries. After a long time there, I decided to transfer here when there was an opening for the lead doctor.
I thought it would be best to settle in by having a look at what severe cases had been dealt with recently. It was usually the same stuff – agents injured on field missions. Bullet wounds, broken bones, sprained muscles, thankfully nothing too severe. There hadn't been many major alien attacks which meant less risky field operations.
I was pulled from the reports when the red alarm light began to flash for a few seconds, accompanied by a siren, before turning off.
"Agent Y/L/N, Supergirl is incoming with J'onn," my radio went off – it was Director Danvers. "She's had a solar flare and got a gunshot wound."
I recalled what a solar flare was from research I'd done in Supergirl's medical records. That was something I prioritised when coming here, since we didn't have Supergirl at the other facility.
"I'm prepping a bed and equipment now," I replied through the radio, before hurrying to do that. J'onn could literally fly, he'd be here any minute.
With the help of some nurses who were around, I prepped a bed and had the solar energy panels on standby for when/if her powers came back sooner than we thought. I had the tools ready to bandage up her gunshot wound temporarily when both heroes appeared beside me.
J'onn was stood there, holding Supergirl bridal style and lowering her onto the bed.
"Still getting used to that," I mumbled, surprised at how he just sped in here.
"I said I'm– agh, I'm fine," Supergirl complained, clutching her bloody wound and trying to sit up. "My powers will come back."
I stepped by her bedside and pushed her back down gently, moving closer to inspect her wound. "Please stay still for a second."
"Listen to the doctor," J'onn teased to lighten the mood.
Supergirl rolled her eyes and stayed still. I removed her hand and noticed it was covered in blood.
"Can somebody come clean this up?" I called out to one of the nurses, motioning to her hand.
One of the nurses did as I asked as I took a look at her wound. The bullet was still in there by the looks of it.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to overwork yourself?!" Director Danvers' voice called out as she walked in.
She was glaring at Supergirl, though the worry in her eyes was evident as she took in the hero's appearance.
"It's barely a scratch, Alex, it'll heal," Supergirl said dismissively, but as I cleaned up the blood with a cloth, I saw her clench her jaw a little.
"You need to be careful, you're not indestructible," Alex reminded her, before looking to J'onn. "Can you believe her?"
J'onn chuckled. "I'll leave you both to it. I should get back." He glanced at me. "Good luck."
I nodded his way, offering a small smile as he walked away.
"As fun as it is watching you both glare at each other, I do need to remove the bullet," I spoke up, interrupting both girls' staring contest.
"Go for it," Supergirl said, her eyes meeting mine.
"With anaesthetic," Alex added, shooting another glare towards the blonde.
"I don't need anaesthetic," Supergirl countered with an eye-roll and scoff.
"You're human for the time being, remember?" Alex reminded her before looking to me. "Anaesthetic, please."
I bit my lower lip as they erupted into another argument about how I should proceed. I didn't know either of them well enough to cut in, so I stood there awkwardly, trying to stop the blood loss and planning out how I could temporarily bandage her up so it could heal itself when she gets her powers back.
"I have to go," Alex finally said, pulling me back into reality. "I have to check on the bank robbery." She didn't seem too happy leaving Supergirl here, but she gave her a knowing look before looking to me. "Please make sure she stays put?"
"You got it, Director," I said with a playful salute. How hard could it be to keep her here?
Alex gave Supergirl one last warning look before leaving us be. I looked to the blonde who was finally breathing out, letting her guard down a little now that it was just us.
"The anaesthetic will make it bearable, just so I can remove the bullet," I spoke, causing her to open her eyes and look at me. "I'm just gonna bandage you up temporarily and you'll heal yourself when you get your powers back. Shouldn't be more than a few days, according to your medical history."
She swallowed hard before shaking her head. "I've been through much worse. It's okay. Just remove it and bandage me up. The sooner I'm out of here, the better."
I was ready to argue, but she gave me a convincing look and I couldn't help but give in.
"Fine, but you stay here and rest," I reasoned, to which she gave me a small, cute smile.
I got to work and surprisingly, she managed. It went well and I managed to bandage her up quite quickly, though it did mean I had to cut into her suit a little. Better safe than sorry though.
"Okay, you're all done," I said, patting her arm supportively, before packing away the gauze. "I'm gonna go get you some water and then you should take it easy, stay here maybe until you get your powers back. That alright?"
She gave me a thumbs up and a promising smile. "You got it, doc."
I was fairly confident that she would listen to me, since she seemed polite and was a trooper throughout the whole thing. However, I soon realised how naive I had been when I returned and her bed was empty.
I facepalmed and shook my head, realising she'd definitely played along the whole time.
The first thing I did was look around the DEO, asking around if anyone had seen Supergirl. I eventually followed the commotion coming from the main hall and spotted both Supergirl and Director Danvers having an argument.
"...stay and rest! You can't keep ignoring simple instructions, Kara!" Alex shouted around her.
Supergirl rolled her eyes and continued to look at the tablet in her hand. I approached the two and cleared my throat loudly to get the blonde's attention.
When she noticed me, she gave me a sheepish smile. "Doctor Y/L/N. Heeeeeeey."
"One job, literally," Alex mumbled, giving me a knowing look, before storming off.
I breathed out and glared at Supergirl. "Are you serious? I asked you to stay put!"
She straightened up and spread her arms out for emphasis. "But I'm fine! See? Nothing hurts, I'm walking, it's all good! Job well done, I must say. You're new, right? Well, I know why you got the job!"
She avoided my glare as she walked around me to get to the other side of the desk.
"You've heard of the term 'first impressions count', haven't you?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.
She gave me a knowing look. "C'mon. You can't hate me for this."
I sighed. "I've got work to do. Call me if you tear your stitches."
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I turned around and began to leave.
"I'm not gonna tear them!" I heard her call out from behind me, but I didn't care. I wasn't her parent, she could do what she wanted.
I wish I'd known I was dealing with a stubborn Super before accepting this job though.
"What a surprise," I said sarcastically.
A few hours later, I'd been called into one of the medical rooms because apparently, Supergirl had collapsed from blood loss and tore her stitches. Shocker.
"Is she going to be okay?" Alex asked as I got to work for the second time that day.
"Yeah, if she decides to listen to me this time," I said, sighing. "Is she always this stubborn?"
Alex clenched her jaw. "Unfortunately, yes... you think you can keep her here next time?"
"I'll give it my best shot," I promised her. "I'll call you when she's up?"
Alex nodded, patting me on the shoulder. "Thanks."
She left me to do my thing and this time I did things my way, the right way, with anaesthetic and IV fluid. I managed to sort out Supergirl's mess before going back to my office to fill out some more paperwork.
Some time passed when I found myself going back to check on Supergirl and see if she was awake. I was cleaning up a little around her side table when I heard her stir awake. She seemed confused at first, as she looked around and saw the tube coming from her arm. Eventually, realisation set in and she sank into her pillow.
I decided to stay quiet as I finished up, about to leave, but she stopped me.
"Wait," she called out. I paused as she continued, "I'm sorry."
I turned around and waited, watching as, unlike before, she wasn't joking or being unserious.
"I should have stayed put before. And listened to you. I didn't mean to offend you or come across as rude," she continued genuinely.
I crossed my arms and straightened up. "Well, Supergirl–"
"Kara," she interrupted. "It's Kara."
I nodded. "Okay, Kara. Yes, you probably should have listened. I redid your stitches and I'm asking you to stay put again. You're human for now and you need to act like one."
"You're right," she agreed, breathing out. "Sorry."
I realised that she seemed to mean it and at the end of the day, I was her doctor, so I couldn't hold a grudge. Instead, I went to her bedside and checked her monitors to see how she was doing.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, glancing at her.
"Tired. Achey. But better than before."
"That'll be the meds kicking in," I said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I did have to get in there twice."
Her cheeks went pink as she smiled with embarrassment. "I'm not used to being so..."
"Fragile?" I finished for her.
"Exactly," she said, nodding. "I'm not used to it and staying put isn't exactly my forte."
"I could tell," I joked, making her laugh a little. She had a nice laugh.
"About that first impressions thing..." she began, blue eyes holding mine nervously.
"It's nice to meet you for the first time, Kara," I said, holding out my hand. "I'm Y/N. Your doctor."
She cracked a smile, realising what I was doing. She shook my hand and said, "Nice to meet you, too, Y/N."
"Okay, I should go and get Alex," I said, backing up to leave. "Now please don't leave because Alex will kick my arse if you're not here when she comes back."
She laughed again. "I promise I'll be here when you return."
"Fingers crossed you're not playing me again," I mumbled loud enough for her to hear.
Her laughter seemed to follow me out the room, leaving me smiling to myself.
149 notes · View notes
callmeelle22 · 3 years
Text
Blue Dream VII
Pairing: Iris West x Barry Alen
Rating: E
Chapter Word Count: 9, 034
Summary: A series of sporadic dates between Iris and Barry turn into something more, a story in its own making.
Chapter I: Primetime
Chapter II: It's Cool
Chapter III: Anything
Chapter IV: Comfortable
Chapter V: The Way
Chapter VI: Say Yes
Chapter VII: Brave; They fuck with the rain like a soundtrack behind them, like a song that swells and stretches, telling their story, but you're so brave; stone cold crazy for loving me; yeah, I'm amazed; i hope you make it out alive, a song that rises and rises, that sounds too good to be real, that might destroy you, but only in the best way. (Read below or on AO3 linked on the chapter title.)
Chapter VIII: Blue Dream
Brave
Broken hearts are made for two
One for me and one for you
Tell me have you heard the news
We are now in love
Fall break from school is scheduled during the last three days of the last week of October. Before she can take some time off, Iris has midterm articles to write and grade. Barry is busy testing DNA samples or whatever it is CSIs do so they don’t see each other for several days after he leaves her house the morning after Wally’s party.
On the Wednesday of Fall Break, the first day off, Iris lets herself sleep in until almost 10, and then she packs up her bag, stuffing a notebook, a couple of pens, and her laptop in, before dressing comfortably in a pair of dark leggings, and a white oversized CCU hoodie she stole from her brother. Throwing on a pair of white low-top Chuck Taylors, Iris heads out to Jitters. It’s a rainy day, and other than workers who’ve no choice, not many people are out. A storm is brewing for later in the night, the sky dark and cloudy, but for the moment, it’s just a steady rain that has Iris walking carefully to her car and driving a lot slower, thanking her lucky stars that she finds a parking spot right in front of the coffee shop.
Back in high school, especially once her dad had gotten her a used car during the beginning of senior year, Iris and Linda would come to Jitters to do homework or stare at the college boys who would come in. The coffee shop has expanded since then, buying the small antique store that had been next door and adding more seating and a bar that specializes in alcoholic coffee brews. It’s still one of Iris’s favorite places to work because now the manager is a young Black woman with wild curly hair always dyed in one bright color or another and a soft spot for mid to late 90s R & B female singers. The shop is comfortable, with couches and overstuffed chairs in mismatched browns and beiges and blues set up near the walls and windows and several tables, two- and four-tops, taking up the space in the middle. Two of the walls are exposed brick and the others are painted stark white and feature framed prints in wild colors. It’s changed since she was a child, but Iris likes to think that she’s changed with it, that as this integral part of Central City has grown and added light and color and comfort, so too has Iris.
Today, her plan is to outline at least two entire stories from interviews she’s completed over the last couple of weeks before she even thinks about leaving the coffee shop. She settles into one of her favorite spots, a soft navy armchair behind a small circular table. She sets up her laptop, her notebook with her notes, her pens, and once a waiter drops off her brown sugar latte and a chocolate muffin, she lets the sound of the rain, and the Erykah Badu playing on the speakers, get her into her work.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Iris looks up just as Barry stops beside her. She’s been at Jitters for just over three hours now, and her shoulders are cramped and she’s coffee high and hungry. The rain is still pounding down, so hard that it looks like it’s raining sideways, and Iris curses her inability to get any work done in her own home. Besides all that, she’s reeling. She’s just outlined a story of a man explaining the story of the woman he’d loved his entire life: from growing up together in a small city in North Carolina, to becoming best friends and de facto siblings when his parents died and her dad agreed to foster him; from not dating but seeming like it in high school, to falling for other people in college; from having other spouses and children to one night of passion before they found their way back to each other when she decided to leave her husband after his wife died. It was a ride from start to finish, such a roller coaster of feelings—of love and pain and joy and heartbreak—that make Iris feel a bit heavy with them, a little loopy with them.
Barry stands to the side of her, towering above her, in as simple an outfit as what she’s wearing, a pair of black joggers and a white sweatshirt. She’s startled that he's there because she figures that he should be at work, but her heart does tick up at the sight of him. That is, until she lets her eyes rake over his lean frame. He looks a little...down, like a physical manifestation of the story she’s just outlined. His hair is messier than usual and his eyes aren’t carrying their usual sparkle, in addition to the darkening bags that frame them. He’s also a little stubbly, his jaw covered in a fine layer of coarse hair, his pallor a bit ashen.
(Iris will also admit that she thinks he looks sort of, well, good, like this; but that’s neither here nor there and she feels terrible—and maybe a bit perverted—that she’s lusting after him when he’s obviously going through something.)
“Hey,” she responds softly, and she stands up to assess him further. He seems so much taller than her like this, when they’re both in sneakers. She hasn’t seen him since the morning after Wally’s party a week ago when he dropped her back off at her car after spending the night at her place. They’ve talked a bunch and FaceTimed once, but she’s missed him. She reaches up into his hair, rubbing at his scalp a little until his eyes close and he lets out a soft little moan. She keeps at it and then touches gingerly at his face, at some of the moles dotting his cheeks, at the stubble he’s grown. He reaches up to stop her, eyes still closed, and it startles her a little bit. She goes to pull her hand back, but then he holds on to her wrist to bring her hand down and presses a kiss to her knuckles.
She’s never seen him like this. He’s always so open and, maybe not happy, but never so melancholy. There is always a pep to his step, as her grandma used to say, a smile on his face that always said that he feels some sort of contentment in his life. And obviously, people are allowed to have days like this. But it does something to Iris, to see him this way. She wants to lash out at whoever has made him look like this, like he’s drowning in emotions that he can’t easily pull himself out of.
“Bear, you okay?”
He nods, a little woefully, and he catches her eyes again. She bites at her lip as she stares back at him and, on impulse, she leans up to kiss him. It’s just a little more than a peck, something to tell him that she’s there with him; but he takes it a step further, kissing her harder, biting at her lip enough that there’s more pain than she’s expecting. She moans at him and he pulls back, breathing labored.
“I’m sorry,” he speaks. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s fine,” she says. “You didn’t hurt me. Well, a little, but I didn’t hate it.”
That gets a more real smile out of him, and he thumbs at her bottom lip. “Hmm, I guess my good girl is a little bad.”
Iris rolls her eyes and gives him a look, sobering for a minute. “Bear, what’s up? You okay?”
He doesn’t answer her question. Instead, he nods at her table and asks, “you get a lot of work done?”
She eyes him, wanting to ask again. But she knows how she is when she doesn’t want to talk about something and so she lets it go. For the moment.
“Yeah. Or, at least, I’ve done most of what I set out to do.”
He nods, casts his eyes out of the glass, looking at the rain for a moment, watching it fall in heavy sheets. Normally, Iris likes the rain. It’s soothing and she enjoys how it makes the world take a moment to slow down. When she was a little girl, her grandma (her dad’s mother who grew up somewhere at the bottom of Georgia) used to say that when it was raining, and particularly when it was storming, that the Lord was doing His work and that it was the time to be still. They’d have to sit quietly, usually with the TV and the lights off, and just be. And while life doesn’t allow her to drop everything because it’s started raining, there is always a hushed feeling that comes over her when it rains, something tranquil, but also a little turbulent, a little uncontrollable, quite like the very rain she’s reveling in.
“Wanna come over?” he wonders, voice unsure.
She nods readily. “Okay, yeah. Sure.”
He goes to return her mug and plate while she packs her bag back up. He meets her at the door, opening up a large umbrella and throwing an arm over her shoulder to lead her out into the rain. She walks with him past her own car as he takes her a short black away to where his Jeep is parked. He helps her into the Jeep first, watches as she tucks her bag under the seat, and then closes the door before walking around to the other side.
They ride to his house in silence. He lives far on the south side of town, a good twenty or so minutes from downtown if they hit the highway. Instead, he takes the streets, adding another ten minutes to their drive. Iris doesn’t mind; as she said, she likes the rain, and in this big Jeep, tires sluicing easily through the flooding roads in a way her car definitely can’t, she’s enjoying the ride. He had silently connected her phone to his car’s Bluetooth, so she took it to mean that the music choices were hers. She contemplates finding something that he might like, but she figures he likely wouldn’t even be paying much attention. So she decides on one of her slower playlists, ones with songs that dip and fade, that take listeners on a journey of highs and lows, and she lets it play. The lyrics tell too much, so i guess that i should mention; that i am in no condition; to put you in this position; i might fuck this up, although with the heavy weight on Barry’s shoulders right now, she can’t tell if she’s talking to him or vice versa.
He takes them past one of the major shopping districts in the city, past the Apple store and the Michael Kors shop and the one restaurant her dad took her to when she graduated college where pasta dishes run nearer to forty dollars. These shops, and the nicer mall and a couple business buildings that rise as tall as those downtown, lead into longer stretches of road where trees interspersed with beige or cream apartments begin to take up where businesses once stood. He turns into the familiar subdivision that she remembers; it’s a little older than some, which makes sense if his parents were able to buy and pay it off before they were gone. That also means that none of the houses are the same cookie-cutter versions that tend to make up most subdivisions these days, where houses are identical save for the color and the trim and what children’s toys litter the front yard.
He presses a button on his visor and the garage opens as he maneuvers the car so that he can back up into the driveway. He stays in the driveway, though, the music cutting out—but whatever the case, you're my favorite mistake; more than happy to make you—when he turns the ignition off. She waits for him to come around with his umbrella and he half picks her up to pull her out, holding on to her as he walks her through the garage.
She’s as quiet as he is, taking in her surroundings, trying to get a better sense of who he is by what he’s got going on in his house. There isn’t much in the garage; there are a bunch of boxes neatly stacked on one wall, a couple bicycles in another corner. There is a wall full of tools and a couple tables that have science looking tools on them, like a microscope and several bunsen burners and petri dishes, though nothing looks as if they’re currently being used.
He leads her through a door that opens up into the kitchen as he presses another button to close the garage. His house is as cute on the outside as it is on the inside, although she wonders how he might feel if she were to call it cute. The kitchen is large, done in white, gray, and green, with steel appliances, gray marble countertops, and the look of a place that doesn’t get a lot of use. They both stop to toe their shoes off right outside of the kitchen where a couple other pairs of Barry’s shoes lie. His living room is pretty big: a wide space that features a real stone fireplace as the focal point and a large screen television situated above it; a huge sectional in a slate gray with a few throw pillows; and a big square wooden coffee table. It’s masculine and clean without being gaudy or too bro and Iris wonders if he did this himself because even if she never knew her, she doubts a woman who loved flowers as much as his mother would decorate her living room this way.
The dark curtains on the windows are open wide and Iris can see the backyard but the rain coming down in sheets keep her from being able to make out much besides the patio with what looks like a grill and wicker furniture. Iris remembers being told that his dad had been a doctor and his mom some sort of university researcher and the house matches that.
Barry lets her hand go to tug his sweatshirt off, revealing a plain white t-shirt that rises up over his taut belly. She doesn’t avert her eyes, giving herself permission to track how the sweatpants hang off his slim hips and how he isn’t so much sculpted as he’s hard and tight, with just the beginnings of abs. He catches her staring and he smirks at her before dropping down in the corner of the couch, one leg spread out along the seats of the chair.
“Come here,” he tells her, and she moves toward him, sitting so that her back is pressed against that hard chest and his arms are wrapped around her. She grabs a hold of his forearm with both her hands and settles her head in the crook of his elbow. She’s surrounded by his scent, lemongrass and clean cotton, and for a while, the only sounds are his breathing and the pounding of the rain. He touches her, the hand she’s not holding on to stroking up and down her thigh. Her leggings are pretty thin and she feels his touch fully; if she concentrates enough, she can feel those beloved calluses on his hands. He rubs his hand towards the juncture of her thighs and then over her hip and then back again, and like always, his touch ignites something in her, even as she’s wondering how she might be able to help him out of whatever funk he’s found himself in.
“You ready to tell me what’s up?” she wonders a while later.
“Hmm,” he hums, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Not yet. Tell me about your day.”
She shifts so that she can look back at him, noting the way his eyes have darkened a touch, become grayer like the sky outside, and it’s different from the bright blue-green she remembers from the day of the festival or the wicked blue-gray they always are right before he pushes hard into her.
He blinks down at her and licks his lips slowly. It’s not an explicitly sexual act, even if her body thinks it looks that way, and Iris finds herself lost in it, in whatever he’s emanating. It’s erotic in that it’s intimate, a whirlwind of whatever hurt made him seek her out at Jitters, of whatever still lies unexplored between them, of the attraction that doesn’t ever seem to dissipate.
When she pulls herself out, she tells him, “I was working on a story today. One that made me feel a little bit like how you might be right now.”
“Yeah?”
Wanting to look at him more comfortably, she uses his pause so that she can turn around fully and seat herself on his lap, straddling him. His hands automatically go to her hips, one sliding inside the waist of her leggings so that he can touch her skin.
“Tell me about this story,” he requests. She knows that he’s asking so that he can think about something other than what’s on his mind, so she does, giving a little more than she would originally, working out how she might want to tell the story in her blog.
“It was a couple,” she starts, “that grew up together, in the country. They bonded by playing together in the lake, climbing trees, and playing pranks on each other. And then they start to grow up. Their swimming becomes fraught with tension, the bathing suits showing the same skin, but more, ya know, both of them recognizing the differences, cataloging them, thinking about them, remembering them. They don’t act on it, because they’re friends, and he doesn’t actually understand what it means, that he’s 13 and he keeps dreaming about her at night, waking up with a wet bed and a pounding heart. And then his parents die and her dad, who’s a do-gooder in the community and had been his parents’ best friend, takes him in. Now they’re siblings, but of course not. Regardless, it makes it all harder and odder because she sleeps right down the hall from him, their shared bathroom always smells like her, and he understands now, that he likes her smile and the way she speaks and the curves she seems to develop out of nowhere.”
Barry squeezes at her and she pauses as he asks, “And what about her? How does she feel about him?”
“Well he doesn’t know it, but she’s there too. At first she thinks that she’s just conflating it, confusing their friendship. Because she doesn’t laugh with anyone else like she does with him and she never has as much fun with anyone else as she does him and she never feels as comfortable with anyone else as she does him. He’s her best friend. But she sees him, one night, in his room where the door hasn’t fully closed and he’s, well, he’s masturbating, touching himself, eyes closed and moaning, and for the first time outside of the books she’s read, she feels something. And she knows it’s not just because she’s seen him naked because she’s kissed boys before, she’s felt them hard under her before, but something about this feels different for her.
“But she doesn’t act on it. And he doesn’t either, because remember, he only thinks this is one-sided. They graduate. They go to the same college. But their majors are different and their friends are different. She joins a sorority; he gets into a couple of clubs. Their paths separate, even if they still laugh and talk and be when they’re home for the holidays. Then she gets a boyfriend.”
“She never had a boyfriend before this?” Barry questions.
Iris shrugs. “Sure. But it was high school and the beginning of college. They were mostly hookups that didn’t last. This guy is serious. He’s a couple years older, got his own place, and eventually she moves in with him. Heartbroken, he gets a girlfriend too, one of her friends. That doesn’t last long because she figures out that he’s a little bit in love with the main girl, and then he moves on, to someone sweet, someone who’s been not so subtly hinting that she wants to go out with him.”
Barry seems to be engrossed now. She can’t say that the dark look he was sporting is completely gone, but she can see that he’s not as deep in it, interested in the story she’s weaving.
“They go on to marry these people, even if their hearts are not fully in it. His wife has a kid first, her baby comes next. And meanwhile, they’re still friends. Her dad is still his guardian, so to speak; they are together for whatever holidays they don’t spend with their spouses’ families. They still laugh and talk and be. They still look a little too long and want a little too much.
It comes to a head one Christmas. The gods or fate or just some movement on their parts mean that they both go home to her dad’s house with their spouses and children coming in the next day. But her dad is called in to work so they order take out and watch movies in front of a fire. And they laugh and they talk...and they hug and they kiss and they…
“Be?” Barry tries, a tiny little smile on his face.
She matches it. “Yeah. And it’s beautiful, transcendent. But they’re married. To other people. With kids. So they vow to forget it, to never bring it up again. A couple of years pass. They don’t laugh as much, don’t talk as much. She’s having troubles in her marriage. He is too. He actually consults a divorce attorney because he thinks that it’s unfair to both him and his wife, to live like this. And then the wife dies in a car accident.”
“Oh damn,” he mutters.
“Right,” she agrees. “He’s wracked with grief and more than a little guilt, because he loved her but was never in love with her and she had no idea he was going to leave her.”
“What about her? The one he loves?”
“She’s there for him. She consoles him, cares for him, takes his kid when it gets too hard. Her husband doesn’t like it though. Thinks she’s doing too much, thinks that there’s another reason she’s over at his so much. Later, he learns that this wasn’t a new accusation, that even before she and her husband got married, the husband would question their closeness, would wonder what, if anything, had ever happened between them.
“Eventually she gets tired of it. Her kid is older, in their teens now, and she leaves her husband, packing her things and her kid’s too and moving back in with her dad for a while.”
“And what happens between them?” Barry wants to know.
“He and his son come over more. They hang out more, the four of them, going to dinner and to the movies and to the arcade together. And when their kids are gone, at sleepovers or game nights with their friends, they laugh again, talk again. Fall in love again.”
The ending is implied. Iris closes her eyes when she’s done, letting Barry continue to rub at her back, his fingers so so warm on her skin.
“It's a happy ending,” he says, eventually. “But getting there was a little...depressing.”
Iris chuckles softly, lightheaded again at having gone through that again. It likely didn’t make Barry feel any better, but she’ll take the win that it took his mind away from his own problems, if only for a little while.
“Yeah, it is,” she agrees. “But it reminds me that just because it’s not easy and just because it takes some time, it doesn’t mean that things aren’t worth it.”
He nods, slowly, thinking.
“What about things that are...easy? That come like breathing? That start as a simple dance and just, just keep going?”
She stares down at him and she knows that this is rhetorical. She can see the question in the depths of his eyes, feel it in his hands still kneading her flesh. It would be easy to retreat, to tell him that nothing is ever easy, even if the reality is that it is because they are, because they fall into each other so effortlessly, that she’s terrified. There are always hiccups, obstacles, and the fact that she can’t find any keeps her on edge, waiting, anticipating trouble she knows must be coming. She doesn’t want to believe it, wants to stand firm in them—stand firm in the lyrics she keeps hearing, if you decide to stay, know that there is no escape; there's no one here to save you—and she holds onto that as he asks,
“Don’t you think it’s worth it, Iris? Even if it’s this easy?”
She can’t speak, but his eyes are imploring her to answer. Pleading with her for a response. And however terrified Iris is, or however much Iris tells stories, she is not a liar. So she nods and whispers to him, “yes.”
Without waiting for her to say anything more, he kisses her. He squeezes at her waist and leans up to capture her mouth. She meets him with his same fervor and it’s different, this kiss. She knows the passion of his mouth when he’s high, the boldness when he’s teasing her. But this is new, this is fervor, warmth and agony and doubt and pleasure, all wrapped up together.
(Something also tells Iris that there is another word for this, that this is the part of the story where feelings would be laid on the table, where hearts would be splayed open and she’d say it, or he would, and the other would respond in kind, with declarations of adoration, of infatuation, yearning, of any other word that means what she can’t say yet.
But she feels it, what she’s wanting to say, what she thinks he is saying, in this kiss. It is slow and nasty, all tongue and mouth. Her eyes flutter closed at the feeling, at how he licks into her mouth and then sucks on her bottom lip, at how he licks against her tongue and then holds her face to bring her closer to him. She feels it, she feels it, she feels him…)
He stands, holding on to her, and she wraps her legs around his waist, tightening her arms around his neck as he carries her through the house. The kisses don’t stop, though they become shorter, more mouth now, and he takes her down a long hallway past several doors until he turns into one at the end of the hall. She makes a quick note of the light gray and burnt orange decor, the side tables holding books and knickknacks, the one window that spans nearly the entire wall, but she focuses most heavily on the king-sized bed on which he throws on her, the soft comforter half hanging off the bed.
Her clothes come off first, Barry pulling her sweatshirt over her head and yanking her pants over her hips. He comes out of his own clothes as she discards her underwear, and then he’s between her thighs again. But she wants something else first so she taps his shoulder to flip them and then she’s hovering above him.
She gives him a kiss, slow and sweet, and then she makes her way down his chest, kissing as she goes. She loves the feel of his skin against her lips, likes how his skin tastes as she presses tongue kisses on him. His belly clenches and unclenches under her ministrations, and by the time she’s looking back up at him from her position near his crotch, she can see the way his chest rises and falls with his heavy breathing.
She reaches for him, wrapping her fingers around his dick. It’s long like the rest of him, and thicker than she would have expected just looking at him. It’s a pretty dick, the base the same color as him, the head slightly pinker. It’s a little veiny, but the skin is smooth, and already he’s starting to leak. She lifts her eyes to find him watching her, his own gaze hooded. In her peripheral, she sees his hands grip the bed sheets and she revels in how she hasn’t even done anything and his control is starting to slip.
“Tell me what you want, Bear.”
She says the words softly, but Barry doesn’t miss the cheek that lies under it, if the slight smirk he gives her is any indication.
“Your mouth,” he says. “I’ve been dreaming about that pretty mouth wrapped around my dick.”
She shudders at the tone of his voice, at the vision of her on her knees for him. She likes it.
“I bet you have too,” he guesses.
Without a response, she licks him, holding him at the base and running her tongue up one side of him. She does it again, and then one more time, acquainting herself with the taste of him and the satiny feel of him on her tongue, and then she adjusts and covers the whole of him.
“Fuck,” he breathes out.
She hums around him and she sucks him down, taking him until he hits her throat. Then she pulls back until just the tip remains. She licks around his head and sucks him there, letting the spit pool in her mouth, letting it mix with his own wet. She opens her mouth and lets it slide out, dripping down onto him, and her own body starts to drip at his wrecked whisper, “god, baby, look at you.”
She adds her hands, palming his testicles in one and rubbing her spit down the length of him with the other. She finds a rhythm, sucking him down, inch by inch, hollowing her cheeks as she goes, and then stroking his back up. Barry keeps his hand clenched in the sheets, but he cants himself into her mouth, rocking his hips lightly. She’s getting into it, loving the way he responds to her.
“Come here,” he says, suddenly, reaching for her, and she pulls back with a soft pop.
“Barry?” she furrows her eyebrows in question.
He gives her a gentle smile and grabs at her arm; Iris moves at his request, crawling up his body.
“But you didn’t finish,” she says, pouting a little.
“I know. I want to come when I’m inside you.”
She’s mollified by that, and he settles her on his lap.
“You were so good though, baby,” he says, kissing her. “My good, good girl.”
He reaches down to touch her, slipping his fingers easily into her sex. He groans into her mouth at the feel and he pulls back to ask,
“Is this all for me? Did you get wet sucking me off, good girl?”
She nods, rocking her hips against his hand, against his sex still hard beneath her. “Can, can you…?”
He tilts his head at her, fingers still caressing inside of her. “Can I?”
She huffs out a small laugh because he’s always fucking with her. “You said you wanted to come inside of me,” she reminds him.
“I did, didn’t?” He takes his time removing his fingers, eyes on her as he does. Even with the window curtains wide open, the dark sky has the room dark
(and she doesn’t dismiss the fact that the window faces the side of someone else’s house, where they could be seen if the neighbors were so inclined to watch)
and his eyes look a little like molten lead in the faint rainy light like this. He goes to reach over to his bedside table but Iris stops him.
“I want to feel you,” she says.
He licks his lips and she doesn’t mistake the twitch of his dick she feels under her. “You sure?”
“Yes. I’m on birth control. And I trust you.”
He nods once and again, and then he takes her by her hips and slides her down his cock.
After, Iris decides that this time is the single most erotic experience of her life.
They fuck with the rain like a soundtrack behind them, like a song that swells and stretches, telling their story, but you're so brave; stone cold crazy for loving me; yeah, I'm amazed; i hope you make it out alive, a song that rises and rises, that sounds too good to be real, that might destroy you, but only in the best way.
She rides him, and he’s so full in her like this, so deep in her like this. His back is against his fabric headboard and she’s so close to him, her knees jutting into the headboard, her thighs holding around his hips, her breasts rubbing against his chest, nipples pebbling with each brush on those hard planes.
She holds on to him with her hands holding the back of his neck, softly scratching at the nape. But he’s touching her, always touching her, his hands caressing her spine, and then holding her waist, and then squeezing her hips. He guides her: keeps his favorite pace, smooth and languid; bring her up to the tip and fucks her back down; shows her how he wants her to roll her body when he’s full in her, so her clit is brushing the soft hairs on his pelvis, the sensation incredible.
He uses his mouth too: to kiss her throat, deep tongue kisses that’ll leave marks she knows she’ll have to cover up; to whisper against her mouth, “see how easy this is; see how good, baby; fuck, see how good this is; yes, yes, yes, my good girl.”
And Iris feels so caught up in it. She can’t stop looking at him, loving when the lightning slashes across the room and illuminates those eyes, the constellation of moles on his skin, his wet, pink mouth. Her body hums with pleasure, soaking her thighs and his, tightening around his dick as if it never, never wants to let him go. She voices her satisfaction, in soft sighs and heavy pleas, and his name on her tongue like a chant, or better, a song, “Bear, Bear, Barrryyy.” They’re so close, her skin sticking to his wherever they’re touching, chest to chest and ass to thigh. She feels full and whole and filled...with him and with desire and with, and with love, the thought of it making her shudder and close her eyes.
“No,” Barry whispers. “Don’t. Just let it, just let it...stay here with me. Can you do that for me? Be brave for me?”
She nods, head heavy as her body starts to reach its climax, as her body loosens at the same time that it tightens and she has to fight to hold on to him. “Yes,” she moans again, holding his gaze again.
He touches at her face, holding her cheek and staring back. “Good girl.”
She doesn’t know whose climax triggers the other. She just knows that at the same time that her body explodes, fluttering wildly around him, he comes too, so hard that she feels him throbbing against her walls, that she feels him filling her up with his cum.
He doesn’t let go of her right away. He just holds her, hands at her hip and her face, and then he kisses her, cementing what they’ve just done, cementing what Iris feels for him.
“It’s the anniversary of my mom’s death,” he says, out of the blue. “And when I went to visit my dad earlier, I found out that he’s sick, something with his heart, and I’m-I’m reeling.”
It’s been a long while since they separated and Iris climbed off of him to pad into his bathroom and warm a hand towel under warm water to clean them both. They’ve been lying in his bed, only half under the covers as they let their bodies cool. It’s quiet now, so quiet that Iris has thought he’d fallen asleep; she’d almost fallen asleep. But when he speaks, she blinks wide and then turns her head to face him.
“14 years today,” he adds. He’s looking up at the ceiling as he talks, but Iris feels the hand that’s settled at her waist tighten, the move bringing her closer to him. She understands that he just needs the contact, so she turns so that she’s all the way curled on him, one of her legs thrown across him, her arm tossed over him too, hand settled on his heart. It’s beating slow, steady, and so she strokes his bare chest, right it.
“How’d you find out?”
“I was still at school,” he tells her. “It was a Friday and some of my friends had convinced me to go to a football game, so we were there pretty late. Games could run until 11. I was 17 so I had my own car. It was an old car; we’d bought it from a guy she worked with. By this time, my dad had been gone for a couple years, and my mom was always working late at the lab, so when I got home around 10:30 that night and the lights were out, I wasn’t surprised.”
He shifts a little and continues. “I took a shower, put some leftover pizza in the microwave, and just as I was sitting down to eat, the doorbell rang. It was the police looking for her next of kin to tell them what had happened.” He sighs heavily. “I got lucky. The courts let one of my friend’s parents take me in until I graduated a few months later. I was able to get a work study job in college to pay my bills since the mortgage was already paid off.”
He says it all like he was lucky, but there is nothing lucky about losing both of your parents in that matter, even if one of them was still physically alive. Iris knows from experience that he doesn’t want pity, doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for his story. But she can’t help the way she wants to comfort him, and so she lets herself do that, tightening herself around him, snuggling even more into his chest.
“How are you feeling about your dad?” she asks, mumbling against his skin.
“Devastated. He looked like, like, I don’t know, like he’s giving up. I don’t get to go see him too often, every couple of months, really. And he looked so different from when I saw him last: smaller, frailer. I think there might be something he’s not telling me. Like he’s been sick longer than he says he has.”
“Is he supposed to get out soon?”
“Another couple years. But I don’t know if he wants to hold on that long.”
She feels them first, the tears. She tries to hold him even tighter, tries to crawl into his skin almost, trying to stem his pain. He doesn’t cry for long, just a few sobs, and then he’s inhaling deeply and wiping at his eyes. But it must be enough because he sounds a little hollow when he says,
“And truthfully, I’m not so much sad as I am mad, that he seems to be giving up. On getting out. On me.”
She hums, not dismissively, but because she understands. “Wanna know a secret?”
“Yeah.”
“Sometimes, I hate my mom.”
He sort of jerks up at that. Not fully, he looks down at her, eyes widened in shock. However inappropriate it might be, she finds herself laughing a little at his expression. Then she explains.
“I know that addiction is not a moral failing. I know that she struggled right up til the end. I know both of those things as completely as I know anything else. But sometimes I wonder why my dad wasn’t enough, why me and Wally weren't enough. I wonder what she was trying to find in those pills that she couldn’t find in us, and I get so pissed that she let it take her away from us.”
She’s startled when he moves. He pulls himself from under her, letting her fall onto her back, and then he’s hovering above her, holding himself up on his elbows. He falls into the spread of her thighs, his sex nuzzling comfortably against her still warm center.
“I’ve seen some of the worst effects of addiction,” he says, “when their bodies end up on a slab of metal and it’s my job to dissect the things around them, to even sometimes help detectives dissect their lives to figure out what happened. And something I’ve learned is that it’s always, always about them. Never about the people they love.”
He searches her face, brushing a piece of hair back from her forehead. “And whatever your mom was or wasn’t thinking, you are enough. You are more than enough, Iris.” He leans down and gives her a kiss, deep and dirty, and she moans in frustration as he pulls back from her. He gives her a grin, one more reminiscent of the Barry she’s used to.
“Repeat after me,” he commands. “I, Iris West…”
“Really, Barry?”
“Yes, come on. I, Iris West…
She sighs, but says it. “I, Iris West…”
“Am more than enough.”
She licks her lips then, blinks, works to not let the tears that have suddenly gathered in the corner of her eyes escape.
“Am more than enough,” she whispers, finally.
Barry’s smile turns fond. “Good girl.”
She shakes her head because she doesn’t know what else to do besides kiss him. Which she does, deeply, reaching down to grip him in her palm. She pauses, just for a moment, to tell him “you know that you are enough too, right?” and she kisses the look of awe off of his face. It’s a long while before she stops kissing him, and then it’s only to moan into his mouth, to let him whisper his dirty somethings into her ear.
“What are your plans for tonight?”
They’ve just shared a shower. Barry is throwing on another pair of sweats and a hoodie and Iris puts her own leggings back on, sans underwear, and thumbs through Barry’s closet for another sweatshirt to put on.
(There’s no reason that she can’t put hers back on, but she’s feeling particularly sentimental and she wants to take something of Barry’s with her, something that smells like him, that feels like him.)
“None, really.” She pulls out a red sweater that reads Central City University Track & Field and throws it on over her bra. “Why? You kicking me out.”
Barry rolls his eyes. “Of course not.” He glances down at the watch on his wrist. “Wanna get dinner? And then go with me to my tattoo appointment? It’s at 8 tonight.”
She smiles at that. “Sure.”
They take the highway back downtown. The rain is still beating steadily and there is still the occasional rumble of thunder, the sporadic flash of lightning. He parks a bit further in the arts district, in front of a restaurant specializing in wood-fire pizzas and craft beers. This time, she knows to wait for him to come around and open the door for her so that she can walk under his umbrella. Once he locks his jeep, he grabs her hand, and they walk the couple doors down and into the restaurant.
The place is brightly lit, in direct contrast to the dark sky and even the faint light that had been on at Barry’s place. The weather assures that it isn’t densely packed, just a couple booths of families and what looks like a couple, so they’re seated quickly and easily. They eat fast since they’ve only got an hour before his appointment. In the meantime, they both keep the conversation light. It’s been a day, for the both of them really, and Iris doesn’t think that she can cry twice in a day.
After he pays, she goes to the bathroom and he tells her he’ll wait at the door for her. She goes in and it’s as brightly lit as the rest of the place and she quickly does her business and washes her hands before heading back out to where he knows Barry is waiting in the little space between the outer door and the door to the restaurant.
She walks through the place and out of the restaurant door, likely too quickly and without really looking. She takes several steps, straightening out Barry’s sweatshirt again, and then she’s bumping into what feels like a solid wall, almost falling backward. A quick hand reaches out to catch her, the hand large, easily wrapping around her forearm.
“Shit,” she says, shaking her head to clear it as she looks up. “I’m sorr..Scott?”
He doesn’t move back right away and so she has to look up, up at the man holding on to her. Scott Evans is the literal definition of tall, dark, and handsome. He’d been her editor when she’d work at CCPN right out of college, and she’d had the biggest crush on him. Tall with dark caramel skin and a neatly trimmed beard, he’d been the one to help guide her in the ways of mass story-telling. They’d gone on one date and Iris is not actually sure why they’d never gone on another.
“Iris West.” He says her name slowly, his grin widening at the same pace. He gives her a once-over, slow and heated. “How’ve you been?”
“R-really good,” she says, stumbling a little at that grin. Even if she doesn’t actually regret never seeing him again, Iris can admit that a man this good looking makes her a little tongue-tied.
“Yeah? I’ve been catching your blog when I can. It’s some good shit, West. I can see why you left our little paper.”
“Please,” Iris rolls her eyes with a little laugh. “There’s nothing little about Picture News.”
He shrugs, humble all the way. “Still, I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Scott. I appreciate that.”
“It’s the truth.” He looks down at her, swiping at his lips with his tongue, and she suddenly realizes that they’re still too close. She steps back fully from him, glancing over Scott’s shoulders to see Barry watching them, his expression unreadable.
“Um,” she speaks, catching his attention. “I gotta go Scott.”
“Oh yeah; of course. We should get together soon. Maybe do dinner.” Scott looks back out of the window where rain steadily pours. “It’s still raining out. Can I walk you to your car?”
Her eyes don’t leave Barry’s and he tilts his head, waiting for her answer. “Scott, I’m not alone.”
He turns as if he’s just realizing that Barry is standing there. Barry is still quiet and only lifts his eyes to look at Scott when he mutters, “oh, hey man.”
Barry nods. “What’s up?” Then he looks at Iris. “You ready?”
“Yeah, I am.” Her voice is soft, cautious, and she throws one more glance at Scott. “It was good to see you.”
He graces her with that smile again. “Yeah. I’ll see you around.”
Barry takes her hand and they walk back to the truck. They’re on the road again, driving to a neighborhood near her own. For a second, she thinks he’s going to take her home, but he passes the road to her apartment and goes on to a neighborhood featuring several bars and little shops that cater to the college crowd. He pulls into the parking lot of a place called Black Gold, the lights inside near as bright as those in the pizza place.
Again, she waits until he comes around and turns as if to get out. He stops her though, holding the umbrella high, standing in front of her open legs. He does his thing, his stare like he's trying, and succeeding, to get inside her mind.
“That your ex-boyfriend?” he wonders.
She shakes her head. “Ex-boss.”
His expression doesn’t change. “All your bosses look at you like that?”
She swallows at the sudden feel of his hand on her thigh. The rain is pounding and drops fall on them, but she’s not noticing it. Instead, she’s caught in the storm that’s returned to his eyes, in the feel of his hands inching steadily toward her center.
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous,” she says, instead of responding to him.
One corner of his mouth lifts, and the confident, bordering on cocky, Barry is looking at her now, even if that sparkle hasn’t returned quite yet.
“Nah,” he says. “Not jealous. You’re here right now. And you were with me earlier, moaning for me, coming for me.”
He slides his hand between her thighs and because she is, almost literally, always thirsty for him, wet for him, her legs spread easily. He fingers at the crotch of her leggings, and she knows that he can feel her warmth through the thin material. He thumbs at her until she gasps against him, finding her clit in a way that reminds him that he knows her body better than she knows it herself.
“He ever touch you like this?” Barry asks, voice a whisper above the rain. “Make you whimper even without getting your clothes off?”
She is whimpering, as he keeps his thumb on her clit, rubbing on her in slow circles. That’s all he’s doing: touching her with one hand, looking at her with those eyes that tell as much as they conceal, with his voice a deep rumble that rivals the thunder. He might be turned on, but he’s proving a point, naming himself as someone who, well, who owns her, even if she recognizes that no man should claim any power over her.
Heat spreads through her, a low, simmering sort of heat, but it’s enough that her folds grow slicker, start opening like the flowers of a petal waiting to be plucked. He keeps rubbing at her, staying on her clit, staring in her face, so much that she can’t hold his gaze. Because it feels better than it should, and her wet is soaking through these too thin leggings, and her breaths are coming in longer, coming in heavier.
“Tell me he hasn’t, Iris,” he says, commands, and Iris throws her head back, legs widening at their own volition, hips canting against his hand. “Tell me.”
“No,” she moans, eyes fluttering closed. “He never even touched me at all.”
“Tell me it’s just me,” he adds and she’s too far gone to note the pleading in his voice. “Tell me no one has ever touched you like this.”
“No,” she shakes her head. “Just you, Barry, shit, just you.”
“Good,” he groans. “Good, good girl.”
Even if touch is the word he’s using, Iris understands that it’s more. She understands that they’re both wrapped up in uncertainty, never too sure of where they lie in others’ affections, never too sure of where they lie in life at all. She understands that he’s asking her if she feels it too, if she’s there with him, if this too easy, this too natural, feeling is a first for her too.
He’s asking if she’s brave enough to tell him the truth, if she undertands is meaning-understands that I'm no walk in the park; all these scars on my heart; it’s so dark here-even as she’s wondering the same, as she’s feeling the same, wondering if the churning feelings of abandonment make her unworthy somehow. Wondering if he’ll come to see that unworthiness.
Barry leans forward, just a touch away from her mouth, eyes blazing.
“There’s only you too, Iris,” he says, unprompted. “I swear I’ve just been waiting for you.”
He closes the distance to kiss her and that’s enough to take her over. It’s not a powerful orgasm, not like usual, but it does make her shut her eyes tight, make her limbs seize up as she rocks her hips through it. She breathes out, and she can’t stop the little laugh that comes out.
“You really are a dick,” she muses, opening her eyes slowly.
“A polite one, though,” he says, as he stands straighter and holds his hand out to help her down from the car. He holds the umbrella high over her. “See how I’m making sure you don’t get wet.”
“You didn't think of that earlier.”
His grin is devastating but it doesn’t hide the plethora of emotions in his eyes: the simmering lust, the faint traces of insecurity, the grief that’s been hovering all day...the love she doesn’t think he wants to hide anymore.
She hikes up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek, and then she walks beside him into the parlor, words flashing in her head like a sign, but if you’re a warrior, there’s nothing to fear; nothing to fear.
And later that night, as she cuddles up next to Barry is his large comfortable bed, she listens to his soft breathing, the sound a melody to the rain still pattering against his windows. She listens and she stares at him, taking in his features, softer than they were before, the stress of today easing away with every second he’s lost to sleep. A flash of lightning lights the room, and it catches her eyes again, the new tattoo, the purple ink bright on his skin, covering the space from a lily on his shoulder to just over his heart. It goes dark again, his room blanketed once more, but in her mind’s eyes, she can still see the vibrant ink on his skin, the pretty drooping petals of an iris.
Cause you're so brave
Stone cold crazy for loving me
Yeah, I'm amazed
I hope you make it out alive
20 notes · View notes
weclassygirl · 4 years
Text
𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
Tumblr media
Word count: 936
Pairing: neil x f!reader (tenet)
Warnings: none
Author’s note: yes i’m back and i’ll keep coming back with more short neil fics. english is not my first language. hope you enjoy! 
Gif credits (x)
The air on the balcony was chilly, you could feel goosebumps on your skin through the robe you're wearing. It's well past midnight and you couldn't quite fall asleep. You stand there, looking at the city below, some cars passing by, people walking in groups or alone. 
You hear the door to the balcony sliding open. You don't turn your head to see the intruder but from the side of your vision you see Neil standing next to you, a cup of what seems like tea in his hands. 
"Can't sleep?" he wonders and gives you a side glance, you shrug. 
"My mind won't let me." you answer him. “Just too much going on.” you look at the city, the lights of the high buildings still on in some places. You wonder who might be in them. 
You couldn’t rest for the whole day, going from one place to another, contacting Ives all day, helping Neil on some work. You couldn’t seem to stop. When you tried to get some sleep your thoughts wouldn’t let you, they just kept overthinking every possible scenario of the next day. The mission you’re gonna go to is the biggest one yet. You don’t even know how it will play out. You hope that it’ll go well. 
Neil sees you deep in thought and notices how you keep tightening your robe for some sense of warmth. He puts the mug on the table and goes to the chair behind him, picking up a blanket from it. He places it on your smaller frame and at first you tense but then turn in his direction. He tightens the blanket around you and when he’s finished with it he looks at you. His eyes heavy and slightly bloodshot through sleepless nights. You relax as he still keeps his hands on your shoulders, you smile up at him lazily. 
“What?” he asks, smiling at you, eyebrows drawn together. 
“Nothing, just…” you look down at your feet, trying to find the right words. You look up at him and he seems standing closer to you, you notice his eyes briefly travelling to your lips. If you would just inch closer to him then… “Do you ever think where you would be if you weren’t involved in all of this?” 
He doesn’t hesitate with the answer. “Probably something to do with physics.” you know that he’s really passionate about it, you saw him writing a bunch of notes with diagrams, equations and such just a few days ago. Sometimes you even came over to his workspace and let him ramble what’s on his mind or explain to you some physics. You watched as he explained everything and he watched you being truly interested in the topic he spoke about. 
Both of you know that you can’t really reveal anything remotely personal about yourself, you’re not even sure Neil is his real name. You wish that you would have been able to get to know him better, even for a few moments. You rely on each other, trust one another. You wish that it could be more and you feel like he wants that too.
“How about you?” he questions you. You think for a moment, you haven’t really thought about it. You look towards the city and sigh.
“I don’t know. Maybe travel the world.” 
“You already do.” he comments.
“Yeah but you know what I mean.” you turn to him the cup no longer in his hands. He raises his eyebrow at you. “I want to see it without worrying about some unexpected inversion or another mission. I want to see it in its whole beauty, enjoy it and not have memories with it that tie to my job.” 
“Not even if I’m in most of them?” he asks with playfulness in his voice. You smile at him. 
“Of course I want you in them. Maybe when all of this is over we could go on some sort of vacation.” you tell him, some form of hope in your voice.
“Just you and me?”
“Always.” you say simply and see him coming closer to you. He reaches his hand up to your cheek and traces his thumb over it. He leans in closer, his face inches away from yours and he puts a soft kiss on your lips. It’s short but sweet, both of you are tired but if you had more energy you would try to deepen it. He pulls away, your body moving after his, the desire to kiss him again rising. 
“Long day ahead.” you hear Neil say, you look up at him and see the city lights bouncing off of his eyes. “You should rest.” 
“Says you.” you chuckle. You see his hair sticking out in every direction. His shirt crumpled up and sleeves rolled up. “When’s the last time you got some decent sleep, Neil?” 
He hangs his head low and scoffs. “Is it that visible?” he smiles lazily at you, already knowing the answer. You head to the door, push them open and look over your shoulder. “You coming?” 
He looks at you, taken back by you for a second. Not in the shirts or bulletproof vest you constantly wear but in casual clothing, the ones that you feel the most comfortable in. Your true beauty that you so rarely show, your features softened, your shoulders not so tense anymore. Just… you. Neil is pulled away from his thoughts when you take his hand in yours and lead him to the apartment. Both of you fall asleep in each other's arms, falling asleep much faster together than apart. 
273 notes · View notes